Tafseer of The Cow · Al-Baqara · 2:263
Kind speech and forgiveness are better than charity followed by injury. And Allah is Free of need and Forbearing.
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.
The discourse on the explanation of His saying: قَوْلٌ مَعْرُوفٌ وَمَغْفِرَةٌ خَيْرٌ مِنْ صَدَقَةٍ يَتْبَعُهَا أَذًى وَاللَّهُ غَنِيٌّ حَلِيمٌ (263)
قَوْلٌ مَعْرُوفٌ وَمَغْفِرَةٌ خَيْرٌ مِنْ صَدَقَةٍ يَتْبَعُهَا أَذًى وَاللَّهُ غَنِيٌّ حَلِيمٌ (A kind word and forgiveness are better than a charitable gift followed by injury. And Allah is Free of need, Forbearing.) (263)
Abū Jaʿfar said: The Exalted — exalted is His mention — means by His saying (a kind word): a fine word, and the man's prayer for his Muslim brother. = (and forgiveness), that is to say: a concealing on his part of that which he has perceived concerning the other's neediness and his poor condition. = (are better) with Allah = (than a charitable gift) which he gives him as charity = (followed by injury), that is to say: that he reproaches him concerning it and injures him on account of it, as in: —
6037 — Al-Muthannā related to me, saying: Isḥāq related to us, saying: Abū Zuhayr related to us, on the authority of Juwaybir, on the authority of al-Ḍaḥḥāk, concerning (a kind word and forgiveness are better than a charitable gift followed by injury), he says: that he withhold his wealth is better than that he expend his wealth and then follow it up with reproach and injury.
* * *
As for His saying (Free of need, Forbearing): by it He means: "and Allah has no need" of that which they give as charity = (Forbearing), since He does not hasten the punishment against him among you who reproaches with his charitable gift and thereby injures the one to whom he gives it as charity.
And there has been related concerning this, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās, that which: —
6038 — Al-Muthannā related it to us, saying: ʿAbd Allāh ibn Ṣāliḥ related to us, saying: Muʿāwiya related to me, on the authority of ʿAlī ibn Abī Ṭalḥa, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās: (the Free of need) is He who is complete in His freedom from need, and (the Forbearing) is He who is complete in His forbearance.
-----------------
Footnotes:
(81) See the explanation of "al-maʿrūf" in what preceded 3: 371, 372 / then 4: 547, 548 / 5: 7, 44, 76, 93, 173.
(82) See the explanation of "al-maghfira" 2: 109, 110, and the linguistic registers.
(83) See the explanation of "ḥalīm" in what preceded 5: 117.
