Allah, we are indeed content.”

He said:

“You will indeed find others being greatly favored over you after I am gone. So remain patient until you meet Allah and His Messenger at the Pool.”

They said, “We shall remain patient.” (1).

And Allah Most High says:

“But the most God-fearing will be kept far from it—
the one who gives his wealth to purify himself,
with no favor from anyone awaiting repayment,
but only seeking the Face of his Lord, the Most High.
And he will surely be pleased.”

(Surah al-Layl (The Night): 17–21)

The exception here is discontinuous. That is, he does not restrict his giving to those who have done him a favor that he thereby repays. Repaying such favors is part of the justice people owe one another, like reciprocal exchange in sales and hiring.

This is obligatory upon everyone toward everyone else. If no one has done him (2) a favor requiring repayment, he has no need for such reciprocation, and his giving is then devoted purely to the Face of his Lord, the Most High. This differs from someone who owes another person a favor (3) (4) that he must repay (5), for he needs to give that person something in recompense (6) for it. When this man—who owes no one a favor requiring repayment—gives his wealth to purify himself, (7) he has always returned people’s favors, assisted them, and recompensed them in his dealings with them. Thus, when he gave away—seeking purification—the wealth Allah had granted him (8), no one had done him any favor requiring repayment.