Surah Al-anam in english

Verse 1

Praise, which means to describe in beautiful terms, be, [ever] established, to God: is this meant to be informative, so that one believes in it? Or, is it meant as a eulogy, or both? These are three possibilities, the most likely of which is the last, as the Shaykh [Jalāl al-Dīn al-Mahallī] states in [his commentary on] sūrat al-Kahf [Q. 18:1]; Who created the heavens and the earth — He singles out these two for mention because for the observer they constitute the most awesome [visible] creation; and He appointed, He created, darknesses and light, that is, every darkness (zulma) and every light: the use of the plural only in the case of the former is because it [darkness] has many causes; and this is one of the proofs of His Oneness; then those who disbelieve, despite the existence of this proof, ascribe equals to their Lord, they worship others equally.

Verse 2

It is He Who created you from clay, by creating your father Adam from it; then He decreed a term, for [each of] you, at the conclusion of which you die. A term is stated, fixed, with Him, for your resurrection; yet thereafter you, O disbelievers, doubt, you are uncertain about the Resurrection, when you know that it was He Who initiated your creation, and One Who has the power to initiate [creation], is even more capable of bringing you back [to life after death].

Verse 3

He is God, the One worthy of being worshipped, in the heavens and in the earth. He knows your secrets and your utterance, what you keep secret and what you utter openly among yourselves, and He knows what you earn, what you do of good and evil.

Verse 4

Not a verse (min āya: min introduces a relative clause) of the verses of their Lord, in the Qur’ān, comes to them, that is, [to] the Meccans, but they turn away from it.

Verse 5

They denied the truth, the Qur’ān, when it came to them, but there shall come to them the news, the consequences, of what they were mocking.

Verse 6

Have they not seen, in their travels to Syria and to other places, how many, (kam is predicative [and not interrogative], meaning ‘many’) a generation, [how many] a community of past communities, We destroyed before them; We established them, We assigned them an [established] place, in the earth, through strength and abundance, as We have not established, [as] We have [not] assigned, you (there is a shift in the address here from third person [to second]); and how We unleashed the heaven, the rain, upon them in torrents, one torrent after another, and made the rivers to flow beneath them?, beneath their dwellings. Then We destroyed them because of their sins, because of their denial of the prophets; and We raised up after them another generation.

Verse 7

And had We revealed to you a Scripture, inscribed, on parchment, as they requested, and had they then touched it with their hands — this is more powerful than saying, ‘had they seen it with their eyes’, since it [touch] is more effective in eliminating doubt; the disbelievers would have said, in disobedience and obduracy: ‘This is nothing but manifest sorcery’.

Verse 8

And they say, ‘Why has an angel not been sent down to him?’, to Muhammad (s), to confirm his truthfulness; yet had We sent down an angel, as they have requested and if they then did not believe, the matter, that they be destroyed, would have been decreed, and then they would not be given any respite, they would [not] be given any extra time for repentance or an excuse, as is God’s custom [in dealing] with those before them, destroying them when they disbelieve after their request is granted.

Verse 9

And had We appointed him, the one who is sent down to them, an angel, We would assuredly have made him, the angel, a man, that is, [We would have sent him] in the form of a man, so that they would be able to see him, since no human being is capable of seeing an angel; and, had We sent him down and made him a man, We would have assuredly confused, obscured, for them what they are confusing, for themselves, when they say, ‘This is but a mere mortal like the rest of you’.

Verse 10

And messengers were indeed mocked before you — this is meant as a consolation for the Prophet, (s) — but those who scoffed at them were encompassed by that which they mocked, namely, [by the] punishment [sent down on them]: those who mock you will be encompassed likewise.

Verse 11

Say, to them: ‘Travel in the land, and see the nature of the consequence for the deniers’, of the messengers, how they were destroyed through chastisement; perhaps they will take heed.

Verse 12

Say: ‘To whom belongs what is in the heavens and in the earth?’ Say: ‘To God, for even if they do not say this, there is no other response. He has prescribed, He has decreed, for Himself mercy, as a bounty from Him — this is a gentle summoning of them to the faith. He will surely gather you together on the Day of Resurrection of which there is no doubt, no uncertainty, in order to requite you for your deeds. Those who have forfeited their own souls (this is the subject) — by exposing them to the chastisement — they do not believe (this is the predicate).

Verse 13

And to Him, exalted be He, belongs all that inhabits, resides [in], the night and the day, that is to say, everything — He is its Lord, its Creator and its Possessor; and He is the Hearer, of what is said, the Knower’, of what is done.

Verse 14

Say, to them: ‘Shall I take as a protector, to worship, other than God, the Originator of the heavens and the earth, the One Who has created them without any precedent, He Who feeds, Who gives sustenance, and is not fed?’, and is not given sustenance. Say: ‘I have been commanded to be the first to submit, to God, from among this community, and, it was said to me: “Do not be among those who associate others” ’, with Him.

Verse 15

Say: ‘Indeed I fear, if I should rebel against my Lord, by worshipping other than Him, the chastisement of a dreadful day’, namely, the Day of Resurrection.

Verse 16

He from whom it is averted (read passive yusraf, ‘it is averted’, namely, ‘the chastisement’; or read active yasrif, ‘He averts’, namely, ‘God’ [as the subject]; the referential noun has been omitted) on that day, He, the Exalted One, will have had mercy on him, He will have desired good for him; that is the manifest triumph, evident salvation.

Verse 17

And if God touches you with an affliction, a trial, such as an illness or impoverishment, then none can remove it, [none can] lift it, except Him; and if He touches you with good, such as health and affluence, then He has power over all things, including His touching you with this, and none other than Him has the power to remove it from you.

Verse 18

He is the Vanquisher, the Omnipotent, for Whom nothing is impossible, Superior [is He], over His servants, and He is the Wise, in His creation, the Aware, of their innermost [thoughts] as well as their outward [actions].

Verse 19

When they said to the Prophet (s), ‘Bring us someone to testify to the truth of your prophethood, for the People of the Scripture have denied you’, the following was revealed: Say, to them: ‘What thing is greatest in testimony?’ (shahādatan: this is for specification, and is derived from the [implied] subject of the sentence). Say: ‘God — even if they do not say this, there is no other response — He, is Witness between me and you, to my truthfulness; and this Qur’ān has been revealed to me that I may warn you, [that I may] make you fear, O people of Mecca, thereby, and whomever it may reach (wa-man balagha: this is a supplement to the [suffixed] pronoun [‘you’] of undhira-kum, ‘I may warn you’), that is to say, whomever among men and jinn the Qur’ān may reach. Do you indeed bear witness that there are other gods with God?’ (this interrogative is meant as a disavowal). Say, to them: ‘I do not bear witness’, to this. Say: ‘He is only One God, and I am innocent of what you associate’, with Him of idols.

Verse 20

Those to whom We have given the Scripture recognise him, that is, Muhammad (s), by the descriptions of him in their Scripture, as they recognise their sons; those, of them, who have forfeited their own souls do not believe, in him.

Verse 21

And who, that is, none, does greater evil than he who invents a lie against God, by ascribing to Him an associate, or denies His signs?, the Qur’ān; it is verily the case that, they the evildoers shall not prosper, on account of this.

Verse 22

And, mention, on the day We shall gather them all together, then We shall say, in rebuke, to those who associated other gods with God, ‘Where are those associates of yours whom you were claiming?’, to be associates of God?

Verse 23

Then their dissension (read accusative fitnatahum or nominative fitnatuhum) their apology, was (read lam takun or lam yakun) only to say, in other words, [was only] their saying, ‘By God, our Lord (read rabbinā as an adjective of [wa’Llāhi, ‘by God’], or rabbanā as a vocative) we were never idolaters’.

Verse 24

God, exalted be He, says: See, O Muhammad (s), how they lie against themselves, by denying that their idolatry, and how that which they were forging, against God, in the way of associates, has failed, is absent [before], them!

Verse 25

And there are some of them who listen to you, when you recite, and We have placed veils, covers, upon their hearts so that they do not understand it, [so that] they [do not] comprehend the Qur’ān; and in their ears a heaviness, a deafness, so that they do not hear it with a willingness to accept it. And if they were to see every sign, they would not believe in it, so that when they come to you to argue with you, the disbelievers say, ‘This, Qur’ān, is nothing but the fables, the lies, of the ancients’, similar to [their] jokes and strange tales (asātīr, ‘fables’, is the plural of ustūra).

Verse 26

And, to people, they forbid it, the following of the Prophet (s), and keep away from it, and so they do not believe in him: it is said that this was revealed regarding Abū Tālib, who used to forbid [people from] hurting him, but did not [himself] believe in him; and it is only themselves they destroy, when they keep away from him, because the harm thereof will befall them, but they do not perceive, this.

Verse 27

If you, O Muhammad (s), could see when they are made to stand, [when] they are exposed, before the Fire, and they say, ‘Oh (yā is for exclamation) would that we might be returned, to the world; then we would not deny the signs of our Lord, but we would be among the believers!’ (read nukadhdhibu and nakūnu as a new [independent] sentence; or read nukadhdhiba and nakūna as the [subjunctive] response to the optative [clause]; or read nukadhdhibu and nakūna). The response to the clause ‘if [you could see]’ would be ‘you would be seeing a terrible thing indeed’.

Verse 28

God, exalted be He, says: Nay — [here used] in order to reject the desire to believe implied by the optative [exclamation] — that which they used to conceal, to hide, before, by their saying, By God, our Lord, we were never idolaters! [Q. 6:23]) has now become evident to them, as their limbs have borne witness [against them], and so they [now] wish for that [mentioned in the previous verse]; and even if, hypothetically, they were returned, to the world, they would return to that which they are forbidden, of idolatry; they are truly liars, when they promise that they would believe [if they were to be returned].

Verse 29

And they, those who deny the Resurrection, say, ‘There is no other, life, than our present life; we shall not be resurrected’.

Verse 30

If you could see when they are made to stand, [when they are] presented, before their Lord, you would certainly see an awesome thing! He will say, to them, by the tongue of the angels, in rebuke: ‘Is this, resurrection and reckoning, not the truth?’ They will say, ‘Yes indeed, by our Lord’, it is the truth! He will say, ‘Then taste the chastisement because you disbelieved’, during life on earth.

Verse 31

They indeed are losers who deny the encounter with God, through resurrection, until (hattā is purposive to expose the [extent of their] mendacity) when the Hour, the Resurrection, comes upon them suddenly, they shall say, ‘Alas for us (yā hasratanā, ‘O grief of ours’, expresses extreme suffering, the [vocative] call to which is figurative, meaning ‘Now is the time for you [O grief], so come forth!’) that we neglected it!’, the worldly life. On their backs they shall be bearing their burdens, so that these come to them at the Resurrection in the vilest of forms and with the most putrid of smells, and they ride them. Ah, evil is that, burden of theirs, which they bear!

Verse 32

The life of this world, that is, preoccupation with it, is nothing but a game and a diversion, while obedience and what is conducive to it are of the things of the Hereafter; surely the abode of the Hereafter (wa-la’l-dāru is also read wa-la-dāru’l-ākhirati), namely, Paradise, is better for those who fear idolatry. What, do they not understand? this, and so believe? (read a-fa-lā ya‘qilūna, ‘do they not understand’, or a-fa-lā ta‘qilūna, ‘do you not understand?’).

Verse 33

We know indeed (qad is a confirmative particle) that it grieves you that, matter, which they say, to you, in denial; yet it is not that they deny you, in secret, for they know that you are truthful (a variant reading [for lā yukadhdhibūnaka, ‘not [that] they deny you’] has lā yukdhibūnak, that is to say, ‘they do not associate you with mendacity’) but evildoers (al-zālimīn replaces the previous pronominalisation [‘they’]) knowingly reject, deny, the signs of God, the Qur’ān.

Verse 34

Messengers indeed have been denied before you — herein is a consolation for the Prophet (s) — yet they endured patiently the denial and the persecution until Our victorious help came to them, through the destruction of their peoples, so be patient until the victorious help comes to you through the destruction of your people. There is none to change the words of God, His promises, and there has already come to you tidings of the messengers, [tidings] through which your heart can be at peace.

Verse 35

And if their aversion, to Islam, is grievous, [too] great, for you, on account of your concern for them, then, if you can, seek out a hole, an underground passage, in the earth, or a ladder, a stairway, to heaven, that you may bring them a sign, from among those they have requested, then go ahead: the meaning is that you will not be able to do this, so be patient until God delivers His judgement — but had God willed, to guide them, He would have gathered them together in guidance, but He did not will this, and so they do not believe; so do not be among the ignorant, of this matter.

Verse 36

Only those who hear, in such a way so as to understand and take heed, will answer, your call to faith; as for the dead, that is, the disbelievers — they are likened to them on account of their inability to hear — God will resurrect them, in the Hereafter, and then to Him they will be returned, and He will requite them for their deeds.

Verse 37

And they, the disbelievers of Mecca, say, ‘Why has a sign not been sent down to him from his Lord?’, [a sign] such as the she-camel [of the prophet Sālih] or the staff [of Moses] or the Table [of Jesus]. Say, to them: ‘Surely God has the power to send down (read yunazzil or yunzil) a sign, from among those they have requested, but most of them do not know’, that its sending down would be a trial for them, for if they then [still] denied it, they would necessarily be destroyed.

Verse 38

There is no (mā min: min is extra) animal, that crawls, on the earth and no bird that flies, through the air, with its wings, but they are communities like to you, in the way that its creation has been ordained, together with its sustenance and affairs. We have neglected nothing (min shay’: min is extra) in the Book, in the Preserved Tablet (al-lawh al-mahfūz), [nothing] that We have not written; then to their Lord they shall be gathered, and judgement shall be passed upon them, and the hornless sheep shall retaliate against the horned ram, and then it will be said to them [the animals], ‘Be dust’.

Verse 39

And those who deny Our signs, the Qur’ān, are deaf, to hearing them in such a way so as to accept [them], and dumb, [unable] to utter truth, in darkness, in unbelief. He whom God wills, to send astray, He sends astray, and whom He wills, to guide, He sets him on a straight path, [a straight] road, the religion of Islam.

Verse 40

Say, O Muhammad (s), to the Meccans: ‘Do you see yourselves, [that is] inform me, if God’s chastisement comes upon you, in this world, or the Hour, the Resurrection, which includes this [chastisement], comes upon you, suddenly, will ye call upon any other than God? No! If you speak truly!’, that the idols can benefit you, then call upon them.

Verse 41

Nay; upon Him, and upon none other, you will call, in [times of] tribulation, and He will remove that which you call upon Him, to remove from you, such things as suffering, if He wills, to remove it, and you will forget, you will neglect, what you associate with Him, of idols and will not call them.

Verse 42

Indeed We sent to communities before you (min qablika: min is extra), messengers, but they denied them, and We seized them with misery, abject poverty, and hardship, illness, so that they might be humble, abased, that they might believe.

Verse 43

If only, when Our might, Our punishment, came upon them, they had been humble, in other words, they were not so, even though the necessitating factor was there. But their hearts were hard, and would not yield to faith, and Satan adorned for them what they were doing, in the way of disobedient acts, and so they persisted in them.

Verse 44

So, when they forgot, [when] they neglected, that whereof they were reminded, that with which they were admonished and threatened, in the way of misery and hardship; and they did not heed the admonition, We opened (read fatahnā or fattahnā) to them the gates of all things, in the way of graces, in order to draw them on by degrees, until, when they rejoiced in what they were given, a wanton rejoicing, We seized them suddenly, with chastisement, and lo! they were confounded, despairing of anything good.

Verse 45

So the last remnant of the people who did evil was cut off, by having them annihilated. Praise be to God, Lord of the Worlds, for giving victory to the messengers and destroying the disbelievers.

Verse 46

Say, to the people of Mecca: ‘Have you considered, inform me, if God were to seize your hearing, [if] He were to make you deaf, and your sight, [if] He were to make you blind, and set, stamp, a seal upon your hearts, so that you no longer knew anything, who is the god other than God to give it back to you?’, that which He took away from you, as you [are wont to] claim? See how We dispense, [how] We make clear, the signs, the proofs of Our Oneness! Yet thereafter they are turning away, they reject them and do not believe.

Verse 47

Say, to them: ‘Have you considered for yourselves, if God’s chastisement were to come upon you, suddenly or openly?, at night or during the day; Would any be destroyed, except the evildoing, the unbelieving, folk?’ That is to say, none but these will be destroyed.

Verse 48

We do not send messengers, except as bearers of good tidings, to those who believe, [good tidings] of Paradise, and as warners, to those who disbelieve, [warning] of the Fire. Whoever believes, in them, and makes amends, in his deeds, no fear shall befall them, neither shall they grieve, in the Hereafter.

Verse 49

But those who deny Our signs, the chastisement shall afflict them because they were wicked, rebelling against obedience.

Verse 50

Say, to them: ‘I do not say to you, “I possess the treasure houses of God”, from which He provides sustenance; and I do not have knowledge of the Unseen, that which is hidden from me and has not been revealed to me. And I do not say to you, “I am an angel”, from among the angels; I only follow what is revealed to me.’ Say: ‘Is the blind man, the disbeliever, equal to the seeing man, the believer? No! Will you not then reflect’ upon this and believe?

Verse 51

And warn, threaten, therewith, that is, [with] the Qur’ān, those who fear they shall be gathered to their Lord: apart from Him, other than Him, they have no protector, to help them, and no intercessor, to intercede for them (the negative sentence stands as a circumstantial qualifier referring to the subject of [the verb] yuhsharū, ‘they shall be gathered’, and constitutes the object of [what they] fear) — the sinning believers are meant here; so that they might be wary, of God, by desisting from what they engage in and performing deeds of obedience.

Verse 52

And do not drive away those who call upon their Lord at morning and evening desiring, through their worship, His countenance, exalted be He, and not [desiring] any of the transient things of this world — and these are the poor. The idolaters had reviled them and demanded that he [the Prophet] expel them, so that they could sit with him. The Prophet (s) wanted [to do] this, because of his desire that they become Muslims. You are not accountable for them in anything (min shay’in: min is extra), if what they hide in themselves be displeasing; nor are they accountable for you in anything, that you should drive them away (this is the response to the negative sentence) and be of the evildoers, if you do this.

Verse 53

And even so We have tried, We have tested, some of them by others, that is, the noble one by the commoner, the rich man by the poor man, preferring the [latter] one by giving [him] precedence in [attaining] faith, so that they, the noble ones and the rich, may say, in disavowal, ‘Are these, the poor, the ones whom God has favoured from among us?’, with guidance? In other words [so that they may say]: if what they follow is [true] guidance, they would not have preceded us [in attaining it]. God, exalted be He, says: Is God not best aware of those who are thankful?, to Him, to guide them? Indeed [He is].

Verse 54

And when those who believe in Our signs come to you, say, to them: ‘Peace be upon you. Your Lord has prescribed, He has decreed, for Himself mercy, to the effect that, truly (innahu, ‘truly’, may also be read as annahu, ‘that’, as a substitution for al-rahma, ‘mercy’) whoever of you does evil in ignorance, of it when he did it, and repents thereafter, after his [evil] deed, [repents] of it, and makes amends, in his actions — truly He, God, is Forgiving, Merciful’, towards him (a variant reading [for innahu, ‘truly He’] has annahu, ‘then He’), in other words, forgiveness shall be for him.

Verse 55

And thus, in the same way that We have explained what has been mentioned, We distinguish, We expound, the signs, the Qur’ān, so that truth becomes manifest and is implemented in [people’s] deeds, and that the way, the path, of the sinners may be become clear, evident, and hence avoided (wa-li-yastabīna may also be read wa-li-tastabīna, ‘that you may discern’, with sabīla, ‘the way’, read in the accusative [as opposed to the nominative, sabīlu], implying a direct address to the Prophet [s]).

Verse 56

Say: ‘Truly I have been forbidden to worship those whom you call upon, [those whom] you worship, besides God.’ Say: ‘I shall not follow your whims, by worshipping them, for then, if I did follow them, verily I would have gone astray and I would not be of the rightly guided’.

Verse 57

Say: ‘I am upon a clear proof, a [clear] statement, from my Lord, and you have, already, denied Him, my Lord, when you associated others with Him. I do not have that which you seek to hasten, of the chastisement; the judgement, in this matter and in [all] others, is God’s alone. He decrees the, judgement of, truth, and He is the Best of Deciders’, [the Best of] Judges (a variant reading [for yaqdī, ‘He decrees’] has yaqussu, that is, ‘He relates [the truth]’).

Verse 58

Say, to them: ‘If I did have what you seek to hasten, the matter between you and me would have been decided, by my hastening it for you, so that I might find rest; but God has it; and God knows best the evildoers’, and when to punish them.

Verse 59

And with Him, exalted be He, are the keys of the Unseen, its treasure houses, or the paths that lead to knowledge of it; none but He knows them, and these are the five things mentioned in His saying: Surely God, He has knowledge of the Hour [and He sends down the rain and He knows what is in the wombs. And no soul knows what it has earned for the morrow; nor does any soul know in what land it will die. Truly God is Knowing, Aware, Q. 31:34], as reported by al-Bukhārī. He knows what is, happening, on land, [in] the deserts, and in the waters, [in] the towns along the rivers; and not a leaf (min waraqatin: min is extra) falls, but He knows it. Not a grain in the shadows of the earth, nothing of wet or dry ([this entire clause] wa-lā habbatin fī zulumāti l-ardi wa-lā ratbin wa-lā yābisin is a supplement to waraqatin, ‘a leaf’) but it is in a clear book, namely, the Preserved Tablet (al-lawh al-mahfūz). The exceptive clause [illā fī kitābin mubīn, ‘but it is in a clear book’] constitutes an inclusive substitution for the previous exceptive clause [illā ya‘lamuhā, ‘but He knows it’].

Verse 60

It is He Who takes you at night, seizing your spirits during sleep, and He knows what you commit, [what] you earn, by day. Then He raises you up therein, that is, in the daytime, by restoring your spirits, so that an appointed term, namely, the term of life, may be accomplished; and afterward to Him is your return, through resurrection. Then He will inform you of what you used to do, and so requite you for it.

Verse 61

He is the Vanquisher, Superior, over His servants. And He sends guardians over you, angels, to record your deeds, until, when death approaches one of you, Our messengers, the angels charged with the seizing of the spirits, take him (tawaffathu; a variant reading has tawaffāhu) and they neglect not, they do not fall short of what they have been commanded.

Verse 62

Then they, creatures, are restored to God their Protector, their Possessor, the True, the Eternal, the Just, so that He might requite them. Surely His is the judgement, the decree that will be carried out in their case. He is the swiftest of reckoners, reckoning with the whole of creation in half a day of the days of this world, on the basis of a hadīth to this effect.

Verse 63

Say, O Muhammad (s), to the people of Mecca: ‘Who delivers you from the darkness of the land and the sea, [from] their terrors, during your journeys? When, you call upon Him openly and secretly, saying: “Verily, if (la-in, the lām is for oaths) You, God, deliver us (anjaytanā, is also read anjānā, ‘[if] He delivers us’), from this, darkness and hardship, we shall truly be among the thankful”’, the believers.

Verse 64

Say, to them: ‘God delivers you (read yunjīkum or yunajjīkum) from that and from every distress, [from every] other anxiety. Yet you associate others with Him’.

Verse 65

Say: ‘He has the power to send forth upon you a chastisement from above you, from the heaven, such as stones [cf. Q. 8:32] or a Cry [cf. Q. 11:67], or from beneath your feet, such as the causing of the earth to cave in [cf. Q. 29:40], or to confound you, to confuse you, in parties, sects with differing whims, and to make you taste the violence of one another’, through fighting. When this [verse] was revealed, the Prophet (s) said, ‘This [chastisement etc.] is easier and lighter’; but when the last statement was revealed, he said, ‘I seek refuge with Your Countenance!’, as reported by al-Bukhārī. Muslim reports the [following] hadīth: ‘I requested from my Lord not to make my community violent towards each other, but He denied me this [request]’. In another hadīth, when it was revealed, he [is reported to have] said, ‘As for this, it will surely come to pass, even though its proper meaning has not yet come’. See how We dispense, [how] We clarify for them, the signs, the proofs of Our power, that perhaps they might understand, that they might realise that what they follow is falsehood.

Verse 66

Your people have denied it, the Qur’ān. Yet it is the truth. Say, to them: ‘I am not a guardian over you, to requite you. I am only a warner and your affair is left to God — this was [revealed] before the command to fight [the idolaters].

Verse 67

Every tiding, [every] announcement, has a conclusion, a [fixed] time in which it will take place and be concluded, including [the tiding concerning] your punishment. And you will come to know’ — this is a threat for them.

Verse 68

When you see those who engage in discourse about Our signs, the Qur’ān, in mockery, turn away from them, and do not sit with them, until they discourse on some other topic. And if (immā: the letter nūn of the conditional particle in has been assimilated with the extra mā) Satan should make you forget (read yunsiyannaka or yunassiyannaka), and you sit with them, then do not sit, after the reminder, that is, [after] you remember, with the evildoing folk (the overt noun [al-qawm al-zālimīn, ‘the evildoing folk’] replaces the [third person] pronominalisation).

Verse 69

The Muslims then said, ‘If we get up [and leave] every time they delve [into the matter of the Qur’ān], we would never be able to sit in the Mosque or perform circumambulations. Therefore, the following was revealed: Those who fear God, are not accountable for them, [for] those who discourse [in mockery], in anything (min shay’in: min is extra), if they should sit with them; but it is the reminder, that they are accountable for; [a reminder given] to make them remember and to admonish them, so that perhaps they will be wary, of discoursing thus.

Verse 70

And forsake, leave alone, those who take their religion, with which they have been charged, as a game and a diversion, making a mockery of it, and whom the life of this world has deluded, and so do not interfere with them — this was [revealed] before the command to fight [them]. Remind, admonish people, thereby, by the Qur’ān, lest a soul perish, [lest] it be given up for destruction, for what it has earned, what it has done; it has no protector, [no] helper, besides God, other than Him, and no intercessor, to ward off the chastisement from it; and though it offer every compensation, [though] it pay every ransom, it shall not be accepted from it, that which it offers as ransom. Those are the ones who perish by what they have earned; for them shall be a draught of boiling water and a painful chastisement, because they disbelieved, that is, for their unbelief.

Verse 71

Say: ‘Shall we call upon, shall we worship, instead of God, that which neither profits us, if we worship them, nor hurts us, if we neglect [to worship] them — these are the idols; and so be turned back, [and so] return to idolatry, after God has guided us, to Islam? — Like one whom the devils have lured, led astray, in the earth, bewildered, confused, not knowing where to go (hayrān, ‘bewildered’, is a circumstantial qualifier referring to the [suffixed pronoun] hā’ [of istahwat-hu, ‘whom they have lured’]); he has companions, a group, who call him to guidance, that is to say, [they are there] in order to guide him to the [right] path, saying to him: “Come to us!”’, but he does not respond to them, and he perishes (the interrogative statement is meant as a disavowal; the comparative statement [beginning with ka’lladhī, ‘like one whom’] is a circumstantial qualifier referring to the subject [of the verb] nuraddu, ‘be turned back’). Say: ‘Truly, God’s guidance, which is Islam, is [the true] guidance, everything else being error, and we have been commanded to submit to the Lord of the Worlds,

Verse 72

and to, that is, [to submit] by, establishing prayer and fearing Him, exalted be He; He it is to Whom you shall be gathered’, you shall be brought together, on the Day of Resurrection for reckoning.

Verse 73

He it is Who created the heavens and the earth in truth, that is to say, with the purpose of [manifesting] truth. And, mention, the day He says, to a thing, ‘Be’, and it is — this is the Day of Resurrection, when He says to creatures, ‘Rise up’, and they do. His words are the truth, the truth that will doubtless come to pass; and His is the Kingdom the day when the trumpet, the horn, is blown, the second blast by [the angel] Isrāfīl, when there shall be no kingdom for any other than Him: ‘Whose is the Kingdom today? God’s’ [Q. 40:16]. He is the Knower of the Unseen and the visible, what is hidden and what may be seen. He is the Wise, in His creation, the Aware, of things inwardly hidden and outwardly manifest.

Verse 74

And, mention, when Abraham said to his father Āzar, which was his cognomen, his [first] name being Terah (Tārikh): ‘Do you take idols as gods, to worship? (an interrogative meant as a rebuke). I see you and your people, by [this act of] taking them [as gods], in manifest error’, far from the truth.

Verse 75

And so, just as We show him the misguidance of his father and his people, We show Abraham the kingdom of the heavens and the earth, that he might infer thereby [the truth of] Our Oneness, and that he might be of those knowing, it, with certainty (the sentence beginning with wa-kadhālika, ‘and so’, and what follows it, is a parenthetical statement and a supplement to [the one beginning with] qāla, ‘he said’).

Verse 76

When night descended, [when] it darkened, upon him he saw a star — said to have been Venus — and said, to his people, who were astrologers: ‘This is my Lord’, as you [are wont to] claim. But when it set, when it disappeared, he said, ‘I love not those that set’, to take them as lords, because it is not possible for a [true] Lord to be transformed or to change place, as such [attributes] pertain to accidents — but this had no effect on them.

Verse 77

And when he saw the moon rising, appearing, he said, to them: ‘This is my Lord.’ But when it set he said, ‘Unless my Lord guides me, [unless] He establishes me within [true] guidance, I shall surely become one of the folk who are astray’ — an intimation to his people that they are astray, but still this had no effect on them.

Verse 78

And when he saw the sun rising, he said, ‘This is my Lord; this is greater!’ than the star and the moon (the masculine [demonstrative pronoun] hādhā, ‘this’, is used [for the feminine shams, ‘sun’] because the predicate [rabbī, ‘my Lord’] is masculine). But when it set, and the argument against them had become stronger and they still had not repented, he said, ‘O my people, surely I am innocent of what you associate, with God, in the way of idols and accidental bodies, which require an originator. They then asked him, ‘What do you worship?’

Verse 79

He said: Verily I have turned my face to, I am seeking in worship, Him Who originated, created, the heavens and the earth, namely, God; a hanīf, inclining towards the upright religion, and I am not of those that associate others’, with Him.

Verse 80

But his people disputed with him, they argued with him about his religion and threatened him that the idols would strike him with evil if he abandoned them. He said, ‘Do you dispute with me (read a-tuhājjūnnī, or a-tuhājūnī where one of the two letters nūn is omitted, the nūn which grammarians refer to as nūn al-raf‘, ‘the nūn of [modal] independence’, and which the Qur’ānic reciters refer to as nūn al-wiqāya, ‘the nūn of preservation’); do you argue with me, concerning, the Oneness of, God when He, exalted be He, has guided me, to it? I have no fear of what you associate with Him, in the way of idols, that they might strike me with some evil, since they have no power to do anything, unless my Lord wills something, harmful to befall me and it does. My Lord encompasses all things through His knowledge; will you not remember, this and believe?

Verse 81

How should I fear what you have associated, with God, when it can neither profit nor harm, and you fear not, God [in], that you have associated with God, in worship, that for which He has not revealed to you any warrant?’, [any] argument or proof, when He has power over all things. Which of the two parties has more right to security, is it us or you, if you have any knowledge, of who has more right? In other words: it is us, so follow Him. God, exalted be He, says:

Verse 82

Those who believe and have not confounded, mixed, their belief with evildoing, that is, idolatry — explained as such by a hadīth in the two Sahīhs [of Bukhārī and Muslim] — theirs is security, from chastisement; and they are rightly guided.

Verse 83

That (tilka is the subject [of the sentence] and is substituted by [the following hujjatunā]) argument of Ours, with which Abraham inferred God’s Oneness, as in the case of the setting stars and what came afterwards; (the predicate is [what follows]) We bestowed upon Abraham, We guided him to it, as an argument, against his people. We raise up in degrees whom We will (read this as [a genitive] annexation, darajāti man nashā’, or as [accusative] nunation, darajātin man nashā’), [degrees] in knowledge and wisdom; surely your Lord is Wise, in His actions, Knowing, of His creation.

Verse 84

And We bestowed upon him Isaac and, his son, Jacob; each one, of the two, We guided. And Noah We guided before, that is, before Abraham, and of his seed, that is, Noah’s [seed], David and, his son, Solomon, and Job and Joseph, son of Jacob, and Moses and Aaron; and so, in the same way that We have requited them, We requite the virtuous.

Verse 85

And Zachariah and, his son, John, and Jesus, son of Mary — this shows that [the term] ‘seed’ (dhurriyya) can include offspring from the female [side] — and Elias, the paternal nephew of Aaron, brother of Moses; all, of them, were of the righteous.

Verse 86

And Ishmael, son of Abraham, and Elisha (Ilyasa‘, the lām is extra), and Jonah and Lot, son of Hārān, brother of Abraham, all, of them, We preferred above all the worlds, through prophethood.

Verse 87

And of their fathers, and of their seed, and of their brethren (this [clause] is a supplement either to [the previous] kullan, ‘all of them’, or to Nūhan, ‘Noah’; min, ‘of’, is partitive, because some of them did not have offspring, while others had disbelievers among their offspring); and We chose them and We guided them to a straight path.

Verse 88

That, religion to which they were guided, is God’s guidance wherewith He guides whom He will of His servants; had they, hypothetically speaking, been idolaters, all that they did would have been in vain.

Verse 89

They are the ones to whom We gave the Scripture, meaning the Books [of God], judgement, wisdom, and prophethood; so if these, people of Mecca, disbelieve therein, that is, in these three, then indeed We have entrusted it to, We have set aside for it, a people who do not disbelieve in it, namely, the Emigrants (Muhājirūn) and the Helpers (Ansār).

Verse 90

They are the ones whom God has guided; so follow their guidance, their way of affirming God’s Oneness and of [exercising] patience (read iqtadih, ‘follow’, with the silent hā’, whether pausing or continuing the recitation; a variant reading omits it in continuous recitation). Say, to the people of Mecca: ‘I do not ask of you, to give me, any wage for it, the Qur’ān; it, the Qur’ān, is only a reminder, an admonition, to all the worlds’, of mankind and jinn.

Verse 91

They, that is, the Jews, measured not God with His true measure, that is, they have not extended Him the grandeur that truly befits Him, or [it means] they have not attained the true knowledge of Him, when they said, to the Prophet (s), disputing with him about the Qur’ān: ‘God has not revealed anything to any mortal.’ Say, to them: ‘Who revealed the Book which Moses brought, a light and guidance for mankind? You put it (in all three instances [the verbs may be] read either in the third person plural [yaj‘alūnahu, ‘they put it’; yubdūnahā, ‘they reveal it’; wa-yukhfūna, ‘and they hide’] or in the second person plural [taj‘alūnahu, ‘you put it’; tubdūnahā, ‘you reveal it’; wa-tukhfūna, ‘and you hide’]) on parchments, that is, you write it down on fragments of notes, which you disclose, that is, what you choose to disclose thereof, but you hide much, of what is in them, as in [the case of] the descriptions of Muhammad (s); and you have been taught, O Jews, in the Qur’ān, what you did not know, neither you nor your fathers’, in the Torah, through the elucidation therein of what you were confused about and in disagreement over. Say: ‘God’, revealed it — and if they do not say it, there is no other response — then leave them to play in their discourse, their falsehood.

Verse 92

And this, Qur’ān, is a blessed Book We have revealed, confirming that which was before it, of scriptures, and that you may warn (li-tundhira, or read li-yundhira, ‘that it may warn’, as supplement to the import of the preceding statement [sc. ‘to confirm that which was before it and to warn’]), in other words, We have revealed it for [the] blessings [it gives], as a vindication [of previous scripture] and for you to warn therewith, the Mother of Towns and those around it, that is, the inhabitants of Mecca and all other people; and those who believe in the Hereafter believe in it, and they observe their prayers, fearing the punishment thereof.

Verse 93

And who, that is, none, does greater evil than he who invents lies against God, by claiming prophethood when he has not been called to it, or who says, ‘It is revealed to me’, when nothing has been revealed to him — this was revealed regarding [the false prophet] Musaylama [al-Kadhdhāb] — or he who says, ‘I will reveal the like of what God has revealed’? — these were the mockers who would say: If we wish we can speak the like of this [Q. 8:31]; If you could only see, O Muhammad (s), when the, mentioned, evildoers are in the agonies, the throes, of death and the angels extend their hands, against them, beating and torturing them, saying to them in stern censure: ‘Give up your souls!, to us that we may seize them. Today you shall be requited with the chastisement of humiliation because you used to say about God other than the truth, of claiming prophethood and inspiration falsely, and that you used to scorn His signs’, disdaining to believe in them. The response to the conditional [statement beginning with] law, ‘if [you could only see]’, is: ‘you would be seeing a terrifying thing’.

Verse 94

And, it is said to them upon their resurrection: ‘And now you have come to Us singly, each alone without family, possessions or children, as We created you the first time, that is, barefoot, naked and with foreskins, and you have left what We conferred on you, of wealth, behind your backs, in the world, without you having any choice; and — it is said to them in rebuke — We do not see with you your intercessors, the idols, whom you claimed to be associates, of God, amongst you, that is, in deserving your worship; it has been severed between you, that is to say, your bond has been dissolved (a variant reading [for baynukum, ‘your union’] has baynakum, ‘between you’, making it an adverbial qualifier, that is, the bond ‘between you’ [has been severed]’), and that, intercession of theirs, which you claimed, in the world, has failed, abandoned, you’.

Verse 95

God it is Who splits the grain, from the plants, and the date-stone, from the palm-trees. He brings forth the living from the dead, such as the human being from the sperm, and the bird from the egg; and is the Bringer-forth of the dead, the sperm and the egg, from the living. That, Splitter and Bringer-forth, is God. How then are you deluded?, so how then are you turned away from faith, despite the proof being established?

Verse 96

He is the Cleaver of the daybreak (al-isbāh is the verbal noun, meaning al-subh, ‘dawn’), in other words, He splits the morning shaft, the first light that appears after the darkness of night, and He has appointed the night for stillness, in which creatures rest from toil, and the sun and the moon (read both in the accusative, wa’l-shamsa wa’l-qamara, as a supplement to the [syntactical] status of al-layla, ‘the night’) for reckoning, for the calculation of [periods of] time (or [if the prefixed preposition] bā’ is [considered to have been] omitted [bi-husbān], making it [husbān] a circumstantial qualifier referring to an implied verb [such as yajriyān, ‘they follow courses’], that is, ‘they follow courses precisely calculated [bi-husbān]’, as is stated in the verse of [sūrat] al-Rahmān [Q. 55:5]).That, mentioned, is the ordaining of the Mighty, in His kingdom, the Knowing, of His creation.

Verse 97

And He it is Who appointed for you the stars that you may guide your course by them amid the darkness of land and sea, when travelling. Verily We have distinguished, We have elucidated, the signs, the proofs of Our power, for a people who have knowledge, [a people] who reflect.

Verse 98

And He it is Who produced you, created you, from a single soul, namely, Adam, such that some, of you, are established, in the womb, and some, of you, are deposited, in the loins (a variant reading [of mustaqirrun, ‘established’] has mustaqarrun, that is, a resting place for you). Verily We have distinguished the signs for a people who understand, what is being said to them.

Verse 99

And He it is Who sent down water from the heaven and therewith, with the water, We bring forth (there is a shift away from the third [to the second person in this address]) plants of every kind, that produces shoots, and therefrom, from the shoots, We bring forth, some, verdure, meaning ‘the greens’ [in other words, vegetation], bringing forth from it, from the verdure, thick-clustered grain, in dense clusters — such as the spikes of wheat and the like — and from the palm-tree (wa-mina’l-nakhli is the predicate, and is substituted by [the following, min tal‘ihā, ‘from its pollen’]) from its pollen — that which is the first to be produced by it — spring bunches of dates (qinwānun is the subject of the sentence), stalks with date clusters, bunched up, one near the other, and, We bring forth from it, gardens, orchards, of grapes, and olives, and pomegranates, the leaves of both [of these] being, similar (mushtabihan is a circumstantial qualifier), but, the fruits of which are, not alike. Look, O you addressed, in reflection, upon their fruits (read thamarihi or thumurihi, the plural of thamara, like shajara, ‘tree’, [as plural of] shajar, and khashaba, ‘[a piece of] wood’, for khashab) when they have borne fruit, when this first begins, how it looks, and, [look] upon, their ripening, after they have reached full growth, and the state to which they return. Surely, in all that are signs, proofs of His power, exalted be He, to resurrect and to do all other things, for a people who believe: it is these [people] that are specifically mentioned because they are the ones to profit from those [signs] by their believing in them, in contrast to the disbelievers.

Verse 100

Yet they ascribe to God (li’Llāhi, the indirect object) as associates (shurakā’a, the direct object, which is substituted by [the following, al-jinn]) the jinn, since they obey them by worshipping graven images, even though He created them: so how can they be associates? And they falsely impute to Him (read kharaqū or kharraqū), that is, they invent, sons and daughters without any knowledge, saying, Ezra (‘Uzayr) is the son of God, and the angels are the daughters of God. Glory be to Him — an affirmation of His transcendence — and exalted be He above what they describe!, of Him having a child.

Verse 101

He is, the Originator of the heavens and the earth, which He originated uniquely without precedent; how should He have a son, when He has no consort, spouse, and He created everything, that was meant to be created, and He has knowledge of all things?

Verse 102

That then is God, your Lord. There is no god but Him, the Creator of all things. So worship Him, affirm His Oneness. And He is Guardian over, [He is] Keeper of, all things.

Verse 103

Vision cannot attain Him, that is, they [the eyes] cannot see Him — this is [a denial that applies] in particular [circumstances], since [it is accepted] that the believer will see Him in the Hereafter, as indicated by God’s words, On that Day faces shall be radiant, gazing upon their Lord [Q. 75:22f.], and by the hadīth of the two Shaykhs [Bukhārī and Muslim]: ‘Verily you shall see your Lord, as clearly as you see the full moon at night’) — and it is also said [to mean] that it [vision] cannot encompass Him; but He attains [all] vision, that is to say, He perceives them, whereas they cannot perceive Him; it is not possible in [the case of] anyone other than Him to attain all vision while it [vision] cannot attain Him or encompass Him in knowledge. And He is the Subtle, [in dealing] with His friends, the Aware, of them.

Verse 104

Say, O Muhammad (s), to them: Clear proofs have come to you from your Lord; whoever perceives, them and believes, then it is for his own good, that he has perceived [them], since the reward resulting from his perception will be his; and whoever is blind, to them and goes astray, then it, the evil consequence of his being astray, will be to his own hurt. And I am not a keeper, a watcher, over you, of your deeds: I am but a warner.

Verse 105

And so, in the same way that We have explained what has been mentioned, We dispense, We elucidate, the signs, that they might take heed, and that they, the disbelievers, may say, at the end of this: ‘You have studied with someone’, that you have consulted with (dārasta) the People of the Scripture or [that] you have studied (darasta, variant reading) the scriptures of past peoples and brought this [Qur’ān] therefrom; and that We may make it clear for a people who have knowledge.

Verse 106

Follow what has been revealed to you from your Lord, namely, the Qur’ān. There is no god but Him; and turn away from the idolaters.

Verse 107

Had God willed, they would not have been idolaters; and We have not set you as a keeper over them, a watcher, so that you might then requite them for their deeds; nor are you a guardian over them, so that you might [be able to] coerce them to faith — this was [revealed] before the command to fight [them].

Verse 108

Do not revile those whom they call upon, besides God, namely, the idols, lest they then revile God out of spite, out of aggression and wrongfully, through ignorance, that is, through their ignorance of God. So, in the same way that We have adorned for these that which they practise, We have adorned for every community their, good and evil, deeds, and they commit them; then to their Lord they shall return, in the Hereafter, and He will tell them what they used to do, and requite them for it.

Verse 109

They, that is, the disbelievers of Mecca, have sworn by God the most earnest oaths that if there came to them a sign, of what they requested, they will believe in it. Say, to them: ‘Signs are only with God’, and He sends them down as [and when] He wills; I am but a warner. But what will make you realise?, how would you know if they have believed, if these [signs] did come [to them]? In other words, you would not know this; truly, when they come, they will not believe, because of what I already know (a variant reading [for lā yu’minūna, ‘they will not believe’] has lā tu’minūna, ‘you will not believe’, making the address to the disbelievers; another [variant reading] has annahā [instead of innahā, ‘that truly’] as meaning la‘alla, ‘that perhaps’, or as governed by the preceding clause [la’in jā’athum āyatun, ‘if there came to them a sign’).

Verse 110

And We shall confound their hearts, We shall turn their hearts away from the truth, so that they cannot understand it, and their eyes, away from it, so that they do not see it and thus do not believe; just as they did not believe in it, that is, in the verses that have been revealed, the first time; and We shall leave them in their insolence, in their misguidance, wandering blindly, hesitating, perplexed.

Verse 111

And if We had sent down the angels to them, and the dead had spoken with them, as they have requested, and We had gathered against them all things in droves (read qubulan, plural of qabīl, meaning ‘throng upon throng’, or read qibalan, meaning ‘before their very eyes’), and they were witness to your truthfulness, yet they would not have believed, as God already knows, unless God willed, that they believe and they did; but most of them are ignorant, of this.

Verse 112

And so We have appointed to every Prophet an enemy, just as We have appointed these your enemies (and this [‘adūwwan, ‘an enemy’, is substituted by [the following, shayātīn, ‘devils’]) devils, the rebels, of mankind and jinn who inspire, whisper, fine speech to each other, the falsehood that is disguised as such [fine speech], in delusion, that is, in order to delude them; yet, had your Lord willed, they would never have done it, that mutual inspiration. So leave them, let the disbelievers be, with what they fabricate, of disbelief and otherwise, of what has been adorned for them — this was [revealed] before the command to fight [them].

Verse 113

And that the hearts of those who do not believe in the Hereafter may incline to it (wa-li-tasghā is a supplement to [the above] ghurūran, ‘in delusion’), that is, [to] that fine [speech], and that they may be pleased with it, and that they may acquire, earn, what they are acquiring, of sins, and be punished for it.

Verse 114

The following was revealed when they asked the Prophet (s) to appoint an arbiter between him and themselves. Say: Shall I seek, demand, other than God as a judge, an arbiter between you and me, when it is He Who revealed to you the Book, the Qur’ān, clearly explained?, wherein truth is distinguished from falsehood. Those to whom We have given the Scripture, the Torah, the likes of ‘Abd Allāh b. Salām and his companions, know that it is revealed (read munzal or munazzal) from your Lord in truth; so do not be of the waverers, the doubters, regarding it: this is intended to affirm to the disbelievers that it is the truth.

Verse 115

Perfected is the word of your Lord, in the way of rulings and appointed terms, in truthfulness and justice (sidqan wa-‘adlan is for specification); none can change His words, either by contravening [His rulings] or evading [His appointed terms]. He is the Hearing, of what is said, the Knowing, of what is done.

Verse 116

If you obey most of those on earth, that is, the disbelievers, they will lead you astray from the way of God, [from] His religion; they follow only supposition, when they dispute with you concerning [the status of] carrion, saying: ‘What God has killed is more worthy of your consumption than what you kill yourselves!’; they are merely guessing, speaking falsehood in this [matter].

Verse 117

Your Lord knows best those who stray from His way and He knows well the rightly guided, and will requite both of them.

Verse 118

So eat from that over which God’s Name has been invoked, that is, [that which] has been sacrificed to His Name, if you believe in His signs.

Verse 119

What is wrong with you, that you do not eat from that over which God’s Name has been invoked, of sacrifices, when He has detailed (for both verbs, read the passive [fussila, ‘it has been detailed’, and hurrima, ‘[that which] has been forbidden’] or the active [fassala, ‘He has detailed’, and harrama, ‘[what] He has forbidden’]) for you what He has forbidden, in the verse: Forbidden to you is carrion … [Q. 5:3], except that to which you are compelled?, thereof, which is also lawful for you. The meaning is: there is nothing to prevent you from eating what has been mentioned, for He has explained to you what is forbidden for consumption, and that [over which God’s Name has been invoked] is not among these [forbidden things]. But truly many are led astray (read la-yadillūna, ‘[many] are led astray’, or la-yudillūna, ‘[many] lead [others] astray’), by their whims, by what their own selves fancy, in the way of permitting [the consumption of] carrion and otherwise, without any knowledge, with which to support their claims. Truly your Lord knows the transgressors, those who overstep [the bounds] of what is lawful into what is unlawful.

Verse 120

And forsake, leave, outward aspect of sin and its inward aspect, that is, what is overt of it and what is secret — it is said that ‘sin’ here means fornication, or, it is said, any act of disobedience; surely those who earn sin shall be requited, in the Hereafter, for what they used to perpetrate, [what] they used to earn.

Verse 121

And do not eat from that over which God’s Name has not been invoked, where it has died or been sacrificed to other than His Name — otherwise, what a Muslim sacrifices and does not invoke God’s Name over, whether intentionally or forgetfully, is lawful, as was stated by Ibn ‘Abbās, and this is the opinion of al-Shāfi‘ī — verily it, the eating thereof, is wickedness, a contravention of what is lawful. And truly the devils inspire, whisper [to], their friends, the disbelievers, to dispute with you, in deeming carrion lawful; and if you obey them, in this [matter], you are truly idolaters.

Verse 122

The following was revealed regarding Abū Jahl and others: Why, is he who was dead, through unbelief, and We gave him life, through guidance, and appointed for him a light by which to walk among people, distinguishing thereby the truth from falsehood — this [light] being faith — as him whose likeness (ka-man mathaluhu: mathal, ‘likeness’, is extra; in other words, [read] ka-man huwa, ‘as him who’) is in darkness whence he cannot emerge? — and this is the disbeliever — No! So, in the same way that faith has been adorned for believers, what the disbelievers have been doing, in the way of disbelief and acts of disobedience, has been adorned for them.

Verse 123

And thus, in the same way that We have made the wicked folk of Mecca its leaders, We have made in every city its sinners great ones, that they may plot therein, to impede the faith; but they plot only against themselves, because the evil consequences thereof will befall them, though they do not perceive, this.

Verse 124

And when a sign, of the truth of the Prophet (s), comes to them, the people of Mecca, they say, ‘We will not believe, in him, until we are given the like of what God’s messengers were given’, in the way of a message and inspiration to us, because we are wealthier and more senior in years. God, exalted be He, says: God knows best where to place His Message (read plural [risālātihi, ‘His Messages’] or singular [risālatahu, ‘His Message’]; hayth, ‘where’, constitutes the direct object because of the verb [ya‘lam, ‘He knows’] implicit in a‘lam, ‘the best knower’) that is to say, He knows the right place for it to be placed in, and He thus places it [there] — these people, however, are not worthy of it. Humiliation from God and a terrible chastisement shall smite those who have sinned, by saying this, for their plotting.

Verse 125

Whomever God desires to guide, He expands his breast to Islam, by casting into his heart a light which it [the heart] expands for and accepts, as reported in a hadīth; and whomever He, God, desires to send astray, He makes his breast narrow (read dayqan or dayyiqan), [unable] to accept it, and constricted, extremely tight (read harijan, ‘constricted’, as an adjective, or harajan as a verbal noun, by which it [the heart of the misguided one] is described hyperbolically) as if he were engaged in ascent (yassa‘‘ad, is also read as yassā‘ad: in both [forms] the original tā’ has been assimilated with the sād; a third [variant reading] has yas‘ad) to the heaven, when he is charged with [the obligations of] the faith, because of the hardship for him therein. So, like this making [of the breast narrow], God casts ignominy, chastisement, or [He casts] Satan, that is, He gives him authority, over those who do not believe.

Verse 126

And this, [path] that you follow, O Muhammad (s), is the path of your Lord, a straight one, with no crookedness therein (mustaqīman, ‘straight’, is in the accusative because it is a circumstantial qualifier emphasising the [previous] statement, and it is operated by the import of the demonstrative noun [hādhā, ‘this’]). We have detailed, We have elucidated, the signs for a people who remember (yadhdhakkarūn: the original tā’ has been assimilated with the dhāl), that is to say, [a people] who heed admonition — such [people] are singled out for mention because they are the ones to profit [from the signs].

Verse 127

Theirs will be the abode of peace, namely, Paradise, with their Lord, and He will be their Friend because of what they used to do.

Verse 128

And, mention, the day when He, God, shall gather them (yahshuruhum, may also read nahshuruhum, ‘We shall gather them’), that is, creatures, all together, and it will be said to them: ‘O assembly of jinn, you have garnered much of mankind’, by your misleading [them]. Then their friends, those who obeyed them, from among mankind will say, ‘Our Lord, we enjoyed one another, mankind enjoyed what the jinn adorned for them of passions, while the jinn [enjoyed] mankind’s obedience to them; but now we have arrived at the term which You have appointed for us’, that is, the Day of Resurrection — this [statement] expresses extreme regret on their part. He, exalted be He, will say, to them, by the tongues of the angels: ‘The Fire is your lodging, your abode, to abide therein’ — except what God wills, of those times when they will exit from it in order to drink boiling water, which is located outside it, as God, exalted be He, has said: Then they shall return to the Hell-fire [Q. 37:68]; according to Ibn ‘Abbās, this [proviso] pertains to those whom God knows will believe (mā, ‘what’, thus has the sense of man, ‘whom’). Surely your Lord is Wise, in His actions, Knowing, of His creatures.

Verse 129

So, just as We let the rebels from among mankind and jinn enjoy one another, We let some of the evildoers have power over others because of what they are wont to earn, of acts of disobedience.

Verse 130

‘O assembly of jinn and mankind, did not messengers come to you from among you, that is, from among both of your number — which holds true in the case of mankind [since messengers came from among them], or [by ‘messengers’ if the jinn are meant] those messengers among the jinn who are their warners, the ones who listen to the speech of the [human] messengers and convey it to their kind — to recount to you My signs and to warn you of the encounter of this Day of yours?’ They shall say, ‘We bear witness against ourselves’, that [all] this was conveyed to us. God, exalted be He, says: And the life of this world deluded them, and so they did not believe. And they bear witness against themselves that they were disbelievers.

Verse 131

That, sending of the messengers, is because (an, [phonetically] lightened, with the lām [of li-annahu] implied, thus [read as] li-annahu, ‘because’) your Lord would never destroy the towns through injustice, on their part, while their inhabitants were heedless, not having had any Messenger to make [things] clear to them.

Verse 132

All, of those who perform deeds, shall have degrees, of requital, according to what they have done, of good or evil. Your Lord is not heedless of what they do (ya‘malūna: may also be read ta‘malūna, ‘you do’).

Verse 133

Your Lord is Independent, of His creatures and their worship, the Lord of Mercy. If He will, He can remove you, O people of Mecca, by destroying you, and leave whom He will, of creatures, to succeed after you, just as He produced you from the seed of another folk, [whom] He removed; but He has spared you, as a mercy to you.

Verse 134

Truly, that which you are promised, of the Hour and chastisement, will surely come to pass, inevitably, and you cannot escape, [you cannot] elude Our chastisement.

Verse 135

Say, to them: ‘O my people, act according to your state, your circumstances; truly I am acting, according to my circumstances. And assuredly you will know whose (man: the relative particle introducing the object of the verb ‘you will know’) sequel shall be the abode, that is, [who shall have] the praiseworthy sequel in the abode of the Hereafter: will it be us or yourselves? Surely the evildoers, the disbelievers, will not prosper’, will not find happiness.

Verse 136

They, the disbelievers of Mecca, assign to God, of the tillage, the crops, and the cattle which He multiplied, He created, a portion, which they dispense to visitors and the needy, and to their associates belongs a portion, which they dispense to such keepers [of the tillage and cattle], saying, ‘This is for God’ — so they assert (read bi-za‘mihim or bi-zu‘mihim) — ‘and this is for our associates’: and if any of the portion of these [associates] fell into God’s portion, they used to restore it [to that of their associates], but when something of His portion fell into theirs, they would leave it there, saying, ‘God is Independent [and is not in need] of this’, as God, exalted be He, says: So that which is intended for their associates does not reach God, and that which is intended for God does reach their associates. Evil is that, provision of theirs, which they decree!

Verse 137

And thus, in the same way that what is mentioned was adorned for them, those associates of theirs, from among the jinn, have adorned for many of the idolaters the slaying of their children, by burying them alive (shurakā’uhum, ‘those associates of theirs’, is read in the nominative as the subject of the verb zayyana, ‘adorned’; an alternative reading has the passive [zuyyina, ‘it has been adorned’], with qatlu, ‘the slaying’, in the nominative [as the subject of this passive verb], awlādahum, ‘their children’, in the accusative on account of it [being the direct object of qatlu, ‘the slaying’], and shurakā’ihim in the genitive as an annexation to qatlu, so that the object in this case intervenes between the two elements of the annexation [qatlu awlādahum shurakā’ihim, ‘their associates killing the children’] — this is acceptable [syntactically] — and the annexation of qatlu to shurakā’ihim [in this latter reading] is on account of them [the associates] commanding [the idolaters to do] this), that they may destroy them and to confuse, to make obscure, their religion for them. Had God willed, they would not have done so; so leave them and that which they fabricate.

Verse 138

They say, ‘These cattle and tillage are sacrosanct, forbidden. No one is to eat of them except whom we will’, from among the retainers of the graven images and others — so they assert, in other words, they have no [convincing] argument for it — ‘and cattle whose backs have been forbidden, and cannot therefore be ridden, such as the camels [they call] Sā’ibas or Hāmīs, and cattle over which they do not invoke the Name of God’, when they slaughter them, invoking instead the names of their idols, ascribing such [rules] to God; forging lies against Him. He will assuredly requite them for what they used to fabricate, against Him.

Verse 139

And they say, ‘That which is within the bellies of these, forbidden, cattle, namely, the camels [they call] Sā’ibas or Bahīras, is reserved, permitted, for our males and forbidden to our spouses, that is, the women; but if it be dead (read maytatun or maytatan, and the verb as either feminine takun or masculine yakun, ‘if it be’) then they [all] may be partakers thereof’. He, God, will assuredly requite them for their describing, [this and] that as [either] permitted or forbidden, with the appropriate requital thereof. Surely He is Wise, in His actions, Knowing, of His creatures.

Verse 140

They are losers who slay (read qatalū or qattalū) their children, by burying them alive, in folly, out of ignorance, without knowledge, and have forbidden what God has provided them, of what has been mentioned, in calumny against God. Verily they have gone astray and are not guided.

Verse 141

And He it is Who produces, creates, gardens, orchards, trellised, extending along the ground, as in the case of watermelons, and untrellised, rising upwards on a stem, such as palm-trees; and, He produces, palm-trees, and crops diverse in flavour, [diverse] in the shape and savour of its fruit and seed, and olives, and pomegranates, alike, in [terms of their] leaf (mutashābihan, ‘alike’, is a circumstantial qualifier) and unlike, in [terms of their] savour. Eat of the fruit thereof when it ripens, before its maturity [passes], and pay the due thereof, the alms as appropriate, on the day of its harvest (read yawma hasādahu or yawma hasādihi), that is, one tenth or half of it, and do not be prodigal, by giving it all away, so that nothing remains for [the consumption of] your dependants. Truly, God does not love the prodigal, who overstep [the bounds of] that which He has delimited for them.

Verse 142

And, He produces, of the cattle some for burden, fit to bear loads, such as the large [mature] camels, and some for light support, not fit for these [load-bearing tasks], such as young camels or sheep (such [cattle] are called farsh because they are like ‘bedding [farsh] spread on the ground’, on account of their [physical] closeness to it); eat of that which God has provided you and do not follow the steps of Satan, his methods of forbidding [things] or deeming [them] lawful. Surely he is a manifest foe to you, one whose enmity is evident.

Verse 143

Eight pairs, types (thamāniyata azwājin substitutes for hamūlatan wa-farshan, ‘some for burdens and some for light support’): two of sheep, a male and a female; and of goats (read ma‘az or ma‘z) two. Say, O Muhammad (s) to those who on one occasion deem male cattle forbidden, and on another, the females thereof, and then ascribe such [rules] to God: ‘Is it the two males, of the sheep and goats, He has forbidden, you, or the two females, of these two [types], or that which the wombs of the two females contain, be they male or female? Inform Me with knowledge, of the details of such prohibitions, if you speak truly’, in this [matter], meaning: on what basis has the prohibition been made? If it is on the basis of maleness, then all males are forbidden; if on the basis of femaleness, then all females are so [forbidden]; if on what the womb may contain, then both genders are prohibited. So, on what basis are such specifications made? (the interrogative is meant as a repudiation).

Verse 144

And of the camels two and of the oxen two. Say: ‘Is it the two males He has forbidden or the two females? Or what the wombs of the two females contain? Or were you witnesses, present, when God charged you with this?, prohibition, such that you use it to support your claims? Nay! You speak lies in this [matter]. Then who, that is, none, does greater evil than he who invents a lie against God, in this matter, that he may lead mankind astray without any knowledge? Truly God does not guide evildoing folk’.

Verse 145

Say: ‘I do not find, in what is revealed to me, anything forbidden to him who eats thereof except it be (read yakūn or takūn) carrion (maytatan; or if read maytatun, then with the form yakūn, ‘it be’, preceding it) or blood poured forth, flowing, as opposed to [the case of] a liver or a spleen; or the flesh of swine — that indeed is an abomination, forbidden, or, except it be, a wicked thing that has been hallowed to other than God, that is to say, it has been slaughtered in the name of someone else. But whoever is constrained, to do any of what has been mentioned, and he consumes it, neither coveting nor transgressing, then surely your Lord is Forgiving, to him for what he has consumed, Merciful’, towards him. To these [prohibited things] the Sunna adds all beasts of prey with canine teeth and birds [of prey] with talons.

Verse 146

And to those of Jewry, that is, the Jews, We forbade every beast with hoof, that is, [every animal] which does not have divided toes, such as camels and ostriches; and of oxen and sheep We forbade them the fat of them, the thin fat lining the stomach and the fat of the kidneys, save what their backs carry, that is, what [fat] is attached to it, or, what is carried by, their entrails, their intestines (hawāyā is the plural of hāwiyā’ or hāwiya), or what is mingled with bone, thereof, which is the fat of the rump: these were lawful for them; that, prohibition, We requited them, with, for their insolence, on account of their wrongdoing, as already mentioned in sūrat al-Nisā’ [Q. 4:160]; verily We are truthful, in [recounting] Our tidings and Our appointed times.

Verse 147

So, if they deny you, with regard to what you have brought, then say, to them: ‘Your Lord has all-embracing mercy, for He does not hasten [to bring about] your punishment — herein is a gentle summoning of them to the faith; and His might, His chastisement, when it comes, will never be driven back from the sinning folk’.

Verse 148

The idolaters will say, ‘Had God willed, we would not have been idolaters, neither, we [nor], our fathers, nor would we have forbidden anything’, in other words, our idolatry and our forbidding [of things] are by His will, and so He must be satisfied with it. God, exalted be He, says: So, in the same way that these have lied, those who were before them gave the lie, to their prophets, until they tasted Our might, Our chastisement. Say: ‘Have you any knowledge, that God is satisfied with this, such that you can adduce for us?, that is, you have no such knowledge. You follow only supposition, in this [matter], merely guessing’, telling lies therein.

Verse 149

Say, if you have no definitive argument, then: ‘To God belongs the conclusive argument, the perfect [one], for had He willed, to guide you, He could have guided all of you’.

Verse 150

Say: ‘Come, bring forth, your witnesses, those who can testify that God has forbidden this’, which you have forbidden. Then if they testify, do not bear witness with them; and do not follow the whims of those who deny Our signs, those who do not believe in the Hereafter and ascribe equals to their Lord, associating others [with Him].

Verse 151

Say: ‘Come, I will recite that which your Lord has made a sacred duty for you: that (allā: [consisting of an-lā] an being explicative) you associate nothing with Him, that you be dutiful to parents, and that you do not slay your children, by burying them alive, because of poverty, destitution, that you may fear — We will provide for you and them — and that you do not draw near any acts of lewdness, grave sins, such as fornication, whether it be manifest or concealed, that is, [acts committed] overtly or in secret, and that you do not slay the life which God has made sacred, except rightfully, as in the case of retaliation, or [as] the prescribed punishment for apostasy, and the stoning of an adulterer. This, which is mentioned, is what He has charged you with, that perhaps you will understand, reflect.

Verse 152

And that you do not approach the property of the orphan save with that, approach, which is fairer, namely, the one wherein lie his best interests, until he is of age, when he is sexually mature. And give full measure and full weight, in justice, fairly, desisting from any fraud. We do not charge any soul beyond its capacity, what it can bear in such [matters], so that if one makes a mistake in a measure or weight, and God knows that his intention had been well-meaning, then he suffers no blame, as is stated in one hadīth. And if you speak, [to pass] a judgement or otherwise, then be just, by being truthful, even if he, the person receiving the statement or the one being accused in it, should be a kinsman. And fulfil God’s covenant. This is what He has charged you with, that perhaps you will remember (read tadhakkarūn or tadhkurūn), you will be admonished.

Verse 153

And that (read anna, with lām [of li-anna, ‘because’] being implied, or inna, as beginning a new sentence) this, that I have charged you with, is My straight path (mustaqīman, ‘straight’, is a circumstantial qualifier), so follow it; and do not follow other ways, paths opposed to it, lest it separate you (tafarraqa: one of the two letters tā’ [of the original tatafarraqa] has been omitted) make you incline, away from His way, His religion. This is what He has ordained for you, that perhaps you will be God-fearing’.

Verse 154

Then (thumma is for [describing events in a] sequence) We gave Moses the Scripture, the Torah, complete, in grace, for him who does good, by observing it, and a detailing, an explanation, of all things, needed for religion, and as a guidance and a mercy, that perhaps they, that is, the Children of Israel, might believe in the encounter with their Lord, through the Resurrection.

Verse 155

And this, Qur’ān, is a blessed Book which We have revealed; so follow it, O people of Mecca, by implementing what is in it, and be wary, of disbelief, that perhaps you might find mercy.

Verse 156

We have revealed it, lest you should say, ‘The Scripture was revealed only upon two parties — the Jews and the Christians — before us and we (in has been softened, its noun omitted, in other words [read as] innā) indeed have been unacquainted with their study’, their reading [of the scripture], not knowing any of it, since it is not in our own language.

Verse 157

Or lest you should say, ‘If the Scripture had been revealed to us, we would have surely been more rightly guided than they are’, because of the excellence of our minds. Now indeed a clear proof, a [clear] statement, has come to you from your Lord, and a guidance and a mercy, for him who follows it; and who, that is, none, does greater evil than he who denies God’s signs and turns away from them? We shall surely requite those who turn away from Our signs with dreadful, the most severe, chastisement for their aversion.

Verse 158

Are they waiting — the deniers are indeed waiting — for nothing less than that the angels should come to them (read ta’tīyahum or ya’tīyahum), to seize their souls, or that your Lord, that is, His command, meaning His chastisement, should come, or that one of your Lord’s signs should come?, that is, those portents of His that indicate [the arrival of] the Hour? On the day that one of your Lord’s signs comes — and this is the rising of the sun from the west, as reported in the hadīth of the two Sahīhs [of Bukhārī and Muslim] — it shall not benefit a soul to believe if it had not believed theretofore (lam takun āmanat min qabl is an adjectival qualification of nafs, ‘a soul’) or, a soul which had not [until then], earned in its belief some good, some [act of] obedience, that is to say, its repentance shall be of no benefit to it, as [stated] in the hadīth [corpus]. Say: ‘Wait, for one of these things, We too are waiting’, for it.

Verse 159

Those who have sundered their religion, by being at variance over it, accepting some [aspects] of it and rejecting others, and have become differing parties, sects with regard to such [matters] (a variant reading [for farraqū, ‘they have sundered’] has fāraqū, meaning that they have abandoned the religion to which they were enjoined, and they are the Jews and the Christians), you have no concern with them at all, in other words, do not be concerned with them. Their case will go to God — He will take charge of it — then He will inform them, in the Hereafter, of what they used to do, and requite them for it: this was abrogated by the ‘sword’ verse [Q. 9:5].

Verse 160

Whoever brings a good deed, that is, [the affirmation of] ‘there is no god but God’, shall receive tenfold the like of it, that is, the reward for ten good deeds, and whoever brings an evil deed shall only be requited the like of it, that is, its [appropriate] requital; and they shall not be wronged, nothing shall be diminished from their [just] requital.

Verse 161

Say: ‘As for me, my Lord has guided me to a straight path (ilā sirātin mustaqīm is substituted by [the following, dīnan qiyaman]) a right religion, an upright [one], the creed of Abraham, a hanīf; and he was not of the idolaters’.

Verse 162

Say: ‘My prayer and my rituals, my devotions, in the way of pilgrimage and otherwise, and my living, my life, and my dying, my death, are all for God, the Lord of the Worlds.

Verse 163

No associate has He, in these things. And to this, affirmation of the Oneness [of God], I have been commanded, and I am the first of those who submit’, from among this community.

Verse 164

Say: ‘Shall I seek any other than God for a lord, for a god, in other words, I shall not seek any other than Him, when He is the Lord, the Possessor, of all things?’ Every soul earns, of sin, only against itself; and no burdened, [no] sinful, soul shall bear the burden of another, soul. Then to your Lord shall you return, and He will inform you of that over which you differed.

Verse 165

And He it is Who has made you successors (khalā’if is the plural of khalīfa), in other words, [He has made you] to succeed one another therein, in the earth and has raised some of you above others in degrees, through wealth and status and otherwise, so that He may try you, that He may test you, in what He has given you, in order to manifest the obedient among you and the disobedient. Surely your Lord is swift in punishment, of those who disobey Him; and surely He is Forgiving, to believers, Merciful, to them.

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Surah AL-ANAM / The Cattle in English | Surah 6

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