You are here: Home » Chapter 48 » Verse 11 » Translation
Sura 48
Aya 11
11
سَيَقولُ لَكَ المُخَلَّفونَ مِنَ الأَعرابِ شَغَلَتنا أَموالُنا وَأَهلونا فَاستَغفِر لَنا ۚ يَقولونَ بِأَلسِنَتِهِم ما لَيسَ في قُلوبِهِم ۚ قُل فَمَن يَملِكُ لَكُم مِنَ اللَّهِ شَيئًا إِن أَرادَ بِكُم ضَرًّا أَو أَرادَ بِكُم نَفعًا ۚ بَل كانَ اللَّهُ بِما تَعمَلونَ خَبيرًا

Muhammad Asad

Those of the bedouin who stayed behind1 will say unto thee: "[The need to take care of] our chattels and our families kept us busy: do then, [O Prophet,] ask God to forgive us!" [Thus,] they will utter with their tongues something that is not in their hearts.2 Say: "Who, then, has it in his power to avert from you aught that God may have willed,3 whether it be His will to harm you or to confer a benefit on you? Nay, but God is fully aware of what you do!
  • Lit., "who were left behind": i.e., the bedouin belonging to the tribes of Ghifar, Muzaynah, Juhaynah, Ashja', Aslam and Dhayl, who, although allied with the Prophet and outwardly professing Islam, refused under various pretexts to accompany him on his march to Mecca (which resulted in the Truce of Hudaybiyyah), since they were convinced that the Meccans would give battle and destroy the unarmed Muslims (Zamakhshari). The excuses mentioned in the sequence were made after the Prophet's and his followers' successful return to Medina; hence the future tense, sayaqul.
  • Implying that the excuses which they would proffer would be purely hypocritical.
  • Lit., "has anything in his power [that could be obtained] in your behalf from God": a construction which, in order to become meaningful in translation, necessitates a paraphrase.