الَّذِينَ كَفَرُوا وَصَدُّوا عَنْ سَبِيلِ اللَّهِ أَضَلَّ أَعْمَالَهُمْ
AS FOR THOSE who are bent on denying the truth and on barring [others] from the path of God – all their [good] deeds will He let go to waste; (1)
وَالَّذِينَ آمَنُوا وَعَمِلُوا الصَّالِحَاتِ وَآمَنُوا بِمَا نُزِّلَ عَلَىٰ مُحَمَّدٍ وَهُوَ الْحَقُّ مِنْ رَبِّهِمْ كَفَّرَ عَنْهُمْ سَيِّئَاتِهِمْ وَأَصْلَحَ بَالَهُمْ
whereas those who have attained to faith and do righteous deeds, and have come to believe in what has been bestowed from on high on Muhammad – for it is the truth from their Sustainer – [shall attain to God's grace:] He will efface their [past] bad deeds, and will set their hearts at rest. (2)
ذَٰلِكَ بِأَنَّ الَّذِينَ كَفَرُوا اتَّبَعُوا الْبَاطِلَ وَأَنَّ الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا اتَّبَعُوا الْحَقَّ مِنْ رَبِّهِمْ كَذَٰلِكَ يَضْرِبُ اللَّهُ لِلنَّاسِ أَمْثَالَهُمْ
This, because they who are bent on denying the truth pursue falsehood, whereas they who have attained to faith pursue [but] the truth [that flows] from their Sustainer. In this way does God set forth unto man the parables of their true state. (3)
فَإِذَا لَقِيتُمُ الَّذِينَ كَفَرُوا فَضَرْبَ الرِّقَابِ حَتَّىٰ إِذَا أَثْخَنْتُمُوهُمْ فَشُدُّوا الْوَثَاقَ فَإِمَّا مَنًّا بَعْدُ وَإِمَّا فِدَاءً حَتَّىٰ تَضَعَ الْحَرْبُ أَوْزَارَهَا ذَٰلِكَ وَلَوْ يَشَاءُ اللَّهُ لَانْتَصَرَ مِنْهُمْ وَلَٰكِنْ لِيَبْلُوَ بَعْضَكُمْ بِبَعْضٍ وَالَّذِينَ قُتِلُوا فِي سَبِيلِ اللَّهِ فَلَنْ يُضِلَّ أَعْمَالَهُمْ
NOW WHEN you meet [in war] those who are bent on denying the truth, smite their necks until you overcome them fully, and then tighten their bonds; but thereafter [set them free,] either by an act of grace or against ransom, so that the burden of war may be lifted: thus [shall it be]. And [know that] had God so willed, He could indeed punish them [Himself]; but [He wills you to struggle] so as to test you [all] by means of one another. And as for those who are slain in God's cause, never will He let their deeds go to waste: (4)
سَيَهْدِيهِمْ وَيُصْلِحُ بَالَهُمْ
He will guide them [in the hereafter as well], and will set their hearts at rest, (5)
وَيُدْخِلُهُمُ الْجَنَّةَ عَرَّفَهَا لَهُمْ
and will admit them to the paradise which He has promised them. (6)
يَا أَيُّهَا الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا إِنْ تَنْصُرُوا اللَّهَ يَنْصُرْكُمْ وَيُثَبِّتْ أَقْدَامَكُمْ
O you who have attained to faith! If you help [the cause of] God, He will help you, and will make firm your steps; (7)
وَالَّذِينَ كَفَرُوا فَتَعْسًا لَهُمْ وَأَضَلَّ أَعْمَالَهُمْ
but as for those who are bent on denying the truth, ill fortune awaits them, since He will let all their [good] deeds go to waste: (8)
ذَٰلِكَ بِأَنَّهُمْ كَرِهُوا مَا أَنْزَلَ اللَّهُ فَأَحْبَطَ أَعْمَالَهُمْ
this, because they hate [the very thought of] what God has bestowed from on high – and thus He causes all their deeds to come to nought! (9)
أَفَلَمْ يَسِيرُوا فِي الْأَرْضِ فَيَنْظُرُوا كَيْفَ كَانَ عَاقِبَةُ الَّذِينَ مِنْ قَبْلِهِمْ دَمَّرَ اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِمْ وَلِلْكَافِرِينَ أَمْثَالُهَا
Have they, then, never journeyed about the earth and beheld what happened in the end to those [willful sinners] who lived before their time? God destroyed them utterly: and the like thereof awaits all who deny the truth. (10)
ذَٰلِكَ بِأَنَّ اللَّهَ مَوْلَى الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا وَأَنَّ الْكَافِرِينَ لَا مَوْلَىٰ لَهُمْ
This, because God is the Protector of all who have attained to faith, whereas they who deny the truth have no protector. (11)
- This, because they who are bent on denying the truth pursue falsehood, whereas they who have attained to faith pursue [but] the truth [that flows] from their Sustainer. In this way does God set forth unto man the parables of their true state.3
- 3 Lit., "their parables" (amthalahum). This, according to some of the most outstanding commentators, relates to the parabolic expressions in the above three verses: the "going to waste" - in consequence of their deliberate "pursuance of falsehood" - of the good deeds of those who deny the truth, as well as the "effacement of the bad deeds" of the true believers in consequence of their "pursuance of the truth" (Baghawi, Zamakhshari, Razi, Baydawi). In a broader perspective, this interpretation takes into account the parabolic nature not only of the above sentence but also of many other Qur'anic statements relating to men's spiritual conditions and destinies in this world as well as in the life to come.
- This because those who reject Allah follow vanities, while those who believe follow the Truth from their Lord: Thus does Allah set forth4819 for men their lessons by similitudes.
- 4819 We learn the greatest spiritual lessons by parables and similitudes from things that happen in the outer world. If a man goes after a mirage or a thing that has no real existence, he can never reach his goal, while the man that follows the kindly Light from Allah that leads him on must be happier in mind, sounder in heart, and firmer in life, generally for every moment that he lives.
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This because those who reject Allah follow vanities, while those who believe follow the Truth from their Lord: Thus does Allah set forth for men their lessons by similitudes.
— Abdullah Yusuf Ali -
That is because those who disbelieve follow falsehood and because those who believe follow the truth from their Lord. Thus Allah coineth their similitudes for mankind.
— Marmaduke Pickthall -
That is because those who disbelieve follow falsehood, and have given them their dowries, taking (them) in marriage, not fornicating nor taking them for paramours in secret; and whoever denies faith, his work indeed is of no account, and in the hereafter he shall be one of the losers.
— M. Habib Shakir -
That is because those who disbelieve follow falsehood, while those who believe follow the truth from their Lord. Thus does Allah set forth their parables for mankind.
— Taqiuddin Hilali and M. Mohsin Khan -
That is because those who disbelieve follow the falsehood, and those who believe follow the truth from their Lord. And thus Allah propoundeth Unto mankind their similitude.
— Abdul-Majid Daryabadi -
This is because the unbelievers follow falsehood while the believers follow the truth from their Lord. As such Allah sets forth for people their examples.
— Hasan Qaribullah and Ahmed Darwish -
That is because those who disbelieved followed falsehood, and those who believed followed the truth from their Lord. Thus does God describe their similitudes for Mankind.
— Ayub Khan -
That is because those who disbelieve follow falsehood while those who believe follow the truth from their Lord. Thus does God set forth for men their lessons by similitudes.
— Sher Ali -
This, because they who are bent on denying the truth pursue falsehood, whereas they who have attained to faith pursue [but] the truth [that flows] from their Sustainer.
In this way does God set forth unto man the parables of their true state.
— Muhammad Asad -
That is because those who disbelieve follow falsehood, and those who believe follow the truth from their Lord. Even so God strikes their similitudes for men.
— Arthur Arberry -
That is because those who disbelieved followed falsehood whereas those who believed followed the Truth that came to them from their Lord. Thus does Allah set forth to people parables showing their true state.{{7}}
— Abu'l Ala Maududi