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 hate [the very thought of] what God has bestowed from on high8 - and thus He causes all their deeds to come to nought!9
- 8 Namely, the revelation relating to man's moral responsibility to a Supreme Being.
- 9 The particle fa ("and thus") at the beginning of this clause connotes a consequence: in other words, it is their rejection of the idea of moral responsibility, inherent in all divine revelation, that deprives the deeds of "those who are bent on denying the truth" even such deeds as might be termed "good" - of all moral value. This law of inner causality explains fully the phrase "He will let all their [good] deeds go to waste" occurring in verses 1 and 8.
- That is because they hate the Revelation of Allah. so He has made their deeds fruitless.4828
- 4828 Their deeds are fruitless in the sense that they are in vain; they do not produce the results intended by their doers. But they will not be exempt from producing the natural consequences of evil, viz., further degradation and misery for the soul.
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That is because they hate the Revelation of Allah; so He has made their deeds fruitless.
— Abdullah Yusuf Ali -
That is because they are averse to that which Allah hath revealed, therefor maketh He their actions fruitless.
— Marmaduke Pickthall -
That is because they hated what Allah revealed, so He rendered their deeds null.
— M. Habib Shakir -
That is because they hate that which Allah has sent down (this Qur'an and Islamic laws, etc.), so He has made their deeds fruitless.
— Taqiuddin Hilali and M. Mohsin Khan -
That is because they detest that which Allah hath sent down, and so He shall make of non-effect their works.
— Abdul-Majid Daryabadi -
That is because they hated what Allah has sent down, so He annulled their deeds.
— Hasan Qaribullah and Ahmed Darwish -
That is because they are averse to what God has sent down, so He has made their works to go waste.
— Ayub Khan -
That is because they hate what God has revealed; so He has made their works vain.
— Sher Ali -
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!
— Muhammad Asad -
That is because they have been averse to what God has sent down, so He has made their works to fail.
— Arthur Arberry -
That was because they were averse to what Allah had revealed;{{14}} so He let their works go to waste.
— Abu'l Ala Maududi