Al-Qur'an Surah Al-Baqarah Verse 271

Mufti Taqi Usmani

If you make Sadaqāt (alms) openly, it is good enough, and if you keep it secret and give it to the needy, it is much better for you, and this will write off part of your sins. Allah is All-Aware of what you do.

Dr. Mustafa Khattab, the Clear Quran

To give charity publicly is good, but to give to the poor privately is better for you, and will absolve you of your sins. And Allah is All-Aware of what you do.[[ Donations for a public cause may be done openly to encourage others to donate, whereas it is recommended to give charity to the poor secretly. ]]

Ruwwad Translation Center

If you give charity publicly, it is good; but if you give it secretly to the poor, it is better for you, and He will expiate some of your sins. And Allah is All-Aware of what you do.

A. J. Arberry

If you publish your freewill offerings, it is excellent; but if you conceal them, and give them to the poor, that is better for you, and will acquit you of your evil deeds; God is aware of the things you do.

Abdul Haleem

If you give charity openly, it is good, but if you keep it secret and give to the needy in private, that is better for you, and it will atone for some of your bad deeds: God is well aware of all that you do.

Abdul Majid Daryabadi

If ye disclose the alms, even so it is well, and if ye hide them and give them unto the poor, it will be better for you and He will expiate some of your misdeeds Allah is of that which ye work Aware.

Abdullah Yusuf Ali

If ye disclose (acts of) charity, even so it is well, but if ye conceal them, and make them reach those (really) in need, that is best for you; It will remove from you some of your (stains of) evil. And Allah is well acquainted with what ye do.

Abul Ala Maududi

If you practise charity publicly, it is good; but if you give charity secretly to the needy, it is much better for you, for this will expiate many of your sins. Anyhow, Allah is well aware of whatever you do.

Ahmed Ali

If you give alms openly, it is well; but if you do it secretly and give to the poor, that is better. This will absolve you of some of your sins; and God is cognisant of all you do.

Ahmed Raza Khan

If you give charity openly, what an excellent deed it is! And if you secretly give it to the poor, it is the best for you; and it will redeem some of your sins; and Allah is Aware of your deeds.

Ali Quli Qarai

If you disclose your charities, that is well, but if you hide them and give them to the poor, that is better for you, and it will atone for some of your misdeeds, and Allah is well aware of what you do.

Ali Ünal

If you dispense your alms openly, it is well, but if you conceal it and give it to the poor (in secret), this is better for you; and God will (make it an atonement to) blot out some of your evil deeds. God is fully aware of all that you do.

Amatul Rahman Omar

If you give (your) alms openly it is well and good (in itself). But if you keep them secret and give them to the needy it is better for your ownselves and He will (thereby) acquit you of some of your evil deeds. Allah is fully aware of what you do.

English Literal

If you show the charities, so it is blessed/praised, and if you hide it and you bring/give (to) the poor/needy ,so it is better for you, and He covers/substitutes from you, from your sins/crimes, and God (is) with what you make/do informed/experienced.

Faridul Haque

If you give charity openly, what an excellent deed it is! And if you secretly give it to the poor, it is the best for you; and it will redeem some of your sins; and Allah is Aware of your deeds.

Hamid S. Aziz

If you display your almsgiving, then it is well ; but if you hide it and bring it to the poor, then is it better for you, and will atone for you some of your evil deeds; for Allah is Informed of what you do.

Hilali & Khan

If you disclose your Sadaqat (alms-giving), it is well, but if you conceal it, and give it to the poor, that is better for you. (Allah) will forgive you some of your sins. And Allah is Well-Acquainted with what you do.

Maulana Mohammad Ali

If you manifest charity, how excellent it is! And if you hide it and give it to the poor, it is good for you. And it will do away with some of your evil deeds; and Allah is Aware of what you do.

Mohammad Habib Shakir

If you give alms openly, it is well, and if you hide it and give it to the poor, it is better for you; and this will do away with some of your evil deeds; and Allah is aware of what you do.

Mohammed Marmaduke William Pickthall

If ye publish your almsgiving, it is well, but if ye hide it and give it to the poor, it will be better for you, and will atone for some of your ill-deeds. Allah is Informed of what ye do.

Muhammad Sarwar

It is not bad to give alms in public. However if you give them privately to the poor, it would be better for you and an expiation for some of your sins. God is Well-Aware of what you do.

Qaribullah & Darwish

If you reveal your charity it is good, but to give charity to the poor in private is better and will acquit you from some of your evil deeds. Allah is Knowledgeable of what you do.

Safi-ur-Rahman al-Mubarakpuri

If you disclose your Sadaqat (almsgiving), it is well; but if you conceal them and give them to the poor, that is better for you. (Allah) will expiate you some of your sins. And Allah is Well-Acquainted with what you do.

Wahiduddin Khan

If you give charity openly, it is good, but if you keep it secret and give to the needy in private, that is better for you, and it will atone for some of your bad deeds. God is aware of all that you do.

Talal Itani

If you give charity openly, that is good. But if you keep it secret, and give it to the needy in private, that is better for you. It will atone for some of your misdeeds. God is cognizant of what you do.

Tafsir jalalayn

If you proclaim, make manifest, your voluntary almsgivings, that is, your supererogatory deeds, it is a fine thing, to show them; but if you conceal them, and give them to the poor, that is even better for you, than making them manifest or giving it to the rich. As regards the obligatory almsgiving, it is better to make it manifest, so that it serves as an example and so that one is not accused [falsely of not giving]; as regards giving it to the poor, this is obligatory; and it will absolve you of, some of, your evil deeds (read yukaffir, `it will absolve', or nukaffir, `We will absolve', either in apocopated form [with no final vowel, yukaffir, nukaffir], being a supplement to the locus of fa-huwa, `that is', or with nominative inflection [yukaffiru, nukaffiru], indicating the beginning of a new sentence). God is aware of what you do, knowing its inner and outer aspects, nothing of it being hidden from Him.

Tafseer Ibn Kathir

إِن تُبْدُواْ الصَّدَقَاتِ فَنِعِمَّا هِيَ


If you disclose your Sadaqat, it is well),

meaning, "It is well if you make known the charity that you give away."

Allah's statement,

وَإِن تُخْفُوهَا وَتُوْتُوهَا الْفُقَرَاء فَهُوَ خَيْرٌ لُّكُمْ

But if you conceal them and give them to the poor, that is better for you.

this indicates that concealing charity is better than disclosing it, because it protects one from showing off and boasting. However, if there is an apparent wisdom behind disclosing the charity, such as the people imitating this righteous act, then disclosing it becomes better than concealing it.

The Messenger of Allah said,

الْجَاهِرُ بِالْقُرْانِ كَالْجَاهِرِ بِالصَّدَقَةِ وَالْمُسِرُّ بِالْقُرانِ كَالْمُسِرِّ بِالصَّدَقَة

He who utters aloud Quranic recitation is just like he who discloses charity acts. He who conceals Quranic recitation is just like he who conceals charity acts.

The Ayah indicates that it is better that acts of charity be concealed, as reiterated by the Hadith that the Two Sahihs recorded from Abu Hurayrah that the Messenger of Allah said,

سَبْعَةٌ يُظِلُّهُمُ اللهُ فِي ظِلِّهِ يَوْمَ لَا ظِلَّ إلاَّ ظِلُّهُ

إِمَامٌ عَادِلٌ

وَشَابٌّ نَشَأَ فِي عِبَادَةِ اللهِ

وَرَجُلَنِ تَحَابَّا فِي اللهِ اجْتَمَعَا عَلَيْهِ وَتَفَرَّقَا عَلَيْهِ

وَرَجُلٌ قَلْبُهُ مُعَلَّقٌ بِالْمَسْجِدِ إِذَا خَرَجَ مِنْهُ حَتَّى يَرْجِعَ إِلَيْهِ

وَرَجُلٌ ذَكَرَ اللهَ خَالِيًا فَفَاضَتْ عَيْنَاهُ

وَرَجُلٌ دَعَتْهُ امْرَأَةٌ ذَاتُ مَنْصِبٍ وَجَمَالٍ فَقَالَ إِنِّي أَخَافُ اللهَ رَبَّ الْعَالَمِينَ

وَرَجُلٌ تَصَدَّقَ بِصَدَقَةٍ فَأَخْفَاهَا حَتَّى لَا تَعْلَمَ شِمَالُهُ مَا تُنْفِقُ يَمِينُه

Allah will give shade to seven on the Day when there will be no shade but His.

They are;

a just ruler,

a youth who has been brought up in the worship of Allah,

two persons who love each other only for Allah's sake who meet and part in Allah's cause only,

a man whose heart is attached to the Masjids from the time he departs the Masjid until he returns to it,

a person who remembers Allah in seclusion and his eyes are then flooded with tears,

a man who refuses the call of a charming woman of noble birth for illicit intercourse with her and says, `I fear Allah, Lord of the worlds', and

a man who gives charitable gifts so secretly that his left hand does not know what his right hand has given.

Allah's statement,

وَيُكَفِّرُ عَنكُم مِّن سَيِّيَاتِكُمْ

(Allah) will expiate you some of your sins,

means, in return for giving away charity, especially if it was concealed. Therefore, you will gain goodness by your rank being raised, and your sins being forgiven.

Allah's statement,

وَاللّهُ بِمَا تَعْمَلُونَ خَبِيرٌ



And Allah is Well-Acquainted with what you do.

means, "No good deed that you perform escapes His knowledge, and He shall reward for it.