His saying, exalted and majestic is He: "And let not those who withhold what Allah has given them of His bounty think that it is better for them. Rather, it is worse for them. They will be tied with what they withheld on the Day of Resurrection. And to Allah belongs the inheritance of the heavens and the earth. And Allah is All-Aware of what you do." "Indeed, Allah has heard the saying of those who said, 'Indeed, Allah is poor, and we are rich.'"

The readings in His saying, exalted is He: "And let not those who withhold" are like those that were mentioned earlier in His saying: "And let not those who disbelieved think" [Aal 'Imran: 178], they are the same.

Al-Suddi and a group of the interpreters said: The verse was revealed concerning the withholding of wealth and spending in the cause of Allah and the performance of the obligatory zakah and similar matters. They said: And the meaning of "They will be tied with what they withheld" is what has been reported in the hadith from the Messenger of Allah, blessings and peace be upon him, that he said: "There is no one who has a relative who comes to him and asks him for the bounty of what he has, and he withholds it from him, except that a bald-headed serpent will emerge for him on the Day of Resurrection, and it will encircle him." And the hadiths regarding this matter of withholding zakah and hoarding wealth are many and authentic. Ibn Abbas said: The verse was revealed concerning the People of the Book and their withholding of what Allah taught them regarding the matter of Muhammad, blessings and peace be upon him, and this was also said by Mujahid and a group of the people of tafsir.

And His saying, exalted is He, "They will be tied" on this interpretation means: They will bear the punishment of what they withheld, for it is from the burden, as He, exalted is He, said: "And for those who can bear it" [Al-Baqarah: 184], and it is not from the tying. Ibrahim al-Nakha'i said: "They will be tied" means that a collar of fire will be made for them on the Day of Resurrection.

Al-Qadi Abu Muhammad, may Allah have mercy on him, said: And this aligns with the first interpretation that I mentioned from al-Suddi and others.

Mujahid said: The meaning of "They will be tied" is that they will be tasked to bring forth what they withheld on the Day of Resurrection.

Al-Qadi Abu Muhammad, may Allah have mercy on him, said: And this contradicts his saying: Indeed, withholding is regarding the knowledge that Allah has favored them by teaching them. And the grammatical analysis of His saying, exalted is He: "Those who withhold" is in the nominative case in the reading of the one who recited "let not those who withhold" with the ya from below, and the first object is implied by the connection, its estimation being: And let not those who withhold what He has given them of His bounty think that their withholding is "better," and "it is" is the separating particle according to the Kufans, and His saying: "They withhold" indicates this implied withholding just as the foolish one indicates foolishness in the saying of the poet:

If the foolish one is forbidden, he runs to it and opposes, and the foolish one runs to the opposite.

So the meaning runs to foolishness. And as for the one who recited "let not those who withhold" with the ta from above, then in the speech there is an omitted addition which is the first object, its estimation being: And let not you, O Muhammad, think that the withholding of those who withhold is good for them. Al-Zajjaj said: It is similar to "And ask the village" [Yusuf: 82].

And His saying, exalted is He: "And to Allah belongs the inheritance of the heavens" is a discourse on what people do, indicating the demise of all, and that no owner remains except Allah, exalted is He, even though His ownership, exalted is He, over all things has never ceased.

Ibn Kathir and Abu Amr read "And Allah is All-Aware of what they do" with a ya at the end, referring to those who are stingy and are being choked, while the others read it with a ta at the beginning. This is due to the return from the third person to the second person, as it has previously been stated: "And if you believe and fear Allah."

And His saying, the Exalted: "Indeed, Allah has heard..." The verse was revealed because of Finhas the Jew. This is because the Messenger of Allah, blessings and peace be upon him, sent Abu Bakr as-Siddiq, may Allah be pleased with him, to the House of Midras to invite them. He found a group of Jews gathered around Finhas - who is their scholar. Abu Bakr said to him: O Finhas, fear Allah and submit. By Allah, you know that Muhammad is the Messenger of Allah who has come to you with the truth from Allah. You will find it written with you in the Torah. Finhas replied: By Allah, O Abu Bakr, we have no need of Allah, and indeed, He is poor to us, and we are rich without Him. If He were rich, He would not have borrowed our wealth as your companion claims, in a long speech that made Abu Bakr angry. He raised his hand and slapped Finhas's face and insulted him and intended to kill him. Then he was prevented from that because the Messenger of Allah, blessings and peace be upon him, said to him: Do not do anything until you return to me. Then Finhas went to the Prophet, blessings and peace be upon him, and complained about Abu Bakr's action. The Prophet, blessings and peace be upon him, said to Abu Bakr: What made you do what you did? Then the verse was revealed regarding that.

Qatadah said: The verse was revealed concerning Huyayy ibn Akhtab. This is because when the verse "Who is it that will lend Allah a goodly loan?" was revealed, he said: Is our Lord asking us for a loan? Only the poor borrow from the rich. Al-Hasan ibn Abi al-Hasan, Ma'mar, Qatadah, and others said: When the verse "Who is it that will lend Allah a goodly loan?" was revealed, the Jews said: Only the poor borrow from the rich.

There is no doubt that this statement originated first from Finhas and Huyayy and their likes among the scholars, then the Jews repeated it. This is a statement that misleads the followers and those who have no knowledge of the intentions of the words. This is the distortion of the Jews in their interpretation, similar to what they did in their Torah.

And His saying, the Exalted: "The saying of those who disbelieved" indicates that they are a group.