¹ An acquittal from God and His messenger, to those with whom you made a covenant among the idolaters:¹

² “Travel in the earth four months;¹ and know that you cannot escape² God, and that God will disgrace the false claimers of guidance.”³

³ And a proclamation from God and His messenger to mankind on the day of the greater pilgrimage:¹ “God is free of the idolaters,² as is³ His messenger. And if you repent, it is better for you; but if you turn away, know that you cannot escape⁴ God.” And bear thou tidings⁵ to those who ignore warning⁶ of a painful punishment,

⁴ Save the idolaters¹ with whom you made a covenant then who have not been deficient towards you in anything, nor assisted anyone against you; so fulfil to them your² covenant to its³ term; God loves those of prudent fear.⁴

⁵ And when the inviolable months¹ have passed, then kill the idolaters² wheresoever you find them, and seize them, and restrain³ them, and lie in wait for them at every place of ambush. But if they repent,⁴ and uphold the duty,⁵ and render the purity,⁶ then let them go their way; God is forgiving and merciful.

⁶ And if one of the idolaters¹ seeks thy protection, then grant thou him protection until he hears the words of God; then convey thou him to his place of security — is it not that² they are people who know not!

⁷ How can there be for the idolaters¹ a covenant with God and with His messenger save those with whom you made a covenant at the inviolable place of worship?² — so long as they take a straight path with you, then take a straight path with them; God loves those of prudent fear³ —

⁸ How,¹ when if they get the better of you, they observe neither pact of kinship nor obligation to protect? They please you with their mouths, but their hearts refuse; and most of them are perfidious.²

⁹ They have sold the proofs¹ of God at a cheap price and turned away from² His path; evil is what they did.

¹⁰ And they regard towards a believer¹ neither pact of kinship, nor obligation to protect; and it is they who are the transgressors.

¹¹ But if they repent,¹ and uphold the duty,² and render the purity,³ then are they your brethren in doctrine;⁴ and We set out and detail⁵ the proofs⁶ for people who know.

¹² And if they renege on their oaths after their covenant and revile your doctrine,¹ then fight the leaders of denial: they have no oaths² that they might desist.

¹³ Will you not fight a people who broke their oaths, and purposed to turn the Messenger out, and began against you the first time? Do you fear them? Then God is worthier¹ that you should fear Him, if you be believers.²

¹⁴ Fight them! God will punish them at your hands and disgrace them, and help you against them,¹ and heal the breasts of people who believe

¹⁵ And remove the wrath of their hearts; and God relents towards whom He wills; and God is knowing and wise.

¹⁶ If¹ you think that you will be left² when God knows not those among you who have striven, and have taken — besides³ God, and His messenger, and the believers⁴ — no confidant[...].⁵ And God is aware of what you do.

¹⁷ It is not for the idolaters¹ to inhabit² the places of worship³ of God, bearing witness against themselves to denial; those: their works are vain, and in the Fire do they abide eternally.

¹⁸ He only inhabits¹ the places of worship² of God who believes in³ God and the Last Day, and upholds the duty,⁴ and renders the purity,⁵ and fears not save God; and it may be that those are of the guided.

¹⁹ Have you made the giving of water to the pilgrim and the inhabiting¹ of the inviolable place of worship² like him who believes in³ God and the Last Day and strives in the cause of God? They are not equal before God; and God guides not the wrongdoing⁴ people.

²⁰ Those who heed warning,¹ and emigrate, and strive in the cause of God with their wealth and their lives are of more tremendous degree before God; and it is they who are the attainers of success.

²¹ Their Lord gives them glad tidings of mercy from Him, and approval; and they have gardens therein of enduring bliss,

²² They abiding eternally therein forever; with God is a great reward.

²³ O you who heed warning:¹ take not your fathers and your brethren as allies if they prefer denial to faith; and whoso takes them as allies among you: it is they who are the wrongdoers.²

²⁴ Say thou: “If your fathers, and your sons, and your brothers, and your wives, and your kindred, and the wealth you have acquired, and trade wherein you fear a decline, and dwellings with which you are pleased, be dearer to you than God and His messenger and striving in His cause, then wait until God brings His command”; and God guides not the perfidious¹ people.

²⁵ God has helped you¹ in many places — and on the day of Ḥunayn² when you were impressed at your multitude, but it availed you nothing, and the earth was straitened for you, vast as it was; then you turned and fled.

²⁶ Then sent God His tranquillity upon His messenger, and upon the believers,¹ and sent down forces you did not see, and punished those who ignored warning;² and that³ is the reward of the false claimers of guidance;⁴

²⁷ Then does God relent after that towards whom He wills; and God is forgiving and merciful.

²⁸ O you who heed warning:¹ those who ascribe a partnership² are unclean; so approach not³ the inviolable place of worship⁴ after this their⁵ year. And if you fear⁶ poverty,⁷ then will God enrich you out of His bounty, if He wills; God is knowing and wise.

²⁹ Fight¹ those who believe not in² God or the Last Day, and make not unlawful what God and His messenger have made unlawful,³ and adhere not to the doctrine⁴ of truth⁵ among those given⁶ the Writ,⁷ until they make⁸ reparation⁹ under supervision¹⁰ when they are brought low.

³⁰ And the Rabbinic Jews¹ say: “ʿUzayr² is the son of God”;³ and the Christians⁴ say: “The Messiah⁵ is the son of God.” That is the speech of their mouths; they imitate the speech of those who ignored warning⁶ before. May God curse them!⁷ How are they deluded?⁸

³¹ They take their rabbis and their religious scholars as lords rather than¹ God, and the Messiah,² son of Mary;³ and they were not commanded save to serve One God; there is no god save He. Glory⁴ be to Him above that to which they ascribe a partnership!⁵

³² They want to extinguish the light of God with their mouths; and God refuses save to perfect His light, though the false claimers of guidance¹ be averse.

³³ He it is that sent His messenger with the guidance and the doctrine¹ of truth,² that He might make it manifest over all doctrine,³ though the idolaters⁴ be averse.

³⁴ O you who heed warning:¹ many among the rabbis and the religious scholars consume the wealth of men in vanity, and turn away from² the path of God. And those who amass gold and silver and spend it not in the cause of God: give thou them tidings³ of a painful punishment: —

³⁵ The day it¹ will be heated in the fire of Gehenna, then therewith will be branded their foreheads and their sides and their backs: “This is what you amassed for your souls; so taste what you amassed!”

³⁶ The count of months¹ is with God;² twelve months³ were in the Writ⁴ of God⁵ the day⁶ He created the heavens and the earth;⁷ from it⁸ are four⁹ inviolable.¹⁰ That is the right doctrine,¹¹ so wrong not your souls concerning them:¹² — and fight the idolaters¹³ altogether¹⁴ as they fight you altogether, and know that God is with those of prudent fear¹⁵ —

³⁷ Postponement¹ is but an increase in denial whereby those who ignore warning² are led astray; they make it³ lawful one year and make it unlawful another year,⁴ that the count might agree with what God made unlawful⁵ — so they make lawful what God made unlawful; made fair to them is the evil of their deeds; and God guides not the people of the false claimers of guidance.⁶

³⁸ O you who heed warning:¹ what ails you that when it is said to you: “Go forth in the cause of God,” you cling to the earth? Are you content with the life of this world over the Hereafter? But the enjoyment of the life of this world in the Hereafter is only small.

³⁹ Save you go forth, He will punish you with a painful punishment and replace you with a people other than you — and you will not harm Him at all; and God is over all things powerful —

⁴⁰ Save you help him.¹ And God helped him when those who ignore warning² turned him out, the second of two, when they³ were in the cave, when he said to his companion: “Grieve thou not; God is with us.”⁴ Then God sent down His tranquillity upon him, and strengthened him with forces you did not see, and made the word of those who ignore warning⁵ the lowest; and the word of God, it is the uppermost; and God is exalted in might and wise.

⁴¹ Go forth, light or¹ heavy, and strive with your wealth and your lives in the cause of God; that is best for you, if you would know.

⁴² Had it been goods¹ nearby and a short journey, they would have followed thee; but far for them was the destination. And they will swear by God: “Had we been able, we would have gone forth with you,” destroying their souls;² and God knows that they are liars.

⁴³ God pardon thee! Why grantedst thou them leave¹ until it was clear to thee who spoke the truth, and thou knewest the liars?

⁴⁴ No leave do those who believe in¹ God and the Last Day ask of thee from striving with their wealth and their lives;² and God knows those of prudent fear.³

⁴⁵ There but ask leave of thee those who believe not in¹ God and the Last Day, and whose hearts doubt, so they in their doubt are wavering.

⁴⁶ And had they wished to go forth, they would have made preparation for it.¹ But God was averse to their being sent forth, and held them back, and it was said: “Sit with those that sit.”²

⁴⁷ Had they gone forth with you, they would have increased you only in ruin, and been active in your midst seeking means of denial¹ for you; and among you are eager listeners to them; and God knows the wrongdoers.²

⁴⁸ They sought the means of denial¹ before, and overturned matters² for thee, until the truth³ came and the command of God was made manifest when they were averse.⁴

⁴⁹ And among them is he who says: “Grant thou me leave,¹ and subject thou me not to means of denial.”² Save into the means of denial³ have they fallen; and Gehenna encompasses the false claimers of guidance.⁴

⁵⁰ If good befalls thee, it vexes them; but if calamity befalls thee, they say: “We took our command¹ before,”² and they turn away, exulting.

⁵¹ Say thou: “Nothing befalls us save what God has prescribed for us; He is our protector”; and in God let the believers¹ place their trust.

⁵² Say thou: “Do you await for us save one of the two best things?¹ And we await for you, that God will afflict you with a punishment from Him or at our hands. So wait — we are with you waiting.”

⁵³ Say thou: “Spend willingly or unwillingly, it will not be accepted from you; you are perfidious¹ people.”

⁵⁴ And there prevents their expenditures being accepted from them only that they denied God and His messenger, and come not to the duty¹ save as idlers, and spend not save unwillingly.²

⁵⁵ So let not their wealth or their children impress thee; God but intends to punish them thereby¹ in the life of this world, and that their souls should depart while they are false claimers of guidance.²

⁵⁶ And they swear by God that they are of you, when they are not of you; but they are a people who are afraid.¹

⁵⁷ Had they found a refuge, or caves, or a place to enter, they would turn towards it and bolt away.¹

⁵⁸ And among them is he who speaks ill of thee concerning charity;¹ then if they are given thereof, they are satisfied; but if they are not given thereof, then are they angry.

⁵⁹ And had they been satisfied with what God and His messenger gave them, and said: “Sufficient for us is God; God will give us of His bounty, as will¹ His messenger² — to God do we turn in hope,”[...]³

⁶⁰ Charity¹ is but for the poor and the needy, and the workers with² it,³ and those whose hearts are to be reconciled, and for slaves and debtors, and in the cause of God, and the wayfarer⁴ — an obligation from God; and God is knowing and wise.

⁶¹ And among them are those who hinder¹ the Prophet, saying: “He is an ear.”² Say thou: “An ear of good for you,” — he believes in³ God, and he believes the believers⁴ — “and a mercy for those among you who heed warning.”⁵ And those who hinder⁶ the messenger of God, for them is a painful punishment.

⁶² They swear by God to you to please you; but God and His messenger — worthier¹ is it that they should please Him,² if they be believers!³

⁶³ Know they not that whoso works against God and His messenger, for him is the fire of Gehenna, wherein he abides eternally? That is the Tremendous Disgrace.

⁶⁴ The waverers¹ fear lest a sūrah² be sent down against them, proclaiming what is in their hearts; say thou: “You may mock;³ God will bring forth what you fear.”

⁶⁵ And if thou askest them, they will say: “We were but discoursing vainly¹ and playing.” Say thou: “Was it at God and His proofs² and His messenger that you were mocking?”

⁶⁶ Make no excuses; you have denied after your faith;¹ if We pardon a number of you, a number of you will We punish because they were lawbreakers.

⁶⁷ The wavering men¹ and the wavering women² are alike:³ they enjoin perversity,⁴ and they forbid what is fitting,⁵ and they close their hands;⁶ they have forgotten God, so He has forgotten them. The waverers:⁷ they are the perfidious.⁸

⁶⁸ And God has promised the wavering men,¹ and the wavering women,² and the atheists,³ the fire of Gehenna, they abiding eternally therein; it is sufficient for them. And God has cursed them; and they have a lasting punishment.

⁶⁹ Like those before you, stronger than you in might and greater in wealth and children: they enjoyed their lot. And you have enjoyed your lot as they enjoyed their lot who were before you; and you have discoursed vainly¹ like those discoursed vainly; those: their works are vain in the World and the Hereafter; and it is they who are the losers.

⁷⁰ Has not the report of those before them come to them: the people of Noah, and ʿĀd, and Thamūd, and the people of Abraham, and the people¹ of Madyan,² and the cities thrown down? Their messengers brought them clear signs; and God wronged them not, but they wronged their souls.

⁷¹ And the believing men¹ and the believing women² are allies of one another:³ they enjoin what is fitting,⁴ and forbid perversity,⁵ and uphold the duty,⁶ and render the purity,⁷ and obey God and His messenger;⁸ those: God will have mercy on them; God is exalted in might and wise.

⁷² And God has promised the believing men¹ and the believing women² gardens beneath which rivers flow — they abiding eternally therein — and goodly dwellings in gardens of perpetual abode; and approval from God is greater;³ that⁴ is the Great Achievement.

⁷³ O Prophet: strive thou¹ against the atheists² and the waverers,³ and be thou harsh with them; and their shelter is Gehenna; and evil is the journey’s end.

⁷⁴ They swear by God that they did not say — when they did say — the word of denial, and denied after their submission.¹ And they purposed what they have not reached; and they resented only that God and His messenger enriched them of His² bounty. Then if they repent, it will be better for them; and if they turn away, God will punish them with a painful punishment in the World and the Hereafter; and they will not have in the earth any ally or helper.

⁷⁵ And among them is he who made a covenant with God: “If He gives us of His bounty, we will give charity and be among the righteous.”

⁷⁶ Then when He gave them of His bounty, they withheld it and turned away; and they are averse.

⁷⁷ And He requited them with wavering¹ in their hearts to the day they meet Him, because they broke to God what they promised Him, and because they lied.

⁷⁸ Know they not that God knows their secrets¹ and their private conversation, and that God is the Knower of the Unseen Realms?

⁷⁹ Those who speak ill of those who willingly give in charity among the believers,¹ and of those who find not to give save their endeavours, and deride them: God derides them; and they have a painful punishment.

⁸⁰ Ask thou forgiveness for them, or ask thou not forgiveness for them[...].¹ If thou shouldst ask forgiveness for them seventy times, God will not forgive them — is it not that² they denied God and His messenger! And God guides not the perfidious³ people.

⁸¹ Those who remained behind exulted at their remaining behind the messenger of God, and disliked to strive with their wealth and their lives in the cause of God; and they said: “Go not forth in the heat.” Say thou: “The fire of Gehenna is more intense in heat,” would that they understood.

⁸² Then let them laugh a little and weep much, as reward for what they earned.

⁸³ And if God brings thee back to a number of them and they ask of thee leave to go forth, say thou: “You shall not go forth with me ever, nor fight with me an enemy; you were pleased to sit the first time, so sit with those who remain.”

⁸⁴ And perform thou not the duty¹ for any among them that dies ever, nor stand thou over his grave; they denied God and His messenger, and died while they were perfidious.²

⁸⁵ And let not their wealth or their children impress thee; God but intends to punish them thereby in the World, and that their souls should depart while they are false claimers of guidance.¹

⁸⁶ And when a sūrah¹ is sent down ­to believe in² God and strive alongside³ His messenger, the affluent among them ask leave of thee, saying: “Leave thou us to be with those who sit.”

⁸⁷ They are content to be with those who remain; and their hearts are sealed, so they understand not.

⁸⁸ But the Messenger and those who heeded warning¹ with him strove with their wealth and their lives;² and those have the good things, and it is they who are the successful.³

⁸⁹ God has prepared for them gardens beneath which rivers flow, they abiding eternally therein; that is the Great Achievement.

⁹⁰ And there came those with excuses among the desert Arabs,¹ that leave be given them; and there sat² those who lied to God and His messenger; a painful punishment will befall those among them who ignored warning.³

⁹¹ Not upon the weak, nor upon the sick, nor upon those who find not what to spend is there blame,¹ when they are true to God and His messenger — against the doers of good there is no path; and God is forgiving and merciful —

⁹² Nor upon those to whom, when they came to thee, that thou provide them mounts, thou saidst: “I find not whereon to mount you,” they turned back, their eyes overflowing with tears of grief, that they found not what to spend.

⁹³ The path is but against those who ask leave of thee when they are sufficient, content to be with those who remain; and God has sealed their hearts, so they understand not.

⁹⁴ They will make excuses to you when you return to them. Say thou: “Make not excuses; we will not believe you. God has already informed us of your assertions.”¹ God will see your deeds, as will² His messenger, then will you be brought back to the Knower of the Unseen and the Seen,³ and He will tell you what you did.

⁹⁵ They will swear by God to you when you return to them, that you might let them be. So let them be, for they are an abomination, and their shelter is Gehenna; a reward for what they earned.

⁹⁶ They swear to you so that you might be pleased with them; but though¹ you be pleased with them, God is not pleased with the perfidious² people.

⁹⁷ The desert Arabs¹ are stronger in denial and wavering,² and more likely not to know the limits of what God has sent down upon His messenger; and God is knowing and wise.

⁹⁸ And among the desert Arabs¹ is he who takes what he spends as a loss, and awaits reversals² for you; for them is the Evil Reversal;³ and God is hearing and knowing.

⁹⁹ And among the desert Arabs¹ is he who believes in² God and the Last Day, and takes what he spends as a means of nearness to God and the duties³ of the Messenger. In truth,⁴ it is a means of nearness for them: God will make them enter into His mercy; God is forgiving and merciful.

¹⁰⁰ And the first vanguard among the émigrés, and the helpers, and those who followed them in good conduct: God is pleased with them, and they pleased with Him; and He has prepared for them gardens beneath which rivers flow, they abiding eternally therein forever; that is the Great Achievement.

¹⁰¹ And among those around you of the desert Arabs¹ are waverers;² and among the people of the city³ — they persist in wavering.⁴ Thou knowest them not, but We know them; We will punish them twice,⁵ then will they be sent back to a great punishment.

¹⁰² And others acknowledged their transgressions:¹ they mixed a righteous deed with² another of evil.³ It may be that God will relent towards them; God is forgiving and merciful.

¹⁰³ Take thou charity of their wealth to cleanse them, and to increase them in purity¹ thereby; and perform thou the duty² befitting them; thy duties³ are an assuagement for them; and God is hearing and knowing.

¹⁰⁴ Know they not that God: He accepts the repentance from His servants, and takes the charity, and that God: He is the Accepting of Repentance, the Merciful?

¹⁰⁵ And say thou: “Act!” Then will God see your actions, as will¹ His messenger, and the believers;² and you will be sent back to the Knower of the Unseen and the Seen, and He will tell you what you did.

¹⁰⁶ And others are deferred to the command of God — whether He will punish them or whether He will forgive them; and God is knowing and wise —

¹⁰⁷ As are¹ those who took a place of worship² in harm and denial, and division among the believers,³ and as an outpost⁴ for those who warred against God and His messenger before. And they will swear: “We purposed only good”; but God bears witness that they are liars.

¹⁰⁸ Stand thou not within it ever. A place of worship¹ founded upon prudent fear² from the first day is worthier³ that thou shouldst stand within it; therein are men who love to purify themselves; and God loves those who purify themselves.

¹⁰⁹ Is then he who¹ founded his building on prudent fear² of God and His approval better, or he who founded his building on the edge of a collapsing cliff, so it collapsed with him into the fire of Gehenna? And God guides not the wrongdoing³ people.

¹¹⁰ Their building which they built will never cease to be a doubt in their hearts save that their hearts be cut off;¹ and God is knowing and wise.

¹¹¹ God has bought from the believers¹ their lives and their wealth; for that the Garden is theirs — they fighting in the cause of God, killing and being killed — a promise binding upon² Him in the Torah and the Gospel³ and the Qur’an.⁴ And who better fulfils his covenant than God? Rejoice then in your bargain that you have contracted with Him; and that⁵ is the Great Achievement.

¹¹² The repentant, the serving, those praising, those journeying, the lowly,¹ those submitting,² those enjoining what is fitting,³ and those forbidding perversity,⁴ and the keepers of the limits of God[...];⁵ and bear thou glad tidings to the believers.⁶

¹¹³ It is not for the Prophet and those who heed warning¹ to ask for forgiveness for the idolaters,² though they be relatives, after it has become clear to them that they are the companions of Hell.

¹¹⁴ And the request for forgiveness of Abraham for his father was only because of a promise he had promised him;¹ but when it had become clear to him that he was an enemy to God, he declared himself quit of him;² Abraham was compassionate and clement.

¹¹⁵ And God would not send a people astray after He has guided them until He has made plain¹ to them of what they should be in prudent fear;² God knows all things.

¹¹⁶ God, to Him belongs the dominion of the heavens and the earth; He gives life and gives death; and you have not, besides¹ God, either ally or helper.

¹¹⁷ God has turned towards the Prophet, and the émigrés, and the helpers who followed him in the hour of hardship, after the hearts of a faction among them had almost deviated; then turned He towards them — He is to them kind and merciful —

¹¹⁸ And towards the three who were left behind when¹ the earth had become straitened for them, vast as it was,² and their souls had become straitened for them, and they thought that there was no refuge from God save to Him;³ then turned He towards them, that they might turn.⁴ God, He is the Accepting of Repentance, the Merciful.

¹¹⁹ O you who heed warning:¹ be in prudent fear² of God, and be with the truthful.

¹²⁰ It is not for the people of the city¹ and those around them of the desert Arabs² to remain behind the messenger of God, and prefer their lives to his life.³ Is it not that⁴ there befalls them neither thirst, nor fatigue, nor hunger, in the cause of God, neither take they any step that enrages the atheists,⁵ nor achieve they against the enemy an attainment save that it is recorded for them as a righteous deed! God causes not to be lost the reward of the doers of good.

¹²¹ And they spend not a sum,¹ small or great, nor cross they a valley save it is recorded for them, that God might reward them for the best of what they did.

¹²² And it is not for the believers¹ to go forth all at once; and were it not that from every party among them there should go forth a number to gain knowledge in the doctrine,² and to warn their people when they return to them, that they might beware[...].³

¹²³ O you who heed warning:¹ fight those of the atheists² who are close to³ you, and let them find harshness⁴ in you; and know that God is with those of prudent fear.⁵

¹²⁴ And when a sūrah¹ is sent down, then among them is he who says: “Which of you has this increased in faith?” Then as for those who heed warning,² it increases them in faith, and they rejoice.

¹²⁵ And as for those in whose hearts is disease, it adds abomination to their abomination; and they die while they are false claimers of guidance.¹

¹²⁶ See they not that they are subjected to means of denial¹ once or twice every year? Then do they turn not in repentance, nor do they take heed.

¹²⁷ And when a sūrah¹ is sent down, they look at each other: “Does anybody see you?” Then they turn away. God has turned away their hearts because they are people who understand not.

¹²⁸ There has come to you a messenger from among yourselves; grievous to him is what grieves you; one concerned for you;¹ to the believers² kind and merciful.

¹²⁹ Then if they turn away, say thou: “God is sufficient for me; there is no god save He.¹ In Him have I placed my trust, and He is Lord of the Great Throne.”