«وَأَفِي لِلْعَشِيرِ وَإِنْ لَمْ يُكَافِئْ بِالْعَشِيرِ»
I remain faithful to a companion even if he does not repay a tenth of my kindness.
The first al-ʿashīr is a close associate, while the second denotes one tenth. The identical form with distinct meanings links fidelity and meagre repayment through wordplay.
Afī is a first-person imperfect meaning “I fulfil / remain faithful”; lam yukāfiʾ is a negated jussive imperfect. The ethical point is refusing to measure every friendship by equal compensation.