The Story
IN THE NAME OF GOD, THE MOST GRACIOUS, THE DISPENSER OF GRACE[28:76]
[NOW,] BEHOLD, Qārūn was one of the people of Moses; but he arrogantly exalted himself above them – simply because We had granted him such riches that his treasure-chests alone would surely have been too heavy a burden for a troop of ten strong men or even more.
When [they perceived his arrogance,] his people said unto him: "Exult not [in thy wealth], for, verily, God does not love those who exult [in things vain]!

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* v.76 : The structure of the above sentence is meant to show that even a person who had been a follower of one of the greatest of God’s apostles was not above the possibility of sinning under the influence of false pride and self-exaltation – a particular example of the “false imagery” referred to in the preceding passage. The conventional “identification” of Qārūn with the Korah of the Old Testament (Numbers xvi) is neither relevant nor warranted by the Qur’anic text, the more so as the purport of this legend is a moral lesson and not a historical narrative. This, by the way, explains also the juxtaposition, elsewhere in the Qur’ān (29:39 and 40:24), of Qārūn with Pharaoh, the arch-sinner.
* The term ‘usbah denotes a company of ten or more (up to forty) persons; since it is used here metonymically, pointing to the great weight involved, it is best rendered as above. – The noun mafātih is a plural of both miftah or miftāh (“key”) and maftah (“that which is under lock and key,” i.e., a “hoard of wealth” or “treasure chest”), which latter meaning is obviously the one intended in the present context.