Ali Quli Qarai, The Qur’ān with a Phrase-by-Phrase English Translation (2005)
and they would have surely spread rumours
in your midst,
seeking to cause sedition among you.
They have some spies among you,
and Allah knows best the wrongdoers.
48 They certainly sought to cause sedition earlier,
and upset the matters for you,
until the truth came and Allah’s command prevailed,
much as they were averse.
49 Among them there are some who say,
‘Give me leave, and do not put me to temptation.’1
Look! They have already fallen into temptation 2
and indeed hell besieges the faithless.
50 If some good should befall you, it upsets them;
but if an adversity befalls you,
they say,
‘We had already taken our precautions in advance,’
and they go away exulting.
51 Say, ‘Nothing will befall us
except what Allah has ordained for us.
He is our master,
and in Allah let all the faithful put their trust.’
52 Say, ‘Do you await anything to befall us
except one of the two excellences?3
But we await
that Allah shall visit on you
1 Or ‘do not push me into sinfulness (or unfaith),’ or ‘do not put me in a predicament.’ Cf. Ṭabarī and Ṭūsī.
2 Or ‘sinfulness (or unfaith),’ or ‘a predicament,’ based on how the word ‘fitnah’ is interpreted in the preceding sentence.
3 That is, victory or martyrdom.
