التوبة
The Repentance
Explanations are simplified from tafsirs by Ibn Kathir, Mufti Muhammad Shafi, and Maulana Wahiduddin Khan. Spot an inaccuracy? Let us know.
wamimman ḥawlakum mina l-aʿrābi munāfiqūna wamin ahli l-madīnati maradū ʿalā l-nifāqi lā taʿlamuhum naḥnu naʿlamuhum sanuʿadhibuhum marratayni thumma yuraddūna ilā ʿadhābin ʿaẓīmin
And among those around you of the bedouins are hypocrites, and [also] from the people of Madīnah. They have persisted in hypocrisy. You, [O Muḥammad], do not know them, [but] We know them. We will punish them twice [in this world]; then they will be returned to a great punishment.
waākharūna iʿ'tarafū bidhunūbihim khalaṭū ʿamalan ṣāliḥan waākhara sayyi-an ʿasā l-lahu an yatūba ʿalayhim inna l-laha ghafūrun raḥīmun
And [there are] others who have acknowledged their sins. They had mixed [i.e., polluted] a righteous deed with another that was bad. Perhaps Allāh will turn to them in forgiveness. Indeed, Allāh is Forgiving and Merciful.
khudh min amwālihim ṣadaqatan tuṭahhiruhum watuzakkīhim bihā waṣalli ʿalayhim inna ṣalataka sakanun lahum wal-lahu samīʿun ʿalīmun
Take, [O Muḥammad], from their wealth a charity by which you purify them and cause them increase, and invoke [Allāh's blessings] upon them. Indeed, your invocations are reassurance for them. And Allāh is Hearing and Knowing.
alam yaʿlamū anna l-laha huwa yaqbalu l-tawbata ʿan ʿibādihi wayakhudhu l-ṣadaqāti wa-anna l-laha huwa l-tawābu l-raḥīmu
Do they not know that it is Allāh who accepts repentance from His servants and receives charities and that it is Allāh who is the Accepting of Repentance, the Merciful?
waquli iʿ'malū fasayarā l-lahu ʿamalakum warasūluhu wal-mu'minūna wasaturaddūna ilā ʿālimi l-ghaybi wal-shahādati fayunabbi-ukum bimā kuntum taʿmalūna
And say, "Do [as you will], for Allāh will see your deeds, and [so will] 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."
waākharūna mur'jawna li-amri l-lahi immā yuʿadhibuhum wa-immā yatūbu ʿalayhim wal-lahu ʿalīmun ḥakīmun
And [there are] others deferred until the command of Allāh - whether He will punish them or whether He will forgive them. And Allāh is Knowing and Wise.
wa-alladhīna ittakhadhū masjidan ḍirāran wakuf'ran watafrīqan bayna l-mu'minīna wa-ir'ṣādan liman ḥāraba l-laha warasūlahu min qablu walayaḥlifunna in aradnā illā l-ḥus'nā wal-lahu yashhadu innahum lakādhibūna
And [there are] those [hypocrites] who took for themselves a mosque for causing harm and disbelief and division among the believers and as a station for whoever had warred against Allāh and His Messenger before. And they will surely swear, "We intended only the best." And Allāh testifies that indeed they are liars.
lā taqum fīhi abadan lamasjidun ussisa ʿalā l-taqwā min awwali yawmin aḥaqqu an taqūma fīhi fīhi rijālun yuḥibbūna an yataṭahharū wal-lahu yuḥibbu l-muṭahirīna
Do not stand [for prayer] within 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 Allāh loves those who purify themselves.
afaman assasa bun'yānahu ʿalā taqwā mina l-lahi wariḍ'wānin khayrun am man assasa bun'yānahu ʿalā shafā jurufin hārin fa-in'hāra bihi fī nāri jahannama wal-lahu lā yahdī l-qawma l-ẓālimīna
Then is one who laid the foundation of his building on righteousness [with fear] from Allāh and [seeking] His approval better or one who laid the foundation of his building on the edge of a bank about to collapse, so it collapsed with him into the fire of Hell? And Allāh does not guide the wrongdoing people.
lā yazālu bun'yānuhumu alladhī banaw rībatan fī qulūbihim illā an taqaṭṭaʿa qulūbuhum wal-lahu ʿalīmun ḥakīmun
Their building which they built will not cease to be a [cause of] skepticism in their hearts until their hearts are cut [i.e., stopped]. And Allāh is Knowing and Wise.
inna l-laha ish'tarā mina l-mu'minīna anfusahum wa-amwālahum bi-anna lahumu l-janata yuqātilūna fī sabīli l-lahi fayaqtulūna wayuq'talūna waʿdan ʿalayhi ḥaqqan fī l-tawrāti wal-injīli wal-qur'āni waman awfā biʿahdihi mina l-lahi fa-is'tabshirū bibayʿikumu alladhī bāyaʿtum bihi wadhālika huwa l-fawzu l-ʿaẓīmu
Indeed, Allāh has purchased from the believers their lives and their properties [in exchange] for that they will have Paradise. They fight in the cause of Allāh, so they kill and are killed. [It is] a true promise [binding] upon Him in the Torah and the Gospel and the Qur’ān. And who is truer to his covenant than Allāh? So rejoice in your transaction which you have contracted. And it is that which is the great attainment.
al-tāibūna l-ʿābidūna l-ḥāmidūna l-sāiḥūna l-rākiʿūna l-sājidūna l-āmirūna bil-maʿrūfi wal-nāhūna ʿani l-munkari wal-ḥāfiẓūna liḥudūdi l-lahi wabashiri l-mu'minīna
[Such believers are] the repentant, the worshippers, the praisers [of Allāh], the travelers [for His cause], those who bow and prostrate [in prayer], those who enjoin what is right and forbid what is wrong, and those who observe the limits [set by] Allāh. And give good tidings to the believers.
mā kāna lilnnabiyyi wa-alladhīna āmanū an yastaghfirū lil'mush'rikīna walaw kānū ulī qur'bā min baʿdi mā tabayyana lahum annahum aṣḥābu l-jaḥīmi
It is not for the Prophet and those who have believed to ask forgiveness for the polytheists, even if they were relatives, after it has become clear to them that they are companions of Hellfire.
wamā kāna is'tigh'fāru ib'rāhīma li-abīhi illā ʿan mawʿidatin waʿadahā iyyāhu falammā tabayyana lahu annahu ʿaduwwun lillahi tabarra-a min'hu inna ib'rāhīma la-awwāhun ḥalīmun
And the request of forgiveness of Abraham for his father was only because of a promise he had made to him. But when it became apparent to him [i.e., Abraham] that he [i.e., the father] was an enemy to Allāh, he disassociated himself from him. Indeed was Abraham compassionate and patient.
wamā kāna l-lahu liyuḍilla qawman baʿda idh hadāhum ḥattā yubayyina lahum mā yattaqūna inna l-laha bikulli shayin ʿalīmun
And Allāh would not let a people stray after He has guided them until He makes clear to them what they should avoid. Indeed, Allāh is Knowing of all things.
inna l-laha lahu mul'ku l-samāwāti wal-arḍi yuḥ'yī wayumītu wamā lakum min dūni l-lahi min waliyyin walā naṣīrin
Indeed, to Allāh belongs the dominion of the heavens and the earth; He gives life and causes death. And you have not besides Allāh any protector or any helper.
laqad tāba l-lahu ʿalā l-nabiyi wal-muhājirīna wal-anṣāri alladhīna ittabaʿūhu fī sāʿati l-ʿus'rati min baʿdi mā kāda yazīghu qulūbu farīqin min'hum thumma tāba ʿalayhim innahu bihim raūfun raḥīmun
Allāh has already forgiven the Prophet and the Muhājireen and the Anṣār who followed him in the hour of difficulty after the hearts of a party of them had almost inclined [to doubt], and then He forgave them. Indeed, He was to them Kind and Merciful.
waʿalā l-thalāthati alladhīna khullifū ḥattā idhā ḍāqat ʿalayhimu l-arḍu bimā raḥubat waḍāqat ʿalayhim anfusuhum waẓannū an lā malja-a mina l-lahi illā ilayhi thumma tāba ʿalayhim liyatūbū inna l-laha huwa l-tawābu l-raḥīmu
And [He also forgave] the three who were left alone [i.e., boycotted, regretting their error] to the point that the earth closed in on them in spite of its vastness and their souls confined [i.e., anguished] them and they were certain that there is no refuge from Allāh except in Him. Then He turned to them so they could repent. Indeed, Allāh is the Accepting of Repentance, the Merciful.
yāayyuhā alladhīna āmanū ittaqū l-laha wakūnū maʿa l-ṣādiqīna
O you who have believed, fear Allāh and be with those who are true.
mā kāna li-ahli l-madīnati waman ḥawlahum mina l-aʿrābi an yatakhallafū ʿan rasūli l-lahi walā yarghabū bi-anfusihim ʿan nafsihi dhālika bi-annahum lā yuṣībuhum ẓama-on walā naṣabun walā makhmaṣatun fī sabīli l-lahi walā yaṭaūna mawṭi-an yaghīẓu l-kufāra walā yanālūna min ʿaduwwin naylan illā kutiba lahum bihi ʿamalun ṣāliḥun inna l-laha lā yuḍīʿu ajra l-muḥ'sinīna
It was not [proper] for the people of Madīnah and those surrounding them of the bedouins that they remain behind after [the departure of] the Messenger of Allāh or that they prefer themselves over his self. That is because they are not afflicted by thirst or fatigue or hunger in the cause of Allāh, nor do they tread on any ground that enrages the disbelievers, nor do they inflict upon an enemy any infliction but that it is registered for them as a righteous deed. Indeed, Allāh does not allow to be lost the reward of the doers of good.