Al-Qur'an Surah Al-Ma'idah Verse 24

Mufti Taqi Usmani

They said, “O Mūsā, we shall never enter it, in any case, so long as they are there. So go, you and your Lord, and fight. As for us, we are sitting right here.”

Dr. Mustafa Khattab, the Clear Quran

˹Yet˺ they said, “O Moses! ˹Still˺ we will never enter as long as they remain there. So go—both you and your Lord—and fight; we are staying right here!”

Ruwwad Translation Center

They said, “O Moses, we will never enter it as long as they are there. Go, you and your Lord, and fight; we are staying right here!”

A. J. Arberry

They said, 'Moses, we will never enter it so long as they are in it. Go forth, thou and thy Lord, and do battle; we will be sitting here.'

Abdul Haleem

They said, ‘Moses, we will never enter while they are still there, so you and your Lord go in and fight, and we will stay here.’

Abdul Majid Daryabadi

They said: O Musa! verily we shall never enter it so long as they remain therein; go thou and thy Lord, and fight ye twain, we shall remain here sitting.

Abdullah Yusuf Ali

They said; "O Moses! while they remain there, never shall we be able to enter, to the end of time. Go thou, and thy Lord, and fight ye two, while we sit here (and watch)."

Abul Ala Maududi

Nevertheless they said: 'O Moses! Never shall we enter it as long as they are there. Go forth, then, you and your Lord, and fight, both of you. As for us, we will sit here.'

Ahmed Ali

They said: "O Moses, we shall never, never enter so long as they are there. Go you and your Lord to fight them; we stay here."

Ahmed Raza Khan

They said, “O Moosa! We will never enter it whilst they are there, so you and your Lord go and fight – we shall remain seated here.”

Ali Quli Qarai

They said, ‘O Moses, we will never enter it so long as they remain in it. Go ahead, you and your Lord, and fight! We will be sitting right here.’

Ali Ünal

They said: "O Moses! By no means will we enter it as long as they are there. Go forth, then, you and your Lord, and fight, both of you. (As for ourselves) we will be sitting just here!"

Amatul Rahman Omar

They said, `O Moses! we will, certainly, never enter it so long as they are therein, so go forth you and your Lord, then fight (there) you two, surely, we will sit down here (and watch).´

English Literal

They said: "You Moses, we are never entering it, never, as long as they continued/lasted in it, so go you, and your Lord, so you both fight/kill, we are here, here sitting/remaining."

Faridul Haque

They said, “O Moosa! We will never enter it whilst they are there, so you and your Lord go and fight - we shall remain seated here.”

Hamid S. Aziz

Said he, "My Lord, verily, I can control only myself and my brother; therefore, part (distinguish) us from this rebellious people."

Hilali & Khan

They said: "O Musa (Moses)! We shall never enter it as long as they are there. So go you and your Lord and fight you two, we are sitting right here."

Maulana Mohammad Ali

Two men of those who feared, on whom Allah had bestowed a favour, said: Enter upon them by the gate, for when you enter it you will surely be victorious; and put your trust in Allah, if you are believers.

Mohammad Habib Shakir

They said: O Musa! we shall never enter it so long as they are in it; go therefore you and your Lord, then fight you both surely we will here sit down.

Mohammed Marmaduke William Pickthall

They said: O Moses! We will never enter (the land) while they are in it. So go thou and thy Lord and fight! We will sit here.

Muhammad Sarwar

They said, "(Moses), as long as they are in the land, we shall never go there. Go with your Lord to fight them but we shall stay where we are".

Qaribullah & Darwish

They said: 'Moses, we will never go in so long as they are in it. Go, you and your Lord, to fight. We will stay here'

Safi-ur-Rahman al-Mubarakpuri

They said: "O Musa! We shall never enter it as long as they are there. So go, you and your Lord, and fight you two, we are sitting right here."

Wahiduddin Khan

They said, "We will never enter it, Moses, as long as they are there. Go, you and your Lord, and fight, and we will stay here."

Talal Itani

They said, “O Moses, we will not enter it, ever, as long as they are in it. So go ahead, you and your Lord, and fight. We are staying right here.”

Tafsir jalalayn

They said, `O Moses, we will never enter it so long as they are in it. So go forth, you and your Lord, and fight, them, we will be sitting here', away from the fighting.

Tafseer Ibn Kathir

They said, "O Musa! We shall never enter it as long as they are there. So go, you and your Lord, and fight you two, we are sitting right here."

This is how they declined to join Jihad, defied their Messenger, and refused to fight their enemy.
The Righteous Response of the Companions During the Battle of Badr

Compare this to the better response the Companions gave to the Messenger of Allah during the battle of Badr, when he asked for their advice about fighting the Quraysh army that came to protect the caravan led by Abu Sufyan. When the Muslim army missed the caravan and the Quraysh army, between nine hundred and one thousand strong, helmeted and drawing closer, Abu Bakr stood up and said something good. Several more Muhajirin also spoke, all the while the Messenger of Allah saying,

أشيروا علي أيها المسلمون

Advise me, O Muslims!

inquiring of what the Ansar, the majority then, had to say.

Sa`d bin Mu`adh said,

"It looks like you mean us, O Messenger of Allah! By He Who has sent you with the Truth! If you seek to cross this sea and went in it, we will follow you and none among us will remain behind. We would not hate for you to lead us to meet our enemy tomorrow. We are patient in war, vicious in battle. May Allah allow you to witness from our efforts what comforts your eyes. Therefore, march forward with the blessing of Allah."

The Messenger of Allah was pleased with the words of Sa`d and was encouraged to march on.

Abu Bakr bin Marduwyah recorded that Anas said that;

when the Messenger of Allah went to Badr, he asked the Muslims for their opinion, and Umar gave his.

The Prophet again asked the Muslims for their opinion and the Ansar said, "O Ansar! It is you whom the Prophet wants to hear."

They said, "We will never say as the Children of Israel said to Musa,
فَاذْهَبْ أَنتَ وَرَبُّكَ فَقَاتِل إِنَّا هَاهُنَا قَاعِدُونَ
(So go, you and your Lord, and fight you two, we are sitting right here).

By He Who has sent you with the Truth! If you took the camels to Bark Al-Ghimad (near Makkah) we shall follow you."

Imam Ahmad, An-Nasa'i and Ibn Hibban also recorded this Hadith.

In the Book of Al-Maghazi and At-Tafsir, Al-Bukhari recorded that Abdullah bin Mas`ud said,

"On the day of Badr, Al-Miqdad said, `O Messenger of Allah! We will never say to you what the Children of Israel said to Musa,
فَاذْهَبْ أَنتَ وَرَبُّكَ فَقَاتِل إِنَّا هَاهُنَا قَاعِدُونَ
(So go, you and your Lord, and fight you two, we are sitting right here).

Rather, march on and we will be with you.'

The Messenger of Allah was satisfied after hearing this statement."
Musa Supplicates to Allah Against the Jews

Musa said,

قَالَ رَبِّ إِنِّي لا أَمْلِكُ إِلاَّ نَفْسِي وَأَخِي فَافْرُقْ بَيْنَنَا وَبَيْنَ الْقَوْمِ الْفَاسِقِينَ