Surah Al-araf in english

Verse 171

And, mention, when We wrenched the mountain above them, We lifted it up [unearthing it] from its root, as if it were a canopy, and they thought, they were certain, that it was about to fall upon them, because of God’s threat to them that it would fall upon them if they refused to accept the rulings contained in the Torah, they had [initially] refused [to accept] them because of their being burdensome, but then accepted them, and We said to them: ‘Take firmly, seriously and earnestly, what We have given you, and remember what is in it, by acting in accordance with it, that you might be God-fearing’.

Verse 172

And, remember, when your Lord took from the Children of Adam, from their loins (min zuhūrihim, is an inclusive substitution for the preceding [clause: min banī Ādama, ‘from the Children of Adam’], with the same preposition [min, ‘from’]) their seed, by bringing forth one from the loins of the other, [all] from the loins of Adam, offspring after offspring, in the way that they multiply, [looking] like small ants at [the valley of] Na‘mān on the Day of ‘Arafa [because of their multitude]. God set up proofs of His Lordship for them and endowed them with [the faculty of] reason, and made them testify against themselves, saying, ‘Am I not your Lord?’ They said, ‘Yea, indeed, You are our Lord, we testify’, to this, and this [taking of] testimony is, lest they should say (in both instances, read third person [yaqūlū, ‘they say’] or second person [taqūlū, ‘you say’]) on the Day of Resurrection, ‘Truly, of this, Oneness of God, we were unaware’, not knowing it!

Verse 173

Or lest you should say, ‘It is merely that our fathers were idolaters before, that is, before our time, and we were descendants of theirs, and so we followed their example. Will You then destroy us, chastise us, for that which those who follow falsehood did?’, from among our forefathers, by [their] establishing idolatry? The meaning is: they cannot use such arguments when they have been made to testify before their very selves to God’s Oneness. To effect this reminder by the tongue of the bearer of the miracle [Muhammad (s)] equally serves [as a reminder] for every soul to remember this within itself.

Verse 174

Thus We detail the signs, We explain them even as We have explained the covenant, that they might reflect on them, and that they might revert, from their disbelief.

Verse 175

And recite, O Muhammad (s), to them, that is, the Jews, the tidings, the tale, of him to whom We gave Our signs, but he cast them off, emerging in his disbelief in the same way that a snake emerges from its [shed] skin, he rebelled in disbelief, this was Bal‘am b. Bā‘ūrā’, a scholar from among the Children of Israel, who had been given some knowledge [of the Scriptures], and who was asked [by them] to invoke God against Moses. And when he did, the invocation turned against him and his tongue fell out onto his chest, and Satan pursued him, catching up with him and so he became his comrade, and he became of the perverse.

Verse 176

And had We willed, We would have raised him up, to the ranks of the scholars, thereby, by facilitating his way to [good] deeds; but he was disposed to, at peace [in], the earth — that is, this world — and inclined to it, and followed his whims, by calling [others] to them, and so We abased him. Therefore his likeness, his description, is as the likeness of a dog: if you attack it, by driving it away or curbing it, it lolls its tongue out, and if you leave it, it lolls its tongue out, and no other animal is like it in this way (both conditional sentences constitute a circumstantial qualifier, that is to say, it has its tongue lolling out despicably in all circumstances. The purpose here is to point out the similarity [between the one who follows his whims and a dog] in terms of condition and vileness, judging by the [contextualising] fā’ [of fa-mathaluhu, ‘therefore his likeness’], which relates what comes after it to what came before it in the way of ‘inclining towards this world and following whims’, and judging by God’s saying: That, likeness, is the likeness of those people who deny Our signs. So recount the tale, to the Jews, that they might reflect, upon it and so believe.

Verse 177

Evil as an example are the people, evil is the example of the people, who denied Our signs, and were wont to wrong themselves, through denial.

Verse 178

He whom God guides, he is guided, and he whom He sends astray — truly they are the losers.

Verse 179

And We have indeed urged unto Hell many of the jinn and mankind, having hearts wherewith they do not understand, the truth, and having eyes wherewith they do not perceive, the proofs of God’s power with a perception that entails reflection, and having ears wherewith they do not hear, the signs or the admonitions, in a way so as to reflect and take heed. These, they are like cattle, in their failure to understand, perceive or listen — nay, rather they are further astray, than cattle, because [at least] they [cattle] seek what is beneficial to them and stay away from what is harmful to them: these individuals, on the other hand, are proceeding towards the Fire, out of [sheer] obstinacy. These — they are the heedless.

Verse 180

And to God belong the, ninety nine, Most Beautiful Names — mentioned in hadīth — (al-husnā is the feminine for al-ahsan) so invoke, name, Him by them, and leave those who blaspheme His Names (yulhidūn, ‘they blaspheme’, from [fourth form] alhada or [first form] lahada, meaning ‘those who incline away from the truth’), by deriving from them names for their gods, as in the case of al-Lāt, from Allāh (‘God’), al-‘Uzzā, from al-‘Azīz (‘Mighty’), and Manāt, from al-Mannān (‘Lord of Favours’). They will be requited, in the Hereafter, the requital, for what they did — this was [revealed] before the command to fight [them].

Verse 181

And of those whom We created there is a community who guide by the truth, and act justly therewith: this is the community of Muhammad (s), as stated in a hadīth.

Verse 182

And those who deny Our signs — the Qur’ān — from among the people of Mecca, We will draw them on by degrees, We will lead them on gradually, whence they do not know.

Verse 183

And I will respite them — assuredly My scheme is strong, powerful, and cannot be withstood.

Verse 184

Have they not considered, and so realised that, that there is no madness in their comrade, Muhammad (s)? He is but a clear warner, one whose warning is evident.

Verse 185

And have they not reflected upon the dominion, the kingdom (malakūt is mulk) of the heaven and of the earth, and, upon, what things God has created (min shay’in is an explication of the preceding mā, ‘what’), so that they are able to infer the power of their Creator and His Oneness, and, upon, that, [upon] the fact that, it may be that their term is already near, so that they might hasten to believe, lest they die as disbelievers and move towards the Fire? In what fact then after this, that is, the Qur’ān, will they believe?

Verse 186

Whomever God sends astray, he has no guide. And He leaves them (read in the imperfect indicative wa-yadharuhum or wa-nadharuhum, ‘and We leave them’, as the beginning of a new sentence; or [the same verbs] in the imperfect jussive [apocopated form] wa-yadharhum, or wa-nadharhum, as a supplement to what comes after fā’ [of fa-lā hādiya lahu, ‘so he has no guide’]) in their insolence to wander on blindly, hesitating, out of perplexity.

Verse 187

They, that is the people of Mecca, will question you about the Hour, the Resurrection, when it shall come to pass. Say, to them: ‘The knowledge of, when, it, shall be, is only with my Lord. He alone shall reveal it, manifest it, at its proper time (li-waqtihā: the lām here functions as fī, ‘at’). It weighs heavily, tremendously, in the heavens and the earth, upon their inhabitants, because of its awesomeness. It will not come on you save all of a sudden’. They will question you, as if you were preoccupied with, obsessed with inquiring about, it, such that you have come to acquire knowledge of it. Say: ‘Knowledge of it is only with God (innamā ‘ilmuhā ‘inda’Llāhi is for emphasis), but most people do not know’, that knowledge of it lies with God, exalted be He.

Verse 188

Say: ‘I have no power to bring benefit, to attract it to, myself, or hurt, to repel it, except as God wills. Had I knowledge of the Unseen — that which is hidden from me, I would have acquired much good, and adversity, in the way of impoverishment and otherwise, would not touch me, since I would take precautions against such [adversity] by avoiding what is harmful. I am but a warner, to disbelievers, of the Fire, and a bearer of good tidings, of Paradise, to a people who believe’.

Verse 189

He, that is, God, it is Who created you from a single soul, namely, Adam, and made, created, from him his spouse, Eve, that he might take rest in her, and become intimate with her. Then, when he covered her, when he had sexual intercourse with her, she bore a light burden, namely, the sperm-drop, and moved to and fro with it, that is, she came and went [easily] on account of its lightness; but when she became heavy, because of the child growing inside her, and they became anxious that it should be a dumb child, they cried to God their Lord, ‘If You give us one, a child, that is sound, unimpaired, we indeed shall be of the thankful’, to You for it.

Verse 190

But when He gave them a sound one, [a sound] child, they ascribed to Him associates (shurakā’a: a variant reading has shirkan, meaning sharīkan, ‘an associate’) in that which He had given them, by naming it ‘Abd al-Hārith, ‘servant of al-Hārith’, when it is not right to be a ‘servant’ (‘abd) of any one but ‘God’ [sc. ‘Abd Allāh], but this [namesake ‘Abd] is not an association [of another with God] in terms of servitude, for Adam was immune [from a sin such as associating others in worship with God]. Samura [b. Jundub] reported that the Prophet (s) said, ‘On one occasion when Eve gave birth — all the children she bore had failed to survive — Satan visited her and said [to her], “Name it [the child] ‘Abd al-Hārith, and it will live.” She named it so and it lived. This [affair] was the result of Satan’s inspiration and his doings’: reported by al-Hākim, who deemed it [the report] ‘sound’ (sahīh), and [also reported] by al-Tirmidhī, who considered it ‘fair-uncommon’ (hasan gharīb); but exalted is God above what they, the people of Mecca, associate, in the way of idols (this sentence is consequent, a supplement to [the one beginning with] khalaqakum, ‘He created you’, so that what comes between the two is a parenthetical statement).

Verse 191

Do they associate, with Him, in worship, those who cannot create anything, but are themselves created,

Verse 192

and who are not able to give them, that is, those who worship them, any help, nor can they help themselves?, by defending themselves against someone intending to damage them, by breaking them or otherwise (the interrogative is meant as a rebuke).

Verse 193

And if you call them, that is, the idols, to guidance, they will not follow you (read yatba‘ūkum or yattabi‘ūkum). It will be the same [response] for you, whether you call them, to it, or whether you are silent, [refraining] from calling them, they will not follow it, because they cannot hear.

Verse 194

Truly those on whom you call, [whom] you worship, besides God are servants, owned, like you; call them then and let them answer you, your call, if you are truthful, in [claiming] that they are gods: God then illustrates their utter incapacity and the superiority which their worshippers possess over them, saying:

Verse 195

Have they feet wherewith they walk or, indeed, have they hands (aydin is the plural of yad) wherewith they can grasp or, indeed, have they eyes wherewith they can see or, indeed, have they ears wherewith they give ear? (an interrogative of rejection), in other words, they have none of these things, which you have, so why do you worship them when you are more complete in being than they are? Say, to them, O Muhammad (s): ‘Call upon your associates, to destroy me; then scheme against me, and waste no time, [do not] give me any respite, for I am not concerned with you.

Verse 196

Truly my Protector, the One in charge of my affairs, is God Who reveals the Book, the Qur’ān, and He takes charge of the righteous, by protecting them.

Verse 197

And as for those on whom you call besides God, they have no power to help you, nor can they help themselves’, so why should I be concerned with them?

Verse 198

And if you call upon them, that is, the idols, to guidance, they do not hear; and you see them, that is, the idols, O Muhammad (s), staring at you, looking toward you, as a person looks, but they do not perceive.

Verse 199

Indulge [people] with forgiveness, [accepting] what issues spontaneously from people’s manners [of behaviour], and do not scrutinise them, and enjoin kindness, decency, and turn away from the ignorant, and do not counter their stupidity with the like.

Verse 200

And if (immā: the letter nūn of the conditional particle in, ‘if’, has been assimilated with the extra mā, ‘any’) any insinuation from Satan should provoke you, that is, if anything should turn you away from that which you have been commanded to do, then, seek refuge in God (fa’sta‘idh bi’Llāh is the response to the conditional clause, with the response to the command being omitted), and He will ward it off from you, He is Hearing, of what is said, Seeing, of what is done.

Verse 201

Truly the God-fearing, when a visitation from Satan touches them, befalls them (tayfun: a variant reading has tā’ifun), that is, [when] something [of the sort] overcomes them, they remember, God’s punishment and His reward, and then see clearly, [distinguishing] the truth from what is other than it, and so they return [to God].

Verse 202

And their brothers, that is, the brothers of devils from among the disbelievers, they, the devils, lead them further into error, and, they, do not stop short, [do not] desist from it, by seeing clearly, in the way that those who are God-fearing come to see clearly.

Verse 203

And when you do not bring them, that is, the people of Mecca, a sign, from among those which they request, they say, ‘Why have you not chosen one?’, [why have you not] produced one [all by] yourself? Say, to them: ‘I follow only that which is revealed to me from my Lord, and it is not for me to bring anything from myself; this, Qur’ān, is insight, proofs, from your Lord, and a guidance and a mercy for a people who believe’.

Verse 204

And when the Qur’ān is recited, listen to it and pay heed, [refraining] from speech, so that you might find mercy: this was revealed regarding [the requirement of] refraining from speech during the [mosque] sermon, which here has been expressed by [the recital of] ‘the Qur’ān’, because it [the sermon] comprises it; others say that it was revealed regarding the [requirement of silence and attention during the] recitation of the Qur’ān in general.

Verse 205

And remember your Lord within yourself, that is, secretly, humbly, submissively, and fearfully, in awe of Him, and, louder than [speaking] in secret, more quietly than speaking out loud, that is, a middle way between the two, at morning and evening, at the beginning of the day and at its end. And do not be among the heedless, of God’s remembrance.

Verse 206

Surely those who are with your Lord, namely, the angels, are not too proud, they do [not] disdain, to worship Him; they glorify Him, exalting Him as being transcendent above what does not befit Him, and to Him they prostrate, that is, they devote their submission and worship exclusively to Him: so be like them!

Verse 1

‘They question you, O Muhammad (s), concerning the spoils of war — the booty — to whom do they belong? Say, to them: ‘The spoils of war belong to God, Who places them where He will, and the Messenger, who divides them according to God’s command. The Prophet (s) divided these [spoils] between them equally, as reported by al-Hākim in his al-Mustadrak. So fear God and set things right between you, that is, [set right] the reality of that [state of affairs] which is between you, through mutual affection and the refraining from quarrelling; and obey God and His Messenger, if you are, truly, believers’.

Verse 2

The believers, those whose faith is complete, are only those who, when God is mentioned, that is, when His threat of punishment [is mentioned], their hearts tremble, fear, and when His verses are recited to them, they increase their faith, their acceptance of the truth, and who rely upon their Lord, [who] put their trust in Him [alone], and not in any other.

Verse 3

Those who observe the prayers, performing them as they ought to be [performed], and who expend, in obedience to God, from that with which We have provided them.

Verse 4

Those, described in the way mentioned, are the true, the real, believers, without doubt. For them are ranks, stations in Paradise, with their Lord, and forgiveness, and generous provision, in Paradise.

Verse 5

As your Lord brought you forth from your home with the truth (bi’l-haqq is semantically connected to akhraja, ‘He brought forth’), and indeed a party of the believers were averse, to going forth (the [last] sentence is a circumstantial qualifier referring to the [suffixed pronoun] kāf in akhrajaka, ‘He brought you forth’; kamā, ‘as’, is the predicate of an omitted subject, in other words: their aversion to this state [of affairs of the booty being God’s and the Prophet’s] is similar to their aversion when you were brought forth [to fight], which had actually been better for them: likewise is this [state of affairs better for them]). It happened that Abū Sufyān was returning from Syria with a caravan. The Prophet (s) and his followers went forth to plunder it; but Quraysh became aware of this, and so Abū Jahl and some Meccan fighters rode out to defend it — these constituted the ‘band’. Abū Sufyān drove the caravan via the coastal route and it managed to escape. Abū Jahl was then advised to return, but he refused and marched on towards Badr. The Prophet (s) consulted with his followers, saying to them, ‘God has promised me one of the two parties’. So they agreed with him to attack the [Meccan] band, but some of them were averse to this, complaining, ‘We have not come prepared for this!’, as God, exalted be He, says:

Verse 6

They dispute with you concerning the truth, [the order] to fight, after it had become clear, [after it had] become evident to them, as though they were being driven to death while they looked, at it [death] with their very eyes, utterly averse to it.

Verse 7

And, remember, when God promised you one of the two parties, either the caravan or the band [of Meccan fighters], that it should be yours, and you longed, you were wishing, that other than the armed one, that is, [other than] the fighting one with the weapons, in other words, [you longed that] the caravan, should be yours, because it had fewer men and less reinforcements than the band [of Mecca fighters]; but God willed that the truth be realised, [He willed] to manifest it, by His, preceding, words, that Islam should triumph; and to cut the root of the disbelievers, to the very last man, by extirpating them, and so He commanded you to fight against the band.

Verse 8

And that He might cause the truth to be realised and annul, efface, falsehood, disbelief, however much the sinners, the idolaters, were averse, to that.

Verse 9

When you sought help from your Lord, asking Him to help you by granting you victory over them, and He answered you [saying]: ‘I shall reinforce you, I shall assist you, with a thousand angels, rank upon rank’, one rank following after the next: God promised them this [number] at first, but it then became three thousand, and then five thousand, as stated in [sūrat] Āl ‘Imrān [Q. 3:124-125] (a variant reading [of alf, ‘thousand’] has the plural āluf, ‘thousands’, similar [in pattern] to aflus, ‘coins’).

Verse 10

And God appointed it, that is, the reinforcement, only as good tidings, and that your hearts might thereby be reassured. Victory comes only from God: surely God is Mighty, Wise.

Verse 11

Remember, when He caused slumber to overcome you as security, against the fear that had befallen you, from Him, from God, and sent down upon you water from the heaven, to purify you thereby, from minor and major ritual impurities; and to remove from you the evil of Satan, his whisperings to you that, had you been on the right path, you would not have been thirsty and impure, while the idolaters enjoyed [access to] water; and to strengthen, to seal, your hearts, with certainty and endurance; and to make firm your feet, lest they sink in the sand.

Verse 12

When your Lord inspired the angels, with whom He reinforced the Muslims, [saying]: ‘I am with you, with assistance and victorious help, so make the believers stand firm, by helping [them] and giving [them] good tidings. I shall cast terror, fear, into the hearts of the disbelievers; so smite above the necks, that is, the heads, and smite of them every finger!’, that is, [smite] the extremities of their hands and feet: thus, when one of them went to strike an disbeliever’s head, it would roll off before his sword reached it. The Prophet (s) threw a handful of pebbles against them and every single idolater was struck in his eye, and thus they were defeated.

Verse 13

That, chastisement befalling them is, because they had contended with, they had opposed, God and His Messenger: whoever contends with God and with His Messenger, surely God is severe in retribution, against him.

Verse 14

That, chastisement, is for you, so taste it, O disbelievers, in this world; and [know] that for the disbelievers, in the Hereafter, is the chastisement of the Fire.

Verse 15

O you who believe, when you encounter the disbelievers inching forward, that is, amassed, advancing slowly because of their large numbers, do not turn your backs to them, fleeing.

Verse 16

Whoever turns his back to them on that day, the day of the encounter with them, unless manœuvring, turning around, for battle — by pretending to be in flight, as a trick, while actually intending to relaunch an attack — or joining another detachment, a company of Muslims, calling on it for assistance, he has truly incurred the wrath of God, and his abode will be Hell — an evil journey’s end!, [an evil] return it is. This [threat] applies so long as the [numbers of] disbelievers do not surpass twice [that of the believers].

Verse 17

You did not slay them, at Badr by your own might, but God slew them, by giving you assistance, and you threw not, O Muhammad (s), [against] the eyes of the [unbelieving] folk, when you threw, the pebbles, for a handful of pebbles thrown by a human being cannot strike the eyes of [every person in] a large troop, but God threw, by making that [throw] reach them. He did this in order to vanquish the disbelievers, and that He might try the believers with a fair test, a [fair] gift, namely, booty; surely God is Hearing, of their sayings, Knowing, of their conditions.

Verse 18

That is, the true gift, for you, and [know] that God weakens the plan of the disbelievers.

Verse 19

If you have sought a judgement, O disbelievers, if you have sought a decisive conclusion [of this battle] — Abū Jahl had said, ‘O God! Whoever among [the two of] us is the one who has severed the ties of kinship and brought us what we had never known, destroy them today!’ — the judgement, the decisive conclusion, has now come to you, by the fact that the one so described has [already] perished: this was Abū Jahl and those killed with him, and not the Prophet (s) and the believers; and if you desist, from unbelief and waging war, it will better for you. But if you return, to fight against the Prophet (s), We shall return, to assist him against you, and your host, your troops, will not avail, will not protect, you in any way, however numerous it be; and verily God is with the believers (read thus inna, indicating a new sentence; or read anna, with an implicit lām [li-anna‘Llāha ma‘a’l-mu’minīn, ‘because God is with the believers’]).

Verse 20

O you who believe, obey God and His Messenger, and do not turn away from Him, by contravening His command, while you are listening, to the Qur’ān and the admonitions.

Verse 21

And do not be as those who say, ‘We hear,’ and they hear not, in such a way as to reflect and heed admonition — these are either the hypocrites or the idolaters.

Verse 22

Surely the worst of beasts in God’s sight are those who are deaf, to hearing the truth, and dumb, [unable] to utter it, those who do not understand.

Verse 23

For had God known of any good in them, any righteousness, were they to listen to the truth, He would have made them hear, in such a way as to understand; and had He made them hear — hypothetically speaking — already knowing that there is no good in them, they would have turned away, from it, averse, to accepting it, out of obstinacy and in denial.

Verse 24

O you who believe, respond to God and the Messenger, with obedience, when He calls you to that which will give you life, in the matter of religion, for it will be the source of everlasting life [for you]; and know that God comes in between a man and his heart, so that he cannot believe or disbelieve except by His will; and that it is to Him that you shall be gathered, and He will requite you for your deeds.

Verse 25

And be afraid of a trial which, if it were to fall upon you, would certainly not fall exclusively upon the evildoers among you, but would encompass them and others, and the way to guard against it is to repudiate that evil which necessarily results in [precipitating] it; and know that God is severe in retribution, against those who oppose Him.

Verse 26

And remember when you were few and oppressed in the land, the land of Mecca, and were fearful lest men should snatch you away, [lest] the disbelievers should seize you swiftly; how He gave you refuge, in Medina, and reinforced you, strengthened you, with His help, on the day of Badr, with the angels, and provided you with the good things, the spoils, that you might be thankful, for His graces.

Verse 27

The following was revealed regarding Abū Lubāba Marwān b. ‘Abd al-Mundhir: the Prophet (s) had dispatched him to the Banū Qurayza so that they would submit to his [the Prophet’s] authority. But they [Banū Qurayza] consulted with him [as to whether they should cede], and he pointed out to them that a slaughter would ensue — for members of his family and his property were among them: O you who believe, do not betray God and the Messenger, and, do not, betray your trusts, that which has been entrusted to you, in the way of religion or otherwise, while you are aware.

Verse 28

And know that your wealth and your children are a trial, for you, impeding you from the concerns of the Hereafter; and that with God is a tremendous wage, so do not forfeit it by giving [undue] attention to wealth and children, acting treacherously for the sake of [preserving] them.

Verse 29

The following was revealed regarding his [Abū Lubāba’s] repentance: O you who believe, if you fear God, by turning [in repentance] to Him and in other ways, He will grant you a [means of] separation, between yourselves and what you fear, so that you will be delivered, and absolve you of your evil deeds, and forgive you, your sins; and God is of tremendous bounty.

Verse 30

And, remember, O Muhammad (s), when the disbelievers — who had gathered to discuss your affair at the council assembly — were plotting against you, to confine you, to chain you up and imprison you, or slay you — all of them [acting as] assassins of one man — or to expel you, from Mecca, and they were plotting, against you, and God was plotting, against them, by devising a way [out] for you, when He revealed to you what they had devised and commanded you to leave [Mecca]; and God is the best of those who plot, the most knowledgeable among them about it.

Verse 31

And when Our verses, namely, the Qur’ān, were being recited to them, they said, ‘We have already heard! If we wish we can speak the like of this — al-Nadr b. al-Hārith said this, for he used to travel on trading business to al-Hīra, where he would buy books containing the tales of the Persians, and would recount these to the Meccans; this, Qur’ān, is nothing but the fables, the lies, of the ancients’.

Verse 32

And when they said, ‘O God! If this, that Muhammad (s) recites, be indeed the truth, revealed, from You, then rain down stones upon us from the heaven, or bring on us a painful chastisement’, in return for [our] denial of it: this was said by al-Nadr and others, in mockery and in delusion that he had some insight and certainty about it [the Qur’ān] being false.

Verse 33

God then says: But God was not about to chastise them, for what they requested, while you were among them, for when chastisement is sent down it is all-encompassing, and no community was ever chastised except after its prophet and the believers had departed from it; nor was God about to chastise them while they sought forgiveness, crying, as they performed the circumambulations: ‘Your forgiveness! Your forgiveness!’; it is also said that this [last clause] refers to those oppressed believers among them, similar to where God says Had they been clearly separated, verily We would have chastised the disbelievers among them with a painful chastisement [Q. 48:25].

Verse 34

But what [plea] have they now, that God should not chastise them, with the sword, after your departure and that of the oppressed [believers] — if this [verse] is understood in accordance with the first opinion [that it refers to the idolaters asking forgiveness], then it abrogates the previous one, for God had chastised them at Badr and in other instances — when they bar, prevent the Prophet (s) and the Muslims, from the Sacred Mosque, [from] performing circumambulations there, though they are not its guardians?, as they claim? Its only [rightful] guardians are the God-fearing, but most of them do not know, that they have no [rightful] custodianship over it.

Verse 35

And their prayer at the [Sacred] House is nothing but whistling and hand-clapping: in other words they do this in place of the prayer which they were ordered to perform — therefore taste now, at Badr, the chastisement for your unbelief!

Verse 36

The disbelievers expend their wealth, in waging war against the Prophet (s), in order to bar from God’s way, and they will expend it until, in the end, it will be a source of anguish for them, a regret, for having lost it and lost what they had intended [by expending it]; then they will be defeated, in this world, and the disbelievers, among them, will be gathered, driven, into Hell, in the Hereafter,

Verse 37

that God may distinguish (read li-yamīza, or li-yumayyiza, is semantically connected to takūnu, ‘it will be’ [from the previous verse]) the wicked, the disbeliever, from the good, the believer, and place the wicked one upon another, and heap them up all together and put them in Hell: those, they are the losers.

Verse 38

Say to the disbelievers, such as Abū Sufyān and his companions, that if they desist, from unbelief and from waging war against the Prophet (s), that which is past, of their deeds, will be forgiven them; but if they return, to waging war against him, the way of [dealing with] the ancients has already gone before!, that is, Our way [in dealing] with them, by destroying them: We will do the same with these ones.

Verse 39

And fight them until sedition, idolatry, is, exists, no more and religion is all for God, alone, none other being worshipped; then if they desist, from unbelief, surely God sees what they do, and will requite them for it.

Verse 40

But if they turn away, from belief, know that God is your Protector, your Helper and the One Who takes charge of your affairs — an excellent Protector, is He, and an excellent Helper!, [He is] for you.

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Hizb 18 | AL-ARAF 7:171 -> AL-ANFAL 8:40

Surah 7 AL-ARAF

Surah 8 AL-ANFAL

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