101Some Bedouin Arabs around you
are hypocrites, as are some people
of Medina. They persist in hypocrisy.
Prophet, you do not know them—
We do—We shall punish them twice,
then they shall be brought again
to face great punishment
[in the hereafter].
102But others among them
have acknowledged their wrongs,
having mingled good deeds with bad.
Perhaps God will turn to them,
relenting. God is Forgiving,
Ever Merciful.
103Accept some gifts for charity
from their wealth, so that you might
purge and purify them;
and pray for them.
Your prayers will comfort them—
God is All Hearing, All Knowing.
104Don’t they know that God
is the One who accepts repentance
from His servants, and their charity—
that God is the One Who is
Ever Relenting, Ever Merciful?
105Say, Prophet, “Do good deeds—
God, His messenger, and believers
will see your deeds;
and you will be brought back
to the Knower of the unseen
and the seen,
and He will inform you
of all you have done.”
106There are others for whom
God’s decree is pending, whether
He will punish them
or turn to them, relenting—
God is All Knowing, All Wise.
107Some people set up a mosque
just to wreak harm, disbelief,
and division among believers,
using it as a base for those
who warred before against God
and His messenger. They will swear,
“We only wanted what was best”—
but God bears witness
that they are liars.°
108Prophet, never stand to pray there.
It’s more fitting that you stand
[in prayer] in a mosque founded
from the first day
on mindfulness of God—
where people like to purify themselves;
God likes those who seek purity.
109Who, then, is better—
someone who founds their edifice
on mindfulness of God
and His good pleasure,
or someone who founds it
at the brink of a precipice
about to collapse, which crumbles,
with them, into the fire of hell?
God does not guide
a people who do wrong.
110The edifice they have founded
will never cease to breed doubt
in their hearts, until their hearts
are hewn to pieces—
God is All Knowing, All Wise.
SECTION 14
111God has made a trade
with the believers:
their lives and their wealth—
for the gardens of paradise.
They fight in the cause of God,
to kill and be killed.
His promise is true—in the Torah,
the Gospel, and the Quran.
Who is truer to his promise than God?
So rejoice in the trade you made—
it is the supreme triumph.
112Give joyous news
to the believers—
those who turn to God, repenting,
those who worship Him,
who praise Him,
who go out [to fight for Him],
those who bow
and prostrate themselves,
those who enjoin what is right,
and forbid what is wrong,
and those who observe
the limits set by God.
113It is not for the Prophet
or those who believe to ask
forgiveness for the polytheists
—even if they are near of kin—
once it is clear to them that
they shall be inmates of hellfire.
114Abraham did ask forgiveness for his father,
only because he had made him a promise.
But when it was clear to him that his father
was an enemy of God, he disowned him—
Abraham was tenderhearted, forbearing.
115God will not let people go astray
after guiding them,
without making clear to them
what they should fear to do.
God Knows all things.
116God holds dominion
over the heavens and the earth;
He gives life, and He brings death;
and besides God, you have no
protector or helper.
117God turned, in mercy,
to the Prophet, and the emigrants
and helpers who followed him
in the hour of difficulty, though
some of their hearts almost wavered.
Then He turned to them, in mercy.
He is Kind to them, Ever Merciful.
118[He turned, in mercy, also]
to the three who were left behind,°
when the earth, for all its breadth
closed in around them, and
their own souls closed in upon them,
until they were sure there was no
refuge from God except with Him.
Then He turned to them, that they
might turn to Him in repentance.
God is Ever Relenting,
Ever Merciful.
SECTION 15
119You who believe,
be mindful of God,
and stand with those
who are truthful.
120The people of Medina
and the neighboring Bedouin Arabs
should not have stayed behind,
failing to follow God’s messenger;
nor should they have placed
their own lives before his—
for any thirst they suffer,
any fatigue, any hunger
in the cause of God,
any step they take
to antagonize the disbelievers,
any harm they inflict on an enemy—
each of these is recorded
as a good deed on their behalf.
God will not overlook
the reward of those who do good.
121Whether they spend little or much
in God’s cause, or traverse a valley,
it will be recorded on their behalf;
God will reward them
for the best of their deeds.
122Nor should the believers
all go out to fight together. If a group
from each force should venture out,
to gain understanding of the faith,
they might exhort the others
when they return to them,
so that they might take heed.
SECTION 16
123You who believe, fight
the unbelievers who lie close to you,
and let them find you standing firm;
know that God is with those
who are mindful of Him.
124Whenever a sura is revealed,
some of the hypocrites taunt,
“Which of you has it increased in faith?”
The faith of those who believe
has indeed increased,
and they rejoice.
125But for those with diseased hearts,
it adds vileness to their vileness,
and they shall die as disbelievers.
126Don’t they see that they
are tried every year, once or twice?
Yet they don’t repent,
nor do they take heed.
127Whenever a sura is revealed,
they stare at one another, saying,
“Does anyone see you?”
Then they turn away.
God has turned their hearts away,
for they are people
void of understanding.
128A messenger has come to you
from your own people.
He grieves over your suffering,
cares for you, and is kind,
merciful to the believers.°
129But if they turn away,
say, “God suffices for me;
there is no god but Him,
and in Him I place my trust;
for He is Lord of the mighty throne.”
SURA10
Jonah (Yunus)
A late Meccan sura of 109 verses, this is the first of numerous suras named after one of the many Abrahamic prophets recognized and lauded in Islam. Though Jonah is cited (v. 98), other prophets are also prominent, including Noah, Moses, and Aaron. The final 11 verses (vv. 99–109) are addressed directly to the Prophet Muhammad.
In the Name of God, the All Merciful, Ever Merciful
1Alif. Lam. Ra.°
These are the verses
of the Wise Book.
2Are people surprised
that We inspired one of them°
to warn humankind,
and to give joyous news
to those who believe,
that they have a firm footing
with their Lord?
The unbelievers say,
“This is a brazen sorcerer.”
3Your Lord is God,
Who created the heavens
and the earth in six days,
then stationed Himself
on the throne, administering
all things. None can intercede
without His leave.
This is God, your Lord,
so worship Him.
Will you not take heed?
4All of you will return to Him.
The promise of God is true.
It is He who produced creation,
then renewed it, that He might
justly reward those who believe
and do good deeds.
But those who disbelieve
shall taste a boiling potion
and painful punishment,
for their persistent disbelief.
5It is He who made the sun
radiant and the moon
a softer light,
ordaining phases for it
so you might know
the number of years
and the measure of time.°
God created all this
only with true purpose.
He explains His signs
for a people who know.
6In the revolving cycle
of night and day,
and in all that God created
in the heavens and the earth,
are signs for people
who are mindful of God.
7As for those who don’t
expect to meet with Us,
who are pleased and content
with the life of this world,
and those who are heedless
of Our signs—
8they shall have the fire
as their home—
for all they have done.
9But those who believe
and do good deeds,
their Lord will guide them
for their faith;
beneath them will flow rivers
in gardens of bliss.
10Their refrain there will be
“Glory to You, O God,”
and their greeting there
will be “Peace.”
Their refrain will close with
“All praise be to God,
Lord of the universe.”
11If God were to hasten for people
the evil [they reap] just as they
hasten after [worldly] good,
their decreed term
would already have expired.
But We let those who
don’t expect to meet Us
wander blindly
in their transgression.
12When harm befalls someone,
they call to Us—reclining,°
or sitting, or standing.
But when we remove the harm,
they move on as if
they had never called on Us.
This is how the profligates’ deeds
are made to seem pleasing to them.
13We destroyed generations
before you, when they did wrong,
when messengers came to them
with clear signs,
and they would not believe.
This is how We requite sinful people.
14Then We made you
their successors on the earth,
so We might see what you would do.
15But when Our clear signs
are recited to them,
those who don’t expect to meet Us
say, “Bring us a recitation
other than this, or change it.”
Say, “It is not for me to change it
of my own accord; I follow
only what is revealed to me.
If I disobeyed my Lord, I would
fear punishment on the great day.”
16Say, “If God had wished it,
I would not have recited it to you,
nor would He make it known to you.
I was actually among you° a lifetime
before revelation came.
Won’t you understand?”
17Who does greater wrong
than someone who invents lies
about God or denies His signs?
Sinners will never flourish.
18Besides God, they worship things
that can neither hurt nor profit them,
yet they say, “These are
our intercessors with God.” Say,
“Do you presume to tell God
that there is something
He does not know
in the heavens and on the earth?
Glory be to Him—
May He be exalted far above
what they associate with Him.”
19Humankind was one community,
until they differed among themselves.
Had your Lord not already decreed
[a deferred punishment for them,]°
a judgment would have been passed
concerning their differences.°
20And they say,
“Why is no sign sent down to him
from his Lord?”
Tell them, “The unseen is known
to God alone.
So, wait—and I will be waiting
with you.”
21When We let people taste mercy
after affliction strikes them,
see how they begin to scheme
against Our signs. Say,
“God is swifter in scheming.”
Our messengers are recording
all that you scheme.
22It is He who lets you journey
on land and sea,
when you are in ships that sail
with a fair wind, which brings joy.
Then comes a storming wind,
waves lashing from every side,
and they imagine they’ll be engulfed.
They cry out to God, sincere
to Him in faith,
“If You save us from this,
we’ll be truly grateful.”
23But once he saves them,
they transgress on the earth
against all that is right.
Humankind, you transgress
against yourselves—
delighting in the life of the world,
but you will be returned to Us,
and We shall show you
all that you have done.
24The life of the world
is merely like the rain
We send down from the sky,
absorbed by earth’s greenery,
from which humans
and animals eat;
once the earth is bedecked
in its gilded beauty,
and its people think they
have power over it,
Our command reaches it,
by
