9. Sūrat al-Tawbah

٩۔ سُورَةُ التوبَة

9.12 God's order to bear arms against the disbelievers, if necessary

٩۔١٢ مقطع في سُورَةُ التوبَة

quran:9:38

O you who have believed, what is ˹the matter˺ with you that, when you are told to go forth in the cause of Allah, you adhere heavily to the earth? Are you satisfied with the life of this world rather than the Hereafter? But what is the enjoyment of worldly life compared to the Hereafter except a ˹very˺ little.  

When the Prophet (s) summoned men for the Tabūk campaign, and they thought it too burdensome, because of the hardship and the extreme heat from which they were suffering, the following was revealed: O you who believe, what is wrong with you that, when it is said to you, ‘Go forth in the way of God,’ you sink down heavily (iththāqaltum: the original tā’ ˹of tathāqaltum˺ has been assimilated with the thā’, and the conjunctive hamza has been supplied), in other words, you hesitate and are disinclined to ˹participate in˺ the struggle, to the ground, to stay sitting upon it? (the interrogative is meant as a rebuke). Are you so content with the life of this world, and its delights, rather than with the Hereafter?, that is, in place of its bliss? Yet the enjoyment of the life of this world is, in, comparison with the enjoyment of, the Hereafter but little, trivial.
القرآن:٩:٣٨

يَا أَيُّهَا الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا مَا لَكُمْ إِذَا قِيلَ لَكُمُ انْفِرُوا فِي سَبِيلِ اللَّهِ اثَّاقَلْتُمْ إِلَى الْأَرْضِ ۚ أَرَضِيتُمْ بِالْحَيَاةِ الدُّنْيَا مِنَ الْآخِرَةِ ۚ فَمَا مَتَاعُ الْحَيَاةِ الدُّنْيَا فِي الْآخِرَةِ إِلَّا قَلِيلٌ  

ونزل لما دعا النبي ﷺ الناس إلى غزوة تبوك وكانوا في عسرة وشدة حر فشق عليهم {يا أيها الذين آمنوا مالكم إذا قيل لكم انفروا في سبيل الله اثاقلتم} بإدغام التاء في الأصل في المثلثة واجتلاب همزة الوصل أي تباطأتم وملتم عن الجهاد {إلى الأرض} والقعود فيها والاستفهام للتوبيخ {أرضيتم بالحياة الدنيا} ولذاتها {من الآخرة} أي بدل نعيمها {فما متاع الحياة الدنيا في} جنب متاع {الآخرة إلا قليل} حقير.
quran:9:39

If you do not go forth, He will punish you with a painful punishment and will replace you with another people, and you will not harm Him at all. And Allah is over all things competent.  

If (illā: lā has been assimilated with the nūn of the conditional particle in, in both instances ˹here and in the next verse˺) you do not go forth, ˹if you do not˺ set out with the Prophet (s) for the struggle, He will chastise you with a painful chastisement, and He will substitute ˹you with˺ another folk other than you, that is, He will bring them in your place, and you will not hurt Him, that is, God, or ˹‘him’ as being˺ the Prophet (s), at all, should you neglect to help him ˹to victory˺, for God ˹Himself˺ will indeed bring victory to His religion; for God has power over all things, including bringing victory to His religion and His Prophet.
القرآن:٩:٣٩

إِلَّا تَنْفِرُوا يُعَذِّبْكُمْ عَذَابًا أَلِيمًا وَيَسْتَبْدِلْ قَوْمًا غَيْرَكُمْ وَلَا تَضُرُّوهُ شَيْئًا ۗ وَاللَّهُ عَلَىٰ كُلِّ شَيْءٍ قَدِيرٌ  

{إلاّ} بإدغام لا في نون إن الشرطية في الموضعين {تنفروا} تخرجوا مع النبي ﷺ للجهاد {يعذبكم عذابا أليما} مؤلماً {ويستبدل قوما غيركم} أي يأت بهم بدلكم {ولا تضروه} أي الله أو النبيَّ ﷺ {شيئا} بترك نصره فإن الله ناصر دينه {والله على كل شيء قدير} ومنه نصر دينه ونبيه.
quran:9:40

If you do not aid the Prophet - Allah has already aided him when those who disbelieved had driven him out ˹of Makkah˺ as one of two, when they were in the cave and he said to his companion, "Do not grieve; indeed Allah is with us." And Allah sent down his tranquillity upon him and supported him with angels you did not see and made the word of those who disbelieved the lowest, while the word of Allah - that is the highest. And Allah is Exalted in Might and Wise.  

If you do not help him, that is, the Prophet (s), ˹know that˺ God has already helped him, when the disbelievers drove him forth, from Mecca, that is, they made him resort to leaving, when they desired to kill him or imprison him or banish him at the council assembly — the second of two (thāniya ithnayn: this is a circumstantial qualifier), that is, one of two, the other being Abū Bakr: in other words, just as God helped him in such a situation, He will not forsake him in another; when (idh substitutes for the previous idh) the two were in the cave — a breach in the mountain called Thawr — when (idh substituting again), he said to his companion, Abū Bakr — who, upon perceiving the ˹sound of the˺ feet of the idolaters ˹nearby˺, had said to him, ‘If one of them should merely look below his feet, he will definitely see us!’ — ‘Do not despair; verily God is with us’, assisting ˹us˺. Then God sent down His Spirit of Peace upon him, His reassurance — some say this means upon the Prophet, others, that it means upon Abū Bakr — and supported him, that is, the Prophet (s), with legions, of angels, you did not see, ˹both˺ in the cave and in the locations in which he fought battles; and He made the word of those who disbelieved, that is, the call to idolatry, the nethermost, the one vanquished, and the Word of God, that is, the profession of His Oneness (shahāda), was the uppermost, the one prevailing and triumphant. And God is Mighty, in His Kingdom, Wise, in His actions.
القرآن:٩:٤٠

إِلَّا تَنْصُرُوهُ فَقَدْ نَصَرَهُ اللَّهُ إِذْ أَخْرَجَهُ الَّذِينَ كَفَرُوا ثَانِيَ اثْنَيْنِ إِذْ هُمَا فِي الْغَارِ إِذْ يَقُولُ لِصَاحِبِهِ لَا تَحْزَنْ إِنَّ اللَّهَ مَعَنَا ۖ فَأَنْزَلَ اللَّهُ سَكِينَتَهُ عَلَيْهِ وَأَيَّدَهُ بِجُنُودٍ لَمْ تَرَوْهَا وَجَعَلَ كَلِمَةَ الَّذِينَ كَفَرُوا السُّفْلَىٰ ۗ وَكَلِمَةُ اللَّهِ هِيَ الْعُلْيَا ۗ وَاللَّهُ عَزِيزٌ حَكِيمٌ  

{إلاّ تنصروه} أي النبيَّ ﷺ {فقد نصره الله إذ} حين {أخرجه الذين كفروا} من مكة أي الجؤوه إلى الخروج لما أرادوا قتله أو حبسه أو نفيه بدار الندوة {ثاني اثنين} حال أي أحد اثنين والآخر أبو بكر - المعنى نصره الله في مثل تلك الحالة فلا يخذله في غيرها - {إذ} بدل من إذ قبله {هما في الغار} نقب في جبل ثور {إذ} بدل ثان {يقول لصاحبه} أبي بكر وقد قال له لما رأى أقدام المشركين لو نظر أحدهم تحت قدميه لأبصرنا {لا تحزن إن الله معنا} بنصره {فأنزل الله سكينته} طمأنينته {عليه} قيل على النبي * وقيل على أبي بكر {وأيَّده} أي النبي ﷺ {بجنود لم تروها} ملائكة في الغار ومواطن قتاله {وجعل كلمة الذين كفروا} أي دعوة الشرك {السفلى} المغلوبة {وكلمة الله} أي كلمة الشهادة {هي العليا} الظاهرة الغالبة {والله عزيز} في ملكه {حكيم} في صنعه.
quran:9:41

Go forth, whether light or heavy, and strive with your wealth and your lives in the cause of Allah. That is better for you, if you only knew.  

Go forth, light and heavy!, that is, energetically or not; it is also said ˹to mean˺, ˹go forth˺ strong or weak, or rich or poor — but this was abrogated by the verse, The weak would not be at fault … ˹Q. 9:91˺. Struggle in the way of God with your possessions and your lives: that is better for you, if only you knew, that it is better for you; so do not sink down heavily.
القرآن:٩:٤١

انْفِرُوا خِفَافًا وَثِقَالًا وَجَاهِدُوا بِأَمْوَالِكُمْ وَأَنْفُسِكُمْ فِي سَبِيلِ اللَّهِ ۚ ذَٰلِكُمْ خَيْرٌ لَكُمْ إِنْ كُنْتُمْ تَعْلَمُونَ  

{انفِروا خفافا وثقالا} نشاطا وغير نشاط، وقيل أقوياء وضعفاء، أو أغنياء وفقراء، وهي منسوخة بآية (ليس على الضعفاء) {وجاهدوا بأموالكم وأنفسكم في سبيل الله ذلكم خير لكم إن كنتم تعلمون} أنه خير لكم فلا تثاقلوا.
quran:9:42

Had it been an easy gain and a moderate trip, the hypocrites would have followed you, but distant to them was the journey. And they will swear by Allah, "If we were able, we would have gone forth with you," destroying themselves ˹through false oaths˺, and Allah knows that indeed they are liars.  

The following was revealed regarding the hypocrites who stayed behind ˹away from the campaign˺: Had it — that to which you summon them — been a near, easily acquired, gain, a transient pleasure of this world, and an easy journey, of moderate ˹length˺, they would have followed you, seeking spoils; but the distance, the hardship, was too great for them, and so they stayed behind. Still they will swear by God, when you return to them: ˹saying˺: ‘Had we been able, to go forth, we would have gone forth with you,’ destroying their souls, by swearing false oaths, and God knows that they truly are liars, in this saying of theirs.
القرآن:٩:٤٢

لَوْ كَانَ عَرَضًا قَرِيبًا وَسَفَرًا قَاصِدًا لَاتَّبَعُوكَ وَلَٰكِنْ بَعُدَتْ عَلَيْهِمُ الشُّقَّةُ ۚ وَسَيَحْلِفُونَ بِاللَّهِ لَوِ اسْتَطَعْنَا لَخَرَجْنَا مَعَكُمْ يُهْلِكُونَ أَنْفُسَهُمْ وَاللَّهُ يَعْلَمُ إِنَّهُمْ لَكَاذِبُونَ  

ونزل في المنافقين الذين تخلفوا {لو كان} ما دعوتهم إليه {عرضا} متاعا من الدنيا {قريبا} سهل المأخذ {وسفرا قاصدا} وسطا {لاتَّبعوك} طلبا للغنيمة {ولكن بعدت عليهم الشُّقَّةُ} المسافة فتخلفوا {وسيحلفون بالله} إذا رجعتم إليهم {لو استطعنا} الخروج {لخرجنا معكم يهلكون أنفسهم} بالحلف الكاذب {والله يعلم إنهم لكاذبون} في قولهم ذلك.