Home › Surahs › Surah At-Tawbah › Verse 42
Surah At-Tawbah, verse 42: meaning and tafsir
لَوْ كَانَ عَرَضًا قَرِيبًا وَسَفَرًا قَاصِدًا لَّٱتَّبَعُوكَ وَلَٰكِنۢ بَعُدَتْ عَلَيْهِمُ ٱلشُّقَّةُ ۚ وَسَيَحْلِفُونَ بِٱللَّهِ لَوِ ٱسْتَطَعْنَا لَخَرَجْنَا مَعَكُمْ يُهْلِكُونَ أَنفُسَهُمْ وَٱللَّهُ يَعْلَمُ إِنَّهُمْ لَكَٰذِبُونَ ٤٢
If it had been an easy win within reach and a short journey, those [hypocrites] would have followed you, but the distance seemed too far for them. They will swear by Allah[43], “If we had been able, we would have surely joined you,” destroying themselves [through false oaths], and Allah knows that they are liars.
Translation of the meanings: Rowwad Translation Center — version 1.0.19 · QuranEnc.com
[43] When you return from the Tabūk expedition in which the hypocrites did not participate.
Ask about this verseAsk on WhatsApp
Al-Mukhtasar: Abridged Explanation of the Quran
Tafsir Center for Quranic Studies · QuranEnc.com
42. If the Prophet had called the hypocrites who asked for permission to stay behind to an easy reward and a journey that was not difficult, they would have followed him; but the distance he called them to cover to get to the enemy was too great for them, so they stayed behind. These hypocrites who asked for permission to stay behind would swear by Allah when the Prophet returned to them, saying that if they could have gone out to fight with them they would have done so. They destroy themselves by exposing themselves to Allah’s punishment, because they stayed behind and then swore a lie. Of course, Allah knew they were lying in what they claimed and in what they swore.
Quran text: Tanzil Project (Tanzil Quran Text, Uthmani v1.1, CC BY 3.0). The translation and tafsir are quoted word for word, unchanged, from the Noble Quran Encyclopedia, QuranEnc.com, each credited to its source. Details on our sources page. These texts are quoted exactly as published; no answer is written by AI. Quran Chat does not issue fatwas.