Sura IX
Immunity (9)
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An
Immunity from God and His Apostle to those with whom you are in league, among
the Polytheist Arabs! (those who join gods with God).
Go you
therefore, at league in the land four months:
but know that God you shall not weaken; and that those who believe not, God
will put to shame --
And a
proclamation on the part of God and His Apostle to the people on the day of the
greater pilgrimage, that God is free from any engagement with the votaries of
other gods with God as is His Apostle! If, therefore, you turn to God it will
be better for you; but if you turn back, then know that you shall not weaken
God: and to those who believe not, announce
thou a grievous punishment.
But
this concerneth not those Polytheists with whom you are in league, and who
shall have afterwards in no way failed you, nor aided anyone against you.
Observe, therefore, engagement with them through the whole time of their treaty: for God loveth those who fear Him.
And
when the sacred months are passed, kill those who join other gods with God
wherever you shall find them; and seize them, besiege them, and lay wait for
them with every kind of ambush: but if they
shall convert, and observe prayer, and pay the obligatory alms, then let them
go their way, for God is Gracious, Merciful.
If any
one of those who join gods with God ask an asylum of thee, grant him an asylum,
that he may hear the Word of God, and then let him reach his place of safety.
This, for that they are people devoid of knowledge.
How
shall they who add gods to God be in league with God and with His Apostle, save
those with whom you made a league at the sacred temple? So long as they are
true to you, be you true to them; for God loveth those who fear Him.
How
can they? since if they prevail against you, they will not regard in you either
ties of blood or faith. With their mouths will they content you, but their
hearts will be averse. The greater part of them are perverse doers.
They
sell the signs of God for a mean price, and turn others aside from his way: evil is it that they do!
9:10 They regard not in a believer either
ties of blood or faith; these are the transgressors!
Yet if
they turn to God and observe prayer, and pay the impost, then are they your
brethren in religion. We make clear our signs to those who understand.
But,
if after alliance made, they break their oaths and revile your religion, then do
battle with the ring-leaders of infidelity -- for no oaths are binding with
them -- that they may desist.
What!
will you not fight against those Meccans who have broken their oaths and aimed
to expel your Apostle, and attacked you first? Will you dread them? God is more
worthy of your fear, if you are believers.!
So
make war on them: By your hands will God
chastise them, and will put them to shame, and will give you victory over them,
and will heal the bosoms of a people who believe;
And
will take away the wrath of their hearts. God will be turned unto whom He will: and God is Knowing, Wise.
Think
you that you shall be forsaken as if God did not yet know those among you who
do valiantly, and take none for their friends beside God, and His Apostle, and
the faithful? God is well apprised of your doings.
It is
not for the votaries of other gods with God, witnesses against themselves of
infidelity, to visit the temples of God. These! vain their works: and in the fire shall they abide for ever!
He
only should visit the temples of God who believeth in God and the last day, and
observeth prayer, and payeth the legal alms, and dreadeth none but God. These
haply will be among the rightly guided.
Do you
place the giving drink to the pilgrims, and the visitation of the sacred
temple, on the same level with him who believeth in God and the last day, and
fighteth on the way of God? They shall not be held equal by God: and God guideth not the unrighteous.
9:20 They who have believed, and fled their
homes, and striven with their substance and with their persons on the path of
God, shall be of highest grade with God: and
these are they who shall be happy!
Tidings
of mercy from Himself, and of His good pleasure, doth their Lord send them, and
of gardens in which lasting pleasure shall be theirs;
Therein
shall they abide for ever; for God! with Him is a great reward.
O
believers! make not friends of your fathers or your brethren if they love
unbelief above faith: and whoso of you shall
make them his friends, will be wrong doers.
Say: If your fathers, and your sons, and your brethren,
and your wives, and your kindred, and the wealth which you have gained, and
merchandise which you fear may be unsold, and dwellings wherein you delight, be
dearer to you than God and His Apostle and efforts on his Path, then wait until
God shall Himself enter on His work: and God
guideth not the impious.
Now
hath God helped you in many battlefields, and on the day of Honein, when you
prided yourselves on your numbers; but it availed you nothing; and the earth,
with all its breadth, became too straight for you:
then turned you your backs in flight:
Then
did God send down His spirit of repose upon His Apostle, and upon the faithful,
and He sent down the hosts which you saw not, and He punished the Infidels: This, the Infidels' reward!
Yet,
after this, will God be turned to whom He pleaseth; for God is Gracious,
Merciful!
O
Believers! only they who join gods with God are unclean! Let them not,
therefore, after this their year, come near the sacred
Make
war upon such of those to whom the Scriptures have been given as believe not in
God, or in the last day, and who forbid not that which God and His Apostle have
forbidden, and who profess not the professions of the truth, until they pay
tribute out of hand, and they be humbled.
9:30 The Jews say, "Ezra (Ozair) is a
son of God"; and the Christians say, "The Messiah is a son of
God." Such the sayings in their mouths! They resemble the saying of the
Infidels of old! God do battle with them! How are they misguided!
They
take their teachers, and their monks, and the Messiah, son of Mary, for Lords
beside God, though bidden to worship one God only. There is no God but He! Far
from His glory be what they associated with Him!
Fain
would they put out God's light with their mouths:
but God only desireth to perfect His light, albeit the Infidels abhor it.
He it
is who hath sent His Apostle with the Guidance and a religion of the truth,
that He may make it victorious over every other religion, albeit they who
assign partners to God be averse from it.
O
Believers! of a truth, many of the teachers and monks do devour man's substance
in vanity, and turn them from the Way of God. But to those who treasure up gold
and silver and expend it not in the Way of God, announce tidings of a grievous
torment.
On
that day their treasures shall be heated in hell fire, and their foreheads, and
their sides, and their back, shall be branded with them.... "This is what
you have treasured up for yourselves: taste,
therefore, your treasures!"
Twelve
months is the number of months with God, according to God's book, since the day
when He created the Heavens and the Earth: of
these four are sacred: this is the right usage: But wrong not yourselves therein; attack those who
join gods with God in all, as they attack you in all:
and know that God is with those who fear Him.
To
carry over a sacred month to another, is only a growth of infidelity. The
Infidels are led into error by it. They allow it one year, and forbid it
another, that they may make good the number of months which God hath hallowed,
and they allow that which God hath prohibited. The evil of their deeds hath been
prepared for them by Satan: for God guideth
not the people who do not believe.
O
Believers! what possessed you, that when it was said to you, "March forth
on the Way of God," you sank heavily earthwards? What! prefer you the life
of this world to the next? But the fruition of this mundane life, in respect of
that which is to come, is but little.
Unless
you march forth, with a grievous chastisement will He chastise you; and He will
place another people in your stead, and you shall in no way harm Him: for over everything is God potent.
9:40 If you assist not your Prophet ... God
assisted him formerly, when the unbelievers drove him forth, in company with a
second only! when they two were in the cave; when the Prophet said to his
companion, "Be not distressed; verily, God is with us." And God sent
down His tranquility upon him, and strengthened him with hosts you saw not, and
made the word of those who believed not the abased, and the word of God was the
exalted: for God is Mighty, Wise.
March
you forth the light and heavy armed, and contend with your substance and your
persons on the Way of God. This, if you know it, will be better for you.
Had
there been a near advantage and a short journey, they would certainly have
followed thee; but the way seemed long to them. Yet will they sear by God,
"Had we been able, we had surely gone forth with you:" they are self-destroyers! And God knoweth
that they are surely liars!
God
forgive there! Why didst thou give them leave to stay behind, ere they who make
true excuses had become known to thee, and thou hadst known the liars?
They
who believe in God and in the last day will not ask leave of thee to be exempt
from contending with their substance and their persons. But God knoweth those
who fear Him!
They
only will ask thy leave who believe not in God and the last day, and whose
hearts are full of doubts, and who are tossed up and down in their doubtings.
Moreover,
had they been desirous to take the field, they would have got ready for that
purpose the munitions of war. But God was averse to their marching forth, and
made them laggards; and it was said, "Sit you at home with those who
sit."
Had
they taken the field with you, they would only have added a burden to you, and
have hurried about among you, stirring you up to sedition; and some there are
among you who would have listened to them: and
God knoweth the evil doers.
Of old
aimed they at sedition, and deranged thy affairs, until the truth arrived, and
the behest of God became apparent, averse from it though they were.
Some
of them say to thee, "Allow me to remain at home, and expose me not to the
trial." Have they not fallen into a trial already? But verily, Hell shall
environ the Infidels!
9:50 If a success betide thee, it annoyeth
them: but if a reverse betide thee, they say,
"We took our own measures before:"
and they turn their backs and are glad.
Say: Nothing can befall us but what God hath destined
for us. Our liege-lord is He; and on God let the faithful trust!
Say: Await you for us, other than one of the two best
things? But we await for you the infliction of a chastisement by God, from
himself, or at our hands. Wait you then; we verily will wait with you.
Say: Make you your offerings willingly or by
constraint; it cannot be accepted from you, because you are a wicked people:
And
nothing hindreth the acceptance of their offerings, but that they believe not
in God and His Apostle, and discharge not the duty of prayer but with
sluggishness, and make not offerings but with reluctance.
Let
not, therefore, their riches or their children amaze thee. God is only minded
to punish them by means of these, in this life present, and that their souls
may depart while they are unbelievers.
And
they swear by God that they are indeed of you, yet they are not of you, but
they are people who are afraid of you:
If
they find a place of refuge, or caves, or a hiding place, they assuredly turn
towards it and haste thereto.
Some
of them also defame thee in regard to the alms; yet if a part be given them,
they are content, but if no part be given them, behold, they are angry!
Would
that they were satisfied with that which God and His Apostle had given them,
and would say "God sufficeth us! God will vouchsafe unto us of His favour,
and so will His Apostle: verily until God do
we make our suit!"
9:60 But alms are only to be given to the
poor and needy, and those who collect them, and to those whose hearts are won
to Islam, and for ransoms, and for debtors, and for the cause of God, and the
wayfarer. This is an ordinance from God: and
God is Knowing, Wise.
There
are some of them who injure the Prophet and say, "He is all ear." Say: An ear of good to you! He believeth in God, and
believeth the believers: and is a mercy to
such of you as believe:
But
they who injure the Apostle of God, shall suffer a dolorous chastisement.
They
swear to you by God to please you; but worthier is God, and His Apostle, that
they should please Him, if they are believers.
Know
they not, that for him who opposeth God and His Apostle, is surely the fire of
Hell, in which he shall remain for ever? This is the great ignominy!
The
hypocrites are afraid lest a Sura should be sent down concerning them, to tell
them plainly what is in their hearts. Say:
Scoff you; but God will bring to light that which you are afraid of.
And if
thou question them, they will surely say, "We were only discoursing and
jesting." Say: What! do you scoff at God,
and His signs, and His Apostle?
Make
no excuse: from faith you have passed to
infidelity! If we forgive some of you, we will punish others:L for that they have been evil doers.
Hypocritical
men and women imitate one another. They enjoin what is evil, and forbid what is
just, and shut up their hands. They have forgotten God, and He hath forgotten
them. Verily, the hypocrites are the perverse doers.
God
promiseth the hypocritical men and women, and the unbelievers, the fire of Hell
-- therein shall they abide -- this their sufficing portion! And God hath
cursed them, and a lasting torment shall be theirs.
9:70 You act like those who flourished
before you. Mightier were they than you in prowess, and more abundant in wealth
and children, and they enjoyed their portion:
so you also enjoy your portion, as they were were before you enjoyed theirs;
and you hold discourses like their discourses. These! vain their works both for
this world and for that which is to come! These! they are the lost ones.
Hath
not the history reached them of those who were before them? -- of the people of
Noah, and of Ad, and of Themoud, and of the people of Abraham, and of the
inhabitants of Madian, and of the overthrown cities? Their apostles came to
them with clear proofs of their mission: God
would not deal wrongly by them, but they dealt wrongly by themselves.
The
faithful of both sexes are mutual friends:
they enjoin what is just, and forbid what is evil; they observe prayer, and pay
the legal impost, and they obey God and His Apostle. On these will God have
mercy: verily, God is Mighty, Wise.
To the
faithful, both men and women, God promiseth gardens 'neath which the rivers
flow, in which they shall abide, and goodly mansions in the gardens of
O
Prophet! contend against the infidels and the hypocrites, and be rigorous with
them: Hell shall be their dwelling place!
Wretched the journey thither!
They
swear by God that they said no such thing: yet
spake they the word infidelity, and from Muslims became unbelievers! They
planned what they could not effect; and only disapproved of it because God and
His Apostle had enriched them by His bounty! If they repent it will be better
for them; but if they fall back into their sin, with a grievous chastisement
will God chastise them in this world and the next, and on earth they shall have
neither friend nor protector!
Some
there are of them who made this agreement with God -- "If truly He give us
of His bounties, we will surely give alms and surely be of the righteous."
Yet
when he had vouchsafed them of His bounty, they became covetous thereof, and
turned their backs, and withdrew afar off:
So He
caused hypocrisy to take its turn in their hearts, until the day on which they
shall meet Him -- for that they failed their promise to God, and for that they
were liars!
9:80 They who traduce such of the faithful
as give their alms freely, and those who find nothing to give but their
earnings, and scoff at them, God shall scoff at them; and there is a grievous
torment in store for them.
Ask
thou forgiveness for them, or ask it not, it will be the same. If thou ask
forgiveness for them seventy times, God will by no means forgive them. This,
for that they believe not in God and His Apostle! And God guideth not the
ungodly people.
They
who were left at home were delighted to stay behind God's Apostle, and were
averse from contending with their riches and their persons for the cause of
God, and said, "March not out in the heat." Say: A fiercer heat will be the fire of Hell."
Would that they understood this.
Little,
therefore, let them laugh, and much let them weep, as the meed of their doings!
If God
bring thee back from the fight to some of them, and they ask thy leave to take
the field, Say: By no means shall you ever
take the field with me, and by no means shall you fight an enemy with me: you were well pleased to sit at home at the first
crisis: sit you at home, then, with those who
lag behind.
Never
pray thou over anyone of them who dieth, or stand at his grave -- because they
believed not in God and His Apostle, and died in their wickedness.
Let
not their riches or their children astonish thee:
through these God is fain only to punish them in this world, and that their
souls should depart while they are still infidels.
When a
Sura was sent down with "Believe in God and go forth to war with His
Apostle," those of them who are possessed of riches demanded exemption,
and said, "Allow us to be with those who sit at home.
Well
content were they to be with those who stay behind:
for a seal hath been set on their hearts so that they understand not: --
But
the Apostle and those who share his faith, contend for the faith with purse and
person; and these! all good things await them:
and these are they who shall be happy.
9:90 God hath made ready for them gardens
'neath which the rivers flow, wherein they shall remain for ever: this will be the great bliss.
Some
Arabs of the desert came with excuses, praying exemption; and they who had
gainsaid God and His Apostle sat at home: a
grievous punishment shall light on such of them as believe not.
It
shall be no crime in the weak, and in the sick, and in those who find not the
means of contributing, to stay at home, provided they are sincere with God and
His Apostle. Against those who act virtuously, there is no cause of blame: and God is Gracious, Merciful: --
Nor
against those, to whom when they came to thee that thou shouldst mount them,
thou didst say "I find not wherewith to mount you," and they turned
away their eyes shedding floods of tears for grief, because they found no means
to contribute.
On is
there cause of blame against those who, though they are rich, ask thee for
exemption. They are pleased to be with those who stay behind; and God hath set
a seal upon their hearts: they have no
knowledge.
They
will excuse themselves to you when you come back to them. Say: Excuse yourselves not; we cannot believe you: now hath God informed us about you: God will behold your doings, and so will His
Apostle: to Him who knoweth alike things
hidden and things manifest shall you hereafter be brought back: and He will tell you what you have done.
They
will adjure you by God when you are come back to them, to withdraw from them: Withdraw from them, then, for they are unclean: their dwelling shall be Hell, in recompense for
their deserts.
They
will adjure you to take pleasure in them; but if you take pleasure in them, God
truly will take no pleasure in those who act corruptly.
The
Arabs of the desert are most stout in unbelief and dissimulation; and likelier
it is that they should be unaware of the laws which God hath sent down to His
Apostle: and God is Knowing, Wise.
Of the
Arabs of the desert there are some who reckon what they expend in the cause of
God as tribute, and wait for some change of fortune to befall you: a change for evil shall befall them! God is the
Hearer, the Knower.
9:100 And of the Arabs of the desert, some
believe in God and in the last day, and deem those alms an approach to God and
to the Apostle's prayers. Are they not their approach? Into His mercy shall God
lead them: yes, God is Indulgent, Merciful.
As for
those who led the way, the first of the Mohadjers, and the Ansars, and those
who have followed their noble conduct, God is well pleased with them, and they
with Him: He hath made ready for them gardens
under whose trees the rivers flow: to abide
therein for aye: this shall be the great bliss:
And of
the Arabs of the desert round about you, some are hypocrites: and of the people of
Others
have owned their faults, and with an action that is right they have mixed
another that is wrong. God will haply be turned to them:
for God is Forgiving, Merciful.
Take
alms of their substance, that thou mayst cleanse and purify them thereby, and
pray for them; for thy prayers shall assure their minds:
and God Heareth, Knoweth.
Know
they not that when his servants turn to Him with repentance, God accepteth it,
and that He accepteth alms, and that God is He who turneth, the Merciful?
Say: Work you: but God
will behold your work, and so will His Apostle, and the faithful: and you shall be brought before Him who knoweth
alike the Hidden and the Manifest, and He will tell you of all your works.
And
others await the decision of God; whether He will punish them, or whether He
will be turned unto them: but God is Knowing,
Wise.
There
are some who have built a Mosque for mischief and for infidelity, and to
disunite the faithful, and in expectation of him who, in time past, warned
against God and His Apostle. They will surely sear, "Our aim was only good:" but God is witness that they are liars.
Never
set thou foot in it. There is a Mosque founded from tis first day in piety.
More worthy is it that thou enter therein:
therein are men who aspire to purity, and God loveth the purified.
9:110 Which of the two is best? He who hath
founded his building on the fear of God and the desire to please Him, or he who
hath founded his building on the brink of an undermined bank washed away by
torrents, so that it rusheth with him into the fire of Hell? But God guided not
the doers of wrong.
Their
building which they have built will not cease to cause uneasiness in their
hearts, until their hearts are cut in pieces. God is Knowing, Wise.
Verily,
of the faithful hath God bought their persons and their substances, on
condition of Paradise for them in return: on
the path of God shall they fight, and slay, and be slain: a promise for this is pledged in the Law, and in the Evangel,
and in the Koran -- and who more faithful to his engagement than God? Rejoice,
therefore, in the contract that you have contracted:
for this shall be the great bliss.
Those
who turn to God, and those who serve, who praise, who fast, who bow down, who
prostrate themselves, who enjoin what is just and forbid what is evil, and keep
to the bounds of God... Wherefore bear these good tidings to the faithful.
It is
not for the prophet or the faithful to pray for the forgiveness of those, even
though they be of kin, who associate other beings with God, after it hath been
made clear to them that they are to be the inmates of Hell.
For
neither did Abraham ask forgiveness for his father, but in pursuance of a
promise which he had promised to him: but when
it was shewn him that he was an enemy to God, he declared himself clear of him.
Yet Abraham was pitiful, kind.
Nor is
it for God to lead a people into error, after he hath guided them aright, until
that which they ought to dread hath been clearly shewn them. Verily, God
knoweth all things.
God!
His the kingdom of the Heavens and of the Earth! He maketh alive and killeth!
You have no patron or helper save God.
Now
hath God turned Him unto the Prophet and unto the refugees (Mohadjers), and
unto the helpers (Ansars), who followed him in the hour of distress, after that
the hearts of a part of them had well nigh failed them. Then turned He unto
them, for He was Kind to them, Merciful.
He
hath also turned Him unto the three who were left behind, so that the earth,
spacious as it is, became to strait for them; and their souls became so
straitened within them, that they bethought them that there was no refuge from
God but unto Himself. Then was He turned to them, that they might be turned to
Him, for God is He that turneth, the Merciful.
9:120 Believers! fear God, and be with the
sincere.
No
cause had the people of Medina and the Arabs of the desert around them, to
abandon God's Apostle, or to prefer their own lives to his; because neither
thirst, nor the labour, nor hunger, could come upon them when on path of God;
neither do they step a step which may anger the unbelievers, neither do they
receive from the enemy any damage, but it is written down to them as a good
work. Verily, God suffereth not the reward of the righteous to perish.
Nor
give they alms either small or great, nor traverse they a torrent, but it is
thus reckoned to them; that God may reward them with better than they have
wrought.
The
faithful must not march forth all together to the wars:
and if a party of every band of them march not out, it is that they may
instruct themselves in their religion, and may warn their people when they come
back to them, that they take heed to themselves.
Believers!
wage war against such of the infidels as are your neighbours, and let them find
you rigorous: and know that God is with those
who fear him.
Whenever
a Sura is sent down, there are some of them who say, "Whose faith hath it
increased?" It will increase the faith of those who believe, and they
shall rejoice.
But as
to those in whose hearts is a disease, it will add doubt to their doubt, and
they shall die infidels.
Do
they not see that they are proved every year once or twice? Yet they turn not,
neither are they warned.
And
whenever a Sura is sent down, they look at one another.... "Doth any one
see you?" then turn they aside. God shall turn their hearts aside, because
they are a people devoid of understanding.
Now
hath an Apostle come unto you from among yourselves:
your iniquities press heavily upon him. He is careful over you, and towards the
faithful, compassionate, merciful.
9:130 If they turn away, Say: God sufficeth me:
there is no God but He. In Him put I my trust. He is the possessor of the
Glorious Throne!