005 - Sūrat al-Māidah

In the name of Allah (who is) Rahmān (and) Rahīm.

[For explanation, see Sūrat al-Fātiha:1]

1

O you who believe, fulfil your bonds, the covenants confirmed between you and Allahu ta’ālā and [between you and other] people. Lawful to you is the beast of the flocks, camels, cattle, and sheep [and goats], to eat after slaughtering [them], except that which is now being recited to you, as forbidden in [the verse below] Forbidden to you are carrion…[Q. 5:3]; the exceptive clause here is a discontinuous one, but may also be continuous; the forbidding concerns that which has succumbed to death and the like; game not being lawful to you when you are on pilgrimage (hurum means muhrimūn; ghayra, 'not', is in the accusative as [it introduces] a circumstantial qualifier referring to the subject of the pronoun lakum, 'to you'). Verily, Allahu ta’ālā decrees whatever He desires, in the way of making [things] lawful or otherwise, and there can be no objection thereto.

2

O you who believe, do not profane Allah’s sacraments (sha'ā'ir is the plural of sha'īra), that is, the [ritual] ceremonies of the religion, by hunting [game] while you are on pilgrimage, nor the sacred month, by fighting in it, nor the offering, that is, the boon offered in the [Meccan] Sanctuary, by interfering with it, nor the garlands (qalā'id, is the plural of qilāda, and these, made from the trees around the Sanctuary, were placed around it [the offering] to protect it), in other words, do not interfere with these [offerings] or with those who place them; nor, violate the sanctity of, those repairing, those heading, to the Sacred House, by fighting them [who are], seeking bounty, provision, from their Rabb, through commerce, and, His, beatitude, by resorting to Him, as they [the Meccans pagans] falsely claimed (this was abrogated by the barā'a verse [of sūrat al-Tawba, Q. 9:4]). But when you are discharged, from pilgrimage inviolability, then hunt for game (a command denoting permission). And let not hatred (read shana'ānu or shan'ānu) of a people that, because [they], barred you from the Sacred Mosque cause you to commit aggression, against them by killing them or otherwise. Help one another to righteousness, by doing that to which you were enjoined, and piety, by refraining from what you have been forbidden; do not help one another (ta'āwanū: one of the two original tā' letters [in tata'āwanū] has been omitted) to sin, acts of disobedience, and enmity, transgression of Allah’s bounds. And fear Allahu ta’ālā, fear His punishment by being obedient to Him; surely Allahu ta’ālā is severe in retribution, against those that oppose Him.

3

Forbidden to you is carrion, that is, the consumption of it, and blood, that is, what has been spilt, as mentioned in [sūrat] al-An'ām [Q. 6:145], and the flesh of swine, and what has been hallowed to other than Allahu ta’ālā, in that it was sacrificed in the name of something other than Him, and the beast strangled, to death, and the beast beaten down, to death, and the beast fallen, from a height to its death, and the beast gored, to death by another, and what beasts of prey have devoured, of such animals - except for what you have sacrificed duly, catching it while it still breathes life and then sacrificing it - and what has been sacrificed in, the name of, idols (nusub is the plural of nusāb) and that you apportion, that is, that you demand an oath or a ruling, through the divining of arrows (azlām: the plural of zalam or zulam, which is a qidh, 'a small arrow', without feathers or a head. There were seven of these [arrows], [marked] with flags, and they were retained by the keeper of the Ka'ba. They would use them for abitrations and when they commanded them they obeyed, and if they prohibited them they would desist; that is wickedness, a rebellion against obedience. And on the Day of 'Arafa in the year of the Farewell Pilgrimage, the following was revealed: Today the disbelievers have despaired of your religion, of you apostatising from it, having hoped for it [earlier], for now they perceived its strength; therefore do not fear them, but fear Me. Today I have perfected your religion for you, that is, its rulings and obligations (after this [verse] nothing about [what is] lawful or unlawful was revealed) and I have completed My favour upon you, by perfecting it [your religion], but it is also said by [effecting] their safe entry into Mecca; and I have approved, chosen, Islam for you as religion. But whoever is constrained by emptiness, by hunger, to consume some of what has been forbidden him and consumes it, not inclining purposely to sin, to an act of disobedience - then Allahu ta’ālā is Forgiving, to him for what he has consumed, Merciful, to him by permitting it to him, in contrast to the one who [purposely] inclines to sin, that is, the one actively engaged in it, such as a waylayer or a criminal, for whom [such] consumption is forbidden.

4

They will ask you, O Muhammad "sallallahu 'alayhi wa sallam" , about what, food, is made lawful for them. Say: 'The good, delicious, things are made lawful for you; and the, quarry of, hunting creatures, dogs, wildcats or birds that catch food, you have taught, training [them] as hounds (mukallibīn is a circumstantial qualifier, derived from kallabtu al-kalba, meaning, 'I released the hound against the quarry') teaching them (tu'allimūnahunna is a circumstantial qualifier referring to the subject of mukallibīn, 'training [them] as hounds', in other words, 'disciplining them') of what Allahu ta’ālā has taught you, of the art of hunting; so eat what they have caught for you, even if they have killed it, as long as they have not eaten any of it.

This is in contrast to the untrained [hunting creatures], whose catch is not lawful [for consumption]: the mark of these [being trained hunting creatures] is that they should return after they have been sent out, that they can be curbed when cried at and that they can seize the quarry without eating of it; the minimum number of times by which this may be known is three.

If they eat any of it, then it cannot be counted as 'what they have caught' for their trainers, and is consequently unlawful for consumption, as reported in hadīth in both of the Sahīhs [of Bukhārī and Muslim] - therein it is also mentioned that a catch made by an arrow over which Allah’s name is mentioned is equivalent [in lawfulness] to the catch of trained hunting creatures. And mention Allah’s name over it, when you unleash it. And fear Allahu ta’ālā. Indeed, Allahu ta’ālā is swift at the reckoning.'

5

Today the good, the delicious, things are permitted to you, and the food of those who were given the Scripture, that is, animals slaughtered by the Jews and Christians, is permitted to you, and permitted to them is your food. Likewise, the believing, free, married women, and the married women of those who were given the Scripture before you, are permitted to you for marriage, if you give them their wages, their dowries, in wedlock, in marriage, and not illicitly, fornicating overtly with them, or taking them as lovers, so as to fornicate with them secretly. Whoever disbelieves in faith, that is, [whose] apostatises, his, prior good, work has indeed failed, and so it counts for nothing and he will not be rewarded for it, and in the Hereafter he shall be among the losers, if he dies in this state [of unbelief].

6

O you who believe, when you stand up, that is, when you intend to go, to pray, and you are in [a state of] ritual impurity, wash your faces, and your hands up to the elbows, that is, including them [the elbows], as is clarified in the Sunna; and wipe your heads (the bā' in bi-ru'ūsikum is for 'adherence', that is to say, wipe over [the head] adhering [the hand] closely, without [excessive] water pouring over; the noun [ra's, 'head'] is generic, and so the minimum required to fulfil [the stipulation] is acceptable, which is the wiping of some of the hair, as Al-Shāfi’ī asserts); and your feet (read wa-arjulakum in the accusative as a supplement to aydīyakum; or wa-arjulikum in the genitive because of its adjacency to [the genitive] bi-ru'ūsikum), up to the ankles, that is, including them [the ankles], as is clarified in the Sunna, and they are the two protruding bones at the juncture of the legs and the feet. The interposing of the wiping of the head between [the mention of] the hands and the feet, which are washed, is intended to show the requirement of [a specific] order during the purification of these limbs, as Al-Shāfi’ī asserts. In addition, the requirement of making intention (niyya) in this [ablution], as in the other rituals of worship, is taken from the Sunna. If you are defiled, purify, wash, yourselves; but if you are sick, with an illness made worse by water, or on a journey, travelling, or if any of you comes from the privy, that is, [if] he has defecated, or you have touched women (as mentioned already in the verse in [sūrat] al-Nisā' [Q. 4:43]), and you cannot find water, having made the effort to look for it, then head for, seek, wholesome dust, that is, clean earth, and wipe your faces and your hands, including the elbows, with it, using two strikes (the bā' of bi-wujūhikum, 'your faces', denotes 'adherence'; it is explained in the Sunna that the requirement here is for the wiping to encompass the whole of these two parts. Allahu ta’ālā does not desire to make any hardship for you, any constraint, in the obligations He has imposed on you with regard to ablution, washing and purification with dust; but He desires to purify you, of filth and sins, and that He may perfect His grace upon you, through Islam, by explaining the laws of the religion; so that you might give thanks, for His graces.

7

And remember Allah’s grace upon you, through Islam, and His covenant, His pledge, which He made, He bound, with you when you said, to the Prophet "sallallahu 'alayhi wa sallam" upon pledging allegiance to him: 'We hear and we obey', all that you command and forbid, of what we love and what we despise. And fear Allahu ta’ālā, in His covenant, lest you break it. Surely Allahu ta’ālā knows what is in the breasts, that is, what is in the hearts [of people], all the more reason for [Him to have knowledge of] other things.

8

O you who believe, be upright before Allahu ta’ālā, in [fulfilling] what is His due, witnesses in equity, in justice. Let not hatred of a people, namely, the disbelievers, cause you not to be just, and to harm them on account of their enmity; be just, towards both friend and foe, that, justice, is nearer to Allahu ta’ālā-fearing. And fear Allahu ta’ālā; surely Allahu ta’ālā is aware of what you do, and will requite you for it.

9

Allahu ta’ālā has promised those who believe and perform righteous deeds, an excellent promise: they shall have forgiveness and a great wage, that is, Paradise.

10

And they who disbelieve and deny Our verses - they shall be the inhabitants of Hell-fire.

11

O you who believe, remember Allah’s favour upon you, when a people, namely, Quraysh, purposed to extend their hands against you, in order to attack you, but He restrained their hands from you, and protected you from what they intended to do to you; and fear Allahu ta’ālā; and in Allahu ta’ālā let the believers put their trust.

12

Allahu ta’ālā had made a covenant with the Children of Israel, for what will be mentioned shortly, and We raised up (there is a shift of address away from the third [to the first] person) from among them twelve leaders, from each tribe one leader, to be responsible for his people's fulfilment of the covenant, as a way of binding them [to it]. And Allahu ta’ālā said, to them: 'I am with you, helping and assisting. Surely if (la-in, the lām is for oaths) you establish the prayer, and pay the alms, and believe in My messengers (rusul) and succour them, help them, and lend to Allahu ta’ālā a goodly loan, by expending in His way, I will absolve you of your evil deeds, and I will admit you to gardens underneath which rivers flow. So whoever of you disbelieves after that, covenant, surely he has strayed from the right way', he has erred from the path to Paradise (al-sawā' originally means 'the middle way'). And they broke the covenant.

13

Allahu ta’ālā says: So because (bi-mā, the mā is extra) of their breaking their covenant, We cursed them, We removed them from Our mercy, and made their hearts hard, unyielding to the acceptance of faith; they pervert words, pertaining to the descriptions of Muhammad "sallallahu 'alayhi wa sallam" in the Torah and other things, from their contexts, those in which Allahu ta’ālā has placed them, in other words, they substitute them; and they have forgotten, they have abandoned, a portion, a part, of what they were reminded of, [of what] they were enjoined to in the Torah, in the way of following Muhammad "sallallahu 'alayhi wa sallam" ; and you - addressing the Prophet "sallallahu 'alayhi wa sallam" now - will never cease to discover some treachery on their part, in the way of breaking a covenant or some other matter, except for a few of them, who have submitted themselves [to Islam]. Yet pardon them, and forgive; surely Allahu ta’ālā loves the virtuous: this was abrogated by the 'sword' verse [Q. 9:5].

14

And with those who say 'We are Christians' (this is semantically connected to [what follows]) We made a covenant, just as We did with the Children of Israel, the Jews, and they have forgotten a portion of that they were reminded of, in the Gospel, pertaining to faith and other matters, and they [too] broke the covenant. So We have stirred up, We have caused, among them enmity and hatred until the Day of Resurrection, on account of their schisms and differing whims, each sect charging the other with unbelief; and Allahu ta’ālā will assuredly tell them, in the Hereafter, of what they wrought, and requite them for this.

15

O People of the Scripture, Jews and Christians, now there has come to you Our Messenger (rasūl), Muhammad "sallallahu 'alayhi wa sallam" , making clear to you much of what you used to conceal of the Scripture, the Torah and the Gospel, such as the 'stoning' verse and the description [of the Prophet Muhammad "sallallahu 'alayhi wa sallam" ], and pardoning much, of it, which he does not reveal, since this would not be of any benefit, serving only to disgrace you. There has verily come to you from Allahu ta’ālā a light, namely, the Prophet "sallallahu 'alayhi wa sallam" , and a Book, a Qur'ān, lucid, plain and manifest,

16

whereby, that is, the Book by which, Allahu ta’ālā guides whoever follows His good pleasure, by believing, to the ways of peace, the paths of safety, and brings them forth from the shadows, [from] unbelief, into the light, [into] belief, by His leave, by His will, and He guides them to a straight path, the religion of Islam.

17

They indeed are disbelievers those who say, 'Allahu ta’ālā is the Messiah, son of Mary', insofar as they make him [Jesus] a god, and these were the Jacobites, a Christian sect. Say: 'Who then can do anything, [who then can] defend, against, the chastisement of, Allahu ta’ālā if He desires to destroy the Messiah, son of Mary, and his mother, and all those who are on earth?', that is to say, none can do anything of the sort, since if Jesus were a god, he would be able to do so. And to Allahu ta’ālā belongs the dominion of the heavens and the earth, and all that is between them. He creates what He will. Allahu ta’ālā has power over everything, which He wills.

18

The Jews and Christians, both of them, say: 'We are the sons of Allahu ta’ālā, that is, [we are] like his sons in terms of closeness and rank, and He is like a father to us in terms of compassion and care, and His beloved ones'. Say, to them, O Muhammad "sallallahu 'alayhi wa sallam" : 'Why then does He chastise you for your sins? if what you say is true. For, the father does not punish his son, nor the loving his beloved; but He has punished you, and therefore you are saying lies. Nay; you are mortals from among, all, those, mortals, He created, you shall be rewarded as they are rewarded and you shall be requited as they are requited. He forgives, him for, whom He wills, forgiveness, and He chastises, him for, whom He wills', chastisement, and there can be no objection thereto. For to Allahu ta’ālā belongs the dominion of the heavens and of the earth, and all that is between them; to Him is the journey's end, the [final] return.

19

O People of the Scripture, there has verily come to you Our Messenger (rasūl), Muhammad "sallallahu 'alayhi wa sallam" , making clear to you, the laws of religion, after an interval between the messengers (rusul), for there was no Messenger (rasūl) between him and Jesus, an interval of 569 years; lest you should say, if you are punished: 'There has not come to us any bearer of good tidings (min bashīr, the min is extra) nor any warner.' Indeed, there has come to you a bearer of good tidings and a warner, and so you shall have no excuse. Allahu ta’ālā has power over all things, including punishing you for not following him [the Messenger (rasūl)].

20

And, mention, when Moses said to his people, 'O my people, remember Allah’s favour to you, when He established among you, that is, from among you, prophets, and established you as kings, possessing servants and retinues, and gave you such as He had not given to any in all the worlds, in the way of manna and quails, the parting of the sea and other things.

21

O my people, enter the Holy, the purified, Land which Allahu ta’ālā has ordained for you, [which] He commanded you to enter, and this is Syria (al-shām), and do not turn back in flight, [do not] retreat in fear of the enemy, or you will end up as losers', in your efforts.

22

They said, 'O Moses, there are giants in it, those remaining of the people of 'ād, who were very tall and mighty); we will never enter it until they depart from it; if they depart from it then we will enter', it.

23

There said, to them, two men of those who feared, contravening Allah’s command, and these were Joshua and Caleb - who were from among the leaders that Moses dispatched to bring back news of those giants - to whom Allahu ta’ālā had been gracious, by making them virtuous, for they concealed what they had discovered about the giants, telling only Moses, unlike the other leaders, who divulged the news, and so the people became cowardly. 'Enter against them by the gate!, the gate of the town, and have no fear of them, for they are bodies without hearts. For if you enter by it, you will be victorious: the two [Joshua and Caleb] said this because they were certain of Allah’s assistance and the fulfilment of His promise. Put your trust in Allahu ta’ālā, if you are believers'.

24

They said, 'O Moses, we will never enter it so long as they are in it. So go forth, you and your Rabb, and fight, them, we will be sitting here', away from the fighting.

25

He, Moses, thereupon, said, 'My Rabb, I control none but myself and my brother, and I control no one else to be able to force them to obedience. So separate, distinguish, us from the wicked folk'.

26

He, Allahu ta’ālā, exalted be He, said, to him: 'Then it, the Holy Land, shall be forbidden them, to enter, for forty years; they shall wander lost, bewildered, in the land - according to Ibn ‘Abbās this [land] was about nine parasangs [sc. 30 miles]; so do not grieve for the wicked folk'.

It is reported that they would travel throughout the night earnestly, but in the morning would find themselves back where they had started. And they would travel all day, with the same result, until they all perished, except those under twenty years of age. It is said that they numbered 600,000 Moses and Aaron died in the wilderness, and this was a mercy for them, and a chastisement for those others. When Moses was on the verge of death, he asked his Rabb to bring him close to the Holy Land, to within a stone's throw, and He did, as related in hadīth. Joshua became a prophet sometime after his fortieth year and he was commanded to fight against the giants. So he sallied forth with those that remained by his side and he fought against them; it was a Friday and the sun stopped for him for an hour, until he had finished with fighting them. Ahmad [b. Hanbal] reported in his Musnad the [following] hadīth, 'The sun was never detained for any human, except for Joshua during those days in which he marched towards the Holy House [of Jerusalem]'.

27

And recite, O Muhammad "sallallahu 'alayhi wa sallam" , to them, your people, the story, the tale, of the two sons of Adam, Abel and Cain, truthfully (bi'l-haqq is semantically connected to utlu, 'recite'), how they each offered a sacrifice, to Allahu ta’ālā, which in Abel's case was a ram, and in Cain's, some green crops, and it was accepted from one of them, namely, from Abel, when a fire came down from the heaven and consumed his offering, and not accepted from the other, that is, from Cain, and so he became furious and kept secret his envy until Adam left on pilgrimage. He said, to him, 'I will surely slay you,', and the other said, 'Why?', to which the first replied, 'Because only your offering was accepted'. The other said, 'Allahu ta’ālā accepts only from the Allahu ta’ālā-fearing'.

28

'Yet if (la-in, the lām is for oaths) you extend your hand against me to slay me, I will not extend my hand against you to slay you; I fear Allahu ta’ālā, the Rabb of the Worlds, in slaying you.

29

I desire that you should end up with my sin, the sin of slaying me, and your own sin, the one that you had committed before, and so become an inhabitant of the Fire, whereas I do not want to end up with your sin if I were to slay you, and become one of them. Allahu ta’ālā, exalted be He, says: that is the requital of the evildoers'.

30

Then his soul prompted him, it seduced him, to slay his brother, so he slew him and became one of the losers, by slaying him. And he did not know what to do with him, because he was the first of the Children of Adam to die on earth, and so he carried him on his back.

31

Then Allahu ta’ālā sent forth a raven, scratching into the earth, digging up the soil with its beak and with its legs and throwing it up over a dead raven next to it until it completely hid it, to show him how he might hide the nakedness, the carcass, of his brother. He said, 'Woe to me! Am I not able to be as this raven, and so hide my brother's nakedness?' And he became one of the remorseful, for having carried him; he then dug [a hole] for him and covered him up.

32

Because of that, which Cain did, We decreed for the Children of Israel that whoever slays a soul for other than a soul, slain, or for, other than, corruption, committed, in the land, in the way of unbelief, fornication or waylaying and the like, it shall be as if he had slain mankind altogether; and whoever saves the life of one, by refraining from slaying, it shall be as if he had saved the life of all mankind - Ibn ‘Abbās said [that the above is meant] in the sense of violating and protecting its [a soul's] sanctity [respectively]. Our messengers (rusul) have already come to them, that is, to the Children of Israel, with clear proofs, miracles, but after that many of them still commit excesses in the land, overstepping the bounds through disbelief, killing and the like.

33

The following was revealed when the 'Arniyyūn came to Medina suffering from some illness, and the Prophet "sallallahu 'alayhi wa sallam" gave them permission to go and drink from the camels' urine and milk. Once they felt well they slew the Prophet's shepherd and stole the herd of camels: Truly the only requital of those who fight against Allahu ta’ālā and His Messenger (rasūl), by fighting against Muslims, and hasten about the earth to do corruption there, by waylaying, is that they shall be slaughtered, or crucified, or have their hands and feet cut off on opposite sides, that is, their right hands and left feet, or be banished from the land (the aw, 'or', is [used] to indicate the [separate] application of [each of] the cases [listed]; thus, death is for those that have only killed; crucifixion is for those that have killed and stolen property; the cutting off [of limbs on opposite sides] is for those that have stolen property but have not killed; while banishment is for those that pose a threat - this was stated by Ibn ‘Abbās and is the opinion of Al-Shāfi’ī; the more sound of his [Al-Shāfi’ī's] two opinions is that crucifixion should be for three days after [the] death [of the killer], or, it is also said, shortly before [he is killed]; with banishment are included similar punishments, such as imprisonment and the like. That, mentioned requital, is a degradation, a humiliation, for them in this world; and in the Hereafter theirs will be a great chastisement, namely, the chastisement of the Fire.

34

Except for such, warmongers and waylayers, as repent before you overpower them; for know that Allahu ta’ālā is Forgiving, to them of what they have done, Merciful, to them. This [proviso] is expressed without any statement to the effect 'do not submit them to prescribed legal punishment', to point out that when such a person repents only Allah’s prescribed punishments (hudūd) - and not those deriving from the rights of human beings - are waived. This is how I see it. I do not know of any that have tackled this [topic], and Allahu ta’ālā knows best. If, then, a person has killed and stolen property, he should be killed and have his limbs cut off [on opposite sides], but not crucified - this is the more sound of two opinions held by Al-Shāfi’ī. However, his repentance is of no avail, once he has been overpowered [by the authorities] - this is also the more sound of two opinions held by him.

35

O you who believe, fear Allahu ta’ālā, fear His chastisement, by being obedient to Him, and seek the means to Him, that obedience which brings you closer to Him, and struggle in His way, in order to elevate His religion; so that you might prosper, triumph.

36

Truly, as for the disbelievers, if they possessed, definitely, all that is in the earth, and the like of it with it, by which to ransom themselves from the chastisement of the Day of Resurrection, it would not be accepted from them; theirs shall be a painful chastisement.

37

They will desire, they will wish, to exit from the Fire, but they will not exit from it; theirs shall be a lasting, a perpetual, chastisement.

38

And the thieving male and the thieving female (the definite article in both [nouns] relates to the subject [sc. wa'lladhī saraqa wa'llatī saraqat, 'And the male who thieves and the female who thieves']; because this [clause] resembles a conditional statement [sc. 'if he thieves, if she thieves' etc.] the fā' has been included in the predicate [fa'qta'ū, 'then cut off']) cut off their hands, that is, the right hand of each of the two from the wristbone; it is explained in the Sunna that the amputation applies to [the stealing of] a quarter of a dinar and upwards, and if the person were to re-offend, the left foot should then be amputated from the ankle, and then [on subsequent re-offending] the left hand [is amputated], followed by the right foot, after which discretionary punishment is applied;¹ as a requital (jazā'an is in the accusative because it is a verbal noun) for what they have earned, and an exemplary punishment, for both of them, from Allahu ta’ālā; Allahu ta’ālā is Mighty, His way will prevail, Wise, in His creation.

39

But whoever repents after his evildoing, refrains from theft, and amends, his actions, Allahu ta’ālā will relent to him. Allahu ta’ālā is indeed Forgiving, Merciful, in expressing what has been stated. However, the rights of the victim to have the penalty of amputation carried out and his property restored are not [automatically] forgone after repentance. In fact, as is clarified in the Sunna, only if he is pardoned before being taken to the Imām is the [punishment of] amputation waived, and Al-Shāfi’ī is of this opinion.

40

Do you not know (the interrogative here is meant as an affirmative) that to Allahu ta’ālā belongs the dominion of the heavens and the earth? He chastises, him for, whom He wills, chastisement for, and forgives, him for, whom He wills, forgiveness, and Allahu ta’ālā has power over all things, including chastising and forgiving.

41

O Messenger (rasūl), let them not grieve you, the actions of, those who vie with one another in disbelief, falling headlong into it, in other words, they [who] manifest it at every opportunity, of (min here is explicative) such as say with their mouths, with their tongues (bi-alsinatihim is semantically connected to qālū, '[such] as say'), 'We believe' but their hearts do not believe, and these are the hypocrites; and from among those of Jewry, there is a folk, who listen to calumny, fabricated by their rabbis, listening acceptingly, listening to, you, on behalf of some, other folk, from among the Jews, who have not come to you: these were the inhabitants of Khaybar, among whom two married persons committed adultery, but whom they did not want to stone. And so they dispatched [men from] Qurayza to ask the Prophet "sallallahu 'alayhi wa sallam" about the ruling concerning the two; perverting words, that are in the Torah, such as the 'stoning' verse, from their contexts, [the contexts] in which Allahu ta’ālā had placed them, that is to say, substituting them, saying, to the ones they dispatched: 'If you are given this, distorted ruling, that is, flogging, which Muhammad "sallallahu 'alayhi wa sallam" has pronounced for you as a ruling, then take it, accept it; but if you are not given it, and he pronounces some other ruling for you, then beware!', of accepting it! Whomever Allahu ta’ālā desires to try, to lead astray, you cannot avail him anything against Allahu ta’ālā, by preventing such [a trial]. Those are they whose hearts Allahu ta’ālā did not desire to purify, of unbelief, for had He desired it, you would have [been able to do something for them]; theirs shall be degradation in this world, humiliation, by being disgraced and subjected to the jizya, and in the Hereafter theirs shall be a great chastisement.

42

They are, listeners to calumny and consumers of unlawful gain (read suhut or suht), that which is illicit, such as bribes. If they come to you, to judge between them, then judge between them or turn away from them: the [second] option given here was abrogated by His saying, So judge between them [to the end of] the verse [Q. 5:48]. Therefore, we [Muslims] are obliged to judge between them if they request arbitration before us - and this is the more sound of Al-Shāfi’ī's two opinions. If their request for arbitration involves a Muslim, however, then we are obliged to judge according to the consensus [of legal scholars and not just Al-Shāfi’ī]); if you turn away from them, they cannot harm you at all; and if you judge, between them, then judge justly between them; Allahu ta’ālā loves the just, those that judge fairly, meaning that He will reward them.

43

But how is it that they make you their judge when they have the Torah, wherein is Allah’s judgement, of stoning: the interrogative here is for [provoking] amazement, in other words, they were not seeking thereby [by making you their judge] to discover the truth but a lighter punishment for them; and then they turn away, [and then] they reject your ruling of stoning, which accords with what is in their Scripture, after that, request [to you] for arbitration? Such are not believers.

44

Surely We revealed the Torah, wherein is guidance, from error, and light, that is, an exposition of the rulings, by which the prophets, from the Children of Israel, who had submitted, [who] had been compliant before Allahu ta’ālā, judged for those of Jewry, as did the rabbis, the scholars among them, and the priests, the jurists, according to, because of, that which they were bidden to observe, [that which] was entrusted to them, that is to say, [that which] Allahu ta’ālā bid them to observe, of Allah’s Scripture, lest they change it, and were witnesses to, its truth. So do not fear men, O Jews, in disclosing what you have pertaining to the descriptions of Muhammad "sallallahu 'alayhi wa sallam" , the 'stoning' verse and otherwise; but fear Me, when you conceal it; and do not sell, do not exchange, My signs for a small price, of this world, which you take in return for concealing them. Whoever does not judge according to what Allahu ta’ālā has revealed - such are the disbelievers, in it.

45

And therein, in the Torah, We prescribed, We made obligatory, for them that a life, be slain in return, for a life, if it has slain one; and an eye, should be gouged out, for an eye, and a nose, is to be cut off, for a nose, and an ear, is to be amputated, for an ear, and a tooth, should be pulled out, for a tooth (a variant reading has the last four [nouns] in the nominative); and for wounds (read wa'l-jurūhu or wa'l-jurūha) retaliation', that is, the person is entitled to retaliate if this is feasible, as in the case of a hand or a leg; but in cases where one is not able to [retaliate], this is left to arbitration. Although this stipulation was prescribed for them, it is established in our Law; but whoever forgoes it, that is, retaliation, out of charity, able to restrain himself, then that shall be an expiation for him, of what he has done [of other sins]. Whoever does not judges according to what Allahu ta’ālā has revealed, in the matter of retaliation and otherwise, those are the evildoers.

46

And We caused Jesus son of Mary to follow in their, that is, the prophets', footsteps, confirming the Torah before him; and We gave to him the Gospel, wherein is guidance, from error, and light, an exposition of the rulings, confirming (musaddiqan is a circumstantial qualifier) the Torah before it, the rulings contained therein, and as a guidance and an admonition to the Allahu ta’ālā-fearing.

47

We said: So let the People of the Gospel judge according to what Allahu ta’ālā has revealed therein, of rulings (a variant reading of wa'l-yahkum, 'let [them] judge', is wa-li-yahkuma, making it a supplement to that which is governed by the previous verb [ātaynāhu, 'We gave to him']). Whoever does not judge according to what Allahu ta’ālā has revealed - those are the wicked.

48

And We have revealed to you, O Muhammad "sallallahu 'alayhi wa sallam" , the Book, the Qur'ān, with the truth (bi'l-haqq is semantically connected to anzalnā, 'We have revealed') confirming the Book that was before it and watching over it, testifying [to it] - the 'Book' means the Scriptures. So judge between them, between the People of the Scripture, if they take their cases before you, according to what Allahu ta’ālā has revealed, to you, and do not follow their whims, deviating, away from the truth that has come to you. To every one of you, O communities, We have appointed a divine law and a way, a clear path in religion, for them to proceed along. If Allahu ta’ālā had willed, He would have made you one community, following one Law, but, He separated you one from the other, that He may try you in what He has given to you, of the differing Laws, in order to see who among you is obedient and who is disobedient. So vie with one another in good works, strive hastily thereunto; to Allahu ta’ālā you shall all return, through resurrection, and He will then inform you of that in which you differed, in the matter of religion, and requite each of you according to his deeds.

49

And judge between them according to what Allahu ta’ālā has revealed, and do not follow their whims, and beware of them lest they seduce you, [lest] they lead you astray, from part of what Allahu ta’ālā has revealed to you. But if they turn away, from the judgement revealed, and desire some other, then know that Allahu ta’ālā desires to smite them, with punishment in this world, for some of their sins, [those] which they have committed, among them, their turning away, and [that He desires] to requite them for all of their sins in the Hereafter; surely, many of mankind are wicked.

50

Do they desire (yabghūn, is also read tabghūn, '[do] you desire?'), [do] they seek, the judgement of paganism, through their deceit and deviation when they turn away? (this is an interrogative meant as a disavowal). Yet who, that is, no one, is better in judgement than Allahu ta’ālā for a people knowing, Him, with certainty? These [people] are singled out for mention because they are the ones who reflect.

51

O you who believe, do not take Jews and Christians as patrons, affiliating with them or showing them affection; they are patrons of each other, being united in disbelief. Whoever amongst you affiliates with them, he is one of them, counted with them. Allahu ta’ālā does not guide the folk who do wrong, by affiliating with disbelievers.

52

And you see those in whose hearts is sickness, weakness of faith, the like of 'Abd Allāh b. Ubayy the hypocrite; vying with one another for them, to affiliate with them, saying, as an excuse for this: 'We fear lest we suffer a turn of fortune', which time will bring round against us, such as drought or defeat, and that if Muhammad's affair should come to nothing, they will cease to supply us with provisions. Allahu ta’ālā, exalted be He, says: But it may be that Allahu ta’ālā will bring victory, by assisting His Prophet and making His religion prevail; or some commandment from Him, that will reveal the secrets of the hypocrites, disgracing them; and then they will end up, for what they kept secret within themselves, in the way of doubt and affiliating with disbelievers, remorseful.

53

And they say (read wa-yaqūlu, or just yaqūlu, to indicate a new [independent] sentence; or wa-yaqūla as a supplement to what follows), those who believe, to one another in amazement, when their secrets are revealed: 'Are these the ones who swore by Allahu ta’ālā their most earnest oaths, making the utmost effort thereby [to swear], that they were surely with you?, in religion. Allahu ta’ālā, exalted be He, says: Their, good, works have failed, are invalid; and they have become, they have ended up as, the losers', in this world, through ignominy, and in the Hereafter, through their punishment.

54

O you who believe, whoever of you apostatises (read either yartadid, with separation [of the two dāl letters], or yartadd, with assimilation [of one of the dāl letters with the other]), turns back, from his religion, to disbelief - this is a notification of what Allahu ta’ālā knew would happen, for some of them apostatised upon the death of the Prophet "sallallahu 'alayhi wa sallam" - Allahu ta’ālā will assuredly bring, in their place, a people whom He loves and who love Him: the Prophet "sallallahu 'alayhi wa sallam" said, 'They are people like him', and he pointed to Abū Mūsā al-Ash'arī, as reported by al-Hākim [al-Naysābūrī] in his Sahīh; humble, sympathetic, towards believers, stern, severe, towards disbelievers, struggling in the way of Allahu ta’ālā, and fearing not the reproach of any reproacher, therein, in the way that the hypocrites fear the reproach of the disbelievers. That, description mentioned, is Allah’s bounty; He gives it to whom He will; and Allahu ta’ālā is Embracing, of abundant bounty, Knowing, of those who deserve it.

55

When ['Abd Allāh] Ibn Salām said, 'O Messenger (rasūl) of Allahu ta’ālā, our people have shunned us', the following was revealed: Your patron is Allahu ta’ālā only, and His Messenger (rasūl), and the believers who establish prayer and pay the alms, bowing down, humble, or performing voluntary prayers.

56

Whoever affiliates with Allahu ta’ālā and His Messenger (rasūl) and the believers, He will help them and assist them; for verily the party of Allahu ta’ālā, they are the victors, because of His assistance to them (He has made this [hizb Allāh, 'the party of Allahu ta’ālā'] to fall in the place of [an implied] fa-innahum, 'for verily they', as an explication, since they belong to His party, that is, [they] His followers.

57

O you who believe, do not take as patrons those who take your religion in mockery, [as something] to be mocked, and as a game, from among (min is explicative) those who were given the Scripture before you and [from among] the disbelievers (read al-kuffāri or al-kuffāra), the idolaters - and fear Allahu ta’ālā, by refraining from affiliating with them, if you are believers, [if you are] truthful in your faith.

58

And, those who, when you make the call to prayer, take it, that is, the prayer, in mockery and as a game, mocking it and laughing at it among themselves; that, [mocking] attitude, is because they are a people who do not understand.

59

The following was revealed when the Jews said to the Prophet "sallallahu 'alayhi wa sallam" , 'Whom among the messengers (rusul) do you believe in?', and he replied: in Allahu ta’ālā and in that which has been revealed to us [Q. 2:136], and when he mentioned Jesus they said, 'We know of no religion worse than yours!' Say: 'O People of the Scripture, do you spite, [do] you repudiate, us for any other cause than that we believe in Allahu ta’ālā, and what has been revealed to us, and what was revealed, to the prophets, before, and that most of you are wicked?' (wa-anna aktharakum fāsiqūn is a supplement to an āmannā, 'that we believe'), that is to say, 'What you repudiate, in fact, is our faith and your opposition [to it], in refusing to accept it - [a refusal] which is described as 'wickedness', [this wickedness] itself being the necessary consequence of such [a refusal] - but in fact this [faith of ours] is not something to be repudiated'.

60

Say: 'Shall I tell you, [shall] I inform you, of what is worse than, the followers of, that, about which you are spiteful, by way of reward, requital, from Allahu ta’ālā? They are, those whom Allahu ta’ālā has cursed, [whom] He has removed from His mercy, and with whom He is wroth, and some of whom He has turned into apes and swine, by transformation, and, those who, worship the false deity, Satan, by obeying him (the particle minhum, 'some of whom', takes into account the [potentially plural] import of the particle min, '[those] whom', and in what precedes [minhum, 'some of whom'], the [singular] form [of min is taken into account];² a variant reading has 'abuda al-tāghūt as [the genitive of] an annexation, 'abud being a [variant] plural of 'abd; the accusative ending [of 'abuda] is because the clause is a supplement to al-qirada, 'apes'), and these were the Jews. They are worse situated (makānan is for specification), for their abode shall be the Fire, and further astray from the even way', from the path of truth (al-sawā' originally means al-wasat, 'middle'); the use of sharrun, 'worse', and adallu, 'further astray', is intended to counter their saying, 'We know of no religion worse [sharrun] than yours'.

61

When they, the hypocrites from among the Jews, come to you, they say, 'We believe'; but they have entered, unto you ensconced, in disbelief, and so they have departed, from you ensconced, in it, and they have not believed. And Allahu ta’ālā knows very well what they were hiding, of hypocrisy.

62

And you see many of them, namely, the Jews, vying, falling headlong, in sin, in calumny, and enmity, wrongdoing, and their consuming of unlawful gain, what is illicit, like bribes; evil is that, deed of theirs, which they have been committing.

63

Why do the rabbis and the priests, among them, not forbid them from uttering sin, calumny, and consuming unlawful gain? Evil is what they have been doing, in refraining from forbidding them.

64

The Jews said, when their circumstances became straitened, on account of their denial of the Prophet "sallallahu 'alayhi wa sallam" , after having been the wealthiest of people: 'Allah’s hand is fettered', withholding the sending forth of provision upon us - this was their metaphor for niggardliness - may Allahu ta’ālā be exalted above this. Allahu ta’ālā, exalted be He, says: Fettered be, withheld be, their hands, from the performance of good deeds, as an invocation against them; and they are cursed for what they have said. Nay, but His hands are extended out wide - a hyperbole for the attribute of generosity - the use of [yadā] the dual for yad, 'hand', is intended to imply abundance, since the utmost that an affluent person can give freely of his wealth is when he gives it with both hands. He expends how He will, in giving abundantly or straitening, and there can be no objection to this. And what has been revealed to you from your Rabb, of the Qur'ān, will surely increase many of them in insolence and disbelief, because of their [very] disbelief in it; and We have cast between them enmity and hatred until the Day of Resurrection, and so every sect among them is opposed to the other. Every time they light the fires of war, that is, for war against the Prophet "sallallahu 'alayhi wa sallam" , Allahu ta’ālā extinguishes them, that is, every time they desire it [war], He repels them. And they hasten about the earth in corruption, that is, [they hasten about] corrupting, through acts of disobedience, and Allahu ta’ālā does not love corrupters, meaning that He will punish them.

65

But had the People of the Scripture believed, in Muhammad "sallallahu 'alayhi wa sallam" , and feared unbelief, We would have absolved them of their evil deeds and We would admitted them to Gardens of Bliss.

66

And had they observed the Torah and the Gospel, by implementing what is in them, including believing in the Prophet "sallallahu 'alayhi wa sallam" , and what was revealed to them, of scriptures, from their Rabb, they would surely have received nourishment from above them and from beneath their feet, by their being given provision in abundance, with it pouring forth from every place. Some of them, a group [among them], are a just community, implementing it [the Torah], and they are the ones who believed in the Prophet "sallallahu 'alayhi wa sallam" , the likes of 'Abd Allāh b. Salām and his companions; but many of them - evil is that, thing, which they do.

67

O Messenger (rasūl), make known, all of, that which has been revealed to you from your Rabb, and do not conceal any of it out of fear that you may suffer some harm; for if you do not, that is, if you do not make known all of what has been revealed to you, you will not have conveyed His Message (risālatahu, or read plural, risālātihi, 'His Messages') since to conceal some of it is to conceal it all. Allahu ta’ālā will protect you from people, who may try to kill you. The Prophet "sallallahu 'alayhi wa sallam" used to have guards up until [the time that] this [verse] was revealed, then he said, 'Depart, for Allahu ta’ālā protects me now', as reported by al-Hākim. Allahu ta’ālā does not guide the unbelieving folk.

68

Say: 'O People of the Scripture, you have no basis, in religion, on which to rely, until you observe the Torah and the Gospel and what was revealed to you from your Rabb', by implementing what is therein, including believing in me [Muhammad "sallallahu 'alayhi wa sallam" ]. And what has been revealed to you from your Rabb, of the Qur'ān, will surely increase many of them in insolence and disbelief, because of their disbelief in it; so do not grieve for the disbelieving folk, if they do not believe in you, in other words, do not be concerned with them

69

Surely those who believe and those of Jewry ([this constitutes] the subject of the clause), namely, the Jews, and the Sabaeans, a sect among them, and the Christians (and [what follows] substitutes for the [above] subject): whoever, of them, believes in Allahu ta’ālā and al-yawm al-ākher (the Last Day) and behaves righteously - no fear shall befall them, neither shall they grieve, in the Hereafter (this [fa-lā khawfun 'alayhim wa-lā hum yahzanūn, 'no fear shall befall them, neither shall they grieve'] is the predicate of the subject and also indicates the predicate of [the clause beginning with] inna, 'surely').

70

And We made a covenant with the Children of Israel, to believe in Allahu ta’ālā and His messengers (rusul), and We sent messengers (rusul) to them. Every time a Messenger (rasūl) came to them, from among them, with what their souls did not desire, in the way of truth, they denied it; some, of them, they denied, and some, of them, they slay, such as Zachariah and John (the use of [the present tense] yaqtulūn, 'they slay', instead of [the perfect tense] qatalū is to narrate past events [as if in the present] and to conclude [in harmony with] the end-rhyme of the verses).

71

And they thought, they presumed that, there would be no (read as an lā takūnu, where an has been softened; or read an lā takūna, where it [an] requires a [following] subjunctive, that is to say, 'that there would [not] befall [them]') a trial, a punishment against them, for their denial of the messengers (rusul) and their slaying of them; and so they were wilfully blind, to the truth and could not see it, and deaf, [unable] to hear it. Then Allahu ta’ālā relented to them, when they repented, then they were wilfully blind and deaf, a second time, many of them (kathīrun minhum substitutes for the [third] person ['they']); and Allahu ta’ālā sees what they do, and will requite them for it.

72

They indeed are disbelievers those who say, 'Indeed Allahu ta’ālā is the Messiah, son of Mary' (a similar verse has preceded [Q. 5:17]). For the Messiah said, to them, 'O Children of Israel, worship Allahu ta’ālā, my Rabb and your Rabb, for, I am a servant and not a god. Verily he who associates anything with Allahu ta’ālā, in worship, for him Allahu ta’ālā has made Paradise forbidden, He has forbidden him admittance to it, and his abode shall be the Fire; and for wrongdoers (wa-mā li'l-zālimīna min, the min is extra) there shall be no helpers', to guard them against the chastisement of Allahu ta’ālā.

73

They are indeed disbelievers those who say, 'Allahu ta’ālā is the third of three', gods, that is, He is one of them, the other two being Jesus and his mother, and they [who claim this] are a Christian sect; when there is no god but the One God. If they do not desist from what they say, when they declare a trinity, and profess His Oneness, those of them who disbelieve, that is, [those] who are fixed upon unbelief, shall suffer a painful chastisement, namely, the Fire.

74

Will they not turn in repentance to Allahu ta’ālā and seek His forgiveness?, for what they say (the interrogative is intended as a rebuke); Allahu ta’ālā is Forgiving, to the one who repents, Merciful, to him.

75

The Messiah, son of Mary, was only a Messenger (rasūl); messengers (rusul) passed away before him, and so he passed away like them, for he is not a god as they claim, otherwise he would not have passed away; his mother was a truthful woman, [siddīqa means] extremely truthful; they both used to eat food, like all other human beings, and one who is such cannot be a god because of his compound being and fallible nature, and because of the [impurities such as] urine and excrement that he produces. Behold, in amazement, how We make the signs, of Our Oneness, clear to them, then behold, how they are turned away! [how] they are turned away from the truth despite the proof being established.

76

Say: 'Do you worship besides Allahu ta’ālā, that is, other than Him, what cannot hurt or profit you? Allahu ta’ālā is the Hearer, of your sayings, the Knower', of your circumstances (the interrogative is meant as a disavowal).

77

Say: 'O People of the Scripture, Jews and Christians, do not go to extremes, do [not] overstep the bounds, in your religion, other than those, extremes, of truth, neither lowering nor elevating Jesus above his proper place, and do not follow the whims of a people who went astray formerly, on account of their extremism - these were their forefathers - and have led many, [other] people, astray, and strayed from the even way', from the path of truth (al-sawā' originally means 'middle').

78

Cursed were the disbelievers of the Children of Israel by the tongue of David, when he invoked Allahu ta’ālā against them and they were transformed into apes - these were the people of Eilat - and by Jesus, son of Mary, when he invoked Allahu ta’ālā against them and they were transformed into pigs - they were the ones [who ate] at the Table [cf. Q. 5:115, below] - that, cursing, was because of their disobedience and their transgression.

79

They did not prevent one another, that is, one would not forbid the other from committing again, any indecency that they committed; verily evil was what they used to do, [verily evil] was this deed of theirs.

80

You, O Muhammad "sallallahu 'alayhi wa sallam" , see many of them affiliating with those who disbelieve, from among the Meccans, out of spite for you. Evil is that, in the way of deeds, which their souls have offered on their behalf, for [the day of] their inevitable return, such that Allahu ta’ālā is wroth with them and in the chastisement they shall abide.

81

Yet had they believed in Allahu ta’ālā and the Prophet, Muhammad "sallallahu 'alayhi wa sallam" , and what has been revealed to him, they would not have affiliated with them, namely, [with] the disbelievers; but many of them are wicked, rebellious against faith.

82

You, O Muhammad "sallallahu 'alayhi wa sallam" , will truly find the most hostile of people to those who believe to be the Jews and the idolaters, of Mecca, because of the intensity of their disbelief, ignorance and utter preoccupation with following whims; and you will truly find the nearest of them in love to those who believe to be those who say 'Verily, we are Christians'; that, nearness of theirs in love to the believers is, because some of them are priests, scholars, and monks, devout worshippers, and because they are not disdainful, of following the truth, as the Jews and the Meccans are.

83

This [verse] was revealed when the Negus's delegation from Abyssinia came to him "sallallahu 'alayhi wa sallam" : when the Prophet "sallallahu 'alayhi wa sallam" recited sūrat Yā Sīn, they cried and submitted [to Islam], saying, 'How similar this is to what used to be revealed to Jesus!'. Allahu ta’ālā, exalted be He, says: And when they hear what has been revealed to the Messenger (rasūl), of the Qur'ān, you see their eyes overflow with tears because of what they recognise of the truth. They say, 'Our Rabb, we believe, we accept the truth of your Prophet and your Book, so inscribe us among the witnesses, those who affirm their acceptance of the truth.

84

And, in response to those Jews who reviled them for their Islam, they would say: why should we not believe in Allahu ta’ālā and what has come to us of the truth, the Qur'ān, that is to say, there is nothing to prevent us from faith when its prerequisites are present; and hope (natma'u is a supplement to nu'minu, 'we believe') that our Rabb should admit us with the righteous people?', the believers, into Paradise?

85

Allahu ta’ālā, exalted be He, says: So Allahu ta’ālā has rewarded them for what they have said with Gardens underneath which rivers flow, wherein they will abide; that is the requital of those who are virtuous, by believing.

86

But those who disbelieve and deny Our verses - they are the inhabitants of Hell-fire.

87

When a number of Companions resolved to practise fasting and night vigil continuously, and to abstain from women, perfume, consumption of meat, and sleeping on beds, the following was revealed: O you who believe, do not forbid the good things that Allahu ta’ālā has made lawful for you and do not transgress, do [not] exceed Allah’s command; Allahu ta’ālā does not love transgressors.

88

And eat of the lawful and good food which Allahu ta’ālā has provided you (halālan tayyiban, 'lawful and good food', is the direct object and the preceding genitive construction [mimmā, 'of … which'] is a circumstantial qualifier connected to the former); and fear Allahu ta’ālā, in Whom you are believers.

89

Allahu ta’ālā will not take you to task for a slip, contained, in your oaths, which is what the tongue utters spontaneously, without intending to swear an oath, such as when one says, 'No, by Allahu ta’ālā', or 'Yes, by Allahu ta’ālā'; but He will take you to task for that to which you have pledged (read 'aqadtum, 'aqqadttum or 'āqadttum) oaths, where you have sworn an oath intentionally; the expiation thereof, of the oath if you break it, is the feeding of ten of the needy, for each needy person one mudd measure, of the midmost food, from which, you feed your families, that is, the closest or the principal [food you consume], neither better, nor worse; or the clothing of them, with what may be [properly] called clothes, such as a shirt, a turban, or a loin cloth - it is not sufficient that these [items] mentioned be given only to one needy person, according to Al-Shāfi’ī; or the setting free of a, believing, slave, as applies in the expiation for slaying or repudiation through zihār, interpreting the general [stipulation] in a restricted sense; and whoever does not find the means, for any one of the [expiations] mentioned, then the fasting of three days, as an expiation for him - as it appears [in this verse], it is not obligatory to follow the [above] sequence [of alternatives when making an expiation], and this is the opinion of Al-Shāfi’ī. That, which is mentioned, is the expiation of your oaths if you have sworn, and have broken them; but keep your oaths, do not break them, unless it be for a righteous deed or setting right between people, as stated in the verse of sūrat al-Baqara [Q. 2:225]. So, in the same way that He has explained to you what has been mentioned, Allahu ta’ālā makes clear to you His signs, so that you might be thankful, to Him for this.

90

O you who believe, verily wine that intoxicates and overcomes the mind, and games of chance, gambling, and idols, and divinatory arrows are an abomination, an evil deemed vile, of Satan's work, which he adorns; so avoid it, this abomination consisting of the things mentioned, do not do it; so that you might prosper.

91

Satan desires only to precipitate enmity and hatred between you through wine and games of chance, when you partake of them, because of the evil and discord that result therefrom; and to bar you, by your being preoccupied with them, from the remembrance of Allahu ta’ālā and from prayer - He has specifically mentioned it [prayer] so as to magnify it. So will you then desist?, from partaking of them? In other words: Desist!

92

And obey Allahu ta’ālā and obey the Messenger (rasūl), and beware, of disobedient acts; but if you turn away, from obedience, then know that Our Messenger (rasūl)'s duty is only to proclaim plainly, to convey clearly [the Message] - your requital redounds upon Us.

93

Those who believe and perform righteous deeds are not at fault in what they may have consumed, of wine and [indulged in] of gambling before the prohibition, so long as they fear the forbidden things, and believed and performed righteous deeds, and then were Allahu ta’ālā-fearing and believed, [and then] adhered to fear of Allahu ta’ālā and belief, and then were Allahu ta’ālā-fearing and virtuous, in deeds; Allahu ta’ālā loves the virtuous, meaning that He will reward them.

94

O you who believe, Allahu ta’ālā will surely try you, He will surely test you, with some game, which He releases to you, the smaller of, which will be caught by your hands and, the larger of which by, your lances: this was in [the plain of] al-Hudaybiyya; while they were in [the state of] pilgrimage inviolability, beasts and birds would flock to their caravans; so that Allahu ta’ālā may know, through knowledge outwardly manifested, who fears Him in the Unseen (bi'l-ghayb is a circumstantial qualifier), in other words, while He is absent [to the eyes], one who does not see Him but nonetheless avoids hunting game. Whoever transgresses thereafter, after that prohibition against it, and hunts, his shall be a painful chastisement.

95

O you who believe, do not slay game while you are in the state of pilgrimage inviolability, for the hajj or the 'umra; whoever of you slays it wilfully, then the compensation shall be (read fa-jazā'un, 'then the compensation [shall be]', followed by a nominative [mithlu, 'the like of']) that is to say, a compensation is incumbent on him, and that is, the equivalent of what he has slain, of flocks, in other words, a similar creature (a variant reading has an annexation construction for jazā', 'compensation', [sc. fa-jazā'u mithli, 'then the compensation of']), to be judged, that is, the equivalent [is to be judged], by two just men among you, both possessing astuteness, with which they are able to identify the nearest [animal] in equivalence to it [the slain animal]. Ibn ‘Abbās, ‘Umar and 'Alī, may Allahu ta’ālā be pleased with them, all adjudged a beast of sacrifice [as redemption] for an ostrich [slain]; Ibn ‘Abbās and Abū 'Ubayda adjudged a cow [as redemption] for wildebeest or wild ass; ['Abd Allāh] Ibn ‘Umar and ['Abd al-Rahmān] Ibn 'Awf, a sheep for a gazelle, and, as Ibn ‘Abbās, ‘Umar and others did, [a sheep] also [as a redemption] for [slaying] pigeons, because they [pigeons] resemble these [sheep] in taking scoops of water [when drinking];³ an offering (hadyan is a circumstantial qualifier referring to jazā', 'compensation') to reach the Ka'ba, that is, to be taken into the Sanctuary, sacrificed there and given as a voluntary offering to its needy [residents], and it cannot be sacrificed wherever [else] it may be (bāligha l-ka'ba, 'to reach the Ka'ba', is in the accusative because it is an adjectival qualification of what precedes, even if it stands as an annexation, since such an annexation is only morphological and not [valid] as a [grammatical] characterisation; if there is no equivalent beast of flock for the game slain, as in the case of a small bird or locusts, then the person is obliged [to compensate] with [equivalent] value. Or, it is incumbent on him [to make], an expiation: other than compensation, and if he should find the means then this [expiation] is, food for the poor, [food] to be taken from the principal food of the town, equivalent to the value of the compensation, being one mudd measure for each poor person (a variant reading has kaffāra, 'expiation', in an annexation with the following noun [sc.

96

Permitted to you, O people, be you in pilgrimage inviolability or not, is the game of the sea, for consumption, and it is what can only live in the sea, such as fish, but not what is able to live both in the sea and on land, such as crabs; and food from it, what it casts out that is dead, is a provision for you, for you to consume, and for the wayfarers, the travellers among you, to take as their provisions; but forbidden to you is the hunting of game on the land, and this consists of those edible beasts that live on it; do not hunt them, so long as you remain in pilgrimage inviolability: if it is caught by one not in pilgrimage inviolability, then it is permissible for a person in pilgrimage inviolability to consume it, as is clarified in the Sunna; and fear Allahu ta’ālā, to whom you shall be gathered.

97

Allahu ta’ālā has appointed the Ka'ba, the Sacred, inviolable, House as an [enduring] institution for mankind, [an institution] by which their religious affair is sustained, through pilgrimage to it, as is their this-worldly [affair], on account of the security [guaranteed] for those who enter it and the fact that they are not interfered with, and because all manner of fruits are brought to it (a variant reading [for qiyāman] has qiyaman, '[always] standing', as the verbal noun from [1st form] qāma, 'to remain standing', without defectiveness [of the middle radical]); and the sacred month, meaning the sacred months of Dhū'l-Qa'da, Dhū'l-Hijja, Muharram and Rajab, instituted for them to be secure from fighting during them; the offering and the garlands, instituted for their owner so that he does not suffer any interference; that, mentioned appointment, is so that you may know that Allahu ta’ālā knows all that is in the heavens and in the earth, and that Allahu ta’ālā has knowledge of all things: thus that appointing of His in order to secure benefits for you and to ward off harm from you, before such things came to pass, testifies to His knowledge of all that is in existence and all that will be.

98

Know that Allahu ta’ālā is severe in punishment, of His enemies, and that Allahu ta’ālā is Forgiving, to His friends, Merciful, to them.

99

The duty of the Messenger (rasūl) is only to convey [the Message], to you; and Allahu ta’ālā knows what you reveal, what deeds you manifest, and what you hide, and what of these you conceal, and He will requite you for it.

100

Say: 'The evil, the unlawful, and the good, the lawful, are not equal, even though the abundance of the evil attract you.' So fear Allahu ta’ālā, in avoiding it, O people of pith, so that you might prosper, triumph.

101

The following was revealed when they began to ask the Prophet "sallallahu 'alayhi wa sallam" too many questions: O you who believe, do not ask about things which, if disclosed to you, [if] revealed, to you, would trouble you, because of the hardship that would ensue from them; yet if you ask about them while the Qur'ān is being revealed, during the time of the Prophet "sallallahu 'alayhi wa sallam" , they will be disclosed to you: meaning that if you ask about certain things during his lifetime, the Qur'ān will reveal them, but once these things are disclosed, it will grieve you. So do not ask about them; indeed: Allahu ta’ālā has pardoned those things, you asked about, so do not ask again; for Allahu ta’ālā is Forgiving, Forbearing.

102

Verily a people before you asked about them, that is, [they asked] their prophets about such things and they received the response in the form of [revealed] explications of the rules concerning them; and then they disbelieved in them, by neglecting to implement them.

103

Allahu ta’ālā has not ordained, He has not stipulated [in His Law], anything such as a Bahīra, a Sā'iba, a Wasīla or a Hām, in the way that people did at the time of paganism. Al-Bukhārī reported [in a hadīth] from Sa'īd b. al-Musayyab, who said:

'The bahīra is that [camel] whose milk is consecrated to idols and whom no human may milk; the sā'iba is the one they would leave to roam freely for their gods and was forbidden to bear any load; the wasīla is the young she-camel that would give birth to a young female, as its first offspring, followed by another female, bearing one after the other without a male in between: she would then be left to roam freely for their idols; the hām is the mature male camel, which after completing a certain number of copulations with a female, would then be consigned to their idols and be exempt from bearing any load, and they would call it hāmī; but the disbelievers invent lies against Allahu ta’ālā, in this matter, by attributing [the sanctioning of] such [practices] to Him; and most of them do not understand, that this is mendacity, for in this they have [merely] followed the example of their forefathers.

104

And when it is said to them, 'Come to what Allahu ta’ālā has revealed and to the Messenger (rasūl), that is, to His ruling concerning the permitting of what you have forbidden, they say, 'What we have found our fathers following suffices us', in the way of religion and laws. Allahu ta’ālā, exalted be He, says: What, does that suffice them, even if their fathers knew nothing and were not guided?, to any truth (the interrogative is meant as a disavowal).

105

O you who believe, you are responsible for your own souls, in other words, preserve them and do what is in their best interest; he who is astray cannot hurt you, if you are rightly guided: it is said that this means, 'None of those misguided ones from among the People of the Scripture can hurt you'; it is also said to mean others, on the basis of the [following] hadīth of Abū Tha'laba al-Khushanī:

 'I asked the Messenger (rasūl) of Allahu ta’ālā "sallallahu 'alayhi wa sallam" about it [this verse] and he said,

“Enjoin one other to decency and forbid one another indecency, and then if you see niggardliness being obeyed, whims being followed, this present world being preferred, and every intelligent person proud of his own opinions, then you are [still] responsible for [looking after] your own soul”,' as reported by al-Hākim and others. Unto Allahu ta’ālā you shall return, all together, and He will inform you of what you used to do, and requite you for it.

106

O you who believe, let testimony between you, when death, that is, [one of] its causes, draws near to one of you, at the time of a bequest, be that of two men of justice among you (ithnāni dhawā 'adlin minkum, 'two men of justice among you', is the predicate expressed with the sense of an imperative, in other words, 'let [two men] bear witness … [etc.]'; the genitive annexation of shahāda, 'testimony', and bayn, 'between', is meant to allow for a range [of alternatives]; hīn, 'at the time of', is a substitute for idhā, 'when', or an adverbial qualifier of time for [the verb] hadara, 'draws near'); or of two others from another folk, that is, [from] other than your own religious community, if you are travelling in the land and the affliction of death befalls you. Them you shall empanel them, you shall detain them (tahbisūnahumā, 'you shall empanel them', is an adjectival qualification of ākharān, 'two others') after the, mid-afternoon, prayer and, if you are in doubt, [if] you are uncertain about it [their testimony], they shall swear by Allahu ta’ālā, both of them saying: 'We will not sell it, [our testimony] in [swearing by] Allahu ta’ālā, for any price, [for] any compensation that we might take in exchange for it from this world, neither by swearing by Him [falsely], nor by testifying falsely for the sake of that [price]; even if he, the person before whom it is being sworn or the one for whose sake testimony is being given, be a near kinsman, a close relative of ours, nor will we hide testimony to Allahu ta’ālā, which He has commanded us [to give], for then, if we were to hide it, we would surely be among the sinful'.

107

But if it be discovered, [if] it be ascertained after they have sworn their oaths, that both of them have merited [the suspicion of] sin, that is, that they have done something to incur it, in the way of a breach of faith or perjury in the testimony; for example, if what they are accused of is found with them and then they claim that they had bought it from the deceased or that he had bequeathed it to them, then two others shall take their place, so that the oaths are to be taken from them, being the nearest (al-awlayān is a substitution for ākharān, 'two others'; a variant reading has al-awwalīn, plural of awwal, as an adjectival qualification of, or a substitution for, alladhīna, 'of those'), in kinship to the deceased, of those most concerned, with the bequest, namely, the inheritors, and they shall swear by Allahu ta’ālā, to the breach of faith of the two witnesses, and they shall both say, 'Verily, our testimony, our oath, is truer, is more faithful, than their testimony, their oath, and we have not transgressed, we have [not] overstepped the [bounds of] truth in our oaths, for then we would assuredly be among the evildoers': meaning, let the one about to die call two men as witnesses to his bequest, or let him instruct in his bequest that the two be from among his co-religionists or from among others, if he cannot find any [from among the former] because he is travelling or for some similar reason. If the inheritors have doubts about the two men and claim a breach of faith on the part of the two for having taken something or given it to some other person - alleging that the deceased bequeathed it to him - then let the two men swear in full [in the way mentioned above]. If then some indication surfaces that the two men have been lying and these two then claim some motivation for this action [of theirs], the nearest of the inheritors in kinship [to the deceased] shall swear to the perjury of the two men and to the truth of what they [the inheritors] suspected. This stipulation holds for the two trustees, but is abrogated in the case of the two witnesses. Likewise, the testimony of non co-religionists is abrogated.

108

That, ruling mentioned, where the oath devolves to the inheritors, [makes it] likelier, brings closer [the eventuality], that they, the witnesses or the trustees, will bear the testimony in its true form, [the form] in which they have been charged to bear it, without distortion or breach of faith, or, it is likelier, that they will be afraid that after their oaths other oaths may be taken, from the inheritors, the plaintiffs, who would swear to the two men's breach of faith or perjury, in which case they would be disgraced and would incur penalties, and so [because of this] they will not lie. Fear Allahu ta’ālā, by refraining from betrayal and perjury, and listen, to what you have been commanded, listening in acceptance. Allahu ta’ālā does not guide the wicked people, those rebelling against obedience to Him; [He does not guide the wicked] to the way of goodness.

109

Mention, the day when Allahu ta’ālā shall gather the messengers (rusul), which is the Day of Resurrection, and He will say, to them, as a rebuke for their peoples: 'What answer were you given?', when you summoned [them] to proclaim Allah’s Oneness; they shall say, 'We have no knowledge, of this; You, only You, are the Knower of things unseen', those things which are hidden from [Allah’s] servants and that which they [the messengers (rusul)] have forgotten all knowledge of on account of the great terror of the Day of Resurrection and their fright; but when they have calmed down, they [proceed to] bear witness against their communities.

110

Mention, when Allahu ta’ālā said, 'O Jesus, son of Mary, remember My favour to you and to your mother, be thankful for it; when I strengthened you with the Holy Spirit, Gabriel, to speak to people (tukallimu'l-nāsa is a circumstantial qualifier referring to the [suffixed pronoun] kāf in ayyadtu-ka) in the cradle, that is, as a child, and in maturity - this implies that he will descend before the Hour, since he was raised up [to Allahu ta’ālā] before middle age, as has already been mentioned in [sūrat] āl 'Imrān [Q. 3:55]) and when I taught you the Scripture, and wisdom, and the Torah, and the Gospel; and how you create out of clay the likeness (ka-hay'at: the kāf here functions like a noun and is a direct object), the image, of a bird by My permission, and you breathe into it and it becomes a bird by My permission, by My will, and you heal the blind and the leper by My permission, and you raise the dead, from their graves back to life, by My permission; and how I restrained the Children of Israel from you, when they intended to kill you, when you brought them clear proofs, miracles, and the disbelievers among them said, “This, what you have done, is nothing but manifest sorcery” (a variant reading [for sihrun, 'sorcery'] has sāhirun, 'sorcerer', in other words, [he] Jesus [is nothing but a manifest sorcerer]).

111

And when I revealed to the disciples, [when] I commanded them by the tongue of Jesus: “Believe in Me and in My Messenger (rasūl)”, Jesus; they said, “We believe, in both; bear witness that we have submitted”.'

112

Mention, when the disciples said, 'O Jesus, son of Mary, is your Rabb able, that is, would He (a variant reading has hal tastatī'a rabbaka, 'Are you able to ask of Him?') to send down on us a Table from the heaven?' He, Jesus, said, to them: 'Fear Allahu ta’ālā, when you request signs, if you are believers'.

113

They said, 'We desire, to request this in order, to eat of it and that our hearts be reassured, through increased certainty, and that we may know, that we may acquire more awareness [of the fact], that you (annaka is softened to an) have spoken truthfully to us, in your claim to prophethood, and that we may be among the witnesses thereof'.

114

Jesus, son of Mary, said: 'O Allahu ta’ālā, our Rabb, send down upon us a Table from the heaven, that it shall be, that is, the day of its sending down [shall be], a celebration for us, which we shall consecrate and honour, for the first (li-awwalinā is an inclusive substitution for lanā, 'for us', with the repetition of the [oblique] preposition [li-]) and the last of us, those who will come after us, and a sign from You, of Your power and my prophethood. And provide, it, for us; You are the Best of Providers'.

115

Allahu ta’ālā said, granting his supplication: 'Verily I shall send it down (read munziluhā or munazziluhā) to you; but whoever of you disbelieves afterward, after it has been sent down, I shall surely chastise him with a chastisement wherewith I chastise no other being from among all the worlds': and so the angels descended with it from heaven, on it were seven loaves and seven large fish, and so they ate of it until they were full, as related by Ibn ‘Abbās. In one hadīth it is said that the Table sent down from heaven consisted of bread and meat, and they were commanded not to be treacherous and nor to store anything for the next day: but they were and they stored some of it, and were [consequently] transformed into apes and swine.

116

And, mention, when Allahu ta’ālā says, that is, when Allahu ta’ālā will say, to Jesus at the Resurrection in rebuke of his followers: 'O Jesus, son of Mary, did you say to mankind, “Take me and my mother as gods, besides Allahu ta’ālā”?' He, Jesus, says, shuddering: 'Glory be to You!, exalted be You above all that does not befit You, such as [having] a partner and so on. It is not mine, it is unjustified [for me], to say what I have no right to (bi-haqq, 'right to', is the predicate of laysa, 'not'; lī, 'mine', is explicative). If I indeed had said it, You would have known it. You know what is, hidden by me, in my self, but I do not know what is within Your Self, that is, what You keep hidden of Your knowledge: You are the Knower of things unseen.

117

I only said to them that which You commanded me, to [say], and that is: “Worship Allahu ta’ālā, my Rabb and your Rabb.” And I was a witness, a watcher, over them, preventing them from [saying] what they used to say, whilst I was amongst them; but when You took me [to You], [when] You raised me up to the heaven, You were Yourself the Watcher over them, the Observer of their deeds, and You Yourself are Witness over all things, Aware and knowing them, including what I said to them and what they said after me, and whatever else.

118

If you chastise them, that is, those among them who are fixed upon disbelief, verily they are Your servants, and You are their Mālik , disposing of them as You will: there can be no objection to [what] You [do]; and if You forgive them, that is, those of them who are believers, You, only You, are the Mighty, in His affair, the Wise', in His actions.

119

Allahu ta’ālā says, 'This, namely, the Day of Resurrection, is the day those who were truthful, in the world, like Jesus, shall profit by their truthfulness, because this is the Day of Requital. Theirs will be Gardens underneath which rivers flow, wherein they shall abide forever. Allahu ta’ālā is well-pleased with them, because of their obedience to Him, and they are well-pleased with Him, with His reward - that is the great triumph'. The sincerity of those who were liars in this world shall not avail them on that Day, just as [it shall not avail] the disbelievers when they believe upon seeing the chastisement.

120

To Allahu ta’ālā belongs the dominion of the heavens and of the earth, the storehouses of rain, vegetation, sustenance and everything else, and all that is in them (wa-mā fīhinna: the use of mā, 'that', indicates the predominance of all those non-rational creations); and He has power over all things, including the rewarding of the truthful and the punishing of the liar - He is specifically addressing rational beings, for there is none among them with power over all things.