His saying, exalted and majestic is He:

﴿And give the relative his right, and the poor, and the traveler, and do not waste [resources] wastefully﴾ ﴿Indeed, the wasteful are brothers of the devils, and the devil is ever ungrateful to his Lord﴾ ﴿And if you turn away from them in pursuit of mercy from your Lord which you expect, then say to them a soft word﴾ ﴿And do not make your hand [as] chained to your neck or extend it completely, so you sit condemned and regretful﴾ ﴿Indeed, your Lord extends provision for whom He wills and restricts [it]. Indeed, He is ever, with His servants, Acquainted and Seeing.﴾

The interpreters have differed regarding "the relatives." The majority said: The verse is a command to all people to maintain ties with their relatives. The Prophet ﷺ was addressed by this, and the intended meaning is the community. And "the right" in this verse is what is due to him from maintaining family ties, fulfilling needs, and providing assistance in times of need with wealth and help in every way. This is the view of Al-Hasan, Ikrimah, Ibn Abbas, and others. Ali ibn Al-Husayn said regarding this: They are the relatives of the Prophet ﷺ. The Messenger of Allah ﷺ was commanded to give them their rights from the public treasury.

Qadi Abu Muhammad, may Allah have mercy on him, said:

The first opinion is clearer, and it is supported by the conjunction with the poor and the traveler. And "the traveler" here includes both the rich and the poor; for each of them has a right even if they differ, and "the traveler" in the verse of charity is more specific.

And "wastefulness" is spending wealth in corruption or in excess in what is permissible, and it is from "badr." It is possible that His saying, exalted is He: "the wasteful" may refer to a general category, and it is possible that it specifically means the people of Mecca, as mentioned by Al-Naqqash. And His saying, exalted is He: "brothers" means that they are similar in their judgment; for the wasteful is one who seeks corruption, and the devil is always one who seeks corruption. And "brothers" is the plural of brother by non-kinship, and it may be an exception, and from it is His saying, exalted is He, in Surah An-Nur: ﴿Or their brothers or the sons of their brothers﴾ [An-Nur: 31]. And "brothers" is the plural of brother by kinship, and it may be an exception, and from it is His saying, exalted is He: ﴿Indeed, the believers are brothers﴾ [Al-Hujurat: 10]. And Al-Hasan and Al-Dahhak read: "brothers of the devil" in the singular form, and this is also established in the Mushaf of Anas ibn Malik. Then He, blessed and exalted is He, mentioned the ingratitude of the devil to warn against resembling him in corruption, making it comprehensive and clear.

'In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful' And His saying, exalted is He: ﴿And if you turn away﴾. The pronoun in 'them' refers back to those mentioned earlier from the poor and the wayfarers. So Allah, exalted is He, commanded His Prophet, blessings and peace be upon him, in this verse - if someone from them asks him and he does not find anything to give him, then the Messenger of Allah, blessings and peace be upon him, should turn away from him, out of politeness, so as not to reject him explicitly, and in anticipation of provision from Allah, exalted is He, that comes and he can give from it - that he should comfort him with an easy word, which contains hope in Allah's grace, and comfort with a good promise, and supplication for the expansion of Allah, exalted is He, and His gifts. It has been narrated that he, blessings and peace be upon him, would say after this verse was revealed - if he did not have anything to give: 'May Allah provide us and you from His bounty.' So mercy - according to this interpretation - is the awaited provision. This is the saying of Ibn Abbas, Mujahid, and Ikrimah. Ibn Zayd said: mercy is the reward and recompense. The verse was revealed about a people who would ask the Messenger of Allah, blessings and peace be upon him, and he would refuse to give them, because he knew that their spending of wealth was in corruption. So he would turn away from them, desiring the reward in withholding from them, so that he would not assist them in their corruption. So Allah, blessed and exalted, commanded him to say to them an easy saying that includes supplication for their opening and reform. The judge Abu Muhammad, may Allah have mercy on him, said: Some of the people of early interpretation said: the verse was revealed about Ammar ibn Yasir and his kind. And 'the easy' is derived from the word ease; you say: I made it easy for you when I prepared it. And His saying, exalted is He: ﴿And do not make your hand chained﴾. It has been narrated from Qalun: 'all the busta' with a ص, and it was narrated by Al-A'sha from Abu Bakr. The expression is borrowed for the hand that is closed in relation to the spending characterized by stinginess, the chain to the neck, and it is borrowed for the hand that exhausts all that it has to the utmost extent of openness, opposite to being chained. All of this is in spending for good, while spending for corruption is forbidden, whether little or much. And this verse relates to the saying of the Prophet, blessings and peace be upon him: 'The example of the miser and the one who gives charity...' the hadith in its entirety. The blame here is on the one who asks from those entitled and does not find what to give. And 'the one who is exhausted' is the one who has been rendered incapable, you say: I exhausted the camel when I tired it until it had no strength left, so it is exhausted. And from this is the poet's saying: 'For them is the way, if they were a help in the journey, and still there is a rising one among them, exhausted.' And from this is the exhausted sight, which is the tired one. Ibn Jurayj and others said regarding the meaning of this verse: do not withhold from spending in what I commanded you of the truth, and do not extend it to the utmost extent in what I prohibited you from. And Qatadah said: extravagance is spending in disobedience, and Mujahid said: if a person spent all his wealth in what is right, it would not be extravagance, and if he spent a little in falsehood, it would be extravagance. The judge Abu Muhammad, may Allah have mercy on him, said:

And this has a point of consideration, and the broadening does not give a meaning that is not permitted regarding what one has been prohibited from. It is not said regarding sin: "And do not waste," but rather it is said: "And do not spend even with moderation and balance." May Allah be pleased with Ibn Abbas and Ibn Mas'ud, for they said: "Wasting is spending in a manner that is not right." This expression encompasses both sin and permissible extravagance. This verse has alerted to the exertion of effort in what first arises from the questioning of the believers; so that there remains no one who comes afterward with nothing for himself, and so that the spender does not waste dependents and the like. Among the words of wisdom is: "I have never seen extravagance except that it accompanies a right that is wasted." And this is from the verses of understanding the situation, and its ruling is not clarified except by considering a person from among the people.

His saying: ﴿Indeed, your Lord extends provision﴾, the meaning is: Be you, O Muhammad, upon what has been prescribed for you of moderation and spending with balance, and do not let the poverty of those you see in that concern you, for he is in the sight of Allah and within hearing, and by His will. And "He restricts" means: He tightens.

And His saying, the Exalted: ﴿Indeed, He was, of His servants, Expert and Seeing﴾, means: He knows the interest of a people in poverty, and He knows the interest of others in wealth. And some of the interpreters have said - and it has been narrated by Al-Tabari - that the verse is an indication of the state of the Arabs, which was rectified by poverty. They would become tyrannical and kill others and raid when they were full, and when hunger and drought occurred, they would be preoccupied.