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41
۞ يا أَيُّهَا الرَّسولُ لا يَحزُنكَ الَّذينَ يُسارِعونَ فِي الكُفرِ مِنَ الَّذينَ قالوا آمَنّا بِأَفواهِهِم وَلَم تُؤمِن قُلوبُهُم ۛ وَمِنَ الَّذينَ هادوا ۛ سَمّاعونَ لِلكَذِبِ سَمّاعونَ لِقَومٍ آخَرينَ لَم يَأتوكَ ۖ يُحَرِّفونَ الكَلِمَ مِن بَعدِ مَواضِعِهِ ۖ يَقولونَ إِن أوتيتُم هٰذا فَخُذوهُ وَإِن لَم تُؤتَوهُ فَاحذَروا ۚ وَمَن يُرِدِ اللَّهُ فِتنَتَهُ فَلَن تَملِكَ لَهُ مِنَ اللَّهِ شَيئًا ۚ أُولٰئِكَ الَّذينَ لَم يُرِدِ اللَّهُ أَن يُطَهِّرَ قُلوبَهُم ۚ لَهُم فِي الدُّنيا خِزيٌ ۖ وَلَهُم فِي الآخِرَةِ عَذابٌ عَظيمٌ

Muhammad Asad

O APOSTLE! Be not grieved by those who vie with one another in denying the truth: such as those1 who say with their mouths, "We believe," the while their hearts do not believe; and such of the Jewish faith as eagerly listen to any falsehood, eagerly listen to other people without having come to thee [for enlightenment].2 They distort the meaning of the [revealed] words, taking them out of their context, saying [to themselves], "If such-and-such [teaching] is vouchsafed unto you, accept it; but if it is not vouchsafed unto you, be on your guard!"3 [Be not grieved by them -] for, if God wills anyone to be tempted to evil, thou canst in no wise prevail with God in his behalf.4 It is they whose hearts God is not willing to cleanse. Theirs shall be ignominy in this world, and awesome suffering in the life to come -
  • Lit., "from among those".
  • Although this verse is, in the first instance, addressed to the Prophet, it concerns all followers of the Qur'an and is, therefore, valid for all times. The same observation applies to the people of whom this verse speaks: although it mentions only the hypocrites and the Jews, it refers, by implication, to all people who are prejudiced against Islam and willingly lend ear to any false statement about its teachings, preferring to listen to unfriendly non-Muslim "experts" rather than to turn to the Qur'an itself for enlightenment - which is the meaning of the phrase, "without having come to thee [O Muhammad]".
  • I.e., they are prepared to accept such of the Qur'anic teachings as might suit their preconceived notions, but are not prepared to accept anything that goes against their own inclinations.
  • This connects with the beginning of this verse; hence my interpolation. For the meaning of fitnah, see surah 8, note 25.