At-Tawbah

In the name of God, the Gracious, the
Merciful











1. A declaration of immunity from God

and His Messenger to the polytheists with
whom you had made a treaty.
2. So travel the land for four months, and
know that you cannot escape God, and
that God will disgrace the disbelievers.
3. And a proclamation from God and His
Messenger to the people on the day of the
Greater Pilgrimage, that God has disowned
the polytheists, and so did His
Messenger. If you repent, it will be better
for you. But if you turn away, know that
you cannot escape God. And announce to
those who disbelieve a painful punishment.
4. Except for those among the polytheists
with whom you had made a treaty, and
did not violate any of its terms, nor aided
anyone against you. So fulfill the treaty
with them to the end of its term. God
loves the righteous.
5. When the Sacred Months have passed,
kill the polytheists wherever you find
them. And capture them, and besiege
them, and lie in wait for them at every
ambush. But if they repent, and perform
the prayers, and pay the alms, then let
them go their way. God is Most Forgiving,
Most Merciful.
6. And if anyone of the polytheists asks
you for protection, give him protection so
that he may hear the Word of God; then
escort him to his place of safety. That is
because they are a people who do not
know.
7. How can there be a treaty with the polytheists
on the part of God and His Messenger,
except for those with whom you
made a treaty at the Sacred Mosque? As
long as they are upright with you, be upright
with them. God loves the pious.
8. How? Whenever they overcome you,
they respect neither kinship nor treaty
with you. They satisfy you with lip service,
but their hearts refuse, and most of them
are immoral.
9. They traded away God's revelations for a
cheap price, and barred others from His
path. How evil is what they did.
10. Towards a believer they respect neither
kinship nor treaty. These are the transgressors.
11. But if they repent, and perform the
prayers, and give the obligatory charity,
then they are your brethren in faith. We
detail the revelations for a people who
know.
12. But if they violate their oaths after their
pledge, and attack your religion, then fight
the leaders of disbelief—they have no
faith—so that they may desist.
13. Will you not fight a people who violated
their oaths, and planned to exile the
Messenger, and initiated hostilities against
you? Do you fear them? It is God you
should fear, if you are believers.
14. Fight them. God will punish them at
your hands, and humiliate them, and help
you against them, and heal the hearts of a
believing people.
15. And He will remove the anger of their
hearts. God redeems whomever He wills.
God is Knowledgeable and Wise.
16. Or do you think that you will be left
alone, without God identifying which of
you will strive, and take no supporters
apart from God, His Messenger, and the
believers? God is well Aware of what you
do.
17. It is not for the polytheists to attend
God’s places of worship, while professing
their disbelief. These—their works are in
vain, and in the Fire they will abide.
18. The only people to attend God’s places
of worship are those who believe in God
and the Last Day, and pray regularly, and
practice regular charity, and fear none but
God. These are most likely to be guided.
19. Do you consider giving water to pilgrims
and maintaining the Sacred Mosque
the same as believing in God and the Last
Day and striving in God’s path? They are
not equal in God’s sight. God does not
guide the unjust people.
20. Those who believe, and emigrate, and
strive in God’s path with their possessions
and their persons, are of a higher rank
with God. These are the winners.
21. Their Lord announces to them good
news of mercy from Him, and acceptance,
and gardens wherein they will have lasting
bliss.
22. Abiding therein forever. With God is a
great reward.
23. O you who believe! Do not ally yourselves
with your parents and your siblings
if they prefer disbelief to belief. Whoever
of you allies himself with them—these are
the wrongdoers.
24. Say, “If your parents, and your children,
and your siblings, and your spouses,
and your relatives, and the wealth you
have acquired, and a business you worry
about, and homes you love, are more dear
to you than God, and His Messenger, and
the struggle in His cause, then wait until
God executes His judgment.” God does
not guide the sinful people.
25. God has given you victory in numerous
regions, but on the day of Hunayn, your
great number impressed you, but it availed
you nothing; and the land, as spacious as it
was, narrowed for you, and you turned
your backs in retreat.
26. Then God sent down His serenity upon
His Messenger, and upon the believers,
and He sent down troops you did not see,
and He punished those who disbelieved.
Such is the recompense of the disbelievers.
27. Then, after that, God will relent towards
whomever He wills. God is Forgiving
and Merciful.
28. O you who believe! The polytheists are
polluted, so let them not approach the
Sacred Mosque after this year of theirs.
And if you fear poverty, God will enrich
you from His grace, if He wills. God is
Aware and Wise.
29. Fight those who do not believe in God,
nor in the Last Day, nor forbid what God
and His Messenger have forbidden, nor
abide by the religion of truth—from
among those who received the Scripture—
until they pay the due tax, willingly or
unwillingly.
30. The Jews said, “Ezra is the son of God,”
and the Christians said, “The Messiah is
the son of God.” These are their statements,
out of their mouths. They emulate
the statements of those who blasphemed
before. May God assail them! How deceived
they are!
31. They have taken their rabbis and their
priests as lords instead of God, as well as
the Messiah son of Mary. Although they
were commanded to worship none but
The One God. There is no god except He.
Glory be to Him, high above what they
associate with Him.
32. They want to extinguish God’s light
with their mouths, but God refuses except
to complete His light, even though the
disbelievers dislike it.
33. It is He who sent His Messenger with
the guidance and the religion of truth, in
order to make it prevail over all religions,
even though the idolaters dislike it.
34. O you who believe! Many of the rabbis
and priests consume people's wealth illicitly,
and hinder from God’s path. Those
who hoard gold and silver, and do not
spend them in God’s cause, inform them
of a painful punishment.
35. On the Day when they will be heated in
the Fire of Hell, then their foreheads, and
their sides, and their backs will be branded
with them: “This is what you hoarded for
yourselves; so taste what you used to
hoard.”
36. The number of months, according to
God, is twelve months—in the decree of
God—since the Day He created the heavens
and the earth, of which four are sacred.
This is the correct religion. So do not
wrong yourselves during them. And fight
the polytheists collectively, as they fight
you collectively, and know that God is
with the righteous.
37. Postponement is an increase in disbelief—
by which those who disbelieve are
led astray. They allow it one year, and forbid
it another year, in order to conform to
the number made sacred by God, thus
permitting what God has forbidden. The
evil of their deeds seems good to them.
God does not guide the disbelieving people.
38. O you who believe! What is the matter
with you, when it is said to you, “Mobilize
in the cause of God,” you cling heavily to
the earth? Do you prefer the present life to
the Hereafter? The enjoyment of the present
life, compared to the Hereafter, is
only a little.
39. Unless you mobilize, He will punish
you most painfully, and will replace you
with another people, and you will not
harm Him at all. God has power over all
things.
40. If you do not help him, God has already
helped him, when those who disbelieved
expelled him, and he was the second of
two in the cave. He said to his friend, “Do
not worry, God is with us.” And God
made His tranquility descend upon him,
and supported him with forces you did
not see, and made the word of those who
disbelieved the lowest, while the Word of
God is the Highest. God is Mighty and
Wise.
41. Mobilize, light or heavy, and strive with
your possessions and your lives in the
cause of God. That is better for you, if you
only knew.
42. Had the gain been immediate, and the
journey shorter, they would have followed
you; but the distance seemed too long for
them. Still they swear by God: “Had we
been able, we would have marched out
with you.” They damn their own souls,
and God knows that they are lying.
43. May God pardon you! Why did you
give them permission before it became
clear to you who are the truthful ones, and
who are the liars?
44. Those who believe in God and the Last
Day do not ask you for exemption from
striving with their possessions and their
lives. God is fully aware of the righteous.
45. Only those who do not believe in God
and the Last Day ask you for exemption.
Their hearts are full of doubts, so they waver
in their doubts.
46. Had they wanted to mobilize, they
would have made preparations for it; but
God disliked their participation, so he
held them back, and it was said, “Stay behind
with those who stay behind.”
47. Had they mobilized with you, they
would have added only to your difficulties,
and they would have spread rumors in
your midst, trying to sow discord among
you. Some of you are avid listeners to
them. God is Aware of the wrongdoers.
48. They tried to cause conflict before, and
they hatched plots against you, until the
truth prevailed, and the command of God
became evident—in spite of their dislike.
49. Among them is he who says, “Excuse
me, and do not trouble me.” In fact, they
sunk into trouble. In fact, Hell will engulf
the disbelievers.
50. If something good happens to you, it
upsets them, and if a calamity befalls you,
they say, “We took our precautions in advance,”
and they depart, happy.
51. Say, “Nothing will happen to us except
what God has ordained for us; He is our
Protector.” In God let the faithful put their
trust.
52. Say, “Are you expecting for us anything
other than one of the two excellences? As
for us, we are expecting that God will afflict
you with a punishment from Himself,
or at our hands. So wait, we are waiting
with you.”
53. Say, “Whether you spend willingly or
unwillingly, it will not be accepted from
you. You are evil people.”
54. What prevents the acceptance of their
contributions is nothing but the fact that
they disbelieved in God and His Messenger,
and that they do not approach the
prayer except lazily, and that they do not
spend except grudgingly.
55. Let neither their possessions nor their
children impress you. God intends to torment them through them in this worldly
life, and that their souls depart while they
are disbelievers.
56. They swear by God that they are of you.
But they are not of you. They are divisive
people.
57. Were they to find a shelter, or a cave, or
a hideout, they would go to it, rushing.
58. And among them are those who criticize
you in regard to charities. If they are
given some of it, they become pleased, but
if they are not given any, they grow resentful.
59. If only they were content with what
God and His Messenger have given them,
and said, “God is sufficient for us; God
will give us of His bounty, and so will His
Messenger; to God we eagerly turn.”
60. Charities are for the poor, and the destitute,
and those who administer them,
and for reconciling hearts, and for freeing
slaves, and for those in debt, and in the
path of God, and for the traveler in need—
an obligation from God. God is All-
Knowing, Most Wise.
61. And among them are those who insult
the Prophet, and say, “He is all ears.” Say,
“He listens for your own good. He believes
in God, and trusts the believers, and is
mercy for those of you who believe.”
Those who insult the Messenger of God
will have a painful penalty.
62. They swear to you by God to please
you. But it is more proper for them to
please God and His Messenger, if they are
believers.
63. Do they not know that whoever opposes
God and His Messenger, will have the
Fire of Hell, abiding in it forever? That is
the supreme disgrace.
64. The hypocrites worry lest a chapter
may be revealed about them, informing
them of what is in their hearts. Say, “Go
on mocking; God will bring out what you
fear.”
65. If you ask them, they will say, “We were
just joking and playing.” Say, “Were you
making jokes about God, His messenger,
and His revelations?”
66. Do not apologize. You have disbelieved
after your belief. If We pardon some of
you, We will punish others, because they
are guilty.
67. The hypocrite men and hypocrite
women are of one another. They advocate
evil, and prohibit righteousness, and withhold
their hands. They forgot God, so He
forgot them. The hypocrites are the sinners.
68. God has promised the hypocrite men
and hypocrite women, and the disbelievers,
the Fire of Hell, abiding therein forever.
It is their due. And God has cursed
them. They will have a lasting punishment.
69. Like those before you. They were more
powerful than you, and had more wealth
and children. They enjoyed their share,
and you enjoyed your share, as those before you enjoyed their share. And you indulged,
as they indulged. It is they whose
works will fail in this world and in the
Hereafter. It is they who are the losers.
70. Have they not heard the stories of those
before them? The people of Noah, and
Aad, and Thamood; and the people of
Abraham, and the inhabitants of Median,
and the overturned cities? Their messengers
came to them with the clear proofs.
God never wronged them, but they used
to wrong their own selves.
71. The believing men and believing women
are friends of one another. They advocate
virtue, and forbid evil. They perform
regular prayers, and practice regular charity,
and obey God and His Messenger.
These—God will have mercy on them.
God is Noble and Wise.
72. God promises the believers, men and
women, gardens beneath which rivers
flow, abiding therein forever, and fine
homes in the Gardens of Eden. But approval
from God is even greater. That is
the supreme achievement.
73. O Prophet! Strive against the disbelievers
and the hypocrites, and be stern with
them. Their abode is Hell—what a miserable
destination!
74. They swear by God that they said nothing,
but they did utter the word of blasphemy,
and they renounced faith after
their submission. And they plotted what
they could not attain. They were resentful
only because God and His Messenger have
enriched them out of His grace. If they
repent, it would be best for them; but if
they turn away, God will afflict them with
a painful punishment—in this life and in
the Hereafter, and they will have on earth
no protector and no savior.
75. Among them are those who promised
God: “If He gives us of His bounty, we will
donate, and be among the upright.”
76. But when He has given them of His
bounty, they became stingy with it, and
turned away in aversion.
77. So He penalized them with hypocrisy in
their hearts, until the Day they face Him—
because they broke their promise to God,
and because they used to lie.
78. Do they not know that God knows their
secrets and their conspiracies? And that
God is the Knower of the unseen?
79. Those who criticize the believers who
give charity voluntarily, and ridicule those
who find nothing to give except their own
efforts—God ridicules them. They will
have a painful punishment.
80. Whether you ask forgiveness for them,
or do not ask forgiveness for them—even
if you ask forgiveness for them seventy
times, God will not forgive them. That is
because they disbelieved in God and His
messenger. God does not guide the immoral
people.
81. Those who stayed behind rejoiced at
their staying behind the Messenger of
God. And they hated to strive with their
wealth and their lives in God’s way. And
they said, “Do not venture out in the
heat.” Say, “The Fire of Hell is much hotter,
if they only understood.”
82. Let them laugh a little, and weep much;
in recompense for what they used to earn.
83. If God brings you back to a party of
them, and they ask your permission to go
out, say, “You will not go out with me,
ever, nor will you ever fight an enemy with
me. You were content to sit back the first
time, so sit back with those who stay behind.”
84. You are never to pray over anyone of
them who dies, nor are you to stand at his
graveside. They rejected God and His
Messenger, and died while they were sinners.
85. Do not let their possessions and their
children impress you. God desires to torment
them through them in this world,
and their souls expire while they are disbelievers.
86. When a chapter is revealed, stating:
“Believe in God and strive with His Messenger,”
the prominent among them ask
you for exemption. They say, “Allow us to
stay with those who stay behind.”
87. They prefer to be with those who stay
behind. Their hearts were sealed, so they
do not understand.
88. But the Messenger and those who believe
with him struggle with their possessions
and their lives. These have deserved
the good things. These are the successful.
89. God has prepared for them gardens
beneath which rivers flow, wherein they
will abide forever. That is the great victory.
90. Some of the Desert-Arabs came to
make excuses, asking to be granted exemption,
while those who were untrue to
God and His Messenger stayed behind. A
painful punishment will afflict those
among them who disbelieved.
91. There is no blame on the weak, nor on
the sick, nor on those who have nothing to
give, provided they are true to God and
His Messenger. In no way can the righteous
be blamed. God is Forgiving and
Merciful.
92. Nor on those who approach you, wishing
to ride with you, and you said, “I have
nothing to carry you on.” So they went
away, with their eyes overflowing with
tears, sorrowing for not finding the means
to spend.
93. But blame is on those who ask you for
exemption, although they are rich. They
are content to be with those who stay behind.
God has sealed their hearts, so they
do not know.
94. They present excuses to you when you
return to them. Say, “Do not offer excuses;
we do not trust you; God has informed us
of you. And God will watch your actions,
and so will the Messenger; then you will
be returned to the Knower of the Invisible
and the Visible, and He will inform you of
what you used to do.”
95. They will swear to you by God, when
you return to them, that you may leave
them alone. So leave them alone. They are
a disgrace, and their destiny is Hell; a reward
for what they used to earn.
96. They will swear to you that you may
accept them. But even if you accept them,
God does not accept the wicked people.
97. The Desert-Arabs are the most steeped
in disbelief and hypocrisy, and the most
likely to ignore the limits that God revealed
to His Messenger. God is Knowing
and Wise.
98. And among the Desert-Arabs are those
who consider their contribution to be a
fine. And they wait for a reversal of your
fortunes. Upon them will fall the cycle of
misfortune. God is Hearing and Knowing.
99. Yet among the Desert-Arabs are those
who believe in God and the Last Day, and
consider their contribution to be a means
towards God, and the prayers of the Messenger.
Surely it will draw them closer,
and God will admit them into His mercy.
God is Forgiving and Compassionate.
100. The Pioneers—The first of the Migrants
and the Supporters, and those who
followed them in righteousness. God is
pleased with them, and they are pleased
with Him. He has prepared for them Gardens
beneath which rivers flow, where
they will abide forever. That is the sublime
triumph.
101. Among the Desert-Arabs around you
there are some hypocrites, and among the
inhabitants of Medina too. They have become
adamant in hypocrisy. You do not
know them, but We know them. We will
punish them twice; then they will be returned
to a severe torment.
102. Others have confessed their sins, having
mixed good deeds with bad deeds.
Perhaps God will redeem them. God is
Forgiving and Merciful.
103. Receive contributions from their
wealth, to purify them and sanctify them
with it; and pray for them. Your prayer is
comfort for them. God is Hearing and
Knowing.
104. Do they not know that God accepts the
repentance of His servants, and that He
receives the contributions, and that God is
the Acceptor of Repentance, the Merciful?
105. Say, “Work. God will see your work,
and so will His Messenger, and the believers.
Then you will be returned to the
Knower of secrets and declarations, and
He will inform you of what you used to
do.”
106. Others are held in suspense, awaiting
God’s decree, as to whether He will punish
them, or accept their repentance. God is
Aware and Wise.
107. Then there are those who establish a
mosque to cause harm, and disbelief, and
disunity among the believers, and as an
outpost for those who fight God and His
Messenger. They will swear: “Our intentions
are nothing but good,” but God
bears witness that they are liars.
108. Do not stand in it, ever. A mosque
founded upon piety from the first day is
worthier of your standing in it. In it are
men who love to be purified. God loves
those who purify themselves.
109. Is he who founds his structure upon
piety and acceptance from God better, or
he who founds his structure on the brink
of a cliff that is about to tumble, so it tumbles
with him into the Fire of Hell? God
does not guide the unjust people.
110. The structure which they built will
remain questionable in their hearts, until
their hearts are stopped. God is Knowing
and Wise.
111. God has purchased from the believers
their lives and their properties in exchange
for Paradise. They fight in God’s way, and
they kill and get killed. It is a promise
binding on Him in the Torah, and the
Gospel, and the Quran. And who is more
true to his promise than God? So rejoice
in making such an exchange—that is the
supreme triumph.
112. Those who repent, those who worship,
those who praise, those who journey,
those who kneel, those who bow down,
those who advocate righteousness and
forbid evil, those who keep the limits of
God—give good news to the believers.
113. It is not for the Prophet and those who
believe to ask forgiveness for the polytheists,
even if they are near relatives, after it
has become clear to them that they are
people of Hellfire.
114. Abraham asked forgiveness for his
father only because of a promise he had
made to him. But when it became clear to
him that he was an enemy of God, he disowned
him. Abraham was kind and clement.
115. God would never lead a people astray,
after He had guided them, until He makes
clear to them what they should guard
against. God has knowledge of all things.
116. To God belongs the dominion of the
heavens and the earth. He gives life, and
He causes death. And besides God, you
have neither protector, nor supporter.
117. God has redeemed the Prophet, and
the Emigrants, and the Supporters—those
who followed him in the hour of difficulty—
after the hearts of some of them almost
swerved. Then He pardoned them.
He is Kind towards them, Compassionate.
118. Also towards the three who were left
behind. Then, when the earth, as vast as it
is, closed in on them, and their very souls
closed in on them, and they realized that
there was no refuge from God, except in
Him, He redeemed them, so that they may
repent. God is the Redeemer, the Merciful.
119. O you who believe! Be conscious of
God, and be with the sincere.
120. It is not for the inhabitants of Medina
and the Desert-Arabs around them to stay
behind the Messenger of God, nor to prefer
themselves to him. That is because they
never suffer any thirst, nor fatigue, nor
hunger in the cause of God, nor do they
take one step that enrages the disbelievers,
nor do they gain anything from an enemy
but it is recorded to their credit as a righteous
deed. God does not waste the reward
of the righteous.
121. Nor do they spend any expenditure,
small or large, nor do they cross any valley,
but it is recorded to their credit. That
God may reward them in accordance with
the best of their deeds.
122. It is not advisable for the believers to
march out altogether. Of every division
that marches out, let a group remain behind,
to gain understanding of the religion,
and to notify their people when they
have returned to them, that they may beware.
123. O you who believe! Fight those of the
disbelievers who attack you, and let them
find severity in you, and know that God is
with the righteous.
124. Whenever a chapter is revealed, some
of them say, “Which of you has this increased
in faith?” As for those who believe,
it increases them in faith, and they rejoice.
125. But as for those in whose hearts is
sickness, it adds disgrace to their disgrace,
and they die as unbelievers.
126. Do they not see that they are tested
once or twice every year? Yet they do not
repent, and they do not learn.
127. And whenever a chapter is revealed,
they look at one another, “Does anyone
see you?” Then they slip away. God has
diverted their hearts, because they are a
people who do not understand.
128. There has come to you a messenger
from among yourselves, concerned over
your suffering, anxious over you. Towards
the believers, he is compassionate and
merciful.
129. If they turn away, say, “God is enough
for me; there is no god except He; in Him
I have put my trust; He is the Lord of the
Sublime Throne.”