His saying, exalted and glorified is He: "Those who spend their wealth by night and by day, secretly and openly, for them is their reward with their Lord, and there is no fear upon them, nor do they grieve." "Those who consume usury will not stand on the Day of Resurrection except as one stands who is being beaten by Satan into insanity. That is because they say, 'Trade is just like usury.' And Allah has permitted trade and has forbidden usury. So whoever has received an admonition from his Lord and desists, for him is what has passed, and his affair rests with Allah. And whoever returns to [dealing in usury] - those are the companions of the Fire; they will abide therein eternally." (p-94) Ibn Abbas, may Allah be pleased with him, said: This verse was revealed concerning Ali ibn Abi Talib, may Allah be pleased with him. He had four dirhams, so he gave one dirham in charity at night, one dirham during the day, one dirham secretly, and one dirham openly. Ibn Jurayj said: It was revealed about a man who did that, and he did not mention Ali or anyone else. Ibn Abbas also said: This verse was revealed regarding the fodder for horses. Abdullah ibn Bishr al-Ghafqi, Abu Dharr, Abu Usamah, al-Awza'i, and Abu Dardaa said: It is about the fodder for horses and the tethered ones in the cause of Allah. Qatadah said: This verse is about those who spend in the cause of Allah without extravagance or stinginess. Although the verse was revealed concerning Ali ibn Abi Talib, its meaning encompasses everyone who acts in his manner and every person who gives charity in the darkness to those in need. As for the fodder for horses and the spending on them, the wording of the verse encompasses it precisely, as does the spending in direct jihad. His spending comes according to the ranks of the verse. Ibn Abbas, may Allah be pleased with him, said: The believers used to act upon these verses from His saying: "If you disclose your charities" [Al-Baqarah: 271] to His saying: "nor do they grieve." When the chapter of At-Tawbah was revealed detailing zakat, they confined themselves to it. The earlier statement regarding the negation of fear and grief has been mentioned. The letter 'fa' in His saying: "For them" has entered because of the ambiguity in "those who." It resembles the ambiguity found in the conditional, so the 'fa' is appropriate in its response just as it is appropriate in the conditional. The similarity only exists if "those who" is connected to an action and if there is no operator that changes its meaning. If you say: "The one whose father is Zayd is Amr," the 'fa' in your statement: "So he is" does not fit well, rather it confuses the meaning. And if you say: "I wish the one who came to me had come to me," the 'fa' has no place in the meaning. This mentioned 'fa' only comes to confirm the meaning, and it can be omitted if confirmation is not intended, as in His later saying: "They will not stand."

And His saying, exalted is He: ﴿Those who consume usury﴾. Usury is the increase, and it is derived from: رَبا يَرْبُو (raba yarbu) if it grows and increases beyond what it was. Most of it is what the Arabs used to do by saying to the debtor: Will you repay or will you increase? So the debtor would increase the amount of money, and the creditor would be patient with it. Among the clear usury is the differentiation in the same type, for it is an increase. Likewise, most of the prohibited sales are found to be prohibited for the meaning of increase, either in the essence of wealth or in the benefit for one of them from delay and the like.

And among the sales, there are those that do not have the meaning of increase, such as selling the fruit before it shows signs of ripeness, and like selling at the time of the call to prayer on Friday. If it is said to the doer: You are consuming usury, it is by analogy and resemblance.

Usury is of the type with a و (waw), and its dual form is رِبَوانِ (ribāwan) according to Sibawayh, and it is written with an alif. The Kufans say: It is written and its dual form is with a ي (ya) due to the kasrah that is at the beginning of it. Likewise, they say in the triad of the type with a و (waw) if the first is broken or rounded, like ضُحى (duḥā). If it is open like صَفا (ṣafā), then as the Basri said.

And the meaning of this verse is: Those who earn usury and do it. He intended the word 'eating' because it is the strongest of human intentions regarding wealth, and because it indicates greed. Thus, this part of the earnings is established in place of all earnings. Clothing, housing, saving, and spending on dependents and others are all included in His saying: ﴿Those who consume﴾.

Ibn Abbas, may Allah be pleased with him, and Mujahid, Ibn Jubair, Qatadah, Al-Rabi', Al-Dahhak, Al-Suddi, and Ibn Zayd said: The meaning of His saying: "They will not stand" from their graves on the Day of Resurrection. Some of them said: A devil will be made with him to strangle him. And they all said: He will be resurrected like a madman as a punishment for him and as a disgrace on the Day of Gathering. This interpretation is supported by the fact that in the reading of Abdullah ibn Mas'ud: "They will not stand on the Day of Resurrection except as the madman stands." As for the words of the verse, they imply a resemblance of the state of the one standing with eagerness and greed for usury trade to the standing of the madman, for greed and desire stir him until his limbs tremble. This is like saying to someone rushing in his walk, confused in his movements, either from fright or otherwise: This one has gone mad. And Al-A'sha likened his she-camel in its vigor to madness in his saying:

And it rises from the aftermath of the night journey as if ∗∗∗ it had been touched by the spirits of the jinn.

However, what has come in the reading of Ibn Mas'ud, and which has been supported by the statements of the interpreters, weakens this interpretation. And "he is struck" is derived from: خَبَطَ يَخْبِطُ (khabata yakhbiṭu), as you say: تَمَلَّكَهُ (tamallakah) and تَعَبَّدَهُ (ta'abbadah) and تَحَمَّلَهُ (taḥammalah). And the touch is madness, and likewise the first and the second and the third.

And His saying, exalted is He: ﴿That is because they said, 'Indeed, trade is just like usury'﴾ means among all the interpreters: among the disbelievers. It is a statement of denial of the Shariah and a rejection of it. The entire verse was revealed concerning the disbelievers who engage in usury. It was said to them: 'So for him is what has preceded.' And this is not said for a sinful believer, but rather the sinners in usury take a part of the warning of this verse.

Then, exalted is He, affirmed the news in His saying: ﴿And Allah has permitted trade and has forbidden usury﴾. Some scholars said regarding His saying: ﴿And Allah has permitted trade﴾, this is from the generality of the Qur'an, because the Arabs were able to carry it out, as taking and giving among them is trade. And everything that opposes the generality is a specification from it. And some of them said: 'It is from the general of the Qur'an which has been explained by what is permissible from trade and by what is forbidden from usury.' The first statement is more correct in my opinion. Ja'far ibn Muhammad al-Sadiq said: 'Allah has forbidden usury so that people may engage in mutual lending.' And some scholars said: Allah has forbidden it because it is a waste of wealth and a destruction for people.

And the sign of femininity has been dropped in His saying: 'So whoever comes to him' because the femininity of the admonition is not real, and it means: he admonished. Al-Hasan read: 'So whoever comes to her' with the sign of femininity being affirmed.

And His saying: 'So for him is what has preceded' means from usury, there is no liability upon him from it in this world or in the Hereafter, as said by al-Suddi and others. And this is a ruling from Allah, exalted is He, for whoever among the disbelievers of Quraysh and Thaqif has embraced Islam and whoever was trading there. And 'has preceded' means: has advanced in time and has passed.

And in His saying, exalted is He: ﴿And his affair is with Allah﴾ there are four interpretations. One of them is that the pronoun refers back to 'usury', meaning: and the affair of usury is with Allah regarding the continuation of its prohibition or otherwise. The second is that the pronoun refers back to 'what has preceded', meaning: his affair is with Allah regarding pardon for it and the lifting of liability concerning it. The third is that the pronoun refers back to the one who engages in usury, meaning: his affair is with Allah in whether to keep him from continuing or to return him to sinning in usury. The fourth is that the pronoun returns to the one who has ended, but with the meaning of comforting him and extending his hope in good, as you say: and his affair is towards obedience and good, and a place of hope, and as you say: and his affair is in growth or turning towards Allah and His obedience. And the matter here is not specific to usury, but rather to all of his affairs.

And His saying, exalted is He: ﴿And whoever returns﴾ means to the act of usury, and the saying that trade is just like usury. If we consider the verse concerning a disbeliever, then eternity is true eternal permanence. But if we observe it concerning a sinful believer, then this is a borrowed eternity in the sense of exaggeration, as the Arabs say: 'A lasting kingdom': a phrase about some permanence, not about true eternal permanence.