Surah Al-'Aĥzāb (The Combined Forces) in English

1. قل لن ينفعكم الفرار إن فررتم من الموت أو القتل وإذا لا تمتعون إلا قليلا

   16

   Say, ‘Flight will not avail you, if you flee from death, or from being killed, and then you will be let to enjoy only for a little while.’

   qul lan yanfaʿakumu l-firāru ʾin farartum mina l-mawti ʾawi l-qatli wa-ʾidhan lā tumattaʿūna ʾillā qalīlan

2. قل من ذا الذي يعصمكم من الله إن أراد بكم سوءا أو أراد بكم رحمة ولا يجدون لهم من دون الله وليا ولا نصيرا

   17

   Say, ‘Who is it that can protect you from Allah if He desires to cause you harm or desires to grant you His mercy?’ Besides Allah they will not find for themselves any protector or helper.

   qul man dhā lladhī yaʿṣimukum mina llāhi ʾin ʾarāda bikum sūʾan ʾaw ʾarāda bikum raḥmatan wa-lā yajidūna lahum min dūni llāhi waliyyan wa-lā naṣīran

3. قد يعلم الله المعوقين منكم والقائلين لإخوانهم هلم إلينا ولا يأتون البأس إلا قليلا

   18

   Allah knows those of you who discourage others, and those who say to their brethren, ‘Come to us!’ and take little part in the battle,

   qad yaʿlamu llāhu l-muʿawwiqīna minkum wa-l-qāʾilīna li-ʾikhwānihim halumma ʾilaynā wa-lā yaʾtūna l-baʾsa ʾillā qalīlan

4. أشحة عليكم فإذا جاء الخوف رأيتهم ينظرون إليك تدور أعينهم كالذي يغشى عليه من الموت فإذا ذهب الخوف سلقوكم بألسنة حداد أشحة على الخير أولئك لم يؤمنوا فأحبط الله أعمالهم وكان ذلك على الله يسيرا

   19

   grudging you [their help]. So when there is panic, you see them looking at you, with their eyes rolling like someone fainting at death. Then, when the panic is over, they scald you with [their] sharp tongues in their greed for the spoils. They never have had faith. So Allah has made their works fail, and that is easy for Allah.

   ʾashiḥḥatan ʿalaykum fa-ʾidhā jāʾa l-khawfu raʾaytahum yanẓurūna ʾilayka tadūru ʾaʿyunuhum ka-lladhī yughshā ʿalayhi mina l-mawti fa-ʾidhā dhahaba l-khawfu salaqūkum bi-ʾalsinatin ḥidādin ʾashiḥḥatan ʿalā l-khayri ʾulāʾika lam yuʾminū fa-ʾaḥbaṭa llāhu ʾaʿmālahum wa-kāna dhālika ʿalā llāhi yasīran

5. يحسبون الأحزاب لم يذهبوا وإن يأت الأحزاب يودوا لو أنهم بادون في الأعراب يسألون عن أنبائكم ولو كانوا فيكم ما قاتلوا إلا قليلا

   20

   They suppose the confederates have not left yet, and were the confederates to come [again], they would wish they were in the desert with the Bedouins asking about your news, and if they were with you they would fight but a little.

   yaḥsabūna l-ʾaḥzāba lam yadhhabū wa-ʾin yaʾti l-ʾaḥzābu yawaddū law ʾannahum bādūna fī l-ʾaʿrābi yasʾalūna ʿan ʾanbāʾikum wa-law kānū fīkum mā qātalū ʾillā qalīlan

6. لقد كان لكم في رسول الله أسوة حسنة لمن كان يرجو الله واليوم الآخر وذكر الله كثيرا

   21

   There is certainly a good exemplar for you in the Apostle of Allah—for those who look forward to Allah and the Last Day, and remember Allah much.

   la-qad kāna lakum fī rasūli llāhi ʾuswatun ḥasanatun li-man kāna yarjū llāha wa-l-yawma l-ʾākhira wa-dhakara llāha kathīran

7. ولما رأى المؤمنون الأحزاب قالوا هذا ما وعدنا الله ورسوله وصدق الله ورسوله وما زادهم إلا إيمانا وتسليما

   22

   But when the faithful saw the confederates, they said, ‘This is what Allah and His Apostle had promised us, and Allah and His Apostle were true.’ And it only increased them in faith and submission.

   wa-lammā raʾā l-muʾminūna l-ʾaḥzāba qālū hādhā mā waʿadanā llāhu wa-rasūluhū wa-ṣadaqa llāhu wa-rasūluhū wa-mā zādahum ʾillā ʾīmānan wa-taslīman