Muhammad · Madani · ayah 38 of 38

Muhammad 47:38

هَـٰٓأَنتُمْ هَـٰٓؤُلَآءِ تُدْعَوْنَ لِتُنفِقُوا۟ فِى سَبِيلِ ٱللَّهِ فَمِنكُم مَّن يَبْخَلُ ۖ وَمَن يَبْخَلْ فَإِنَّمَا يَبْخَلُ عَن نَّفْسِهِۦ ۚ وَٱللَّهُ ٱلْغَنِىُّ وَأَنتُمُ ٱلْفُقَرَآءُ ۚ وَإِن تَتَوَلَّوْا۟ يَسْتَبْدِلْ قَوْمًا غَيْرَكُمْ ثُمَّ لَا يَكُونُوٓا۟ أَمْثَـٰلَكُم

“Here you are - those invited to spend in the cause of Allāh - but among you are those who withhold [out of greed]. And whoever withholds only withholds [benefit] from himself; and Allāh is the Free of need, while you are the needy. And if you turn away [i.e., refuse], He will replace you with another people; then they will not be the likes of you.”

Saheeh International

Essence

You are called to spend for Allah; whoever holds back only holds back from himself, for Allah is the Rich and you are the poor.

A reflection

The Rich, and the poor

"And Allah is the Rich, and you are the poor". Six words in Arabic, and they settle the whole relationship between the Creator and His creation.

One classical commentator explains them carefully. He is free of need of everything besides Himself. And everything is in need of Him, always. Richness is a quality that never leaves Him, he says. Poverty is a quality that never leaves created things; they are never free of it.

The roots make this vivid. Ghinā is sufficiency: having enough. People were said to ghanū in a place when they settled there content, needing nowhere else. Faqr is traced in one lexicon to the faqār, the vertebrae of the back. The poor man was pictured as one whose spine is broken by need.

So the ayah places every human being, however wealthy, with a bent back before Allah. Not because He wants us humiliated. Because that is simply what we are.

That is a hard truth for human pride. Wealth, status and ability whisper that we stand on our own feet. Arrogance grows from that whisper.

Picture a property developer whose name is on half the new buildings in his town. At seventy, after a fall, he is home with a hip that will not bear weight. One morning he cannot open a jar of pickles. He has to call the carer from the next room. He sits holding the jar for a long minute after she has gone.

Every one of us is that man, all the time. The jar only makes it visible. Allah is the One who needs nothing. We are the ones who need Him for every breath.

The full entry has 5 more reflections, questions to sit with, and "Live it today" - with the words, the roots and the tafsir alongside. Free, no account, works offline.