Honourable words and forgiveness are better than a voluntary almsgiving followed by injury, because kind words, even in [a negative] response, delights the heart and revives the spirit. As for the voluntary act of charity, it benefits his body and delights the heart but only secondarily and upon the imagining the [subsequent] benefit. When what benefits the body is compared to what injures the spirit, any [potential] benefit is sullied and spoiled and does not materialise [as anticipated] in return for the delight that would result from kind words, even if it is not spoiled [in the first place] because spiritual matters are nobler, more beautiful and have a greater impact upon the soul; and God is Independent, [without need] of any act of charity that is accompanied by injury and He gives the deserving person from the storehouses of His Unseen, Forbearing, not hastening to punish [the evildoer].
