—that is, by reminding the recipient of his gift, saying, “I gave you such-and-such,” and enumerating his favors to him, thereby spoiling them. “Nor hurt”—that is, by reproaching him, saying, “How long will you keep asking? And how much you trouble me!” It was also said that hurt includes mentioning one’s spending on his behalf in the presence of someone whose knowing of it he would dislike.

Sufyan said: “Reminders and hurt” means that one says, “I gave you and gave you, yet you did not thank me.” ‘Abd al-Rahman ibn Zayd ibn Aslam said: My father would say, “If you give a man something and find that even your greeting is burdensome to him, then refrain from greeting him.” Thus, Allah has forbidden His servants to remind others of their favors, while reserving it as an attribute for Himself; for when it comes from people, it is reproach and spoiling, whereas from Allah it is gracious bestowal and a reminder of His blessings. “They shall have their reward”—that is, their recompense—“with their Lord, and no fear shall come upon them, nor shall they grieve.”

“A kind word” means good speech and a gracious response to the one asking. It was also said to mean a good promise. Al-Kalbi said: It is a righteous supplication that a person offers for his brother in his absence. Al-Dahhak said: It was revealed concerning reconciliation between people. “And forgiveness” means concealing his need and not exposing his condition. Al-Kalbi and Al-Dahhak said: It means pardoning one who has wronged him. It was also said that one overlooks it if a poor person acts arrogantly toward him when he turns him down. “Is better than charity” which he gives him, “followed by hurt”—that is, reminders of generosity and reproach of the beggar, or words that hurt him. “And Allah is Self-Sufficient,” meaning independent of the charity of His servants, “Most Forbearing,” not hastening the punishment of one who reminds others of his generosity and causes hurt through charity.

His saying, exalted is He: “O you who believe, do not invalidate your charities”—that is, the rewards for your charities—“by reminders of generosity,” directed at the beggar. Ibn ‘Abbas, may Allah be pleased with him, said: By regarding it as a favor to Allah Most High, “and hurt” to its recipient. Then He sets forth a parable for this, saying: “Like one who spends his wealth”—that is, like the invalidation of the deeds of one who spends his wealth—“to be seen by people,” seeking to be noticed and praised, so that they see his spending and say, “He is generous and liberal,” “and does not believe in Allah or the Last Day.” He means that showing off invalidates charity, and spending done for show is not among the deeds of the believers. This applies to the hypocrites, for the disbeliever openly professes his disbelief and does not seek to appear otherwise. “His likeness”—that is, the likeness of this show-off—“is that of a smooth rock,” a smooth stone. The word may be singular or plural: those who take it as plural give its singular as safwanah, while those who take it as singular give its plural as sufiyy. “Upon it”—that is, upon the smooth rock—“is dust; then a heavy downpour strikes it,” meaning rain that is heavy and large in drops, “leaving it bare,” that is, smooth. A bare rock is a hard, smooth stone upon which there is nothing.

This is the parable Allah Most High has set forth for the spending of the hypocrite, the one who shows off, and the believer who reminds others of his charity, causes hurt, and outwardly makes people think that such people have deeds—just as the dust can be seen upon this smooth rock. But when the Day of Resurrection comes, all of it will be nullified and vanish, because it was not for Allah, exalted is He—just as the heavy downpour washes away the dust upon the smooth rock, leaving it bare. “They gain nothing from what they have earned”—that is, they gain none of the reward for what they earned and did in this world. “And Allah does not guide the disbelieving people.”

Abu ‘Abd Allah Muhammad ibn al-Fadl al-Kharaqi informed us; Abu al-Hasan al-Taysafuni informed us; ‘Abd Allah ibn ‘Umar al-Jawhari informed us; Ahmad ibn ‘Ali al-Kushmihani informed us; ‘Ali ibn Hujr informed us; Isma‘il ibn Ja‘far informed us; ‘Amr ibn Abi ‘Amr, the client of al-Muttalib, informed us from ‘Asim ibn ‘Umar, from Mahmud ibn Labid, that the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, said: “Indeed, what I fear most for you is minor associationism.” They said, “O Messenger of Allah, what is minor associationism?” He said, “Showing off. On the Day when Allah recompenses His servants for their deeds, He will say to them: ‘Go to those before whom you used to show off in the worldly life, and see whether you find with them—”