Surah 9. At-Tauba, Ayah 74
| يَحْلِفُونَ بِاللَّهِ مَا قَالُوا وَلَقَدْ قَالُوا كَلِمَةَ الْكُفْرِ وَكَفَرُوا بَعْدَ إِسْلَامِهِمْ وَهَمُّوا بِمَا لَمْ يَنَالُوا ۚ وَمَا نَقَمُوا إِلَّا أَنْ أَغْنَاهُمُ اللَّهُ وَرَسُولُهُ مِنْ فَضْلِهِ ۚ فَإِنْ يَتُوبُوا يَكُ خَيْرًا لَهُمْ ۖ وَإِنْ يَتَوَلَّوْا يُعَذِّبْهُمُ اللَّهُ عَذَابًا أَلِيمًا فِي الدُّنْيَا وَالْآخِرَةِ ۚ وَمَا لَهُمْ فِي الْأَرْضِ مِنْ وَلِيٍّ وَلَا نَصِيرٍ |
| Transliteration | : | yah.lifon bi- 'allaah maa qaalo wa- la- qad qaalo kalimah al- kufr wa- kafaro bacda islaam -him wa- hammo bi- maa lam yanaalo wa- maa naqamo 'illaa 'an aghnaa -hum 'allaah wa- rasol -hu min fad.l -hi fa- 'in yatobo yaku(n) khayr la- -hum wa- 'in yatawallaw yucadhdhib -hum 'allaah cadhaab(an) 'alem(an) fe ad- dunyaa wa- al- 'aakhirah wa- maa la- -hum fe al- 'ard. min waley wa- laa nas.er |
| Pickthall | : | They swear by Allah that they said nothing (wrong), yet they did say the word of disbelief, and did disbelieve after their Surrender (to Allah). And they purposed that which they could not attain, and they sought revenge only that Allah by His messenger should enrich them of His bounty. If they repent it will be better for them; and if they turn away, Allah will afflict them with a painful doom in the world and the Hereafter, and they have no protecting friend nor helper in the earth. |
| Asad | : | [The hypocrites] swear by God that they have said nothing [wrong]; yet most certainly have they uttered a saying which amounts to a denial of the truth,102 and have [thus] denied the truth after [having professed] their self-surrender to God: for they were aiming at something which was beyond their reach.103 And they could find no fault [with the Faith] save that God had enriched them and [caused] His Apostle [to enrich them] out of His bounty!104 Hence, if they repent, it will be for their own good; but if they turn away, God will cause them to suffer grievous suffering in this world and in the life to come, and they will find no helper on earth, and none to give [them] succour. |
| Malik | : | They swear by Allah that they said nothing when in fact they uttered the words of unbelief and they committed Kufr after accepting Islam. They meditated a plot which they were unable to carry out. They had no reason to be revengeful, except that Allah and His Rasool had enriched them through His bounty. Therefore, if they repent it will indeed be better for them; but if they turn back (do not repent) Allah will punish them with a painful punishment in this life and in the Hereafter, and they shall have none on earth to protect or help them. |
| Yusuf Ali | : | They swear by Allah that they said nothing (evil) but indeed they uttered blasphemy and they did it after accepting Islam; and they meditated a plot which they were enable to carry out: this revenge of theirs was (their) only return for the bounty with which Allah and His apostle had enriched them! If they repent it will be best for them; but if they turn back (to their evil ways) Allah will punish them with a grievous penalty in this life and in the hereafter: they shall have none on earth to protect or help them. 1331 |
Note - 102See the first sentence of verse {61} above, and the
corresponding note [86]. The allegation that the Prophet
deceived himself in the matter of revelation is,
naturally, equivalent to disbelief in the outcome of his
revelation, i.e., the Qur'an.
|
Note - 103Lit., "which they were unable to attain to". The
classical commentators take this as a reference to an
abortive plot, on the part of some of the hypocrites, to
kill the Prophet during the expedition to Tabuk. However,
without contesting the validity of this historical
interpretation, I believe that the above allusion has a
far deeper meaning - namely, the existential
impossibility of one's ever attaining to inner peace
without a positive belief that man's life has meaning and
purpose, either of which can be glimpsed only through the
revelations bestowed on those exceptionally gifted and
receptive personalities, the prophets. (An indirect
reference to divine revelation as the only source of this
kind of cognition appears in 96:5, that is, in the
earliest Qur'anic passage revealed to the Prophet.) Thus,
torn between their half-hearted desire to "surrender
themselves to God" and their unwillingness to accept the
divine guidance offered them by the Prophet, the
hypocrites "were aiming at something which was beyond
their reach".
|
Note - 104I.e., by means of the spiritual guidance contained in the
Qur'an and the material welfare resulting from an
adherence to its moral and social principles. The above
phrase implies that the reluctance of the hypocrites to
pay heed to the Prophet was not due to their finding
fault with the Faith as such but, rather, to their lack
of gratitude for the spiritual and material benefits
which they had derived from it. (Because of its
historical associations, most of this verse is expressed
in the past tense, although its moral import is obviously
timeless.)
|
Note - 1331The reference is to a plot made by the Prophet's enemies
to kill him when he was returning from Tabuk. The plot
failed. It was all the more dastardly in that some of the
conspirators were among the men of Madinah who were
enriched by the general prosperity that followed the
peace and good government established through Islam in
Madinah. Trade flourished: justice was firmly
administered with an even hand. And the only return that
these men could make was a return of evil for good. That
was their revenge, because Islam aimed at suppressing
selfishness, stood for the rights of the poorest and
humblest, and judged worth by righteousness rather than
by birth or position.
|
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See the first sentence of verse {61} above, and the corresponding note [86]. The allegation that the Prophet deceived himself in the matter of revelation is, naturally, equivalent to disbelief in the outcome of his revelation, i.e., the Qur'an. |
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Lit., "which they were unable to attain to". The classical commentators take this as a reference to an abortive plot, on the part of some of the hypocrites, to kill the Prophet during the expedition to Tabuk. However, without contesting the validity of this historical interpretation, I believe that the above allusion has a far deeper meaning - namely, the existential impossibility of one's ever attaining to inner peace without a positive belief that man's life has meaning and purpose, either of which can be glimpsed only through the revelations bestowed on those exceptionally gifted and receptive personalities, the prophets. (An indirect reference to divine revelation as the only source of this kind of cognition appears in 96:5, that is, in the earliest Qur'anic passage revealed to the Prophet.) Thus, torn between their half-hearted desire to "surrender themselves to God" and their unwillingness to accept the divine guidance offered them by the Prophet, the hypocrites "were aiming at something which was beyond their reach". |
| |
I.e., by means of the spiritual guidance contained in the Qur'an and the material welfare resulting from an adherence to its moral and social principles. The above phrase implies that the reluctance of the hypocrites to pay heed to the Prophet was not due to their finding fault with the Faith as such but, rather, to their lack of gratitude for the spiritual and material benefits which they had derived from it. (Because of its historical associations, most of this verse is expressed in the past tense, although its moral import is obviously timeless.) |
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The reference is to a plot made by the Prophet's enemies to kill him when he was returning from Tabuk. The plot failed. It was all the more dastardly in that some of the conspirators were among the men of Madinah who were enriched by the general prosperity that followed the peace and good government established through Islam in Madinah. Trade flourished: justice was firmly administered with an even hand. And the only return that these men could make was a return of evil for good. That was their revenge, because Islam aimed at suppressing selfishness, stood for the rights of the poorest and humblest, and judged worth by righteousness rather than by birth or position. |
