Who is it that will lend to God a beautiful loan, and He will multiply it for him many times? And God contracts and expands, and to Him you shall be returned. In this verse the generous Lord, He of tremendous and celebrated name, the lovingly kind, the caressing, the holder-majestic is His unity and holy His sanctum-caresses His servants, both the rich and the poor. He caresses the rich by asking loans from them, for loans are asked of friends. YaḤyā Muʿādh said, “I wonder at anyone who still has wealth, when the Lord of the Throne wants to borrow it.” A sound hadith says, “God descends and says, 'Who will supplicate Me that I may respond to him?' Then He spreads His two hands and says, 'Who will lend to one who is neither lacking nor wrongdoing?'” What do you know of the generosity and largesse found in this asking for a loan? This is a largesse that you might say is a painting on the spirit. From it the tree of joy is in fruit and in it the eyes of revelry are awake. He is saying, “Who is it that will give a loan to Him who is neither a wrongdoer that he might take it away, nor a poor man not able to pay it back?” Anyone who rec- ognizes the worth of this declaration will put forth the bounteous wealth of spirit and heart and say, “I will exert my heart and spirit with none but You. My heart is Your property-I will not intervene! If with an allusion You ask for my spirit, I will send it at once without hesitation.” One day ʿAlī Murtaẓā went home, and Ḥasan and Ḥusayn were weeping before FāṬima Zahrā. ʿAlī said, “O FāṬima, what happened to the brightness of my eyes, the fruit of my heart, and the joy of my spirit that they are weeping?” FāṬima said, “O ʿAlī, it seems that they are hungry, for a day has passed and they have eaten nothing.” She had placed a pot on the fire, so ʿAlī said, “What do you have in the pot?” She said, “There is nothing in the pot except plain water. I put it on the fire to keep the children happy, for they think I am cooking something.
