Tafseer of The Criterion · Al-Furqaan · 25:57
Say, "I do not ask of you for it any payment - only that whoever wills might take to his Lord a way."
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.
قُلْ مَا أَسْأَلُكُمْ عَلَيْهِ مِنْ أَجْرٍ (Say: I ask you no reward for it) — He says to him: Say to those to whom I have sent you: I ask you, O my people, no reward for what I have brought you from my Lord, so that you would say: "Muḥammad seeks only to obtain our wealth with that to which he calls us, and we will not follow him in it, nor will we give him anything of our wealth." إِلَّا مَنْ شَاءَ أَنْ يَتَّخِذَ إِلَى رَبِّهِ سَبِيلًا (but whoever wills may take a path to his Lord) — he means: but whoever among you wills, let him take a way to his Lord — a path — by expending his wealth in His way, and in that which brings him near to Him, such as alms and expenditures in the jihād (armed struggle, jihād) against his enemy, and other ways of goodness.
