The 365 · Verses · Day 153 · Charity
Three structural disqualifiers of charity: mann + adhā + riyāʾ. Stone-covered-with-earth.
Qur'an Quran 2:264
يَـٰٓأَيُّهَا ٱلَّذِينَ ءَامَنُوا۟ لَا تُبْطِلُوا۟ صَدَقَـٰتِكُم بِٱلْمَنِّ وَٱلْأَذَىٰ كَٱلَّذِى يُنفِقُ مَالَهُۥ رِئَآءَ ٱلنَّاسِ وَلَا يُؤْمِنُ بِٱللَّهِ وَٱلْيَوْمِ ٱلْـَٔاخِرِ ۖ فَمَثَلُهُۥ كَمَثَلِ صَفْوَانٍ عَلَيْهِ تُرَابٌ فَأَصَابَهُۥ وَابِلٌ فَتَرَكَهُۥ صَلْدًا ۖ لَّا يَقْدِرُونَ عَلَىٰ شَىْءٍ مِّمَّا كَسَبُوا۟ ۗ وَٱللَّهُ لَا يَهْدِى ٱلْقَوْمَ ٱلْكَـٰفِرِينَ
“You who believe, do not cancel out your charitable deeds with reminders and hurtful words, like someone who spends his wealth only to be seen by people, not believing in God and the Last Day. Such a person is like a rock with earth on it: heavy rain falls and leaves it completely bare. Such people get no rewards for their works. (Abdel Haleem)”
Svenska: Troende! Beröva inte era gåvor deras värde genom [tal om] frikostighet eller genom [ord] som sårar... Han kan liknas vid en bergsgrund täckt av [ett tunt lager] jord; ett slagregn faller och sköljer bort allt inpå nakna berget. (Knut Bernström)
The story
Ibn Kathīr: the verse pairs with Q 2:265 (Day 143's garden-on-a-hill metaphor for ikhlāṣ-charity). Two parables: stone-covered-with-earth (riyāʾ) vs garden-on-a-hill (ikhlāṣ). Both receive rain; only one produces fruit.
In the language
Ṣafwān is a smooth flat stone; turāb is dust/earth. The metaphor: the wealth-given looks like fertile-earth on the surface; but underneath is the stone-of-riyāʾ that cannot grow anything. Ṣald (bare/hard) is the resulting state after the rain: the masquerade is exposed.
Why this verse
Q 2:264 names two structural disqualifiers (mann + adhā, treated also in Day 142) and adds a third (riyāʾ: spending to be seen). The verse paints the metaphor: the riyāʾ-giver is like a stone (ṣafwān) covered with a thin layer of earth (turāb); heavy rain falls and washes the earth away, leaving the stone completely bare (ṣald). The metaphor is structurally severe: the apparent fertility (the giving) was only surface; the underlying foundation (riyāʾ) was stone; one structural test (the rain of judgment) reveals the bareness.
Bring it into today
Audit any charity-act for the three structural disqualifiers: (1) mann (mentioning to recipient), (2) adhā (hurtful follow-up), (3) riyāʾ (giving to be seen). Even one disqualifier converts garden-on-a-hill into stone-covered-with-earth.
A reflection to carry
The verse names three structural disqualifiers of charity: mann (reminder), adhā (hurtful words), riyāʾ (giving to be seen). The metaphor (stone covered with earth) is severe: the apparent fertility is washed away by the structural test of the Day, revealing the bareness of the foundation.
Read the longer reflection
The classical scholars connect this verse with Q 2:265 (the garden-on-a-hill, Day 143) and Q 2:266 (the parable of a man with a beautiful garden destroyed by a fiery whirlwind). The three parables together (stone, garden-on-hill, garden-destroyed-by-whirlwind) provide a complete typology of charity-foundations and their fates. The believer's structural task: build the garden-on-a-hill (ikhlāṣ + Allah-pleasure intent + soul-affirmation) and avoid the stone-foundation (riyāʾ + mann + adhā).
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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