9. At-Tawba

This is: A declaration of immunity from God and His Messenger to, reach, the idolaters with whom you made a pact, a pact for an indefinite period of time, or one for [a period of] less than, or more than, four months; the annulment of the pact shall be as God mentions in His saying:

‘Journey freely, travel in security, O idolaters, in the land for four months — beginning with [the month of] Shawwāl, on the basis of what will come shortly — after which there will be no security for you, and know that you cannot escape God, that is, you shall [not] elude His punishment, and that God degrades the disbelievers’, humiliating them in this world by having them killed, and in the Hereafter, by [sending them to] the Fire.

A proclamation, a notification, from God and His Messenger to mankind on the day of the Greater Pilgrimage, the Day of Sacrifice (yawm al-nahr), that God is free from obligation to the idolaters, and their pacts, and [so is] His Messenger, also free from obligation: in that same year, year 9 [of the Hijra], the Prophet (s) sent forth ‘Alī, who proclaimed these verses on the Day of Sacrifice at Minā, and also [he proclaimed] that after this year no idolater will [be allowed to] make pilgrimage or circumambulate the House naked, as reported by al-Bukhārī. So, if you repent, of unbelief, it will be better for you; but if you turn away, from belief, then know that you cannot escape God. And give tidings to — inform — those who disbelieve of a painful chastisement, namely, [of] slaughter or capture in this world, and of [punishment in] the Fire in the Hereafter.

Excepting those of the idolaters with whom you have made a pact, and who have not diminished [their commitment to] you in anyway, with regard to the terms of the pact, nor supported, assisted, anyone, from among the disbelievers, against you; [as for these] fulfil your pact with them until, the completion of, the term, to which you have agreed. Truly God loves those who fear [Him], by fulfilling pacts.

Then, when the sacred months have passed — that is, [at] the end of the period of deferment — slay the idolaters wherever you find them, be it during a lawful [period] or a sacred [one], and take them, captive, and confine them, to castles and forts, until they have no choice except [being put to] death or [acceptance of] Islam; and lie in wait for them at every place of ambush, [at every] route that they use (kulla, ‘every’, is in the accusative because a [preceding] genitive-taking preposition has been removed). But if they repent, of unbelief, and establish prayer and pay the alms, then leave their way free, and do not interfere with them. God is Forgiving, Merciful, to those who repent.

And if any one of the idolaters (ahadun, ‘one’, is in the nominative because of the [following] verb [istajāraka, ‘seeks your protection’] that validates it) seeks your protection, requests security from you against being killed, then grant him protection, provide security for him, so that he might hear the words of God — the Qur’ān — and afterward convey him to his place of security, that is, the dwelling-places of his folk, if he does not believe, so that he might reflect upon his situation — that, which is mentioned, is because they are a people who do not know, the religion of God, and so they must [be made to] hear the Qur’ān in order to [come to] know [religion].

How can the idolaters have a pact with God and His Messenger — they cannot —while they disbelieve in God and His Messenger, acting treacherously; except for those with whom you made a pact at the Sacred Mosque?, the day of al-Hudaybiyya — these were Quraysh, for whom an exception was made earlier [Q. 9:4]. So long as they are true to you, keeping to the pact and not breaking it, be true to them, by fulfilling it (fa-mā, ‘so long as’: the mā is a conditional particle). Truly God loves the God-fearing: the Prophet (s) had kept to the pact made with them until they broke it by supporting the Banū Bakr against Khuzā‘a.

How, can they have a pact, when, if they get the better of you, [if] they have the upper hand over you, they do not respect, [they do not] take into consideration, any bond, kinship, or treaty, pact, with regard to you, but will instead harm you as much as they can (the conditional sentence [‘if they …’] is [also] a circumstantial qualifier), pleasing you with their tongues, with charming words, while their hearts refuse, to be true to these [words]; and most of them are wicked, violators of pacts.

They have purchased with the signs of God, the Qur’ān, a small price, of this world, that is, they have refrained from following them in favour of passions and whims, and have barred [people] from His way, His religion. Truly evil is that, deed of theirs, which they are wont to do.