523 – Hakim ibn Hizam (may Allah be pleased with him) reported that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said, “The upper hand is better than the lower hand. Begin with those you support. The best charity is that which is given from surplus wealth. Whoever strives to remain chaste, Allah will grant him chastity; and whoever seeks to be self-sufficient, Allah will enrich him.” Agreed upon, and the wording is that of al-Bukhari. (1)

Vocabulary of the hadith:
– The upper hand and the lower hand: Both Sahih collections explain that the upper hand is the one that gives, while the lower is the one that asks. Al-Nawawi said: the giving hand is superior to the taking hand, and the spending hand is higher than the begging hand.
– “Begin with those you support”: this covers voluntary charity, obligatory charity, and the regular maintenance of one’s dependents.
– taʿūlu: al-ʿaylah denotes poverty and need. The phrase ʿāla ʿiyālah ʿawlan means he provided for their livelihood and expenses, and ʿāla the orphan means he assumed his care and upbringing.
– ʿan ẓahri ghina (from surplus wealth): an idiom indicating firm possession and settled sufficiency. The indefiniteness generalizes the meaning, i.e., whatever exceeds one’s needs after covering the expenses of dependents. The word “ẓahr” here is an additional particle used for stylistic breadth and to complete the flow of the sentence.
– “Whoever strives to remain chaste” (man yastaʿfif): the conditional particle man puts two verbs in the jussive mood: yastaʿfif (the condition) and yuʿiffahu (the response). Chastity (taʿaffuf) is to refrain from what is forbidden and from begging people.
– “Allah will grant him chastity”: It is said ʿaffa ʿan al-masʾalah (he refrained from asking) and istaʿaffa (he desisted); such a person is described as ʿaf or ʿafīf (chaste). Yuʿiffahu Allah means that Allah makes him chaste, grants him the virtue of restraint, and enriches him so that he has no need for what is in the hands of others.