9
9. At-Taubah - Repentance
| 1 | IMMUNITY is granted those idolaters by God and his Apostle with whom you have a treaty. |
| 2 | (They can) move about for four months freely in the land, but should know they cannot escape (the law of) God, and that God can put the unbelievers to shame. |
| 3 | A general proclamation is (made) this day of the Greater Pilgrimage on the part of God and His Apostle, that God is not bound (by any contract) to idolaters, nor is His Apostle. It is, therefore, better for you to repent. If you do not, remember that you cannot elude (the grip of) God. So announce to those who deny the truth the news of painful punishment, |
| 4 | Except those idolaters with whom you have a treaty, who have not failed you in the least, nor helped anyone against you. Fulfil your obligations to them during the term (of the treaty). God loves those who take heed for themselves. |
| 5 | But when these months, prohibited (for fighting), are over, slay the idolaters wheresoever you find them, and take them captive or besiege them, and lie in wait for them at every likely place. But if they repent and fulfil their devotional obligations and pay the zakat, then let them go their way, for God is forgiving and kind. |
| 6 | If an idolater seeks protection, then give him asylum that he may hear the word of God. Then escort him to a place of safety, for they are people who do not know. |
| 7 | How could there be a treaty between idolaters and God and His Apostle, except those you covenanted by the Sacred Mosque? Therefore as long as they are honest with you be correct with them, for God loves those who are godly. |
| 8 | How (can they be trusted)? If they prevail against you they will neither observe pacts nor good faith with you. They flatter you with their tongues, but their hearts are averse to you, for most of them are iniquitous. |
| 9 | They barter away the words of God for a petty price, and obstruct (others) from His path. How evil indeed are the things they do! |
| 10 | They have no regard for kinship or treaties with believers, for they are transgressors. |
| 11 | But if they repent and are firm in devotion and pay the zakat, then they are your brothers in faith. We explain Our commands distinctly for those who understand. |
| 12 | If they break their pledge after giving their word and revile your faith, fight these specimens of faithlessness, for surely their oaths have no sanctity: They may haply desist. |
| 13 | Will you not fight those who broke their pledge and plotted to banish the Apostle, and who were the first to attack you? Are you afraid of them? If you are believers you should fear God more. |
| 14 | Fight them so that God may punish them at your hands, and put them to shame, and help you against them, and heal the wounds of the hearts of believers, |
| 15 | And remove the anger from their breasts; for God turns to whosoever desires. God is all-knowing and all-wise. |
| 16 | Do you think you will get away before God knows who among you fought and did not take anyone but God, His Apostle and the faithful, as their friends? God is cognisant of all that you do. |
| 17 | The idolaters have no right to visit the mosques of God while bearing testimony to their disbelief. Meaningless will be their acts, and in Hell they will bide for ever, |
| 18 | Only those who believe in God and the Last Day, who fulfil their devotional obligations, pay the zakat, and fear no one but God, can visit the mosques of God. They may hope to be among the guided. |
| 19 | Do you think that giving a drink of water to the pilgrims and going on a visit to the Sacred Mosque, is the same as believing in God and the Last Day, and striving in the cause of God? In the eyes of God it is not the same; and God does not show the unrighteous the way. |
| 20 | Those who accepted the faith and left their homes and fought in the way of God, wealth and soul, have a greater reward with God, and will be successful. |
| 21 | Their Lord announces to them news of His mercy, acceptance, and gardens of lasting bliss |
| 22 | Which they will enjoy for ever. Indeed God has greater rewards with Him. |
| 23 | O you who believe, do not hold your fathers and brothers as friends if they hold disbelief more dear than faith; and those of you who do so are iniquitous. |
| 24 | You tell them: "If your fathers and sons, your brothers and wives and families and wealth, or the business you fear may fail, and the mansions that you love, are dearer to you than God, His Apostle, and struggling in His cause, then wait until God's command arrives, for God does not show transgressors the way." |
| 25 | Indeed God has helped you on many occasions, even during the battle of Hunain, when you were elated with joy at your numbers which did not prove of the least avail, so that the earth and its vast expanse became too narrow for you, and you turned back and retreated. |
| 26 | Then God sent down a sense of tranquility on His Apostle and the faithful; and sent down troops invisible to punish the infidels. This is the recompense of those who do not believe. |
| 27 | Yet God may turn (even) after this to whomsoever He please, for God is compassionate and kind. |
| 28 | O believers, the idolaters are unclean. So they should not approach the Holy Mosque after this year. In case you fear indigence (from the stoppage of business with them), then God will enrich you of His bounty if He will, for God is all-knowing and all-wise. |
| 29 | Fight those people of the Book who do not believe in God and the Last Day, who do not prohibit what God and His Apostle have forbidden, nor accept divine law, until all of them pay protective tax in submission. |
| 30 | The Jews say: "Ezra is the son of God;" the Christians say: "Christ is the son of God." That is what they say with their tongues following assertions made by unbelievers before them. May they be damned by God: How perverse are they! |
| 31 | They consider their rabbis and monks and the Christ, son of Mary, to be gods apart from God, even though they had been enjoined to worship only one God, for there is no god but He. Too holy is He for what they ascribe to Him! |
| 32 | They wish to extinguish the light of God by uttering blasphemies; but God will not have it so, for He wills to perfect His light, however the unbelievers be averse. |
| 33 | It is He who sent His Messenger with guidance and the true faith in order to make it superior to other systems of belief, even though the idolaters may not like it. |
| 34 | O believers, many rabbis and priests devour the possessions of others wrongfully, and keep men away from the path of God. To those who accumulate gold and silver, and do not spend in the way of God, announce the news of painful punishment. |
| 35 | On the day We shall heat up (their gold) on the fire of Hell and brand their foreheads, sides and backs (and say to them): "It is this you stored up for yourselves; so now taste of what you had stored!" |
| 36 | The number of months with God is twelve in accordance with God's law since the day He created the heavens and the earth. Of these four are holy. This is the straight reckoning. So do not exceed yourselves during them; but fight the idolaters to the end as they fight you in like manner; and remember, God is with those Who preserve themselves from evil and do the right. |
| 37 | Intercalating a month is adding to unbelief. The unbelievers are misguided by this, for they take the same month to be sacred one year and sacrilegious the next, thus making the number of months sanctified by God accord with theirs in order to make what God has forbidden, lawful. Attractive seem to them their evil deeds; but God does not show the unbelievers the way. |
| 38 | What has happened to you, O believers, that when you are asked to set out in the cause of God your feet begin to drag? Do you find the life of the world so pleasing that you forget the life to come? Yet the profit of the life of this world is but meagre as compared to the life to come. |
| 39 | Unless you go out (to strive), God will inflict grievous punishment on you, and bring other people in your place, and you will not be able to harm Him in the least, for God has the power over all things. |
| 40 | If you do not help (the Prophet, remember) God had helped him when the infidels had forced him to leave (and he was) one of two. When both of them were in the cave, he said to his companion: "Do not grieve, for God is with us." Then God sent divine peace on him, and invisible armies for his help, and made the unbelievers' purpose abject. Most exalted is God's word, for God is all-mighty and all-wise. |
| 41 | O believers, go out in the cause of God, (whether) light or heavy, and strive in the service of God, wealth and soul. This is better for you if you understand. |
| 42 | (O Prophet), had the gain been close at hand, and easy the journey, they would surely have followed you; but hard was the journey and long the going. Even then they swear by God (and say): "If we had the strength we would surely have gone out with you." They are only ruining themselves, for God is aware they lie. |
| 43 | May God forgive you. Why did you allow them (to stay behind) without ascertaining who spoke the truth and who were liars? |
| 44 | Those who believe in God and the Last Day, do not ask your leave to be excused from fighting wealth and soul (in the cause of God), for God knows the pious and devout. |
| 45 | Only they ask (for leave) who do not believe in God and the Last Day, whose hearts are full of doubt; and doubting they waver (between gain and loss). |
| 46 | If they had intended to go out (to fight) they would surely have made preparations. But God did not like their setting forth, and they were held back and told: "Stay at home with those who stay behind." |
| 47 | Had they gone out with you, they would only have been a hindrance and let loose confusion among you to create discord; for there are some in your midst who spy for them. But God knows who are the wicked. |
| 48 | They had tried to create disorder before and intrigued against you, but truth came out in the end and God's will prevailed, even though they did not like it. |
| 49 | And (many a one) there is among them who says: "Allow me (to stay back at home), and put me not on trial." Surely they have put themselves on trial already, and Hell will enclose the unbelievers from all sides. |
| 50 | If good comes your way they are vexed, but if calamity befalls you, they say: "We had taken precautions in advance;" and pleased, turn away. |
| 51 | Tell them: "Nothing can befall us except what God decrees. Our protector is He, and in God should the faithful place their trust." |
| 52 | Say: "Are you waiting for anything else but one of two good things for us, (victory or martyrdom)? Yet what we are waiting for you is the punishment of God, direct or through us. So keep waiting; we are waiting with you." |
| 53 | Tell them: "You may spend (in the way of God), whether willingly or with reluctance, it will not be accepted from you, for you are reprobates." |
| 54 | Nothing prevents the acceptance of what they spend except that they do not believe in God and His Apostle, and come to worship but languidly and spend only grudgingly. |
| 55 | Do not marvel at their wealth and children. God intends to punish them through these in the world; and their souls will depart in a state of disbelief. |
| 56 | They swear by God they are with you, though in fact they are not. They are only a frightened lot. |
| 57 | If they find a place of shelter or a cave or hole to hide, they will turn to it. |
| 58 | There are some among them who blame you (of partiality) in distributing the offerings made in the name of God. In case they receive some of these they are pleased, if not, they are incensed. |
| 59 | They should rather have been pleased with what God and His Prophet had given them, and said: "God is sufficient for us; He will give us of His largesse as will His Apostle. We supplicate no one but God." |
| 60 | Charities are meant for the indigent and needy, and those who collect and distribute them, and those whom you wish to win over, and for redeeming slaves (and captives) and those who are burdened with debt, and in the cause of God, and the wayfarers: So does God ordain. God is all-knowing and all-wise. |
| 61 | There are some among them who talk ill of the Prophet by saying: "He listens to everyone." Tell them: "He listens for your good, and trusts in God and trusts the faithful, and he is a blessing for those who believe. For those who offend the Apostle of God there is painful punishment." |
| 62 | They swear by God to please you; but if they are believers it would have been worthier to have pleased God and His Apostle. |
| 63 | Have they not realised that anyone who opposes God and His Prophet, will abide in Hell for ever? And that is the worst disgrace. |
| 64 | The hypocrites fear lest a Surah is revealed concerning them, exposing what is in their hearts. Say to them: "Mock as much as you like; God will surely expose what you dread." |
| 65 | But if you ask them, they will say: "We were only gossiping and jesting." You ask them: "Were you jesting with God, His revelations and His messengers?" |
| 66 | Do not make excuses: You turned unbelievers after having come to faith. If We pardon a section of you (for being frivolous), We shall punish the other for being guilty (of deliberate sin). |
| 67 | The hypocrites (are the same) whether men or women, the one of them being of the other. They encourage what is bad and dissuade from the good, and tighten their purses (when it comes to spending in the way of God). Of God they are oblivious; so He is oblivious of them. The hypocrites are indeed transgressors. |
| 68 | God has reserved for hypocrites, whether men or women, and for unbelievers, the fire of Hell, where they will abide for ever. This is sufficient for them: They have God's condemnation and lasting torment, |
| 69 | Like those before you who were greater in strength, had more wealth and children than you, who enjoyed their lot in this world, as you have enjoyed your share like them. You indulge in idle talk, as they had indulged in vain discourse. Yet nothing of what they did remains in this world or will in the next, and they are the losers. |
| 70 | Has not the account of those before them come to them, -- of the people of Noah and 'Ad and Thamud, of Abraham and Midian, and all the habitations that were destroyed? Their apostles had come to them with clear proofs; and God did not surely wrong them, they wronged themselves. |
| 71 | Those who believe, men and women, befriend one another, and enjoin what is right and prohibit what is wrong. They observe their devotional obligations, pay the zakat, and obey God and His Apostle. God will be merciful to them, for God is all-mighty and all-wise. |
| 72 | God has promised men and women who believe gardens with streams of running water where they will abide for ever, and beautiful mansions in the Garden of Eden, and the blessings of God above all. That will be happiness supreme. |
| 73 | Strive, O Prophet, against the unbelievers and the hypocrites, and deal with them firmly. Their final abode is Hell: And what a wretched destination! |
| 74 | They swear by God: "We never said this." But they surely said words disbelieving the truth, and they turned unbelievers after having come to faith, and designed what they could not accomplish. They did it only out of vengeance for God and His Apostle had enriched them by their grace. So, if they repent it is better for them. If they turn away then God would afflict them with painful punishment in this world and the next; and none will they have on the face of the earth to protect or help them. |
| 75 | Some of them made a covenant with God: "If You give us in Your bounty we shall give alms and be upright." |
| 76 | But when He gave them of His bounty they became greedy, and then turned away. |
| 77 | As a consequence of breaking their promise made to God, and telling lies, he filled their hearts with hypocrisy which will last till the day they come before Him. |
| 78 | Have they not realised that God knows their secrets and their confidential talk, and that God has the knowledge of unknown things? |
| 79 | They who defame those of the believers who give alms willingly, and deride those who have nothing besides what they earn by their labour (to give in charity), will be derided by God, and will suffer painful punishment. |
| 80 | Whether you plead forgiveness for them or not, God will not forgive them, even though you plead seventy times, for they disbelieved in God and His Apostle; and God does not show transgressors the way. |
| 81 | Those who were left behind rejoiced that they stayed at home against the wishes of God's Apostle, being averse to fighting in the way of God with their wealth and lives, and said: "Do not go in this heat." Tell them: "The heat of Hell is far more intense." If only they had cared to instruct themselves! |
| 82 | So let them laugh a little, for weep they will, more as retribution for what they have done. |
| 83 | If you come back to them by (the grace of) God, and they seek your permission to go (to fight), you should tell them: "You will never go out nor fight the enemy with me any more. You preferred to stay back on the first occasion, so stay at home with those who stay behind." |
| 84 | Do not invoke blessings on any of them who die, nor stand to pray at their graves, for they disbelieved in God and His Prophet, and died transgressors. |
| 85 | And let not their wealth and children astonish you. God wishes to punish them through these in the world, and their souls will depart in a state of disbelief. |
| 86 | Whenever a Surah is revealed (which says): "Believe in God and fight along with His Prophet," the well-to-do among them ask for leave to stay at home, and say: "Leave us with those who are left behind." |
| 87 | They prefer to be with women who (are allowed to) stay at home during war, and their hearts are sealed; so they fail to understand. |
| 88 | But the Prophet and those who have embraced the faith with him, and have fought wealth and soul (in the way of God), are blessed and will be successful. |
| 89 | God has provision for them of gardens with Streams of running water, where they will abide for ever. This will be the supreme triumph. |
| 90 | Some Arabs of the desert came with ready excuses, asking for leave to stay behind. But those who had lied to God and His Prophet stayed at home doing nothing. So the punishment for those who disbelieve among them will be painful. |
| 91 | No blame will attach to the old and the sick, or those without means to spend on good acts, if they stay behind provided they are sincere to God and His Apostle; There is no way to blame those who are doers of good, for God is forgiving and kind. |
| 92 | Nor will they be blamed who came to you for transport, to whom you said: "I cannot find any means of conveyance for you," and they went away in tears, grieving that they lacked the means to spend (on carriage). |
| 93 | Blame will lie on those who are rich yet ask your leave to stay behind. They prefer to stay with women who stay at home, and God seals their hearts; so they do not understand. |
| 94 | When you come back they will offer excuses to you. Tell them: "Make no excuses; we do not believe you. God has informed us about you; and God and His Apostle shall watch your conduct. Then you will be brought to Him who knows what is hidden and what is manifest. He will tell you of what you did." |
| 95 | They will beg you in the name of God, on your return, to forgive them; but you keep away from them: They are scum; their abode is Hell: Requital for what they had done. |
| 96 | They will plead on oath that you accept them. Even if you accept them, remember God does not accept people who are disobedient. |
| 97 | The village Arabs are more obstinate in disbelief and hypocrisy, and impervious to ordinances revealed to His Apostle by God; yet God is aware of everything and is wise. |
| 98 | Some of these rustics take whatever they spend in the way of God as a penalty, and wait for an adverse turn in your fortune. For them will be the adverse change, as God hears all and knows everything. |
| 99 | Yet some Arabs of the desert believe in God and the Last Day, and consider what they spend to be a means of bringing them nearer to God and the blessings of the Prophet. This is certainly a means of achieving nearness (to God), and God will admit them to His mercy, for God is forgiving and kind. |
| 100 | Those among the migrants (from Makkah) and helpers (in Madina) who were the first to believe, and those who followed them in goodness, have been accepted by God and they follow His way. For them He has gardens with streams of running water where they will abide for ever; and that is happiness supreme. |
| 101 | Some of the Arabs of the desert around you are hypocrites, and some of the people of Madina are stubborn in hypocrisy. You are not aware of them; We know them, and will punish them twice, and they will be sent to a harrowing doom. |
| 102 | But there are others who admit their sins of mixing good deeds with evil. It may be that God will accept their repentance, for God is forgiving and kind. |
| 103 | Accept the offerings they make from their wealth in order to cleanse and purify them for progress, and invoke blessings upon them. Your blessings will surely bring them peace, for God hears all and knows everything. |
| 104 | Do they not know that God accepts the repentance of His creatures and receives what they offer in charity, and that He is forgiving and kind? |
| 105 | Say to them: "Act. God will see your conduct, and so will His Apostle and the faithful; for you will in the end go back to Him, who knows the unknown and the known, who will tell you of what you were doing." |
| 106 | There are still some others whose affairs await the dispensation of God. He may punish or pardon them, for God is all-knowing and all-wise. |
| 107 | There are those who built a mosque on opposition and disbelief, and to cause rifts among the faithful, and to serve as an outpost for those who have warred against God and His Apostle before this. Yet they will surely swear: "We had only meant well." But God is witness that they are liars. |
| 108 | Never set foot in that place. Only a mosque whose foundations have been laid from the very first on godliness is worthy of your visiting it. There you will find men who wish to be purified; and God loves those who are pure. |
| 109 | Is the man who lays the foundations of his sanctum on his allegiance to God and the wish to seek His favour, better, or he who lays the foundations of his building on the edge of a bank eroded by water, which will collapse with him into the fire of Hell? But God does not guide the people who are wilfully unjust. |
| 110 | The edifice they have built will always fill their minds with perturbation (which will not cease) till their hearts are rent to pieces, for God is all-knowing and all-wise. |
| 111 | God has verily bought the souls and possessions of the faithful in exchange for a promise of Paradise. They fight in the cause of God, and kill and are killed. This is a promise incumbent on Him, as in the Torah, so the Gospel and the Qur'an. And who is more true to his promise than God? So rejoice at the bargain you have made with Him; for this will be triumph supreme. |
| 112 | To those who repent and pay homage, give praise and are devout, who kneel in prayer and bow in supplication, who enjoin good deeds and prohibit the bad, and keep to the limits set by God, announce the news of rejoicing to the faithful. |
| 113 | It is not worthy of the Prophet and those who believe to seek forgiveness for those who are idolaters, even though they may be their relatives, after they have come to know that they are destined for Hell. |
| 114 | As for Abraham's prayer for his father, he was fulfilling a promise he had made to him. Yet when it became evident to him that (his father) was an enemy of God, he broke away from him, though Abraham was soft hearted and kind. |
| 115 | God never leads men astray after guiding them, until He makes quite clear to them what they should avoid, for God indeed knows each and everything. |
| 116 | Verily God's is the kingdom of the heavens and the earth. He alone is the giver of life and death; and none do you have besides God as friend and helper. |
| 117 | God was kind to the Prophet, the emigrants, and the helpers of the faithful who followed him in the hour of distress. When a section of them were about to lose courage He turned to them in His mercy, for He is compassionate and kind. |
| 118 | He has relented towards the three also (who had refused to go to the battle of the Ditch) whose case was left undecided, and even the earth with all its expanse had become narrow for them, and their lives were confined, and they came to realise there was no refuge for them except in God. So He softened towards them that they may repent; for God surely accepts repentance and is merciful. |
| 119 | O believers, do not stray from the path of God, and be with those who are truthful. |
| 120 | It was not worthy of the people of Madina, and the Arabs of the desert around them, to abandon the Prophet of God, and to care more for themselves than for him; for there is no hardship or thirst or hunger that they know in the service of God, and no place they walk on where walking provokes the unbelievers, and no harm they receive from the enemy, but is put down as a good deed in their favour. Surely God does not let the recompense of those who do good to go waste. |
| 121 | There is not a sum, large or small, that they spend, not a piece of land that they traverse (in the service of God) which is not put down in their favour, so that God could reward them for what they had done. |
| 122 | It is not possible for all believers to go out (to fight). So a part of each section (of the population) should go (to fight) in order that the others may acquire understanding of law and divinity, and warn their companions on return so that they may take heed for themselves. |
| 123 | O believers, fight the unbelievers around you, and let them realise that you are firm: Remember, God is with those who are pious and obedient to Him. |
| 124 | When a Surah is revealed some of them remark: "Whose faith among you has it increased?" It does increase the faith of those who believe, and they rejoice. |
| 125 | But it adds disbelief to disbelief for those whose hearts are filled with doubt, and they die disbelieving. |
| 126 | Do they not know that they are tried every year once or twice? Even then they do not repent and take heed. |
| 127 | Whenever a Surah is revealed they look at each other (so as to ask): "Is anyone looking at Us?" and then turn away. Indeed God has turned their hearts away (from the truth), for they cannot discern the law of heaven. |
| 128 | To you has come an Apostle from among you. Any sorrow that befalls you weighs upon him; He is eager for your happiness, full of concern for the faithful, compassionate and kind. |
| 129 | So, if they turn away, say to them: "God is sufficient for me. There is no God but He; I depend on Him alone, the Lord of the glorious Throne." |