Surah Al-Munafiqun: Thematic English Translation (Mustafa Çevik)

O Prophet! When the hypocrites come to you, they say, “We bear witness that you are truly the messenger of Allah.” Yes, Allah knows that you are indeed His messenger; but Allah bears witness that the hypocrites do not say this out of true belief. They are the very liars.

The hypocrites, using their oaths as a shield to hide their true faces, believe on the one hand that they have placed themselves under protection, and on the other set about craftily leading people away from living in keeping with Allah’s call. This conduct of theirs is truly ugly.

The hypocrites say they have believed, but by their conduct they also reveal the shirk and disbelief within them. It is as if their hearts have been sealed; they cannot distinguish right from wrong and grasp the truth.

When you look at the hypocrites’ outward appearance and their words, you think them sincere believers and find their words worth listening to. Yet they are like logs dressed in clothes; if you pay attention, you will see that what they say is empty talk too. The hypocrites always live in anxiety and fear, and think every slightest noise they hear is against them. In truth they are bitter enemies of the believers; be very careful and on your guard against them. May Allah destroy them! When the truth that is Allah’s call has come before them, how can they turn away from it?

When the hypocrites are told, “Come, repent of this conduct of yours and turn to the truth to which you are invited, so that Allah’s messenger too may ask forgiveness for you,” they turn their heads away in arrogance and conceit and leave.

O Prophet! Whether you pray for such people to be forgiven or not makes no difference; Allah will never forgive them. Allah never guides to His right path such people, who have conditioned themselves to stubbornly go astray and have chosen defiant disobedience (fisq) and hypocrisy as their way of life.

The hypocrites of Medina too were saying to their fellow townsmen who chose to be believers: “Give nothing of yours to those who are with Muhammad; share nothing with them and do not help them, so that they will disperse.” Yet Allah is the one true Owner of all the treasures of the heavens and the earth. But the hypocrites do not wish to grasp this. And as if this were not enough, while returning from a campaign they had joined together with the believers, using as an excuse a quarrel that arose among them, they revealed their true faces, saying, “When we return to our city, we, the strong and honorable, will drive out of the city these weak Muslim emigrants who came later and settled in our city.”

Know well that true honor, strength, and power belong to Allah, to His Messenger, and to the believers who believe wholeheartedly; but the hypocrites do not grasp this truth.

O you who believe! Never let your wealth, property, and children keep you from living the order of life that is the reason for your creation and from striving for it. Those who do not do their utmost in this cause are the ones who suffer loss and ruin.

Before death comes upon you, spend of the blessings Allah has given you in the cause of living and keeping alive the life whose limits Allah has set, which is the reason for your creation, and do not hold back from helping those in need; otherwise, when death comes, you will say, “My Lord, give me a little more respite, so that I too may use what You have given me in works that please You and be among the righteous servants.” But by then saying so will be of no use to you at all. For when a person’s time of death comes, Allah does not put it off. Do not forget that on the Day of Reckoning Allah will settle the account of what you have done and give you the recompense you deserve.