Tafseer of The Pen · Al-Qalam · 68:46
Or do you ask of them a payment, so they are by debt burdened down?
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 statement concerning the explanation of His saying, the Exalted: أَمْ تَسْأَلُهُمْ أَجْرًا فَهُمْ مِنْ مَغْرَمٍ مُثْقَلُونَ (46) ("Or do you ask them for a reward, so that they are burdened by a debt? (46)").
The Exalted, whose praise is mentioned, says to His Prophet Muḥammad, may Allah bless him and grant him peace: Do you ask — O Muḥammad — these polytheists in Allah, for the sincere counsel you have brought them and the truth to which you have called them, a recompense and a reward, فَهُمْ مِنْ مَغْرَمٍ مُثْقَلُونَ ("so that they are burdened by a debt")? He means: Are they burdened by the payment of that reward, such that producing its disbursement has weighed them down, and they have therefore turned away from accepting your sincere counsel, and avoided entering into the faith to which you called them, on account of the magnitude of the heavy debt that would befall them which you would ask of them for it?
