Surah Al-Baqara 2:261 — Meaning, Translation & Reflection

مَّثَلُ ٱلَّذِينَ يُنفِقُونَ أَمْوَٰلَهُمْ فِى سَبِيلِ ٱللَّهِ كَمَثَلِ حَبَّةٍ أَنۢبَتَتْ سَبْعَ سَنَابِلَ فِى كُلِّ سُنۢبُلَةٍۢ مِّا۟ئَةُ حَبَّةٍۢ ۗ وَٱللَّهُ يُضَٰعِفُ لِمَن يَشَآءُ ۗ وَٱللَّهُ وَٰسِعٌ عَلِيمٌ

English: Those who spend their wealth in God’s cause are like grains of corn that produce seven ears, each bearing a hundred grains. God gives multiple increase to whoever He wishes: He is limitless and all knowing.

Bengali: যারা আল্লাহর রাস্তায় স্বীয় ধন সম্পদ ব্যয় করে, তাদের উদাহরণ একটি বীজের মত, যা থেকে সাতটি শীষ জন্মায়। প্রত্যেকটি শীষে একশ করে দানা থাকে। আল্লাহ অতি দানশীল, সর্বজ্ঞ।

Meaning & Reflection

'The likeness of those who spend their wealth in the way of God is that of a grain that grows seven ears, in each ear a hundred grains. And God multiplies for whom He wills; and God is All-Encompassing, Knowing.' al-Saadi and Ibn Kathir note the arithmetic of charity — one seed of giving returns seven-hundredfold and more, because spending in God's way is not subtraction but *planting*. Ask yourself: I instinctively experience giving as *loss* — the money leaves my hand and is gone. This verse overturns the math entirely: charity is a seed, and the return is a harvest of seven hundred to one, multiplied further as God wills. It is the only investment with a guaranteed, staggering yield, and the only wealth I truly *keep* is what I gave away. If I genuinely believed that every act of giving was a grain sown for a seven-hundredfold harvest, would I clutch my wealth so tightly — or would I be racing to plant it? What is stopping me from making the one trade the universe guarantees to multiply?

Grounded in classical tafsir: al-Saadi, Ibn Kathir, Ibn Ashur.

Reflect with the Five Lenses

Maani's framework for Tadabbur (heart-centred reflection) on Surah Al-Baqara 2:261:

• Wording. Look closely at the specific words and structure. Which word stands out, and why might Allah have chosen it here?
• Quranic Worlds. Place the verse in its context — what is happening around it, and what world does it open up?
• Personal Experience. Ask not just what this means, but what it means TO me and FOR me, right now in my life.
• Connections. How does this verse connect to other verses, to the Sunnah, or to themes across the Quran?
• General Lessons. What timeless lesson or action point can I carry away and live by?