At-Tawbah Verse 49

There are some of them who say, “Exempt me and do not expose me to temptation.”[[ Another hypocrite by the name of Jadd ibn Qais came to the Prophet (ﷺ) asking to be exempt from joining the army because he had a weakness for women and he was afraid that he would be tempted by Roman women. ]] They have already fallen into temptation. And Hell will surely engulf the disbelievers.

There are some among them who say, “Exempt me and do not expose me to temptation.” They have already fallen into temptation. Hell will certainly encompass the disbelievers.

Some of them there are that say, 'Give me leave and do not tempt me.' Have not such men fallen into temptation? And surely Gehenna encompasses the unbelievers.

Some of them said, ‘Give me permission to stay at home: do not trouble me.’ They are already in trouble: Hell will engulf the disbelievers.

And of them there is he who saith: give me leave, and tempt me not. Lo! into temptation they are already fallen, and verily the Hell is the encompasser of the infidels.

Among them is (many) a man who says; "Grant me exemption and draw me not into trial." Have they not fallen into trial already? and indeed Hell surrounds the Unbelievers (on all sides).

And among them is he who says: "Grant me leave to stay behind, and do not expose me to temptation." Lo! They have already fallen into temptation. Surely Hell encompasses the unbelievers.

And (many a one) there is among them who says: "Allow me (to stay back at home), and put me not on trial." Surely they have put themselves on trial already, and Hell will enclose the unbelievers from all sides.

And among them is one who requests you that, “Grant me exemption (from fighting) and do not put me to test”; pay heed! They have indeed fallen into trial; and indeed hell surrounds the disbelievers.

Among them there are some who say, ‘Give me leave, and do not put me to temptation.’ Look! They have already fallen into temptation and indeed hell besieges the faithless.

Among them is one who says: "Give me leave (not to participate in this campaign) and do not expose me to temptation." Oh, but surely, they have already fallen into temptation (because of their hypocrisy and transgressions)! And surely Hell encompasses the unbelievers.

And among these (hypocrites) are those who said (to you), `Grant us leave (to stay behind) and spare us the trial.´ Behold! they have already fallen into the trial. And certainly Gehenna encompasses the disbelievers (for punishing them).

And from them who says: "Permit/allow for me, and do not test/misguide me " Is it not in the treason/misguidance (that) they dropped/erred , and that Hell is surrounding (E) with the disbelievers.

And among them is one who requests you that, "Grant me exemption (from fighting) and do not put me to test"; pay heed! They have indeed fallen into trial; and indeed hell surrounds the disbelievers.

Of them are some who say, "Grant me exemption, and draw me not into trial (or temptation (of the beauty of the enemy women))" Have they not fallen into the trial already, but Hell surrounds the disbelievers.

And among them is he who says:"Grant me leave (to be exempted from Jihad) and put me not into trial." Surely, they have fallen into trial. And verily, Hell is surrounding the disbelievers.

Certainly they sought (to sow) dissension before, and they devised plots against thee till the Truth came, and Allah’s command prevailed, though they did not like (it).

And among them there is he who says: Allow me and do not try me. Surely into trial have they already tumbled down, and most surely hell encompasses the unbelievers.

Of them is he who saith: Grant me leave (to stay at home) and tempt me not. Surely it is into temptation that they (thus) have fallen. Lo! hell verily is all around the disbelievers.

Some of them ask you, "Make us exempt from taking part in the battle and do not try to tempt us by telling us what we may gain from the battle; many people have died in the battle." Hell certainly encompasses the unbelievers.

Among them are some that say: 'Give us leave and do not expose us to temptation' Surely, they have already succumbed to temptation. Gehenna shall encompass the unbelievers.

And among them is he who says: "Grant me leave and put me not into trial." Surely, they have fallen into trial. And verily, Hell is surrounding the disbelievers.

Some of them say, "Give us leave to stay behind and do not put us to trial." Surely, they have already fallen into trial. Surely, Hell shall engulf those who deny the truth.

Among them is he who says, “Excuse me, and do not trouble me.” In fact, they sunk into trouble. In fact, Hell will engulf the disbelievers.

And there are some of them who say, `Grant me leave, to stay behind, and do not lead me into temptation'; this was al-Jadd b. Qays, to whom the Prophet (s) said, `Will you do battle against the Byzantines?', and to which he replied, `I am infatuated with women, and I fear that if I were to see these Byzantine women, I shall not be able to stay away from them and be led into temptation'. God, exalted be He, says; Surely they have [already] fallen into temptation!, by staying behind (a variant reading [for saqat, `they have fallen'] has [the singular form] saqat, `he has fallen'). And surely Hell shall encompass the disbelievers, for whom there shall be no escape therefrom.

Allah tells,

وَمِنْهُم مَّن يَقُولُ

And among them is he who says;

Allah says, some hypocrites say to you, O Muhammad,

ايْذَن لِّي

Grant me leave, (to stay behind),

وَلَا تَفْتِنِّي

and put me not into trial,

if I go with you and see the women of the Romans.

Allah, the Exalted, replied,

أَلَا فِي الْفِتْنَةِ سَقَطُواْ

Surely, they have fallen into trial,

because of the statement they uttered.

Muhammad bin Ishaq reported from Az-Zuhri, Yazid bin Ruwman, Abdullah bin Abi Bakr, Asim bin Qatadah and several others that they said,

"The Messenger of Allah said to Al-Jadd bin Qays from Bani Salimah,

هَلْ لَكَ يَا جَدُّ الْعَامَ فِي جَلَدِ بَنِي الاَْصْفَرِ

`Would you like to fight the yellow ones (Romans) this year?

He said, `O Allah's Messenger! Give me permission (to remain behind) and do not cause Fitnah for me. By Allah! My people know that there is not a man who is more fond of women than I. I fear that if I see the women of the yellow ones, I would not be patient.'

The Messenger of Allah turned away from him and said,

قَدْ أَذِنْتُ لَك

I give you permission.

In Al-Jadd's case, this Ayah was revealed,
وَمِنْهُم مَّن يَقُولُ ايْذَن لِّي

وَلَا تَفْتِنِّي
(And among them is he who says;"Grant me leave and put me not into trial)."

Therefore, Allah says that the Fitnah that he fell into because of not joining the Messenger of Allah (in Jihad) and preferring his safety to the safety of the Messenger is worse than the Fitnah that he falsely claimed to fear."

It was reported from Ibn Abbas, Mujahid and several others that;

this Ayah was revealed in the case of Al-Jadd bin Qays, who was among the chiefs of Bani Salimah.

It is also recorded in the Sahih that the Messenger of Allah asked,

مَنْ سَيِّدُكُمْ يَا بَنِي سَلَمَةَ




Who is your chief, O Bani Salamah?

They said, "Al-Jadd bin Qays, although we consider him a miser."

The Messenger of Allah said,

وَأَيُّ دَاءٍ أَدْوَأُ مِنَ الْبُخْلِ وَلَكِنْ سَيِّدُكُمْ الْفَتَى الْجَعْدُ الاْأَبْيَضُ بِشْرُ بْنُ الْبَرَاءِ بْنِ مَعْرُور

There is not a disease worse than stinginess! Therefore, your chief is the white young man with curly hair, Bishr bin Al-Bara' bin Ma'rur.

Allah said next,

وَإِنَّ جَهَنَّمَ لَمُحِيطَةٌ بِالْكَافِرِينَ



And verily, Hell is surrounding the disbelievers.

and they will never be able to avoid, avert, or escape from it