Surah 48 - Al Fath THE VICTORY

048.001 Verily We have granted thee a manifest Victory:

048.002 That God may forgive thee thy faults of the past and those to follow; fulfil His favour to thee; and guide thee on the Straight Way;

048.003 And that God may help thee with powerful help.

048.004 It is He Who sent down Tranquillity into the hearts of the Believers, that they may add Faith to their Faith;- for to God belong the Forces of the heavens and the earth; and God is Full of Knowledge and Wisdom--

048.005 That He may admit the men and women who believe, to Gardens beneath which rivers flow, to dwell therein for aye, and remove their ills from them-- and that is, in the sight of God, the highest achievement (for man),-

048.006 And that He may punish the Hypocrites, men and women, and the Polytheists men and women, who imagine an evil opinion of God. On them is a round of Evil: the Wrath of God is on them: He has cursed them and got Hell ready for them: and evil is it for a destination.

048.007 For to God belong the Forces of the heavens and the earth; and God is Exalted in Power, Full of Wisdom.

048.008 We have truly sent thee as a witness, as a bringer of Glad Tidings, and as a Warner:

048.009 In order that ye (O men) may believe in God and His Messenger, that ye may assist and honour Him, and celebrate His praises morning and evening.

048.010 Verily those who plight their fealty to thee do no less than plight their fealty to God: The Hand of God is over their hands: Then anyone who violates his oath, does so to the harm of his own soul, and any one who fulfils what he has covenanted with God-- God will soon grant him a great Reward.

048.011 The desert Arabs who lagged behind will say to thee: "We were engaged in (looking after) our flocks and herds, and our families: Do thou then ask forgiveness for us." They say with their tongues what is not in their hearts. Say: "Who then has any power at all (to intervene) on your behalf with God, if His Will is to give you some loss or to give you some profit? But God is well acquainted with all that ye do.

048.012 "Nay, ye thought that the Messenger and the Believers would never return to their families; this seemed pleasing in your hearts, and ye conceived an evil thought, for ye are a people lost (in wickedness)."

048.013 And if any believe not in God and His Messenger, We have prepared, for those who reject God, a Blazing Fire!

048.014 To God belongs the dominion of the heavens and the earth: He forgives whom He wills, and He punishes whom He wills: but God is Oft-Forgiving, Most Merciful.

048.015 Those who lagged behind (will say), when ye (are free to) march and take booty (in war): "Permit us to follow you." They wish to change God's decree: Say: "Not thus will ye follow us: God has already declared (this) beforehand": then they will say, "But ye are jealous of us." Nay, but little do they understand (such things).

048.016 Say to the desert Arabs who lagged behind: "Ye shall be summoned (to fight) against a people given to vehement war: then shall ye fight, or they shall submit. Then if ye show obedience, God will grant you a goodly reward, but if ye turn back as ye did before, He will punish you with a grievous Penalty."

048.017 No blame is there on the blind, nor is there blame on the lame, nor on one ill (if he joins not the war): But he that obeys God and his Messenger-- (God) will admit him to Gardens beneath which rivers flow; and he who turns back, (God) will punish him with a grievous Penalty.

048.018 God's Good Pleasure was on the Believers when they swore Fealty to thee under the Tree: He knew what was in their hearts, and He sent down Tranquillity to them; and He rewarded them with a speedy Victory;

048.019 And many gains will they acquire (besides): and God is Exalted in Power, Full of Wisdom.

048.020 God has promised you many gains that ye shall acquire, and He has given you these beforehand; and He has restrained the hands of men from you; that it may be a Sign for the Believers, and that He may guide you to a Straight Path;

048.021 And other gains (there are), which are not within your power, but which God has compassed: and God has power over all things.

048.022 If the Unbelievers should fight you, they would certainly turn their backs; then would they find neither protector nor helper.

048.023 (Such has been) the practice (approved) of God already in the past: no change wilt thou find in the practice (approved) of God.

048.024 And it is He Who has restrained their hands from you and your hands from them in the midst of Makkah, after that He gave you the victory over them. And God sees well all that ye do.

048.025 They are the ones who denied revelation and hindered you from the Sacred Mosque and the sacrificial animals, detained from reaching their place of sacrifice. Had there not been believing men and believing women whom ye did not know that ye were trampling down and on whose account a crime would have accrued to you without (your) knowledge, (God would have allowed you to force your way, but He held back your hands) that He may admit to His Mercy whom He will. If they had been apart, We should certainly have punished the Unbelievers among them with a grievous Punishment.

048.026 While the Unbelievers got up in their hearts heat and cant - the heat and cant of Ignorance,- God sent down His Tranquillity to his Messenger and to the Believers, and made them stick close to the command of self-restraint; and well were they entitled to it and worthy of it. And God has full knowledge of all things.

048.027 Truly did God fulfil the vision for His Messenger: ye shall enter the Sacred Mosque, if God wills, with minds secure, heads shaved, hair cut short, and without fear. For He knew what ye knew not, and He granted, besides this, a speedy victory.

048.028 It is He Who has sent His messenger with Guidance and the Religion of Truth, to proclaim it over all religion: and enough is God for a Witness.

048.029 Muhammad is the Messenger of God; and those who are with him are strong against Unbelievers, (but) compassionate amongst each other. Thou wilt see them bow and prostrate themselves (in prayer), seeking Grace from God and (His) Good Pleasure. On their faces are their marks, (being) the traces of their prostration. This is their similitude in the Tawrah; and their similitude in the Gospel is: like a seed which sends forth its blade, then makes it strong; it then becomes thick, and it stands on its own stem, (filling) the sowers with wonder and delight. As a result, it fills the Unbelievers with rage at them. God has promised those among them who believe and do righteous deeds forgiveness, and a great Reward.