[3:92] You will not attain piety (birr) until you expend of what you love; and whatever thing you expend, God knows of it.
When it is piety that is sought, He has mentioned [the word] 'of' (min) regarding it, and it is [the particle of speech] for dividing into portions, and so He said: of what you love. Whoever desires piety (birr) should expend some portion of what he loves, while whoever desires the One who is All-Benign (al-bārr) should expend everything he loves. Whoever expends of what he loves in this world will find what he seeks from the Real, Most High. Whoever is attached to the fortunes (ḥuẓūẓ) of the lower self (nafs) will not find fortune in nearness to his Lord.
It is said you will only attain piety by expending what you love. When you come to the One who is All-Benign (al-bārr) you will prefer him over your fortunes.
And whatever thing you expend, God knows of it. There are those who expend looking for reward and compensation, those who expend looking to defend themselves from affliction and tribulations, and those who expend content with His knowing. One of them said:
He wishes to walk in a weak way
so that she might,
when she hears of his suffering,
send a message to him.
He trembles because of what has become known
in seeking the sublime,
that his qualities might be mentioned
one day before Salma.