Hizb 20

Believers, many rabbis and monks wrongfully consume people’s possessions and turn people away from God’s path. [Prophet], tell those who hoard gold and silver instead of giving in God’s cause that they will have a grievous punishment

Translation 1260

on the Day it is heated up in Hell’s Fire and used to brand their foreheads, sides, and backs, they will be told, ‘This is what you hoarded up for yourselves! Now feel the pain of what you hoarded!’

Translation 1260

God decrees that there are twelve months- ordained in God’s Book on the Day when He created the heavens and earth- four months of which are sacred: this is the correct calculation. Do not wrong your souls in these months- though you may fight the idolaters at any time, if they first fight you- remember that God is with those who are mindful of Him

Translation 1260

Postponing sacred months is another act of disobedience by which those who disregard [God] are led astray: they will allow it one year and forbid it in another in order outwardly to conform with the number of God’s sacred months, but in doing so they permit what God has forbidden. Their evil deeds are made alluring to them: God does not guide those who disregard [Him]

Translation 1260

Believers, why, when it is said to you, ‘Go and fight in God’s way,’ do you feel weighed down to the ground? Do you prefer this world to the life to come? How small the enjoyment of this world is, compared with the life to come

Translation 1260

If you do not go out and fight, God will punish you severely and put others in your place, but you cannot harm Him in any way: God has power over all things

Translation 1260

Even if you do not help the Prophet, God helped him when the disbelievers drove him out: when the two of them were in the cave, he [Muhammad] said to his companion, ‘Do not worry, God is with us,’ and God sent His calm down to him, aided him with forces invisible to you, and brought down the disbelievers’ plan. God’s plan is higher: God is almighty and wise

Translation 1260

So go out, no matter whether you are lightly or heavily armed, and struggle in God’s way with your possessions and your persons: this is better for you, if you only knew

Translation 1260

They would certainly have followed you [Prophet] if the benefit was within sight and the journey short, but the distance seemed too great for them. They will swear by God, ‘If we could, we certainly would go out [to battle] with you,’ but they ruin themselves, for God knows that they are lying

Translation 1260

God forgive you [Prophet]! Why did you give them permission to stay at home before it had become clear to you which of them spoke the truth and which were liars

Translation 1260

Those who have faith in God and the Last Day do not ask you for exemption from struggle with their possessions and their persons- God knows exactly who is mindful of Him

Translation 1260

only those who do not have faith in God and the Last Day ask your permission to stay at home: they have doubt in their hearts and so they waver

Translation 1260

If they had really wanted to go out [to battle] with you, they would have made preparations, but God was loath to let them rise up and made them hold back. It was said, ‘Stay with those who stay behind.’

Translation 1260

They would only have given you trouble if they had gone out [to battle] with you: they would have scurried around, trying to sow discord among you, and some of you would willingly have listened to them- God knows exactly who does evil

Translation 1260

Indeed, they had tried before that to stir up discord: they devised plots against you [Prophet] until the truth was exposed and God’s will triumphed, much to their disgust

Translation 1260

Some of them said, ‘Give me permission to stay at home: do not trouble me.’ They are already in trouble: Hell will engulf the disbelievers

Translation 1260

If you [Prophet] have good fortune, it will grieve them, but if misfortune comes your way, they will say to themselves, ‘We took precautions for this,’ and go away rejoicing

Translation 1260

Say, ‘Only what God has decreed will happen to us. He is our Master: let the believers put their trust in God.’

Translation 1260

Say, ‘Do you expect something other than one of the two best things to happen to us? Well, we expect God to inflict punishment on you, either from Himself or at our hands. So wait; we too are waiting.’

Translation 1260

Say, ‘Whether you give willingly or unwillingly, what you give will not be accepted, for you are disobedient people.’

Translation 1260

The only thing that prevents what they give from being accepted is the fact that they defy God and His Messenger, perform the prayer only lazily, and give only grudgingly

Translation 1260

So [Prophet] do not let their possessions or their children impress you: through these God intends to punish them in this world and for their souls to depart while they disbelieve

Translation 1260

They swear by God that they belong with you [believers], but they do not. They are cowardly

Translation 1260

if they could find a place of refuge, or a cave, or somewhere to crawl into, they would run there with great haste

Translation 1260

Some of them find fault with you [Prophet] regarding the distribution of alms: they are content if they are given a share, but angry if not

Translation 1260

If only they would be content with what God and His Messenger have given them, and say, ‘God is enough for us- He will give us some of His bounty and so will His Messenger- to God alone we turn in hope.’

Translation 1260

Alms are meant only for the poor, the needy, those who administer them, those whose hearts need winning over, to free slaves and help those in debt, for God’s cause, and for travellers in need. This is ordained by God; God is all knowing and wise

Translation 1260

There are others who insult the Prophet by saying, ‘He will listen to anything.’ Say, ‘He listens for your own good: he believes in God, trusts the believers, and is a mercy for those of you who believe.’ An agonizing torment awaits those who insult God’s Messenger

Translation 1260

They swear by God in order to please you [believers]: if they were true believers it would be more fitting for them to please God and His Messenger

Translation 1260

Do they not know that whoever opposes God and His Messenger will go to the Fire of Hell and stay there? That is the supreme disgrace

Translation 1260

The hypocrites fear that a sura will be revealed exposing what is in their hearts- say, ‘Carry on with your jokes: God will bring about what you fear!’

Translation 1260

yet if you were to question them, they would be sure to say, ‘We were just chatting, just amusing ourselves.’ Say, ‘Were you making jokes about God, His Revelations, and His Mes-senger

Translation 1260

Do not try to justify yourselves; you have gone from belief to disbelief.’ We may forgive some of you, but We will punish others: they are evildoers

Translation 1260

The hypocrites, both men and women, are all the same: they order what is wrong and forbid what is right; they are tight-fisted. They have ignored God, so He has ignored them. The hypocrites are the disobedient ones

Translation 1260

God promises the Fire of Hell as a permanent home for the hypocrites, both men and women, and the disbelievers: this is enough for them. God rejects them and a lasting punishment awaits them

Translation 1260

‘You are like those who lived before you: they were even stronger than you, with more wealth and children; they enjoyed their share in this life as you have enjoyed yours; like them, you have indulged in idle talk.’ Their deeds go to waste in this world and the next; it is they who will lose all in the life to come

Translation 1260

Have they never heard the stories about their predecessors, the peoples of Noah, Ad, Thamud, Abraham, Midian, and the ruined cities? Their messengers came to them with clear evidence of the truth: God would not deceive them; they deceived themselves

Translation 1260

The believers, both men and women, support each other; they order what is right and forbid what is wrong; they keep up the prayer and pay the prescribed alms; they obey God and His Messenger. God will give His mercy to such people: God is almighty and wise

Translation 1260

God has promised the believers, both men and women, Gardens graced with flowing streams where they will remain; good, peaceful homes in Gardens of lasting bliss; and- greatest of all- God’s good pleasure. That is the supreme triumph

Translation 1260

Prophet, strive against the disbelievers and the hypocrites, and be tough with them. Hell is their final home- an evil destin-ation

Translation 1260

They swear by God that they did not, but they certainly did speak words of defiance and became defiant after having submitted; they tried to do something, though they did not achieve it, ––being spiteful was their only response to God and His Messenger enriching them out of His bounty. They would be better off turning back [to God]: if they turn away, God will punish them in this world and the Hereafter, and there will be no one on earth to protect or help them

Translation 1260

There are some among them who pledged themselves to God, saying, ‘If God gives us some of His bounty, we shall certainly give alms and be righteous,’

Translation 1260

yet when He did give them some of His bounty, they became mean and turned obstinately away

Translation 1260

Because they broke their promise to God, because of all the lies they told, He made hypocrisy settle in their hearts until the Day they meet Him

Translation 1260

Do they not realize that God knows their secrets and their private discussions? That God knows all that is hidden

Translation 1260

It is they who criticize the believers who give freely and those who can only give a little with great effort: they scoff at such people, but it is God who scoffs at them- a painful punishment awaits them

Translation 1260

It makes no difference [Prophet] whether you ask forgiveness for them or not: God will not forgive them even if you ask seventy times, because they reject God and His Messenger. God does not guide those who rebel against Him

Translation 1260

Those who were left behind were happy to stay behind when God’s Messenger set out; they hated the thought of striving in God’s way with their possessions and their persons. They said to one another, ‘Do not go [to war] in this heat.’ Say, ‘Hellfire is hotter.’ If only they understood

Translation 1260

Let them laugh a little; they will weep a lot in return for what they have done

Translation 1260

So [Prophet], if God brings you back to a group of them, who ask you for permission to go out [to battle], say, ‘You will never go out and fight an enemy with me: you chose to sit at home the first time, so remain with those who stay behind now.’

Translation 1260