Tafsir of Ad-Dhuha 93:10

Meaning: do not scold him, but rather bestow favor upon him with something. This is indicated by the statement, "speak a beautiful word."

The term "petitioner" (al-sa'il) is understood by a group to mean the beggar who asks for something of this world, and the verse signifies the importance of his status as well. From Ibrahim ibn Adham: "A blessed thing is the petitioner; they carry our provisions to the Hereafter." From Ibrahim al-Nakha'i: "The petitioner who desires the Hereafter comes to the door of one of you and says, 'Will you send anything to your families [in the afterlife]?'"

A hadith became widespread: "The petitioner has a right, even if he comes upon a horse." Imam Ahmad said regarding this, as stated in Tamyiz al-Tayyib min al-Khabith, that it has no basis. Abu Dawud recorded it from al-Husayn ibn Ali (may Allah be pleased with them both) as a mawquf narration, and remained silent regarding it. Al-Iraqi said its chain is good, and others followed him in this, while Ibn Abd al-Barr said it is not strong, and many relied upon what Imam Ahmad said.

There are two possibilities regarding its meaning, both of which suggest concern for the affair of the petitioner. It is narrated through various paths from Aisha and others: "If the petitioner were truthful, he who turns him away would not succeed." This also, according to Ibn al-Madini, has no basis, and Ibn Abd al-Barr stated that all its chains are not strong. However, al-Tabarani recorded in al-Kabir from Abu Umamah a marfu' narration close to it, which is: "Were it not that the poor lie, he who turns them away would not succeed," and I have not come across anyone who criticized it.

Furthermore, the prohibition against scolding, as they have said, applies if the petitioner is not persistent in his request. If he is persistent and a gentle refusal is of no avail, then there is no harm in scolding him.

Abu al-Darda’, al-Hasan, Sufyan, and others said: The intent of "the petitioner" here is one who asks about knowledge and religion, not one who asks for wealth. Perhaps the prohibition against scolding him, according to the first opinion, is known a fortiori (by priority). Witnessing to this priority is the fact that there is no threat of punishment for failing to give to a beggar by one who possesses what is being begged for, unlike the abandonment of answering a petitioner of knowledge by one who possesses that knowledge; for in the hadith: "Whoever is asked about knowledge and conceals it will be bridled with a bridle of fire." And there will come, if Allah Almighty wills, what has been said regarding the possibility that the second of the two views is the apparent one.