[al-Furqan, Mecca 42]


25:63 [Asad] And the servants of (God) most gracious are those who walk on the earth in humility, and when the ignorant address them, they say, “Peace !”


(25:64) and who remember their Sustainer far into the night, prostrating themselves and standing;

(25:65) and who pray: "O our Sustainer, avert from us the suffering of hell - for, verily, the suffering caused by it is bound to be a torment dire:


(25:66) verily, how evil an abode and a station!" -;


25:67

and who, whenever they spend on others, 51 are neither wasteful nor niggardly but [remember that] there is always a just mean between those [two extremes];



وَالَّذِينَ إِذَا أَنفَقُوا لَمْ يُسْرِفُوا وَلَمْ يَقْتُرُوا...

25: 67.[Ali] Those who, when they spend, are not extravagant and not niggardly,

... وَكَانَ بَيْنَ ذَلِكَ قَوَامًا ﴿٦٧﴾

but hold a just (balance) between those (extremes);

C3127. In ordinary spending this is a wise rule. But even in charity, in which we give of our best, it is not expected that we should be extravagant, i.e., that we should either do it for show, to impress other people, or do it thoughtlessly, which would be the case if we "rob Peter to pay Paul".

We should certainly not be niggardly, but we should remember everyone's rights, including our own, and strike a perfectly just balance between them.


[[ Asad’s notes - 51 In the Qur'an, the verb anfaqa (and the corresponding noun nafaqah) has usually this connotation. ]]



(25:68) and who never invoke any [imaginary] deity side by side with God, and do not take any human being's life - [the life] which God has willed to be sacred - otherwise than in [the pursuit of] justice, 52 and do not commit adultery. And [know that] he who commits aught thereof 3 shall [not only] meet with a full requital