Sūra XLVIII. Fat-ḥ or Victory.

The Holy Quran, tr. by Yusuf Ali, [1934], at sacred-texts.com

p. 1391

Sūra XLVIII.

Fat-ḥ or Victory.

In  the name of God, Most Gracious,
Most Merciful.

1. Verily We have granted
Thee a manifest Victory:

2. 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;

3. And that God may help
Thee with powerful help.

4. 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

p. 1392

The Forces of the heavens
And the earth; and God is
Full of Knowledge and Wisdom;—

5. 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),—

6. 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.

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

p. 1393

8. We have truly sent thee
As a witness, as a
Bringer of Glad Tidings,
And as a Warner:

9. In order that ye
(O men) may believe
In God and His Apostle,
That ye may assist
And honour Him,
And celebrate His praises
Morning and evening.

10. 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 any one 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.

SECTION 2.

11. The desert Arabs who
Lagged behind will

p. 1394

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.

12. "Nay, ye thought that
The Apostle 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)."

13. And if any believe not
In God and His Apostle,
We have prepared,
For those who reject God,
A Blazing Fire!

14. To God belongs the dominion
Of the heavens and the earth:
He forgives whom He wills,
And He punishes whom He

p. 1395

Wills: but God is
Oft-Forgiving, Most Merciful.

15. 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).

16. 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

p. 1396

Did before, He will punish
You with a grievous Penalty."

17. 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 Apostle,—(God)
Will admit him to Gardens
Beneath which rivers flow;
And he who turns back,
(God) will punish him
With a grievous Penalty.

SECTION 3.

18. 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;

19. And many gains will they
Acquire (besides): and God
Is Exalted in Power,
Full of Wisdom.

p. 1397

20. 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;

21. And other gains (there are),
Which are not within
Your power, but which
God has compassed: and God
Has power over all things.

22. If the Unbelievers
Should fight you, they would
Certainly turn their backs;
Then would they find
Neither protector nor helper.

23. (Such has been) the practice
(Approved) of God already
In the past: no change
Wilt thou find in
The practice (approved) of God.

24. And it is He Who
Has restrained their hands

p. 1398

From you and your hands
From them in the midst
Of Mecca, after that He
Gave you the victory
Over them. And God sees
Well all that ye do.

25. 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

p. 1399

Certainly have punished
The Unbelievers among them
With a grievous punishment.

26. While the Unbelievers
Got up in their hearts
Heat and cant—the heat
And cant of Ignorance,—
God sent down His Tranquillity
To his Apostle 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.

SECTION 4.

27. Truly did God fulfil
The vision for His Apostle:
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.

28. It is He Who has sent
His Apostle with Guidance
And the Religion of Truth,
To proclaim it over

p. 1400

All religion: and enough
Is God for a Witness.

29. Muhammad is the Apostle
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 Taurāt;
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

p. 1401

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.

p. 1402