Verse 88
When a group retreated from Uhud, people were at variance over their status. Some said, ‘Let us slay them’, while others said, ‘No!’ So the following was revealed: What is wrong with you, what is the matter with you, that you have become two parties, two groups, regarding the hypocrites, when God has overthrown them, He has turned them back [to disbelief], for what they earned?, in the way of disbelief and acts of disobedience. What, do you desire to guide him whom God has sent astray?, that is, to count them among the guided (the interrogative in both places is for disapproval). And he whom God sends astray, you will never find for him a way, a path to guidance.
Verse 89
They long, they wish, that you should disbelieve as they disbelieve, so then you, and they, would be equal, in unbelief; therefore do not take friends from among them, associating with them, even if they should [outwardly] manifest belief, until they emigrate in the way of God, a proper emigration that would confirm their belief; then, if they turn away, and remain upon their ways, take them, as captives, and slay them wherever you find them; and do not take any of them as a patron, to associate with, or as a helper, to assist you against your enemy.
Verse 90
Except those who attach themselves to, [who] seek refuge with, a people between whom and you there is a covenant, a pledge of security for them and for whoever attaches himself to them, in the manner of the Prophet’s (s) covenant with Hilāl b. ‘Uwaymir al-Aslamī; or, those who, come to you with their breasts constricted, dejected, about the prospect of fighting you, [being] on the side of their people, or fighting their people, siding with you, in other words, [those who come to you] refraining from fighting either you or them, then do not interfere with them, neither taking them as captives nor slaying them: this statement and what follows was abrogated by the ‘sword’ verse. Had God willed, to give them sway over you, He would have given them sway over you, by strengthening their hearts, so that assuredly they would have fought you: but God did not will it and so He cast terror into their hearts. And so if they stay away from you and do not fight you, and offer you peace, reconciliation, that is, [if] they submit, then God does not allow you any way against them, [He does not allow you] a means to take them captive or to slay them.
Verse 91
You will find others desiring to have security from you, by manifesting belief before you, and security from their own people, through unbelief, when they return to them, and these were [the tribes of] Asad and Ghatafān; yet whenever they are returned to sedition, [whenever] they are summoned to idolatry, they are overwhelmed by it, falling into it in the worst of ways. So, if they do not stay away from you, by refraining from fighting you, and, do not, offer you peace, and, do not, restrain their hands, from you, then take them, as captives, and slay them wherever you come upon them, [wherever] you find them; against them We have given you clear warrant, a clear and manifest proof for you to slay them and capture them, on account of their treachery.
Verse 92
It is not for a believer to slay a believer, in other words, no such slaying should result at his hands, except by mistake, killing him by mistake, unintentionally. He who slays a believer by mistake, when he meant to strike some other thing, as in the case of hunting or [shooting at] trees, but then happens to strike him with what in most cases would not kill, then let him set free, let him emancipate, a believing slave (raqaba denotes nasama, ‘a person’), an obligation on him, and blood-money is to be submitted, to be paid, to his family, that is, the slain person’s inheritors, unless they remit it as a charity, to him by waiving [their claim to] it. In the Sunna this [blood-money] is explained as being equivalent to one hundred camels: twenty pregnant, twenty female sucklings, twenty male sucklings, twenty mature ones and twenty young ones [not more than five years old]; and [the Sunna stipulates] that it is incumbent upon the killer’s clan, namely, his paternal relations [and not other relatives]. They share this [burden of the blood-money] over three years; the rich among them pays half a dinar, while the one of moderate means [pays] a quarter of a dinar each year; if they still cannot meet this, then it can be taken from the treasury, and if this is not possible, then from the killer himself. If he, the slain, belongs to a people at enmity, at war, with you and is a believer, then the setting free of a believing slave, is incumbent upon the slayer, as a redemption, but no bloodmoney is to be paid to his family, since they are at war [with you]. If he, the slain, belongs to a people between whom and you there is a covenant, a treaty, as is the case with the Protected People (ahl al-dhimma), then the blood-money, for him, must be paid to his family, and it constitutes a third of the blood-money for a believer, if the slain be a Jew or a Christian, and two thirds of a tenth of it, if he be a Magian; and the setting free of a believing slave, is incumbent upon the slayer. But if he has not the wherewithal, for [setting free] a slave, failing to find one, or the means to obtain one, then the fasting of two successive months, is incumbent upon him as a redemption: here God does not mention the transition to [an alternative to fasting which is] giving food [to the needy], as in the case of [repudiating one’s wife by] zihār, something which al-Shāfi‘ī advocates in the more correct of two opinions of his; a relenting from God (tawbatan, ‘relenting’, is the verbal noun, and is in the accusative because of the implied verb). And God is ever Knowing, of His creation, Wise, in what He has ordained for them.
Verse 93
And whoever slays a believer deliberately, intending to kill him, with something that is lethal, aware of the fact that he [the slain] is a believer, his requital is Hell, abiding therein, and God is wroth with him and has cursed him, He has removed him from His mercy, and has prepared for him a mighty chastisement, in the Fire: this may be explained as [referring to] the person that deems such [killing] licit, or as being his requital if he were to be requited, but it would not be anything new if this threat [of punishment] were to be forgone, because of what He says: Other than that [that is, idolatry] He forgives whomever He will [Q. 4:48]. It is reported from Ibn ‘Abbās that it [the verse] should be understood as it stands, abrogating other verses of ‘forgiveness’. The verse in [sūrat] al-Baqara [Q. 2:178] clearly indicates that the one who kills deliberately should be killed in return, or if he is pardoned then he has to pay the blood-money, the value of which has already been mentioned. It is made clear in the Sunna that between the intentional and the unintentional, there is a type of killing that is identified as [being with] quasi-deliberate intent (shibh al-‘amd), where the killer has slain with what in most cases is not [a] lethal [implement]. In such a case, there is no [right to] retaliation and blood-money is paid instead, so that it [this type of killing] is described as intentional, but [considered] unintentional in [that there applies] the fixing of the period [for payment] and the sharing of the burden [by the killer’s clan]; in this [case] and that of intentional killing redemption is more urgent than in unintentional killing.
Verse 94
The following was revealed when a group from among the Companions passed by a man from the Banū Sulaym driving his flock of sheep, and he offered them a greeting of peace. But they said, ‘He only greeted us dissimulating, out of fear’. So they killed him and took away his flock: O you who believe, when you are going forth, travelling in order to struggle, in the way of God, be discriminating (fa-tabayyanū; a variant reading has fa-tathabbatū, ‘ascertain’, here and further below); and do not say to him who offers you peace (read al-salām or al-salam), that is, the greeting, or [offers you] submission, declaring the profession of faith (shahāda), which is an indication of being a Muslim: ‘You are not a believer: you are only saying this to dissimulate for fear of your life and property’, so that you then end up killing him, desiring, seeking by this, the transient goods of the life of this world, that is, its enjoyment, in the way of spoils. With God are plenteous spoils, rendering you free of the need to kill such a person for his property. So you were formerly, when your lives and property were protected simply upon your professing the faith; but God has been gracious to you, making you known for your faith and uprightness. So be discriminating, lest you kill a believer and treat those entering the religion as you were treated [formerly]. Surely God is ever Aware of what you do, and will requite you for it.
Verse 95
The believers who sit at home, away from the struggle, other than those who have an injury, such as a chronic illness or blindness or the like (read in the nominative, ghayru ūlī l-darar, ‘other than those who have an injury’, as an adjectival clause; or in the accusative, ghayra ūlī l-darar, as an exceptive clause) are not the equals of those who struggle in the way of God with their possessions and their lives. God has preferred those who struggle with their possessions and their lives over the ones who sit at home, on account of some injury, by a degree, by [a degree of] merit, since both have the same intention, but the extra degree is given to those who have carried out the struggle; yet to each, of the two groups, God has promised the goodly reward, Paradise, and God has preferred those who struggle over the ones who sit at home, without any injury, with a great reward (ajran ‘azīman, is substituted by [the following, darajātin minhu]),
Verse 96
degrees, that is, stations one higher than the other in honour, from Him, and forgiveness and mercy (maghfiratan and rahmatan are in the accusative because [they constitute an object] of the implied verb [faddala, ‘He has preferred’]). Surely God is ever Forgiving, to His friends, Merciful, to those that obey Him.
Verse 97
The following was revealed regarding a group of people who submitted to Islam but did not emigrate and were then slain in the battle of Badr alongside the disbelievers: And those whom the angels take [in death], while they are wronging their souls, having remained among the disbelievers and neglected to emigrate, the angels will say, to them in rebuke: ‘What was your predicament?’, in other words, ‘in what circumstances were you with regard to your religion’. They will say, giving excuses, ‘We were oppressed, unable to establish religion, in the land’, the land of Mecca. The angels will say, to them in rebuke: ‘But was not God’s earth spacious that you might have emigrated therein?’, from the land of unbelief to another land, as others did? God, exalted be He, says: as for such, their abode shall be Hell — an evil journey’s end, it is!
Verse 98
Except the oppressed among the men, women, and children who are unable to devise a plan, having no strength to emigrate and no substance, and are not guided to a way, a means [of going] to the land of emigration.
Verse 99
As for such, perhaps God will pardon them, for God is ever Pardoning, Forgiving.
Verse 100
Whoever emigrates in the way of God will find in the earth many refuges, places of emigration, and abundance, of provision; whoever goes forth from his house as an emigrant to God and His Messenger, and then death overtakes him, along the way, as occurred with Junda‘ [or Jundab] b. Damra al-Laythī, his wage is then incumbent upon, fixed [with], God; surely God is ever Forgiving, Merciful.
Verse 101
And when you are going forth, travelling, in the land you would not be at fault if you shorten the prayer, by making it two [genuflexions] instead of four, if you fear that you may be afflicted by those who do not believe, that is, [if you fear] that you may be harmed [by them]: this [fear of affliction at the hands of the disbelievers] is [just intended as] an explication of the reality [of the situation] at that time and the point no longer applies. In the Sunna, it is pointed out that ‘travel’ (safar) means long-distance [travel], which is [approximately] 50 miles. God’s words ‘you would not be at fault’ should be understood as [denoting] a dispensation and not a requirement, and this is the opinion of al-Shāfi‘ī; the disbelievers are a manifest foe to you, their enmity being evident.
Verse 102
When you, O Muhammad (s), are, present, among them, while you [all] fear an enemy, and you stand to lead them in prayer (this type of address is customary in the Qur’ān), let a party of them stand with you, while another party stand back, and let them, the party standing with you, take their weapons, with them. Then when they have performed their prostrations, that is, [when] they have prayed, let them, the other party, be behind you, on guard until you complete the prayers; thereupon, let this party go on guard, and let another party who have not prayed come and pray with you, taking their precautions and their weapons, with them until you have completed the prayers. The Prophet (s) did this once at Batn Nakhla, as reported by the two Shaykhs [Bukhārī and Muslim]. The disbelievers wish, when you have stood up to pray, that you should be heedless of your weapons and your baggage that they may descend upon you all at once, by making an assault against you and capturing you, and herein is the reasoning behind keeping weapons on oneself. You are not at fault, if rain bothers you, or if you are sick, to lay aside your weapons, and not carry them: this implies that when there is no such excuse, it is compulsory to carry them, and this is one of two opinions held by al-Shāfi‘ī [on this matter]; the other [opinion] is that this [precaution] constitutes a sunna, and this is the more preferable opinion. But take your precautions, against the enemy and be on your guard as best you can; God has prepared for the disbelievers a humiliating chastisement.
Verse 103
When you have performed the prayer, [when] you have completed it, remember God, by [repeating] ‘There is no god but God’ (tahlīl) and ‘Glory be to God’ (tasbīh), standing and sitting and on your sides, lying down, in other words, in all states. Then, when you are reassured, [when] you are secure, observe the prayer, perform it with its proper due, surely the prayer is for believers a prescription, enjoined, that is, an obligation, at specific times, that is, its appointed times are set, and so it should not be postponed from these times.
Verse 104
After they returned from Uhud, the Prophet (s) dispatched a group to seek out Abū Sufyān and his companions, but they complained about their wounds, and the following was revealed: Be not faint, [be not] weak, in seeking, in pursuing, the enemy, the disbelievers, in order to fight them; if you are suffering, [if] you have pains from a wound, they are also suffering as you are suffering, that is, just like you, yet they do not shrink from fighting you; and you hope from God, in the way of victory and the reward for it, that for which they cannot hope, and since you have this advantage over them, you should be more willing for it than them. God is ever Knower, of all things, Wise, in His actions.
Verse 105
Tu‘ma b. Ubayriq stole a coat of mail and hid it with a Jew. When it was discovered with the latter, Tu‘ma accused him of having stolen it, and swore by God that he [Tu‘ma] had not stolen it, and his clan asked the Prophet (s) to advocate on his behalf and absolve him, whereupon the following was revealed: Surely We have revealed to you the Book, the Qur’ān, with the truth (bi’l-haqq is semantically connected to anzalnā, ‘We have revealed’) so that you may judge between people by that which God has shown you, what God has taught you. And do not be a disputant for traitors, like Tu‘ma, disputing on their behalf.
Verse 106
And pray for forgiveness from God, for that which you considered doing; surely God is ever Forgiving, Merciful.
Verse 107
And do not dispute on behalf of those who betray themselves, through acts of disobedience, for the evil consequences of their betrayal shall fall on them; surely God loves not one who is treacherous, frequently betraying, and sinful, that is to say, He will punish him.
Verse 108
They, the likes of Tu‘ma and his clan, hide themselves, in shame, from people, but they do not hide themselves from God; for He is with them, in His knowledge [of them], while they plot, they conspire, at night with discourse displeasing to Him, in their resolve to swear by God and deny the theft and accuse the Jew of it. God is ever Encompassing, in knowledge, of what they do.
Verse 109
Ah! There you are (addressing Tu‘ma’s clan) you have contested, you have disputed, on their behalf, that is to say, on behalf of Tu‘ma and his men (a variant reading has ‘anhu, ‘on his behalf’) in the life of this world; but who will contest against God on their behalf on the Day of Resurrection, if He were to punish them, or who will be a guardian for them, and take charge of their affair or defend them? In other words, no one will do such a thing.
Verse 110
Whoever does evil, [commits] a sin by which another is harmed, as when Tu‘ma falsely accused the Jew, or wrongs himself, committing a sin [the consequences of which are] limited to him, and then prays for God’s forgiveness, for it, that is to say, [and then] he repents, he shall find God is Forgiving, Merciful, to him.
Verse 111
And whoever commits a sin commits it against himself only, since the evil consequences fall on him, harming no one else; and God is ever Knower, Wise, in His actions.
Verse 112
And whoever commits a mistake, a minor sin, or a sin, a grave sin, and then casts it upon the innocent, [one who is innocent] of it, he has thereby burdened himself with calumny, by his false accusation, and a manifest sin, [one which is] evident on account of what he has committed.
Verse 113
Were it not for God’s bounty to you, O Muhammad (s), and His mercy, by way of protecting you, a party of them, of Tu‘ma’s clan, would have intended, [would have] conspired, to lead you astray, from judging with truth by deceiving you; but they lead only themselves astray; they will not hurt you at all, since the evil consequence of their leading you astray would have fallen on them. God has revealed to you the Book, the Qur’ān, and wisdom, the rulings contained therein, and He has taught you what you did not know, of rulings and the Unseen; and God’s bounty to you, in this and other respects, is ever great.
Verse 114
There is no good in much of their, that is, of people’s, secret conversations, that is, what they converse and talk secretly about, except for, the secret talk of, he who enjoins to voluntary almsgiving, or kindness, a righteous deed, or setting things right between people. And whoever does that, the aforementioned, desiring, seeking, God’s good pleasure, [and] nothing else of the affairs of this world, We shall surely give him (read nu’tīhi or yu’tīhi, ‘He will give him’, that is, ‘God [will give him]’) a great wage.
Verse 115
But whoever makes a breach with, [whoever] opposes, the Messenger, in the truth that he brings, after guidance has become clear to him, [after] the truth has become manifest to him through miracles, and follows, a path, other than the way of the believers, that is to say, [other than] the path they follow in religion, by disbelieving, We shall turn him over to what he has turned to, We shall make him a leader of the misguidance which he has followed, by leaving this as it is between them in this world, and We shall expose him, We shall admit him in the Hereafter, in Hell, where he will burn — an evil journey’s end, an [evil] return it is.
Verse 116
God does not forgive that anything should be associated with Him; He forgives all except that, to whomever He will. Whoever associates anything with God, verily he has strayed far away, from the truth.
Verse 117
What (in, is [to be understand as] mā, ‘only’) they pray to, [what] the idolaters worship, instead of Him, God, that is, other than Him, are but females, idols with feminine names, such as al-Lāt, al-‘Uzza and Manāt; and they (in, is [to be understand as] mā, ‘only’) only pray to, they [only] worship, by worshipping [these female idols], a rebellious satan, one who has rebelled against obedience [to God], for they are obeying him in this [worship of female idols].
Verse 118
God has cursed him, He has removed him from His mercy. And he, namely, Satan, said, ‘Assuredly I will take to myself, I will appoint for myself, an appointed portion, an apportioned share, of Your servants, [whom] I shall call to obey me.
Verse 119
And I will surely lead them astray, from truth with evil whisperings, and surely I will fill them with desires, I shall cast into their hearts [thoughts] that life will endure, that there will be no resurrection and no reckoning; and surely I will command them and they will cut up the cattle’s ears, and this was done to the [she-camels they called] bahā’ir. And surely I will command them and they will change God’s creation’, [substituting] His religion with unbelief, making lawful what God has made unlawful and making unlawful what God has made lawful. And whoever takes Satan for a patron, following him and obeying him, instead of God, has surely suffered a manifest loss, [one that is] evident, since he will end up in the Fire, made perpetual for him.
Verse 120
He promises them, long life, and fills them with desires, of attaining their hopes in this world, and that there will be neither resurrection nor requital; but what Satan promises them, therewith, is only delusion, falsehood.
Verse 121
For such — their abode shall be Hell, and they shall find no refuge from it, no alternative [to it].
Verse 122
But those who believe and perform righteous deeds, We shall admit them to Gardens underneath which rivers flow, abiding therein for ever; God’s promise in truth, that is, God promised them this and fulfilled it in truth; and who, that is, [and] none, is truer in utterance, that is, in statement, than God?
Verse 123
When the Muslims and the People of the Scripture began to pride themselves [upon God’s promise] the following was revealed: It, this matter, is not, dependent upon, your desires nor the desires of the People of the Scripture, but upon righteous deeds. Whoever does evil shall be requited for it, either in the Hereafter or in this life through trials and tribulations, as is stated in hadīth; and he will not find besides God, that is, other than Him, any friend, to protect him, or helper, to defend him against Him.
Verse 124
And whoever does, any, righteous deeds, whether male or female, and is a believer — such shall be admitted into (read passive yudkhalūna, or active yadkhulūna, ‘they shall enter’) Paradise, and not be wronged, by as much as, the dint in a date-stone.
Verse 125
And who, that is, [and] none, is fairer in religion than he who submits his purpose, that is, [than he who] is compliant and offers his deeds sincerely, to God and is virtuous, [and] declares God’s Oneness, and who follows the creed of Abraham, the one that is in accordance with the creed of Islam, as a hanīf? (hanīfan is a circumstantial qualifier), that is to say, [one] inclining away from all religions to the upright religion. And God took Abraham for a close friend, as His elect, one whose love for Him is pure.
Verse 126
To God belongs all that is in the heavens and in the earth, as possessions, creatures and servants; and God is ever the Encompasser of all things, in knowledge and power, that is, He is ever possessed of such attributes.
Verse 127
They will ask you for a pronouncement concerning, the matter of, women, and their inheritance. Say, to them: ‘God pronounces to you concerning them, and what is recited to you in the Book, the Qur’ān, in the ‘inheritance’ verse [Q. 4:11], and He also pronounces to you, concerning the orphan women to whom you do not give what is prescribed, [what] is obligatory, for them, of inheritance, for you, O guardians, [who] desire, not, to marry them, because of their ugliness, and you prevent them from marrying [others], coveting their inheritance: in other words, God pronounces to you not to do this; and, concerning, the oppressed, young, children, that you give them what is their due, and, He also commands you, that you deal justly, equitably, with orphans, with respect to inheritance and dowry. Whatever good you do, God is ever Knower of it’, and He will requite you for it.
Verse 128
And if a woman (wa-in imra’atun is in the nominative because of [it being the subject of] the explicative verb [that follows]) fears, anticipates, from her husband ill-treatment, if he looks down on her by refraining to sleep with her or by not maintaining her adequately, because he is averse to her and aspires to one more beautiful than her, or rejection, turning his face away from her, they are not at fault if they are reconciled through some agreement, in terms of shares and maintenance expenses, so that she concedes something to him in return for continuing companionship; if she agrees to this [then that is fine], but if [she does] not, then the husband must either give her all her due, or part with her (an yassālahā, ‘they reconcile’: the original tā’ [of yatasālahā] has been assimilated with the sād; a variant reading has an yuslihā, from [the fourth form] aslaha); reconciliation is better, than separation, ill-treatment or rejection. God, exalted be He, in explaining the natural disposition of man, says: But greed has been made present in the souls (al-shuhh is extreme niggardliness), meaning that they have a natural propensity for this, as if they [the souls] are ever in its presence, never absent from it. The meaning is: a woman would scarcely allow [another] to share her husband with her, and a man would scarcely allow her [to enjoy] him if he were to fall in love with another. If you are virtuous, in your conjugal life with women, and fear, being unjust to them, surely God is ever aware of what you do, and He will requite you for it.
Verse 129
You will never be able to be just to, to treat equally, your wives, in terms of love, even if you be eager, for this; yet do not turn altogether away, towards the one you love with respect to the shares and maintenance expenses, so that you leave her, the one from whom you turn away, like one suspended, one that is neither a slavegirl nor a woman with a husband. If you set things right, by being just with the shares, and fear, injustice, surely God is ever Forgiving, regarding the inclination in your hearts, Merciful, to you in this respect.
Verse 130
But if they, the married couple, separate, by way of divorce, God will compensate each of them, [from the need] of the other, out of His plenty, that is, out of His bounty, by giving her another as husband, and giving him another as wife. God is ever Embracing, of His creatures in bounty, Wise, in what He has ordained for them.
Verse 131
To God belongs all that is in the heavens and in the earth. We have charged those who were given the Scripture, meaning the scriptures, before you, namely, the Jews and Christians, and you, O people of the Qur’ān: ‘Fear God’, fear His punishment, by being obedient to Him. And We said to them and to you: ‘If you disbelieve, in what you have been charged with, then to God belongs all that is in the heavens and in the earth’, as creatures, possessions and servants, and He will not be harmed by your disbelief: God is ever Independent, of the need for His creation or their worship, Praised, praise-worthy for what He does with them.
Verse 132
To God belongs all that is in the heavens and in the earth (He has repeated this in order to reaffirm [the reason] why fear of God is necessary); God suffices as a Guardian, witnessing the fact that what is contained in them belongs to Him.
Verse 133
If He will, He can remove you, O people, and bring others, instead of you, surely God is ever able to do that.
Verse 134
Whoever desires, by his deeds, the reward of this world, then God has the reward of this world and of the Hereafter, for the one who wants it, and no one else has it, so why do any of you demand the lower [reward]? Why do you not seek the higher one, by devoting yourself sincerely to Him, since what [reward] he seeks can only be found with Him; God is ever Hearer, Seer.
Verse 135
O you who believe, be upright in justice; witnesses, of the truth, for God, even though it, the witnessing, be against yourselves, so be witness against them [your selves] by affirming the truth and not concealing it; or, against, parents and kinsmen, whether the person, witnessed against, be rich or poor; God is closer to the two, than you and He has better knowledge of what is good for them. So do not follow any whim, in your testimonies by being partial to the rich one, seeking his pleasure, or [by being partial] to the poor one out of compassion for him, lest you swerve, so that you do not incline away from the truth, for if you twist (a variant reading [for talwūw] has talū) [if] you distort your testimony, or refrain, from giving it, surely God is ever aware of what you do, and will requite you accordingly.
Verse 136
O you who believe, believe, with perseverance, in God and His Messenger and the Book which has been revealed to His Messenger, Muhammad (s), and that is the Qur’ān; and the Book which was revealed before, to the messengers, namely, the scriptures (a variant reading [for nuzzila and unzila, ‘was revealed’] has the active form for both verbs [nazzala and anzala, ‘He revealed’]). And whoever disbelieves in God and His angels and His Books, and His messengers, and the Last Day, verily he has strayed far away, from the truth.
Verse 137
Verily, those who believed, in Moses, namely, the Jews, and then disbelieved, by worshipping the calf, and then believed, after that, and then disbelieved, in Jesus, and then increased in disbelief, in Muhammad — it was not for God to forgive them, for what they have persisted in [of disbelief], nor to guide them to a way, to the truth.
Verse 138
Give tidings to, inform, O Muhammad (s), the hypocrites that for them there is a painful chastisement, namely, the chastisement of the Fire.
Verse 139
Those who (alladhīna, is either a substitution for, or an adjectival qualification of, al-munāfiqīna, ‘the hypocrites’) take disbelievers for friends instead of believers, because they mistakenly believe them to be strong — do they desire, [do] they seek, power with them? (an interrogative of disavowal), that is to say, they shall not find such [power] with them. Truly, power belongs altogether to God, in this world and the Hereafter, and none but His friends shall attain it.
Verse 140
It has been revealed (read active nazzala, ‘He has revealed’, or passive nuzzila, ‘It has been revealed’) to you in the Book, in the Qur’ān, in sūrat al-An‘ām [Q. 6:68], that: (an has been softened and its subject omitted, in other words, [read it as] annahu) ‘When you hear God’s signs, the Qur’ān, being disbelieved in and mocked, do not sit with them, that is, the disbelievers and the mockers, until they engage in some other talk, for otherwise you, if you were to sit with them, would surely be like them’, in sinfulness. God will gather the hypocrites and disbelievers, all together, into Hell, just as they were gathered together in this world in unbelief and mockery.
Verse 141
Those who (alladhīna, substitutes for the previous alladhīna [of verse 139]) wait in watch for you, [hoping] for misfortunes [to befall you], and, if a victory, such as a conquest or booty, comes to you from God, say, to you: ‘Were we not with you?’, in religion and in the struggle? So give us from the booty; but if the disbelievers have some luck, by gaining a victory over you, they say, to them: ‘Did we not gain mastery, authority, over you, capable of capturing you and slaying you, but we spared you, and did we not defend you against the believers?’, lest they be victorious over you, by forsaking them and apprising you of their plans, and thus have we not done you a favour? God, exalted be He, says: God will judge between you, and them, on the Day of Resurrection, admitting you into Paradise and them into the Fire; and God will never grant the disbelievers a way, a means [to success], over the believers, by annihilating them.
Verse 142
The hypocrites seek to trick God, by manifesting the opposite of what they hide in themselves of unbelief, in order to escape His rulings in this world; but He is tricking them, He will requite them for their trickery, and so they will be disgraced in this world through God apprising His Prophet of what they hide, and punished in the Hereafter. When they stand up to pray, with the believers, they stand up lazily, reluctantly, and, for their prayers, to be seen by people, and they do not remember, pray [to], God save a little, for ostentation.
Verse 143
Wavering, hesitant, all the time, between that unbelief and belief — not, belonging, to these, disbelievers, neither to those, believers; and he whom God sends astray, you will never find for him a way, a path [back] to guidance.
Verse 144
O you who believe, take not the disbelievers as friends instead of the believers: do you desire to give God over you, by your taking them as friends, a clear warrant?, a manifest proof of your hypocrisy?
Verse 145
Verily, the hypocrites will be in the lowest level, place, of the Fire, that is, its bottom; and you will never find a helper for them, anyone to guard them from the Fire.
Verse 146
Save those who repent, of hypocrisy, and make amends, in their deeds, and hold fast to, put their trust [in], God and make their religion purely God’s, free from any pretence; those are with the believers, in terms of what they shall be given; and God will certainly give the believers a great wage, in the Hereafter, and that is Paradise.
Verse 147
Why would God chastise you if you are thankful, of His favours, and believe, in Him? (the interrogative is meant as a denial, in other words: He would not punish you). God is ever Thankful, of the deeds of believers, rewarding them, Knowing, of His creation.