The Qur'an (Oxford World's Classics)

The Sand Dunes
329
46: 34

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and He will say, ‘Then taste the punishment for having denied the
truth.’
35Be steadfast [Muhammad], like those messengers of firm
resolve.
a
Do not seek to hasten the punishment for the disbelievers:
on the Day they see what they had been warned about, it will seem to
them that they lingered no more than a single hour of a single day [in
this life]. This is a warning. Shall any be destroyed except the
de
fiant?
a
Noah, Abraham, Moses, Jesus, and Muhammad are traditionally termed ‘the
messengers of 
firm resolve’ for their tenacity in preaching God’s message.
The Qur
an
46: 35
330

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47. MUHAMMAD
A Medinan sura that deals with issues of war, those who try to prevent conver-
sion to Islam and the carrying out of God’s commands (a common theme in the
Medinan suras), and the fate of the hypocrites. It speci
fically mentions
the iniquity of those who expelled the Prophet from Mecca, it describes the
futility of the disbelievers’ attempts to oppose God and His Prophet, and it
urges the Muslims to obey God in all matters, lest their good deeds come to
nothing on the Day of Judgement like those of the disbelievers and hypocrites.
It takes its title from the mention of Muhammad’s name in verse 
2.
In the name of God, the Lord of Mercy, the Giver of Mercy
1God will bring to nothing the deeds of those who disbelieve and bar
others from the way of God, 
2but He will overlook the bad deeds of
those who have faith, do good deeds, and believe in what has been
sent down to Muhammad –– the truth from their Lord –– and He will
put them into a good state. 
3This is because the disbelievers follow
falsehood, while the believers follow the truth from their Lord. In
this way God shows people their true type.
4When you meet the disbelievers in battle, strike them in the neck,
and once they are defeated, bind any captives 
firmly––later you can
release them by grace
a
or by ransom –– until the toils of war have
ended. That [is the way]. God could have defeated them Himself if
He had willed, but His purpose is to test some of you by means of
others. He will not let the deeds of those who are killed for His cause
come to nothing; 
5He will guide them and put them into a good
state; 
6He will admit them into the Garden He has already made
known to them. 
7You who believe! If you help God, He will help you
and make you stand 
firm.
8As for the disbelievers, how wretched will be their state! God has
brought their deeds to nothing. 
9It is because they hate what God
has sent down that He has caused their deeds to go to waste. 
10Have
they not travelled the earth and seen how those before them met
their end? God destroyed them utterly: a similar fate awaits the
a
Commentators highlight the fact that ‘by grace’ is the 
first of the two options given
here, concluding that this is the preferred or recommended course of action.

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disbelievers. 
11That is because God protects the believers while the
disbelievers have no one to protect them: 
12God will admit those who
believe and do good deeds to Gardens graced with 
flowing streams;
the disbelievers may take their 
fill of pleasure in this world, and eat
as cattle do, but the Fire will be their home. 
13We have destroyed
many a town stronger than your own [Prophet] –
– the town which
[chose to] expel you –
– and they had no one to help them.
14Can those who follow clear proof from their Lord be compared
to those whose foul deeds are made to seem alluring to them, those
who follow their own desires? 
15Here is a picture of the Garden
promised to the pious: rivers of water forever pure, rivers of milk
forever fresh, rivers of wine, a delight for those who drink, rivers of
honey clari
fied and pure, [all] flow in it; there they will find fruit of
every kind; and they will 
find forgiveness from their Lord. How can
this be compared to the fate of those stuck in the Fire, given
boiling water to drink that tears their bowels?
16Some of these people listen to you [Prophet], but, once they
leave your presence, they sneer at those who have been given
knowledge, saying, ‘What was that he just said?’ These are the ones
whose hearts God has sealed, those who follow their own desires.
17God has increased the guidance of those who follow the right path,
and given them their awareness [of Him]. 
18What are the disbelievers
waiting for, other than the Hour which will come upon them
unawares? Its signs are already here, but once the Hour has actually
arrived, what use will it be then to take heed? 
19So [Prophet], bear in
mind
a
that there is no god but God, and ask forgiveness for your sins
and for the sins of believing men and women. God knows whenever
any of you move, and whenever any of you stay still.
20Those who believe ask why no sura [about fighting] has been
sent down. Yet when a decisive sura [that mentions 
fighting] is sent
down, you can see the sick at heart looking at you [Prophet] and
visibly fainting at the prospect of death –
– better for them 
21would be
obedience and 
fitting words; it would also be better for them to be
true to God when the decision to 
fight has been made. 22‘If you turn
away now, could it be that you will go on to spread corruption all
over the land and break your ties of kinship?’