Repentance (At-Tawba)
۞ This is a declaration of immunity from God and His Messenger to the polytheists, with whom you had made agreements. 1 'For four months you shall journey freely in the land. But know that you shall not render Allah incapable, and that Allah will humiliate the unbelievers' 2 And a proclamation from Allah and His messenger to all men on the day of the Greater Pilgrimage that Allah is free from obligation to the idolaters, and (so is) His messenger. So, if ye repent, it will be better for you; but if ye are averse, then know that ye cannot escape Allah. Give tidings (O Muhammad) of a painful doom to those who disbelieve, 3 But excepted shall be - from among those who ascribe divinity to aught beside God - [people] with whom you [O believers] have made a covenant and who thereafter have in no wise failed to fulfil their obligations towards you, and neither have aided anyone against you: observe, then, your covenant with them until the end of the term agreed with them. Verily, God loves those who are conscious of Him. 4 When the forbidden months have passed, kill the polytheists [who are at war with you] wherever you find them. Take them captive, and besiege them, and lie in wait for them at every place of ambush. But if they repent, and take to prayer regularly and pay the alms, then let them go their way. God is forgiving and merciful. 5 If any of the pagans ask you to give them refuge, give them asylum so that they may hear the words of God. Then, return them to their towns for they are an ignorant people. 6