If a debtor is in want, give him time until his circumstances improve; but if you forego (the debt) as charity, that will be to your good, if you really understand.
And if the debtor is in difficulty, give him respite till the time of ease; and your foregoing the entire debt from him is still better for you, if only you realise.
And if any man should be in difficulties, let him have respite till things are easier; but that you should give freewill offerings is better for you, did you but know.
If, however, [the debtor] is in straitened circumstances, [grant him] a delay until a time of ease; and it would be for your own good -if you but knew it -to remit [the debt entirely] by way of charity.
And if one be in difficulties, then let there be and deferment until easiness. But if ye forego, it were better for you if ye knew.
And if the debtor is in a hard time (has no money), then grant him time till it is easy for him to repay, but if you remit it by way of charity, that is better for you if you did but know.
But if he is in hardship, then deferment until a time of ease. But to remit it as charity is better for you, if you only knew.
If your debtor be in straitened circumstances, give him time till his monetary condition becomes better. But if you remit the debt by way of charity, it would be better for you, if you only knew it.
And if the debtor is having a hard time, then grant him time till it is easy for him to repay; but if you remit it by way of charity, that is better for you if you did but know.
And if the debtor is in straitened circumstances, then (let there be) postponement to (the time of) ease; and that ye remit the debt as almsgiving would be better for you if ye did but know.
If [the debtor] is in straits, let there be a respite until the time of ease; and if you remit [the debt] as charity, it will be better for you, should you know.
If he should be in hardship, then a postponement until ease; while if you give charity it is better for you if you know.
And if someone is in hardship, then [let there be] postponement until [a time of] ease. But if you give [from your right as] charity, then it is better for you, if you only knew.
One who faces hardship in paying his debts must be given time until his financial condition improves. Would that you knew that waiving such a loan as charity would be better for you!
And if (the debtor) is in straitness, then let there be postponement until (he is in) ease; and that you remit (it) as alms is better for you, if you knew.
Wain k<u>a</u>na <u>th</u>oo AAusratin fana<i><u>th</u></i>iratun il<u>a</u> maysaratin waan ta<u>s</u>addaqoo khayrun lakum in kuntum taAAlamoon<b>a</b>
If the debtor is in straitened circumstances, then grant him respite till a time of ease. If you were to write it off as an act of charity, that would be better for you, if only you knew.
If the debtor is in a difficulty, grant him time Till it is easy for him to repay. But if ye remit it by way of charity, that is best for you if ye only knew.
وَإِن كَانَ ذُو عُسْرَةٍ فَنَظِرَةٌ إِلَىٰ مَيْسَرَةٍ وَأَن تَصَدَّقُوا۟ خَيْرٌ لَّكُمْ إِن كُنتُمْ تَعْلَمُونَ
If the person from whom you demand your debt is in hard times and is unable to repay the debt, then refrain from asking until he is able to obtain money and then pay the debt. And to give charity to him by not demanding the debt or giving up a part of it is better for you, if you knew its worth in the sight of Allah.
If the person from whom you demand your debt is in hard times and is unable to repay the debt, then refrain from asking until he is able to obtain money and then pay the debt. And to give charity to him by not demanding the debt or giving up a part of it is better for you, if you knew its worth in the sight of Allah.
<p>After that there is the sixth verse (280) which, in comparison to the anti-human claim of ربا riba, has stressed upon pure moral behavior of showing lenience to the poor and the have-nots. It is said that, if your borrower is too poor to pay back your loan, the provision of Shari'ah is that he be given time until he has the means, and should you forgive him your loan, it is much better for you.</p><p>The general habit of ربا riba-consumers is that they, once they know that their borrower is poor and cannot pay the loan back at the appointed time, add up the ربا riba amount in the principal unleashing a vicious series of ربا riba over ربا riba, even increasing the rate of riba in that process.</p><p>Here Allah Almighty, the wisest of all law-givers, gave the law that a genuinely poor borrower who is unable to pay back his loan should not be harassed. Instead, he should be given respite until such time that he becomes capable of doing so. Along with it was given the inducement to forgive the loan which is more beneficial for the lender.</p><p>The word, صدقہ sadaqah has been used here by the Qur'an to mean the act of forgiving. The hint given is that this forgiveness will become an act of charity in your case and will bring forth great merit. As for the statement - 'if you forgive, that is better for you' - it can be said that this action was obviously a matter of total loss for them because they were not only being asked to surrender ربا riba but also were going to lose their own principal! Still, the Qur'an called it 'better' (khayr). There are two reasons for this:</p><p>1.	This betterment will be witnessed soon after the transitory life of this world when, in lieu of this insignificant earning, one will get the eternal blessings of Paradise.</p><p>2.	Perhaps there may be yet another hint towards the possibility that one will himself see how good comes out of his deeds. There will be بر کہ barakah (increase, bliss) in what one has. The essence of بر کہ barakah is that a little serves to take care of a lot more needs, even without a quantitative increase in what one has. As such, it is commonly witnessed that there is unlimited بر کہ barakah in the wealth of those who spend in صدقہ sadaqah and خیرات khayrat. The little they have serves to take care of so many needs which will never be liquidated with large amounts of money spent by those whose money is Haram (unlawful).</p><p>Then there is the wealth not blessed with بر کہ barakah. One never realizes the purpose for which it is spent. Or, it so happens that such rich people have to spend huge amounts of money on undesirable heads such as medicines, treatment and consultancy fees, which is something the poor do not face. First of all, Allah Almighty blesses them with health which frees them from spending on their treatment and, in case they do fall ill, ordinary treatment gives them their health back. Seen from this angle, forgiving the poor person the loan due to him, which is apparently a matter of loss, becomes under this Qur'anic teachings, a beneficial act.</p><p>This teaching of giving respite to a poor borrower has also been commended in authentic ahadith some of which are reproduced below.</p><p>According to a hadith, in the Mu'jim of al-Tabarani, a person who wishes to be under the shadow of divine mercy when there will be no other shadow for anyone to hide under, he should treat the poor borrower with lenience and deferment, or forgive him the debt, if it comes to that.</p><p>Another hadith similar to this appears in Sahih Muslim as well. It is said in a hadith from the Musnad of Ahmad that the person who grants respite to a penniless borrower will get a daily ثواب thawab of صدقہ sadaqah in proportion to the amount due against that borrower. And this calculation covers the act of giving respite well before the deadline for repayment arrives; and when the deadline for repayment does arrive and the borrower does not have the means to pay, the respite given at that time will bring forth for the giver of respite a daily ثواب thawab of giving twice that amount in صدقہ sadaqah.</p><p>Another hadith says that a person who wishes that his prayer be answered, or his misfortune be removed, he should give respite to the penniless in debt.</p>
After that there is the sixth verse (280) which, in comparison to the anti-human claim of ربا riba, has stressed upon pure moral behavior of showing lenience to the poor and the have-nots. It is said that, if your borrower is too poor to pay back your loan, the provision of Shari'ah is that he be given time until he has the means, and should you forgive him your loan, it is much better for you.The general habit of ربا riba-consumers is that they, once they know that their borrower is poor and cannot pay the loan back at the appointed time, add up the ربا riba amount in the principal unleashing a vicious series of ربا riba over ربا riba, even increasing the rate of riba in that process.Here Allah Almighty, the wisest of all law-givers, gave the law that a genuinely poor borrower who is unable to pay back his loan should not be harassed. Instead, he should be given respite until such time that he becomes capable of doing so. Along with it was given the inducement to forgive the loan which is more beneficial for the lender.The word, صدقہ sadaqah has been used here by the Qur'an to mean the act of forgiving. The hint given is that this forgiveness will become an act of charity in your case and will bring forth great merit. As for the statement - 'if you forgive, that is better for you' - it can be said that this action was obviously a matter of total loss for them because they were not only being asked to surrender ربا riba but also were going to lose their own principal! Still, the Qur'an called it 'better' (khayr). There are two reasons for this:1.	This betterment will be witnessed soon after the transitory life of this world when, in lieu of this insignificant earning, one will get the eternal blessings of Paradise.2.	Perhaps there may be yet another hint towards the possibility that one will himself see how good comes out of his deeds. There will be بر کہ barakah (increase, bliss) in what one has. The essence of بر کہ barakah is that a little serves to take care of a lot more needs, even without a quantitative increase in what one has. As such, it is commonly witnessed that there is unlimited بر کہ barakah in the wealth of those who spend in صدقہ sadaqah and خیرات khayrat. The little they have serves to take care of so many needs which will never be liquidated with large amounts of money spent by those whose money is Haram (unlawful).Then there is the wealth not blessed with بر کہ barakah. One never realizes the purpose for which it is spent. Or, it so happens that such rich people have to spend huge amounts of money on undesirable heads such as medicines, treatment and consultancy fees, which is something the poor do not face. First of all, Allah Almighty blesses them with health which frees them from spending on their treatment and, in case they do fall ill, ordinary treatment gives them their health back. Seen from this angle, forgiving the poor person the loan due to him, which is apparently a matter of loss, becomes under this Qur'anic teachings, a beneficial act.This teaching of giving respite to a poor borrower has also been commended in authentic ahadith some of which are reproduced below.According to a hadith, in the Mu'jim of al-Tabarani, a person who wishes to be under the shadow of divine mercy when there will be no other shadow for anyone to hide under, he should treat the poor borrower with lenience and deferment, or forgive him the debt, if it comes to that.Another hadith similar to this appears in Sahih Muslim as well. It is said in a hadith from the Musnad of Ahmad that the person who grants respite to a penniless borrower will get a daily ثواب thawab of صدقہ sadaqah in proportion to the amount due against that borrower. And this calculation covers the act of giving respite well before the deadline for repayment arrives; and when the deadline for repayment does arrive and the borrower does not have the means to pay, the respite given at that time will bring forth for the giver of respite a daily ثواب thawab of giving twice that amount in صدقہ sadaqah.Another hadith says that a person who wishes that his prayer be answered, or his misfortune be removed, he should give respite to the penniless in debt.