نفر من البيض الخماص 35 وكنتم على شفا حفرة من النار ، مذقة الشارب ونهزة الطامع 36 وقبسته العجلان وموطئي الأقدام ، تشربون الطرق 37 وتقتاتون الورق ، أذلة خاسئين ، تخافون أن يتخطفكم الناس من حولكم ، فأنقذكم الله تبارك وتعالى بمحمد صلى الله عليه وآله بعد اللتيا والتي وبعد أن مني ببهم 38 الرجال وذؤبان العرب ومردة أهل الكتاب .

a few, white-faced and lean-bellied; [35] and you were on the brink of a pit of fire — a gulp for the drinker and a snatch for the greedy, [36] a firebrand for the hasty and a treading-place for feet. You drank what water the camels had fouled [37] and fed upon leaves, abased and driven off, fearing that the people around you would snatch you away. Then God, blessed and exalted, rescued you through Muhammad, may God bless him and his Family, after this and after that, and after he had been tried with the champions [38] of men and the wolves of the Arabs and the rebels among the People of the Book.

كلما أوقدوا نارا للحرب أطفأها الله أو نجم قرن للشيطان وفغرت فاغرة 39 من المشركين ، قذف أخاه في لهواتها 40 ، فلا ينكفئ حتى يطأ صماخها بأخمصه 41 ويخمد لهبها بسيفه ، مكدودا في ذات الله مجتهدا في أمر الله ، قريبا من رسول الله ، سيدا في أولياء الله ، مشمرا ناصحا مجدا كادحا ، وأنتم في رفاهية من العيش وادعون 42 فاكهون آمنون ، تتربصون بنا الدوائر وتتوكفون الأخبار 43 ، وتنكصون عند النزال وتفرون عند القتال .

Whenever they kindled a fire for war, God put it out; or a horn of Satan appeared, or a gaping mouth [39] opened among the polytheists, he cast his brother into its jaws; [40] and he would not turn back until he had trodden its ear with the sole of his foot [41] and quenched its flame with his sword — worn out in the cause of God, striving in the affair of God, near to the Messenger of God, a master among the friends of God, girded up, sincere, earnest, toiling. And you were in ease of living, tranquil, [42] merry, secure, awaiting for us the turns of fortune, watching for the news, [43] shrinking back at the encounter and fleeing at the battle.

فلما اختار الله لنبيه دار أنبيائه ومأوى أصفيائه ، ظهر فيكم حسيكة النفاق وسمل 44 جلباب الدين ونطق كاظم الغاوين ونبغ خامل الأقلين وهدر فنيق 45 المبطلين ، فخطر في عرصاتكم واطلع الشيطان رأسه من مغرزة هاتفا بكم ، فألقاكم

Then, when God chose for His Prophet the abode of His prophets and the dwelling of His chosen, there appeared among you the thorns of hypocrisy, and the garment of religion grew threadbare, [44] and the one who had kept silent among the misguided spoke, and the obscure among the lowliest rose to prominence, and the stallion [45] of the falsifiers bellowed. So he strutted in your courtyards, and Satan put forth his head from his hiding-place, calling out to you; and he found you