Tafseer of The Women · An-Nisaa · 4:104
And do not weaken in pursuit of the enemy. If you should be suffering - so are they suffering as you are suffering, but you expect from Allah that which they expect not. And Allah is ever Knowing and Wise.
Important: The Arabic source text is always authoritative. This translation is a study aid and has not been verified by scholars — do not use it as a basis for religious proof or for deriving rulings (ahkam). When in doubt, always consult the Arabic text and a qualified scholar.
The explanation of His word: وَلا تَهِنُوا فِي ابْتِغَاءِ الْقَوْمِ إِنْ تَكُونُوا تَأْلَمُونَ فَإِنَّهُمْ يَأْلَمُونَ كَمَا تَأْلَمُونَ وَتَرْجُونَ مِنَ اللَّهِ مَا لا يَرْجُونَ ("And do not grow weak in pursuing the people; if you suffer pain, then they too suffer pain just as you suffer pain, while you hope from Allah for what they do not hope") (4:104).
Abū Jaʿfar said: He, exalted is His praise, means by His word "wa-lā tahinū" ("and do not grow weak"): do not grow weak and do not lose heart.
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This is derived from their expression: "wahana fulān fī hādhā al-amri yahinu wahnan wa-wuhūnan" ("so-and-so grew weak in this matter, he is weak with weakness"). (76)
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And His word "fī ibtighāʾi al-qawm" ("in pursuing the people") means: in seeking after the people and searching for them. (77) And "the people" are the enemies of Allah and the enemies of the believers among the adherents of ascribing partners to Allah (shirk). "In takūnū taʾlamūn" ("if you suffer pain") says: if you, O believers, feel pain on account of the wounds that befall you from them in this world. (78) "Fa-innahum yaʾlamūna kamā taʾlamūn" ("then they too suffer pain just as you suffer pain") says: verily, the polytheists (mushrikīn) feel pain on account of the wounds and the suffering that befalls them from you, just as you yourselves feel pain on account of their wounds and their suffering therein. "Wa-tarjūn" ("while you hope") — you, O believers — "mina Allāh" ("from Allah"), namely for the reward for what befalls you from them, "mā lā yarjūn" ("for what they do not hope") — they, for what befalls them from you. He says: you, then — since you are certain of Allah's reward for you for what befalls you from them, (79) in which they reject faith — you are more entitled and more justified to be patient in their warring against you and combating you than they are in combating and warring against you, and to exert yourselves in pursuing and seeking after them, in order to combat them for something in which they grow weak and do not exert themselves. How then would it be regarding that for which they did exert themselves and did not grow weak? (80)
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And in accordance with what we have said concerning this, the exegetes have spoken.
* Mention of who said that:
10400 - Bishr related to us, saying: Yazīd related to us, saying: Saʿīd related to us, on the authority of Qatāda: "wa-lā tahinū fī ibtighāʾi al-qawmi in takūnū taʾlamūna fa-innahum yaʾlamūna kamā taʾlamūn" ("and do not grow weak in pursuing the people; if you suffer pain, then they too suffer pain just as you suffer pain"), he says: do not grow weak in seeking after the people, for if you feel pain, then they too feel pain just as you feel pain, and you hope from Allah for recompense and reward for which they do not hope.
10401 - Muḥammad ibn al-Ḥusayn related to us, saying: Aḥmad ibn Mufaḍḍal related to us, saying: Asbāṭ related to us, on the authority of al-Suddī: "wa-lā tahinū fī ibtighāʾi al-qawmi in takūnū taʾlamūna fa-innahum yaʾlamūna kamā taʾlamūn", he said: He says: do not grow weak in seeking after the people, for if you feel pain on account of the wounds, (81) then they too feel pain just as you feel pain.
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10402 - Al-Muthannā related to me, saying: Abū Ḥudhayfa related to us, saying: Shibl related to us, on the authority of Ibn Abī Najīḥ, on the authority of Mujāhid: "wa-lā tahinū fī ibtighāʾi al-qawm" ("and do not grow weak in pursuing the people"): do not grow weak.
10403 - Al-Muthannā related to me, saying: Isḥāq related to us, saying: ʿAbdallāh ibn Abī Jaʿfar related to us, on the authority of his father, on the authority of al-Rabīʿ, his word: "wa-lā tahinū" ("and do not grow weak"), he says: do not grow weak. (82)
10404 - Yūnus related to me, saying: Ibn Wahb informed us, saying: Ibn Zayd said concerning His word: "wa-lā tahinū fī ibtighāʾi al-qawm" ("and do not grow weak in pursuing the people"), he said: He says: do not grow weak in pursuing them. "In takūnū taʾlamūn" ("if you suffer pain"): the fighting. "Fa-innahum yaʾlamūna kamā taʾlamūn" ("then they too suffer pain just as you suffer pain"). And this was before the wounds befell them. (83) If you loathe the fighting and suffer pain from it: "fa-innahum yaʾlamūna kamā taʾlamūna wa-tarjūna mina Allāhi mā lā yarjūn" ("then they too suffer pain just as you suffer pain, while you hope from Allah for what they do not hope"), he says: so do not grow weak in pursuing them on account of the fighting. (84)
10405 - Al-Muthannā related to me, saying: ʿAbdallāh ibn Ṣāliḥ related to us, saying: Muʿāwiya related to me, on the authority of ʿAlī, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās, his word: "in takūnū taʾlamūn" ("if you suffer pain"): you feel pain.
10406 - Al-Qāsim related to us, saying: al-Ḥusayn related to us, saying: Ḥajjāj related to me, on the authority of Ibn Jurayj: "in takūnū taʾlamūn" ("if you suffer pain"), he said: you feel pain on account of what befalls you from them, and they feel pain just as you feel pain, while you hope for the reward for what befalls you, for which they do not hope.
10407 - Al-Muthannā related to me, saying: Isḥāq related to us, saying: Ḥafṣ ibn ʿUmar related to us, saying: al-Ḥakam ibn Abān related to us, on the authority of ʿIkrima, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās, he said: When the battle of Uḥud took place and what befell the Muslims befell them, the Prophet ﷺ climbed the mountain. Then Abū Sufyān came and said: "O Muḥammad, will you not come out? Will you not come out? (85) War goes up and down, a day for us and a day for you." Then the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said to his companions: "Answer him." They said: "Not equal, not equal! (86) Our slain are in Paradise (janna) and your slain are in the Fire." Then Abū Sufyān said: "We have al-ʿUzzā and you have no ʿUzzā!" (87) Then the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said: "Say to him: Allah is our Protector and you have no protector." Abū Sufyān said: "Be exalted, Hubal! Be exalted, Hubal!" (88) Then the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said: "Say to him: Allah is higher and more exalted!" Then Abū Sufyān said: "Our appointment and your appointment is at Badr al-Ṣughrā." And the Muslims slept while the wounds marked them. (89) And ʿIkrima said: And concerning that was revealed: إِنْ يَمْسَسْكُمْ قَرْحٌ فَقَدْ مَسَّ الْقَوْمَ قَرْحٌ مِثْلُهُ وَتِلْكَ الأَيَّامُ نُدَاوِلُهَا بَيْنَ النَّاسِ ("If a wound touches you, verily, a similar wound has touched the people, and those days We alternate among mankind") [Surah Āl ʿImrān: 140], and concerning them was revealed: "in takūnū taʾlamūna fa-innahum yaʾlamūna kamā taʾlamūna wa-tarjūna mina Allāhi mā lā yarjūna wa-kāna Allāhu ʿalīman ḥakīman" ("if you suffer pain, then they too suffer pain just as you suffer pain, while you hope from Allah for what they do not hope; and Allah is All-Knowing, All-Wise"). (90)
10408 - Yaḥyā ibn Abī Ṭālib related to me, saying: Yazīd informed us, saying: Juwaybir informed us, on the authority of al-Ḍaḥḥāk concerning His word: "in takūnū taʾlamūna fa-innahum yaʾlamūna kamā taʾlamūn" ("if you suffer pain, then they too suffer pain just as you suffer pain"), he said: they feel pain just as you feel pain.
And it has been related from some that they explained His word "wa-tarjūna mina Allāhi mā lā yarjūn" ("while you hope from Allah for what they do not hope") as: and you fear from Allah what they do not fear, on the basis of Allah's word: قُلْ لِلَّذِينَ آمَنُوا يَغْفِرُوا لِلَّذِينَ لا يَرْجُونَ أَيَّامَ اللَّهِ ("Say to those who believe that they should forgive those who do not expect the days of Allah") [Surah al-Jāthiya: 14], in the meaning: who do not fear the days of Allah.
But it is not known that "al-rajāʾ" (hope) in the language of the Arabs is turned toward the meaning of "al-khawf" (fear), except with a preceding negation, as He, exalted is His praise, has said: مَا لَكُمْ لا تَرْجُونَ لِلَّهِ وَقَارًا ("What is the matter with you, that you have no reverence for the greatness of Allah") [Surah Nūḥ: 13], in the meaning: you do not fear the greatness of Allah. And as the poet said: (92)
"You do not hope, when you meet the defender, whether it was seven who met you together, or one." (93)
And as Abū Dhuʾayb al-Hudhalī said:
"When the bees stung him, he did not fear their sting, and he went out to meet them in a house of working bees." (94)
And this is, according to what has reached us, a manner of expression of the people of the Ḥijāz, which they say in the meaning of: it does not trouble me, and I do not care about it. (95)
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The explanation of His word: وَكَانَ اللَّهُ عَلِيمًا حَكِيمًا ("And Allah is All-Knowing, All-Wise") (4:104).
He, exalted is His praise, means by that: and Allah is ever "ʿalīman" ("All-Knowing") concerning the interests of His creatures, "ḥakīman" ("All-Wise") in His decree and His governance. (96) And among His knowledge, O believers, of your interests is that He made known to you — at the onset of your prayer and the obligation that Allah imposes upon you, while you stand arrayed before your enemy (97) — that by which you reach the fulfillment of the duty that Allah imposes upon you and safety from your enemy. And among His wisdom is that He gave you insight into that in which lies your strengthening and the weakening of the stratagem of your enemy. (98)