47. Sūrat Muḥammad

٤٧۔ سُورَةُ مُحَمّد

47.7 The promise of obedience (Islam) and good talk which is not followed by action is cursed by God.

٤٧۔٧ مقطع في سُورَةُ مُحَمّد

quran:47:20

Those who believe say, "Why has a surah not been sent down? But when a precise surah is revealed and fighting is mentioned therein, you see those in whose hearts is hypocrisy looking at you with a look of one overcome by death. And more appropriate for them ˹would have been˺  

And those who believe say, seeking to take part in the struggle: ‘Why has a sūra not been revealed?’, ˹one˺ in which there is mention of the ˹command to participate in the˺ struggle. But when a definitive sūra is revealed, one in which nothing is abrogated (naskh), and fighting, that is to say, requirement for it, is mentioned in it, you see those in whose hearts is a sickness, that is, doubt — and they are the hypocrites — looking at you with the look of someone fainting at ˹the point of˺ death, because of ˹their˺ fear of it and ˹their˺ aversion to it; in other words, they fear fighting and are averse to it. Yet more fitting for them (faawlā lahum is a subject, the predicate of which ˹is the following, tā‘atun wa-qawlun ma‘rūfun˺)
القرآن:٤٧:٢٠

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  

{ويقول الذين آمنوا} طلبا للجهاد {لولا} هلا {نزلت سورة} فيها ذكر الجهاد {فإذا أنزلت سورة محكمة} أي لم ينسخ منها شيء {وذكر فيها القتال} أي طلبه {رأيت الذين في قلوبهم مرض} أي شك وهم المنافقون {ينظرون إليك نظر المغشي عليه من الموت} خوفا منه وكراهة له، أي فهم يخافون من القتال ويكرهونه {فأولى لهم} مبتدأ خبره.
quran:47:21

Obedience and good words. And when the matter ˹of fighting˺ was determined, if they had been true to Allah, it would have been better for them.  

would be ˹to offer˺ obedience and honourable words, that is, ˹words˺ that are kind to you. Then, when the matter has been resolved upon, that is to say, ˹when˺ fighting has been prescribed, if they are loyal to God, in faith and obedience, it will be better for them (the sentence beginning with law, ‘if’, constitutes the response to idhā, ‘when’).
القرآن:٤٧:٢١

طَاعَةٌ وَقَوْلٌ مَعْرُوفٌ ۚ فَإِذَا عَزَمَ الْأَمْرُ فَلَوْ صَدَقُوا اللَّهَ لَكَانَ خَيْرًا لَهُمْ  

{طاعة وقول معروف} أي حسن لك {فإذا عزم الأمر} أي فرض القتال {فلو صدقوا الله} في الإيمان والطاعة {لكان خيرا لهم} وجملة لو جواب إذا.
quran:47:22

So would you perhaps, if you turned away, cause corruption on earth and sever your ˹ties of˺ relationship?  

May it not be ˹the case˺ with you, (read ‘asītum or ‘asaytum; there is a shift here from the third person to the second person address), that if you were to turn away, ˹if˺ you were to shun faith, you would then cause corruption in the land and sever your kinship ties?, in other words, ˹that˺ you would then return to the ways of pagandom such as belligerence and fighting.
القرآن:٤٧:٢٢

فَهَلْ عَسَيْتُمْ إِنْ تَوَلَّيْتُمْ أَنْ تُفْسِدُوا فِي الْأَرْضِ وَتُقَطِّعُوا أَرْحَامَكُمْ  

{فهل عسَِيتم} بكسر السين وفتحها وفيه التفات عن الغيبة إلى الخطاب، أي لعلكم {إن توليتم} أعرضتم عن الإيمان {أن تفسدوا في الأرض وتقطعوا أرحامكم} أي تعودوا إلى أمر الجاهلية من البغي والقتال.
quran:47:23

Those ˹who do so˺ are the ones that Allah has cursed, so He deafened them and blinded their vision.  

Those, that is, the agents of corruption, are the ones whom God has cursed, so made them deaf, to hearing the truth, and blinded their eyes, to the path of guidance.
القرآن:٤٧:٢٣

أُولَٰئِكَ الَّذِينَ لَعَنَهُمُ اللَّهُ فَأَصَمَّهُمْ وَأَعْمَىٰ أَبْصَارَهُمْ  

{أولئك} أي المفسدون {الذين لعنهم الله فأصمهم} عن استماع الحق {وأعمى أبصارهم} عن طريق الهدى.
quran:47:24

Then do they not reflect upon the Qur'an, or are there locks upon ˹their˺ hearts?  

Do they not contemplate the Qur’ān?, and so recognise the truth. Or (am here is like bal, ‘nay, but’) is it that there are locks on, their, hearts?, so they are unable to comprehend it.
القرآن:٤٧:٢٤

أَفَلَا يَتَدَبَّرُونَ الْقُرْآنَ أَمْ عَلَىٰ قُلُوبٍ أَقْفَالُهَا  

{أفلا يتدبرون القرآن} فيعرفون الحق {أم} بل {على قلوب} لهم {أقفالها} فلا يفهمونه.
quran:47:25

Indeed, those who reverted back ˹to disbelief˺ after guidance had become clear to them - Satan enticed them and prolonged hope for them.  

Truly those who have turned, by way of hypocrisy, their backs after the guidance has become clear to them, Satan has seduced, he has adorned ˹disbelief for˺, them and has given them ˹false˺ hopes (read wa-umliya lahum, ‘˹false˺ hopes have been given to them’, or wa-amlā lahum, where the one who gives the ˹false˺ hopes is Satan, ˹but only˺ by God’s will, exalted be He, for he ˹Satan˺ is the one who leads them astray).
القرآن:٤٧:٢٥

إِنَّ الَّذِينَ ارْتَدُّوا عَلَىٰ أَدْبَارِهِمْ مِنْ بَعْدِ مَا تَبَيَّنَ لَهُمُ الْهُدَى ۙ الشَّيْطَانُ سَوَّلَ لَهُمْ وَأَمْلَىٰ لَهُمْ  

{إن الذين ارتدوا} بالنفاق {على أدبارهم من بعد ما تبين لهم الهدى الشيطان سوَّل} أي زيَّن {لهم وأَُملى لهم} بضم أوله وبفتحه واللام والمملي الشيطان بإرادته تعالى فهو المضل لهم.
quran:47:26

That is because they said to those who disliked what Allah sent down, "We will obey you in part of the matter." And Allah knows what they conceal.  

That, leading of them astray, is because they said to those who were averse to what God revealed, namely, to the idolaters: ‘We will obey you in some matters’, that is to say, by cooperating to maintain enmity against the Prophet (s) and preventing people from participating in the struggle alongside him: they had said as much secretly, but God, exalted be He, exposed it; and God knows their secrets (read asrārahum, as the plural of sirr, ‘a secret’, or isrārahum, ‘their keeping ˹of things˺ secret’, as the verbal noun).
القرآن:٤٧:٢٦

ذَٰلِكَ بِأَنَّهُمْ قَالُوا لِلَّذِينَ كَرِهُوا مَا نَزَّلَ اللَّهُ سَنُطِيعُكُمْ فِي بَعْضِ الْأَمْرِ ۖ وَاللَّهُ يَعْلَمُ إِسْرَارَهُمْ  

{ذلك} أي إضلالهم {بأنهم قالوا للذين كرهوا ما نزَّل الله} أي للمشركين {سنطيعكم في بعض الأمر} أي المعاونة على عداوة النبي ﷺ وتثبيط الناس عن الجهاد معه، قالوا ذلك سرا فأظهره الله تعالى {والله يعلم أَِسرارهم} بفتح الهمزة جمع سر وبكسرها مصدر.
quran:47:27

Then how ˹will it be˺ when the angels take them in death, striking their faces and their backs?  

Then how will it be, their predicament, when the angels take them away, beating (yadribūna is a circumstantial qualifier referring to the angels) their faces and their backs?, with hooked iron rods.
القرآن:٤٧:٢٧

فَكَيْفَ إِذَا تَوَفَّتْهُمُ الْمَلَائِكَةُ يَضْرِبُونَ وُجُوهَهُمْ وَأَدْبَارَهُمْ  

{فكيف} حالهم {إذا توفتهم الملائكة يضربون} حال من الملائكة {وجوههم وأدبارهم} ظهورهم بمقامع من حديد.
quran:47:28

That is because they followed what angered Allah and disliked ˹what earns˺ His pleasure, so He rendered worthless their deeds.  

That, taking of them away in the state mentioned, is because they followed what angers God, and ˹because˺ they were averse to what pleases Him, that is to say, ˹they were averse to˺ doing what pleases Him. Therefore He has made their works fail.
القرآن:٤٧:٢٨

ذَٰلِكَ بِأَنَّهُمُ اتَّبَعُوا مَا أَسْخَطَ اللَّهَ وَكَرِهُوا رِضْوَانَهُ فَأَحْبَطَ أَعْمَالَهُمْ  

{ذلك} التوفي على الحالة المذكورة {بأنهم اتبعوا ما أسخط الله وكرهوا رضوانه} أي العمل بما يرضيه {فأحبط أعمالهم}.