Ali Quli Qarai, The Qur’ān with a Phrase-by-Phrase English Translation (2005)
and they knew that there was no refuge from Allah
except in Him,
then He turned clemently toward them
so that they might be penitent.
Indeed Allah is the All-clement, the All-merciful.
119 O you who have faith!
Be wary of Allah, and be with the Truthful.
120 It is not fitting for the people of Madinah
and the Bedouins around them
to hang back behind the Apostle of Allah 1
and prefer their own lives to his life.
That is because they neither experience any thirst,
nor fatigue, nor hunger,
in the way of Allah,
nor do they tread any ground enraging the faithless,
nor do they gain any ground against an enemy
but a righteous deed is written for them on its account.
Indeed Allah does not waste the reward of the virtuous.
121 And neither do they incur any expense,
big or small,
nor do they cross any valley,
but it is written to their account,
so that Allah may reward them
by the best of what they used to do.
122 Yet it is not for the faithful to go forth en masse.2
1 That is, by failing to accompany the Apostle of Allah during his campaigns.
1 That is, it is not feasible, or reasonable, for all the faithful to set out for Madīnah, the Prophet’s city, for the study of the religious sciences.
