9. At-Tawbah

1 A disavowal from God and His Messenger to those with whom you had made a treaty among the polytheists

2 So travel freely in the land for four months and know that you cannot escape God and that God will disgrace the disbelievers

3 And an announcement from God and His Messenger to the people on the day of the greater pilgrimage that God is free from obligation to the polytheists and so is His Messenger. So if you repent, it is better for you; but if you turn away, then know that you will not cause failure to God. And give tidings to those who disbelieve of a painful punishment

4 Excepted are those with whom you made a treaty among the polytheists and then they have not been deficient toward you in anything or supported anyone against you; so complete for them their treaty until their term. Indeed, God loves the righteous

5 And when the sacred months have passed, then kill the polytheists wherever you find them and capture them and besiege them and sit in wait for them at every place of ambush. But if they should repent, establish prayer, and give charity, let them go on their way. Indeed, God is Forgiving and Merciful

6 If any of the polytheists seeks your protection, then grant him protection so that he may hear the word of God. Then deliver 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 God and His Messenger for the polytheists except those with whom you made a treaty at the Sacred Mosque? As long as they are upright toward you, be upright toward them. Indeed, God loves those who are righteous.

8 How can they have a treaty while if they gain dominance over you, they do not observe any ties of kinship or covenant concerning you? They please you with their mouths, but their hearts refuse, and most of them are defiantly disobedient.

9 They have exchanged the signs of God for a small price and have averted people from His way. Indeed, evil is what they used to do.

10 They do not observe toward a believer any ties of kinship or covenant. And it is they who are the transgressors.

11 But if they repent, establish prayer, and give charity, then they are your brothers in religion. And We explain the verses in detail for a people who know.

12 And if they break their oaths after their treaty and defame your religion, then fight the leaders of disbelief, for their oaths are nothing to them, so that they may cease.

13 Will you not fight a people who broke their oaths and determined to expel the Messenger, and they had begun the attack upon you the first time? Do you fear them? But God has more right that you should fear Him, if you are believers.

14 Fight them; God will punish them by your hands and will disgrace them and give you victory over them and satisfy the breasts of a believing people.

15 And remove the fury in the believers hearts. And God turns in forgiveness to whom He wills; and God is Knowing and Wise.

16 Or do you think that you will be left while God has not yet made evident those among you who strive and do not take other than God and His Messenger and the believers as intimates? And God is Aware of what you do.

17 It is not for those who associate others with God to maintain the mosques of God while witnessing against themselves with disbelief. Those their deeds have become worthless, and in the Fire they will abide.

18 The mosques of God are only to be maintained by those who believe in God and the Last Day and establish prayer and give charity and fear none but God. It is expected that those will be of the guided.

19 Have you made the providing of water for the pilgrim and the maintenance of the Sacred Mosque equal to one who believes in God and the Last Day and strives in the cause of God? They are not equal in the sight of God. And God does not guide the wrongdoing people.

20 Those who have believed and emigrated and strived in the cause of God with their wealth and their lives are greater in rank in the sight of God. And it is those who are the successful.

21 Their Lord gives them good tidings of mercy from Him and approval and gardens for them wherein is enduring pleasure.

22 Abiding therein forever. Indeed, with God is a great reward.

23 O you who believe, do not take your fathers and your brothers as allies if they prefer disbelief over belief. And whoever among you takes them as allies, then it is those who are the wrongdoers.

24 Say, If your fathers, your sons, your brothers, your spouses, your relatives, wealth you have acquired, commerce you fear may decline, and dwellings you love are more beloved to you than God and His Messenger and striving in His cause, then wait until God brings about His command. And God does not guide the disobedient people.

25 God has already helped you on many battlefields, and on the day of Hunayn, when you were pleased with your great number, but it did not benefit you at all, and the earth became narrow for you despite its vastness; then you turned back in retreat.

26 Then God sent down His tranquility upon His Messenger and upon the believers, and sent down forces you did not see, and punished those who disbelieved. And that is the recompense of the disbelievers.

27 Then God will accept repentance after that for whom He wills. And God is Forgiving and Merciful.

28 O you who believe, the polytheists are unclean, so let them not approach the Sacred Mosque after this year of theirs. And if you fear poverty, Allah will enrich you from His bounty if He wills. Indeed, Allah is Knowing and Wise.

29 Fight those who do not believe in Allah or in the Last Day and who do not consider unlawful what Allah and His Messenger have made unlawful and who do not adopt the religion of truth from those who were given the Scripture, until they give the tribute willingly while they are humbled.

30 The Jews say Ezra is the son of God and the Christians say the Messiah is the son of God. These are words from their mouths. They imitate the saying of those who disbelieved before. May God destroy them. How they are deluded.

31 They have taken their scholars and monks as lords besides God and the Messiah son of Mary. They were commanded to worship only one God. There is no god but Him. Glory be to Him above what they associate with Him.

32 They want to extinguish the light of God with their mouths, but God refuses except to perfect His light, even if the disbelievers dislike it.

33 He is the One who sent His Messenger with guidance and the religion of truth to make it prevail over all religions, even if the polytheists dislike it.

34 O you who believe, many of the rabbis and monks consume the wealth of people unjustly and hinder from the way of God. Those who hoard gold and silver and do not spend it in the way of God, give them news of a painful punishment.

35 The day when it will be heated in the fire of Hell and their foreheads, sides and backs will be branded with it. This is what you hoarded for yourselves, so taste what you used to hoard.

36 Indeed the number of months with God is twelve months in the decree of God on the day He created the heavens and the earth. Of these four are sacred. That 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 Postponing sacred months is only an increase in disbelief by which the disbelievers are led astray. They make it lawful one year and forbidden another year to match the number God has made sacred. Thus they make lawful what God has forbidden. The evil of their deeds is made appealing to them. And God does not guide the disbelieving people.

38 O you who believe, what is wrong with you that when you are told to go forth in the cause of God, you cling heavily to the earth? Are you satisfied with the life of this world rather than the Hereafter? But the enjoyment of worldly life is little compared to the Hereafter.

39 If you do not go forth, He will punish you with a painful punishment and will replace you with another people, and you will not harm Him at all. And God is over all things competent.

40 If you do not aid him, God has already aided him when those who disbelieved had driven him out as one of two, when they were in the cave and he said to his companion, Do not grieve; indeed God is with us. And God sent down His tranquility 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. And God is Exalted in Might and Wise.

41 Go forth, whether light or heavy, and strive with your wealth and your lives in the cause of God. That is better for you, if you only knew.

42 If it had been a near gain and an easy journey, they would have followed you, but the distance seemed too far for them. They will swear by God, If we were able, we would have gone out with you. They destroy themselves, and God knows they are liars.

43 God has pardoned you. Why did you give them permission before it became clear to you who were truthful and who were liars?

44 Those who believe in God and the Last Day do not ask your permission to be excused from striving with their wealth and their lives. And God knows the righteous.

45 Only those ask permission of you who do not believe in God and the Last Day and whose hearts have doubted, and they in their doubt are hesitating.

46 If they had intended to go forth, they would have prepared for it some preparation. But God disliked their being sent, so He kept them back, and it was said, Stay with those who stay behind.

47 Had they gone forth with you, they would not have increased you except in confusion, and they would have been active among you, seeking to cause discord. And among you are avid listeners to them. And God knows the wrongdoers.

48 They had already desired discord before and had upset matters for you until the truth came and the decree of God appeared, while they were averse.

49 And among them is he who says, Permit me and do not tempt me. Unquestionably, into temptation they have fallen. And indeed, Hell will encompass the disbelievers.

50 If good befalls you, it distresses them; but if disaster strikes you, they say, We took our matter in hand before, and they turn away while they are rejoicing.

51 Say, Nothing will happen to us except what God has decreed for us; He is our protector. And upon God let the believers rely.

52 Say, Do you await for us except one of the two best things while we await for you that God will afflict you with a punishment from Himself or at our hands? So wait; indeed we, along with you, are waiting.

53 Say, Spend willingly or unwillingly; never will it be accepted from you. Indeed, you have been a defiantly disobedient people.

54 And what prevents their contributions from being accepted from them but that they have disbelieved in God and His Messenger and that they come not to prayer except while they are lazy and that they do not spend except while they are unwilling.

55 So let not their wealth or their children impress you. God only intends to punish them through them in worldly life and that their souls should depart while they are disbelievers.

56 And they swear by God that they are from among you while they are not from among you; but they are a people who are afraid.

57 If they could find a refuge or caves or any place to enter, they would turn to it while they run heedlessly.

58 And among them are some who criticize you concerning the charities. If they are given from them, they approve; but if they are not given from them, at once they become angry.

59 If only they had been satisfied with what God and His Messenger gave them and said, Sufficient for us is God; God will give us of His bounty, and His Messenger; indeed, we are desirous toward God.

60 The charities are only for the poor and the needy and those employed to collect them and for bringing hearts together and for freeing captives and for those in debt and for the cause of God and for the traveler, an obligation from God. And God is Knowing and Wise.

61 Among them are those who hurt the Prophet and say He is all ears. Say All ears is better for you. He believes in God and believes the believers and is a mercy to those who believe among you. Those who hurt the messenger of God will have a painful punishment.

62 They swear by God to you to please you but God and His Messenger have more right that they should please Him if they are believers.

63 Do they not know that whoever opposes God and His Messenger the fire of Hell is for him abiding eternally therein? That is the great disgrace.

64 The hypocrites fear that a chapter will be revealed about them informing them of what is in their hearts. Say Mock indeed God will expose that which you fear.

65 If you ask them they will surely say We were only conversing and playing. Say Is it God and His verses and His Messenger that you were mocking?

66 Make no excuse you have disbelieved after your belief. If We pardon one faction of you We will punish another faction because they were criminals.

67 The hypocrite men and hypocrite women are of one another. They enjoin what is wrong and forbid what is right and close their hands. They have forgotten God so He has forgotten them. Indeed the hypocrites are the defiantly disobedient.

68 God has promised the hypocrite men and hypocrite women and the disbelievers the fire of Hell wherein they will abide eternally. It is sufficient for them. And God has cursed them and for them is an enduring punishment.

69 Like those before you who were mightier than you in strength and more abundant in wealth and children. They enjoyed their portion, so you have enjoyed your portion as those before you enjoyed their portion, and you have engaged in idle talk as they did. Their deeds have become worthless in this world and the Hereafter, and they are the losers.

70 Has not the news reached them of those before them, the people of Noah, Aad, Thamud, the people of Abraham, the inhabitants of Madyan, and the overturned cities? Their messengers came to them with clear proofs. God did not wrong them, but they wronged themselves.

71 The believing men and believing women are allies of one another. They enjoin what is right and forbid what is wrong and establish prayer and give charity and obey God and His Messenger. Those, God will have mercy upon them. Indeed, God is Almighty and Wise.

72 God has promised the believing men and believing women gardens beneath which rivers flow, wherein they abide eternally, and pleasant dwellings in gardens of perpetual residence; but approval from God is greater. That is the great success.

73 O Prophet, strive against the disbelievers and the hypocrites and be harsh upon them. And their refuge is Hell, and wretched is the destination.

74 They swear by God that they did not say while they had said the word of disbelief and disbelieved after their submission and planned that which they were not to attain. And they were not resentful except that God and His Messenger had enriched them of His bounty. So if they repent, it will be better for them; but if they turn away, God will punish them with a painful punishment in this world and the Hereafter. And there will not be for them on earth any protector or helper.

75 And among them are those who made a covenant with God, If He should give us of His bounty, we will surely spend in charity and be among the righteous.

76 But when He gave them of His bounty, they became stingy with it and turned away while they were averse.

77 So He punished them with hypocrisy in their hearts until the Day they will meet Him because they failed God in what they promised Him and because they used to lie.

78 Did they not know that God knows their secrets and their private conversations and that God is the Knower of the unseen?

79 Those who criticize the contributors among the believers concerning their charities and those who find nothing to spend except their effort, so they ridicule them God will ridicule them, and they will have a painful punishment.

80 Ask forgiveness for them, or do not ask forgiveness for them. If you should ask forgiveness for them seventy times, never will God forgive them. That is because they disbelieved in God and His Messenger, and God does not guide the defiantly disobedient people.

81 Those who stayed behind rejoiced at their remaining behind the Messenger of God, and they hated to strive with their wealth and their lives in the cause of God and said Do not go forth in the heat. Say The fire of Hell is more intense in heat if they only understood.

82 So let them laugh a little and weep much as recompense for what they used to earn.

83 If God returns you to a group of them and they ask your permission to go out, say You will never go out with me, nor will you ever fight an enemy with me. You were pleased to sit the first time, so sit with those who stay behind.

84 And do not pray for any of them who die, ever, or stand at his grave. Indeed, they disbelieved in God and His Messenger and died while they were defiantly disobedient.

85 And let not their wealth and their children impress you. God only intends to punish them through them in this world and that their souls should depart while they are disbelievers.

86 And when a chapter is revealed to believe in God and strive with His Messenger, those of wealth among them ask your permission and say Leave us to be with those who sit.

87 They were satisfied to be with those who stay behind, and their hearts were sealed so they do not understand.

88 But the Messenger and those who believed with him strove with their wealth and their lives. Those will have the good things, and it is those who are the successful.

89 God has prepared for them gardens beneath which rivers flow, wherein they will abide eternally. That is the great triumph.

90 And those with excuses among the bedouins came asking permission, and those who had lied to God and His Messenger sat. There will strike those who disbelieved among them a painful punishment.

91 There is not upon the weak or upon the ill or upon those who do not find anything to spend any blame when they are sincere to God and His Messenger. There is not upon the doers of good any cause. And God is Forgiving and Merciful.

92 Nor upon those who, when they came to you that you might give them mounts, you said I can find nothing for you to ride upon. They turned back while their eyes overflowed with tears out of grief that they could not find something to spend.

93 The cause is only against the ones who ask permission of you while they are rich. They are satisfied to be with those who stay behind, and God has sealed over their hearts, so they do not know.

94 They will make excuses to you when you have returned to them. Say Do not make excuses never will we believe you. God has already informed us of your news. And God will see your deeds, and His Messenger then you will be taken back to the Knower of the unseen and the witnessed, and He will inform you of what you used to do.

95 They will swear by God to you when you return to them that you would leave them alone. So leave them alone indeed, they are filth and their refuge is Hell as recompense for what they used to earn.

96 They swear to you so that you might be satisfied with them. But if you should be satisfied with them indeed, God is not satisfied with a defiantly disobedient people.

97 The Bedouins are stronger in disbelief and hypocrisy and more likely not to know the limits of what God has revealed to His Messenger. And God is Knowing and Wise.

98 And among the Bedouins are some who consider what they spend as a loss and await for you turns of misfortune. Upon them will be a turn of evil. And God is Hearing and Knowing.

99 But among the Bedouins are some who believe in God and the Last Day and consider what they spend as means of nearness to God and of obtaining invocations of the Messenger. Unquestionably, it is a means of nearness for them. God will admit them to His mercy. Indeed, God is Forgiving and Merciful.

100 The first forerunners among the emigrants and the helpers and those who followed them in goodness, God is pleased with them and they are pleased with Him, and He has prepared for them gardens beneath which rivers flow, wherein they will abide forever. That is the great triumph.

101 Among the Bedouins around you are hypocrites, and among the people of Medina are those persistent in hypocrisy. You do not know them; We know them. We will punish them twice; then they will be returned to a great punishment.

102 And others have acknowledged their sins. They mixed a good deed with another that was bad. Perhaps Allah will turn to them in forgiveness. Indeed, Allah is Forgiving and Merciful.

103 Take from their wealth a charity by which you purify them and cause them increase, and invoke blessings upon them. Indeed, your invocations are reassurance for them. And Allah is Hearing and Knowing.

104 Do they not know that it is Allah who accepts repentance from His servants and takes charities and that it is Allah who is the Accepting of repentance, the Merciful?

105 And say, Do as you will, for Allah will see your deeds, and His Messenger and the believers. And you will be returned to the Knower of the unseen and the witnessed, and He will inform you of what you used to do.

106 And others are deferred for the decree of Allah whether He will punish them or whether He will forgive them. And Allah is Knowing and Wise.

107 And those who took a mosque for causing harm and disbelief and division among the believers and as a station for whoever had warred against Allah and His Messenger before. And they will surely swear, We intended only the best. And Allah testifies that indeed they are liars.

108 Do not stand in it ever. A mosque founded on righteousness from the first day is more worthy for you to stand in. Within it are men who love to purify themselves; and Allah loves those who purify themselves.

109 Then is one who laid the foundation of his building on righteousness and seeking Gods pleasure better or one who laid the foundation of his building on the edge of a crumbling bank that collapsed with him into the fire of Hell? And Allah does not guide the wrongdoing people.

110 Their building which they built will not cease to be a cause of doubt in their hearts until their hearts are cut. And Allah is Knowing and Wise.

111 Indeed, God has purchased from the believers their lives and their wealth in exchange for Paradise. They fight in the cause of God, so they kill and are killed. It is a true promise upon Him in the Torah and the Gospel and the Quran. And who is more faithful to his covenant than God? So rejoice in your transaction which you have contracted. And it is that which is the great attainment.

112 The repentant, the worshippers, the praisers, the travelers, those who bow and prostrate, those who enjoin what is right and forbid what is wrong, and those who observe the limits of God. And give good tidings to the believers.

113 It is not for the Prophet and those who believe to ask forgiveness for the polytheists, even if they were relatives, after it has become clear to them that they are companions of Hellfire.

114 And Abraham's asking forgiveness for his father was only because of a promise he had made to him. But when it became clear to him that he was an enemy to God, he disassociated himself from him. Indeed Abraham was compassionate and patient.

115 God would not lead a people astray after He has guided them until He makes clear to them what they should avoid. Indeed, God is Knowing of all things.

116 Indeed, to God belongs the dominion of the heavens and the earth. He gives life and causes death. And you have not besides God any protector or any helper.

117 God has forgiven the Prophet and the emigrants and the helpers who followed him in the hour of difficulty after the hearts of a party of them had almost inclined away. Then He forgave them. Indeed, He is to them Kind and Merciful.

118 And to the three who were left behind until when the earth became narrow for them in spite of its vastness and their souls confined them and they were certain that there is no refuge from God except in Him. Then He turned to them so they could repent. Indeed, God is the Accepter of repentance, the Merciful.

119 O you who believe, fear God and be with the truthful.

120 It was not for the people of Medina and the bedouins around them to remain behind the Messenger of God or to prefer themselves over him. That is because they are not afflicted by thirst or fatigue or hunger in the cause of God, nor do they take any step that angers the disbelievers, nor do they inflict upon an enemy any infliction but that is registered for them as a righteous deed. Indeed, God does not allow to be lost the reward of the doers of good.

121 Nor do they spend any expenditure, small or large, or cross a valley, but that it is registered for them, that God may reward them for the best of what they were doing.

122 The believers should not all go forth together. If only a group from every section of them went forth they could devote themselves to understanding the religion and admonish their people when they return to them that they might be cautious.

123 O you who believe, fight those disbelievers who are near to you and let them find harshness in you. And know that God is with those who fear Him.

124 And when a chapter is revealed, some of them say, Who among you has this increased in faith? As for those who believe, it has increased them in faith, while they rejoice.

125 But as for those in whose hearts is disease, it has increased them in evil in addition to their evil. And they die while they are disbelievers.

126 Do they not see that they are tried every year once or twice? Yet they do not repent nor do they remember.

127 And when a chapter is revealed, they look at each other, saying, Does anyone see you? Then they turn away. God has turned their hearts away because they are a people who do not understand.

128 A messenger has come to you from among yourselves. Your suffering distresses him. He cares about you and is compassionate and merciful to the believers.

129 But if they turn away, say God is sufficient for me. There is no god but Him. I put my trust in Him. He is the Lord of the Mighty Throne.