004:085

The Holy Qor-aan                                                                                                       004:085

فَقَاتِلۡ فِىۡ سَبِيۡلِ اللّٰهِ‌ ۚ   لَا تُكَلَّفُ اِلَّا نَـفۡسَكَ‌ وَحَرِّضِ الۡمُؤۡمِنِيۡنَ‌ ۚ  عَسَے اللّٰهُ اَنۡ يَّكُفَّ بَاۡسَ الَّذِيۡنَ كَفَرُوۡا‌ ؕ  وَاللّٰهُ اَشَدُّ بَاۡسًا وَّاَشَدُّ تَـنۡكِيۡلًا‏

Fa  qaa-til  fee  sa-be-lay  il-laa-hay                                                                                                    Laa  to-kul-la-fo  il-laa  nuf-sa  ka                                                                                                      Wa  hur-ray-dzay  il-moe-may-nee-na

Aa-saa  ul-laa-ho  un  ya-koof-fa  bau-sa  ul-la-ze-na  ka-fa-roo                                                Wa  ul-laa-ho  aa-shud-da  bau-sun  wa  aa-shud-da  tun-kee-laa

So push back in the cause of Allah —                                                                                  You are not made responsible except for yourself —                                                      And urge the believers to do the same.

Soon Allah will suppress the wrath of those who disbelieved.                              And Allah is very strong in Power and very strong in Punishment

• فَ — Fa — So (= Consequently; finally; hence; in conclusion; resultantly so; then; thereafter; therefore; thus)
•  قَاتِلۡ — Qaa-til — Push back (= v., pres., m/f., s., 3^rd person. Drive back; fight; oppose; strive; struggle. Also, battle; go to war, A/t/a, ‘fight (O Muhammad),’  ‘fight (O Muhammad s.a.w)’ and ‘(Prophet!) fight’)
• فِىۡ  — Fee — In (= In; concerning; regarding; in reference; relative to. Also, amidst, during or inside a time, place or event)
• سَبِيۡلِ — Sa-bee-l … (il) — Cause (= n., s., Action; alternative; cause, course; escape; line;  means; measure; method; path; pretext; remedy; road; way. See Note 004:089  & Phrase fee-sa-be-lil-laa-hay)
• اللّٰهِ‌ — Laa-hay — Allah (= The Almighty God; The only One worthy of worship)
• لَا — Laa — No (= Naught; neither; never; none; nor; not at all; absolute denial and total negation without exception)
• تُكَلَّفُ — To-kul-la-fo — Are burdened  (= v., past, 2^nd person. Charged, imposed or loaded with duty. Inconvenienced. Put to hardship. Required. Tasked. Saddled with responsibility. A/t/a, ‘thou art not made responsible,’ ‘thou art not responsible,’ ‘thou art not taxed (with the responsibility for anyone,’ ‘you are accountable for none but yourself’ and ‘you are not tasked (held responsible)’. See Note 004:085 below)
• اِلَّا — Il-laa — Except (= Apart from; but; besides; excluding; save; unless. A/t/a, ‘none but’)
• نَـفۡسَ — Nuf-sa — Soul (= n., Heart; mind; self)
• كَ  — Ka — You (= pro., s., m., 2^nd person. You single male. The addressee of this divine message is initially the Holy Prophet  s.a.w and secondarily every Moslem, in fact every human being. See the Note under 002:005)
• وَ — Wa — And (= Conj., links words, phrases or clauses; additionally; but;  also; more over; though; when; while; yet; whereupon)
• حَرِّضِ — Hur-ray-dz(il) — Urge to fight (= v., pres., m., s., 2^nd person. Exhort; goad; motivate; move; push; rouse; spur; stimulate.  A/t/a, ‘incite … (to fight along with you),’ ‘urge on the believers,’ ‘urge on believers to fight’ and ‘urge on the faithful (to fight a war in self-defence’)
• الۡمُؤۡمِنِيۡنَ‌ — Moe-may-nee-na — The believers (= n,. Adherents of Islam; those who enter the Faith, believe and follow the Holy Qor-aan, the Islaam and become Moslems. Men of faith. The faithful)
• عَسَے — Aa-saa — Soon (= In near future; quite close; very near It could happen; maybe; peradventure; perchance; perhaps; quite  possibly. A/t/a, ‘it may be that’)
• اللّٰهُ — Laa-ho — Allah (= The One and the Only One Almighty God)
• اَنۡ — Un —  That (= That)
• يَّكُفَّ — Ya-koof-fa — Suppress (= v., pres., s, 3^rd person. Check; defuse; limit; restrain; restrict; withhold.  A/t/a, ‘defeat’ and ‘break’)
• بَاۡسَ — Bau-sa — Wrath (= n., Anguish; anxiety; apprehension; disquiet; distress;        fear; fretfulness; nervousness; unease; worry. Extreme anger or wrath. Also describes a moment of extreme discomfort and uncontrollable physical pain usually resulting in very fast heartbeats and palpitation. A/t/a, ‘the fighting,’ ‘the might,’ ‘the evil might of,’ ‘fury’ and ‘strength’)
• ٱلَّذِينَ — Ul-la-zee-na — Those who (= pl., m, 3^rd person. Refers to those in masculine gender that include all articles, things, persons or phenomenon
• كَفَرُوۡا –Ka-fa-roo — They disbelieved (= v., past, pl., 3^rd person. Denied, refused and rejected the Faith and belief in Allah, the Holy Qor-aan, Islam and become Moslem. See the commentary titled as Believe and Disbelieve. A/t/a, ‘disbelievers,’ ‘those who disbelieve,’ ‘those that disbelieve,’ ‘those who have chosen disbelief’ and ‘unbelievers’ are all translations as a noun of what the Holy Qor-aan has stated in a verb)
• وَ — Wa — And (= Conj., links words, phrases or clauses. See وَ  above)
• اللّٰهُ — Laa-ho — Allah (= The One and the Only One Almighty God)
• اَشَدَّ — Aa-shud-da — Very strong (= adj., Better; firmer; greater; harder; more effective. A/t/a, ‘strong’, ‘stronger,’ ‘strongest’ and ‘mightier’)
• بَاۡسًا — Bau-sun — Power (= n., This word has several meanings including (a) anger;   fury, rage; wrath, and (b) Ability, agility, competency,  dexterity, expertise, prowess, proficiency, skill and strength. Might. Power)
• وَّ — Wa –And (= Conj., links words, phrases or clauses. See وَ  above)
• اَشَدَّ — Aa-shud-da — Very strong (= Adj., Firmer; harder; severer, stronger. See اَشَدَّ  above)
•  تَـنۡكِيۡلًا‏ — Tun-kee-laa — Punishment (= n., Chastising; grueling; paying back for deeds done; reprimanding; unremitting. A/t/a ‘punishment,’ ‘to give exemplary punishment,’ ‘inflicting punishment,’ ‘inflicting exemplary punishment,’ ‘chastisement,’ ‘punishing’ and ‘more truculent than they’)

** Note 004:085. Rules generally start by negating a negative.  That is how the five words   لَا تُكَلَّفُ اِلَّا نَـفۡسَكَ‌  are structured in the Holy Qor-aan. They are best translated as stated above, i.e., You are not made responsible except for yourself

Authors who stated ‘Thou are held responsible only for thyself’ [aya] and ‘you are only accountable for yourself’ gave just the gist and not full translation of the five words by omitting to translate two words لَا and اِلَّا .

Paraphrasing only the essence of a text is one thing. But this site is committed to provide a simple and straightforward translation of the text of the Holy Qor-aan.