Those who were left behind rejoiced that they stayed at home against the wishes of God´s Apostle, being averse to fighting in the way of God with their wealth and lives, and said: "Do not go in this heat." Tell them: "The heat of Hell is far more intense." If only they had cared to instruct themselves!

So let them laugh a little, for weep they will, more as retribution for what they have done.

If you come back to them by (the grace of) God, and they seek your permission to go (to fight), you should tell them: "You will never go out nor fight the enemy with me any more. You preferred to stay back on the first occasion, so stay at home with those who stay behind."

Do not invoke blessings on any of them who die, nor stand to pray at their graves, for they disbelieved in God and His Prophet, and died transgressors.

And let not their wealth and children astonish you. God wishes to punish them through these in the world, and their souls will depart in a state of disbelief.

Whenever a Surah is revealed (which says): "Believe in God and fight along with His Prophet," the well-to-do among them ask for leave to stay at home, and say: "Leave us with those who are left behind."

They prefer to be with women who (are allowed to) stay at home during war, and their hearts are sealed; so they fail to understand.

But the Prophet and those who have embraced the faith with him, and have fought wealth and soul (in the way of God), are blessed and will be successful.

God has provision for them of gardens with Streams of running water, where they will abide for ever. This will be the supreme triumph.

Some Arabs of the desert came with ready excuses, asking for leave to stay behind. But those who had lied to God and His Prophet stayed at home doing nothing. So the punishment for those who disbelieve among them will be painful.

No blame will attach to the old and the sick, or those without means to spend on good acts, if they stay behind provided they are sincere to God and His Apostle; There is no way to blame those who are doers of good, for God is forgiving and kind.

Nor will they be blamed who came to you for transport, to whom you said: "I cannot find any means of conveyance for you," and they went away in tears, grieving that they lacked the means to spend (on carriage).

Blame will lie on those who are rich yet ask your leave to stay behind. They prefer to stay with women who stay at home, and God seals their hearts; so they do not understand.

When you come back they will offer excuses to you. Tell them: "Make no excuses; we do not believe you. God has informed us about you; and God and His Apostle shall watch your conduct. Then you will be brought to Him who knows what is hidden and what is manifest. He will tell you of what you did."

They will beg you in the name of God, on your return, to forgive them; but you keep away from them: They are scum; their abode is Hell: Requital for what they had done.

They will plead on oath that you accept them. Even if you accept them, remember God does not accept people who are disobedient.

The village Arabs are more obstinate in disbelief and hypocrisy, and impervious to ordinances revealed to His Apostle by God; yet God is aware of everything and is wise.

Some of these rustics take whatever they spend in the way of God as a penalty, and wait for an adverse turn in your fortune. For them will be the adverse change, as God hears all and knows everything.

Yet some Arabs of the desert believe in God and the Last Day, and consider what they spend to be a means of bringing them nearer to God and the blessings of the Prophet. This is certainly a means of achieving nearness (to God), and God will admit them to His mercy, for God is forgiving and kind.

Those among the migrants (from Makkah) and helpers (in Madina) who were the first to believe, and those who followed them in goodness, have been accepted by God and they follow His way. For them He has gardens with streams of running water where they will abide for ever; and that is happiness supreme.

Some of the Arabs of the desert around you are hypocrites, and some of the people of Madina are stubborn in hypocrisy. You are not aware of them; We know them, and will punish them twice, and they will be sent to a harrowing doom.

But there are others who admit their sins of mixing good deeds with evil. It may be that God will accept their repentance, for God is forgiving and kind.

Accept the offerings they make from their wealth in order to cleanse and purify them for progress, and invoke blessings upon them. Your blessings will surely bring them peace, for God hears all and knows everything.

Do they not know that God accepts the repentance of His creatures and receives what they offer in charity, and that He is forgiving and kind?

Say to them: "Act. God will see your conduct, and so will His Apostle and the faithful; for you will in the end go back to Him, who knows the unknown and the known, who will tell you of what you were doing."

There are still some others whose affairs await the dispensation of God. He may punish or pardon them, for God is all-knowing and all-wise.

There are those who built a mosque on opposition and disbelief, and to cause rifts among the faithful, and to serve as an outpost for those who have warred against God and His Apostle before this. Yet they will surely swear: "We had only meant well." But God is witness that they are liars.

Never set foot in that place. Only a mosque whose foundations have been laid from the very first on godliness is worthy of your visiting it. There you will find men who wish to be purified; and God loves those who are pure.

Is the man who lays the foundations of his sanctum on his allegiance to God and the wish to seek His favour, better, or he who lays the foundations of his building on the edge of a bank eroded by water, which will collapse with him into the fire of Hell? But God does not guide the people who are wilfully unjust.

The edifice they have built will always fill their minds with perturbation (which will not cease) till their hearts are rent to pieces, for God is all-knowing and all-wise.

God has verily bought the souls and possessions of the faithful in exchange for a promise of Paradise. They fight in the cause of God, and kill and are killed. This is a promise incumbent on Him, as in the Torah, so the Gospel and the Qur´an. And who is more true to his promise than God? So rejoice at the bargain you have made with Him; for this will be triumph supreme.

To those who repent and pay homage, give praise and are devout, who kneel in prayer and bow in supplication, who enjoin good deeds and prohibit the bad, and keep to the limits set by God, announce the news of rejoicing to the faithful.

It is not worthy of the Prophet and those who believe to seek forgiveness for those who are idolaters, even though they may be their relatives, after they have come to know that they are destined for Hell.

As for Abraham´s prayer for his father, he was fulfilling a promise he had made to him. Yet when it became evident to him that (his father) was an enemy of God, he broke away from him, though Abraham was soft hearted and kind.

God never leads men astray after guiding them, until He makes quite clear to them what they should avoid, for God indeed knows each and everything.

Verily God´s is the kingdom of the heavens and the earth. He alone is the giver of life and death; and none do you have besides God as friend and helper.

God was kind to the Prophet, the emigrants, and the helpers of the faithful who followed him in the hour of distress. When a section of them were about to lose courage He turned to them in His mercy, for He is compassionate and kind.

He has relented towards the three also (who had refused to go to the battle of the Ditch) whose case was left undecided, and even the earth with all its expanse had become narrow for them, and their lives were confined, and they came to realise there was no refuge for them except in God. So He softened towards them that they may repent; for God surely accepts repentance and is merciful.

O believers, do not stray from the path of God, and be with those who are truthful.

It was not worthy of the people of Madina, and the Arabs of the desert around them, to abandon the Prophet of God, and to care more for themselves than for him; for there is no hardship or thirst or hunger that they know in the service of God, and no place they walk on where walking provokes the unbelievers, and no harm they receive from the enemy, but is put down as a good deed in their favour. Surely God does not let the recompense of those who do good to go waste.