The 365 · Verses · Day 263 · Justice
Death interrupts every plan - including the charity you meant to get to.
وَأَنفِقُوا۟ مِن مَّا رَزَقْنَـٰكُم مِّن قَبْلِ أَن يَأْتِىَ أَحَدَكُمُ ٱلْمَوْتُ فَيَقُولَ رَبِّ لَوْلَآ أَخَّرْتَنِىٓ إِلَىٰٓ أَجَلٍ قَرِيبٍ فَأَصَّدَّقَ وَأَكُن مِّنَ ٱلصَّـٰلِحِينَ
“Give out of what We have provided for you, before death comes to one of you and he says, 'My Lord, if You would only reprieve me for a little while, I would give in charity and become one of the righteous.' (Quran 63:10)”
63:10 Read 63:10 with tafsir
Svenska: Och ge av det som Vi har skänkt er för er försörjning innan ni känner döden närma sig och ni säger: "Herre! Ge mig bara ett kort uppskov; då skall jag ge åt de behövande och leva som en rättskaffens människa!"
The story
'Give out of what We have provided for you, before death comes to one of you and he says, My Lord, if You would only reprieve me...' Al-Sa'di notes the mercy folded into the wording: 'out of what We have provided' means only a portion, from wealth Allah Himself made easy for you to earn - He never burdened you beyond your means. So thank the Giver by relieving your needy brothers, and hurry, because once death arrives not an atom's weight of good can be added. The dying man's plea - 'if only You would delay me for a little while, I would give in charity and be among the righteous' - is, al-Sa'di says, pure regret over what he neglected while he still could, a request for a return that cannot be granted. Ibn Kathīr underscores that everyone who fell short will beg for respite at that moment, and that it is refused: 'Allah grants respite to none when his appointed time comes.' Al-Zamakhshari, citing Ibn 'Abbās, sharpens the warning - give before the authority of death descends, when no repentance is accepted and no deed avails - and stresses that this āyah addresses the believers themselves, not only the negligent stranger. The justice of it is quiet but total: the poor had a claim on that wealth all along, and the moment to honour it is now, not from a deathbed where the ledger has already closed.
In the language
Two small words carry the āyah's weight. The first is min in 'out of what We have provided' - al-Zamakhshari marks it as min al-tab'īḍ, the partitive 'some of,' so the command is never to empty your hands but only to release a portion. Mercy is built into the grammar. The second is lawlā in the dying man's cry, lawlā akhkhartanī. Al-Zamakhshari reads it as a particle of urging - hallā, 'why not,' or 'if only' - 'would that You had delayed my death to a near term.' It is the grammar of desperate wishing, a plea aimed at a door already shut. The contrast between the two particles is the whole lesson: while you live, the partitive min asks for only a little; at death, lawlā can ask for everything and receive nothing. The easy portion refused in life becomes the impossible reprieve begged for in death.
Why this verse
The command asks for only a portion, and now, while giving is still possible. The deathbed 'if only' is the same charity - demanded when it can no longer be given. Mercy offers the small ask early; delay turns it into an impossible plea.
Bring it into today
Name the specific good you have been deferring - the ṣadaqa you keep meaning to set up, the zakāt you calculate loosely, the relative you plan to help 'soon.' The dying man in this āyah is not a stranger; al-Zamakhshari says the verse addresses believers exactly like you, who intended well and ran out of time. So convert one intention into an action today, while it is still a partial ask and not an impossible one. Give the amount you have been rounding down. Set up the recurring transfer you have been postponing. Make the call to the family member you meant to reach. Do not wait for a tidier month or a larger balance - al-Sa'di's point is that God asked only for a portion of what He already made easy for you. The reprieve you would beg for later is simply the ordinary day you are being handed right now.
A reflection to carry
Al-Sa'di finds mercy in the wording: God asks only for a portion of what He made easy to earn, and He asks now - because once death comes, not an atom of good can be added. The dying plea, 'if only You would delay me,' is pure regret over a shut door; Ibn Kathīr notes all who fell short beg for respite, and all are refused. Al-Zamakhshari, citing Ibn 'Abbās, holds the āyah addresses believers, not only the heedless. The justice is quiet but total: the poor's claim is real today, and the place to honour it is now - before the little asked becomes the everything denied.
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 263
A verse, a healing, and a Sunnah, every morning.
Subscribe, free