The 365 · Verses · Day 143 · Charity
Charity for Allah's approval is the garden on a hill. Always producing.
Qur'an Quran 2:265
وَمَثَلُ ٱلَّذِينَ يُنفِقُونَ أَمْوَٰلَهُمُ ٱبْتِغَآءَ مَرْضَاتِ ٱللَّهِ وَتَثْبِيتًا مِّنْ أَنفُسِهِمْ كَمَثَلِ جَنَّةٍۭ بِرَبْوَةٍ أَصَابَهَا وَابِلٌ فَـَٔاتَتْ أُكُلَهَا ضِعْفَيْنِ فَإِن لَّمْ يُصِبْهَا وَابِلٌ فَطَلٌّ ۗ وَٱللَّهُ بِمَا تَعْمَلُونَ بَصِيرٌ
“But those who spend their wealth in order to gain God's approval, and as an affirmation of their own faith, are like a garden on a hill: heavy rain falls and it produces double its normal yield; even if no heavy rain falls, it will still be watered by the dew. God sees all that you do. (Abdel Haleem)”
Svenska: Men de som ger av vad de äger för att vinna Guds välbehag och för att stärka sin själ kan liknas vid en trädgård, anlagd på en kulle, som om ett slagregn drabbar den ger dubbel skörd och om den undergår slagregn [får glädjas åt] milt duggregn. (Knut Bernström)
The story
Ibn Kathīr: the verse contrasts with Q 2:264 (the riyāʾ-charity that is voided like rain washing dust off a stone). Two parables: stone (riyāʾ charity, no foundation) vs garden on a hill (ikhlāṣ charity, full foundation). Both receive rain; only one produces fruit.
In the language
Marḍāt (approval) is the elative form: not just liking but full pleasure. Tathbītan min anfusihim (an affirmation of their souls) names the inner quality: the giving is itself an act that strengthens the giver's soul. Garden on a hill (jannah bi-rabwah) is symbolically rich: rabwah is elevated ground, the place that receives both heavy rain and gentle dew, never flooded, always nourished.
Why this verse
Q 2:265 paints the parable of charity-for-Allah's-approval: the believer who gives ibtighāʺ marḍāt Allāh (seeking Allah's approval) is like a garden on a hill (rabwah) that, whether rained heavily on or only dew-touched, always produces fruit. The structural meaning: real charity has built-in resilience; it produces fruit regardless of external conditions because its niyyah was Allah-approval, not external recognition.
Bring it into today
Audit your charity-niyyah: am I giving for Allah's approval, or for tax-deduction, social recognition, family expectation? The verse names the criterion: ibtighāʺ marḍāt Allāh. Other niyyahs may produce dunya results but not akhirah fruit.
A reflection to carry
The verse contrasts two types of giving: stone-charity (riyāʺ, voided by external pressure) and garden-on-hill charity (ikhlāṣ, fruitful regardless of conditions). The criterion is the niyyah: ibtighāʺ marḍāt Allāh.
Read the longer reflection
The classical scholars (Ibn Kathīr, ar-Rāzī) treat the rabwah-image as structurally significant. A garden on flat ground may flood with heavy rain, becoming useless. A garden in a valley may dry out without rain. A garden on a hill (rabwah) has the structural elevation that drains excess and the aspect that receives both heavy rain and gentle dew. Allah's metaphor: the believer's charity, when given for Allah's approval, has this structural elevation. The riches of life (heavy rain) make it produce more; the lean periods (only dew) still produce some. The believer's charity-trajectory across years is therefore structurally productive regardless of external economic conditions.
Sources: Ibn Kathir. 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.
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