وَمَآ ءَاتَيْتُم مِّن رِّبًا لِّيَرْبُوَا۟ فِىٓ أَمْوَٰلِ ٱلنَّاسِ فَلَا يَرْبُوا۟ عِندَ ٱللَّهِ وَمَآ ءَاتَيْتُم مِّن زَكَوٰةٍ تُرِيدُونَ وَجْهَ ٱللَّهِ فَأُو۟لَٰٓئِكَ هُمُ ٱلْمُضْعِفُونَ
Wa mā ātaytum min riban li-yarbuwa fī amwāli'n-nāsi fa-lā yarbū ʿinda'llāh, wa mā ātaytum min zakātin turīdūna wajha'llāhi fa-ulāʾika humu'l-muḍʿifūn
"The ribā you give so that it may grow within people's wealth does not grow with God. As for the zakāt you give seeking the face of God: it is those who multiply."
The root was analysed at al-Baqara 2/275: to increase, to rise, to swell. From the same root come rabwa (high ground) and tarbiya (nurture). And the finding recorded there was this: the word itself means "increase"; what is forbidden is not the increase itself but the transaction it arises from. I do not repeat it here.
What was recorded there: "The word order reverses things, and it does so with the words themselves: the verb yurbī is from the same root as ribā. That is, for the thing that bears the name 'increase' the verb of diminishing is used, and for giving without return the verb of increasing. The verse exchanges the names of the two transactions." I rely on that treatment.
| al-Baqara 2/276 | al-Rūm 30/39 | |
|---|---|---|
| The verb used for ribā | Yamḥaqu — a different root (م-ح-ق): to erase, to diminish | Lā yarbū — the same root, negated |
| For alms / zakāt | Yurbī — the root of ribā, to make grow | Al-Muḍʿifūn — a different root (ض-ع-ف): those who multiply |
| The method | The root of ribā is given to the other side | The root of ribā is taken away from ribā |
The difference is worth recording, and I give it as my own reading: al-Baqara works the reversal by addition — it gives the word of increase to alms. al-Rūm works it by subtraction — it takes the word of increase out of ribā's hand: fa-lā yarbū ʿinda'llāh.
That is, the two verses apply two different operations to the same root. And the result is the same: the transaction that bears the name "increase" does not count as increase.
And one more detail of word order must be recorded: li-yarbuwa fī amwāli'n-nās — "so that it may grow within people's wealth". That is, the place where the increase occurs is stated too: the growth of one property takes place inside another's property.
I record this as my own reading, and its ground is this adverbial: the sentence does not say that the increase does not exist. Within people's wealth it really does grow — the sentence grants this. What it says is that this increase has no counterpart in another account: fa-lā yarbū ʿinda'llāh. The two accounts are plainly separated.
ٱلْمُضْعِفُونَ — root ض-ع-ف: a fold, a multiple; and weakness. Both branches of the root are alive in Arabic, and in this sūra both are used:
| Verse | Word | Which branch of the root |
|---|---|---|
| 39 | Al-Muḍʿifūn | Multiplying many times over |
| 54 | Khalaqakum min ḍaʿf | Weakness |
The same root, in two contrary values, in the same sūra. This is a repetition that can be verified from the text, and it will be mentioned again at the fifty-fourth verse.
And the pattern must be recorded: muḍʿif is the active participle of Form IV — "one who multiplies". That is, the sentence does not say "their wealth increases"; it says "it is they who multiply". The subject is the one who gives.
A note per the method (Method): whether the word zakāt here conveys the financial obligation that was set out in detail later, or, by the root's original sense (ز-ك-و: to become pure, to grow), a general act of purification and giving — two readings were tabulated on this at Fuṣṣilat 41/7. The same duality holds here; I do not impose a preference and I draw no legal conclusion.