The Quran

Preface

يَحلِفونَ بِاللَّهِ ما قالوا وَلَقَد قالوا كَلِمَةَ الكُفرِ وَكَفَروا بَعدَ إِسلامِهِم وَهَمّوا بِما لَم يَنالوا ۚ وَما نَقَموا إِلّا أَن أَغناهُمُ اللَّهُ وَرَسولُهُ مِن فَضلِهِ ۚ فَإِن يَتوبوا يَكُ خَيرًا لَهُم ۖ وَإِن يَتَوَلَّوا يُعَذِّبهُمُ اللَّهُ عَذابًا أَليمًا فِي الدُّنيا وَالآخِرَةِ ۚ وَما لَهُم فِي الأَرضِ مِن وَلِيٍّ وَلا نَصيرٍ

Yusuf Ali

They swear by God that they said nothing (evil), but indeed they uttered blasphemy, and they did it after accepting Islam; and they meditated¹ a plot which they were unable to carry out: this revenge of theirs was (their) only return for the bounty with which God and His Messenger had enriched them! If they repent, it will be best for them; but if they turn back (to their evil ways), God will punish them with a grievous penalty in this life and in the Hereafter: They shall have none on earth to protect or help them.

The reference is to a plot made by the Prophet’s enemies to kill him when he was returning from Tabuk. The plot failed. It was all the more dastardly in that some of the conspirators were among the men of Medīna, who were enriched by the general prosperity that followed the peace and good government established through Islam in Medīna. Trade flourished; justice was firmly administered with an even hand. And the only return that these men could make was a return of evil for good. That was their revenge, because Islam aimed at suppressing selfishness, stood for the rights of the poorest and humblest, and judged worth by righteousness rather than by birth or position.