Hath not the story reached them
Of those before them?—
The people of Noah, and ’Ād,
And Thamūd; the people
Of Abraham, the men
Of Midian, and the Cities overthrown.
To them came their apostles
With Clear Signs. It is
Not God Who wrongs them,
But they wrong their own souls.
The Believers, men
And women, are protectors,
One of another: they enjoin
What is just, and forbid
What is evil: they observe
Regular prayers, practise
Regular charity, and obey
God and His Apostle.
On them will God pour
His mercy: for God
Is Exalted in power, Wise:
They swear by God that they
Said nothing (evil), but indeed
They uttered blasphemy,
And they did it after accepting
Islam; and they meditated
A plot which they were unable
To carry out: this revenge
Of theirs was (their) only return
For the bounty with which
God and His Apostle had enriched
Them! If they repent,
It will be best for them;
But if they turn back
(To their evil ways),
God will punish them
With a grievous penalty
In this life and in the Hereafter:
They shall have none on earth
To protect or help them.
Whether thou ask
For their forgiveness,
Or not, (their sin is unforgivable):
If thou ask seventy times
For their forgiveness, God
Will not forgive them:
Because they have rejected
God and His Apostle: and God
Guideth not those
Who are perversely rebellious.
Those who were left behind
(In the Tabūk expedition)
Rejoiced in their inaction
Behind the back of the Apostle
Of God: they hated to strive
And fight, with their goods
And their persons, in the Cause
Of God: they said,
"Go not forth in the heat."
Say, "The fire of Hell
Is fiercer in heat." If
Only they could understand!
Nor do thou ever pray
For any of them that dies,
Nor stand at his grave;
For they rejected God
And His Apostle, and died
In a state of perverse rebellion.
When a Sūra comes down,
Enjoining them to believe
In God and to strive and fight
Along with His Apostle,
Those with wealth and influence
Among them ask thee
For exemption, and say:
"Leave us (behind): we
Would be with those
Who sit (at home)."
But the Apostle, and those
Who believe with him,
Strive and fight with their wealth
And their persons: for them
Are (all) good things:
And it is they
Who will prosper.
And there were, among
The desert Arabs (also),
Men who made excuses
And came to claim exemption;
And those who were false
To God and His Apostle
(Merely) sat inactive.
Soon will a grievous penalty
Seize the Unbelievers
Among them.
There is no blame
On those who are infirm,
Or ill, or who find
No resources to spend
(On the Cause), if they
Are sincere (in duty) to God
And His Apostle:
No ground (of complaint)
Can there be against such
As do right: and God
Is Oft-Forgiving, Most Merciful.
They will present their excuses
To you when ye return
To them. Say thou: "Present
No excuses: we shall not
Believe you: God hath already
Informed us of the true state
Of matters concerning you:
It is your actions that God
And His Apostle will observe:
In the end will ye
Be brought back to Him
Who knoweth what is hidden
And what is open:
Then will He show you
The truth of all
That ye did."
The Arabs of the desert
Are the worst in unbelief
And hypocrisy, and most fitted
To be in ignorance
Of the command which God
Hath sent down to His Apostle:
But God is All-Knowing,
All-Wise.
But some of the desert Arabs
Believe in God and the Last Day,
And look on their payments
As pious gifts bringing them
Nearer to God and obtaining
The prayers of the Apostle.
Aye, indeed they bring them
Nearer (to Him): soon will God
Admit them to His Mercy:
For God is Oft-Forgiving,
Most Merciful.
And say: "Work (righteousness):
Soon will God observe your work,
And His Apostle, and the Believers:
Soon will ye be brought back
To the Knower of what is
Hidden and what is open:
Then will He show you
The truth of all that ye did."
And there are those
Who put up a mosque
By way of mischief and infidelity—
To disunite the Believers
And in preparation for one
Who warred against God
And His Apostle aforetime.
They will indeed swear
That their intention is nothing
But good; but God doth declare
That they are certainly liars.
It was not fitting
For the people of Medina
And the Bedouin Arabs
Of the neighbourhood, to refuse
To follow God's Apostle,
Nor to prefer their own lives
To his: because nothing
Could they suffer or do,
But was reckoned to their credit
As a deed of righteousness,—
Whether they suffered thirst,
Or fatigue, or hunger, in the Cause
Of God, or trod paths
To raise the ire of the Unbelievers,
Or received any injury
Whatever from an enemy:
For God suffereth not
The reward to be lost
Of those who do good;—
Now hath come unto you
An Apostle from amongst
Yourselves: it grieves him
That ye should perish:
Ardently anxious is he
Over you: to the Believers
Is he most kind and merciful.
Generations before you
We destroyed when they
Did wrong: their Apostles
Came to them with Clear Signs,
But they would not believe!
Thus do We requite
Those who sin!
When We make mankind
Taste of some mercy after
Adversity hath touched them,
Behold! they take to plotting
Against Our Signs! Say:
"Swifter to plan is God!"
Verily, Our messengers record
All the plots that ye make!
To every people (was sent)
An Apostle: when their Apostle
Comes (before them), the matter
Will be judged between them
With justice, and they
Will not be wronged.