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Formulas and refrains 13 / 17
"Thus do We recompense those who do good"
The formula « كَذَٰلِكَ نَجْزِى ٱلْمُحْسِنِينَ » closes nine accounts or passages by recalling that good done receives its recompense. It is translated everywhere "Thus do We recompense those who do good".
The nine occurrences:
- in sura 37 it closes five accounts in a row: Nuh (37:80), Ibrahim (37:105, 37:110), Moussa and Haroun (37:121), Ilyas (37:131);
- it follows the praise of the prophets in 6:84, Youssof's coming of age in 12:22 and Moussa's in 28:14;
- it closes the description of those who guard themselves in 77:44.
The participle ٱلْمُحْسِنِينَ is rendered "those who do good": it describes a practice, not a rank.
Whether the formula begins with إِنَّا كَذَٰلِكَ or with وَكَذَٰلِكَ, the translation does not change: it is the same in all nine occurrences.
In the text
إِنَّا كَذَٰلِكَ نَجْزِى ٱلْمُحْسِنِينَ“Thus do We recompense those who do good.”
Close of the account of Nuh (37:80), repeated at the end of four other accounts in the sura.
وَكَذَٰلِكَ نَجْزِى ٱلْمُحْسِنِينَ“thus do We recompense those who do good.”
With وَ instead of إِنَّا: same rendering.