Surah Ad-Dhuhaa (93) — Ayah 8

(Ayah 8) {وَ وَجَدَكَ عَآىِٕلًا فَاَغْنٰى: ’’عَالَ يَعِيْلُ عَيْلاً وَعَيْلَةً‘‘} (ض) To be poor. {’’ عَآىِٕلًا ‘‘} Poor. In Surah At-Tawbah, it is said: « وَ اِنْ خِفْتُمْ عَيْلَةً فَسَوْفَ يُغْنِيْكُمُ اللّٰهُ مِنْ فَضْلِهٖ » [التوبۃ : ۲۸ ] “And if you fear any kind of poverty, then Allah will soon enrich you from His bounty.” The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) lost his father before his birth, and he did not leave behind much wealth in inheritance except for a slave woman, Umm Ayman. In his childhood, the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) himself described his state of poverty. Abu Hurairah (may Allah be pleased with him) narrates that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: [ مَا بَعَثَ اللّٰهُ نَبِيًّا إِلَّا رَعَی الْغَنَمَ، فَقَالَ أَصْحَابُهُ وَأَنْتَ؟ فَقَالَ نَعَمْ، كُنْتُ أَرْعَاهَا عَلٰی قَرَارِيْطَ لِأَهْلِ مَكَّةَ ] [ بخاري، الإجارۃ، باب رعی الغنم علی قراریط : ۲۲۶۲] “Allah did not send any prophet except that he herded sheep.” His companions said, “And you as well?” He (peace and blessings be upon him) said, “I used to herd them for the people of Makkah for a few qirats.” Obviously, if the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) had his own sheep or those of Abu Talib, then what need would he have to herd the sheep of the people of Makkah for wages? After such poverty, Allah Almighty enriched you in such a way that the wealthiest woman of Makkah, Khadijah (may Allah be pleased with her), first made you a partner in trade, then married you, and handed over all her wealth to you. Then the time came when you had heaps of spoils and tribute from Banu Nadir, Banu Qurayza, Khaybar, Bahrain, Yemen, and others. This was financial richness, and along with it, Allah Almighty granted you such richness of heart that you spent so generously as if you had no fear of poverty at all.

8. 1. The meaning of "Tungar" is that, except for Himself, He made you independent of everyone, thus you remained patient in poverty and grateful in wealth. As the Prophet ﷺ himself said that richness is not the abundance of possessions, true richness is the richness of the heart. (Sahih Muslim)

And He found you in need [7] and made you self-sufficient.

[7]
The Childhood of the Prophet ﷺ:

Your noble father left behind only a she-camel and a slave-girl as inheritance. When the issue of your nursing arose, all the wet nurses refused to nurse you on the grounds that you were an orphan. Since your father was not present and the family was not wealthy, they wondered what they would receive from here. Eventually, this honor came to Halimah Sa'diyyah, and she accepted to nurse you ﷺ because she had not found a child from a wealthy family, and she accepted the nursing thinking that something is better than nothing. When you ﷺ reached the age of eight, your grandfather Abdul Muttalib passed away, and you ﷺ came under the guardianship of your uncle Abu Talib. Abu Talib himself had many dependents and was poor. During this time, you ﷺ also grazed the goats of the people of Makkah for a few qirats as wages, and whatever compensation you received, you would hand over to Abu Talib. When you grew a little older, you ﷺ began to participate in trade journeys to Syria. Due to your excellent dealings, your truthfulness, trustworthiness, and honesty became well-known during those days. Because of this, a widow and wealthy woman of Makkah gave you a considerable amount of money on the basis of partnership in trade. When you returned, Sayyidah Khadijah’s ؓ slave Zayd bin Harithah, who was your companion on the journey, praised your trustworthiness and honesty greatly. Impressed by this, Sayyidah Khadijah ؓ herself proposed marriage to you. This lady was both wealthy and beautiful. Therefore, many times the nobles of Makkah sent her marriage proposals, but she kept rejecting all of them; however, she herself sent a marriage proposal to you ﷺ, which you accepted, and at the age of twenty-five, you ﷺ married a forty-year-old widow, Sayyidah Khadijah ؓ. After the marriage, Sayyidah Khadijah ؓ handed over all her wealth and slaves to you ﷺ. You ﷺ did trade for a few days, but soon you gave away all this wealth in the path of Allah to the needy, widows, unemployed, and those in need, because by nature you preferred poverty over wealth, and this is the best kind of richness: that a person prefers poverty despite being wealthy. Later, Allah Almighty fixed one-fifth of the spoils of war for you, and all the wealth of fay’ was given into your ﷺ custody. But despite having so much wealth and authority, you would distribute all the wealth. You would keep only as much as was necessary for your household needs and throughout your life preferred poverty over wealth. In this verse, your initial poverty and the same kind of richness that followed are mentioned.