And when he prohibited what saddens from speech and position, the prohibition of secret conversation is only for the protection of the heart of the Messenger of Allah, blessings and peace be upon him, from what disturbs him. So he turns to their private conversations with others. This implies that their private conversations with him, blessings and peace be upon him, are not problematic. Many of them would converse with him, and their only intention was to elevate themselves by conversing with him, so they increased in that until it became burdensome for him, blessings and peace be upon him. What benefits a person is the speech of one who is compatible with him in attributes and resembles him in morals. The Messenger of Allah, blessings and peace be upon him, was the furthest of people from the world, due to his disdain for it because of Allah's hatred for it. He commanded those who wished to converse with him to give charity, so that would be a sign of striving to embody his pure morals, turning away from the world and turning towards Allah. It would also manifest to him what had preceded of turning towards it, for charity is a proof of sincerity in faith. This was to lighten for him, blessings and peace be upon him, what they had increased upon him from private conversations. So let no one converse with him except one whose faith is pure, and he gives charity, so that would be a precursor to his benefiting from that private conversation, just as a gift prepares for acceptance as it has been reported, 'What an excellent gift in the face of need.' So Allah, the Exalted, said: 'O you who have believed,' meaning those who claim that they possess this truth, whether they are rich or poor, 'when you converse,' meaning if you intend to converse, 'with the Messenger,' blessings and peace be upon him, meaning the one who is unmatched in prophethood. He is the most complete of creation, and his duty necessitates that the words he speaks are what the King has sent him with, and his awe prevents him from beginning with speech. Thus, he is not among the messengers except through action by compliance, and nothing else. 'Then present' means because of this high intention, as an obligation. The example of private conversation is like a person who has two hands and needs to purify himself to qualify for closeness to the Messenger of Allah, blessings and peace be upon him. He said: 'Before your secret conversations,' meaning before your secret that you wish to elevate with, 'charity' should be for you a conclusive proof of your sincerity, as it has been reported that charity is a proof. It is a confirmation for you in the claim of faith, which is the affirmation of Allah, the Exalted, and His Messenger, blessings and peace be upon him, and all that he has brought from Allah, the Exalted. Most of it is turning away from the world and turning towards the Hereafter. Therefore, he resumed his statement: 'That' means the very high moral of presenting charity before private conversation, O best of creation. Perhaps he singled him out in address because he does not know all that is in it of secrets except him. He returned to the first and said: 'Better for you' means in your religion than withholding from charity, 'and purer' because charity is a purification and growth and increase in every good. For this reason, it is called zakah. 'Take from their wealth a charity that purifies them and causes them to grow.' [At-Tawbah: 103] The expression with 'more' is because they are purified before it by faith. And when he commanded that, and his habit was not to burden beyond capacity for the easing of His servants, especially this nation, he said: 'So if you do not find' meaning what you can present.

And when the sufficient meaning in alleviation is: there is nothing upon you, it was indicated by something better than it, so He said: ﴿Indeed, Allah﴾ meaning the One who has all the attributes of perfection. He emphasized it to distance from the like of it, for it is known that when a king obliges his subjects to something, he does not drop it at all, especially if it is easy. And it indicates that He, glorified and exalted is He, will not burden beyond capability by His saying: ﴿Forgiving, Merciful﴾ meaning He has the attributes of concealing faults and honoring by manifesting virtues, which are established permanently. He forgives and has mercy sometimes by not punishing the sinner and sometimes by making it easier for the tight situation by abrogating what is difficult [to what is light]. This verse was said to have been abrogated before acting upon it. And Ali, may Allah be pleased with him, said: No one acted upon it except me. I intended to supplicate while I had one dinar, so I exchanged it for ten dirhams and I supplicated ten times, giving one dirham in each time. Then the difficulty of that appeared upon the people, so the concession was revealed in leaving the charity. And Al-Nasa'i narrated in the great collection and Al-Tirmidhi said: it is a good strange narration, and Ibn Hibban and Abu Ya'la and Al-Bazzar from Ali, may Allah be pleased with him, that he said: "When it was revealed, the Messenger of Allah, blessings and peace be upon him, said: Command them to give charity. I said: How much, O Messenger of Allah? He said: One dinar. I said: They cannot bear it. He said: Then half a dinar. I said: They cannot bear it. He said: 'Then how much?' I said: A small amount of barley. The Messenger of Allah, blessings and peace be upon him, said: You are indeed a miser. Then Allah, the Exalted, revealed: ﴿Are you afraid﴾ [Al-Mujadila: 13] the verse." And Ali, may Allah be pleased with him, used to say: By me, Allah alleviated for this nation. And the lack of action by others does not detract from it, as it is possible that he did not find anything at the time of supplication or that [he] did not need to supplicate.