SURAH
48: AL FATH (The Victory).
In the name of Allah, the Gracious,
the Merciful
1
Truly we have granted you a clear victory:
2
May Allah forgive your past and future sins.[1]
May he fulfil his favour to you, and guide you on the straight way;
3
And that Allah may help you 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 Allah belong the forces of the heavens and
the earth; and Allah 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 in them forever, and remove their ills from them; and
that is, in the sight of Allah, the highest achievement,
6
And that he may punish the hypocrites, men and women, and the polytheists, men
and women, who imagine an evil opinion of Allah. On them is a round of evil:
the wrath of Allah is on them: he has cursed them and got hell ready for them:
and evil is it for a destination.
7
For to Allah belong the forces of the heavens and the earth; and Allah is
exalted in power, full of wisdom.
8
We have truly sent you as a witness, as a bringer of glad tidings, and as a
warner:
9
In order that you may believe in Allah and his Messenger, that you may assist
and honour him, and celebrate his praises morning and evening.
10
Truly those who pledge allegiance to you do no less than pledge allegiance to
Allah: the hand of Allah is over their hands: then anyone who violates his
oath, does so to the harm of his own soul, and anyone who fulfils what he has
covenanted with Allah, Allah will soon grant him a great reward.
11
The desert Arabs who lagged behind will say to you: We were engaged in looking
after our flocks and herds, and our families: do you 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 Allah, if his will is to give
you some loss or to give you some profit? But Allah is well acquainted with all
that you do.
12
No, you thought that the Messenger and the believers would never return to
their families; this seemed pleasing in your hearts, and you conceived an evil
thought, for you are a people lost.
13
And if any believe not in Allah and his Messenger, we have prepared, for those
who reject Allah, a blazing fire!
14
To Allah belongs the dominion of the heavens and the earth: he forgives whom he
wills, and he punishes whom he wills: but Allah is oft-forgiving, most
merciful.
15
Those who lagged behind will say, When you march and take booty, permit us to
follow you. They wish to change Allah's decree: Say: Not thus will you follow
us: Allah has already declared beforehand: then they will say, But you are
jealous of us. No, but little do they understand.
16
Say to the desert Arabs who lagged behind: You shall be summoned against a
people given to vehement war: then shall you fight, or they shall submit. Then
if you show obedience, Allah will grant you a goodly reward, but if you turn
back as you 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:
but he that obeys Allah and his Messenger, Allah will admit him to gardens
beneath which rivers flow; and he who turns back, Allah will punish him with a
grievous penalty.
18
Allah's good pleasure was on the believers when they swore allegiance to you
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: and Allah is exalted in power, full of
wisdom.
20
Allah has promised you many gains that you 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 Allah has
compassed: and Allah 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 way of Allah already in the past: no change will you find in
the ways of Allah.
24
And it is he who has restrained their hands from you and your hands from them
in the midst of Mecca, after that he gave you the victory over them. And Allah
sees well all that you do.
25
They are the ones who denied revelation and hindered you from the sacred mosque
and detained the sacrificial animals from reaching their place of sacrifice.
And there were believing men and believing women whom you did not know, that
you were trampling down and on whose account a crime would have accrued to you
without your knowledge. He will admit to his mercy whom he will. If they were
apart, we would certainly have punished the unbelievers among them with a
grievous punishment.
26
While the unbelievers got up in their hearts the rage of ignorance, Allah sent
down his tranquility to his Messenger 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 Allah has full knowledge of all things.
27
Truly did Allah fulfil the vision for his Messenger: you shall enter the sacred
mosque, Insha Allah,
with minds secure, heads shaved, hair cut short, and without fear. For he knew
what you knew not, and he granted, besides this, a speedy victory.
28
It is he who has sent his Messenger with guidance and the religion of truth, to
proclaim it over all religion: and enough is Allah for a witness.
29
Muhammad is the Messenger of Allah; and those who are with him are strong
against unbelievers, but compassionate among each other. You will see them bow
and prostrate themselves in prayer, seeking grace from Allah and his good
pleasure. On their faces are their marks, the traces of their prostration. This
is their comparison in the Taurat. Their comparison in the Injil is like a seed[2]
which sends forth its blade, then makes it strong; it then becomes thick, and
it stands on its own stem, filling the sowers with wonder and delight. As a
result, it fills the unbelievers with rage at them. Allah has promised those
among them who believe and do righteous deeds forgiveness, and a great reward.
[1] According to this verse, Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) had sins like any other man which needed forgiveness. It is a commonly held error that prophets are sinless. For more on this subject see Lesson Two of the study course "The Testimony of the Holy Quran." See also Surah 40:55 and 47:19.
[2] Prophet 'Isa Ibn Maryam taught in the Injil a story about a seed much like the story related here. Luke 13:18,19 says, "He said, 'What is the Kingdom of Allah like? To what shall I compare it? It is like a grain of mustard seed, which a man took, and put in his own garden. It grew, and became a large tree, and the birds of the sky lodged in its branches.'"