Sura 4, an-Nisa [women] Medina -92 [Hijra 4]

The Quranic text and Ali’s version



الَّذِينَ آمَنُواْ يُقَاتِلُونَ فِي سَبِيلِ اللّهِ...   

4:76.  Those who believe fight in the Cause of Allah,

... وَالَّذِينَ كَفَرُواْ يُقَاتِلُونَ فِي سَبِيلِ الطَّاغُوتِ فَقَاتِلُواْ أَوْلِيَاء الشَّيْطَانِ...  

and those who reject faith fight in the cause of evil: so fight ye against the friends of Satan:

C594. Auliya plural of wali, friend, supporter, protector, patron;

from the same root as maula, for which see 4:33, n. 543.

... إِنَّ كَيْدَ الشَّيْطَانِ كَانَ ضَعِيفًا ﴿٧٦﴾

feeble indeed is the cunning of Satan.



4:76

Asad’s version

Those who have attained to faith fight in the cause of God, whereas those who are bent on denying the truth fight in the cause of the powers of evil. Fight, then, against those friends of Satan: verily, Satan's guile is weak indeed! 90



[[Asad’s notes:-

90 Thus the Qur'an implies that "evil" is not an independent, esoteric factor of life, but rather a result of man's succumbing to the temptations arising from his own moral weakness and thereby "denying the truth". In other words, the "power" of the negative principle symbolized by Satan has no intrinsic reality ("Satan's guile is weak indeed"): it becomes real only through man's wilfully choosing a wrong course of action. ]]