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﴿40﴾ أمْ تَسْألُهُمْ أجْرًا فَهُم مِّن مَّغْرَمٍ مُّثْقَلُونَ

40. Or is it that you ask a wage from them [for your Prophetic Call] so that they are burdened with a load
of debt?

Exegesis:

The blessed Verse in question makes a reference to something which may be made use of by them as a pretext thereby the Noble Prophet (SAW) is addressed by a rhetorical question: "Do you ask some remuneration from them for your Prophetic Call such that it bears heavily on their shoulders?"

The Arabic word maghram designates the loss incurred without any cause. The word muthqal which is cognate with ithqāl denotes imposing heavy burden and hardship on someone. Thus the contextual meaning of the blessed Verse is "Do you ask for indemnity against propagation of your Prophetic Call such that they are unable to settle their debt and thereby fail to convert to the Islamic faith?" The same motif is recurrently used in the Holy Qur’an not only regarding the Noble Prophet of Islam (SAW) but also for many other Prophets (AS), since the latter opened their Prophetic Call by saying that they did not expect any remuneration against propagation of Divine Call, such that their impartiality be substantiated and there remains no room for making excuses by those who find faults with everything.