THE QURAN | CPS GLOBAL

The Quran is the Book of God. It has been preserved in its entirety for all time to come. Although written originally in Arabic, it has been made accessible, thanks to translations, to those who have no knowledge of Arabic. While no substitute for the original, translations serve the signal purpose of spreading the word of God far beyond the Arabic-speaking peoples to a far broader spectrum of humanity.

The Quran is apparently in the Arabic language, but in reality, it is in the language of nature, that is, the language in which God directly addressed all human beings at the time of Creation. This divine invocation of humanity is ever-present in the consciousness of all human beings, that is why the Quran is universally understandable—to some on a conscious plane, and to others at the subconscious level. This reality has been described in the Quran as ‘clear revelations in the hearts of those who have been given knowledge.’ This verse goes on to say that ‘none deny Our revelations save the wrongdoers’ (29:49).

This means that the Divine Reality, explained by the Quran on a conscious plane, pre-exists in man at the level of the subconscious. The message of the Quran is not, therefore, something which is alien to man. It is in fact a verbal expression of that same Divine Reality which is in consonance with man’s own nature and with which he is already familiar. The Quran explains this by saying that those born in later times were all initially born at the time of the creation of Adam and, at that time, God had directly addressed all these human souls.

This event is thus alluded to in the Quran:

‘[Prophet], when your Lord brought forth the offspring from the loins of the Children of Adam and made them bear witness about themselves, He said, ‘Am I not your Lord?’ and they replied, ‘Yes, we bear witness that You are.’ So you cannot say on the Day of Resurrection, ‘We were not aware of this’ (7:172).

In the following verse, the Quran makes further mention of the dialogue between God and man:

‘Surely We offered Our trust to the heavens and the earth, and the hills, but they shrank from bearing it and were afraid of it. And man undertook it. But he has proved a tyrant and a fool’ (33:72).

The Quran, for man, is in essence already known to him, rather than an entirely unknown entity. In reality, the Quran is the unfolding of the human mind.

When one whose nature is alive—having saved himself from later conditioning—reads the Quran, those brain cells will be activated wherein God’s first address lies preserved. If we keep this in mind, it will not be difficult to appreciate that the translation of the Quran is a valid means of understanding it.

If God’s address was the First Covenant, the Quran is the Second Covenant. Each testifies to the veracity of the other. If one has little, or even no grasp of the Arabic language, and can read the scriptures only in translation, he should not anticipate that he will be frustrated in his understanding of the Quran, for the Quranic concept of man as the natural recipient of God’s word has become a reality in modern times. The science of the genetic code and the findings of anthropology both fully support this viewpoint.

The Creation Plan of God

Every book has its objective, and the objective of the Quran is to make man aware of the Creation plan of God. That is, to tell man why God created this world; what the purpose is of settling man on earth; what is required from man in his pre-death life span, and what he is going to confront after death. Man is born as an eternal creature. When God created man as such, He divided his life span into two periods, the pre-death period, which is a time of trial, and the post-death period, which is the time for receiving the rewards or punishment merited by one’s actions during one’s lifetime. These take the form of eternal paradise or eternal hell. The purpose of the Quran is to make man aware of this reality. This is the theme of this divine Book, which serves to guide man through his entire journey through life into the after-life.

It would be correct to say that man is a seeker by birth. These questions lurk in everyone’s mind: Who am I? What is the purpose of my life? What is the reality of life and death? What is the secret of man’s success and failure? etc. According to the Quran, the answer to these questions is that the present world is the testing ground and whatever man has been endowed with in his pre-death period is all a part of the test. The Hereafter is the place where the result of the test will be taken into account by the Almighty and whatever man receives in the life after death, by way of reward or punishment, will be commensurate with his deeds in this world. The secret of man’s success in this life is to understand God’s creation plan and map out his life accordingly.

A Book of Divine Warning

The Quran is a book of divine warning. A combination of lessons and admonitions, it would be even more appropriately called a book of wisdom. The Quran does not follow the pattern of the traditional didactic book. In fact, when the average reader picks up the Quran, it appears to him to be a collection of fragmentary statements. Apparently this feeling is not unreal. But this arrangement of the Quran is not due to any shortcoming, but is rather in conformance with the Quranic plan of retaining its original form in order to fulfill its purpose of conveying the message of truth to the reader who may, in his forays into the scriptures, read only one page, one verse or one line at a time.

One vital aspect of the Quran is that it is a reminder of the blessings granted by the Supreme Benefactor. The most important of these are the exceptional qualities with which God endowed man when He created him. Another great blessing is that He settled him on the earth, a planet where all kinds of support systems existed for his benefit. The purpose of the Quran is to ensure that, while enjoying these blessings of nature, man will keep his Benefactor in mind: he must acknowledge the munificence of his Creator. It is in so doing that man will gain entry into eternal paradise; ignoring his Benefactor, on the other hand, will lead man straight to hell. The Quran is indeed a reminder of this inescapable reality.

The Inner Spirit and God Realization

One important quality of the Quran is that it gives us only basic, but essential principles, often resorting to reiteration to emphasize them. On the contrary, non-basics, or matters relating only to form, constitute only a negligible part of the scriptures. This is in consonance with the Quranic scheme, the importance of form being entirely secondary. To the Quran, only those precepts are important which figure as fundamental guidelines. This aspect of the Quran is so clear that its reader cannot but appreciate it.

The truth is that the inner spirit is of the utmost importance in the building of the Islamic personality. Once the inner spirit is developed, correct form will naturally ensue. But form on its own can never produce the inner spirit. That is why the aim of the Quran is to initiate and bring to fruition an intellectual revolution within man. The expression used by the Quran for this intellectual revolution is ma‘rifah (realization of truth) (5:83).

The Quran stresses the importance of man’s discovery of truth at the level of realization. True faith in God is what one achieves at such a level. Where there is no realization, there is no faith.

The Word of God

When you read the Quran, you will repeatedly find it stated that it is the word of God. Apparently this is a plain fact. But when seen in context, it is an extraordinary statement. There are many books in the world which are believed to be sacred. But, except for the Quran, we do not find any religious book which thus projects itself as the word of God. This kind of statement, appearing uniquely in the Quran, gives a point of departure to the reader. He then studies it as an exceptional book, rather than as a common book written by human beings. We find recurring in the Quran statements worded more or less as follows, ‘O man, it is your Lord, who is addressing you. Listen to His words and follow Him.’ Even this style of address is quite exceptional. This kind of direct divine invocation is not present in any other book. It leaves a lasting impression on man. He feels his Lord is directly addressing him. This feeling compels man to take the assertions of the Quran with extreme seriousness, rather than treat them like everyday statements in an ordinary book. The style of compilation of the Quran is also unique. Books written by human beings usually have their material arranged in order from A to Z, according to the topic. But the Quran does not follow a pattern of this kind, so that to the common man it appears to be lacking in order. When looked at in reality, however, it will emerge as an extremely coherent and orderly book, and quite majestic in its style of writing. While reading the Quran, we feel that its writer is on a very high pedestal from where He is looking down and addressing the whole of humanity, which is His special concern. This address focuses on different groups of human beings, while encompassing all of them.

One special aspect of the Quran is that at any moment its reader can consult its Writer, put his questions and receive answers, for the Writer of the Quran is God Himself. He is a living God. As man’s Creator, He directly hears and answers man’s call.

A Peaceful Ideological Struggle

Those who are introduced to the Quran only through the media, generally have the impression that the Quran is a book of jihad, and jihad to them is an attempt to achieve one’s goal by means of violence. But this idea is based on a misunderstanding. Anyone who reads the Quran for himself will easily appreciate that its message has nothing to do with violence. The Quran is, from beginning to end, a book which promulgates peace and in no way countenances violence. It is true that jihad is one of the teachings of the Quran. But jihad, taken in its correct sense, is the name of peaceful struggle rather than of any kind of violent action. The Quranic concept of jihad is expressed in the following verse, ‘Do greater jihad (i.e strive more strenuously) with the help of this [Quran]’ (25:52).

Obviously, the Quran is not a weapon, but a book which gives us an introduction to the divine ideology of peaceful struggle. The method of such a struggle, according to the Quran, is ‘to speak to them a word to reach their very soul’ (4:63).

So, the desired approach, acccording to the Quran, is one which moves man’s heart and mind. That is, in addressing people’s minds, it satisfies them, convinces them of the veracity of the Quran and, in short, brings about an intellectual revolution within them. This is the mission of the Quran. And this mission can be performed only by means of rational arguments. This target can never be achieved by means of violence or armed action.

It is true that there are certain verses in the Quran, which convey injunctions similar to the following, ‘Slay them wherever you find them’ (2:191).

Referring to such verses, there are some who attempt to give the impression that Islam is a religion of war and violence. This is totally untrue. Such verses relate, in a restricted sense, to those who have unilaterally attacked the Muslims. The above verse does not convey the general command of Islam.

The truth of the matter is that the Quran was not revealed in the complete form in which it exists today. It was revealed from time to time, according to the circumstances, over a time span of 23 years. If this is divided into years of war and peace, the period of peace amounts to 20 years, while that of state of war amounts only to 3 years. The revelations during these 20 peaceful years were the peaceful teachings of Islam as are conveyed in the verses regarding the realization of God, worship, morality, justice, etc.

This division of commands into different categories is a natural one and is found in all religious books. For instance, the Gita, the holy book of the Hindus, pertains to wisdom and moral values. Yet along with this is the exhortation of Krishna to Arjuna, encouraging him to fight (Bhagavad Gita, 3:30). This does not mean that believers in the Gita should wage wars all the time. Mahatma Gandhi, after all, derived his philosophy of non-violence from the same Gita. The exhortation to wage war in the Gita applies only to exceptional cases where circumstances leave no choice. But for general day-to-day existence it gives the same peaceful commands as derived from it by Mahatma Gandhi.

Similarly, Jesus Christ said, ‘Do not think that I came to bring peace on Earth. I did not come to bring peace, but a sword.’ (Matthew, 10:34).

It would not be right to conclude that the religion preached by Christ was one of war and violence, for such utterances relate purely to particular occasions. So far as general life is concerned, Christ taught peaceful values, such as the building up of a good character, loving each other, helping the poor and needy, etc.

The same is true of the Quran. When the Prophet Muhammad emigrated from Makkah to Madinah, the idolatrous tribes were aggressive towards him. But the Prophet always averted their attacks by the exercise of patience and the strategy of avoidance. However on certain occasions no other options existed, save that of defence. Therefore, he had to do battle on certain occasions. It was these circumstances, which occasioned those revelations relating to war. These commands, being specific to certain circumstances, had no general application. They were not meant to be valid for all time to come. That is why; the permanent status of the Prophet has been termed a ‘mercy for all mankind.’ (21:107)

Islam is a religion of peace in the fullest sense of the word. The Quran calls its way ‘the paths of peace’ (5:16). It describes reconciliation as the best policy (4:128), and states that God abhors any disturbance of the peace (2:205). We can say that it is no exaggeration to say that Islam and violence are contradictory to each other.

A Revealed Book

The Quran is a book of God revealed to the Prophet Muhammad. It did not come to him in the form of a complete book, but in parts over a period of 23 years. The first part was revealed in 610 AD, when the Prophet Muhammad was in Makkah. Subsequently, different parts continued to be revealed regularly, the final part being revealed in 632, when the Prophet was in Madinah.

There are 114 chapters in the Quran, both long and short. The verses number about 6600. To meet the needs of recitation, the Quran was divided into 30 parts. These parts were finally set in order under the guidance of the Angel Gabriel, through whom God had revealed the Quran.

When the Quran was revealed in the first quarter of the 7th century, paper had already been invented. This paper, known as papyrus, was made by hand from the fibres of certain trees. Whenever any part of the Quran was revealed, it was written down on papyrus, or in Arabic, qirtas (6:7). During this process, people committed the verses to memory, the Quran being the only Islamic literature which was recited in prayer, as well as being read out for the purposes of da‘wah. In this way, the Quran continued to be simultaneously memorized as well as written down. This method of preservation continued during the lifetime of the Prophet Muhammad. In this way, the Quran was preserved during the lifetime of the Prophet.

The third caliph, ‘Uthman ibn ‘Affan, had several copies prepared. He sent these to different cities, where they were kept in the great mosques. People not only recited from these copies, but also prepared more copies from them.

The writing of the Quran by hand continued till the printing press was invented and paper began to be manufactured on a large scale, thanks to the industrial revolution. Then, the Quran began to be printed. Printing methods went on improving and so the printing of the Quran also improved. Now printed copies of the Quran have become so common that they can be found in every home, mosque, library and bookstore. Today anyone can find a beautiful copy of the Quran, wherever he might be, in any part of the globe.

How to Read the Quran?

The Quran says, ‘Recite the Quran slowly and distinctly.’ (73:4) This means, read the Quran in slow, measured rhythmic tones. That is, read, paying full attention to the import of the content. When read like this, a two-way process between Quran and its reader comes into play. For him, the Quran is an address or speech by God and his heart starts answering this address at every verse. In the Quran where there is any mention of God’s majesty, the reader’s entire existence is strongly affected by the realisation of His greatness. When God’s blessings are enumerated in the Quran, the reader’s heart overflows with gratitude; when God’s retribution is described in the Quran, the reader trembles on reading it; when an order is laid down in the Quran, the feeling becomes intensified in the reader that he should become the obedient subject of his Lord by carrying out that order.

Wahiduddin Khan, New Delhi, January 2009 [email protected]

Chronological Table of the Quran

570 Birth of the Prophet Muhammad (the Prophet’s father died a few months before his birth)

576 Death of the Prophet’s mother Aminah, when the Prophet is six year old

578 Death of the Prophet’s grandfather, ‘Abdul Muttalib

595 The Prophet’s marriage to Khadijah

610 The Prophet receives the first revelation of the Quran at Mount al-Nur near Makkah

613 First public preaching.

615 Migration of some of the companions of the Prophet to Abyssinia (Ethiopia) to avoid persecution at the hands of the Makkans

616-619 The Banu Hashim boycotts the Prophet and his family

619 Death of the Prophet’s wife Khadijah and uncle Abu Talib

619 The Prophet visits Taif for support, but the people there give him humiliating treatment.

620 The Prophet’s Night Journey to Jerusalem and then to the Seven Heavens

622 The Prophet’s migration (hijrah) from Makkah to Madinah, which marks the beginning of the Islamic calendar

624 Battle of Badr: the pagan Makkans were defeated by the Muslims

625 Battle of Uhud: the Muslims were defeated by the pagan Makkans

628 The Peace Treaty of Hudaybiyyah. Ten year no-war pact with pagan Makkans, allowing peaceful preaching of Islam. As a result many came into the fold of Islam

630 No-war pact broken by the pagan Makkans. Makkah’s surrender—the Prophet forgives the Makkans and entire population enters the fold of Islam

631 ‘The Year of Embassies’—Islam accepted by Arabian tribes. The Prophet enters into peace treaties with the Christians and Jewish tribes

632 The Prophet’s Farewell Pilgrimage to Makkah

632 8th June. Death of the Prophet Muhammad at Madinah

633 Quran prepared in one volume by Caliph Abu Bakr

645 Caliph ‘Uthman has several copies of the Quran made and distributed in neighbouring countries

1153 First Latin translation of the Quran

1543 First printed edition with preface by Martin Luther

1649 Alexander Ross translates the Quran into English from French

1734 George Sale’s translation of the Quran

1930 Muhammad Marmaduke Pickthall’s translation of the Quran

1934 ‘Abdullah Yusuf ‘Ali’s translation of the Quran

1980 Muhammad Asad’s translation of the Quran

THE OPENING (Al-Fatihah)

¹In the name of God, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful

²All praise is due to God, the Lord of the Universe; ³the Beneficent, the Merciful; ⁴Lord of the Day of Judgement. ⁵You alone we worship, and to You alone we turn for help. ⁶Guide us to the straight path: ⁷the path of those You have blessed; not of those who have incurred Your wrath, nor of those who have gone astray.

2. THE HEIFER (Al-Baqarah)

In the name of God, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful

¹Alif Lam Mim

²This is the Book; there is no doubt in it. It is a guide for those who are mindful of God, ³who believe in the unseen, and are steadfast in prayer, and spend out of what We have provided them with; ⁴those who believe in the revelation sent down to you and in what was sent before you, and firmly believe in the life to come—⁵they are the people who are rightly following their Lord and it is they who shall be successful.

⁶As for those who are bent on denying the truth, it makes no difference to them whether you warn them or not, they will not believe.

⁷God has sealed their hearts and their ears, and over their eyes there is a covering. They will have a terrible punishment.

⁸There are some who say, ‘We believe in God and the Last Day,’ yet they are not believers.

⁹They seek to deceive God and the believers, but they only deceive themselves, though they do not realize it.

¹⁰In their hearts is a disease, which God has increased. They will have a painful punishment, because they have been lying.

¹¹When they are told, ‘Do not cause corruption in the land,’ they say, ‘We are only promoters of peace,’

¹²but it is they who are really causing corruption, though they do not realize it.

¹³And when they are told, ‘Believe as other people have believed,’ they say, ‘Are we to believe just as fools believe?’ Surely they are the fools, even though they do not realize it.

¹⁴When they meet those who believe, they say, ‘We believe.’ But when they are alone with their evil leaders, they say, ‘We are really with you; we were only mocking.’

¹⁵God will requite them for their mockery, and draw them on, for a while, to wander blindly in their insolence.

¹⁶Such are those who have taken misguidance in exchange for guidance; but their bargain does not profit them, nor have they found true guidance.

¹⁷They are like those who kindled a fire, and when it lighted up all around them, God took away their sight and left them in utter darkness, unable to see—¹⁸deaf, dumb, and blind: they will never return [to the right path].

¹⁹Or their case is like that of heavy rain pouring down from the clouds, accompanied by darkness, thunder and lightning; they thrust their fingers in their ears at the sound of thunderclaps for fear of death. God thus encompasses those who deny the truth.

²⁰The lightning almost takes away their sight: whenever it flashes upon them, they walk on, but as soon as darkness falls around them, they stand still. Indeed, if God pleased, He could take away their hearing and their sight: God has power over all things.

²¹People, worship your Lord, who created you and those before you, so that you may become righteous, ²²who made the earth a bed, and the sky a canopy; and it is He who sends down rain from above for the growth of every kind of fruit for your sustenance. And do not knowingly set up rivals to God.

²³If you are in doubt about the revelation We have sent down to Our servant, then produce a single chapter like it, and call upon your helpers besides God, if you are truthful.

²⁴But if you cannot do it, and you can never do it, then guard yourselves against the Fire whose fuel is men and stones, prepared for those who deny the truth.

²⁵Give the good news to those who believe and do good works, that they will have Gardens through which rivers flow: whenever they are given fruit to eat they will say, ‘This is what we were provided with before,’ because they were given similar things. And there will be pure spouses for them, and they will abide there forever.

²⁶God does not disdain to give a parable about a gnat or a smaller creature. The faithful know that it is the truth from their Lord, but those who deny the truth ask, ‘What could God mean by this parable?’ He lets many go astray through it, and guides many by it. But He makes only the disobedient go astray: ²⁷those who break God’s covenant after they have pledged to keep it, and sever whatever God has ordered to be joined, and spread corruption in the land—it is they who are the losers.

²⁸How can you disbelieve in God when you were dead [lifeless] and He gave you life? He will let you die once more, then bring you back to life again, whereupon you will be returned to Him.

²⁹It is He who created everything on the earth for you: then He turned towards heaven and fashioned it into the seven heavens. He has knowledge of all things.

³⁰When your Lord said to the angels, ‘I am putting a successor on earth,’ they said, ‘Will You place someone there who will cause corruption on it and shed blood, while we glorify You with Your praise and extol Your holiness?’ [God] answered, ‘Surely, I know that which you do not know.’

³¹He taught Adam all the names, then He set them before the angels and said, ‘Tell Me the names of these, if what you say be true.’

³²They said, ‘Glory be to You; we have no knowledge except whatever You have taught us. You are the All Knowing, the All Wise.’

³³Then He said, ‘O Adam, tell them their names.’ When Adam had told them the names, God said to the angels, ‘Did I not say to you: I know the secrets of the heavens and of the earth, and I know what you reveal and what you conceal?’

³⁴When We said to the angels, ‘Bow down before Adam,’ they all bowed except for Iblis [Satan]. He refused and acted proudly and became an unbeliever.

³⁵We said, ‘O Adam! live with your wife in Paradise and eat freely from it anywhere you may wish. Yet do not approach this tree lest you become wrongdoers.’

³⁶But Satan caused them both to slip through this and thus brought about the loss of their former state. We said, ‘Go down from here as enemies to each other; and on earth you shall have your abode and your livelihood for a while!’

³⁷Then Adam received some words [of prayer] from his Lord and He accepted his repentance. He is the Forgiving One, the Merciful.

³⁸We said, ‘Go down, all of you, from here: then when guidance comes to you from Me, anyone who follows My guidance will have no fear, nor will they grieve—³⁹those who deny and reject Our signs shall be the inhabitants of the Fire; therein shall they abide forever.’

⁴⁰Children of Israel, remember the favours I have bestowed upon you, and fulfil the covenant that you made with Me. I shall fulfil the covenant I made with you. Fear Me alone.

⁴¹And believe in the message I have sent down which fulfils that [predictions about the last prophet in their Scripture] which you already possess and do not be foremost among those who deny its truth. Do not sell My revelations for a paltry price; fear Me alone.

⁴²Do not mix truth with falsehood, or hide the truth when you know it.

⁴³Attend to your prayers, give the zakat [prescribed alms] and bow down with those who bow down.

⁴⁴Do you admonish others to do good and forget this yourselves? Yet you read the Book. Will you not then understand?

⁴⁵Seek help with patience and prayer; this is indeed an exacting discipline, but not to the humble, ⁴⁶who know for certain that they will meet their Lord, and that they will return to Him.

⁴⁷Children of Israel, remember My blessing which I have bestowed on you, and how I favoured you above all other people.

⁴⁸Guard yourselves against the Day on which no soul shall in the least avail another, when neither intercession nor ransom shall be accepted from it nor shall help be given to it.

⁴⁹Remember when We delivered you from Pharaoh’s people, who subjected you to grievous torment, slaying your sons and sparing only your daughters—surely in that there was a great trial for you from your Lord—

⁵⁰and when We divided the sea for you and saved you and drowned Pharaoh’s people, while you looked on.

⁵¹We appointed for Moses forty nights [on Mount Sinai], and in his absence you took to worshipping the calf, and thus became transgressors.

⁵²Yet after that We pardoned you, so that you might be grateful.

⁵³Remember when We gave Moses the Scripture, and the criterion [to distinguish between right and wrong], so that you might be guided.

⁵⁴When Moses said to his people, ‘O my people, you have indeed wronged yourselves by worshipping the calf; turn in repentance to your Creator and slay [the culprits] among you. That course is best for you in the sight of your Maker.’ He relented towards you. He is the Forgiving One, the Merciful.

⁵⁵Remember when you said, ‘Moses, we will not believe in you until we see God with our own eyes,’ a thunderbolt struck you while you were looking on.

⁵⁶Then We brought you back to life after your death, so that you might be grateful.

⁵⁷Then We caused the clouds to provide shade for you and sent down for you manna and quails, saying, ‘Eat the good things We have provided for you.’ Indeed, they did not wrong Us, but they wronged themselves.

⁵⁸Remember when We said, ‘Enter this land and eat freely wherever you will. Make your way through the gates, bowing down and saying, “God! Forgive us our sins.” We shall forgive you your sins and We shall give abundance to those who do good.’

⁵⁹But the wrongdoers changed the words to something other than what they had been told. So We sent down upon the transgressors a punishment from heaven, because they were disobedient.

⁶⁰When Moses prayed for water for his people, We said to him, ‘Strike the rock with your staff!’ And there gushed out from it twelve springs. Each tribe knew its drinking-place. [We said], ‘Eat and drink what God has provided and do not act wrongfully in the land, spreading corruption.’

⁶¹When you said, ‘Moses, we cannot bear to eat only one kind of food, so pray to your Lord to bring forth for us some of the earth’s produce, its herbs and cucumbers, its garlic, lentils, and onions.’ Moses said, ‘Would you take a lesser thing in exchange for what is better? Go to some town and there you will find all that you demand.’ Abasement and destitution were stamped upon them, and they incurred the wrath of God, for having rejected His signs, and they killed His prophets unjustly, because they were rebels and transgressors.

⁶²The believers, the Jews, the Christians, and the Sabaeans—all those who believe in God and the Last Day and do good deeds—will be rewarded by their Lord; they shall have no fear, nor shall they grieve.

⁶³[Children of Israel], We made a covenant with you and raised the mountain high above you, saying, ‘Hold fast to what We have given you and bear its contents in mind, so that you may guard yourselves [against evil].’

⁶⁴Yet after that you turned away, and but for God’s grace and mercy, you would have surely been among the losers.

⁶⁵You are aware of those who transgressed in the matter of the Sabbath, whereupon We said to them, ‘Be as apes, despised!’

⁶⁶We made their fate an example to their own generation and to those who followed them and a lesson to those who fear God.

⁶⁷When Moses said to his people, ‘God commands you to sacrifice a heifer,’ they said, ‘Are you making a mockery of us?’ He answered, ‘God forbid that I should be so ignorant!’

⁶⁸They said, ‘Ask your Lord to make it clear to us what sort of heifer she should be.’ He answered, ‘God says she should be neither too old nor too young, but in between, so do as you are commanded.’

⁶⁹They said, ‘Call on your Lord for us, to show us what colour she should be.’ He answered, ‘God says she should be a bright yellow heifer, pleasing to the eye.’

⁷⁰They said, ‘Ask your Lord to make it clear to us the exact type of heifer she should be, for to us all heifers look alike. If God wills, we shall be rightly guided.’

⁷¹Moses answered, ‘Your Lord says, she should be a heifer which has not been yoked to plough the land or water the fields, a heifer free from any blemish.’ ‘Now you have told us the truth,’ they answered, and they sacrificed it, though they would rather not have done it.

⁷²Then, when you [Israelites] killed someone and started to blame one another—God brought to light what you concealed—⁷³We said, ‘Strike [the corpse] with a part of it.’ Thus God restores the dead to life and shows you His signs, so that you may understand.

⁷⁴Then your hearts became as hard as rock or even harder: for, there are rocks from which streams gush forth; and, there are some that cleave asunder and water flows out from them, while others fall down for fear of God. God is not unaware of what you do.

⁷⁵Do you then hope that they will believe in you when some of them have already heard the word of God and then, after having understood it, they knowingly perverted it?

⁷⁶When they meet the faithful, they say, ‘We are believers.’ But when alone, they say to each other, ‘Must you tell them what God has revealed to us? They will only use it to argue against you before your Lord! Have you no sense?’

⁷⁷Do they not know that God knows all that they conceal and all that they disclose?

⁷⁸There are among them unlettered people who have no real knowledge of the Scriptures, knowing only their own wishful thinking and following only conjecture.

⁷⁹Woe to those who write the scripture with their own hands, and then declare, ‘This is from God,’ in order to sell it for a paltry price. Woe to them because of what their own hands have written, and woe to them for what they have earned.

⁸⁰They say, ‘The Fire is not going to touch us, and [even if it does], it will only be for a few days!’ Say [to them], ‘Have you received a promise from God—for God never breaks His promise—or do you attribute something to God which you do not know?’

⁸¹Truly, those who do evil and are encompassed by their misdeeds, shall be the inmates of the Fire. Therein they shall abide forever, ⁸²but those who believe and do good works are the heirs of Paradise; there they shall abide forever.

⁸³Remember when We made a covenant with the Children of Israel, ‘Worship none but God and be good to your parents and to relatives and orphans and the needy. And speak kindly to people. Attend to your prayers and pay the zakat [prescribed alms].’ But with the exception of a few, you turned away [in aversion] and paid no heed.

⁸⁴When We made a covenant with you, We said, ‘You shall not shed each other’s blood, nor turn your people out of their homes.’ You consented to this and bore witness.

⁸⁵Yet, here you are, slaying one another and driving some of your own people from their homelands, aiding one another against them, committing sin and aggression; but if they came to you as captives, you would ransom them. Surely their very expulsion was unlawful for you. Do you believe in one part of the Book and deny another part of it? Those of you who act thus shall be rewarded with disgrace in this world and with a severe punishment on the Day of Resurrection. God is never unaware of what you do.

⁸⁶Such are they who buy the life of this world at the price of the Hereafter. Their punishment shall not be lightened for them, nor shall they be helped.

⁸⁷To Moses We gave the Book and sent a succession of messengers after him. We gave Jesus, son of Mary, clear signs and strengthened him with the Holy Spirit. But, whenever a messenger came to you with something which you did not desire, you grew arrogant, calling some liars and slaying others.

⁸⁸They say, ‘Our hearts are impenetrably wrapped [against whatever you say],’ but God has rejected them for their denial; they have but little faith.

⁸⁹And now that a Book has come to them from God, fulfilling that [predictions about the final prophet in their scriptures] which is with them, they deny it—whereas previously they used to pray for victory against the disbelievers—yet when there came to them that which they recognized as the truth, they rejected it. God’s rejection is the due of all who deny the truth.

⁹⁰What they have sold their souls for is evil: to the denial of God’s own revelation, grudging that He should reveal His bounty to whom He chooses from among His servants! They have incurred wrath upon wrath. Humiliating punishment awaits those who deny the truth.

⁹¹When they are told, ‘Believe in what God has revealed,’ they say, ‘We believe in what was revealed to us,’ while they deny the truth in what has been sent down after that, even though it is the Truth, confirming that which they already have. Say, ‘Why did you kill God’s prophets in the past, if you were true believers?

⁹²Moses came to you with clear signs, but in his absence you worshipped the calf and became wrongdoers.’

⁹³When We made a covenant with you and raised the mountain above you saying, ‘Hold firmly to what We have given you and listen,’ you said, ‘We hear, but we disobey,’ and their hearts were filled with the love of the calf, because of their refusal to acknowledge the truth. Say, ‘Evil is that to which your faith enjoins you if you are indeed believers.’

⁹⁴Say, ‘If God’s abode of the Hereafter is for you alone, to the exclusion of all others, then wish for death, if you are truthful.’

⁹⁵But they will never wish for death, because of what their own hands have sent on before them; God is fully aware of the wrongdoers.

⁹⁶You will find them clinging to life more eagerly than any other people, even the polytheists. Any of them would wish to be given a life of a thousand years, though even such a long life would not save them from [Our] punishment; and God sees all that they do.

⁹⁷Say, ‘Anyone who is an enemy of Gabriel—who by God’s leave has brought down to your heart [the Quran] fulfilling that [predictions about the last prophet in the earlier revelations] which precedes it, and is a guidance and good news for the faithful—⁹⁸whoever is an enemy of God, His angels, or His messengers, or of Gabriel or Michael, will surely find that God too is the enemy of those who deny the truth.’ ⁹⁹We have sent down clear signs to you and no one will reject them except the wicked.

¹⁰⁰Why is it that, whenever they make a covenant, some of them cast it aside? Most of them do not believe.

¹⁰¹Whenever a messenger from God has come to them, fulfilling that [predictions] which they already had, some of those to whom the Book was given have cast off the Book of God behind their backs as if they had no knowledge.

¹⁰²They pursued what the devils falsely attributed to the kingdom of Solomon. Solomon was not an unbeliever: it is the devils who are unbelievers. They taught people witchcraft, and that which was sent down to Harut and Marut, the two angels in Babylon. But these two taught no one until they had said, ‘We are but a trial, therefore, do not disbelieve [in God’s guidance].’ So men learnt from them that by which they caused discord between man and wife; but they harmed no one thereby, except by the command of God; [on the contrary], these people learned that which would harm them and do them no good, knowing full well that whoever acquired [this knowledge] would have no share in the Hereafter. Evil indeed was the [price] for which they sold their souls, if only they had known it.

¹⁰³And had they but believed and been mindful of God, His reward would have been far better for them, if they had but known it.

¹⁰⁴Believers, do not say to the Prophet, ‘Ra‘ina’ but say, ‘Unzurna,’ and listen to him with attention.^a For those who deny the truth, there is a painful punishment.

¹⁰⁵They who deny the truth from among the People of the Book, or from among those who associate partners with God, do not desire that any good should be sent down to you from your Lord. But God singles out for His grace whom He wills—for God is limitless in His great bounty.

¹⁰⁶If We abrogate a verse or cause it to be forgotten, We will replace it by a better one or one similar to it. Do you not know that God has power over all things?

¹⁰⁷Do you not know that the kingdom of the heavens and the earth belongs to God alone? And that there is no protector or helper for you besides God?

¹⁰⁸Do you [all] want to question your messenger just as Moses was questioned previously? Anyone who exchanges faith for unbelief has strayed from the right path.

¹⁰⁹Many among the People of the Book wish, through envy, to lead you back to unbelief, now that you have embraced the faith and the truth has been made plain to them. But you should pardon them and bear with them until God gives His command. Truly, God has power over all things.

¹¹⁰Attend to your prayers and pay the prescribed alms; any good you store up for yourselves, you will find it with God. Certainly, God sees what you do.

¹¹¹They declare, ‘None shall ever enter Heaven unless he be a Jew or a Christian.’ This is their own wishful thinking. [Prophet], say, ‘Produce your evidence if you are telling the truth.’

¹¹²Indeed, those who submit themselves to God and act righteously shall be rewarded by their Lord: they shall have no fear, nor shall they grieve.

¹¹³The Jews say, ‘The Christians have no ground to stand on,’ and the Christians say, ‘The Jews have no ground to stand on.’ Yet they both recite the Book, and those who have no knowledge say the same; God will judge between them on the Day of Resurrection concerning their disputes.

¹¹⁴Who could be more wicked than someone who prevents God’s name from being mentioned in His places of worship, and seeks to bring about their ruin, while it behoves these men to enter them with fear in their hearts? There is disgrace in store for them in this world and a great punishment in the next.

¹¹⁵The East and the West belong to God. Whichever way you turn, there is the Face of God. God is all pervading and all knowing.

¹¹⁶They say, ‘God has taken a son.’ Glory be to Him! Everything in the heavens and the earth belongs to Him; all things are obedient to Him.

¹¹⁷He is the Originator of the heavens and the earth, and when He decrees something, He says only, ‘Be!’ and it is.

¹¹⁸Those who are devoid of knowledge say, ‘Why does God not speak to us or show us a sign?’ The same demand was made by those before them; their hearts are all alike. We have made the signs clear to those whose faith is firm.

¹¹⁹We have sent you with the truth, bearing good news and giving warning. You will not be held accountable for the people of the Fire. ¹²⁰Neither the Christians nor the Jews will be pleased with you until you follow their ways. Say, ‘God’s guidance is the only true guidance.’ If you followed their desires after the knowledge which has come to you, you would not have any patron or supporter against God.

¹²¹Those whom We have given this Book follow it as it ought to be followed; it is they who [truly] believe in it; those who deny it will be the losers.

¹²²Children of Israel, remember My favour which I have bestowed upon you, and how I preferred you above all other people;

¹²³and fear a Day when no human being shall avail another. Nor shall ransom be accepted from any of them, nor shall intercession be of any use to them, and none shall be succoured.

¹²⁴When his Lord tested Abraham with certain commands and he fulfilled them, He said, ‘I will make you a leader of men.’ Abraham asked, ‘And what of my descendants?’ He answered, ‘My covenant does not extend to the transgressors.’

¹²⁵And We made the House [the Ka‘bah] a place of assembly and a sanctuary for mankind, [saying], ‘Make the place where Abraham stood, a place of worship.’ We commanded Abraham and Ishmael, ‘Purify My House for those who walk round it, those who stay there for devotion, and those who bow down and prostrate themselves.’

¹²⁶And when Abraham prayed, ‘My Lord, make this city a city of peace, and provide its inhabitants with fruits, such of them as believe in God and the Last Day.’ God said, ‘As for those who deny the truth, I will grant them benefits for a short while and then subject them to the punishment of the Fire—an evil destination.’

¹²⁷And when Abraham and Ishmael were laying the foundations of the House, [they prayed], ‘Our Lord, accept this from us; for You are All Hearing, All Knowing.

¹²⁸Lord, make us submissive to You; make of our descendants a nation that will submit to You. Teach us our rites of worship and turn to us with mercy; You are the Forgiving One and the Merciful.

¹²⁹Our Lord, send forth to them a messenger of their own to recite Your revelations to them, to teach them the Scripture and wisdom, and purify them. You are the Mighty, the Wise One.’

¹³⁰Who but a foolish man would turn away from the religion of Abraham? We chose him in this world, and in the Hereafter, he shall be among the righteous.

¹³¹When his Lord said to him, ‘Surrender!’ he responded, ‘I have surrendered to the Lord of the Universe,’ ¹³²and Abraham enjoined his sons to do the same, as did Jacob, ‘My sons, God has chosen this religion for you; so do not let death overtake you, except when you are in a state of submission.’

¹³³Were you present when Jacob faced the hour of death and he asked his sons, ‘Who will you worship after me?’ They answered, ‘We will worship your God and the God of your fathers, Abraham and Ishmael and Isaac: the one God; we have submitted ourselves to Him.’

¹³⁴Those were a people that have passed away; what they did is theirs and what you have done is yours. You will not be answerable for their deeds.

¹³⁵They say, ‘Be Jews or Christians, and you shall be rightly guided.’ Say, ‘By no means! We believe in the faith of Abraham, who was ever inclined [to God]; he was not one of those who set up partners with God.’

¹³⁶Say, ‘We believe in God and what was revealed to us; and what was revealed to Abraham, Ishmael, Isaac, Jacob, and their descendants, and what was given to Moses and Jesus and what was given to the [other] prophets by their Lord. We make no distinction between any of them. It is to Him that we surrender ourselves.’

¹³⁷If they believe as you have believed, then are they rightly guided; but if they turn back, then know that they are entrenched in hostility. God will surely suffice to defend you against them, for He is All Hearing, All Knowing.

¹³⁸We take on God’s own dye. Who has a better dye than God’s? We worship Him alone.

¹³⁹Say, ‘Do you dispute with us about God, while He is our Lord and your Lord? We have our actions and you have your actions. We are devoted to Him alone.

¹⁴⁰Do you claim that Abraham and Ishmael and Isaac and Jacob and their descendants were all Jews or Christians?’ Say, ‘Do you know better or does God? And who could be more unjust than one who conceals a testimony given to him by God? God is not unaware of what you do.’

¹⁴¹Those were a people that have passed away; theirs is what they did and yours what you have done. You shall not be answerable for their deeds.

¹⁴²The foolish will ask, ‘What has made them turn away from their direction of prayer which they used to face?’ Say, ‘The East and the West belong to God. He guides whom He pleases to the right path.’

¹⁴³Thus We have made you a middle nation, so that you may act as witnesses for mankind, and the Messenger may be a witness for you. We decreed your former prayer direction towards which you used to face only in order that We might make a clear distinction between the Messenger’s true followers and those who were to turn their backs on him. This was indeed a hard test for all but those whom God has guided. God will never let your faith go to waste. God is compassionate and merciful to mankind.

¹⁴⁴We have frequently seen you turn your face towards heaven. So We will make you turn in a direction for prayer that will please you. So turn your face now towards the Sacred Mosque: and wherever you may be, turn your faces towards it. Those who were given the Book know this to be the truth from their Lord. God is not unaware of what they do.

¹⁴⁵But even if you should produce every kind of sign for those who have been given the Book, they would never accept your prayer direction, nor would you accept their prayer direction: nor would any of them accept one another’s direction. If, after all the knowledge you have been given, you yield to their desires, then, you shall surely become a transgressor.

¹⁴⁶Those to whom We have given the Book recognize it just as they recognize their own sons. But, some of them knowingly conceal the truth.

¹⁴⁷Truth is what comes from your Lord; therefore, do not be of those who doubt.

¹⁴⁸Each community has its own direction in which it turns: vie, then, with one another in doing good works. Wherever you may be, God will bring you all before Him. God has power over all things.

¹⁴⁹Wherever you set out from, turn your face in the direction of the Sacred Mosque—this is the truth from your Lord: He is not unaware of what you do—¹⁵⁰wherever you come from, turn your face to the Sacred Mosque; wherever you may be, turn your faces towards it, so that people will not have any argument against you except for the wrongdoers among them. Do not fear them; fear Me, so that I may perfect My favour to you and you may be rightly guided.

¹⁵¹Thus We have sent among you a Messenger of your own to recite Our revelations to you, purify you and teach you the Book and wisdom, and to teach you what you did not know.

¹⁵²So remember Me; I will remember you. Be thankful to Me and do not be ungrateful.

¹⁵³You who believe, seek help through patience and prayer; surely, God is with the steadfast.

¹⁵⁴Do not say that those who are killed in God’s cause are dead; they are alive, but you are not aware of it.

¹⁵⁵We shall certainly test you with fear and hunger, and loss of property, lives and crops. Give good news to those who endure with fortitude.

¹⁵⁶Those who say, when afflicted with a calamity, ‘We belong to God and to Him we shall return,’ ¹⁵⁷are the ones who will have blessings and mercy from their Lord: it is they who are on the right path!

¹⁵⁸Safa and Marwah are among the symbols set up by God; there is nothing wrong if anyone goes on a pilgrimage to the House, or performs a minor pilgrimage, in walking to and fro between them. Of anyone who does good of his own accord, God is appreciative, and aware.

¹⁵⁹Those who conceal the evidence of the truth and the guidance We have revealed, after We have made them clear to people in the Scripture, will be rejected by God and so do others.

¹⁶⁰But from those who repent and mend their ways and make known the truth, I will certainly accept their repentance: I am the Ever Relenting, the Most Merciful.

¹⁶¹Those who deny the truth, and die as deniers, on them shall be the curse of God and of angels and of men altogether.

¹⁶²Under it they shall remain forever; their punishment shall not be lightened, nor shall they be granted respite.

¹⁶³Your God is one God. There is no deity save Him. He is the Compassionate, the Merciful.

¹⁶⁴In the creation of the heavens and the earth; in the alternation of night and day; in the ships that sail the ocean bearing cargoes beneficial to man; in the water which God sends down from the sky and with which He revives the earth after its death, scattering over it all kinds of animals; in the courses of the winds, and in the clouds pressed into service between earth and sky, there are indeed signs for people who use their reason.

¹⁶⁵Yet there are some who set up equals with God and adore them with the adoration due to God, but those who believe love God most. If only the wrongdoers could see—as they will see when they face the punishment—that all power belongs to God, and that God is severe in punishment.

¹⁶⁶When they face their punishment, those who have been followed will disown their followers, and all their ties shall be cut asunder, ¹⁶⁷those who followed will say, ‘If we could only return to the world, we would disown them as they have disowned us.’ God will thus show them their actions as a cause of bitter regret and remorse. They shall never emerge from the Fire.

¹⁶⁸O mankind, eat whatever is lawful and wholesome on the earth; and do not follow in the footsteps of Satan; for he is indeed your avowed enemy.

¹⁶⁹He bids you only to do evil and to commit deeds of abomination and to attribute to God something of which you have no knowledge.

¹⁷⁰But when they are told, ‘Follow what God has sent down,’ they answer, ‘We will follow the ways of our fathers,’ even though their fathers did not use their reason, and were devoid of all guidance.

¹⁷¹Those who deny the truth are like animals which hear nothing in your call but the sound of a voice, without understanding its meaning. They are deaf, dumb and blind. They understand nothing.

¹⁷²Believers, eat the wholesome things which We have provided for you and give thanks to God, if it is Him you worship.

¹⁷³He has forbidden you only carrion, blood, and the flesh of swine; also any flesh that is consecrated other than in the name of God. But for one who is driven by necessity, neither craving nor transgressing, it is no sin. For God is forgiving and merciful.

¹⁷⁴Those who conceal any part of the Scriptures which God has revealed in order to gain some paltry end, simply fill their bellies with Fire. On the Day of Resurrection, God will neither speak to them nor purify them. They will have a painful punishment.

¹⁷⁵Those are the ones who have taken error in exchange for guidance and punishment for forgiveness. How little do they seem to fear the Fire!

¹⁷⁶That is because God has sent down the Book with the truth. And those who pursue differences in the Scriptures go much too far in dissension.

¹⁷⁷Virtue does not consist in whether you face towards the East or the West; virtue means believing in God, the Last Day, the angels, the Book and the prophets; the virtuous are those who, despite their love for it, give away their wealth to their relatives and to orphans and the very poor, and to travellers and those who ask [for charity], and to set slaves free, and who attend to their prayers and pay the alms, and who keep their pledges when they make them, and show patience in hardship and adversity, and in times of distress. Such are the true believers; and such are the God-fearing.

¹⁷⁸Believers, retribution is prescribed for you in cases of murder: the free man for the free man, the slave for the slave, the female for the female. If the offender is granted some remission by the heir of the slain person, the agreed penalty should be equitably exacted and should be discharged in a handsome manner. This is an alleviation from your Lord and an act of grace. He who transgresses after this shall have a painful punishment.

¹⁷⁹In [this law of] retribution there is life for you, O people of understanding, so that perhaps you will be mindful of God.

¹⁸⁰It is prescribed that when death approaches any of you and he is leaving behind wealth, he shall make a will in favour of his parents and relatives equitably. This is a duty for all who fear God.

¹⁸¹Anyone who alters it once he has heard it shall be accountable for his crime. Surely, God is all hearing and all knowing.

¹⁸²But if anyone apprehends partiality or an injustice on the part of a testator, it shall be no sin for him to bring about a settlement between the parties. God is forgiving and merciful.

¹⁸³Believers, fasting has been prescribed for you, just as it was prescribed for those before you, so that you may guard yourselves against evil.

¹⁸⁴Fast for a specified number of days, but if any one among you is ill or on a journey, let him fast the same number of days later. For those who can fast only with extreme difficulty, there is a way to compensate—the feeding of a needy person. But he who does good of his own accord shall be well rewarded; but to fast is better for you, if you only knew.

¹⁸⁵The month of Ramadan is the month when the Quran was sent down as guidance for mankind with clear proofs of guidance and the criterion by which to distinguish right from wrong. Therefore, whoever of you is present in that month, let him fast; but he who is ill or on a journey shall fast a similar number of days later on. God desires ease for you, not hardship. He desires you to fast the whole month, so that you may glorify Him for His having guided you and so that you may be grateful to Him.

¹⁸⁶When My servants ask you about Me, say that I am near. I respond to the call of one who calls, whenever he calls to Me: let them, then, respond to Me, and believe in Me, so that they may be rightly guided.

¹⁸⁷It has been made lawful for you to go to your wives on the night of the fast: they are like a garment for you, and you are like a garment for them. God is aware that you were deceiving yourselves and He has turned in mercy towards you and pardoned you. So you may now consort with them and seek what God has ordained for you. Eat and drink until the white thread of dawn becomes distinct from the black. Then resume the fast until nightfall, and do not approach them during the nights of your devotional retreat in the mosques. These are the limits set by God, so do not approach them. Thus He makes clear His commandments to mankind, so that they may guard themselves [against evil].

¹⁸⁸Do not consume one another’s property by unjust means, nor offer it as a bribe to the authorities, so that you may deliberately and wrongfully devour a part of other people’s wealth.

¹⁸⁹They ask you about the phases of the moon. Say, ‘They are a means of determining time for the regulation of people’s affairs and for the pilgrimage.’ Piety does not consist in entering your houses from the rear. Indeed, one who guards himself against evil out of fear of God is the truly righteous one. Enter your houses by their doors and be mindful of God, so that you may prosper.

¹⁹⁰And fight in God’s cause against those who wage war against you, but do not commit aggression—for surely, God does not love aggressors.

¹⁹¹Slay them wherever you find them [those who fight against you];^a drive them out of the places from which they drove you, for [religious] persecution is worse than killing. Do not fight them at the Sacred Mosque unless they fight you there. If they do fight you, slay them—such is the reward for those who deny the truth—¹⁹²but if they desist, then surely God is most forgiving and merciful.

¹⁹³Fight them until there is no more fitna [religious persecution] and religion belongs to God alone. If they desist, then let there be no hostility, except towards aggressors.

¹⁹⁴A sacred month for a sacred month: violation of sanctity calls for fair retribution. Thus you may exact retribution from whoever transgresses against you, in proportion to his transgression. Fear God and know that God is with those who are mindful of Him.

¹⁹⁵Spend for God’s cause: do not cast yourselves into destruction by your own hands. Do good, God loves the doers of good.

¹⁹⁶Perform the Hajj and the minor pilgrimage [umrah] for the sake of God. If you are prevented from doing so, then make whatever offering you can afford and do not shave your heads until the offering has reached the place of sacrifice. But if any of you is ill, or has an ailment of the head, he should compensate by fasting or almsgiving or sacrifice. In times of peace, if any of you combines the minor pilgrimage with the Hajj, he should make whatever offering he can afford, but if he lacks the means, then let him fast three days during the pilgrimage and for seven days after his return; that is, ten days in all. That is incumbent upon anyone whose family does not live near the Sacred Mosque. Fear God and know that God is severe in punishment.

¹⁹⁷The pilgrimage is in the appointed months. Whoever intends to perform it during them must abstain from indecent speech, from all wicked conduct, and from quarrelling while on the pilgrimage. Whatever good you may do, God is aware of it. Make provision for yourselves—but surely, the best of all provision is God-consciousness. Always be mindful of Me, you that are endowed with understanding.

¹⁹⁸You will be committing no sin if [during the pilgrimage] you seek to obtain any bounty from your Lord. When you return from Arafat, remember God at the sacred place, and remember Him as He has guided you. Before this you were surely astray.

¹⁹⁹Then press on from where the pilgrims stream forth and ask God’s forgiveness. God is ever forgiving and most merciful.

²⁰⁰When you have performed the acts of worship prescribed for you, celebrate the praises of God as you celebrated the praises of your fathers, or even more fervently than that. There are some who say, ‘Our Lord, give us abundance in this world.’ These shall have no share in the world to come.

²⁰¹But there are others who pray, ‘Our Lord, grant us good in this world as well as good in the world to come, and protect us from the torment of the Fire.’

²⁰²They shall have a good share from what they have earned. God is swift in His reckoning.

²⁰³Remember God during the appointed days; for one who hastens to leave in two days, it shall be no sin; and for one who stays on, it shall be no sin for him either. This is for one who fears God. Have fear of God, and know that you shall all be gathered before Him.

²⁰⁴There are some men whose views on the affairs of this life may please you. They even call on God to witness whatever is in their heart, yet they are the most contentious of quarrellers.

²⁰⁵When he turns away, he sets out to spread corruption in the land, destroying crops and cattle. God does not love corruption.

²⁰⁶When he is told, ‘Have fear of God,’ he is seized by pride which drives him to wrongdoing. Hell shall be enough for him. A dreadful resting place.

²⁰⁷But there are others who would dedicate themselves to seeking the pleasure of God. God is compassionate to His servants.

²⁰⁸Believers, surrender yourselves totally to God, and do not follow in the footsteps of Satan; surely, he is your sworn enemy.

²⁰⁹But if you lapse after the clear signs that have come to you, then know that God is mighty and wise.

²¹⁰Are they only waiting for God as well as the angels to come down to them under canopies of clouds, so that the matter will be settled? All things return to God.

²¹¹Ask the Children of Israel how many clear signs We have given them. Anyone who changes God’s blessing once it has come to him will find God is stern in punishment.

²¹²The life of this world is made to appear attractive for those who deny the truth and they scoff at those who believe. But those who fear God shall be above them on the Day of Resurrection: God bestows His bounties on whoever He pleases without stinting.

²¹³Mankind was once a single community, [but then people developed differences], so God sent prophets to them as bearers of good tidings and warning, and sent down with them the Book containing the truth, so that He might judge between their disputes. It was only those to whom it [the scripture] was given who disagreed about it after clear signs had come to them, because of rivalry between them. God by His will guided the believers to the truth about which the others had disputed. God guides whom He will to a straight path.

²¹⁴Do you think that you will enter Paradise without having suffered like those who passed away before you? Affliction and hardship befell them and so shaken were they that the Messenger and the believers with him would exclaim, ‘When will God’s help come?’ Surely the help of God is near.

²¹⁵They will ask you what they should spend on others. Say, ‘Whatever you give should be for parents, close relatives, orphans, the needy, and travellers. God is well aware of whatever good you do.’

²¹⁶Fighting [in defence] is ordained for you, abhorrent as it may be to you. You may dislike something although it is good for you, or like something although it is bad for you: God knows but you do not.

²¹⁷They ask you about fighting in the sacred month. Say, ‘To fight [in a sacred month] is a grave matter; but barring people from the path of God, to deny Him, and expelling people from the Sacred Mosque are far graver in His sight; and persecution is worse than killing.’ They will not stop fighting you until they make you renounce your faith, if they can. Whoever of you turns back from his faith and dies as a denier of the truth will have his deeds come to nothing in this world and the Hereafter, and he will be an inhabitant of the Fire, to abide therein forever.

²¹⁸But those who have believed, migrated, and striven for God’s cause, can look forward to God’s mercy: God is forgiving and merciful.

²¹⁹They ask you [Prophet] about intoxicants and gambling. Say, ‘There is great sin in both, although they have some benefit for people: but their harm is greater than their benefit.’ They ask you what they should spend [in God’s cause]. Say, ‘Whatever is surplus to your needs.’ Thus God makes His commandments clear to you so that you may reflect

²²⁰upon this world and the Hereafter. They ask you about orphans. Say, ‘Promotion of their welfare is an act of great goodness. There is no harm in your living together with them, for they are your brothers. God knows the mischief-maker from the reformer. If God had so willed, He would have afflicted you with hardship. Surely, God is mighty and wise.’

²²¹Do not marry women who associate partners with God until they believe. A believing bondwoman is better than a woman who associates partners with God, however pleasing she may appear to you. Nor give believing women in marriage to men who associate partners with God, till they have believed; a believing bondman is certainly better than a man who associates partners with God, even though he may please you. Such people call you to Hell-fire; but God calls you to Paradise and to forgiveness. He makes His messages clear to people, so that they might bear them in mind.

²²²They ask you about menstruation. Say, ‘It is an impurity, so keep away from women during it and do not approach them until they are cleansed; when they are cleansed you may approach them as God has ordained. God loves those who turn to Him in penitence and He loves those who keep themselves clean.

²²³Your wives are your fields. Go, then, into your fields as you will. Send ahead [some good] for yourselves, and fear God, and know that you shall meet Him.’ Give good tidings to the believers.

²²⁴Do not make God a pretext, when you swear by Him, to avoid doing good, being righteous and making peace between people. God is all hearing and all knowing.

²²⁵God will not call you to account for any oaths you uttered unintentionally, but He will take you to task for what is intended in your hearts. God is most forgiving and forbearing.

²²⁶For those who swear that they will not approach their wives, there shall be a waiting period of four months: if they revert to conciliation, surely, God is most forgiving and ever merciful; ²²⁷but if they decide upon divorce, God is all hearing and all knowing.

²²⁸Divorced women should wait for three menstrual cycles; it is unlawful for them, if they believe in God and the Last Day, to hide what God has created in their wombs. Their husbands have the right to take them back within that time, if they desire to be reconciled. The wives have rights corresponding to those which the husbands have, according to what is recognized to be fair, but men have a rank above them. God is almighty and all wise.

²²⁹Divorce may be pronounced twice, and then a woman must be retained honourably or released with kindness. It is not lawful for you to take away anything of what you have given your wives, unless both fear that they would not be able to observe the bounds set by God. In such a case it shall be no sin for either of them if the woman opts to give something for her release. These are the bounds set by God; do not transgress them. Those who transgress the bounds of God are wrongdoers.

²³⁰And if man finally divorces his wife, he cannot remarry her until she has married another man. Then if the next husband divorces her, there will be no blame on either of them if the former husband and wife return to one another, provided they think that they can keep within the bounds set by God. These are the bounds prescribed by God, which He makes clear to men of understanding. ²

³¹Once you divorce women, and they have reached the end of their waiting period, then either retain them in all decency or part from them decently. Do not retain them in order to harm them or to wrong them. Whoever does this, wrongs his own soul. Do not make a mockery of God’s revelations. Remember the favours God has bestowed upon you, and the Book and the wisdom He has revealed to exhort you. Fear God and know that God is aware of everything.

²³²When you divorce women and they reach the end of their waiting period, do not prevent them from marrying other men, if they have come to an honourable agreement. This is enjoined on every one of you who believes in God and the Last Day; it is more wholesome and purer for you. God knows, but you do not know.

²³³And the [divorced] mothers should nurse their children for two whole years, if they wish to complete the period of nursing; and during that period the father of the child shall be responsible for the maintenance of the mother in a reasonable manner. No soul is charged with more than it can bear. No mother should be made to suffer on account of her child, and no father should be made to suffer on account of his child. The same duties devolve upon the father’s heir [in case of the death of the father]. But if, after consultation, they choose by mutual agreement to wean the child, there shall be no blame on them. Nor shall it be any offence for you if you desire to engage a wet-nurse for your children, provided you hand over what you have agreed to pay, in a reasonable manner. Have fear of God and know that God is observant of all your actions.

²³⁴If any of you die and leave widows, the widows should wait for four months and ten days. When they have reached the end of their waiting period you will not be blamed for what they may reasonably choose to do with themselves: God is aware of what you do.

²³⁵It shall be no offence for you to hint at a proposal of marriage [to divorced or widowed women] or to cherish them in your hearts. God knows that you will bear them in mind. But do not enter into any secret arrangement with them, beyond conveying some indication to them of your inclination. Do not proceed with tying the marriage-knot before the end of their waiting period. Know that God has knowledge of all your thoughts. Therefore, take heed and bear in mind that God is forgiving and forbearing.

²³⁶You will not be blamed [for not paying the dower money] if you divorce women when you have not yet consummated the marriage or fixed a dower money upon them, but make fair provision for them, the affluent according to his means and the straitened according to his means; this is binding on righteous men.

²³⁷If you divorce them before the marriage is consummated, but after their dower money has been settled, give them the half of their dower money, unless they [the women] agree to forego it, or the man [the husband] in whose hand lies the marriage knot foregoes it. To forego is nearer to righteousness. Do not neglect any chance of behaving benevolently towards each other. God is observant of whatever you do.

²³⁸Be ever mindful of prayers, especially the middle prayer; and stand up before God in submissive devotion.

²³⁹When you are exposed to danger, pray on foot or while riding; when you are safe again, remember God, for He has taught you what you did not know.

²⁴⁰If any of you die and leave widows, make a bequest for them of a year’s maintenance without causing them to leave their homes; but if they leave of their own accord, you will not be blamed for what they may reasonably choose to do with themselves. God is almighty and wise.

²⁴¹For divorced women a provision according to what is fair shall also be made. This is an obligation binding on the righteous.

²⁴²Thus God makes His commandments clear to you, so that you may understand.

²⁴³Have you not seen those who fled their homes in their thousands for fear of death, whereupon God said to them, ‘Die!’ and later brought them back to life? Surely God is bountiful to mankind, but most of them are ungrateful.

²⁴⁴Fight [in defence] in God’s cause and remember that He is all hearing and all knowing.

²⁴⁵Who will give God a generous loan?He will multiply it many times over. It is God who withholds, and God who gives abundantly, and it is to Him that you shall all be returned.

²⁴⁶Have you not heard of what the chiefs of the Children of Israel demanded of one of their prophets after Moses? They said, ‘Appoint for us a king, and we will fight for the cause of God.’ He replied, ‘What if you refuse to fight, when ordered to do so?’ ‘Why should we not fight for the cause of God,’ they replied, ‘when we have been driven forth from our homes and our children?’ But when at last they were commanded to fight, they all refused, except a few of them. God knows the wrongdoers.

²⁴⁷Their prophet said to them, ‘God has now appointed Talut to be your king.’ But they replied, ‘How can he be king over us when we are worthier of kingship than he and he has not even been granted an abundance of wealth?’ He said, ‘God has chosen him over you, and has given him great knowledge and physique. God grants kingship to whoever He pleases: God is magnanimous and all knowing.’

²⁴⁸Their prophet also said to them, ‘The sign of his kingship is that the Ark [of the Covenant] shall come to you. Therein shall be tranquillity from your Lord, and the relics which the House of Moses and the House of Aaron left behind. It will be borne by the angels. There is a sign in this for you, if you believe.’

²⁴⁹When Talut set out with his forces, he said to them, ‘God will test you with a river: whoever drinks from it is not with me and whoever does not drink is with me. There will, however, be no blame upon one who sips only a handful from it.’ But, except for a few of them, they all drank from it. When he and those who believed along with him had crossed the river, they said, ‘We have no strength today against Goliath and his warriors.’ But those of them who believed that they would meet God replied, ‘Many a small group, by God’s command has prevailed against a large group. God is indeed with the steadfast.’

²⁵⁰When they met Goliath and his warriors, they said, ‘Our Lord, bestow patience upon us, make us stand firm, and help us against those who deny the truth.’

²⁵¹And so by the command of God they defeated them. David killed Goliath, and God gave him kingship and wisdom, and imparted to him the knowledge of whatever He willed. Had it not been for God’s repelling some people by means of others, the earth would have been filled with corruption. But God is bountiful to mankind.

²⁵²These are the revelations of God which We recite to you in all truth, for you are truly one of the messengers.

²⁵³Of these messengers, We have given something additional among them. There are some to whom God spoke directly and others He exalted in rank. We gave Jesus, son of Mary clear signs, and strengthened him with the holy spirit. Had God pleased, those who succeeded them would not have fought against one another after the clear signs had come to them. But they disagreed among themselves; some believed, while others did not. Yet had God willed, they would not have fought against one another; but God does whatever He wills.

²⁵⁴Believers, spend out of what We have given you, before the Day comes when there will be neither trading, friendship nor intercession. Truly, it is those who deny the truth who are the wrongdoers.

²⁵⁵God: there is no deity save Him, the Living, the Eternal One. Neither slumber nor sleep overtakes Him. To Him belong whatsoever is in the heavens and whatsoever is on the earth. Who can intercede with Him except by His permission? He knows all that is before them and all that is behind them. They can grasp only that part of His knowledge which He wills. His throne extends over the heavens and the earth; and their upholding does not weary Him. He is the Sublime, the Almighty One!

²⁵⁶There shall be no compulsion in religion: true guidance has become distinct from error. But whoever refuses to be led by Satan and believes in God has grasped the strong handhold that will never break. God is all hearing and all knowing.

²⁵⁷God is the patron of the faithful. He leads them from darkness to the light. As for those who deny the truth, their supporter is Satan, who brings them out of light into darkness. They are the heirs of the Fire, and there they will remain forever.

²⁵⁸Have you not heard of him who argued with Abraham about his Lord because God had bestowed the kingdom upon him? Abraham said, ‘My Lord is the one who gives life and brings death.’ He answered, ‘I [too] give life and bring death!’ Abraham said, ‘God brings up the sun from the east, so bring it up yourself from the west.’ Then the disbeliever was confounded. God does not guide the wrongdoers.

²⁵⁹Or of him who, when passing by a town the roofs of which had caved in, exclaimed, ‘How will God restore it to life after its destruction?’ Thereupon God caused him to die, and after a hundred years, brought him back to life. God asked, ‘How long have you remained in this state?’ He answered, ‘I have remained a day or part of a day.’ God said, ‘No, you have remained in this state for a hundred years. Now look at your food and your drink; they have not rotted. Look at your ass. We will make you a sign to mankind. Look at the bones—how We set them together, then clothe them with flesh!’ When it had all become clear to him, he said, ‘Now I know that God has power over all things.’

²⁶⁰When Abraham said, ‘Show me, my Lord, how You revive the dead!’ God said, ‘Do you not believe?’ Abraham answered, ‘Yes, indeed I do believe, but just to reassure my heart.’ Then God said, ‘Take four birds, and train them to come back to you. Then place them separately on each hilltop, and call them: they will come flying to you. Know that God is almighty and wise.’

²⁶¹Those who spend their wealth for God’s cause may be compared to a grain of corn which sprouts into seven ears, with a hundred grains in each ear: for God grants manifold increase to whom He wills; God is infinite and all knowing.

²⁶²Those who spend their wealth for God’s cause and do not follow their almsgiving with taunts and insults shall be rewarded by their Lord; they shall have no fear, nor shall they grieve.

²⁶³A kind word and forgiveness is better than a charitable deed followed by hurtful words: God is self-sufficient and forbearing.

²⁶⁴Believers, do not cancel out your charitable deeds with reminders and hurtful words, like one who spends his wealth only to be seen by people, and not believing in God and the Last Day. Such men are like a rock covered with earth: a shower falls upon it and leaves it hard and bare. They will gain nothing from their works. God does not guide those who deny the truth.

²⁶⁵But those who spend their wealth in order to gain God’s approval, and to strengthen their souls are like a garden on elevated ground. When heavy rain falls on it, it doubles its produce; and if heavy rain does not fall, then light rain suffices. God sees what you do.

²⁶⁶Would any of you, being a man well advanced in age with helpless children to support, like to have a garden of dates and grapes, watered by rivers and containing all kinds of fruits, stricken by a fiery whirlwind and utterly scorched? Thus God makes His signs clear to you, so that you may reflect.

²⁶⁷Believers, give charitably from the good things which you have earned and what We produce for you from the earth; not worthless things which you yourselves would only reluctantly accept. Know that God is self-sufficient and praiseworthy.

²⁶⁸Satan threatens you with the prospect of poverty and commands you to do foul deeds. But God promises His forgiveness and His bounty. God is bountiful and all knowing.

²⁶⁹He grants wisdom to whom He will; and whoever is granted wisdom has indeed been granted abundant wealth. Yet none bear this in mind except those endowed with understanding.

²⁷⁰Whatever you spend and whatever vows you make are known to God, but the wrongdoers shall have no helpers.

²⁷¹If you give charity openly, it is good, but if you keep it secret and give to the needy in private, that is better for you, and it will atone for some of your bad deeds. God is aware of all that you do.

²⁷²It is not your responsibility to make them follow the right path; God guides whomever He pleases. Whatever wealth you spend is to your own benefit, provided that you spend only to seek the favour of God. Whatever wealth you spend [for God’s cause] shall be repaid to you in full and you shall not be wronged.

²⁷³The needy, who are too engrossed in God’s cause to be able to travel about the land in search of a livelihood, are considered by those who are unaware of their condition to be free from want, because they refrain from begging. But they can be known from their appearance. They do not make insistent demands upon people. Whatever wealth you spend, God knows it.

²⁷⁴Those who spend their wealth night and day, both privately and publicly, will receive their reward from their Lord. They shall have no fear, nor shall they grieve.

²⁷⁵Those who live on usury shall rise up before God like men whom Satan has demented by his touch; for they say, ‘Buying and selling is only a kind of usury.’ But God has made trade lawful and made usury unlawful. Therefore, he who desists because of the admonition that has come to him from his Lord may retain what he has received in the past; and it will be for God to judge him. Those who revert to it shall be the inmates of the Fire; they shall abide therein forever.

²⁷⁶God blights usury and blesses charitable deeds. God does not love the ungrateful wrongdoer.

²⁷⁷Those who believe, do good deeds, attend to their prayers and engage in almsgiving, shall be rewarded by their Lord and shall have no fear, nor shall they grieve.

²⁷⁸Believers, have fear of God, and give up what is still due to you from usury, if you are true believers.

²⁷⁹For, if you do not do so, then know that you are at war with God and His Messenger. But if you repent, you may retain your capital. Do not wrong [others] and you will not be wronged.

²⁸⁰If the debtor is in straitened circumstances, then grant him respite till a time of ease. If you were to write it off as an act of charity, that would be better for you, if only you knew.

²⁸¹Fear the Day when you shall be made to return to God; then every soul shall be paid in full what it has earned; and they shall not be wronged.

²⁸²Believers, when you contract a debt for a stated term, put it down in writing; have a scribe write it down with fairness between you. No scribe should refuse to write: let him write as God has taught him, let the debtor dictate, and let him fear God, his Lord, and not diminish [the debt] at all. If the debtor is weak in mind or body, or unable to dictate, then in fairness let his guardian dictate for him. Call in two of your men as witnesses. But if two men cannot be found, then call one man and two women out of those you approve of as witnesses, so that if one of the two women should forget the other can remind her. Let the witnesses not refuse when they are summoned. Do not be disinclined to write down your debts, be they small or large, together with the date of payment. This is more just in the sight of God; it is more reliable as testimony, and more likely to prevent doubts arising between you, unless it be ready merchandise which you give or take from hand to hand, then it will not be held against you for not writing it down. Have witnesses present whenever you trade with one another, and let no harm be done to either scribe or witness, for if you did cause them harm, it would be a crime on your part. Be mindful of God; He teaches you: He has full knowledge of everything.

²⁸³If you are on a journey and do not find any literate person, something should be handed over as security. If one of you entrusts another with something, let the trustee restore the pledge to its owner; and let him fear God, his Lord. Do not conceal testimony. If someone does conceal it, in his heart he commits a crime. God knows what you do.

²⁸⁴All that the heavens and the earth contain belongs to God, whether you disclose what is in your minds or keep it hidden. God will bring you to account for it. He will forgive whom He will and punish whom He pleases: He has power over all things.

²⁸⁵The Messenger believes in what has been sent down to him from his Lord, and [so do] believers. They all believe in God and His angels, His scriptures, and His messengers. They say, ‘We do not differentiate between any of His messengers. We hear and obey. Grant us Your forgiveness, Lord, to You we shall all return!’

²⁸⁶God does not charge a soul with more than it can bear. It shall be requited for whatever good and whatever evil it has done. [They pray], ‘Our Lord, do not take us to task if we forget or make a mistake! Our Lord, do not place on us a burden like the one You placed on those before us! Our Lord, do not place on us a burden we have not the strength to bear! Pardon us; and forgive us; and have mercy on us. You are our Lord and Sustainer, so help us against those who deny the truth.’

3. THE FAMILY OF ‘IMRAN (Al-‘Imran)

In the name of God, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful

¹Alif Lam Mim

²God! There is no deity save Him, the Living, the Sustainer.

³He has sent down the Book to you with truth, which fulfils [the predictions] in the Scriptures that preceded it: He sent down the Torah and the Gospel ⁴in the past as guidance for mankind; He has [also] sent down the Standard by which to discern the true from the false. Surely those who deny God’s signs will suffer severe punishment. God is mighty and capable of retribution.

⁵Nothing on earth or in the heavens is hidden from God: ⁶it is He who shapes you in the womb as He will. There is no deity save Him, the Mighty, the Wise One.

⁷It is He who has sent down the Book to you. Some of its verses are clear and precise in meaning—they are the basis of the Book—while others are allegorical. Those with deviation in their hearts pursue the allegorical, so as to create dissension by seeking to explain it: but no one knows its meaning except God. Those who are firmly grounded in knowledge say, ‘We believe in it: it is all from our Lord.’ But only the wise take heed.

⁸‘Our Lord, do not let our hearts deviate after You have guided us. Bestow upon us Your mercy. Surely You are a Munificent Giver.

⁹Our Lord, You will surely gather all mankind on the Day of whose coming there is no doubt. God never fails to fulfil His promise.’

¹⁰As for those who deny the truth, their wealth and children will not help them against God. They will be fuel for the Fire.

¹¹Their end will be like Pharaoh’s people and those before them; they denied Our signs, so God seized them in their sinfulness: God is stern in punishment.

¹²Say to those who deny the truth, ‘You shall be overcome and driven into Hell—an evil resting place!’

¹³There was a sign for you in the two groups which met face to face [at Badr], one party fighting for the cause of God and the other made up of those who deny the truth. They [unbelievers] saw with their own eyes that the others [believers] were twice their number: but God strengthens with His succour whom He wills. In this, there is indeed a lesson for all who have eyes to see.

¹⁴The satisfaction of worldly desires through women, and children, and heaped-up treasures of gold and silver, and pedigreed horses, and cattle and lands is attractive to people. All this is the provision of the worldly life; but the most excellent abode is with God.

¹⁵Say, ‘Shall I tell you of something better than all of these? For the God-fearing, there are Gardens in nearness to their God with rivers flowing through them where they shall live forever with pure spouses and the goodwill of God. God is watching His servants —¹⁶those who say, “Lord, we believe in You, forgive us our sins and keep us from the punishment of the Fire,” ¹⁷those who are steadfast, truthful, obedient, and those who spend [for God’s cause] and who pray before dawn for forgiveness.’

¹⁸God bears witness that there is no deity save Him, as do the angels and those who possess knowledge. He is the upholder of justice. There is no diety save Him, the Mighty, the Wise One.

¹⁹The only true religion in God’s sight is complete submission to God. And those who were given the Book disagreed only out of rivalry, after knowledge had been given to them—he who denies God’s signs should know that God is swift in His reckoning.

²⁰If they dispute with you, say, ‘I have submitted my whole being to God and so have those who follow me.’ And ask those who have been given the Book, as well as the unlettered, ‘Do you submit yourselves to God in the same way?’ If they submit themselves to Him, they are on the right path; but if they turn away, your duty is only to convey the message. God is observant of all His servants.

²¹Those who deny God’s signs and kill the prophets unjustly and kill those who enjoin justice—give them warning of a woeful punishment—²²their deeds will come to nothing in this world as well as in the hereafter; they will have no supporters.

²³Have you not seen those who received a portion of the Book? When they are invited to accept the judgement of God’s Book, a group of them turns away in aversion.

²⁴That is because they say, ‘The Fire will touch us only for a limited number of days.’ Thus the false beliefs which they have invented have deluded them in the matter of their religion.

²⁵How will it be when We gather them all together upon a Day which is sure to come, when every human being shall be repaid in full for what he has done? They will not be wronged.

²⁶Say, ‘Lord, sovereign of all sovereignty. You bestow sovereignty on whom you will and take it away from whom You please; You exalt whoever You will and abase whoever You will. All that is good lies in Your hands. You have the power to will anything.

²⁷You cause the night to pass into the day, and the day into the night; You bring forth the living from the lifeless and the lifeless from the living. You give without measure to whom You will.’

²⁸Let not the believers take those who deny the truth for their allies in preference to the believers—anyone who does that will isolate himself completely from God—unless it be to protect yourselves against them in this way.^a God admonishes you to fear Him: for, to God shall all return.

²⁹Say, ‘God knows everything that is in your heart, whether you conceal it or reveal it; He knows everything that the heavens and earth contain; God has power over all things.’

³⁰On the Day when every human being will find himself faced with all the good that he has done, and with all the evil that he has done, many will wish that there were a long space of time between himself and that [Day]. God admonishes you to fear Him, but God is compassionate towards His servants.

³¹Say, ‘If you love God, follow me and God will love you and forgive you your sins. God is most forgiving, and most merciful.’

³²Say, ‘Obey God and the Messenger,’ and if they turn away, God does not love those who deny the truth.

³³God chose Adam and Noah and the family of Abraham and the family of ‘Imran above all His creatures.

³⁴They are the offspring of one another. God hears all and knows all.

³⁵Remember when the wife of ‘Imran said, ‘My Lord, I have dedicated what is in my womb entirely to Your service. So accept this from me. You are the One who hears and knows all.’

³⁶When she gave birth, she said, ‘My Lord, I have given birth to a girl’—God knew very well what she had given birth to: a male is not like a female—‘I have named her Mary and placed her and her children in Your protection from the rejected Satan.’

³⁷Her Lord graciously accepted her and made her grow in goodness and entrusted her to the care of Zachariah. Every time Zachariah visited her in her chamber he found some provision with her. He asked, ‘Mary, where did this provision come from?’ She replied, ‘This is from God. God provides for whoever He wills without measure.’

³⁸Thereupon Zachariah prayed to his Lord, saying, ‘Lord, grant me by Your own grace virtuous offspring. You are the hearer of all prayers.’

³⁹As he stood praying in the chamber, the angels called out to him, saying, ‘God gives you the good news of John, who shall confirm the Word from God, and [shall be] outstanding among men, and utterly chaste, and a prophet from among the righteous.’

⁴⁰‘Lord,’ said Zachariah, ‘how shall I have a son when I am now overtaken by old age and my wife is barren?’ ‘Such is the will of God,’ replied [the angel], ‘He does what He pleases.’

⁴¹He said, ‘My Lord, grant me a sign.’ [The angel] said, ‘Your sign is that you will not be able to speak to people for three days except by signs. Remember your Lord much and glorify Him morning and evening.’

⁴²The angels said, ‘Mary, God has selected you and purified you. He has selected you over [all] the women.

⁴³O Mary! Remain truly devout to your Sustainer, and prostrate yourself in worship, and bow down with those who bow down [before Him].’

⁴⁴This is an account of the unseen, which We reveal to you. You were not with them when they drew lots as to which of them should be Mary’s guardian and you were not with them when they disputed with one another.

⁴⁵When the angels said, ‘O Mary, your Lord gives you good news of a Word from Him. His name is the Messiah, Jesus, son of Mary, honoured in this world and in the next and one of those who are granted nearness to God.

⁴⁶And he shall speak to men in his cradle, and as a grown man, and shall be one of the righteous.’

⁴⁷‘Lord,’ she said, ‘how can I have a child when no man has touched me?’ [The angel] replied, ‘Thus it is: God creates what He wills: when He wills a thing He need only say, “Be,” and it is.

⁴⁸God will instruct him in the Book and in wisdom and in the Torah and in the Gospel.

⁴⁹He will make him a messenger to the Children of Israel. He will say: “I have come to you with a sign from your Lord. I will make the shape of a bird out of clay for you and then breathe into it and, by God’s leave, it will become a living bird. And by God’s leave I will heal the blind and the leper and bring the dead to life. I will tell you what you eat and what you store up in your homes. Surely in this there is a sign for you, if you are believers.

⁵⁰I come to fulfil [the prediction] of the Torah which preceded me and to make lawful for you some of what was forbidden to you and I come to you with a sign from your Lord. So fear God and obey me.

⁵¹God is my Lord and your Lord, so worship Him. That is the straight path.”’

⁵²When Jesus perceived their denial, he said, ‘Who will be my helpers in God’s cause?’ The disciples said, ‘We are God’s helpers, we believe in God. Bear witness that we have surrendered ourselves.

⁵³Our Lord, we believe in what You have sent down and we follow the messenger, so count us among those who bear witness.’

⁵⁴And they schemed but God also schemed and God is the Best of Schemers.

⁵⁵God said, ‘O Jesus, I shall take you to Me and will raise you up to Me and shall clear you [of the calumnies] of the disbelievers, and shall place those who follow you above those who deny the truth, until the Day of Judgement; then to Me shall all return and I will judge between you regarding your disputes.

⁵⁶Those who deny the truth shall be sternly punished in this world and in the world to come: there shall be none to help them.’

⁵⁷As for those who have believed and do good works, they shall be given their reward in full. God does not love evil-doers.

⁵⁸This which We recite to you is a revelation and a wise reminder.

⁵⁹Jesus in the sight of God is like Adam. He created him from dust; then said to him, ‘Be!’ and he was.

⁶⁰This is the truth from your Lord, so do not be among the doubters.

⁶¹And if anyone should argue with you about this [truth] after the knowledge you have received, say to them, ‘Come! Let us gather our sons and your sons, our women and your women, and ourselves and yourselves; and then let us pray earnestly and invoke the curse of God upon the liars.

⁶²This is the true account. There is no deity save Him. God is Mighty and Wise.’

⁶³And if they turn away, God knows well the evil-doers.

⁶⁴Say, ‘People of the Book, let us come to a word common to us that we shall worship none but God and that we shall associate no partner with Him and that none of us shall take others, besides God, for lords.’ And if they turn away, say, ‘Bear witness that we have submitted to God.’

⁶⁵People of the Book, why do you dispute about Abraham when the Torah and Gospel were only sent down after him. Do you not use your reason?

⁶⁶You are those who disputed about things of which you had some knowledge. Must you now argue about things of which you have no knowledge? God knows, but you do not know.

⁶⁷Abraham was neither a Jew nor a Christian. He was an upright man, one who had surrendered himself to God. He was not one of those who associate partners with God.

⁶⁸Surely, the people who are closest to Abraham are those who followed him and this Prophet [Muhammad], and those who believe in him. God is the guardian of the believers.

⁶⁹Some of the People of the Book wish to lead you astray but they only lead themselves astray, though they do not realise it.

⁷⁰People of the Book! Why do you deny God’s signs, having been witnesses thereof?

⁷¹People of the Book! Why do you mix truth with falsehood and knowingly conceal the truth?

⁷²Some of the People of the Book say to one another, ‘Believe in what is revealed to the faithful in the morning and deny it in the evening, so that they [the Muslims] may themselves abandon their faith [in confusion].

⁷³Believe only in those who follow your own religion.’ Say to them, ‘Surely, the true guidance is the guidance from God.’ [But you think it is impossible that] someone else may be granted [revelation] such as you were granted—or else that they should contend against you before your Lord. Say, ‘All grace is in God’s hand; He grants it to whom He wills: for God is boundless, and all knowing, ⁷⁴He singles out for His mercy whoever He pleases. God is the Lord of exceeding bounty.’

⁷⁵Among the people of the Book there are some who, if you entrust them with a heap of gold, will return it to you. But there are others of them who, if you entrust them with a single dinar, will not return it to you, unless you keep demanding it from them. That is because they say, ‘We are under no obligation towards the gentiles.’ They deliberately tell lies about God.

⁷⁶Indeed God loves those who honour their covenants and fear Him. God loves the righteous.

⁷⁷Those who sell out God’s covenant and their oaths for a paltry price will have no share in the life to come on the Day of Resurrection. God will neither speak to them nor cast a look upon them on the Day of Judgement, nor will He purify them. For them there shall be a grievous punishment.

⁷⁸There are some among them who distort the Book by the way they speak to make you think that what they say is from the Book, whereas it is not. They say it is from God whereas it is not. Thus they tell a lie about God and they know it.

⁷⁹No one to whom God has given the Scriptures and on whom He has bestowed wisdom and prophethood would say to men, ‘Worship me instead of God.’ [He would say rather], ‘Be devoted servants of God, for you have taught and studied the Scriptures.’

⁸⁰Nor would he enjoin you to take the angels and the prophets as your lords; how could he command you to be disbelievers after you have submitted to God.

⁸¹When God made a covenant with the prophets, He said, ‘Here is the Book and the wisdom which I have given you. When there comes to you a messenger fulfilling that [predictions about him in their Scripture] which is with you, you must believe in him and help him. Do you then affirm this and accept the responsibility I have laid upon you in these terms?’ They said, ‘We will affirm it.’ God said, ‘Then bear witness, and I will bear witness with you.’

⁸²Now whoever turns away after this, are surely transgressors.

⁸³Do they seek a religion other than the religion of God, when everything in the heavens and the earth has submitted to Him, willingly or unwillingly? To Him they shall all return.

⁸⁴Say, ‘We believe in God and in what has been sent down to us and to Abraham, Ishmael, Isaac, Jacob and the Tribes. We believe in what has been given to Moses, Jesus and the prophets from their Lord. We make no distinction between any of them. It is to Him that we have surrendered ourselves.’

⁸⁵If anyone seeks a religion other than Islam [submission to God], it will not be accepted from him; he will be among the losers in the Hereafter.

⁸⁶How would God bestow His guidance upon people who have opted for unbelief after having embraced the faith and having borne witness that this Messenger is true and [after] all evidence of the truth has come to them? For, God does not guide such wrongdoers: ⁸⁷such people will be rewarded with rejection by God, by the angels, by all mankind.

⁸⁸In this state they shall abide forever; their punishment shall not be lightened nor shall they be granted respite.

⁸⁹Except for those who afterwards repent and reform. God is forgiving and merciful; ⁹⁰but as for those who are bent on denying the truth after accepting the true faith and grow in their refusal to acknowledge the truth, their repentance will not be accepted. They are the ones who have gone far astray.

⁹¹Those who reject faith and die in the state of rejection will not be saved, even if they offer as ransom enough gold to fill the entire earth. Painful punishment is in store for them and they will have no supporters.

⁹²Never will you attain to righteousness unless you spend for the cause of God out of what you cherish; and whatever you spend is known to God.

⁹³All food was lawful for the Children of Israel, except whatever Israel had made unlawful for himself before the Torah was sent down. Say to them, ‘Bring the Torah then and read it, if you are truthful.

⁹⁴Those who, after this, persist in making up lies and attributing them to God are transgressors.’

⁹⁵Say, ‘God speaks the Truth, so follow the faith of Abraham. He was an upright man and he was not one of the polytheists.’

⁹⁶The first House to be built for mankind was the one at Bakkah [Makkah]. It is a blessed place; a source of guidance for the whole world.

⁹⁷There are clear signs in it; it is the place where Abraham stood. Anyone who enters it will be secure. Pilgrimage to the House is a duty to God for anyone who is able to undertake it. Anyone who disbelieves should remember that God is independent of all creatures.

⁹⁸Say, ‘People of the Book, why do you reject God’s revelations when God is witness to all that you do?’

⁹⁹Say, ‘People of the Book, why do you turn the believers away from the path of God, seeking to make it crooked, while you are witnesses thereof? God is not unaware of what you do.’

¹⁰⁰O believers, if you yield to some of those who were given the Scripture, they will cause you to renounce the truth after you have believed.

¹⁰¹But how can you deny the truth when God’s revelations are being conveyed to you and His own Messenger is in your midst? He who holds fast to God is indeed guided to the straight path.

¹⁰²Believers, fear God as is His due, and when death comes, be in a state of complete submission to Him.

¹⁰³Hold fast to the cord of God and let nothing divide you. Remember the blessings He has bestowed upon you; you were enemies and then He united your hearts and by His grace you became brothers; you were on the brink of an abyss of Fire and He rescued you from it. Thus God makes His signs clear to you, so that you may find guidance.

¹⁰⁴Let there be a group among you who call others to good, and enjoin what is right, and forbid what is wrong: those who do this shall be successful.

¹⁰⁵Do not be like those who, after they had been given clear evidence, split into factions and differed among themselves: a terrible punishment awaits such people.

¹⁰⁶On the Day when some faces are bright and some faces are dark, it will be said to those with darkened faces, ‘Did you reject faith after accepting it? Taste, then, this punishment for having denied the truth!’

¹⁰⁷But as for those with shining faces, they shall abide forever in God’s grace.

¹⁰⁸These are God’s revelations; We recite them to you in all truth. God desires no injustice to mankind.

¹⁰⁹His is all that the heavens and the earth contain. To God shall all things return.

¹¹⁰You are indeed the best community that has ever been brought forth for [the good of] mankind. You enjoin what is good, and forbid what is evil, and you believe in God. If the People of the Book had also believed, it would have surely been better for them. Some of them are true believers, but most of them are disobedient.

¹¹¹They can do you very little harm; if they come out to fight you, they will show you their backs; then they shall not be helped—¹¹²abasement shall attend them wherever they are found, unless they make a covenant with God or with man. They have incurred God’s wrath and have been utterly humbled, because they have persistently disbelieved in God’s signs and killed prophets unjustly. This resulted from their disobedience and their habit of transgression.

¹¹³Yet they are not all alike. Of the People of the Book there are some who stand by their covenant; they recite the word of God during the night and prostrate themselves before Him, ¹¹⁴who believe in God and the Last Day, who enjoin justice and forbid evil and vie with each other in good works. These are righteous men ¹¹⁵and they will not be denied [the reward] for whatever good deeds they do: God knows the righteous.

¹¹⁶As for those who deny the truth, neither their possessions nor their children shall avail them in the least against God. They will be inmates of the Fire. They will remain there for ever; ¹¹⁷that which they spend in pursuit of the life of this world is like a biting frosty blast which smites the harvest of a people who have wronged themselves, and destroys it. God is not unjust to them; they are unjust to their own souls.

¹¹⁸Believers, do not take outsiders as your intimate friends, they will spare no effort to harm you. They love to see you suffer; their hatred is evident from the words which fall from their mouths. But what their hearts conceal is far worse. We have made Our signs clear to you; will you not understand?

¹¹⁹It is you who love them, but they do not love you; you believe in all the revealed Books. When they meet you, they say, ‘We believe,’ but when they are alone, they bite their fingertips with rage. Say, ‘Die of rage!’ God is aware of what your hearts contain.

¹²⁰Whenever something good happens to you, it grieves them; but when evil befalls you, they rejoice. If you persevere and fear God, their designs will never harm you in the least: God encompasses all that they do.

¹²¹When you set out at dawn from your home to assign battle positions to the believers—God hears all and knows all.

¹²²When two groups from among you were about to lose heart, God was their protector. In God let the faithful put their trust.

¹²³God had already helped you at Badr, when you were weak. Fear God, so that you may be grateful.

¹²⁴[And remember] when you said to the believers, ‘Does it not suffice that your Lord helps you by sending down three thousand angels?

¹²⁵If you remain patient and God-fearing, and the enemy should fall upon you all of a sudden, Your Lord will reinforce you with five thousand angels clearly marked!’

¹²⁶and God ordained this only as good news for you so that your hearts might be comforted—help comes only from God, the Powerful, the Wise One—¹²⁷and so that He might cut off a portion of those who are bent on denying the truth or abase them so that they might be turned back frustrated.

¹²⁸You have no say in this affair to decide whether He will relent towards them or He will punish them: they are wrongdoers.

¹²⁹Whatever is in the heavens and whatever is on the earth belong to God. He forgives whoever He pleases and punishes whoever He pleases. God is most forgiving and ever merciful.

¹³⁰Believers, do not devour usury multiplied many times over. Fear God, so that you may prosper—¹³¹guard yourself against the Fire prepared for those who deny the truth—¹³²and obey God and the Messenger, so that you may be given mercy.

¹³³And vie with one another for your Lord’s forgiveness and for a Paradise as vast as the heavens and the earth, which has been prepared for the God-fearing,

¹³⁴for those who spend, both in prosperity and adversity, who restrain their anger and are forgiving towards their fellow men—God loves those who do good works.

¹³⁵And who, when they have committed an indecency or have wronged their souls, remember God and pray that their sins be forgiven—for who but God can forgive sins?—and do not knowingly persist in their misdeeds, ¹³⁶their recompense is forgiveness from their Lord, and Gardens with rivers flowing through them, where they will abide forever. How excellent will be the reward of those who do good works.

¹³⁷There are many examples [of the communities] that have passed away before you: travel through the land, and see what was the end of those who rejected the Truth.

¹³⁸This Quran is an exposition for the people and a guidance and admonition for those who fear God.

¹³⁹And do not become faint of heart, nor grieve—you will have the upper hand, if you are believers—¹⁴⁰if you have suffered a wound, they too have suffered a similar wound. We bring these days to men by turns, so that God may know those who believe, and choose witnesses from among you; and God does not love the unjust, ¹⁴¹so that God may purge those who believe and wipe out those who deny the truth.

¹⁴²Do you suppose that you would enter the Garden, without God knowing those among you who would strive hard for His cause and endure with fortitude?

¹⁴³You were longing for death, before you met it. Now you have seen it with your own eyes.

¹⁴⁴Muhammad is only a messenger. Messengers have passed away before him. If he should die, or be killed, will you turn back on your heels? Those who turn on their heels do not harm the Lord in the least. God will reward the grateful.

¹⁴⁵No soul shall die except with God’s permission and at an appointed time. And if one desires the rewards of this world, We shall grant it to him; and if one desires the rewards of the life to come, We shall grant it to him. We will reward the grateful.

¹⁴⁶How many a prophet has fought with many devout men alongside him! They did not lose heart, despite all that they had to suffer in God’s path. They neither weakened nor yielded. God loves the patient!

¹⁴⁷All they said was, ‘Our Lord, forgive us our sins and our excesses. Make our feet firm, and help us against those who deny the truth,’

¹⁴⁸and so God gave them both the rewards of this life and the excellent recompense of the life to come: God loves those who do good.

¹⁴⁹Believers, if you yield to those who deny the truth, they will cause you to turn back on your heels and you will turn into losers.

¹⁵⁰No, indeed! it is God who is your protector: He is the best supporter.

¹⁵¹We will strike awe into the hearts of those who deny the truth, because they have associated partners with God, for which He has sent down no authority. Their abode shall be the Fire, and evil indeed is the abode of the wrongdoers.

¹⁵²And God made good His promise to you when by His leave you were about to destroy your foes, but then your courage failed you and you disagreed among yourselves [concerning the Prophet’s direction] and disobeyed it, after He had brought you within sight of what you wished for—some of you desired the goods of this world and some of you desired the Hereafter—then in order that He might put you to the test, He prevented you from defeating your foes. But now He has pardoned you: God is most gracious to the believers.

¹⁵³When you were running away and did not look back at anyone, while the Messenger was calling to you from behind, He paid you back with one sorrow after another, so that you might not grieve for what you lost, nor for what befell you. God is aware of what you do.

¹⁵⁴Then, after sorrow He sent down peace [of mind] upon you in the shape of drowsiness that overcame some of you, but there were others who were anxious only about themselves. They entertained false notions about God, like the notions of the days of ignorance. ‘Have we any say in the matter?’ they asked. Say to them, ‘All is in the hands of God.’ They conceal in their hearts what they would not reveal to you. They say, ‘Had we had any say in the matter, none of us would have been killed here.’ Say to them, ‘Had you stayed in your homes, those whose death had been decreed would nevertheless have gone forth to the places where they were destined to die.’ And all this befell you so that God might test what is in your minds. And in order to purify what was in your hearts. For God is aware of your innermost thoughts.

¹⁵⁵Those of you who turned away on the day the two hosts met [in battle] were made to slip by Satan on account of some of their deeds. But God has pardoned them: God is forgiving and forbearing.

¹⁵⁶Believers, do not be like those who are bent on denying the truth and who say of their brothers, when they travel about the land or go forth to war, ‘Had they but remained with us, they would not have died, or been slain’—for God will cause such thoughts to become a source of bitter regret in their hearts, since it is God who gives life and causes death. And God sees all that you do.

¹⁵⁷If you are killed or die in God’s cause, then surely forgiveness from God and His grace are better than all that one could amass.

¹⁵⁸For, indeed, if you die or are killed, it is to God that you shall be gathered.

¹⁵⁹It is by God’s grace that you were gentle with them—for if you had been harsh and hard-hearted, they would surely have deserted you—so bear with them and pray for forgiveness for them. Take counsel with them in the conduct of affairs; then, when you have decided upon a course of action, place your trust in God: for God loves those who place their trust in Him.

¹⁶⁰If God helps you, none can overcome you, but if He withdraws His help from you, who is there who can help you besides Him? In God, then, let the believers place their trust!

¹⁶¹It is not for any Prophet to hold back anything; he who hides anything away shall bring it forth on the Day of Resurrection, when every human being shall be repaid in full for whatever he has done, and none shall be wronged.

¹⁶²Can one who seeks the pleasure of God, be like one who incurs the wrath of God and whose abode shall be Hell—an evil destination?

¹⁶³All have a different standing in the eyes of God, and God is observant of all their actions.

¹⁶⁴Indeed, God has conferred a great favour on the believers in sending a Messenger from among themselves, to recite His revelations to them, and purify them, and teaches them the Book and wisdom, for, before that they were surely in manifest error.

¹⁶⁵What! When a misfortune befalls you, after you had yourself inflicted twice as heavy losses, you say, ‘How has this come about?’ Say, ‘It was your own fault.’ Truly, God has the power to will anything:

¹⁶⁶the misfortune which befell you on the day when the two armies met happened by God’s leave, so that He might mark out the [true] believers ¹⁶⁷and know those who acted hypocritically.’ When they were told, ‘Come, fight in God’s cause and defend yourselves,’ they replied, ‘If we knew that fighting would take place, we would surely follow you.’ They were that day nearer to unbelief than to belief. The words they utter bear no relation to what is in their hearts. God knows well what they conceal.

¹⁶⁸Those who stayed behind, said of their brothers, ‘Had they listened to us, they would not have been killed.’ Say to them, ‘Ward off death from yourselves, then, if what you say be true!’

¹⁶⁹Do not think of those who have been killed in God’s cause as dead. They are alive, and well provided for by their Lord; ¹⁷⁰they are joyful because of what God has bestowed on them of His grace and they rejoice that those they left behind, who have not yet joined them, that they shall have no fear, nor shall they grieve; ¹⁷¹rejoicing in God’s grace and bounty. [They know that] God will not fail to requite the believers.

¹⁷²Those who responded to the call of God and the Messenger, despite their having received an injury, and such of them as did good deeds and feared God, shall have a great reward.

¹⁷³Those who, on being told that, ‘the enemy has gathered against you a great force, so fear them,’ only grew stronger in their faith and replied, ‘God is sufficient for us. He is the best guardian.’

¹⁷⁴Theyreturned home with God’s favour and blessings, without having been touched by evil; for they pursued God’s pleasure. And God’s bounty is infinite.

¹⁷⁵It is Satan who instills fear [into you] of his followers; do not fear them. But fear Me, if you are true believers.

¹⁷⁶And let not those grieve you who vie with one another in denying the truth: they cannot harm God in the least; it is God’s will that they will have no share in the life to come—a severe punishment awaits them.

¹⁷⁷Those who have bought a denial of truth at the price of faith can in no way harm God; painful punishment awaits them.

¹⁷⁸Let not those who deny the truth think that Our granting them respite is good for them: Our granting them respite will only cause them to increase in disobedience—shameful punishment awaits them.

¹⁷⁹On no account will God leave the believers in the condition in which they are now, until He separates the evil from the good. Nor will God reveal to you the unseen. But God chooses those of his messengers whom He will. Therefore, believe in God and His messengers, for if you have faith and guard yourselves against evil, you shall have a great reward.

¹⁸⁰Let not those who are niggardly with what God has granted them out of His bounty think that it is good for them. Indeed, it is evil for them. What they are niggardly about shall be hung about their necks like a collar on the Day of Resurrection. It is God who will inherit the heavens and the earth: God is aware of all that you do.

¹⁸¹God has indeed heard the words of those who said, ‘Behold, God is poor while we are rich!’ We shall record what they have said—and their slaying of the prophets unjustly—and We shall say, ‘Taste the torment of burning.

¹⁸²In return for what your own hands have wrought—for never does God do the least wrong to His creatures!’

¹⁸³To those who say, ‘God has commanded us not to believe in any messenger unless he brings down to us an offering to be consumed by fire,’ say, ‘Messengers before me have come to you with clear signs, including the one you demand. Why did you kill them, if you are telling the truth?’

¹⁸⁴If they deny you, so have other messengers been denied before you, who came with clear signs, scriptures and enlightening book.

¹⁸⁵Every human being is bound to taste death: and you shall receive your rewards in full on the Day of Resurrection. He who is kept away from the Fire and is admitted to Paradise, will surely triumph; for the life of this world is nothing but an illusory enjoyment.

¹⁸⁶You will surely be tried and tested in your possessions and your persons, and you shall surely hear many hurtful things from those who were given the Book before you and from those who set up partners with God, but if you endure with fortitude and restrain yourselves, that indeed is a matter of strong determination.

¹⁸⁷God made a covenant with those who were given the Book to make it known to people and not conceal it. But they cast it behind their backs and bartered it for a paltry price: what an evil bargain they made!

¹⁸⁸Those who exult in their misdeeds and love to be praised for what they have not done should not suppose that they are secure from punishment; they shall suffer a grievous punishment.

¹⁸⁹The kingdom of the heavens and the earth belongs to God; God has power over all things.

¹⁹⁰There are signs in the creation of the heavens and the earth, and in the alternation of night and day for people of understanding; ¹⁹¹who remember God while standing, sitting and [lying] on their sides, and who ponder over the creation of the heavens and the earth, saying, ‘Lord, You have not created all this without purpose. Glory be to You! Save us from the torment of the Fire.

¹⁹²Lord, those whom You condemn to enter the Fire You have surely brought to disgrace. Wrongdoers will have no supporters.

¹⁹³Lord, we have heard a caller calling to the true faith saying, “Believe in your Lord,” and we believed. Lord, forgive us our sins and remove from us our bad deeds and make us die with the virtuous.

¹⁹⁴Our Lord! Grant us what You have promised to us through Your messengers, and do not humiliate us on the Day of Resurrection. Surely, You never fail to fulfil Your promise.’

¹⁹⁵Their Lord accepted their prayer, saying, ‘I will deny no man or woman among you the reward of their labours. You are members one of another. I will certainly forgive the sins of those who emigrated and were expelled from their homes, who suffered persecution in My cause, who fought and were killed. I will certainly admit them to Gardens through which rivers flow, as a reward from God: with God is the best reward.’

¹⁹⁶Do not be deceived by the actions of those who deny the truth in the land: ¹⁹⁷this is only a brief enjoyment, after which Hell shall be their abode—what an evil resting place!

¹⁹⁸Those who fear their Lord shall have gardens through which rivers flow, wherein they will abide forever: and a goodly welcome from their Lord. God’s recompense is best for the virtuous.

¹⁹⁹Some of the People of the Book believe in God, and in what has been revealed to you and what was revealed to them. They humble themselves before God and do not sell God’s revelations for a trifling price. These shall be rewarded by their Lord: God is swift in reckoning!

²⁰⁰Believers, endure, vie with each other in endurance, stand firm in your faith and fear God, so that you may succeed.

4. WOMEN (Al-Nisa’)

In the name of God, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful

¹O mankind! Fear your Lord, who created you from a single soul. He created its mate from it and from the two of them spread countless men and women [throughout the earth]. Fear God, in whose name you appeal to one another, and be mindful of your obligations in respect of ties of kinship. God is always watching over you.^a

²Give the orphans the possessions that belong to them, do not exchange good things with bad and do not consume their property, adding it to your own. Surely, this is a great crime.

³If you fear that you cannot deal fairly with orphan girls, you may marry women of your choice, two or three or four; but if you fear that you might not be able to treat them with equal fairness, then only one—or [from among] those whom you rightfully possess. That is more likely to keep you from committing an injustice.

⁴And give the women their dowers willingly, but if they, of their own accord, remit any part of it to you, you may make use of it with pleasure and goodwill.

⁵Do not give those who are of immature mind your property which God has granted you as a means of support: make provision for them out of it, and clothe them, and give them good advice.

⁶Keep a close check on orphans till they attain the age of marriage; then, if you find them to be mature of mind, hand over their property to them. Do not consume it by wasteful spending, before they come of age. If the guardian is affluent, let him abstain altogether, and if he is poor, let him have for himself what is just and reasonable. When you hand over their property to them, call witnesses in their presence; God is sufficient as a Reckoner.

⁷Men shall have a share in what parents and relatives leave behind, and women shall have a share in what parents and relatives leave behind, whether it be little or much. This is ordained [by God].

⁸If other relatives, orphans or needy people are present at the time of the division, then provide for them out of it, and speak kindly to them.

⁹Those who are concerned about the fate of their own helpless children if they should die and leave them behind should show the same concern for orphans. Let them fear God and uphold justice.

¹⁰Those who consume the property of orphans unjustly are actually swallowing fire into their own bellies; soon they will burn in the blazing Flame.

¹¹Concerning your children, God enjoins you that a male shall receive a share equivalent to that of two females. But if there are more than two females, then their share is two thirds of the inheritance. If there is only one, she will receive the half. Each of your parents receives a sixth of what you leave if you have children. If you are childless and your heirs are your parents, your mother receives a third. If you have brothers [or sisters] your mother receives a sixth, after [the deduction of] any bequest you make or the repayment of any debts with regard to your father and your sons. You do not know which of them is going to benefit you more: but this fixing of portions is by God and He is all knowing and all wise.

¹²You will inherit half of what your wives leave, provided they have left no children. But if they leave children then you inherit a quarter of what they leave, after payment of any bequests they may have made or any debts they may have incurred. Your wives shall inherit one quarter of what you leave if you are childless. But if you leave children, your wives shall inherit one eighth, after payment of any bequest or debts. If a man or woman has no direct heirs [neither children or parents] but has left a brother or a sister, they shall each inherit one sixth, but if they are more than two, they share one third between them, after payment of any bequests or debts, so that no harm is done to anyone. That is a commandment from God: God is all knowing and forbearing.

¹³These are the limits set by God. Anyone who obeys God and His Messenger will be admitted to Gardens through which rivers flow, to live there forever. That will be the supreme achievement.

¹⁴But anyone who disobeys God and His Messenger and transgresses His limits shall be cast into a Fire, wherein he will abide forever. And he shall have a humiliating punishment.

¹⁵If any of your women commit fornication, call in four male witnesses from among yourselves against them; if they testify to their guilt, confine them to the house until death releases them or until God gives them another way out.

¹⁶If two men commit a like abomination, punish them both. If they repent and mend their ways, leave them alone. God is forgiving and merciful.

¹⁷But God undertakes to accept repentance only from those who do evil out of ignorance and those who repent soon after. God turns towards such people with mercy; He is all knowing and all wise.

¹⁸Forgiveness is not for those who continue to do evil deeds until, when death comes upon one of them, he says: ‘Now I repent!’ nor from those who die as deniers of the truth. We have prepared a painful punishment for them.

¹⁹Believers, it is not lawful for you to inherit women against their will, nor should you detain them wrongfully, so that you may take away a part of what you have given them, unless they are guilty of something clearly outrageous. Live with them in accordance with what is fair and kind; if you dislike them, it may be that you dislike something which God might make a source of abundant good.

²⁰If you desire to replace one wife with another, do not take any part of her dower back: even if you have given her a treasure. Would you take it by slandering her and with manifest sinfulness?

²¹How can you take it when you have been intimate with one another, and she has taken a solemn pledge from you?

²²Do not marry women whom your fathers married, except for what has already taken place in the past. This is indeed a shameful deed, a loathsome thing and an evil practice.

²³You are forbidden to take as wives your mothers, daughters, sisters, paternal and maternal aunts, your brothers’ daughters and your sisters’ daughters, your foster mothers and foster sisters, your wives’ mothers and stepdaughters in your protection and the daughters of your wives with whom you have consummated your marriage; but if you have not consummated your marriage then you will not be blamed [if you marry their daughters.] You are also forbidden to marry the spouses of your sons or two sisters together, except what has already passed. Surely, God is ever-forgiving and merciful.

²⁴Also forbidden are married women, except those who have passed into your hands as prisoners of war. This is a commandment of God to you. All women other than these are lawful to you, provided you seek them with your wealth in honest wedlock, not in fornication. When you consummate your marriage with them, give the dowers due to them. And there is no sin for you in what you do by mutual agreement after the fixing of the dower. God is all knowing and wise.

²⁵If any of you cannot afford to marry a free believing woman let him marry one of his believing maids whom he possesses. God best knows your faith. You are one of another. So marry them with their owner’s permission, and give them their dower according to what is fair, neither committing fornication nor taking secret paramours. And if, after they are married, they commit adultery they shall have half the punishment prescribed for a free woman. This is for those of you who fear lest he should fall into sin. But that it is better for you to practise self restraint. God is most forgiving and merciful.

²⁶God wishes to explain things to you and guide you to the ways of those who have gone before you and to turn to you in mercy. God is all knowing and all wise.

²⁷He wishes to turn towards you in mercy, but those who follow their own passions want you to drift far away from the right path. ²⁸God wishes to lighten your burdens, for, man has been created weak.

²⁹Believers, do not wrongfully consume each other’s wealth, but trade with it by mutual consent. Do not kill one another, for God is most merciful to you.

³⁰If anyone does these things through transgression and injustice, We shall cast him into the Fire; and that is easy for God.

³¹If you shun the great sins you have been forbidden, We shall cancel out your minor misdeeds and admit you to a place of honour.

³²Do not covet the bounties which God has bestowed more abundantly on some of you than on others. Men shall be rewarded according to their deeds, and women shall be rewarded according to their deeds. You should rather ask God for His bounty. God has knowledge of all things.

³³We have appointed heirs for everything that parents and close relatives leave behind. As for those with whom you have entered into agreements, let them, too, have their due. God is witness to all things.

³⁴Men are protectors of women, because God has made some of them excel others and because they spend their wealth on them. So virtuous women are obedient and guard in the husband’s absence what God would have them guard. As for those from whom you apprehend infidelity, admonish them, then refuse to share their beds, and finally hit them [lightly].^a Then if they obey you, take no further action against them. For God is High, Great.

³⁵If you fear any breach between a man and his wife, appoint one arbiter from his family and one arbiter from her family. If they both want to set things right, God will bring about a reconciliation between them: He is all knowing and all aware.

³⁶Worship God: and do not associate partners with Him. Be good to your parents, to relatives, to orphans, to the needy, and the neighbour who is a kinsman, and the neighbour who is not related to you and your companions and the wayfarers and those whom you rightfully possess. God does not like arrogant, boastful people, ³⁷who are miserly and enjoin others to be the same and conceal the riches which God has given them of His bounty. We have prepared a humiliating punishment for those who deny the truth.

³⁸And [God does not like] those who spend their wealth for the sake of ostentation, who do not believe in God or the Last Day. Whoever has Satan as his companion has an evil companion.

³⁹What harm could befall them if they believed in God and the Last Day, and spent out of what God bestowed on them? God knows them well.

⁴⁰God does not wrong anyone by as much as a grain’s weight. If there be a good deed, He will repay twofold, and will bestow out of His own bounty an immense reward.

⁴¹What will they do when We bring a witness from each community and bring you as a witness against these people?

⁴²On that Day, those who were bent on denying the truth and disobeyed the Messenger will wish that the earth were made level above them. They will not be able to hide anything from God.

⁴³Believers, do not approach your prayers when you are drunk, until you understand what you say, nor when you are in a state of impurity,—except when you are on a journey—till you have bathed. And if you are ill, or on a journey or have relieved yourselves or when you have consorted with women and you cannot find any water, then find some clean sand and wipe your face and your hands with it. God is gracious and forgiving.

⁴⁴Do you not know of those who were in possession of a portion of the Book? They buy up error and want you to lose your way.

⁴⁵God is quite aware as to who your enemies are; God suffices as a patron, and God suffices as a supporter.

⁴⁶Some Jews take words out of their context and say, ‘We have heard, but we disobey,’ or ‘Hear without listening.’ And they say ‘Look at us,’ twisting the phrase with their tongues so as to disparage religion. But if they had said, ‘We hear and we obey,’ and ‘Listen to us and look at us with favour,’ that would have been better and more proper for them. God has rejected them for their defiance so that they shall not believe, except a few of them.

⁴⁷O People of the Book, believe in what We have sent down, fulfilling [the predictions] that is with you, before We destroy [your sense of] direction, so as to confound or reject you, as We rejected those who broke the Sabbath: God’s command is always carried out.

⁴⁸God will not forgive anyone for associating something with Him, while He will forgive whoever He wishes for anything besides that. Whoever ascribes partners to God is guilty of a monstrous sin.

⁴⁹Have you not seen those who consider themselves pure? It is indeed God who purifies whoever He pleases and none shall be wronged by as much as a hair’s breadth.

⁵⁰See how they attribute their own lying inventions to God. This is in itself a flagrant sin!

⁵¹Have you not seen those who were in possession of a portion of the Book? They believe in idols and devils. They say of those who deny the truth, ‘They are more rightly guided than the believers.’

⁵²Those are the ones God has rejected: you will not find anyone to help those God has rejected.

⁵³Have they a share in God’s kingdom? If they did, they would not give others so much as the groove of a date stone.

⁵⁴Do they envy others because of what God has given them out of His bounty? We granted the House of Abraham the Book and wisdom and We granted them a great kingdom.

⁵⁵Some of them believed in it and some held back from it. Hell will suffice as a blazing Fire.

⁵⁶ We shall send those who reject Our revelations to the Fire. When their skins are burnt up, We shall replace them with new ones so that they may continue to taste the punishment. God is mighty and wise.

⁵⁷As for those who believe and do good works, We shall make them enter Gardens through which rivers flow, to dwell therein forever; therein they shall have pure spouses, and We shall admit them into a dense shade.

⁵⁸God commands you to hand back your trusts to their rightful owners, and when you judge between people, to judge with fairness. God’s instructions to you are excellent. God hears and sees all things.

⁵⁹Believers, obey God and obey the Messenger and those who have been entrusted with authority among you. If you are in dispute over any matter, refer it to God and the Messenger, if you truly believe in God and the Last Day: this is best, and best in the end.

⁶⁰Have you not seen those who profess to believe in what has been revealed to you and [to other prophets] before you? They seek the judgement of evil people, although they were commanded not to obey them. And Satan wants to lead them far astray.

⁶¹When they are told, ‘Come to what God has sent down and to the Messenger,’ you see the hypocrites turn away from you.

⁶²How will it be when an affliction befalls them because of what they themselves have done? They will come to you, swearing by God, saying that they were seeking nothing but goodwill and conciliation.

⁶³But God knows all that is in their hearts; so ignore what they say, admonish them and speak to them in such terms as will address their minds.

⁶⁴All the messengers We sent were meant to be obeyed by God’s leave. If they had come to you and sought forgiveness from God whenever they wronged themselves, and the Messenger had prayed for forgiveness for them, they would have found that God is ever-forgiving and merciful.

⁶⁵By your Lord, they will not be true believers until they seek your arbitration in their disputes and find within themselves no doubt about what you decide and accept it wholeheartedly.

⁶⁶If We had commanded them, ‘Lay down your lives or leave your dwellings,’ they would have not done it, save a few of them. If they had done what they were instructed to do, it would have been better for them, as well as more strengthening [for their faith],

⁶⁷and We would have given them a great reward of Our own,

⁶⁸and guided them to a straight path.

⁶⁹Whoever obeys God and the Messenger will be among those He has blessed: the messengers, the truthful, the witnesses, and the righteous. What excellent companions these are!

⁷⁰That is God’s favour. Sufficient is God’s infinite knowledge.

⁷¹You who believe, take your precautions and then go forth in small groups or go forth all together.

⁷²Among you are some who lag behind and if you encounter a setback, they say, ‘God has been gracious to me; I was not present with them.’

⁷³But if, by God’s grace, good fortune should be your lot, they will say, ‘If only I had been with them I should have achieved a great success,’ as if no affection had existed between you and them.

⁷⁴Let those who would exchange the life of this world for the Hereafter, fight for the cause of God;^a whoever fights for the cause of God, whether he is slain or is victorious, to him We shall give a great reward.

⁷⁵And how should you not fight for the cause of God, and for the helpless old men, women, and children who say, ‘Deliver us, Lord, from this city of wrongdoers, grant us a protector out of Your grace and grant us a supporter out of Your grace?’

⁷⁶The believers fight for the cause of God, while those who reject faith fight for Satan. Then fight the allies of Satan: Satan’s scheming is truly weak.

⁷⁷Have you not seen those to whom it was said, ‘Restrain your hands, say your prayers and pay the prescribed alms?’ And when they have been ordered to fight, some of them have felt afraid of human beings just as they should be afraid of God, or they are even more afraid. They say, ‘Our Lord, why have You ordered us to fight? If You would only postpone it for a little while longer!’ Say, ‘The benefits of this world are negligible and the Hereafter will be better for one who fears God; and you shall not be wronged in the slightest.

⁷⁸Wherever you may be, death will overtake you, even if you be in strongly built towers.’ If some good befalls them, they say, ‘This is from God,’ and if ill befalls them, they say, ‘This is from you.’ Tell them, ‘All is from God.’ But what is wrong with these people that they fail to understand anything?

⁷⁹Whatever good befalls you, it is from God: and whatever ill befalls you is from yourself. We have sent you forth as a messenger to mankind; and God suffices as a witness.

⁸⁰He who obeys the Messenger obeys God. As for those who turn away, know that We have not sent you to be their keeper.

⁸¹They say: ‘We obey you,’ but as soon as they leave you, a group of them plan together by night against what you say. God records whatever they scheme. So ignore them, and put your trust in God. God is sufficient as a trustee.

⁸²Do they not ponder on the Quran? If it had been from anyone other than God, they would have found much inconsistency in it.

⁸³When they hear any news, whether of peace or of something fearful, they spread it about; whereas if they referred it to the Messenger and to the men in charge, those of them who would have investigated it and could have arrived at the truth of the matter. But for God’s grace and mercy, all but a few of you would have followed Satan.

⁸⁴So fight for the cause of God. You are responsible only for yourself. Urge on the believers. God may fend off the power [violence] of those who deny the truth, for He is stronger in might and stronger in inflicting punishment.

⁸⁵Whoever rallies to a good cause shall have a share in its blessing; and whoever rallies to an evil cause shall be answerable for his part in it: for, indeed, God watches over everything.

⁸⁶When you are greeted by anyone, respond with a better greeting or at least return it; God takes account of all things.

⁸⁷He is God: there is no deity other than Him. He will gather you all together on the Day of Resurrection, there is no doubt about it. Whose word can be truer than God’s?

⁸⁸How is it that you are divided into two groups regarding the hypocrites, when God Himself cast them back [to disbelief] because of their misdeeds? Do you seek to guide those whom God allows to go astray? You cannot guide those whom God allows to go astray.

⁸⁹They want you to deny the Truth, so that you may become all alike. Do not take them as your allies until they emigrate in the way of God. If they turn back (to enmity), seize them and kill them^a wherever you may find them; and take no friend or helper from among them.

⁹⁰But make an exception of those who seek refuge with people with whom you have a treaty, or who come over to you because their hearts forbid them to fight against you or against their own people. Had God pleased, He would have given them power over you, so that they would have taken up arms against you. Therefore, if they keep away from you and cease their hostility and propose peace to you, God does not allow you to harm them.

⁹¹You will find others who wish to be safe from you, and from their own people, yet whenever they find an opportunity of inflicting harm, they plunge into it. So if they neither withdraw, nor offer you peace, nor restrain themselves from fighting you, seize and kill them wherever you encounter them. Over such people We have given you clear authority.

⁹²No believer should kill another believer, unless it be by mistake. Anyone who kills a believer by mistake should free a believing slave and pay blood money to the victim’s relatives unless they forego it as an act of charity. If the victim belongs to a people at war with you, but is a believer, then the compensation is to free a believing slave. If he belongs to a people with whom you have a treaty, then blood-money should be handed over to his relatives and a believing slave set free. Anyone who lacks the means must fast for two consecutive months. Such is the penance imposed by God. God is all knowing and wise.

⁹³If anyone kills a believer deliberately, his reward shall be eternal Hell. God will condemn him and reject him, and prepare for him a terrible punishment.

⁹⁴Believers, when you go forth in the cause of God, make due investigation and do not say to those who offer you the greeting of peace, ‘You are no believer!’ because you seek the good things of this life. With God there are good things in plenty. You yourself were in the same position before, but God conferred His special favour on you. Therefore, take care to investigate. Surely God is well-aware of what you do.

⁹⁵Those believers who stay behind—apart from those forced by necessity—are not equal to those who strive hard in God’s cause with their possessions and their persons. God has given those who strive with their goods and their persons a higher rank than those who stayed behind. God has promised all a good reward; but far greater is the recompense of those who strive for Him—⁹⁶high ranks conferred by Him as well as forgiveness and mercy. God is forgiving and merciful.

⁹⁷When the angels take the souls of those who have wronged themselves, they will ask, ‘What was wrong with you?’ They will answer, ‘We were too weak on earth.’ The angels will say, ‘Was God’s earth not spacious enough for you to have migrated to some other place?’ These are the ones whose abode shall be Hell, an evil destination—⁹⁸except such weak ones among men, women and children, as are incapable of adopting any plan or of finding any way out.

⁹⁹God may well pardon them. God is ever-pardoning and ever forgiving.

¹⁰⁰Whoever emigrates for the cause of God will find many places of refuge in the land and plentiful provision. Those who leave home for the cause of God and His Messenger; but is then overtaken by death, shall be recompensed by God. God is most forgiving and ever-merciful.

¹⁰¹When you [believers] are travelling in the land, you will not be blamed for shortening your prayers, if you fear the disbelievers may harm you. They are your avowed enemies.

¹⁰²When you are among the believers and lead them in prayer, let only part of them stand up along with you, armed with their weapons. After they have prostrated themselves, let them withdraw to the rear to stand guard and then let another party, who have not yet prayed, come forward and pray with you. And let them also be on their guard, armed with their weapons. Those who deny the truth want you to be negligent of your arms and your baggage, so that they may fall upon you suddenly. It is no offence for you to lay aside your arms when overtaken by heavy rain or illness, and always take every precaution for defence. God has prepared a humiliating punishment for those who deny the truth.

¹⁰³When you have finished the prayer, remember God while standing, and sitting, and lying on your sides. When you feel secure, say your prayers in the prescribed form. Believers are under the obligation to say their prayers at the appointed hours.

¹⁰⁴Do not relent in the pursuit of the enemy. If you are suffering hardships, they too are suffering similar hardships, but what you can hope for from God, they cannot. God is all knowing and wise.

¹⁰⁵We have sent the Book down to you with the truth so that you may judge among mankind by means of what God has shown you. And do not be an advocate for the treacherous.

¹⁰⁶Ask God for forgiveness: He is most forgiving and merciful.

¹⁰⁷And do not plead on behalf of those who are dishonest to themselves. Surely God does not love one who is treacherous and sinful.

¹⁰⁸They feel ashamed before men but do not feel ashamed before God, despite His being present with them when they plot at night, uttering things of which He does not approve; and indeed God is fully aware of what they do.

¹⁰⁹You might argue on their behalf in the life of this world: but who will argue on their behalf with God on the Day of Resurrection and who will be their defender?

¹¹⁰Yet anyone who does evil or wrongs his own soul and then asks God for forgiveness will find God forgiving and merciful.

¹¹¹He who commits sin does so against his own soul. God is all knowing and wise.

¹¹²And anyone who commits an offence or a sin, then charges an innocent person with it, shall certainly bear the guilt of a calumny and a manifest sin.

¹¹³If it were not for the grace of God and His mercy to you, some of them had resolved to lead you astray but they lead astray no one but themselves. Nor can they do you any harm. God has sent down to you the Book and Wisdom and has taught you what you did not know. God’s favour to you has been great indeed.

¹¹⁴There is no good in most of their secret talk, except in the case of those who enjoin charity and kindness, or reconciliation between people. If anyone does that, seeking the pleasure of God, We will give him an immense reward.

¹¹⁵But if anyone opposes the Messenger after his guidance has become clear to him, and follows a path other than that of the faithful, We shall let him pursue his chosen path and shall cast him into Hell: an evil destination.

¹¹⁶Surely, God will not forgive the ascribing of partners to Him. He forgives whoever He will for anything other than that. Whoever ascribes partners to God has strayed far indeed.

¹¹⁷They [the polytheists] call upon female deities, and they invoke none but Satan, the rebellious one, ¹¹⁸whom God has rejected. He said [to God], ‘I will assuredly take a number of Your servants, ¹¹⁹and shall lead them astray, and fill them with vain desires and order them to slit the ears of cattle. I shall order them to tamper with God’s creation. Whoever chooses Satan as a patron instead of God is utterly ruined:¹²⁰he holds out promises to them, and fills them with vain desires: but Satan’s promises are nothing but delusion.

¹²¹Hell shall be their home: they shall find no refuge from it.

¹²²As for those who believe and do good works. We shall admit them to Gardens through which rivers flow; wherein they will abide forever. This is a promise from God; and whose word could be truer than God’s?

¹²³It is not your desires, nor the desires of the People of the Book, that shall prevail. Anyone who commits evil will be rewarded accordingly. He will not find any protector or patron for himself besides God.

¹²⁴Anyone who performs good deeds, whether it be a man or woman, provided that he is a believer, shall enter Paradise. No one shall suffer the least injustice.

¹²⁵Who is better in faith than one who submits himself wholly to God, acts righteously, and follows the religion of Abraham, the upright in faith, whom God chose for a friend?

¹²⁶To God belongs all that the heavens and earth contain. God has knowledge of all things.

¹²⁷They consult you concerning women. Say, ‘God has given you directions concerning them. The commandment given to you in the Book concerns the orphan girls to whom you do not give what is prescribed for them, and whom you nevertheless desire to marry, and about helpless children. He has instructed you to deal justly with orphans. God has knowledge of all the good you do.

¹²⁸If a woman fears ill-treatment or indifference on the part of her husband, it shall be no offence for her to seek a reconciliation, for reconciliation is best. But people are prone to selfish greed. If you do good and fear Him, surely God is aware of what you do.

¹²⁹You will never be able to treat your wives with equal fairness, however much you may desire to do so, but do not ignore one wife altogether, leaving her suspended [between marriage and divorce]. And if you make amends and act righteously, surely God is most forgiving and merciful.

¹³⁰If they decide to separate, God will compensate both out of His own abundance: God is bountiful and wise.

¹³¹All that the heavens and the earth contain belongs to God. We have commanded those who were given the Scripture before you, and We command you to fear God. If you deny Him, know that all that the heavens and the earth contain belongs to God. God is self-sufficient and praiseworthy.

¹³²All that the heavens and the earth contain belongs to God; and none is as worthy of trust as God.

¹³³If He wanted, He could remove you altogether and replace you with other people: He has the full power to do so.

¹³⁴If one desires the rewards of this world [let him remember that] with God are the rewards of [both] this world and the life to come: and God is indeed all hearing, all seeing.

¹³⁵Believers, be strict in upholding justice and bear witness for the sake of God, even though it be against yourselves, your parents, or your kindred. Be they rich or poor, God knows better about them both. Do not, then, follow your own desires, lest you swerve from justice. If you conceal the truth or evade it, then remember that God is well aware of all that you do.

¹³⁶Believers, believe in God and His Messenger and in the Scripture He sent down to His Messenger, as well as what He sent down before. He who denies God, His angels, His Scriptures, His messengers and the Last Day has surely gone far astray.

¹³⁷As for those who come to believe, and then deny the truth, and again come to believe, and again deny the truth, and thereafter grow stubborn in their denial of the truth—God will never forgive them, nor will He guide them.

¹³⁸Warn the hypocrites that for them there is a painful punishment.

¹³⁹As for those who take the deniers of the truth for their allies rather than the believers—do they seek honour in their company? Surely all honour belongs to God.

¹⁴⁰He has instructed you in the Book that, when you hear people deny or ridicule God’s revelations, you must not sit with them unless they engage in other talk, or else you yourselves shall become like them. God will gather all the hypocrites and those who deny the truth together in Hell.

¹⁴¹The hypocrites wait to see what happens to you and, if God grants you a victory, they say, ‘Were we not on your side?’ And if those who deny the truth have a share of it [victory] they say to them, ‘Did we not help you win, and protect you from the believers?’ God will judge between you [all] on Resurrection Day. And never will God allow those who deny the truth to harm the believers.

¹⁴²The hypocrites seek to outwit God—but it is He who outwits them. And when they stand up for prayer, they do so reluctantly and to be seen by others, and they hardly remember God at all.

¹⁴³They vacillate between the two, belonging neither to one side nor the other. But for him whom God allows to go astray you can never find the way for him.

¹⁴⁴Do not take deniers of the truth [who are at war with you] for your allies in preference to believers. Would you give God a clear proof against yourselves?

¹⁴⁵The hypocrites shall surely be in the lowest depth of the Fire; and you will find no helper for them.

¹⁴⁶But those who repent and mend their ways, who hold fast to God and are sincere in their worship of God will be joined with the believers; and God will bestow a great reward upon the believers.

¹⁴⁷Why should God punish you, if you render thanks to Him and believe in Him? God is appreciative and aware.

¹⁴⁸God does not love the utterance of evil words except in the case of someone who has been wronged. God hears all and knows all.

¹⁴⁹Whether you reveal any good or hide it, or pardon any evil, God is forgiving and all powerful.

¹⁵⁰Those who deny God and His messengers and seek to make a distinction between God and His messengers and say, ‘We believe in some messengers and disbelieve in others’, and desire to adopt a position in between.

¹⁵¹Those indeed are they who are denying the truth beyond doubt, and We have prepared a humiliating punishment for the deniers.

¹⁵²To those who believe in God and His messengers, and make no distinction between any of them, to those—We shall surely give them their rewards. God is most forgiving and merciful.

¹⁵³The People of the Book ask you to bring down for them a book from heaven. Of Moses they demanded a greater thing than that. They said to him: ‘Show us God face to face.’ A thunderbolt struck them for their wickedness. After that, they took to worshipping the [golden] calf, after all evidence of the truth had come to them! Yet We pardoned even that and bestowed on Moses clear authority.

¹⁵⁴And We raised above them the Mount, while making a covenant with them, and We said to them. ‘Enter the gate humbly,’ and We also commanded them, ‘Transgress not in the matter of the Sabbath.’ We took from them a firm covenant.

¹⁵⁵But they broke their covenant; and they rejected the signs of God; and put the prophets to death without justification, and said, ‘Our hearts are sealed.’ It is God who has sealed their hearts, on account of their denial of the truth. Except for a few of them, they have no faith.

¹⁵⁶They denied the truth and uttered a monstrous slander against Mary.

¹⁵⁷They declared, ‘We have put to death the Messiah, Jesus, son of Mary, the Messenger of God.’ They did not kill him, nor did they crucify him, but it only seemed to them [as if it had been so]. And those who differ in this matter are in doubt concerning it. They have no definite knowledge about it, but only follow mere conjecture. But they certainly did not kill him.

¹⁵⁸God raised him towards Himself. God is almighty and wise.

¹⁵⁹There is none among the People of the Book but will believe in it before his death; and on the Day of Resurrection he shall be a witness against them.

¹⁶⁰Because of the wrongdoings of the Jews, We forbade them certain good things that had been allowed to them before; for having frequently debarred others from God’s path;

¹⁶¹for taking usury, when they had been forbidden to do so. And because of their devouring people’s wealth wrongfully. We have prepared a painful punishment for those of them who [continue to] deny the truth.

¹⁶²But to those of them, who are firmly grounded in knowledge, and the believers, who truly believe in what is revealed to you, and what was revealed before you. To those who pray regularly and pay the zakat [prescribed alms] and believe in God and the Last Day, We will surely give a great reward.

¹⁶³We have sent revelation to you [Prophet] as We did to Noah and the prophets who came after him, to Abraham, Ishmael, Isaac, Jacob, and the Tribes, to Jesus, Job, Jonah, Aaron, and Solomon and David, to whom We gave the Psalms.

¹⁶⁴We have told you about some messengers sent previously, while We have not yet told you about others. God spoke to Moses directly.

¹⁶⁵They were messengers, bearing good news and giving warning, so that mankind would have no excuse before God, after the coming of the messengers. God is mighty, wise.^a

¹⁶⁶But God bears witness to what He has sent down to you. He has sent it down with His knowledge. The angels too bear witness. And God suffices as a witness.

¹⁶⁷Those who are bent on denying the truth and on turning others away from the path of God have strayed far from the right path.

¹⁶⁸God will not forgive those who deny the truth and act wrongfully, nor will He guide them,

¹⁶⁹to any path other than the path of Hell, wherein they shall abide forever. That is easy enough for God.

¹⁷⁰Mankind! The Messenger has brought you the truth from your Lord, so believe for your own good. And if you deny the truth, know that to God belongs all that the heavens and the earth contain. God is all knowing and wise.

¹⁷¹People of the Book! Do not go to extremes in your religion. Say nothing but the truth about God. The Christ Jesus, son of Mary, was only a messenger of God and His word, conveyed to Mary, a spirit from Him. So believe in God and His messengers and do not say: ‘There are three [gods].’ Desist, it will be better for you. Indeed, God is the one and only God. His Holiness is far above having a son. To Him belongs whatever is in the heavens and whatever is on the earth. And God is sufficient as a guardian.

¹⁷²Surely, the Messiah would never disdain to be accounted a servant of God. Nor would the angels who are nearest to Him. If any do disdain to worship Him, and grow arrogant, He will in any case gather them all before Him.

¹⁷³Those who believe and do good works will be fully recompensed by Him. And He will give them yet more out of His bounty; and as for those who were disdainful and proud, He will punish them with a painful punishment. And they will not find anyone to help or protect them against God.

¹⁷⁴Men, you have received clear evidence from your Lord. We have sent down a clear light to you.

¹⁷⁵As for those who believe in God and hold fast to Him, He will admit them to His mercy and His grace; He will guide them towards Him on a straight path.

¹⁷⁶They ask you for instruction. Say, ‘God instructs you concerning the indirect heirs. If a person dies childless but has a sister, she receives half of what he leaves, and he is her heir if she dies childless. If there are two sisters, they receive two-thirds of what he leaves. If there are brothers and sisters, the share of each male shall be that of two females. God makes things clear to you, so that you will not go astray. God has knowledge of all things.’

5. THE TABLE (Al-Ma’idah)

In the name of God, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful

¹Believers, fulfil your obligations. All livestock is lawful for you, other than that which is hereby announced to you. You are forbidden to kill game while you are on a pilgrimage—God commands what He will.

²Believers, violate neither the sanctity of God’s signs, the Sacred Month, the sacrificial animals, the animals wearing garlands [indicating they are to be sacrificed] nor those on their way to the Sacred House seeking the bounty and pleasure of their Lord. When, on completion of your pilgrimage, you take off the garb of the pilgrim, you may hunt. Do not let the enmity of those who barred you from the Sacred Mosque lead you into sin. Help one another in goodness and in piety. Do not help one another in sin and transgression. Fear God! God is severe in punishment.

³You are forbidden carrion, blood and pork; and any flesh over which the name of any other than God is invoked; and any creature which has been strangled, or killed by a blow or in a fall, or has been gored to death or half-eaten by a wild animal, saving that which you make lawful [by slaughtering properly while it was still alive] and what has been slaughtered at an altar. You are forbidden to make the division of [meat] by means of divining arrows: that is sinful conduct. Those who deny the truth have this day despaired of ever harming your religion. So do not fear them. Fear Me. Today I have completed your religion for you and completed My blessing upon you. I have chosen for you Islam as your religion. But if anyone is forced by hunger to eat something which is forbidden, not intending to commit a sin, he will find God forgiving and merciful.

⁴If they ask you what has been made lawful for them, say, ‘All good things have been made lawful for you;’ and what you have taught your birds and beasts of prey to catch, training them as God has taught you. So eat what they catch for you, but first pronounce God’s name over it. Fear God, for God is swift in taking account.

⁵Today, all good things have been made lawful to you. The food of the People of the Book is lawful to you, and your food is lawful to them. The chaste believing women and the chaste women of the people who were given the Book before you, are lawful to you, provided that you give them their dowers, and marry them, neither committing fornication nor taking them as mistresses. The deeds of anyone who rejects the faith will come to nothing, and in the Hereafter he will be among the losers.

⁶Believers, when you rise to pray, wash your faces and your hands up to the elbows and wipe your heads and [wash] your feet up to the ankles. If you are in a state of impurity, take a full bath. But if you are sick or on a journey or when you have just relieved yourselves, or you have consorted with your spouses, you can find no water, take some clean sand and rub your faces and hands with it. God does not wish to place any burden on you; He only wishes to purify you and perfect His favour to you, in order that you may be grateful.

⁷Remember God’s favour to you, and the covenant, which He made with you when you said, ‘We hear and we obey.’ Fear God. God has full knowledge of the innermost thoughts of men.

⁸Believers, be steadfast in the cause of God and bear witness with justice. Do not let your enmity for others turn you away from justice. Deal justly; that is nearer to being God-fearing. Fear God. God is aware of all that you do.

⁹God has promised those who believe and do good deeds forgiveness and a great reward; ¹⁰but those who deny the truth and deny Our signs are destined for Hell.

¹¹Believers, remember the blessings which God bestowed upon you when a certain people were about to lay hands on you and He held back their hands from you. Have fear of God and in God let the believers place their trust.

¹²God made a covenant with the Children of Israel; and raised among them twelve leaders. God said, ‘Surely, I am with you. If you attend to your prayers and pay the alms and believe in My messengers and support them, and give a generous loan to God, I will certainly forgive you your sins and admit you into Gardens through which rivers flow. Whoever among you denies the truth after this shall go astray from the straight path.’

¹³Since they broke their solemn pledge, We laid on them Our curse and hardened their hearts. They distorted the meaning of the revealed words, taking them out of their context, and forgot much of what they were enjoined. You will constantly discover treachery on their part, except for a few of them. But pardon them, and bear with them; truly, God loves the doers of good.

¹⁴We also made a covenant with those who say, ‘We are Christians.’ But they too have forgotten much of what they were enjoined. So, We have put enmity and hatred between them till the Day of Judgement; and soon God will declare to them what they have been doing.

¹⁵People of the Book! Our Messenger has come to make clear to you much of what you have hidden of the Scriptures and to forgive you much. A light has now come to you from God and a clear Book, ¹⁶whereby God guides to the ways of peace all who seek His good pleasure, bringing them from darkness to the light, by His will, and guiding them to a straight path.

¹⁷In blasphemy indeed are those who say, ‘God is Christ, the son of Mary.’ Say, ‘Who then could prevent God if He so willed from destroying Christ, son of Mary, and his mother and everyone on earth? The kingdom of the heavens and the earth and everything between them belong to God. He creates what He will and God has power over all things.’

¹⁸The Jews and the Christians say, ‘We are the children of God and His beloved ones.’ Say, ‘Then why does He punish you for your sins? Indeed, you are but human beings among those He has created. He forgives whom He pleases and punishes whom He pleases. The kingdom of the heavens and the earth and all that is between them, belong to God and all shall return to Him.’

¹⁹People of the Book, Our Messenger has come to you to make things clear to you after an interval between the messengers, lest you say, ‘No bearer of glad tidings and no warner has come to us.’ So a bearer of glad tidings and a warner has indeed come to you. God has the power to do all things.

²⁰Remember when Moses said to his people, ‘O my people! Remember God’s favour to you, He has raised up prophets among you, made you kings, and granted you [favours] such as He has not granted to anyone else in the world.

²¹O my people! Enter the holy land which God has assigned for you. Do not turn back, or you will be the losers.’

²²They said, ‘Moses, in that land there is a powerful people. Never shall we enter it until they leave it: if they leave, then we shall certainly enter it.’

²³Thereupon two God-fearing men whom God had blessed said, ‘Go into them through the gate—for as soon as you enter, you shall surely be victorious! Put your trust in God if you are true believers.’

²⁴They said, ‘We will never enter it, Moses, as long as they are there. Go, you and your Lord, and fight, and we will stay here.’

²⁵Moses supplicated, ‘Lord, I have power over none but myself and my brother; so separate us from the disobedient people.’

²⁶God said, ‘The land is forbidden to them for forty years, while they wander around the earth, bewildered; do not grieve over these wicked people.’

²⁷Relate to them, the true story of the two sons of Adam. When they both presented an offering, it was accepted from one of them and not from the other. The latter said, ‘I shall kill you!’ The former said, ‘God accepts [things] only from the righteous.

²⁸If you raise your hand to kill me, I will not raise mine to kill you. I fear God, the Lord of the Universe, ²⁹and I want you to bear your sins against me as well as your own sins and become an inhabitant of the Fire. Such is the reward of the wrongdoers.’

³⁰His lower self persuaded him to kill his brother, and he killed him and he became one of the lost. ³¹Then God sent a raven, which scratched the earth, so that He might show him how to hide the corpse of his brother. ‘Alas!’ he cried, ‘Am I not able even to be like this raven, so that I may hide the corpse of my brother?’ And he repented.

³²That was why We laid it down for the Children of Israel that whoever killed a human being—except as a punishment for murder or for spreading corruption in the land— shall be regarded as having killed all mankind, and that whoever saved a human life shall be regarded as having saved all mankind. Our messengers came to them with clear signs, but many of them continued to commit excesses in the land.

³³Those that make war against God and His Messenger and spread disorder in the land shall be put to death or crucified or have their hands and feet cut off on alternate sides, or be banished from the country. They shall be disgraced in this world, and then severely punished in the Hereafter, ³⁴except for those who repent before you gain power over them: for you must know that God is forgiving and merciful.

³⁵Believers, fear God and seek ways to come closer to Him and strive for His cause, so that you may prosper.

³⁶As for those who reject Faith, if they had everything on earth, and twice as much again and offered it to ransom themselves from the torment of the Day of Resurrection, it shall not be accepted from them—they will have a painful punishment.

³⁷They will want to get out of the Fire but they will be unable to do so: theirs shall be a lasting punishment.

³⁸Cut off the hands of thieves, whether they are male or female, as a [deterrent] punishment from God for what they have done. God is almighty and wise.

³⁹But God will surely turn in mercy to him who repents after his transgression and reforms. Surely, God is most forgiving and ever merciful.

⁴⁰Do you not know that the kingdom of the heavens and earth belongs to God? He punishes whom He will and forgives whom He pleases. God has power over all things.

⁴¹Messenger, do not be grieved by those who vie with one another in denying the truth; those who say with their tongues, ‘We believe,’ but have no faith in their hearts; from among the Jews also, there are those who listen eagerly to any lies. They listen to you to convey to others [religious leaders] who do not come to you [out of pride and conceit]. They [these leaders] take words out of their context and say, ‘If this be given to you, receive it, but if not, then beware!’ If anyone’s trial is intended by God, you cannot in the least prevail against God on his behalf. Those whose hearts God does not intend to purify shall be subjected to disgrace in this world and a severe punishment in the Hereafter.

⁴²They listen eagerly to falsehood, and devour forbidden things voraciously. If they come to you, then judge between them or avoid them. If you avoid them, they can in no way harm you, but if you do judge, judge them with fairness: God loves those that deal justly.

⁴³But why do they come to you for judgement when they have the Torah, which enshrines God’s own judgement? Yet, in spite of that, they turn their backs; and certainly they will not believe.

⁴⁴We have revealed the Torah, in which there is guidance and light. By it the prophets who were obedient to Us judged the Jews, and so did the rabbis and the priests, according to God’s Book which had been entrusted to their care; and to which they were witnesses. Have no fear of man; fear Me, and do not sell My revelations for a paltry sum. Those who do not judge by what God has sent down are deniers of truth.

⁴⁵We prescribed for them in [the Torah]: a life for a life, an eye for an eye, a nose for a nose, an ear for an ear, a tooth for a tooth, and a wound for a wound. But, if anyone forgoes it, this shall be for him an expiation. Those who do not judge by what God has sent down are wrongdoers!

⁴⁶We caused Jesus, son of Mary to follow in their footsteps, fulfilling what had been revealed before him in the Torah. We gave him the Gospel, which contained guidance and light, fulfilling what was revealed before it in the Torah: a guide and an admonition to the God-fearing.

⁴⁷Therefore, let those who follow the Gospel judge according to what God has revealed in it. Those who do not judge by what God has sent down are rebellious.

⁴⁸We have sent down the Book to you with the truth, fulfilling [the predictions] revealed in the previous scriptures and determining what is true therein, and as a guardian over it. Judge, therefore, between them by what God has revealed, and do not follow their vain desires turning away from the truth that has come to you. To every one of you We have ordained a law and a way, and had God so willed, He would have made you all a single community, but He did not so will, in order that He might try you by what He has given you. Vie, then, with one another in doing good works; to God you shall all return; then He will make clear to you about what you have been disputing.

⁴⁹Judge between them by what God has sent down and do not be led by their desires. Beware of them lest they turn you away from a part of that what God has revealed to you. If they reject your judgement, know that God intends to punish them for the sins they have committed. Indeed a large number of the people are disobedient.

⁵⁰Is it pagan laws that they wish to be judged by? Who is a better judge than God for men whose faith is firm?

⁵¹Believers, do not take the Jews and Christians as allies. They are allies with one another. Whoever of you takes them as an ally shall become one of them. God does not guide the wrongdoers.

⁵²You will see those whose minds are diseased hastening towards them, saying, ‘We fear lest a misfortune befall us.’ But God may well bring about victory or make a decision which is favourable to you. Then they will repent of the thoughts, which they secretly harboured in their hearts.

⁵³Then the believers will say, ‘Are these the men who swore their strongest oaths by God, that they were with you?’ Their works will come to nothing and they will lose all.

⁵⁴Believers, if any among you renounce the faith, God will replace them by others who love Him and are loved by Him, who will be kind and considerate towards believers and firm and unyielding towards those who deny the truth. They will strive hard for the cause of God and will in no way take to heart the reproaches of the fault finder. Such is God’s bounty, which He gives to anyone He wishes. God is bountiful and all-knowing.

⁵⁵Your helpers are only God and His Messenger and the believers who say their prayers and pay the alms and bow down in worship.

⁵⁶Those who ally themsleves with God, His Messenger, and the believers must know that God’s party is sure to triumph.

⁵⁷Believers! Do not seek the friendship of those who were given the Book before you or the disbelievers who ridicule your religion and make a jest of it.^a Have fear of God, if you are true believers.

⁵⁸When you call them to prayer, they treat it as a jest and a diversion. This is because they are devoid of understanding.

⁵⁹Say, ‘People of the Book! Do you resent us only because we believe in God and in what has been revealed to us and to others before, and because most of you are disobedient?’

⁶⁰Say, ‘Shall I tell you who will receive a worse reward from God? Those whom God has rejected and with whom He has been angry. They were condemned as apes and swine and those who worship the evil.^a These are in the worst plight and farthest astray from the right path.’

⁶¹When they come to you they say, ‘We believe,’ but they come [with the resolve] to deny the truth and leave in the same state. God knows best what they are concealing.

⁶²You see many among them vie with one another in sin and transgression and practice what is unlawful. It is vile indeed what they have been doing!

⁶³Why do their rabbis and scholars not forbid them to utter sinful words or to consume what is unlawful? Their actions are indeed vile.

⁶⁴The Jews say, ‘The hand of God is tied up.’ May their own hands be tied up and may they be cursed for what they say. No indeed! His hands are both outstretched: He bestows as He will. What is revealed to you from your Lord will surely increase in most of them their obstinate rebellion and denial of truth; and We have sown among them enmity and hatred till the Day of Resurrection. Whenever they kindle the fire of war, God puts it out. They spread evil in the land, but God does not love the evil-doers.

⁶⁵If only the People of the Book would believe and be mindful of God, We would surely pardon their sins and We would surely admit them into the Gardens of Bliss.

⁶⁶If they had observed the Torah and the Gospel and what was revealed to them from their Lord, they would surely have been nourished from above and from below. There are some among them who are on the right course; but there are many among them who do nothing but evil.

⁶⁷O Messenger, deliver whatever has been sent down to you by your Lord. If you do not do so, you will not have conveyed His message. God will defend you from mankind. For God does not guide those who deny the truth.

⁶⁸Say, ‘People of the Book, you have no ground to stand on until you observe the Torah and the Gospel and what is revealed to you from your Lord.’ What is revealed to you from your Lord will surely increase many of them in rebellion and in their denial of the truth. But do not grieve for those who deny the truth.

⁶⁹Believers, Jews, Sabaeans and Christians—whoever believes in God and the Last Day and does what is right—shall have nothing to fear nor shall they grieve.

⁷⁰We made a covenant with the Children of Israel and sent forth messengers among them. But whenever a messenger came to them with a message that was not to their liking, some they accused of lying, while others they put to death, ⁷¹and they imagined that no harm would come to them; and so they became blind and deaf [of heart]. God turned to them in mercy; yet again many of them became blind and deaf. God is fully aware of their actions.

⁷²Indeed, they are deniers of the truth who say, ‘God is the Christ, the son of Mary.’ For the Christ himself said, ‘Children of Israel, serve God, my Lord and your Lord.’ If anyone associates anything with God, God will forbid him the Garden and the Fire will be his home. The wrongdoers shall have no helpers.

⁷³They are deniers of the truth who say, ‘God is one of three.’ There is only One God. If they do not desist from so saying, a painful punishment is bound to befall such of them as are bent on denying the truth.

⁷⁴Why do they not turn to God and ask for His forgiveness? God is forgiving and merciful.

⁷⁵Christ, son of Mary, was no more than a messenger. Many messengers passed away before him. His mother was a virtuous woman; and they both ate food [like other mortals]. See how We make the signs clear to them! See how they turn away!

⁷⁶Say, ‘Do you worship something other than God, that has no power to do you harm or good? God alone is the All Hearing and All Knowing.’

⁷⁷Say, ‘People of the Book! Do not go to extremes in your religion and do not follow the whims of those who went astray before you—they caused many to go astray and themselves strayed away from the right path.’

⁷⁸Those of the Children of Israel who were bent on denying the truth were cursed by David and Jesus, the son of Mary. That was because they disobeyed and were given to transgression; ⁷⁹they would not prevent one another from doing the wrong things they did. Evil indeed were their deeds.

⁸⁰You see many among them allying themselves with those who deny the truth. Evil is that which their souls have sent on ahead for them. They have incurred the wrath of God and shall suffer eternal punishment.

⁸¹Had they believed in God and the Prophet and what was revealed to him, they would not have taken those who deny the truth as their allies, but many of them are disobedient.

⁸²You will find that the bitterest in their enmity to the faithful are the Jews and the polytheists; the nearest in affection to them are those who say, ‘We are Christians.’ That is because there are priests and monks among them; and because they are free from pride.

⁸³When they listen to what has been sent down to the Messenger, you see their eyes overflowing with tears, because of the Truth they recognize. They say, ‘Our Lord, we believe, so count us among those who bear witness.

⁸⁴Why should we not believe in God and in the truth that has come down to us? We yearn for our Lord to admit us among the righteous.’

⁸⁵And for their words God will reward them with Gardens through which rivers flow, wherein they shall abide forever. That is the reward of those who do good.

⁸⁶But those who deny the truth and deny Our signs will become the inmates of Hell.

⁸⁷Believers, do not forbid the wholesome good things, which God made lawful to you. Do not transgress; God does not love the transgressors.

⁸⁸Eat the lawful and wholesome things, which God has given you. Fear God, in whom you believe.

⁸⁹God will not call you to account for your meaningless oaths, but He will call you to account for the oaths, which you swear in earnest. The expiation for a broken oath is the feeding of ten needy men with such food as you normally offer to your own people; or the clothing of ten needy men; or the freeing of one slave. Anyone who lacks the means shall fast for three days. That is the expiation of your breaking the oaths that you have sworn. Do keep your oaths. Thus God explains to you His commandments, so that you may be grateful.

⁹⁰Believers, intoxicants and gambling and [occult dedication of] stones and divining arrows are abominations devised by Satan. Avoid them, so that you may prosper.

⁹¹Satan seeks to sow enmity and hatred among you by means of wine and gambling, and to keep you from the remembrance of God and from your prayers. Will you not then abstain?

⁹²Obey God and obey the Messenger, and be ever on your guard [against evil]. But if you turn away, then know that Our Messenger’s duty is only to deliver the message clearly.

⁹³Those who believe and do good deeds will not be blamed for what they may have consumed [in the past], so long as they fear God and believe in Him and do good works; so long as they fear God and believe in Him, so long as they fear God and do good deeds. For God loves those who do good.

⁹⁴Believers, God will test you with game which come within the reach of your hands and spears, so that He may know those who fear Him, even if they cannot see Him. Anyone who oversteps the limits after this will have a painful punishment.

⁹⁵Believers, do not kill any game while you are on a pilgrimage. Anyone of you who kills game deliberately shall make compensation with an animal which is the equivalent of what he has killed, to be determined by two just men from among you, as an offering brought to the Ka‘bah; or he shall, in expiation, either feed the poor or do the equivalent of that in fasting, so that he may taste the consequence of his deeds. God forgives what is past, but if anyone relapses into wrongdoing, God will exact His retribution. God is mighty, the Lord of retribution.

⁹⁶To hunt and to eat the fish of the sea is made lawful for you, a provision made for you and for seafarers. But you are forbidden the game of the land while you are on a pilgrimage. Have fear of God, before whom you shall all be gathered.

⁹⁷God has made the Ka‘bah, the Sacred House, a means of support as well as the sacred month and the sacrificial animals with their garlands. That is so that you may know that God has knowledge of whatever is in the heavens and on the earth and that He is fully aware of all things.

⁹⁸Know that God is severe in punishment, yet most forgiving and merciful.

⁹⁹The Messenger’s sole duty is to convey the message. God knows what you reveal and what you hide.

¹⁰⁰Say, ‘The bad and the good are not alike, even though the abundance of the bad may appear pleasing to you. So fear God, O men of understanding, so that you may prosper.’

¹⁰¹Believers, do not ask questions about things which, if they were made known to you, would only become burdensome for you; but if you ask them when the Quran is being revealed, they shall be made plain to you—God has kept silent about them: God is most forgiving and forbearing.

¹⁰²Other people before you enquired about such things, but when they were disclosed to them, they refused to carry them out.

¹⁰³God has ordained no sanctity about animals described as bahirah, or sa’ibah, or wasilah or ham.^a Those who deny the truth invent falsehoods about God. Most of them do not use their reason: ¹⁰⁴when it is said to them, ‘Come to what God has sent down and to the Messenger.’ They reply, ‘The faith we have inherited from our fathers is sufficient for us.’ Even though their forefathers knew nothing and were not guided!

¹⁰⁵Believers, take care of your own souls. The misguided cannot harm you as long as you are guided. All of you will return to God. Then He will make you realize that which you used to do.

¹⁰⁶Believers, when death approaches you, let two just men from among you act as witnesses when you make your testaments; or two men from another tribe, if the calamity of death overtakes you while you are travelling in the land. Detain them after prayers, and if you doubt their honesty, let them swear by God, ‘We will not sell our testimony for any price, even to a kinsman. And we will not conceal the testimony of God. If we did, we would indeed be guilty of sin.’

¹⁰⁷If it turns out that both prove dishonest, two others should take their place from amongst those whose rights have been usurped and let them swear by God, saying, ‘Our testimony is indeed truer than the testimony of these two. And we have not been guilty of any misstatement for then indeed we would be transgressors.’

¹⁰⁸That makes it more likely that people will bear true witness, or else they will fear that their oaths will be contradicted by the oaths of others. Heed God and listen; God does not guide a rebellious, disobedient people.

¹⁰⁹The Day when God assembles the messengers and asks them, ‘What was the response you received [from the people]?’ they will reply, ‘We have no knowledge of it. You alone know what is hidden.’

¹¹⁰Then God will say, ‘Jesus, son of Mary, remember My favour to you and to your mother: how I strengthened you with the holy spirit, so that you could speak to people in childhood and in maturity; and how I taught you the Book, and wisdom, the Torah and the Gospel; how by My leave you fashioned from clay the shape of a bird and blew upon it, so that, by My leave, it became a bird, and healed the blind and the leper by My permission, and when you brought forth the dead by My permission; and how I prevented the Children of Israel from harming you when you came to them with clear signs, when those of them who denied the truth said, “This is sheer magic.”

¹¹¹[Remember the time], when I inspired the disciples to believe in Me and in My messenger, they replied, “We believe, bear witness that we have submitted.”’

¹¹²When the disciples said, ‘O Jesus, son of Mary! Can your Lord send down to us from heaven a table spread with food?’ He replied, ‘Have fear of God, if you are true believers.’

¹¹³They said, ‘We want to eat from it, so that we may satisfy our hearts and know that you have told us the truth, and that we should be witnesses of it.’

¹¹⁴Jesus, son of Mary, said, ‘O God, our Lord! Send down for us a table spread with food from heaven, so that it may be a feast for us, for the first of us and for the last of us: a sign from You. Give us our sustenance, for You are the best of sustainers.’

¹¹⁵God replied, ‘I will certainly send it down to you, but whosoever of you deny the truth thereafter will be punished with a punishment such as I have never meted out to anyone else in the world.’

¹¹⁶When God says, ‘Jesus, son of Mary, did you say to people, “Take me and my mother as two deities besides God”?’ He will answer, ‘Glory be to You! How could I ever say that to which I have no right? If I had ever said so, You would surely have known it. You know what is in my mind, while I do not know anything that is within Yours. You alone are the knower of unseen things—

¹¹⁷I told them only what You commanded me to, “Worship God, my Lord and your Lord.” I was a witness to what they did as long as I remained among them, and when You took my soul, You were the watcher over them. You are the witness of all things,

¹¹⁸and if You punish them, they are surely Your servants; and if You forgive them, You are surely the Mighty and Wise.’

¹¹⁹God will say, ‘This is the Day when the truthful will benefit from their truthfulness. They shall forever dwell in Gardens through which rivers flow. God is pleased with them and they with Him: that is the supreme triumph.

¹²⁰The kingdom of the heavens and the earth and everything in them belongs to God: He has power over all things.

6. THE CATTLE (Al-An‘am)

In the name of God, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful

¹Praise be to God, who has created the heavens and the earth and brought into being darkness and light. Yet those who deny the truth set up equals to their Lord!

²It is He who has created you out of clay, and then has decreed a term [for you]—a term known [only] to Him. Yet you are still in doubt— ³He is God both in the heavens and on earth. He has knowledge of all that you hide and all that you reveal. He knows what you do;⁴yet every time a sign comes to them from their Lord, they turn away from it.

⁵They have rejected truth whenever it came to them, yet [more] news will reach them concerning what they have been making a mockery of.

⁶Have they not seen how many generations We destroyed before them? We established them on the earth more firmly than you, and We sent the clouds over them, pouring down abundant rain; and made the rivers flow at their feet. Yet We destroyed them for their sins, and raised up other generations after them.

⁷But even if We had sent down to you a Book written on parchment, and they had touched it with their own hands—those who deny the truth would still have said, ‘This is mere magic.’

⁸They ask, ‘Why has an angel not been sent down to him?’ If We did send down an angel, the matter would be settled and they would not have been granted any respite.

⁹Indeed, if We had sent an angel as messenger, We would have made him in the form of a man as well, and would have thus added to their confusion.

¹⁰Messengers have been mocked before you, but those who scoffed were overtaken by the very thing they scoffed at.

¹¹Say, ‘Travel about the land and see what was the end of the deniers.’

¹²Say, ‘To whom belongs all that is in the heavens and earth?’ Say, ‘To God. He has taken it upon Himself to be merciful. That He will gather you on the Day of Resurrection is beyond all doubt. Those who have forfeited their souls will never have faith.’

¹³To Him belongs all that dwells in the night and the day. He is the All Hearing and the All Knowing.

¹⁴Say, ‘Shall I take as my protector someone other than God, Creator of the heavens and the earth, who feeds all and is fed by none?’ Say, ‘I have been commanded to be the first of those who submit. Do not be one of the polytheists.’

¹⁵Say, ‘I will never disobey my Lord, for I fear the punishment of a dreadful Day.’

¹⁶Anyone from whom punishment is averted on that Day has been shown great mercy by God. That is a supreme achievement.

¹⁷If God should let any harm touch you, no one could remove it except He; while if He should let some good touch you, know that He has the power to do all that He wills.

¹⁸ He reigns Supreme over His servants; and He is the All Wise, the All Aware.

¹⁹Ask them, ‘What carries the most weight as a witness?’ Tell them it is God. He is a witness between you and me. Say, ‘This Quran has been revealed to me so that through it I may warn you and whoever it reaches. Do you really bear witness that there are other deities beside God?’ Say, ‘I do not bear witness to this.’ Say, ‘He is only one God, and I disown whatever you associate with Him.’

²⁰Those to whom We have given the Scriptures know this as they know their own sons. But those who have ruined their souls will not believe.

²¹Who does greater wrong than he who invents a lie against God and denies His signs? Assuredly, the wrongdoers will not succeed.

²²On the Day when We gather them all together, We will say to those who associated [others with Us], ‘Where are those partners that you claimed?’

²³Then they will have no excuse but to say, ‘By God our Lord, we have never been polytheists.’

²⁴See how they lie to themselves, and how those [the deities] they invented have deserted them.

²⁵Among them are some who listen to you, but We have placed veils over their hearts and deafness in their ears which prevent them from understanding what you say. Even if they saw all the signs, they would still not believe in them. When those who deny the truth come to dispute with you, they will say, ‘This is nothing but ancient fables,’

²⁶and they bar others from believing and themselves keep away. But they ruin no one but themselves, though they fail to realize this.

²⁷If you could only see when they are set before the Fire. They will say, ‘If only we could be sent back. Then we would not deny the signs of our Lord and we would be of the believers.’

²⁸The truth they used to hide will become all too clear to them. But if they were sent back, they would return to what they had been forbidden. For they are indeed liars.

²⁹They say, ‘There is nothing beyond our life in this world: we shall not be raised up again from the dead.’

³⁰If you could only see when they are made to stand before their Lord! He will ask them, ‘Is this [second life] not the truth?’ They will say, ‘Yes, by our Lord!’ He will say, ‘Then, taste the punishment that comes from your having refused to acknowledge the truth!’

³¹Those indeed are the losers who deny the meeting with God. When the Hour comes on them suddenly, they cry, ‘Alas for us, that we neglected it!’ They shall bear their burdens on their backs. Evil are the burdens they shall bear.

³²The life of this world is but a sport and a pastime. Surely the Home of the Hereafter is best for those who fear God. Will you not understand?

³³We know that what they say grieves you. It is not you that the wrongdoers are rejecting, rather it is the signs of God that they reject.

³⁴Other messengers have been denied before you, and they bore their rejection and persecution steadfastly, until Our help came to them. There is no one who can change the words of God. You have already received some account of those messengers.

³⁵If you find their rejection hard to bear, then seek a tunnel into the ground or a ladder into the sky, if you can, and bring them a sign. Had God so willed, He would indeed have given them all [His] guidance. So do not be among the ignorant.

³⁶Only they who listen can respond to a call; and as for the dead, God will raise them up, and then they will all return to Him.

³⁷They ask, ‘Why has no sign been sent down to him from his Lord?’ Say, ‘God alone has the power to send down a sign.’ But most of them do not understand:

³⁸there is not an animal that moves about on the earth, nor a bird that flies on its two wings, but are creatures like you. We have left out nothing in the Book—they shall all be gathered before their Lord.

³⁹Those who reject Our signs are deaf and dumb, [groping along] in darkness. God lets anyone He wishes go astray and sets whoever He will on a straight path.

⁴⁰Say, ‘Tell me if the punishment of God came upon you or the Hour overtook you, would you call upon any other than God, if you are truthful?’

⁴¹Indeed, it is on Him that you would call, and He could remove that [affliction] which made you call on Him, if He will, and then you would forget [the false deities] which you associate with Him!’

⁴²We sent messengers before you [Prophet] to many communities and afflicted their people with suffering and hardship, so that they might humble themselves.

⁴³When the affliction decreed by Us befell them, they did not humble themselves, but rather their hearts hardened, for Satan had made all their doings seem fair to them.

⁴⁴When they had forgotten Our admonition, We granted them all that they desired; but just as they were rejoicing in what they were given, We seized them suddenly and they were plunged into despair.

⁴⁵The wrongdoers were thus annihilated. All praise be to God, the Lord of the Worlds.

⁴⁶Say, ‘If God should take away your hearing and your sight and seal your hearts, who is the deity who could restore it to you save God?’ See how We explain the signs to them in diverse ways, yet they turn away.

⁴⁷Ask them, ‘Tell me, if the punishment of God came upon you suddenly or predictably, would any but the wrongdoers be destroyed?’

⁴⁸We send the messengers only to give good news and to warn, so those who believe and reform themselves need have no fear, nor will they grieve.

⁴⁹Chastisement will befall those who reject Our signs because of their disobedience.

⁵⁰Say, ‘I do not say to you that I possess the treasures of God, nor do I know the unseen, nor do I say to you that I am an angel. I follow only that which is revealed to me.’ Say, ‘Are the blind and the seeing alike? Can you not then think?’

⁵¹Warn by it those who fear to be gathered before their Lord, when they have no guardian or intercessor besides God, so that they may become God-fearing.

⁵²Do not send away those who call upon their Lord in the morning and in the evening, seeking only His grace. You are not by any means accountable for them, nor are they accountable for you. If you turn them away, you yourself will become one of the unjust.

⁵³In this way We try some of them by means of others, so that they may ask, ‘Are these [lowly ones] whom God has singled out for His favours from among us? Does God not know best who are the grateful ones?’

⁵⁴When those who believe in Our revelations come to you, say, ‘Peace be upon you. Your Lord has taken it upon Himself to be merciful. So that if any one among you does evil in ignorance and repents thereafter and makes amends, then He is most forgiving and ever merciful.’

⁵⁵Thus We make plain Our signs, so that the path of the evil-doers might be laid bare.

⁵⁶Say, ‘I am forbidden to worship those you call upon besides God.’ Say, ‘I do not follow your whims and desires. If I did, I would go astray and cease to be rightly guided.’

⁵⁷Say, ‘I stand by the clear evidence from my Lord, yet you deny it. What you seek to hasten is not within my power. Judgement is for God alone. He declares the truth. He is the best of judges.’

⁵⁸Say, ‘If what you seek to hasten were within my power, the matter would be settled between you and me. God best knows the evil-doers.’

⁵⁹He holds the keys to the unseen; none knows them but He. He has knowledge of all that land and sea contain. No leaf falls without His knowledge, nor is there a single grain in the darkness of the earth, or anything, wet or dry, but is recorded in a clear Record.

⁶⁰It is He who gathers you in at night and knows all that you do by day; then He raises you up during the day so that an appointed term may be completed. Then to Him you shall return and He will declare to you all that you used to do.

⁶¹He is the Absolute Master over His servants. He sends forth guardians [angels] who watch over you until, when death approaches one of you, Our angels take his soul, and they never fail in their duty.

⁶²Then they will all be returned to God, their true Lord. The Judgement is His alone. He is the swiftest reckoner.

⁶³Say, ‘Who is it who delivers you from the dark depths of land and sea when you call out to Him humbly and in secret, saying, “If He rescues us from this, we shall most certainly be among the grateful.”?’

⁶⁴Say, ‘It is God who delivers you from it and from every other distress, yet you associate partners with Him.’

⁶⁵Say, ‘He has the power to send punishment on you from above your heads or from beneath your feet, or to divide you in sects and make you taste one another’s violence.’ See how We explain Our revelations in various ways, so that they may understand.

⁶⁶Your people have rejected the message We have sent through you, though it is the truth. Say ‘I am not your keeper.

⁶⁷Every prophecy has its fixed time to be fulfilled: and soon you will come to know.’

⁶⁸When you see people engaged in finding fault with Our revelations, withdraw from them until they turn to some other topic. Should Satan cause you to forget this, take leave of the wrongdoers as soon as you remember.

⁶⁹The God-fearing are not in any way held accountable for the wrongdoers; their only duty is to remind them, so that they may fear God.

⁷⁰Leave alone those for whom religion is only a sport and pastime and are deceived by the life of this world, but continue to remind them with the Quran, lest a soul be held in pledge because of what it has wrought, having no helper or intercessor besides God. Whatever ransom they may offer, it will not be accepted. Such are those that are damned by their own actions: they will have boiling water to drink and a painful punishment for their denial of truth.

⁷¹Say, ‘Instead of God, shall we call upon that which can neither benefit us nor harm us? Are we to turn upon our heels after God has guided us, like one who, beguiled by devils in the land, wanders bewildered, his companions calling him to the right path, saying, “Come to us”?’ Say, ‘God’s guidance is the only guidance. We are commanded to surrender ourselves to the Lord of the Universe, ⁷²say our prayers regularly and to fear God.’ He it is to whom you will be gathered.’

⁷³It was He who created the heavens and the earth for a true purpose. On the Day when He says, ‘Be,’ it shall be: His word is the truth. All sovereignty shall be His on the Day when the trumpet is sounded. The Knower of the unseen and the visible, He is the Wise, the Aware One.

⁷⁴Remember when Abraham said to his father, Azar, ‘Do you take idols as your gods? I see that you and your people have clearly gone astray.’

⁷⁵In this way We showed Abraham Our kingdom of the heavens and the earth, so that he might have certainty of faith.

⁷⁶When night descended on him, he saw a star. He said, ‘This is my Lord!’ Then when it set he said, ‘I do not love things that set.’

⁷⁷When he saw the moon rise and spread its light, he said, ‘This is my Lord.’ But when it set, he said, ‘If my Lord does not guide me, I will be one of the misguided people.’

⁷⁸Then, when he saw the sun shining, he said, ‘This is my Lord! This is the greatest of all!’ Then when it set, he said, ‘My people, I disown all that you worship besides God.

⁷⁹I have set my face with single-minded devotion, towards Him who has created the heavens and the earth, and I am not one of the polytheists.’

⁸⁰His people argued with him. He said, ‘Are you arguing with me about God, while He has guided me? I have no fear of any partner you ascribe to Him, unless my Lord should wish otherwise. My Lord encompasses all things in His knowledge, so will you not pay heed?

⁸¹Why should I fear what you associate with Him, while you do not fear to associate with God that for which He has sent down to you no authority? Tell me, if you know the truth, which side has more right to feel secure.

⁸²It is those who have faith, and do not mix their faith with wrongdoing, who will be secure, and it is they who are rightly guided.’

⁸³This is the reasoning We gave to Abraham against his people—We raise in rank anyone We please—your Lord is wise and aware.

⁸⁴We gave him Isaac and Jacob, each of whom We guided as We had guided Noah before. Among his descendants were David and Solomon, and Job, Joseph, Moses and Aaron. Thus do We reward the righteous.

⁸⁵Zachariah, John, Jesus, and Elijah—every one of them was righteous—⁸⁶Ishmael, Elisha, Jonah, and Lot—We favoured each one of them above other people, ⁸⁷and also some of their forefathers, their offspring, and their brothers: We chose them and guided them to a straight path.

⁸⁸This is the guidance of God: He gives that guidance to whichever of His servants He pleases. If they had associated other deities with Him, surely all they did would have been of no avail.

⁸⁹Those are the ones to whom We gave the Scripture, wisdom, and prophethood. If these people [the Makkans] reject it, We shall entrust it to a people who will never refuse to acknowledge it.

⁹⁰Those [the previous prophets] were the people whom God guided. Follow their guidance then and say, ‘I ask no reward for this from you: it is only a reminder for all mankind.’

⁹¹They do not make a just estimate of God, when they say, ‘God has not revealed anything to any human being.’ Say, ‘Who revealed the Book which Moses brought, a light and guidance for the people, which you made into separate sheets, showing some but hiding many? You have been taught things that neither you nor your forefathers had known before.’ Say, ‘God has sent it;’ then leave them toying away with their speculation.

⁹²This is a blessed Book which We have revealed, confirming what came before it, so that you may warn the Mother of Cities [Makkah] and the people around it. Those who believe in the Hereafter do believe in it, and they are ever-mindful of their prayers.

⁹³Who could do greater wrong than someone who invents a lie against God or who says, ‘It has been revealed to me,’ while nothing has been revealed to him, or someone who says, ‘I will send down the like of what God has sent down’? If you could only see the wrongdoers in the throes of death when the angels are stretching out their hands, saying, ‘Give up your souls. Today you will be repaid with a humiliating punishment for saying false things about God and being arrogant about His signs.’

⁹⁴And now you have returned to Us, alone as We created you at first, leaving behind all that We gave you. Nor do We see with you your intercessors, those you claimed were your partners with God. The link between you is cut and that which you presumed has failed you.

⁹⁵It is God who splits the seed and the fruit-stone. He brings forth the living from the dead, and the dead from the living. That is God. How then can you, deluded, turn away from the truth?

⁹⁶He causes the break of day, and has made the night for rest and He made the sun and the moon to a precise measure. That is the measure determined by the Almighty and the All Knowing.

⁹⁷It is He who has set up for you the stars so that you might be guided by them in the midst of the darkness of land and sea. We have made the signs clear for people who want to understand.^a

⁹⁸It is He who first produced you from a single soul, then gave you a place to stay [in life] and a resting place [after death]. We have made Our revelations clear to those who are men of understanding.

⁹⁹It is He who sends down water from the sky. With it We produce vegetation of all kinds; out of green foliage, We produce clustered grain; and from the date-palm, out of its sheath, We produce bunches of dates hanging low. We produce vineyards and olive groves and pomegranates, alike yet different. Look at their fruit as He causes it to grow and ripen. In this are signs for people who believe.

¹⁰⁰They have set up jinns as associates with God, even though He created them! They have even dared, in their ignorance, to attribute sons and daughters to Him. Hallowed be He and exalted far above what they ascribe to Him,¹⁰¹the Originator of the heavens and the earth. How could He have a son when He has no consort? He created everything and is aware of everything!

¹⁰²This is God, your Lord, there is no God but Him, the Creator of all things, so worship Him; He is the guardian of all things.

¹⁰³No vision can grasp Him, but He takes in over all vision; He is the Subtle and Aware One.

¹⁰⁴Clear insights have come to you from your Lord. Whoever, therefore, chooses to see, does so for his own good; and whoever chooses to remain blind, does so to his own loss. Say, ‘I am not here as your keeper.’

¹⁰⁵This is how We explain Our revelations in various ways—so that they might come to the point of saying, ‘You have read this out to us,’ and that We might make it clear [that this is the truth] to those who are eager to know.

¹⁰⁶Follow what has been revealed to you from your Lord: there is no deity but Him; and ignore the polytheists.

¹⁰⁷If God had willed, they would not have associated anything with Him. We did not appoint you over them as their keeper, nor are you their guardian.

¹⁰⁸Do not revile those [beings] whom they invoke instead of God, lest they, in their hostility, revile God and out of ignorance. Thus to every people We have caused their actions to seem fair. To their Lord they shall all return, and He will declare to them all that they have done.

¹⁰⁹They swear a solemn oath by God that if there should come to them a sign, they will believe in it. Say, ‘Signs are granted only by God.’ How can you tell that if a sign be given to them, they will indeed believe in it?

¹¹⁰We will turn away their hearts and eyes from the Truth, since they refused to believe in it in the first instance. We will let them wander blindly in their insolence.

¹¹¹Even if We sent down angels to them, and caused the dead to speak to them, and We gathered together everything in front of them, they would still not believe, unless God had so willed. But most of them behave ignorantly.

¹¹²In like manner We have assigned for every prophet an opponent, Satans from among men and jinn, who make evil suggestions to each other by means of specious words in order to deceive—had it been your Lord’s will, they would not have done so; so leave them alone to their fabrication, ¹¹³in order that the hearts of those who do not believe in the life to come might incline towards those suggestions and, being pleased, persist in their sinful ways.

¹¹⁴Should I seek a judge other than God, when it is He who has revealed the Book, clearly explained. Those to whom We gave the Book earlier know that it is the truth revealed by your Lord. Therefore, have no doubts.

¹¹⁵The Word of your Lord is perfected in truth and justice. None can change His words. He is the All Hearing, the All Knowing.

¹¹⁶If you obey the majority of those on earth, they will lead you astray from God’s way. They follow nothing but conjecture. They are only guessing.

¹¹⁷Your Lord knows best who has strayed from His Way and He knows best those who are guided.

¹¹⁸Eat then, only that over which God’s name has been pronounced, if you truly believe in His revelations.

¹¹⁹Why should you not eat what has been consecrated in God’s name, when He has already explained to you what He has forbidden you, unless you are compelled by necessity? Surely, many mislead others by their desires through lack of knowledge. But your Lord best knows the transgressors.

¹²⁰Eschew all sin, open or secret: Those who commit sin will receive due punishment for their sins, ¹²¹and do not eat anything over which God’s name has not been pronounced, for that surely is disobedience. The devils inspire their followers to argue with you. If you obey them, you will become of those who associate partners with God.

¹²²Can he who was dead, to whom We gave life, and a light whereby he could walk among people be like him who is in utter darkness from which he can never emerge? Thus the deeds of those who deny the truth have been made fair-seeming to them.

¹²³Thus We have placed leaders of the wicked in every town to plot therein. Yet it is only against themselves that they scheme, though they may not perceive it.

¹²⁴When a sign comes to them, they say, ‘We will not believe in it until we are given what God’s messengers have been given. But God knows best whom to appoint as His Messenger. Humiliation before God and severe torment will befall the evil-doers for their scheming.

¹²⁵When God desires to guide someone, He opens his breast to Islam; and whoever He wills to let go astray, He causes his breast to be constricted as if he had to climb up to the skies. That is how God heaps ignominy upon those who refuse to believe.

¹²⁶This is the straight path leading to your Lord. We have made the signs clear for thinking men.

¹²⁷They shall dwell in the Home of Peace with their Lord; He will be their Protector as a recompense for what they have been doing.

¹²⁸On the day when He gathers them all together, He will say, ‘Company of jinn, you took away many followers among mankind.’ And their adherents among mankind will say, ‘Our Lord, we benefited from one another, but now we have reached the end of the term which You determined for us.’ He will say, ‘The Fire shall be your home, and there you shall remain forever, except as God wills. Surely your Lord is wise and all knowing.

¹²⁹And in like manner We shall keep the wrongdoers close to others as a punishment for their misdeeds.

¹³⁰Company of jinn and mankind! Did messengers not come from among you to recite My revelations to you, and warn you of the meeting of this Day?’ They will say, ‘We bear witness against ourselves.’ It was the life of this world that deceived them and so they will bear witness against themselves, that they rejected the truth.

¹³¹Your Lord would not destroy a community for its wrongdoing, so long as its people were still unaware.

¹³²For all are degrees of rank according to their deeds; your Lord is not unaware of anything they do.

¹³³Your Lord is the self-sufficient One, the merciful. If He wills, He can take you away and replace you by anyone He pleases, just as He raised you from the offspring of other people.

¹³⁴That which you are promised shall surely come to pass and you cannot prevent it.

¹³⁵Say, ‘O my people! Go on acting in your way; indeed I am going to act in my way; soon you will know whose end will be best in the Hereafter.’ Surely, the wrongdoers shall not prosper.

¹³⁶They set aside for God a share in what He has produced, such as crops and livestock, and they say, ‘This is for God’—so they claim!—and ‘this is for our associate-gods? Their associate-gods’ share does not reach God, whereas God’s share reaches their associate-gods. How ill they judge!

¹³⁷And in like manner, their associate gods have made killing their children seem fair to many pagans, so that they may ruin them and cause confusion in their religion. Had God pleased, they would not have done so; so leave them to their false inventions.

¹³⁸They also say, ‘These animals and these crops are forbidden. None may eat them except those we permit.’ So they claim! There are some animals they exempt from labour and some over which they do not pronounce God’s name, thus committing a sin against Him. He will requite them for the falsehoods they invent.

¹³⁹They say, ‘What is in the wombs of such and such cattle is exclusively for our males and is forbidden to our females. But if it is stillborn, they may have a share of it.’ God will soon punish them for their [false] attribution. He is wise, and all-knowing.

¹⁴⁰Losers indeed are they who kill their children foolishly and without knowledge and declare as forbidden what God has provided for them as sustenance—a fabrication against God: they have gone astray and have not chosen to be rightly guided.

¹⁴¹It is He who has produced gardens, both trellised and untrellised, and date palms and field crops, all varying in taste, and the olive and the pomegranate, both similar and dissimilar. Eat their fruits when they bear fruit and give away what is due of them on the day of their harvest. Do not waste anything. He does not love the wasteful!

¹⁴²Of the cattle there are some for carrying burdens and some for food. Eat what God has provided for you and do not follow in Satan’s footsteps, for he is a declared enemy of yours.

¹⁴³God has created four kinds of livestock of either sex: two of sheep and two of goats. Ask them, ‘Is it the two males He has forbidden or the two females or what the wombs of the two females contain? Tell me on the basis of knowledge, if you are truthful.’

¹⁴⁴Again, of the camels there are two, and of the oxen two. Ask them, ‘Is it the two males He has forbidden, or the two females or what the wombs of the two females contain? Were you present when God enjoined this on you?’ Who is more unjust than one who, without knowledge, fabricates a lie against God, so that he may lead people astray without knowledge? Surely, God does not guide the wrongdoers.

¹⁴⁵Say [O Prophet], ‘In all that has been revealed to me, I do not find a ban on anything to eat, except for carrion, flowing blood and pork, all these being unclean or profane, on which the name of someone other than God has been invoked.’ But if anyone is forced by necessity, being neither disobedient nor exceeding the limit, then surely your Lord is most forgiving and merciful.

¹⁴⁶We forbade the Jews all animals with claws and the fat of sheep [and goats] and oxen, except what is on their backs and in their intestines and what adheres to their bones. That is the penalty We imposed on them for their disobedience. And We assuredly are true to Our word.

¹⁴⁷So, if they accuse you of lying, say, ‘The mercy of your Lord is all-encompassing. His punishment cannot be averted from sinful men.’

¹⁴⁸Those who associate partners with God will surely say, ‘Had God pleased, neither we nor our fathers would have served other gods besides Him; nor would we have made anything unlawful.’ Likewise those who lived before them argued falsely until they came to taste Our punishment! Say, ‘Have you any knowledge? If so, produce it before us. You follow nothing but conjecture. You are merely guessing.’

¹⁴⁹Say, ‘God alone has the conclusive proof. If He had willed, He could have guided every one of you.’

¹⁵⁰Say, ‘Come, bring your witnesses, who can testify that God forbade [all] this.’ If they bear witness [falsely], do not bear witness with them; nor yield to the wishes of those who deny Our signs, nor of those who do not believe in the life to come and set up others as equals with their Lord.

¹⁵¹Say, ‘Come! I will tell you what your Lord has really forbidden you! Do not associate anything with Him; be good to your parents; and do not kill your children for fear of poverty—We shall provide sustenance for you as well as for them—refrain from committing indecent deeds, whether openly or in secret; and do not kill the life which God has made sacred, save by right. That is what He has enjoined upon you, so that you may understand.

¹⁵²Stay well away from an orphan’s property, except with the best intentions, before he comes of age. Give full measure and weight, according to justice—We never charge a soul with more than it can bear—when you speak, observe justice, even though it concerns a close relative; and fulfil the covenants of God. That is what He has enjoined upon you so that you may take heed.

¹⁵³[He has enjoined], ‘This is My straight path; so follow it, and do not follow other ways: that will lead you away from His path.’ That is what He enjoins upon you, so that you may guard yourselves.

¹⁵⁴Then We gave Moses the Book, completing [Our favour] to the righteous, explaining everything clearly, as guidance and mercy, so that they might believe in meeting their Lord.

¹⁵⁵This is a Book which We have revealed as a blessing—follow it and fear your Lord, so that you may receive mercy—¹⁵⁶and not say, ‘The Book was only sent down to the two groups before us and we were indeed unaware of their teachings,’ ¹⁵⁷or you may say, ‘If the Book had been sent down to us, we would surely have followed its guidance better than they did.’ There has now come to you clear evidence from your Lord, and guidance and mercy. Who, then, is more unjust than one who rejects the signs of God and turns away from them? We shall requite those who turn away from Our signs with a painful punishment, for their turning away.

¹⁵⁸Are they waiting for the angels or your Lord to come down to them, or for some of your Lord’s signs to come? The day when some of the signs of your Lord shall come, it shall not profit any human being who did not believe before, or who did not do any good by his faith. Say to them, ‘Wait then, we too are waiting.’

¹⁵⁹Have nothing to do with those who have split up their religion into sects. Their case rests with God; He will tell them about what they used to do.

¹⁶⁰Whoever does a good deed will be repaid tenfold, but those who do a bad deed will only be repaid with its equivalent and they shall not be wronged.

¹⁶¹Say, ‘My Lord has guided me to a straight path, and to an upright religion, the religion of Abraham the upright, who was not of those who associate partners with God.’

¹⁶²Say, ‘My prayer and my sacrifice and my life and my death are all for God, the Lord of the worlds; ¹⁶³He has no partner. So am I commanded, and I am the first of those who submit.’

¹⁶⁴Say, ‘Shall I seek a lord other than God, while He is the Lord of all things?’ Everyone must bear the consequence of what he does, and no bearer of a burden can bear the burden of another. Then to your Lord you will return, and He will inform you of what you used to dispute about.

¹⁶⁵It is He who has made you successors [of others] on the earth and has exalted some of you over the others in degrees of rank, so that He may test you by that which He has given you. Your Lord is swift in punishment; yet surely He is forgiving, and merciful.

7. THE HEIGHTS (Al-A‘raf)

In the name of God, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful

¹Alif Lam Mim Sad

²This Book has been sent down to you—let there be no heaviness in your heart about it—so that you may warn by means of it and it is a reminder to the believers.

³Follow what has been sent down to you by your Lord and do not follow any protector other than Him. How seldom you take heed.

⁴How many towns We have destroyed. Our scourge fell upon them by night or at midday when they were resting: ⁵and when Our scourge fell upon them, their only cry was, ‘We were indeed wrongdoers!’

⁶Then shall We question those to whom Our message was sent and those through whom We sent it ⁷with full knowledge, We shall tell them what they did, for We have never been away from them.

⁸Truth alone will be of weight that Day. Those whose scales are heavy shall be successful, ⁹and those whose good deeds are light [in the balance] will be the ones who have lost themselves because they wrongfully rejected Our signs.

¹⁰We established you in the land and provided you with a means of livelihood there: yet you are seldom thankful.

¹¹We created you, then We shaped you and then We said to the angels, ‘Prostrate yourselves before Adam,’ and they all prostrated themselves, except Satan. He was not among those who prostrated themselves.

¹²God asked, ‘What prevented you from prostrating yourself when I commanded you to?’ He replied, ‘I am better than he is; You created me from fire, while You created him from clay.’

¹³God said, ‘Get down from here! This is no place for your arrogance. Get out! You are contemptible!’

¹⁴Satan said, ‘Give me respite until the Day of Resurrection,’ ¹⁵and God replied, ‘You are granted respite.’

¹⁶Then Satan said, ‘Because You have put me in the wrong, I will lie in ambush for them on Your straight path: ¹⁷then I will surely come upon them from before them and from behind them and from their right and from their left, and then You will find most of them ungrateful.’

¹⁸He said, ‘Get out of here, despised, and rejected! I shall fill Hell with all of those who follow you.’

¹⁹To Adam He said, ‘You and your wife, dwell in the Garden and eat and drink there from wherever you wish, but do not approach this tree, lest you become wrongdoers.’

²⁰But Satan tempted them so that he might reveal to them their nakedness which had been hidden from them. He said, ‘Your Lord has forbidden you to approach this tree lest you should become angels or become of the immortals,’

²¹and he swore to them, ‘Surely, I am your well-wisher.’

²²Thus he cunningly seduced them. When they tasted the tree’s fruit, their nakedness became exposed to them and they started covering themselves with the leaves of the garden. Their Lord called out to them, ‘Did I not forbid you to approach that tree, and did I not say to you that Satan was surely your open enemy?’

²³They replied, ‘Our Lord, we have wronged our souls: if You do not forgive us and have mercy on us, we shall be among the lost.’

²⁴He said, ‘Go down from here as enemies to each other. For a while, there is an abode for you and a provision on earth.

²⁵There you will live; there you will die; from there you will be raised up again.’

²⁶O children of Adam! We have sent down to you clothes to cover your nakedness, and to be pleasing to the eye; but the raiment of righteousness is the best. That is one of the signs of God. So that people may take heed.

²⁷Children of Adam, do not let Satan seduce you, just as he turned your parents out of the Garden: he deprived them of their garment in order to make them aware of their nakedness. He and his forces watch you from where you do not see them! We have made the devils friends of those who do not believe.

²⁸And when they commit an indecency, they say, ‘This is what our fathers used to do and God has enjoined it on us.’ Say, ‘God does not enjoin what is indecent. Would you attribute to God something of which you have no knowledge?’

²⁹Say, ‘My Lord has commanded you to act justly. Turn your faces up toward Him at every time and place of worship, and call upon Him, making yourselves sincere towards Him in religion. As He brought you into being, so shall you return.’

³⁰Some He has guided and some have earned misguidance: they have taken devils rather than God as their patrons, thinking that they are rightly guided.

³¹O Children of Adam, dress yourself properly whenever you are at worship: and eat and drink but exceed not the bounds: God does not love those who exceed the bounds.

³²Say, ‘Who has forbidden the adornment of God, which He has brought forth for His servants and good things, clean and pure, which God has provided for His servants?’ Say, ‘They are [lawful] for the believers in the present life but they shall be exclusively for them on the Day of Resurrection.’ Thus We explain Our signs for a people who understand.

³³Say,‘My Lord has forbidden indecency, both open and hidden, sin and wrongful oppression and that, without His sanction, you associate things with Him, and that you say things about Him without knowledge.’

³⁴For all people a term has been set: and when [the end of] their term approaches, they can neither delay it by a single moment, nor can they advance it.

³⁵Children of Adam! If messengers come to you from among yourselves, reciting My revelations to you, then those that take warning and mend their ways, on such shall come no fear nor shall they grieve.

³⁶But those who deny and scorn Our revelations shall be the inmates of Hell, where they shall remain forever.

³⁷Who does a greater wrong than he who invents lies against God or rejects His revelations? Such people will have what has been decreed for them. And when Our messengers come to them to take away their souls, they shall ask them, ‘Where are those you used to call upon besides God?’ They will answer, ‘They have deserted us;’ and they will bear witness against themselves that they were disbelievers?

³⁸God will say, ‘Enter the Fire and join the bands of jinn and men that have gone before you.’ Every time a host enters [the fire], it will curse its fellow-host, then, when they are all gathered there, the last of them will say of the first, ‘Our Lord, it was they who led us astray: give them double punishment in the Fire,’—God will say, ‘Every one of you will have double punishment, though you do not know it’—³⁹then the preceding one will say to the succeeding one, ‘You are no better than us: so taste the punishment you have earned.’

⁴⁰The gates of Heaven shall not be opened for those who rejected Our signs and arrogantly spurned them; nor shall they enter Paradise until a camel shall pass through the eye of a needle. That is how We repay the evil-doers—⁴¹Hell shall be their bed, and over them will be coverings of fire—thus shall We reward the wrongdoers.

⁴²But those who believed and did good deeds—and We do not burden any soul with more than it can bear—such are the heirs of the Garden and there they will remain forever.

⁴³And We shall remove whatever rancour may be in their hearts. At their feet shall flow rivers. And they shall say, ‘All praise belongs to God who has guided us to this. Had God not guided us, we would never have found the way. The messengers of our Lord brought the Truth.’ A voice will call out to them, ‘This is the Garden which you have inherited by your labours.’

⁴⁴The people of the Garden will call out to the people of the Fire, ‘We have found that what our Lord promised us is true. Have you, too, found that what your Lord promised you is true?’ They will say, ‘Yes, we have!’ Then a crier shall call out among them saying, ‘The curse of God is upon the wrongdoers—⁴⁵who turned people away from the path of God and sought to make it appear crooked, and who denied the Hereafter.’

⁴⁶A barrier will divide the two groups, and on the heights there will be men who recognize each group by their marks. They will call out to the people of the Garden, ‘Peace be with you.’ They will not have yet entered, but they will be hoping [to do so], ⁴⁷and when they turn their eyes towards the inmates of the Fire, they will say, ‘Our Lord, do not include us among the wrongdoers!’

⁴⁸And the people of the heights will call out to men they recognize by their marks, ‘What use have your great numbers and your false pride been?

⁴⁹See! are these not the people you swore would never earn God’s mercy? “Enter the Garden! No fear shall come upon you nor shall you grieve.”’

⁵⁰The people of the Fire shall call out to the people of heaven, ‘Pour out some water on us, or give us something out of that which God has bestowed upon you.’ But the blessed will reply, ‘God has forbidden all that to those who denied the truth.

⁵¹Who treated religion as a pastime and an idle sport and whom the life of the world had beguiled.’ On that Day We shall forget them, as they forgot their meeting of that Day with Us, for they denied Our revelations.

⁵²And surely We have brought them a Book which We have expounded with knowledge, a guide and a mercy for those who believe.

⁵³Do they wait for the fulfillment of that of which it warns? On the Day when that fulfillment comes, those who had neglected it before will say, ‘The messengers of our Lord did indeed bring the truth. Have we then any intercessors who would intercede for us? Or, could we be sent back so that we might act differently from the way we used to?’ They have indeed ruined their souls and what they invented has forsaken them.

⁵⁴Your Lord is God, who created the heavens and the earth in six Days [periods] and then settled Himself firmly on the throne. He throws the veil of night over the day, each seeking the other in rapid succession. It was He who created the sun, the moon and the stars, and made them subservient to His will. His is the creation, His the command. Blessed be God, Lord of the universe!

⁵⁵Call on your Lord with humility and in secret—He does not love the transgressors: ⁵⁶do not spread corruption on the earth after it has been set in order—pray to Him with fear and hope, God’s mercy is close to those who do good.

⁵⁷It is God who sends forth the winds as harbingers of His mercy, and when they have gathered up the heavy clouds, We drive them on to a dead land where We cause rain to fall, bringing out all kinds of fruit, just as We will raise the dead to life. Perhaps you will take heed.

⁵⁸Vegetation comes out of good land in abundance by the will of its Lord, but out of bad land only scantily. Thus We explain Our signs in diverse ways for those who give thanks.

⁵⁹We sent Noah to his people. He said, ‘O my people, worship God; you have no other god but He. I fear for you the punishment of a dreadful Day,’ ⁶⁰but the leading men of his people said, ‘Truly, we see that you are obviously lost in error!’

⁶¹Said [Noah], ‘O my people! I am not in error. Indeed, I am a messenger from the Lord of the Worlds, ⁶²I am conveying my Lord’s messages to you and giving you sincere advice. I know things from God that you do not.

⁶³Do you find it so strange that a message should come from your Lord through a man from among yourselves, so that he may warn you and so that you may fear God and be shown mercy?’

⁶⁴But they denied him, so We saved him and those with him in the Ark, and We drowned those who rejected Our signs. They were indeed a blind people.

⁶⁵To the people of ‘Ad We sent their brother, Hud. He said, ‘O my people, worship God, you have no other god but He. Then will you not be God-fearing?’

⁶⁶The leading men of his people who refused to acknowledge the truth, said, ‘We can see you are a foolish man, and we think you are lying.’

⁶⁷He said, ‘My people, I am by no means a fool, but rather am a messenger from the Lord of the Universe, ⁶⁸I am conveying my Lord’s messages to you and I am your sincere and honest adviser.

⁶⁹Do you find it strange that a Message should come from your Lord, through one of your own men, to warn you? Remember how He made you successors of Noah’s people, and increased you greatly in stature. Remember the favours of God, so that you may prosper.’

⁷⁰They said, ‘Have you come to tell us to serve God alone and to forsake the gods our forefathers served? Bring us then what you threaten us with, if you are truthful.’

⁷¹He said, ‘Your Lord’s wrath and indignation have already fallen upon you. Would you dispute with me about mere names, which you and your fathers have invented, and for which God has revealed no authority? Wait then if you will: I am waiting alongside you.’

⁷²Then We saved him and those who were with him, by Our mercy; We annihilated those who denied Our signs and would not believe.

⁷³To the Thamud We sent their brother Salih. He said, ‘O my people, worship God; you have no other god but Him. A veritable proof has come to you from your Lord: this is God’s she-camel, a sign for you, so let her feed in God’s land and do not harm her in any way, or you will be overwhelmed by a painful punishment.

⁷⁴Remember when He made you successors to the ‘Ad and settled you in the land. You built palaces on its plains and carved houses out of the mountains. Remember God’s blessings and do not spread corruption in the land,’

⁷⁵but the arrogant leaders of his people said to the believers who were deemed weak, ‘Do you know for certain that Salih is one sent from his Lord?’ They replied, ‘We believe in the message which has been sent through him.’

⁷⁶The arrogant leaders said, ‘We reject what you believe in.’

⁷⁷So they hamstrung the she-camel, and insolently defied the commandment of their Lord, saying, ‘O Salih! Bring upon us what you threaten us with if you are indeed a messenger.’

⁷⁸So the earthquake overwhelmed them, and morning found them prostrate in their dwelling places.

⁷⁹He left them, saying, ‘My people, I delivered my Lord’s messages to you and counselled you sincerely, but you do not like sincere advisors.’

⁸⁰We sent Lot, who said to his people, ‘How can you commit an abomination such as no one in the world has ever done before you?

⁸¹You lust after men rather than women! You transgress all bounds!’

⁸²The only answer given by his people was, ‘Turn them out of your town. They are people who regard themselves to be pure.’

⁸³So We saved him and his family—except for his wife. She was one of those who stayed behind.

⁸⁴We rained down on them a shower [of brimstone]. Then see what was the end of the evil-doers.

⁸⁵To Midian We sent their brother Shu‘ayb. He said, ‘O my people, worship God; you have no other god but Him. A clear Sign has indeed come to you from your Lord. So give full measure and full weight, and do not deliver short. Do not corrupt the land after it has been set in order. This is for your own good, if you are true believers.

⁸⁶Do not lie in ambush on every pathway, threatening people, barring those who believe from the Way of God, seeking to make it appear crooked. Remember when you were few in number and He multiplied you. Consider the fate of those who used to spread corruption.

⁸⁷And if there is a group of you which believes in My message and others who disbelieve it, be patient until God shall judge between us. He is the best of judges.’

⁸⁸The arrogant leaders of his people said, ‘Shu‘ayb, we will expel you and your fellow believers from our town unless you return to our faith.’ He said, ‘Even though we detest it?

⁸⁹We would be inventing lies against God if we returned to your faith after God has delivered us from it. It is not for us to return to it unless God our Lord so willed. Our Lord encompasses all things in His knowledge. We have put our trust in God. Our Lord, expose the truth [and judge] between us and our people, You are the best judge.’

⁹⁰The leading men of his people who were bent on denying the truth, said, ‘If you follow Shu‘ayb, you will certainly be the losers.’

⁹¹Thereupon an earthquake overtook them and morning found them lying flattened in their homes; ⁹²those who had denied Shu‘ayb became as though they had never lived there. Those who denied Shu‘ayb, were themselves the losers.

⁹³So he turned away from them, saying, ‘My people, I delivered my Lord’s messages to you and gave you sincere advice, so why should I grieve for people who refused to believe?’

⁹⁴Whenever We sent a prophet to a town, We afflicted its people with suffering and adversity, so that they might humble themselves [before God], ⁹⁵and then We changed their hardship into ease until they grew affluent and said, ‘Our fathers had also experienced adversity and prosperity,’ then We seized them suddenly, unawares.

⁹⁶Had the people of those towns believed in and feared God, We would have showered upon them blessings from heaven and earth, but they rejected the truth. So We seized them on account of their misdeeds.

⁹⁷Do the people of these towns now feel secure against the coming of Our punishment upon them by night while they are asleep?

⁹⁸Or, do they feel secure against the coming of Our punishment upon them in the forenoon while they are at play?

⁹⁹Do they feel secure against God’s devising? No one feels secure against God’s devising except for those doomed to ruin.

¹⁰⁰Does it not guide the people who inherit the land from former people that We can punish them for their sins if We will? And seal up their hearts so that they would not be able to lend an ear to words of guidance?

¹⁰¹We have told you the stories of those towns: their messengers came to them with clear signs, but they were never going to believe in something they had already rejected. Thus God seals up the hearts of those who deny the truth.

¹⁰²We found most of them untrue to their covenants, indeed We found most of them to be defiant.

¹⁰³After them We sent Moses with Our signs to Pharaoh and his chiefs. But they willfully rejected them. Consider the end of the evil-doers.

¹⁰⁴Moses said, ‘Pharaoh, I am a messenger from the Lord of the Universe, ¹⁰⁵duty-bound to say nothing about God but the truth, and I have brought you a clear sign from your Lord. Let the Children of Israel go with me.’ ¹⁰⁶[Pharaoh] said, ‘If you come with a sign, then produce it, if you are telling the truth.’

¹⁰⁷Then Moses threw down his staff and suddenly, unmistakably, it appeared as a serpent, ¹⁰⁸and he drew forth his hand, and it appeared [shining] white to the beholders.

¹⁰⁹The chiefs of Pharaoh’s people said, ‘This is most surely a skillful magician, ¹¹⁰who seeks to drive you from your land!’ Pharaoh said, ‘What then do you advise?’

¹¹¹They said, ‘Let him and his brother wait awhile, and send into the cities summoners, ¹¹²who should bring to you every skillful magician.’

¹¹³And the magicians came to Pharaoh and asked, ‘Shall we have a reward, if we should prevail?’

¹¹⁴Pharaoh replied, ‘Certainly, and you shall also become my courtiers.’

¹¹⁵They said, ‘Moses, will you first throw, or shall we?’

¹¹⁶He said, ‘You throw [first]!’ When they made their cast, they bewitched the eyes of the people and struck them with awe, for they showed a great [feat of] magic.

¹¹⁷Then We inspired Moses, saying, ‘Throw down your staff.’ And it immediately swallowed up their false devices.

¹¹⁸Thus the truth prevailed and what they had produced came to nothing: ¹¹⁹Pharaoh and his men were defeated and utterly humiliated.

¹²⁰And the sorcerers prostrated themselves ¹²¹and said, ‘We believe in the Lord of the Universe, ¹²²the Lord of Moses and Aaron!’

¹²³Pharaoh said, ‘You dare believe in Him before I have given you permission? Behold, this is indeed a plot which you have devised in this city in order to drive its people out. But you shall soon know the consequences, ¹²⁴I will cut off your hands and feet on alternate sides and then crucify you all!’

¹²⁵They replied, ‘We shall surely return to our Lord.

¹²⁶You would punish us only because we believed in the signs of our Lord when they were shown to us. Our Lord, pour patience upon us, and cause us to die in a state of submission to You.’

¹²⁷The chiefs of Pharaoh’s people said, ‘Will you allow Moses and his people to spread corruption in the land, and to forsake you and your gods?’ He replied, ‘We shall kill their male children and spare only the females. We have complete power over them.’

¹²⁸Moses said to his people, ‘Turn to God for help and be patient. The earth belongs to God. He gives it to those of His servants whom He chooses, and the future belongs to the God-fearing.’

¹²⁹They replied, ‘We were being persecuted before you came to us, and we are still being persecuted.’ He said, ‘Your Lord may well destroy your enemy and make you successors to the land. Then He will see how you conduct yourselves.’

¹³⁰We afflicted Pharaoh’s people with shortages of food and famine so that they might take heed, ¹³¹then when something good came to them, they said, ‘It is our due!’—but when something bad came, they ascribed it as an ill-omen to Moses and those with him. Surely their [evil] fortune had been decreed by God, but most of them did not know this.

¹³²They said, ‘Whatever miracles you work to bewitch us, we will not believe in you.’

¹³³Then We afflicted them with storms, and locusts, and lice, and frogs, and blood: so many clear signs. But they were steeped in arrogance, for they were a people given to sin.

¹³⁴Whenever a plague struck them, they would say, ‘Moses, pray to your Lord for us by virtue of the promise He has made to you: if you remove this plague from us, we will surely believe in you and let the Children of Israel go with you,’

¹³⁵but whenever We removed the plague from them, giving them time to make good their promise, they would break their word.

¹³⁶So We exacted retribution from them and drowned them in the sea, because they rejected Our signs and paid no heed to them; ¹³⁷We made the people who were considered weak inheritors of the eastern parts and western parts of the land which We had blessed. Thus your Lord’s good promise to the Children of Israel was fulfilled, because of their patience, and We destroyed all that Pharaoh and his people had built and all that they had raised high.

¹³⁸We brought the Children of Israel across the sea and they came upon a people who were devoted to their idols. They said, ‘Moses, give us a god just like the gods these people have.’ He said, ‘You are indeed an ignorant people: ¹³⁹what they are engaged in is doomed to destruction and all their works are in vain.’

¹⁴⁰He said, ‘Shall I seek a deity for you other than God, while it is He who has exalted you above all peoples?

¹⁴¹We delivered you from Pharaoh’s people, who afflicted you with dreadful torment, slaying your male children and sparing only your daughters. That was surely a great trial for you by your Lord.’

¹⁴²We appointed thirty nights for Moses, then added ten more: the term set by his Lord was fulfilled in forty nights. Moses said to his brother Aaron, ‘Take my place among my people: act rightly and do not follow the way of those who spread corruption.’

¹⁴³And when Moses came at Our appointed time and his Lord spoke to him, he said, ‘My Lord, show Yourself to me so that I may look at You.’ He replied, ‘You cannot see Me, but look at the mountain; if it remains firmly in its place, then only will you see Me.’ And when his Lord manifested Himself on the mountain, He broke it into pieces and Moses fell down unconscious. And when he recovered, he said, ‘Glory be to You, I turn towards You, and I am the first to believe.’

¹⁴⁴He replied, ‘Moses, I have chosen you of all mankind for My messages and My Words. Hold fast to what I have given you, and be among the grateful!’

¹⁴⁵And We wrote for him upon the Tablets an admonition and details of all things, then [bade him], ‘Hold fast to them; and command your people to follow them in their best sense. Soon I shall show you the home of the wicked.

¹⁴⁶I will turn away from My signs all those who are arrogant in the land without any right, so that even if they see all the signs they will not believe in them. If they see the right path, they shall not walk upon it: but if they see the path of error, they shall choose it for their path, because they have given the lie to Our signs and paid no heed to them.

¹⁴⁷The actions of those who denied Our signs and the Meeting of the Hereafter will come to nothing—they shall be requited only, according to their deeds.’

¹⁴⁸In his absence, the people of Moses made a calf from their ornaments, an image which made a lowing sound. Could they not see that it did not speak to them or guide them in any way? Yet they took to worshipping it: they were evil-doers.

¹⁴⁹When they were afflicted with remorse, and realized that they had indeed gone astray, they said, ‘If our Lord does not have mercy on us and forgive us, we shall be among the lost.’

¹⁵⁰When Moses returned to his people in anger and great sorrow, he said, ‘What an awful sin you have committed in my absence. Did you want to hasten your Lord’s command?’ He threw down the Tablets and seized his brother by the head, pulling him towards himself. Aaron said, ‘Son of my mother, the people oppressed me and almost killed me. Do not give my enemies cause to gloat over me. Do not number me among the wrongdoers.’

¹⁵¹He said, ‘My Lord, forgive me and my brother and admit us to Your mercy. You are the Most Merciful of the merciful.’

¹⁵²Those who took to worshipping the calf will be afflicted by their Lord’s wrath, and be disgraced in the life of this world. This is the way We requite those who invent falsehoods.

¹⁵³As for those who committed evils, and thereafter repented and believed, they shall find your Lord forgiving and merciful.

¹⁵⁴When his anger had subsided, Moses took up the Tablets upon which was inscribed a pledge of guidance and mercy for those who fear their Lord.

¹⁵⁵And Moses chose from his people seventy men for Our appointment. When they were seized with violent quaking, he prayed, ‘O my Lord! If it had been Your will, You could have destroyed both them and me long ago. But would You destroy us for the deeds of the foolish ones among us? This is no more than Your trial: by it You cause whom You will to stray, and You lead whom You will to the right path. You are our Protector. Forgive us, therefore, and have mercy on us, for You are the best of those who forgive.

¹⁵⁶Grant us good things, both in this life and in the hereafter. To You alone we turn.’ He replied, ‘As for My punishment, I smite with it anyone I will. But My mercy encompasses all things. I shall prescribe it for those who do their duty, pay the zakat and who believe in Our signs.

¹⁵⁷Also for those who follow the Messenger—the unlettered prophet they find described in the Torah that is with them, and in the Gospel—who commands them to do right and forbids them to do wrong, who makes good things lawful to them and bad things unlawful, who will relieve them of their burdens and of the shackles that weigh upon them. Those that believe in him and honour him, those that aid him and follow the light sent down with him, shall surely triumph.’

¹⁵⁸Say, ‘People, I am God’s Messenger to you all, He has sovereignty over the heavens and the earth. There is no god but Him. He ordains life and death, so believe in God and His Messenger, the unlettered prophet who believes in God and His words. Follow him so that you may be rightly guided.’

¹⁵⁹Yet there is a group among the people of Moses who guide with truth and act justly in accordance with it.

¹⁶⁰We divided them up into twelve tribes, each a whole community, and We revealed Our will to Moses, when his people asked for water, saying, ‘Strike the rock with your staff.’ Twelve springs gushed from it and each tribe knew its drinking place. We caused the clouds to draw their shadow over them and sent down for them manna and quails, saying, ‘Eat the good things We have given you.’ They did not wrong Us; rather it was themselves they wronged.

¹⁶¹When they were told, ‘Settle down in the town and eat wherever you wish in it, and pray for forgiveness and enter the gate in humility: We shall forgive you your sins and shall bestow further favours upon those who do good,’

¹⁶²the transgressors among them substituted something else for the word they had been given. So We sent them a punishment from heaven for their wrongdoing.

¹⁶³Ask them about the town which was by the sea and what befell its people when they broke the Sabbath. On their Sabbath the fish came to them near the surface, but on week-days they never came near them—thus We tried them because of their disobedience.

¹⁶⁴When some of them asked, ‘Why do you admonish a people whom God is going to destroy or to afflict with a severe punishment?’ They answered, ‘In order to be free from blame before your Lord, and that they may perhaps fear Him.’

¹⁶⁵Therefore when they forgot what they had been reminded of, We saved those who had tried to prevent the doing of evil. And We meted out a severe punishment to the transgressors because they were rebellious.

¹⁶⁶And then, when they disdainfully persisted in doing what they had been forbidden to do, We said to them, ‘Be as apes, despised!’

¹⁶⁷Then your Lord declared that, until the Day of Resurrection, He would send others against them to inflict terrible suffering on them. Your Lord is swift in retribution; yet surely He is most forgiving and merciful.

¹⁶⁸We split them up into sections on the earth. Some of them are righteous while some of them are otherwise, and We tested them with blessings and misfortunes, so that they might return to the right path.

¹⁶⁹They were succeeded by generations who inherited the Scripture and took to the fleeting gains of this world, saying, ‘We shall certainly be forgiven.’ If there came to them similar fleeting gains again, they would take them. Was a pledge not taken from them, written in the Scripture, that they would not say anything but the truth about God? And they have studied whatever is in it. Surely the Home of the Hereafter is better for those who fear Him. Will you not understand?

¹⁷⁰As for those who hold fast to the Book and are steadfast in prayer, We shall not deny the righteous their reward.

¹⁷¹When We suspended the mountain over them as if it were a canopy, and they thought it was going to fall down on them, We said, ‘Hold on firmly to what We have given you and remember what is in it, so that you may remain conscious of God.’

¹⁷²When your Lord brought forth offspring from the loins of the Children of Adam and made them bear witness about themselves, He said, ‘Am I not your Lord?’ They replied, ‘We bear witness that You are.’ This He did, lest you should say on the Day of Resurrection, ‘We had no knowledge of that.’

¹⁷³Or lest you say, ‘Our forefathers associated others with God before our time, and we are only the descendants who came after them. So are You going to destroy us for what those inventors of falsehood did?’

¹⁷⁴We explain Our signs in detail thus, so that perhaps they may return to Us.

¹⁷⁵Recite to them the tale of the man to whom We gave Our signs, but who then cast them to one side and Satan overtook him. And he became one of those who went astray—¹⁷⁶if it had been Our will, We could have used these signs to exalt him, but instead he clung to the earth and followed his own desires—he was like a dog that pants whether you chase it away or leave it alone. Such are those who reject Our signs. Tell them this story so that they may reflect.

¹⁷⁷How evil is the case of those who deny Our signs. They only wrong themselves: ¹⁷⁸anyone whom God guides has been rightly guided; while those He lets go astray will surely be the losers.

¹⁷⁹We created many of the jinn and mankind for hell. They have hearts they do not understand with; they have eyes they do not see with; and they have ears they do not hear with. Such people are like cattle—no, they are even more misguided. Such are the heedless.

¹⁸⁰God has the Most Excellent Names. Call on Him by His Names and keep away from those who distort them. They shall be requited for what they do.

¹⁸¹Of those We have created there are some who give true guidance and act justly.

¹⁸²We shall gradually seize those who reject Our signs from a place they do not recognize.

¹⁸³For though I give them rein for a while, My strategy is sure.

¹⁸⁴Have they not reflected that their companion is not mad? He is only a plain warner.

¹⁸⁵Have they not looked into the realms of the heavens and the earth and all that God created, and seen that the end of their time might be near? What will they believe in if they do not believe in this?

¹⁸⁶No one can guide those whom God lets go astray: He leaves them blundering about in their arrogance.

¹⁸⁷They ask you [Prophet] about the Last Hour, ‘When will it come?’ Say, ‘Knowledge about it rests only with my Lord; He alone will reveal when its time will come, it lies heavy on the heavens and the earth: it will suddenly overtake you.’ They will put questions to you as though you had full knowledge of it. Say, ‘Knowledge about it rests only with God, though most people do not realize it.’

¹⁸⁸Say, ‘I myself have no power to benefit or do harm, save as God pleases. If I had knowledge of the unseen, I would have availed myself of an abundance of good, and no harm would have touched me. I am but a warner and a bearer of good tidings for those who will believe.’

¹⁸⁹It was He who created you from a single soul, and from it made its mate so that he may find comfort in her. Once he has covered her, she conceives and goes about with a light burden. When it grows heavy, they both call to God, their Lord, ‘If You bestow on us a healthy child, we will surely be grateful,’ ¹⁹⁰yet when He grants them a healthy child, they begin to ascribe to others a share in the gift they have received. But God is far above what they associate with Him!

¹⁹¹Do they associate with Him those who create nothing and are themselves created?

¹⁹²They can give them no help, nor can they help themselves.

¹⁹³It makes no difference whether you call on them or remain silent. If you call them to the right path, they will not follow you.

¹⁹⁴Those whom you call on besides God are but creatures like yourselves. Call upon them, then, and let them respond to you, if what you say is true.

¹⁹⁵Have they feet to walk with? Have they hands to hold with? Have they eyes to see with? Have they ears to hear with? Say, ‘Call upon those you associate with God as partners, then all of you contrive against me and give me no respite.

¹⁹⁶My protector is God who sent down the Book, for it is He who protects the righteous.

¹⁹⁷Those whom you call on besides Him have no power to help you, nor can they help themselves.’

¹⁹⁸If you call them to the right path, they will not hear you. You find them looking towards you, but they do not see you.

¹⁹⁹Be tolerant; enjoin what is right; and avoid the ignorant.

²⁰⁰If an evil impulse from Satan provokes you, seek refuge with God; He is all hearing, and all knowing.

²⁰¹When any evil suggestion from Satan touches those who fear God, they are instantly alerted and become watchful; ²⁰²but the followers of devils are led relentlessly into error by them. They never desist.

²⁰³When you do not bring them a sign, they say, ‘Why do you not invent one?’ Say, ‘I follow only what is revealed to me by my Lord. This Book is an enlightenment from your Lord and a guide and mercy to true believers.

²⁰⁴When the Quran is read, listen to it with attention, and hold your peace, so that you may receive mercy.

²⁰⁵Remember your Lord deep in your very soul, in all humility and awe, without raising your voice, morning and evening—do not be one of the heedless—²⁰⁶[even] the ones [angels] who live in the presence of your Lord are not too proud to worship Him: they glorify Him and prostrate themselves before Him.

8. THE SPOILS OF WAR (Al-Anfal)

In the name of God, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful

¹They ask you about the spoils of war. Say, ‘They belong to God and His Messenger. So fear God, and set things right among yourselves, and obey God and His Messenger, if you are true believers: ²true believers are those whose hearts tremble with awe at the mention of God, and whose faith grows stronger as they listen to His revelations. They are those who put their trust in their Lord, ³who pray regularly and give in alms out of what We have provided for them.

⁴Such are the true believers. They have a high standing with their Lord, His forgiveness and an honourable provision made for them.

⁵As it was your Lord who rightfully brought you forth from your house, even though some of the believers disliked it, ⁶and they disputed with you concerning the truth after it had become manifest, as though they were being driven to their death with open eyes.

⁷God promised you that one of the two parties would fall to you, and you wished that the one without sting should be yours, but God wanted to establish the truth by His words and cut off the root of those who denied the truth—⁸so that He might prove the truth to be true and the false to be false, however much the wrongdoers might dislike it.

⁹When you prayed to your Lord for help, He answered, ‘I am sending to your aid a thousand angels in succession.’

¹⁰God only did this to give you good news, and so that your hearts might be set at rest, for help comes from God alone. Surely, God is Mighty and Wise.

¹¹He brought drowsiness upon you to give you His reassurance and sent down water from the sky upon you, so that He might thereby purify you and remove Satan’s pollution from you, and make your hearts strong and your feet firm.

¹²When your Lord commanded the angels, saying, ‘I am with you, so make those who believe stand firm. I will instill fear in the hearts of those who deny the truth: so strike their necks and strike all their finger joints!’^a

¹³That was because they defied God and His Messenger. He who defies God and His Messenger shall be severely punished by God.

¹⁴That is your punishment, taste it then; and know that for those who deny the truth there is the punishment of the Fire.

¹⁵Believers, when you meet in battle those who deny the truth, never turn your backs on them: ¹⁶whoever turns his back on such an occasion, unless it be as a stratagem of war, or in an endeavour to join another group [of the believers] will indeed draw down upon himself the wrath of God, and Hell shall be his abode and the worst indeed is that destination.

¹⁷ You did not kill them; it was God who killed them; and when you [Prophet] threw [sand] at them it was not you, but God who threw it so that He might confer on the believers a great favour from Himself. Surely, God is all hearing, all-knowing—¹⁸that is what happened—and God will surely undermine the design of those who deny the truth.

¹⁹If you were seeking a judgement, a judgement has now come to you. If you desist, it will be the better for you. But if you return [to hostility] We too will return. And your host will avail you naught, however numerous it may be, and [know] that surely God is with the believers.

²⁰Believers, obey God and His Messenger, and do not turn away from him now that you have heard all.

²¹Do not be like those who say, ‘We hear,’ but pay no heed to what they hear—²² the worst creatures in God’s eyes are those who are deaf and dumb, and who possess no understanding.

²³If God had found any good in them, He would certainly have made them hear; but being as they are, even if He makes them hear, they will turn away in aversion.

²⁴Believers, obey God and the Messenger when he calls you to that which gives you life. Know that God stands between man and his heart, and you shall all be gathered in His presence.

²⁵And beware of an affliction that will not smite exclusively those among you who have done wrong. Know that God is severe in exacting retribution.

²⁶Remember when you were few in number and were accounted weak in the land, ever fearing the onslaught of your enemies, but He provided you with shelter, and supported you with His help and provided you with good things, so that you might be grateful.

²⁷Do not betray God and His Messenger, and do not knowingly violate your trusts.

²⁸Know that your wealth and children are a trial and that there is an immense reward with God.

²⁹Believers, if you fear God, He will grant you the ability to discriminate between right and wrong, and will forgive you your sins: for God is limitless in His great bounty.

³⁰Remember how those who bent on denying the truth plotted against you to imprison you or kill you or expel you: they schemed—but God also schemed. God is the best of schemers.

³¹Whenever Our revelations are recited to them, they say, ‘We have heard them. If we wished, we could produce the like. They are nothing but the fables of the ancients.’

³²They also said, ‘God, if this really is the truth from You, then rain down upon us stones from heaven, or send us some other painful punishment.’

³³But God would not punish them while you [Prophet] were in their midst, nor would He punish them so long as they sought forgiveness.

³⁴Yet why should God not punish them when they debar people from the Sacred Mosque, although they are not its guardians? Its rightful guardians are those who fear God, though most of them do not realize it.

³⁵Their prayers at the Sacred House are nothing but whistling and clapping of hands. ‘So taste the punishment because of your denial.’

³⁶Those who are bent on denying the truth are spending their wealth in debarring others from the path of God. They will continue to spend it in this way till, in the end, this spending will become a source of intense regret for them, and then they will be overcome. And those who denied the truth will be gathered together in Hell.

³⁷So that God may separate the bad from the good, He will heap the wicked one upon another and then cast them into Hell. These will surely be the losers.

³⁸Tell those who are bent on denying the truth that if they desist, their past shall be forgiven, but if they persist in sin, they have an example in the fate of those who went before.

³⁹Fight them until there is no more [religious] persecution,^a and religion belongs wholly to God: if they desist, then surely God is watchful of what they do, ⁴⁰but if they turn away, know that God is your Protector; the Best of Protectors and the Best of Helpers!

⁴¹Know that one-fifth of your battle gains belongs to God and the Messenger, to his close relatives and orphans, to the needy and travellers, if you believe in God and the revelation We sent down to Our servant on the Decisive Day, the day when the two forces met. God has power over all things.

⁴²You were on the nearer side of the valley, and they were on the farther side, and the caravan was below you. Had you wished to set a time by mutual agreement, you would certainly have disagreed on the timing. However, the encounter took place, so that God might settle a matter which had already been ordained, so that he who was to perish might perish after clear evidence of the truth, and he who was to live might live in clear evidence of the truth. Surely, God is all hearing and all-knowing.

⁴³God showed them to you in your dream as small in number. If He had shown them to you as many, you would have lost heart and disputed about the matter; but God saved you. He has full knowledge of what is in the human heart.

⁴⁴When at the time of your encounter He made them appear few in your eyes, and made you appear few in their eyes, it was so that God might bring about that which had been decreed. Everything returns to God.

⁴⁵Believers! When you encounter a party, remain firm and remember God much, so that you may succeed.

⁴⁶Obey God and His Messenger, and avoid dissension, lest you falter and are no longer held in awe. Have patience: God is with those who are patient.

⁴⁷Do not be like those who left their homes full of conceit and showing off to others. They debar others from the path of God: but God has knowledge of all their actions.

⁴⁸Satan made their deeds seem fair to them and said, ‘None of the people shall prevail against you this day; I shall be your protector!’ But when the two forces came in sight of each other, he turned on his heels, saying, ‘This is where I leave you: I see what you do not, and I fear God—God is severe in His punishment.’

⁴⁹The hypocrites and those whose hearts were perverted said, ‘These people [the believers] must be deluded by their religion.’ But he who places his trust in God [knows that], God is Almighty and Wise.

⁵⁰If you could see, when the angels take the souls of those who are bent on denying the truth [at death], how they strike their faces and backs: saying ‘Taste the punishment of the Burning!

⁵¹This is the punishment for what your hands committed—for, God never does the least wrong to His servants.’

⁵²Like Pharaoh’s people and those that have gone before them, they rejected God’s signs and God seized them for their sins. God is strong, and severe in punishment!

⁵³God would never withdraw a favour that He had conferred upon a people unless they change what is in their hearts. God is all hearing and all-knowing.

⁵⁴Like Pharaoh’s people and those who went before them, they denied their Lord’s signs: We destroyed them for their sins, and We drowned Pharaoh’s people—they were all evil-doers.

⁵⁵The worst creatures in the sight of God are those who reject Him and will not believe; ⁵⁶those with whom you have made a covenant, and who break their covenant on every occasion and have no fear [of God].

⁵⁷Should you encounter them in war, then deal with them in such a manner that those that follow them should abandon their designs and may take warning.

⁵⁸And if you learn of treachery on the part of any people, throw their treaty back at them, so as to be on equal terms, for God does not love the treacherous.

⁵⁹Let not the deniers think that they will ever get away. They cannot frustrate [God’s purpose]. They have not the power to do so.

⁶⁰Prepare any strength you can muster against them, and any cavalry with which you can overawe God’s enemy and your own enemy as well, and others besides them whom you do not know, but who are known to God. Anything you spend in the way of God will be repaid to you in full. You will not be wronged.

⁶¹Then if they should be inclined to make peace, make peace with them, and put your trust in God. Surely, it is He who is All Hearing and All Knowing.

⁶²Should they seek to deceive you, God is enough for you: it was He who strengthened you with His help, and rallied the faithful around you, and bound their hearts together.

⁶³Even if you had spent all that is on the earth, you could not have bound their hearts together, but God has bound them together. Surely, He is Mighty and Wise.

⁶⁴O Prophet! God is sufficient for you and the believers who follow you.

⁶⁵Prophet, urge the believers to fight;^a if there are twenty of you who are steadfast, they will overcome two hundred, and if there are a hundred of you, they will overcome a thousand of those who deny the truth, for they are devoid of understanding.

⁶⁶God has now lightened your burden, for He knows that there is weakness in you. If there are a hundred of you who are steadfast, they will overcome two hundred; and if there are a thousand of you, they will overcome two thousand by God’s will. God is with the steadfast.

⁶⁷It is not right for a Prophet to keep captives unless he has battled strenuously in the land. You desire the gain of this world, while God desires for you the Hereafter—God is mighty and wise.

⁶⁸Had it not been for a writ from God that had already gone forth, you would have been severely punished on account of what you took.

⁶⁹So eat of that which you have gained in war as lawful and good, and fear God. Surely, God is most forgiving and merciful.

⁷⁰Prophet, tell those you have taken captive: ‘If God knows of any good in your hearts, He will give you something better than what has been taken from you, and He will forgive you: God is Forgiving and Merciful.’

⁷¹And if they would betray you, they betrayed God before, and He gave [you] power over them. God is aware and wise.

⁷²Those who have believed and migrated and struggled for God’s cause with their possessions and persons, and those who have given refuge and help, are the friends and protectors of one another. But as for those who have come to believe without having migrated—you are in no way responsible for their protection until they migrate. If they seek your help in the matter of religion, it is incumbent on you to help them, except against a people with whom you have a pact. God sees what you do.

⁷³Those who deny the truth support one another. If you fail to do likewise, there will be great disorder and corruption in the land.

⁷⁴Those who have believed and migrated and striven for the cause of God, as well as those who have given them refuge and support, are the true believers; they shall have forgiveness and an honourable provision.

⁷⁵And those who have believed later on, and emigrated and struggled for God’s sake alongside you are also a part of you. But as to blood relations, they are nearer one to another in the Book of God. God has full knowledge of all things.

9. REPENTANCE (Al-Tawbah)

¹ This is a declaration of immunity from God and His Messenger to the polytheists, with whom you had made agreements.

²So go about in the land for four months, but know that you cannot frustrate the plan of God and that God will disgrace those who deny the truth.

³This is a proclamation from God and His Messenger to the people on the day of the Pilgrimage, that God is free of all obligation to the polytheists, and so is His Messenger. If you repent, it will be better for you, but if you turn away, then know that you cannot frustrate the plan of God. Proclaim a grievous punishment to those who are bent on denying the truth.

⁴As for those who have honoured the treaty you made with them and who have not supported anyone against you: fulfil your agreement with them to the end of their term. God loves those who are righteous.

⁵When the forbidden months have passed, kill the polytheists [who are at war with you] wherever you find them.^a 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.

⁶If any one of the polytheists seeks asylum with you, grant him asylum so that he may hear the word of God; then convey him to a place of safety. That is because they are a people who have no knowledge.

⁷How can there be a treaty with the polytheists on the part of God and His Messenger, except for those with whom you entered into a treaty at the Sacred Mosque? As long as they act straight with you, act straight with them. God loves those who are righteous.

⁸How [can there be a treaty] for, if they get the upper hand over you, they will respect neither kinship nor covenant. They [try to] please you with their tongues but their hearts reject you; most of them are perfidious.

⁹They have sold God’s revelations for a paltry price, and barred others from His path. How evil is what they have been doing!

¹⁰Where believers are concerned, they respect no tie of kinship or treaty. They are people who overstep the limits.

¹¹If they repent and keep up their prayers and pay the alms, then they are your brethren in faith. We make Our messages clear for people who are willing to learn.

¹²But if they break faith after pledging it and revile your religion, then fight these leaders of unbelief, so that they may desist, for they have no regard for their pledged word.

¹³Will you not fight against those who have broken their oaths and conspired to banish the Messenger? They were the first to attack you. Do you fear them? Surely God is more deserving of your fear, if you are true believers.

¹⁴Fight them: God will punish them at your hands, and will disgrace them. He will help you to overcome them and heal the hearts of the faithful; ¹⁵He will remove the rage from their hearts. God will turn in His mercy to whom He wills. God is all knowing and wise.

¹⁶Do you [O believers] think that you will be spared without God identifying which of you have struggled and did not take anyone for friends and protectors except God, His Messenger, and the believers? God is fully aware of all your actions.

¹⁷It is not right that the polytheists should frequent God’s places of worship while they are self-confessed unbelievers. It is they whose works shall come to nothing and they shall abide in Hell.

¹⁸Only he should tend God’s houses of worship who believes in God and the Last Day, and is constant in prayer, and spends in charity, and stands in awe of none but God: such people may hope to be among the rightly guided.

¹⁹Do you regard giving water to pilgrims and tending the Sacred Mosque as being equal to the deeds of those who believe in God and the Last Day and who strive in God’s path? They are not equal in the sight of God. God does not guide such unjust people.

²⁰Those who have believed and have migrated, and have striven for God’s sake with their possessions and persons, stand much higher in God’s esteem. It is they who will triumph; ²¹their Lord gives them the good news of His mercy and His pleasure and gardens of eternal bliss.

²²There they will dwell for ever. Truly there is an immense reward with God.

²³Believers, do not take your fathers and your brothers for allies if they choose denial of truth in preference to faith. Those among you who ally themselves with them are wrongdoers.

²⁴ Say, ‘If your fathers and your sons and your brothers and your spouses and your tribe, and the worldly goods which you have acquired, and the commerce which you fear will decline, and the homes you love are dearer to you than God and His Messenger and the struggle for His cause, then wait until God fulfills His decree. God does not guide the disobedient people.’

²⁵Indeed, God has helped you on many occasions. On the day of Hunayn, when you took pride in your great numbers, they proved of no avail to you—for the earth, despite all its vastness, became [too] narrow for you and you turned back, in retreat.

²⁶God caused His tranquillity to descend upon His Messenger and the faithful: and sent down forces which you did not see: He punished those who denied the truth—for such is the recompense of all who deny the truth—²⁷then after that, God will turn in His mercy to whom He wills: God is forgiving and merciful.

²⁸Believers, know that the polytheists are impure,^a so they should not approach the Sacred Mosque after this year onwards. If you should fear destitution, God will enrich you out of His bounty, if He so wishes. God is aware and wise.

²⁹Fight those from among the People of the Book who believe neither in God, nor in the Last Day, nor hold as unlawful what God and His Messenger have declared to be unlawful, nor follow the true religion, until they pay the tax willingly and agree to submit.

³⁰The [ancient] Jews [used to] say, ‘Ezra is the son of God,’ and the Christians say, ‘The Messiah is the son of God.’ These are but their baseless utterances. They imitate the assertions made in earlier times by those who deny the truth. May God destroy them! How far astray they have been led!

³¹They have taken their learned men and their monks for their lords besides God. So have they taken the Messiah, son of Mary, although they were commanded to worship only the One God. There is no deity but He. He is far above whatever they set up as His partners!

³²They want to extinguish God’s light with their mouths, but God seeks only to perfect His light, no matter how those who deny the truth may abhor it.

³³It is He who has sent His Messenger with guidance and the religion of Truth, so that He may make it prevail [ideologically] over every other religion, however much the polytheists may hate this.

³⁴Believers, many religious scholars and monks wrongfully appropriate people’s possessions and turn people away from God’s path! Tell those who hoard gold and silver instead of giving in God’s cause that they will have a painful punishment:

³⁵on the Day their treasure is heated up in the fire of hell, their foreheads and their sides and their backs shall be branded with it, and they will be told, ‘This is what you hoarded up for yourselves. Taste then what you were hoarding.’

³⁶On the Day God created heaven and earth, He decreed that the number of months should be twelve in number. Out of these, four are sacred. That is the true religion. Do not wrong your souls in these months. Fight the polytheists all together, as they fight you all together,^a and know that God is with the righteous.

³⁷The postponing of [sacred months] is but one more instance of [their] refusal to acknowledge the truth—by which those who are bent on denying the truth are led astray. They declare this to be permissible in one year and forbidden in another year, so that they may adjust the months which God has sanctified, thus making lawful what God has forbidden. Their evil deed seems fair to them: God does not guide those who deny the truth.

³⁸Believers, what is the matter with you that when you are asked to go forth in the cause of God, you cling slothfully to the land? Do you prefer the life of this world to the Hereafter? But little is the comfort of this life, compared to that of the Hereafter.

³⁹If you do not go forth, He will punish you sternly and replace you by other people. You will not harm Him in the least. God has power over all things.

⁴⁰If you do not support him [Muhammad], know that God did support him when those who denied the truth expelled him when the two of them were in the cave, he [Muhammad] told his companion, ‘Do not worry; for God is with us.’ So God sent His tranquillity down on him and aided him with forces invisible to you and placed the word of those who disbelieved lowest, while God’s word remained supreme. God is powerful and wise.

⁴¹Go forth, whether lightly or heavily equipped, and strive and struggle, with your goods and your persons, for the cause of God. That is better for you, if you only knew.

⁴²Had the gain been immediate and the journey shorter, they would have followed you: but the distance seemed too great for them. Yet they will swear by God, ‘Had we been able, we would have gone out with you.’ They bring ruin upon themselves. God knows that they are surely lying.

⁴³May God pardon you! Why did you permit them to do so before it had become clear to you which ones were truthful, so that you might recognize the liars?

⁴⁴Those who believe in God and the Last Day will never ask you to exempt them from striving with their wealth and their lives—God best knows the righteous—⁴⁵only those seek exemption who do not truly believe in God and the Last Day, and whose hearts have become a prey to doubt. Because they doubt, they waver.

⁴⁶If they had wished to go forth, they would surely have made some preparation for it, but God disliked their setting out [and being raised high in God’s eyes] and held them back. They were told to stay behind with those who stay behind.

⁴⁷Had they gone forth with you, they would only have proved a source of evil for you, and would have run back and forth among you, seeking to sow discord among you: and among you there were some who would have willingly listened to them. God knows the evil-doers.

⁴⁸They have already tried to sow dissension, and hatched plots against you, until the truth became manifest and God’s will prevailed, much to their disgust.

⁴⁹Some of them say, ‘Give us leave to stay behind and do not put us to trial.’ Surely, they have already fallen into trial. Surely, Hell shall engulf those who deny the truth.

⁵⁰If good befalls you, it grieves them, but if a misfortune befalls you, they say, ‘We took our precautions beforehand!’ They turn away rejoicing.

⁵¹Say, ‘Nothing can befall us, except what God has ordained for us. He is our Supreme Lord. In God let the faithful put their trust.’

⁵²Say, ‘Are you waiting for anything to befall us except one of the two best things [Victory in this world or Paradise in the next]? But we expect that God will send His punishment to you either directly from Himself, or by our hands. So wait, if you will; we too, are waiting with you.’

⁵³Say, ‘Whether you give willingly or unwillingly, your offerings shall not be accepted by God, for you are indeed a disobedient people.’

⁵⁴The only reason their contributions are not accepted is that they have denied God and His Messenger, they come to the prayer half heartedly, and they offer contributions unwillingly.

⁵⁵Do not let their wealth and children impress you. For God seeks to punish them through these things in the life of this world, so that their souls shall depart while they are still denying the truth. ⁵⁶They swear by God that they are believers like you; but they are not. They are afraid [to appear in their true colours]: ⁵⁷if they could find a place of refuge, or a cave or any hiding-place, they would run there with frantic haste.

⁵⁸Among them there are some who find fault with you concerning the distribution of alms. If a share is given to them, they are pleased, but if they receive nothing, they grow resentful.

⁵⁹If only they had been content with what God and His Messenger had given them and had said, ‘God is sufficient for us. God will give us out of His bounty, and so will His Messenger. To God alone do we turn with hope!’

⁶⁰Alms are only for: the poor and the destitute, for those who collect zakat, for conciliating people’s hearts, for freeing slaves, for those in debt, for spending for God’s cause, and for travellers in need. It is a legal obligation enjoined by God. God is all-knowing and wise.

⁶¹Among them are those who vex the Prophet by saying, ‘He listens to everyone.’ Say, ‘His listening to everyone is good for you; he believes in God and puts his trust in the faithful, and is a mercy to those of you who believe. Those who annoy God’s Messenger shall have a painful punishment.’

⁶²They swear by God in order to please you [believers]: but it would be more fitting for them to please God and His Messenger, if they are believers.

⁶³Do they not know that whoever opposes God and His Messenger shall abide forever in the fire of Hell? That is the supreme humiliation.

⁶⁴The hypocrites are afraid lest a chapter [of the Quran] be sent down about them, telling them what is in their hearts—say, ‘Go on mocking. God will surely bring to light what you are dreading.’

⁶⁵If you ask them, they will say, ‘We were only joking and playing with words.’ Say, ‘Would you make a mockery of God and of His Revelations and of His Messenger?

⁶⁶Make no excuses; you rejected the faith after you accepted it.’ If We pardon some of you, We will punish others amongst you, for they are guilty.’

⁶⁷The hypocrites, both men and women, are all alike. They enjoin what is evil, forbid what is right and they are niggardly when it comes to spending for the cause of God. They have forgotten God, so He has forgotten them. The hypocrites are the disobedient ones.

⁶⁸God has promised the hypocrites, both men and women, and those who deny the truth, the Fire of Hell. They shall abide in it forever. That is a sufficient recompense for them. God has rejected them. They shall have everlasting punishment.

⁶⁹Like those before you who were stronger than you, possessed more wealth and children; they enjoyed their share in this life as you have enjoyed yours; like them, you have indulged in idle talk. It is they whose works shall come to nothing in this world and in the life to come—and it is they who shall be the losers.

⁷⁰Have they never heard the stories about their predecessors, the peoples of Noah, ‘Ad, Thamud, Abraham, Midian, and of the ruined cities? Their messengers brought them clear evidence of the truth. It was not God who wronged them; they wronged themselves.

⁷¹The believers, both men and women, are friends to each other; they enjoin what is good and forbid evil, they attend to their prayers and pay the alms and obey God and His Messenger. On these God will have mercy, for God is almighty and wise.

⁷²God has promised the believers, both men and women, Gardens through which rivers flow, wherein they will abide, and fine dwelling places in Gardens of eternity. But the good pleasure of God is greater still. That is the supreme achievement.

⁷³O Prophet, strive against those who deny the truth and the hypocrites, and be firm against them. Their abode shall be Hell: an evil destination.

⁷⁴They swear by God that they did not, yet they uttered the words of denial of truth after they had accepted Islam. They meditated a plot which they were unable to carry out, and being spiteful was their only response to God, who had enriched them out of His bounty, and to His Messenger. If they repent, it will indeed be better for them. If they turn away, God will punish them with grievous suffering in this world and the Hereafter, and there will be no one on earth to protect or help them.

⁷⁵There are some among them who pledged themselves to God, saying, ‘If God gives us something out of His bounty, we shall certainly give alms and be righteous,’

⁷⁶but when He bestowed His favours on them they grew niggardly, and turned away in aversion.

⁷⁷So He caused hypocrisy to settle in their hearts until the Day of their meeting with Him, because they broke their word to God, and because they lied.

⁷⁸Do they not know that God knows what they conceal and what they talk about in secret? That God knows all that is hidden?

⁷⁹As for those who ridicule such believers as give alms freely for the sake of God and taunt those who find nothing to give save that which they earn through their toil, God will cause their ridicule to rebound on them: they shall have a painful punishment.

⁸⁰It is the same whether or not you ask forgiveness for them. Even if you ask forgiveness for them seventy times, God will not forgive them, for they have denied God and His Messenger. God does not guide the evil-doers.

⁸¹Those who stayed at home were glad that they were left behind by God’s Messenger. They hated the thought of striving for God’s cause with their possessions and their persons. They said, ‘Do not go forth in this heat.’ Say, ‘The Fire of Hell is far hotter.’ If only they could understand.

⁸²Let them laugh a little and weep much in return for their misdeeds.

⁸³So [Prophet], if God brings you back to a group of them, and should they ask your leave to go forth with you, say, ‘You shall never go forth with me and shall never fight an enemy with me. You chose to sit at home the first time, so sit now with those who remain behind.’

⁸⁴And never [O Muhammad] pray for one of them who dies, nor stand by his grave. For they denied God and His Messenger, and died rebellious.

⁸⁵Do not let their wealth and their children dazzle you. God only wants to punish them through these things in this world, and let their souls depart while they deny the truth.

⁸⁶When a chapter is revealed enjoining, ‘Believe in God and strive for the cause of God along with His Messenger,’ the wealthy among them ask you to exempt them saying, ‘Let us stay with those who are to stay behind.’

⁸⁷They preferred to be with [the women], who remained behind [at home]: their hearts are sealed and so they do not understand.

⁸⁸But the Messenger and those who shared his faith strove hard with their possessions and their lives. It is they who shall have all kinds of good, and it is they who shall surely prosper.

⁸⁹God has prepared for them Gardens through which rivers flow, in which they shall abide forever. That is the supreme triumph.

⁹⁰Some of the desert Arabs, too, came to make excuses, asking to be granted exemption. Those who lied to God and His Messenger stayed behind at home. Those who denied the truth among them will be afflicted with a painful chastisement, ⁹¹but no blame shall attach to the weak, the sick, and those who have no means to spend, provided they are sincere to God and His Messenger. There is no reason to reproach those who do good deeds; God is most forgiving and merciful.

⁹²Nor [does any blame] attach to those who came to you to be provided with mounts, and when you said, ‘I can find no mounts for you,’ they went back, and tears welled up in their eyes with sadness, since they could not find any way to contribute.

⁹³The blameworthy are those who are men of wealth and yet ask for exemption. They are content to be with those [women] who stay behind. God has sealed their hearts: they do not understand.

⁹⁴They will make excuses to you when you return to them. Say, ‘Do not make excuses, we will not believe you. God has already informed us about you. God will see your actions, as will His Messenger. Then you will be returned to the One who knows the seen and the unseen and He will tell you all that you used to do.’

⁹⁵When you return, they will swear to you by God so that you may leave them alone, so leave them alone. They are unclean, and Hell will be their home as a reward for their actions—⁹⁶they will swear to you, so that you may be pleased with them. But [even] if you are pleased with them, God is not pleased with rebellious people.

⁹⁷The desert Arabs are more stubborn in their denial of truth and hypocrisy, and are the least likely to be aware of the limits which God has revealed to His Messenger. God is all knowing and wise.

⁹⁸Some desert Arabs regard what they give for the cause of God as a fine and wait for some misfortune to befall you. May ill-fortune befall them! God hears all and knows all.

⁹⁹There are also those among them who believe in God and the Last Day and regard what they spend for the cause of God as a means of bringing them nearer to God and of deserving the prayers of the Messenger. This shall certainly be for them a means of drawing near to God. God will admit them into His mercy; God is indeed most forgiving and merciful.

¹⁰⁰As for those who led the way, the first of the emigrants and the supporters, as well as those who nobly followed them, God is well pleased with them, and they are well pleased with Him; He has prepared for them Gardens through which rivers flow, where they shall dwell forever. That is the supreme achievement.

¹⁰¹Some of the desert Arabs around you are hypocrites as are some of the people of Madinah—they are obdurate in their hypocrisy. You do not know them, but We know them. We shall cause them to suffer doubly and then they will be subjected to a great punishment.

¹⁰²There are others who have confessed their wrongdoing, who have done some good deeds and some bad ones. It is likely that God will turn to them in mercy. Surely, God is most forgiving, merciful.

¹⁰³Take alms out of their wealth to cleanse them and purify them, and pray for them; your prayer will be a comfort to them. God is all hearing, all knowing.

¹⁰⁴Do they not know that God accepts the repentance of His servants and receives their alms, and that God is the Forgiving, the Merciful One?

¹⁰⁵Say, ‘Do as you will. God will watch your conduct and so will His Messenger and the believers. Soon you will be brought back to Him who knows what is hidden and what is manifest: then He will show you the truth of all that you have done.’

¹⁰⁶[There are yet] others whose cases are deferred until it is God’s will to judge them. He will either punish them, or turn in mercy to them; God is all knowing and wise.

¹⁰⁷Then there are those who built a mosque to cause harm, to spread apostasy and disunity among the believers—as an outpost for those who from the outset warred on God and His Messenger. They swear, ‘Our intentions were nothing but good,’ but God bears witness that they are lying.

¹⁰⁸Do not set foot in it. Only a house of worship, founded from the very first day upon piety, is worthy of your setting foot therein. In it are men who love to be purified and God loves those who purify themselves.

¹⁰⁹Who is better, he who founds his building on the fear of God and His good pleasure, or he who builds on the brink of a crumbling precipice, so that his house is ready to fall with him into the Fire of Hell? God does not guide the wrongdoers: ¹¹⁰the building which they have built will never cease to be a source of deep disquiet in their hearts, until their hearts are cut to pieces. God is all knowing and wise.

¹¹¹God has bought from the believers their lives and their wealth in return for the Garden. They fight for the cause of God and they kill and are killed.^a It is a promise binding on Him in the Torah, the Gospel and the Quran, and who is truer to his promise than God? Rejoice then in the bargain you have made. That is the supreme achievement.

¹¹²[The believers are] those who turn to God in repentance; who worship and praise Him; who go about in the land serving His cause, who bow down, who prostrate themselves, who enjoin good and forbid evil, and who observe the limits set by God. Give good news to the believers!

¹¹³It is not proper for the Prophet and those who believe to seek forgiveness for polytheists, even though they are close relatives, after it has become clear to them that they have earned the punishment of Hell.

¹¹⁴Abraham’s asking forgiveness for his father was only because of a promise he had made to him, but when it became clear to him, that he was God’s enemy, he disassociated himself from him. Surely, Abraham was most tender-hearted and forbearing.

¹¹⁵God would never lead a people astray after He has guided them and until He has made clear to them what they should guard against. God has knowledge of all things; ¹¹⁶surely to God belongs the kingdom of the heavens and of the earth. He gives life and death. You have none besides God to protect or help you.

¹¹⁷God turned in mercy to the Prophet, and the emigrants and the helpers who followed him in the hour of hardship. After the hearts of a group of them had almost faltered, He turned towards them, for He was compassionate and merciful towards them.

¹¹⁸He has turned with mercy to the three whose case was deferred, when the earth, for all its spaciousness, closed in upon them, and their own souls seemed straitened to them and they realised that there was no refuge from God except in Him. He turned to them so that they might turn to Him. God is the Ever Forgiving, the Most Merciful.

¹¹⁹Believers, fear God and stand with the truthful.

¹²⁰It was not proper for the people of Madinah and those desert Arabs around them to hold back from following God’s Messenger, and to prefer their own lives to his life. This is because whenever they suffer from thirst or weariness or hunger for God’s cause, and whenever they take any step which provokes those who deny the truth, or inflicts any loss upon the enemy, it shall be counted as a good deed in the sight of God—God will not deny the righteous their reward—¹²¹and whenever they spend anything [for the sake of God], be it little or much, and whenever they traverse the land [in God’s cause]—it is recorded to their credit, and God will grant them the best reward for all that they have been doing.

¹²²It is not right that all the believers should go out [in time of war] all together. Why, then, does not a party from every group come to [the Prophet] in order to acquire a deeper knowledge of religion and to warn their people, so that they can guard themselves against evil?

¹²³Believers! Fight against those deniers of the truth who are near you.^a Deal firmly with them. Know that God is with those who fear Him.

¹²⁴Whenever a chapter is sent down, there are some of them who say, ‘Which of you has had his faith increased by it?’ But, as for those who believe, it increases their faith and they rejoice, ¹²⁵but as for those with sickness in their hearts, it adds defilement to their defilement and they die in a state of denial of truth.

¹²⁶Do they not see that they are tried every year once or twice? Yet they do not repent, nor would they be admonished.

¹²⁷Whenever a chapter is revealed, they glance at each other, asking, ‘Is anyone watching?’ Then they turn away. God has turned their hearts away, because they are people who do not understand.

¹²⁸There has come to you a Messenger of your own. Your suffering distresses him: he is deeply concerned for your welfare and full of kindness and mercy towards the believers.

¹²⁹But if they turn away, say, ‘God suffices me: there is no deity but He: in Him I have put my trust. He is the Lord of the Glorious Throne.’

10. JONAH (Yunus)

In the name of God, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful

¹Alif Lam Ra

These are the verses of the Book of Wisdom.

²Does it seem strange to people that We have sent revelation to a man from among themselves, saying, ‘Warn mankind and give glad tidings to the believers that they have a true rank [of honour] with their Lord?’ Those who deny the truth say, ‘This man is clearly a sorcerer.’

³Truly, your Lord is God who created the heavens and the earth in six days [periods], then He ascended the Throne, disposing the whole affair. No one may intercede with Him save with His permission. Such is God, your Lord, so worship Him alone. Will you not take heed?

⁴To Him you shall all return. God’s promise is true; He originates Creation, then He restores it, so that He may reward with justice those who believe and do good works. Those who have denied the truth shall have boiling water to drink, and a painful punishment, because of their denial.

⁵It is He who made the sun radiate a brilliant light and the moon shed its lustre, and ordained for it stages so that you may learn to count out the years and [to make other such] reckoning of time. God has not created all these without a purpose. He makes plain His revelations to men of understanding.

⁶In the alternation of night and day, and in all that God has created in the heavens and the earth, there are signs for a God-fearing people.^a

⁷Those who entertain no hope of meeting Us, being pleased and contented with the life of this world, and those who give no heed to Our signs, ⁸shall have their abode in the Fire in requital for their deeds.

⁹Those who believe and do good deeds will be guided by their Lord because of their faith. Rivers shall flow at their feet in the Gardens of Bliss.

¹⁰In that [state of happiness] they will call out; ‘Glory be to You, O God!’, while their greeting in it will be: ‘Peace!’ And the close of their call will be, ‘All praise is due to God, the Lord of the Universe!’

¹¹Had God hastened the punishment of men as He hastens the good, the end of their term of life would already have been reached. We leave those who do not hope to meet Us groping along in their arrogance.

¹²Whenever any trouble befalls a person, he prays to Us all the time, lying on his side, sitting or standing; but when We remove his trouble, he goes on his way as if he had never prayed to Us for the removal of his trouble. Thus it is that the doings of the transgressors are made to look fair to them.

¹³And indeed, before your time We destroyed [whole] generations when they [persistently] did evil; their messengers came to them with clear signs, but they would not believe. Thus We requite the guilty.

¹⁴Then We made you their successors in the land, so that We might observe how you would conduct yourselves.

¹⁵When Our clear revelations are recited to them, those who do not expect to meet Us say, ‘Bring us a different Quran, or make some changes in it.’ Say, ‘It is not for me to change it of my own accord. I follow only what is revealed to me. I fear, if I were to disobey my Lord, the punishment on a Dreadful Day.’

¹⁶Say, ‘If God had so wished, I would not have recited it to you, nor would He have brought it to your knowledge. Indeed, I have spent a whole lifetime among you before it came to me. How can you not use your reason?’

¹⁷Who is more unjust than the man who invents a falsehood about God or denies His signs? Surely, the guilty shall never prosper.

¹⁸Instead of God they worship what neither harms nor benefits them, and they say: ‘These are our intercessors with God.’ Say, ‘Do you inform God about something in heavens and on earth that He does not know? Glory be to Him; may He be Exalted over whatever they associate [with Him]!’

¹⁹Mankind was only one community, but then they differed, and had it not been for a prior word from your Lord, their differences would have been settled for them.

²⁰They ask, ‘Why has no sign been sent down to him from his Lord?’ Tell them, ‘God alone has knowledge of the unseen. So wait; I too will wait with you.’

²¹Whenever We let mankind taste mercy after some adversity has afflicted them, they forthwith turn to devising false arguments against Our signs. Say, ‘God is swifter in His devising! Our angels are recording your intrigues.’