Verse. 473

'Abdullāh Ibn 'Abbās / Muḥammad al-Fīrūzabādī

تفسير : allah then mentioned the miserliness of the jews and hypocrites in relation to that which allah hath given them, saying: (and let not those who hoard up that which allah hath bestowed upon them of his bounty) in terms of wealth (think that it is better for them. nay, it is worse for them. that which they hoard) of wealth, i.e. gold and silver (will be their collar on the day of resurrection) will be used as a collar of fire around their necks. (allah's is the heritage of the heavens and the earth) the stores of the heavens and earth, i.e. rain and vegetation, are allah's; it is also said that this means: the dwellers of the heavens and earth will die and dominion shall be for allah, the one, the conqueror, (and allah is informed of what ye do) of acts of generosity or miserliness.

Jalāl al-Dīn al-Maḥallī

تفسير : let them not suppose (read lā yahsabanna, ‘let them not suppose’, or lā tahsabanna, ‘do not suppose’) those who are niggardly with what god has given them of his bounty, that is, with his obligatory almsgiving, that it, their niggardliness, is better for them (khayrun lahum, is the second direct object; the pronoun [huwa, ‘[that] it is’] is used to separate [the two statements]; the first [direct object] is bukhlahum ‘their niggardliness’ implicit before the relative clause [alladhīna] in the case of the reading tahsabanna [sc. wa-lā tahsabanna bukhlahum, ‘do not suppose their niggardliness…’], or before the pronoun [huwa, ‘it is’] in the case of the reading yahsabanna [sc. wa-lā yahsabanna lladhīna…bukhlahum huwa khayran lahum, ‘let them not suppose, those who…that their niggardliness is better for them’]); nay, it is worse for them; what they were niggardly with, namely, the obligatory almsgiving of their wealth, they shall have hung around their necks on the day of resurrection, when he will have a snake around his neck biting viciously at him, as reported in a hadīth; and to god belongs the inheritance of the heavens and the earth, inheriting them after the annihilation of their inhabitants. and god is aware of what you do (ta‘malūna, also read ya‘malūna, ‘they do’), and will requite you for it.

Ali ibn Ahmad al-Wahidi

تفسير : (and let not those who hoard up that which allah hath bestowed upon them of his bounty think…) [3:180]. most qur’anic commentators are unanimous that this verse was revealed about those who refused to pay the poor-due (zakat). ‘atiyyah al-‘awfi also related that ibn ‘abbas mentioned that this verse was revealed about the jewish rabbis who concealed the description and prophethood of muhammad, allah bless him and give him peace. ‘hoard up’ here means the concealment of knowledge which allah, exalted is he, had bestowed upon them.