Surah 63 of 114 · Madani · 11 ayat
Al-Munafiqun المنافقون
The Hypocrites
بِسْمِ ٱللَّهِ ٱلرَّحْمَٰنِ ٱلرَّحِيمِ إِذَا جَآءَكَ ٱلْمُنَٰفِقُونَ قَالُوا۟ نَشْهَدُ إِنَّكَ لَرَسُولُ ٱللَّهِ وَٱللَّهُ يَعْلَمُ إِنَّكَ لَرَسُولُهُۥ وَٱللَّهُ يَشْهَدُ إِنَّ ٱلْمُنَٰفِقِينَ لَكَٰذِبُونَ
PickthallWhen the hypocrites come unto thee (O Muhammad), they say: We bear witness that thou art indeed Allah's messenger. And Allah knoweth that thou art indeed His messenger, and Allah beareth witness that the hypocrites indeed are speaking falsely.
Yusuf AliWhen the Hypocrites come to thee, they say, "We bear witness that thou art indeed the Messenger of Allah." Yea, Allah knoweth that thou art indeed His Messenger, and Allah beareth witness that the Hypocrites are indeed liars.
The agreed readingWhen the hypocrites come to him they say: we bear witness that you are God's messenger. The words themselves are true, and God confirms them. What God calls a lie is not the statement but the claim carried inside it — that the heart agrees with the tongue. A testimony the heart does not stand behind is not testimony at all.
ٱتَّخَذُوٓا۟ أَيْمَٰنَهُمْ جُنَّةً فَصَدُّوا۟ عَن سَبِيلِ ٱللَّهِ إِنَّهُمْ سَآءَ مَا كَانُوا۟ يَعْمَلُونَ
PickthallThey make their faith a pretext so that they may turn (men) from the way of Allah. Verily evil is that which they are wont to do,
Yusuf AliThey have made their oaths a screen (for their misdeeds): thus they obstruct (men) from the Path of Allah: truly evil are their deeds.
The agreed readingThey took their oaths as a shield — cover for their lives and their property, since a sworn profession of faith put them beyond being fought — and from behind that shield they turned others from God's way. Evil is what they were doing.
ذَٰلِكَ بِأَنَّهُمْ ءَامَنُوا۟ ثُمَّ كَفَرُوا۟ فَطُبِعَ عَلَىٰ قُلُوبِهِمْ فَهُمْ لَا يَفْقَهُونَ
PickthallThat is because they believed, then disbelieved, therefore their hearts are sealed so that they understand not.
Yusuf AliThat is because they believed, then they rejected Faith: So a seal was set on their hearts: therefore they understand not.
The agreed readingThat is because they professed faith with the tongue and then refused with the heart, and held to the refusal. So their hearts were sealed, and they do not understand; the thing they no longer understand is faith itself.
وَإِذَا رَأَيْتَهُمْ تُعْجِبُكَ أَجْسَامُهُمْ وَإِن يَقُولُوا۟ تَسْمَعْ لِقَوْلِهِمْ كَأَنَّهُمْ خُشُبٌ مُّسَنَّدَةٌ يَحْسَبُونَ كُلَّ صَيْحَةٍ عَلَيْهِمْ هُمُ ٱلْعَدُوُّ فَٱحْذَرْهُمْ قَٰتَلَهُمُ ٱللَّهُ أَنَّىٰ يُؤْفَكُونَ
PickthallAnd when thou seest them their figures please thee; and if they speak thou givest ear unto their speech. (They are) as though they were blocks of wood in striped cloaks. They deem every shout to be against them. They are the enemy, so beware of them. Allah confound them! How they are perverted!
Yusuf AliWhen thou lookest at them, their exteriors please thee; and when they speak, thou listenest to their words. They are as (worthless as hollow) pieces of timber propped up, (unable to stand on their own). They think that every cry is against them. They are the enemies; so beware of them. The curse of Allah be on them! How are they deluded (away from the Truth)!
The agreed readingTheir bodies impress you, and their speech is worth hearing for the polish of it. But they are like timbers propped against a wall — bulk holding nothing up, because they will not understand. Every shout raised, a call across the camp or a cry over something lost, they take to be aimed at them, from what they carry inside. They are the enemy, so beware of them.
وَإِذَا قِيلَ لَهُمْ تَعَالَوْا۟ يَسْتَغْفِرْ لَكُمْ رَسُولُ ٱللَّهِ لَوَّوْا۟ رُءُوسَهُمْ وَرَأَيْتَهُمْ يَصُدُّونَ وَهُم مُّسْتَكْبِرُونَ
PickthallAnd when it is said unto them: Come! The messenger of Allah will ask forgiveness for you! they avert their faces and thou seest them turning away, disdainful.
Yusuf AliAnd when it is said to them, "Come, the Messenger of Allah will pray for your forgiveness", they turn aside their heads, and thou wouldst see them turning away their faces in arrogance.
The agreed readingWhen they are told to come so that God's messenger may ask forgiveness for them, they turn their heads away, and are seen refusing, in arrogance. What is being offered is the one thing they most need, and they treat the offer as beneath them.
سَوَآءٌ عَلَيْهِمْ أَسْتَغْفَرْتَ لَهُمْ أَمْ لَمْ تَسْتَغْفِرْ لَهُمْ لَن يَغْفِرَ ٱللَّهُ لَهُمْ إِنَّ ٱللَّهَ لَا يَهْدِى ٱلْقَوْمَ ٱلْفَٰسِقِينَ
PickthallWhether thou ask forgiveness for them or ask not forgiveness for them is all one for them; Allah will not forgive them. Lo! Allah guideth not the evil-living folk.
Yusuf AliIt is equal to them whether thou pray for their forgiveness or not. Allah will not forgive them. Truly Allah guides not rebellious transgressors.
The agreed readingWhether he asks forgiveness for them or does not ask is the same, and God will not forgive them. The asking was never what was missing; what is missing is on their side, and God does not guide those who have left obedience.
هُمُ ٱلَّذِينَ يَقُولُونَ لَا تُنفِقُوا۟ عَلَىٰ مَنْ عِندَ رَسُولِ ٱللَّهِ حَتَّىٰ يَنفَضُّوا۟ وَلِلَّهِ خَزَآئِنُ ٱلسَّمَٰوَٰتِ وَٱلْأَرْضِ وَلَٰكِنَّ ٱلْمُنَٰفِقِينَ لَا يَفْقَهُونَ
PickthallThey it is who say: Spend not on behalf of those (who dwell) with Allah's messenger that they may disperse (and go away from you); when Allah's are the treasures of the heavens and the earth; but the hypocrites comprehend not.
Yusuf AliThey are the ones who say, "Spend nothing on those who are with Allah's Messenger, to the end that they may disperse (and quit Medina)." But to Allah belong the treasures of the heavens and the earth; but the Hypocrites understand not.
The agreed readingThey tell their own people not to spend on the men around God's messenger, so that those men will disperse for want of support — the commentaries name the intended targets as the emigrants, who had arrived with nothing. The answer is that the treasuries of the heavens and the earth belong to God: He is the one providing, and the supply they imagine they control was never theirs to withhold.
يَقُولُونَ لَئِن رَّجَعْنَآ إِلَى ٱلْمَدِينَةِ لَيُخْرِجَنَّ ٱلْأَعَزُّ مِنْهَا ٱلْأَذَلَّ وَلِلَّهِ ٱلْعِزَّةُ وَلِرَسُولِهِۦ وَلِلْمُؤْمِنِينَ وَلَٰكِنَّ ٱلْمُنَٰفِقِينَ لَا يَعْلَمُونَ
PickthallThey say: Surely, if we return to Al-Madinah the mightier will soon drive out the weaker; when might belongeth to Allah and to His messenger and to the believers; but the hypocrites know not.
Yusuf AliThey say, "If we return to Medina, surely the more honourable (element) will expel therefrom the meaner." But honour belongs to Allah and His Messenger, and to the Believers; but the Hypocrites know not.
The agreed readingThey said that once back in Medina the mightier would drive out the weaker, meaning themselves and the believers, and the commentaries place the words on the return from an expedition. The answer turns the claim over: might belongs to God, to His messenger and to the believers — but the hypocrites do not know it.
يَٰٓأَيُّهَا ٱلَّذِينَ ءَامَنُوا۟ لَا تُلْهِكُمْ أَمْوَٰلُكُمْ وَلَآ أَوْلَٰدُكُمْ عَن ذِكْرِ ٱللَّهِ وَمَن يَفْعَلْ ذَٰلِكَ فَأُو۟لَٰٓئِكَ هُمُ ٱلْخَٰسِرُونَ
PickthallO ye who believe! Let not your wealth nor your children distract you from remembrance of Allah. Those who do so, they are the losers.
Yusuf AliO ye who believe! Let not your riches or your children divert you from the remembrance of Allah. If any act thus, the loss is their own.
The agreed readingDo not let your wealth and your children take you away from the remembrance of God; the commentaries take that remembrance to be the prayer above all. Neither the wealth nor the children are condemned — the taking away is. Whoever lets it happen has traded what lasts for what does not, and those are the losers.
وَأَنفِقُوا۟ مِن مَّا رَزَقْنَٰكُم مِّن قَبْلِ أَن يَأْتِىَ أَحَدَكُمُ ٱلْمَوْتُ فَيَقُولَ رَبِّ لَوْلَآ أَخَّرْتَنِىٓ إِلَىٰٓ أَجَلٍ قَرِيبٍ فَأَصَّدَّقَ وَأَكُن مِّنَ ٱلصَّٰلِحِينَ
PickthallAnd spend of that wherewith We have provided you before death cometh unto one of you and he saith: My Lord! If only thou wouldst reprieve me for a little while, then I would give alms and be among the righteous.
Yusuf Aliand spend something (in charity) out of the substance which We have bestowed on you, before Death should come to any of you and he should say, "O my Lord! why didst Thou not give me respite for a little while? I should then have given (largely) in charity, and I should have been one of the doers of good".
The agreed readingSpend out of what We have provided you before death comes to one of you and he says: my Lord, if only You would hold me back for a short term, that I might give and be among the righteous. The commentaries read the spending as the zakat, and take the coming of death to mean the sight of its signs — so the moment the request is made is the moment it can no longer be granted.
وَلَن يُؤَخِّرَ ٱللَّهُ نَفْسًا إِذَا جَآءَ أَجَلُهَا وَٱللَّهُ خَبِيرٌۢ بِمَا تَعْمَلُونَ
PickthallBut Allah reprieveth no soul when its term cometh, and Allah is Informed of what ye do.
Yusuf AliBut to no soul will Allah grant respite when the time appointed (for it) has come; and Allah is well acquainted with (all) that ye do.
The agreed readingGod holds no soul back once its term has come. The plea of the āyah before it is answered here, and the answer is no. The term is fixed, and the time to spend is while the asking is still possible. God is aware of what you do.