الممتحنة
She that is to be examined
Explanations are simplified from tafsirs by Ibn Kathir, Mufti Muhammad Shafi, and Maulana Wahiduddin Khan. Spot an inaccuracy? Let us know.
بِسْمِ ٱللَّهِ ٱلرَّحْمَـٰنِ ٱلرَّحِيمِ
yāayyuhā alladhīna āmanū lā tattakhidhū ʿaduwwī waʿaduwwakum awliyāa tul'qūna ilayhim bil-mawadati waqad kafarū bimā jāakum mina l-ḥaqi yukh'rijūna l-rasūla wa-iyyākum an tu'minū bil-lahi rabbikum in kuntum kharajtum jihādan fī sabīlī wa-ib'tighāa marḍātī tusirrūna ilayhim bil-mawadati wa-anā aʿlamu bimā akhfaytum wamā aʿlantum waman yafʿalhu minkum faqad ḍalla sawāa l-sabīli
O you who have believed, do not take My enemies and your enemies as allies, extending to them affection while they have disbelieved in what came to you of the truth, having driven out the Prophet and yourselves [only] because you believe in Allāh, your Lord. If you have come out for jihād [i.e., fighting or striving] in My cause and seeking means to My approval, [take them not as friends]. You confide to them affection [i.e., instruction], but I am most knowing of what you have concealed and what you have declared. And whoever does it among you has certainly strayed from the soundness of the way.
in yathqafūkum yakūnū lakum aʿdāan wayabsuṭū ilaykum aydiyahum wa-alsinatahum bil-sūi wawaddū law takfurūna
If they gain dominance over you, they would be [i.e., behave] to you as enemies and extend against you their hands and their tongues with evil, and they wish you would disbelieve.
lan tanfaʿakum arḥāmukum walā awlādukum yawma l-qiyāmati yafṣilu baynakum wal-lahu bimā taʿmalūna baṣīrun
Never will your relatives or your children benefit you; the Day of Resurrection He will judge between you. And Allāh, of what you do, is Seeing.
qad kānat lakum us'watun ḥasanatun fī ib'rāhīma wa-alladhīna maʿahu idh qālū liqawmihim innā buraāu minkum wamimmā taʿbudūna min dūni l-lahi kafarnā bikum wabadā baynanā wabaynakumu l-ʿadāwatu wal-baghḍāu abadan ḥattā tu'minū bil-lahi waḥdahu illā qawla ib'rāhīma li-abīhi la-astaghfiranna laka wamā amliku laka mina l-lahi min shayin rabbanā ʿalayka tawakkalnā wa-ilayka anabnā wa-ilayka l-maṣīru
There has already been for you an excellent pattern in Abraham and those with him, when they said to their people, "Indeed, we are disassociated from you and from whatever you worship other than Allāh. We have denied you, and there has appeared between us and you animosity and hatred forever until you believe in Allāh alone" - except for the saying of Abraham to his father, "I will surely ask forgiveness for you, but I have not [power to do] for you anything against Allāh. Our Lord, upon You we have relied, and to You we have returned, and to You is the destination.
rabbanā lā tajʿalnā fit'natan lilladhīna kafarū wa-igh'fir lanā rabbanā innaka anta l-ʿazīzu l-ḥakīmu
Our Lord, make us not [objects of] torment for the disbelievers and forgive us, our Lord. Indeed, it is You who is the Exalted in Might, the Wise."
laqad kāna lakum fīhim us'watun ḥasanatun liman kāna yarjū l-laha wal-yawma l-ākhira waman yatawalla fa-inna l-laha huwa l-ghaniyu l-ḥamīdu
There has certainly been for you in them an excellent pattern for anyone whose hope is in Allāh and the Last Day. And whoever turns away - then indeed, Allāh is the Free of need, the Praiseworthy.
ʿasā l-lahu an yajʿala baynakum wabayna alladhīna ʿādaytum min'hum mawaddatan wal-lahu qadīrun wal-lahu ghafūrun raḥīmun
Perhaps Allāh will put, between you and those to whom you have been enemies among them, affection. And Allāh is competent, and Allāh is Forgiving and Merciful.
lā yanhākumu l-lahu ʿani alladhīna lam yuqātilūkum fī l-dīni walam yukh'rijūkum min diyārikum an tabarrūhum watuq'siṭū ilayhim inna l-laha yuḥibbu l-muq'siṭīna
Allāh does not forbid you from those who do not fight you because of religion and do not expel you from your homes - from being righteous toward them and acting justly toward them. Indeed, Allāh loves those who act justly.
innamā yanhākumu l-lahu ʿani alladhīna qātalūkum fī l-dīni wa-akhrajūkum min diyārikum waẓāharū ʿalā ikh'rājikum an tawallawhum waman yatawallahum fa-ulāika humu l-ẓālimūna
Allāh only forbids you from those who fight you because of religion and expel you from your homes and aid in your expulsion - [forbids] that you make allies of them. And whoever makes allies of them, then it is those who are the wrongdoers.
yāayyuhā alladhīna āmanū idhā jāakumu l-mu'minātu muhājirātin fa-im'taḥinūhunna l-lahu aʿlamu biīmānihinna fa-in ʿalim'tumūhunna mu'minātin falā tarjiʿūhunna ilā l-kufāri lā hunna ḥillun lahum walā hum yaḥillūna lahunna waātūhum mā anfaqū walā junāḥa ʿalaykum an tankiḥūhunna idhā ātaytumūhunna ujūrahunna walā tum'sikū biʿiṣami l-kawāfiri wasalū mā anfaqtum walyasalū mā anfaqū dhālikum ḥuk'mu l-lahi yaḥkumu baynakum wal-lahu ʿalīmun ḥakīmun
O you who have believed, when the believing women come to you as emigrants, examine [i.e., test] them. Allāh is most knowing as to their faith. And if you know them to be believers, then do not return them to the disbelievers; they are not lawful [wives] for them, nor are they lawful [husbands] for them. But give them [i.e., the disbelievers] what they have spent. And there is no blame upon you if you marry them when you have given them their due compensation [i.e., mahr]. And hold not to marriage bonds with disbelieving women, but ask for what you have spent and let them [i.e., the disbelievers] ask for what they have spent. That is the judgement of Allāh; He judges between you. And Allāh is Knowing and Wise.
wa-in fātakum shayon min azwājikum ilā l-kufāri faʿāqabtum faātū alladhīna dhahabat azwājuhum mith'la mā anfaqū wa-ittaqū l-laha alladhī antum bihi mu'minūna
And if you have lost any of your wives to the disbelievers and you subsequently obtain [something], then give those whose wives have gone the equivalent of what they had spent. And fear Allāh, in whom you are believers.
yāayyuhā l-nabiyu idhā jāaka l-mu'minātu yubāyiʿ'naka ʿalā an lā yush'rik'na bil-lahi shayan walā yasriq'na walā yaznīna walā yaqtul'na awlādahunna walā yatīna bibuh'tānin yaftarīnahu bayna aydīhinna wa-arjulihinna walā yaʿṣīnaka fī maʿrūfin fabāyiʿ'hunna wa-is'taghfir lahunna l-laha inna l-laha ghafūrun raḥīmun
O Prophet, when the believing women come to you pledging to you that they will not associate anything with Allāh, nor will they steal, nor will they commit unlawful sexual intercourse, nor will they kill their children, nor will they bring forth a slander they have invented between their arms and legs, nor will they disobey you in what is right - then accept their pledge and ask forgiveness for them of Allāh. Indeed, Allāh is Forgiving and Merciful.
yāayyuhā alladhīna āmanū lā tatawallaw qawman ghaḍiba l-lahu ʿalayhim qad ya-isū mina l-ākhirati kamā ya-isa l-kufāru min aṣḥābi l-qubūri
O you who have believed, do not make allies of a people with whom Allāh has become angry. They have despaired of [reward in] the Hereafter just as the disbelievers have despaired of [meeting] the companions [i.e., inhabitants] of the graves.