Al-Qur'an Surah Al-Ma'idah Verse 13

Mufti Taqi Usmani

So, because they broke their pledge, We cursed them and made their hearts hardened. They change words from their places, and they have overlooked a good deal of the Advice they were given. Every now and then you come across a certain treachery from all of them, except a few. So, forgive them and forego. Indeed, Allah loves those who are good in deeds.

Dr. Mustafa Khattab, the Clear Quran

But for breaking their covenant We condemned them and hardened their hearts. They distorted the words of the Scripture and neglected a portion of what they had been commanded to uphold. You ˹O Prophet˺ will always find deceit on their part, except for a few. But pardon them and bear with them. Indeed, Allah loves the good-doers.

Ruwwad Translation Center

As a result of their breaking of the covenant We cursed them and made their hearts grow hard. They distort words [of the Scripture] from their context, and forgot parts of what was enjoined upon them. You will not cease to discover betrayal on their part except for a few. So pardon them and overlook, for Allah loves those who do good.

A. J. Arberry

So for their breaking their compact We cursed them and made their hearts hard, they perverting words from their meanings; and they have forgotten a portion of that they were reminded of; and thou wilt never cease to light upon some act of treachery on their part, except a few of them. Yet pardon them, and forgive; surely God loves the good-doers.

Abdul Haleem

But they broke their pledge, so We distanced them [from Us] and hardened their hearts. They distort the meaning of [revealed] words and have forgotten some of what they were told to remember: you [Prophet] will always find treachery in all but a few of them. Overlook this and pardon them: God loves those who do good.

Abdul Majid Daryabadi

Wherefore for their breach of their bond We accursed them and We made their hearts hard. They pervert the words from the meanings thereof and have abandoned a good portion of that wherewith they were admonished. And thou wilt not cease to light upon defrauding on their part, save a few of them; yet pardon thou them and overlook them, verily Allah loveth the well-doers.

Abdullah Yusuf Ali

But because of their breach of their covenant, We cursed them, and made their hearts grow hard; they change the words from their (right) places and forget a good part of the message that was sent them, nor wilt thou cease to find them- barring a few - ever bent on (new) deceits; but forgive them, and overlook (their misdeeds); for Allah loveth those who are kind.

Abul Ala Maududi

Then, for their breach of the covenant We cast them away from Our mercy and caused their hearts to harden. (And now they are in such a state that) they pervert the words from their context and thus distort their meaning, and have forgotten a good portion of the teaching they were imparted, and regarding all except a few of them you continue to learn that they committed acts of treachery. Pardon them, then, and overlook their deeds. Surely Allah loves those who do good deeds.

Ahmed Ali

When they dishonoured their pledge We condemned them, and hardened their hearts. So they distort the words of the Scripture out of context, and have forgotten some of what they were warned against. You will always hear of treachery on their part except that of a few. But forbear and forgive them, for God loves those who do good.

Ahmed Raza Khan

So We cursed them because of them constantly breaking their covenant, and hardened their hearts; they shift the Words of Allah from their places, and have forgotten a large portion of the advices that were given to them; and you will constantly learn of deceits from them, except a few; so forgive them and excuse them; indeed Allah loves the virtuous.

Ali Quli Qarai

Then, because of their breaking their covenant We cursed them and made their hearts hard: they pervert words from their meanings, and have forgotten a part of what they were reminded. You will not cease to learn of some of their treachery, excepting a few of them. Yet excuse them and forbear. Indeed Allah loves the virtuous.

Ali Ünal

Then, because of their breaking their pledge, We cursed them (excluding them from Our mercy and exposing them to many disasters), and caused their hearts to harden. They alter words from their context (in order to distort their meanings), and they have forgotten a (most important) portion of what they were admonished about. You will not cease to light upon some act of treachery from them, except a few of them. Yet pardon them, and overlook (their misdeeds). Assuredly, God loves those devoted to doing good deeds, aware that God is seeing them.

Amatul Rahman Omar

So on account of their breaking their covenant We deprived them of Our blessings, and We let their hearts become hardened. Now they pervert the words from their proper context (of the Divine Book) and (in doing so) they have abandoned a good portion of what they were (reminded of and) exhorted with. And you will never cease to discover one dishonesty (or the other) on their part, with the exception of a few of them; so pardon them and pass (them) over. Verily, Allâh loves the doers of good to others.

English Literal

So because (of) what their breaking/breaching their promise/covenant, We cursed them and We made their hearts cruel/merciless, they alter/distort the words/expressions from its places, and they forgot (a) fortune (share) from what they were reminded with it, and do you not still/continue to know/see on a betrayal/unfaithfulness from them, except (a) few from them, so forg ive/pardon on them and forgive/pardon, that God loves/likes the good doers.

Faridul Haque

So We cursed them because of them constantly breaking their covenant, and hardened their hearts; they shift the Words of Allah from their places, and have forgotten a large portion of the advices that were given to them; and you will constantly learn of deceits from them, except a few; so forgive them and excuse them; indeed Allah loves the virtuous.

Hamid S. Aziz

And of those who say, "Verily we are Christians," We have (also) taken a covenant; but they have forgotten a goodly portion of the message; wherefore have We excited amongst them enmity and hatred till the Day of Resurrection, when Allah will inform them of what they have done.

Hilali & Khan

So because of their breach of their covenant, We cursed them, and made their hearts grow hard. They change the words from their (right) places and have abandoned a good part of the Message that was sent to them. And you will not cease to discover deceit in them, except a few of them. But forgive them, and overlook (their misdeeds). Verily, Allah loves Al-Muhsinun (good-doers - see V. 2:112).

Maulana Mohammad Ali

And certainly Allah made a covenant with the Children of Israel, and We raised up among them twelve chieftains. And Allah said: Surely I am with you. If you keep up prayer and pay the poor-rate and believe in My messengers and assist them and offer to Allah a goodly gift, I will certainly cover your evil deeds, and cause you to enter Gardens wherein rivers flow. But whoever among you disbelieves after that, he indeed strays from the right way.

Mohammad Habib Shakir

But on account of their breaking their covenant We cursed them and made their hearts hard; they altered the words from their places and they neglected a portion of what they were reminded of; and you shall always discover treachery in them excepting a few of them; so pardon them and turn away; surely Allah loves those who do good (to others).

Mohammed Marmaduke William Pickthall

And because of their breaking their covenant, We have cursed them and made hard their hearts. They change words from their context and forget a part of that whereof they were admonished. Thou wilt not cease to discover treachery from all save a few of them. But bear with them and pardon them. Lo! Allah loveth the kindly.

Muhammad Sarwar

For their disregard of their solemn covenant with God, We condemned the Israelites and made their hearts hard as stone. Now they displace the words of God and have forgotten their share of the guidance that they had received. Still you receive news of the treachery of all but a few of them. Forgive and ignore them. God loves the righteous ones.

Qaribullah & Darwish

But because they broke their covenant, We cursed them and hardened their hearts. They changed the Words from their places and have forgotten a portion of what they were reminded. Except for a few, you will always find treachery from them, yet pardon them, and forgive; indeed Allah loves the gooddoers.

Safi-ur-Rahman al-Mubarakpuri

So, because of their breach of their covenant, We cursed them and made their hearts grow hard. They changed the words from their (right) places and have abandoned a good part of the Message that was sent to them. And you will not cease to discover deceit in them, except a few of them. But forgive them and overlook (their misdeeds). Verily, Allah loves the doers of good.

Wahiduddin Khan

Since they broke their solemn pledge, We laid on them Our curse and hardened their hearts. They distorted the meaning of the revealed words, taking them out of their context, and forgot much of what they were enjoined. You will constantly discover treachery on their part, except for a few of them. But pardon them, and bear with them; truly, God loves the doers of good.

Talal Itani

Because of their breaking their pledge, We cursed them, and made their hearts hard. They twist the words out of their context, and they disregarded some of what they were reminded of. You will always witness deceit from them, except for a few of them. But pardon them, and overlook. God loves the doers of good.

Tafsir jalalayn

God says; So because (bi-m, the m is extra) of their breaking their covenant, We cursed them, We removed them from Our mercy, and made their hearts hard, unyielding to the acceptance of faith; they pervert words, pertaining to the descriptions of Muhammad (s) in the Torah and other things, from their contexts, those in which God has placed them, in other words, they substitute them; and they have forgotten, they have abandoned, a portion, a part, of what they were reminded of, [of what] they were enjoined to in the Torah, in the way of following Muhammad (s); and you -- addressing the Prophet (s) now -- will never cease to discover some treachery on their part, in the way of breaking a covenant or some other matter, except for a few of them, who have submitted themselves [to Islam]. Yet pardon them, and forgive; surely God loves the virtuous; this was abrogated by the `sword' verse [Q. 9;5].

Tafseer Ibn Kathir

فَبِمَا نَقْضِهِم مِّيثَاقَهُمْ لَعنَّاهُمْ

So because of their breach of their covenant, We cursed them...,

Allah states, because of their breaking the promise that We took from them, We cursed them, deviated them away from the truth, and expelled them from guidance,

وَجَعَلْنَا قُلُوبَهُمْ قَاسِيَةً

and made their hearts grow hard...,

and they do not heed any word of advice that they hear, because of the hardness of their hearts.

يُحَرِّفُونَ الْكَلِمَ عَن مَّوَاضِعِهِ

They change the words from their (right) places...,

Since their comprehension became corrupt, they behaved treacherously with Allah's Ayat, altering His Book from its apparent meanings which He sent down, and distorting its indications.

They attributed to Allah what He did not say, and we seek refuge with Allah from such behavior.

وَنَسُواْ حَظًّا مِّمَّا ذُكِّرُواْ بِهِ

and have abandoned a good part of the Message that was sent to them.

by not implementing it and by ignoring it.

Allah said next,

وَلَا تَزَالُ تَطَّلِعُ عَلَىَ خَأيِنَةٍ مِّنْهُمْ

إِلاَّ قَلِيلً مِّنْهُمُ

And you will not cease to discover deceit in them, except a few of them.

such as their plots and treachery against you, O Muhammad, and your Companions.

Mujahid said that;

this Ayah refers to their plot to kill the Messenger of Allah.

فَاعْفُ عَنْهُمْ وَاصْفَحْ

But forgive them, and overlook (their misdeeds).

This, indeed, is the ultimate victory and triumph.

Some of the Salaf said,

"You would never treat those who disobey Allah with you better than obeying Allah with them."

This way, their hearts will gather around the truth and Allah might lead them to the right guidance.

This is why Allah said,

إِنَّ اللّهَ يُحِبُّ الْمُحْسِنِينَ



Verily, Allah loves the doers of good.

Therefore, forgive those who err against you.

Qatadah said that;

this Ayah was abrogated with Allah's statement,

قَاتِلُواْ الَّذِينَ لَا يُوْمِنُونَ بِاللّهِ وَلَا بِالْيَوْمِ الاخِرِ


Fight against those who believe not in Allah, nor in the Last Day. (9;29)
The Christians Also Broke their Covenant with Allah and the Repercussion of this Behavior

Allah said