The Meaning of Treasure (kanz)

Regarding the treasure beneath the wall: “And beneath it was a treasure,” three views have been expressed:

Wealth: Fakhr Rāzī considers this view correct for two reasons: first, the word “treasure” (kanz), and second, the phrase “and they should extract their treasure.”

Knowledge: The evidence for this is the phrase “and their father was righteous,” because the treasure of a righteous person is knowledge, not wealth, since hoarding wealth is incompatible with being righteous, as the Qur’an criticizes those who hoard gold and silver: “And those who hoard gold and silver and do not spend it in the way of God—give them tidings of a painful punishment.”(429)

A golden tablet with [wise] sayings inscribed on it.(430) According to Ṭabarsī, this view combines both wealth and knowledge; meaning the treasure was both material wealth and knowledge.(431)

It should be noted that the second view is incorrect because:

The abundance of the mentioned treasure is not certain.

It is not clear whether that righteous father was required to spend that treasure in God’s way or not, as verse 34 of Sūrah al-Tawba applies to cases where spending wealth is obligatory.

His orphans needed to have capital when they reached maturity for their sustenance, and their father had saved and hidden capital for them.

There is no certainty that the treasure was made of gold and silver; even if, according to some traditions that will be discussed in the narrative section, that tablet was made of gold and silver, it is not clear whether it falls under the category of forbidden hoarding, therefore this amount of treasure is not religiously condemned, and there is no evidence that the righteous father’s action was wrong.

The verse indicates that beneath the wall was a treasure belonging to the two orphan children and does not suggest that their father had buried it.(432)