Explanation

‘Umar ibn al-Khattāb (may Allah be pleased with him) helped a man to fight in the cause of Allah by giving him a horse. However, the man did not look after the horse and did not care for it properly; he exhausted the horse until it grew weak and emaciated. So ‘Umar wanted to buy the horse back from the man, thinking that it would be cheap due to its miserable condition. As he was unsure about buying it back, he consulted the Prophet (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him) first to clear his doubts. The Prophet (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him) forbade him from buying it back, even for a meager price, as he had given the horse for Allah's sake. One should not follow up on donations or feel attached to them. The person who received the donation may feel obliged to sell it back to the donor for a low price. In this case, the donor will receive back part of his charity at no price. Also, when charity is given, it takes with it one's bad deeds, so one should not take them back and should not look back. Buying back one's charity is like retracting one's charity, despite the price paid.