Tafseer of The Iron · Al-Hadid · 57:24
[Those] who are stingy and enjoin upon people stinginess. And whoever turns away - then indeed, Allah is the Free of need, the Praiseworthy.
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 Exalted, whose remembrance is exalted, says: وَاللَّهُ لا يُحِبُّ كُلَّ مُخْتَالٍ فَخُورٍ ("and Allah loves no conceited, boastful one"), namely those who are stingy with what has been given to them in this world, on account of their conceit therewith and their boasting about it before the people; they are stingy with the discharging of the right of Allah which He has imposed upon them therein, and they are greedy with it, and along with their stinginess therewith they also command the people to stinginess.
And His saying: وَمَنْ يَتَوَلَّ فَإِنَّ اللَّهَ هُوَ الْغَنِيُّ الْحَمِيدُ ("and whoever turns away: then verily, Allah is the Self-Sufficient, the Praiseworthy"). The Exalted, whose remembrance is exalted, says: and whoever turns aside and turns away from the admonition of Allah, neglecting the deed to which He has called him, namely spending in His path, rejoicing over the worldly goods that have been given to him, conceited and boastful therewith, then verily Allah is the Self-Sufficient, who has no need of his wealth and his spending, nor of anyone else of the rest of His creatures, the Praiseworthy toward His creatures on account of the favors with which He has favored them.
The grammarians differed concerning the place of the apodosis (answer) to His saying: الَّذِينَ يَبْخَلُونَ وَيَأْمُرُونَ النَّاسَ بِالْبُخْلِ ("those who are stingy and command the people to stinginess"). Some of them said: one was content with the reports about their like and about them in the Qurʾān, as He said: وَلَوْ أَنَّ قُرْآنًا سُيِّرَتْ بِهِ الْجِبَالُ أَوْ قُطِّعَتْ بِهِ الأَرْضُ أَوْ كُلِّمَ بِهِ الْمَوْتَى ("and even if there were a Qurʾān by which the mountains were set in motion, or the earth was cleft, or the dead were made to speak") (13:31), and in this place there was no apodosis. And Allah knows best what He sends down: it is as He sent it down, or as He willed that it should be. And another of the grammarians said: the apodosis has already come in the verse before this: الَّذِينَ يَبْخَلُونَ وَيَأْمُرُونَ النَّاسَ بِالْبُخْلِ وَمَنْ يَتَوَلَّ فَإِنَّ اللَّهَ هُوَ الْغَنِيُّ الْحَمِيدُ ; two conditional clauses have been joined to one conditional clause and their apodosis made one, as you say: "if you rise and if you do well, I will come to you" — not that the apodosis has been omitted.
And the readers differed in the reading of His saying: فَإِنَّ اللَّهَ هُوَ الْغَنِيُّ الْحَمِيدُ . Most of the readers of Medina read it as فإنَّ اللهَ الغَنِيُّ ("verily, Allah is the Self-Sufficient"), with the omission of "huwa" from the text, and thus it stands also in their maṣāḥif without "huwa". And most of the readers of Kufa read it as فَإِنَّ اللَّهَ هُوَ الْغَنِيُّ الْحَمِيدُ , with the "huwa" affirmed in the reading, and thus "huwa" also stands in their maṣāḥif.
And the correct judgment is that they are two well-known readings; with whichever of the two the reader reads, he is correct.
