Repentance

Repentance
[9:1]
A declaration of immunity from God and His Messenger to the idolaters with whom you made a pact:

[9:2]
'Journey freely in the land for four months, and know that you cannot escape God, and that God degrades the disbelievers'.

[9:3]
A proclamation from God and His Messenger to mankind on the day of the Greater Pilgrimage that God is free from obligation to the idolaters, and [so is] His Messenger. So, if you repent, it will be better for you; but if you turn away, then know that you cannot escape God. And give tidings to those who disbelieve of a painful chastisement.

[9:4]
Excepting those of the idolaters with whom you have made a pact, and who have not diminished [their commitment to] you in anyway, nor supported anyone against you; [as for these] fulfil your pact with them until the term. Truly God loves those who fear [Him].

[9:5]
Then, when the sacred months have passed, slay the idolaters wherever you find them, and take them, and confine them, and lie in wait for them at every place of ambush. But if they repent, and establish prayer and pay the alms, then leave their way free. God is Forgiving, Merciful.

[9:6]
And if any one of the idolaters seeks your protection, then grant him protection so that he might hear the words of God and afterward convey him to his place of security - that is because they are a people who do not know.

[9:7]
How can the idolaters have a pact with God and His Messenger, except for those with whom you made a pact at the Sacred Mosque? So long as they are true to you, be true to them. Truly God loves the God-fearing.

[9:8]
How, when, if they get the better of you, they do not respect any bond or treaty with regard to you, pleasing you with their tongues, while their hearts refuse, and most of them are wicked.

[9:9]
They have purchased with the signs of God a small price, and have barred [people] from His way. Truly evil is that which they are wont to do.

[9:10]
They respect neither bond [of kinship] nor treaty with regard to a believer; those, they are the transgressors.

[9:11]
Yet if they repent and establish prayer and pay the alms, then they are your brothers in religion; and We detail the signs for a people who know.

[9:12]
But if they break their oaths after [making] their pact and assail your religion, then fight the leaders of unbelief - verily they have no [binding] oaths, so that they might desist.

[9:13]
Will you not fight a people who broke their oaths and intended to expel the Messenger - initiating against you first? Are you afraid of them? God is more worthy of your fear if you are believers.

[9:14]
Fight them, and God will chastise them at your hands, and degrade them, and He will give you victory against them, and He will heal the breasts of a people who believe.

[9:15]
And He will remove the rage in their hearts. God turns [in forgiveness] to whomever He will. And God is Knowing, Wise.

[9:16]
Or did you suppose that you would be left [in peace] when God does not yet know those of you who have struggled and have not taken, besides God and His Messenger and the believers, an intimate friend? And God is aware of what you do.

[9:17]
It is not for the idolaters to attend God's places of worship, bearing witness, against themselves, to unbelief; those, their works have failed, and in the Fire they shall abide.

[9:18]
Only he shall attend God's places of worship who believes in God and the Last Day, and observes prayer, and pays the alms, and fears none but God alone; it may be that those will be among the rightly guided.

[9:19]
Do you reckon the giving of water to pilgrims and the attendance of the Sacred Mosque to be the same as he who believes in God and the Last Day and struggles in the way of God? They are not equal in God's sight; and God guides not the evildoing folk.

[9:20]
Those who believe, and have emigrated, and have struggled in the way of God with their possessions and their lives are greater in degree with God; and those, they are the triumphant.

[9:21]
Their Lord gives them good tidings of mercy from Him and beatitude; for them shall be gardens wherein is enduring bliss,

[9:22]
therein they shall abide forever. Surely with God is a tremendous reward.

[9:23]
O you who believe, do not take your fathers and brothers for your friends, if they prefer disbelief over belief; whoever of you takes them for friends, such are the evildoers.

[9:24]
Say: 'If your fathers, and your sons, and your brothers, and your wives, and your clan, and the possessions which you have acquired, and merchandise for which you fear there may be no sale, and dwellings which you love, are dearer to you than God and His Messenger and struggling in His way, then wait until God brings about His command. And God does not guide the wicked folk'.

[9:25]
God has already helped you on many fields, and on the day of Hunayn, when your vast numbers were pleasing to you; but it availed you nothing and the earth, for all its breadth it was straitened for you; then you turned back, retreating.

[9:26]
Then God sent down His Spirit of Peace upon His Messenger and upon the believers; and He sent down legions you did not see, and chastised the disbelievers, and that is the requital of the disbelievers.

[9:27]
Then afterwards God will relent to whom He will. And God is Forgiving, Merciful.

[9:28]
O you who believe, the idolaters are indeed unclean, so do not let them come near the Sacred Mosque after this year of theirs. If you fear impoverishment, God will surely enrich you from His bounty, if He will. God is Knowing, Wise.

[9:29]
Fight those who do not believe in God, nor in the Last Day, and who do not forbid what God and His Messenger have forbidden, nor do they practise the religion of truth, from among of those who have been given the Scripture, until they pay the jizya tribute, readily being subdued.

[9:30]
The Jews say: Ezra is the son of God; and the Christians say: The Messiah is the son of God. That is the utterance of their mouths, imitating the utterances of those who disbelieved before [them]. God assail them! How they are deviated!

[9:31]
They have taken their rabbis and their monks as lords beside God and the Messiah, son of Mary, when they were not commanded, except to worship One God: there is no god except Him; glory be to Him above what they associate [with Him].

[9:32]
They desire to extinguish God's light with their tongues; and God refuses but to perfect His light, even though the disbelievers be averse.

[9:33]
He it is Who has sent His Messenger with the guidance and the religion of truth, that He may manifest it over every religion, even though the disbelievers be averse.

[9:34]
O you who believe, many of the rabbis and monks indeed consume people's goods by false means, and bar from the way of God. And those who hoard up gold and silver, and do not expend them in the way of God - give them tidings of a painful chastisement.

[9:35]
On the day when it shall be heated in the fire of Hell and therewith their foreheads and their sides and their backs shall be branded, 'This is what you hoarded up for yourselves: so taste now what you used to hoard!'

[9:36]
Verily the number of months with God is twelve months in the Book of God from the day that He created the heavens and the earth; four of them are sacred. That is the right religion. So do not wrong yourselves during them. And fight the idolaters altogether, even as they fight you altogether; and know that God is with those who fear Him.

[9:37]
Postponement [of the sacred month] is only an excess of unbelief, whereby those who disbelieve are led astray, one year they make it profane, and hallow it another, that they may make up the number which God has hallowed; and so they profane what God has hallowed. Their evil deeds have been adorned for them; and God does not guide the disbelieving folk.

[9:38]
O you who believe, what is wrong with you that, when it is said to you, 'Go forth in the way of God', you sink down heavily to the ground. Are you so content with the life of this world, rather than with the Hereafter? Yet the enjoyment of the life of this world is in the Hereafter but little.

[9:39]
If you do not go forth, He will chastise you with a painful chastisement, and He will substitute [you with] another folk other than you, and you will not hurt Him at all; for God has power over all things.

[9:40]
If you do not help him, [know that] God has already helped him, when the disbelievers drove him forth - the second of two; when the two were in the cave - when he said to his companion, 'Do not despair; verily God is with us'. Then God sent down His Spirit of Peace upon him and supported him with legions you did not see; and He made the word of those who disbelieved the nethermost, and the Word of God was the uppermost. And God is Mighty, Wise.

[9:41]
Go forth, light and heavy! Struggle in the way of God with your possessions and your lives: that is better for you, if only you knew.

[9:42]
Had it been a near gain, and an easy journey, they would have followed you; but the distance was too great for them. Still they will swear by God, [saying]: 'Had we been able, we would have gone forth with you', destroying their souls, and God knows that they truly are liars.

[9:43]
May God pardon you! Why do you give them leave, until it was clear to you which of them spoke the truth, and you knew those who were lying?

[9:44]
Those who believe in God and the Last Day do not ask leave of you that they may struggle with their possessions and their lives; and God knows the pious.

[9:45]
They alone ask leave of you who do not believe in God and the Last Day, and whose hearts are doubtful, so in their doubt they waver.

[9:46]
If they had desired to go forth, they would have made some preparation for it, but God was averse that they should be sent forth, so He slowed them down, and it was said: 'Stay back with those who stay back!'

[9:47]
Had they gone forth among you, they would only have caused you more trouble, and would have hurried to and fro among you, seeking to stir up sedition between you; and among you there are some who would listen to them; and God knows the evildoers.

[9:48]
Indeed, they sought to stir up sedition already before, and scrutinised your affairs until the truth, came, and God's command prevailed, they still being averse.

[9:49]
And there are some of them who say, 'Grant me leave, and do not lead me into temptation'. Surely they have [already] fallen into temptation! And surely Hell shall encompass the disbelievers.

[9:50]
If good fortune befalls you, it vexes them; but if an affliction befalls you, they say, 'We took our precaution before; and they turn away, rejoicing.

[9:51]
Say, 'Nothing shall afflict us but that which God has decreed for us; He is our Protector; in God let the believers put their trust'.

[9:52]
Say: 'Are you waiting for anything for us but one of the two fair things? We are waiting in your case too, for God to afflict you with a chastisement from Him, or at our hands. So wait, we are also waiting with you'.

[9:53]
Say: 'Expend willingly or unwillingly, it shall not be accepted from you; you are surely a wicked folk'.

[9:54]
And nothing prevents their expenditure from being accepted from them, but that they have disbelieved in God and His Messenger, and that they do not come to [perform] prayer save as idlers, and that they do not expend without their being reluctant.

[9:55]
So do not let their wealth or their children please you: God only desires thereby to chastise them in the life of this world, and that their souls should depart while they are disbelievers.

[9:56]
And they swear by God that they truly are of you; but they are not of you; they are a folk who are afraid.

[9:57]
If they could find a shelter, or some caverns, or any place to enter, they would turn and bolt away to it.

[9:58]
Some of them defame you concerning the voluntary almsgivings; if they are given a share of them, they are content, but if they are given none then they are enraged.

[9:59]
If only they had been content with what God and His Messenger have given them, and had said, 'Sufficient for us is God; God will give us from His bounty, and His Messenger [will also give us]; to God we are suppliants'.

[9:60]
The voluntary almsgivings are only for the poor and the needy, and those who work with them, and those whose hearts are to be reconciled, and for slaves, and for the debtors, for the way of God, and for the traveller - a duty imposed by God. And God is Knower, Wise.

[9:61]
And of them are those who injure the Prophet, saying, 'He is only a listener!' Say: 'A listener to good for you, one who believes in God and has faith, in the believers, and who is a mercy to those of you who believe. Those who injure God's Messenger, for them there is a painful chastisement'.

[9:62]
They swear by God to you, so that they might please you, but God and His Messenger are more deserving that they should please them, if they are believers.

[9:63]
Do they not know that, whoever opposes God and His Messenger, for him shall be the fire of Hell to abide therein? That is the great abasement.

[9:64]
The hypocrites are cautious, lest a sūra should be revealed to them, informing them of what is in their [the hypocrites’] hearts. Say: ‘Keep mocking! God will bring out that of which you are fearful.

[9:65]
And if you question them, assuredly they will say, ‘We were only engaging [in idle talk] and jesting’, Say: ‘Were you then mocking God, and His signs, and His Messenger?

[9:66]
Make no excuses. You have disbelieved after believing. If We forgive a party of you, We will chastise another party because they were sinners'.

[9:67]
The hypocrites, both men and women, are of one another; they enjoin indecency, and forbid decency; and they withhold their hands shut; they have forgotten God, so He has forgotten them. Truly the hypocrites, they are the wicked.

[9:68]
God has promised the hypocrites, both men and women, and the disbelievers, the fire of Hell, to abide therein: it will suffice them. And God has cursed them, and theirs will be a lasting chastisement.

[9:69]
Like those before you, who were far mightier than you, and more abundant in wealth and children. They enjoyed their share. So you enjoy your share, just as those before you enjoyed their share, and you indulge [in vain talk], just as they indulged [in vain talk]. Those, their works have become invalid in this world and in the Hereafter; and those, they indeed are the losers.

[9:70]
Has not the tidings of those before them reached them — the folk of Noah, and ‘ād, and Thamūd, and the folk of Abraham, and the dwellers of Midian, and the Deviant [cities]? Their messengers brought them clear proofs. God would never have wronged them, but they wronged themselves.

[9:71]
And the believers, both men and women, are allies of one another; they enjoin decency and forbid indecency; they observe prayer and pay the alms, and they obey God and His Messenger. Those, God will have mercy on them. Truly God is Mighty, Wise.

[9:72]
God has promised the believers, both men and women, Gardens underneath which rivers flow, to abide therein, and blessed dwellings in the Gardens of Eden, and beatitude from God is greater. That is the supreme triumph.

[9:73]
O Prophet, struggle against the disbelievers and the hypocrites, and be harsh with them; for their abode will be Hell, an evil journey's end!

[9:74]
They swear by God that they said nothing; but they did indeed say the word of disbelief and did disbelieve after their submission [to God]. And they purposed that which they never attained; and they were only spiteful that God and His Messenger should have enriched them of His bounty. So if they repent, it will be better for them; but if they turn away, God will chastise them with a painful chastisement in this world and in the Hereafter, and they have none on earth as protector or helper.

[9:75]
And some of them have made a covenant with God [saying]: 'If He gives us of His bounty, we will give voluntary alms and become of the righteous'.

[9:76]
Yet when He gave them of His bounty, they became niggardly with it and turned away in aversion.

[9:77]
So He made the consequence in their case hypocrisy in their hearts, until the day they meet Him, because they failed God in what they promised Him and because they lied.

[9:78]
Did they not know that God knows their secret and their confidential talks, and that God is the Knower of the hidden things?

[9:79]
Those who find fault with the believers who offer alms voluntarily, and such as find nothing [to offer] but their endeavours; and deride them - God [Himself] derides them, and theirs will be a painful chastisement.

[9:80]
Ask forgiveness for them, or do not ask forgiveness for them. If you ask forgiveness for them seventy times, God will not forgive them. That is because they disbelieved in God and His Messenger; and God does not guide the wicked folk.

[9:81]
Those who were left behind rejoiced at remaining behind the Messenger of God, and were averse to striving with their wealth and their lives in the way of God. And they said, 'Do not go forth in the heat!' Say: 'The fire of Hell is hotter, did they but understand'.

[9:82]
But let them laugh a little and weep much as a requital for what they used to earn.

[9:83]
So if God brings you back to a party of them, and they ask leave of you to go forth, say: 'You shall never more go forth with me, and you shall never fight with me against an enemy. You were content to stay behind the first time, so stay behind with those who stay behind'.

[9:84]
And never pray over any one of them when he is dead, nor stand over his grave; lo! they disbelieved in God and His Messenger, and died while they were wicked.

[9:85]
And let not their wealth and their children please you; God desires only to chastise them thereby in this world, and that their souls should depart while they are disbelievers.

[9:86]
And when a sūra is revealed, saying: ‘Believe in God and strive with His Messenger’, the affluent among them ask leave of you, saying, ‘Leave us to be with those who sit at home’.

[9:87]
They are content to be with those who stay behind and a seal has been set upon their hearts, so they do not understand.

[9:88]
But the Messenger and those who believe with him strive with their wealth and their lives: for them are the good things; those, they are the successful.

[9:89]
God has prepared for them Gardens underneath which rivers flow, to abide therein: that is the supreme triumph.

[9:90]
And those Bedouins who had an excuse, asking for leave. And those who lied to God and His Messenger, stayed behind - a painful chastisement shall befall those of them who disbelieve.

[9:91]
As for the weak, and the sick, and those who find nothing to expend, no blame falls upon them if they remain true to God and to His Messenger. There is no way [of blame] against those who are virtuous. And God is Forgiving, Merciful.

[9:92]
Nor against those who, when they came to you so that you might give them a mount - you having said to them, 'I cannot find [a mount] whereon to mount you' turned back, their eyes flowing with tears for sorrow that they could not find the means to expend.

[9:93]
The way [of blame] is only against those who ask leave of you when they are rich. They are content to be with those who stay behind and God has set a seal on their hearts, so that they do not know.

[9:94]
They will make excuses to you when you return to them. Say, 'Do not make excuses; we will never believe you! God has already told us tidings of you. And God will see your work, and [so will] His Messenger, then you will be returned to the Knower of the unseen and the visible, and He will tell you what you used to do'.

[9:95]
They will swear to you by God, when you turn back to them, so that you may leave them be. So leave them be, for they are an abomination, and their abode shall be Hell, as requital for what they used to earn.

[9:96]
They will swear to you, that you may be satisfied with them; but if you are satisfied with them, God will surely not be satisfied with the wicked folk.

[9:97]
The Bedouins are more intense in unbelief and hypocrisy, and are more likely not to know the bounds of what God has revealed to His Messenger; and God is Knower, Wise.

[9:98]
And of the Bedouins there is he who takes what he expends as a penalty, and awaits for you [evil] turns of fortune for you. Theirs shall be the evil turn of fortune. And God is Hearer, Knower.

[9:99]
And of the Bedouins there is he who believes in God and the Last Day, and takes what he expends as [pious] offerings to bring [him] nearer to God, and to [secure] the prayers of the Messenger. Surely these will bring them nearer. God will admit them into His mercy. Truly God is Forgiving, Merciful.

[9:100]
And the first to lead the way, of the Emigrants and the Helpers, and those who follow them by being virtuous, God will be pleased with them, and they will be pleased with Him; and He has prepared for them Gardens - with rivers flowing beneath them to abide therein forever: that is the supreme triumph.

[9:101]
And among those around you of the Bedouins there are hypocrites, and among the townspeople of Medina, who are obstinate in hypocrisy. You do not know them but We know them, and We shall chastise them twice, then they will be returned to a terrible chastisement.

[9:102]
And [there are] others, who have confessed their sins, they have mixed a righteous deed with another that was bad. It may be that God will relent to them. Truly God is Forgiving, Merciful.

[9:103]
Take of their wealth some alms, to purify them and to cleanse them thereby, and pray for them; truly your prayers are a comfort for them. And God is Hearer, Knower.

[9:104]
Do they not know that God is He Who accepts repentance from His servants and takes the voluntary alms, and that God is He Who is the Relenting and the Merciful?

[9:105]
And say: 'Act for God will surely see your actions, and [so will] His Messenger and the believers, and you will be returned to the Knower of the unseen and the visible, and He will tell you what you used to do'.

[9:106]
And [there are] others, who are deferred to God's command, whether He chastises them or relents to them; and God is Knower, Wise.

[9:107]
And those who have chosen a mosque by way of harm, and disbelief, and to cause division among the believers, and as an outpost for those who waged war against God and His Messenger before, they will swear: 'We desired nothing but good'; and God bears witness that they are truly liars.

[9:108]
Never stand there. A mosque which was founded upon piety from the first day is worthier for you to stand therein; in it are men who love to purify themselves; and God loves those who purify themselves.

[9:109]
Is he who founded his building upon fear of God and beatitude better, or he who founded his building upon the brink of a bank that is crumbling, so that it toppled with him into the fire of Hell? And God guides not the evildoing folk.

[9:110]
The buildings which they have built will never cease to be a misgiving in their hearts unless their hearts are cut to pieces; and God is Knower, Wise.

[9:111]
Indeed God has purchased from the believers their lives and their possessions, so that theirs will be [the reward of] Paradise: they shall fight in the way of God and they shall kill and be killed; that is a promise which is binding upon Him in the Torah and the Gospel and the Qur’ān; and who fulfils his covenant better than God? Rejoice then in this bargain of yours which you have made, for that is the supreme triumph.

[9:112]
Those who repent, those who worship, those who give praise, those who fast, those who bow, those who prostrate themselves, those who enjoin decency and forbid to indecency, those who maintain God's bounds, and give good tidings to the believers.

[9:113]
It is not for the Prophet, and those who believe, to ask forgiveness for the idolaters, even though they be kinsmen, after it has become clear to them that they are inhabitants of the Hell-fire.

[9:114]
Abraham's prayer for the forgiveness of 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 of God, he declared himself innocent of him; truly Abraham was soft of heart, forbearing.

[9:115]
And God would never send a people astray after He had guided them, until He had made clear to them that which they should be wary of. Surely God is Knower of all things.

[9:116]
Surely to God belongs the kingdom of the heavens and of the earth. He gives life and He makes to die; and you do not have besides God any protector or helper.

[9:117]
God has truly relented to the Prophet and the Emigrants and the Helpers who followed him in the hour of hardship, after the hearts of a party of them had almost deviated, then He relented to them. Truly He is Gentle, Merciful to them.

[9:118]
And to the three who were left behind when the earth was straitened for them, for all its breadth, and their souls were straitened for them; until they thought that there is no refuge from God except in Him. Then He turned [relenting] to them that they might also turn [in repentance]. Truly God is the Relenting, the Merciful.

[9:119]
O you who believe, fear God and be with those who are truthful.

[9:120]
It is not for the people of Medina and for the Bedouins [who dwell] around them to stay behind God's Messenger, and to prefer their lives to his life; that is because neither thirst nor toil nor hunger afflicts them in the way of God, nor tread they any tread that enrages the disbelievers, nor gain any gain from the enemy, but a righteous deed is therefore recorded for them. Truly God does not leave the wage of the virtuous to go to waste.

[9:121]
Nor expend they any sum, small or great, nor do they cross a valley, but it is recorded for them that God may reward them the best of what they used to do.

[9:122]
It is not for the believers to go forth altogether: why should not a party of every section of them go forth so that they may become learned in religion and that they may warn their folk when they return to them, so that they may beware?

[9:123]
O you who believe, fight those of the disbelievers who are near to you, and let them find harshness in you, and know that God is with the pious.

[9:124]
And whenever a sūra is revealed, there are some of them who say: ‘Which of you has this increased in faith?’ As for those who believe, it has increased them in faith and they rejoice.

[9:125]
But as for those in whose hearts is sickness, it only adds abomination to their abomination, and they die while they were disbelievers.

[9:126]
Do they not see that they are tested every year once or twice? Still they do not repent, nor do they remember.

[9:127]
And whenever a sūra is revealed, they look at one another: ‘Will anyone see you?’ Then they turn away. God turns their hearts away because they are a folk who do not understand.

[9:128]
Verily there has come to you a messenger from among yourselves for whom it is grievous that you should suffer; who is full of concern for you, to the believers full of pity, merciful.

[9:129]
So if they turn away, say: 'God suffices me. There is no god except Him. Upon Him I rely, and He is the Lord of the Tremendous Throne'.