Tafseer of The Women · An-Nisaa · 4:38
And [also] those who spend of their wealth to be seen by the people and believe not in Allah nor in the Last Day. And he to whom Satan is a companion - then evil is he as a companion.
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 explanation of His word: وَالَّذِينَ يُنْفِقُونَ أَمْوَالَهُمْ رِئَاءَ النَّاسِ وَلا يُؤْمِنُونَ بِاللَّهِ وَلا بِالْيَوْمِ الآخِرِ ("And those who spend their wealth to be seen by people and who do not believe in Allah, nor in the Last Day").
Abū Jaʿfar said: He, exalted is His praise, means by this: And We have prepared for the disbelievers in Allah among the Jews, whose character Allah has described, a humiliating punishment — "and those who spend their wealth to be seen by people."
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And the word "those" (alladhīna) is in the case of the genitive (khafḍ), as a conjunction (ʿaṭf) upon "the disbelievers" (al-kāfirīn).
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And His word "to be seen by people" (riʾāʾa al-nās) means: he spends it in order to show off with it before people, not in obedience to Allah nor on His path, but rather on the path of Satan — "and they do not believe in Allah, nor in the Last Day," that is to say: and they do not acknowledge the oneness of Allah, nor the return to Him on the Day of Resurrection — upon which the requital of deeds takes place — that this will come to pass.
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And Mujāhid said that this belongs to the description of the Jews! But it is more in accordance with the description of the people of hypocrisy (nifāq), who were people of shirk and then openly professed Islam out of dissimulation (taqiyya) before the Messenger of Allah ﷺ and before the believers in him, while they persisted in their disbelief (kufr) — that is more in accordance than with the description of the Jews. For the Jews affirmed the oneness of Allah and believed in the resurrection and the return; their disbelief consisted only in their denial of the prophethood of Muḥammad ﷺ.
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And furthermore: in the fact that Allah distinguishes between the description of those who do not believe in Allah nor in the Last Day, and the description of the other group whom He described in the preceding verse — and of whom He mentioned that there is for them a humiliating punishment — by the "wāw" that makes a separation between them, lies an indication that they are two descriptions of two kinds of people with different meanings, even though they all belonged to the people of disbelief in Allah. And if both descriptions described one and the same kind of people, then, had Allah willed, it would have been said: وَأَعْتَدْنَا لِلْكَافِرِينَ عَذَابًا مُهِينًا ("And We have prepared for the disbelievers a humiliating punishment"), "those who spend their wealth to be seen by people," but He made a separation between them with the "wāw" for the reason that we have described.
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And if someone supposes that the addition of the "wāw" is not uncommon in conjoining one description upon another for a single described subject in the language of the Arabs — then it holds: even if that is so, nevertheless the most eloquent in the language of the Arabs, when that is intended, is the omission of the addition of the "wāw." And when by the second a description other than the first is intended, the addition of the "wāw." And directing the word of Allah toward the most eloquent and most well-known of the language of those in whose language His Book was sent down is more fitting for us than directing it toward the most uncommon of their language.
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The explanation of His word: وَمَنْ يَكُنِ الشَّيْطَانُ لَهُ قَرِينًا فَسَاءَ قَرِينًا (38) ("And whoever has Satan as a companion, evil is he as a companion").
Abū Jaʿfar said: He, exalted is His praise, means by this: and whoever has Satan as an intimate friend and companion, acting in obedience to him, following his command and neglecting the command of Allah by spending his wealth to be seen by people, not in obedience to Him, and by his denial of the oneness of Allah and of the resurrection after death — "evil is he as a companion," that is to say: evil is Satan as a companion.
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And "the companion" (al-qarīn) is in the accusative (naṣb) only because in "evil is" (sāʾa) there is implied a reference to Satan, just as He, exalted is His praise, said: بِئْسَ لِلظَّالِمِينَ بَدَلا [Surah Al-Kahf: 50] ("Evil is for the wrongdoers the exchange"). And thus the Arabs do with "sāʾa" and words comparable to it. And among that is the word of ʿAdī ibn Zayd:
Ask not about the man, but look upon his companion, for the companion follows the example of his comrade.
He means by "al-qarīn" the comrade and the friend.
