At-Tawbah

A release by God and His Messenger from the treaty you [believers] made with the idolaters [is announced]––

you [idolaters] may move freely about the land for four months, but you should bear in mind both that you will not escape God, and that God will disgrace those who defy [Him].

On the Day of the Great Pilgrimage [there will be] a proclamation from God and His Messenger to all people: ‘God and His Messenger are released from [treaty] obligations to the idolaters. It will be better for you [idolaters] if you repent; know that you cannot escape God if you turn away.’ [Prophet], warn those who ignore [God] that they will have a painful punishment.

As for those who have honoured the treaty you made with them and who have not supported anyone against you: fulfil your agreement with them to the end of their term. God loves those who are mindful of Him.

When the [four] forbidden months are over, wherever you encounter the idolaters, kill them, seize them, besiege them, wait for them at every lookout post; but if they turn [to God], maintain the prayer, and pay the prescribed alms, let them go on their way, for God is most forgiving and merciful.

If any one of the idolaters should seek your protection [Prophet], grant it to him so that he may hear the word of God, then take him to a place safe for him, for they are people with no knowledge [of it].

How could there be a treaty with God and His Messenger for such idolaters? But as for those with whom you made a treaty at the Sacred Mosque, so long as they remain true to you, be true to them; God loves those who are mindful of Him.

[How,] when, if they were to get the upper hand over you, they would not respect any tie with you, of kinship or of treaty? They please you with their tongues, but their hearts are against you and most of them are lawbreakers.

They have sold God’s message for a trifling gain, and barred others from His path. How evil their actions are!

Where believers are concerned, they respect no tie of kinship or treaty. They are the ones who are committing aggression.

If they turn to God, keep up the prayer, and pay the prescribed alms, then they are your brothers in faith: We make the messages clear for people who are willing to learn.

But if they break their oath after having made an agreement with you, if they revile your religion, then fight the leaders of disbelief- oaths mean nothing to them- so that they may stop.

How could you not fight a people who have broken their oaths, who tried to drive the Messenger out, who attacked you first? Do you fear them? It is God you should fear if you are true believers.

Fight them: God will punish them at your hands, He will disgrace them, He will help you to conquer them, He will heal the believers’ feelings

and remove the rage from their hearts. God turns to whoever He will in His mercy; God is all knowing and wise.

Do you think that you will be left untested without God identifying which of you will strive for His cause and take no supporters apart from God, His Messenger, and other believers? God is fully aware of all your actions.

It is not right for the idolaters to tend God’s places of worship while testifying to their own disbelief: the deeds of such people will come to nothing and they will abide in Hell.

The only ones who should tend God’s places of worship are those who believe in God and the Last Day, who keep up the prayer, who pay the prescribed alms, and who fear no one but God: such people may hope to be among the rightly guided.

Do you consider giving water to pilgrims and tending the Sacred Mosque to be equal to the deeds of those who believe in God and the Last Day and who strive in God’s path? They are not equal in God’s eyes. God does not guide such benighted people.

Those who believe, who migrated and strove hard in God’s way with their possessions and their persons, are in God’s eyes much higher in rank; it is they who will triumph;

and their Lord gives them the good news of His mercy and pleasure, Gardens where they will have lasting bliss

and where they will remain for ever: truly, there is a tremendous reward with God.

Believers, do not take your fathers and brothers as allies if they prefer disbelief to faith: those of you who do so are doing wrong.

Say [Prophet], ‘If your fathers, sons, brothers, wives, tribes, the wealth you have acquired, the trade which you fear will decline, and the dwellings you love are dearer to you than God and His Messenger and the struggle in His cause, then wait until God brings about His punishment.’ God does not guide those who break away.

God has helped you [believers] on many battlefields, even on the day of the Battle of Hunayn. You were well pleased with your large numbers, but they were of no use to you: the earth seemed to close in on you despite its spaciousness, and you turned tail and fled.

Then God sent His calm down to His Messenger and the believers, and He sent down invisible forces. He punished the disbelievers- this is what the disbelievers deserve-

but God turns in His mercy to whoever He will. God is most forgiving and merciful.

Believers, those who ascribe partners to God are truly unclean: do not let them come near the Sacred Mosque after this year. If you are afraid you may become poor, [bear in mind that] God will enrich you out of His bounty if He pleases: God is all knowing and wise.

Fight those of the People of the Book who do not [truly] believe in God and the Last Day, who do not forbid what God and His Messenger have forbidden, who do not obey the rule of justice,until they pay the tax and agree to submit.

The Jews said, ‘Ezra is the son of God,’ and the Christians said, ‘The Messiah is the son of God’: they said this with their own mouths, repeating what earlier disbelievers had said. May God confound them! How far astray they have been led!

They take their rabbis and their monks as lords, as well as Christ, the son of Mary. But they were commanded to serve only one God: there is no god but Him; He is far above whatever they set up as His partners!

They try to extinguish God’s light with their mouths, but God insists on bringing His light to its fullness, even if the disbelievers hate it.

It is He who has sent His Messenger with guidance and the religion of truth, to show that it is above all [other] religions, however much the idolaters may hate this.

Believers, many rabbis and monks wrongfully consume people’s possessions and turn people away from God’s path. [Prophet], tell those who hoard gold and silver instead of giving in God’s cause that they will have a grievous punishment:

on the Day it is heated up in Hell’s Fire and used to brand their foreheads, sides, and backs, they will be told, ‘This is what you hoarded up for yourselves! Now feel the pain of what you hoarded!’

God decrees that there are twelve months- ordained in God’s Book on the Day when He created the heavens and earth- four months of which are sacred: this is the correct calculation. Do not wrong your souls in these months- though you may fight the idolaters at any time, if they first fight you- remember that God is with those who are mindful of Him.

Postponing sacred months is another act of disobedience by which those who disregard [God] are led astray: they will allow it one year and forbid it in another in order outwardly to conform with the number of God’s sacred months, but in doing so they permit what God has forbidden. Their evil deeds are made alluring to them: God does not guide those who disregard [Him].

Believers, why, when it is said to you, ‘Go and fight in God’s way,’ do you feel weighed down to the ground? Do you prefer this world to the life to come? How small the enjoyment of this world is, compared with the life to come!

If you do not go out and fight, God will punish you severely and put others in your place, but you cannot harm Him in any way: God has power over all things.

Even if you do not help the Prophet, God helped him when the disbelievers drove him out: when the two of them were in the cave, he [Muhammad] said to his companion, ‘Do not worry, God is with us,’ and God sent His calm down to him, aided him with forces invisible to you, and brought down the disbelievers’ plan. God’s plan is higher: God is almighty and wise.

So go out, no matter whether you are lightly or heavily armed, and struggle in God’s way with your possessions and your persons: this is better for you, if you only knew.

They would certainly have followed you [Prophet] if the benefit was within sight and the journey short, but the distance seemed too great for them. They will swear by God, ‘If we could, we certainly would go out [to battle] with you,’ but they ruin themselves, for God knows that they are lying.

God forgive you [Prophet]! Why did you give them permission to stay at home before it had become clear to you which of them spoke the truth and which were liars?

Those who have faith in God and the Last Day do not ask you for exemption from struggle with their possessions and their persons- God knows exactly who is mindful of Him-

only those who do not have faith in God and the Last Day ask your permission to stay at home: they have doubt in their hearts and so they waver.

If they had really wanted to go out [to battle] with you, they would have made preparations, but God was loath to let them rise up and made them hold back. It was said, ‘Stay with those who stay behind.’

They would only have given you trouble if they had gone out [to battle] with you: they would have scurried around, trying to sow discord among you, and some of you would willingly have listened to them- God knows exactly who does evil.

Indeed, they had tried before that to stir up discord: they devised plots against you [Prophet] until the truth was exposed and God’s will triumphed, much to their disgust.

Some of them said, ‘Give me permission to stay at home: do not trouble me.’ They are already in trouble: Hell will engulf the disbelievers.

If you [Prophet] have good fortune, it will grieve them, but if misfortune comes your way, they will say to themselves, ‘We took precautions for this,’ and go away rejoicing.

Say, ‘Only what God has decreed will happen to us. He is our Master: let the believers put their trust in God.’

Say, ‘Do you expect something other than one of the two best things to happen to us? Well, we expect God to inflict punishment on you, either from Himself or at our hands. So wait; we too are waiting.’

Say, ‘Whether you give willingly or unwillingly, what you give will not be accepted, for you are disobedient people.’

The only thing that prevents what they give from being accepted is the fact that they defy God and His Messenger, perform the prayer only lazily, and give only grudgingly.

So [Prophet] do not let their possessions or their children impress you: through these God intends to punish them in this world and for their souls to depart while they disbelieve.

They swear by God that they belong with you [believers], but they do not. They are cowardly:

if they could find a place of refuge, or a cave, or somewhere to crawl into, they would run there with great haste.

Some of them find fault with you [Prophet] regarding the distribution of alms: they are content if they are given a share, but angry if not.

If only they would be content with what God and His Messenger have given them, and say, ‘God is enough for us- He will give us some of His bounty and so will His Messenger- to God alone we turn in hope.’

Alms are meant only for the poor, the needy, those who administer them, those whose hearts need winning over, to free slaves and help those in debt, for God’s cause, and for travellers in need. This is ordained by God; God is all knowing and wise.

There are others who insult the Prophet by saying, ‘He will listen to anything.’ Say, ‘He listens for your own good: he believes in God, trusts the believers, and is a mercy for those of you who believe.’ An agonizing torment awaits those who insult God’s Messenger.

They swear by God in order to please you [believers]: if they were true believers it would be more fitting for them to please God and His Messenger.

Do they not know that whoever opposes God and His Messenger will go to the Fire of Hell and stay there? That is the supreme disgrace.

The hypocrites fear that a sura will be revealed exposing what is in their hearts- say, ‘Carry on with your jokes: God will bring about what you fear!’-

yet if you were to question them, they would be sure to say, ‘We were just chatting, just amusing ourselves.’ Say, ‘Were you making jokes about God, His Revelations, and His Mes-senger?

Do not try to justify yourselves; you have gone from belief to disbelief.’ We may forgive some of you, but We will punish others: they are evildoers.

The hypocrites, both men and women, are all the same: they order what is wrong and forbid what is right; they are tight-fisted. They have ignored God, so He has ignored them. The hypocrites are the disobedient ones.

God promises the Fire of Hell as a permanent home for the hypocrites, both men and women, and the disbelievers: this is enough for them. God rejects them and a lasting punishment awaits them.

‘You are like those who lived before you: they were even stronger than you, with more wealth and children; they enjoyed their share in this life as you have enjoyed yours; like them, you have indulged in idle talk.’ Their deeds go to waste in this world and the next; it is they who will lose all in the life to come.

Have they never heard the stories about their predecessors, the peoples of Noah, Ad, Thamud, Abraham, Midian, and the ruined cities? Their messengers came to them with clear evidence of the truth: God would not deceive them; they deceived themselves.

The believers, both men and women, support each other; they order what is right and forbid what is wrong; they keep up the prayer and pay the prescribed alms; they obey God and His Messenger. God will give His mercy to such people: God is almighty and wise.

God has promised the believers, both men and women, Gardens graced with flowing streams where they will remain; good, peaceful homes in Gardens of lasting bliss; and- greatest of all- God’s good pleasure. That is the supreme triumph.

Prophet, strive against the disbelievers and the hypocrites, and be tough with them. Hell is their final home- an evil destin-ation!

They swear by God that they did not, but they certainly did speak words of defiance and became defiant after having submitted; they tried to do something, though they did not achieve it, ––being spiteful was their only response to God and His Messenger enriching them out of His bounty. They would be better off turning back [to God]: if they turn away, God will punish them in this world and the Hereafter, and there will be no one on earth to protect or help them.

There are some among them who pledged themselves to God, saying, ‘If God gives us some of His bounty, we shall certainly give alms and be righteous,’

yet when He did give them some of His bounty, they became mean and turned obstinately away.

Because they broke their promise to God, because of all the lies they told, He made hypocrisy settle in their hearts until the Day they meet Him.

Do they not realize that God knows their secrets and their private discussions? That God knows all that is hidden?

It is they who criticize the believers who give freely and those who can only give a little with great effort: they scoff at such people, but it is God who scoffs at them- a painful punishment awaits them.

It makes no difference [Prophet] whether you ask forgiveness for them or not: God will not forgive them even if you ask seventy times, because they reject God and His Messenger. God does not guide those who rebel against Him.

Those who were left behind were happy to stay behind when God’s Messenger set out; they hated the thought of striving in God’s way with their possessions and their persons. They said to one another, ‘Do not go [to war] in this heat.’ Say, ‘Hellfire is hotter.’ If only they understood!

Let them laugh a little; they will weep a lot in return for what they have done.

So [Prophet], if God brings you back to a group of them, who ask you for permission to go out [to battle], say, ‘You will never go out and fight an enemy with me: you chose to sit at home the first time, so remain with those who stay behind now.’

Do not hold prayers for any of them if they die, and do not stand by their graves: they disbelieved in God and His Messenger and died rebellious.

Do not let their possessions and their children impress you: God means to punish them through these in this world, and that their souls should depart while they disbelieve.

When a sura is revealed [saying], ‘Believe in God and strive hard alongside His Messenger,’ their wealthy ask your permission [to be exempt], saying, ‘Allow us to stay behind with the others’:

they prefer to be with those who stay behind. Their hearts have been sealed: they do not comprehend.

But the Messenger and those who believe with him strive hard with their possessions and their persons. The best things belong to them; it is they who will prosper.

God has prepared Gardens graced with flowing streams for them and there they will stay. That is the supreme triumph.

Some of the desert Arabs, too, came to make excuses, asking to be granted exemption. Those who lied to God and His Messenger stayed behind at home. A painful punishment will afflict those of them who disbelieved,

but there is no blame attached to the weak, the sick, and those who have no means to spend, provided they are true to God and His Messenger- there is no reason to reproach those who do good: God is most forgiving and merciful.

And there is no blame attached to those who came to you [Prophet] for riding animals and to whom you said, ‘I cannot find a mount for you’: they turned away with their eyes overflowing with tears of grief that they had nothing they could contribute.

The ones open to blame are those who asked you for exemption despite their wealth, and who preferred to be with those who stay behind. God has sealed their hearts: they do not understand.

When you return from the expedition they will carry on coming to you [believers] with excuses. Say, ‘Do not make excuses. We do not believe you: God has told us about you. God and His Messenger will watch your actions now, and in the end you will be returned to the One who knows the seen and the unseen. He will confront you with what you have done.’

When you return to them, they will swear to you by God in order to make you leave them alone- so leave them alone: they are loathsome, and Hell will be their home as a reward for their actions-

they will swear to you in order to make you accept them, but even if you do accept them, God will not accept people who rebel against Him.

The desert Arabs are the most stubborn of all peoples in their disbelief and hypocrisy. They are the least likely to recognize the limits that God has sent down to His Messenger. God is all knowing and all wise.

Some of the desert Arabs consider what they give to be an imposition; they are waiting for fortune to turn against you, but fortune will turn against them. God is all hearing and all knowing.

But there are also some desert Arabs who believe in God and the Last Day and consider their contributions as bringing them nearer to God and the prayers of the Messenger: they will indeed bring them nearer and God will admit them to His mercy. God is most forgiving and merciful.

God will be well pleased with the first emigrants and helpersand those who followed them in good deeds, and they will be well pleased with Him: He has prepared Gardens graced with flowing streams for them, there to remain for ever. That is the supreme triumph.

Some of the desert Arabs around you are hypocrites, as are some of the people of Medina- they are obstinate in their hypocrisy. You [Prophet] do not know them, but We know them well: We shall punish them twice and then they will be returned to [face] a painful punishment [in the Hereafter].

And there are others who have confessed their wrongdoing, who have done some righteous deeds and some bad ones: God may well accept their repentance, for God is most forgiving and merciful.

In order to cleanse and purify them [Prophet], accept a gift out of their property [to make amends] and pray for them- your prayer will be a comfort to them. God is all hearing, all knowing.

Do they not know that it is God Himself who accepts repentance from His servants and receives what is given freely for His sake? He is always ready to accept repentance, most merciful.

Say [Prophet], ‘Take action! God will see your actions- as will His Messenger and the believers- and then you will be returned to Him who knows what is seen and unseen, and He will tell you what you have been doing.

And there are others who are waiting for God’s decree, either to punish them or to show them mercy. God is all knowing and wise.

Then there are those who built a mosque––in an attempt to cause harm, disbelief, and disunity among the believers––as an outpost for those who fought God and His Messenger before: they swear, ‘Our intentions were nothing but good,’ but God bears witness that they are liars.

[Prophet], never pray in that mosque. You should rather pray in a mosque founded from its first day on consciousness of God: in this mosque there are men who desire to grow in purity- God loves those who seek to purify themselves.

Which is better, the person who founds his building on consciousness of God and desire for His good pleasure, or the person who founds his building on the brink of a crumbling precipice that will tumble down into the Fire of Hell, taking him with it? God does not guide the evildoers:

the building they have founded will always be a source of doubt within their hearts, until their hearts are cut to pieces. God is all knowing and wise.

God has purchased the persons and possessions of the believers in return for the Garden- they fight in God’s way: they kill and are killed- this is a true promise given by Him in the Torah, the Gospel, and the Quran. Who could be more faithful to his promise than God? So be happy with the bargain you have made: that is the supreme triumph.

[The believers are] those who turn to God in repentance; who worship and praise Him; who fast, bow down and prostrate themselves; who order what is good, forbid what is wrong and observe God’s limits. Give glad news to such believers.

It is not fitting for the Prophet and the believers to ask forgiveness for the idolaters- even if they are related to them- after having been shown that they are the inhabitants of the Blaze:

Abraham asked forgiveness for his father because he had made a promise to him, but once he realized that his father was an enemy of God, he washed his hands of him. Abraham was tender-hearted and forbearing.

God would not condemn for going astray those He has already guided [to the faith] before making entirely clear to them what they should avoid. God has knowledge of everything;

control of the heavens and earth belongs to God; He alone gives life and death; you have no ally or helper other than Him.

In His mercy God has turned to the Prophet, and the emigrants and helpers who followed him in the hour of adversity when some hearts almost wavered: He has turned to them; He is most kind and merciful to them.

And to the three men who stayed behind: when the earth, for all its spaciousness, closed in around them, when their very souls closed in around them, when they realized that the only refuge from God was with Him, He turned to them in mercy in order for them to return [to Him]. God is the Ever Relenting, the Most Merciful.

You who believe, be mindful of God: stand with those who are true.

The people of Medina and their neighbouring desert Arabs should not have held back from following God’s Messenger, nor should they have cared about themselves more than him: if ever they suffer any thirst, weariness, or hunger in God’s cause, take any step that angers the disbelievers, or cause any harm to an enemy, a good deed is recorded in their favour on account of it- God never wastes the reward of those who do good-

if they spend a little or a lot for God’s cause, if they traverse a mountain pass, all this is recorded to their credit so that God can reward them in accordance with the best of their deeds.

Yet it is not right for all the believers to go out [to battle] together: out of each community, a group should go out to gain understanding of the religion, so that they can teach their people when they return and so that they can guard themselves against evil.

You who believe, fight the disbelievers near you and let them find you standing firm: be aware that God is with those who are mindful of Him.

When a sura is revealed, some [hypocrites] say, ‘Have any of you been strengthened in faith by it?’ It certainly does strengthen the faith of those who believe and they rejoice,

but, as for the perverse at heart, each new sura adds further to their perversity. They die disbelieving.

Can they not see that they are afflicted once or twice a year? Yet they neither repent nor take heed.

Whenever a sura is revealed, they look at each other and say, ‘Is anyone watching you?’ and then they turn away- God has turned their hearts away because they are people who do not use their reason.

A Messenger has come to you from among yourselves. Your suffering distresses him: he is deeply concerned for you and full of kindness and mercy towards the believers.

If they turn away, [Prophet], say ,‘God is enough for me: there is no god but Him; I put my trust in Him; He is the Lord of the Mighty Throne.’