His saying, exalted and majestic is He:

"A kind word and forgiveness are better than charity followed by injury. And Allah is All-Sufficient, Most Forbearing."

"O you who have believed, do not invalidate your charities by [making] demand [for them] or injury, like one who spends his wealth [only] to be seen by the people and does not believe in Allah and the Last Day. His example is like a smooth stone upon which is dust, and it is struck by a downpour, so it leaves it bare. They are unable to keep anything of what they earned. And Allah does not guide the disbelieving people."

This is a definitive statement from Allah, the Most High, that a kind word, which is supplication, reassurance, and hope in what is with Allah, is better than a charity that appears to be charity, but in its essence is nothing. This is because that kind word has a reward, while this [charity] has no reward in it.

Al-Mahdawi and others said: The intended meaning in its grammatical structure is: "A kind word is better, and forgiveness is better."

Abu Muhammad, may Allah have mercy on him, said: In this, there is a loss of the essence of the meaning. The intended meaning should be as the apparent meaning, and forgiveness is the covering for the neediness and the poor condition of the needy. From this is the saying of the Bedouin - and he asked a group with eloquent speech, and someone asked him: "From whom is the man?" He said: "O Allah, forgiveness! The evil of earning prevents from belonging [to You]." And Al-Naqqash said: It is said: Its meaning is that forgiveness is for the asker if he is harsh or rude when he is deprived.

Then He, the Most High, informed of His sufficiency from the charity of one whose condition is like this, and the outcome of his affair, and of His forbearance towards those who might commit this from among His servants and His delaying them.

And His saying, the Most High: "O you who have believed, do not invalidate your charities by [making] demand [for them] or injury" - the belief is that sins do not invalidate good deeds. The majority of scholars said regarding this verse: The charity of one whom Allah knows that he makes demands or causes injury will not be accepted, and it was said: Rather, Allah has appointed an angel over it, so it does not get recorded.

Abu Muhammad, may Allah have mercy on him, said: This is better because what we receive from the rational beings among the children of Adam is that the one who makes demands and causes injury explicitly states that his intention was not for Allah, the Exalted, as we mentioned before, so a charity does not result for him. This is the invalidation of charity by demand and injury. Demand and injury in a charity do not invalidate another charity, as long as it does not reveal that intention in the sound one, nor does it detract from it.

Then Allah likened the one who makes demands and causes injury according to the premise of his intention to the one who spends for show, not for the sake of Allah. And showing off is a source from an actor from the sight, as if showing off is a display and boasting among those who have no good in them from among the people. Al-Mahdawi said, and the intended meaning is: Like the invalidation of the one who spends for show.

And His saying, the Most High: "And does not believe in Allah and the Last Day" - it is possible that He means the overt disbeliever, as he may spend to be called generous, and to be praised with various praises, and for other than that. And it is possible that He means the hypocrite who shows faith.

Then he likened the one who spends for show to a smooth stone upon which is dust. The observer thinks it is fertile land that produces good crops, just as a group thinks that the charity of this show-off has value or meaning. But when a heavy rain strikes the smooth stone, that dust is revealed and remains bare. Similarly, this show-off, when the Day of Resurrection comes, and deeds are presented, his secret will be uncovered, and it will be shown that his charity has no value or meaning.

For showing off, harm, and ostentation reveal the intention, thus invalidating the charity, just as the heavy rain reveals the smooth stone, removing what was thought to be land.

Talhah ibn Musarif read: "the show of people" without a hamzah, and it was narrated from Asim. And the smooth stone is the large, smooth rock; it is said that its plural is safwanah. Some say its singular is safwah, and it is said to be singular, and its plural is safi. Al-Mubarrad denied this and said it is merely the plural of safwa, and from this meaning is safwah and safaa. Imru' al-Qais said:

A reddish horse slips from the condition of its back, just as the smooth stone slips in the descent.

And Abu Dhuhayyab said:

Until I seem to be a rock for incidents, at the smooth, reddish place, every time it is struck.

Az-Zuhri and Ibn al-Musayyib read: "safwan" with an open fa, which is a dialect.

The heavy rain is the strong, abundant rain that flows over the surface of the earth. And the bare stone is the smooth, solid stone that has nothing in it, and it is used metaphorically for a head that has no hair. From this is the saying of Ru'bah:

..................... bright, bare of the forehead's edge.

An-Naqash said: the bare is the hairless in the language of Hudhayl. And His saying, the Exalted, "They are not able" refers to those who spend for show, meaning they are not able to benefit from the reward of any of their spending, which is their gain. The expression came with "they are not able" in the meaning of "those who," and the speech before was directed at the wording of "those who." This is the way of the speech of the Arabs, and if it had been directed first at the meaning, it would have been inappropriate afterward to be directed at the wording.

And His saying, the Exalted, "And Allah does not guide the disbelieving people" may be a general statement intended for the specific in the context of disbelief, or it may mean that He did not guide them in their disbelief, rather it is pure misguidance, or it may mean that He does not guide them in their charities and deeds while they are in disbelief.

What I have mentioned in this verse regarding the interpretation of language and the establishment of meaning is supported by the interpreters, even if their words do not summarize in the interpretation of the invalidation of showing off and harm for charity.