يٰۤـاَيُّهَا الَّذِيۡنَ اٰمَنُوۡا لَا تُبۡطِلُوۡا صَدَقٰتِكُمۡ بِالۡمَنِّ وَالۡاَذٰىۙ كَالَّذِىۡ يُنۡفِقُ مَالَهٗ رِئَآءَ النَّاسِ وَلَا يُؤۡمِنُ بِاللّٰهِ وَالۡيَوۡمِ الۡاٰخِرِ​ؕ فَمَثَلُهٗ كَمَثَلِ صَفۡوَانٍ عَلَيۡهِ تُرَابٌ فَاَصَابَهٗ وَابِلٌ فَتَرَكَهٗ صَلۡدًا ​ؕ لَا يَقۡدِرُوۡنَ عَلٰى شَىۡءٍ مِّمَّا كَسَبُوۡا ​ؕ وَاللّٰهُ لَا يَهۡدِى الۡقَوۡمَ الۡـكٰفِرِيۡنَ‏ ﴿2:264﴾

(2:264) Believers! Do not nullify your acts of charity by stressing your benevolence and causing hurt as does he who spends his wealth only to be seen by people and does not believe in Allah and the Last Day.³⁰³ The example of his spending is that of a rock with a thin coating of earth upon it: when a heavy rain smites it, the earth is washed away, leaving the rock bare;³⁰⁴such people derive no gain from their acts of charity. Allah does not set the deniers of the Truth on the Right Way.³⁰⁵

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Notes

303. The desire to display one’s good deeds itself proves that the person concerned does not truly believe in God and the Hereafter. One who does good merely in order to impress people with his righteousness clearly regards those persons as his god. Such a person neither expects reward from God nor is he concerned that his good deeds will some day be reckoned to his credit. 

304. In this parable, ‘heavy rain’ signifies charity, and ‘rock’ the wicked intent and motive which lie behind external acts of charity. The expression, ‘with a thin coating of earth upon it’ signifies the external aspect of charity which conceals the wicked intent and motive of a man. These explanations make the significance and purport of the parable clear. The natural effect of rainfall should be the growth of plants and harvest. But if the earth, which is the repository of fertility, is insignificant in quantity, for example only a coating of it on some rock, the result will be that instead of yielding any beneficial result the rainfall may even prove harmful. Similarly, charity has the capacity to generate goodness and benevolence in human beings. Man’s potential for goodness, however, is conditional on sincerity. Devoid of that charity leads to sheer loss and waste. 

305. Here the term kafir is used in the sense of the ungrateful person who refuses to acknowledge benevolence. People who either make use of the bounties of God in order to seek the gratitude of God’s creatures rather than God’s good pleasure, or who spend on others and then hurt them by stressing their acts of benevolence and kindness, are ungrateful to God for His bounties and favours. Since such people do not seek to please God, God does not care to direct them to the way that leads to His good pleasure.