At-Tawba 9:80
The Repentance · ayah 80 of 129
Istaghfir lahum aw la tastaghfirlahum in tastaghfir lahum sabAAeena marratan falan yaghfira Allahulahum thalika bi-annahum kafaroo billahiwarasoolihi wallahu la yahdee alqawma alfasiqeen
Saheeh International translation
Other English translations
Abdel Haleem (Oxford)+
"It makes no difference [Prophet] whether you ask forgiveness for them or not: God will not forgive them even if you ask seventy times, because they reject God and His Messenger. God does not guide those who rebel against Him."
Pickthall (classic)+
"Ask forgiveness for them (O Muhammad), or ask not forgiveness for them; though thou ask forgiveness for them seventy times Allah will not forgive them. That is because they disbelieved in Allah and His messenger, and Allah guideth not wrongdoing folk."
Yusuf Ali (classic)+
"Whether thou ask for their forgiveness, or not, (their sin is unforgivable): if thou ask seventy times for their forgiveness, Allah will not forgive them: because they have rejected Allah and His Messenger: and Allah guideth not those who are perversely rebellious."
Tafsīr · classical commentary
Ibn Kathir
Abridged English, public domain
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Ibn Kathir
Abridged English, public domain
The Prohibition of asking for Forgiveness for Hypocrites
Allah says to His Prophet that hypocrites are not worthy of seeking forgiveness for them and that if he asks Allah to forgive them seventy times, Allah will not forgive them. The number seventy here was mentioned to close the door on this subject, for Arabs use this number when they exaggerate, not that they actually mean seventy or more than seventy. Ash-Sha`bi said that when `Abdullah bin Ubayy was dying, his son went to the Prophet and said to him, "My father has died, I wish you could attend him and pray the funeral prayer for him." The Prophet said,
("What is you name) He said, "Al-Hubab bin `Abdullah." The Prophet said,
(Rather, you are `Abdullah bin `Abdullah, for Al-Hubab is a devil's name.) The Prophet went along with him, attended his father's funeral, gave him his shirt as a shroud and prayed the funeral prayer for him. He was asked, "Would you pray on him, when he is a hypocrite" He said,
(Allah said,(...(and even) if you ask seventy times for their forgiveness...) Verily, I will ask Allah to forgive them seventy times and seventy more and seventy more.)" Similar narrations were collected from `Urwah bin Az-Zubayr, Mujahid, Qatadah bin Di`amah and Ibn Jarir.
Tafsir Saʿdi
English translation, public domain
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Tafsir Saʿdi
English translation, public domain