they will vanquish two thousand,
by God’s leave—for God
is with the steadfast.
67It is not fitting for the Prophet
to take prisoners of war
before prevailing on the battlefield;
you desire the goods of this life,
but God desires for you the hereafter,
and God is Almighty, All Wise.
68Had a decree not been
preordained by God,°
you would be punished greatly
for what you have taken.°
69Enjoy, then, what you have taken,
in a good and lawful manner,
but be mindful of God—
God is Forgiving, Ever Merciful.
SECTION 10
70Prophet, say to the captives
in your hands, “If God knows
of any good in your hearts,
He will give you something better
than what was taken from you,
and He will forgive you—
God is Forgiving, Ever Merciful.”
71But if they seek to betray you,
they have betrayed God before—
so He has made you
prevail over them—
God is All Knowing, All Wise.
72Those who believed, emigrated
and strove with their wealth
and their lives in the cause of God,
and those who gave shelter and help,
are allies of one another.°
As for those who believed
but did not migrate,° you are not
obliged to protect them
until they migrate.
But if they seek your help
on religious grounds,°
it’s your duty to give them help,
except against any people
with whom you have a treaty—
God Sees all that you do.
73The unbelievers are mutual allies;
unless you do likewise,
there will be oppression in the land
and much corruption.
74Those who believe and emigrate,
striving in the cause of God,
and those who give shelter and help—
those are the true believers.
They shall find forgiveness
and a gracious provision.
75Those who believed afterward,
and emigrated and strove with you
in the cause of God—they are of you;
but in the Book of God°
relatives have prior claim
over one another—
God Knows all things.
SURA 9
Repentance (Al-Tawba)
The sole sura without the opening basmala, or invocation of God’s name, its title, “Repentance,” comes from v. 104. It consists of 129 verses, closely tied to the themes and issues of Sura 8, especially conduct during and after war. Verses 38–99 refer to the Tabuk campaign in 630, the last battle in which the Prophet Muhammad participated, making this a late Medinan sura revealed shortly before the Prophet’s death in 632.
SECTION 1
1[A proclamation] that God
and His messenger have dissolved
your treaty with the polytheists.
2Polytheists, you may go about
freely for four months, but know that
you cannot escape God, and that
God will disgrace the disbelievers.
3On the day of the greater pilgrimage,
God and His messenger
will proclaim to the people,
“God and His messenger are released
from any treaty with the polytheists.
Polytheists, it will be better for you
if you repent—but if you turn away,
know that you cannot escape God.”
Prophet, warn the disbelievers
of severe torment—
4except for those polytheists who
did not break their treaty with you
or aid anyone against you—fulfill
your treaty with them for its term.°
God loves those who are righteous.
5But when the forbidden months
are over, kill the polytheists
wherever you encounter them;
seize them and besiege them
and lie in wait for them.
But if they repent, and pray,
and give in charity,
then let them go their way—
God is Forgiving, Ever Merciful.
6If any of the polytheists should seek
protection from you, grant it to them
so they might hear the Word of God,
then escort them to a safe place—
they are a people void of knowledge.
SECTION 2
7How could polytheists have a treaty
with God and His messenger
except those with whom you made
a treaty at the sacred mosque?
If they remain true to you,
stay true to them—
God loves those who are righteous.
8So how could they° have a treaty—
if they gain ascendancy over you,
would they respect your ties of kin
or pacts of mutual protection?
They indulge you with their mouths
but refuse you in their hearts,
and most of them are rebellious.
9They sold the verses of God
for a paltry price,
and they barred people
from the path of God.
How wicked are their deeds!
10They do not respect
ties of kin, in believers,
or pacts of mutual protection—
they are the transgressors.
11But if they repent,
are steadfast in prayer,
and give due charity, then
they are your brothers in faith.
We make clear Our signs
for a people with knowledge.
12But if they break their oaths
after their treaty with you,
and defame your religion, then
fight the leaders of disbelief
—for oaths mean nothing to them—
to make them cease
[their transgression].
13Won’t you fight a people
who broke their oaths and resolved
to drive out the Prophet, and
attacked you first? Do you fear them?
It is God you should rightly fear
if you are true believers.
14Fight them—God will punish them
by your hands, disgrace them,
and help you vanquish them;
He will heal the hearts
of people who believe,
15and purge the anger
from their hearts.
For God ever turns, relenting,
to whom He will, and God
is All Knowing, All Wise.
16Or do you think
you’ll simply be left [untried]
without God finding out
those among you
who strive in His cause,
who take as allies none but God,
His Prophet, and the believers?
God is Aware of all that you do.
SECTION 3
17It is not for the polytheists
to maintain God’s places of worship
while attesting to their own unbelief.
The deeds of these people are vain—
they shall stay in the fire forever.°
18God’s places of worship
should be maintained only by those
who believe in God and the last day,
who are steadfast in prayer,
who give due charity,
and fear none but God.
It is they who are rightly guided.
19Do you think that giving water to pilgrims
and maintaining the sacred mosque
are on the same level as the deeds
of those who believe in God
and the last day, and strive
in the cause of God? These are not
the same in the eyes of God—
for God does not guide
people who do wrong.
20As for those who believed,
and left their homes,
and strove in the cause of God
with their wealth and their persons—
they shall have the highest rank
in the eyes of God, and it is they
who shall flourish.
21Their Lord gives them joyous news
of His mercy, His good pleasure,
and gardens for them with lasting bliss,
22residing there forever—
the greatest reward is with God.
23You who believe, do not take
your fathers and brothers as allies
if they opt for disbelief over faith;
those who turn to them do wrong.
24Declare, Prophet, “If your fathers,
sons, brothers, wives, relatives,
the wealth you’ve acquired,
the trade in which you fear decline,
the homes in which you delight—
if these are dearer to you than God
and His messenger, and striving
in His cause— then wait—until God
brings about His judgment. For God
does not guide disobedient people.
SECTION 4
25God has helped you
on many plains of battle,
and on the day of Hunayn;°
you were cheered
by your swelling numbers,
but they were of no help to you.
For all its breadth, the earth
seemed to close tight around you,
and you turned in flight.
26Then God sent down His calm
on the messenger and believers,
and He sent down forces that
you did not see, punishing those
who disbelieved. This is the reward
of the disbelievers.
27And, after this, God will turn,
in His mercy, to whom He will—
God is Forgiving, Ever Merciful.
28You who believe:
the polytheists are unclean,
so don’t let them approach
the sacred mosque after this,
their final year.
And if you fear poverty,
God shall soon enrich you
from His bounty, if He wishes—
God is All Knowing, All Wise.
29Fight those among the people
of the Book who do not believe
in God and the last day,
who do not forbid what God
and His messenger have forbidden,
and do not acknowledge
the religion of truth—until
they are subdued and
agree to pay the jizya tax.°
SECTION 5
30The Jews say,
“Ezra is God’s son,”°
and the Christians say,
“The messiah is God’s son.”
They say this with their own mouths,
but are merely rehearsing what
disbelievers before them said.
May God confound them!
How deluded they are!°
31They take their rabbis and monks
as lords, as well as the messiah,
son of Mary—besides the One God.
Yet they were commanded to worship
none but the One God. There is no god
but Him. Glorified is He, far above
the partners they ascribe to Him.
32With their mouths they would
extinguish the Light of God;
but God will only allow
His Light to be perfected,
though the disbelievers detest it.
33It is He who sent His messenger
with guidance, the religion of truth,
to make it prevail over all religion,
though the polytheists detest it.
34You who believe—
many of the rabbis and monks
wrongfully devour people’s wealth,
and bar people from God’s path.
You should warn those
who hoard gold and silver,
instead of spending it in God’s cause,
of a painful punishment.
35On the day when
that gold and silver
is heated in the fire of hell,
and their foreheads, sides, and backs
are branded with it, they will be told,
“This is what you hoarded
for yourselves—now,
taste what you hoarded.”
36God has decreed twelve months,
ordained in God’s Book, on the day
He created the heavens and earth.
Of these, four are sacred;° this
is the upright religion. So do not
wrong yourselves during them;
but fight the polytheists all together
as they fight you all together—
know that God is with the righteous.°
37Deferring the sacred months
is a further act of unbelief.°
Those who disbelieve
are led astray by doing this:
they deem it lawful one year
then forbid it another year
to conform to the number of months
deemed sacred by God,
but in doing this, they deem lawful
what God has forbidden.
Their wicked deeds seem
pleasing to them—
God does not guide
people who disbelieve.
SECTION 6
38Believers, what’s wrong with you—
when told, “Go forward and fight
in God’s cause,” you seem weighed
down to the ground?° Do you prefer
the life of this world to the hereafter?
Enjoyment of this life is a trifle
compared with the hereafter.
39Unless you do go forward,
He will punish you severely
and put others in your place,
for you can do no harm to Him—
God has Power over all things.
40Even if you don’t help the Prophet,
God helped him when unbelievers
drove him out [with Abu Bakr].
When the two hid in a cave,
the Prophet told his companion,
“Don’t grieve—God is with us.”
And God sent His calm upon him,
and strengthened him with forces
that you could not see;
He humbled the disbelievers’ words,
and the Word of God was exalted—
for God is Almighty, All Wise.°
41Advance, lightly or heavily armed,
and strive, with your wealth and lives
in God’s cause; that is better for you
if only you knew.
42They would have followed you,
if some gain had been within easy reach,
and the journey brief—but
the distance seemed too far for them.
They’ll swear by God, “If we could,
we’d come out with you,”
but they condemn themselves,°
for God knows they are lying.
SECTION 7
43Prophet, may God pardon you;
why did you exempt them
