weak, having been overtaken by old age.
This is among the most dreadful of circumstances. Hence, this example begins with the question, “Would any of you like…” to the end of the verse—a question whose dreadful implications are readily acknowledged by those addressed. For the garden to be destroyed all at once, after its trees had flourished and its fruits had ripened, is a tremendous calamity.
Then for this catastrophe to occur when its owner is old and no longer able to work, while he has weak offspring who cannot assist him and whose maintenance falls upon him, is yet another catastrophe. Thus, the one represented by this example—who performed a deed for Allah and then nullified it by doing something incompatible with it—resembles the owner of the garden that suffered such a fate precisely when his need for it had become most acute.
The third example concerns one who spends to be seen by people, without faith in Allah or hope of His reward. His heart is likened to a smooth rock covered with soil. An observer supposes that when rain falls upon it, it will produce growth just as fertile land does. Yet it is merely a rock: when a heavy downpour strikes it, the rain washes away the soil upon it and leaves it bare.
This precisely depicts the heart of one who shows off. There is no faith within it; rather, it is hard, neither softening nor humbling itself.
His deeds and expenditures therefore have no foundation upon which to be built and no end toward which they are directed. Whatever he does is invalid because its essential condition is absent.
The deed in the preceding example was nullified after its essential condition had been present because an impediment arose. The first deed, however, is accepted and multiplied because its condition—faith, sincerity, and steadfastness—is present and all corrupting impediments are absent. These three examples apply to everyone who performs deeds. Let the servant therefore assess himself and others by these just standards and fitting examples: “These examples We set forth for people, but none understand them except those endowed with knowledge.”
﴿267–268﴾ “O you who believe, spend from the good things you have earned and from what We have brought forth for you from the earth. Do not choose what is inferior from it to give away, though you yourselves would not accept it without overlooking its defects. Know that Allah is Self-Sufficient, Praiseworthy. * Satan threatens you with poverty and commands you to commit indecency, while Allah promises you forgiveness from Him and bounty. Allah is All-Encompassing, All-Knowing.”
The Creator urges His servants to spend from what they earn through commerce and from what He brings forth for them from the earth, including grains and fruits. This encompasses zakat on gold and silver, all merchandise prepared for trade, and the grains and fruits produced by the earth. Its general wording includes both obligatory and voluntary spending.
Allah Most High commands them to choose what is good from these things, rather than deliberately selecting what is inferior and of poor quality to offer to Allah. If someone who owed them their due offered such inferior goods to them, they would neither approve of nor accept them unless they tolerated their inferiority and overlooked their defects.
What is obligatory, therefore, is to give items of average quality; perfection lies in giving the finest; and giving what is inferior is prohibited. Inferior goods do not discharge the obligation, nor do they secure the full reward in voluntary giving.
“Know that Allah is Self-Sufficient, Praiseworthy.” He has no need of any created being. He has no need of the expenditures of those who spend or the acts of obedience of those who obey. He has commanded and encouraged them to do these things only for their own benefit and purely out of His grace and generosity toward them.
Despite His perfect self-sufficiency and the vastness of His gifts, He is worthy of praise for the rulings He prescribes for His servants, which lead them to the Abode of Peace.
He is worthy of praise for His actions, which never depart from grace, justice, and wisdom. He is also worthy of praise for His attributes, for all His attributes are beautiful and perfect; His servants cannot fathom their true nature or fully describe them.
﴿268﴾ After urging them to engage in beneficial spending and forbidding them from harmful withholding, He explains that they are faced with two callers:
The caller of the Most Merciful summons them to goodness and promises them goodness, bounty, immediate and deferred reward, and replacement for what they spend.
The caller of Satan urges them to withhold and frightens them with the prospect of becoming poor if they spend. Whoever answers the caller of the Most Merciful and spends from what Allah has provided him should rejoice in the forgiveness of sins and the attainment of all that he seeks. Whoever answers the caller of Satan should know that Satan only calls his followers so that they may become companions of the Blaze. Let the servant therefore choose which of these two courses is more fitting for him.
The verse concludes by stating that He is “All-Encompassing, All-Knowing”: His attributes are boundless, His gifts are abundant, and He knows which doers deserve multiplied reward. He knows who is worthy and grants him success in performing good deeds and abandoning evil ones.
﴿269﴾ “He grants wisdom to whomever He wills, and whoever is granted wisdom has certainly been granted abundant good. Yet none take heed except people of sound understanding.”
Having mentioned the circumstances of those who spend their wealth, and that Allah has given and favored them with wealth through which they can spend in charitable causes and attain lofty stations, He now mentions something even better: He grants wisdom to whomever He wills among His servants and to those among His creation for whom He intends good.
Wisdom consists of beneficial knowledge, correct understanding, sound judgment, sober intellect, and attaining what is right in both word and deed.
This is the finest gift and the greatest bestowal. Hence, He says, “Whoever is granted wisdom has certainly been granted abundant good.” This is because he has emerged from the darkness of ignorance into the light of guidance, and from foolish deviation in word and deed to correctness and sound guidance in both. Through this tremendous good, he perfects himself and becomes prepared to confer the greatest benefit upon creation in both their religious and worldly affairs.
All affairs can be set right only through wisdom, which means putting things in their proper places, assigning matters their due stations, proceeding where action is called for, and refraining where restraint is called for.
Yet none take heed of this tremendous matter or recognize the worth of this immense gift “except people of sound understanding.” These are people of sound minds and mature judgment, who recognize what is beneficial and act upon it, and recognize what is harmful and abandon it.
These two matters—giving financial wealth and imparting knowledge and wisdom—are the finest means by which those seeking nearness draw closer to Allah, and the highest means by which they attain the greatest honors.
They are the two mentioned by the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) when he said: “There is no envy except in two cases: a man whom Allah has given wealth and empowered to expend it for the truth, and a man whom Allah has given wisdom and who teaches it to the people.”
﴿270–271﴾ “Whatever expenditure you make or vow you make, Allah surely knows it, and the wrongdoers will have no helpers. If you disclose your charities, that is good; but if you conceal them and give them to the poor, that is better for you, and He will expiate some of your sins. Allah is All-Aware of what you do.”
Allah Most High informs us that whatever those who spend may spend, whatever donors may give in charity, and whatever those making vows may vow, Allah knows it.