The 365 · Verses · Day 262 · Justice
The Owner of everything asks to borrow from you - and pays it back multiplied.
إِنَّ ٱلْمُصَّدِّقِينَ وَٱلْمُصَّدِّقَـٰتِ وَأَقْرَضُوا۟ ٱللَّهَ قَرْضًا حَسَنًا يُضَـٰعَفُ لَهُمْ وَلَهُمْ أَجْرٌ كَرِيمٌ
“Charitable men and women who make a good loan to God will have it doubled and have a generous reward. (Quran 57:18)”
57:18 Read 57:18 with tafsir
Svenska: Och de män och de kvinnor som skänker av sitt åt de behövande och [på så sätt] ger Gud ett fullgott lån, skall få det mångdubbla tillbaka och därtill en frikostig belöning.
The story
There is something almost tender in the phrasing: the God who owns all things speaks of a 'goodly loan' made to Him. Al-Sa'di describes the charitable men and women of this āyah as those who gave abundantly from lawful wealth and put forward part of it into the paths of good, storing it up with their Lord - and He multiplies the single good deed tenfold, up to seven hundredfold, and beyond, to a 'generous reward' no soul can fully imagine. Ibn Kathīr adds the condition that makes the loan 'goodly': it is charity given from a sincere heart, seeking the Face of Allah, not the thanks or admiration of those who receive it. The metaphor of a loan is deliberate. A loan implies a lender who still owns what he lends, a borrower bound to return it, and a repayment that is certain - and here the Borrower is the One who guarantees the debt beyond anything a human creditor could. Ibn Kathīr recalls Abū al-Daḥdāḥ, who on hearing this āyah gave away an entire garden of six hundred date-palms as his loan to God, and the Prophet's ﷺ promise of clusters of dates awaiting him in Paradise. To lend to God is to trust that the ledger of the poor is His ledger too - that what you release to those with a claim on it is not lost but recorded, and repaid in full measure and more.
In the language
The word al-muṣṣaddiqīn (and its feminine al-muṣṣaddiqāt) carries a doubled, emphatic consonant. Al-Zamakhshari explains it as originally al-mutaṣaddiqīn - 'those who give ṣadaqa' - the letter assimilated into the emphatic form. But he notes a second reading, al-muṣaddiqīn, from taṣdīq: 'those who affirm as true,' that is, the believers who confirmed Allah and His Messenger. The two senses shadow each other beautifully - the one who gives charity and the one who affirms the truth are drawn from the same root, as if generosity were itself a form of believing. Al-Zamakhshari also defines the 'goodly loan' precisely: to give from the wholesome and lawful (al-ṭayyib), with a willing soul (ṭībat al-nafs) and sound intention, to one genuinely deserving of the charity. The beauty of the loan, in other words, lies not only in the giving but in the manner and the rightful recipient.
Why this verse
Charity reframed as a loan changes everything: the Owner of all still guarantees the debt, and repays it multiplied. What you give to those with a rightful claim is not spent but stored - recorded with God and returned beyond measure.
Bring it into today
The next time you give, hold two things in mind that the tafsir insists on. First, the source and the manner: al-Zamakhshari says the 'goodly loan' is given from what is wholesome and lawful, with a willing heart, to someone who truly deserves it - so give from your good earnings, not your leftovers, and give without making the recipient feel small. Second, the secrecy: Ibn Kathīr stresses that the loan is 'goodly' when it seeks God's Face rather than people's thanks. So make at least one gift this week that no one but God will know about - no announcement, no acknowledgement, no expectation of return from the person you help. Let the only creditor you are thinking of be the One who guarantees the debt. That single hidden gift, given well and to the right person, is the loan this āyah describes.
A reflection to carry
Al-Sa'di says the charitable sent their lawful wealth ahead to their Lord, who multiplies it many times over; Ibn Kathīr adds that the loan is 'goodly' only when it seeks God's Face, not people's praise. The Owner of all, needing nothing, calls your giving a loan He binds Himself to repay. Al-Zamakhshari notes that givers and believers share one root, as if charity and faith were a single act. That is where justice enters: the loan is not charity flung at anyone, but a right delivered - from the lawful, to one who truly deserves it.
Sources: Ibn Kathīr, al-Saʿdī, al-Zamakhsharī (al-Kashshāf). The Qur'an and its translation are verified; the scholarship is retold faithfully in our own words and credited to its sources, never reproduced verbatim.
Also on Day 262
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