Al-Baqarah · Madani · ayah 261 of 286

Al-Baqarah 2:261

مَّثَلُ ٱلَّذِينَ يُنفِقُونَ أَمْوَٰلَهُمْ فِى سَبِيلِ ٱللَّهِ كَمَثَلِ حَبَّةٍ أَنۢبَتَتْ سَبْعَ سَنَابِلَ فِى كُلِّ سُنۢبُلَةٍ مِّا۟ئَةُ حَبَّةٍ ۗ وَٱللَّهُ يُضَـٰعِفُ لِمَن يَشَآءُ ۗ وَٱللَّهُ وَٰسِعٌ عَلِيمٌ

“The example of those who spend their wealth in the way of Allāh is like a seed [of grain] which grows seven spikes; in each spike is a hundred grains. And Allāh multiplies [His reward] for whom He wills. And Allāh is all-Encompassing and Knowing.”

Saheeh International

Essence

Spending in Allah's way is a seed that becomes seven ears with a hundred grains each, and the Vast, Knowing One multiplies further still.

A reflection

No thermometer measures this

Outside a mosque, a fundraising thermometer is painted on a board. Each week a volunteer colours a little more of it red. Everyone can see how much has been given. Nobody can see what it has become.

The ayah does the arithmetic first: one seed, seven ears, a hundred grains in each. Seven hundred. Then it breaks its own ceiling. 'And Allah multiplies for whom He wills'. A concise commentary says: more than that. The number was never the limit. It was the beginning of a picture.

Then two names. Wāsiʿ: the lexicons picture a vessel with room to spare, which never overflows however much is poured in. A classical commentator explains it here as bounty wider than all His creation. ʿAlīm: He knows who is fit for the multiplying. A modern commentary adds that it depends on the faith and sincerity in the giver's heart.

This is where our ego is quietly corrected. We like giving we can measure. The tier on the donor list. The amount in the group chat. The red line on the board. But the real multiplier is not in our hands, or even in our sight. A large gift with a proud heart may stay small. A coin from a sincere heart may grow beyond counting.

Someone may ask whether a God who boasts of His vastness is showing off. But consider who benefits from the boast. Not Allah. He loses nothing by giving and gains nothing by being praised. He is free of all need (35:15). The vastness is announced so that the giver stops counting.

Give, then, and leave the thermometer alone. The arithmetic belongs to Someone else.

The full entry has 7 more reflections, questions to sit with, and "Live it today" - with the words, the roots and the tafsir alongside. Free, no account, works offline.