9. Surah At-Tawbah, Verse 42

If it were a near gain, or an easy journey, they would have followed you; but the distance was too much for them. And they will swear by God: "If we could have, we would have come with you." They destroy themselves, and God knows they are liars.

There are people among you that if it were a quick material gain and a short easy journey, they would follow you. But the strife and the distance seem heavy and long to them. They will swear by Allah, "If we could, we would have gone along with you." They destroy their "Self". Allah knows that they are liars.

Had it been goods nearby and a short journey, they would have followed thee; but far for them was the destination. And they will swear by God: “Had we been able, we would have gone forth with you,” destroying their souls; and God knows that they are liars.

If it were a near gain, or an easy journey, they would have followed you; but the distance was too much for them. And they will swear by God: "If we could have, we would have gone with you." They destroy themselves, and God knows they are liars.

If it were a near gain, or an easy journey, they would have followed you; but the distance was too much for them. They will swear by God: "If we could have, we would have come with you." They destroy themselves, and God knows they are liars.

If it had been a case of easy gains and a short journey, they would have followed you, but the distance was too great for them. They will swear by Allah: ‘Had we been able to, we would have gone out with you.’ They are destroying their own selves. Allah knows that they are lying.

If there were a quick material gain, and a short journey, they would have followed you. But the striving is just too much for them. They will swear by GOD: "If we could, we would have mobilized with you." They thus hurt themselves, and GOD knows that they are liars.

(O Prophet), had the gain been close at hand, and easy the journey, they would surely have followed you; but hard was the journey and long the going. Even then they swear by God (and say): "If we had the strength we would surely have gone out with you." They are only ruining themselves, for God is aware they lie.

Had it been an easy gain and a moderate trip, the hypocrites would have followed you, but distant to them was the journey. And they will swear by Allah, "If we were able, we would have gone forth with you," destroying themselves [through false oaths], and Allah knows that indeed they are liars.

Had there been [a prospect of] immediate gain, and an easy journey, they would certainly have followed thee, [O Prophet:] but the distance was too great for them. And yet, [after your return, O believers,] they will swear by God, "Had we been able to do so, we would certainly have set out with you!" - [and by thus falsely swearing] they will be destroying their own selves: for God knows indeed that they are lying!

Had it been a near adventure and an easy journey they had followed thee, but the distance seemed too far for them. Yet will they swear by Allah (saying): If we had been able we would surely have set out with you. They destroy their souls, and Allah knoweth that they verily are liars.

Had the expedition been a short distance and they were confident their march would attain its worldly end, they would have followed you. But the distance disenchanted their minds and appeared toilsome. They will swear to you O Muhammad that they would have gone out with you to fight had they been able to do so. They are the cause of their own destruction, and Allah knows that they are liars.

O’ Mohammad, if it was an easy campaign, they would have been quite ready to follow you. However, they could not handle the situation (marching a long way in the desert in the hot summer, not having enough time to harvest their new crop and going to face the strong Roman empire’s army.) They would dare to swear by God and say: "If we could, we would certainly join you." By saying such lies, they are destroying their own souls. God knows that they are liars.

Had it been a near gain (booty in front of them) and an easy journey, they would have followed you, but the distance (Tabuk expedition) was long for them; and they would swear by Allâh, "If we only could, we would certainly have come forth with you." They destroy their ownselves, and Allâh knows that they are liars.

If there had been immediate gain (in sight), and the journey easy, they would (all) without doubt have followed thee, but the distance was long, (and weighed) on them. They would indeed swear by Allah, "If we only could, we should certainly have come out with you": They would destroy their own souls; for Allah doth know that they are certainly lying.

Had the gain been within reach and the journey shorter, they would have followed you, but the distance seemed too long for them. And they will swear by Allah, "Had we been able, we would have certainly joined you." They are ruining themselves. And Allah knows that they are surely lying.

Had it been a gain at hand or an average journey, they would have certainly followed you, but the distance seemed too far to them. They will swear by Allah: "We would have certainly set out with you, if we were able to." They are putting themselves to ruin. Allah knows that they are liars.

They would certainly have followed you [Prophet] if the benefit was within sight and the journey short, but the distance seemed too great for them. They will swear by God, ‘If we could, we certainly would go out [to battle] with you,’ but they ruin themselves, for God knows that they are lying.

Were it a gain near at hand, and an easy journey, they would have followed thee; but the distance was too far for them. Still they will swear by God, 'Had we been able, we would have gone out with you,' so destroying their souls; and God knows that they are truly liars.

Were there goods nigh at hand, and a moderate journey, they would have followed you; but the distance was too far for them; they will swear by God, 'If we could, we would have gone forth with you. ' They destroy themselves, but God knows that they lie!

Had there been an immediate gain, and an easy journey, they would have followed you; but the distance was too far for them; yet they will swear by Allah, "If we could, we would have gone forth with you. " They destroy their own souls, but Allah knows that they lie!

If it had been (some) advantage near at hand, and a moderately (smooth) journey, they would indeed have closely followed you; but the distance was too far for them, and they will soon swear by Allah, "If we had been able, indeed we would have gone out with you; They bring perdition (i. e., permission to be excused form fighting) upon their selves; and Allah knows that surely they are liars indeed..

If it had been a near advantage, and a moderate journey, they had surely followed thee; but the way seemed tedious unto them: And yet they will swear by God, saying, if we had been able, we had surely gone forth with you. They destroy their own souls; for God knoweth that they are liars.

If there was (something) to be gained right away, and the journey was easy, they would (all) have followed you without doubt but, the distance (from Medinah to Tabuk) was long for them. They would truly swear by Allah, "If we only could, we would surely have come out with you:" They destroy their own souls (by lying); And Allah does know that they are only lying.

Had it been an immediate gain and a short journey these (hypocrites) would certainly have followed you, but the hard journey seemed too distant to them, still they will swear (after your successful return) by Allâh (saying), `If only we could, we would surely have marched forth with you. ' They spell their own ruin, Allâh knows well that they are liars.

Were it an accessible gain or a short journey, they would have surely followed you; but the distance seemed too far to them. Yet they will swear by Allah: ‘If we could, we would have surely gone forth with you.’ They [merely] destroy themselves. Allah knows that they are indeed liars.