(264) “O you who believe, do not invalidate your charities 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 stone covered with soil: heavy rain strikes it and leaves it bare. They shall have no power over anything they have earned. And Allah does not guide the disbelieving people.”

Out of kindness and mercy toward His servants, the Exalted forbids them from invalidating their charities through reminders of generosity and hurt. This indicates that such reminders and hurt invalidate charity. It is also cited as evidence that evil deeds invalidate good deeds, as the Exalted says: “Do not raise your voices to him as you raise them to one another, lest your deeds be rendered worthless without your realizing it.” Just as good deeds remove evil deeds, evil deeds invalidate the good deeds that they counteract. This verse, together with the Exalted’s words, “Do not invalidate your deeds,” encourages people to perfect their deeds and protect them from everything that could corrupt them, lest their efforts go utterly to waste.

His words, “like one who spends his wealth to be seen by people and does not believe in Allah and the Last Day,” mean that even if you initially sought Allah’s countenance, reminders of generosity and hurt invalidate your deeds, reducing them to the level of the deeds of one who acts to be seen by people and does not seek thereby Allah or the Hereafter. There can be no doubt that his deed is rejected from the outset, for a deed must be devoted to Allah alone, whereas this is in reality a deed performed for people, not for Allah. His deeds are therefore worthless, and his efforts merit no gratitude.

The likeness that precisely corresponds to his condition is “that of a smooth stone”—a hard, polished stone—“covered with soil: heavy rain strikes it,” meaning abundant rain, “and leaves it bare,” with no soil remaining upon it. Such is the condition of this ostentatious man: his heart is hard and callous like the stone, while his charity and similar deeds resemble the soil upon it. When someone unaware of his true condition sees it, he imagines it to be fertile ground capable of sustaining vegetation. But when the reality of his condition is exposed, that soil disappears, and it becomes clear that his deed is like a mirage and that his heart is unfit ⦗114⦘ for crops to grow and thrive upon it. Rather, the ostentation and corrupt intentions within him prevent him from benefiting in any way from his deeds. Hence, “they shall have no power over anything” of the deeds they earned, because they placed them where they did not belong and devoted them to creatures like themselves, who possess no power either to harm or benefit them. They turned away from worshipping the One whose worship would benefit them, so Allah turned their hearts away from guidance. Hence He says: “And Allah does not guide the disbelieving people.”