al-Ḥadīd 57:18

Inna'l-muṣṣaddiqīna wa'l-muṣṣaddiqāti wa aqraḍu'llāha qarḍan ḥasanan yuḍāʿafu lahum wa lahum ajrun karīm "Truly, the men who give alms and the women who give alms, and those who lend God a goodly loan — it will be multiplied for them, and theirs is a noble reward."

There is a variant reading of the word, and it changes the meaning:

Both readings are transmitted in the sources. Since I cannot state with certainty which reading belongs to which reciter, I write no name.

The context supports the first reading, because the verse goes on to speak of lending, and the sūra as a whole is about spending. But the second reading is meaningful too and fits the texture of the sūra: in verse 19 aṣ-ṣiddīqūn (those who greatly affirm the truth) will come — from the same root.

The two readings do not exclude one another; they even complete one another. And this comes from the root itself.

Root: ص-د-ق. Its original sense is truthfulness, correspondence to reality. The derivatives:

• صدق (ṣidq) — truthfulness, correspondence to what is real
• صادق (ṣādiq) — one who speaks the truth
• تصديق (taṣdīq) — confirming
• صديق (ṣiddīq) — one who greatly affirms the truth; an intensive form
• صداق (ṣadāq) — the dower, what is given to the woman at marriage
• صدقة (ṣadaqa) — the property given

That ṣadaqa should come from this root is striking and is dwelt upon in the classical sources.

Why has the act of "giving" been named from the root of "truthfulness"? The widespread explanation is this: alms are the confirmation of the claim to faith. A person says that he believes; the alms show whether that word is real.

This explanation suits the structure of the word and unites the two readings of the verse: muṣaddiq (one who confirms) and muṣṣaddiq (one who gives alms) are doing the same thing — one with words, the other with property.

And ṣadāq (the dower) follows the same logic: the material counterpart of the claim of marriage.

There is a grammatical feature in the sentence, and it has been noted by the exegetes.

The sentence runs: inna'l-muṣṣaddiqīna wa'l-muṣṣaddiqāti وَأَقْرَضُوا 'llāha…

After two nouns are counted, a verb is joined on: "the men who give alms and the women who give alms and they lent…" This structure, which looks odd in English, is noticeable in Arabic too, because normally the elements joined are expected to be of the same kind.

The explanation is this: al-muṣṣaddiqīn is an active participle, and an active participle carries verbal force. That is, the sentence is in sense like "they gave alms and they lent"; the coordination is made not with the wording but with the sense. In Arabic this is called ʿaṭf ʿala'l-maʿnā.

Another explanation is that wa aqraḍū is the predicate of inna; on this construal the sentence reads "the men who give alms and the women who give alms — these have lent God a goodly loan."

Both explanations are found in the sources, and the difference of sense is not great.

In verse 11 the verb was active and its subject was named: fa-yuḍāʿifahu lahu — "that He may multiply it for him." Here the verb is passive: yuḍāʿafu lahum — "it will be multiplied for them."

The difference shows in the tone. Verse 11 was a sentence of invitation, and there it was emphasised who gives the return. Here there is a sentence of statement, and the emphasis has shifted to those who receive.

And the adjective of the return is the same: أَجْرٌ كَرِيمٌ — a word-for-word repetition of the expression in verse 11. Seven verses apart, the sūra repeats the same promise.