25وَاتَّقوا فِتنَةً لا تُصيبَنَّ الَّذينَ ظَلَموا مِنكُم خاصَّةً ۖ وَاعلَموا أَنَّ اللَّهَ شَديدُ العِقابِMuhammad AsadAnd beware of that temptation to evil which does not befall only those among you who are bent on denying the truth, to the exclusion of others;1 and know that God is severe in retribution.The term fitnah - here rendered as "temptation to evil" - comprises a wide range of concepts, e.g., "seduction" or "trial" or "test" or "an affliction whereby one is tried"; hence also "confusion" (as in 3:7 and 6:23), "discord" or "dissension" (because it constitutes a "trial" of human groupments), as well as "persecution" and "oppression" (because it is an affliction which may cause man to go astray and to lose his faith in spiritual values - a meaning in which the word fitnah is used in 2:191 and 193); and, finally, "sedition" and "civil war" (because it leads whole communities astray). Since the expression "temptation to evil" is applicable to all these meanings, it appears to be the most suitable in the above context: the idea being that it is not merely the deliberate deniers of spiritual truths who are exposed to such a temptation, but that also people who are otherwise righteous may fall prey to it unless they remain always, and consciously, on their guard against anything that might lead them astray from the right course.