47MuḥammadMuhammadسُورَةُ محمد

[As for] those who deny [Allah’s authority and power] and deter [others] from Allah’s direction, He will misdirect their deeds [from what they intended];

[Whereas with regard to] those who commit themselves [to Allah’s authority and ascendancy] and do what is right and righteous and have confidence in what has been bestowed [from Allah] upon Muhammad, which is truth and justice from their Sustainer, He will efface their erring deeds and set their minds to rest.

That is due to the fact that those who deny Allah [His applicable authority] follow [a life course of] falsehood while those who commit to Allah [His applicable authority] follow [a life course of] truth and justice [coming] from their Sustainer. In such an outline does Allah set forth for people their comparisons [and contrasts].

So when you [the committed and combat-ready muslims] encounter [at the battlefield] those who deny [Allah’s authority on earth by force] you [are instructed to] go for the jugular [and eliminate their frontline and elite forces] until you have worn them out, and then [you should begin to] firmly handcuff them [or what remains of them as prisoners of war]. [After the end of combat operations] you may either compassionately amnesty [the war prisoners] or you may free them in lieu of a ransom so that the war comes to its onerous end. With all that, had Allah willed it He would have triumphed [over them by other means]; but [this war effort takes its course] to test some of you with others. And as for those who are killed on a course to Allah, He will not allow their efforts to be [lost] in vain:

He will guide them and put their minds to rest,

And will give them access to the Paradise that He has recognized for them.

O you who are committed [to Allah’s force and energy]! If you offer Allah [your] support, He will support you and make steady your steps;

But as for those who deny [Allah’s force and might], frustration shall be theirs, and He will have their deeds misdirected:

[And all of that befalls them] because they actually hated what Allah had bestowed from on high and so He thwarted their efforts.

Have they not travelled throughout the world to see the end result of those who preceded them? Allah demolished them [completely]: and God-deniers [can expect to] be faced with similar parallels [of nation demolition].

This [all unravels the way it does] because in reality Allah is the Superior of committed muslims, whereas kāfirs do not have [such] a superior.

Truly, Allah admits committed muslims who do what is right and upright into gardens beneath which rivers flow, whereas those who deny [Allah’s sovereignty and supremacy] may enjoy [their worldly life] and eat like cattle eat, but [in the end] the Fire will be their abode.

And how many a civil society that yet surpassed the power of your city-state [of Makkah], which expelled you, have We destroyed, with none to support them [when We finished them off]?

Can there be an equivalence between he who stands on clear evidence from his Sustainer [on the one hand], and he who fantasizes the wrong he is doing to be right and those who follow their whims [on the other]?

Can there be an equivalence between the Paradise that has been promised to those attentive [to Allah’s just power and authority of justice] in which there are rivers of uncontaminated waters, and rivers of milk of unchanging taste, and rivers of wine — enjoyable to those who drink therefrom — and rivers of purified honey, and in which they will have a plethora of [foods] that blossom and forgiveness from their Sustainer — [can they who are in such a Paradise] be the equivalent of they who are to abide in the Fire for eternity and be given scalding water to drink that shreds their intestines?

And there are those who [posture as if to] listen to you [O Muhammad] but then when they exit from your presence they would say to those vested with knowledge, “What was he [Muhammad] just saying?!” Those are the types whose hearts Allah has sealed for they did [nothing but] abide by their own whims,

Just as for those who are guided [by the Prophet], He enhances their [commitment to follow His] guidance and gives them their safeguard [against His “power for justice”].

Are they [the God-deniers] anticipating [all their worldly probabilities] except for the Final Hour, which [by the way] will come upon them unexpectedly!? For its portents have already turned up, because once it comes upon them their notice of it will be of no value.

Know, then, that truly there is no deity/authority except Allah and [while there is still time] ask for forgiveness concerning your indiscretion and [ask for forgiveness] for the committed muslims — men and women: for Allah knows your [societal freedom of] movement and the restrictions thereof.

Now [at a particular juncture during the struggle for Allah] the committed muslims would say, “If only a sūrah was revealed [to show us the way forward in these threatening times].” So when a well-defined sūrah was revealed with the citation of combat [duties] you would see those who have disease in their hearts look at you as if they were in the throes of death. Their priority [should have been]

Obedience [to Allah’s command] and speaking out for the common good: for, when the time for action comes, they would have been better off to be honest with Allah [about being resolved to fight for His cause].

[Say to these types], “[Your behavior is] to be expected! If you turn away [from Allah] you will spread corruption on earth and cut apart your ties of kinship.”

Those are the ones who are condemned by Allah, and therefore He rendered them deaf and blinded their sights.

Can they not make the most of this Qur’an? Or do they have locks on their hearts?

Indeed, those who digress backward after having perceived [Allah’s] guidance [do so because] it is Satan who has embellished their wrongdoings and filled them with false expectations:

All of this [comes out into the open] as they [the munāfiqs] say [to the mushriks] who hate what Allah has bestowed from on high, “We will obey you pertaining to some affairs”; and Allah knows their confidentiality.

Consequently, how will they feel when the malā’ikah cause them to expire [from life], while striking their faces and behinds?

That [happens] because they truly followed through on everything that displeases Allah and they hated [all that would cause] Him to be satisfied with them: and so, all their efforts were unfulfilled.

Or do those who have disease in their hearts think that Allah would not bring their rancor to the surface?

Now had We willed it, We could have certainly showed them to you so that you would know them by name; [nonetheless] you will know them by an aberrant form of speech [peculiar to them]. And Allah is well aware of your deeds [O people]:

And We will indeed put you to test — until We know those who struggle and those who are steadfast — as We will put to test all your assertions.

Verily, those who are in God-denial and impede [others] from the path to Allah and [who thus] counteract the Apostle after guidance has been made clear to them will not harm Allah a bit, but He it is who will abort their efforts.

O you who are committed [to Allah’s precedence]! Obey Allah and obey the Apostle and do not invalidate your [good] deeds.

Indeed those who deny Allah [His worldly superiority in society] and obstruct the path leading to Allah, and then die in a state of God-denial, shall not be forgiven by Allah.

And do not give up [in despair] as you [find yourselves having to] call for an armistice with the God-deniers, knowing that you are superior and Allah is with you: for never will He shortchange you [your] labor.

For certain, the life of this world counts as nothing but playtime and distraction: but if you commit yourselves [to Allah] and avoid [His corrective “power for justice”] He will award you your due compensation and He will not ask you for your money [in return for what He has given you] —

[For] were He to ask you [for your money] and insist on it, you would [show yourselves to] be stingy, and so He would expose your [internal] acrimony.

Here you are [O muslims]! It is you who are being called upon to spend on a [lifelong] course to Allah, yet some of you are stingy. But whoever is stingy [in spending for Allah] is stingy at the expense of his own self — for Allah is not the one in need, rather you are the ones who are poor [and in need of Him]; and if you relinquish [these God-given responsibilities] He will substitute others in you stead [to take up such responsibilities] and they will not be the likes of you!