218إِنَّ الَّذينَ آمَنوا وَالَّذينَ هاجَروا وَجاهَدوا في سَبيلِ اللَّهِ أُولٰئِكَ يَرجونَ رَحمَتَ اللَّهِ ۚ وَاللَّهُ غَفورٌ رَحيمٌMuhammad AsadVerily, they who have attained to faith, and they who have forsaken the domain of evil1 and are striving hard in God's cause - these it is who may look forward to God's grace: for God is much-forgiving, a dispenser of grace.The expression alladhina hajaru (lit., "those who have forsaken their homelands") denotes, primarily, the early Meccan Muslims who migrated at the Prophet's bidding to Medina - which was then called Yathrib - in order to be able to live in freedom and in accordance with the dictates of Islam. After the conquest of Mecca by the Muslims in the year 8 H., this exodus (hijrah) from Mecca to Medina ceased to be a religious obligation. Ever since the earliest days of Islam, however, the term hijrah has had a spiritual connotation as well-namely, a "forsaking of the domain of evil" and turning towards God: and since this spiritual connotation applies both to the historical muhajirun ("emigrants") of early Islam and to all believers of later times who forsake all that is sinful and "migrate unto God", I am using this expression frequently.