Tafseer of The Repentance · At-Tawba · 9:88
But the Messenger and those who believed with him fought with their wealth and their lives. Those will have [all that is] good, and it is those who are the successful.
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: لَكِنِ الرَّسُولُ وَالَّذِينَ آمَنُوا مَعَهُ جَاهَدُوا بِأَمْوَالِهِمْ وَأَنْفُسِهِمْ وَأُولَئِكَ لَهُمُ الْخَيْرَاتُ وَأُولَئِكَ هُمُ الْمُفْلِحُونَ (88) (But the Messenger and those who believed with him strove with their possessions and their lives; and it is they for whom the good things are, and it is they who will prosper) (9:88).
Abū Jaʿfar said: The Exalted, whose praise is mentioned, says: These hypocrites (munāfiqūn) whose accounts I have related did not fight the polytheists (mushrikīn); but the Messenger, Muḥammad ﷺ, and those who, together with him, held Allah and His Messenger to be true—it is they who fought the polytheists with their possessions and their lives. In their jihād they spent their possessions, and in their fighting (qitāl) they wearied their own bodies and gave them up entirely. وَأُولَئِكَ ("and it is they")—He says: and for the Messenger and for those who believed with him, who strove with their possessions and their lives, are الْخَيْرَاتُ ("the good things"), and these are the good things of the Hereafter, namely: the women thereof, the gardens thereof, and the bliss thereof.
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The singular of it is "khayra", as the poet said:
"And indeed I have thrust into the fleshy mounds of the inner thighs, the inner thighs of Hind, the choicest (khayra) among the queens."
And "al-khayra" of everything is: the excellent.
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وَأُولَئِكَ هُمُ الْمُفْلِحُونَ ("and it is they who will prosper")—He says: and it is they who will abide forever in the gardens (janna), who will endure therein, who have attained these.