أَأَشفَقتُم أَن تُقَدِّموا بَينَ يَدَي نَجواكُم صَدَقاتٍ ۚ فَإِذ لَم تَفعَلوا وَتابَ اللَّهُ عَلَيكُم فَأَقيمُوا الصَّلاةَ وَآتُوا الزَّكاةَ وَأَطيعُوا اللَّهَ وَرَسولَهُ ۚ وَاللَّهُ خَبيرٌ بِما تَعمَلونَ

Were you apprehensive of offering charities before your secret talks? So, as you did not do it, and Allah was clement to you, maintain the prayer and pay the zakat, and obey Allah and His Apostle. And Allah is well aware of what you do.

EXEGESIS

The word ashfaqtum is a plural perfect tense verb and occurs in reference to those ordered to give charity before privately consulting the Prophet in the previous verse. It means you were all afraid or apprehensive. Its verbal noun is ishfāq, which means fear, anxiety, and apprehension.^{‎[1]Mizan, 19/189.} The verb ashfaqtum occurs in this verse, preceded by the interrogative particle a becoming a-ashfaqtum, which renders it a question: were you all afraid and apprehensive?^{‎[2]Arabic-English Dictionary of Quranic Usage, p. 490.}

EXPOSITION

This verse abrogates the ordinance in favour of charity before privately consulting the Prophet, mentioned in the previous verse,^{‎[3]Tabrisi.J, 4/261; Zamakhshari, 4/494.} and it contains severe reproof for the wealthy companions of the Prophet since they forsook private consultations with him for fear of the need to spend wealth in the form of charity before it,^{‎[4]Tabrisi, 9/380; Tibyan, 9/552; Kashif, 7/274; Mizan, 19/189.} especially those who used to seek private consultations with him consistently, and then subsequently abandoned it due to this ordinance.^{‎[5]Furqan, 28/212.} This is while others merely ignored the instruction in verse 12 and went on seeking the Prophet’s private counsel without paying any charity before it^{‎[6]Furqan, 28/213-214.} despite the fact that spending wealth in charity in fact augments and purifies it.

On the other hand, Imam Ali (a) held ten private consultations with the Prophet. Every time he sought to have a private meeting with him he offered charity before it. Thereafter, this verse descended and cancelled the ordinance.^{‎[7]Mizan, 19/189.} Thus, the Imam not only did not forsake private consultations with the Prophet despite the financial obligation involved, but increased his private consultations with him, unlike the others, and this was despite the fact that he was financially compromised. This demonstrates his great desire for knowledge and his sincerity. Thus he obtained the unique merit of being the only person to actualise verse 12.

The meaning of Were you apprehensive of offering charities before your secret talks is: did you all fear giving in charity and spending your wealth for the sake of private consultations with the Prophet?^{‎[8]Mizan, 19/189.} Or it could mean: did you all fear poverty due to the need to spend of your wealth,^{‎[9]Mizan, 19/189; Tabrisi, 9/380; Munyah, 28/76.} and consequently were miserly in giving charity?^{‎[10]Munyah, 28/76.}

So, as you did not do it, and Allah was clement to you, maintain the prayer and pay the zakat, and obey Allah and His Apostle. And Allah is well aware of what you do, means: so when you did not do what you were charged with, which was to give charity before your consultations, God has retracted His ordinance and turned to you with pardon and forgiveness, hence, resolve to comply with the totality of the divine instructions laid on you such as upholding the ritual prayer and paying the poor-rate.^{‎[11]Mizan, 19/190; Tibyan, 9/552; Munyah, 28/76; Furqan, 28/213.}

Were you apprehensive of offering charities before your secret talks? So, as you did not do it is understood to mean two things or to indicate two outcomes, which may be mutually inclusive. One meaning or outcome understood is that it indicates that the well-to-do Muslims were reticent and unwilling, due to niggardliness and greed, to give charity before their private consultations, and indeed abstained from it, which consequently entailed giving up seeking the Prophet’s private consultations. This led to a fall in number of people coming to the Prophet to seek his private counsel. The other meaning or outcome understood is that the well-to-do Muslims were reticent and unwilling, due to niggardliness and greed, to give charity before their private consultations with the Prophet and indeed abstained from it, but nevertheless continued to seek his private counsel, thereby disobeying the Quranic instruction.^{‎[12]Furqan, 28/213-214.} The second meaning or outcome is what comes across more clearly from the apparent reading of the verse.

And Allah was clement to you is proof that their disinclination to give charity prior to engaging in private consultations with the Prophet was a sin and an act of disobedience on their part, although God forgave them for that.^{‎[13]Mizan, 19/190; Munyah, 28/76.}

This is while maintain the prayer and pay the zakat, and obey Allah and His Apostle. And Allah is well aware of what you do occurs as a concomitant or consequence to the part that says, So, as you did not do it, and Allah was clement to you,^{‎[14]Mizan, 19/190; Tabrisi, 9/380.} and it is proof of the abrogation of the ordinance of giving charity before engaging in private consultations with the Prophet.^{‎[15]Mizan, 19/190.}

Finally, the end-part of the verse says, and obey Allah and His Apostle. This is a general instruction in favour of obeying all the divine ordinances by affirming absolute obedience,^{‎[16]Mizan, 19/190.} and it is an instruction that appears numerous times in the Quran (3:32, 3:132, 4:59, 5:92, 8:1, 8:20, 8:46, 24:54, 47:33, 49:14, 64:12). This instruction stands in contrast to the condemnation in this very surah of those who oppose God and His Messenger (verses 5, 20, and 22), while the part of this verse that says, And Allah is well aware of what you do means: He knows what you do of acts of obedience to God or disobedience, goodness or evil, and shall recompense you accordingly,^{‎[17]Tibyan, 9/552.} and it contains a kind of severity by which the ordinance in favour of God’s and the Prophet’s obedience is reiterated.^{‎[18]Mizan, 19/190.} The tail part of this verse closely resembles the tail parts of verses 3 and 11.

It is said that the time gap between the revelation of the ordinance in verse 12 and its revocation by verse 13 was an hour or ten nights/days.^{‎[19]Tabrisi, 9/380; Razi, 29/495.} The latter time period is more reasonable than the former in light of the notion that the ordinance in verse 12 was meant to be a test, which requires time. Furthermore, if Imam Ali (a) held ten private consultations with the Prophet between the revelation of these two verses then an hour is too short a time period for such an exercise.^{‎[20]Furqan, 28/212.}

INSIGHTS FROM HADITH

1. In a lengthy report where Imam Ali (a) enumerates his merits, he said: ‘And as for the twenty-fourth [merit], God revealed to His Messenger, O you who have faith! When you talk secretly to the Apostle, offer a charity before your secret talk. That is better for you and purer. But if you cannot afford [to make the offering], then Allah is indeed all-forgiving, all-merciful. So I had a dīnār and I exchanged it for ten dirhams. Thus whenever I sought a private consultation with the Messenger of God (s), I would spend a dirham in charity before it. By God! None from his companions did this before me or after me. Consequently, God revealed, Were you apprehensive of offering charities before your secret talks? So, as you did not do it, and Allah was clement to you, maintain the prayer and pay the zakat, and obey Allah and His Apostle. And Allah is well aware of what you do. So is [God’s] turning [in forgiveness] but due to a sin that was [committed]?’^{‎[21]Khisal, p. 574.}
2. Imam Ali (a) said the following to Abū Bakr in his protestations to him: ‘I implore you in God’s name, are you the one who spent something in charity before his private consultation with the Messenger of God (s) and then engaged in private consultation with him or was it me? This is while God the exalted admonished a group and said, Were you apprehensive of offering charities before your secret talks? So, as you did not do it, and Allah was clement to you, maintain the prayer and pay the zakat, and obey Allah and His Apostle. And Allah is well aware of what you do.’ Abū Bakr replied: ‘Rather it was you.’^{‎[22]Safi, 5/149.}
3. Imam al-Bāqir (a) replied as follows to Abū Baṣīr when the latter asked him about the speech of God, O you who have faith! When you talk secretly to the Apostle, offer a charity before your secret talk. That is better for you and purer. But if you cannot afford [to make the offering], then Allah is indeed all-forgiving, all-merciful (verse 12). He said: ‘Ali ibn Abī Ṭālib (a) spent in charity before seeking a private audience with the Prophet (s). Thereafter, He rescinded it by His speech, Were you apprehensive of offering charities before your secret talks? So, as you did not do it, and Allah was clement to you, maintain the prayer and pay the zakat, and obey Allah and His Apostle. And Allah is well aware of what you do.’^{‎[23]Qummi, 2/357.}

 Note: There are many reports with this meaning, transmitted via Shia and Sunni chains of transmission.

[1] Mizan, 19/189.
[2] Arabic-English Dictionary of Quranic Usage, p. 490.
[3] Tabrisi.J, 4/261; Zamakhshari, 4/494.
[4] Tabrisi, 9/380; Tibyan, 9/552; Kashif, 7/274; Mizan, 19/189.
[5] Furqan, 28/212.
[6] Furqan, 28/213-214.
[7] Mizan, 19/189.
[8] Mizan, 19/189.
[9] Mizan, 19/189; Tabrisi, 9/380; Munyah, 28/76.
[10] Munyah, 28/76.
[11] Mizan, 19/190; Tibyan, 9/552; Munyah, 28/76; Furqan, 28/213.
[12] Furqan, 28/213-214.
[13] Mizan, 19/190; Munyah, 28/76.
[14] Mizan, 19/190; Tabrisi, 9/380.
[15] Mizan, 19/190.
[16] Mizan, 19/190.
[17] Tibyan, 9/552.
[18] Mizan, 19/190.
[19] Tabrisi, 9/380; Razi, 29/495.
[20] Furqan, 28/212.
[21] Khisal, p. 574.
[22] Safi, 5/149.
[23] Qummi, 2/357.