Tafseer of The Cow · Al-Baqara · 2:110
And establish prayer and give zakah, and whatever good you put forward for yourselves - you will find it with Allah. Indeed, Allah of what you do, is Seeing.
Important: The Arabic source text is always authoritative. This translation is a study aid and has not been verified by scholars — do not use it as a basis for religious proof or for deriving rulings (ahkam). When in doubt, always consult the Arabic text and a qualified scholar.
وَأَقِيمُوا الصَّلَاةَ وَآتُوا الزَّكَاةَ ("And establish the ritual prayer (ṣalāh) and give the obligatory alms (zakāh).")
The statement concerning the explanation of His word, the Exalted: وَأَقِيمُوا الصَّلَاة وَآتُوا الزَّكَاة ("And establish the ritual prayer and give the obligatory alms"). Abū Jaʿfar said: We have already demonstrated, in what has passed earlier, what the meaning is of establishing the ṣalāh — namely that it is performing it completely with its limits and its obligations — and what the explanation of the ṣalāh is and what its origin is, and what the meaning is of giving the zakāh — namely that it is paying it out with a willing disposition, as it is prescribed and made obligatory — and what the meaning of the zakāh is and the disagreement of those who differ about it, as well as the proofs that indicate the correctness of the view which we have chosen in this matter, in a manner that makes it unnecessary to repeat this in this place.
وَمَا تُقَدِّمُوا لِأَنْفُسِكُمْ مِنْ خَيْرٍ تَجِدُوهُ عِنْدَ اللَّهِ ("And whatever good you send forth for yourselves, you shall find it with Allah.")
As for His word: وَمَا تُقَدِّمُوا لِأَنْفُسِكُمْ مِنْ خَيْر تَجِدُوهُ عِنْد اللَّه ("And whatever good you send forth for yourselves, you shall find it with Allah"): He — exalted be His praise — means thereby: and whatever good deed you perform in the days of your life, and which you send forth before your death as a treasure for yourselves for your return, you shall find its reward with your Lord on the Day of Resurrection, and He will requite you for it. And "the good" (al-khayr): it is the deed with which Allah is pleased. He only said: تَجِدُوهُ ("you shall find it"), while the meaning is: you shall find the reward of it. As [in]:
1491 — It was related to me on the authority of ʿAmmār ibn al-Ḥasan. He said: Ibn Abī Jaʿfar related to us, on the authority of his father, on the authority of al-Rabīʿ, concerning His word: تَجِدُوهُ ("you shall find it"), that he said: this means: you shall find its reward with Allah.
Abū Jaʿfar said: This is so because the hearers thereof, by a clear indication concerning the intended meaning, had no need of it [the omitting of the word "reward"], as ʿUmar ibn Lajaʾ said:
"And the city (al-Madīna) glorified [Allah] — do not blame her for it — she beheld a moon in their marketplace by day."
He meant only: and the inhabitants of the city glorified [Allah]. And He — exalted be His praise — commanded them in this place only that which He commanded them, namely the establishing of the ṣalāh, the giving of the zakāh, and the sending forth of good deeds for themselves, so that they might thereby purify themselves of the fault which they had earlier committed in their seeking counsel from the Jews, and of the inclining of those among them who inclined toward them, and of the coarseness of those among them who were coarse in their addressing the Messenger of Allah ﷺ with their word: رَاعِنَا ("rāʿinā") — since the establishing of the prayers is an expiation (kaffāra) for sins, and the giving of the zakāh is a purification for the souls and the bodies from the defilements of transgressions, and in the sending forth of good deeds lies the attainment of success through the good pleasure of Allah.
إِنَّ اللَّهَ بِمَا تَعْمَلُونَ بَصِيرٌ ("Truly, Allah is All-Seeing of what you do.")
The statement concerning the explanation of His word, the Exalted: إنَّ اللَّه بِمَا تَعْمَلُونَ بَصِير ("Truly, Allah is All-Seeing of what you do"). This is an announcement from Allah — exalted be His praise — to those whom He has addressed with these verses among the believers, that — whatever good or evil they commit, in secret or openly — He watches it as All-Seeing; nothing of it remains hidden from Him, so that He gives them for the good its fitting requital and for the evil the like thereof. And although this statement has taken the form of an announcement, it nonetheless contains a promise and a threat, a command and a prohibition. This is so because He made the people aware that He is All-Seeing over all their deeds, so that they would exert themselves in His obedience — since this is stored up for them with Him as a treasure, until He rewards them for it, as He said: وَمَا تُقَدِّمُوا لِأَنْفُسِكُمْ مِنْ خَيْر تَجِدُوهُ عِنْد اللَّه ("And whatever good you send forth for yourselves, you shall find it with Allah") — and so that they would guard themselves against His disobedience, since He looks down upon whoever gives himself over to it, after He has previously made known to him the threat concerning it. And that for which our Lord — exalted be His praise — has uttered a threat is forbidden, and that for which He has uttered a promise is commanded. As for His word: بَصِير ("baṣīr," All-Seeing): this is mubṣir ["seeing"], transformed into baṣīr, just as mubdiʿ ["creating"] was transformed into badīʿ, and muʾlim ["causing pain"] into alīm ["painful"].
