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Sura 17
Aya 26
26
وَآتِ ذَا القُربىٰ حَقَّهُ وَالمِسكينَ وَابنَ السَّبيلِ وَلا تُبَذِّر تَبذيرًا

Muhammad Asad

And give his due to the near of kin,1 as well as to the needy and the wayfarer,2 but do not squander [thy substance] senselessly.3
  • In this instance, "his due" evidently refers to the loving consideration due to one's relatives (Zamakhshari and Razi); those of them who are in a state of want are included in the subsequent mention of "the needy" (al-miskin).
  • Regarding this expression, see surah 2, note 145.
  • Lit., "with [utter] squandering" (tabdhiran), i.e., senselessly and to no good purpose. It is to be borne in mind that the term tabdhir does not relate to the quantity but, rather, to the purpose of one's spending. Thus, Ibn 'Abbas and Ibn Mas'ud (both of them quoted by Tabari) defined tabdhir as "spending without a righteous purpose" or "in a frivolous (batil) cause": and Mujahid is reported (ibid.) to have said, "If a man were to spend all that he possesses in a righteous cause, it could not be termed squandering; but if he spends even a small amount in a frivolous cause, it is squandering."