al-Taghābun

إِن تُقْرِضُوا اللَّهَ قَرْضًا حَسَنًا يُضَاعِفْهُ لَكُمْ وَيَغْفِرْ لَكُمْ ۚ وَاللَّهُ شَكُورٌ حَلِيمٌ

عَالِمُ الْغَيْبِ وَالشَّهَادَةِ الْعَزِيزُ الْحَكِيمُ

17. If you lend Allah a goodly loan, He will double it for you and will forgive you. And Allah is Most Prepared to appreciate and the Most Forbearing.
18. He is the All-Knower of the unseen and seen, the All-Mighty, the All-Wise.

To encourage believers to expend in Allah’s Cause and refraining from niggardliness and covetousness, the blessed Verse 17 is saying that if you lend Allah a goodly loan, He will make it two folds for you and He will forgive you. He is Most Prepared to appreciate and reward and He is Most Forbearing. Such wondrous expression is recurrently attested in the Holy Qur’an with respect to expending in Allah’s Cause. God Almighty who is the Creator of the world of existence and He bestows all Bounties and owns all things asks us to lend Him a goodly loan and receive a twofold compensation in return.

He forgives us and appreciates our lending Him a goodly loan. Better rewards, affection, and compensation are unimaginable. It is impossible to transcend such Majesty and Graciousness. Our possessions all belong to Him but we will receive such great Rewards in return for lending such goodly loan. Such Reward reflects the significance of expending in Allah’s Cause on the one hand and the Infinite Bounties bestowed upon His servants on the other.

The Arabic word qardh originally denotes "sever, cut," though when it is accompanied by the word hasan "good" it connotes separation from one’s possessions and expending the same in a good cause. The Arabic verbal form yudha‘if deriving from the root dh-‘-f, denotes making twofold or manifold, though in terms of expending in Allah’s Cause, according to the Holy Qur’an, it may reach seven hundred fold and may even exceed the same¹⁸. The clause

reflects that expending in Allah’s Cause leads to the forgiveness of one’s sins. The adjective

is a Divine Attribute indicating that God Almighty is Most Ready to appreciate the righteous good deeds of His servants by granting great Rewards. His Patience (hilm) reflects His forgiving of sins and lack of haste in chastising the servants. The blessed Verse is also saying that God Almighty is All-Aware of the seen and the unseen and He is the Omnipotence, the All-Wise. God Almighty is All-Aware of what His servants do in private and in public.

He is Omniscient of what they expend in His Cause. If He asks them to lend Him a goodly loan, it does not reflect His need and lack powerlessness, rather such request indicates His Infinite Affection and Grace. Such great Rewards in return for expending in His Cause reflect His Wisdom. Therefore, the five Divine Attributes mentioned in the blessed Verse in question and the preceding One are all related to the encouragement to expend in His Cause, though according attention to such Attributes makes man more steadfast in his obedience to God Almighty and refraining from committing sins and grants him the spirit of fear of God Almighty, will power, and encouragement.

Finally, it would be of interest to make reference to a Prophetic tradition according to which no infant is born unless five Verses from Surah al-Taghabun are written on its skull¹⁹by which the last five blessed Verses concerning worldly possessions and children may be intended. The inscription of these five blessed Verses on the skull reflected the certainty of the contents of these Verses applicable to all human beings without any exception. It clearly indicates that such dispositions are to be found in mankind.

O Lord! Render us aid in such great trial regarding affection for possessions and families.

O Lord! Assist us in warding off niggardliness, avariciousness, and covetousness since turning away from such vices leads to deliverance and salvation.