فَإِذَا انسَلَخَ الْأَشْهُرُ الْحُرُمُ

But once the Sacred Months have passed,

But when the sacred months expire

When the [four] forbidden months are over

But when the forbidden months are past

So when the sacred months have passed away

So, when the prohibiting months are drawn away

وَاقْعُدُوا لَهُمْ كُلَّ مَرْصَدٍ
and lie in wait for them on every way

wait for them at every lookout post

and prepare for them each and every ambush

and sit in ambush for them everywhere

and lie in wait for them in every stratagem

فَخَلُّوا سَبِيلَهُمْ

then set them free

leave them alone

let them go on their way

then leave their way free

then open the way for them

وَإِنْ أَحَدٌ مِّنَ الْمُشْرِكِينَ اسْتَجَارَكَ
And if any one of the polytheists seeks your protection

And if one of the idolaters seek protection from you

ثُمَّ أَبْلِغْهُ مَأْمَنَهُ
and afterward convey him to his place of safety

thereafter convey him to his secure place

and then escort him to where he can be secure

Then deliver him to his place of safety

then make him attain his place of safety


فَمَا اسْتَقَامُوا لَكُمْ فَاسْتَقِيمُوا لَهُمْ

so, as long as they go straight with you, so go straight with them

So, as long as they are true to you, be true to them


كَيْفَ وَإِن يَظْهَرُوا عَلَيْكُمْ

How? And in case they get the better of you,


وَإِن يَظْهَرُوا عَلَيْكُمْ
when you are overpowered by them

if they have the upper hand of you

if they prevail against you

if they get an advantage over you

If they were to have the upper hand over you

if they gain dominance over you

if they overcome you

if they were to get the upper hand over you

لَا يَرْقُبُوا فِيكُمْ إِلًّا وَلَا ذِمَّةً
they will respect towards you neither consanguinity nor treaty

they regard not the ties, either of kinship or of covenant with you

they regard not pact nor honour in respect of you

they would not pay regard in your case to ties of relationship, nor those of covenant

they would have no respect for kinship or treaty

they will not observe any bond or treaty with you


يُرْضُونَكُم بِأَفْوَاهِهِمْ وَتَأْبَى قُلُوبُهُمْ
they satisfy you with their mouths, (but) their hearts refuse

With (good words from) their mouths they please you, but their hearts are averse to you

they please you with their mouths while their hearts do not consent

With (fair words from) their mouths they entice you, but their hearts are averse from you

They only flatter you with their tongues, but their hearts are in denial

وَأَكْثَرُهُمْ فَاسِقُونَ
and most of them are wicked

and most of them are lawbreakers

Most of them are sinners

and most of them are defiantly disobedient

and most of them are rebellious

and most of them are transgressors

And most of them are wrongdoers

and most of them are immoral

فَصَدُّوا عَن سَبِيلِهِ
and (many) have they hindered from His way

and have firmly hindered people from His Path

and barred others from His path

so they have prevented (people) from His path

so they turn away from His way

and averted [people] from His way

so they debar (men) from His way

إِنَّهُمْ سَاءَ مَا كَانُوا يَعْمَلُونَ
evil indeed are the deeds they have done

How evil their actions are!

evil is what they have been doing

surely odious is whatever they were doing


لَا يَرْقُبُونَ فِي مُؤْمِنٍ إِلًّا وَلَا ذِمَّةً
They do not honour the bonds of kinship or treaties with the believers

They do not observe any bond or treaty with a believer


وَأُولئك هُمُ الْمُعْتَدُونَ

and these are they who go beyond the limits

It is they who have transgressed all bounds

It is they who are the transgressors
Or if a man tries to seduce another woman, she recommends a dose of burnt hoopoe nails to set him straight.

وَإِن نَّكَثُوا أَيْمَانَهُم
But if they break their oaths

But if they violate their oaths

And if they break their pledges

وَطَعَنُوا فِي دِينِكُمْ
and attack your faith

and attack your religion with disapproval and criticism

and assail your religion

and defame your religion

and taunt you for your Faith

and (openly) revile your religion

and speak evil of your Faith

and discredit your religion


إِنَّهُمْ لَا أَيْمَانَ لَهُمْ
who never honour their oaths

for surely their oaths are nothing to them

Lo! they have no binding oaths

there are no oaths [sacred] to them

oaths mean nothing to them

surely their oaths are nothing

for they have no regard for their pledged words




لَعَلَّهُمْ يَنتَهُونَ
so that they may desist

that possibly they would refrain

that thus they may be restrained

that they might cease


وَهَمُّوا بِإِخْرَاجِ الرَّسُولِ
and designed to drive out the Messenger

and conspired to expel the Messenger ث¹from Mecca

and did all they could to drive the Messenger away

and tried to drive the Messenger out

and plotted to expel the Messenger,

and aimed at the expulsion of the Messenger

and determined to expel the Messenger


أَتَخْشَوْنَهُمْ
Do you fear them?

Are you apprehensive of them?


وَيُخْزِهِمْ
and disgrace them

and will humiliate them

and cover them with shame

and bring them to disgrace

and He will lay them low

and put them to shame

وَيَشْفِ صُدُورَ قَوْمٍ مُّؤْمِنِينَ

and soothe the hearts of the believers

and cure the breasts of a people (who are) believers

and heal the breasts of a believing people,

and He will heal the breasts of folk who are believers

and satisfy the breasts of a believing people

and will soothe the bosoms of those who believe

and bring relief to bosoms of the believing people


مَرَدُوا عَلَى النِّفَاقِ
they are ever-insurgent with hypocrisy

They have mastered hypocrisy

they are obstinate in their hypocrisy

who have become inured to hypocrisy

They are adamant on hypocrisy

they are stubborn in hypocrisy

They have become accustomed to hypocrisy

there are some who persist in hypocrisy

they exaggerate and persist in hypocrisy

فِي طُغْيَانِهِمْ يَعْمَهُونَ

in their trespasses, wandering blindly in distraction

wander blindly on in their contumacy

in their transgression, wandering blindly

in their inordinacy, blindly wandering on

wander blindly in their rebellion

in their inordinance blundering

wandering in distraction to and fro

that they may blindly stumble in their transgression

wander blindly in their excesses

wander blindly in their defiance

انفِرُوا خِفَافًا وَثِقَالًا
March out, light and heavy!

Go forth, light-armed and heavy-armed

So go out, no matter whether you are lightly or heavily armed


March forth whether it is easy or difficult for you



لَوْ كَانَ عَرَضًا قَرِيبًا وَسَفَرًا قَاصِدًا
Were it a gain at hand or a short journey

if the benefit was within sight and the journey short

Had it been a gain at hand or an average journey

Had it been a near advantage and a short journey,

Had it been an easy gain and a moderate trip

Had it been a near adventure and an easy journey

Had the gain been within reach and the journey shorter


وَلَكِن بَعُدَتْ عَلَيْهِمُ الشُّقَّةُ
but the distance seemed too far to them

but the distance seemed too great for them

but the distance seemed too far to them

but the distance was long

but the tedious journey was too long for them


وَسَيَحْلِفُونَ بِاللَّهِ لَوِ اسْتَطَعْنَا لَخَرَجْنَا مَعَكُمْ
Still they will swear by Allah: "If only we could, we would surely have gone forth with you."


They will swear by Allah: “We would have certainly set out with you, if we were able to

يُهْلِكُونَ أَنفُسَهُمْ
They merely bring ruin upon themselves

but they ruin themselves

They are putting themselves to ruin

They would destroy their own souls

they cause their own souls to perish

They bring perdition upon theirselves


فَلَا تَكُ فِي مِرْيَةٍ مِّنْهُ
So be not in doubt about it

So have no doubt about it

So do not be (engaged in) wrangling about it


وَمَا نَرَاكَ اتَّبَعَكَ إِلَّا الَّذِينَ هُمْ أَرَاذِلُنَا بَادِيَ الرَّأْيِ
and we see not that any follow you save the most abject among us, without reflection



إلاَّ الَّذِينَ هُمْ أَرَاذِلُنَا بَادِيَ الرَّأْيِ

only the vilest among us

but the meanest among us, in judgment immature

save the most abject among us, without reflection

except the ones who are the most decrepit of us, inconsiderately

except those who are the lowest of us

except the lowliest of our folk

except the lowliest among us

وَمَا نَرَى لَكُمْ عَلَيْنَا مِن فَضْلٍ
We behold in you no merit above us

we see in you (all) any merit above us

We cannot see how you are any better than we are

And in no way do we see you have over us any grace (Superiority)

and we do not see in you any excellence over us

and we have not seen in you people any superiority over us


وَإِذَا مَسَّ الْإِنسَانَ الضُّرُّ
And when affliction touches a man

Whenever someone is touched by hardship

When trouble befalls man

When man is afflicted by a hardship

When trouble toucheth a man,

And when affliction touches man

And if misfortune touch a man

And when harm touches man

And when adversity touches man


دَعَانَا لِجَنبِهِ
he invokes Us to his side

he invokes Us

he calls upon Us

he cries out to Us

he prays to Us (at all times)


فَلَمَّا كَشَفْنَا عَنْهُ ضُرَّهُ
But when We relieve their hardship

but as soon as We relieve him of his trouble

But when We remove his hardship

But no sooner than We have removed his affliction,

but when We have relieved him of the misfortune

But when We have removed his harm from him

then as soon as We have lifted off him his adversity


مَرَّ كَأَن لَّمْ يَدْعُنَا إِلَى ضُرٍّ مَّسَّهُ

he goes on his way as if he had never cried out to Us to remove his trouble


كَذَلِكَ زُيِّنَ لِلْمُسْرِفِينَ مَا كَانُوا يَعْمَلُونَ
This is how the misdeeds of the transgressors have been made appealing to them

In this way the deeds of such heedless people are made attractive to them

This is how their deeds appear beautified to the transgressors

Thus it is that the misdeeds of the transgressors are made fair-seeming to them

Thus, whatever they were doing was adorned for the extravagant

وَلَقَدْ أَهْلَكْنَا الْقُرُونَ مِن قَبْلِكُمْ
And We have already caused the generations even before you to perish

And indeed, We destroyed generations before you

وَكُنتَ مِنَ الْمُفْسِدِينَ
and were one of the corruptors

and you were one of the evil-doers

and been of the wrong-doers

and you were of the mischief-makers

you had always been a rebel, and a troublemaker


كَبُرَتْ كَلِمَةً تَخْرُجُ مِنْ أَفْوَاهِهِمْ

Dreadful is the word that came out of their mouths


An odious word it is, coming out of their mouths

Mighty is the word that comes out of their mouths

Grave is the word that comes out of their mouths

a grievous word it is that comes out of their mouths

It is a grievous thing that issues from their mouths

it is a monstrous assertion that comes out of their mouths

What a terrible claim that comes out of their mouths!0



إِن يَقُولُونَ إِلَّا كَذِبًا

They say nothing but lies

What they utter is merely a lie

what they say is nothing but falsehood!0

they speak nothing but a lie

they speak not except a lie

They speak naught but a lie