Al-Qur'an Surah An-Nisa Verse 123

Mufti Taqi Usmani

This is not (a matter of) your fancies or the fancies of the People of the Book. Whoever does evil shall be requited for it, and he shall find neither a friend for himself, besides Allah, nor a helper.

Dr. Mustafa Khattab, the Clear Quran

˹Divine grace is˺ neither by your wishes nor those of the People of the Book! Whoever commits evil will be rewarded accordingly, and they will find no protector or helper besides Allah.

Ruwwad Translation Center

It is not your wishful thinking or the wishful thinking of the People of the Book that matters; whoever does evil will be recompensed for it, and he will not find besides Allah any protector or helper.

A. J. Arberry

It is not your fancies, nor the fancies of the People of the Book. Whosoever does evil shall be recompensed for it, and will not find for him, apart from God, a friend or helper.

Abdul Haleem

It will not be according to your hopes or those of the People of the Book: anyone who does wrong will be requited for it and will find no one to protect or help him against God;

Abdul Majid Daryabadi

Not by your vain desires nor by the vain desires of the people of the Book; whosoever worketh an evil, shall be requited therewith, and he will not find beside Allah a patron nor a helper.

Abdullah Yusuf Ali

Not your desires, nor those of the People of the Book (can prevail); whoever works evil, will be requited accordingly. Nor will he find, besides Allah, any protector or helper.

Abul Ala Maududi

It is neither your fancies nor the fancies of the People of the Book which matter. Whoever does evil shall reap its consequence and will find none to be his protector and helper against Allah.

Ahmed Ali

It is neither dependent on your wishes, nor the wishes of the people of the Book, (but) whosoever does ill will be punished for it, and will find no protector or friend apart from God;

Ahmed Raza Khan

The affair does not rest on your thoughts, nor the cravings of the People given the Book(s); whoever does wrong will get the recompense of it – and will not find, other than Allah, any friend or any supporter.

Ali Quli Qarai

It will be neither after your hopes nor the hopes of the People of the Book: whoever commits evil shall be requited for it, and he will not find for himself any guardian or helper besides Allah.

Ali Ünal

It is not according to your fancies, nor according to the fancies of the People of the Book. (No one has a privilege in God’s sight by virtue of being nominally a Muslim or Jew or Christian. Rather, the truth is this:) Whoever does an evil will be recompensed for it, and he will not find for himself, apart from God, a guardian or a helper (to guard or help him against the consequence of that evil).

Amatul Rahman Omar

(O people!) it (- the salvation) shall not be according to your vain desires, nor according to the vain desires of the people of the Scripture. He who does evil shall be recompensed accordingly, and he shall find for himself no patron nor a helper besides Allâh.

English Literal

(It is) not your wishes/desires nor The Book`s people`s wishes/desires, who makes/does bad/evil/harm (he) will be rewarded with it, and he does not find for him from other than God a guardian/ally , and nor a victorious/savior .

Faridul Haque

The affair does not rest on your thoughts, nor the cravings of the People given the Book(s); whoever does wrong will get the recompense of it - and will not find, other than Allah, any friend or any supporter.

Hamid S. Aziz

Who has a better religion than he who surrenders himself to Allah, and does good, and follows the faith of Abraham, the upright? Allah took Abraham as a friend.

Hilali & Khan

It will not be in accordance with your desires (Muslims), nor those of the people of the Scripture (Jews and Christians), whosoever works evil, will have the recompense thereof, and he will not find any protector or helper besides Allah.

Maulana Mohammad Ali

And those who believe and do good, We shall make them enter Gardens in which rivers flow, to abide therein for ever. It is Allah’s promise in truth. And who is more truthful in word than Allah?

Mohammad Habib Shakir

(This) shall not be in accordance with your vain desires nor in accordance with the vain desires of the followers of the Book; whoever does evil, he shall be requited with it, and besides Allah he will find for himself neither a guardian nor a helper.

Mohammed Marmaduke William Pickthall

It will not be in accordance with your desires, nor the desires of the People of the Scripture. He who doeth wrong will have the recompense thereof, and will not find against Allah any protecting friend or helper.

Muhammad Sarwar

Believers and People of the Book, wishes alone can never provide you with salvation. Whoever commits evil will be punished accordingly and no one besides God will be his guardian or helper.

Qaribullah & Darwish

It is not by your fancies, nor by the fancies of the People of the Book. Whosoever does evil shall be recompensed for it, and he will not find for himself, other than Allah, a guardian or helper.

Safi-ur-Rahman al-Mubarakpuri

It will not be in accordance with your desires, nor those of the People of the Scripture, whosoever works evil, will have the recompense thereof, and he will not find any protector or helper besides Allah.

Wahiduddin Khan

It is not your desires, nor the desires of the People of the Book, that shall prevail. Anyone who commits evil will be rewarded accordingly. He will not find any protector or patron for himself besides God.

Talal Itani

It is not in accordance with your wishes, nor in accordance with the wishes of the People of the Scripture. Whoever works evil will pay for it, and will not find for himself, besides God, any protector or savior.

Tafsir jalalayn

When the Muslims and the People of the Scripture began to pride themselves [upon God's promise] the following was revealed; It, this matter, is not, dependent upon, your desires nor the desires of the People of the Scripture, but upon righteous deeds. Whoever does evil shall be requited for it, either in the Hereafter or in this life through trials and tribulations, as is stated in hadth; and he will not find besides God, that is, other than Him, any friend, to protect him, or helper, to defend him against Him.

Tafseer Ibn Kathir

Success is Only Achieved by Performing Righteous Deeds, not Wishful Thinking

Allah says;

لَّيْسَ بِأَمَانِيِّكُمْ وَلا أَمَانِيِّ أَهْلِ الْكِتَابِ مَن يَعْمَلْ سُوءًا يُجْزَ بِهِ

It will not be in accordance with your desires, nor those of the People of the Scripture, whosoever works evil, will have the recompense thereof,

Qatadah said,

"We were told that the Muslims and the People of the Scriptures mentioned their own virtues to each other.

People of the Scriptures said, `Our Prophet came before your Prophet and our Book before your Book. Therefore, we should have more right to Allah than you have.'

Muslims said, `Rather, we have more right to Allah than you, our Prophet is the Final Prophet and our Book supersedes all the Books before it.'

Allah sent down,

لَّيْسَ بِأَمَانِيِّكُمْ وَلا أَمَانِيِّ أَهْلِ الْكِتَابِ مَن يَعْمَلْ سُوءًا يُجْزَ بِهِ


It will not be in accordance with your desires (Muslims), nor those of the People of the Scripture (Jews and Christians), whosoever works evil, will have the recompense thereof,

وَمَنْ أَحْسَنُ دِينًا مِّمَّنْ أَسْلَمَ وَجْهَهُ لله وَهُوَ مُحْسِنٌ


And who can be better in religion than one who submits his face (himself) to Allah; and he is a Muhsin.

Allah then supported the argument of the Muslims against their opponents of the other religions."

Similar statements were attributed to As-Suddi, Masruq, Ad-Dahhak and Abu Salih.

Al-Awfi reported that Ibn Abbas commented on this Ayah (4;123)

"The followers of various religions disputed, the people of the Tawrah said, `Our Book is the best Book and our Prophet (Musa) is the best Prophet.'

The people of the Injil said similarly, the people of Islam said, `There is no religion except Islam, our Book has abrogated every other Book, our Prophet is the Final Prophet, and you were commanded to believe in your Books and adhere to our Book.'

Allah judged between them, saying,

لَّيْسَ بِأَمَانِيِّكُمْ وَلا أَمَانِيِّ أَهْلِ الْكِتَابِ مَن يَعْمَلْ سُوءًا يُجْزَ بِهِ

It will not be in accordance with your desires, nor those of the People of the Scripture, whosoever works evil, will have the recompense thereof."

This Ayah indicates that the religion is not accepted on account of wishful thinking or mere hopes. Rather, the accepted religion relies on what resides in the heart and which is made truthful through actions. It is not true that when one utters a claim to something, he attains it merely on account of his claim. It is not true that every person who claims to be on the truth is considered as such, merely on account of his words, until his claim gains merit with proof from Allah.

Hence Allah's statement,

لَّيْسَ بِأَمَانِيِّكُمْ وَلا أَمَانِيِّ أَهْلِ الْكِتَابِ مَن يَعْمَلْ سُوءًا يُجْزَ بِهِ
.

It will not be in accordance with your desires, nor those of the People of the Scripture, whosoever works evil, will have the recompense thereof,

meaning safety will not be acquired by you or them just by wishful thinking. Rather, the key is in obeying Allah and following what He has legislated through the words of His honorable Messengers.

This is why Allah said afterwards,
مَن يَعْمَلْ سُوءًا يُجْزَ بِهِ
(whosoever works evil, will have the recompense thereof).

Similarly, Allah said,

فَمَن يَعْمَلْ مِثْقَالَ ذَرَّةٍ خَيْراً يَرَهُ

وَمَن يَعْـمَلْ مِثْقَالَ ذَرَّةٍ شَرّاً يَرَهُ

So whosoever does good equal to the weight of an atom, shall see it. And whosoever does evil equal to the weight of an atom, shall see it. (99;7-8)

and it was reported that when these Ayat were revealed, they became hard on many Companions.

Ibn Abi Hatim recorded that Aishah said,

"I said, `O Messenger of Allah! I know the hardest Ayah in the Qur'an.'

He said, `What is it, O Aishah!'

I said,
مَن يَعْمَلْ سُوءًا يُجْزَ بِهِ
(whoever works evil, will have the recompense thereof).

He said,

هُوَ مَا يُصِيبُ الْعَبْدَالْمُوْمِنَ حَتَّى النَّكْبَةِ يُنْكَبُهَا

That is what strikes the believing servant, even the problems that bother him."

Ibn Jarir and Abu Dawud also recorded this Hadith.

Sa`id bin Mansur recorded that Abu Hurayrah said,

"When the Ayah,
مَن يَعْمَلْ سُوءًا يُجْزَ بِهِ
(whosoever works evil, will have the recompense thereof) was revealed, it was hard on Muslims.

The Messenger of Allah said to them,

سَدِّدُوا وَقَارِبُوا فَإِنَّ فِي كُلِّ مَا يُصَابُ بِهِ الْمُسْلِمُ كَفَّارَةً حَتَّى الشَّوْكَةِ يُشَاكُهَا وَالنَّـكْبَةِ يُنْكَبُهَا

Be steadfast and seek closeness. Everything that afflicts the Muslim, even the thorn that pierces his skin and the hardship he suffers, will be an expiation for him."

This is the wording collected by Ahmad through Sufyan bin Uyaynah.

Muslim and At-Tirmidhi also recorded it.

Allah's statement,

وَلَا يَجِدْ لَهُ مِن دُونِ اللّهِ وَلِيًّا وَلَا نَصِيرًا



and he will not find any protector or helper besides Allah,

Ali bin Abi Talhah reported that Ibn Abbas said;

"Unless he repents and Allah forgives him."

Ibn Abi Hatim recorded it.

Allah then said