wealth when it increases. Goodness will never grow except by abandoning evil. Crops do not flourish until the tangled growth among them is removed. Likewise, the soul and its deeds do not flourish until whatever opposes their goodness is removed. A person cannot purify himself without abandoning evil, for evil sullies and debases the soul.
Al-Zajjāj explained dassāhā (he debased it) as making the soul lowly, contemptible, and base. Al-Farrā explained the expression by noting that the miser conceals himself, his home, and his wealth. Ibn Qutayba explained it as concealing the soul through wickedness and disobedience. The wicked man buries his soul—that is, he suppresses and hides it—whereas the doer of good makes himself known and elevates his soul. Generous Arabs would settle on hilltops to make themselves known, while the mean-spirited would settle in outlying places and valleys.
Righteousness and piety expand the soul and bring ease to the heart, so that a person finds within himself a spaciousness and openness beyond what he experienced before. As he opens himself through righteousness, piety, and goodness, Allah expands his soul and brings ease to his heart. Wickedness and miserliness, by contrast, suppress, abase, and humiliate the soul, leaving the miser feeling constricted within himself.
The Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, illustrated this in an authentic hadith, saying:
“The miser and the giver of charity are like two men wearing coats of iron, with their hands pressed up against their collarbones. Whenever the giver intends to give charity, his coat expands and loosens around him until it covers his fingertips and wipes away his footprints. But whenever the miser intends to give charity, his coat contracts, and each ring grips its place.”
“I saw Allah’s Messenger, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, gesturing with his finger inside the neck opening of his garment. If only you could have seen it as he tried to widen it, yet it would not widen!”
Reported by both al-Bukhārī and Muslim.