Popular Translations
Muhammad Asad
Say unto those bedouin who stayed behind: “In time you will be called upon [to fight] against people of great prowess in war: you will have to fight against them [until you die] or they surrender. And then, if you heed [that call], God will bestow on you a goodly reward; but if you turn away as you turned away this time, He will chastise you with grievous chastisement.”
Arthur John Arberry
Say to the Bedouins who were left behind: 'You shall be called against a people possessed of great might' to fight them, or they surrender. If you obey, God will give you a goodly wage; but if you turn your backs, as you turned your backs before, He will chastise you with a painful chastisement.
Yusuf Ali (Saudi Rev. 1985)
Say to the desert Arabs who lagged behind: "Ye shall be summoned (to fight) against a people given to vehement war: then shall ye fight, or they shall submit. Then if ye show obedience, Allah will grant you a goodly reward, but if ye turn back as ye did before, He will punish you with a grievous Penalty."
Arabic
قُل لِّلۡمُخَلَّفِینَ مِنَ ٱلۡأَعۡرَابِ سَتُدۡعَوۡنَ إِلَىٰ قَوۡمٍ أُو۟لِی بَأۡسࣲ شَدِیدࣲ تُقَـٰتِلُونَهُمۡ أَوۡ یُسۡلِمُونَۖ فَإِن تُطِیعُوا۟ یُؤۡتِكُمُ ٱللَّهُ أَجۡرًا حَسَنࣰاۖ وَإِن تَتَوَلَّوۡا۟ كَمَا تَوَلَّیۡتُم مِّن قَبۡلُ یُعَذِّبۡكُمۡ عَذَابًا أَلِیمࣰا ١٦
Transliteration (2021)
qul lil'mukhallafīna mina l-aʿrābi satud'ʿawna ilā qawmin ulī basin shadīdin tuqātilūnahum aw yus'limūna fa-in tuṭīʿū yu'tikumu l-lahu ajran ḥasanan wa-in tatawallaw kamā tawallaytum min qablu yuʿadhib'kum ʿadhāban alīma