٢٣٢. وَقَالَ (عليه السلام): مَنْ يُعْطِ بِالْيَدِ الْقَصِيرَةِ يُعْطَ بِالْيَدِ الطَّوِيلَةِ.
232. Amīr al-mu’minīn, peace be upon him, said: He who gives with his short hand is given by a long hand.
Divine reward for modest charity
Nahj al-Balāgha|Volume 1|Book 3|Chapter 232
قال السيد الرضى: ومعنى ذلك أن ما ينفقه المرء من ماله فى سبيل الخير و البر و إن كان يسيرا فإن الله تعالى يجعل الجزاء عليه عظيما كثيرا و اليدان هاهنا عبارة عن النعمتين ففرق (عليه السلام) بين نعمة العبد و نعمة الرب تعالى ذكره بالقصيرة و الطويلة فجعل تلك قصيرة و هذه طويلة لأن نعم الله أبدا تضعف على نعم المخلوق أضعافا كثيرة إذ كانت نعم الله أصل النعم كلها فكل نعمة إليها ترجع و منها تنزع .
as-Sayyid ar-Raḍī says: The meaning of this saying is that even though what a man spends in charity from his possessions may be small, yet Allāh, the Sublime, gives good reward for it. And the two hands referred to, here means two favours. Thus, Amīr al-mu’minīn has differentiated between the favour of man and the favour of the Lord (Allāh) — exalted be the mention of His name — since he has described the first as small and the other as big. This is because the favours of Allāh are ever multiplied manifold to the favours of man since Allāh’s favours are basic in the sense that every other favour springs from it and turns to it.