The man whose keys were too heavy to carry
The Qur'an tells of Qārūn, a man from the people of Moses (peace be upon him), whom the Torah calls Korah. He was so rich that the keys to his treasure-houses were a burden for a group of strong men. His people warned him. Do not gloat; use what God has given you to seek the next life, and do not forget your share of this one. Do good as God has done good to you, and do not spread corruption (28:76-77).
Qārūn answered: “I was only given it because of knowledge I have.” He went out among the people in all his finery. Some of them sighed: “If only we had what Qārūn has been given.” But those who had been given knowledge said: “Pity you. God's reward is better for whoever believes and does good.”
Then the earth swallowed him and his house, and there was no one to help him (28:81).
The Qur'an does not end with Qārūn. It ends with the people who had envied him. The next morning, they said: “And morning found those who had coveted his place but yesterday crying: Ah, welladay! Allah enlargeth the provision for whom He will of His slaves and straiteneth it (for whom He will). If Allah had not been gracious unto us He would have caused it to swallow us (also). Ah, welladay! the disbelievers never prosper.” (28:82, Pickthall).
The lesson is not that wealth is wicked. It is that pride and oppression do not get the last word, and the humble see it.
What each faith says
Judaism
“The LORD maketh poor, and maketh rich; He bringeth low, He also lifteth up.”
1 Samuel 2:7 · JPS 1917
In the Torah, Korah leads a rebellion against Moses and Aaron, The earth opens and swallows him (Numbers 16). Jewish tradition remembered him as a man undone by pride and envy.
Hannah's song, sung after the birth of her son Samuel, is the great Hebrew hymn of reversal: God brings low and lifts up. It is read on Rosh Hashanah. Isaiah says that on God's day “the lofty looks of man shall be brought low” (2:11).
The Talmud turns the lesson into a saying: whoever runs after greatness, greatness runs away from them; whoever runs from greatness, greatness follows them (Eruvin 13b).
Christianity
“For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and whoever humbles himself will be exalted.”
Luke 14:11 · WEB
Jesus told a parable about guests who rush for the best seats at a wedding and are asked to move down. He ended with a saying that Christians have repeated ever since.
The song of Mary, the Magnificat, sung every evening in many churches, echoes Hannah's: God has put down the mighty from their seats and exalted the humble. For Christians, the reversal is good news for the poor.
On Maundy Thursday, before Easter, many Catholic and Anglican bishops and priests kneel to wash the feet of members of their congregation. They remember how Jesus washed his disciples' feet (John 13).
Islam
“When the event befalleth - There is no denying that it will befall - Abasing (some), exalting (others)”
Qur'an 56:1-3 · Pickthall (1930)
Al-Khāfiḍ is not found word for word as a Name in the Qur'an. It comes from the traditional lists of the 99 Names and from the chapter called al-Wāqiʿah, ‘the Event’, which describes the Last Day as khāfiḍah rāfiʿah, ‘lowering, raising’ (56:3). Scholars always paired it with ar-Rāfiʿ, and explained it as lowering the arrogant and the unjust.
The Prophet Muhammad ﷺ (peace be upon him) gave the human side of the Name: “No one humbles himself for God's sake but God raises him” (Muslim 2588). The way to avoid being lowered is to lower yourself first.
Same and different
This is one of the places where the three faiths sound almost identical. Hannah's song, Mary's Magnificat and the Qur'an's ‘lowering, raising’ all describe a God who brings down the proud and lifts the humble. All three tell the story of Korah or Qārūn. Judaism reads Hannah's song aloud at the start of every new year, on Rosh Hashanah. Christianity sees the reversal above all in Christ, who humbled himself. Islam turns it into a pair of Names. None of them treats the lowering as cruelty: in each, it is justice for those who were pushed down.
A moment to reflect
- Have you ever been brought down a peg, and was it good for you in the end?
- Who have you seen rise after being overlooked, and what changed for them?
- Is there a ‘best seat’ you could give up this week?
Watch
Be Smart on how the Colorado River carved the Grand Canyon: the ‘In nature’ rung.
The British Library explains Magna Carta: the ‘At our best’ rung.
ESA's view of the Mississippi delta, where the river lays down what it took from the heights.
Do it together
At your next shared meal, ask the most senior person present to serve and sit last. Read Luke 14:7-11 and Muslim 2588 together, then talk about how it felt for everyone.
Visit Runnymede in Surrey (National Trust, free), where Magna Carta was sealed. Read clause 39 aloud on the meadow and talk about what it means for the powerful to be under the law.
Read Hannah's song (1 Samuel 2:1-10) and Mary's Magnificat (Luke 1:46-55) side by side, the older first. Pick out every line about something being brought low or lifted up, and talk about who those people might be today.
Go deeper
- British Library: Magna Carta, an introduction · museum
- US National Park Service: Grand Canyon geology · article
- Qur'an 28:76-83 on Quran.com · scripture
- 1 Samuel 2 on Sefaria · scripture
- Luke 14 (WEB): the best seat at the wedding · scripture
- Talmud, Eruvin 13b on Sefaria: greatness runs from those who chase it · text
Sources (4)
- Cnut and the tide; crown hung up afterwards: Henry of Huntingdon, Historia Anglorum, c.1130 (via Encyclopaedia Britannica)
- Grand Canyon up to 1.8 km deep, 446 km long, carved over 5-6 million years: US National Park Service
- Magna Carta 1215: lawful judgement of peers; annulled by the Pope within ten weeks: British Library
- ‘No one humbles himself for God but God raises him’: Sahih Muslim 2588