وَّمَغۡفِرَۃٌ

47:22.

Important Words:

غنی (Self-Sufficient) is from the verb غنی which means, he was or became free from want; he was in a state of competence or sufficiency; he was rich and wealthy. Thus غنی means, one free from want; one who is in a state of competence or sufficiency; one who is rich and wealthy. الغنی is one of the names of God, meaning the Self-Sufficient; One Who has no need of anyone in anything (Lane).

Commentary:

The divine attribute of Self-Sufficient has been used to suggest that if money spent in the cause of God is to be followed by "taunt" and "injury," it need not be spent at all, for He is Self-Sufficient. He needs no money. The order to spend is meant for the good of those who spend. So if the act of spending is abused and becomes a source of demoralization, God does not approve of such spending. The attribute حلیم (Forbearing) which also means "wise" and "intelligent" has been used here to suggest that the injunctions to spend money in the cause of God are given not because He stands in need of money but because He, the Wise God, knows that such acts are conducive to the good of man himself, the significance of "Forbearing" hinting that though God is slow in punishing, yet if such men continue undoing their own good actions by injuring the feelings of others, He would have to chastise them.

The clause, A kind word and forgiveness are better than charity followed by injury, signifies that it is better to refrain from spending at all, if spending is to be followed by injury. In that case one should say قول معروف i.e. a kind word of sympathy or excuse to the person who asks for help, rather than give him help and then follow it up with injury. One should also observe an attitude of مغفرة (forgiveness) which literally means "covering up", i.e. one should cover and conceal the want of the person who comes for help and refrain from talking about it to others so that he may not feel ashamed. Or مغفرة may signify forgiveness on the part of him who asks for help, i.e. he should forgive the person who expresses his inability to render help. Again, in case the spending spoken of in the verse refers to spending in national needs, قول معروف (kind word) would mean expression of good opinion, i.e. if one cannot spend without following it up with injury, i.e. without criticizing those responsible for national expenditure, one had better refrain from spending at all.

6:33; 29:65; 47:37.

56:66.

Important Words:

الکفار (tillers) is the plural of کافر which is act. part. from کفر. They say کفر الشیء او کفرہ (kaffara), i.e. he concealed, hid or covered the thing. کفر نعمة اللّٰه او بنعمة اللّٰه means, he denied or did not acknowledge the favour of God, he denied and concealed it. The husbandman is called کافر because he concealed the seed under earth, and a disbeliever is so called because he conceals and denies the favour of God (Lane & Aqrab).

Commentary:

Life spent in forgetfulness of God and disregard of its higher values is, as described in the verse under comment, but a sport and a pastime, otherwise man’s life on earth is a most serious fact. It has a great mission and a noble object to fulfil. The verse implies that at the time when the great Promised Reformer to whom reference is impliedly made in the preceding verse would make his appearance, men would neglect the grim and noble purpose of their lives and would give themselves up, body and soul, to the pursuit of petty and paltry pleasures of life and there would be a mad craze and unhealthy competition among them, and vying with one another, for amassing wealth and material resources. But the end of all this competition and rivalry, says the verse, would be like the end of a blooming and blossoming crop over which a scorching wind has blown turning it into broken pieces of straw.