pardoning a petitioner if he treats you harshly or causes you hurt because you have turned him away. Pardoning him is then better than giving him charity and hurting him. This follows the better-known of the two interpretations of the verse. The second interpretation is that forgiveness comes from Allah: forgiveness granted to you by Allah because of your kind words and gracious refusal is better than charity followed by hurt. There is also a third interpretation: the petitioner’s forgiveness and pardon, when he is turned away and the person approached offers an excuse, are better for him than receiving charity followed by hurt. The first interpretation is the clearest, followed by the second. The third is very weak, because the address is directed to the giver who is approached, not to the petitioner who receives. The meaning is that speaking kindly to him, overlooking his faults, and pardoning him are better for you than giving him charity and hurting him.
He then concludes the verse with two attributes appropriate to its content, saying: “And Allah is Free of need and Forbearing.” This conveys two meanings.
The first is that Allah has no need of you; none of your charity reaches Him. Rather, the greatest benefit of charity is yours: its benefit returns to you, not to Him, glorified and exalted is He. How, then, can someone remind others of his generosity and hurt them through his spending, when Allah has absolutely no need of it or of anything besides Him? Yet He is Forbearing, for He does not hasten to punish the one who reminds others of his generosity. This also contains a threat and a warning.
The second meaning is that, despite His complete freedom from need in every respect, He, glorified and exalted is He, is characterized by forbearance, pardon, and forgiveness, alongside His all-embracing gifts and charity. How, then, can any of you cause hurt through reminders of generosity and offensive treatment, despite the smallness and meagreness of what he gives and his own neediness? Then:
[Surah al-Baqarah (2): Verse 264]
“O you who believe, do not invalidate your charity with reminders of your generosity and hurt, like one who spends his wealth to be seen by people and does not believe in Allah and the Last Day. His likeness is that of a smooth rock covered with dust: a downpour strikes it and leaves it bare. They will gain nothing from what they have earned. And Allah does not guide the disbelieving people.” (264)
This verse thus declares that reminders of generosity and hurt invalidate charity. This is evidence that a good deed may be nullified by a bad deed, as is His saying, Most High:
“O you who believe, do not raise your voices above the voice of the Prophet, nor speak loudly to him as you speak loudly to one another, lest your deeds become worthless while you are unaware.” (49:2)
This issue has already been discussed at the beginning of this treatise, so there is no need to