Surah At-tawbah in english

Verse 1

This is: A declaration of immunity from God and His Messenger to, reach, the idolaters with whom you made a pact, a pact for an indefinite period of time, or one for [a period of] less than, or more than, four months; the annulment of the pact shall be as God mentions in His saying:

Verse 2

‘Journey freely, travel in security, O idolaters, in the land for four months — beginning with [the month of] Shawwāl, on the basis of what will come shortly — after which there will be no security for you, and know that you cannot escape God, that is, you shall [not] elude His punishment, and that God degrades the disbelievers’, humiliating them in this world by having them killed, and in the Hereafter, by [sending them to] the Fire.

Verse 3

A proclamation, a notification, from God and His Messenger to mankind on the day of the Greater Pilgrimage, the Day of Sacrifice (yawm al-nahr), that God is free from obligation to the idolaters, and their pacts, and [so is] His Messenger, also free from obligation: in that same year, year 9 [of the Hijra], the Prophet (s) sent forth ‘Alī, who proclaimed these verses on the Day of Sacrifice at Minā, and also [he proclaimed] that after this year no idolater will [be allowed to] make pilgrimage or circumambulate the House naked, as reported by al-Bukhārī. So, if you repent, of unbelief, it will be better for you; but if you turn away, from belief, then know that you cannot escape God. And give tidings to — inform — those who disbelieve of a painful chastisement, namely, [of] slaughter or capture in this world, and of [punishment in] the Fire in the Hereafter.

Verse 4

Excepting those of the idolaters with whom you have made a pact, and who have not diminished [their commitment to] you in anyway, with regard to the terms of the pact, nor supported, assisted, anyone, from among the disbelievers, against you; [as for these] fulfil your pact with them until, the completion of, the term, to which you have agreed. Truly God loves those who fear [Him], by fulfilling pacts.

Verse 5

Then, when the sacred months have passed — that is, [at] the end of the period of deferment — slay the idolaters wherever you find them, be it during a lawful [period] or a sacred [one], and take them, captive, and confine them, to castles and forts, until they have no choice except [being put to] death or [acceptance of] Islam; and lie in wait for them at every place of ambush, [at every] route that they use (kulla, ‘every’, is in the accusative because a [preceding] genitive-taking preposition has been removed). But if they repent, of unbelief, and establish prayer and pay the alms, then leave their way free, and do not interfere with them. God is Forgiving, Merciful, to those who repent.

Verse 6

And if any one of the idolaters (ahadun, ‘one’, is in the nominative because of the [following] verb [istajāraka, ‘seeks your protection’] that validates it) seeks your protection, requests security from you against being killed, then grant him protection, provide security for him, so that he might hear the words of God — the Qur’ān — and afterward convey him to his place of security, that is, the dwelling-places of his folk, if he does not believe, so that he might reflect upon his situation — that, which is mentioned, is because they are a people who do not know, the religion of God, and so they must [be made to] hear the Qur’ān in order to [come to] know [religion].

Verse 7

How can the idolaters have a pact with God and His Messenger — they cannot —while they disbelieve in God and His Messenger, acting treacherously; except for those with whom you made a pact at the Sacred Mosque?, the day of al-Hudaybiyya — these were Quraysh, for whom an exception was made earlier [Q. 9:4]. So long as they are true to you, keeping to the pact and not breaking it, be true to them, by fulfilling it (fa-mā, ‘so long as’: the mā is a conditional particle). Truly God loves the God-fearing: the Prophet (s) had kept to the pact made with them until they broke it by supporting the Banū Bakr against Khuzā‘a.

Verse 8

How, can they have a pact, when, if they get the better of you, [if] they have the upper hand over you, they do not respect, [they do not] take into consideration, any bond, kinship, or treaty, pact, with regard to you, but will instead harm you as much as they can (the conditional sentence [‘if they …’] is [also] a circumstantial qualifier), pleasing you with their tongues, with charming words, while their hearts refuse, to be true to these [words]; and most of them are wicked, violators of pacts.

Verse 9

They have purchased with the signs of God, the Qur’ān, a small price, of this world, that is, they have refrained from following them in favour of passions and whims, and have barred [people] from His way, His religion. Truly evil is that, deed of theirs, which they are wont to do.

Verse 10

They respect neither bond [of kinship] nor treaty with regard to a believer; those, they are the transgressors.

Verse 11

Yet if they repent and establish prayer and pay the alms, then they are your brothers in religion; and We detail, We explain, the signs for a people who know, [who] reflect.

Verse 12

But if they break, [if] they violate, their oaths, their covenants, after [making] their pact and assail your religion, slander it, then fight the leaders of unbelief, its heads (here an overt noun [‘the leaders of unbelief’] has replaced the [third person] pronominalisation) — verily they have no [binding] oaths, [no] pacts (a variant reading [for aymān, ‘oaths’] has the kasra inflection [for the alif, sc. īmān, ‘[no] faith’]) — so that they might desist, from unbelief.

Verse 13

Will you not (a-lā, ‘will not’ or ‘is not’, denotes incitement) fight a people who broke, violated, their oaths, their pacts, and intended to expel the Messenger, from Mecca — for they discussed this between them in their council assembly — initiating, combat, against you first?, when they fought alongside Banū Bakr against Khuzā‘a, your allies? So what is stopping you from fighting them? Are you afraid of them? God is more worthy of your fear, when you fail to fight them, if you are believers.

Verse 14

Fight them, and God will chastise them, He will have them killed, at your hands and degrade them, humiliate them through capture and subjugation, and He will give you victory against them, and He will heal the breasts of a people who believe, [removing the harm] done to them — these are the Banū Khuzā‘a.

Verse 15

And He will remove the rage, the grief, in their hearts. God turns [in forgiveness] to whomever He will, when they return to Islam, as in the case of Abū Sufyān. And God is Knowing, Wise.

Verse 16

Or (am has the meaning of the [initial a-] hamza used to express disavowal) did you suppose that you would be left [in peace] when God does not yet know, that is, through knowledge outwardly manifested, those of you who have struggled, sincerely, and have not taken, besides God and His Messenger and the believers, an intimate friend?, as a confidant or an ally? In other words: when it has not yet become manifest who the sincere ones are — those described in the exclusive way mentioned. And God is aware of what you do.

Verse 17

It is not for the idolaters to attend God’s places of worship (masājid, is also read in the singular, masjid), entering them or sitting in them, bearing witness, against themselves, to unbelief; those, their works have failed, [their works] are invalid, and in the Fire they shall abide.

Verse 18

Only he shall attend God’s places of worship who believes in God and the Last Day, and observes prayer, and pays the alms, and fears none but God alone; it may be that those will be among the rightly guided.

Verse 19

Do you reckon the giving of water to pilgrims and the attendance of the Sacred Mosque, that is, [do you reckon] those who do such things, to be the same as he who believes in God and the Last Day and struggles in the way of God? They are not equal, in merit, in God’s sight; and God guides not the evildoing, the disbelieving, folk: this was revealed to refute those who claimed this, such as al-‘Abbās and others.

Verse 20

Those who believe, and have emigrated, and have struggled in the way of God with their possessions and their lives are greater in degree, in rank, with God, than others; and those, they are the triumphant, the ones who will attain good.

Verse 21

Their Lord gives them good tidings of mercy from Him and beatitude; for them shall be gardens wherein is enduring, everlasting, bliss,

Verse 22

therein they shall abide forever (khālidīna is an implied circumstance). Surely with God is a tremendous reward.

Verse 23

The following was revealed regarding those who refrained from emigrating because of their families and trade: O you who believe, do not take your fathers and brothers for your friends, if they prefer, if they have chosen, disbelief over belief; whoever of you takes them for friends, such are the evildoers.

Verse 24

Say: ‘If your fathers, and your sons, and your brothers, and your wives, and your clan, your kinsmen (‘ashīratukum: a variant reading has ‘ashīrātukum), and the possessions which you have acquired, and merchandise for which you fear there may be no sale, no longer viable, and dwellings which you love, are dearer to you than God and His Messenger and struggling in His way, so that you have refrained from emigrating and struggling for the sake of such [things], then wait until God brings about His command — this is meant as a threat to them. And God does not guide the wicked folk’.

Verse 25

God has already helped you on many fields, of battle, such as Badr, and [against] Qurayza and al-Nadīr, and, remember, on the day of Hunayn — a valley between Mecca and Tā’if; that is, [remember] the day on which you fought Hawāzin — this was in Shawwāl in year 8 [of the Hijra], when (idh substitutes for yawma, ‘the day’) your vast numbers were pleasing to you, such that you were saying, ‘We shall not be defeated today, not on account of our being few’: and they numbered 12,000, while the disbelievers were 4,000); but it availed you nothing and the earth, for all its breadth (bi-mā rahubat, the mā refers to the verbal noun, in other words [understand it as being] ma‘a rahbihā, ‘despite its breadth’), it was straitened for you, such that you could not find a place in which you felt secure, because of the severe fear that afflicted you; then you turned back, retreating, fleeing: the Prophet (s), however, on his white mule remained firm, with only al-‘Abbās by his side, while Abū Sufyān was charging on his mount.

Verse 26

Then God sent down His Spirit of Peace, His reassurance, upon His Messenger and upon the believers, and so they turned back towards the Prophet (s), after al-‘Abbās called them, with his [the Prophet’s] permission, and they fought [once again]; and He sent down legions, of angels, you did not see, and chastised the disbelievers, with slaughter and capture, and that is the requital of the disbelievers.

Verse 27

Then afterwards God will relent to whom He will, from among them, by [their acceptance of] Islam. And God is Forgiving, Merciful.

Verse 28

O you who believe, the idolaters are indeed unclean, [they are] filth, on account of their inner vileness, so do not let them come near the Sacred Mosque, that is, let them not enter the Sanctuary, after this year of theirs, year 9 of the Hijra. If you fear impoverishment, poverty, as a result of the cessation of their commerce with you, God will surely enrich you from His bounty, if He will: and He indeed enriched them through conquests and [the imposition of] the jizya. God is Knowing, Wise.

Verse 29

Fight those who do not believe in God, nor in the Last Day, for, otherwise, they would have believed in the Prophet (s), and who do not forbid what God and His Messenger have forbidden, such as wine, nor do they practise the religion of truth, the firm one, the one that abrogated other religions, namely, the religion of Islam — from among of those who (min, ‘from’, explains [the previous] alladhīna, ‘those who’) have been given the Scripture, namely, the Jews and the Christians, until they pay the jizya tribute, the annual tax imposed them, readily (‘an yadin is a circumstantial qualifier, meaning, ‘compliantly’, or ‘by their own hands’, not delegating it [to others to pay]), being subdued, [being made] submissive and compliant to the authority of Islam.

Verse 30

The Jews say: Ezra is the son of God; and the Christians say: The Messiah, Jesus, is the son of God. That is the utterance of their mouths, for which they have no support, nay, imitating the utterances of those who disbelieved before [them], from among their forefathers, mimicking them. God assail, curse, them! How they are deviated!, turned away from the truth, despite the proofs having been established.

Verse 31

They have taken their rabbis, the scholars among the Jews, and their monks, the devout among the Christians, as lords beside God — following them in making lawful what God has made unlawful and making unlawful what He has made lawful — and the Messiah, son of Mary, when they were not commanded, in the Torah and the Gospel, except to worship One God: there is no god except Him; glory be to Him, as an affirmation of His transcendence [high], above what they associate [with Him].

Verse 32

They desire to extinguish God’s light, His Law and His proofs, with their tongues, with what they say about Him; and God refuses but to perfect, to make manifest, His light, even though the disbelievers be averse, to this.

Verse 33

He it is Who has sent His Messenger, Muhammad (s), with the guidance and the religion of truth, that He may manifest it, make it prevail, over every religion, all the religions which oppose it, even though the disbelievers be averse, to this.

Verse 34

O you who believe, many of the rabbis and monks indeed consume, take, people’s goods by false means, as in the case of bribes [paid] for judgements, and bar, people, from the way of God, [from] His religion. And those who (wa’lladhīna is the subject) hoard up gold and silver, and do not expend them, these treasure-hoards, in the way of God, that is, they do not pay from it what is due to Him by way of alms and charity — give them tidings, inform them, of a painful chastisement.

Verse 35

On the day when it shall be heated in the fire of Hell and therewith their foreheads and their sides and their backs shall be branded, burnt — their skins will be stretched until these [hoards of gold and silver] can be placed on them entirely, and it will be said to them: ‘This is what you hoarded up for yourselves: so taste now what you used to hoard!’, that is, [taste] its requital.

Verse 36

Verily the number of months, used to reckon the year, with God is twelve months in the Book of God, the Preserved Tablet (al-lawh al-mahfūz), from the day that He created the heavens and the earth; four of them, that is, the months, are sacred, inviolable: Dhū’l-Qa‘da, Dhū’l-Hijja, Muharram and Rajab. That, making of them sacred, is the right, the upright, religion. So do not wrong yourselves during them, during these sacred months, with acts of disobedience, for their burden [of sin] is greater therein; but it is also said to mean [do not wrong yourselves] at any time during all the months [of the year]. And fight the idolaters altogether, all of them, throughout the months, even as they fight you altogether; and know that God is with those who fear Him, supporting and assisting [them].

Verse 37

Postponement [of the sacred month] — that is, the deferment of the sacredness of a given month to another, as they used to do during paganism, such as postponing the sacredness of Muharram, if it arrives while they are at war, to Safar — is only an excess of unbelief, because of their rejection of God’s ruling thereof, whereby those who disbelieve are led astray (yudallu may also be read yadillu, ‘[they] go astray’), one year they make it, the month postponed, profane, and hallow it another, that they may make up, by profaning one month and hallowing another in its place, the number, of months, which God has hallowed, such that they do not hallow more, or less, than the four months, but without observing the individual months themselves; and so they profane what God has hallowed. Their evil deeds have been adorned for them, such that they deem them to be good [deeds]; and God does not guide the disbelieving folk.

Verse 38

When the Prophet (s) summoned men for the Tabūk campaign, and they thought it too burdensome, because of the hardship and the extreme heat from which they were suffering, the following was revealed: O you who believe, what is wrong with you that, when it is said to you, ‘Go forth in the way of God,’ you sink down heavily (iththāqaltum: the original tā’ [of tathāqaltum] has been assimilated with the thā’, and the conjunctive hamza has been supplied), in other words, you hesitate and are disinclined to [participate in] the struggle, to the ground, to stay sitting upon it? (the interrogative is meant as a rebuke). Are you so content with the life of this world, and its delights, rather than with the Hereafter?, that is, in place of its bliss? Yet the enjoyment of the life of this world is, in, comparison with the enjoyment of, the Hereafter but little, trivial.

Verse 39

If (illā: lā has been assimilated with the nūn of the conditional particle in, in both instances [here and in the next verse]) you do not go forth, [if you do not] set out with the Prophet (s) for the struggle, He will chastise you with a painful chastisement, and He will substitute [you with] another folk other than you, that is, He will bring them in your place, and you will not hurt Him, that is, God, or [‘him’ as being] the Prophet (s), at all, should you neglect to help him [to victory], for God [Himself] will indeed bring victory to His religion; for God has power over all things, including bringing victory to His religion and His Prophet.

Verse 40

If you do not help him, that is, the Prophet (s), [know that] God has already helped him, when the disbelievers drove him forth, from Mecca, that is, they made him resort to leaving, when they desired to kill him or imprison him or banish him at the council assembly — the second of two (thāniya ithnayn: this is a circumstantial qualifier), that is, one of two, the other being Abū Bakr: in other words, just as God helped him in such a situation, He will not forsake him in another; when (idh substitutes for the previous idh) the two were in the cave — a breach in the mountain called Thawr — when (idh substituting again), he said to his companion, Abū Bakr — who, upon perceiving the [sound of the] feet of the idolaters [nearby], had said to him, ‘If one of them should merely look below his feet, he will definitely see us!’ — ‘Do not despair; verily God is with us’, assisting [us]. Then God sent down His Spirit of Peace upon him, His reassurance — some say this means upon the Prophet, others, that it means upon Abū Bakr — and supported him, that is, the Prophet (s), with legions, of angels, you did not see, [both] in the cave and in the locations in which he fought battles; and He made the word of those who disbelieved, that is, the call to idolatry, the nethermost, the one vanquished, and the Word of God, that is, the profession of His Oneness (shahāda), was the uppermost, the one prevailing and triumphant. And God is Mighty, in His Kingdom, Wise, in His actions.

Verse 41

Go forth, light and heavy!, that is, energetically or not; it is also said [to mean], [go forth] strong or weak, or rich or poor — but this was abrogated by the verse, The weak would not be at fault … [Q. 9:91]. Struggle in the way of God with your possessions and your lives: that is better for you, if only you knew, that it is better for you; so do not sink down heavily.

Verse 42

The following was revealed regarding the hypocrites who stayed behind [away from the campaign]: Had it — that to which you summon them — been a near, easily acquired, gain, a transient pleasure of this world, and an easy journey, of moderate [length], they would have followed you, seeking spoils; but the distance, the hardship, was too great for them, and so they stayed behind. Still they will swear by God, when you return to them: [saying]: ‘Had we been able, to go forth, we would have gone forth with you,’ destroying their souls, by swearing false oaths, and God knows that they truly are liars, in this saying of theirs.

Verse 43

The Prophet (s), exercising his personal judgement, had given leave to a group to stay behind, and so the following was revealed as a reprimand for him, but with the pardon first, in order to reassure his heart: May God pardon you! Why do you give them leave, to stay behind; why did you not leave them, until it was clear to you which of them spoke the truth, in their excuse, and you knew those who were lying, in it?

Verse 44

Those who believe in God and the Last Day do not ask leave of you, to stay behind, that they may struggle with their possessions and their lives; and God knows the pious.

Verse 45

They alone ask leave of you, to stay behind, who do not believe in God and the Last Day, and whose hearts are doubtful, uncertain, about religion, so in their doubt they waver, they are confused.

Verse 46

If they had desired to go forth, with you, they would have made some preparation for it, some equipment, such as tools and provisions, but God was averse that they should be sent forth, that is, He did not want them to go forth, so He slowed them down, He made them [feel] lethargic, and it was said, to them: ‘Stay back with those who stay back!’, [with] the sick, the women and the children: in other words, God decreed this.

Verse 47

Had they gone forth among you, they would only have caused you more trouble, [more] corruption, by abandoning the believers, and would have hurried to and fro among you, that is, they would have hastened to spread slander among you, seeking, desiring, to stir up sedition, by casting enmity, between you; and among you there are some who would listen to them, to what they say, listening in readiness to accept it; and God knows the evildoers.

Verse 48

Indeed, they sought to stir up sedition, against you, already before, when you first came to Medina, and scrutinised your affairs, that is, they thought long and hard how to plot against you and invalidate your religion, until the truth, the [victorious] help, came, and God’s command, His religion, prevailed, stood mighty, they still being averse, to it [His religion], entering it superficially.

Verse 49

And there are some of them who say, ‘Grant me leave, to stay behind, and do not lead me into temptation’: this was al-Jadd b. Qays, to whom the Prophet (s) said, ‘Will you do battle against the Byzantines?’, and to which he replied, ‘I am infatuated with women, and I fear that if I were to see these Byzantine women, I shall not be able to stay away from them and be led into temptation’. God, exalted be He, says: Surely they have [already] fallen into temptation!, by staying behind (a variant reading [for saqatū, ‘they have fallen’] has [the singular form] saqat, ‘he has fallen’). And surely Hell shall encompass the disbelievers, for whom there shall be no escape therefrom.

Verse 50

If good fortune, such as a victory or [a taking of] some spoils, befalls you, it vexes them; but if an affliction, some hardship, befalls you, they say, ‘We took our precaution, judiciously — when we stayed behind — before’, before this act of disobedience; and they turn away, rejoicing, at what has afflicted you.

Verse 51

Say, to them: ‘Nothing shall afflict us but that which God has decreed for us, that we be afflicted thereby; He is our Protector, our Helper and the One in charge of our affairs; in God let the believers put their trust’.

Verse 52

Say: ‘Are you waiting (tarabbasūn: one of the two original tā’ letters [in tatarabbasūn] has been omitted) for anything, to occur, for us but one of the two fair things, [the two fair] outcomes? (husnayayn is the dual form of husnā, which is the feminine form of ahsan), that is, victory or martyrdom? We are waiting in your case too, for God to afflict you with a chastisement from Him, with a calamity from the heaven, or at our hands, should we be given permission to fight you. So wait, for this to [befall] us, we are also waiting with you’, your end.

Verse 53

Say: ‘Expend, in obedience to God, willingly or unwillingly, it, what you expend, shall not be accepted from you; you are surely a wicked folk’ (the imperative statement here [also] functions as a predicate).

Verse 54

And nothing prevents their expenditure from being accepted (read as yuqbala or tuqbala) from them, but that they (innahum is the subject of the verb, while an tuqbala, ‘being accepted’ constitutes the object) have disbelieved in God and His Messenger, and that they do not come to [perform] prayer save as idlers, sluggishly, and that they do not expend without their being reluctant, to expend, for they consider it a financial penalty.

Verse 55

So do not let their wealth or their children please you, that is, do not deem fair Our graces to them, for this is a [way of] drawing [them] on by degrees [to punish them]: God only desires thereby to chastise them in the life of this world, by way of the hardship that they encounter in amassing such [wealth and children] and the calamities [they suffer] as a result thereof; and that their souls should depart while they are disbelievers, so He punishes them in the Hereafter with the worst punishment.

Verse 56

And they swear by God that they truly are of you, that is, [that they are] believers; but they are not of you; they are a folk who are afraid, that you should deal with them as you have done with the idolaters, and so they swear merely in pretence, in order to protect themselves.

Verse 57

If they could find a shelter, in which to seek refuge, or some caverns, underground chambers, or any place to enter, they would turn and bolt away to it, they would hasten to enter it and get away from you with the undeterred speed of an indomitable steed.

Verse 58

Some of them defame you concerning the, apportioning of, voluntary almsgivings; if they are given a share of them, they are content, but if they are given none then they are enraged.

Verse 59

If only they had been content with what God and His Messenger have given them, in the way of spoils and the like, and had said, ‘Sufficient for us is God; God will give us from His bounty, and His Messenger [will also give us], from other spoils, what will suffice us; to God we are suppliants’, that He enrich us (the response of [the conditional] law, ‘if only’, is la-kāna khayran lahum, ‘it would have been better for them’).

Verse 60

The voluntary almsgivings, the alms to be dispensed, are only for the poor, who cannot find anything to suffice them in the least, and the needy, who cannot find anything to suffice them, and those who work with them, that is, [with] these alms, in other words, the one who collects [them], the one who takes the oaths [from those who claim them], the slave to be manumitted by contract, as well as the tax-summoner; and those whose hearts are to be reconciled, so that they might become Muslims, or that Islam might be firmly established, or that their peers might become Muslims, or that they might defend Muslims, all of whom are [classed according to different] categories. According to al-Shāfi‘ī, may God be pleased with him, the first and the last [of these categories] are no longer given [of the alms-tax] today, because of the [established] power of Islam; in contrast, the other two [categories] are given [of the alms-tax], according to the sounder [opinion]; and for, the manumission of, slaves, that is, [for] slaves to be manumitted by contract, and for the debtors, those in debt, if they have taken out a debt without intending thereby an act of disobedience, or those who have repented but have nothing with which to fulfil [the penalty of expiation], or to set things right between people, even if they be wealthy; and, for the way of God, that is, [for] those who are engaged in the struggle, of those for whom there is no [share of the] booty (fay’), even if they be wealthy; and for the traveller, the one cut off [from resources] during his journey — a duty imposed by God (farīdatan, ‘a duty’, is in the accusative because of an implied verb [sc. faradahā, ‘which He has imposed’]). And God is Knower, of His creatures, Wise, in His actions. Thus, it is impermissible to dispense these [alms-proceeds] other than to these [categories], or to deny [these proceeds to] any one of these [categories] if they exist. The Imam must divide these [proceeds] among them equally, but he is permitted to give priority to certain individuals over others within any one category. The lām [of li’l-fuqarā’, ‘for the poor’] indicates that it is obligatory to include every individual [of these categories in the distribution of the proceeds]; it is not, however, obligatory [to do so] when the person in charge of the monies has to apportion it but [finds that] it is insufficient. Indeed [in such a situation] it suffices to give three individuals from each category, but anything less than that is not sufficient, as is indicated by the plural form. The Sunna shows that the prerequisite condition for receiving [a share] of such [monies] is that the person be a Muslim, but not a Hashimī or a Muttālibī.

Verse 61

And of them, the hypocrites, are those who injure the Prophet, by casting aspersions on him and communicating [to others] what he says [in confidence], saying, when they are forbidden from [doing] this, lest it should reach him: ‘He is only a listener!’, that is, he listens to anything that is said, and accepts it, so that when we swear to him that we have not communicated [to others] a particular thing, he believes us. Say, he is, ‘A listener, who listens, to good for you, and not one who listens to evil, one who believes in God and has faith, he trusts, in the believers, in what they inform him, and not in others (the lām [of li’l-mu’minīna, ‘in the believers’] has been added to distinguish between belief in the sense of ‘submitting [to God]’ (islām), and in other senses [such as ‘trusting’]) and who is a mercy (read rahmatun, in the nominative, as a supplement to udhunun, ‘a listener’, or rahmatin, in the genitive, as a supplement to khayrin, ‘to good’) to those of you who believe. Those who injure God’s Messenger, for them there is a painful chastisement’.

Verse 62

They swear by God to you, O believers, that what has reached you of the Messenger being injured they did not do, so that they might please you, but God and His Messenger are more deserving that they should please them, through obedience, if they are, true, believers (the merging of the pronouns into one [in yurdūhu, ‘their pleasing them’] is because the ‘pleasure’ of both [God and His Messenger] are mutually dependent; [either that] or it is because the predicate of Allāhu wa-rasūluhu, ‘God and His Messenger’, has been omitted).

Verse 63

Do they not know that, the fact is that, whoever opposes God and His Messenger, for him shall be the fire of Hell, as a requital, to abide therein? That is the great abasement.

Verse 64

The hypocrites are cautious, they fear, lest a sūra should be revealed to them, that is, [to] the believers, informing them of what is in their [the hypocrites’] hearts, of hypocrisy, and yet despite this they persist in mockery. Say: ‘Keep mocking! (this is an imperative of threat) God will bring out, He will make manifest, that, hypocrisy of yours, of which you are fearful’, lest it be brought out.

Verse 65

And if (la-in: the lām is for oaths) you question them, about their mockery of you and of the Qur’ān while they were journeying with you towards Tabūk, assuredly they will say, making excuses: ‘We were only engaging [in idle talk] and jesting’, in conversation, in order to pass [the time of] the road, and we did not mean it. Say, to them: ‘Were you then mocking God, and His signs, and His Messenger?

Verse 66

Make no excuses, for that. You have disbelieved after believing, that is, your disbelief has become manifest even as you have manifested belief. If We forgive (read passive yu‘fa, ‘it is forgiven’, or active [first person plural] na‘fu, ‘We forgive’) a party of you, because of its sincerity and its repentance, as in the case of Jahsh b. Humayyir, We will chastise (read either [passive] tu‘adhdhab, ‘[it] shall be chastised’, or nu‘adhdhib) another party because they were sinners’, persisting in hypocrisy and mockery.

Verse 67

The hypocrites, both men and women, are of one another, that is, they resemble one another in religion, as pieces of an individual entity, they enjoin indecency, unbelief and acts of disobedience, and forbid decency, faith and obedience; and they withhold their hands shut, from expending in obedience [of God]; they have forgotten God, they have abandoned obedience of Him, so He has forgotten them, He has deprived them of His grace. Truly the hypocrites, they are the wicked.

Verse 68

God has promised the hypocrites, both men and women, and the disbelievers, the fire of Hell, to abide therein: it will suffice them, as a requital and a punishment. And God has cursed them, He has removed them from His mercy, and theirs will be a lasting, perpetual, chastisement.

Verse 69

You, O hypocrites, are, like those before you, who were far mightier than you, and more abundant in wealth and children. They enjoyed their share, their lot in this world. So you enjoy, O hypocrites, your share, just as those before you enjoyed their share, and you indulge [in vain talk], in falsehood and defamation of the Prophet (s), just as they indulged [in vain talk]. Those, their works have become invalid in this world and in the Hereafter; and those, they indeed are the losers.

Verse 70

Has not the tidings, the tale, of those before them reached them — the folk of Noah, and ‘Ād, the folk of Hūd, and Thamūd, the folk of Sālih, and the folk of Abraham, and the dwellers of Midian, the folk of Shu‘ayb, and the Deviant [cities]?, the cities of the folk of Lot, meaning, its inhabitants. Their messengers brought them clear proofs, with miracles, but they denied them, and so were destroyed. God would never have wronged them, by punishing them for no sin [on their part], but they wronged themselves, by committing sin.

Verse 71

And the believers, both men and women, are allies of one another; they enjoin decency and forbid indecency; they observe prayer and pay the alms, and they obey God and His Messenger. Those, God will have mercy on them. Truly God is Mighty, nothing can prevent Him from fulfilling His promise and His threat; Wise, He puts everything in its proper place.

Verse 72

God has promised the believers, both men and women, Gardens underneath which rivers flow, to abide therein, and blessed dwellings in the Gardens of Eden, for residence, and beatitude from God is greater, is superior to all of that. That is the supreme triumph.

Verse 73

O Prophet, struggle against the disbelievers, with the sword, and the hypocrites, with words and [definitive] arguments, and be harsh with them, through rebuke and aversion [towards them]; for their abode will be Hell, an evil journey’s end, [an evil] resort it is!

Verse 74

They, the hypocrites, swear by God that they said nothing, of the defamation that has reached you [as being] from them; but they did indeed say the word of disbelief and did disbelieve after their submission [to God]: they did indeed manifest disbelief after having manifested submission [to God]. And they purposed that which they never attained, in the way of assassinating the Prophet on the night of al-‘Aqaba, upon his return from Tabūk — there were about ten to twenty of them, and ‘Ammār b. Yāsir struck the faces of their riding camels when they came against him and were thus repulsed; and they were only spiteful, they detested, that God and His Messenger should have enriched them of His bounty, by way of spoils, when they had been in dire need: the meaning is that this was all that they attained from him, which is nothing to be spiteful about. So if they repent, of hypocrisy and believe in you, it will be better for them; but if they turn away, from belief, God will chastise them with a painful chastisement in this world, by having them killed, and in the Hereafter, in the Fire, and they have none on earth as protector, to guard them from Him, or helper, to defend them.

Verse 75

And some of them have made a covenant with God [saying]: ‘If He gives us of His bounty, we will give voluntary alms (la-nassaddaqanna: the original tā’ [of natasaddaqanna] has been assimilated with the sād) and become of the righteous’: this was Tha‘laba b. Hātib, who asked the Prophet (s) to supplicate on his behalf so that God would give him wealth, of which he would give every needy person his due. He [the Prophet] thus supplicated for him and he became wealthy, but stopped attending the Friday prayer and congregational prayers and refused to pay the alms-tax, as God, exalted be He, says:

Verse 76

Yet when He gave them of His bounty, they became niggardly with it and turned away, from obedience to God, in aversion.

Verse 77

So He made the consequence in their case hypocrisy, fixed, in their hearts, until the day they meet Him, that is, God, on the Day of Resurrection, because they failed God in what they promised Him and because, of that concerning which, they lied: he [Tha‘laba] then brought [the payment of] his alms to the Prophet (s), who said to him, ‘God has forbidden me to accept [it] from you’; so he [Tha‘laba] began to throw earth on his head [in remorse]. He then approached Abū Bakr with it, who did not accept it. He then went to ‘Umar [b. al-Khattāb], who also did not accept it. He went to ‘Uthmān [b. ‘Affān], but he did not accept it; he died during the latter’s reign.

Verse 78

Did they, the hypocrites, not know that God knows their secret, what they conceal within themselves, and their confidential talks, what they confide in each other, and that God is the Knower of the hidden things?, what is concealed from the eyes.

Verse 79

When the verse concerning ‘voluntary alms’ [Q. 9:75] was revealed, a man came and gave a large amount as voluntary alms, so the hypocrites said, ‘He is [merely] showing off!’ Another man then came and gave a [moderate] measure [of food], and so they said, ‘God has no need of this man’s charity!’ The following was then revealed: Those who (alladhīna is the subject) find fault with, defame, the believers who offer alms voluntarily, performing supererogation, and such as find nothing [to offer] but their endeavours, [nothing but] what they are capable of, and offer it; and deride them (and the predicate [of the mentioned subject] is [the following]) — God [Himself] derides them, He has requited them for their derision, and theirs will be a painful chastisement.

Verse 80

Ask forgiveness for them, O Muhammad (s), or do not ask forgiveness for them: this leaves the choice of asking forgiveness, or refraining, up to him; the Prophet (s) said, ‘I have been given the choice, and I made it’, meaning [the choice] to ask forgiveness, as reported by al-Bukhārī. If you ask forgiveness for them seventy times, God will not forgive them: it is said that the ‘seventy’ is intended to express [by hyperbole] a great frequency of asking forgiveness. In [the Sahīh of] al-Bukhārī there is a hadīth [which states]: ‘If I was sure that were I to ask more than seventy times, God would forgive [them], I would have done so’. It is also said, however, that the very number [seventy] is actually meant, on account of this other hadīth of his: ‘I shall ask more than seventy times’, whereupon it was made clear to him [the Prophet] that the matter regarding forgiveness had been concluded by the verse, [Q. 63:6] Alike it will be regarding them: whether you ask forgiveness for them or you do not ask forgiveness for them [God will not forgive them]; that is because they disbelieved in God and His Messenger; and God does not guide the wicked folk.

Verse 81

Those who were left behind, from [the journey to] Tabūk, rejoiced at remaining behind the Messenger of God, and were averse to striving with their wealth and their lives in the way of God. And they said, that is, they said to one another, ‘Do not go forth, do not set off to [join] the fight, in the heat!’ Say: ‘The fire of Hell is hotter, than Tabūk, and more worthy for them to guard against, by not staying behind, did they but understand’, this, they would not have stayed behind.

Verse 82

But let them laugh a little, in this world, and weep much, in the Hereafter, as a requital for what they used to earn (the sentence is predicative of their state, expressed in the form of an imperative).

Verse 83

So if God brings you back, from Tabūk, to a party of them, of those hypocrites who stayed behind in Medina, and they ask leave of you to go forth, with you on some other campaign, say, to them: ‘You shall never more go forth with me, and you shall never fight with me against an enemy. You were content to stay behind the first time, so stay behind with those who stay behind’, away from [military] campaigns, such as women and children and others.

Verse 84

When the Prophet (s) prayed over [the dead body of ‘Abd Allāh] Ibn Ubayy, the following was revealed: And never pray over any one of them when he is dead, nor stand over his grave, at a burial or as a visit; lo! they disbelieved in God and His Messenger, and died while they were wicked, [they died] disbelieving.

Verse 85

And let not their wealth and their children please you; God desires only to chastise them thereby in this world, and that their souls should depart while they are disbelievers.

Verse 86

And when a sūra, that is, a section of the Qur’ān, is revealed, saying: ‘Believe in God and strive with His Messenger’, the affluent among them ask leave of you, saying, ‘Leave us to be with those who sit at home’.

Verse 87

They are content to be with those who stay behind (khawālif is the plural of khālifa, meaning the women who ‘stay behind’ [takhallafna] at home) and a seal has been set upon their hearts, so they do not understand, [what is] good.

Verse 88

But the Messenger and those who believe with him strive with their wealth and their lives: for them are the good things, in this life and in the Hereafter; those, they are the successful, the triumphant.

Verse 89

God has prepared for them Gardens underneath which rivers flow, to abide therein: that is the supreme triumph.

Verse 90

And those Bedouins who had an excuse (al-mu‘adhdhirūn: the original tā’ has been assimilated with the dāl, in other words [it would usually be read as] al-mu‘tadhirūn, which [itself] is a variant reading), those [of them who were] excused, [came] to the Prophet (s), asking for leave, to stay behind on account of their excuses, and so he gave them leave to do so. And those who lied to God and His Messenger, by feigning belief, [those] hypocrites among the Bedouin, stayed behind, [refraining] from coming to give [their] excuses — a painful chastisement shall befall those of them who disbelieve.

Verse 91

As for the weak, such as the old, and the sick, the blind and the chronically ill, and those who find nothing to expend, for the struggle, no blame, no sin, falls upon them, should they stay away from it, if they remain true to God and to His Messenger, when they stay behind, by not spreading false rumours or impeding [others from joining the struggle], but by [adhering to] obedience. There is no way [of blame], no way of reproach, against those who are virtuous, through such [behaviour]. And God is Forgiving, Merciful, to them, by granting them such leeway [in this matter].

Verse 92

Nor against those who, when they came to you so that you might give them a mount, [to ride] with you on the raid — these were seven men of the Ansār; but it is also said that they were the Banū Muqrin — you having said to them, ‘I cannot find [a mount] whereon to mount you’ (this [last sentence] is a circumstantial qualifier), turned back (this is the response to the [clause beginning with] idhā, ‘when’), that is, they departed, their eyes flowing, pouring, with tears (min al-dam‘i: min is explicative) for sorrow that they could not find the means to expend, for the [campaign] struggle.

Verse 93

The way [of blame] is only against those who ask leave of you, to stay behind, when they are rich. They are content to be with those who stay behind and God has set a seal on their hearts, so that they do not know: a similar statement has already been made.

Verse 94

They will make excuses to you, for having stayed behind, when you return to them, from the campaign. Say, to them: ‘Do not make excuses; we will never believe you! God has already told us tidings of you, that is, He has already informed us of your [true] status. And God will see your work, and [so will] His Messenger, then you will be returned, through resurrection, to the Knower of the unseen and the visible, meaning [to] God, and He will tell you what you used to do’, and requite you for it.

Verse 95

They will swear to you by God, when you turn back, [when] you return, to them, from Tabūk, that they had [genuine] excuses for staying behind, so that you may leave them be, refraining from reproaching them. So leave them be, for they are an abomination, filth, on account of their inner vileness, and their abode shall be Hell, as requital for what they used to earn.

Verse 96

They will swear to you, that you may be satisfied with them; but if you are satisfied with them, God will surely not be satisfied with the wicked folk, that is, with them: your satisfaction is of no avail in the face of the wrath of God.

Verse 97

The Bedouins, the [Arab] nomads, are more intense in unbelief and hypocrisy, than the city-dwellers, on account of their harshness and crude nature and their being too remote to hear the Qur’ān, and are more likely not to know the bounds of what God has revealed to His Messenger, in the way of rulings and [legal] prescriptions; and God is Knower, of His creatures, Wise, in what He does with them.

Verse 98

And of the Bedouins there is he who takes what he expends, in the way of God, as a penalty, as a liability and a [financial] loss, because he does not aspire to be rewarded for it, but expends it out of fear: these were Banū Asad and [Banū] Ghatafān; and awaits for you [evil] turns of fortune, the fortunes of time, for you, that these should turn against you, and so be rid [of you]. Theirs shall be the evil (read as al-sū‘, or al-saw‘) turn of fortune, that is, chastisement and destruction shall turn on them, not on you. And God is Hearer, of the sayings of His servants, Knower, of their actions.

Verse 99

And of the Bedouins there is he who believes in God and the Last Day, such as [men from among the tribes of] Juhayna and Muzayna, and takes what he expends, in the way of God, as [pious] offerings to bring [him] nearer to God, and, as a means, to [secure] the prayers, the supplications, of the Messenger, for him. Surely these, the expenditure of such [men], will bring them nearer (read qurubatun or qurbatun), to Him. God will admit them into His mercy, His Paradise. Truly God is Forgiving, to those who obey Him, Merciful, to them.

Verse 100

And the first to lead the way, of the Emigrants and the Helpers, namely, those who were present at [the battle of] Badr, or [it means] all the Companions, and those who follow them, up to the Day of Resurrection, by being virtuous, in deeds, God will be pleased with them, for their obedience of Him, and they will be pleased with Him, for His reward [to them]; and He has prepared for them Gardens — with rivers flowing beneath them (a variant reading adds min [min tahtihā, ‘beneath which’]) — to abide therein forever: that is the supreme triumph.

Verse 101

And among those around you, O inhabitants of Medina, of the Bedouins there are hypocrites, such as [the tribes of] Aslam, Ashja‘ and Ghifār, and among the townspeople of Medina, there are also hypocrites, who are obstinate in hypocrisy, engrossed in it and persisting [in it]. You do not know them — an address to the Prophet (s) — but We know them, and We shall chastise them twice, by disgracing them or having them killed in this world, and by way of punishment in the grave, then they will be returned, in the Hereafter, to a terrible chastisement, namely, the Fire.

Verse 102

And [there are] others (ākharūn is the subject), [another] folk, who have confessed their sins, for having stayed behind (i‘tarafū bi-dhunūbihim is an adjectival qualification of it [the subject] and the predicate is [the following, khalatū ‘amalan sālihan]) they have mixed a righteous deed, that is, their former [participation in the] struggle, or the their confession of their sins, or otherwise, with another that was bad, which is their having stayed behind. It may be that God will relent to them. Truly God is Forgiving, Merciful: this was revealed regarding Abū Lubāba and a group of men who tied themselves to the walls of the mosque after they heard what had been revealed regarding those who stayed behind; they swore that only the Prophet (s) would untie them, which he did when this [verse] was revealed.

Verse 103

Take of their wealth some alms, to purify them and to cleanse them thereby, of their sins; he thus took a third of their wealth and gave it away as charity; and pray for them, that is, supplicate for them; truly your prayers are a comfort, a mercy, for them: it is also said [to mean] reassurance [for them], that their repentance has been accepted. And God is Hearer, Knower.

Verse 104

Do they not know that God is He Who accepts repentance from His servants and takes, accepts, the voluntary alms, and that God is He Who is the Relenting, to His servants, by accepting their repentance, and the Merciful?, to them (the interrogative is intended as an affirmative [statement] and is meant to incite them to [offer] repentance and charity).

Verse 105

And say, to them, or to people [in general]: ‘Act, as you will, for God will surely see your actions, and [so will] His Messenger and the believers, and you will be returned, through resurrection, to the Knower of the unseen and the visible, that is, [to] God, and He will tell you what you used to do’, and so requite you for it.

Verse 106

And [there are] others, from among those who stayed behind, who are deferred (read murja’ūna or murjawna), whose repentance is delayed, to God’s command, concerning them, according to His will, whether He chastises them, by causing them to die without [their having made any] repentance, or relents to them; and God is Knower, of His creatures, Wise, in what He does with them. These [others mentioned] are the three, who will be mentioned afterwards: Murāra b. al-Rabī‘, Ka‘b b. Mālik and Hilāl b. Umayya. They stayed behind out of laziness and their inclination for peace and quiet, not out of hypocrisy. Unlike the others, however, they did not excuse themselves before the Prophet (s), and so the matter regarding them was suspended for fifty days, during which time people avoided them, until it was later revealed that God had relented to them.

Verse 107

And, among them, those who have chosen a mosque — these were twelve men from among the hypocrites — by way of harm, to cause distress for those of the mosque of Qubā’, and disbelief, since they built it on the orders of the monk Abū ‘Āmir, as a sanctuary for him, so that whoever comes from his side may stay there: he had gone to the Byzantine Emperor (qaysar) to bring troops to fight against the Prophet (s), and to cause division among the believers, who pray in the mosque of Qubā’, by having some of these pray in their [the hypocrites’] mosque, and as an outpost, an observation post, for those who waged war against God and His Messenger before, that is, before it was built — meaning the above-mentioned Abū ‘Āmir — they will swear: ‘We desired nothing, by building it, but, to do, good’, by way of kindness towards the poor in times of [heavy] rain or [extreme] heat and in order to provide [a place of worship] for the Muslims; and God bears witness that they are truly liars, in this [claim of theirs]. They had asked the Prophet (s) to perform prayers in it, and so the following was revealed:

Verse 108

Never stand, [never] perform prayer, there: and so he sent a group of men to destroy and burn it, and in its place they left a refuse pit where decaying cadavers would be dumped. A mosque which was founded, one whose foundations were built, upon piety from the first day, constructed the day you arrived in Medina (dār al-hijra) — this was the mosque of Qubā’, as mentioned in Bukhārī — is worthier, than that [other one], for you to stand, to perform prayer, therein; in it are men, namely, the Ansār, who love to purify themselves; and God loves those who purify themselves (muttahhirīn: the original tā’ [of mutatahhirūn] has been assimilated with the tā’) that is, He will reward them. Ibn Khuzayma reported in his Sahīh [by way of an isnād] from [‘Uwaym] b. Sā‘ida that: ‘The Prophet (s) came to them at the mosque of Qubā’ and said, “God, exalted be He, has praised handsomely the way you purify yourselves in the story about your mosque, so what is this purification which you perform?” They said, “By God, O Messenger of God, all that we know is that we used to have Jews in our vicinity and they used to wash their behinds after defecation, and so we began to wash in the way they did”’. According to one hadīth reported by al-Bazzār [they said]: ‘We use stones [to scrape off remnants] and follow this with water’; to which he [the Prophet] said, ‘That is the way [for proper purification]. Let this be your way’.

Verse 109

Is he who founded his building upon fear of God and, in hope of, beatitude, from Him, better, or he who founded his building upon the brink, the edge, of a bank, an overhang, that is crumbling, about to collapse (read juruf or jurf) so that it toppled with him, so that it collapsed [taking] with it the one who built it, into the fire of Hell?: [this is] an excellent similitude for building upon that which constitutes the opposite of fear of God and [for] what it leads to; the interrogative is meant as an affirmative: in other words, the former is the better, which is the likeness of the [building of the] mosque of Qubā’, while the latter is the likeness of the mosque of ‘harm’ (masjid al-dirār). And God guides not the evildoing folk.

Verse 110

The buildings which they have built will never cease to be a misgiving, a point of doubt, in their hearts unless their hearts are cut, torn, to pieces, such that they die; and God is Knower, of His creatures, Wise, in what He does with them.

Verse 111

Indeed God has purchased from the believers their lives and their possessions, that they expend it in obedience of Him — for example by striving in His way — so that theirs will be [the reward of] Paradise: they shall fight in the way of God and they shall kill and be killed (this sentence is independent and constitutes an explication of the [above-mentioned] ‘purchase’; a variant reading has the passive verb come first [sc. fa-yuqtalūna wa-yaqtulūn, ‘they shall be killed and shall kill’], meaning that some of them are killed while those who remain, fight on); that is a promise which is binding (both [wa‘dan, ‘promise’, and haqqan, ‘binding’] are verbal nouns, and are in the accusative on account of their omitted [implicit] verbs) upon Him in the Torah and the Gospel and the Qur’ān; and who fulfils his covenant better than God?, that is, no one is better in fulfilling it. Rejoice then (there is a shift from the third [to second] person here) in this bargain of yours which you have made, for that, bargain, is the supreme triumph, the one that secures the ultimate goal.

Verse 112

Those who repent (al-tā’ibūna is in the nominative as a laudative, the subject being implicit), from idolatry and hypocrisy, those who worship, who devote their worship sincerely to God, those who give praise, to Him in every state, those who fast, those who bow, those who prostrate themselves, that is, those who perform prayers, those who enjoin decency and forbid to indecency, those who maintain God’s bounds, His rulings, by implementing them, and give good tidings to the believers, of Paradise.

Verse 113

The following was revealed regarding the Prophet (s) asking forgiveness for his uncle Abū Tālib, and some of the Companions asking forgiveness for their idolatrous parents: It is not for the Prophet, and those who believe, to ask forgiveness for the idolaters, even though they be kinsmen, relatives, after it has become clear to them that they are inhabitants of the Hell-fire, for having died as disbelievers.

Verse 114

Abraham’s prayer for the forgiveness of his father was only because of a promise he had made to him, when he said to him, I will ask my Lord forgiveness for you [Q. 19:47], in the hope that he would submit [to God]; but when it became clear to him that he was an enemy of God, upon his death as an disbeliever, he declared himself innocent of him, and refrained from asking forgiveness for him; truly Abraham was soft of heart, making frequent entreaty and supplication [to God], forbearing, enduring harm patiently.

Verse 115

And God would never send a people astray after He had guided them, to Islam, until He had made clear to them that which they should be wary of, in the way of deeds, but when they are not wary of it, then they deserve to be sent astray. Surely God is Knower of all things, including who deserves to be sent astray, or to be guided.

Verse 116

Surely to God belongs the kingdom of the heavens and of the earth. He gives life and He makes to die; and you do not have, O mankind, besides God, that is, other than Him, any protector, to preserve you from Him, or helper, to defend you against His hurt.

Verse 117

God has truly relented, that is, He has [truly] perpetuated His relenting, to the Prophet and the Emigrants and the Helpers who followed him in the hour of hardship, that is, during the time of this [hardship], which was their predicament during the raid at Tabūk, where two men would share a single date, ten men would take turns on one camel, and where the heat became so intense that they resorted to drinking filth; after the hearts of a party of them had almost deviated (read either as tazīghu or yazīghu), [had almost] inclined away from following him, in favour of staying behind due to the hardship that afflicted them, then He relented to them, by making them steadfast. Truly He is Gentle, Merciful to them.

Verse 118

And, He relented, to the three who were left behind, [formerly denied] His relenting to them, for the same reason [as those mentioned above], when the earth was straitened for them, for all its breadth, that is, despite its vastness, so they could find no place wherein to feel secure, and their souls, that is, their hearts, were straitened for them, because of the anxiety and their [sense of] alienation resulting from the delay of God’s relenting to them [with mercy], such that they [their souls] could not find happiness or solace; until they thought, they were certain, that (read the softened an) there is no refuge from God except in Him. Then He turned [relenting] to them, He made them successful in finding repentance, that they might also turn [in repentance]. Truly God is the Relenting, the Merciful.

Verse 119

O you who believe, fear God, by refraining from [acts of] disobedience to Him, and be with those who are truthful, in [their] faith and covenants, by adhering to sincerity.

Verse 120

It is not for the people of Medina and for the Bedouins [who dwell] around them to stay behind God’s Messenger, when he sets out on a campaign, and to prefer their lives to his life, by guarding them against hardships which he [the Prophet] is content [to suffer] himself (this statement is a prohibition expressed as a predicate); that, prohibition against staying behind, is because neither thirst nor toil nor hunger afflicts them in the way of God, nor tread they any tread (mawti’an is a verbal noun, meaning wat’an) that enrages the disbelievers, nor gain any gain from the enemy, of God, be it through slaughter, capture or plunder, but a righteous deed is therefore recorded for them, that they may be rewarded for it. Truly God does not leave the wage of the virtuous to go to waste, that is, the wage of those [mentioned], rather He rewards them.

Verse 121

Nor expend they, therein [in the way of God], any sum, small, even if it be a single date, or great, nor do they cross a valley, during a [campaign] march, but it is recorded for them, as a righteous deed, that God may reward them the best of what they used to do, that is, the [due] reward thereof.

Verse 122

When the Prophet (s) was about to dispatch a raiding party — after they [certain Muslims] had been reproached for staying behind — all of them went forth, and so the following was revealed: It is not for the believers to go forth, on a raid, altogether: why should not a party, a group, of every section, of every tribe, of them go forth, while the others remain behind, so that they, those who remain behind, may become learned in religion and that they may warn their folk when they return to them, from the raid, by teaching them some of the rulings which they have come to learn, so that they may beware? of God’s punishment, by adhering to His commands and prohibitions. Ibn ‘Abbās said that this [verse] is specifically [intended] for raiding parties, while the previous one is [specifically] to prohibit any individual staying behind when the Prophet (s) sets out [on a campaign].

Verse 123

O you who believe, fight those of the disbelievers who are near to you, that is, the nearest, followed by the next nearest of them, and let them find harshness in you, that is, severity, in other words, be harsh with them, and know that God is with the pious, helping and granting [them] victory.

Verse 124

And whenever a sūra, of the Qur’ān, is revealed, there are some of them, that is, the hypocrites, who say, to their companions, mockingly: ‘Which of you has this increased in faith?’, and God says: As for those who believe, it has increased them in faith, because they accept that it is true, and they rejoice, because of it.

Verse 125

But as for those in whose hearts is sickness, a weakness of faith, it only adds abomination to their abomination, that is, [it only adds] disbelief to their disbelief, since they disbelieve in it, and they die while they were disbelievers.

Verse 126

Do they not see, that is, the hypocrites ([in which case] read a-wa-lā yarawna; or if read a-wa-lā tarawna, ‘do you, O believers, not see’) that they are tested, afflicted, every year once or twice?, with drought and diseases. Still they do not repent, of their hypocrisy, nor do they remember, [nor] do they heed admonition.

Verse 127

And whenever a sūra is revealed, wherein is mention of them, and the Prophet (s) recites it, they look at one another, desiring to flee, and saying: ‘Will anyone see you?’, if you get up [and flee]?, and so if no one can see them they get up [and leave], otherwise they stay put. Then they turn away, persisting in their disbelief. God turns their hearts away, from guidance, because they are a folk who do not understand, the truth, for they do not reflect [on it].

Verse 128

Verily there has come to you a messenger from among yourselves, that is, one of you — Muhammad (s) — for whom it is grievous, hard, that you should suffer, that is, your suffering, your experiencing hardship and encountering harm [is hard on him]; who is full of concern for you, that you should be rightly guided; to the believers full of pity, profoundly compassionate, merciful, desiring good for them.

Verse 129

So if they turn away, [refraining] from believing in you, say: ‘God suffices me. There is no god except Him. Upon Him I rely, in Him have I put my trust, and in none other, and He is the Lord of the Tremendous Throne’ (al-‘arsh al-azīm), the kursī, which is singled out for mention because it is the greatest of all things created. Al-Hākim reported in al-Mustadrak [by way of an isnād] from Ubayy b. Ka‘b that he [Ubayy] said: ‘The last verse to be revealed was [from], Verily there has come to you a messenger… to the end of the sūra’ [sc. Q. 9:128-129].

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Surah AT-TAWBAH / The Repentance in English | Surah 9

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