Verse 1
Indeed (qad is for confirmation) prosperous, victorious, are the believers,
Verse 2
those who in their prayers are humble,
Verse 3
and who shun vain talk, and other [nonsense],
Verse 4
and who fulfil payment of alms,
Verse 5
and who guard their private parts, against what is unlawful,
Verse 6
except from their spouses, that is, to their spouses, and what [slaves] their right hands possess, that is, concubines, for then they are not blameworthy, in having sexual intercourse with them.
Verse 7
But whoever seeks [anything] beyond that, [intercourse with] wives and concubines, such as masturbation: those, they are transgressors, who have overstepped [the bounds] into what is not lawful for them.
Verse 8
And who are keepers of their trusts (may be read as plural, amānātihim, ‘their trusts’, or singular, amānatihim, ‘their trust’) and covenants, [made] between them, or between them and God, such as [the observance of] prayer and so on.
Verse 9
And who are watchful of their prayers (may be read as plural, salawātihim, ‘their prayers’, or singular, salātihim, ‘their prayer’) observing them at their appointed times.
Verse 10
Those, they are the inheritors, and none other than them,
Verse 11
who shall inherit Paradise (al-firdaws), the name of a garden, the highest of the gardens of Heaven — wherein they will abide; herein is an allusion to the Return [in the Hereafter] and so it is fitting that the Beginning [of creation] should be mentioned next:
Verse 12
And, by God, We certainly created man, Adam, from an extraction (min sulālatin, derives from [the verbal expression] salaltu’l-shay’a mina’l-shay’, ‘I drew one thing out of another’, meaning, ‘I extracted it therefrom’) his [Adam’s] substance being, of clay (min tīnin is semantically connected to sulālatin, ‘an extraction’).
Verse 13
Then We made him, namely, man, the progeny of Adam, a drop, a sperm-drop, in a secure lodging, which is the womb.
Verse 14
Then We transformed the drop [of semen] into a clot, congealed blood. Then We transformed the clot into a [little] lump of flesh (mudgha), a piece of flesh, about the size of what one would be able to chew (mā yumdagh). Then We transformed the lump of flesh into bones. Then We clothed the bones with flesh (a variant reading in both instances [instead of the plurals ‘izāman and al-‘izāma, ‘the bones’] is [singular] ‘azman [and ‘al-‘azma], ‘the bone’; and in all three instances above khalaqnā, means ‘We made it become’ [as opposed to ‘We created’]). Then We produced him as [yet] another creature, by breathing into him [Our] Spirit. So blessed be God, the best of creators!, that is, [the best of] determiners (the specificier noun for ahsana, ‘the best’, has been omitted because it is obvious: khalqan, ‘in terms of creation’).
Verse 15
Then indeed after that you die.
Verse 16
Then on the Day of Resurrection you shall surely be raised, for reckoning and requital.
Verse 17
And verily We created above you seven paths, that is, [seven] heavens (tarā’iq is the plural of tarīqa [so called] because they are the paths used by the angels) and of creation, that lies beneath these [paths], We are never unmindful, lest these should fall upon them and destroy them. Nay, but We hold them back, as [stated] in the verse: And He holds back the heaven lest it should fall upon the earth [Q. 22:65].
Verse 18
And We sent down water out of the heaven in measure, that suffices them, and We lodged it within the earth; and We are indeed able to take it away, so that they die of thirst together with their livestock.
Verse 19
Then We produced for you therewith gardens of date palms and vines — these being the most common fruits of the Arabs — wherein is abundant fruit for you, and whereof you eat, in summer and winter.
Verse 20
And, We produced, a tree that grows on Mount of Sinai (read Sīnā’ or Saynā’, indeclinable as it is a proper noun with the feminine ending denoting a location) that produces (read either as tunbitu from the fourth form [anbata], or as tanbutu from the trilateral form [nabata]) oil (bi’l-duhni: in the case of the former [reading of tunbitu] the bā’ [bi-] here would be extra, whereas in the case of the second [reading of tanbutu], it would be [a preposition needed] for the transitive) — and this [tree] is the olive tree, and seasoning for those who eat (wa-sibghin li’l-ākilīna, a supplement to bi’l-duhni, ‘oil’, [that is to say] it is [like] a dye that colours a morsel dipped in it) — and this [seasoning] is the [olive] oil.
Verse 21
And surely in the cattle, that is, [in] camels, cows and sheep, there is for you a lesson, an admonition for you to heed. We give you to drink (read nasqīkum or nusqīkum) of what is in their bellies, [of] milk, and you have many uses in them, such as [the extraction of] wool, fur and hairs and other [uses], and you eat of them.
Verse 22
And on them, the camels, and on ships you are carried.
Verse 23
And verily We sent Noah to his people, and he said, ‘O my people, worship God, obey God and affirm His Oneness. You have no [other] god besides Him (ghayruhu is the subject of mā, ‘no’; the preceding [min ilāhin, ‘god’] is the predicate, the min being extra). Will you not then fear?’ His punishment in worshipping [gods] other than Him?
Verse 24
But the council of his people, who disbelieved, said, to their followers, ‘This is just a human being like you who desires to gain superiority, to have the honour, over you, by acquiring followers, you being [his] followers. And had God willed, that none other than Him be worshipped, He would have sent down angels, with that [Message], and not [assigned] a human being [for it]. We never heard of such, an affirmation of God’s Oneness as that which Noah summons [us], among our forefathers, [among] past communities.
Verse 25
He, Noah, is just a man possessed by madness, a case of dementia. So bear with him for a while’, until he dies.
Verse 26
He, Noah, said, ‘My Lord, help me, against them, because they deny me’, because of their denial of me, by destroying them. God, exalted be He, says, responding to his supplication:
Verse 27
So We revealed to him [saying], ‘Build the Ark, the ship, under Our watch, under Our observation and protection, and [by] Our revelation, Our command. Then, when Our command comes, that they be destroyed, and the oven, of the baker, gushes, with water — and this was Noah’s sign — bring into it, admit into the ship, of every kind [of animal] two mates, a male and a female, that is, [two] of every species thereof (ithnayn is an object; min, ‘of’, is semantically connected to usluk, ‘bring into [it]’). According to the story God, exalted be He, gathered all the beasts of prey and the birds and other [animals] for Noah. As he [Noah] pushed forth his hands into each species, his right hand would fall upon a male and the left upon a female, whereafter he would take them on board the ship (a variant reading [for min kuli, ‘of every’] is min kullin, ‘of every [kind]’, in which case zawjayni, ‘[two] mates’, becomes a direct object, with ithnayn, ‘two’, [being repeated] for emphasis thereof); together with your family — his wife [?] and children — except for those against whom the Word has already gone forth, that they be destroyed, namely, his wife and his son Canaan (Kan‘ān), unlike Shem (Sām), Ham (Hām) and Japheth (Yāfith) whom, together with their three wives, he carried on board. In sūrat Hūd [the following is mentioned where Noah is told who he should carry in the ship]: ‘… and those who believe.’ And none believed with him except a few [Q. 11:40]. It is said that these were six men and their wives. Moreover it is said that all those who were on the ship numbered seventy eight, half of them were men and half were women. And do not plead with Me concerning those who have done wrong, those who have disbelieved, that I should refrain from destroying them. They shall indeed be drowned.
Verse 28
And when you have settled, [when] you are balanced, in the Ark together with those with you, say, “Praise be to God Who has delivered us from the wrongdoing folk”, [from] the disbelievers and the destruction that came upon them.
Verse 29
And say, upon disembarking from the ship: “My Lord, cause me to land with a landing (read munzalan as the verbal noun as well as the noun of place [for ‘landing’]; or manzilan as [meaning] the site of the landing) blessed, being that landing or place, for You are the best of all who bring to land” ’, that which has been mentioned.
Verse 30
Surely in that, mentioned matter of Noah, the ship and the destruction of the disbelievers, there are signs, indicators of God’s power, exalted be He, and indeed (wa-in, in has been softened in place of the hardened form, its subject being the pronoun of the matter) We were putting to the test, [indeed We were] trying the people of Noah by sending him [as God’s messenger] to them and [by] his admonitions [to them].
Verse 31
Then, after them, We brought forth another generation, [another] people, namely, and these were [the people of] ‘Ād.
Verse 32
And We sent among them a messenger of their own, namely, Hūd, saying, ‘Worship God! You have no other god besides Him. Will you not then be wary?’, of His punishment and become believers?
Verse 33
The council of his people, who disbelieved and denied the encounter of the Hereafter, [they denied] that they will end up thereat, and whom We had given affluence, whom We had provided with comforts, in the life of this world, said: ‘This is only a human being like you: he eats what you eat and drinks what you drink.
Verse 34
And, by God, if you obey a human being like yourselves (this [clause] contains both an oath and a conditional; the response belongs to the former [the oath], which [at the same time] suffices in place of a response for the latter [the conditional]) you will surely then, that is, should you obey them, be losers, you will have been duped.
Verse 35
Does he promise you that when you have died and become dust and bones, you shall be brought forth? (mukhrajūna, this is the predicate of the first annakum, ‘that … you’; the second annakum [simply] reiterates it because of the long separation [between the subject and its predicate]).
Verse 36
Far-fetched, far-fetched (hayhāt is a noun of action in the past tense, functioning as a verbal noun, meaning ba‘uda ba‘uda, ‘far from it, far from it!’) is what you are promised!, in the way of being brought forth from the graves (li-mā: the lām is extra, for explication).
Verse 37
There is nothing, that is, there is no life, but our life in this world: we die, and we live, [again only] through the lives of our offspring, and we shall not be raised [again].
Verse 38
He is, the Messenger is, just a man who has invented a lie against God, and we will not believe in him’, we will [not] accept the truth of resurrection after death.
Verse 39
He said, ‘My Lord, help me because they have denied me’.
Verse 40
He said, ‘In a little while, of time (‘ammā: the mā is extra), they will become remorseful’, about their disbelief and their denial.
Verse 41
So the Cry, the Cry of chastisement and destruction, seized them rightfully, and they died, and We made them as husks (ghuthā’ is desiccated vegetation, in other words, We transformed them into similarly desiccated [worthless] things). So a far removal, from mercy, for the evildoing folk, the denying [folk].
Verse 42
Then, after them, We brought forth other generations, [other] peoples.
Verse 43
No community can precede its term, by dying before it, nor be deferred, beyond it (the person [in the second verb yasta’khirūna, ‘be deferred’] is masculine, having been feminine [in the first verb tasbiqu, ‘precede’] because this [masculine plural] takes into account the [plural masculine] content [of the term ‘community’]).
Verse 44
Then sent We Our messengers successively (read tatran or tatrā: one following the other, with a long interval between every two). Whenever there came to a community (jā’a ummatan: read pronouncing both hamzas, or without pronouncing the second one between it and the wāw [vowel]) its messenger they denied him; so We made them follow one another, to destruction, and We turned them into folktales. So away with a people who do not believe!
Verse 45
Then We sent Moses and his brother Aaron with Our signs and a manifest warrant, a clear proof, namely, the hand, the staff and other signs,
Verse 46
to Pharaoh and his council; but they disdained, to believing in them and in God, and they were a tyrannical folk, subjugating the Children of Israel through oppression.
Verse 47
And they said, ‘Shall we believe two humans like ourselves, while their people are servile to us?’, obedient and submissive.
Verse 48
So they denied them [both] and became of those who were destroyed.
Verse 49
And verily We gave Moses the Scripture, the Torah, that perhaps they, his people, the Children of Israel, might be guided, thereby from error — he [Moses] was given it [the Scripture] after the destruction of Pharaoh and his folk all at once.
Verse 50
And We made the son of Mary, Jesus, and his mother a sign — He did not say ‘two signs’ because the same sign is in both of them: his being born without [his mother’s having] a male spouse. And We gave them refuge on a height (rabwa), a highland — in this case [either] the Holy House [of Jerusalem], Damascus or Palestine, all of which are [alternative] opinions — level (dhāt qarār), an flat [high-] land on which its inhabitants are able to settle (yastaqirru), and watered by springs, running water, over ground, which the eyes can see.
Verse 51
‘O messengers, eat of the good things, the lawful things, and perform righteous acts, such as obligatory and supererogatory [rituals]. Surely I know what you do, and will requite you for it.
Verse 52
And know, that this, creed of Islam, is your community, your religion, O you being addressed, that is, you must adhere to it as, one community — a necessary state [of affairs] (a variant reading [for anna, ‘that’] has the softened form [in]; a variant has inna, ‘truly’, indicating the beginning of [an independent] new sentence) and I am your Lord, so fear Me’, so be fearful of Me.
Verse 53
But they, the followers, split into sects regarding their affair, their religion (zuburan, ‘sects’, is a circumstantial qualifier of the subject of the verb taqatta‘ū, ‘they split’), in other words, [they became] opposing parties, the likes of the Jews and the Christians and others, each party rejoicing in, exultant with, what they had, that is, with the religion they had.
Verse 54
So leave them, the disbelievers of Mecca, in their error, their misguidance, for a while, until they die.
Verse 55
Do they suppose that in the wealth and children with which We provide them, in the life of this world,
Verse 56
We are hastening to [provide] them with good things? No. Rather, they are not aware, that this is a way of gradually drawing them [into their punishment].
Verse 57
Surely those who, for fear of their Lord, are apprehensive, are fearful of His chastisement,
Verse 58
and who believe in, [who] accept the truth of, the signs of their Lord — the Qur’ān;
Verse 59
and who do not associate others with their Lord,
Verse 60
and who give what they give, of voluntary alms and righteous deeds, while their hearts tremble [with awe], fearful lest it not be accepted from them, because (the particle lām, ‘for’, is taken as implied before annahum, ‘that they’) they are going to return to their Lord —
Verse 61
those [are the ones who] hasten to [perform] good works, and they [are the ones who] shall come out ahead in them, according to God’s knowledge.
Verse 62
And We do not task any soul beyond its capacity, what it can bear — thus he who is not able to pray standing, let him pray sitting down and he who is not able to fast, let him eat; and with Us is a Record that speaks the truth, regarding what it [a soul] has done — and this [Record] is the Preserved Tablet (al-lawh al-mahfūz), wherein deeds are written down; and they, namely, the souls in their acts, will not be wronged, in a single thing thereof, and so nothing is diminished of the reward for good deeds, nor is anything [extra] added to the evil deeds.
Verse 63
Nay, but their hearts, that is, [the hearts of] the disbelievers, are in ignorance of this, Qur’ān, and they have other deeds which they will perpetrate besides, the ones mentioned, against the believers, and they will therefore be chastised for them.
Verse 64
Indeed (hattā is for inceptiveness) when We seize their affluent ones, their wealthy and their leaders, with chastisement, [with] the sword, on the day of Badr, behold! they are supplicating loudly, clamouring [in supplication]. It is [then] said to them:
Verse 65
‘Do not supplicate [out loud] on this day! Truly you will not receive help, you will not be protected, against Us.
Verse 66
Verily My signs, in the Qur’ān, used to be recited to you, but you used to take to your heels, falling back in retreat,
Verse 67
disdainful, of [embracing] faith, because of it, that is, because of the [Sacred] House or the [Meccan] Sanctuary and their being inhabitants thereof, secure, in contrast to [the situation with] all [other] peoples in their hometowns, while in [your] night sessions (sāmiran is a circumstantial qualifier,) in other words, they come together to converse at night around the [Sacred] House, you talked nonsense’ ([if read as] tahjurūna, the third form [from hajara] means [while] ‘you disregarded’ the Qur’ān; [but if read] as the fourth form [tuhjirūna, from ahjara] it means [while] ‘you speak falsehood’ about the Prophet and the Qur’ān).
Verse 68
God, exalted be He, says: Have they not contemplated (yaddabbarū should actually be yatadabbarū, but the tā’ has been assimilated with the dāl) the discourse, namely, the Qur’ān that is proof of the Prophet’s sincerity, or has there come upon them that which has not come upon their forefathers?
Verse 69
Or is it that they do not recognise their [own] Messenger and so they reject him?
Verse 70
Or do they say, ‘There is a madness in him’? — this interrogative is meant as an affirmation of the truth of the Prophet’s sincerity, and [of the fact] that messengers did come to past communities, and [of the fact] that they [do indeed] recognise their Messenger to be truthful and trustworthy, and [of the fact] that there is no madness in him. Nay (bal is for transition), he has brought them the truth, namely, the Qur’ān that comprises [affirmations of] the Oneness [of God] and the Laws of Islam; but most of them are averse to the truth.
Verse 71
And if the truth, namely, the Qur’ān, had followed their desires, and come to them with [mention of] what they fancied in the way of God having a partner and a child, may God be exalted above such [associations], indeed the heavens and the earth and whoever is in them would have been corrupted, they [the heavens and the earth] would have deviated from their observed order, because contradictions would ensue, as is usually the case, when there is more than one ruler. Nay, We have brought them their Remembrance, namely, the Qur’ān, in which they are remembered and honoured, but they are disregardful of their [own] Remembrance.
Verse 72
Or do you ask them for any recompense?, any remuneration, in return for the faith that you have brought them? Yet the recompense of your Lord is, His remuneration, His reward and His provision [are], better (one reading has kharjan, ‘recompense’, in both instances [sc. kharjan fa-kharju]; another has kharājan in both [sc. kharājan fa-kharāju]) and He is the best of providers, the best of givers and remunerators.
Verse 73
And truly you summon them to a straight path, a [straight] route, that is, the religion of Islam.
Verse 74
And truly those who do not believe in the Hereafter, in resurrection, reward and punishment, deviate, swerve away, from the path, that is, the route [to salvation].
Verse 75
And had We shown them mercy and relieved them of the harm afflicting them — the famine that befell them in Mecca for seven years — they would surely persist in their insolence, [in] their error, bewildered, hesitating.
Verse 76
And We have already seized them with chastisement, [with] hunger, yet they did not humble themselves to their Lord, nor did they devote themselves to prayer, [nor] did they seek [the pleasure of] God through supplication.
Verse 77
Until (hattā is for inceptiveness), when We opened on them the gate of a severe chastisement, namely, the day of Badr, slaying [them], behold! they are aghast thereat, despairing of anything good.
Verse 78
And He it is Who made, created, for you hearing, meaning, ears, and eyes and hearts. Little thanks do you show (qalīlan mā: mā emphasises the paucity [of the thanks]).
Verse 79
And He it is Who dispersed, created, you on earth, and to Him you shall be gathered, resurrected.
Verse 80
And He it is Who gives life, by breathing the Spirit into the embryo (mudgha), and brings death, and due to Him is the alternation of night and day, in darkness and brightness, [and through] increase and diminution. Will you not then comprehend?, His handiwork, exalted be He, and so reflect?
Verse 81
Nay, but they say the like of what the ancients said.
Verse 82
They, the ancients, said, ‘What, when we are dead and have become dust and bones, shall we then be raised? No! (the two hamzas in each of the two instances are either pronounced fully, or with the second one not pronounced, but with an alif inserted between the two [hamzas] in both [readings]).
Verse 83
Already We and our fathers have been promised this, resurrection after death, before: these are nothing but the fables, the lies, of the ancients’, [mere] jokes and strange tales (asātīr, the plural of ustūra).
Verse 84
Say, to them: ‘To whom does the earth and whoever is in it, of creatures, belong, if you [truly] knew?’, their Creator and Owner.
Verse 85
They will say, ‘To God’. Say, to them: ‘Will you not then remember?’ (tadhakkarūna, the second tā’ [of tatadhakkarūna] has been assimilated with the dhāl) will you [not then] be admonished and so realise that the One Who has the power to originate creation also has the power to resurrect after death?
Verse 86
Say: ‘Who is the Lord of the seven heavens and the Lord of the Great Throne?’, that is, the throne (kursī).
Verse 87
They will say, ‘God’. Say: ‘Will you not then be God-fearing?’, will you then [not] be wary of worshipping [things] other than Him?
Verse 88
Say: ‘In whose hand is the dominion, the possession, of all things (the [final] tā’ [in malakūt] is hyperbolic), and who protects, while from Him there is no protection, if you know?’
Verse 89
They will say, ‘God.’ (a variant reading [for Allāh, ‘God’] in both instances [verses 87 and 89] has li’Llāh, ‘to God’, which is in keeping with the sense of ‘to whom belongs what has been mentioned?’). Say: ‘How then are you bewitched?’, [how then] are you duped and turned away from the truth, the worship of God alone, in other words, ‘How do you envisage [all] this to be invalid?’.
Verse 90
Nay, but We have brought them the truth, veracity, and they are indeed liars, in rejecting it, namely [the truth of the following]:
Verse 91
God has not taken any son, nor is there any god along with Him; for then, that is, if there were a god along with Him, each god would have taken away what he created, he would have made it exclusively his and prevented the other [god] from having any mastery over it; and some of them would surely rise up against others, in challenge, just as the kings of this world are wont to do. Glorified be God — an exaltation of Him — above what they ascribe, to Him, of what has been mentioned.
Verse 92
Knower of the Unseen and the visible, what is hidden and what is observed ([if] read in the genitive [‘ālimi’l-ghaybi, ‘Knower of the Unseen’], this is an adjectival qualification; [if] in the nominative [‘ālimu’l-ghaybi, ‘the Knower of the Unseen], this would be the predicate of an implied [preceding] huwa, ‘He is’) and exalted, magnified, be He above what they associate!, with Him [of partners].
Verse 93
Say: ‘My Lord! If (immā, this contains an assimilation of the conditional particle in with the extra mā) You should show me what they are promised, in the way of chastisement, that it is true, by their being slain at Badr,
Verse 94
my Lord, then do no put me among the evildoing folk’, lest I be destroyed when they are destroyed.
Verse 95
And truly We are able to show you what We promise them.
Verse 96
Ward off with that which is better, that is to say, with the [better] trait of pardoning and shunning them, the evil [act], the hurt they cause you — this was [revealed] before the command to fight [them]. We know best what they allege, [what] they invent of lies and [what they] say and so We will requite them for it.
Verse 97
And say: ‘My Lord, I seek protection in You from the promptings of devils, [from] their [evil] suggestions, which they whisper.
Verse 98
And I seek protection in You, my Lord, lest they visit me’, in any of my affairs, for they only visit to bring ill.
Verse 99
Until (hattā is for inceptiveness) when death comes to one of them, and he sees his place in the Fire and his [would-be] place in Paradise, had he been a believer, he says, ‘My Lord! Send me back (arji‘ūn, the plural [person] is [used] to indicate the gravity [of the plea]),
Verse 100
that I might act righteously, by witnessing that ‘there is no god but God’, that this might be, in that which I have left behind’, [in what] I have wasted of my life, in other words [that this affirmation might be] in its place. God, exalted be He, says: By no means!, that is, there shall be no return. It, namely, [the statement] ‘My Lord! Send me back’, is merely a word that he speaks, but [a word] in which there is no benefit for him; and behind them, ahead of them, there is a barrier, which prevents them from going back [to this world], until the day when they are raised, after which [day] there will be no more return.
Verse 101
And when the Trumpet is blown, the Horn, at the first or second blast, there will be no more ties [of kinship] between them on that day, for them to boast of among themselves, nor will they question one another, about such [ties], in contrast to their state in the life of this world, because of the gravity of the situation that will distract them from such [questioning] at certain points during the [Day of] Resurrection. At other [points] they are awake and [as is stated] in one verse: Some of them will turn to others, questioning each other [Q. 37:50].
Verse 102
Then those whose scales are heavy, with good deeds, they are the successful, the winners;
Verse 103
and those whose scales are light, because of evil deeds, they are the ones who have lost their souls, and so they will be, abiding in Hell.
Verse 104
The Fire will scorch their faces, it will burn them, while they glower therein, their upper and lower lips having receded from their teeth, and it will be said to them:
Verse 105
‘Were not My signs, in the Qur’ān, recited to you, were you [not] threatened therewith, and you used to deny them?’
Verse 106
They will say, ‘Our Lord, our wretchedness (shiqwatunā: a variant reading has shaqāwatunā, both of which are verbal nouns with the same meaning) overcame us, and we were an erring folk, [astray] from guidance.
Verse 107
Our Lord, bring us out of it! Then, if we revert, to disobedience, we will indeed be evildoers’.
Verse 108
He will say, to them by the tongue of a Keeper [of Hell], whose proportion is twice the size of this world: ‘Begone in it, away with you in the Fire, despicable [as you are], and do not speak to Me, about relieving you from the chastisement — so that [all] their hope is extinguished.
Verse 109
Indeed there was a party of My servants — namely, the Emigrants — who would say, “Our Lord, we believe; therefore forgive us, and have mercy on us, for You are the best of the merciful”.
Verse 110
But then you took them as an object of ridicule (read sukhriyyan or sikhriyyan, a verbal noun meaning ‘mockery’). Among those [ridiculed] were Bilāl [al-Habashī], Suhayb [al-Rūmī], ‘Ammār [b. Yāsir] and Salmān [al-Fārisī]; until they made you forget My remembrance, which you disregarded, as you were engaged in deriding them. Thus these [men] were the cause of the forgetting, which is why this [act] has been attributed to them, and you used to laugh at them.
Verse 111
Indeed I have rewarded them this day, abiding bliss, for the endurance they showed, while you mocked them and caused them hurt. They are indeed the winners’, of what they sought (read innahum as [indicating] a new sentence, or annahum as [indicating] a second direct object of the [verb] jazaytuhum, ‘I have rewarded them’).
Verse 112
He, exalted be He, will say, to them by the tongue of a Keeper [of Hell] (a variant reading [for qāla, ‘He will say’] has qul, ‘say’): ‘How long did you tarry in the earth, in this world and in your graves, in years?’ (‘adada sinīna is a specification).
Verse 113
They will say, ‘We tarried a day, or part of a day — they are uncertain thereof, deeming it shorter [than what it was] because of the gravity of the chastisement they are suffering. Yet ask those who keep count!’, namely, [ask] the angels who number the deeds of [all] creatures.
Verse 114
He, exalted, will say, to them, also by the tongue of Keeper [of Hell] (a variant reading [for qāla, ‘He will say’] has qul, ‘say’): ‘You tarried but a little, if only you knew, the length of time you tarried, [you would have realised that it is] trivial relative to how long you will tarry in the Fire.
Verse 115
Did you suppose that We created you aimlessly, and not for an underlying reason, and that you would not be returned to Us?’ (read active tarji‘ūna, ‘you [would not] return’, or passive turja‘ūna, ‘you [would not] be returned’) Nay! But [it was] so that We might enthral you with commands and prohibitions, where after you would be returned to Us for Us to requite [you] accordingly: And I did not create the jinn and mankind except that they may worship Me [Q. 51:56].
Verse 116
So exalted be God, above aimless action and other such things that do not befit Him, the King, the Truth! There is no god except Him, the Lord of the Noble Throne (‘arsh), the throne (kursī), which is a seat [similar to a king’s] that is exquisite.
Verse 117
And he who calls on another god along with God has no proof thereof (lā burhāna lahu bihi, an [extra] explicative adjectival qualification that has no [other syntactical] signification), his reckoning, his requital, will indeed be with his Lord. Truly the disbelievers will not be successful, they will not be felicitous.
Verse 118
And say: ‘My Lord, forgive and have mercy, on believers — [this] ‘mercy’ adds to the ‘forgiveness’ [in terms of God’s grace] — and You are the best of the merciful’, the most excellent of those who have mercy.
Verse 1
This is, a sūra which We have revealed and prescribed (read faradnāhā, or [the intensive form] farradnāhā, on account of the large number of prescriptions contained in it) and wherein We have revealed manifest signs, [signs] containing clear indications, that perhaps you might remember (tadhakkarūna: the second tā’ [of tatadhakkarūna] has been assimilated with the dhāl), that you might be admonished.
Verse 2
As for the fornicatress and the fornicator, that is, of those not in wedlock — because those [in wedlock] are stoned according to the Sunna (the al [in al-zāniya, ‘the fornicatress’, and al-zānī, ‘the fornicator’] according to some mentioned [opinions] is a relative [particle]; the clause [al-zāniyatu wa’l-zānī] is a subject, and because of its similarity to a conditional, the fā’ has been inserted into the predicate, which is [the following, fa’jlidū]): strike each of them a hundred lashes, [a hundred] strikes (one says jaladahu to mean daraba jildahu, ‘he struck him on the skin’). According to the Sunna, in addition to this [punishment] there is also banishment for a whole year. The slave, however, receives half of the mentioned [punishment]. And do not let any pity for them overcome you in God’s religion, that is to say, in [the fulfilment of] His rulings, by disregarding any part of their prescribed punishment, if you believe in God and the Last Day, namely, the Day of Resurrection: in this [statement] there is an incitement to [abide by] what was [mentioned] before the conditional [above] and it also constitutes the response to the latter, or [at least is] an indication of the response to it. And let their punishment, the flogging, be witnessed by a group of the believers — some say [that this should be a group of] three; some say four, as in the number of witnesses testifying to an act of fornication.
Verse 3
The fornicator shall not marry anyone but a fornicatress or an idolatress, and the fornicatress shall be married by none except a fornicator or an idolator, in other words, what is suitable for each of the two [for the purposes of marriage] is the above-mentioned; and that, namely, marrying of fornicators, is forbidden to believers, who are better [than those]. This was revealed when the poor among the Emigrants resolved to marry the wealthy whores of the idolaters, so that they [the women] would provide for them. Thus it is said that the prohibition applies specifically to them; but it is also said to apply in general; but it was abrogated by God’s words: Marry off the spouseless among you [Q. 24:32].
Verse 4
And those who accuse honourable women [in wedlock], who are chaste, of fornication, and then do not bring four witnesses, to testify as eyewitnesses to their fornication, strike them eighty lashes, that is, each one of them, and do not accept any testimony from them ever, in anything; and those, they are the immoral, for committing a grave sin (kabīra);
Verse 5
except those who repent thereafter and make amends, in their deeds, for God is indeed Forgiving, of their [unsubstantiated] accusations, Merciful, to them, in inspiring them to make repentance whereby their immorality is curbed and their testimony becomes [once again] acceptable — some say, however, that it can never be accepted [thereafter], if the proviso is taken to refer to the last clause.
Verse 6
And those who accuse their wives, of fornication, but have no witnesses, to [substantiate] this, except themselves — which happened with some Companions — then the testimony of one of them (fa-shahādatu ahadihim, the subject) shall be to testify [swearing] by God four times (araba‘a shahādātin, is in the accusative as a verbal noun) that he is indeed being truthful, in accusing his wife of committing fornication,
Verse 7
and a fifth time that God’s wrath shall be upon him if he were lying, in this (the predicate of the subject [fa-shahādatu ahadihim, ‘then the testimony of one of them’] is [the implicit] ‘will spare him the prescribed [legal] punishment for [false] accusation’).
Verse 8
And the punishment, namely, the prescribed [legal] punishment for fornication that is established upon his testimony, shall be averted from her if she testify [swearing] by God four times that he is indeed lying, in accusing her of having fornicated;
Verse 9
and a fifth time that God’s wrath shall be upon her if he were being truthful, therein.
Verse 10
And were it not for God’s bounty to you and His mercy, in shielding you [from being exposed] in such [situations], and that God is the Relenting, in His acceptance of repentance in such [situations] and otherwise, Wise, in the rulings He has given for this and other matters, that He might make clear the truth therein and hasten punishment for those deserving it.
Verse 11
Truly those who initiated the slander, the worst calumny against ‘Ā’isha — mother of the believers, may God be pleased with her — accusing her [of fornication], are a band from among yourselves, a group from among the believers. She said [that these were] Hassān b. Thābit, ‘Abd Allāh b. Ubayy, Mistah [b. Uthātha], and Hamna bt. Jahsh. Do not suppose, O you believers other than the [mentioned] band, that it is bad for you; rather it is good for you, for God will reward you for it and reveal ‘Ā’isha’s innocence and [the innocence of] the one who [is supposed to have] committed it with her, namely, Safwān [b. al-Mu‘attal]. She [‘Ā’isha] related: ‘I accompanied the Prophet (s) during a raid, and this was after the [requirement to wear the] veil had been revealed. When he was through with it [the raid], he headed back [to the campsite] and one night, having drawn close to Medina, he announced that all should march off [home]. So I walked a distance [away from the campsite] and relieved myself. But when I came back to the campsite, [I realised that] my necklace (‘iqd meaning qilāda) had snapped. So I went back to look for it. In the meantime they had strapped my litter’ — in which one rides — ‘thinking that I was inside, for in those days women were slight and ate very small portions (‘ulqa). [Finally] I found my necklace, but when I went back to where I had been staying overnight, they had already departed. I sat in the place where I had camped; I assumed that the group would notice my absence and come back for me. But my eyes were overcome [by drowsiness] and I fell asleep. Safwān had pitched camp behind the army to rest for some of the night (‘arrasa), then set off while it was still night until he reached the site of the camp. He saw what looked like a person sleeping and recognised me when he [eventually] saw me, having seen me on numerous occasions before the [requirement of the] veil. I woke up to the sound of him saying, ‘To God we belong and to Him we shall surely return’ (innā li’Llāhi wa-innā ilayhi rāji‘ūn), for he had recognised me. So I concealed my face with my gown (jilbāb) — in other words, I covered it up with my wrap (mulā’a). By God he did not so much as say a word to me, nor did I hear him say anything other than the words, ‘To God we belong and to Him we shall surely return’, as he brought his camel to its knees and pressed with his foot against its foreleg [for me to mount it]. I then mounted it and he set off leading me back on the camel until we reached the army which had stopped because of the extreme midday heat; some had died [searching] for me. The one who bore the greater share of it [the sinful accusation] was ‘Abd Allāh b. Ubayy b. Salūl’ … her [‘Ā’isha’s] words end here; this was reported by the two Shaykhs [al-Bukhārī and Muslim]. God, exalted be He, says: Upon every man of them shall be the [onus of the] sin which he has earned, in this [affair], and as for him who bore the greater share thereof, that is, [him who] assumed most of [the responsibility for] it, having initiated it and made it public, namely, ‘Abd Allah b. Ubayy: there will be an awful chastisement for him, namely, the Fire in the Hereafter.
Verse 12
Why, when you [first] heard about it, did the believing men and women not think good of themselves, that is, [why did] some [not] think good of others, and say, ‘This is a manifest calumny?’, [this is] a patent lie? (there is a shift here in the address from the second to the third person), in other words, [why did] you [not] assume [good of them], O band [of believers] and say:
Verse 13
Why did they, that is, this band [of accusers], not produce four witnesses to it?, who had witnessed it. And since they did not produce the witnesses, those, in God’s sight, in His judgement, they are liars, in this [matter].
Verse 14
And were it not for God’s bounty to you and His mercy in the life of this world and the Hereafter there would have befallen you, for what you, O band [of accusers], engaged in, [for] what you indulged in, an awful chastisement, in the Hereafter;
Verse 15
when you were receiving it [welcomingly] with your tongues, that is to say, [when] you were reporting it one from the other (one of the two letters tā’ has been omitted from the verb [tatalaqqawnahu, ‘you were receiving it’]; idh, ‘when’, is dependent because of massakum, ‘befallen you’, or afadtum, ‘engaged in’) and were uttering with your mouths that whereof you had no knowledge, supposing it to be a light matter, a sinless [act], while with God it was grave, in sinfulness.
Verse 16
And why, when you heard it, did you not say, ‘It is not for us to speak about this. Glory be to You! — this [exclamation] here is meant to indicate amazement — This is an awful calumny?’, [an awful] lie?
Verse 17
God admonishes you, He forbids you, lest you should ever repeat the like of it, if you are [in truth] believers, [then] you will be admonished by this.
Verse 18
And God clarifies for you the signs, through commands and prohibitions, and God is Knower, of what He enjoins and what He prohibits, Wise, therein.
Verse 19
Truly those who love that indecency should be spread, by the tongue, concerning those who believe, by its being associated with them — and the ones [meant] are the band — theirs will be a painful chastisement in the life of this world, by way of the prescribed [legal] punishment for [false] accusation, and the Hereafter, by way of the Fire, as is God’s due, and God knows, that such [indecency] does not apply in their case, and you, O band [of accusers], as regards the calumny of which you spoke, do not know, whether such [indecency] took place among them.
Verse 20
And were it not for God’s bounty to you, O band [of accusers] and His mercy and that God is Gentle, Merciful, to you, He would have surely hastened to [bring about] your punishment.