[O Muḥammad], tell My servants who have believed to establish prayer and spend from what We have provided them, secretly and publicly, before a Day comes in which there will be no exchange [i.e., ransom], nor any friendships.
Verse 31 of Surah Ibrahim (14:31), a Meccan surah, is in juz 13, on page 259 of the mushaf. Read it in Arabic with its transliteration, translations and tafsir, and listen to it recited by 74 reciters.
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Tafsir of verse 31
Al-Mukhtasar
O Messenger, say to the believers: “O believers! Perform the prayer with perfection. With the wealth Allah has given you, give obligatory and recommended charity in a secretive manner to avoid conceit, but also openly so others will take you as an example. Do so before a day arrives in which there is no trade or ransom to redeem yourself from Allah’s punishment, nor is there any friendship where a friend may intercede on the other’s behalf”.
Tell My slaves who believe to establish prayer and spend from what We have provided for them, secretly and openly, before there comes a Day when there will be no bargaining or friendship22.
Notes
[22] As everyone will have enough affairs and busied away with their own record; nothing will avail a person except his good deeds.
Say (O Muhammad صلى الله عليه و سلم) to ‘Ibâdî (My slaves) who have believed, that they should perform As-Salât (Iqâmat-as-Salât ), and spend in charity out of the sustenance We have given them, secretly and openly, before the coming of a Day on which there will be neither mutual bargaining nor befriending.
Tell My bondmen who believe to establish worship and spend of that which We have given them, secretly and publicly, before a day cometh wherein there will be neither traffick nor befriending.
Speak to my servants who have believed, that they may establish regular prayers, and spend (in charity) out of the sustenance we have given them, secretly and openly, before the coming of a Day in which there will be neither mutual bargaining nor befriending.
Say to My servants who believe that they should keep up prayer and spend out of what We have given them secretly and openly before the coming of the day in which there shall be no bartering nor mutual befriending.
Say to My bondmen who have believed (that) they keep up the prayer and expend of what we have provided them, secretly and in public, even before a Day comes up wherein (there) will be neither selling nor fellowship.
[For them is brief] enjoyment in this world; then to Us is their return; then We will make them taste the severe punishment because they used to disbelieve.
So today no ransom will be taken from you or from those who disbelieved. Your refuge is the Fire. It is most worthy of you, and wretched is the destination."
And fear a Day when no soul will suffice for another soul at all, and no compensation will be accepted from it, nor will any intercession benefit it, nor will they be aided.
O you who have believed, spend from that which We have provided for you before there comes a Day in which there is no exchange [i.e., ransom] and no friendship and no intercession. And the disbelievers - they are the wrongdoers.
Verses with similar wording
They share a sequence of words with this verse: useful for telling them apart when memorising.
So direct your face [i.e., self] toward the correct religion before a Day comes from Allāh of which there is no repelling. That Day, they will be divided.
Respond to your Lord before a Day comes from Allāh of which there is no repelling. No refuge will you have that Day, nor for you will there be any denial.
Indeed, those who recite the Book of Allāh and establish prayer and spend [in His cause] out of what We have provided them, secretly and publicly, [can] expect a transaction [i.e., profit] that will never perish -
And those who are patient, seeking the face [i.e., acceptance] of their Lord, and establish prayer and spend from what We have provided for them secretly and publicly and prevent evil with good - those will have the good consequence of [this] home -
And spend [in the way of Allāh] from what We have provided you before death approaches one of you and he says, "My Lord, if only You would delay me for a brief term so I would give charity and be of the righteous."
