But when ye are in lawful
state again, then chase; and let not ill-will against the people who turned you
from the Sacred Mosque 1 make you transgress; but help one
another in righteousness and piety, and do not help one another to sin and
enmity; but fear God,-verily, God is keen to punish.
Forbidden to you is that
which dies of itself, and blood, and the flesh of swine, and that which is
devoted to other than God, and the strangled and the knocked down, and that
which falls down, and the gored, and what wild beasts have eaten-except what ye
slaughter in time-and what is sacrificed to idols 2, and dividing carcases by
arrows 3.
To-day shall those who
disbelieve in your religion despair; do ye not then fear them, but fear me -
[5] To-day is perfected for you your religion, and fulfilled upon you is my
favour, and I am pleased for you to have Islâm for a religion. But he who is
forced by hunger, not inclined wilfully to sin, verily, God is forgiving,
compassionate.
They will ask thee what is
lawful for them? say, 'Lawful for you are good things and what ye have taught
beasts of prey (to catch), training them like dogs;-ye teach them as God taught
you;-so eat of what they catch for you, and mention the name of God over it,
and fear God, for verily, God is swift in reckoning up.'
Lawful for you to-day are
good things, and the food of those to whom the Book has been given is
lawful for you, and your
food is lawful for them; and chaste women of those who believe, and chaste
women of those to whom the Book has been given before you,-when you have given
them their hire, living chastely and not fornicating, and not taking paramours.
But whoso disbelieves in the faith, of a truth his work is vain, and he shall
be in the next life of those who lose.
O ye who believe! when ye
rise up to prayer wash your faces, and your hands as far as the elbows, and
wipe your heads, and your feet down to the ankles. And if ye are polluted, then
purify yourselves. But if ye are sick, or on a journey, or if one of you comes
from the privy, or if ye have touched women and cannot find water, then take
fine surface sand and wipe your faces and your hands therewith. God does not
wish to make any hindrance for you; but he wishes to purify you and to fulfil
his favour upon you; haply ye may give thanks.
[10] Remember the favour of
God to you and His covenant which He covenanted with you, when ye said, 'We
hear and we obey 1;' and fear God, verily, God knows the nature
of men's breasts.
O ye who believe! stand
steadfast to God as witnesses with justice; and let not ill-will towards people
make you sin by not acting with equity. Act with equity, that is nearer to piety,
and fear God; for God is aware of what ye do.
God has promised to those
who believe and work righteousness, that for them is pardon and a mighty hire.
But those who disbelieve and call our signs lies, these are the fellows of
hell.
O ye who believe! remember
God's favour towards you, when a people intended to stretch their hands against
you, but He withheld their hands from you 1; and upon God let believers rely.
[15] God did take a compact
from the children of Israel, and raised up of them twelve wardens; and God
said, 'Verily, I am with you, if ye be steadfast in prayer, and give alms, and
believe in my apostles, and assist them, and lend to God a goodly loan; then
will I cover your offences and make you enter gardens beneath which rivers
flow: and whoso disbelieves after that, he hath erred from the level way.'
And for that they broke
their compact, we cursed them, and placed in their hearts hardness, so that
they perverted the words from their places, and forgot a portion of what they
were reminded of 2.
But thou wilt not cease to
light upon treachery amongst them, save a few of them; but pardon them and shun
them; verily, God loves the kind.
And of those who say,
'Verily, we are Christians,' we have taken a compact; but they have forgotten a
portion of what they were reminded of; wherefore have we excited amongst them
enmity and hatred till the resurrection day; but God will tell them of what
they have done.
O ye people of the Book!
our Apostle has come to you to explain to you much of what ye had hidden of the
Book, and to pardon much. There has come to you from God a light, and a
perspicuous
[paragraph continues] Book; God guides thereby those who
follow His pleasure to the way of peace, and brings them into a right way.
They misbelieve who say,
'Verily, God is the Messiah the son of Mary;' say, 'Who has any hold on God, if
he wished to destroy the Messiah the son of Mary, and his mother, and those who
are on earth altogether?'
[20] God's is the kingdom
of the heavens and the earth and what is between the two; He createth what He
will, for God is mighty over all!
But the Jews and the
Christians say, 'We are the sons of God and His beloved.' Say, 'Why then does
He punish you for your sins? nay, ye are mortals of those whom He has created!
He pardons whom He pleases, and punishes whom He pleases; for God's is the
kingdom of the heavens and the earth, and what is between the two, and unto Him
the journey is.'
O people of the Book! our
Apostle has come to you, explaining to you the interval of apostles; lest ye
say, 'There came not to us a herald of glad tidings nor a warner.' But there
has come to you now a herald of glad tidings and a warner, and God is mighty
over all!
When Moses said to his people,
'O my people! remember the favour of God towards you when He made amongst you
prophets, and made for you kings, and brought you what never was brought to
anybody in the worlds. O my people! enter the Holy Land
which God has prescribed for you; and be ye not thrust back upon your hinder
parts and retreat losers:' [25] They said, 'O Moses! verily, therein is a
people, giants; and we will surely not enter therein
until they go out from
thence; but if they go out then we will enter in.' Then said two men of those
who fear,-God had been gracious to them both, - 'Enter ye upon them by the
door, and when ye have entered it, verily, ye shall be victorious; and upon God
do ye rely if ye be believers.' They said, 'O Moses! we shall never enter it so
long as they are therein; so, go thou and thy Lord and fight ye twain; verily,
we will sit down here.' Said he, 'My Lord, verily, I can control only myself
and my brother; therefore part us from these sinful people.' He said, 'Then,
verily, it is forbidden them; for forty years shall they wander about in the
earth; so vex not thyself for the sinful people.'
[30] Recite to them the
story of the two sons of Adam; truly when they offered an offering and it was
accepted from one of them, and was not accepted from the other, that one said,
'I will surely kill thee;' he said, 'God only accepts from those who fear. If
thou dost stretch forth to me thine hand to kill me, I will not stretch forth
mine hand to kill thee; verily, I fear God the Lord of the worlds; verily, I
wish that thou mayest draw upon thee my sin and thy sin, and be of the fellows
of the Fire, for that is the reward of the unjust.' But his soul allowed him to
slay his brother, and he slew him, and in the morning he was of those who lose.
And God sent a crow to scratch in the earth and show him how he might hide his
brother's shame, he said, 'Alas, for me! Am I too helpless to become like this
crow and hide my brother's shame?' and in the morning he was of those who did
repent.
[15] For this cause have we
prescribed to the children of Israel that whoso kills a soul, unless it
be for another soul or for
violence in the land, it is as though he had killed men altogether; but whoso
saves one, it is as though he saved men altogether.
Our apostles came to them
with manifest signs; then, verily, many of them did after that commit excesses
in the earth.
The reward of those who
make war against God and His Apostle, and strive after violence in the earth, is
only that they shall be slaughtered or crucified, or their hands cut off and
their feet on alternate sides, or that they shall be banished from the
land;-that is a disgrace for them in this world, and for them in the next is
mighty woe; save for those who repent before ye have them in your power, for
know ye that God is forgiving, merciful.
O ye who believe! fear God
and crave the means to approach Him, and be strenuous in His way, haply ye will
prosper then.
[40] Verily, those who
disbelieve, even though they had what is in the earth, all of it, and the like
thereof with it, to offer as a ransom from the punishment of the resurrection
day, it would not be accepted from them; but for them is grievous woe. They may
wish to go forth from the Fire, but they shall not go forth therefrom, for them
is lasting woe.
The man thief and the woman
thief, cut off the hands of both as a punishment, for that they have erred;-an
example from God, for God is mighty, wise.
But whoso turns again after
his injustice and acts aright, verily, God will turn to him, for, verily, God
is forgiving, merciful.
Do ye not know that God,
His is the kingdom of
the heavens and the earth;
He punishes whom He pleases, and forgives whom He pleases, for God is mighty
over all?
[45] O thou Apostle! let
not those grieve thee who vie in misbelief; or those who say with their mouths
'We believe,' but their hearts do not believe; or of those who are Jews,
listeners to a lie,-listeners to other people, but who come not to thee. They pervert
the words from their places and say, 'If this is what ye are given, take it;
but if ye are not given it, then beware!' but he whom God wishes to mislead,
thou canst do nothing with God for him; these are those whose hearts God wishes
not to purify, for them in this world is disgrace, and for them in the next is
mighty woe,-listeners to a lie, eaters of unlawful things!
But if they come to thee,
then judge between them or turn aside from them; but if thou turnest aside from
them they shall not harm thee at all, but if thou judgest, then judge between
them with justice, verily, God loves the just. But how should they make thee
their judge, when they have the law wherein is God's judgment? Yet they turn
back after that, for they do not believe.
Verily, we have revealed
the law in which is guidance and light; the prophets who were resigned did
judge thereby those who were Jews, as did the masters 1 and doctors by what they remembered
of the Book of God and by what they were witnesses of. Fear not men, but fear
me, and sell not my signs for a little price; for whoso will not judge by what
God has revealed, these be the misbelievers.
We have prescribed for thee
therein 'a life for a life, and an eye for an eye, and a nose for a nose, and
an ear for an ear, and a tooth for a tooth, and for wounds retaliation;' but
whoso remits it, it is an expiation for him, but he whoso will not judge by
what God has revealed, these be the unjust.
[50] And we followed up the
footsteps of these (prophets) with Jesus the son of Mary, confirming that which
was before him and the law, and we brought him the gospel, wherein is guidance
and light, verifying what was before it of the law, and a guidance and an
admonition unto those who fear.
Then let the people of the
gospel judge by that which is revealed therein, for whoso will not judge by
what God has revealed, these be the evildoers.
We have revealed to thee
the Book in truth verifying what was before it, and preserving it; judge then
between them by what God has revealed, and follow not their lusts, turning away
from what is given to thee of the truth.
For each one of you have we
made a law and a pathway; and had God pleased He would have made you one
nation, but He will surely try you concerning that which He has brought you. Be
ye therefore emulous in good deeds; to God is your return altogether, and He
will let you know concerning that wherein ye do dispute.
Wherefore judge thou
between them by what God has revealed, and follow not their lusts; but beware lest
they mislead thee from part of what God has revealed to thee; yet if they turn
back, then know that God wishes to fall on them for some sins of
theirs,-verily, many men are evildoers.
[55] Is it the judgment of
the Ignorance they
crave 1? but who is better than God to
judge for people who are sure?
O ye who believe! take not
the Jews and Christians for your patrons: they are patrons of each other; but
whoso amongst you takes them for patrons, verily, he is of them, and, verily,
God guides not an unjust people.
Thou wilt see those in
whose hearts is a sickness vieing with them; they say, 'We fear lest there
befall us a reverse.' It may be God will give the victory, or an order from
Himself, and they may awake repenting of what they thought in secret to
themselves.
Those who believe say, 'Are
these they who swore by God with their most strenuous path that they were
surely with you?'-their works are in vain and they shall wake the losers.
O ye who believe! whoso is
turned away from his religion-God will bring (instead) a people 2 whom He loves and who love Him, lowly to believers, lofty to
unbelievers, strenuous in the way of God, fearing not the blame of him who
blames. That is God's grace! He gives it unto whom He pleases, for God both
comprehends and knows.
[60] God only is your
patron, and His Apostle and those who believe, who are steadfast in prayer and
give alms, bowing down. Whoso taketh as patrons God and His apostles and those
who believe;-verily, God's crew, they are victorious!
O ye who believe! take not
for patrons those who
take your religion for a
jest or a sport, from amongst those who have been given the Book before and the
misbelievers; but fear God if ye be believers. Nor those who, when ye call to
prayer, take it for a jest and a sport; that is because they are a people who
do not understand.
Say, 'O people of the Book!
do ye disavow us, for aught but that we believe in God, and what was revealed to
us before, and for that most of you are evildoers?'
[65] Say, 'Can I declare
unto you something worse than retribution from God?' Whomsoever God has cursed
and been wroth with-and he has made of them apes and swine-and who worship Tâghût
,
they are in a
[paragraph continues] God puts it out; they strive for
corruption in the earth, but God loves not the corrupt.
[70] But did the people of
the Book believe and fear, we would cover their offences, and we would make
them enter into gardens of pleasure; and were they steadfast in the law and the
gospel, and what has been sent down to them from their Lord, they should eat
from above them and below them. Amongst them are a nation who are moderate, but
many of them-bad is what they do.
O thou Apostle! preach what
has been revealed to thee from thy Lord; if thou do it not thou hast not
preached His message, and God will not hold thee free from men; for God guides
not people who misbelieve.
Say, 'O people of the Book!
ye rest on naught until ye stand fast by the law and the gospel, and what is
revealed to you from your Lord.' But what has been revealed to thee from thy
Lord will of a surety increase many of them in rebellion and misbelief, vex not
thyself then for a people who misbelieve.
Verily, those who believe
and those who are Jews, and the Sabæans, and the Christians, whosoever believes
in God and the last day, and does what is right, there is no fear for them, nor
shall they grieve.
We took a compact of the
children of Israel, and we sent to them apostles; every time there came to them
an apostle with what their souls loved not, a part of them they did call liars
and a part of them they slew.
[75] And they reckoned that
there would be no disturbance; but they were blind and deaf! and then
[paragraph continues] God turned again towards them: and
then many amongst them were blind and deaf! but God saw what they did.
They misbelieve who say,
'Verily, God is the Messiah the son of Mary;' but the Messiah said, 'O children
of Israel! worship God, my Lord and your Lord,' verily, he who associates aught
with God, God hath forbidden him Paradise, and his resort is the Fire, and the
unjust shall have none to help them.
They misbelieve who say,
'Verily, God is the third of three;' for there is no God but one, and if they
do not desist from what they say, there shall touch those who misbelieve
amongst them grievous woe.
Will they not turn again
towards God and ask pardon of Him? for God is forgiving and merciful.
The Messiah the son of Mary
is only a prophet: prophets before him have passed away; and his mother was a
confessor; they used both to eat food.-See how we explain to them the signs,
yet see how they turn aside!
[80] Say, 'Will ye serve,
other than God, what can neither hurt you nor profit you?' but God, He both
hears and knows.
Say, 'O people of the Book!
exceed not the truth in your religion, and follow not the lusts of a people who
have erred before, and who lead many astray, and who go away from the level
path.'
Those of the children of Israel who
disbelieved were cursed by the tongue of David and Jesus the son of Mary; that
is because they rebelled and did transgress; they would not desist from the
wrong they did; evil is that which they did. Thou wilt
see many of them taking
those who disbelieve for their patrons; evil is that which their souls have
sent before them, for God's wrath is on them, and in the torment shall they
dwell for aye. But had they believed in God and the prophet, and what was
revealed to him, they had not taken these for their patrons; but many of them
are evildoers.
[85] Thou wilt surely find
that the strongest in enmity against those who believe are the Jews and the
idolaters; and thou wilt find the nearest in love to those who believe to be
those who say, 'We are Christians;' that is because there are amongst them
priests and monks, and because they are not proud.
And when they hear what has
been revealed to the prophet, you will see their eyes gush with tears at what
they recognise as truth therein; and they will say, 'O our Lord! we believe, so
write us down amongst the witnesses. Why should we not believe in God and the
truth that is given to us, nor desire that our Lord should make us enter with
the upright people?'
Therefore has God rewarded
them, for what they said, with gardens beneath which rivers flow, to dwell
therein for aye; that is the reward of those who do good; but those who
disbelieve and say our signs are lies they are the fellows of hell.
O ye who believe! forbid
not the good things which God has made lawful for you, nor transgress; verily,
God loves not the transgressors.
[90] But eat of what God
has provided you lawfully of good things; and fear God, in whom ye believe.
God will not catch you up
for a casual word in your oaths, but He will catch you up for having
what ye make deliberate oaths
about; and the expiation thereof is to feed ten poor men with the middling food
ye feed your families withal, or to clothe them, or to free a neck 1; but he who has not the means, then let him fast three days. That is
the expiation of your oaths, when ye have sworn to keep your oaths; thus does
God explain to you His signs,-haply ye may be grateful.
O ye who believe! verily,
wine, and el mâisar 2, and statues 3, and divining (arrows) are only an
abomination of Satan's work; avoid them then that haply ye may prosper. Satan
only desires to place enmity and hatred between you by wine and mâisar, and to
turn you from the remembrance of God and from prayer; but will ye not desist,
and obey God, and obey the apostles, and beware, for if ye turn back then know
that our Apostle has only his message to preach?
There is no crime in those
who believe and do right, for having tasted food, when they fear God, and
believe, and do what is right, and then fear Him, and believe, and then fear,
and do good, for God loves those who do good.
[95] O ye who believe! God
will try you with something of the game that your hands and your lances take,
that God may know who fears Him in secret; and whoso transgresses after that,
for him is grievous woe.
O ye who believe! kill not
game while ye are on
pilgrimage. But he amongst
you who kills it purposely, his compensation is the like of that which he has
killed, in sheep-of which two equitable persons amongst you shall be judge-an
offering brought to the Kaabah; or as an expiation, the food of poor persons,
or an equivalent thereof in fasting, that he may taste the evil result of his
deed. God pardons bygones; but whoso returns, God will take vengeance on him,
for God is mighty and the avenger.
Lawful for you is the game
of the sea, and to eat thereof; a provision for you and for travellers; but
forbidden you is the game of the land while ye are on pilgrimage; so fear God
to whom ye shall be gathered.
God has made the Kaabah,
the sacred House, to be a station for men, and the sacred month, and the
offering and its neck garland; this is that ye may know that God knows what is
in the heavens and what is in the earth, and that God knows all things. Know
that God is keen to punish, but that God is forgiving, merciful.
The Apostle has only to
preach his message, but God knows what ye show and what ye hide.
[100] Say, 'The vile shall
not be deemed equal with the good, although the abundance of the vile please
thee.' Fear God then, O ye who have minds! haply ye may prosper.
O ye who believe! ask not
about things which if they be shown to you will pain you; but if ye ask about
them when the (whole) Qur'ân is revealed, they shall be shown to you. God
pardons that, for God is forgiving and clement. People before you have asked
about that, yet on the morrow did they disbelieve therein.
And God has not ordained
any Ba'hîrah or Sâïbah, nor Wazîlah nor 'Hâmî 1, but those who misbelieve invent a
lie against God, for most of them do not understand.
And when it is said to
them, 'Come round to what God has revealed unto His Apostle,' they say, 'Enough
for us is what we found our fathers agreed upon.' What! though their fathers
knew nothing and were not guided.
O ye who believe! mind
yourselves; he who errs can do you no hurt when ye are guided: unto God is your
return altogether, and He will declare to you that which ye do not know.
[105] O ye who believe! let
there be a testimony between you when any one of you is on the point of
death-at the time he makes his will-two equitable persons from amongst you; or
two others from some other folk, if ye be knocking about in the land, and the
calamity of death befall you; ye shall shut them both up after prayer, and they
shall both swear by
[paragraph continues] God, if ye doubt them, (saying),
'We will not sell (our testimony) for a price, though it were to a relative,
nor will we hide God's testimony, verily, then, we should be among sinners.'
But if it shall be lit upon that they too have deserved the imputation of sin,
then let two others stand up in their place with those who think them deserving
of the imputation, the nearest two in kin, and they shall both swear by God,
'Indeed, our testimony is truer than the testimony of those two, and we have
not transgressed, for then we should surely be of the unjust:' thus is it
easier for men to bear testimony according to the purport thereof, else must
they fear lest an oath be given to rebut their own oath; but let them fear God
and listen, for God guides not the people who do ill.
On the day when God shall
assemble the apostles and shall say, 'How were ye answered?' they will say, 'We
have no knowledge; verily, thou art He who knoweth the unseen.'
When God said, 'O Jesus,
son of Mary! remember my favours towards thee and towards thy mother, when I
aided thee with the Holy Ghost, till thou didst speak to men in the cradle and
when grown up.
[110] And when I taught
thee the Book and wisdom and the law and the gospel; when thou didst create of
clay, as it were, the likeness of a bird, by my power, and didst blow thereon,
it became a bird; and thou didst heal the blind from birth, and the leprous by
my permission; and when thou didst bring forth the dead by my permission; and
when I did ward off the children of Israel from thee, when thou didst come to
them with manifest signs, and those who
misbelieved amongst them
said, "This is naught but obvious magic."
'And when I inspired the apostles
that they should believe in him and in my Apostle, they said, "We believe;
do thou bear witness that we are resigned."'
When the apostles said, O
Jesus, son of Mary! is thy Lord able to send down to us a table from heaven?'
he said, 'Fear God, if ye be believers;' and they said, 'We desire to eat
therefrom that our hearts may be at rest, and that we may know that what thou
hast told us is the truth, and that we may be thereby amongst the witnesses.'
Said Jesus the son of Mary, 'O God, our Lord! send down to us a table from
heaven to be to us as a festival,-to the first of us and to the last, and a
sign from Thee,-and grant us provision, for Thou art the best of providers.'
[115] God said, Verily, I
am about to send it down to you; but whoso disbelieves amongst you after that,
verily, I will torment him with the torment which I have not tormented any one
with in all the worlds.'
And when God said, 'O
Jesus, son of Mary! is it thou who didst say to men, take me and my mother for
two gods, beside God?' He said, 'I celebrate Thy praise! what ails me that I
should say what I have no right to? If I had said it, Thou wouldst have known
it; Thou knowest what is in my soul, but I know not what is in Thy soul;
verily, Thou art one who knoweth the unseen. I never told them save what Thou
didst bid me,-" Worship God, my Lord and your Lord," and I was a
witness against them so long as I was amongst them; but when Thou. didst take
me away to thyself Thou wert the watcher over them, for Thou art witness over
all. If
[paragraph continues] Thou shouldst, punish them, verily,
they are Thy servants; if Thou shouldst forgive them, verily, Thou art the
mighty and the wise.' God said, 'This is the day when their confession shall
profit the confessors, for them are gardens beneath which rivers flow, to dwell
therein for ever and for aye.'
God is well pleased with
them, and they well pleased with Him; that is the mighty happiness.
[120] God's is the kingdom
of the heavens, and the earth, and all that is therein, and He is mighty over
all.