Al-Qur'an Surah An-Nisa Verse 143

Mufti Taqi Usmani

wavering between (this and) that, neither here nor there. Whomsoever Allah lets go astray, you shall never find a way for him.

Dr. Mustafa Khattab, the Clear Quran

Torn between belief and disbelief—belonging neither to these ˹believers˺ nor those ˹disbelievers˺. And whoever Allah leaves to stray, you will never find for them a way.

Ruwwad Translation Center

wavering in between, neither belonging to these [believers], nor to those [disbelievers]. Whomsoever Allah causes to stray, you will never find a way [to guidance] for him.

A. J. Arberry

wavering all the time -- not to these, not to those; and whom God leads astray, thou wilt not find for him a way.

Abdul Haleem

wavering all the time between this and that, belonging neither to one side nor the other. If God leaves someone to stray, you [Prophet] will never find a way for him.

Abdul Majid Daryabadi

Wave ring between this and that; neither for this nor for that and whomsoever Allah sendeth astray, for him thou wilt never find a way.

Abdullah Yusuf Ali

(They are) distracted in mind even in the midst of it,- being (sincerely) for neither one group nor for another whom Allah leaves straying,- never wilt thou find for him the way.

Abul Ala Maududi

They dangle between the one and the other (faith and disbelief), and belong neither to these nor to those completely. And he whom Allah lets go astray, for him you can find no way.

Ahmed Ali

Wavering between the two, neither with these nor with those. For them who are not given the guidance by God, you will never find a way.

Ahmed Raza Khan

Fluctuating in the middle; neither here (in faith) nor there (in disbelief); and for one whom Allah sends astray, you will not find a way.

Ali Quli Qarai

wavering in between: neither with these, nor with those. And whomever Allah leads astray, you will never find any way for him.

Ali Ünal

Vacillating between (the believers) and (the unbelievers), neither with these, nor with those. Whoever God leads astray, for him you can never find a sound way (to follow).

Amatul Rahman Omar

Wavering between that (- disbelief and belief), belonging neither to these nor to those. And he whom Allâh causes to be ruined, you shall not find a way (of escape) for him.

English Literal

Hesitating/wavering between that, not to those and not to these, and whom God misguides, so you will not find for him a way/path.

Faridul Haque

Fluctuating in the middle; neither here (in faith) nor there (in disbelief); and for one whom Allah sends astray, you will not find a way.

Hamid S. Aziz

Verily, the hypocrites are in the lowest depths of hell-fire, and you will not find for them a help.

Hilali & Khan

(They are) swaying between this and that, belonging neither to these nor to those, and he whom Allah sends astray, you will not find for him a way (to the truth - Islam).

Maulana Mohammad Ali

The hypocrites seek to deceive Allah, and He will requite their deceit to them. And when they stand up for prayer, they stand up sluggishly -- they do it only to be seen of men and remember Allah but little,

Mohammad Habib Shakir

Wavering between that (and this), (belonging) neither to these nor to those; and whomsoever Allah causes to err, you shall not find a way for him.

Mohammed Marmaduke William Pickthall

Swaying between this (and that), (belonging) neither to these nor to those. He whom Allah causeth to go astray, thou (O Muhammad) wilt not find a way for him:

Muhammad Sarwar

They are hesitant people belonging to neither side. You can find no other way for one whom God has caused to go astray.

Qaribullah & Darwish

wavering between (belief and disbelief), neither to these nor to those, and whom Allah leads astray, you will not find a way for him.

Safi-ur-Rahman al-Mubarakpuri

(They are) swaying between this and that, belonging neither to these nor to those; and he whom Allah sends astray, you will not find for him a way.

Wahiduddin Khan

They vacillate between the two, belonging neither to one side nor the other. But for him whom God allows to go astray you can never find the way for him.

Talal Itani

Wavering in between, neither with these, nor with those. Whomever God sends astray, you will never find for him a way.

Tafsir jalalayn

Wavering, hesitant, all the time, between that unbelief and belief -- not, belonging, to these, disbelievers, neither to those, believers; and he whom God sends astray, you will never find for him a way, a path [back] to guidance.

Tafseer Ibn Kathir

مُّذَبْذَبِينَ بَيْنَ ذَلِكَ لَا إِلَى هَـوُلاء

(They are) swaying between this and that, belonging neither to these,

means that the hypocrites are swaying between faith and disbelief. So they are neither with believers inwardly or outwardly nor with disbelievers inwardly or outwardly. Rather, they are with the believers outwardly and with the disbelievers inwardly. Some of them would suffer fits of doubt, leaning towards these sometimes and towards those sometimes.

كُلَّمَأ أَضَأءَ لَهُم مَّشَوْاْ فِيهِ وَإِذَا أَظْلَمَ عَلَيْهِمْ قَامُواْ

Whenever it flashes for them, they walk therein, and when darkness covers them, they stand still. (2;20)

Mujahid said;
مُّذَبْذَبِينَ بَيْنَ ذَلِكَ لَا إِلَى هَـوُلاء
((They are) swaying between this and that, belonging neither to these),

"The Companions of Muhammad,

وَلَا إِلَى هَـوُلاء

nor to those;

the Jews."

Ibn Jarir recorded that Ibn Umar said that the Prophet said,

مَثَلُ الْمُنَافِقِ كَمَثَلِ الشَّاةِ الْعَايِرَةِ بَيْنَ الْغَنَمَيْنِ تَعِيرُ إِلى هَذِهِ مَرَّةً وَإِلَى هَذِهِ مَرَّةً وَلَا تَدْرِي أَيَّتَهُمَا تَتْبَع

The example of the hypocrite is the example of the sheep wandering between two herds, sometimes she goes to one of them, and sometimes the other, confused over whom she should follow.

Muslim also recorded it.

This is why Allah said afterwards,

وَمَن يُضْلِلِ اللّهُ فَلَن تَجِدَ لَهُ سَبِيلً



and he whom Allah sends astray, you will not find for him a way.

meaning, whomever He leads astray from the guidance,
فَلَن تَجِدَ لَهُ وَلِيًّا مُّرْشِدًا
(For him you will find no Wali (guiding friend) to lead him (to the right path)) (18;17) because,
مَن يُضْلِلِ اللّهُ فَلَ هَادِيَ لَهُ
(Whomsoever Allah sends astray, none can guide him). (7;186)

So the hypocrites whom Allah has led astray from the paths of safety will never find a guide to direct them, nor someone to save them. There is none who can resist Allah's decision, and He is not asked about what He does, while they all will be asked