[4:36-4:37] And worship God, and associate nothing with Him. Be kind to parents, and near kindred, and to orphans, and to the needy, and to the neighbor who is near, and to the neighbor who is a stranger, and to the friend at your side, and to the wayfarer, and to what your right hands own. Surely God loves not the conceited, and the boastful. * Those who are niggardly, and bid other people to be niggardly, and conceal what God has bestowed upon them of His bounty. And We have prepared for those that disbelieve a humbling chastisement.
And worship God: Servanthood is attaching yourself closely to the command and separating yourself from the rebuke.
And associate nothing with Him: The outwardly apparent form of associating another reality with God is to believe in objects of worship other than Him, while its hidden form is looking to any existing thing other than Him. Declaring His unity is to recognize that all contingent things are brought into being by God and subsist through Him. He is the One who causes things to happen, brings things forth and causes them to remain. There is not an atom, a splinter, a sīna or the slightest trace belonging to anyone in the bringing forth of things into existence or originating new things.
The subtle forms of showing off, the hidden acts of guile, the secret places of pride, the doing of things in consideration of created beings, the seeking of the pleasure of their praise and wilting at their rejection and censure - all that is the hidden polytheism.
Be kind to parents: To act with kindness towards parents is to foster companionship. Surely you have been commanded to [observe] their rights first because they are your kin, and you were raised by them, and reached your full maturity and knowledge through them. When your association and companionship have become sound and good with your near kindred, the poor, the needy, the orphans and those of their class, you will be raised up from that to becoming worthy of His companionship (s).
And to the neighbor who is near, and to the neighbor who is a stranger: Among your neighbors are your two angels, so do not annoy them with your disobedience and observe their right in what you give them to record with your acts of kindness.
If the neighbor to your home is entitled to your kindness and the observation of his right, then the neighbor to your self, which is your heart, deserves even more that you do not neglect or disregard it, and that you do not enable vile thoughts to come to it. And if the neighbor of this self of yours is His decree, then the neighbor of your heart, which is your spirit, deserves even more that you protect its right and do not enable that which will oppose it from its familiar comforts and close things. The neighbor of your spirit, which is your innermost self, deserves even more that you watch over its right and do not enable its absence from the homesteads of witnessing at all times. His words: And He is with you wherever you are [57:4]. The allusion from it is unambiguous to the hearts of those who possess realization.
Those who are niggardly...: According to the scholarly discourse, niggardliness is holding back from the obligatory. According to the explanation of the allusion, it is to not prefer others (īthār) in times of need. Bidding others to niggardliness is keeping them from the demands of realities by showing sympathy for them with regards to the law. According to the explanation of this, there is a stripping away of attachments and cutting off of what is beyond the necessary for a traveler, but someone advises him, saying, 'Maybe you are not strong enough for this, and indeed, in spite of what is known to you of the permitted, you may be better off becoming a beggar. Maybe you should go out and ask from others. That would not be a burden on other Muslims'. And he relates examples of this for him on this topic from the reports and traditions. If it were not for the niggardliness hidden in his heart, he would assist him in his aspiration in that which comes to his heart instead of holding back from him that which must be said by way of counsel. One who is like this quickly becomes despicable inasmuch as he has extinguished the sparks of desire of this poor soul through what he thinks is advice and sympathy regarding the law.
And conceal what God has bestowed upon them of His bounty, i.e. if God has made them free of seeking bounty in what He has granted and given them, they conceal that, coveting more without warrant.
It is said they conceal what God has bestowed upon them of His bounty when an aspirant comes before them, asking for something in which would be his salvation, they are stingy in giving guidance to him on it.
It is said the niggardliness of the rich is holding back wealth and the niggardliness of the poor is holding back the aspiration.