Surah 47. Muhammad, Ayah 20
| وَيَقُولُ الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا لَوْلَا نُزِّلَتْ سُورَةٌ ۖ فَإِذَا أُنْزِلَتْ سُورَةٌ مُحْكَمَةٌ وَذُكِرَ فِيهَا الْقِتَالُ ۙ رَأَيْتَ الَّذِينَ فِي قُلُوبِهِمْ مَرَضٌ يَنْظُرُونَ إِلَيْكَ نَظَرَ الْمَغْشِيِّ عَلَيْهِ مِنَ الْمَوْتِ ۖ فَأَوْلَىٰ لَهُمْ |
| Asad | : | NOW THOSE who have attained to faith say, "Would that a revelation [allowing us to fight] were bestowed from on high!"25 But now that a revelation clear in and by itself,26 mentioning war, has been bestowed from on high, thou canst see those in whose hearts is disease looking at thee, [O Muhammad,] with the look of one who is about to faint for fear of death! And yet, far better for them would be |
| Malik | : | The believers were asking: "Why is not a Surah revealed allowing us to fight?" But when a decisive Surah carrying the order of allowing them to fight is revealed, you saw those in whose hearts was a disease looking at you like the one under the shadow of death. Woe to them! |
| Pickthall | : | And those who believe say: If only a Surah were revealed! But when a decisive Surah is revealed and war is mentioned therein, thou seest those in whose hearts is a disease looking at thee with the look of men fainting unto death. Therefor woe unto them! |
| Yusuf Ali | : | Those who believe say "Why is not a Surah sent down (for us)?" But when a Surah of basic or categorical meaning is revealed and fighting is mentioned therein thou wilt see those in whose hearts is a disease looking at thee with a look of one in swoon at the approach of death: but more fitting for them 4843 4844 4845 |
| Transliteration | : | Wayaqoolu allatheena amanoo lawla nuzzilat sooratun faitha onzilat sooratun muhkamatun wathukira feeha alqitalu raayta allatheena fee quloobihim maradun yanthuroona ilayka nathara almaghshiyyi AAalayhi mina almawti faawla lahum |
Note - 25I am rendering the term surah here and in the next
sentence as "a revelation", for whereas there is no surah
as such which deals exclusively with questions of war,
there are numerous references to it in various surahs;
and this is evidently the meaning of this term in the
present context as well as in 9:86. - There is no doubt
that this verse precedes the revelation, in the year 1
H., of 22:39, which states categorically - and for the
first time - that the believers are allowed to wage war
whenever "war is wrongfully waged" against them (see in
this connection note [57] on 22:39).
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Note - 26This is a reference to {22:39-40}. For an explanation of
the expression muhkamah ("clear in and by itself"), see
note [5] on 3:7. (As in the preceding sentence, the
term surah has been rendered here, exceptionally, as "
revelation".)
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Note - 4843The men of faith and loyalty are eager and anxious to get
a command to serve the Cause even if it be at the
sacrifice of their lives. Not so the Hypocrites, "those
in whose hearts is a disease". They are mortally afraid
as mentioned below.
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Note - 4844Cf. iii. 7, and n. 347. The defence of truth and
righteousness at all sacrifice, when a definite and
categorical command issues from the ruler of an Islamic
state is a fundamental condition of enlistment in the
cause of Allah. It is true that Punishment and Judgment
belong to Allah alone; but our mettle and fidelity have
to be tested, (see verse 4 above), and Allah uses human
agency in human affairs.
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Note - 4845Cf. ii. 10. The disease is hypocrisy, disloyalty to the
Cause, want of courage and of the spirit of
self-sacrifice, want of true understanding.
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I am rendering the term surah here and in the next sentence as "a revelation", for whereas there is no surah as such which deals exclusively with questions of war, there are numerous references to it in various surahs; and this is evidently the meaning of this term in the present context as well as in 9:86. - There is no doubt that this verse precedes the revelation, in the year 1 H., of 22:39, which states categorically - and for the first time - that the believers are allowed to wage war whenever "war is wrongfully waged" against them (see in this connection note [57] on 22:39). |
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This is a reference to {22:39-40}. For an explanation of the expression muhkamah ("clear in and by itself"), see note [5] on 3:7. (As in the preceding sentence, the term surah has been rendered here, exceptionally, as " revelation".) |
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The men of faith and loyalty are eager and anxious to get a command to serve the Cause even if it be at the sacrifice of their lives. Not so the Hypocrites, "those in whose hearts is a disease". They are mortally afraid as mentioned below. |
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Cf. iii. 7, and n. 347. The defence of truth and righteousness at all sacrifice, when a definite and categorical command issues from the ruler of an Islamic state is a fundamental condition of enlistment in the cause of Allah. It is true that Punishment and Judgment belong to Allah alone; but our mettle and fidelity have to be tested, (see verse 4 above), and Allah uses human agency in human affairs. |
