“There is no day in which the servants rise in the morning except that two angels descend. One of them says: ‘O Allah, grant a substitute to the one who spends,’ and the other says: ‘O Allah, bring ruin to the one who withholds.’”

Narrated by al-Bukhārī (1442) and Muslim (1010), from the narration of Abū Hurayrah (may Allah be pleased with him).

Brief Explanation of the Hadith

Wealth belongs to Allah, and people are entrusted with it to see how they will act. Whoever spends it in ways that please Allah is truly successful, and whoever is stingy with it or uses it in what angers Allah is among the wretched.
In this ḥadīth, the Prophet (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him) encourages spending in various avenues of good and warns against miserliness and withholding, highlighting the evil consequences of such behavior. The Prophet (may Allah’s peace and blessings be upon him) informs that there is no day, until the Hour (Day of Judgment) is established, where Allah's servants awaken, but that two honored angels from Allah's angels descend by Allah’s permission. One of them supplicates – and the supplication from an angel is answered – saying: “O Allah, give a replacement (khalafan)—that is, grant a good substitute and great compensation—to the one who spends his wealth in avenues of righteousness and goodness, whether obligatory or recommended.”
This includes all types of spending: on one’s family, maintaining ties of kinship, and other forms of charity.
The word khalafan means that the one who gives is granted wealth in return for what he spent, his wealth and children are blessed, and he attains great reward in the Hereafter.
Thus, khalaf here encompasses both material compensation and spiritual reward.
This aligns with the saying of Allah (may He be exalted): “Whatever you spend in the cause of Allah, He will compensate it.”
(Surah Sabaʾ: 39)
As for the other angel, he says: “O Allah, give destruction to the one who withholds,” meaning: the one who refrains from spending in paths of goodness. “Destruction” (talafan) refers to ruin and loss. This may be physical—where the wealth itself perishes in one form or another—or spiritual, in that its blessing is removed. Such a person does not benefit from his wealth in this world as he ought to, nor does he gain any reward for it in the Hereafter. Instead, he continues to hoard it until he dies, and it becomes a cause for his punishment—only to be inherited by someone who neither praises him nor appreciates him; rather, such a person may even curse him.
It has been said that the talaf (ruin or loss) mentioned in the ḥadīth applies to the one who withholds wealth from fulfilling the obligations that Allah has commanded—such a person deserves the destruction of his wealth or even of himself. As for the one who refrains only from giving in recommended (non-obligatory) avenues, then he is not subject to this supplication, though his reward is diminished and he has deprived himself of benefit in the Hereafter. However, if miserliness dominates him—even if only in the smallest of things, like a grain or a morsel—then he may still fall under the scope of this supplication, due to the reprehensible trait of stinginess that overtakes him.
This ḥadīth highlights the virtue of spending in good causes and encourages it, while also warning against miserliness and its dire consequences.