Arabiq Online - Arabic of the Qur'an

Qur’anic Arabic Word no. 3 is the verb أَنْفَقَ , which occurs around 69 times in the Qur’an in various forms. Of these mentions, they’re especially concentrated in this Juz’ occurring in almost every ayah from ayah 254 to 274 of Sura al-Baqara. Allah puts so much emphasis on ‘spending’, first commanding the believers to spend out of the livelihood that they have been granted.

Allah leaves no stone unturned in explaining exactly how to spend: whole-heartedly without making the recipient feel obliged or following it up with injurious words or expectations of reciprocation, without showing off, and not mixing up good and bad intentions in our spending.

He also reassures us that every penny we spend on others is known by Him and recompensed in full, and that ultimately our own souls are the beneficiaries of our spending, especially when we spend in God’s way.

However, before He even goes into explaining and reassuring, He paints a beautiful picture of what the reward for spending in His way looks like for maximum impact:

مَّثَلُ الَّذِينَ يُنفِقُونَ أَمْوَالَهُمْ فِي سَبِيلِ اللَّـهِ كَمَثَلِ حَبَّةٍ أَنبَتَتْ سَبْعَ سَنَابِلَ فِي كُلِّ سُنبُلَةٍ مِّائَةُ حَبَّةٍ ۗ وَاللَّـهُ يُضَاعِفُ لِمَن يَشَاءُ ۗ وَاللَّـهُ وَاسِعٌ عَلِيمٌ

“The likeness of those who spend their wealth in the way of Allah is that of a grain which grows seven ears, in every ear a hundred grains. Allah enhances severalfold whomever He wishes, and Allah is all-bounteous, all-knowing.”

 First, He gives a countable reward – 700 grains’ yield of reward for every one grain spent in His way, and then He adds that He can even multiply that manifold, and then He amends it again and says that He is ample – meaning that there is no limit to how He rewards!