َ إِنَّمَا أَمْوَالُكُمْ وَأَوْلَادُكُمْ فِتْنَةٌ وَاللَّهُ عِنْدَهُ أَجْرٌ عَظِيمٌ ﴿۱۵﴾ فَاتَّقُوا اللَّهَ مَا اسْتَطَعْتُمْ وَاسْمَعُوا وَأَطِيعُوا وَأَنْفِقُوا خَيْرًا لِأَنْفُسِكُمْ وَمَنْ يُوقَ شُحَّ نَفْسِهِ فَأُولَئِكَ هُمُ الْمُفْلِحُونَ ﴿۱۶﴾ إِنْ تُقْرِضُوا اللَّهَ قَرْضًا حَسَنًا يُضَاعِفْهُ لَكُمْ وَيَغْفِرْ لَكُمْ وَاللَّهُ شَكُورٌ حَلِيمٌ ﴿۱۷﴾ عَالِمُ الْغَيْبِ وَالشَّهَادَةِ الْعَزِيزُ الْحَكِيمُ ﴿۱۸﴾

﴾15﴿ Innamaa amwaalukum wa awlaadukum fitnah; wallaahu 'indahooo ajrun 'azeem
﴾16﴿ Fattaqul laaha mastata'tum wasma'oo wa atee'oo wa anfiqoo khairal li anfusikum; wa many-yooqa shuh ha nafsihee fa-ulaaa'ika humul muflihoon
﴾17﴿ In tuqridul laaha qardan hasanany yudaaifhu lakum wa yaghfir lakum; wallaahu Shakoorun Haleem
﴾18﴿ Aalimul-Ghaibi wash-shahaadatil 'Azeezul Hakeem

﴾15﴿ Indeed, your wealth and your children are but a trial, and with Allah alone is a great reward
﴾16﴿ So fear Allah as much as you are able, and listen and obey, and spend (in charity); that will be better for you. And whoever is saved from the greed of his soul, then it is they who will be successful
﴾17﴿ If you lend to Allah a goodly loan (with sincerity), He will multiply it for you and forgive you. And Allah is the Most Appreciative, the Most Forbearing
﴾18﴿ He is knowing of the unseen and the seen, the Almighty, the All-Wise

[15] This mentions another obstacle to obeying Allah and His Messenger: wealth and children. In the previous verse, the word min ("from") was used to indicate that not every wife or child is a source of religious enmity. But here, since all wealth and children can become a trial, it is stated in a general way. Wealth is mentioned before children because its trial is usually greater. (فِتْنَةٌ)—this word has different meanings in the Qur’an; here it means a test. That is, love for wealth and children can sometimes prevent obedience to Allah, the Exalted, and His Messenger, and at other times it can be a means of drawing nearer to Allah, the Exalted. (وَاللَّهُ عِنْدَهُ أَجْرٌ عَظِيمٌ)—meaning, when obedience to Allah comes into conflict with love for wealth and children, do not abandon obedience, because a great reward will be lost in exchange for something small and fleeting.
[16] After mentioning the causes of enmity and trials—which are sources of misguidance—it now mentions the matters of guidance and religion, which are four commands.
The first is the command to taqwa (God-consciousness), with the phrase ما استطعتم (“as much as you are able”). The intent of ما استطعتم is that every person should exert their full capacity in upholding the legal boundaries of taqwa.
The second command is (وَاسْمَعُوا)—“listen,”
The third is (وَأَطِيعُوا)—“obey”; one refers to acquiring knowledge and the other to acting upon it.
The fourth is (وَأَنْفِقُوا)—“spend”; this is a physical act of worship related to wealth, while the previous three are bodily acts (belief and deeds).
[17,18] This is an encouragement to spend in the way of Allah after the command to give charity. Spending is referred to as a goodly loan (قرض حسنه) to encourage it. Or, the term loan may refer more broadly to all righteous deeds that are done sincerely with monotheism and adherence to the Sunnah—this would be a case of generalization after specification.
(وَاللَّهُ شَكُورٌ حَلِيمٌ)—Shakoor (Most Appreciative) from Allah, the Exalted, means that He makes His blessings apparent by giving abundant rewards; this relates to (يُضَاعِفْهُ)—“He multiplies it.”
Haleem (Most Forbearing) means He does not hasten in punishing believers, but rather gives them time so they may repent and be forgiven; this relates to (يَغْفِرْ)—“He forgives.”