Al-Qur'an Surah Al-Baqarah Verse 267

Mufti Taqi Usmani

O you who believe, spend of the good things you have earned, and of what We have brought forth for you from the earth, and do not opt for a bad thing, spending only from it, while you are not going to accept it (if such a thing is offered to you), unless you close your eyes to it, and know well that Allah is All-Independent, Ever-Praised.

Dr. Mustafa Khattab, the Clear Quran

O believers! Donate from the best of what you have earned and of what We have produced for you from the earth. Do not pick out worthless things for donation, which you yourselves would only accept with closed eyes. And know that Allah is Self-Sufficient, Praiseworthy.

Ruwwad Translation Center

O you who believe, spend in charity from the good things you have earned and of what We have produced for you from the earth. Do not choose inferior things for charity, which you yourselves would not take except by overlooking. And know that Allah is Self-Sufficient, Praiseworthy.

A. J. Arberry

O believers, expend of the good things you have earned, and of that We have produced for you from the earth, and intend not the corrupt of it for your expending; for you would never take it yourselves, except you closed an eye on it; and know that God is All-sufficient, All-laudable.

Abdul Haleem

You who believe, give charitably from the good things you have acquired and that We have produced for you from the earth. Do not give away the bad things that you yourself would only accept with your eyes closed: remember that God is self-sufficient, worthy of all praise.

Abdul Majid Daryabadi

O O Ye who believe expend out of the good things which! ye have earned and out of that which We have brought forth for you from the earth, and seek not the vile thereof to expend, where as ye yourselves would not accept such except ye connived thereat. And know that Allah Self-Sufficient, Praiseworthy.

Abdullah Yusuf Ali

O ye who believe! Give of the good things which ye have (honourably) earned, and of the fruits of the earth which We have produced for you, and do not even aim at getting anything which is bad, in order that out of it ye may give away something, when ye yourselves would not receive it except with closed eyes. And know that Allah is Free of all wants, and worthy of all praise.

Abul Ala Maududi

O Believers, expend in Allah's Way the best portion of the wealth you have earned and of that We have produced for you from the earth, and do not pick out for charity those worthless things which you yourselves would only accept in disdain by connivance, if they were offered to you. Understand it well that Allah does not stand in need of anything whatsoever and has all the praise-worthy attributes.

Ahmed Ali

O believers, give in charity what is good of the things you have earned, and of what you produce from the earth; and do not choose to give what is bad as alms, that is, things you would not like to accept yourself except with some condescension. Remember that God is affluent and praiseworthy.

Ahmed Raza Khan

O People who Believe! Spend a part of your lawful earnings, and part of what We have produced from the earth for you – and do not (purposely) choose upon the flawed to give from it (in charity) whereas you would not accept it yourselves except with your eyes closed towards it; and know well that Allah is Independent, Most Praised.

Ali Quli Qarai

O you who have faith! Spend of the good things you have earned [through trade and the like] and of what We bring forth for you from the earth, and do not be of the mind to give the bad part of it, for you yourselves would not take it, unless you ignore. And know that Allah is all-sufficient, all-laudable.

Ali Ünal

O you who believe! Spend (in God’s cause and for the needy) out of the pure, wholesome things you have earned and of what We have produced for you from the earth, and do not seek after the bad things to spend thereof (in alms and in God’s cause) blot oout when you would not take it save with disdain; and know that God is All-Wealthy and Self-Sufficient (absolutely independent of the charity of people), All-Praiseworthy (as your Lord, Who provides for you and all other beings and meets all your needs).

Amatul Rahman Omar

O you who believe! spend (for the cause of Allâh) a portion of good and pure things, that you have yourselves earned and out of that which We have produced for you from the earth. Do not intend (upon spending) the bad and inferior. You would spend that (bad and inferior for the cause of Allâh) which you would not accept at all (for yourselves) unless you connive at it. And know that Allâh is Self-Sufficient, Ever Praiseworthy.

English Literal

You, you those who believed, spend from (the) goodnesses (of) what you gathered/earned and from what We brought out for you from the earth , and do not intend/specify (choose) the bad/spoiled from it, you spend and you are not taking/receiving it, except that you obscure/find fault in it, and know that God (is) rich, praiseworthy/commendable.

Faridul Haque

O People who Believe! Spend a part of your lawful earnings, and part of what We have produced from the earth for you - and do not (purposely) choose upon the flawed to give from it (in charity) whereas you would not accept it yourselves except with your eyes closed towards it; and know well that Allah is Independent, Most Praised.

Hamid S. Aziz

O you who believe! Spend of the good things that you have earned, and of what We have brought forth for you out of the earth, and do not take the vile (or worst) thereof to spend in alms, that you would not take for yourselves save with closed eyes (or disdain); but know that Allah is Absolute, the Praise-worthy.

Hilali & Khan

O you who believe! Spend of the good things which you have (legally) earned, and of that which We have produced from the earth for you, and do not aim at that which is bad to spend from it, (though) you would not accept it save if you close your eyes and tolerate therein. And know that Allah is Rich (Free of all wants), and Worthy of all praise.

Maulana Mohammad Ali

O you who believe, spend of the good things that you earn and of that which We bring forth for you out of the earth, and aim not at the bad to spend thereof, while you would not take it yourselves unless you connive at it. And know that Allah is Self-sufficient, Praiseworthy.

Mohammad Habib Shakir

O you who believe! spend (benevolently) of the good things that you earn and or what We have brought forth for you out of the earth, and do not aim at what is bad that you may spend (in alms) of it, while you would not take it yourselves unless you have its price lowered, and know that Allah is Self-sufficient, Praiseworthy.

Mohammed Marmaduke William Pickthall

O ye who believe! Spend of the good things which ye have earned, and of that which We bring forth from the earth for you, and seek not the bad (with intent) to spend thereof (in charity) when ye would not take it for yourselves save with disdain; and know that Allah is Absolute, Owner of Praise.

Muhammad Sarwar

Believers, spend for the cause of God from the good things that you earn and from what we have made the earth yield for you. Do not even think of spending for the cause of God worthless things that you yourselves would be reluctant to accept. Know that God is Self-sufficient and Glorious.

Qaribullah & Darwish

Believers, spend of the good you have earned and of that which We have brought out of the earth for you. And do not intend the bad of it for your spending; while you would never take it yourselves, except you closed an eye on it. Know that Allah is Rich, the Praised.

Safi-ur-Rahman al-Mubarakpuri

O you who believe! Spend of the good things which you have (legally) earned, and of that which We have produced from the earth for you, and do not aim at that which is bad to spend from it, (though) you would not accept it save if you close your eyes and tolerate therein. And know that Allah is Rich (free of all needs), and worthy of all praise.

Wahiduddin Khan

Believers, give charitably from the good things which you have earned and what We produce for you from the earth; not worthless things which you yourselves would only reluctantly accept. Know that God is self-sufficient and praiseworthy.

Talal Itani

O you who believe! Give of the good things you have earned, and from what We have produced for you from the earth. And do not pick the inferior things to give away, when you yourselves would not accept it except with eyes closed. And know that God is Sufficient and Praiseworthy.

Tafsir jalalayn

O you who believe, expend of, that is to say, purify, the good things you have earned, of property, and, the good things, of what We have produced for you from the earth, of grains and fruits, and seek not (l tayammam, means l taqsud) the corrupt, the vile, of it, the above-mentioned, for your expending, it as alms (tunfiqna, `you expend', is a circumstantial qualifier referring to the person of [the verb] tayammam, `seek'); for you would never take it, the vile part, yourselves, if you were given it as something due to you; without closing your eyes to it, by being careless and mindless, so how do you expect to give what is due to God from this?; and know that God is Independent, of your expenditures, Laudable, praised in every situation.

Tafseer Ibn Kathir

The Encouragement to Spend Honest Money for Allah's Sake

Allah says;

يَا أَيُّهَا الَّذِينَ امَنُواْ أَنفِقُواْ مِن طَيِّبَاتِ مَا كَسَبْتُمْ وَمِمَّا أَخْرَجْنَا لَكُم مِّنَ الَارْضِ وَلَا تَيَمَّمُواْ الْخَبِيثَ مِنْهُ تُنفِقُونَ وَلَسْتُم بِأخِذِيهِ إِلاَّ أَن تُغْمِضُواْ فِيهِ

O you who believe! Spend of the good things which you have (legally) earned, and of that which We have produced from the earth for you, and do not aim at that which is bad to spend from it, (though) you would not accept it save if you close your eyes and tolerate therein.

Allah commands His believing servants to spend in charity, as Ibn Abbas stated, from the pure, honest money that they earned and from the fruits and vegetables that He has grown for them in the land.

Ibn Abbas said,

"Allah commanded them to spend from the purest, finest and best types of their money and prohibited spending from evil and dishonest money, because Allah is pure and good and only accepts that which is pure and good."

This is why Allah said,
وَلَا تَيَمَّمُواْ الْخَبِيثَ
(and do not aim at that which is bad) meaning, filthy (impure) money,
مِنْهُ تُنفِقُونَ وَلَسْتُم بِأخِذِيهِ
(to spend from it, (though) you would not accept it) meaning,

"If you were given this type, you would not take it, except if you tolerate the deficiency in it. Verily, Allah is far Richer than you, He is in no need of this money, so do not give, for His sake, what you would dislike for yourselves."

It was reported that,
وَلَا تَيَمَّمُواْ الْخَبِيثَ

مِنْهُ تُنفِقُونَ
(and do not aim at that which is bad to spend from it) means,

"Do not spend from the dishonest, impure money instead of the honest, pure money."

Ibn Jarir recorded that Al-Bara bin Azib commented on Allah's statement,
يَا أَيُّهَا الَّذِينَ امَنُواْ أَنفِقُواْ مِن طَيِّبَاتِ مَا كَسَبْتُمْ وَمِمَّا أَخْرَجْنَا لَكُم مِّنَ الَارْضِ وَلَا تَيَمَّمُواْ الْخَبِيثَ مِنْهُ تُنفِقُونَ
(O you who believe! Spend of the good things which you have (legally) earned, and of that which We have produced from the earth for you, and do not aim at that which is bad to spend from it),

that it was revealed about the Ansar. When the season for harvesting date-trees would start, the Ansar would collect ripe-date branches from their gardens and hang them on a rope erected between two pillars in the Masjid of the Messenger of Allah. The poor emigrant Companions would eat from these dates. However, some of them (Ansar) would also add lesser type of dates in between ripe-date branches, thinking they are allowed to do so. Allah revealed this Ayah about those who did this,
وَلَا تَيَمَّمُواْ الْخَبِيثَ مِنْهُ تُنفِقُونَ
(and do not aim at that which is bad to spend from it).

Ali bin Abi Talhah said that Ibn Abbas commented on the Ayah,
وَلَسْتُم بِأخِذِيهِ إِلاَّ أَن تُغْمِضُواْ فِيهِ
(you would not accept it save if you close your eyes and tolerate therein) means,

"If you had a right on someone who would pay you less than what you gave them, you would not agree until you require more from them to make up the difference. This is why Allah said,
وَلَسْتُم بِأخِذِيهِ إِلاَّ أَن تُغْمِضُواْ فِيهِ
(save if you close your eyes and tolerate therein) meaning,

`How do you agree for Me what you do not agree for yourselves, while I have a right to the best and most precious of your possessions!"'

Ibn Abi Hatim and Ibn Jarir recorded this Hadith and Ibn Jarir added,

"And this is the meaning of Allah's statement,

لَن تَنَالُواْ الْبِرَّ حَتَّى تُنفِقُواْ مِمَّا تُحِبُّونَ

By no means shall you attain Al-Birr, unless you spend of that which you love." (4;92)

Allah said next,

وَاعْلَمُواْ أَنَّ اللّهَ غَنِيٌّ حَمِيدٌ



And know that Allah is Rich (free of all needs), and worthy of all praise.

meaning, "Although Allah commanded you to give away the purest of your money in charity, He is far Richer from needing your charity, but the purpose is that the distance between the rich and the poor becomes less."

Similarly, Allah said,

لَن يَنَالَ اللَّهَ لُحُومُهَا وَلَا دِمَأوُهَا وَلَـكِن يَنَالُهُ التَّقْوَى مِنكُمْ

It is neither their meat nor their blood that reaches Allah, but it is piety from you that reaches Him. (22;37)

Allah is Rich and free of needing anything from any of His creatures, while all of His creatures stand in need of Him.

Allah's bounty encompassing, and what He has never ends. Therefore, whoever gives away good and pure things in charity, let him know that Allah is the Most Rich, His favor is enormous and He is Most Generous, Most Compassionate; and He shall reward him for his charity and multiply it many times. So who would lend to He Who is neither poor nor unjust, Who is worthy of all praise in all His actions, statements, and decisions, of Whom there is neither a deity worthy of worship except Him, nor a Lord other than Him.
Satanic Doubts Concerning Spending in Charity

Allah said