Sūrah al-Fatḥ

There is no doubt [O Prophet] that We have bestowed on you a clear victory so that [you successfully fulfil your obligation and as its reward] God forgive all your past and future sins and complete His favour on you and open a straight path for you and God help you in an invincible manner.¹

It is He Who sent down tranquillity to the hearts of the Muslims [at the time of this journey of conquest] so that [they go out and as its reward] their faith is strengthened with further faith [otherwise God does not need anyone to help His religion]. To God belong all the armies of the heavens and the earth and God is All-Knowing, All-Wise. So that God admit believing men and believing women into orchards which shall be watered by streams. They shall live in them forever. And so that He brush away their sins from them. In the sight of God, it is this which is supreme success.

And also so that God punish hypocrite men and hypocrite women and idolatrous men and idolatrous women who used to indulge in all sorts of evil estimations about God. [They await bad times for the Muslims.] Let these bad times befall them. God’s wrath came upon them and He cursed them and He has prepared Hell for them ahead and it is a very evil abode. [If they are indifferent to God, God too does not need them.] The armies of the heavens and the earth belong to God alone and God is Powerful, very Wise.

[O Prophet!] We made you a witness, a bearer of glad tidings and a deliverer of warnings so that [O People] you profess true faith in God and His messenger, support the messenger, honour him and glorify God morning and evening.

[They do not understand the importance of making a pledge at your hands.] In reality, those who make a pledge with you, make it not with you; in fact, make the pledge with God. On their hand is the hand of God. So, he who broke this pledge will himself bear the evil consequences of this breach and he who fulfilled what he promised God, soon will God reward him abundantly.

[When you reach home after this journey,] those among the Bedouins who had been left behind will now present the excuse: [“We were not able to go out with you.] We were occupied by the responsibilities of our cattle and our family. [It was our mistake;] so, pray for our forgiveness.” They say from their tongues what is not in their hearts. Tell them: [You gave importance to the world and did not recognize the right of God. So, now tell me:] Who is it that has any authority to stop God from you if He intends to harm you or give benefit to you? No, [this is no excuse;] in fact, God is aware of whatever you are doing. [He knows that this was not the reason for your staying back;] in fact, you thought that the Messenger and [his companion] believers shall now never be able to return to their houses and this thought was made to find roots in your hearts and you harboured various evil thoughts and [its consequence was that] ultimately you were routed. [Bear in mind that] those who do not profess true faith in God and His messenger, then it is such disbelievers for whom We have prepared a raging fire and [there no one shall be of any avail to anyone else because] the sovereignty of the heavens and the earth belongs to God. He alone shall forgive whomsoever He intends and punishes [according to His law] whomsoever He wishes. And [those who want to repent even now,] God is Forgiving, Ever-Merciful.

When you people [in future] go out to get hold of the spoils, these people who were left behind will say: “Give us permission that we too go along with you.” They want to change the word of God. Tell them clearly: You can certainly not go along with us. This was what you were told by God earlier [when the messenger went out for the journey]! In reply, they will say: “No! In fact, you people are jealous of us.” Certainly not! In fact, it is these people who understand very little.

Tell these who were left behind from among the Bedouins: Soon you will be called to fight a people who are very powerful. You will fight them or they will accept Islam. Then if you obeyed the directive, God shall give you a good reward and if [at that time too] you showed defiance the way you did earlier, God shall make you face a painful scourge.

[Only the handicapped will be an exception to this because] there is no offence on the blind [if he does not go out for jihād. Similarly,] there is no offence on the lame or on the sick [if they adhere to obedience]. And he who adheres to the obedience of God and His prophet, God shall admit him into orchards beneath which streams flow. And he who turns away, God will mete out a woeful scourge to him.

[Receive glad tidings that] God was pleased with the believers when they were making a pledge to you below the tree. At that time, God knew what was in their hearts; so, He sent down tranquillity on them and blessed them with a victory which will soon manifest itself and many spoils also which they will acquire. God is Powerful, very Wise.

[Believers!] God has promised you many spoils which you will acquire. So, He has right away given you these spoils [of the first victory] and has stopped people’s hands from you so that it becomes a source of tranquillity and becomes a sign [of God’s help] for the believers and He guides you to the straight path. Besides this, there is another victory as well which is not in your power as yet but God has encompassed it and God has power over all things.²

These disbelievers [with whom you have made a treaty] if [at this instance] had waged war with you, they would definitely have shown their backs; then they would not have found any supporter for themselves or any helper. This is an established practice prescribed by God which is being handed down from the past and you will not find any change in God’s established practice.

It is He Who in the valley of Makkah stopped their hands from you and your hands from them after He had given you dominance over them and whatever you were doing, God was watching it.

They are ones who rejected [God’s Messenger] and debarred you from the Sacred Mosque and also stopped the sacrificial animals so that they are left standing there and are not able to reach their destination. In reality, if there had not been such believing men and believing women [in Makkah at that time] who you did not know so that they might be trampled [in case you attacked] then because of them you would have been blamed in oblivion, We would have allowed war to take place. But We did not allow this so that whomsoever God intends [He gives him the urge to accept faith and] admits into His mercy. It is a fact that if those people had been separated, We would have punished the disbelievers among them in a painful way.

Remember the time when these disbelievers engendered bigotry in their hearts, the bigotry somewhat of the time of jāhiliyyah. So, God sent down His tranquillity to His messenger and the believers and made them abide by the word of piety and they were worthy of it and also deserved it, and God knows everything.

[So, rest assured O Believers!] it is a fact that God had shown His messenger an absolutely true dream. Indeed, if God wills, you will definitely enter the Sacred Mosque with complete peace in a way that you will shave your heads and have hair-cuts; you will have no fear. It was only that God knew what you did not; so, before this, He blessed you with a victory near at hand. It is He Who has sent His messenger with guidance and the true religion so that He make it dominant over all other religions in this land. [This is bound to happen] and God is sufficient as its witness.

Muḥammad, God’s Messenger and those who are his companions are stern on the disbelievers and affectionate to one another. You will find them ardently kneeling and prostrating to seek God’s grace and His pleasure. They can be recognized through the signs of prostration on their faces. This is their parable in the Torah and in the Injīl their parable is as if there is a cultivated land that puts forth its shoot and supports it; then it became strong and firm upon its stalk, delighting those who had sown it so that it enrages the disbelievers through it. God has promised, those among these people who have embraced faith and did good deeds, forgiveness and a rich reward.³