Ayah
Word by Word
مَثَلُ
Example
مَا
(of) what
يُنفِقُونَ
they spend
فِي
in
هَٰذِهِ
this
ٱلۡحَيَوٰةِ
[the] life
ٱلدُّنۡيَا
(of) the world
كَمَثَلِ
(is) like (the) example
رِيحٖ
(of) a wind
فِيهَا
in it
صِرٌّ
(is) frost
أَصَابَتۡ
it struck
حَرۡثَ
(the) harvest
قَوۡمٖ
(of) a people
ظَلَمُوٓاْ
who wronged
أَنفُسَهُمۡ
themselves
فَأَهۡلَكَتۡهُۚ
then destroyed it
وَمَا
And not
ظَلَمَهُمُ
(has) wronged them
ٱللَّهُ
Allah
وَلَٰكِنۡ
[and] but
أَنفُسَهُمۡ
themselves
يَظۡلِمُونَ
they wronged
مَثَلُ
Example
مَا
(of) what
يُنفِقُونَ
they spend
فِي
in
هَٰذِهِ
this
ٱلۡحَيَوٰةِ
[the] life
ٱلدُّنۡيَا
(of) the world
كَمَثَلِ
(is) like (the) example
رِيحٖ
(of) a wind
فِيهَا
in it
صِرٌّ
(is) frost
أَصَابَتۡ
it struck
حَرۡثَ
(the) harvest
قَوۡمٖ
(of) a people
ظَلَمُوٓاْ
who wronged
أَنفُسَهُمۡ
themselves
فَأَهۡلَكَتۡهُۚ
then destroyed it
وَمَا
And not
ظَلَمَهُمُ
(has) wronged them
ٱللَّهُ
Allah
وَلَٰكِنۡ
[and] but
أَنفُسَهُمۡ
themselves
يَظۡلِمُونَ
they wronged
Translation
What they spend in the life of this (material) world May be likened to a wind which brings a nipping frost: It strikes and destroys the harvest of men who have wronged their own souls: it is not Allah that hath wronged them, but they wrong themselves.
Tafsir
The likeness, the description, of what they, the disbelievers, expend in the life of this world, in the way of enmity towards the Prophet or in the way of voluntary almsgiving or the like, is as the likeness of a wind wherein is a blast, of extreme hot or cold, that smote the tillage, the crops, of a people who have wronged themselves, through unbelief and disobedience, and destroyed it, so that they could not profit from it; so it is with what they expend, it perishes and they profit nothing from it. God did not wrong them, when they lost what they expended, but they wronged themselves, through unbelief, which necessitated this loss.
"Virtues of the People of the Scriptures Who Embrace Islam
Muhammad bin Ishaq and others, including Al-Awfi who reported it from Ibn Abbas, said;
""These Ayat were revealed about the clergy of the People of the Scriptures who embraced the faith. For instance, there is Abdullah bin Salam, Asad bin Ubayd, Tha`labah bin Sa`yah, Usayd bin Sa`yah, and so forth.
This Ayah means that those among the People of the Book whom Allah rebuked earlier are not at all the same as those among them who embraced Islam.
Hence Allah's statement,
لَيۡسُواۡ سَوَاء
Not all of them are alike.""
Therefore, these two types of people are not equal, and indeed, there are believers and also criminals among the People of the Book, just as Allah said,
مِّنۡ أَهۡلِ الۡكِتَابِ أُمَّةٌ قَأيِمَةٌ
a party of the People of the Scripture stand for the right,
for they implement the Book of Allah, adhere to His Law and follow His Prophet Muhammad.
Therefore, this type is on the straight path,
يَتۡلُونَ ايَاتِ اللّهِ انَاء اللَّيۡلِ وَهُمۡ يَسۡجُدُونَ
they recite the verses of Allah during the hours of the night, prostrating themselves in prayer.
They often stand in prayer at night for Tahajjud, and recite the Qur'an in their prayer.
يُوۡمِنُونَ بِاللّهِ وَالۡيَوۡمِ الاخِرِ وَيَأۡمُرُونَ بِالۡمَعۡرُوفِ وَيَنۡهَوۡنَ عَنِ الۡمُنكَرِ وَيُسَارِعُونَ فِي الۡخَيۡرَاتِ وَأُوۡلَـيِكَ مِنَ الصَّالِحِينَ
They believe in Allah and the Last Day; they enjoin Al-Ma`ruf and forbid Al-Munkar; and they hasten in (all) good works; and they are among the righteous. (3:114)
This is the same type of people mentioned at the end of the Surah;
وَإِنَّ مِنۡ أَهۡلِ الۡكِتَابِ لَمَن يُوۡمِنُ بِاللّهِ وَمَا أُنزِلَ إِلَيۡكُمۡ وَمَأ أُنزِلَ إِلَيۡهِمۡ خَاشِعِينَ لِلّهِ
And there are, certainly, among the People of the Scripture (Jews and Christians), those who believe in Allah and in that which has been revealed to you, and in that which has been revealed to them, humbling themselves before Allah. (3:199)
Allah said here
وَمَا يَفۡعَلُواۡ مِنۡ خَيۡرٍ فَلَن يُكۡفَرُوۡهُ
And whatever good they do, nothing will be rejected of them;
meaning, their good deeds will not be lost with Allah. Rather, He will award them the best rewards.
وَاللّهُ عَلِيمٌ بِالۡمُتَّقِينَ
for Allah knows well the Muttaqin (the pious).
for no deed performed by any person ever escapes His knowledge, nor is any reward for those who do good deeds ever lost with Him.
إِنَّ الَّذِينَ كَفَرُواۡ
Surely, those who disbelieve,
Allah mentions the disbelieving polytheists:
لَن تُغۡنِيَ عَنۡهُمۡ أَمۡوَالُهُمۡ وَلَا أَوۡلَادُهُم مِّنَ اللّهِ شَيۡيًا
neither their properties nor their offspring will avail them against Allah,
meaning, nothing can avert Allah's torment and punishment from striking them.
وَأُوۡلَـيِكَ أَصۡحَابُ النَّارِ هُمۡ فِيهَا خَالِدُونَ
They are the dwellers of the Fire, therein they will abide.
The Parable of What the Disbelievers Spend in This Life
Allah gave a parable for what the disbelievers spend in this life.
مَثَلُ مَا يُنفِقُونَ فِي هِـذِهِ الۡحَيَاةِ الدُّنۡيَا كَمَثَلِ رِيحٍ فِيهَا صِرٌّ
The likeness of what they spend in this world is the likeness of a wind of Sir;
Ibn Abbas, Ikrimah, Sa`id bin Jubayr, Al-Hasan, Qatadah, Ad-Dahhak, Ar-Rabi bin Anas and others have said.
a frigid wind.
Ata said that;
Sir, means, `cold and snow.'
Ibn Abbas and Mujahid are also reported to have said that;
Sir means, `fire'.
This latter meaning does not contradict the meanings we mentioned above, because extreme cold weather, especially when accompanied by snow, burns plants and produce, and has the same effect fire has on such growth.
أَصَابَتۡ حَرۡثَ قَوۡمٍ ظَلَمُواۡ أَنفُسَهُمۡ فَأَهۡلَكَتۡهُ
It struck the harvest of a people who did wrong against themselves and destroyed it,
by burning.
This Ayah mentions a calamity that strikes produce that is ready to harvest, destroying it by burning and depriving its owner of it when he needs it the most. Such is the case with the disbelievers, for Allah destroys the rewards for their good deeds in this life, just as He destroyed the produce of the sinner because of his sins. Both types did not build their work on firm foundations.
وَمَا ظَلَمَهُمُ اللّهُ وَلَـكِنۡ أَنفُسَهُمۡ يَظۡلِمُونَ
And Allah wronged them not, but they wronged themselves."
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