If [instead] you show [some] good or conceal it or pardon an offense - indeed, Allah is ever Pardoning and Competent.

Verse 1

O people, of Mecca, fear your Lord, that is, His punishment by being obedient to Him, Who created you of a single soul, Adam, and from it created its mate, Eve (Hawwā’), from one of his left ribs, and from the pair of them, Adam and Eve, scattered, separated and spread, many men and, many, women; and fear God by whom you claim [your rights] from one another (tassā’alūna: the original tā’ [of tatasā’alūna] has been assimilated with the sīn; a variant reading has tasā’alūna), so that one of you says to the other, ‘I ask you, by God…’, or ‘For God’s sake…’; and, fear, kinship ties, lest you sever them (a variant reading [of wa’l-arhāma, ‘and kinship ties’] is wa’l-arhāmi, as a supplement to the pronoun contained in bihi [sc. God]). They used to implore one another by ties of kinship. Surely God has been watchful over you, heedful of your deeds, for which He will requite you, that is to say, He is ever possessed of such an attribute.

Verse 2

The following was revealed regarding an orphan who demanded his property from his guardian but was refused it: Give the orphans, the under-age ones that have no father, their property, when they have reached maturity, and do not exchange the evil, the unlawful, for the good, the lawful, that is, taking the one in place of the other, as you do when you take what is good from the orphan’s property, and leave him your faulty property instead; and absorb not their property, [by] adding it, into your property; surely that, the absorbing of it, is a great crime, a serious sin. When this was revealed they found it difficult to maintain guardianship over orphans, and some of them had ten or eight wives under their care, and did not treat them all equally, and so the following was revealed:

Verse 3

If you fear that you will not act justly, [that] you will [not] be equitable, towards the orphans, and are thus distressed in this matter, then also fear lest you be unjust towards women when you marry them; marry such (mā means man) women as seem good to you, two or three or four, that is, [each man may marry] two, or three, or four, but do not exceed this; but if you fear you will not be equitable, towards them in terms of [their] expenses and [individual] share; then, marry, only one, or, restrict yourself to, what your right hands own, of slavegirls, since these do not have the same rights as wives; thus, by that marrying of only four, or only one, or resorting to slavegirls, it is likelier, it is nearer [in outcome], that you will not be unjust, [that] you will [not] be inequitable.

Verse 4

And give women their dowries (saduqāt, plural of sudqa), their bridal money (mahr, muhūr), as a free gift (nihlatan, is a verbal noun), a present given out of the kindness of one’s heart; but if they are pleased to offer you any of it of their own accord (nafsan, ‘of their own accord’, is for specification and is taken from the subject of the verb [thus, it refers back to ‘they’, the women]), meaning, [if] their own selves are pleased that you should have something of the dowry and they give it to you then, consume it with, good, wholesome appetite, a praiseworthy consequence, with no harm therein for you with regard to the Hereafter: this was revealed in response to those who were opposed to this [consumption].

Verse 5

But do not, O guardians, give to the foolish, the squanderers from among men, women and children, your property, that is, the property that is theirs but held by you, which God has assigned to you as maintenance (qiyāman, ‘maintenance’, is the verbal noun from qāma; a variant reading has qiyaman, the plural of qīma, ‘value’, that is, that with which property is valued), meaning that the property which sustains your livelihoods and the well-being of your children, lest they expend it improperly; provide for them thereof, that is, feed them from it, and clothe them, and speak to them decent words, prepare for them a kind reception, by giving them their property when they reach maturity.

Verse 6

Try, test, well the orphans, before reaching maturity with regard [the duties of] religion and [before] they can [legally] manage their own affairs, until they reach the age of marrying, that is, until they have become eligible for it through puberty or [legal] age, which, according to al-Shāfi‘ī, is the completion of fifteen years; then, if you perceive in them maturity, that is, right [judgement] in matters of religion and their property, deliver their property to them; consume it not, O guardians, wastefully, without due merit, and in haste, that is, hastening to expend it, fearing, lest they should grow up, and become mature, at which time you will be obliged to hand it over to them. If any man, who is a guardian, is rich, let him be abstinent, that is, let him abstain from the orphan’s property and refrain from consuming it; if he is poor, let him consume, of it, honourably, that is, in line with the wage for his work. And when you deliver to them, the orphans, their property, take witnesses over them, that they have received it and that you are absolved [of the obligation], so that if any dispute occurs, you are able to refer to a clear proof: this is a command [intended] for guidance. God suffices as a reckoner, as a guardian of His creatures’ deeds and as a reckoner of these [deeds] (the bā’ [in bi’Llāhi] is extra).

Verse 7

The following was revealed as a repudiation of pre-Islamic practices in which women and children were not given any inheritance: To the men, young ones and kin, belongs a share, a portion, of what, deceased, parents and kinsmen leave, and to the women belongs a share of what parents and kinsmen leave, whether it, the property, be little or much. God has made it, an obligatory share, apportioned, to be given to them.

Verse 8

And when the division, of the inheritance, is attended by kinsmen, those of kinship who cannot inherit, and orphans and the poor, grant them, something, out of it, before the division [is effected]; and, if the inheritors are young, speak to them, O guardians, honourable words, kindly, by apologising to them that it is not your possession [to divide as you wish], but that it is for the young [inheritors]. Some say that this [stipulation] was abrogated; others say that it was not, only that people were all too readily neglecting it, since it was encouraged [but not prescribed]. According to Ibn ‘Abbās, however, it is a duty.

Verse 9

And let them fear, let them be concerned for the orphans, those who, if they, are about to, leave behind them, that is, after their death, weak offspring, young children, would be afraid for them; that they be ruined; let them fear God, in the matter concerning orphans, and let them give what they would love for their own offspring after their death; and speak, to the one approached by death, pertinent words, the right [words], by enjoining him to give as voluntary almsgiving no more than the third [of the inheritance], and leave the remainder for the ones inheriting, so that they do not end up as dependants.

Verse 10

Those who consume the property of orphans unjustly, without any right, are only consuming, the whole of it as, fire in their bellies, because that is where such [action] leads, and they shall be exposed to (read active yaslawna, or passive yuslawna), that is, they shall enter, a blaze, an intense fire, in which they shall burn.

Verse 11

God charges you, He commands you, concerning, the matter of, your children, with what He will mention: to the male, of them, the equivalent of the portion, the lot, of two females, if there are two [women] with him, so that half the property is his, and the other half is theirs; if there is only one female with him, then she has a third, and he receives two thirds; if he is the only one, he takes it all; and if they, the offspring, be, only, women more than two, then for them two-thirds of what he, the deceased, leaves; likewise if they be two women, since in the case of two sisters, more deserving of such a share, God says, They shall receive two-thirds of what he leaves [Q. 4:176]; and since a female is entitled to a third with a male, she is all the more deserving [of the same share] with a female. It is said that fawq, ‘more than’, introduces a relative clause; it is also said to guard against the wrong impression that the greater the number [of females] the greater the portion [they are entitled to], since, it is [mistakenly] thought that the entitlement of two females to two-thirds derives from the fact that a female is entitled to one third when with a male; but if she, the daughter, be one (wāhidatan, is also read wāhidatun, making the kāna [construction] syntactically complete) then to her a half; and to his parents, the deceased’s, to each one of the two (li-kulli wāhidin minhumā, substitutes for the previous li-abawayhi, ‘to his parents’) the sixth of what he leaves, if he has a child, male or female: the point of the substitution is to show that they do not share the sixth [but receive one each]. [The term] ‘child’ (walad) also applies to a grandchild, and likewise ‘parent’ (abb) to a grandparent; but if he has no child, and his heirs are his parents, alone or along with a spouse, then to his mother (read li-ummihi; also read, in both places [here and further down], li-immihi in order to avoid the cumbersome transition from a damma [‘u’] to a kasra [‘I’]) a third, of the property, or what remains after the spouse, the rest being for the father; or, if he has siblings, two or more, males or females, to his mother a sixth, and the rest for the father, and nothing for the siblings. The inheritance stipulated for those mentioned shall take place, after, the fulfilment of, any bequest that he may bequeath (read active yūsī, or passive yūsā), or, the repayment of, any debt, that he may owe. ‘Bequest’ comes before ‘debt’, even though it should only be fulfilled after the latter [has been repayed], to show that it should be taken seriously. Your parents and children (ābā’ukum wa-abnā’ukum, is the subject, its predicate being [what follows]) — you know not which of them is nearer in benefit to you, in this world and the Hereafter. It may be that one supposes his son to be beneficial to him, leaves him an inheritance, and then it turns out that the father had been the more beneficial [of the two], and vice versa. The only One with knowledge of this [reality] is God, and for this reason He has prescribed for you inheritance: a prescription from God; surely God is ever Knowing, of His creation, Wise, in what He has ordained for them, that is to say, He is ever possessed of such attributes.

Verse 12

And for you a half of what your wives leave, if they have no children, from you or from another; but if they have children, then for you a fourth of what they leave, after any bequest they may bequeath, or any debt: the consensus is that the grandchild in this case is like the child. And for them, the wives, whether one or more, a fourth of what you leave, if you have no children; but if you have children, from them or from others, then for them an eighth of what you leave, after any bequest you may bequeath, or any debt; again the consensus is that the grandchild is as the child. If it be a man leaving an inheritance (yūrathu, ‘being inherited from’, is an adjectival qualification, the predicate of which is [the following kalālatan, ‘without direct heir’]) and not having a direct heir, that is, [having] neither a parent nor child, or it be a woman, leaving an inheritance and having no direct heir, but it be that such, a man leaving an inheritance with no direct heir, has a brother or a sister, from the same mother, as read by Ibn Mas‘ūd and others, then to each of the two a sixth, of what he leaves; but if they, the siblings from the same mother, be more than that, that is, [more] than one, then they share a third, the male and female equally, after any bequest to be bequeathed or any debt without prejudice (ghayra mudārrin, is a circumstantial qualifier referring to the person governing [the verb] yūsā, ‘to be bequeathed’) in other words, without causing any prejudice to the inheritors by bequeathing more than the third); a charge (wasiyyatan, a verbal noun reaffirming [the import of] yūsīkum, ‘He charges you’ [of the beginning of the previous verse]) from God. God is Knowing, of the obligations which He has ordained for His creatures, Forbearing, in deferring the punishment of those that disobey Him. The Sunna specifies that the individuals mentioned may receive the relevant inheritance provided that they are not barred from it on account of their having committed murder, or [their belonging to] a different religion or being slaves.

Verse 13

Those, rulings mentioned with respect to orphans and what followed, are God’s bounds, His laws, which He has delimited for His servants, so that they may act in accordance with them and not infringe them. Whoever obeys God and His Messenger, in what He has ruled, He will admit him (yudkhilhu, or, as a shift [to the first person plural] read nudkhilhu, ‘We will admit him’) to Gardens underneath which rivers flow, abiding therein; that is the great triumph.

Verse 14

But whoever disobeys God, and His Messenger; and transgresses His bounds, him He will admit ([read] in both ways [as above, yudkhilhu and nudkhilhu]) to a Fire, abiding therein, and for him, in it, there shall be a humbling chastisement, one of humiliation. (In both [of the last] verses, the [singular] person [of the suffixed pronouns and the verbs] accords with the [singular] form of [the particle] man, ‘whoever’, while [the plural person in] khālidīn, ‘abiding’, accords with its [general plural] import.)

Verse 15

As for those of your women who commit lewdness, adultery, call four, Muslim men, of you to witness against them; and if they witness, against them such [lewdness], then detain them in their houses, and prevent them from mixing with people, until, the angels of, death take them or, until, God appoints for them a way, out of it. This was stipulated for them at the very beginning of Islam, but then a way out was appointed for them through [the stipulation] that the virgin should receive a hundred lashes and be banished for a year, and the married woman be stoned. The prescribed punishment was explained thus in the hadīth, ‘Come listen to me! Come listen to me! God has now made a way out for them’, as reported by Muslim.

Verse 16

And when two of you (read wa’lladhāni or wa’lladhānni) men, commit it, that is, a lewd act, adultery or homosexual intercourse, punish them both, with insults and beatings with sandals; but if they repent, of this [lewd act], and make amends, through [good] action, then leave them be, and do not harm them. God ever turns [relenting], to those who repent, and is Merciful, to them. This [verse] is abrogated by the prescribed punishment if adultery is meant [by the lewd act], and similarly if homosexual intercourse is meant, according to al-Shāfi‘ī; but according to him, the person who is the object of the [penetrative] act is not stoned, even if he be married; rather, he is flogged and banished. Judging by the dual person pronoun, it seems more obvious that homosexual fornication is meant [by this verse], even though the former [sc. al-Shāfi‘ī] was of the opinion that it referred to an adulterer and an adulteress; but this [opinion of his] may be countered by the fact that [the reference to] the two [men] becomes clear on account of the particle min being attached to a masculine pronoun [minkum, ‘of you’], and by the fact that they suffer the same punishment, [both effect the action of] repentance and [are both granted] that they be left alone [thereafter], [all of] which applies specifically to men, given that for women detention is stipulated, as was stated before.

Verse 17

The repentance that God accepts, that is, the one which He has prescribed for Himself to accept, out of His bounty, is only of those who do evil, an act of disobedience, in ignorance (bi-jahālatin, a circumstantial qualifier, in other words, ‘they are ignorant’ while they are disobeying their Lord); then repent shortly thereafter, before the last gasps of death; God will relent to those, He will accept their repentance. And God is ever Knowing, of His creatures, Wise, in what He does with them.

Verse 18

Repentance is not for those who do evil deeds, sins, until, when death approaches one of them, and the pangs of death begin, he says, upon witnessing his predicament: ‘Indeed now I repent’, for this would not avail him and would not be accepted from him; neither for those who die disbelieving, if they repent in the Hereafter upon seeing the chastisement: it will not be accepted from them. Those — We have prepared for them a painful chastisement.

Verse 19

O you who believe, it is not lawful for you to inherit women against their will (read either karhan or kurhan, as alternative forms) that is to say, coercing them into this. In pre-Islamic times, they used to inherit women from their kin, and if they so wished they could marry [a woman] without a dowry, or marry her off and take the dowry for themselves, or prevent her [from marriage] until she gave up what she had inherited, or until she died and they could inherit from her. They were thus forbidden such practices; neither debar them, your [former] wives from marrying others by retaining them while you have no desire for them yourselves, only to harm them; so that you may go off with part of what you have given them, of the dowry, except when they commit flagrant (read mubayyina, ‘making it clear’, or mubayyana, ‘clear’) lewdness, such as adultery or rebellion, then you have the right to coerce them until they redeem themselves to you or forfeit [their dowries]. Consort with them in kindness, that is, being decent in speaking [to them], with regard to [their] expenditure and lodging; for if you hate them, then be patient; it may happen that you hate a thing wherein God has set much good, that is to say, perhaps He does this when He provides you with a righteous child through them.

Verse 20

And if you desire to exchange a wife in place of another, by divorcing the one, and you have given to one, of the spouses, a hundredweight, that is, a large sum as dowry, take of it nothing. Would you take it by way of calumny, injustice, and manifest sin? (buhtānan, ‘calumny’, and ithman, ‘sin’, end in the accusative because they are circumstantial qualifiers); the interrogative here is meant as a rebuke, and as a disavowal where He says:

Verse 21

How shall you take it, that is, by what right, when each of you has been privily with the other, through sexual intercourse, which validates the dowry, and they have taken from you a solemn covenant, a binding pledge, and that is what God commanded, namely, that they should be retained honourably or set free virtuously.

Verse 22

And do not marry women whom (mā means man) your fathers married, unless it be a thing of the past, which is forgiven you; surely that, marrying them, is obscene, vile, and abominable (maqtan, means it results in maqt, ‘severe hate’, from God), an evil way, [an evil] path is this.

Verse 23

Forbidden to you are your mothers, in marriage, and this includes the paternal and maternal grandmothers; and daughters, including their children, if they should lower themselves [to such standards]; your sisters, from your fathers and mothers; your paternal aunts, that is, the sisters of your fathers and grandfathers; and maternal aunts, that is, the sisters of your mothers and grandmothers; your brother’s daughters, your sister’s daughters, including the children of these daughters; your foster mothers who have given you milk, five times within the first two years, as pointed out in a hadīth; your foster sisters, and, according to the Sunna, the daughters of these; and these foster-sisters include those suckled by a woman with whom the man has had intercourse, those suckled by the man’s paternal aunts, or maternal aunts, or those suckled by his brother’s daughters, or his sister’s daughters, on account of the [Prophet’s] hadīth that, ‘What kinship makes unlawful suckling also makes unlawful’, as reported by al-Bukhārī and Muslim; your mothers-in-law, your step-daughters (rabā’ib, plural of rabība, the daughter of one’s wife from another husband), who are, being brought up, in your care (allātī fī hujūrikum is an adjectival qualifier, reiterating the obvious, without any additional import); being born of your wives you have been in to, in sexual intercourse — but if you have not yet been in to them you are not at fault, if you leave them, to then marry their daughters — and the spouses of your sons who are of your loins, as opposed to those whom you have adopted, whose spouses, in contrast, you may marry; and that you should take to you, in marriage, two sisters together, [sisters] by kinship or by suckling: the Sunna adds that you may not marry her together with her paternal or maternal aunt; it is permissible to marry each of these separately or to own them [as handmaidens] together, but only have sexual intercourse with one of them; unless it be a thing of the past, from pre-Islamic times, when you may have married in one of the ways mentioned: you are not at fault. God is ever Forgiving, of what you have done in the past, prior to this prohibition, Merciful, to you in this matter.

Verse 24

And, forbidden to you are, wedded women, those with spouses, that you should marry them before they have left their spouses, be they Muslim free women or not; save what your right hands own, of captured [slave] girls, whom you may have sexual intercourse with, even if they should have spouses among the enemy camp, but only after they have been absolved of the possibility of pregnancy [after the completion of one menstrual cycle]; this is what God has prescribed for you (kitāba is in the accusative because it is the verbal noun). Lawful for you (read passive wa-uhilla, or active wa-ahalla), beyond all that, that is, except what He has forbidden you of women, is that you seek, women, using your wealth, by way of a dowry or a price, in wedlock and not, fornicating, in illicitly. Such wives as you enjoy thereby, and have had sexual intercourse with, give them their wages, the dowries that you have assigned them, as an obligation; you are not at fault in agreeing together, you and they, after the obligation, is waived, decreased or increased. God is ever Knowing, of His creatures, Wise, in what He has ordained for them.

Verse 25

And whoever has not the means wherewith, [whoever] is not wealthy enough, to be able to marry believing (al-mu’mināt, ‘believing’, is in accordance with the prevalent practice, and does not add to the import), free, women in wedlock, let him take, in marriage, believing maids whom your right hands own. God knows very well your faith, so suffice yourself with its outward manifestation and leave the innermost matters to Him, for He is the One to know her [true] merit: many a slavegirl may be more excellent [in faith] than a free woman, and this is meant to encourage marriage with slavegirls; the one of you is as the other, being equal in religion, so do not disdain to marry with them. So marry them, with the permission of their folk, their guardians, and give them their wages, their dowries, honourably, without procrastination or diminution, as women in wedlock (muhsanāt, a circumstantial qualifier), in decency, not illicitly, openly fornicating, or taking lovers, companions fornicating in secret. But when they are given in wedlock, [when] they are married off (a variant reading [for the passive uhsinna, ‘they are given in wedlock’] has the active ahsanna, ‘they enter into wedlock’), if they commit lewdness, such as adultery, they shall be liable to half the chastisement, the legal punishment, of married, free, virgin, women, who commit adultery, and are thus given fifty lashes and banished for half a year; [male] slaves by analogy are liable to the same punishment. Here, God has not made wedlock the precondition for the prescribed punishment to show that stoning does not apply in their case [sc. slavegirls]. That, marrying of slavegirls on account of insufficient means, is for those of you who fear the distress of sin, fornication (al-‘anat originally means distress, but is used to mean zinā, ‘fornication’, because of the distress that it causes in the way of the punishment in this world and in the Hereafter), as opposed to those of you who might not have such a fear [of distress] with regard to their free women and for whom it is unlawful to marry her [the slavegirl]; likewise for one who has sufficient means to marry a free woman [it is unlawful for him to marry a slavegirl instead]: this is the opinion of al-Shāfi‘ī. Moreover, God’s words ‘believing maids’ precludes unbelieving women, whom it is unlawful to marry, even if one should find no believing women and fear [the distress of fornication]; yet it is better for you to be patient, and abstain from marrying slavegirls, lest the child should become enslaved also. God is Forgiving, Merciful, by allowing room for manoeuvre in these matters.

Verse 26

God desires to make clear to you, the laws of your religion and what is in your best interests, and to guide you in the ways, the paths, of those, prophets, before you, in the way of what is lawful and what is unlawful, so that you might follow them, and to turn [in forgiveness] towards you, bringing you back from the disobedience which you practised, to obedience to Him; God is Knowing, of you, Wise, in what He has ordained for you.

Verse 27

And God desires to turn [forgivingly] towards you (He repeats this in order to expand upon it), but those who follow their passions, the Jews and Christians, or the Magians and adulterers, desire that you deviate with a terrible deviation, transgressing what is right by committing what has been forbidden you, so that you might be like them.

Verse 28

God desires to lighten things for you, and make the rulings of the Law easier for you; for man was created weak, unable to abstain from women and passions.

Verse 29

O you who believe, consume not your goods between you wrongly, unlawfully according to the Law, through usury or usurpation, except it be trading (tijāratan, also read tijāratun), so that the goods be from trade effected, through mutual agreement, through mutual good-will: such [goods] you may consume. And kill not yourselves, by committing what leads towards destruction on account of some affiliation, be it in this world or the Hereafter. Surely God is ever Merciful to you, when He forbids you such things.

Verse 30

And whoever does that, which he has been forbidden, through aggression (‘udwānan, a circumstantial qualifier), transgressing what is lawful, and injustice (zulman, [reiterated] for emphasis), him We shall certainly expose, admit, to a fire, wherein he shall burn; and that for God is an easy matter.

Verse 31

If you avoid the grave sins that are forbidden you, those for which the threat of punishment has been prescribed, like murder, fornication or theft — according to Ibn ‘Abbās, these number as much as seven hundred — We will absolve you of your, minor, evil deeds, on account of your acts of obedience, and admit you by an honourable gate (read mudkhalan or madkhalan), that is, [by an honourable] admittance or location, namely, Paradise.

Verse 32

Do not covet that in which God has preferred some of you above others, in the way of worldly affairs or religion, lest it lead to mutual envy and hatred. To men a share from, a reward for, what they have earned, for their acts in the struggle and so on, and to women a share from what they have earned, by way of being obedient to their spouses and guarding their private parts: this was revealed when Umm Salama said: ‘Would that we were men, so that we could join the struggle and receive the reward they receive!’ And ask (read wa-s’alū or wa-salū) God of His bounty, what you need and He will give it to you; God is ever Knower of all things, including where merit is deserved and that for which you ask.

Verse 33

To each, man and woman, We have appointed heirs, relations to be given, of that, property, which parents and kinsmen leave, for them, and to those to whom your right hands (aymān, plural of yamīn, meaning ‘oath’ or ‘hand’) were pledged (read ‘āqadat or ‘aqadat), that is, those allies with whom before the coming of Islam you made covenants of mutual assitance and inheritance. So give them, now, their share, their portions of the inheritance, which is a sixth. God is ever Witness over everything, [ever] aware [of it], including your circumstances: this verse was abrogated by His words, But those related by blood are nearer to one another [Q. 8:75 and 33:6].

Verse 34

Men are in charge of, they have authority over, women, disciplining them and keeping them in check, because of that with which God has preferred the one over the other, that is, because God has given them the advantage over women, in knowledge, reason, authority and otherwise, and because of what they expend, on them [the women], of their property. Therefore righteous women, among them, are obedient, to their husbands, guarding in the unseen, that is, [guarding] their private parts and otherwise during their spouses’ absence, because of what God has guarded, for them, when He enjoined their male spouses to look after them well. And those you fear may be rebellious, disobedient to you, when such signs appear, admonish them, make them fear God, and share not beds with them, retire to other beds if they manifest such disobedience, and strike them, but not violently, if they refuse to desist [from their rebellion] after leaving them [in separate beds]. If they then obey you, in what is desired from them, do not seek a way against them, a reason to strike them unjustly. God is ever High, Great, so beware of Him, lest He punish you for treating them unjustly.

Verse 35

And if you fear, become aware of, a breach, a dispute, between the two, the married couple (the genitive construction shiqāqa baynihimā, ‘[any] breach between the two’, is for a range [of alternatives], in other words: shiqāqan baynihimā [is the normal construction]) send forth, for them with their consent, an arbiter, a just man, from his folk, his kinsmen, and an arbiter from her folk: the husband delegates to his arbiter the [matter of] divorce or the acceptance of compensation in its place, while she delegates to her arbiter the [matter of] separation. The two arbiters do their best and bid the one guilty of the injustice to desist, or they suggest separation if they see fit. God, exalted be He, says, if they, the two arbiters, desire to set things right, God will grant them, the married couple, success, determining for them what constitutes [an act of] obedience, be it reconciliation or separation. Surely God is ever Knower, of everything, Aware, of what is hidden and what is manifested.

Verse 36

And worship God, declare His Oneness, and associate nothing with Him. Be kind to parents, being dutiful and gentle-mannered, and near kindred, and to orphans, and to the needy, and to the neighbour who is near, to you in terms of [physical] vicinity or kinship, and to the neighbour who is a stranger, the one far from you in terms of [physical] vicinity or kinship; and to the friend at your side, a travelling companion, or a colleague at work, and, it is also said, one’s wife; and to the wayfarer, the one cut off during a journey, and to what your right hands own, of bondsmen. Surely God loves not the conceited, the arrogant, and the boastful, [the one who boasts] before people of what he has been given.

Verse 37

Those (alladhīna, the subject) who are niggardly, in their duty, and bid other people to be niggardly, in the same, and conceal what God has bestowed upon them of His bounty, in the way of knowledge and property: these are the Jews (the predicate of the [said] subject is [an implied] lahum wa‘īdun shadīd, ‘for them there is a promise of severe punishment’). And We have prepared for those that disbelieve, in this and other matters, a humbling chastisement, one of humiliation.

Verse 38

And those (wa’lladhīna, a supplement to the previous alladhīna, ‘those’) who expend of their substance to show off to people, to be seen of them, and believe not in God and the Last Day, the likes of the hypocrites and the Meccans. Whoever has Satan for a comrade, for a companion, whose command he follows, as these do, then an evil comrade has he.

Verse 39

And what burden is on them if they were to believe in God and the Last Day, and expend of what God has provided them?, that is to say, what harm would this cause them? In other words, there is no harm therein. Rather, harm lies in what they follow (the interrogative is meant as a disavowal; the law [of law āmanū, ‘if they were to believe’] conveys the sense of the verbal noun [sc. mādhā ‘alayhim īmānuhum, ‘what burden would their belief be upon them?’]). God is ever Aware of them, and will requite them for what they have done.

Verse 40

Surely God shall not wrong, anyone, so much as the weight of an atom, [the weight of] the smallest ant, by diminishing thereby a person’s good deeds or increase thereby his evil deeds; and if it, the atom, be a good deed (in taku hasanatan, ‘if it be a good deed’, is also read in taku hasanatun, in which case the kāna [construction] is [syntactically] complete), from a believer, He will double it (yudā‘ifuhā, also read yuda‘‘ifuhā), from ten times up to more than seven hundred times, and give from Himself, in addition to the doubling, a great wage, that no one can estimate.

Verse 41

So how shall it be, the predicament of the disbelievers, when We bring forward from every community a witness, to testify against it regarding its deeds, and this shall be its prophet; and We bring you, O Muhammad (s), as witness against these?

Verse 42

Upon that day, the day of bringing forward; the disbelievers, those who have disobeyed the Messenger, will wish that (law, ‘if’, means an, ‘that’) the earth might be levelled with them (read passive tusawwā, or active tasawwā, or tassawwā), so that like it they might also become dust, [and this is] because of the terror of that day, as is stated in another verse: The disbeliever shall say, ‘O would that I were dust!’ [Q. 78:40]. And they will not hide from God any talk, of what they did, although at another stage they do actually hide it and say, ‘By God, our Lord, we never associated anything with You’ [Q. 6:23].

Verse 43

O you who believe, draw not near to prayer, that is, do not perform prayer, whilst you are inebriated, by a drink: this was revealed concerning being drunk during the congregational prayer; until you know what you are saying, when you have sobered up; nor whilst you are defiled, as a result of [sexual] penetration or ejaculation (junuban, ‘defiled’, is in the accusative because it is a circumstantial qualifier, and may be used to refer to the singular or plural) — unless you are traversing, crossing, a way, a route, that is, [unless] you are travelling — until you have washed yourselves, in which case you may perform prayer: a proviso is made for the traveller because a different stipulation applies to him, as will follow. It is said that the purpose [of this verse] is to prohibit the approach to places of prayer, that is, mosques, the exception being if one were merely passing through and not staying. But if you are sick, with an illness made worse by [contact with] water, or on a journey, that is, [or] travelling whilst you are [ritually] defiled or impure, or if any of you comes from the privy (al-ghā’it), a place designated for relieving nature, that is to say, [or if any of you] have defecated, or you have touched women (lāmastum, a variant reading has lamastum: both mean lams, that is, ‘touching with the hand’, as stated by Ibn ‘Umar; this is also the opinion of al-Shāfi‘ī, and it extends to touching with other parts of the skin; according to Ibn ‘Abbās, however, it is [referring to] sexual intercourse); and you can find no water, with which to purify yourselves for prayer, having made the effort to seek it out and search for it — the sick being exempt in this case — then resort to, seek, when the time [for the prayer] has commenced, wholesome soil, clean earth, strike it twice, and wipe your faces and your hands, with it, up to the elbows (the verb masaha, ‘to wipe’, may stand on its own with a direct object or take a particle [before the direct object, sc. masaha bi-]). God is ever Pardoning, Forgiving.

Verse 44

Have you not seen those who were given a share, a portion, of the Book, namely, the Jews, purchasing error, with guidance, and desiring that you should err from the way?, that you should stray from the path of truth and be like them.

Verse 45

God has better knowledge of your enemies, than you do, and He informs you of them in order that you avoid them. God suffices as a Protector, a Preserver of you from them, God suffices as a Helper, defending you against their plotting.

Verse 46

Some, group, from among the Jews distort, alter, the words, that God revealed in the Torah pertaining to the descriptions of Muhammad (s), from their contexts, those [contexts] in which they were placed, and they say, to the Prophet (s), when he commands them something, ‘We have heard, your words, and we disobey, your command; and hear as one who does not hear’ (wa’sma‘ ghayr musma‘in is a circumstantial qualifier, functioning as an invocation, in other words, ‘And may you not hear!’) and, they say to him, ‘Mind us’ (rā‘inā), [a term] with which it had been forbidden to address him, being a curse word in their language; twisting, distorting, with their tongues and slandering, defaming, religion, Islam. If they had said, ‘We have heard and obey’, instead of ‘And we disobey’, and, only, ‘Hear’, and ‘Consider us,’ (unzur ilaynā) instead of rā‘inā, it would have been better for them, than what they said, and more upright, more just than that, but God has cursed them, removing them from His mercy, for their unbelief, so they believe not except a few, among them, such as ‘Abd Allāh b. Salām and his companions.

Verse 47

O you who have been given the Scripture, believe in what We have revealed, of the Qur’ān, confirming what is with you, of the Torah, before We obliterate faces, erasing the eyes, noses and eyebrows in them, and turn them inside out, and make them like the napes of the neck, a flat plate, or curse them, by transforming them into apes, as We cursed, [as] We transformed, those of the Sabbath, among them, and God’s command, His decree, is done: after this was revealed, ‘Abd Allāh b. Salām converted to Islam, and so it was said that this had been a conditional threat of punishment, so that when some of them converted to Islam, it [the threat] was lifted. It is also said that obliteration and transformation will take place before the rising of the Hour.

Verse 48

God forgives not that anything should be associated with Him. But He forgives other than, save, that, of sins, to whomever He wills, forgiveness for, by admitting him into Paradise without punishment. And whomever He wills of the believers He punishes for their sins, and then admits them into Paradise. Whoever associates anything with God, then he has indeed invented a tremendous, a great, sin.

Verse 49

Have you not seen those who praise themselves for purity? namely, the Jews, when they say, ‘We are God’s children and His beloved’, in other words, it is not a matter of their purifying themselves. Nay, God purifies whom He will, through faith, and they shall not be wronged, they shall not be diminished of their deeds, a single date-thread, as much as the peel on a date-stone.

Verse 50

Consider, in amazement, how they invent falsehood against God, in that way, and that suffices for a clear, an evident, sin.

Verse 51

The following was revealed regarding Ka‘b b. al-Ashraf and other such scholars from among the Jews, when they came to Mecca and saw those killed at Badr, and began to incite the idolaters to avenge them [their dead] by waging war against the Prophet (s): Have you not seen those who were given a share of the Book, how they believe in al-Jibt and al-Tāghūt, two idols belonging to Quraysh, and say to the disbelievers, to Abū Sufyān and his companions, when they [the latter] said to them: ‘Are we, who are the guardians of the House, who give drink to the pilgrim, offer hospitality to the guest, set free the captive, and do such and such … not more rightly guided than Muhammad, he who has contravened the religion of his forefathers, severed the ties of kinship, and abandoned the Sanctuary?’, ‘These, in other words, you, are more rightly guided, upon a more upright way, than the believers’?

Verse 52

Those are the ones whom God has cursed; and he whom God has cursed, you will never find for him any helper, anyone to protect him from His chastisement.

Verse 53

Or have they a share in the Kingdom?, that is to say, they have no share in it whatever, and even if they did, then they would not give the people a single date-spot, that is, [not even] something as worthless as the tiny spot on the back of a date-pit, because of the extent of their niggardliness.

Verse 54

Or, nay, are they jealous of people, namely, of the Prophet (s), for the bounty that God has bestowed upon them, in the way of prophethood and abundance of women? In other words, they wish that he be deprived of such things, saying, ‘If he were truly a prophet, he would not be concerned with women’. For We gave the House of Abraham, his forefather, the likes of Moses, David and Solomon, the Book and wisdom, and prophethood, and We gave them a mighty kingdom: David had ninety–nine women, and Solomon had a thousand, free women and slavegirls.

Verse 55

And there are some of them who believe in him, in Muhammad (s), and some of them who bar from him, [who] reject [him] and do not believe. Hell suffices for a blaze, as a chastisement for those who do not believe.

Verse 56

Surely those who disbelieve in Our signs — We shall expose them, We shall admit them, to a Fire, wherein they shall burn; as often as their skins are consumed, burnt, We shall replace them with other skins, restoring them to their initial unburnt state, that they may taste the chastisement, that they may suffer its severity. Surely God is ever Mighty, nothing being beyond His power, Wise, in His creation.

Verse 57

And those that believe, and perform righteous deeds, We shall admit them to Gardens underneath which rivers flow, wherein they abide: they shall have therein spouses purified, of menstruation and every impurity, and We shall admit them to plenteous shade, that is everlasting [shade], never replaced by any sun, and this is the shade of Paradise.

Verse 58

Verily, God commands you to restore trusts, that is, the rights entrusted [to you by others], back to their owners: this was revealed when ‘Alī, may God be pleased with him, took the key of the Ka‘ba from its keeper, ‘Uthmān b. Talha al-Hajabī, by force, upon the arrival of the Prophet (s) in Mecca in the year of the Conquest, after he [‘Uthmān] had tried to prevent him [‘Alī from taking it] saying, ‘If I had known that he was the Messenger of God, I would not have prevented him’. The Messenger of God (s) then ordered him [‘Alī] to give it back to him [‘Uthmān] saying to him, ‘Here you are, [it is yours] now and always’. He [‘Uthmān] was amazed by this, whereupon ‘Alī recited to him this verse, and he accepted Islam. Upon his death, he [‘Uthmān] gave it [the key] to his brother, Shayba, and thus it remained in [the keep of] his descendants. Although the verse was revealed regarding a specific occasion, it holds true in general on account of the plural person [to which it is addressed]. And when you judge between people, He commands, that you judge with justice. Excellent is (ni‘immā, the mīm of ni‘ima has been assimilated with the indefinite particle mā, which is the object described, in other words, na‘ima shay’an, ‘an excellent thing [is]’) the admonition God gives you, to restore a trust and to judge with justice. God is ever Hearer, of what is said, Seer, of what is done.

Verse 59

O you who believe, obey God, and obey the Messenger and those in authority among you, that is, rulers, when they command you to obey God and His Messenger. If you should quarrel, disagree, about anything, refer it to God, that is, to His Book, and the Messenger, while he lives, and thereafter [refer] to his Sunna: in other words examine these [disputes] with reference to these two [sources], if you believe in God and the Last Day; that, reference to the two [sources], is better, for you than quarrelling or [adhering to] personal opinions, and more excellent in interpretation, in the end.

Verse 60

The following verse was revealed when a Jew and a hypocrite fell into a dispute. The hypocrite called on Ka‘b b. al-Ashraf, to arbitrate between them, while the Jew called on the Prophet (s). When they came to him, the Prophet ruled in favour of the Jew. But the hypocrite was not satisfied, and so they went before ‘Umar. The Jew told him what had happened, whereupon he [‘Umar] turned to the hypocrite and asked him, ‘Is this true?’, and when he replied, ‘Yes’, he [‘Umar] killed him. Have you not seen those who claim that they believe in what has been revealed to you, and what was revealed before you, desiring to take their disputes to a false deity (tāghūt), one excessive in tempting [others] to falsehood (tughyān), namely, Ka‘b b. al-Ashraf, when they have been commanded to renounce him?, and not to associate with him. But Satan desires to mislead them, far astray, from the truth.

Verse 61

And when it is said to them, ‘Come to what God has revealed, as regards rulings in the Qur’ān, and the Messenger’, that he may judge between you, you see the hypocrites turn away from you vehemently, to others.

Verse 62

How would it be, [what] would they do, when an affliction, a punishment, befalls them for what their own hands have sent before them, of unbelief and acts of disobedience, that is to say, would they then be able to turn away and escape it? No! They then come to you (thumma jā’ūka, a supplement to yasuddūn, ‘they turn away’ [of the previous verse]), swearing by God that, in turning to other than you for arbitration, ‘We sought only virtue, settlement, and harmony’, reconciliation between the disputing parties by [any] approximate judgement without regard for the painful truth.

Verse 63

Those — God knows what is in their hearts, in the way of hypocrisy and the mendacity of their excuses; so turn away from them, with forgiveness, and admonish them, make them fear God, and say to them regarding, the issue of, their souls penetrating words, affecting them, in other words, reprimand them so that they repent of their unbelief.

Verse 64

We never sent any Messenger, but that he should be obeyed, in what he commands and judges, by the leave, by the command, of God, and not that he should be disobeyed or opposed. If, when they had wronged themselves, by seeking the judgement of the false idol, they had come to you, repentant, and asked forgiveness from God, and the Messenger had asked forgiveness for them (there is a shift from the second [to the third] person in this address, in deference to his [the Prophet’s (s)] status); they would have found God Relenting, to them, Merciful, to them.

Verse 65

But no, (fa-lā, the lā is extra) by your Lord! They will not believe until they make you judge over what has broken out, has become mixed up, between them and find in themselves no inhibition, [no] constraint or doubt, regarding what you decide, but submit, [but] comply with your ruling, in full submission, without objection.

Verse 66

And had We prescribed for them: (the particle an, ‘that’, is explicative) ‘Slay yourselves’ or ‘Leave your habitations’, as We did for the Children of Israel, they would not have done it, that is, what has been prescribed for them, save a few (read nominative qalīlun, as a substitution; or read accusative qalīlan, as an exceptive clause) of them; yet if they had done what they were admonished to do, of obedience to the Messenger (s), it would have been better for them, and stronger in establishing, [a stronger] confirmation of their faith.

Verse 67

And then, that is, had they confirmed themselves, We would have surely given them from Us a great wage, that is, Paradise.

Verse 68

And We would have guided them to a straight path. Some Companions said to the Prophet (s): ‘How will we be able to see you in Paradise, when you will be in the highest stations and we will be lower than you?’, and so the following was revealed:

Verse 69

Whoever obeys God and the Messenger, in what he commands, they are with those whom God has blessed of the prophets and the truthful, that is, the most excellent of the Prophet’s Companions, because of the fullness of their truthfulness and their affirmation of the truth; and the martyrs, those slain in the path of God; and the righteous, [all those] other than the ones mentioned. What fine companions they are!, in Paradise, since in it one will enjoy seeing them, visiting them and being in their presence, even though they will be in the highest stations in relation to others.

Verse 70

That, namely, their being with those mentioned (dhālika, ‘that’, is the subject, the predicate of which is [the following]) is bounty from God, with which He has favoured them, and not because they have earned it through their obedience. God suffices as Knower, of the reward of the Hereafter, in other words, trust in what He has told you: None can tell you like One Who is aware [Q. 35:14].

Verse 71

O you who believe, take your precautions, against your enemy, that is, be wary of him and be vigilant against him; then move forward, prepare to fight him, in companies, in separate groups, one raiding party followed by the next; or move forward all together, in one assembly.

Verse 72

Verily, there are some of you who tarry, who indeed hesitate to join the fighting, such as ‘Abd Allāh b. Ubayy, the hypocrite, and his companions — counting him [the one who tarries] as one of them [the Muslims] is from the perspective of outward appearances — (the lām in the verb [la-yubatti’anna, ‘verily … who tarry’] is for oaths); then, if an affliction befalls you, such as slaughter or defeat, he says, ‘God has been gracious to me, for I was not a witness with them’, present [at the fighting], lest I should be hurt.

Verse 73

But if (wa-la-in, the lām is for oaths) a bounty from God befalls you, such as a conquest or booty, he will surely cry, in regret, as if (ka’an is softened, its subject having been omitted, in other words [it should be] ka’annahu) there had never been (read lam yakun, or lam takun) any affection, any acquaintance or friendship, between you and him: this [statement] refers back to the words [in the previous verse] ‘God has been gracious to me’, and comes as a parenthesis between the statement ‘that he will cry’ and the very words he cries, which are: ‘Oh (yā, is for exclamation), would that I had been with them, so that I might have won a great triumph!’, that is, [that] I might have taken a good share of the booty.

Verse 74

God, exalted be He, says: So let them fight in the way of God, to elevate His religion, those who sell the life of this world for the Hereafter; and whoever fights in the way of God and is slain, dies a martyr, or conquers, overcomes his enemy, We shall give him a great wage, a plentiful reward.

Verse 75

What is wrong with you, that you do not fight: this is an interrogative of rebuke, in other words, there is nothing to prevent you from fighting, in the way of God, and for, the deliverance of, the oppressed men, women, and children, whom the disbelievers persecuted and prevented from emigrating. Ibn ‘Abbās, may God be pleased with him and his father, said, ‘My mother and I were among them’; who say, supplicating, ‘O, our Lord, bring us forth from this town, Mecca, whose people are evildoers, through unbelief, and appoint for us a protector from You, to take charge of our affair, and appoint for us from You a helper’, to defend us against them. God responded to their supplication and facilitated escape for some of them, while others remained behind until Mecca was conquered — in charge of them the Prophet (s) placed ‘Attāb b. Asīd, who proceeded to seek justice for the wronged from those that had wronged them.

Verse 76

Those who believe fight in the way of God, and those who disbelieve fight in the way of a false deity, Satan. Fight therefore against the friends of Satan, the supporters of his religion and you will defeat them with the strength you draw from God; surely the plotting of Satan, against believers, is ever feeble, of no substance, and cannot stand up to God’s plotting against the disbelievers.

Verse 77

Have you not seen those to whom it was said, ‘Restrain your hands, from fighting the disbelievers when they desired it at Mecca, because of the harm the disbelievers had inflicted upon them — and these were a group from among the Companions — and establish the prayer, and pay the alms’? Then, as soon as fighting was prescribed, was made obligatory, for them, lo, a party of them fear people, the disbelievers, that is, [they fear] punishment at their hands through death, as they would fear, the punishment of, God, or with more fear, than their fear of Him (ashadda, ‘more’, is in the accusative because it is a circumstantial qualifier; the response to the lammā, ‘as soon as’, is indicated by idhā, ‘lo’, and what follows), in other words, they are taken aback by fear, and they said, frightened of death, ‘Our Lord, why have You prescribed fighting for us? Why not (lawlā is [to be understood as] hallā) defer us to a near term?’ Say, to them: ‘The enjoyment of this world, that which is enjoyed therein, or enjoying it [the world], is trifling, it will end up by perishing; and the Hereafter, Paradise, is better for him who fears God’s punishment by avoiding disobedience to Him; and you shall not be wronged (lā tuzlamūna, may also be read lā yuzlamūna, ‘they shall not be wronged’) you shall not be diminished of your deeds, a single date-thread, as much as the peel on a date-stone, so struggle [in the way of God].

Verse 78

Wherever you may be, death will overtake you, though you should be in raised-up, lofty, towers’, forts, so do not shrink from fighting for fear of death. And if a good thing, such as fertility and abundance, befalls them, the Jews, they say, ‘This is from God’; but if an evil thing, such as drought or misfortune, befalls them, as it did with them when the Prophet (s) arrived in Medina, they say, ‘This is from you’, O Muhammad (s), that is, from the bad luck [you bring]. Say, to them: ‘Everything, good and evil, is from God.’ What is wrong with this people that they do not understand, that is, they do not come close to comprehending, any words, delivered to them (the mā, ‘what’ [of mā li-hā’ūlā’, ‘what is wrong with these’] is an interrogative intended to provoke amazement at their extreme ignorance; to state that one cannot even come close to doing something is [rhetorically] more intense than saying that he cannot do it).

Verse 79

Whatever good (hasana means khayr) befalls you, O man, it is from God, it has come to you from His bounty; whatever evil, misfortune, befalls you is from yourself, it has come to you as a necessary consequence of sins you have committed. We have sent you, O Muhammad (s), to people as a messenger (rasūlan, is a circumstantial qualifier for emphasis), and God suffices as Witness, of your Mission.

Verse 80

Whoever obeys the Messenger, verily obeys God; and whoever turns his back, [whoever] avoids obedience to you, do not be concerned with them: We have not sent you as a watcher over them, to keep watch over their deeds, but as a warner. Their affair is Ours [to deal with] and We will requite them. This [statement] was before the command to fight [them was revealed].

Verse 81

They say, that is, the hypocrites [say] when they come to you, ‘Our affair is [all about] Obedience, to you’; but when they sally forth, [when] they depart, from you, a party of them harbour (the [final] tā’ [of the feminine-ending in bayyatat, ‘harbour’] can either be elided with the following tā’ [of tā’ifa, ‘a party’] or simply omitted) they entertain secretly [feelings], other than what they say, to you in your presence in the way of [their] obedience, in other words, [they hide] disobedience to you. God writes down, He commands that it be written, what they harbour, in their scrolls [of deeds], so that they will be requited for it. So turn away from them, in forgiveness, rely on God, put your trust in Him, for He will suffice you; and God suffices as a Guardian, to Whom matters are entrusted.

Verse 82

What, do they not ponder, do they [not] contemplate, the Qur’ān?, and the marvellous truths contained in it. If it had been from other than God surely they would have found therein much inconsistency, [much] contradiction in meaning and irregularity in arrangement.

Verse 83

And when there comes to them an issue, [news] concerning the raiding parties sent by the Prophet (s) and what has happened to them, be it of security, through victory, or of fear, through defeat, they broadcast it, they make it widely-known: this was revealed regarding a group from among the hypocrites, or from among the feeble believers, who used to do this, and so the hearts of the believers would lose courage and the Prophet (s) would become distressed. If they had referred it, the news, to the Messenger and to those in authority among them, that is, the judicious elders among the Companions, in other words, if they had kept quiet about it until they were fully informed; those among them who are able to think it out, [those who] follow it up and seek knowledge of it, the ones who broadcast it, would have known it, and whether it is a matter that ought be broadcast or not, from them, from the Prophet (s) and those of authority. And but for the bounty of God to you, through Islam, and His mercy, to you through the Qur’ān, you would surely have followed Satan, in the abominations to which he commands you, except a few [of you].

Verse 84

So fight, O Muhammad (s), in the way of God; you are charged only with yourself, so do not be concerned with their failing to join you, the meaning being: fight, even if you are on your own, for you have been promised victory. And urge on the believers, incite them to fight and make them desire it; maybe God will restrain the might, the war, of the disbelievers; God is mightier, than them, and more severe in castigation, in punishment, than them. And so the Messenger of God (s) said: ‘By Him in Whose Hand is my soul, I shall sally forth [to fight], even if [I go] alone’. Thereupon, he sallied forth with seventy cavalrymen to the first [battle at] Badr, where God restrained the might of the disbelievers by casting terror into their hearts and preventing Abū Sufyān from sallying forth, as has already been mentioned in [sūrat] Āl ‘Imrān [Q. 3:151].

Verse 85

Whoever intercedes, between people, with a good intercession, one in accordance with the Law, shall receive a share of, the reward for, it, because of it; and whoever intercedes with an evil intercession, one in contravention of it [the Law], shall receive the like, the share of the sin, from it, because of it. God conserves, He has power over, all things, and so requites every person according to his deeds.

Verse 86

And when you are greeted with a greeting, as when it is said to you, ‘Peace be upon you’, greet, the one that greeted you, with better than it, by responding to him with, ‘Peace be upon you, and God’s mercy and blessings’, or return it, by saying back to him what he said; in other words, it is a duty to greet in one of these two ways, the former being the preferred one. Surely God keeps count of, He holds [you] accountable for, all things, and requites accordingly, including things such as returning a greeting. The Sunna specifies that one should not return the greeting of an disbeliever, an innovator, a wicked person, and of the one that greets a person who is in the act of relieving himself, or one in the bath, or one eating — indeed it is actually disapproved with the exception of the last. To the disbeliever [who says ‘peace be upon you’] one should simply say, ‘And upon you’.

Verse 87

God — there is no god except Him, and by God, He will surely gather you, from your graves, to, on, the Day of Resurrection whereof there is no doubt, no uncertainty. And who is truer in statement, in speech, than God?, that is, no one is.

Verse 88

When a group retreated from Uhud, people were at variance over their status. Some said, ‘Let us slay them’, while others said, ‘No!’ So the following was revealed: What is wrong with you, what is the matter with you, that you have become two parties, two groups, regarding the hypocrites, when God has overthrown them, He has turned them back [to disbelief], for what they earned?, in the way of disbelief and acts of disobedience. What, do you desire to guide him whom God has sent astray?, that is, to count them among the guided (the interrogative in both places is for disapproval). And he whom God sends astray, you will never find for him a way, a path to guidance.

Verse 89

They long, they wish, that you should disbelieve as they disbelieve, so then you, and they, would be equal, in unbelief; therefore do not take friends from among them, associating with them, even if they should [outwardly] manifest belief, until they emigrate in the way of God, a proper emigration that would confirm their belief; then, if they turn away, and remain upon their ways, take them, as captives, and slay them wherever you find them; and do not take any of them as a patron, to associate with, or as a helper, to assist you against your enemy.

Verse 90

Except those who attach themselves to, [who] seek refuge with, a people between whom and you there is a covenant, a pledge of security for them and for whoever attaches himself to them, in the manner of the Prophet’s (s) covenant with Hilāl b. ‘Uwaymir al-Aslamī; or, those who, come to you with their breasts constricted, dejected, about the prospect of fighting you, [being] on the side of their people, or fighting their people, siding with you, in other words, [those who come to you] refraining from fighting either you or them, then do not interfere with them, neither taking them as captives nor slaying them: this statement and what follows was abrogated by the ‘sword’ verse. Had God willed, to give them sway over you, He would have given them sway over you, by strengthening their hearts, so that assuredly they would have fought you: but God did not will it and so He cast terror into their hearts. And so if they stay away from you and do not fight you, and offer you peace, reconciliation, that is, [if] they submit, then God does not allow you any way against them, [He does not allow you] a means to take them captive or to slay them.

Verse 91

You will find others desiring to have security from you, by manifesting belief before you, and security from their own people, through unbelief, when they return to them, and these were [the tribes of] Asad and Ghatafān; yet whenever they are returned to sedition, [whenever] they are summoned to idolatry, they are overwhelmed by it, falling into it in the worst of ways. So, if they do not stay away from you, by refraining from fighting you, and, do not, offer you peace, and, do not, restrain their hands, from you, then take them, as captives, and slay them wherever you come upon them, [wherever] you find them; against them We have given you clear warrant, a clear and manifest proof for you to slay them and capture them, on account of their treachery.

Verse 92

It is not for a believer to slay a believer, in other words, no such slaying should result at his hands, except by mistake, killing him by mistake, unintentionally. He who slays a believer by mistake, when he meant to strike some other thing, as in the case of hunting or [shooting at] trees, but then happens to strike him with what in most cases would not kill, then let him set free, let him emancipate, a believing slave (raqaba denotes nasama, ‘a person’), an obligation on him, and blood-money is to be submitted, to be paid, to his family, that is, the slain person’s inheritors, unless they remit it as a charity, to him by waiving [their claim to] it. In the Sunna this [blood-money] is explained as being equivalent to one hundred camels: twenty pregnant, twenty female sucklings, twenty male sucklings, twenty mature ones and twenty young ones [not more than five years old]; and [the Sunna stipulates] that it is incumbent upon the killer’s clan, namely, his paternal relations [and not other relatives]. They share this [burden of the blood-money] over three years; the rich among them pays half a dinar, while the one of moderate means [pays] a quarter of a dinar each year; if they still cannot meet this, then it can be taken from the treasury, and if this is not possible, then from the killer himself. If he, the slain, belongs to a people at enmity, at war, with you and is a believer, then the setting free of a believing slave, is incumbent upon the slayer, as a redemption, but no bloodmoney is to be paid to his family, since they are at war [with you]. If he, the slain, belongs to a people between whom and you there is a covenant, a treaty, as is the case with the Protected People (ahl al-dhimma), then the blood-money, for him, must be paid to his family, and it constitutes a third of the blood-money for a believer, if the slain be a Jew or a Christian, and two thirds of a tenth of it, if he be a Magian; and the setting free of a believing slave, is incumbent upon the slayer. But if he has not the wherewithal, for [setting free] a slave, failing to find one, or the means to obtain one, then the fasting of two successive months, is incumbent upon him as a redemption: here God does not mention the transition to [an alternative to fasting which is] giving food [to the needy], as in the case of [repudiating one’s wife by] zihār, something which al-Shāfi‘ī advocates in the more correct of two opinions of his; a relenting from God (tawbatan, ‘relenting’, is the verbal noun, and is in the accusative because of the implied verb). And God is ever Knowing, of His creation, Wise, in what He has ordained for them.

Verse 93

And whoever slays a believer deliberately, intending to kill him, with something that is lethal, aware of the fact that he [the slain] is a believer, his requital is Hell, abiding therein, and God is wroth with him and has cursed him, He has removed him from His mercy, and has prepared for him a mighty chastisement, in the Fire: this may be explained as [referring to] the person that deems such [killing] licit, or as being his requital if he were to be requited, but it would not be anything new if this threat [of punishment] were to be forgone, because of what He says: Other than that [that is, idolatry] He forgives whomever He will [Q. 4:48]. It is reported from Ibn ‘Abbās that it [the verse] should be understood as it stands, abrogating other verses of ‘forgiveness’. The verse in [sūrat] al-Baqara [Q. 2:178] clearly indicates that the one who kills deliberately should be killed in return, or if he is pardoned then he has to pay the blood-money, the value of which has already been mentioned. It is made clear in the Sunna that between the intentional and the unintentional, there is a type of killing that is identified as [being with] quasi-deliberate intent (shibh al-‘amd), where the killer has slain with what in most cases is not [a] lethal [implement]. In such a case, there is no [right to] retaliation and blood-money is paid instead, so that it [this type of killing] is described as intentional, but [considered] unintentional in [that there applies] the fixing of the period [for payment] and the sharing of the burden [by the killer’s clan]; in this [case] and that of intentional killing redemption is more urgent than in unintentional killing.

Verse 94

The following was revealed when a group from among the Companions passed by a man from the Banū Sulaym driving his flock of sheep, and he offered them a greeting of peace. But they said, ‘He only greeted us dissimulating, out of fear’. So they killed him and took away his flock: O you who believe, when you are going forth, travelling in order to struggle, in the way of God, be discriminating (fa-tabayyanū; a variant reading has fa-tathabbatū, ‘ascertain’, here and further below); and do not say to him who offers you peace (read al-salām or al-salam), that is, the greeting, or [offers you] submission, declaring the profession of faith (shahāda), which is an indication of being a Muslim: ‘You are not a believer: you are only saying this to dissimulate for fear of your life and property’, so that you then end up killing him, desiring, seeking by this, the transient goods of the life of this world, that is, its enjoyment, in the way of spoils. With God are plenteous spoils, rendering you free of the need to kill such a person for his property. So you were formerly, when your lives and property were protected simply upon your professing the faith; but God has been gracious to you, making you known for your faith and uprightness. So be discriminating, lest you kill a believer and treat those entering the religion as you were treated [formerly]. Surely God is ever Aware of what you do, and will requite you for it.

Verse 95

The believers who sit at home, away from the struggle, other than those who have an injury, such as a chronic illness or blindness or the like (read in the nominative, ghayru ūlī l-darar, ‘other than those who have an injury’, as an adjectival clause; or in the accusative, ghayra ūlī l-darar, as an exceptive clause) are not the equals of those who struggle in the way of God with their possessions and their lives. God has preferred those who struggle with their possessions and their lives over the ones who sit at home, on account of some injury, by a degree, by [a degree of] merit, since both have the same intention, but the extra degree is given to those who have carried out the struggle; yet to each, of the two groups, God has promised the goodly reward, Paradise, and God has preferred those who struggle over the ones who sit at home, without any injury, with a great reward (ajran ‘azīman, is substituted by [the following, darajātin minhu]),

Verse 96

degrees, that is, stations one higher than the other in honour, from Him, and forgiveness and mercy (maghfiratan and rahmatan are in the accusative because [they constitute an object] of the implied verb [faddala, ‘He has preferred’]). Surely God is ever Forgiving, to His friends, Merciful, to those that obey Him.

Verse 97

The following was revealed regarding a group of people who submitted to Islam but did not emigrate and were then slain in the battle of Badr alongside the disbelievers: And those whom the angels take [in death], while they are wronging their souls, having remained among the disbelievers and neglected to emigrate, the angels will say, to them in rebuke: ‘What was your predicament?’, in other words, ‘in what circumstances were you with regard to your religion’. They will say, giving excuses, ‘We were oppressed, unable to establish religion, in the land’, the land of Mecca. The angels will say, to them in rebuke: ‘But was not God’s earth spacious that you might have emigrated therein?’, from the land of unbelief to another land, as others did? God, exalted be He, says: as for such, their abode shall be Hell — an evil journey’s end, it is!

Verse 98

Except the oppressed among the men, women, and children who are unable to devise a plan, having no strength to emigrate and no substance, and are not guided to a way, a means [of going] to the land of emigration.

Verse 99

As for such, perhaps God will pardon them, for God is ever Pardoning, Forgiving.

Verse 100

Whoever emigrates in the way of God will find in the earth many refuges, places of emigration, and abundance, of provision; whoever goes forth from his house as an emigrant to God and His Messenger, and then death overtakes him, along the way, as occurred with Junda‘ [or Jundab] b. Damra al-Laythī, his wage is then incumbent upon, fixed [with], God; surely God is ever Forgiving, Merciful.

Verse 101

And when you are going forth, travelling, in the land you would not be at fault if you shorten the prayer, by making it two [genuflexions] instead of four, if you fear that you may be afflicted by those who do not believe, that is, [if you fear] that you may be harmed [by them]: this [fear of affliction at the hands of the disbelievers] is [just intended as] an explication of the reality [of the situation] at that time and the point no longer applies. In the Sunna, it is pointed out that ‘travel’ (safar) means long-distance [travel], which is [approximately] 50 miles. God’s words ‘you would not be at fault’ should be understood as [denoting] a dispensation and not a requirement, and this is the opinion of al-Shāfi‘ī; the disbelievers are a manifest foe to you, their enmity being evident.

Verse 102

When you, O Muhammad (s), are, present, among them, while you [all] fear an enemy, and you stand to lead them in prayer (this type of address is customary in the Qur’ān), let a party of them stand with you, while another party stand back, and let them, the party standing with you, take their weapons, with them. Then when they have performed their prostrations, that is, [when] they have prayed, let them, the other party, be behind you, on guard until you complete the prayers; thereupon, let this party go on guard, and let another party who have not prayed come and pray with you, taking their precautions and their weapons, with them until you have completed the prayers. The Prophet (s) did this once at Batn Nakhla, as reported by the two Shaykhs [Bukhārī and Muslim]. The disbelievers wish, when you have stood up to pray, that you should be heedless of your weapons and your baggage that they may descend upon you all at once, by making an assault against you and capturing you, and herein is the reasoning behind keeping weapons on oneself. You are not at fault, if rain bothers you, or if you are sick, to lay aside your weapons, and not carry them: this implies that when there is no such excuse, it is compulsory to carry them, and this is one of two opinions held by al-Shāfi‘ī [on this matter]; the other [opinion] is that this [precaution] constitutes a sunna, and this is the more preferable opinion. But take your precautions, against the enemy and be on your guard as best you can; God has prepared for the disbelievers a humiliating chastisement.

Verse 103

When you have performed the prayer, [when] you have completed it, remember God, by [repeating] ‘There is no god but God’ (tahlīl) and ‘Glory be to God’ (tasbīh), standing and sitting and on your sides, lying down, in other words, in all states. Then, when you are reassured, [when] you are secure, observe the prayer, perform it with its proper due, surely the prayer is for believers a prescription, enjoined, that is, an obligation, at specific times, that is, its appointed times are set, and so it should not be postponed from these times.

Verse 104

After they returned from Uhud, the Prophet (s) dispatched a group to seek out Abū Sufyān and his companions, but they complained about their wounds, and the following was revealed: Be not faint, [be not] weak, in seeking, in pursuing, the enemy, the disbelievers, in order to fight them; if you are suffering, [if] you have pains from a wound, they are also suffering as you are suffering, that is, just like you, yet they do not shrink from fighting you; and you hope from God, in the way of victory and the reward for it, that for which they cannot hope, and since you have this advantage over them, you should be more willing for it than them. God is ever Knower, of all things, Wise, in His actions.

Verse 105

Tu‘ma b. Ubayriq stole a coat of mail and hid it with a Jew. When it was discovered with the latter, Tu‘ma accused him of having stolen it, and swore by God that he [Tu‘ma] had not stolen it, and his clan asked the Prophet (s) to advocate on his behalf and absolve him, whereupon the following was revealed: Surely We have revealed to you the Book, the Qur’ān, with the truth (bi’l-haqq is semantically connected to anzalnā, ‘We have revealed’) so that you may judge between people by that which God has shown you, what God has taught you. And do not be a disputant for traitors, like Tu‘ma, disputing on their behalf.

Verse 106

And pray for forgiveness from God, for that which you considered doing; surely God is ever Forgiving, Merciful.

Verse 107

And do not dispute on behalf of those who betray themselves, through acts of disobedience, for the evil consequences of their betrayal shall fall on them; surely God loves not one who is treacherous, frequently betraying, and sinful, that is to say, He will punish him.

Verse 108

They, the likes of Tu‘ma and his clan, hide themselves, in shame, from people, but they do not hide themselves from God; for He is with them, in His knowledge [of them], while they plot, they conspire, at night with discourse displeasing to Him, in their resolve to swear by God and deny the theft and accuse the Jew of it. God is ever Encompassing, in knowledge, of what they do.

Verse 109

Ah! There you are (addressing Tu‘ma’s clan) you have contested, you have disputed, on their behalf, that is to say, on behalf of Tu‘ma and his men (a variant reading has ‘anhu, ‘on his behalf’) in the life of this world; but who will contest against God on their behalf on the Day of Resurrection, if He were to punish them, or who will be a guardian for them, and take charge of their affair or defend them? In other words, no one will do such a thing.

Verse 110

Whoever does evil, [commits] a sin by which another is harmed, as when Tu‘ma falsely accused the Jew, or wrongs himself, committing a sin [the consequences of which are] limited to him, and then prays for God’s forgiveness, for it, that is to say, [and then] he repents, he shall find God is Forgiving, Merciful, to him.

Verse 111

And whoever commits a sin commits it against himself only, since the evil consequences fall on him, harming no one else; and God is ever Knower, Wise, in His actions.

Verse 112

And whoever commits a mistake, a minor sin, or a sin, a grave sin, and then casts it upon the innocent, [one who is innocent] of it, he has thereby burdened himself with calumny, by his false accusation, and a manifest sin, [one which is] evident on account of what he has committed.

Verse 113

Were it not for God’s bounty to you, O Muhammad (s), and His mercy, by way of protecting you, a party of them, of Tu‘ma’s clan, would have intended, [would have] conspired, to lead you astray, from judging with truth by deceiving you; but they lead only themselves astray; they will not hurt you at all, since the evil consequence of their leading you astray would have fallen on them. God has revealed to you the Book, the Qur’ān, and wisdom, the rulings contained therein, and He has taught you what you did not know, of rulings and the Unseen; and God’s bounty to you, in this and other respects, is ever great.

Verse 114

There is no good in much of their, that is, of people’s, secret conversations, that is, what they converse and talk secretly about, except for, the secret talk of, he who enjoins to voluntary almsgiving, or kindness, a righteous deed, or setting things right between people. And whoever does that, the aforementioned, desiring, seeking, God’s good pleasure, [and] nothing else of the affairs of this world, We shall surely give him (read nu’tīhi or yu’tīhi, ‘He will give him’, that is, ‘God [will give him]’) a great wage.

Verse 115

But whoever makes a breach with, [whoever] opposes, the Messenger, in the truth that he brings, after guidance has become clear to him, [after] the truth has become manifest to him through miracles, and follows, a path, other than the way of the believers, that is to say, [other than] the path they follow in religion, by disbelieving, We shall turn him over to what he has turned to, We shall make him a leader of the misguidance which he has followed, by leaving this as it is between them in this world, and We shall expose him, We shall admit him in the Hereafter, in Hell, where he will burn — an evil journey’s end, an [evil] return it is.

Verse 116

God does not forgive that anything should be associated with Him; He forgives all except that, to whomever He will. Whoever associates anything with God, verily he has strayed far away, from the truth.

Verse 117

What (in, is [to be understand as] mā, ‘only’) they pray to, [what] the idolaters worship, instead of Him, God, that is, other than Him, are but females, idols with feminine names, such as al-Lāt, al-‘Uzza and Manāt; and they (in, is [to be understand as] mā, ‘only’) only pray to, they [only] worship, by worshipping [these female idols], a rebellious satan, one who has rebelled against obedience [to God], for they are obeying him in this [worship of female idols].

Verse 118

God has cursed him, He has removed him from His mercy. And he, namely, Satan, said, ‘Assuredly I will take to myself, I will appoint for myself, an appointed portion, an apportioned share, of Your servants, [whom] I shall call to obey me.

Verse 119

And I will surely lead them astray, from truth with evil whisperings, and surely I will fill them with desires, I shall cast into their hearts [thoughts] that life will endure, that there will be no resurrection and no reckoning; and surely I will command them and they will cut up the cattle’s ears, and this was done to the [she-camels they called] bahā’ir. And surely I will command them and they will change God’s creation’, [substituting] His religion with unbelief, making lawful what God has made unlawful and making unlawful what God has made lawful. And whoever takes Satan for a patron, following him and obeying him, instead of God, has surely suffered a manifest loss, [one that is] evident, since he will end up in the Fire, made perpetual for him.

Verse 120

He promises them, long life, and fills them with desires, of attaining their hopes in this world, and that there will be neither resurrection nor requital; but what Satan promises them, therewith, is only delusion, falsehood.

Verse 121

For such — their abode shall be Hell, and they shall find no refuge from it, no alternative [to it].

Verse 122

But those who believe and perform righteous deeds, We shall admit them to Gardens underneath which rivers flow, abiding therein for ever; God’s promise in truth, that is, God promised them this and fulfilled it in truth; and who, that is, [and] none, is truer in utterance, that is, in statement, than God?

Verse 123

When the Muslims and the People of the Scripture began to pride themselves [upon God’s promise] the following was revealed: It, this matter, is not, dependent upon, your desires nor the desires of the People of the Scripture, but upon righteous deeds. Whoever does evil shall be requited for it, either in the Hereafter or in this life through trials and tribulations, as is stated in hadīth; and he will not find besides God, that is, other than Him, any friend, to protect him, or helper, to defend him against Him.

Verse 124

And whoever does, any, righteous deeds, whether male or female, and is a believer — such shall be admitted into (read passive yudkhalūna, or active yadkhulūna, ‘they shall enter’) Paradise, and not be wronged, by as much as, the dint in a date-stone.

Verse 125

And who, that is, [and] none, is fairer in religion than he who submits his purpose, that is, [than he who] is compliant and offers his deeds sincerely, to God and is virtuous, [and] declares God’s Oneness, and who follows the creed of Abraham, the one that is in accordance with the creed of Islam, as a hanīf? (hanīfan is a circumstantial qualifier), that is to say, [one] inclining away from all religions to the upright religion. And God took Abraham for a close friend, as His elect, one whose love for Him is pure.

Verse 126

To God belongs all that is in the heavens and in the earth, as possessions, creatures and servants; and God is ever the Encompasser of all things, in knowledge and power, that is, He is ever possessed of such attributes.

Verse 127

They will ask you for a pronouncement concerning, the matter of, women, and their inheritance. Say, to them: ‘God pronounces to you concerning them, and what is recited to you in the Book, the Qur’ān, in the ‘inheritance’ verse [Q. 4:11], and He also pronounces to you, concerning the orphan women to whom you do not give what is prescribed, [what] is obligatory, for them, of inheritance, for you, O guardians, [who] desire, not, to marry them, because of their ugliness, and you prevent them from marrying [others], coveting their inheritance: in other words, God pronounces to you not to do this; and, concerning, the oppressed, young, children, that you give them what is their due, and, He also commands you, that you deal justly, equitably, with orphans, with respect to inheritance and dowry. Whatever good you do, God is ever Knower of it’, and He will requite you for it.

Verse 128

And if a woman (wa-in imra’atun is in the nominative because of [it being the subject of] the explicative verb [that follows]) fears, anticipates, from her husband ill-treatment, if he looks down on her by refraining to sleep with her or by not maintaining her adequately, because he is averse to her and aspires to one more beautiful than her, or rejection, turning his face away from her, they are not at fault if they are reconciled through some agreement, in terms of shares and maintenance expenses, so that she concedes something to him in return for continuing companionship; if she agrees to this [then that is fine], but if [she does] not, then the husband must either give her all her due, or part with her (an yassālahā, ‘they reconcile’: the original tā’ [of yatasālahā] has been assimilated with the sād; a variant reading has an yuslihā, from [the fourth form] aslaha); reconciliation is better, than separation, ill-treatment or rejection. God, exalted be He, in explaining the natural disposition of man, says: But greed has been made present in the souls (al-shuhh is extreme niggardliness), meaning that they have a natural propensity for this, as if they [the souls] are ever in its presence, never absent from it. The meaning is: a woman would scarcely allow [another] to share her husband with her, and a man would scarcely allow her [to enjoy] him if he were to fall in love with another. If you are virtuous, in your conjugal life with women, and fear, being unjust to them, surely God is ever aware of what you do, and He will requite you for it.

Verse 129

You will never be able to be just to, to treat equally, your wives, in terms of love, even if you be eager, for this; yet do not turn altogether away, towards the one you love with respect to the shares and maintenance expenses, so that you leave her, the one from whom you turn away, like one suspended, one that is neither a slavegirl nor a woman with a husband. If you set things right, by being just with the shares, and fear, injustice, surely God is ever Forgiving, regarding the inclination in your hearts, Merciful, to you in this respect.

Verse 130

But if they, the married couple, separate, by way of divorce, God will compensate each of them, [from the need] of the other, out of His plenty, that is, out of His bounty, by giving her another as husband, and giving him another as wife. God is ever Embracing, of His creatures in bounty, Wise, in what He has ordained for them.

Verse 131

To God belongs all that is in the heavens and in the earth. We have charged those who were given the Scripture, meaning the scriptures, before you, namely, the Jews and Christians, and you, O people of the Qur’ān: ‘Fear God’, fear His punishment, by being obedient to Him. And We said to them and to you: ‘If you disbelieve, in what you have been charged with, then to God belongs all that is in the heavens and in the earth’, as creatures, possessions and servants, and He will not be harmed by your disbelief: God is ever Independent, of the need for His creation or their worship, Praised, praise-worthy for what He does with them.

Verse 132

To God belongs all that is in the heavens and in the earth (He has repeated this in order to reaffirm [the reason] why fear of God is necessary); God suffices as a Guardian, witnessing the fact that what is contained in them belongs to Him.

Verse 133

If He will, He can remove you, O people, and bring others, instead of you, surely God is ever able to do that.

Verse 134

Whoever desires, by his deeds, the reward of this world, then God has the reward of this world and of the Hereafter, for the one who wants it, and no one else has it, so why do any of you demand the lower [reward]? Why do you not seek the higher one, by devoting yourself sincerely to Him, since what [reward] he seeks can only be found with Him; God is ever Hearer, Seer.

Verse 135

O you who believe, be upright in justice; witnesses, of the truth, for God, even though it, the witnessing, be against yourselves, so be witness against them [your selves] by affirming the truth and not concealing it; or, against, parents and kinsmen, whether the person, witnessed against, be rich or poor; God is closer to the two, than you and He has better knowledge of what is good for them. So do not follow any whim, in your testimonies by being partial to the rich one, seeking his pleasure, or [by being partial] to the poor one out of compassion for him, lest you swerve, so that you do not incline away from the truth, for if you twist (a variant reading [for talwūw] has talū) [if] you distort your testimony, or refrain, from giving it, surely God is ever aware of what you do, and will requite you accordingly.

Verse 136

O you who believe, believe, with perseverance, in God and His Messenger and the Book which has been revealed to His Messenger, Muhammad (s), and that is the Qur’ān; and the Book which was revealed before, to the messengers, namely, the scriptures (a variant reading [for nuzzila and unzila, ‘was revealed’] has the active form for both verbs [nazzala and anzala, ‘He revealed’]). And whoever disbelieves in God and His angels and His Books, and His messengers, and the Last Day, verily he has strayed far away, from the truth.

Verse 137

Verily, those who believed, in Moses, namely, the Jews, and then disbelieved, by worshipping the calf, and then believed, after that, and then disbelieved, in Jesus, and then increased in disbelief, in Muhammad — it was not for God to forgive them, for what they have persisted in [of disbelief], nor to guide them to a way, to the truth.

Verse 138

Give tidings to, inform, O Muhammad (s), the hypocrites that for them there is a painful chastisement, namely, the chastisement of the Fire.

Verse 139

Those who (alladhīna, is either a substitution for, or an adjectival qualification of, al-munāfiqīna, ‘the hypocrites’) take disbelievers for friends instead of believers, because they mistakenly believe them to be strong — do they desire, [do] they seek, power with them? (an interrogative of disavowal), that is to say, they shall not find such [power] with them. Truly, power belongs altogether to God, in this world and the Hereafter, and none but His friends shall attain it.

Verse 140

It has been revealed (read active nazzala, ‘He has revealed’, or passive nuzzila, ‘It has been revealed’) to you in the Book, in the Qur’ān, in sūrat al-An‘ām [Q. 6:68], that: (an has been softened and its subject omitted, in other words, [read it as] annahu) ‘When you hear God’s signs, the Qur’ān, being disbelieved in and mocked, do not sit with them, that is, the disbelievers and the mockers, until they engage in some other talk, for otherwise you, if you were to sit with them, would surely be like them’, in sinfulness. God will gather the hypocrites and disbelievers, all together, into Hell, just as they were gathered together in this world in unbelief and mockery.

Verse 141

Those who (alladhīna, substitutes for the previous alladhīna [of verse 139]) wait in watch for you, [hoping] for misfortunes [to befall you], and, if a victory, such as a conquest or booty, comes to you from God, say, to you: ‘Were we not with you?’, in religion and in the struggle? So give us from the booty; but if the disbelievers have some luck, by gaining a victory over you, they say, to them: ‘Did we not gain mastery, authority, over you, capable of capturing you and slaying you, but we spared you, and did we not defend you against the believers?’, lest they be victorious over you, by forsaking them and apprising you of their plans, and thus have we not done you a favour? God, exalted be He, says: God will judge between you, and them, on the Day of Resurrection, admitting you into Paradise and them into the Fire; and God will never grant the disbelievers a way, a means [to success], over the believers, by annihilating them.

Verse 142

The hypocrites seek to trick God, by manifesting the opposite of what they hide in themselves of unbelief, in order to escape His rulings in this world; but He is tricking them, He will requite them for their trickery, and so they will be disgraced in this world through God apprising His Prophet of what they hide, and punished in the Hereafter. When they stand up to pray, with the believers, they stand up lazily, reluctantly, and, for their prayers, to be seen by people, and they do not remember, pray [to], God save a little, for ostentation.

Verse 143

Wavering, hesitant, all the time, between that unbelief and belief — not, belonging, to these, disbelievers, neither to those, believers; and he whom God sends astray, you will never find for him a way, a path [back] to guidance.

Verse 144

O you who believe, take not the disbelievers as friends instead of the believers: do you desire to give God over you, by your taking them as friends, a clear warrant?, a manifest proof of your hypocrisy?

Verse 145

Verily, the hypocrites will be in the lowest level, place, of the Fire, that is, its bottom; and you will never find a helper for them, anyone to guard them from the Fire.

Verse 146

Save those who repent, of hypocrisy, and make amends, in their deeds, and hold fast to, put their trust [in], God and make their religion purely God’s, free from any pretence; those are with the believers, in terms of what they shall be given; and God will certainly give the believers a great wage, in the Hereafter, and that is Paradise.

Verse 147

Why would God chastise you if you are thankful, of His favours, and believe, in Him? (the interrogative is meant as a denial, in other words: He would not punish you). God is ever Thankful, of the deeds of believers, rewarding them, Knowing, of His creation.

Verse 148

God does not like the utterance of evil words out loud, by any person, that is to say, He will punish him for it, unless a person has been wronged, in which case He would not punish him for uttering it out loud, when he is informing [others] of the wrong done to him by the wrong-doer or summoning [them] against him. God is ever Hearer, of what is said, Knower, of what is done.

Verse 149

If you show, manifest, good, in the way of pious deeds, or conceal it, [if] you do it in secret, or pardon evil, injustice, then surely God is ever Pardoning, Powerful.

Verse 150

Those who disbelieve in God and His messengers and seek to divide between God and His messengers, by believing in Him but not in them, and say, ‘We believe in some, of the messengers, and disbelieve in some’, of the others, and seek to adopt a way, a path, to follow, between them, [between] unbelief and belief.

Verse 151

Those are the disbelievers truly (haqqan is the verbal noun, emphasising the content of what precedes it in the sentence); and We have prepared for the disbelievers a humiliating chastisement, namely, the chastisement of the Fire.

Verse 152

And those who believe in God and, all of, His messengers and do not seek to divide between any of them, those — We shall surely give them (nu’tīhim, also read yu’tīhim, ‘He shall surely give them’) their wages, the reward for their deeds. God is ever Forgiving, to His friends, Merciful, to those who obey Him.

Verse 153

The People of the Scripture, the Jews, will ask of you, O Muhammad (s), to cause a Book to be revealed to them from the heaven, all at once, as was revealed to Moses, merely to harass [you]. If you consider this shocking, then [know that], they, their forefathers, asked Moses for something greater than that, for they said, ‘Show us God openly’, before our eyes; so the thunderbolt, death, seized them, as punishment for them, for their evildoing, when they harassed him [Moses] with this demand. They then took to themselves the [golden] calf, for a god, after clear proofs, the miracles testifying to God’s Oneness, had come to them; yet We pardoned that, and did not annihilate them; and We bestowed upon Moses clear authority, evident and manifest sway over them, for when he commanded them to slay themselves in repentance, they obeyed him.

Verse 154

And We raised above them the Mount, by the covenant with them, that is, on account of the covenant made with them, that they might fear, and so they accepted it; and We said to them, while it cast a shadow [hovering] above them: ‘Enter the gate, the gate of the town, bowing’; and We said to them, ‘Transgress not (a variant reading [of lā ta‘dū] is lā ta‘addū, where the original tā’ [of lā tata‘addū] is assimilated with the dāl, in other words [it is similar in meaning to] lā ta‘tadū, ‘do not act unjustly [in]’) the Sabbath’, by fishing during it, and We took from them a firm covenant, over this, but they broke it.

Verse 155

So, for their breaking (fa-bi-mā naqdihim: the mā is extra; the bā’ is causative and connected to a missing element [such as sabab, ‘reason’], in other words [it should be understood as] la‘annāhum bi-sabab naqdihim, ‘We cursed them for the reason of their breaking’) their covenant and disbelieving in the signs of God, and slaying the prophets wrongfully, and for their saying, to the Prophet (s): ‘Our hearts are covered up’, and cannot grasp what you say — nay, but God sealed them for their disbelief, and so they cannot heed any admonition; so they do not believe, except for a few, among them, like ‘Abd Allāh b. Salām and his companions.

Verse 156

And for their disbelief, a second time, in Jesus (the bā’ [of bi-kufrihim, ‘for their disbelief’] is repeated in order to separate it [‘their disbelief’ in Jesus] from what is supplemented to it [‘their utterance against Mary’]) and their uttering against Mary a tremendous calumny, when they accused her of fornication.

Verse 157

And for their saying, boastfully, ‘We slew the Messiah, Jesus son of Mary, the Messenger of God’, as they claim: in other words, for all of these [reasons] We have punished them. God, exalted be He, says, in repudiating their claim to have killed him: And yet they did not slay him nor did they crucify him, but he, the one slain and crucified, who was an associate of theirs [the Jews], was given the resemblance, of Jesus. In other words, God cast his [Jesus’s] likeness to him and so they thought it was him [Jesus]. And those who disagree concerning him, that is, concerning Jesus, are surely in doubt regarding, the slaying of, him, for some of them said, when they saw the slain man: the face is that of Jesus, but the body is not his, and so it is not he; and others said: no, it is he. They do not have any knowledge of, the slaying of, him, only the pursuit of conjecture (illā ittibā‘a l-zann, is a discontinuous exception) in other words: ‘instead, they follow conjecture regarding him, that which they imagined [they saw]’; and they did not slay him for certain (yaqīnan, a circumstantial qualifier emphasising the denial of the slaying).

Verse 158

Nay, God raised him up to Him. God is ever Mighty, in His kingdom, Wise, in His actions.

Verse 159

And there is not one of the People of the Scripture but will assuredly believe in him, in Jesus, before his death, that is, [before the death] of one belonging to the People of the Scripture upon seeing the angels of death with his very eyes, at which point his faith will not profit him; or [it means] before the death of Jesus, after he descends at the approach of the Hour, as is stated in hadīth; and on the Day of Resurrection he, Jesus, will be a witness against them, of what they did when he was sent to them.

Verse 160

And because of the evildoing (fa-bi-zulmin is [to be understood as] fa-bi-sababi zulmin, ‘and for the reason of the evildoing’) of some of those of Jewry, the Jews, We have forbidden them certain good things that were lawful for them, those things [mentioned] where God says [And to those of Jewry] We have forbidden every beast with claws [Q. 6:146]; and because of their barring, of people, from God’s way, [from] His religion, many, a time.

Verse 161

And because of their taking usury when they had been forbidden it, in the Torah, and their consuming people’s wealth through falsehood, through bribes in adjudications, and We have prepared for the disbelievers among them a painful chastisement.

Verse 162

But those of them who are firmly rooted, established, in knowledge, like ‘Abd Allāh b. Salām, and the believers, the Emigrants and the Helpers, believing in what has revealed to you, and what was revealed before you, of scriptures, and those who observe the prayer (wa’l-muqīmīna l-salāta is in the accusative because it is a laudative; it is also read in the nominative [wa’l-muqīmūna l-salāta]); and pay the alms, and those who believe in God and the Last Day — to them We shall surely give (nu’tīhim, is also read yu’tīhim, ‘He shall surely give’) a great wage, namely, Paradise.

Verse 163

We have revealed to you as We revealed to Noah, and the prophets after him, and, as, We revealed to Abraham and, his two sons, Ishmael and Isaac, and Jacob, the son of Isaac, and the Tribes, his [Jacob’s] children, and Jesus and Job and Jonah and Aaron, and Solomon, and We gave to, his father, David the Inscribed Book (read zabūran, it would denote the name of the revealed Book [cf. the Psalms]; read zubūran would make it a verbal noun, meaning mazbūran, that is to say, maktūban, ‘inscribed’).

Verse 164

And, We sent, messengers We have told you of before, and messengers We have not told you of: it is related that God sent eight thousand prophets [in total], four thousand [of them] from [the Children of] Israel, and [the remaining] four thousand from other peoples, as stated by the Shaykh [Jalāl al-Dīn al-Mahallī] in [his commentary on] sūrat Ghāfir [Q. 40:78]; and God spoke directly, without mediation, to Moses,

Verse 165

messengers (rusulan, substitutes for the previous rusulan, ‘messengers’) bearing good tidings, of reward for those that believe, and warning, of punishment for those that disbelieve; We sent them, so that people might have no argument, to make, against God after, the sending of, the messengers, to them, and say: Our Lord, why did you not send a messenger to us so that we might follow Your signs and be among the believers [Q. 28:47]; thus We sent them to pre-empt such excuses. God is ever Mighty, in His kingdom, Wise, in His actions.

Verse 166

When the Jews were asked about his [Muhammad’s] prophethood (s) and they denied him, the following was revealed: But God bears witness, He makes clear [the truth of] your prophethood, with what He has revealed to you, of the miraculous Qur’ān; He has revealed it, enveloped, through His knowledge, that is, [He has revealed it] knowing it fully, or [He has revealed it] with His knowledge therein; and the angels also bear witness, to you; and God suffices as a Witness, to this.

Verse 167

Surely those who disbelieve, in God, and bar, people, from the way of God, [from] the religion of Islam, by concealing the descriptions of Muhammad (s), and these are the Jews, they have indeed gone far astray, from the truth.

Verse 168

Surely those who disbelieve, in God, and who have done wrong, to the Prophet, by concealing his descriptions, it is not for God to forgive them, neither to guide them to any path, whatever,

Verse 169

except for the path of Hell, that is, [to] the path that leads to it, abiding, it is decreed for them to abide, therein, once they enter it, forever; and for God that is an easy matter.

Verse 170

O people, of Mecca, the Messenger, Muhammad (s), has now come to you with the truth from your Lord; so believe, in him and seek what, it is better for you, than that which you are presently seeking. And if you disbelieve, in him, then surely to God belongs all that is in the heavens and in the earth, as possessions, creatures and servants, and your disbelief will not harm Him; and God is ever Knowing, of His creation, Wise, in what He does with them.

Verse 171

O People of the Scripture, the Gospel, do not go to extremes, do not go beyond the bounds, in your religion and do not say about God except, the saying of, the truth, such as exalting Him above any associations with a partner or a child: the Messiah, Jesus the son of Mary, was only the Messenger of God, and His Word which He cast to, [which] He conveyed to, Mary, and a spirit, that is, one whose spirit is, from Him: he [Jesus] is here attached to God, exalted be He, as an honouring for him, and not as you claim, that he is the son of God, or a god alongside Him, or one of three, because one that possesses a spirit is compound, while God transcends being compound and the attribution of compounds to Him. So believe in God and His messengers, and do not say, that the gods are, ‘Three’, God, Jesus and his mother. Refrain, from this and say what, it is better for you, [to say], which is the profession of His Oneness. Verily, God is but One God. Glory be to Him, transcending [the possibility], that He should have a son! To Him belongs all that is in the heavens and in the earth, as possessions, creatures and servants, and such sovereignty is not compatible with [that] prophethood [of Jesus]. God suffices as a Guardian, a Witness to this.

Verse 172

The Messiah, whom you claim is a god, would never disdain, [would never] scorn or reject haughtily, to be a servant of God, neither would the angels who are nigh, to God, disdain to be servants: this is a splendid digression [to the matter of the angels], and it is mentioned as a refutation of those who claim that they [the angels] are gods or the daughters of God, just as He refuted, with what was stated before, the Christians who claim that which is the subject of the address to them [above]. Whoever disdains to worship Him, and waxes proud, He will assuredly muster them to Him, all of them, in the Hereafter.

Verse 173

As for those who believed, who did righteous deeds, He will pay them in full their wages, the reward for their deeds, and He will give them more of His bounty, what no eye has seen, no ear has heard and no man’s heart has ever wished for; and as for them who disdain and are too proud, to worship Him, He will chastise them with a painful chastisement, which is the chastisement of the Fire, and they shall not find for themselves, besides God, that is, other than Him, any friend, to ward it off them, or helper, to protect them from it.

Verse 174

O people, a proof, a definitive argument, has now come to you from your Lord, against you, namely, the Prophet (s), and We have revealed to you a manifest, a clear, light, namely, the Qur’ān.

Verse 175

As for those who believe in God, and hold fast to Him, He will surely admit them to mercy from Him, and bounty, and He will guide them to Him by a straight path, namely, the religion of Islam.

Verse 176

They will ask you for a pronouncement, concerning indirect heirs. Say: ‘God pronounces to you concerning indirect heirs. If a man (in imru’un is in the nominative because of the verb [halaka, ‘perishes’] that explains it) perishes, dies, having no children, and no parent, and this is the one referred to as an indirect heir (kalāla), but he has a sister, from both parents or from one, hers is half of what he leaves, and he, a brother, similarly, is her heir, in all that she leaves, if she has no children: but if she has a son, then he [the maternal uncle] receives nothing, and if a daughter, then whatever is left after her share; if the brother and sister be from the same mother, then the one receives a sixth, as was stipulated at the beginning of the sūra [Q. 4:11]. If there be two sisters, or more — for this was revealed regarding Jābir [b. ‘Abd Allāh], who died and was survived by sisters —, theirs are two-thirds of what he, the brother, leaves; if there be, among the inheritors, siblings, men and women, then the male, among them, shall receive the equivalent of the portion of two females. God makes clear to you, the stipulations of your religion, lest you go astray; and God has knowledge of all things’, including [matters of] inheritance: it is reported by the two Shaykhs [Bukhārī and Muslim] that al-Barā’ [b. ‘Āzib] said that this was the last of the ‘duty’ verses to be revealed.

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Surah AN-NISA' / The Women in English | Surah 4

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