Tafseer of The Ascending Stairways · Al-Ma'aarij · 70:18
And collected [wealth] and hoarded.
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.
His words: وَجَمَعَ فَأَوْعَى ("and who gathered and hoarded"). He says: and who gathered wealth and put it in a storehouse, and withheld the right of Allah upon it, so that he did not pay zakāh and did not spend it on that which Allah had obligated him to spend it upon.
And in accordance with what we have said about this, the exegetes (ahl al-taʾwīl) have spoken.
* Mention of who said that:
Muḥammad ibn ʿAmr related to me, saying: Abū ʿĀṣim related to us, saying: ʿĪsā related to us; and al-Ḥārith related to me, saying: al-Ḥasan related to us, saying: Warqāʾ related to us — both on the authority of Ibn Abī Najīḥ, on the authority of Mujāhid — concerning His words: وَجَمَعَ فَأَوْعَى ("and who gathered and hoarded"), he said: he gathered the wealth.
Muḥammad ibn Manṣūr al-Ṭūsī related to us, saying: Abū Qaṭan related to us, saying: al-Masʿūdī related to us, on the authority of al-Ḥakam, he said: ʿAbd Allāh ibn ʿUkaym did not tie shut his money-purse; he said: I heard Allah say: وَجَمَعَ فَأَوْعَى ("and who gathered and hoarded").
Bishr related to us, saying: Yazīd related to us, saying: Saʿīd related to us, on the authority of Qatāda: وَجَمَعَ فَأَوْعَى ("and who gathered and hoarded"): he was one who heaped up and hoarded evil.
The explanation of His, the Exalted's, words: إِنَّ الإِنْسَانَ خُلِقَ هَلُوعًا ("Verily, man was created anxious") (19).
He, exalted is His mention, says: إِنَّ الإنْسَانَ ("Verily, man") — the unbeliever — خُلِقَ هَلُوعًا ("was himself created anxious"). And al-halaʿ is: intense restlessness together with intense greed and agitation.
And in accordance with what we have said about this, the exegetes (ahl al-taʾwīl) have spoken.
* Mention of who said that: