Al-Tafsīr al-Qayyim - Ibn al-Qayyim - (151)

Al-Tafsīr al-QayyimIbn al-Qayyim

[Surah al-Baqarah (2): Verse 245]

“Who is it that will lend Allah a goodly loan, which He will multiply for him many times over? Allah withholds and grants abundance, and to Him you will be returned.” (245)

And His saying: “Who is it that will lend Allah a goodly loan, which He will multiply for him, and he will have a noble reward.”

He, Glorified is He, begins the verse with the gentlest form of address: a question conveying a request. This is more emphatic in making a request than a direct command. The meaning is: Will anyone offer this goodly loan and be rewarded for it many times over?

He calls such spending a goodly loan to encourage people and inspire them to give. When a person knows that his very wealth will certainly be returned to him, he becomes willing to part with it and finds it easy to do so. If he knows that the borrower is solvent, faithful in repayment, and generous, he gives still more gladly and willingly.

If he knows that the borrower will trade on his behalf with what he borrows, increasing it and making it yield returns until it becomes many times what he gave, he will be all the more willing to lend.

If he knows that, beyond all this, the borrower will bestow upon him, out of His bounty and generosity, an additional reward of a different kind from the loan itself—a tremendous bounty and a generous gift—then nothing would hold him back from lending to Him except the inward affliction of miserliness and avarice, or a lack of trust in the guarantee of repayment.

That stems from weakness in his faith. This is why charity is a proof for the one who gives it.

All these meanings are contained in the wording of the verse. He calls it a loan and declares that He Himself is the borrower—not because He needs a loan, but to bestow kindness upon the lender, invite him to deal with Him, and make known how great the profit is. He is the One who gave him his wealth and invited him to deal with Him through it.

He then tells him what the loan will bring him in return: manifold increase.

Then He tells him what He will grant him beyond that increase: the noble reward.

[سورة البقرة (٢) : آية ٢٤٥] مَنْ ذَا الَّذِي يُقْرِضُ اللَّهَ قَرْضاً حَسَناً فَيُضاعِفَهُ لَهُ أَضْعافاً كَثِيرَةً وَاللَّهُ يَقْبِضُ وَيَبْصُطُ وَإِلَيْهِ تُرْجَعُونَ (٢٤٥) وقوله: مَنْ ذَا الَّذِي يُقْرِضُ اللَّهَ قَرْضاً حَسَناً فَيُضاعِفَهُ لَهُ وَلَهُ أَجْرٌ كَرِيمٌ. صدر سبحانه الآية بألطف أنواع الخطاب، وهو الاستفهام المتضمن معنى الطلب، وهو أبلغ في الطلب من صيغة الأمر. والمعنى: هل أحد يبذل هذا القرض الحسن، فيجازي عليه أضعافا مضاعفة؟. وسمي ذلك الإنفاق قرضا حسنا حثّا للنفوس، وبعثا لها على البذل. لأن الباذل متى علم أن عين ماله يعود إليه ولا بد طوّعت له نفسه، وسهل عليه إخراجه. فإن علم أن المستقرض ملئ وفيّ محسن، كان أبلغ في طيب فعله وسماحة نفسه. فإن علم أن المستقرض يتجر له بما اقترضه، وينميه له ويثمّره حتى يصير أضعاف ما بذله كان بالقرض أسمح وأسمح. فإن علم أنه مع ذلك كله يزيده من فضله وعطائه أجرا آخر من غير جنس القرض، فإن ذلك الأجر حظ عظيم، وعطاء كريم، فإنه لا يختلف عن قرضه إلا لآفة في نفسه من البخل والشح، أو عدم الثقة بالضمان. وذلك من ضعف إيمانه. ولهذا كانت الصدقة برهانا لصاحبها. وهذه الأمور كلها تحت هذه الألفاظ التي تضمنتها الآية، فإنه سماه قرضا وأخبر أنه هو المقترض لا قرض حاجة، ولكن قرض إحسان إلى المقرض واستدعاء لمعاملته، وليعرف مقدار الربح، فهو الذي أعطاه ماله واستدعى منه معاملته به. ثم أخبر عما يرجع إليه بالقرض، وهو الأضعاف المضاعفة. ثم أخبر عما يعطيه فوق ذلك من الزيادة، وهو الأجر الكريم.