text:
## CONTENTS

  1. Editorial Board
  2. Editors' Contributions
  3. Acknowledgments
  4. Abbreviations
  5. Arabic Transliteration and Pronunciation
  6. General Introduction, _Seyyed Hossein Nasr_
  7. Approaching _The Study Quran_
  8. Understanding the Citations in the Commentary
  9. Commentator Key
  10. The Quran: Translation and Commentary
  11. 1 The Opening, _al-Fāti ḥah_
  12. Commentary
  13. 2 The Cow, _al-Baqarah_
  14. Commentary
  15. 3 The House of ʿImrān, _Āl ʿImrān_
  16. Commentary
  17. 4 Women, _al-Nisā ʾ_
  18. Commentary
  19. 5 The Table Spread, _al-Mā ʾidah_
  20. Commentary
  21. 6 The Cattle, _al-An ʿām_
  22. Commentary
  23. 7 The Heights, _al-A ʿrāf_
  24. Commentary
  25. 8 The Spoils, _al-Anfāl_
  26. Commentary
  27. 9 Repentance, _al-Tawbah_
  28. Commentary
  29. 10 Jonah, _Yūnus_
  30. Commentary
  31. 11 Hūd, _Hūd_
  32. Commentary
  33. 12 Joseph, _Yūsuf_
  34. Commentary
  35. 13 The Thunder, _al-Ra ʿd_
  36. Commentary
  37. 14 Abraham, _Ibrāhīm_
  38. Commentary
  39. 15 Ḥijr, _al- Ḥijr_
  40. Commentary
  41. 16 The Bee, _al-Na ḥl_
  42. Commentary
  43. 17 The Night Journey, _al-Isrā ʾ_
  44. Commentary
  45. 18 The Cave, _al-Kahf_
  46. Commentary
  47. 19 Mary, _Maryam_
  48. Commentary
  49. 20 Ṭā Hā, _Ṭ ā Hā_
  50. Commentary
  51. 21 The Prophets, _al-Anbiyā ʾ_
  52. Commentary
  53. 22 The Pilgrimage, _al- Ḥajj_
  54. Commentary
  55. 23 The Believers, _al-Mu ʾminūn_
  56. Commentary
  57. 24 Light, _al-Nūr_
  58. Commentary
  59. 25 The Criterion, _al-Furqān_
  60. Commentary
  61. 26 The Poets, _al-Shu ʿarāʾ_
  62. Commentary
  63. 27 The Ants, _al-Naml_
  64. Commentary
  65. 28 The Story, _al-Qa ṣaṣ_
  66. Commentary
  67. 29 The Spider, _al- ʿAnkabūt_
  68. Commentary
  69. 30 The Byzantines, _al-Rūm_
  70. Commentary
  71. 31 Luqmān, _Luqmān_
  72. Commentary
  73. 32 Prostration, _al-Sajdah_
  74. Commentary
  75. 33 The Parties, _al-A ḥzāb_
  76. Commentary
  77. 34 Sheba, _Saba ʾ_
  78. Commentary
  79. 35 The Originator, _Fā ṭir_
  80. Commentary
  81. 36 Yā Sīn, _Yā Sīn_
  82. Commentary
  83. 37 Those Ranged in Ranks, _al- Ṣāffāt_
  84. Commentary
  85. 38 Ṣād, _Ṣ ād_
  86. Commentary
  87. 39 The Throngs, _al-Zumar_
  88. Commentary
  89. 40 The Forgiver, _Ghāfir_
  90. Commentary
  91. 41 Expounded, _Fu ṣṣilat_
  92. Commentary
  93. 42 Counsel, _al-Shūrā_
  94. Commentary
  95. 43 Gold Ornaments, _al-Zukhruf_
  96. Commentary
  97. 44 Smoke, _al-Dukhān_
  98. Commentary
  99. 45 Upon Their Knees, _al-Jāthiyah_
  100. Commentary
  101. 46 The Sand Dunes, _al-A ḥqāf_
  102. Commentary
  103. 47 Muhammad, _Mu ḥammad_
  104. Commentary
  105. 48 Victory, _al-Fat ḥ_
  106. Commentary
  107. 49 The Private Apartments, _al- Ḥujurāt_
  108. Commentary
  109. 50 Qāf, _Qāf_
  110. Commentary
  111. 51 The Scatterers, _al-Dhāriyāt_
  112. Commentary
  113. 52 The Mount, _al- Ṭūr_
  114. Commentary
  115. 53 The Star, _al-Najm_
  116. Commentary
  117. 54 The Moon, _al-Qamar_
  118. Commentary
  119. 55 The Compassionate, _al-Ra ḥmān_
  120. Commentary
  121. 56 The Event, _al-Wāqi ʿah_
  122. Commentary
  123. 57 Iron, _al- Ḥadīd_
  124. Commentary
  125. 58 She Who Disputes, _al-Mujādilah_
  126. Commentary
  127. 59 The Gathering, _al- Ḥashr_
  128. Commentary
  129. 60 She Who Is Examined, _al-Mumta ḥanah_
  130. Commentary
  131. 61 The Ranks, _al- Ṣaff_
  132. Commentary
  133. 62 The Congregational Prayer, _al-Jumu ʿah_
  134. Commentary
  135. 63 The Hypocrites, _al-Munāfiqūn_
  136. Commentary
  137. 64 Mutual Dispossession, _al-Taghābun_
  138. Commentary
  139. 65 Divorce, _al- Ṭalāq_
  140. Commentary
  141. 66 Forbiddance, _al-Ta ḥrīm_
  142. Commentary
  143. 67 Sovereignty, _al-Mulk_
  144. Commentary
  145. 68 The Pen, _al-Qalam_
  146. Commentary
  147. 69 The Undeniable Reality, _al- Ḥāqqah_
  148. Commentary
  149. 70 The Ascending Ways, _al-Ma ʿārij_
  150. Commentary
  151. 71 Noah, _Nū ḥ_
  152. Commentary
  153. 72 The Jinn, _al-Jinn_
  154. Commentary
  155. 73 The Enwrapped One, _al-Muzzammil_
  156. Commentary
  157. 74 The Covered One, _al-Muddaththir_
  158. Commentary
  159. 75 The Resurrection, _al-Qiyāmah_
  160. Commentary
  161. 76 Man, _al-Insān_
  162. Commentary
  163. 77 Those Sent Forth, _al-Mursalāt_
  164. Commentary
  165. 78 The Tiding, _al-Naba ʾ_
  166. Commentary
  167. 79 The Wresters, _al-Nāzi ʿāt_
  168. Commentary
  169. 80 He Frowned, _ʿ Abasa_
  170. Commentary
  171. 81 The Enfolding, _al-Takwīr_
  172. Commentary
  173. 82 The Cleaving Asunder, _al-Infi ṭār_
  174. Commentary
  175. 83 Those Who Defraud, _al-Mu ṭaffifīn_
  176. Commentary
  177. 84 The Sundering, _al-Inshiqāq_
  178. Commentary
  179. 85 The Constellations, _al-Burūj_
  180. Commentary
  181. 86 What Comes by Night, _al- ṭāriq_
  182. Commentary
  183. 87 The Most High, _al-A ʿlā_
  184. Commentary
  185. 88 The Overwhelming Event, _al-Ghāshiyah_
  186. Commentary
  187. 89 The Dawn, _al-Fajr_
  188. Commentary
  189. 90 The Land, _al-Balad_
  190. Commentary
  191. 91 The Sun, _al-Shams_
  192. Commentary
  193. 92 The Night, _al-Layl_
  194. Commentary
  195. 93 The Morning Brightness, _al- Ḍuḥā_
  196. Commentary
  197. 94 Expansion, _al-Shar ḥ_
  198. Commentary
  199. 95 The Fig, _al-Tīn_
  200. Commentary
  201. 96 The Blood Clot, _al- ʿAlaq_
  202. Commentary
  203. 97 Power, _al-Qadr_
  204. Commentary
  205. 98 The Clear Proof, _al-Bayyinah_
  206. Commentary
  207. 99 The Earthquake, _al-Zalzalah_
  208. Commentary
  209. 100 The Chargers, _al- ʿĀdiyāt_
  210. Commentary
  211. 101 The Calamity, _al-Qāri ʿah_
  212. Commentary
  213. 102 Vying for Increase, _al-Takāthur_
  214. Commentary
  215. 103 The Declining Day, _al- ʿAṣr_
  216. Commentary
  217. 104 The Slanderer, _al-Humazah_
  218. Commentary
  219. 105 The Elephant, _al-Fīl_
  220. Commentary
  221. 106 Quraysh, _Quraysh_
  222. Commentary
  223. 107 Small Kindnesses, _al-Mā ʿūn_
  224. Commentary
  225. 108 Abundant Good, _al-Kawthar_
  226. Commentary
  227. 109 The Disbelievers, _al-Kāfirūn_
  228. Commentary
  229. 110 Help, _al-Na ṣr_
  230. Commentary
  231. 111 The Palm Fiber, _al-Masad_
  232. Commentary
  233. 112 Sincerity, _al-Ikhlā ṣ_
  234. Commentary
  235. 113 The Daybreak, _al-Falaq_
  236. Commentary
  237. 114 Mankind, _al-Nās_
  238. Commentary
  239. ESSAYS
  240. [How to Read the Quran
_Ingrid Mattson_](9780062227621_Backmatter_1.xhtml#bm1)
  241. [The Quran in Translation
_Joseph Lumbard_](9780062227621_Backmatter_2.xhtml#bm2)
  242. [The Islamic View of the Quran
_Muhammad Mustafa al-Azami_](9780062227621_Backmatter_3.xhtml#bm3)
  243. [Quranic Arabic: Its Characteristics and Impact on Arabic Language and Literature and the Languages and Literatures of Other Islamic Peoples
_Muhammad Abdel Haleem_](9780062227621_Backmatter_4.xhtml#bm4)
  244. [Quranic Commentaries
_Walid Saleh_](9780062227621_Backmatter_5.xhtml#bm5)
  245. [Traditions of Esoteric and Sapiential Quranic Commentary
_Toby Mayer_](9780062227621_Backmatter_6.xhtml#bm6)
  246. [Scientific Commentary on the Quran
_Muzaffar Iqbal_](9780062227621_Backmatter_7.xhtml#bm7)
  247. [The Quran as Source of Islamic Law
_A ḥmad Muḥammad al-ṭayyib_](9780062227621_Backmatter_8.xhtml#bm8)
  248. [The Quran and Schools of Islamic Theology and Philosophy
_Mu ṣṭafā Muḥaqqiq Dāmād_](9780062227621_Backmatter_9.xhtml#bm9)
  249. [The Quran and Sufism
_William C. Chittick_](9780062227621_Backmatter_10.xhtml#bm10)
  250. [The Quran and Islamic Art
_Jean-Louis Michon_](9780062227621_Backmatter_11.xhtml#bm11)
  251. [The Quranic View of Sacred History and Other Religions
_Joseph Lumbard_](9780062227621_Backmatter_12.xhtml#bm12)
  252. [Quranic Ethics, Human Rights, and Society
_Maria Massi Dakake_](9780062227621_Backmatter_13.xhtml#bm13)
  253. [Conquest and Conversion, War and Peace in the Quran
_Caner K. Dagli_](9780062227621_Backmatter_14.xhtml#bm14)
  254. [Death, Dying, and the Afterlife in the Quran
_Hamza Yusuf_](9780062227621_Backmatter_15.xhtml#bm15)
  255. Essay Author Biographies
  256. [Appendix A
_Ḥ adīth_ Citations](9780062227621_Backmatter_17.xhtml#bm17)
  257. [Appendix B
Time Line of Major Events Related to the Quran](9780062227621_Backmatter_18.xhtml#bm18)
  258. [Appendix C
Biographies of Commentators](9780062227621_Backmatter_19.xhtml#bm19)
  259. Maps
  260. Index
  261. Copyright
  262. About the Publisher

# Guide

  1. Cover
  2. Contents
  3. Chapter 1

  1. i
  2. ii
  3. iii
  4. iv
  5. v
  6. vi
  7. vii
  8. viii
  9. ix
  10. x
  11. xi
  12. xii
  13. xiii
  14. xiv
  15. xv
  16. xvi
  17. xvii
  18. xviii
  19. xix
  20. xx
  21. xxi
  22. xxii
  23. xxiii
  24. xxiv
  25. xxv
  26. xxvi
  27. xxvii
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  30. xxx
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  32. xxxii
  33. xxxiii
  34. xxxiv
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## EDITORIAL BOARD

SEYYED HOSSEIN NASR (Editor-in-Chief), University Professor of Islamic Studies at the George Washington University, is an international authority on Islamic philosophy, mysticism, art, and science as well as comparative religion and religion and ecology. He is the author of dozens of books and hundreds of articles and the subject of a number of books, edited collections, and articles. Some of his recent publications include _The Garden of Truth: The Vision and Promise of Sufism_ (2007), _Islam's Mystical Tradition_ (2007), _Islam in the Modern World_ (2010), _In Search of the Sacred_ (2010), and _Metaphysical Penetrations_ (a translation of Mullā Ṣadrā's _Kitāb al-Mashā ʿir,_ 2014).

CANER K. DAGLI (General Editor), Associate Professor of Religious Studies at the College of the Holy Cross, is a specialist in Sufism, Islamic philosophy, interfaith dialogue, and Quranic studies. His publications include _The Ringstones of Wisdom_ (an annotated translation of Ibn al-ʿArabī's _Fu ṣūṣ al-ḥikam,_ 2004), _The Oxford Encyclopedia of Science, Philosophy, and Technology in Islam_ (senior coeditor, 2014), and _Ibn al- ʿArabī and Islamic Intellectual Culture: From Mysticism to Philosophy_ (2015).

MARIA MASSI DAKAKE (General Editor) is Associate Professor of Religious Studies at George Mason University, specializing in Shiism, Sufism, Islamic philosophy and theology, the Quran, interfaith dialogue, and issues related to women and the feminine in classical Islam. She is the author of _The Charismatic Community: Shī ʿite Identity in Early Islam_ (2007) and coeditor of _The Routledge Companion to the Quran_ (forthcoming).

JOSEPH E. B. LUMBARD (General Editor) is Assistant Professor in the Department of Arabic and Translation Studies at the American University of Sharjah and an Associate Editor for the _Integrated Encyclopedia of the Qur ʾān_ (in progress). A specialist in Quranic studies, Sufism, Islamic philosophy, comparative theology, and Islamic ecotheology, he is the editor of _Islam, Fundamentalism, and the Betrayal of Tradition_ (2nd edition, 2010), and author of _Submission, Faith, and Beauty: The Religion of Islam_ (2009) and _Love and Remembrance: The Life and Teachings of A ḥmad al-Ghazālī_ (2016).

MOHAMMED RUSTOM (Assistant Editor), Associate Professor of Islamic Studies at Carleton University, specializes in Sufism, Islamic philosophy and theology, and Quranic exegesis. He is the author of _The Triumph of Mercy: Philosophy and Scripture in Mullā ṣadrā_ (2012) and translator of Abū Ḥāmid al-Ghazzālī's _The Condemnation of Pride and Self-Admiration_ (2017).

## EDITORS' CONTRIBUTIONS

Seyyed Hossein Nasr supervised the entire _Study Quran,_ including selecting the editorial board and essay authors; editing the translation, commentary, and essays; and overseeing the style and scope of the translation and commentary. Caner K. Dagli wrote the commentary for _sūrah_ s 2–3, 8–9, and 21–28, was the primary translator for _sūrah_ s 2–3, 8–9, and 22–28, and was an editor for the remainder of the translation and commentary; he also conceived and supervised the design of the book. Maria Massi Dakake wrote the commentary for _sūrah_ s 4–7 and 16–19, was the primary translator for _sūrah_ s 4–7, 10–12, and 14–21, and was an editor for the remainder of the translation and commentary. Joseph E. B. Lumbard wrote the commentary for _sūrah_ s 1 and 29–114, was the primary translator for _sūrah_ s 1, 13, and 29–114, and was an editor for the remainder of the translation and commentary. Mohammed Rustom wrote the commentary for _sūrah_ s 10–15 and 20 and contributed to editing other parts of the commentary and the translation.

## ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

Major funding for _The Study Quran_ was provided by:

The Institute for Religion and Civic Values
The El-Hibri Foundation

The following organizations and individuals provided additional support:

His Majesty King Abdallah II
The Ali Vural Ak Center for Global Islamic Studies
The Radius Foundation
Sheikh Abdul Rahman and Sadiqua Rahman
Steve and Debra York
The Islamic Speakers Bureau of Atlanta

We would like to express our gratitude to our contributors for their generous support. The funds provided allowed the editors to devote their time to _The Study Quran_ and subsidized the many research assistants whose contributions have been invaluable. We must also thank Shabbir Mansuri, Munir Sheikh, Karim El-Hibri, and Zen Hunter Ishikawa for their assistance in procuring and managing these funds.

George Mason University and the College of the Holy Cross provided generous leaves and financial assistance that contributed to the completion of this project.

The editors of _The Study Quran_ wish to thank the authors of the essays for their excellent contributions. We are grateful to Daoud Casewit for his work on the citations of _ḥ adīth_ and sayings, and for conceiving of and providing the initial drawings for the maps. We also wish to thank Ryan Brizendine for several years of invaluable editorial work as well as Shankar Nair, Arjun Nair, Hamilton Cook, Sayed Amir Mirtaheri, and Abigail Tardiff, all of whom helped with research, editorial work, indexes, and the preparation of the text for publication. Their work has vastly improved the final product, though any errors remain our own.

Our special thanks go to HarperOne and its editors Eric Brandt, who helped launch the project, and Mickey Maudlin, who has guided the project to completion, along with all those who helped to prepare the text for publication, especially Ann Moru, who skillfully copyedited an enormous, demanding, and complex text, as well as our production editors, Suzanne Quist and Natalie Blachere. We would like to thank Ralph Fowler, who typeset the book, and Shiraz Sheikh, who indexed it. We are also grateful to Stephen Hanselman, our literary agent, who first proposed this project when he was an editor with HarperOne. Many friends and colleagues have made helpful suggestions and provided invaluable advice along the way. They are too numerous to name here, though we owe them all a debt of gratitude. We were honored to have the American master calligrapher Mohamed Zakariya provide the Arabic calligraphy that appears in the text.

Finally, we thank our families, who have been so patient and supportive during the many years it has taken to complete this project.

## ABBREVIATIONS*

AD | Common Era year, _Anno Domini_
---|---
AH | Islamic year, _Anno Hegirae_
c | commentary of _The Study Quran_
ca. | circa
cf. | compare
chap. | chapter
d. | death date
ed. | editor
passim | throughout
pl. | plural
sing. | singular
v. | verse
vv. | verses

*Note: A list of abbreviations for the commentators cited in this work is to be found on pages lvii–lix.

## ARABIC TRANSLITERATION AND PRONUNCIATION

Arabic sounds resemble corresponding English sounds unless otherwise noted.

ء | _ʾ_ | _hamzah_ or glottal stop, marking a shift in vowel, as in the middle of the colloquial _uh-oh_
---|---|---
ب | _b_ |
ت | _t_ |
ث | _th_ | like the _th_ in _thin_
ج | _j_ |
ح | _ḥ_ | a heavy _h,_ with the throat constricted
خ | _kh_ | like the _ch_ in the Scottish _loch_ or German _Macht_
د | _d_ |
ذ | _dh_ | like the _th_ in _that_
ر | _r_ | like a Spanish rolled _r_
ز | _z_ |
س | _s_ |
ش | _sh_ |
ص | _ṣ_ | a heavy _s,_ with the back of the tongue raised
ض | _ḍ_ | a heavy _d,_ with the back of the tongue raised
ط | _ṭ_ | a heavy _t,_ with the back of the tongue raised
ظ | _ẓ_ | more a heavy _dh_ than _z,_ with the back of the tongue raised
ع | _ʿ_ | voiced sound formed by constriction of air in the throat, commonly elided into the following vowel
غ | _gh_ | like the French _r,_ at the back of the tongue
ف | _f_ |
ق | _q_ | a heavy _k,_ back in the throat
ك | _k_ |
ل | _l_ |
م | _m_ |
ن | _n_ |
ه | _h_ |
ة | _-h, -t_ | _tā ʾ marbūṭah,_ appears at the end of some words and is written and pronounced _h_ when not in construct with the following word, e.g., _zakāh,_ and as _t_ when it is, e.g., _zakāt al-fi ṭr_

The letters ا, ي, and و can function either as consonants or long vowels:

ا | _ʾ_ | when used as an initial _hamzah_
---|---|---
ا | _ā_ | when used as a long vowel
ي | _y_ | when used as a consonant
ي | _ī_ | when used as a long vowel
و | _w_ | when used as a consonant
و | _ū_ | when used as a long vowel

### Short Vowels

_a_ | like the vowel in son when vowelizing heavier consonants ( _kh, r, ṣ, ḍ, ṭ, ẓ, gh, q_) _,_ and like the vowel in _set_ for lighter consonants ( _ʾ , b, t, th, j, ḥ, d, dh, z, s, sh, ʿ, f, k, l, m, n, h, w, y_)
---|---
_i_ | like the vowel in _sit_
_u_ | like the vowel in _soot_

### Long Vowels

_ā_ | like the vowel in _sob_ for heavier consonants ( _kh, r, ṣ, ḍ, ṭ, ẓ, gh, q_) and like the vowel in _sat_ for lighter consonants ( _ʾ , b, t, th, j, ḥ, d, dh, z, s, sh, ʿ, f, k, l, m, n, h, w, y_), but pronounced slightly longer
---|---
_ī_ | like the vowel in _seen_
_ū_ | like the vowel in _soon_

### The _Hamzah_

In transliteration, the _hamzah_ (ء, see above) is not represented at the start of a word, but is elided into the following vowel, e.g., _i ḥsān,_ not _ʾ iḥsān_. An initial "discontinuous" _hamzah_ or _hamzat qa ṭʿ_ (أ or إ) is always pronounced fully regardless of what precedes it, but a "connecting" _hamzah_ or _hamzat wa ṣl_, usually represented by an _alif_ (ا) at the start of a word but sometimes as an _alif_ with a _wa ṣlah_ sign (ٱ), is elided into the vowel that precedes it. The most common connecting _hamzah_ is the first letter of the definite article _al-_ , and the elision of the _a_ is shown by the replacement of the connecting _hamzah_ with an apostrophe. For example, when _dhū_ is attached to _al-qurbā_ , it is written as _dhu'l-qurbā_ , not _dhū al-qurbā_. This elision and connection also has the effect of shortening any long vowel that immediately precedes the _hamzah_ ; thus one writes _dhu'l-qurbā_ , not _dhū'l-qurbā_ , and one pronounces it _dhul-qur-ba_ , not _dhool-qur-ba_.

Another important instance of the connecting _hamzah_ is the first letter of the Divine Name _Allāh_. For example, one writes _lā ilāha illa'Llāh_ , not _lā ilāha illā Allāh_ , with the capital "L" taking the place of the first letter of the Divine Name. However, in some cases, as in names such as ʿAbd Allāh and phrases such as _sub ḥān Allāh_, the Divine Name is written without the elision.

### Sun and Moon Letters

When spoken or recited, the _l_ in the definite article _al-_ takes on the sound that follows it in the case of certain consonants, traditionally called "sun letters": _t, th, d, dh, r, z, s, sh, ṣ, ḍ, ṭ, ẓ, l, n_. For example, _al-nūr_ is pronounced _an-noor_ , not _al-noor_. For the other consonants, traditionally called "moon letters" ( _ʾ , b, j, ḥ, kh, ʿ, gh, f, q, k, m, h, w, y_), the _l_ in the definite article _al-_ remains pronounced; for example, _al-kitāb_ is pronounced _al-ki-taab_. This pronunciation difference is not represented in the transliteration or the original Arabic script.

## GENERAL INTRODUCTION

### _Bi'smi'Llāh al-Ra ḥmān al-Raḥīm_

The Quran is for Muslims the verbatim Word of God, revealed during the twenty-three-year period of the prophetic mission of the Prophet Muhammad through the agency of the Archangel Gabriel (Jibrīl or Jabraʾīl). The meaning, the language, and every word and letter in the Quran, its sound when recited, and its text written upon various physical surfaces are all considered sacred. The Quran was an oral revelation in Arabic first heard by the Prophet and later written down in the Arabic alphabet in a book consisting of 114 _sūrahs_ (chapters) and over 6,200 verses ( _āyāt_ ), arranged according to an order that was also revealed. Considered _the Book_ ( _al-Kitāb_ ) by all Muslims, it has many names, such as _al-Furqān_ ("the Criterion") and _al-Hudā_ ("the Guide"), but its most commonly used name is _al-Qur ʾān_, which means "the Recitation." In the same way that Christians refer to their sacred scripture as the Holy Bible, Muslims usually refer to theirs as _al-Qur ʾān al-Majīd_ ("the Glorious Quran"; 50:1; 85:21) or _al-Qur ʾān al-Karīm_ ("the Noble Quran"; 56:77). Known in English as the Quran (also Koran), it is the central theophany of Islam and the basic source and root of all that is authentically Islamic, from metaphysics, angelology, and cosmology to law and ethics, from the various arts and sciences to social structures, economics, and even political thought.

The Quran is the constant companion of Muslims in the journey of life. Its verses are the first sounds recited into the ear of the newborn child. It is recited during the marriage ceremony, and its verses are usually the last words that a Muslim hears upon the approach of death. In traditional Islamic society, the sound of the recitation of the Quran was ubiquitous, and it determined the space in which men and women lived their daily lives; this is still true to a large extent in many places even today. As for the Quran as a book, it is found in nearly every Muslim home and is carried or worn in various forms and sizes by men and women for protection as they go about their daily activities. In many parts of the Islamic world it is held up for one to pass under when beginning a journey, and there are still today traditional Islamic cities whose gates contain the Quran, under which everyone entering or exiting the city passes. The Quran is an ever present source of blessing or grace ( _barakah_ ) deeply experienced by Muslims as permeating all of life.

Inasmuch as the Quran is the central, sacred, revealed reality for Muslims, _The Study Quran_ addresses it as such and does not limit it to a work of merely historical, social, or linguistic interest divorced from its sacred and revealed character. To this end, the focus of _The Study Quran_ is on the Quran's reception and interpretation within the Muslim intellectual and spiritual tradition, although this does not mean that Muslims are the only intended audience, since the work is meant to be of use to various scholars, teachers, students, and general readers. It is with this _Book,_ whose recitation brings Muslims from Sumatra to Senegal to tears, and not simply with a text important for the study of Semitic philology or the social conditions of first/seventh-century Arabia, that this study deals.

This _Book,_ according to Islam, was revealed by Gabriel to the Prophet during the twenty-three years of his prophetic mission on different occasions during night and day, in both Makkah and Madinah, in such a manner that, although the words of the Quran came out of his mouth, its Author is God. The Prophet was the instrument through which the reality of the Quran, which existed with God on a level of reality beyond time, in what Muslims call the _Preserved Tablet_ ( _al-law ḥ al-maḥfūẓ;_ 85:22), was revealed to men and women in this world. That is why revelation itself is often described as "descent" ( _tanzīl_ ), which means that the Quran was a reality before its revelation or descent to the Prophet and therefore not his own words, as claimed by those who have denied the revealed nature of the Quran over the ages.

And yet something of the reality of the Prophet's soul is present in the Quran, and that is why, when asked about his character, his wife ʿĀʾishah replied, "His character was the Quran." Shortly before his departure from the earthly plane, the Prophet said in a famous tradition, or _ḥ adīth,_ "I leave among you something which is very important and should be followed; you will not go astray if you take hold of it after I am gone, one part of it being more important than the other: God's Book, which is a rope stretched from Heaven to earth, and my close relatives, who belong to my household. These two will not separate from one another till they come down to the pool [in the Hereafter]; so consider how you act regarding them after my departure."

### The Message of the Quran

What are the grand themes with which this sacred scripture deals? The Quran contains above all a doctrine about the nature of reality on all its levels, from Absolute Reality Itself, that is, the One God, to the reality of creation both macrocosmic and microcosmic. It provides the full revelation of Allāh, or God, as the supreme Reality Whose Oneness is at the center of the Islamic message. God is One, at once impersonal and personal, transcendent and immanent, majestic and beautiful, beyond all that we can conceive and yet nearer to us than our jugular vein, as the Quran itself asserts so poetically (50:16).

The Quran also reveals a galaxy of Divine Names and Qualities, which by virtue of being revealed are sacred and provide the means of not only knowing God, but also of returning to Him. They thus play a central role not only in Islamic metaphysics and theology, but also in the practical and ritual aspects of Islamic religious and spiritual life. As the Quran itself states, _Unto God belong the Most Beautiful Names_ (7:180; cf. 17:110; 20:8; 59:24); it then commands the believers to call upon Him through these Names (7:180). Islamic doctrine based upon the Quran distinguishes between the Divine Essence, which is beyond all names, qualities, attributes, and descriptions; His Names, Qualities, and Attributes; and His Acts, which include the creation and sustenance of all the worlds and all creatures within them and the constant operations of His Will in His creation, especially the human order, in which His Love and Mercy as well as Justice and Judgment are ever present.

The testimony of faith in Islam, that is, the first _shahādah, lā ilāha illa'Llāh_ ("There is no god but God"), a phrase that was revealed in the Quran itself (37:35; 47:19), is not only the supreme statement concerning Divine Unity and Transcendence, but also the means of reintegrating all positive qualities back into the One. The _shahādah_ also means that there is ultimately no beauty but the Divine Beauty, no goodness but the Divine Goodness, no power but the Divine Power, and so on. Metaphysically it means that there is ultimately no reality but the Divine Reality.

The Quran also deals fully with the nature of human beings. It teaches us who we are, why we were created and placed here on earth, what our goal in life is, what our responsibilities and rights are according to the Divine Law, what we need to know about the immortality of the human soul and its posthumous states, and the consequences of how we live in this world for our state of being after death. Although it addresses both men and women in most of its verses, it also deals explicitly in some places with the meaning of the creation of human beings as male and female or in pairs ( _zawj_ ), the sacredness of sexuality, the importance of the family, and the responsibilities of each gender toward the other in marriage. Also treated is the correct relationship between the individual, society, and the rest of God's creation.

No sacred scripture of which we have knowledge speaks more about the cosmos and the world of nature than does the Quran, where one finds extensive teachings about cosmogenesis, cosmic history, eschatological events marking the end of the cosmic order as it now exists, and the phenomena of nature as revealing Divine Wisdom. In fact, the Quran refers to these phenomena as _āyāt_ ("signs," or symbols), employing the same word that is used for the verses of the Sacred Book. The Quran also speaks of life and its origin and of the relation of all beings, animate as well as inanimate, from animals and plants, to mountains, seas, and stars, to God. In a sense the Quran was revealed to a whole cosmic sector as well as to humanity, and many Muslim sages over the ages have referred to the cosmos itself as a revelation, in fact the primordial revelation. That is why they have so often referred to the cosmos as "the cosmic Quran" ( _al-qur ʾān al-takwīnī_), the meaning of whose "verses" can only be understood by means of "the written Quran" ( _al-qur ʾān al-tadwīnī_), that is, the book of the Quran, which is Islam's sacred scripture.

Of course, as many traditions of the Prophet ( _a ḥādīth,_ sing. _ḥ adīth_) have indicated, the Quran possesses an outward meaning ( _ẓ āhir_) and an inward meaning ( _bā ṭin_), in fact several inner meanings, the most inward of which is said, according to tradition, to be known only to God. Grasping the multiple levels of meaning of the Quranic text is essential for learning to "read" the cosmic book and for the full understanding of all of its teachings, including the metaphysics, cosmology, science of the human state, eschatology, and spiritual life of which the Quran speaks.

To return to the central subjects and themes mentioned in the Quran, it is important to emphasize that the Quran is the fundamental source of Islamic Law ( _al-Sharī ʿah_) and that, although historically the Prophet has been called, like Moses, a legislator, the ultimate legislator is considered in Islam to be God Himself, who is often called _al-Shāri ʿ,_ "the Legislator." A few hundred Quranic verses deal in a concrete manner with law, while others deal with principles upon which revealed laws are based. In fact, for Muslims the Islamic _Sharī ʿah_, or Divine Law, is the concrete embodiment of the Divine Will as elaborated in the Quran for the followers of Islam; and from the Islamic point of view the scriptures of all divinely revealed religions, each of which possesses its own _sharī ʿah_ (see 5:48), have the same function in those religions. For Muslims, who accept the Quran as the Word of God, therefore, following the Divine Law is basic and foundational for the practice of their religion.

The Quran is also a book of ethics. It provides the criteria for discernment between not only truth and falsehood, beauty and ugliness, but also good and evil. Although it emphasizes that human beings should use their God-given gift of intelligence ( _al- ʿaql_) to discern what is true, beautiful, and good, it also insists that it is necessary to have faith in the revelation that provides the final judgment as to what is true and good and in fact allows human intelligence to be fully operative rather than becoming atrophied by human passions. Moreover, the ethical teachings of the Quran concern both the cultivation of virtues that pertain specifically to individuals, and of social ethical qualities, such as justice and generosity, that are basic for any society that could be called properly Islamic. Furthermore, from a Quranic perspective the rights of the individual and those of society are not in tension or opposition with each other, as they are sometimes perceived to be in modern Western societies.

As the fundamental source of the Islamic religion, the Quran contains teachings, including economic and political ones, that pertain to both individual believers and Islamic society as a whole. It also contains instructions for various individual religious practices and especially rites, whose details were provided by the _sunnah_ ("wont") and _a ḥādīth_ (sayings, actions, and tacit approvals) of the Prophet. But the Quran also establishes communal religious practices and institutions that are basic to Islamic society as a whole.

Many are aware that the Quran is concerned with religious life as well as matters related to both individual salvation and the social order, but fewer realize that the Quran is also a guide for the inner spiritual life. Paying attention to the inner meaning of the Quran results in the realization that not only does it contain teachings about creating a just social order and leading a virtuous life that results in a return to God after death in a felicitous state; it also provides the means of returning to God here and now while still in this world. The Quran is therefore also a sapiential and spiritual guide for the attainment of the truth, a guide for the attainment of beatitude even in this world.

Another theme that runs throughout many of the _sūrah_ s of the Quran is sacred history and narratives that pertain to prophets of old and their peoples. This sacred history confines itself almost completely to the Abrahamic tradition and the Israelite prophets, although some Arab prophets not found in the Bible are also mentioned. The import of this sacred history is meant, however, to be universal, since the Islamic revelation is addressed to all of humanity rather than to a particular people, as is the case with Judaism. For Muslims, the sacred history narrated in the Quran was revealed by God to the Prophet; it is not simply a compilation of reports heard from Jewish or Christian sources. There is in fact a subtle difference between Biblical and Quranic accounts of sacred history. While the Biblical accounts have a more historical nature, Quranic sacred history is more ahistorical and is revealed primarily to teach ethical and spiritual lessons. Quranic sacred history is seen more as events within the human soul rather than as just historical events in the world. All human beings possess within their being, for example, the qualities of Moses and those of Pharaoh, the beauty of Joseph and the conniving of his brothers; this sacred history is a means of teaching Muslims about their own souls as well as about good and evil and the ultimate triumph of good over evil, if one takes recourse in God, seeks His Help, and has confidence in Him throughout the trials of life, as did prophets of old.

Traditional views of religious history are usually concerned with eschatology, and Islam's are no exception in this regard. The Quran looks upon history as a finite reality that begins with God's creation of the present humanity and ends with His bringing human and cosmic history to its eschatological end. The Quranic conception of the march of time is in a sense cyclical: each cycle is marked by the descent of a message from God through a prophet, the gradual forgetting of that message by the particular people to whom it was sent, and usually the occurrence of a Divinely willed calamity, followed by the coming of a new prophet. But these cycles of prophecy are not endless. Rather, the Quran announces that the Prophet of Islam is _the Seal of prophets_ (33:40) in the chain of prophecy and that after him will come not another prophet, but eschatological events that mark the end of this world and present-day humanity. The Quran also hints at the possibility after the destruction of this world of a new creation by God, an issue, which is, however, beyond the concerns of present humanity, to which the Quran is addressed (see 14:19, 48; 35:15).

Descriptions of eschatological events related to both individuals and human society as well as to the cosmos are central to the Quranic message. Numerous passages throughout the Sacred Text speak about death, Resurrection, Divine Judgment, Paradise, Hell, and by implication Purgatory as well as human beings' final end. The Quran expresses these eschatological realities in a most powerful, concrete, and at the same time highly symbolic language. The Hereafter is presented in such a manner that it remains a constant reality in the consciousness of Muslims throughout their lives here in this lower world ( _al-dunyā_ ). The delights of Paradise as well as the terrible punishments of Hell are described in such a way as to leave an indelible effect upon the mind and soul of believers, profoundly affecting their actions and thoughts in this world. Moreover, Quranic language is at once concrete and sensuous, to be understood by the simplest believers, and symbolic and metaphysical, to satisfy the needs of sages and saints. The paradisal delights described in the Quran are not sublimations of earthly delights, as some have claimed; but earthly delights, both those that are permissible to Muslims in this life and those, such as wine, that are not, are presented as earthly reflections of paradisal realities.

The Quran is also a book of knowledge, and for Muslims it contains the roots of all authentic knowledge as traditionally understood, not as seen by some modern scientistic commentators who seek to identify various verses of the Noble Book with this or that recent scientific theory or discovery. In traditional Islamic civilization, all the Islamic sciences, from jurisprudence to astronomy, from theology to medicine, were considered to have their root in the Quran; in fact, all Islamic thought and art can be viewed as commentaries on it. The fact that the descent of the Quran led not only to the foundation of one of the world's great civilizations, but also to the creation of one of the major scientific, philosophical, and artistic traditions in global history was not accidental. Without the advent of the Quran, there would have been no Islamic sciences as we know them, sciences that were brought later to the West and we therefore would not have words such as "algebra," "algorithm," and many other scientific terms of Arabic origin in English. Nor would there be the _Summa_ s of St. Thomas Aquinas, at least in their existing form, since these _Summa_ s contain so many ideas drawn from Islamic sources.

Not only was the Quranic message foundational for the development of the Islamic sciences, but it was and remains the essential reality in the creation of the Islamic arts, whose principles derive from the _ḥ aqīqah,_ or inner truth, of the Quran. The Islamic holy book has provided over the ages the principles as well as the inspiration for the sacred Islamic arts from calligraphy to architecture. Its teachings have also channeled Muslim artistic creativity in certain directions and provided the social context for the creation of works of Islamic art. The fact that Islamic civilization has produced so much outstanding poetry, but practically no sculpture of consequence, and the fact that calligraphy is so central to Muslim life, are directly related to the Quranic message, in both its form and content. Also stemming from the Quran are the determination of what constitutes sacred art, what domains are of significance in the traditional arts, and what the hierarchy of the arts must be in Islamic civilization.

The message of the Quran concerning religion is universal. Even when it speaks of _islām,_ it refers not only to the religion revealed through the Prophet of Islam, but to submission to God in general. Therefore, in the Quran Abraham and Jesus are also called _muslim_ in the sense of "submitter." The Quranic message is based on the universality of revelation, and the Sacred Text states explicitly that there are _no_ people to whom God has not sent a messenger, as in 16:36: _We indeed sent a messenger unto every community, "Worship God, and shun false deities!"_

This universalist perspective has had the greatest effect upon the relation between Muslims and followers of other religions, both practically and intellectually, throughout Islamic history. It is because of the message of the Quran that before modern times Muslims were the first people to develop what has come to be known as the science of religions, or _Religionswissenschaft,_ and to write in a scholarly fashion about other religions, including non-Abrahamic ones, as we see in the _Indica_ of Abū Rayḥān al-Bīrūnī (d. 442/1048), written a thousand years ago. It is for the same reason that over seven centuries ago such Muslim seers and sages as Ibn ʿArabī (d. 638/1240) and Jalāl al-Dīn al-Rūmī (d. 672/1273) wrote about the inner unity of religions, and somewhat later Sufis in India carried out religious dialogue based on mutual understanding with Hindu authorities and translated sacred texts of Hinduism from Sanskrit to Persian, and some in China created a body of works that can be called "Islamic Neo-Confucian."

The message of the Quran is at once sapiential and practical, legal and moral, concerned with everyday problems as well as the spiritual and intellectual life. The Sacred Text deals with every aspect of human concern, from the deepest intellectual questions and the most lofty spiritual issues to the mundane matters of ordinary life. It is at once therapeutic and didactic. It is a message of glad tidings ( _bishārah_ ) and also of warning ( _nadhr_ ). That is why it calls the prophets, including the Prophet of Islam, both harbingers or bearers of glad tidings ( _bashīr_ ) and warners unto humanity ( _nadhīr_ ). It is a guide for every conceivable aspect of human life, action, and thought and yet also a comfort for the soul of believers. As the central theophany of Islam, a theophany whose every aspect is considered sacred, the Quran is the source of all that is properly speaking Islamic. As the living Word of God, it is the ubiquitous companion of Muslims from the cradle to the grave and provides the spiritual and religious space within which they are born, breathe, live, and die.

### The Language, Structure, and Recitation of the Quran

The Quran was revealed in the Arabic language and refers to itself as an _Arabic Quran_ (12:2; 20:113; 39:28; 41:3; 42:7; 43:3). The Quranic revelation in a sense "shattered" the Arabic language and transformed it into the sacred language that it is for Muslims. It created a work whose language is inimitable and considered miraculous, a book that is believed to be untranslatable. The sacred presence and theophanic reality of the Quran as well as the levels of meaning contained in its verses cannot be rendered into another language, even Persian and other Islamic languages that were themselves deeply influenced by Quranic Arabic. In this context it is essential to remember that in various religions where the revelation is considered by believers to be the directly revealed Word of God, the language in which it was revealed is a sacred language, as is the case of Hebrew in Judaism or Sanskrit in Hinduism; in religions where the founder himself is considered to be the Word or the Message, the language of the message does not play the same role.

For example, in Christianity Christ himself is considered to be the Word of God or the Logos, and in a sense the New Testament is the word of the Word of God. For two millennia traditional and Orthodox Christians have conducted the Mass in Greek, Latin, Slavonic, and, in the smaller Eastern churches, Aramaic, Coptic, and even Arabic itself. But for Christianity these languages are liturgical and not sacred. The celebration of the Eucharist is valid according to the traditional churches no matter which accepted liturgical language is used. But in Islam the daily prayers, the central rite that could be said to correspond to the celebration of the Eucharist in Christianity, are not valid if not performed in Arabic, whether the worshipper is Arab or non-Arab. One might say that, just as in the Eucharist worshippers become "attached" to the Word, that is, Christ, by eating the bread and drinking the wine, which are transformed through the rite into his flesh and blood, in Islamic rites worshippers "devour" the Word of God through the enunciation of verses in Quranic Arabic. For Muslims, Quranic Arabic is therefore, in the deepest sense, like bread and wine in the Eucharist or the body of Christ in traditional Christianity. Both are embodiments of the Word of God and therefore sacred. For Christians or those from a Christian background who wish to understand the full religious and spiritual significance of Quranic Arabic, it is not enough to compare it to Aramaic, which was the language of Christ, or the Latin of the Vulgate. It must be compared to the role of the body of Christ in the Christian tradition.

Arabic was the last Semitic language to enter into the general arena of history compared to other languages in this family such as Hebrew, Coptic, the Babylonian languages, Aramaic, and Syriac. For many philologists, Arabic is considered the closest to what German philologists call _Ursemitisch,_ the original and primordial Semitic language. The fact that this language, Arabic, was chosen by God for the Quranic revelation is very much related to the nature of Islam as a reassertion of the primordial religion, where the last and the first revelations are united, where the omega reconfirms the alpha, where the alpha of the prophetic chain manifests itself in the omega point in the vast history of prophecy.

The revelation of the Quran in Arabic lifted this language out of time and created a work that stands above and beyond historical change. Arabic as a human language used for daily discourse of course continued and in fact spread far beyond Arabia, thanks to the Quran itself. This daily language has undergone some changes over the centuries, but even those transformations have been influenced by the immutable presence of the Quran. The language of the Quran has been "dead" to the changes of this world, but has remained most alive as the embodiment of the ever living Word of God. For every generation of Muslims, Arab and non-Arab alike, the Quran as revealed in Arabic has been and remains today an ever living presence beyond the changes of the human condition, immutable and filled with the abiding life of the Spirit and constantly affecting and guiding human life. It speaks directly to Muslims today as it did to the Companions who first heard it from the mouth of the Prophet. It remains the supreme guide of Muslims, no matter in which point of space or moment of time they find themselves in this world.

The Arabic of the Quran is in places didactic and matter-of-fact and in other places allegorical, anagogical, symbolic, and highly poetic. It is true that in some places, such as _Sūrah_ 26, "The Poets," the Quran castigates poets and that some of the early detractors of the Prophet accused him of being just a poet in a pejorative sense. The reason for such criticisms is that in pre-Islamic Arabia poets were often paid panegyrists and soothsayers with little concern for the truth or for spiritual realities. During the rise of Islam, poets were also employed by the Prophet's opponents to compose verses denigrating him and the religion of Islam. According to many Muslim authorities, the prominence of the linguistic arts in pre-Islamic Arabia was among the reasons that the language of the Quran was chosen by God to be miraculous and that the Quran itself challenges anyone to produce its like (see 2:23; 10:38; 11:13). The eloquence ( _balāghah_ ) of the Quran is in fact considered to be miraculous ( _mu ʿjizah_) and beyond the possibility of imitation by any human being. But if we use the term "poetry" in its universal sense, then the Quran, especially its last part, but also many other sections, is a work of the highest poetic quality and power that has never been matched in any work of even the greatest Muslim poets. It has also influenced profoundly the poetry created in various Islamic languages and is, moreover, the direct cause of the privileged position of poetry in Islamic civilization and in everyday Muslim life in many Islamic communities.

The Quran speaks of itself as a _clear Book_ (e.g., 12:1; 26:2; 27:1), but this characteristic does not only indicate literal and outward clarity, for there are verses whose clarity becomes known only when levels of meaning beyond the outward are considered. Since God is both _the Outward_ ( _al- ẓāhir_) and _the Inward_ ( _al-Bā ṭin_), as the Quran states (57:3), so does His Word have outward and inward levels of meaning. And since God is the Creator of both the apparent or visible ( _al-shahādah_ ) and the absent or Unseen ( _al-ghayb_ ), in His Word the Unseen often manifests itself mysteriously in the visible and apparent words and phrases that constitute its recited and heard sounds. Because of the multiple levels of meaning, the language of the Noble book is sometimes literal, sometimes allegorical, sometimes anagogical, and yet at other times simultaneously anagogical and symbolic. The Quran is like an ocean into which Muslims plunge, but whose depth can never be fully reached. If we remember the original meaning of the Latin verb _comprehendere,_ which is "to encompass," then it can be said that it is the Quran that encompasses or "comprehends" the reader, while the reader can never fully encompass the Quran. The Quran is like a net cast into the world of multiplicity in order to bring us back to the world of Unity, which is infinite. As finite beings, we cannot encompass the Infinite, but we can and should be drawn to and ultimately immersed in It.

One cannot discuss the language of the Quran without saying something about the remarkable mathematical structure that undergirds the Quranic text based on the mathematical symbolism of the letters of the Arabic alphabet. The traditional esoteric Islamic science known as _al-jafr,_ whose origin is attributed traditionally to ʿAlī ibn Abī Ṭālib (the cousin and son-in-law of the Prophet, who became the first Shiite Imam and the fourth Sunni Caliph), deals with the numerical values of the letters of the Arabic alphabet and their symbolic significance. It is similar to the science of _gematria,_ which, based on the letters of the Hebrew alphabet, is significant in Jewish Kabbalah and in those schools of Christian mysticism usually known as Christian Kabbalah. In _The Study Quran_ we have not considered commentaries and separate Quranic studies based on _al-jafr,_ but it is important to mention here their existence.

The science of _al-jafr_ brings out remarkable aspects of the inner teachings of the Quran, including the meaning of the mysterious separated letters ( _al- ḥurūf al-muqaṭṭaʿah_) that appear at the beginning of twenty-nine _sūrah_ s, and elucidates many basic doctrines. For example, according to Islamic metaphysics, all beings reflect certain Divine Names and Qualities, but man ( _homo_ or _insān_ ), meaning both male and female, is the only being in this world who in his or her full reality as the Universal or Perfect Man ( _al-insān al-kāmil_ ) is the mirror that reflects all of the Divine Names. Now, the Name Allāh contains all the Divine Names, and that is why one of the names of the Prophet, as the Universal Man par excellence, was ʿAbd Allāh and not, for example, ʿAbd al-Karīm, _ʿ abd_ here meaning the recipient and reflection of any of His Names. According to the science of _al-jafr,_ the numerical value of Allāh is 66, and so is the numerical value of _Ādam wa Ḥawwāʾ,_ that is, Adam and Eve, who in their androgynous union constitute the state of _insān_. Thus, the science of _al-jafr_ helps one to grasp immediately and intuit this profound doctrine concerning the human state in relation to God.

The orthography of the alphabet in which Quranic Arabic is written also possesses a symbolic significance that is brought out in certain traditional studies of the inner meaning of the Quran. For example, in Arabic, as in English, the first two letters of the alphabet are _a_ and _b,_ or _alif_ and _bā ʾ_ in Arabic. In Arabic orthography _alif_ is written as a straight vertical line (ا) and _bā ʾ_ as a horizontal line with a dot under it (ب). Now, _alif_ is the first letter of the Divine Name _Allāh,_ and _bā ʾ_ the first letter of the first word of the Quran, that is, _Bi'smi'Llāh_ ("In the Name of God"), the full text of which is known as the _basmalah_. According to the science of the symbolism of Arabic orthography, the _alif_ symbolizes the descent of the Divine Word from the world of Divine Transcendence, and _bā ʾ_ its reception in the human world and in human language, which is thereby sanctified. The point under the _bā ʾ_ symbolizes the meeting place of the two letters, of the vertical and the horizontal, and therefore constitutes the essence of all the letters of Arabic, hence of the Quran. In traditional Arabic calligraphy the lines are constituted by the harmonious repetition of the single point or dot.

There is an enigmatic saying attributed to ʿAlī whose meaning can only be understood by having recourse to this science of the symbolic form of the letters of the Arabic alphabet when written in Arabic script. ʿAlī is reported to have said: "The whole of the Quran is contained in _al-Fāti ḥah_ ("The Opening"). The whole of _al-Fāti ḥah_ is contained in _Bi'smi'Llāh al-Ra ḥmān al-Raḥīm_ ("In the Name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful") [this formula in Arabic begins with the letter _bā ʾ_]. The whole of the _Bi'smi'Llāh_ is contained in the letter _bā ʾ_. The whole of the letter _bā ʾ_ is contained in the dot ( _nuq ṭah_) underneath the _bā ʾ_. And I am that dot." ʿAlī was alluding here to his inner state of "supreme identity" or "supreme union," to the full realization of unity ( _al-taw ḥīd_). This account illustrates the significance of the science of symbolism of the forms of the alphabet used in Quranic Arabic, a science that needs to be mentioned, even if it has not been considered in the commentary because of the audience for which this study is meant.

Turning to the formal structure of the Quran, it bears repetition that it is constituted of 114 _sūrah_ s, which some translate as "chapters," starting with _al-Fāti ḥah,_ "The Opening," which consists of seven verses ( _āyāt_ ), followed by _al-Baqarah_ ("The Cow"), which is the longest _sūrah_ of the Quran. Then the _sūrah_ s as a general rule gradually become shorter as one proceeds through the text, although there are exceptions. The last part of the Quran contains the shortest _sūrah_ s, but the last _sūrah_ is not the shortest in number of verses or words. It is important to note, for those not familiar with the Quran, that the _sūrah_ s are not ordered chronologically according to when they were revealed. Often parts of a _sūrah_ were revealed, followed by parts or the whole of another _sūrah,_ and then certain verses belonging to the earlier revealed _sūrah_ descended. The order of the _sūrah_ s itself is considered a matter of revelation, as the Prophet himself specified the location of verses in _sūrah_ s and the order of _sūrah_ s in relation to one another as they were revealed to him.

Each _sūrah_ has a name, and in some cases more than one. Muslims believe that some of these names were also revealed to the Prophet along with the command concerning which verses belonged to which _sūrah_ s, no matter when they were revealed, and the order of the verses within the _sūrah_ s. During the twenty-three-year prophetic career of the Prophet, when the whole of the Quran was revealed, many memorized it, and it was also written down on parchment, shoulder bones of camels, sheepskin, and other surfaces. According to tradition, Zayd ibn Thābit compiled it, and this text was given to the first Caliph, Abū Bakr, after which it was left with the second Caliph, ʿUmar, and upon his death it was placed in the custody of his daughter Ḥafṣah, one of the widows of the Prophet. After consultation with those who knew the Sacred Text by heart, a second collection was ordered by ʿUthmān, the third Caliph, again under the direction of Zayd ibn Thābit. This text, which is known as the ʿUthmānic codex, came to constitute what ʿUthmān had scribes copy; copies were then sent to the four major cities of the Islamic world of that time, Makkah, Kufa, Basra, and Damascus, and ʿUthmān kept one copy for himself. These five texts then became the basis of the written Quran that we have today.

There was some discussion among the Companions concerning the numbering of some of the verses, and traditionally several schools of _i ḥṣāʾ,_ the Quranic science dealing with the enumeration of the verses, have been recognized. With regard to the recitation of the Quran, there are also variants in the declensions and different traditionally transmitted styles of psalmody. Some morphological variations are traditionally seen as something that testifies to the very polyvalence of the Quranic text. The structure of the Quran is for all practical purposes one and immutable. It has undergone no changes over the ages, and Sunnis, Shiites, and Kharijites all accept the same text as the final revelation of God to humanity.

Shiites and some Sunnis believe that ʿAlī ibn Abī Ṭālib also wrote down the Quran and therefore that there was a second original written copy of it; we know that ʿUthmān also had Zayd ibn Thābit consult with ʿAlī in assembling the definitive text of the Sacred Book. It is also reported in Sunni sources that other Companions, chief among them ʿAbd Allāh ibn Masʿūd, Ubayy ibn Kaʿb, and Salīm, had also collected copies of the Quran before the ʿUthmānic codex was established. Polemical accounts in some apocryphal sources state that the Quran written down by ʿAlī possessed certain _sūrah_ s that were deleted in the ʿUthmānic text, but this view is not accepted by mainstream Shiism or Sunnism, and the Quran used by Shiites today contains the same _sūrah_ s and _āyāt_ as the Quran found in the Sunni world except for a slight difference in the enumeration of a few verses. There is but a single Quran, with fewer variations of any kind than are found in any other sacred scripture.

In addition to being divided into _sūrah_ s and _āyāt,_ the Quran was also divided later into thirty parts ( _ajzā ʾ,_ sing. _juz ʾ_). Each _juz ʾ_ is also divided in two, creating sixty _a ḥzāb_ (sing. _ḥ izb_), which are themselves divided into halves and quarters to facilitate reading and memorization. In some parts of the Islamic world, one _ḥ izb_ will be read, either communally or privately, in the early morning prayer and another in the sunset prayer. The text is also divided into sevenths, known as _manāzil_ (sing. _manzil_ ), which allow devotees to complete the recitation of the entire text in one week. Sometimes the thirty _ajzā ʾ_ or the seven _manāzil_ are bound separately, so that one may carry only those volumes one wishes to read while on a journey. During the month of Ramadan, when the Quran was first revealed, it is customary for many devout Muslims to read the Quran more than at other times of the year; some read one _juz ʾ_ each day and thus complete the reading of the whole of the Quran during the thirty days of the holy month. When Ramadan is twenty-nine days, they usually recite the last two _ajzā ʾ_ on the last day or night of that month.

Recitation of the Quran is an essential part of Muslim piety. Many read the Sacred Book from beginning to end not only during Ramadan, but also during other periods of the year. However, most Muslims turn over and over again to certain of the _sūrah_ s with which they have particular affinity. In the same way that many pious Jews and Christians continue to read the Psalms, such _sūrah_ s as _Yā Sīn_ ("Yā Sīn," 36), _al-Ra ḥmān_ ("The Compassionate," 55), _al-Wāqi ʿah_ ("The Event," 56), _al-Mulk_ ("Sovereignty," 67), and many of the shorter _sūrah_ s at the end of the Quran are recited often and in many cases on a regular basis by numerous Muslims. Besides the recitation of the whole of the Quran, which terminates with a joyous celebration known as "sealing the Quran" ( _khatm al-Qur ʾān_), ordinary recitation usually involves reading and meditating on a small section at a time (a practice recommended for newcomers to the Noble Book as well).

Of course all practicing Muslims, Arab and non-Arab alike, recite certain parts of the Quran in their daily canonical prayers, a ritual recitation that must be in Arabic. But other than during prayers, the Quran is often also read by many Muslims in the language of non-Arab believers, whether they are from larger groups who speak Persian, Turkish, Urdu, Malay, Bengali, Swahili, English, French, or Spanish or from smaller groups who speak Yoruba, Fulani, Somali, Albanian, Bosnian, Gujrati, Tamil, or Malayalam. There is practically no language spoken by Muslims in which a translation of the Quran does not exist, and in many cases there are numerous translations. There are, however, a few exceptional cases that should be mentioned. Although the Berbers were among the first non-Arab people to embrace Islam fourteen centuries ago, because of special social and cultural circumstances, a Berber translation of the Quran has been made available only recently for the first time. And in China for twelve centuries Chinese Muslims did not want or allow a Chinese translation to be made of the Quran; such a translation appeared for the first time only in the nineteenth century. In any case when speaking of the recitation and reading of the Quran, it is important to recall the vast number of languages in which it is read and studied, but also the fact that no translation can take the place of the Arabic Quran in the ritual and liturgical life of all Muslims, whatever their mother tongue might be.

The recitation of the Quran in Arabic is based on certain rules, and there are both an art and a science connected with it. It can be read by individual Muslims silently or recited aloud, but not excessively loud. Moreover, the recitation should not be too fast or too slow. There is an art to the recitation of the Quran that must be mastered, and Quranic psalmody, when performed according to traditional norms, is considered the highest sonoral art in Islam, at the peak of the hierarchy of Islamic arts. It is, along with Quranic calligraphy and sacred architecture, the latter of which creates spaces in which the sound of the Quran reverberates, Islamic sacred art par excellence.

Outside of the daily prayers, the experience of the recitation of the Quran for most Muslims is passive rather than active; that is, most listen to the recitation rather than recite themselves. That is why those who are professional reciters of the Quran, or _qurrā ʾ_ (sing. _qārī ʾ_), play such an important role in Islamic society. There is no part of the Islamic world in which _qurrā ʾ_ are not present, and most Muslims experience the Quran through their voices. This art is so important that, in order to encourage it, international contests are held annually in many parts of the Islamic world, contests in which both male and female _qurrā ʾ_ participate. And although the Arab country of Egypt has been blessed over the ages with so many remarkable _qurrā ʾ,_ some of whom are known throughout the Islamic world, sometimes non-Arab _qurrā ʾ_ win those international contests. Some non-Arab countries such as Indonesia and Malaysia produce a greater number of female _qurrā ʾ_ than Arab nations.

Many who do not even know the full meaning of the Arabic are trained in the art of recitation. Most Muslims thus experience the Quran as the oral revelation that it in fact is and as it was experienced by many of the Companions who first heard it from the mouth of the Prophet. Many _qurrā ʾ_ know the Quran by heart and recite from memory. Those who have memorized the entire Sacred Text hold the title of _ḥ āfiẓ,_ or memorizer of the Quran. The poet whom many, including myself, consider to be the greatest poet of the Persian language, that is, Shams al-Dīn Ḥāfiẓ (d. 793/1391), bore this name because he was a _ḥ āfiẓ_ of the Quran. A _ḥ āfiẓ_ can usually be found in a village in the forest of Sumatra or in the desert of the Sahara, not only in Makkah and other major Islamic cities such as Cairo, Isfahan, and Istanbul. Wherever _ḥ uffāẓ_ (pl. of _ḥ āfiẓ_) are, they recite the Quran in beautiful psalmody and thus transmit the grace, or _barakah,_ of the sound of the Sacred Text to those around them. The ubiquitous presence of _ḥ uffāẓ_ is considered one of the miracles of the Quran, because in a mysterious way it facilitates memorization even by those whose mother tongue is not Arabic. In this vein, the Quran says of itself: _Indeed We have made the Quran easy to remember_ (54:17, 22, 32, 40). There is probably no sacred scripture in any religion that is memorized by so many people as is the Quran.

### The Role and Function of the Quran in Muslim Life

Much of what has already been said deals with the reality of the Quran in the life of Muslims, but it is necessary to portray the full range of its importance and its effect on the lives of believers. As the central theophany of the Islamic religion, everything related to the Quran, the verbatim revelation of the Divine Word, is sacred—from the ideas, injunctions, laws, and other aspects of its message; to the physical presence of the Sacred Text, which Muslims read and carry with them or keep in a place of honor in their homes; to the sound of its recitation, which accompanies them throughout their lives. The two testimonies ( _shahādatān_ ), one bearing witness to the Oneness of God and the other to the prophethood of the Prophet of Islam, both verses from the Quran, are the first words uttered into the ears of a newborn child and in most cases the last words uttered by a Muslim in the last moments of consciousness before death. Between these two moments marking the alpha and omega of earthly human existence, the life of the Muslim is replete with the presence of the Quran. The sound of its recitation is nearly always present in Islamic cities, towns, and even villages, and in an inner manner it determines the qualitative experience of the space in which traditional Muslims live.

Every positive act, from starting a meal, to leaving the house for work, to welcoming a guest to one's house, to starting a letter, a book, or any other task legitimate in the Eyes of God, begins with the formula of consecration (the _basmalah_ ), that is, "In the Name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful," with which the Quran itself begins; and these events usually end with another Quranic phrase, _al- ḥamdu li'Llāh,_ that is, "Praise be to God." What has already taken place is mentioned using another Quranic phrase, _mā shā ʾa'Llāh,_ "As God has willed," to reassure the believers that nothing has taken place without His Will; and events that one hopes to occur in the future are referred to with _in shā ʾa'Llāh,_ another verse drawn from the Quran meaning, "If God wills," thus confirming that the future also belongs to God and all events in it are determined by the Divine Will. The Quran is recited on occasions of both joy and sorrow, at weddings and at funerals, in individual circumstances as well as in communal events. It is recited often by individuals during private moments when they are alone with their Creator as well as at the opening of conferences or parliaments, the investiture of political authorities, or even sports events.

It can be said that the substance of the soul of a Muslim, whether male or female, is like a mosaic made up of the imprint of verses of the Quran upon that human substance. Not only are the laws by which Muslims live, the ethical norms that are to be followed in life, the root of all authentic knowledge, and the principle and spirit of all forms of art that can be called truly Islamic based on the Quran, but the Quran is present in the soul and mind of believers during every moment of life, whether one is engaged in lovemaking, fighting a battle in the middle of war, or busy in economic activity. No matter how much one writes about the role of the Quran in Muslim life, it is impossible to exhaust the subject, for the Quran affects every aspect of a Muslim's existence, from the body, to the psyche and the inner faculties, to the mind, the intellect, and spirit.

The Quran, complemented by the Prophetic wont ( _Sunnah_ ), even affects in a subtle manner all aspects of comportment ( _adab_ ), which includes not only thoughts, speech, and actions, but also bodily postures and physical faculties—how traditional Muslims carry themselves while walking or talking, entering the mosque, sitting in an assembly, or greeting others. The Quran also transforms the inner faculties, especially the memory, and affects even the dreams of believers.

As far as memory is concerned, there is no practicing Muslim who does not know some of the Quran by heart. The Quran itself strengthens the memory, and traditional Islamic pedagogy places a great deal of emphasis upon memorization. The traditional education system begins with Quranic schools for the very young, where their memory becomes imprinted with Quranic verses that will serve them the whole of their lives. Later, whether students continue on to higher education or enter the workforce, their memory remains a treasury of Quranic verses from which they continue to draw guidance, protection, and sustenance. Needless to say, this is also true for all those Muslims who have gone on to produce intellectual or artistic works on the highest level. When Ibn Sīnā (d. 428/1037), the greatest Muslim philosopher-scientist, was writing his _al-Qānūn fi'l- ṭibb_ ( _The Canon of Medicine_ ), which is the single most influential medical work in the history of medicine, his memory was as much filled with Quranic verses, which affected his whole attitude toward knowledge and science, as when he was writing his own Quranic commentaries.

The most outstanding Muslim spiritual poets, such as Ḥallāj, Ibn al-Fāriḍ, Ibn ʿArabī, ʿAṭṭār, Rūmī, and Ḥāfiẓ, did not compose their great poetic masterpieces by forcing themselves to focus on the verses of the Quran. The Quran was already present in their memory and had transformed their souls, so that during the artistic process of creating their beautiful poetry the Quran was already functioning as the central reality of their creative power. Those familiar with the history of German literature know that Goethe and Rückert were influenced by the Quran. They can surmise how much greater this influence must have been in the literatures of the Islamic peoples themselves.

The same can be said for the Islamic arts and sciences in general. In the field of the arts that affect directly everyday life, the Quran both provided the spirit, the principles, and in many ways the forms of these arts and determined the direction that these arts would take. It is the Quran that made calligraphy, architecture, and Quranic psalmody the central sacred arts of Islam, and it is also the teachings of the Quran that prevented the development in Islam of iconic sacred art, which is so central to Christianity, Hinduism, and Buddhism. It is the Quran that led to the development of the aniconic sacred art of Islam.

In everyday Muslim life, one practical aspect of the Quran is its role in the protection of Muslims. It is said in the Quran that God is its protector, and in turn His Word provides protection for believers. Its message, if heeded, protects Muslim men and women from sin and error, while its physical presence is considered protection from various external dangers. That is why many Muslims carry the Quran or some of its verses on their bodies, why they pass under it when embarking upon a journey, and why in days of old even the armor worn by soldiers in battle was inscribed with Quranic verses. That is also why the Quran is not only recited, but also physically placed near the head of a dying person as protection for the journey to the afterlife.

Muslims also turn to the Quran for its therapeutic effect upon illnesses of both body and soul. There is a whole traditional science dealing with the therapeutic power of certain Quranic verses, and countless anecdotal accounts in all Islamic societies maintain the miraculous efficacy of these verses. This aspect of the Quran is also the source of such practices in folk medicine as immersing particular verses of the Quran in water and then drinking it.

Finally, the Quran also plays a role in helping decide future actions. The traditional Quranic art called _al-istikhārah,_ which some have translated as "bibliomancy," though this only captures one dimension of the practice, involves performing voluntary supererogatory prayers and then consulting the Quran for guidance or asking God for other forms of guidance, usually by means of a dream. On important occasions where human intelligence and revealed religious injunctions are not sufficient criteria for deciding to perform or not perform a particular action of consequence, believers often have recourse to _istikhārah,_ sometimes carried out by those who possess a gift for this art and other times by themselves. Many people, when they want to marry, first make an _istikhārah_ before making their final decision. The same holds true for those who are not certain of, for example, migrating to another place, choosing a particular physician in case of serious illness, changing jobs, or deciding on a course of study and lifelong profession. Some believers overdo this practice by using an _istikhārah_ to determine whether they should eat a particular dish for lunch, but this is a distortion of the function of _istikhārah_ and is discouraged by most religious authorities. According to a famous dictum, there is no need for _istikhārah_ when there is clear _istishārah,_ that is, indication based on religious injunctions and/or God-given intelligence.

The Quran, then, is the foundation of Muslim life and of Islamic civilization in all its aspects. It is a sacred reality that accompanies Muslims throughout their lives. It is at once the means of discernment between truth and error, the criterion of judgment of their actions, and their protector and source of grace and comfort. It is both their judge and their friend; it inculcates in the soul both the love and fear of God. For believers the Quran is not an inanimate book, but the living Word of God. Its verses, words, and even letters are living beings that speak to believers and also mysteriously "hear" them. The Sacred Text is the Muslim's constant companion from the beginning to the end of life and even beyond earthly life on the journey to that Reality from which the Quran descended.

### _The Study Quran_

The history of the composition of _The Study Quran_ began some nine years ago when the publisher HarperSanFrancisco (now HarperOne) approached me and asked me to become the chief editor for a volume that would be called _The Study Quran_ and complement _The HarperCollins Study Bible,_ which this firm had already published. I was humbled by the enormity of the task and first balked at accepting such a monumental undertaking. But after much soul searching and prayer, I came to the conclusion that this was a responsibility that God was putting on my shoulders, one I could not refuse, especially when I discovered that the project might not be realized if I did not agree.

I therefore accepted with humility on the condition that this would be a _Muslim_ effort and that, although the book would be contemporary in language and based on the highest level of scholarship, it would _not_ be determined or guided by assertions presented in studies by non-Muslim Western scholars and orientalists who have studied the Quran profusely as a historical, linguistic, or sociological document, or even a text of religious significance, but do not accept it as the Word of God and an authentic revelation. Rather, it would be grounded in the classic Islamic tradition in order to provide readers access to the many ways in which the Quran has been understood and explained by Muslims for over fourteen centuries. I also set the condition that I would have complete freedom in choosing the editors and other collaborators. All my conditions were accepted, and so the project began.

For the reasons mentioned above, I chose only Muslim scholars to collaborate with me in this task. At the same time, I did not want the work to be confined or limited confessionally, ethnically, or geographically. It was to be universal and at the same time traditional, that is, expressing traditional Islamic views and therefore excluding modernistic or fundamentalist interpretations that have appeared in parts of the Islamic world during the past two centuries. I set out to produce a text that reflects how Muslims have understood the Quran during their long history and how those Muslims who remain traditional, which means most of them, do so today.

To this end I chose three editors, all American, all with doctorates in Islamic studies from leading American universities, and all with direct experience of the Islamic world, familiarity with the traditional Islamic sciences, and mastery of classical Arabic. To preserve diversity, I chose two men and one woman, two of whom, Joseph Lumbard and Maria Dakake, are American Muslims of Christian background, and one of whom, Caner Dagli, was born, in America, into a Muslim family of Circassian origin. Later in the project, after the translation had been made and the essays edited, I added an assistant editor, Mohammed Rustom, who was born as a Muslim into a Canadian family of South Asian origin and who has a doctorate in Islamic studies from a major Canadian university.

Since this collaborative effort also required the preservation of the unity of the work, I chose these four from among those who had studied with me in one way or another in years past. There exists, therefore, a unity of intellectual vision, spiritual perspective, and scholarly attitude between us that has made it possible to produce a unified work. This unity in the translation and commentary has come about not because of my coercion, but because of the presence of a common vision among us. We have consulted each other at every turn, and in cases of scholarly disagreement between the editors, I have been the final judge and arbiter. But in fact it is remarkable how harmonious our collaboration has been, which might be surprising to some in this age of individualism.

Even so, it is appropriate to say a few words about the division of responsibility. Each editor had primary responsibility for the translation, research, and composition of commentary for different sections of the Quran. When the first draft of a section of translation or commentary was completed, each editor would consult with the others, who would make comments and suggestions. Then it would come to me, and I would make my final additions and edits. The primary contribution for the translation is as follows, by _sūrah:_ Caner Dagli: 2–3, 8–9, 22–28; Maria Dakake: 4–7, 10–12, 14–21; Joseph Lumbard: 1, 13, 29–114. The primary authorship of the commentary, which also includes a great degree of collaboration among all of the editors, is as follows, by _sūrah:_ Caner Dagli: 2–3, 8–9, 21–28; Maria Dakake: 4–7, 16–19; Joseph Lumbard: 1, 29–114; Mohammed Rustom: 10–15, 20.

As for the essays, I drew up the list of the subjects to be treated in consultation with the editors, and then I chose the authors for the essays, again in consultation with them. In making these choices, I wanted to be as global and universal as possible within the framework of traditional Islamic scholarship. I therefore chose scholars from different schools of Islamic thought and different schools of Islamic Law, Muslims who hailed from diverse parts of the Islamic world as well as those living in the West. Some of these writers are world-famous Muslim authorities; others, young gifted scholars just beginning to make their mark. They include all the way from the grand Shaykh of the most important seat of Sunni learning, al-Azhar University, and one of the leading Shiite ayatollahs of Iran to young professors at Western universities. I took the final responsibility for editing the essays, going over translations when it was called for, and translating into English one of the essays that was written originally in Persian.

#### _Translation_

The translation of the Quran into a Western language has a nearly thousand-year history going back to its translation into Latin ordered by Peter the Venerable in the eleventh century. The earliest translation in English appeared in the seventeenth century. Since then numerous translations have appeared in English as well as in other European languages, and in fact the number of translations in English has increased almost exponentially in recent decades. Most of the earlier translations were made by non-Muslims, many in order to refute Islam. In more recent decades, however, many translations have been made by Muslims themselves. Among these many translations, some are more accurate than others, some more eloquent and poetic, but there has never been nor can there ever be a single "official" or perfect translation of the Quran, even one approved by Muslim authorities, such as the religious authorities ( _ʿ ulamāʾ_) of al-Azhar University.

In our translation we have often consulted some of the best-known English translations such as those of Yusuf Ali, Muhammad Marmaduke Pickthall, Muhammad Asad, A. J. Arberry, ʿAlī Qūlī Qarāʾī, and Muhammad Abdel Haleem, but our rendition is based on the Arabic text itself and not on any previous translation. Furthermore, we have sought to be extremely vigilant in translating the Quranic Arabic itself and not later interpretations of the Arabic. And the fact that ours was a collaborative effort by several scholars has helped us to eschew the personal predilections that can often influence the translation process.

Our aim in the translation has been, first of all, to be as accurate and consistent as we could within the possibilities of the English language and with full consideration of the different "fields of meaning" that many words, both Arabic and English, possess, fields that often overlap only partially, and are not completely equivalent. In fact, a huge effort and many countless hours have been expended to ensure that the translation is internally consistent in matters of both style and content. This effort included the creation of hundreds of secondary indexing documents and an enormous spreadsheet to track the use of individual words, phrases, and roots appearing in the translation. Considering the nature of the sacred language of the Quran, we have sought to make use of the full possibilities of the English language without the pretext of wanting to be so up-to-date in word usage that our rendition would soon become out-of-date.

We have also sought to be as eloquent as possible, in an effort to reflect something of the inimitable eloquence of Quranic Arabic, which Muslims consider a miracle that no human being can ever duplicate. We have sought to produce the best translation possible, and only God knows to what extent we have succeeded.

Since we had the opportunity to explain in the commentary unfamiliar idioms or turns of phrase in the Quranic text as well as to expand upon the broader ranges of meaning that are alluded to in its verses, we could provide more literal translations in many instances. Moreover, literal translation of certain Quranic verses or phrases is often necessary to make sense of the traditional commentaries on these verses, many of which offer substantial spiritual interpretations based upon philological or grammatical analyses of the verses. A literal style of translation is also especially important when trying to represent adequately the complex intertextuality that is a hallmark of the Quranic style.

#### _Commentary_

Numerous commentaries have been written on the Quran over the ages not only in Arabic, but also in many other languages. Among the traditional commentaries some have been primarily grammatical and linguistic, and some historical, mostly in the sense of sacred history. Others have been legal, theological, philosophical, cosmological, scientific, metaphysical, esoteric, or mystical, and some several of these at once. In a sense the whole of the Islamic intellectual tradition is a commentary upon the Quran. Moreover, the _sīrah_ literature (works dealing with the life of the Prophet), his _Sunnah_ (or wont), and the _Ḥ adīth_ (traditions) are the first commentaries upon the Quran. Even the great works of Islamic architecture from the Dome of the Rock to the Taj Mahal may be said to be commentaries upon the Quran in stone. And lest one forget, the greatest mystical poem produced in Islamic civilization, the _Mathnawī_ of Jalāl al-Dīn al-Rūmī, has been called "the Quran in the Pahlavi [i.e., Persian] language."

We have benefitted in the composition of our commentary from all these sources as well as of course from works known specifically as _tafsīr,_ or commentary, upon many of which we have based our commentary without attempting to be exhaustive. We selected the most authoritative and widely read and accepted traditional commentaries as well as specialized commentaries that offered important information not always available in those commentaries that are more widely read; all of these are listed in the "Commentator Key." When necessary we also drew from the _sīrah_ literature and from Sunni and Shiite _Ḥ adīth_ literature.

As far as our own commentary is concerned, it is not meant to be nor can it be exhaustive in a work confined to a single volume. After all, there are well-known commentaries in Arabic, Persian, and other Islamic languages that extend to numerous hefty tomes, some running to twenty or thirty volumes, and even they are not exhaustive. Our commentary is meant to take readers beyond the literal meaning of the text when necessary, to clarify difficult passages, to reveal the inner meanings of verses when called for, and to provide a reasonable account of the diversity of views and interpretations in matters of law, theology, spirituality, and sacred history put forth by various traditional Islamic authorities. Our hope is that this exposition will enable readers to interact on various levels with the Quran and remove the erroneous view, held in some non-Muslim quarters, that because Muslims consider the Quran to be the Word of God, they do not think about it or interact intellectually with it, whereas the Quran itself invites its readers to meditate upon and think about its teachings.

Our commentary, while based on the traditional commentaries, is not simply a collage of selections drawn from these books, but a new work. Our text has required making choices about both inclusion and exclusion of earlier texts in addition to providing in some places our own commentary, which is not found, at least in the same way, in the earlier sources.

Ours is therefore a new commentary that is nonetheless based completely on traditional Islamic thought and the earlier commentary traditions. We, and not earlier commentators, are therefore fully responsible for its content, which nevertheless contains numerous citations from the earlier traditional commentaries that we have consulted. These citations are not exhaustive; rather, they provide references for those who wish to pursue these citations further. In all instances we have sought to make the source and origin of our commentary transparent and to make clear when it is we who are expressing our voice. Traditional commentators have often given multiple conflicting opinions regarding particular verses. It should therefore be noted that when a particular traditional commentary conveys an interpretation, this does not mean that the commentator subscribed to that particular interpretation, only that this interpretation was mentioned in the commentary on that verse. For guidance regarding our citation methodology, see "Understanding the Citations in the Commentary."

The sheer size of the commentary literature has forced us to exclude some materials that might be of interest to certain readers concerned with some particular issue. Moreover, we have tended to omit from the commentary purely conjectural and fanciful interpretations or legendary and folkloric accounts, particularly if they are not widely attested in the traditional sources or offer little in the way of a meaningful interpretation. In cases where such material has been included, we have tried to be clear about our assessment of its questionable origin or authority and the extent to which it is consistent or inconsistent with other passages of the Quran or with ideas found in the _Ḥ adīth_.

Although we have relied heavily upon traditional sources, which are the mainstay of our translation and commentary, we have also consulted reliable sources based on both previous and recent academic scholarship in Quranic studies. We have, moreover, carried out this task with constant awareness of the biases and fashions present in both historical and contemporary writings about the Quran. We have been fully aware that many of these resources suffer, from the Islamic point of view, from the fact that they do not accept the Quran as revelation, they have a truncated view of the Islamic intellectual tradition, or they reject the Islamic worldview as a whole. In some extreme cases, such sources are based on either thinly veiled or sometimes outright hostility toward Islam and are often grounded in very questionable theories and published for the sake of worldly ends, such as gaining fame or furthering academic careers.

Coming back to traditional commentaries, it is important to mention for those not familiar with them that technically _tafsīr_ refers to a commentary on a part or the whole text of the Quran organized according to the order of the Quranic verses and written to clarify and bring out its range of meaning and implications. As already mentioned, in a sense all works on law, theology, metaphysics, cosmology, the sciences, spirituality, esoterism, mysticism, and other forms of knowledge developed in the Islamic intellectual tradition are also commentaries upon the Quran, but are not, strictly speaking, included according to the Islamic division of the sciences in the _tafsīr_ category. In our commentary we have made use primarily of _tafsīr_ s, but also when necessary works from the second category.

The traditional commentators were usually men of great erudition, with profound knowledge not only of the Quran, but also of the different Islamic religious and intellectual disciplines. Their works therefore usually provide a vivid picture of the lively Islamic intellectual scene of their time. They often cite opposing opinions and views concerning various theological, ethical, or legal issues, but treat their opponents with confidence in their own position and usually with the courtesy and respect that is characteristic of disputations in the Islamic intellectual tradition as a whole. One needs only to thumb through the _tafsīr_ of al-Rāzī or of al-Qurṭubī to see the lively intellectual ambience in which they flourished and the courteous tone of their disputations. Even a cursory study of these _tafsīr_ s should dispel the notion that Muslims had or have a rigid and indiscriminate understanding of the text of the Quran. To the extent possible, we have sought to preserve these characteristics in our commentary.

#### _Essays_

Since this work is meant to be an aid in the study of the Quran, we have included a large number of essays at the suggestion of the publisher to deal separately with various major themes contained in the Quran. Because of the space allotted to us, again we could not be exhaustive. During Islamic history thousands upon thousands of works have been written on aspects of the Quran by Muslim scholars, from the language, grammar, and recitation of the Sacred Text to its metaphysical meaning, from the history of the compilation of the Quranic text to the sacred history contained in it, from Quranic legal injunctions to the most esoteric meaning of some of its verses. Traditional Quranic studies include numerous Quranic sciences, not all of which we have been able to include as separate subjects in the essays.

We therefore had to select what we consider the most central issues for the contemporary audience. As already mentioned, the choice of the topics for the essays has been primarily mine, just as the choice of content has been up to the individual essay authors, but I always made the topic choices in consultation with the other editors; and of course other determining factors included the availability of scholars and their willingness to collaborate with us on this project. In any case, utmost care has been taken in the choice of both the topics of the essays and their authors. The essays are in a sense a separate book within this book and can be read either as a supplement to our translation and commentary or as an independent work on Quranic studies written by some of the most competent Muslim scholars of today.

#### _Audience_

The commentary we have provided has been composed with the aim of creating a work that is accessible to the general English-reading public, whether Muslim or non-Muslim, and that can also be of use to scholars and serious students of the Quran, again Muslim or otherwise. No previous knowledge of Arabic or the technical vocabulary of the Quran is necessary in order to understand our commentary, although we have included transliterations of Arabic terms whenever we deemed them valuable for those who have some knowledge of Arabic.

_The Study Quran_ is meant to be a resource both for those who wish to study the Quran in its entirety and for those who are interested in a particular subject or topic. We have provided indexes and internal citations and designed the work with red _sūrah_ and verse numberings in the header, the translation, and the commentary in order to facilitate easy navigation and enable readers to reference quickly what they are seeking. Reading the translation does not require reading the accompanying commentary or the essays. The essays, as already mentioned, constitute a supplementary and independent section.

#### _How to Read_ The Study Quran

As noted above, for Muslims the Quran is the Word of God; it is sacred scripture, not a work of "literature," a manual of law, or a text of theology, philosophy, or history, although it is of incomparable literary quality, contains many injunctions about Sacred Law, is replete with verses of metaphysical, theological, and philosophical significance, and contains many accounts of sacred history. The unique structure of the Quran and the flow of its content constitute a particular challenge to most modern readers. For traditional Muslims the Quran is not a typical "read" or a manual to be studied. For most of them, the most fruitful way of interacting with the Quran is not to sit down and read the Sacred Text from cover to cover (although there are exceptions, such as completing the whole text during Ramadan). It is, rather, to recite a section with full awareness of it as the Word of God and to meditate upon it as one whose soul is being directly addressed, as the Prophet's soul was addressed during its revelation. Newcomers to Islam's Sacred Scripture may, however, wish to read the whole text at least once initially, but then subsequent study should take the form of returning to sections of it in the manner just mentioned.

In this context it must be remembered that the Quran itself speaks constantly of the Origin and the Return, of all things coming from God and returning to Him, who Himself has no origin or end. As the Word of God, the Quran also seems to have no beginning and no end. Certain turns of phrase and teachings about the Divine Reality, the human condition, the life of this world, and the Hereafter are often repeated, but they are not mere repetitions. Rather, each iteration of a particular word, phrase, or verse opens the door of a hidden passage to other parts of the Quran. Each coda is always a prelude to an as yet undiscovered truth. These characteristics of the Sacred Text must be remembered in reading _The Study Quran_ in order to draw greater benefit from the encounter with it.

As for the commentary, many Quranic passages are cited in it, because these citations play a major role in understanding the manner in which particular Quranic passages are related to and elucidate one another. These citations often include passages from other parts of the Quran whose very citation clarifies the meaning of a particular word, phrase, or verse under consideration. The use of this method is itself traditional, and many commentators over the ages have composed works based on commenting upon the Quran through the use of the Quranic text itself. In contrast to the Bible, which is more like a library than a book with a single voice, the Quran has a single voice, the Voice of God as spoken to a single prophet, and in a sense is itself a commentary upon itself. This characteristic of the Quran was evident to the traditional commentators, who usually had remarkable mastery of the whole text, but it is not known to most contemporary readers, and we have therefore found it necessary to bring it out in our commentary.

Technical Quranic terms can be found in the index with references to the Quranic text and the commentary passages where the terms in question are discussed. Often a turn of phrase or the relation between a family of concepts is best brought out by pointing to similar Quranic passages; we have therefore provided them in our commentary. Moreover, the multiple levels of meaning of Quranic passages are usually brought out by citing other passages. Although each word and even letter of the Quran is like a living being unto itself, on another level it can be said that each part exists in relation to other parts and together they function as a light that illuminates an object in such a way that we can see it from many different angles.

To try to provide a translation and commentary of the Quran in English authentically poses major challenges that readers of _The Study Quran_ need to be aware of. When one reads the King James Version of the Bible, one is not only reading an expression of the English language, but also a text that has itself been a major factor in the formation of modern English as far as symbols, metaphors, proverbs, turns of phrase, and certain styles are concerned, not to mention religious ideas and their formulations. This situation also holds true for such Islamic languages as Persian and Turkish, which themselves already contain many Quranic words, phrases, and ideas. Such of course is not as yet the case for English as far as the Quran is concerned. The composition of _The Study Quran_ in English therefore posed for us a much greater challenge than if we had produced this work in Persian or Turkish, into the fabric of whose language the Quran is already woven. One of the goals of _The Study Quran_ is to help close this gap and to take a step toward transforming English into "an Islamic language," of course not in an exclusive manner, but like Bengali, which is both a Hindu and an Islamic language. Readers of _The Study Quran_ should view the language that we have used in this light. It is meant to both reach the modern audience and convey the timeless nature of the text.

#### _Various Stylistic and Technical Points_

In dealing with the commentary tradition, it is not always easy to separate glosses that explain the language of the text from those that explain its meaning. This difference is not always clear in traditional _tafsīr_ s. In our commentary, therefore, we have endeavored to render the Arabic without importing a particular interpretation of its meaning into the text, that is, insisting that a word or phrase that is allusive in its meaning and full of different implications in Arabic be made explicit and unequivocal in English. As for alternative orthography and pronunciation of words in Arabic, they are discussed in the commentary in those cases where some significant differences of opinion or interpretation are at stake. The commonly accepted "readings" and "recitations" ( _qirā ʾah_) are thus not foregrounded in our commentary, although they inform it. They are, however, discussed in the essay "The Islamic View of the Quran."

Quranic Arabic does not use the punctuation marks that exist in English except for the one that corresponds to the period. In fact, it has been said quite rightly that the whole of a traditional book in classical Arabic is in a sense one long sentence. But the structure of the Arabic sentences implies what would correspond to commas, semicolons, colons, and so forth in English. In both our translation and commentary we have made full use of punctuation marks according to the rules of the English language, while seeking to be as faithful as possible to the flow of the original Arabic.

Also there is no capitalization in Arabic; again in this case we have remained faithful to the rules of English in capitalizing all proper names. Moreover, not only all the Names of God, but also all pronouns pertaining to Him as well as all His Qualities, Attributes, and direct Acts have been capitalized. In the latter case we have sought to distinguish between His direct and universal Attributes and Acts, which are always capitalized, and those that concern a delimited and particular manifestation of these Attributes and Acts in the created order. A particularly difficult case in this category is the word "sign," or _āyah,_ which strictly speaking should sometimes be capitalized and sometimes not. But to preserve consistency and avoid any confusion for readers we decided to lowercase "sign" in all instances.

#### _Design_

As the art of Quranic calligraphy and later illumination developed, texts of the Quran became often also works of art. In fact, some texts of the Quran, such as a number of Mamlūk, Īl-Khānid, Tīmūrid, and Maghribī Qurans, using different styles of calligraphy, are among the greatest works of sacred art created in any civilization and are recognized by experts as such. Of course because _The Study Quran_ is in English, it cannot in any way reflect this art in the whole text, but we have sought to incorporate as much of this art as possible in this book. The _basmalah_ was calligraphed especially for this book by the greatest living American master of Arabic calligraphy, Mohamed Zakariya. Our custom numbering medallions, created by Caner Dagli for this volume, have an eight-sided stylized flower design that is typical of many such medallions in traditional Quranic manuscripts and some printed versions and were designed to suit the Latin letters of the typeface carefully chosen for the English text.

The layout of the text itself, which was conceived and supervised by Caner Dagli, reflects to the extent possible traditional presentations of the Quran. In the oldest manuscripts the text is often a continuous block in which the verses are separated by a small above-line or online symbol, which is often something as simple as a triangle consisting of three dots. During later centuries these markers appeared in a great variety of forms, from a simple flower shape with petals to elaborate medallions, each of which was itself a work of art. There also developed the practice of writing the number of a verse beside the verse usually by creating a medallion with the number inside it, so that each verse became clearly delineated. Almost all Qurans printed today follow this practice, and so have we in _The Study Quran_. One important difference is that we have placed the verse number notation _before_ the corresponding verse, whereas in Arabic copies of the Quran the verse number appears at the end of the verse. All these features, combined with the two-color design, have been used both to provide a text where the _sūrah_ s and verses are clearly delineated and to re-create to the extent possible a work that reflects something of the artistic beauty of traditional Qurans.

### A Final Prayer

Usually the Quran that Muslims read in Arabic or other Islamic languages concludes with a prayer composed by a traditional authority, the calligrapher, or the commentator, the prayer usually possessing great literary quality. We wanted to continue this traditional practice to the extent of our ability, and therefore as the chief editor of this work I conclude the general introduction with a prayer offered by not only myself, but all the editors:

O Author of the book of existence and of the Divine Word that is the Quran, we thank Thee for having given us the opportunity to live day and night for all these years with Thy Word and to be transformed by this indescribable experience. Whatever we have been able to achieve is the result of Thy Succor, and for whatever imperfection exists in our work we take full responsibility, asking Thy Forgiveness before the Throne of Thy Mercy. Absolute Perfection belongs to Thee and to Thy revealed Word alone, and no translation or commentary on Thy Word by human beings can share in a Quality that is Thine alone. Nevertheless, we pray that our efforts be acceptable in Thy sight and that this work becomes a guide for those who wish to navigate upon the ocean of Thy Word, which, although in human language, opens inwardly unto the infinite expanses of Thy Reality. Thou art the First and the Last, the Outward and the Inward. Amen.

And God knows best

_wa'Llāh u aʿlamu bi'l-ṣawāb_

—Seyyed Hossein Nasr

Rajab 1436

April 2015

## APPROACHING _THE STUDY QURAN_

One may approach the translation and commentary in _The Study Quran_ in several different ways. Readers may:

1. Read the translation alone, in a linear fashion.

2. Read the translation in a linear fashion along with the commentary.

3. Read the translation along with the commentary, but allow the citations and cross-references in the commentary to take them to other parts of the Quran.

4. Use the index and key passages of commentary to search for specific subjects of interest.

One function of the commentary is to explain the text or to point readers to a different section of the commentary that addresses more fully the particular subject. Another function is to direct readers to similar or related passages in the Quran. Often an idea or theme can be better understood in light of the same or a related concept as it appears elsewhere in the Quran. Even in those cases where the index provides the necessary information, from within the translation readers will not necessarily know what to check in order to explore interconnections and relevant ideas. Moreover, simply pointing out that an idea or concept appears in several other places in the Quran is itself a valuable form of commentary.

One way of reading the translation and commentary is to follow it linearly: to read straight through the translation along with its corresponding commentary. But readers are also encouraged to follow the leads that are to be found in the commentary. The citations in one note about a related concept or verse will bring readers to another relevant passage, which will itself open out to other parts of the commentary, which will cite more verses in turn. By following these leads, readers will begin to get a sense of the inner architecture of the Quran, the internal resonances between ideas, and the shades of meaning of various concepts that come to light as readers see them in more than one passage.

### Navigating the Text

The numbers that appear in red at the far right and far left of the header correspond to the commentary, and designate the range of commentary that appears on two facing pages. This is so because the red verse number medallions are already prominent near the top of the page, and some pages contain only commentary and no translation.

## UNDERSTANDING THE CITATIONS IN THE COMMENTARY

### Passages from the Quran

When a passage from this translation of the Quran is quoted in the commentary, it appears in _italics_. For example, in the following sentence from the commentary on 3:18, the italicized words come from the translation of 3:18:

_Upholding justice_ is thought by most to refer to _God_ or _He,_ but grammatically it could refer to the _angels_ and _possessors of knowledge_ as well.

Longer Quranic quotations in the commentary are italicized as well. Alternate translations or variant readings appear in standard quotation marks. Thus, all italicized words in English in the commentary are words or passages from this translation. Transliterated Arabic words, such as _ḥ adīth_ and _tafsīr,_ also appear in italics.

Unless otherwise identified, all references in the form of two numbers separated by a colon denote Quranic passages. For example, 12:34 refers to the 34th verse (or _āyah_ ) of the 12th chapter (or _sūrah_ ) of the Quran. When verses within the same _sūrah_ are cited, the _sūrah_ number is omitted and only the verse number is given. For example, the commentary on _sūrah_ 2 would cite 2:45 as "v. 45." The numbering of the verses matches that of the standard Egyptian edition, which is found in other widely distributed editions such as the _Mu ṣḥaf al-Madīnah._ Other translations, such as those of Yusuf Ali and Muhammad Marmaduke Pickthall, number verses somewhat differently in a few cases. This difference exists because traditionally scholars, while agreeing on the text, have disagreed about where some verses end and others begin. The most famous example of this is in the _Fāti ḥah,_ the first _sūrah_ of the Quran. According to some scholars, its first verse is _In the Name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful,_ while others say it begins with _Praise be to God, the Lord of the worlds_.

### References to the Sayings of the Prophet

Rather than appearing in the commentary text, full citations for the sayings of the Prophet (sing. _ḥ adīth,_ pl. _a ḥādīth_) are located in Appendix A, in the sequence they appear in the commentary. Sayings of the Prophet are cited in the text using standard quotation marks.

### References to the Traditional Commentators on the Quran

Throughout the commentary, capital letters in parentheses follow immediately after various opinions or interpretations. These letters correspond to the commentators listed in the "Commentator Key," whose biographies are provided in Appendix C. For example, when one reads in the commentary on 12:34 the phrase, "Some interpret _x_ to mean _y_ (Ṭ)," this means that the opinion is to be found mentioned in al-Ṭabarī's commentary on 12:34. This does not mean that it is al-Ṭabarī's personal opinion, only that the argument or interpretation in question can be found discussed or recorded by al-Ṭabarī, whether he accepts or rejects it. By extension "(Q, R, Ṭ)" means that some interpretations can be found in multiple sources. These citations are not meant to be exhaustive; very often a given opinion will be found in dozens of commentaries, though only one is cited. We have generally preferred to mention those that are the most widely available and universally recognized.

At other times the individual opinions of these commentators are cited, as are those of other Islamic scholars such as al-Ghazzālī (d. 505/1111). For example, "According to al-Rāzī . . ." signifies the personal opinion of al-Rāzī, not only an opinion that he records in his commentary from his contemporaries or earlier sources. Opinions other than al-Rāzī's own but discussed by him would be cited using "(R)."

Full scholarly citations of all the interpretations and opinions in this commentary would have been impractical for a work of this kind. However, writing a commentary without any citations, although it would have saved space and smoothed the style, would have severed a crucial and fruitful connection to the tradition and left our commentary unmoored and ambiguous in its sourcing. Since the traditional commentaries are also histories of the intellectual activity of interpreting the Quran, and since they are arranged verse by verse in sequence like the present work, citing them in the commentary maintains transparency without weighing down the text with innumerable book titles and page numbers. All of the commentaries we cite exist in print and are also available from various dependable online resources, such as altafsir.org.

These citations serve several functions. First, they make clear which elements in the commentary come directly from the traditional commentaries and which parts constitute analysis and contributions by the editors. Second, they provide a research tool for further scholarly investigation. Third, since the traditional commentaries are slowly becoming available in English, these citations will allow English readers easier access to the traditional scholarship on the Quran.

### Commentary Cross-References

Cross-references in the commentary text use a lowercase _c_ appended to a verse number to indicate a cross-reference to another portion of the commentary. For example, "See also 24:35c" means "See also the commentary on 24:35." As with the citations of passages from the Quran, when the commentary from within the same _sūrah_ is cited, the _sūrah_ number is omitted. For example, from within the commentary on _sūrah_ 2, the commentary on 2:45 would be cited as "v. 45c."

## COMMENTATOR KEY

AF | Abu'l-Futūḥ Ḥusayn ibn ʿAlī al-Rāzī (d. 525/1131), _Raw ḥ al-jinān wa rūḥ al-janān_
---|---
Aj | Aḥmad ibn ʿAjībah (d. 1224/1809), _al-Ba ḥr al-madīd fī tafsīr al-Qurʾān al-majīd_
Āl | Shihāb al-Dīn al-Ālūsī (d. 1270/1854), _Rū ḥ al-maʿānī fī tafsīr al-Qurʾān al-ʿaẓīm wa'l-sabʿ al-mathānī_
Ās | Muḥammad al-Ṭāhir ibn ʿĀshūr (d. 1393/1973), _al-Ta ḥrīr wa'l-tanwīr_
Bḍ | ʿAbd Allāh ibn ʿUmar ibn Muḥammad al-Bayḍāwī (d. 685/1286), _Anwār al-tanzīl wa asrār al-ta ʾwīl_
Bg | Al-Ḥusayn ibn al-Farrāʾ al-Baghawī (d. 516/1122), _Ma ʿālim al-tanzīl_
Bq | Burhān al-Dīn Abu'l-Ḥasan Ibrāhīm al-Biqāʿī (d. 885/1480), _Na ẓm al-durar fī tanāsub al-āyāt wa'l-suwar_
IA | Qāḍī Abū Bakr Muḥammad ibn ʿAbd Allāh ibn al-ʿArabī (d. 543/1148), _A ḥkām al-Qurʾān_
IḤ | Ismāʿīl Ḥaqqī al-Burūsawī (d. 1137/1725), _Rū ḥ al-bayān_
IJ | Abu'l-Faraj ʿAbd al-Raḥmān ibn ʿAlī ibn al-Jawzī (d. 597/1201), _Zād al-masīr fī ʿilm al-tafsīr_
IK | ʿImād al-Dīn Abu'l-Fidāʾ Ismāʿīl ibn ʿUmar ibn Kathīr (d. 774/1373), _Tafsīr al-Qur ʾān al-ʿaẓīm_
Iṣ | Al-Rāghib al-Iṣfahānī (d. 502/1108), _Mufradāt alfā ẓ al-Qurʾān_
Iṭ | Abū Muḥammad ʿAbd al-Ḥaqq ibn ʿAṭiyyah al-Andalusī (d. 541/1147), _al-Mu ḥarrar al-wajīz fī tafsīr al-kitāb al-ʿazīz_
JJ | Jalāl al-Dīn al-Maḥallī (d. 864/1459) and Jalāl al-Dīn al-Suyūṭī (d. 911/1505), _Tafsīr al-Jalālayn_
K | ʿAbd al-Razzāq al-Kāshānī (d. 736/1336), _Ta ʾwīl al-Qurʾān al-karīm,_ known by many as _Tafsīr ibn ʿArabī_
Kā | Muḥammad Muḥsin al-Fayḍ al-Kāshānī (d. 1091/1680), _Tafsīr al- ṣāfī_
Kl | Muḥammad ibn Aḥmad ibn Juzayy al-Kalbī (d. 741/1340), _al-Tashīl li- ʿulūm al-tanzīl_
M | Abū Manṣūr Muḥammad ibn Muḥammad al-Māturīdī (d. 333/944), _Ta ʾwīlāt ahl al-sunnah_
Mṣ | ṣadr al-Dīn al-Shīrāzī (Mullā Ṣadrā; d. 1050/1640), _Tafsīr al-Qur ʾān al-karīm_
Mu | Muqātil ibn Sulaymān (d. 150/767), _Tafsīr Muqātil ibn Sulaymān_
Mw | ʿAlī ibn Muḥammad al-Māwardī (d. 450/1058), _al-Nukat wa'l- ʿuyūn fī tafsīr al-Qurʾān_
My | Rashīd al-Dīn al-Maybudī (d. ca. 520/1126), _Kashf al-asrār wa ʿuddat al-abrār_
N | ʿAbd Allāh ibn Aḥmad al-Nasafī (d. 710/1310), _Madārik al-tanzīl wa ḥaqāʾiq al-taʾwīl_
Ni | Niẓām al-Dīn Ḥasan al-Nīsābūrī (or al-Nayshābūrī; d. 728/1328), _Tafsīr gharā ʾib al-Qurʾān wa raghāʾib al-furqān_
Q | Abū ʿAbd Allāh Muḥammad ibn Aḥmad al-Qurṭubī (d. 671/1272), _al-Jāmi ʿ li-aḥkām al-Qurʾān_
Qm | ʿAlī ibn Ibrāhīm al-Qummī (d. 328/939), _Tafsīr al-Qur ʾān_
Qu | Abu'l-Qāsim al-Qushayrī (d. 465/1072), _La ṭāʾif al-ishārāt_
R | Fakhr al-Dīn al-Rāzī (d. 606/1210), _al-Tafsīr al-kabīr,_ also known as _Mafātī ḥ al-ghayb_
Rb | Rūzbihān al-Baqlī al-Shīrāzī (d. 606/1209), _ʿ Arāʾis al-bayān fī ḥaqāʾiq al-Qurʾān_
Sa | Naṣr ibn Muḥammad al-Samarqandī (d. 373/983), _Ba ḥr al-ʿulūm_
Sh | Muḥammad ibn ʿAlī al-Shawkānī (d. 1250–55/1834–39), _Fat ḥ al-qadīr_
ST | Sahl ibn ʿAbd Allāh al-Tustarī (d. 283/896), _Tafsīr al-Qur ʾān al-ʿaẓīm_
Su | ʿAbd al-Raḥmān al-Sulamī (d. 412/1021), _Ḥ aqāʾiq al-tafsīr_
Sy | Jalāl al-Dīn al-Suyūṭī (d. 911/1505), _al-Durr al-manthūr fī tafsīr al-ma ʾthūr_
Ṭ | Muḥammad ibn Jarīr al-Ṭabarī (d. 310/923), _Jāmi ʿ al-bayān ʿan taʾwīl āy al-Qurʾān_
Ṭb | Muḥammad Ḥusayn Ṭabāṭabāʾī (d. 1401/1981), _al-Mīzān fī tafsīr al-Qur ʾān_
Th | Aḥmad ibn Muḥammad al-Thaʿlabī (d. 427/1035), _al-Kashf wa'l-bayān ʿan tafsīr al-Qurʾān_
Ṭs | Abū ʿAlī al-Faḍl ibn al-Ḥasan al-Ṭabrisī (or al-Ṭabarsī; d. 548/1153–54), _Majma ʿ al-bayān fī tafsīr al-Qurʾān_
Ṭū | Muḥammad ibn Ḥasan al-Ṭūsī (d. 460/1067), _al-Tibyān fī tafsīr al-Qur ʾān_
W | Abu'l-Ḥasan ʿAlī ibn Aḥmad al-Wāḥidī (d. 468/1076), _Asbāb nuzūl al-Qur ʾān_
Z | Abu'l-Qāsim Maḥmūd ibn ʿUmar al-Zamakhsharī (d. 538/1144), _al-Kashshāf ʿan ghawāmiḍ ḥaqāʾiq al-tanzīl wa ʿuyūn al-aqāwīl fī wujūh al-taʾwīl_

## [THE
QURAN](nav.xhtml#rpt1)

## _Translation and Commentary_

##

## The Opening

## _al-Fāti ḥah_

_A l-Fātiḥah_ is considered by the vast majority of scholars to be among the first _sūrah_ s to have been revealed in Makkah. According to Mujāhid (d. 104/722–23), one of the leading scholars among the second generation of Muslims, this _sūrah_ was revealed in Madinah (W). Most scholars claim that this is impossible, however, as the Muslims would not have been able to perform their required prayers without it (Q, Ṭ, W). The primary meaning of _al-Fāti ḥah_ is "The Opening," which indicates the _sūrah_ 's function as "the opening of the Book" (Fātiḥat _al-kitāb_ ) and as the first _sūrah_ to be recited in each cycle (rakʿah) of all the canonical prayers as well as the manner in which it serves as an opening for many functions in everyday Islamic life. It can also be taken as a reference to this _sūrah_ 's ability to open one's breast to faith in God.

The Fātiḥah is often believed to be a synthesis of the Quran's message and to be its most important _sūrah_. Hence it has been given the title _Umm al-kitāb,_ "Mother of the Book," a term also applied to other aspects of the Quran (3:7) and to the celestial archetype of the Quran and in fact all sacred scripture (see 13:39; 43:4). It is also known as "The Mother of the Quran" (IK, Ṭ), a reference to its containing the meaning of the entire Quran (IK). Other titles are "The Seven Oft-Repeated" ( _al-_ Sabʿ _al-mathānī,_ 15:87); "The Cure" ( _al-_ Shifāʾ), because it is said to have healing powers for both body and soul; and "The Foundation" ( _al-Asās_ ), because it serves as a foundation for the whole of the Quran. Also known as _Sūrat al- Ḥamd,_ "The Chapter of Praise," and _Sūrat al- Ṣalāh,_ "The Chapter of the Prayer," the _Fāti ḥah_ is recited at the beginning of each cycle of prayer by all Sunnis and many Shiites. In Shiite law one is allowed to recite the _Fāti ḥah_ in the third and fourth cycles or to recite, "Glory be to God, and praise be to God. There is no god but God, and God is great." It is also recited by Muslims on occasions as diverse as a funeral, a wedding, the birth of a child, the inauguration of an official event, the signing of contracts, and the commencement of an individual endeavor, such as the beginning of a journey. In some lands, funeral services are referred to as _fāti ḥah,_ because they mark an opening from one life to another.

Many sayings of the Prophet Muhammad attribute an exalted status to the _Fāti ḥah_. In one, the Prophet told a man that he would teach him the greatest _sūrah;_ when asked what it was, the Prophet responded, "It is _Praise be to God, the Lord of the worlds,_ the _seven oft-repeated_ , _and the Mighty Quran_ [15:87] that I was given" (IK, W). A famous _ḥ adīth qudsī_—that is, a non-Quranic saying of God reported by the Prophet—states, "I have divided the prayer between Myself and My servant, and My servant shall have that for which he prays. When the servant says, ' _Praise be to God, Lord of the worlds,_ ' God says, 'My servant has praised Me.' When the servant says, ' _The Compassionate, the Merciful,_ ' God says, 'My servant has magnified Me.' When the servant says, ' _Master of the Day of Judgment,_ ' God says, 'My servant has glorified Me. . . . This is My portion and to him belongs what remains'" (Ṭ, Ṭs). Seen in this light, the _Fāti ḥah_ is more than the confessional prayer of Muslims. It is a prayer that encapsulates all the metaphysical and eschatological realities of which human beings must remain conscious; God asks human beings to recite it because it contains in principle the nature of God and the disposition God wishes them to have toward Him. The _Fāti ḥah_ thus has a threefold structure: the first three verses deal with the nature of God, the middle verse deals with the relationship between God and human beings, and the last three verses deal with the various states of human beings.

Many other reports from the Prophet and his Companions indicate the great power that Muslims associate with this _sūrah_. In one the Prophet says, "By Him in Whose Hand lies my soul, in neither the Torah, the Psalms, the Gospel, nor the Quran was the like of it revealed" (IK, Sh). According to another saying attributed by some to Mujāhid (Q) and by others to the Prophet himself (Sh), "Satan was frightened four times: when he was cursed by God; when he was expelled from the Garden; when Muhammad was sent [as a messenger]; and when the _Fāti ḥah_ was revealed."

The exalted status of the _Fāti ḥah_ has resulted in numerous independent commentaries upon it, some numbering hundreds of pages. Such commentaries, which could be said to constitute a subgenre of Quranic exegesis, often attempt to illustrate the manner in which the whole of the Quran is contained in this _sūrah_. According to a famous saying attributed to ʿAlī ibn Abī Ṭālib (d. 40/661), the Prophet's cousin and son-in-law, who became the first Imam of Shiite Islam (632–61) and the fourth Caliph of Sunni Islam (656–61), "The whole of the Quran is contained in the _Fāti ḥah,_ the whole of the _Fāti ḥah_ in the _basmalah_ ['In the Name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful'], the whole of the _basmalah_ in the _bā ʾ_ [the opening letter], and the whole of the bāʾ in the diacritical point under the _bā ʾ_." This point can be understood to represent the first drop of ink from the Divine Pen ( _al-qalam;_ see 68:1c; 96:4c) with which God wrote the archetypes of all things upon the _Preserved Tablet_ ( _al-law ḥ al-maḥfūẓ;_ see 85:22c) before their descent into the realm of creation. In this sense, just as the _basmalah_ marks the beginning of the Quran, so too does it mark the beginning of creation.

¡ In the Name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful. * Praise be to God, Lord of the worlds, + the Compassionate, the Merciful, J Master of the Day of Judgment. Z Thee we worship and from Thee we seek help. j Guide us upon the straight path, z the path of those whom Thou hast blessed, not of those who incur wrath, nor of those who are astray.

## Commentary

### ¡ In the Name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful.

1 All but one of the 114 _sūrah_ s of the Quran begin with _In the Name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful,_ known as the _basmalah_ in Arabic, which also appears in 27:30. There is a debate as to whether the _basmalah_ is a verse of each _sūrah_ or an indication of the beginning of a new _sūrah_. Whether or not it is considered a numbered verse, in most schools of Islamic Law, with the exception of the Shāfiʿī and Jaʿfarī schools, the _basmalah_ is not recited with any of the _sūrah_ s during the daily prayers. In this regard, Anas ibn Mālik (d. 91/709), a close Companion of the Prophet, is reported to have said, "I have prayed behind the Prophet, Abū Bakr, ʿUmar, and ʿUthmān [the first three Caliphs of Islam], and they each began their recitation with _Praise be to God, Lord of the worlds,_ without mentioning _In the Name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful_ " (IK, Q, Sh, Z). But in another tradition, Abū Hurayrah (d. 61/681), another of the Prophet's Companions, is reported to have recited the _basmalah_ while leading the prayer and to have then said, "Among you I perform the prayer that is closest to the prayer of the Messenger of God" (IK). Based upon a saying of Jaʿfar al-Ṣādiq (d. 148/765), the sixth Shiite Imam, who was also a pivotal intellectual figure in the Sunni tradition, which states that the _basmalah_ is "the greatest verse in the Book of God," Shiite scholars all maintain that the _basmalah_ is a verse of the _Fāti ḥah_ and of every other _sūrah_ that begins with it (Ṭb, Ṭs). Others say that it is a verse, though separate from the _sūrah_ s that begin with it (IK). In this regard, Ibn ʿAbbās (d. 68/687), a cousin of the Prophet who was among the most important scholars of the Quran in the first generation of Muslims, is reported to have said that the Prophet did not know the point at which to separate one _sūrah_ from the next until God revealed _In the Name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful_ (Sh).

The _basmalah,_ or its shortened form, _In the Name of God,_ is employed by pious Muslims to consecrate all licit actions, since from a Quranic perspective all things should be performed for the sake of God and in His Name. In this vein the Prophet said, "Any important matter not begun with the Name of God shall be cut off" (Ṭb). The preposition _in_ ( _bi_ ) could imply a verb at the beginning of the sentence, such as "I begin" or "I seek help" _in the Name of God_ (R, Ṭb), or a noun, such as "The beginning of the discussion is _in the Name of God_ " (R). Alternately, these same phrases could be seen as following the verse, for example, " _In the Name of God_ I begin" (R). _In the Name of God_ is also understood to mean, "I began _in the Name of God_ , so you too begin," as if God were saying, "I began through My Name, was united with My Name, and have commenced in My Name, so begin through My Name, unite with My Name, and commence in My Name" (My).

_God_ renders _Allāh,_ which according to some is a unique word with no root and according to others derives from the word _al-Ilāh,_ or "the Divine" (Ṭb). The Quranic usage of _Allāh_ indicates that it was already known to the pre-Islamic Arabs, as in 43:87, which says of the pagan Arabs, _Wert thou to ask them, "Who created you?" they would surely say, "God_ (Allāh) _"_ (cf. 29:61, 63; 31:25; 39:38). Nonetheless, the supreme sovereignty of _Allāh_ was not accepted by the vast majority of those who worshipped idols in a period referred to in the Quran as the _Age of Ignorance_ ( _jāhiliyyah;_ 3:154; 5:50; 33:33; 48:26). _Allāh_ is not only the most universal and all-embracing Name, but also the most specific of the Divine Names in that it cannot be used to describe any being other than God, whereas some other Divine Names may (al-Ghazzālī, _Divine Names_ ). Some refer to _Allāh_ as the All-Encompassing Name, which comprises all of the Names and Attributes of God (Bq); see 112:1c. The ordering of the three Divine Names in the _basmalah_ can be seen as an allusion to the levels of Divinity in relation to the created order: _God_ ( _Allāh_ ) refers to the Divine Essence, Principle, or Self; _the Compassionate_ ( _al-Ra ḥmān_) refers to the unity of God's Attributes; and _the Merciful_ ( _al-Ra ḥīm_) to the unity of God's acts (K).

***

* Praise be to God, Lord of the worlds,

2 _Praise_ translates _al- ḥamd,_ which indicates extolling the Praiseworthy ( _ma ḥmūd_) and giving thanks to Him for all of the favors He has bestowed in this world and for the reward that will be given in the next world. In this vein, the Prophet is reported to have said, "When you say, ' _Praise be to God, Lord of the worlds,_ ' you will have thanked God and He will increase your bounty" (Ṭ). But whereas thanks ( _shukr_ ) is given for what one has already received, praise is given for the qualities the One Who is praised possesses prior to having bestowed anything and is thus more universal (Q). _Praise_ ( _al- ḥamd_) is rendered in the definite rather than the indefinite to indicate that all forms of praise and all gratitude belong to God (Ṭ). It is said that God has praised Himself in this opening address so that human beings can praise God in the speech of God, since God knows that they cannot praise Him fully in their own words (Qu). Regarding the inability of human beings to praise God fully, the Prophet is reported to have addressed God, saying, "There is no way to enumerate the praise due to Thee; Thou art as Thou hast praised Thyself" (Qu).

Similar to the _basmalah, Praise be to God_ is a frequently repeated formula recited by Muslims on many occasions throughout their daily lives. But whereas the _basmalah_ is employed to consecrate a deed at its beginning, _Praise be to God_ is employed to thank God for an act or event upon its completion. According to traditional Islamic etiquette, whenever one is asked how one is feeling, the correct response should be _Praise be to God,_ no matter one's condition.

Reference is made to God as _Lord_ throughout the Quran and as _Lord of the worlds_ some forty-two times. _Lord_ renders _rabb,_ which refers to a master who is obeyed ( _sayyid_ ), to one who puts matters in their proper order, and to one who possesses something. In reference to God it thus means that He is the Master without peer, Who arranges the affairs of all His creatures and to Whom all of creation belongs (Ṭ). Some also relate _Lord_ ( _rabb_ ) to "cultivation" ( _tarbiyah_ ), since God is the Caretaker ( _murabbī_ ) of all things as well as the Trainer and Caretaker of our souls, hearts, and spirits (Qu).

_The worlds_ refers to various levels of cosmic existence and the communities of beings within each level. Some say it refers to four communities: human beings, jinn, angels, and satans (Q), while others say it refers only to human beings and jinn, since the Prophet is referred to as _a warner unto the worlds_ (25:1), and only jinn and human beings are in need of a warner (Q). It may also refer to the different generations of human beings, to all of the species in creation (Q, Ṭ), or to God's being the Sovereign over every level of creation from the earth through the seven heavens, as in those verses that refer to God as _Lord of the heavens and the earth_ (13:16; 17:102; 18:14; 19:65; 21:56; 26:24; 37:5; 38:66; 43:82; 44:7; 78:37). Thus some say that in the most universal sense _the worlds_ refers to all existent things other than God (IK, Q). In this vein, the commentator Fakhr al-Dīn al-Rāzī notes that there is infinite space beyond this world and that God can actualize all possibilities, even worlds and universes of which we have no knowledge. The verse thus refers to God being the Lord of all that can be seen or imagined and of all that cannot be seen or imagined by human beings. In this sense, the verse conveys that God is Lord of all "space," not only physical space, and therefore of all that exists, no matter what the nature of that existence may be. For this reason, _there is no thing, save that it hymns His praise_ (17:44).

***

+ the Compassionate, the Merciful,

3 This verse repeats the two Divine Names, _the Compassionate_ ( _al-Ra ḥmān_) and _the Merciful_ ( _al-Ra ḥīm_), that are recited in the _basmalah_ at the opening of each _sūrah,_ except for _Sūrah_ 9, "Repentance" ( _al-Tawbah_ ). Both Names are intensifications of the word _ra ḥmah,_ meaning "Mercy" or "Loving-Mercy." _Al-Ra ḥmān,_ which is also the title of _Sūrah_ 55, is considered to be more emphatic, embracing, and encompassing than _al-Ra ḥīm_ (IK, Qu, Ṭ). It is one of the Divine Names that cannot be applied to anything other than God, either literally or figuratively, since it connotes the Loving-Mercy by which God brings forth existence. _Al-Ra ḥīm_ indicates the blessing of nourishment ( _rizq_ ) by which God sustains each particular existent thing. Thus it may apply figuratively to creatures, and the adjective _ra ḥīm_ is in fact used to describe the Prophet in 9:128. As _al-Ra ḥmān_ is more encompassing, it is closer to the highest Name of God, _Allāh;_ 17:110 enjoins the Prophet to say, _Call upon God, or call upon the Compassionate. Whichever you call upon, to Him belong the Most Beautiful Names_. The relationship between them is thus presented as that of different levels or degrees of light: _al-Ra ḥmān_ is like the light of the sun that illuminates the whole sky, and _al-Ra ḥīm_ is like the particular ray of sunlight that touches a creature. In Islamic metaphysics and cosmology it is stated that it was by God breathing "the Breath of the Compassionate" ( _Nafas al-Ra ḥmān_) upon the immutable essences ( _al-a ʿyān al-thābitah_), which are the archetypes of all things in Divine Knowledge, that the world was brought into being. From this perspective, the very existence of the world is in essence nothing but the breath of Divine Compassion.

Together these two Names refer to two aspects of the Divine Mercy ( _ra ḥmah_): one essential and universal, the other attributive and particular. The first is that by which creation is brought forth, while the second is that by which God shows Mercy to those whom He will, as in 33:43: _And He is Merciful_ ( _ra ḥīm_) _unto the believers_. The essential and universal Mercy is that of _the Compassionate,_ which God bestows upon all things through their very existence and is the Divine aspect referred to in 20:5: _The Compassionate mounted the Throne;_ and 25:59: _Then mounted the Throne, the Compassionate [is He]._ The particular Mercy is that of _the Merciful,_ through which each creature that exists is sustained and which varies in mode according to the manner in which this Divine Name or Attribute has become manifest. It is evident that Divine Names of beauty, such as "the Kind" ( _al-La ṭīf_), "the Clement" ( _al- Ḥalīm_), and "the Beautiful" ( _al-Jamāl_ ), are manifestations of Mercy. But in Divine Names of rigor, such as "the Powerful" ( _al-Qādir_ ), "the Avenger" ( _al-Muntaqim_ ), and "the Abaser" ( _al-Mudhill_ ), the manifestation of Divine Mercy is veiled by the inseparability of God's Kindness from His Majesty and determinative power ( _qadar_ ). God is thus said to be Compassionate toward all of creation and Merciful toward the believers (Ṭb).

Positioned between v. 2, which alludes to God being the Sovereign over all dimensions of space, both seen and unseen, and v. 4, which alludes to God being the Master of all time, since all things end on the _Day of Judgment,_ this verse indicates that God's Mercy encompasses and interpenetrates all time and all space, as in 7:156: _My Mercy encompasses all things_.

***

J Master of the Day of Judgment.

4 _Master_ renders _mālik,_ which can also mean "owner." It is also sometimes read _malik,_ meaning "king" or "sovereign," and both variants can be traced to the Prophet (Q). _Malik_ ("king") is understood to be more intensive than _mālik_ ("master"), since every king is a master, but not every master is a king (Q, Ṭ, Z), though others maintain that _malik_ is more comprehensive, since it indicates God's Power of disposal over all things (Q). That God is _Master of the Day of Judgment_ indicates that He alone has sovereignty over the Day of Reckoning and that all those who seek to contend with His Absolute Sovereignty will be brought low on that Day, as in 40:16, where it is described as _the Day when they come forth with naught concerning them hidden from God. Whose is the sovereignty this Day? It is God's, the One, the Paramount_ (IK, Ṭ). In this regard, the Prophet is reported to have said, "On the Day of Judgment, God will grasp the earth, fold up the sky with His Right Hand [see 39:67], and proclaim, 'I am the King, where are the kings of the earth? Where are the tyrants?'" (IK).

_The Day of Judgment_ is the day on which the account of jinn and human beings comes due. That God is _Master_ of this day alludes to the inevitability of the meeting with God, since all are returning to Him (see, e.g., 2:156, 245, 281; 3:55, 83; 5:48, 105; 6:36, 61–62, 108, 164; 7:29; 21:93). _Judgment_ renders _dīn,_ which is etymologically related to "obedience" and to "custom," "way," or "affair." It is, however, most often rendered "religion." _Dīn_ is also closely related to the word "debt" ( _dayn_ ), found in 2:282: _When you contract a debt_ ( _dayn_ ) _with one another for a term appointed, write it down_. While _dayn_ refers to a debt, _dīn_ refers to the repayment of our debt to God, and God is also known as _al-Dayyān,_ meaning "The One Who Repays" (Q). The Day of _dīn_ can thus be understood as the day of the requital and reckoning for actions performed in this world (IK, Q, Ṭ), as in 24:25: _On that Day God will pay them their just due in full;_ and 40:17: _On that Day every soul shall be recompensed for that which it has earned_ (cf. 45:28; IK, Q). This day is also referred to as the Day of Reckoning, since all of one's good and bad deeds will be weighed and one will be taken to account for all that transpired during the life of this world, as in 7:8–9: _And the weighing on that Day is true. So those whose balance is heavy, it is they who shall prosper. And as for those whose balance is light, it is they who have ruined their souls by having treated Our signs wrongfully_ (see also 21:47c; 101:6–9c). Given the importance and finality of this accounting, when asked, "Who is the most intelligent of believers?" the Prophet replied, "The most frequent in recalling death, and the best prepared for what follows it, they are the most intelligent." Following upon the Prophet's advice, the second Caliph, ʿUmar ibn al-Khaṭṭāb (d. 22/644), is reported to have said, "Bring yourself to account before you are brought to account. And weigh your deeds before your deeds are weighed" (IK).

From one perspective, in the progression of Divine Names from _Allāh_ to _al-Ra ḥmān, al-Raḥīm,_ and _al-Mālik_ (or _al-Malik_ ) there is a descent from the highest level of the Divine Essence down to those levels that are in direct relation to the created order, _al-Ra ḥmān_ denoting the general mercy that encompasses all things, and _al-Ra ḥīm_ denoting the particular mercy that God bestows upon those whom He chooses. Then God's function as _al-Malik_ or _al-Mālik_ pertains to His management of all affairs in the created order. It is in a sense a "lower" Divine Name, because the existence of an "other" is necessary for this aspect of God to become fully manifest. Thus, like the name _al-Ra ḥīm_ it pertains to the Divine acts. In this sense, the progression of Names in vv. 1–4 reflects the descent of the created order from the Divine Principle. The second half of the _Fāti ḥah_ then pertains to the ascent from the created order back to the Divine Principle.

***

Z Thee we worship and from Thee we seek help.

5 In v. 5 begins the direct address of God in the second person, a marked change from the praise and description of God in vv. 1–4 (IK, Q). Human beings speak here in the first-person plural, hence not only as individuals, but also as vicegerents of God (see 6:165c), supplicating God on behalf of all creation. To speak to God in the first-person plural rather than the singular also implies humility before the Divine (Ṭb), both because one is not focused solely upon oneself and because one acknowledges that ultimately only God has the right to say "I."

_We worship_ renders the verb _na ʿbudu,_ which also indicates servitude, obedience, and adoration. The first phrase thus indicates standing before God as a humble adoring servant or as a slave ( _ʿ abd_), the state that in reality all created beings are in before God, as in 19:93: _There is none in the heavens and on the earth, but that it comes unto the Compassionate as a servant_ ( _ʿ abd_). In the context of the previous verses, which recognize that God is _Lord of the worlds,_ or all "space," and Master of all time, this verse recognizes the state of complete servitude before God, as reflected by the construction of the sentence in which the direct object is placed before the verb (Ṭb).

Addressing God in the second person rather than the third person indicates a direct I-Thou relationship in which God is worshipped as one who is present before the worshipper and whom the worshipper thus addresses directly (Ṭb), a privilege given in Islam to all human beings, who are not in need of a distinct priestly class to function as intermediaries between human beings and God. Correspondingly, worshippers should be fully present before their Lord. Their attention should not be divided between God and something else, either openly, as in idol worship, or secretly, as in the case of those who worship God distracted by thoughts and subjective desires or intent upon personal reward. Rather, one should _worship God, devoting religion entirely to Him_ (39:2; Ṭb). In this vein, Jaʿfar al-Ṣādiq is reported to have said, "Worship is of three kinds: some people worship God out of fear, and that is the worship of slaves; other people worship God seeking reward, and that is the worship of hirelings; and some people worship God out of love, and that is the worship of those who are free, and that is the most excellent worship" (Ṭb).

True worship or servitude ( _ʿ ibādah_) is understood by some to constitute the greatest degree of humility and self-effacement before God (Aj), which is necessary in order to recognize one's complete reliance upon Him, since _God is the Rich, and you are the poor_ (47:38). The expression of servitude necessarily precedes the statement that one "seeks help" from God, since one does not seek help from a king without first acknowledging the king's power and sovereignty (Aj). The request for God's help can thus be seen as a request for further aid in worshipping and serving Him and in all of one's affairs (Aj, IK), a request founded upon the acknowledgment that one is never independent of God (Ṭb) and that it is only through His assistance that one can worship Him, not through one's own power and strength (Bq).

***

j Guide us upon the straight path,

6 Following upon the previous phrase, in which one asks for God's help in servitude and obedience, _guide us_ can be understood as a prayer for perseverance in following _the straight path_ and thus for continued aid (Ṭ) and for being made firm in following the way of truth (Ṭs), since for _those who believe and perform righteous deeds, their Lord guides them by their faith_ (10:9; Ṭs). The request for guidance also implies seeking to be led to God Himself and thus a desire for intimacy with Him, nearness to Him (Q), knowledge of Him, and love for Him. In this sense, it is also understood to mean, "Make our hearts incline unto Thee; direct our aspirations unto Thee; and be our guide from Thee, unto Thee, in order that we not be cut off by Thee from that which is Thine" (Bq, Su). On the intellectual level, following _the straight path_ can be understood to mean using one's God-given intelligence correctly in order to reach the truth, rather than deviating from _the straight path_ of thinking and intellection and thus thinking in a manner that will lead to error.

_The straight path_ indicates a clear road with no crookedness or deviation (Ṭ). From a religious perspective, it is a middle way that avoids worldliness, on the one hand, and extreme asceticism, on the other. It thus connotes a way of life that combines the outward way of the Law with the inward way of spirituality, or the exoteric with the esoteric, so that one's outward nature is in servitude, while one's inner nature is free (Aj). The Prophet is said to guide his community upon this path (42:52–53c). The Islamic community ( _ummah_ ) is thus described as _a middle community_ (2:143) that follows a middle way in action, ethics, thought, and all aspects of life. In describing _the straight path,_ the Prophet is reported to have said, "God has set forth a parable: a straight path that is surrounded by two walls on both sides, with several open doors within the walls covered by curtains. A caller on the gate of the path calls out, 'O people! Stay on the path and do not deviate from it.' Meanwhile, a caller from above the path is also warning any person who wants to open any of these doors, 'Woe unto you! Do not open it, for if you open it you will fall through.' _The straight path_ is Islam, the two walls are the limits set by God, while the doors refer to what God has prohibited. The caller on the gate of the path is the Book of God, while the caller above the path is God's admonishment present in the heart of every Muslim" (IK).

Some see _the straight path_ as a reference to the Quran itself (Ṭ, Ṭū, Ṭs), while others say that it refers to Islam (Bq, Ṭū, Ṭs) or to the Prophet (Q). According to many Shiite commentaries, _the straight path_ refers to the first Shiite Imam, ʿAlī ibn Abī Ṭālib (Qm, Ṭs), or to the Prophet and the Imams (Ṭū, Ṭs). In contrast, several Sunni commentaries say that it refers to the Prophet and his two Companions (Q, Ṭ), meaning the first two Caliphs, Abū Bakr (r. 10–12/632–634) and ʿUmar ibn al-Khaṭṭāb (r. 12–22/634–644). Each of these interpretations indicates something that different groups of Muslims believe will assure one of being _upon the straight path,_ as long as one follows it. To be on _the straight path,_ or _a straight path_ as it is usually presented in the Quran, can also be understood as walking with God to God; to God because God guides the believers _unto Himself upon a straight path_ (4:175), and with God because God Himself is _upon a straight path,_ as when the Prophet Hūd says, _Truly I trust in God, my Lord and your Lord. There is no creature that crawls, but that He holds it by its forelock. Truly my Lord is upon a straight path_ (11:56).

_The straight path_ is also understood as a reference to the traverse that human beings and jinn must cross as the final stage of Judgment before entering Paradise or the Garden. According to the Prophet, this traverse is "finer than a hair and sharper than a sword"; some will pass over it like wind, and some will fly across it like birds; others will trot over it like camels. Yet others will only be able to crawl, and some will be cast from it into Hellfire; see the essay "Death, Dying, and the Afterlife in the Quran."

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z the path of those whom Thou hast blessed, not of those who incur wrath, nor of those who are astray.

7 According to some accounts, this verse is in fact two verses, the first of which ends with _hast blessed_ (Ṭ). The first part offers clarification regarding those who will be guided upon _the straight path,_ which is further elaborated in 4:69: _Whosoever obeys God and the Messenger, they are with those whom God has blessed, the prophets, the truthful ones, the witnesses, and the righteous. What beautiful companions are they!_ (Q, Ṭ, Ṭs). Those who are blessed by God are also said to be those whom God has purified, so that they are able to attain unto Him (Qu), and those whom He has blessed by causing them to be mindful of the observance of the Law and its decrees; the latter experience the realization of spiritual realities, but do not go beyond the limits of knowledge or violate any of the decrees of the Law (Qu).

_Not of_ renders the exceptive particle _ghayr,_ which is understood as being attached to _the path_. It could also be read as being attached to _them,_ in which case it would mean, "The path of those whom Thou hast blessed, not those who incur wrath" (Ṭ, Ṭs). Nonetheless, both readings yield the same essential meaning (Ṭ). According to some, _those who incur wrath_ are the idolaters, and _those who are astray_ are the hypocrites (Q). Others relate the terms to two categories of sin in which disbelief incurs wrath and lesser sin results from being astray (M). Still others relate the terms to those who exhibit various moral shortcomings, such as those who are heedless and those who are profligate (Ni). In this sense, the two terms together can be understood as a reference to all the various degrees of those who are spiritually debased and lost and preoccupied with procuring some share of the fortunes of this world (Qu).

Regarding _those who incur wrath,_ 16:106 says, _Whosoever opens his breast unto disbelief, upon them shall be the Wrath of God,_ and 42:16 says of those who argue about God after having responded to Him, _their argument is baseless in the eyes of their Lord. Wrath shall be upon them, and theirs shall be a severe punishment_. In addition, 48:6 says of the hypocrites and the idolaters, _God is wroth with them, curses them, and prepares Hell for them._ God's Wrath is also said to be upon those who murder believers (see 4:93). Regarding _those who are astray,_ a far more prevalent Quranic concept, 3:90 states, _Truly those who disbelieve after having believed, then increase in disbelief, their repentance shall not be accepted, and they are the ones astray;_ 2:108 states, _Whosoever exchanges belief for disbelief has gone astray from the right way;_ and 4:136 declares, _Whosoever does not believe in God and His angels and His Books and His messengers and the Last Day has wandered far astray_ (cf. 4:167). Addressing the psychology of being astray, 28:50 asks rhetorically, _Who is more astray than one who follows his caprice without guidance from God?_

Read in light of the many verses that refer to incurring wrath and being astray, the final verse of this _sūrah_ can be understood as a prayer (1) to follow the way of those whom God raises in degrees (see 6:83c; 58:11c), meaning those _who believe and those who have been given knowledge_ (58:11) and _those who believe and who do not obscure their belief through wrongdoing_ (6:82), and (2) to avoid the way of the disbelievers, some of whom are astray and with some of whom God is wroth. From one perspective, vv. 6–7 refer to the manner in which all human beings are moving toward their Lord (Ṭb), as in 84:6: _O mankind! Truly thou art laboring unto thy Lord laboriously, and shall meet Him!;_ and 5:18: _and unto Him is the journey's end_ (cf. 2:285; 3:28; 24:42; 31:14; 35:18; 40:3; 42:15; 50:43; 60:4; 64:3). All things eventually return to God, but in various ways and by various means, as in 67:22: _Is one who walks with his face stooped down more guided, or one who walks upright upon a straight path?_ (see also 3:83; 13:15). This verse is thus a request to be among those who proceed toward God with honor and dignity rather than with shame and disgrace.

The different qualities of the paths followed by the three categories mentioned in this verse are revealed by the different ways in which they are presented. _Those whom Thou hast blessed_ conveys an action performed by God in the past tense, thus giving a sense of finality and certitude in that God's blessings and favor upon them have already occurred. _Those who incur wrath_ does not name an active agent or say definitively that the outcome has occurred, only that they are subject to wrath. This indicates that although they have already acted in a manner that may warrant Divine Punishment and Retribution, God's Wrath has not yet come upon them and the door of repentance remains open, since God _guides to Himself whosoever turns in repentance_ (13:27). The absence of an active agent in this phrase also reflects the general Quranic principle that _God does not wrong human beings in the least, but rather human beings wrong themselves_ (10:44).

Being astray can result from something intentional or something done by mistake (Aj). Thus _those who are astray_ may not have committed actions that merit Divine Retribution, as is made clear when Moses says that he was _one of those who are astray_ (26:20) before the beginning of his mission as one of God's messengers, and when God (using the third person instead of the first) asks the Prophet Muhammad, _Did He not . . . find thee astray and guide?_ (93:7). In this sense, being astray describes all those who do not actively live in accord with Revelation. Given the various degrees of being astray, from those who exchange _belief for disbelief_ (2:108) to prophets who have not yet been guided in their prophetic mission, the request to not be among those who are astray can be seen as a request for help in remembering God at all times and never acting in a manner that would be contrary to the injunctions of the Revelation.

When _the straight path_ is understood as the vertical path of ascent toward God, _those who incur wrath_ can be understood as a reference to those upon a path of descent away from God, while _those who are astray_ meander horizontally away from the path that leads toward the Transcendent. These three possibilities then correspond to the three dimensions of space and symbolize all the possibilities of the human state.

Based upon a saying attributed to the Prophet, though not considered to be of the highest degree of authenticity, one interpretation given by a number of commentators is that _those who incur wrath_ and _those who are astray_ refer to Jews and Christians, respectively (IK, JJ, Q, Ṭ, Z). In this vein, _those who incur wrath_ is often connected with verses such as 2:61; 2:90; 3:112; 5:60, which speak of God's Wrath and Anger coming upon the Children of Israel or upon the Jews. Likewise, _those who are astray_ is often read in connection with 5:77, which warns, _Follow not the caprices of a people who went astray before, and led many astray, and strayed from the right way_ , and is understood as a reference to Christians (Q, Ṭ, Ṭs).

According to a _ḥ adīth,_ "When the prayer leader says, _Not of those who incur wrath, nor of those who are astray,_ you must say, _Āmīn,_ for if one's utterance of _āmīn_ coincides with that of the angels, his past sins will be forgiven" (IK, Q). Upon the completion of the _Fāti ḥah,_ it is thus customary among Sunni Muslims to say _Āmīn_ after a brief moment of silence, which serves to distinguish this utterance from the Quran itself (Q). It is not considered obligatory, but is reported to have been the custom of the Prophet and is strongly recommended by Sunni scholars (IK). Some advocate saying it aloud, while others recommend saying it under one's breath (Q). Most understand _āmīn_ to mean, "O God! Answer us," which functions as a supplication (IK, Q). Others say that it is one of the Names of God (Q), while others say it means, "Thus shall it be" (Q). This last meaning is closest to the meaning of the Hebrew cognate "Amen." In this sense, it is a declaration of affirmation and is understood as the seal upon one's prayers (Q).

##

## The Cow

## _al-Baqarah_

_A l-Baqarah_ is from the Madinan period. It is named _al-Baqarah,_ or "The Cow," because of the cow mentioned in v. 67. It is the longest _sūrah_ of the Quran, comprising one-twelfth of the entire text. In most illuminated manuscripts and printed editions of the Quran, the first seven verses of _al-Baqarah_ appear on an illuminated page opposite another illuminated page containing the seven verses of the _Fāti ḥah,_ or "Opening," the first chapter of the Quran. These two pages together form for most readers the first visual experience of the Quran as a physical book.

Few subjects discussed in the Quran do not find some mention in _al-Baqarah;_ topics include matters of theology, law, sacred history, metaphysics, cosmology, and the spiritual life. The _sūrah_ opens with a general description of belief in the seen and Unseen, the multiplicity of prophets, and the imperative to give from what we possess, whether spiritual or material. After a section addressing the hypocrisy of the protestations and claims of those who disbelieve in God, the _sūrah_ turns to an account of the creation of Adam and the fall from the Garden, including the status of the angels in relation to human beings and the role of Satan in Adam's fall.

The history of the Children of Israel figures prominently in this _sūrah._ Stressed are the blessings of God upon the Israelites throughout their history, beginning with one of the several accounts provided by the Quran describing the encounter between Moses and Pharaoh as well as the events at Mt. Sinai and the parable of the sacrificial cow ( _baqarah_ ), to which the _sūrah_ owes its name. This history is interwoven with theological questions debated between Jews and Muslims, such as the duration of one's stay in Hell, the status of the Archangel Gabriel, and other accusations and challenges exchanged between the two communities.

_Al-Baqarah_ is one of the most important _sūrah_ s as far as the question of the status of other religions is concerned, addressing this matter from a theological and legal perspective and also as a question of sacred history. Abraham is discussed as a prophet who predated Judaism and Christianity, who established the Kaʿbah as a temple of worship, and who was a _ḥ anīf,_ or primordial monotheist.

Important rituals and acts of worship are legislated in this _sūrah,_ including the pilgrimage, the required fast during the month of Ramadan, and other matters such as the direction ( _qiblah_ ) one should face while reciting the canonical prayers. Other legal matters discussed are economic contracts, usury, marriage and divorce, the status of orphans, the causes and conduct of war, inheritance, alcohol consumption and gambling, and punishment for capital crimes. Some of the Quran's most famous and most recited verses are found in this _sūrah,_ including v. 255, called the Pedestal Verse ( _Āyat al-Kursī_ ), and the final two verses, which are important in Muslim devotional life.

Concerning this _sūrah_ the Prophet is reported to have said, "Everything has a zenith, and the zenith of the Quran is _Sūrat al-Baqarah,_ and it has a verse which is the lord of the verses of the Quran, the Pedestal Verse [v. 255]"; "Truly Satan leaves a house when he hears _Sūrat al-Baqarah_ recited in it"; and "Learn _al-Baqarah_. Holding to it is a blessing, leaving it is an affliction, and falsehood has no power over it."

### In the Name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful

¡ _Alif. Lām. Mīm._ * This is the Book in which there is no doubt, a guidance for the reverent, + who believe in the Unseen and perform the prayer and spend from that which We have provided them, J and who believe in what was sent down unto thee, and what was sent down before thee, and who are certain of the Hereafter. Z It is they who act upon guidance from their Lord, and it is they who shall prosper. j Truly it is the same for the disbelievers whether thou warnest them or warnest them not; they do not believe. z God has sealed their hearts and their hearing. Upon their eyes is a covering, and theirs is a great punishment. { Among mankind are those who say, "We believe in God and in the Last Day," though they do not believe. | They would deceive God and the believers; yet they deceive none but themselves, though they are unaware. Ċ In their hearts is a disease, and God has increased them in disease. Theirs is a painful punishment for having lied. Ě And when it is said unto them, "Do not work corruption upon the earth," they say, "We are only working righteousness." Ī Nay, it is they who are the workers of corruption, though they are unaware. ĺ When it is said unto them, "Believe as the people believe," they say, "Shall we believe as fools believe?" Nay, it is they who are the fools, though they know not. Ŋ And when they meet those who believe they say, "We believe," but when they are alone with their satans they say, "We are with you. We were only mocking." Ś God mocks them, and leaves them to wander confused in their rebellion. Ū It is they who have purchased error at the price of guidance. Their commerce has not brought them profit, and they are not rightly guided. ź Their parable is that of one who kindled a fire, and when it lit up what was around him, God took away their light, and left them in darkness, unseeing. Ɗ Deaf, dumb, and blind, they return not. ƚ Or a cloudburst from the sky, in which there is darkness, thunder, and lightning. They put their fingers in their ears against the thunderclaps, fearing death. And God encompasses the disbelievers. Ȋ The lightning all but snatches away their sight. Whenever it shines for them, they walk therein, and when darkness comes over them, they halt. Had God willed, He would have taken away their hearing and their sight. Truly God is Powerful over all things. ! O mankind! Worship your Lord, Who created you, and those who were before you, that haply you may be reverent: " He Who made for you the earth a place of repose and the sky a canopy, and sent water from the sky by which He brought forth fruits for your provision. So do not set up equals unto God, knowingly. # If you are in doubt concerning what We have sent down unto Our servant, then bring a _sūrah_ like it, and call your witnesses apart from God if you are truthful. $ And if you do not, and you will not, then be mindful of the Fire whose fuel is men and stones, which is prepared for the disbelievers. % And give glad tidings to those who believe and perform righteous deeds that theirs are Gardens with rivers running below. Whensoever they are given a fruit therefrom as provision, they say, "This is the provision we received aforetime," and they were given a likeness of it. Therein they have spouses made pure, and therein they shall abide. & Truly God is not ashamed to set forth a parable of a gnat or something smaller. As for those who believe, they know it is the truth from their Lord, and as for those who disbelieve, they say, "What did God mean by this parable?" He misleads many by it, and He guides many by it, and He misleads none but the iniquitous. ' Those who break God's Pact after accepting His Covenant, and sever what God has commanded be joined, and work corruption upon the earth, it is they who are the losers. ( How can you disbelieve in God, seeing that you were dead and He gave you life; then He causes you to die; then He gives you life; then unto Him shall you be returned? ) He it is Who created for you all that is on the earth. Then He turned to Heaven and fashioned it into seven heavens, and He is Knower of all things. Ð And when thy Lord said to the angels, "I am placing a vicegerent upon the earth," they said, "Wilt Thou place therein one who will work corruption therein, and shed blood, while we hymn Thy praise and call Thee Holy?" He said, "Truly I know what you know not." Ñ And He taught Adam the names, all of them. Then He laid them before the angels and said, "Tell me the names of these, if you are truthful." Ò They said, "Glory be to Thee! We have no knowledge save what Thou hast taught us. Truly Thou art the Knower, the Wise." Ó He said, "Adam, tell them their names." And when he had told them their names He said, "Did I not say to you that I know the unseen of the heavens and the earth, and that I know what you disclose and what you used to conceal?" Ô And when We said to the angels, "Prostrate unto Adam," they prostrated, save Iblīs. He refused and waxed arrogant, and was among the disbelievers. Õ We said, "O Adam, dwell thou and thy wife in the Garden and eat freely thereof, wheresoever you will. But approach not this tree, lest you be among the wrongdoers." Ö Then Satan made them stumble therefrom, and expelled them from that wherein they were, and We said, "Get you down, each of you an enemy to the other. On the earth a dwelling place shall be yours, and enjoyment for a while." × Then Adam received words from his Lord, and He relented unto him. Indeed, He is the Relenting, the Merciful. Ø We said, "Get down from it, all of you. If guidance should come to you from Me, then whosoever follows My Guidance, no fear shall come upon them, nor shall they grieve." Ù But those who disbelieve and deny Our signs, it is they who are the inhabitants of the Fire, abiding therein. @ O Children of Israel! Remember My Blessing which I bestowed upon you, and fulfill My covenant, and I shall fulfill your covenant, and be in awe of Me. A And believe in that which I have sent down, confirming that which you have with you, and be not the first to disbelieve in it. And sell not My signs for a paltry price, and reverence Me. B And confound not truth with falsehood, nor knowingly conceal the truth. C And perform the prayer, and give the alms, and bow with those who bow. D Will you enjoin piety upon mankind, and forget yourselves, while you recite the Book? Do you not understand? E Seek help in patience and prayer, and this indeed is difficult except for the humble, F who reckon that they shall meet their Lord and that they shall return unto Him. G O Children of Israel! Remember My Blessing which I bestowed upon you, and that I favored you above the worlds. H And be mindful of a day when no soul will avail another soul in any way, and no intercession shall be accepted from it, nor ransom taken from it; nor shall they be helped. I And [remember] when We delivered you from the House of Pharaoh, who inflicted a terrible punishment upon you, slaying your sons and sparing your women. And in that was a great trial from your Lord. P And when We parted the sea for you and so delivered you, and drowned the House of Pharaoh as you looked on. Q And when We appointed forty nights for Moses, and you took up the calf while he was away, while you were wrongdoers. R Then We pardoned you after that, that haply you may give thanks. S And when We gave unto Moses the Book and the Criterion, that haply you may be guided. T And when Moses said to his people, "O my people! You have wronged yourselves by taking up the calf. So repent unto your Maker and slay your own. That is better for you in the sight of your Maker." Then He relented unto you. Indeed, He is the Relenting, the Merciful. U And when you said, "O Moses, we will not believe thee till we see God openly," and the thunderbolt seized you as you looked on. V Then We raised you up after your death, that haply you may give thanks. W And We shaded you with clouds, and sent down manna and quails upon you, "Eat of the good things We have provided you." They wronged Us not, but themselves did they wrong. X And when We said, "Enter this town, and eat freely of that which is therein wheresoever you will, and enter the gate prostrating, and say, 'Remove the burden!' that We may forgive you your sins. And We shall increase the virtuous." Y But those who did wrong substituted a word other than that which had been said unto them. So We sent down a torment from Heaven upon those who did wrong for the iniquity they committed. ` And when Moses sought water for his people, We said, "Strike the rock with thy staff." Then twelve springs gushed forth from it; each people knew their drinking place. "Eat and drink of God's provision, and behave not wickedly upon the earth, working corruption." a And when you said, "O Moses, we shall not endure one food, so call upon your Lord for us, that He may bring forth for us some of what the earth grows: its herbs, its cucumbers, its garlic, its lentils, its onions." He said, "Would you substitute what is lesser for what is better? Go down to a town, and you will have what you ask for." So they were struck with abasement and poverty, and earned a burden of wrath from God. That is because they disbelieved in the signs of God, and killed the prophets without right. That is because they disobeyed, and were transgressors. b Truly those who believe, and those who are Jews, and the Christians, and the Sabeans—whosoever believes in God and the Last Day and works righteousness shall have their reward with their Lord. No fear shall come upon them, nor shall they grieve. c And when We made a covenant with you, and raised the Mount over you, "Take hold of what We have given you with strength, and remember what is in it, that haply you may be reverent." d Then you turned away thereafter, and were it not for God's Bounty upon you, and His Mercy, you would have been among the losers. e And you have indeed known those among you who transgressed in the matter of the Sabbath, and so We said to them, "Be you apes, outcast." f So We made it an exemplary punishment for their time and for times to come, and an admonition for the reverent. g And when Moses said to his people, "God commands you to slaughter a cow," they said, "Do you take us in mockery?" He said, "I seek refuge in God from being among the ignorant." h They said, "Call upon your Lord for us, that He may clarify for us what she is." He said, "He says she is a cow neither old nor without calf, middling between them: so do what you are commanded." i They said, "Call upon your Lord for us, that He may clarify for us what her color is." He said, "He says she is a yellow cow. Bright is her color, pleasing the onlookers." p They said, "Pray for us to your Lord, that He may clarify for us what she is. Cows are much alike to us, and if God will we will surely be guided." q He said, "He says she is a cow not broken to plow the earth or to water the tillage, sound and without blemish." They said, "Now you have brought the truth." So they slaughtered her, but they almost did not. r And when you slew a soul and cast the blame upon one another regarding it—and God is the discloser of what you were concealing— s We said, "Strike him with part of it." Thus does God give life to the dead and show you His signs, that haply you may understand. t Then your hearts hardened thereafter, being like stones or harder still. For indeed among stones are those from which streams gush forth, and indeed among them are those that split and water issues from them, and indeed among them are those that crash down from the fear of God. And God is not heedless of what you do. u Do you hope, then, that they will believe you, seeing that a party of them would hear the Word of God and then distort it after they had understood it, knowingly? v And when they meet those who believe they say, "We believe," and when they are alone with one another they say, "Do you speak to them of what God has unveiled to you, that they may thereby dispute with you before your Lord? Do you not understand?" w Do they not know that God knows what they hide and what they disclose? x And among them are the illiterate who know nothing of the Book but hearsay, and they only conjecture. y So woe unto those who write the book with their hands, then say, "This is from God," that they may sell it for a paltry price. So woe unto them for what their hands have written and woe unto them for what they earn. À And they say, "The Fire will not touch us save for days numbered." Say, "Have you made a covenant with God? For God shall not fail to keep His Covenant. Or do you say of God that which you know not?" Á Nay, whosoever earns evil and is surrounded by his sins, it is they who are the inhabitants of the Fire, therein to abide.  And those who believe and perform righteous deeds, it is they who are the inhabitants of the Garden, therein to abide. à And [remember] when We made a covenant with the Children of Israel, "Worship none but God; be virtuous toward parents, kinsfolk, orphans, and the indigent; speak to people in a goodly way; and perform the prayer and give the alms." Then you turned away, save a few of you, swerving aside. Ä And when We made a covenant with you, "Do not shed the blood of your own, and do not expel your own from your homes." Then you ratified it, bearing witness. Å And yet it is you, the very same, who kill your own and expel a party of you from their homes, conspiring against them in sin and enmity. And if they come to you as captives you ransom them, though their expulsion was forbidden to you. Do you, then, believe in part of the Book and disbelieve in part? And what is the recompense of those who do so but disgrace in the life of this world? And on the Day of Resurrection they shall be consigned to the most severe punishment. And God is not heedless of what you do. Æ It is they who have purchased the world at the price of the Hereafter; for them the punishment shall not be lightened, nor will they be helped. Ç And indeed We gave unto Moses the Book and caused a succession of messengers to follow him. And We gave Jesus son of Mary clear proofs, and strengthened him with the Holy Spirit. Is it not so that whenever a messenger brought you something your souls did not desire, you waxed arrogant, and some you denied and some you slew? È And they say, "Our hearts are uncircumcised." Rather, God has cursed them for their disbelief, for little do they believe. É And when there came to them a Book from God, confirming that which they had with them—and aforetime they used to ask for victory over those who disbelieve—so when there came to them that which they recognized, they disbelieved in it. So may the curse of God be upon the disbelievers. Ґ Evil is that for which they sold their souls, that they should disbelieve in what God sent down, out of envy that God should send down His Grace unto whomsoever He will among His servants. They earn a burden of wrath upon wrath, and the disbelievers shall have a humiliating punishment. ґ And when it is said unto them, "Believe in what God has sent down," they say, "We believe in what was sent down to us," and they disbelieve in what is beyond it, although it is the truth, confirming what is with them. Say, "Then why did you slay the prophets of God aforetime, if you were believers?" Ғ And indeed Moses brought you clear proofs, but then you took up the calf while he was away, and you were wrongdoers. ғ And when We made a covenant with you, and raised the Mount over you, "Take hold of what We have given you with strength, and listen!" They said, "We hear, and disobey," and they were made to drink the calf into their hearts because of their disbelief. Say, "Evil is that which your belief enjoins upon you, if you are believers." Ҕ Say, "If the Abode of the Hereafter with God is yours alone to the exclusion of other people, then long for death, if you are truthful." ҕ But they will never long for it, because of what their hands have sent forth, and God knows the wrongdoers. Җ You will find them the most covetous of people for life, [even] more than those who are idolaters. Each one of them would wish to live a thousand years, although that would not remove him from the punishment. And God sees whatsoever they do. җ Whosoever is an enemy of Gabriel: he it is who sent it down upon thy heart by God's Leave, confirming that which was there before, and as a guidance and glad tiding for the believers. Ҙ Whosoever is an enemy of God, His angels and His messengers, and Gabriel and Michael: God is indeed the enemy of the disbelievers. ҙ We did indeed send down to you clear signs, and only the iniquitous disbelieve in them. Ā Is it not so that, whenever they make a covenant, a group of them cast it aside? Indeed, most of them do not believe. ā And when there came to them a messenger from God, confirming that which is with them, a group of those who have been given the Book cast the Book of God behind their backs, as if they know not. Ă And they followed what the satans recited against the kingdom of Solomon. Solomon did not disbelieve, but the satans disbelieved, teaching people sorcery and that which was sent down to the two angels at Babylon, Hārūt and Mārūt. But they would not teach anyone until they had said, "We are only a trial, so do not disbelieve." Then they would learn from them that by which they could cause separation between a man and his wife. But they did not harm anyone with it, save by God's Leave. And they would learn that which harmed them and brought them no benefit, knowing that whosoever purchases it has no share in the Hereafter. Evil is that for which they sold their souls, had they but known. ă And had they believed and been reverent, a recompense from God would be better, if they but knew. Ą O you who believe! Do not say, "Attend to us," but say, "Regard us," and listen! And the disbelievers shall have a painful punishment. ą Neither the disbelievers among the People of the Book nor the polytheists wish that any good be sent down to you from your Lord, but God singles out for His Mercy whomsoever He will, and God is Possessed of Tremendous Bounty. Ć No sign do We abrogate or cause to be forgotten, but that We bring that which is better than it or like unto it. Dost thou not know that God is Powerful over all things? ć Dost thou not know that unto God belongs Sovereignty over the heavens and the earth, and that you have neither protector nor helper apart from God? Ĉ Or do you wish to question your messenger as Moses was questioned aforetime? Whosoever exchanges belief for disbelief has gone astray from the right way. ĉ Many of the People of the Book wish to turn you back into disbelievers after your having believed, out of envy in their souls, even after the truth has become clear to them. So pardon and forbear, until God comes with His Command. Truly God is Powerful over all things. Đ And perform the prayer and give the alms. Whatever good you send forth for your souls, you will find it with God. Truly God sees whatsoever you do. đ And they said, "None will enter the Garden unless he be a Jew or a Christian." Those are their hopes. Say, "Bring your proof, if you are truthful." Ē Nay, whosoever submits his face to God, while being virtuous, shall have his reward with his Lord. No fear shall come upon them; nor shall they grieve. ē The Jews say, "The Christians stand on nothing," and the Christians say, "The Jews stand on nothing," though they recite the Book. Likewise did those who know not speak words like theirs. God will judge between them on the Day of Resurrection concerning that wherein they differed. Ĕ And who does greater wrong than one who bars [entrance to] the mosques of God, lest His Name be remembered therein, and strives for their ruin? They are those who should not enter them, save in fear. Theirs is disgrace in this world, and theirs is a great punishment in the Hereafter. ĕ To God belong the East and the West. Wheresoever you turn, there is the Face of God. God is All-Encompassing, Knowing. Ė And they say, "God has taken a child." Glory be to Him! Rather, unto Him belongs whatsoever is in the heavens and on the earth. All are devoutly obedient to Him, ė the Originator of the heavens and the earth. When He decrees a thing, He only says to it, "Be!" and it is. Ę Those who do not know say, "Why does God not speak to us, nor a sign come to us?" Likewise did those who came before them speak words like theirs. Their hearts are alike. We have made the signs clear for a people who are certain. ę Indeed, We have sent thee with the truth, as a bearer of glad tidings, and a warner, and thou wilt not be questioned about the inhabitants of Hellfire. Ġ Never will the Jews be content with thee, nor the Christians, until thou followest their creed. Say, "Truly the Guidance of God is guidance. And if thou shouldst follow their caprices after the knowledge that has come to thee, thou shalt have against God neither protector nor helper." ġ Those unto whom We have given the Book and who recite it as it should be recited are they who believe in it. And whosoever does not believe in it, they are the losers. Ģ O Children of Israel! Remember My Blessing which I bestowed upon you, and that I favored you above the worlds. ģ And be mindful of a day when no soul shall recompense another in any way, nor shall ransom be accepted from it, nor shall intercession benefit it; and they will not be helped. Ĥ And [remember] when his Lord tried Abraham with [certain] words, and he fulfilled them. He said, "I am making you an imam for mankind." He said, "And of my progeny?" He said, "My covenant does not include the wrongdoers." ĥ And [remember] when We made the House a place of visitation for mankind, and a sanctuary, "Take the station of Abraham as a place of prayer." And We made a covenant with Abraham and Ishmael, "Purify My House for those who circumambulate, those who make retreat, and those who bow and prostrate." Ħ And [remember] when Abraham said, "My Lord, make this a land secure, and provide its people with fruits: those among them who believe in God and the Last Day." He said, "Whosoever disbelieves, I will grant him enjoyment for a while, then I will compel him toward the punishment of the Fire. What an evil journey's end!" ħ And [remember] when Abraham and Ishmael were raising the foundations of the House, "Our Lord, accept [it] from us. Truly Thou art the Hearing, the Knowing. Ĩ And, our Lord, make us submit unto Thee, and from our progeny a community submitting unto Thee, and show us our rites, and relent unto us. Truly Thou art the Relenting, the Merciful. ĩ Our Lord, raise up in their midst a messenger from among them, who will recite Thy signs to them, and will teach them the Book and Wisdom, and purify them. Truly Thou art the Mighty, the Wise." İ And who shuns the creed of Abraham, but a foolish soul? We chose him in the world and in the Hereafter he shall be among the righteous. ı And when his Lord said unto him, "Submit!" he said, "I submit to the Lord of the worlds." IJ And Abraham enjoined the same upon his children, as did Jacob, "O my children, God has chosen for you the religion, so die not except in submission." ij Or were you witnesses when death came to Jacob, when he said to his children, "What will you worship after I am gone?" They said, "We shall worship thy God and the God of thy fathers, Abraham, Ishmael, and Isaac: one God, and unto Him we submit." Ĵ That is a community that has passed away. Theirs is what they earned and yours is what you earned, and you will not be questioned about that which they used to do. ĵ And they say, "Be Jews or Christians and you shall be rightly guided." Say, "Rather, [ours is] the creed of Abraham, a _ḥ anīf,_ and he was not of the idolaters." Ķ Say, "We believe in God, and in that which was sent down unto us, and in that which was sent down unto Abraham, Ishmael, Isaac, Jacob, and the Tribes, and in what Moses and Jesus were given, and in what the prophets were given from their Lord. We make no distinction among any of them, and unto Him we submit." ķ And if they believe in the like of what you believe in, then they shall be rightly guided. And if they turn away, then they are merely in schism and God will suffice you against them, and He is the Hearing, the Knowing. ĸ "The baptism of God, and who is better than God in baptism? And we are worshippers of Him." Ĺ Say, "Will you dispute with us concerning God, while He is our Lord and your Lord? Unto us our deeds and unto you your deeds, and we are sincere toward Him." ŀ Or say you that Abraham, Ishmael, Isaac, Jacob, and the Tribes were Jews or Christians? Say, "Do you know better, or does God?" And who does greater wrong than one who conceals a testimony he has from God? God is not heedless of what you do. Ł That is a community that has passed away. Theirs is what they earned, and yours is what you earned, and you will not be questioned about that which they used to do. ł The fools among the people will say, "What has turned them away from the _qiblah_ they had been following?" Say, "To God belong the East and the West. He guides whomsoever He will unto a straight path." Ń Thus did We make you a middle community, that you may be witnesses for mankind and that the Messenger may be a witness for you. And We only appointed the _qiblah_ that you had been following to know those who follow the Messenger from those who turn back on their heels, and it was indeed difficult, save for those whom God guided. But God would not let your belief be in vain. Truly God is Kind and Merciful unto mankind. ń We have seen the turning of thy face unto Heaven, and indeed We will turn thee toward a _qiblah_ well pleasing to thee. So turn thy face toward the Sacred Mosque, and wheresoever you are, turn your faces toward it. Truly those who have been given the Book know that it is the truth from their Lord. And God is not heedless of what they do. Ņ And wert thou to bring every sign to those who were given the Book, they would not follow thy _qiblah._ Thou art not a follower of their _qiblah,_ nor are they followers of one another's _qiblah._ Wert thou to follow their caprices after the knowledge that has come to thee, thou wouldst be one of the wrongdoers. ņ Those unto whom We have given the Book recognize it as they recognize their children, but a group of them knowingly conceal the truth. Ň The truth is from thy Lord; so be thou not among the doubters. ň Everyone has a direction toward which he turns. So vie with one another in good deeds. Wheresoever you are, God will bring you all together. Truly God is Powerful over all things. 'n And whencesoever thou goest out, turn thy face toward the Sacred Mosque. Indeed, it is the truth from thy Lord. And God is not heedless of what you do. Ő And whencesoever thou goest out, turn thy face toward the Sacred Mosque, and wheresoever you may be, turn your faces toward it, so that the people may have no argument against you—not even those among them who do wrong. Fear them not, but fear Me—and so that I may complete My Blessing upon you, and that haply you may be guided, ő even as We sent among you a messenger from among you, who recites Our signs to you and purifies you, and teaches you the Book and Wisdom, and teaches you what you knew not. Œ So remember Me, and I shall remember you. Give thanks unto Me, and disbelieve not in Me. œ O you who believe! Seek help in patience and prayer. Truly God is with the patient. Ŕ And say not of those who are slain in the way of God, "They are dead." Nay, they are alive, but you are unaware. ŕ And We will indeed test you with something of fear and hunger, and loss of wealth, souls, and fruits; and give glad tidings to the patient— Ŗ those who, when affliction befalls them, say, "Truly we are God's, and unto Him we return." ŗ They are those upon whom come the blessings from their Lord, and compassion, and they are those who are rightly guided. Ř Truly Ṣafā and Marwah are among the rituals of God; so whosoever performs the _ḥ ajj_ to the House, or makes the _ʿ umrah _,__ there is no blame on him in going to and fro between them. And whosoever volunteers good, truly God is Thankful, Knowing. ř Truly those who conceal what We have sent down of clear proofs and guidance—after We made it clear to mankind in the Book—are those who are cursed by God and cursed by the cursers, Š save such as repent, and make amends, and make clear. They are those unto whom I relent. And I am the Relenting, the Merciful. š Indeed, those who disbelieve, and die disbelievers, upon them shall be the curse of God, the angels, and mankind all together. Ţ Therein they shall abide: the punishment shall not be lightened for them, nor shall they be granted respite. ţ Your God is one God, there is no god but He, the Compassionate, the Merciful. Ť Indeed, in the creation of the heavens and the earth; and the variation of the night and the day; and the ships that run upon the sea with what benefits mankind; and the water God sends down from the sky whereby He revives the earth after its death, scattering all manner of beast therein; and the shifting of the winds; and the clouds subdued between the sky and the earth are surely signs for a people who understand. ť Among mankind there are some who take up equals apart from God, loving them like loving God. But those who believe are more ardent in their love of God. If those who do wrong could but see, when they see the punishment, that power belongs altogether to God and that God is severe in punishment, Ŧ when those who were followed disavow those who followed, and they see the punishment, while all recourse will be cut off from them. ŧ And those who followed will say, "If we had another turn, we would disavow them as they disavowed us." Thus does God show them their deeds as a source of regret for them, and they shall not leave the Fire. Ũ O mankind! Eat of what is lawful and good on the earth, and follow not the footsteps of Satan. Truly he is a manifest enemy unto you. ũ He only commands you to evil and indecency, and to say of God what you know not. Ű When it is said unto them, "Follow what God has sent down," they say, "Nay, we follow that which we found our fathers doing." What! Even though their fathers understood nothing, and were not rightly guided? ű The parable of those who disbelieve is that of one who cries to that which hears only a call and a shout. Deaf, dumb, and blind, they do not understand. Ų O you who believe! Eat of the good things We have provided you and give thanks to God if it is He Whom you worship. ų He has forbidden you only carrion, blood, the flesh of swine, and what has been offered to other than God. But whosoever is compelled by necessity—neither coveting nor transgressing—no sin shall be upon him. Truly God is Forgiving, Merciful. Ŵ Truly those who conceal what God sent down of the Book and sell it for a paltry price are those who eat naught but fire in their bellies. God will not speak to them on the Day of Resurrection, nor will He purify them. Theirs shall be a painful punishment. ŵ They are those who have purchased error at the price of guidance, and punishment at the price of forgiveness. How will they endure the Fire! Ŷ That is because God sent down the Book in truth. Truly those who differ concerning the Book are in extreme schism. ŷ It is not piety to turn your faces toward the east and west. Rather, piety is he who believes in God, the Last Day, the angels, the Book, and the prophets; and who gives wealth, despite loving it, to kinsfolk, orphans, the indigent, the traveler, beggars, and for [the ransom of] slaves; and performs the prayer and gives the alms; and those who fulfill their oaths when they pledge them, and those who are patient in misfortune, hardship, and moments of peril. It is they who are the sincere, and it is they who are the reverent. Ÿ O you who believe! Retribution is prescribed for you in the matter of the slain: freeman for freeman, slave for slave, female for female. But for one who receives any pardon from his brother, let it be observed honorably, and let the restitution be made to him with goodness. That is an alleviation from your Lord, and a mercy. Whosoever transgresses after that shall have a painful punishment. Ź In retribution there is life for you, O possessors of intellect, that haply you may be reverent. ƀ It is prescribed for you, when death approaches one of you and he leaves some good, to make a bequest for parents and kinsfolk in an honorable way—an obligation upon the reverent. Ɓ Then if anyone alters it after hearing it, its sin shall indeed be upon those who alter it. Truly God is Hearing, Knowing. Ƃ But whosoever fears injustice or sin from the testator, and sets matters aright between them, there is no sin upon him. Truly God is Forgiving, Merciful. ƃ O you who believe! Fasting is prescribed for you as it was prescribed for those before you, that haply you may be reverent, Ƅ for days numbered. But if any one of you be ill or on a journey, it is a number of other days, and for those who can bear it, the ransom of feeding an indigent person. Whosoever volunteers good, that is better for him, and to fast is better for you, if you but knew. ƅ The month of Ramadan is that wherein the Quran was sent down as guidance to mankind, as clear proofs of guidance, and as the Criterion. Let him among you who is present fast during that [month]. And whosoever is ill or on a journey, it is a number of other days. God desires ease for you, and He does not desire hardship for you. [It is] so that you may complete the number and magnify God for having guided you, that haply you may give thanks. Ɔ When My servants ask thee about Me, truly I am near. I answer the call of the caller when he calls Me. So let them respond to Me and believe in Me, that they may be led aright. Ƈ You are permitted, on the nights of the fast, to go unto your wives. They are a garment for you, and you are a garment for them. God knew that you were betraying yourselves, so He relented unto you and pardoned you. So now lie with them and seek what God has prescribed for you, and eat and drink until the white thread and the black thread of the dawn become clear to you. Then complete the fast until nightfall and do not lie with them while you are in retreat in the mosques. Those are the limits set by God, so approach them not. Thus does God make clear His signs to mankind, that haply they may be reverent. ƈ And devour not your property among yourselves falsely, nor proffer it to judges that you may knowingly devour a part of people's property sinfully. Ɖ They ask thee about the new moons. Say, "They are markers of time for mankind and for the _ḥ ajj_ _."_ It is not piety that you should come to houses from their rear, but piety is he who is reverent and comes into houses by their doors. So reverence God, that haply you may prosper. Ɛ And fight in the way of God against those who fight against you, but do not transgress. Truly God loves not the transgressors. Ƒ And slay them wheresoever you come upon them, and expel them whence they expelled you, for strife is worse than slaying. But do not fight with them near the Sacred Mosque until they fight with you there. But if they fight you, then slay them. Such is the recompense of the disbelievers. ƒ But if they desist, then truly God is Forgiving, Merciful. Ɠ And fight them until there is no strife, and religion is for God. But if they desist, then there is no enmity save against the wrongdoers. Ɣ The sacred month for the sacred month, and retribution for forbidden things. So whosoever transgresses against you, transgress against him in like manner as he transgressed against you, and reverence God, and know that God is with the reverent. ƕ And spend in the way of God and do not, with your own hands, cast yourselves into ruin. And be virtuous. Truly God loves the virtuous. Ɩ Complete the _ḥ ajj_ and _ʿ umrah_ for God, and if you are hindered, then [make] such offering as is easy. And do not shave your heads until the offering reaches its place of sacrifice. But whosoever among you is ill or has an ailment of his head, then [let there be] a ransom by fasting, charity, or rite. When you are safe, let those who enjoy the _ʿ umrah_ ahead of the _ḥ ajj_ [make] such offering as is easy. Whosoever finds not [the means], let him fast three days during the _ḥ ajj_ _,_ and seven when you return. That is ten altogether. This is for those whose family dwells not near the Sacred Mosque. And reverence God, and know that God is severe in retribution. Ɨ The _ḥ ajj_ is during months well known. Whosoever undertakes the _ḥ ajj_ therein, let there be neither lewdness, nor iniquity, nor quarreling in the _ḥ ajj_. Whatsoever good you do, God knows it. And make provision, for indeed the best provision is reverence. And reverence Me, O possessors of intellect. Ƙ There is no blame upon you in seeking a bounty from your Lord. Then, when you pour out from Arafat, remember God at the sacred ground. And remember Him as He guided you, though formerly you were of those astray. ƙ Then surge onward whence the people surge onward, and ask God for forgiveness. Truly God is Forgiving, Merciful. Ȁ And when you have carried out your rites, remember God as you remember your fathers, or with more ardent remembrance. For among mankind are those who say, "Our Lord, give to us in this world," but have no share in the Hereafter. ȁ But among them are those who say, "Our Lord, give us good in this world and good in the Hereafter, and shield us from the punishment of the Fire!" Ȃ It is they who have a portion from what they have earned, and God is swift in reckoning. ȃ Remember God in days numbered, but whosoever hastens on after two days, no sin shall be upon him, and whosoever delays, no sin shall be upon him—for the reverent. So reverence God, and know that unto Him shall you be gathered. Ȅ And among mankind is he whose talk of the life of this world impresses thee, and he calls God as witness to what is in his heart, though he is the fiercest of adversaries. ȅ And when he turns away he endeavors on the earth to work corruption therein, and to destroy tillage and offspring, but God loves not corruption. Ȇ And when it is said to him, "Reverence God," vainglory seizes him sinfully. Hell suffices him, what an evil resting place! ȇ And among mankind is one who sells his soul seeking God's Good Pleasure, and God is Kind unto His servants. Ȉ O you who believe! Enter into peace all together, and follow not the footsteps of Satan. Truly he is a manifest enemy unto you. ȉ And should you stumble after the clear proofs have come to you, then know that God is Mighty, Wise. Ȑ Do they wait for naught less than that God should come in the shadows of clouds, with the angels, and that the matter should have been decreed? And unto God are all matters returned. ȑ Ask the Children of Israel how many clear proofs We gave them. And whosoever alters the Blessing of God after it has come to him, truly God is severe in retribution. Ȓ The life of this world is made to seem fair unto those who disbelieve, and they ridicule those who believe. But those who are reverent shall be above them on the Day of Resurrection. And God provides for whomsoever He will without reckoning. ȓ Mankind was one community; then God sent the prophets as bearers of glad tidings and as warners. And with them He sent down the Book in truth, to judge among mankind concerning that wherein they differed. And only they who were given it differed concerning it, after clear proofs came to them, out of envy among themselves. Then God guided those who believe to the truth of that wherein they differed, by His Leave. And God guides whomsoever He will unto a straight path. Ȕ Or did you suppose that you would enter the Garden without there having come to you the like of that which came to those who passed away before you? Misfortune and hardship befell them, and they were so shaken that the Messenger and those who believed with him said, "When will God's Help come?" Yea, surely God's Help is near. ȕ They ask thee what they should spend. Say, "Let whatever of your wealth you spend be for parents, kinsfolk, orphans, the indigent, and the traveler. Whatever good you do, truly God knows it." Ȗ Fighting has been prescribed for you, though it is hateful to you. But it may be that you hate a thing though it be good for you, and it may be that you love a thing though it be evil for you. God knows, and you know not. ȗ They ask thee about the sacred month—about fighting therein. Say, "Fighting therein is grave, but turning [others] from the way of God—and disbelieving in Him—and from the Sacred Mosque, and expelling its people, is graver in the sight of God. Strife is graver than slaying." And they will not cease to fight you until they make you renounce your religion, if they are able. Whosoever among you renounces his religion and dies as a disbeliever, their deeds have come to naught in this world and the Hereafter, and they are the inhabitants of the Fire, abiding therein. Ș Truly those who believe and those who emigrate and strive in the way of God—it is they who hope for the Mercy of God. And God is Forgiving, Merciful. ș They ask thee about wine and gambling. Say, "In them there is great sin and [some] benefits for mankind, but their sin is greater than their benefit." They ask thee what they should spend. Say, "What can be spared." Thus does God make clear unto you the signs, that haply you may reflect Ƞ upon this world and the Hereafter. And they ask thee about orphans. Say, "Setting matters aright for them is best. And if you intermingle with them, they are your brothers. And God knows the one who works corruption from one who sets aright, and had God willed, He would have put you to hardship. Truly God is Mighty, Wise." ȡ Marry not idolatresses until they believe. Truly a believing slave woman is better than an idolatress, though she be pleasing to you. And marry none to the idolaters until they believe. Truly a believing slave is better than an idolater, though he should impress you. They are those who call unto the Fire, but God calls unto the Garden and forgiveness, by His leave, and makes clear His signs to mankind, that haply they may remember. Ȣ They ask thee concerning menstruation. Say, "It is a hurt, so keep away from women during menses, and do not approach them until they are purified. And when they are purified, go in unto them in the way God has commanded you." Truly God loves those who repent, and He loves those who purify themselves. ȣ Your women are a tilth to you, so go unto your tilth as you will, but send forth for your souls. And reverence God and know that you shall meet Him, and give glad tidings to the believers. Ȥ And make not God a hindrance, through your oaths, to being pious and reverent and to making peace between people. And God is Hearing, Knowing. ȥ God will not take you to task for carelessness in your oaths. Rather, He will take you to task for what your hearts have earned, and God is Forgiving, Clement. Ȧ Those who forswear their wives shall wait four months. And if they return, God is Forgiving, Merciful. ȧ But if they resolve on divorce, truly God is Hearing, Knowing. Ȩ Divorced women shall wait by themselves for three courses, and it is not lawful for them to conceal what God has created in their wombs, if they believe in God and the Last Day. And their husbands have better right to restore them during that time, if they desire to make peace. [The women] are owed obligations the like of those they owe, in an honorable way. And men have a degree over them, and God is Mighty, Wise. ȩ Divorce is twice; then keep [her] honorably, or release [her] virtuously. It is not lawful for you to take aught from what you have given [your wives], except that the two should fear that they would not uphold the limits set by God. So if you fear that they will not uphold the limits set by God, there is no blame upon the two in what she may give in ransom. These are the limits set by God; so transgress not against them. And whosoever transgresses against the limits set by God, it is they who are the wrongdoers. Ȱ Should he then divorce her, she is no longer lawful for him until she marries a husband other than him. And should he divorce her there is no blame upon the two to return to each other, if they deem that they shall uphold the limits set by God. These are the limits set by God, which He makes clear to a people who know. ȱ And when you have divorced women and they have fulfilled their term, keep them honorably or release them honorably, and do not keep them so as to cause harm and thus transgress. Whosoever does that surely wrongs himself. And do not take God's signs in mockery, and remember God's Blessing upon you, and what He sent down to you of the Book and Wisdom, exhorting you thereby. And reverence God, and know that God is Knower of all things. Ȳ And when you have divorced women and they have fulfilled their term, do not hinder them from marrying their husbands when they have consented to each other honorably. Therewith are counseled those among you who believe in God and the Last Day. That is more virtuous and purer for you. God knows, and you know not. ȳ And let mothers nurse their children two full years, for such as desire to complete the suckling. It falls on the father to provide for them and clothe them honorably. No soul is tasked beyond its capacity. Let no mother be harmed on account of her child, nor father on account of his child. And the like shall fall upon the heir. If the couple desire to wean, by their mutual consent and consultation, there is no blame upon them. And if you wish to have your children wet-nursed, there is no blame upon you if you pay honorably that which you give. And reverence God, and know that God sees whatsoever you do. ȴ And those among you who are taken by death and leave behind wives, let them wait by themselves four months and ten days. And when they have fulfilled their term, then there is no blame upon you in what they do concerning themselves in an honorable way. And God is Aware of whatsoever you do. ȵ And there is no blame upon you in intimating a proposal to [these] women, or in keeping it within yourselves. God knows that you mean to seek them in marriage, but do not pledge your troth with them secretly save that you speak in an honorable way, and resolve not upon the marriage tie until the term prescribed is fulfilled. And know that God knows what is within your souls; so beware of Him, and know that God is Forgiving, Clement. ȶ There is no blame upon you if you divorce women not having touched them or not having designated a bridewealth. But provide for them—the wealthy according to his means, the straitened according to his means—an honorable provision: an obligation upon the virtuous. ȷ And if you divorce them before touching them or designating a bridewealth, then [it shall be] half of what you designated, unless they forgo it or he whose hand holds the marriage tie forgoes. And to forgo is nearer to reverence. Forget not bounteousness among yourselves. Truly God sees whatsoever you do. ȸ Be mindful of your prayers, and the middlemost prayer, and stand before God in devout obedience. ȹ But if you are fearful, then on foot or mounted. Then when you are secure, remember God, as He taught you what you knew not. ɀ And those among you who are taken by death and leave behind wives, [let them] bequeath to their wives provision for the year, without turning them out. But if they leave, there is no blame upon you in that which they do concerning themselves honorably. And God is Mighty, Wise. Ɂ And for divorced women an honorable provision—an obligation upon the reverent. ɂ Thus does God make clear unto you His signs, that haply you may understand. Ƀ Hast thou not seen those who left their homes by the thousands fearing death? Whereupon God said to them, "Die," then revived them. Truly God is Possessed of Bounty for mankind, but most of mankind do not give thanks. Ʉ So fight in the way of God, and know that God is Hearing, Knowing. Ʌ Who shall lend unto God a goodly loan, which He will multiply for him many times over? And God withholds and outstretches, and unto Him shall you be returned. Ɇ Hast thou not seen the assembly of the Children of Israel, after Moses, when they said to a prophet of theirs, "Raise up a king for us, that we may fight in the way of God." He said, "Might it be that, were fighting prescribed for you, you would not fight?" They said, "And why should we not fight in the way of God, having been expelled from our homes and [away from] our children?" Then when fighting was prescribed for them they turned back, save a few among them. And God knows well the wrongdoers. ɇ And their prophet said to them, "Truly God has raised up Saul for you as king." They said, "How shall he have sovereignty over us while we have more right to sovereignty than he, and he has not been given abundance of wealth?" He said, "Truly God has chosen him over you, and has increased him amply in knowledge and body." And God gives His Sovereignty to whomsoever He will, and God is All-Encompassing, Knowing. Ɉ And their prophet said to them, "Truly the sign of his sovereignty shall be that the ark come to you bearing tranquility from your Lord and a remnant left by the House of Moses and the House of Aaron, borne by the angels. Truly in that is a sign for you, if you are believers." ɉ And when Saul set out with the hosts he said, "Truly God will try you with a stream. Whosoever drinks from it is not of me, and whosoever tastes not of it is of me—save one who scoops out a handful." But they drank from it, save a few among them. So when he crossed it, he and those who believed with him, they said, "We have no power today against Goliath and his hosts." Those who deemed they would meet their Lord said, "How many a small company have overcome a large company by God's leave! And God is with the patient." ɐ And when they went forth against Goliath and his hosts they said, "Our Lord, pour patience upon us, make firm our steps, and help us against the disbelieving people." ɑ And they routed them, by God's leave, and David slew Goliath, and God gave him sovereignty and wisdom, and taught him of what He wills. And were it not for God's repelling people, some by means of others, the earth would have been corrupted. But God is Possessed of Bounty for the worlds. ɒ These are God's signs which We recite unto thee in truth, and truly thou art among the messengers. ɓ Those are the messengers. We have favored some above others. Among them are those to whom God spoke, and some He raised up in ranks. And We gave Jesus son of Mary clear proofs and strengthened him with the Holy Spirit. Had God so willed, those who came after them would not have fought one another after the clear proofs had come to them. But they differed: among them were those who believed, and among them were those who disbelieved. And had God so willed, they would not have fought one another. But God does as He wills. ɔ O you who believe! Spend from that which We have provided you before a day comes wherein there shall be neither bargaining, nor friendship, nor intercession. And the disbelievers, they are the wrongdoers. ɕ God, there is no god but He, the Living, the Self-Subsisting. Neither slumber overtakes Him nor sleep. Unto Him belongs whatsoever is in the heavens and whatsoever is on the earth. Who is there who may intercede with Him save by His leave? He knows that which is before them and that which is behind them. And they encompass nothing of His Knowledge, save what He wills. His Pedestal embraces the heavens and the earth. Protecting them tires Him not, and He is the Exalted, the Magnificent. ɖ There is no coercion in religion. Sound judgment has become clear from error. So whosoever disavows false deities and believes in God has grasped the most unfailing handhold, which never breaks. And God is Hearing, Knowing. ɗ God is the Protector of those who believe. He brings them out of the darkness into the light. As for those who disbelieve, their protectors are the idols, bringing them out of the light into the darkness. They are the inhabitants of the Fire, abiding therein. ɘ Hast thou not considered him who disputed with Abraham about his Lord because God had given him sovereignty? When Abraham said, "My Lord gives life and causes death," he said, "I give life and cause death." Abraham said, "Truly God brings the sun from the east. Bring it, then, from the west." Thus was he who disbelieved confounded. And God guides not wrongdoing people. ə Or [think of] the like of him who passed by a town as it lay fallen upon its roofs. He said, "How shall God give life to this after its death?" So God caused him to die for a hundred years, then raised him up. He said, "How long hast thou tarried?" He said, "I tarried a day or part of a day." He said, "Nay, thou hast tarried a hundred years. Look, then, at thy food and thy drink—they have not spoiled. And look at thy donkey. And [this was done] that We may make thee a sign for mankind. And look at the bones, how We set them up, then clothe them with flesh." When it became clear to him he said, "I know that God has power over all things." ɠ And when Abraham said, "My Lord, show me how Thou givest life to the dead," He said, "Dost thou not believe?" He said, "Yea, indeed, but so that my heart may be at peace." He said, "Take four birds and make them be drawn to thee. Then place a piece of them on every mountain. Then call them: they will come to thee in haste. And know that God is Mighty, Wise." ɡ The parable of those who spend their wealth in the way of God is that of a grain that grows seven ears, in every ear a hundred grains. And God multiplies for whomsoever He will, and God is All-Encompassing, Knowing. ɢ Those who spend their wealth in the way of God and then follow not what they spent with preening or injury shall have their reward with their Lord, and no fear shall come upon them, nor shall they grieve. ɣ An honorable word and forgiveness are better than an act of charity followed by injury. And God is Self-Sufficient, Clement. ɤ O you who believe! Do not annul your acts of charity through preening and injury, like he who spends his wealth to be seen of men and believes not in God and the Last Day. His parable is that of a smooth rock with dust upon it: a downpour strikes it, and leaves it barren. They have no power over anything of what they earned. And God guides not the disbelieving people. ɥ And the parable of those who spend their wealth seeking God's Good Pleasure, and out of a confirmation in their souls, is that of a garden upon a hill: a downpour strikes it, and brings forth its fruit twofold. And if a downpour strikes it not, then a soft rain. And God sees whatsoever you do. ɦ Would any one of you wish to have a garden of date palms and grapevines with rivers running below, partaking therein of every kind of fruit, old age then befalling him while he had weakly progeny, and a whirlwind with fire then befalling it, such that it is consumed? Thus does God make clear unto you the signs, that haply you may reflect. ɧ O you who believe! Spend of the good things you have earned and of that which We have brought forth for you from the earth, and seek not the bad, spending of it though you would not take it without shutting your eyes to it. And know that God is Self-Sufficient, Praised. ɨ Satan threatens you with poverty and commands you to indecency. And God promises you forgiveness from Him, and bounty. And God is All-Encompassing, Knowing. ɩ He grants wisdom to whomsoever He will. And whosoever is granted wisdom has been granted much good. Yet none remember save the possessors of intellect. ɰ And whatever sum you spend, or vow you vow, truly God knows it. And the wrongdoers shall have no helpers. ɱ If you disclose your acts of charity, that is well. But if you hide them and give to the poor, that is better for you, and will acquit you of some of your evil deeds. And God is Aware of whatsoever you do. ɲ Thou art not tasked with their guidance, but God guides whomsoever He will. Whatever good you spend, it is for yourselves, when you spend only seeking the Face of God. And whatever good you spend shall be paid to you in full, and you shall not be wronged. ɳ [It is] for the poor who are constrained in the way of God, who are not able to travel the earth. The ignorant one supposes them to be wealthy because of their restraint. Thou knowest them by their mark: they do not ask of people importunately. And whatever good you spend, truly God knows it. ɴ Those who spend their wealth by night and by day, secretly and openly, shall have their reward with their Lord. No fear shall come upon them, nor shall they grieve. ɵ Those who devour usury shall not rise except as one rises who is felled by the touch of Satan. That is because they say, "Buying and selling are simply like usury," though God has permitted buying and selling and forbidden usury. One who, after receiving counsel from his Lord, desists shall have what is past and his affair goes to God. And as for those who go back, they are the inhabitants of the Fire, abiding therein. ɶ God blights usury and causes acts of charity to grow. And God loves not any sinful ingrate. ɷ Truly those who believe, perform righteous deeds, maintain the prayer, and give the alms shall have their reward with their Lord. No fear shall come upon them, nor shall they grieve. ɸ O you who believe! Reverence God, and leave what remains of usury, if you are believers. ɹ And if you do not, then take notice of a war from God and His Messenger. If you repent, you shall have the principal of your wealth, and you shall neither wrong nor be wronged. ʀ And if one is in difficult circumstances, let there be a respite until there is ease, and it is better for you to give [it] as charity, if you but knew. ʁ And be mindful of a day when you shall be returned to God. Then every soul will be paid in full for what it earned, and they shall not be wronged. ʂ O you who believe! When you contract a debt with one another for a term appointed, write it down. And let a scribe write between you justly, and let not any scribe refuse to write as God taught him. So let him write, and let the debtor dictate, and let him reverence God his Lord, and diminish nothing from it. And if the debtor is feeble-minded or is weak, or is unable to dictate himself, then let his guardian dictate justly. And call to witness two witnesses from among your men, and if there are not two men, then a man and two women from among those whom you approve as witnesses, so that if one of the two errs, the other can remind her. Let not the witnesses refuse when they are called, and be not averse to write it down, small or great, with its term. That is more equitable with God, more sure for the testimony, and more likely to keep you from doubt. Unless it is trade of present goods that you transact between yourselves: then there is no blame upon you not to write it. And take witnesses when you buy and sell between yourselves. And let neither scribe nor witness be harmed. Were you to do that, it would be iniquitous of you. And reverence God. God teaches you, and God is Knower of all things. ʃ And if you are on a journey and cannot find a scribe, then let there be a pledge in hand. And if one of you trusts the other, let him who is trusted deliver his trust, and let him reverence God his Lord. And conceal not the testimony. Whosoever conceals it, truly his heart is sinful. And God knows whatsoever you do. ʄ Unto God belongs whatsoever is in the heavens and whatsoever is on the earth. And whether you disclose what is in your souls or hide it, God will bring you to account for it. He forgives whomsoever He will, and punishes whomsoever He will, and God is Powerful over all things. ʅ The Messenger believes in what was sent down to him from his Lord, as do the believers. Each believes in God, His angels, His Books, and His messengers. "We make no distinction between any of His messengers." And they say, "We hear and obey. Thy forgiveness, our Lord! And unto Thee is the journey's end." ʆ God tasks no soul beyond its capacity. It shall have what it has earned and be subject to what it has perpetrated. "Our Lord, take us not to task if we forget or err! Our Lord, lay not upon us a burden like Thou laid upon those before us. Our Lord, impose not upon us that which we have not the strength to bear! And pardon us, forgive us, and have mercy upon us! Thou art our Master, so help us against the disbelieving people."

## Commentary

¡ _Alif. Lām. Mīm._

1 Of the 114 _sūrah_ s of the Quran, 29 begin with individual letters of the Arabic alphabet. In this translation these letters are transliterated as recited (e.g., _alif_ is the name of the first letter of the Arabic alphabet), although in other translations the corresponding Latin letters are used (e.g., A, L, M, which correspond phonetically to _alif, lām, mīm_ ). In recitation the names of the letters are used, not their sounds. Also, some letter names have two forms, e.g., _rā_ and _rā ʾ._ The Quran uses the former, the commentary, the latter.

The individual letters are one of the most enigmatic features of the Quran and have been a subject of debate and speculation among Muslims since the revelation of the Quran. It is reported by many Quran commentators that Abū Bakr, the first Caliph, said, "Every book has a mystery ( _sirr_ ), and the mystery of the Quran is the beginnings of the _sūrah_ s." ʿAlī, the fourth Caliph, is reported to have said, "Every book has a quintessence ( _ṣ afwah_), and the quintessence of this Book is the spelled-out letters." Al-Rāzī discusses the metaphor of a great sea, which leads to a river, which leads to streams, which lead to rivulets; if the rivulet was made to carry all the water of the stream or the riverbed the entire contents of the sea, it would be overwhelmed and destroyed. He mentions the verse _He sends down water from the sky, so that the riverbeds flow according to their measure_ (13:17). He further reports the saying: "The learned have a secret, the vicegerents ( _khulafā ʾ_) have a secret, the prophets have a secret, the angels have a secret, and beyond all of that God has a secret. If the ignorant came to know the secret of the learned, they would destroy them. If the learned came to know the secret of the vicegerents, they would break away from them. If the vicegerents came to know the secret of the prophets, they would oppose them. If the prophets came to know the secret of the angels, they would indict them. If the angels knew the secret of God they would fall down in bewilderment and pass away into ruin." The commentator Ibn ʿAjībah is of the opinion that "only the elite of the greatest Friends of God ( _awliyā ʾ_) know the secrets of these letters."

These sayings speak to the position that there are ineffable realities known only to some, and that the individual letters may be one of those mysteries whose true meaning is largely hidden, but not entirely so. Many theologians have objected to the notion that any part of the Quran is unknowable to people, adducing verses that describe the Quran as a _clear Book_ (5:15) or _Wise Book_ (10:1) and as a _guidance_ (2:2) in _clear, Arabic tongue_ (16:103). Moreover, if there were no way to gain knowledge of the Book, it would be as if one addressed Arabs in a language incomprehensible to them (R). The question of knowing the inner meaning of the Quran is discussed in detail in 3:7c.

Al-Rāzī tries for a compromise position by noting that, although we can know the wisdom in certain kinds of legislation, such as the prohibitions against alcohol and gambling, there are other actions required by religion whose wisdom we do not know, such as some of the rituals of the _ḥ ajj_ (pilgrimage; see 2:196c). The part of the Quran that we cannot understand is analogous to those actions whose underlying wisdom we do not know; we perform them with trust and faithfulness, but without the transparency available to us in other aspects of religious practice. We allow them to remain mysteries, and al-Rāzī argues that this can have the positive effect of keeping one's heart oriented beyond the world and beyond what one already knows.

Many of the interpretations see the letters as abbreviations that may represent Names or Qualities of God, phrases, or names of other objects. In this _sūrah,_ some offer the interpretation that the _alif_ stands for _Allāh, lām_ for _Jibrīl_ (Gabriel), and _mīm_ for _Mu ḥammad,_ symbolizing the descent of revelation from God through Gabriel to the Prophet. Another interpretation states that the _alif_ represents the origin of sound, the _lām_ represents the middle of it, since it is produced in the mouth, and the _mīm_ represents the consummation of sound, since it is produced on the lips. Others see the individual letters as representing the names of _sūrah_ s, as is recognized universally in the case of _Yā Sīn, Ṣad, Nūn,_ and _Qāf,_ although other _sūrah_ s with individual letters bear other names, such as _al-Baqarah_ and _Āl ʿImrān_. Still others, like followers of the Islamic science called _al-jafr_ (a kind of esoteric commentary akin to gematria in Hebrew), base interpretations on the numerical symbolism and value of the letters, since each Arabic letter has a corresponding numerical value (e.g., _alif_ is 1, _lām_ is 30, and _mīm_ is 40).

Some have seen the letters as signals that the Book is made up of these letters and that they can be seen as an oath, as is so common in the Quran, such as in _Sūrah_ 91, whose first seven verses start with God swearing an oath by created things. In the case of the letters, God would thus be swearing by the letters that make up the Quran, just as He swears by some objects of the world of creation. At a deeper level of meaning, the letters, in their multifarious forms, sounds, and loci of pronunciation in the mouth and throat, symbolize God's Creative Act. In the same way that the letters and sounds make up words that make up the Book, the manifestation and interplay of God's Names and Qualities make up creation. In this vein many Sufis have spoken of creation as "the Breath of the Compassionate" manifesting God's Names and Qualities.

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* This is the Book in which there is no doubt, a guidance for the reverent,

2 This verse could also be read, "This is the Book, without doubt containing a guidance for the reverent." One can pause after _Book_ or _doubt,_ but not both. Though usually understood as _This,_ the initial pronoun could also be read as "That" ("That is the Book"), which would be correct in referring to the known portion of the Quran (R). Since _al-Baqarah_ was revealed in Madinah, a good deal of the Quran would have been revealed already, even though in the order of the text only the _Fāti ḥah_ precedes it. Alternately, some have mentioned the possibility that "That" refers to the Quran inscribed on the _Preserved Tablet_ (see 85:22). _The Book_ is used as a proper name for the Quran, among others such as _the Criterion_ ( _al-Furqān;_ see 25:1).

_Reverent_ translates _muttaqīn,_ which comes from the central Quranic concept of _taqwā,_ rendered in this translation as _reverence. Taqwā_ comes from the root _w-q-y,_ which evokes the sense of wariness, care, and protection. As it concerns the attitude of human beings toward God, _taqwā_ conveys the sense of fear, mindfulness, and a constant awareness of God's Presence and Power. As evidenced in this verse and many others (such as 49:13: _Surely the most noble of you before God are the most reverent of you_ ), reverence is a central spiritual virtue in the Quran along with such other qualities as trust ( _tawakkul_ ), hope ( _rajā ʾ_), piety ( _birr_ ), fear ( _khawf_ ), and contentment ( _ri ḍā_).

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+ who believe in the Unseen and perform the prayer and spend from that which We have provided them,

3 _Unseen_ ( _ghayb,_ lit. "absent") refers to realities absent from the perception of the ordinary senses, such realities as God, Paradise, Hell, and the Day of Judgment. These include realities that are invisible in principle because they are beyond ordinary sense perception, such as God, as well as those that are part of the Unseen because they cannot be known except by God, such as the time of the Day of Judgment.

_Perform_ in _perform the prayer_ can also be read as "institute," "establish," or "maintain." In the Quran the word for "prayer," _ṣ alāh,_ is used in at least two ways, one referring to what believers offer to God and the other to the invocation of blessing, as in 33:56, where believers are commanded to make _ṣ alāh_ ( _invoke blessings_ ) upon the Prophet. _Ṣ alāh_ has taken on a technical sense when used for the recitations and movements proper to the five daily canonical prayers, but it also refers to prayer more generally, as in 19:31, where Jesus says that God has _enjoined upon_ him _prayer,_ or 20:14, where Moses is also commanded to _perform the prayer_.

_Spend_ ( _infāq_ ) means to "expend," but also carries the sense of giving charitably and is used throughout the Quran for those who give in the way of God (for similar wording, see 8:3; 14:31; 22:35; 28:54; 32:16). This parallels the even more frequent pairing of the prayer ( _ṣ alāh_) and alms ( _zakāh_ ). The passage can be seen as moving from an inward act whose object is invisible and hidden (faith in the Unseen), to an act that is both visible and invisible (prayer) but whose object is invisible (God), to an outward act whose object is visible (giving from what one has been given), thereby establishing principles for both the inner and the outer life as well as their source and connection. There is thus in this verse a gradation from the inward to the outward.

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J and who believe in what was sent down unto thee, and what was sent down before thee, and who are certain of the Hereafter.

4 In this verse it is the Prophet who is addressed in the second-person singular, always rendered _thou_ or _thee_ in this translation. A question arises: does the _and_ at the start of the verse continue the description of the believers from v. 3, or does v. 4 refer to a different group of people, requiring a translation of "And those who believe . . ." such that v. 5 then describes the status of the believers of v. 4, not v. 3? One understanding of this passage is that v. 3 refers to the believers among the Arabs (presumably specifically Muslim believers who are neither Christian nor Jewish), while v. 4 refers to the believers among the People of the Book who had previously believed in earlier revelations and now believe in the Prophet (Ṭ; see also 98:1–8, where a similar distinction is made). But v. 3 and v. 4 can also be understood more generally as two descriptions of one group; namely, _the reverent_. See also 3:199, which mentions People of the Book who believe in what was sent down to them and to the Prophet.

For a discussion of the Islamic view of different revelations, see 2:62c, 5:69c, and the essay "The Quranic View of Sacred History and Other Religions." For the Hereafter, see the essay "Death, Dying, and the Afterlife in the Quran."

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Z It is they who act upon guidance from their Lord, and it is they who shall prosper.

5 The term rendered _they who shall prosper_ ( _mufli ḥūn_) is related to _falā ḥ,_ meaning prosperity, thriving, or success, and is etymologically linked to "cultivation." Though sometimes rendered "salvation," _falā ḥ_ is generally not the concept used to differentiate between the "saved" and "unsaved" or "damned" as typically understood in Christianity. It is an idea that appears in the call to prayer ( _adhān_ ), where the caller recites, after the _takbīr_ ( _Allāh_ u _akbar_ ) and the _shahādah,_ "Come to _ṣ alāh_ (prayeru), come to _falā ḥ_ (prosperity or salvation)."

***

j Truly it is the same for the disbelievers whether thou warnest them or warnest them not; they do not believe.

6 Grammatically _they do not believe_ could also be read "they will not believe." The reference to prophets as warners ( _nadhīr_ ) is an important motif in the Quran. For similar verses where warnings and guidance are said to be of no avail to disbelievers, see 7:193; 26:136; 36:10; 63:6.

***

z God has sealed their hearts and their hearing. Upon their eyes is a covering, and theirs is a great punishment.

7 In the Quran the heart ( _qalb_ ) is the organ associated not only with sentiment, but also with consciousness, knowledge, and faith (48:4). For example, the heart is the locus of the Divine Revelation to the Prophet (2:97); it can be veiled to prevent understanding (6:25; 17:46), covered with rust (83:14), or hardened (2:74); it can fail to understand (7:179; 22:46), be confounded along with sight (6:110), or go blind (22:46). For other verses mentioning hearts being sealed, see 6:46; 7:100–101; 9:87, 93; 10:74; 16:108; 18:57.

This verse explicitly states that God seals unbelievers' hearts and hearing and covers their sight, preventing them from believing despite the Prophet's warnings and overall message. This is related to 2:10, where God _increased them in disease_ in their hearts. This can be possibly understood in a predestinarian sense, according to which one's faith or lack thereof is not a product of one's human will, but of God's prior Command. But it can also be understood as spiritual reward or punishment, making the seal a consequence rather than a cause. _And whosoever is granted wisdom has been granted much good_ (2:269) shows that spiritual understanding is a good in its own right and lack of understanding is an evil in its own right; hence the exhortation in 20:114: _Say, "My Lord! Increase me in knowledge!"_

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{ Among mankind are those who say, "We believe in God and in the Last Day," though they do not believe.

8 _Those_ in this verse are the hypocrites ( _munāfiqūn_ ), referring originally to a group of people in and around Madinah who pretended to be Muslims, but at times collaborated with the disbelievers, or who were lukewarm in their faith to the point of inaction. But it also refers to such people in general wherever and whenever they might live. For a discussion of the hypocrites, see commentary on 63:1–8.

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| They would deceive God and the believers; yet they deceive none but themselves, though they are unaware.

9 For a similar attempt to deceive God, see 4:142: _Verily the hypocrites seek to deceive God, but it is God Who deceives them._ The idea of God's "plotting" or "scheming" overcoming the plotting and scheming of the disbelievers and hypocrites appears in several places in the Quran (e.g., 10:21; 13:42; 14:46; 16:26; 27:50).

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Ċ In their hearts is a disease, and God has increased them in disease. Theirs is a painful punishment for having lied.

10 The _disease_ is usually understood to refer to doubt, hence a spiritual sickness (see 2:7; 24:50). Although some read _having lied_ ( _yakdhibūn_ ) as "having denied" ( _yukadhdhibūn_ ), 63:1, which rebukes the hypocrites for lying, lends support to the former (Ṭ).

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Ě And when it is said unto them, "Do not work corruption upon the earth," they say, "We are only working righteousness."

Ī Nay, it is they who are the workers of corruption, though they are unaware.

11–12 To spread or create _corruption_ ( _fasād_ ) is a major theme in the Quran, the opposite of which is often "setting things aright" or "making amends" ( _i ṣlāḥ_); see 30:41c. The identity of the speaker of _Do not work corruption ._ . . is open and could be the Prophet himself, a group of believers, or perhaps even some victim of corruption who says this phrase to the corrupters in rebuke (R). Ibn ʿAbbās and others state that _corruption upon the earth_ (or alternately "corruption in the land") refers to open disobedience against God. It can also be seen as the result of such disobedience (47:22). One interpretation, attributed to the prominent Companion Salmān al-Fārsī, states that the people to whom this passage refers have not yet come (Ṭ), an explanation that the commentators accept (Ṭ, IK) in the sense that this verse does not restrict the descriptions of hypocrisy and iniquity to the Prophet's contemporaries. Some contemporary Muslims interpret the destruction of the natural environment to be one of the central meanings of these verses.

To work _righteousness_ ( _mu ṣliḥ_) means to set things right or put them in a state of righteousness, but is not to be confused with "reform" in the modern sense. The response _we are only working righteousness_ can mean either that they believed that they were actually doing so and their own practice of religion was correct, or that they were acting in their self-interest in trying to bridge the gap between believers and the disbelievers (R). According to this latter interpretation, their lukewarm (at best) commitment, rather than being a fault, makes them peacemakers between the two warring sides, offering compromise rather than conflict.

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ĺ When it is said unto them, "Believe as the people believe," they say, "Shall we believe as fools believe?" Nay, it is they who are the fools, though they know not.

13 By _fools_ the speakers are referring to the Companions of the Prophet, but the more universal interpretation applied to 2:11 sees this as a general attitude of rejection of faith. Some commentators have said that the ignorant knew that the believers were those of intelligence, but called them fools to attempt to show themselves to be more knowledgeable.

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Ŋ And when they meet those who believe they say, "We believe," but when they are alone with their satans they say, "We are with you. We were only mocking."

14 The occasion given for this revelation involves a hypocrite who boasted to his companions, "Watch how I divert these fools from you." After having heaped praise upon some Companions of the Prophet, he returned to his own companions and said, "When you see them, do as I do." When the Companions returned to the Prophet to tell him, this verse was revealed, exposing the intentions of the hypocrites (IK).

_Satans_ ( _shayā ṭīn_) is the plural of _shay ṭān,_ which in the singular usually refers to Satan. Here it is usually understood to mean the hypocrites' leaders, fellow hypocrites, disbelievers, or inner demons. At times in the Quran _shayā ṭīn_ refers not only to otherworldly creatures, but also to human beings, as in 6:112: _Thus have We made for every prophet an enemy—satans from among mankind and jinn._

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Ś God mocks them, and leaves them to wander confused in their rebellion.

15 The issue of whether mockery or ridicule (cf. 9:79) is properly attributable to God is addressed by commentators. Some point out that the disbelievers bring ridicule upon themselves as recompense, not that it originates in God (Q, Ṭ); others say that the disgrace and ignominy with which God afflicts disbelievers and in which He leaves them to continue for a long time is tantamount to mockery (R). _Wander confused in their rebellion_ also appears in 6:110; 7:186; 10:11; 23:75. _Rebellion_ ( _Ṭ ughyān_) is related to the verb _ṭ aghā,_ which has the sense of trespassing beyond a limit, and is attributed to disbelievers in general and to Pharaoh in particular (20:24; 79:17).

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Ū It is they who have purchased error at the price of guidance. Their commerce has not brought them profit, and they are not rightly guided.

16 Here _purchased_ can be understood as "preferred," as in 41:17, _they preferred blindness to guidance_ (Ṭ, R, Q), which conforms to an Arabic usage of _shirā ʾ_ (usually "purchasing"), though this reading is made less likely by the mention of _commerce_ ( _tijārah_ ). Such language relating buying and selling to spiritual matters is also found in 2:86; 2:175; 3:177.

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ź Their parable is that of one who kindled a fire, and when it lit up what was around him, God took away their light, and left them in darkness, unseeing.

17 For the spiritual dimensions of light and light symbolism in the Quran, see 24:35c. On a worldly level and in relation to the hypocrites, the light is understood by some to refer to the _shahādah,_ the declaration of faith that provides the hypocrite "light" by which to eat, marry, and find protection, since membership in the Islamic community grants one certain legal and social rights and protections. But this "light" is taken away at death when the hypocrisy is unmasked (Ṭ).

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Ɗ Deaf, dumb, and blind, they return not.

18 When recited aloud in Arabic, _deaf, dumb, and blind_ ( _ṣ ummun bukmun ʿumyun_) is startlingly evocative, in its very sound, of this deafness, dumbness, and blindness (cf. 2:171; 17:97). Deafness and blindness are mentioned frequently in the Quran (e.g., 5:71; 6:25; 6:39; 10:42–43) and refer to spiritual insensibility. The commentators mention the good, the truth, and guidance as realities lost to those so described (Ṭ). They _return not_ to guidance (2:16) or to Islam, as this likely refers to the hypocrites; or they do not repent and take heed.

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ƚ Or a cloudburst from the sky, in which there is darkness, thunder, and lightning. They put their fingers in their ears against the thunderclaps, fearing death. And God encompasses the disbelievers.

19 _Or_ indicates a continuation from _their parable_ in v. 17. Some commentators (Ṭ) mention a tradition from Ibn ʿAbbās that the Prophet, when asked, said that _al-ra ʿd_ ( _thunder_ ) is the name of an angel in the clouds, while others see this as an invalid and gratuitous attribution, since the word _ra ʿd_ as "thunder" was well known to Arabs (cf. 13:13; Q). _Samā ʾ_ (pl. _samāwāt_ ), here _sky,_ is also translated "Heaven," "firmament," or even "ceiling" depending on its context.

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Ȋ The lightning all but snatches away their sight. Whenever it shines for them, they walk therein, and when darkness comes over them, they halt. Had God willed, He would have taken away their hearing and their sight. Truly God is Powerful over all things.

20 See 2:17c.

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! O mankind! Worship your Lord, Who created you, and those who were before you, that haply you may be reverent:

21 _That haply_ ( _la ʿalla_) occurs frequently in the Quran and is sometimes rendered "that perchance" or "that someone might." It can be seen to present a theological problem, as it implies anxiety or hope, qualities usually associated only with creatures. Some solve this matter by saying that the hope of God is tantamount to a promise, as nothing could stand in its way (Z), or that the hope is connected to the subject of the statement, not to God.

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" He Who made for you the earth a place of repose and the sky a canopy, and sent water from the sky by which He brought forth fruits for your provision. So do not set up equals unto God, knowingly.

22 It is reported that the Prophet was asked, "O Messenger of God, what is the greatest sin in the Sight of God?" and he replied, "To set up equals to God, though He created you." _Fruits_ ( _thamarāt_ ) here is understood in both the most general sense of natural produce that can be used for food and the symbolic sense of spiritual sustenance for the soul. Earth and sky imagery similar to that mentioned in this verse can be found in 21:31–32; 50:6–7; 79:27–31.

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# If you are in doubt concerning what We have sent down unto Our servant, then bring a _sūrah_ like it, and call your witnesses apart from God if you are truthful.

23 _Our servant_ refers to the Prophet. The _i ʿjāz_ ("inimitability" or "power to incapacitate [arguments against it]") of the Quran (a term not used in reference to the Quran in the text itself) stems from its intrinsic beauty, clarity, eloquence, and levels of meaning. Similar challenges to produce something like the Quran are made in 10:38; 11:13; 17:88. The Quran is the central miracle ( _mu ʿjizah,_ from _i ʿjāz_) of Islam in that it "incapacitates" challengers' arguments against it, as miracles do in general. That the Prophet was "unlettered" (see 7:157c) forms the background of this challenge. This verse is Madinan, though other similar challenges had been revealed in Makkah. See the essay "Obstacles Faced in the Translation of the Quran."

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$ And if you do not, and you will not, then be mindful of the Fire whose fuel is men and stones, which is prepared for the disbelievers.

24 The _stones_ are usually taken to be sulfur or the idols (2:22) worshipped by the polytheists (IK; cf. 22:6). The structure ( _if you do not, and you will not_ ) shows that the conditional _if_ is not an expression of uncertainty in the case of God, any more than _la ʿalla_ expresses anxiety (see 2:21c). It conveys a certainty rather than a contingency.

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% And give glad tidings to those who believe and perform righteous deeds that theirs are Gardens with rivers running below. Whensoever they are given a fruit therefrom as provision, they say, "This is the provision we received aforetime," and they were given a likeness of it. Therein they have spouses made pure, and therein they shall abide.

25 _With rivers running below_ does not mean that the water is underground (as such a translation might suggest), but simply that the water flows lower than the vegetation of the Garden (Ṭ), which contrasts sharply with water in a desert, which is typically not above ground and almost never flows along the ground. Others understand it to mean that that rivers run "through" ( _min khilāl_ ) such Gardens (Z) or simply that such Gardens have water in them, similar to the way one says a garden has grapes or olives (R). Such paradisal descriptions depict the joys of the Garden in concrete terms that reflect the ecstatic and rapturous joys experienced on a much lower level in the blessings given to human beings on earth. Far from being nonspiritual, they express in vivid and concrete terms the highest spiritual realities.

_Aforetime_ refers to this world ( _dunyā_ ) as opposed to the Hereafter ( _ākhirah_ ). The usual question of how earthly creatures can conceive of heavenly rewards is turned around, and this verse speaks from the point of view of a dweller of Paradise who is remembering the world, though some mention the possibility that this refers to fruits tasted in the Garden after death, not before in this world (Z, Q, Al). Most think that _This is the provision_ refers to an identity in kind, rather than the very same objects. Some think the _likeness_ ( _mutashābih_ ) means similarity in appearance with a difference in taste; or that all the fruit of Paradise is of the choicest kind, with none of inferior quality; or that rather than being a comparison, the statement of the dweller of Paradise is an expression of wonderment, since there is nothing in common between this world and the Hereafter besides the names of things (IK). The commentators note the wisdom, from the point of view of someone in this life, in the fact that Paradise contains familiar objects. But this verse also adds the perspective of the dweller of Paradise, showing that the life of this world is not forgotten in the Hereafter, though its bitterness is gone, as evidenced by the frequent description in the Quran of those in Paradise: _No fear shall come upon them, nor shall they grieve_ (2:62). For a more far-reaching sense of _mutashābih,_ see 3:7c.

The _spouses made pure_ mentioned here are said to be free from injury as well as from menstruation, excreta, and bodily functions considered distasteful and unpleasant, and though reproductive functions are mentioned in the commentaries, sexual purity or virginity is not associated with this verse by the major commentators.

_Therein they shall abide_ and variants of it are a common refrain in the Quran, describing the inhabitants of both Paradise and Hell. Lexically _khālid_ ("abiding") has the sense of something that stays, which as a promise from God is equivalent to an enduring or everlasting presence. However, sometimes _khālid_ is supplemented with phrases such as _forever_ (4:57; 4:122; 4:169; 5:119; 9:100; 72:23; 98:8) and _save as thy Lord wills_ (11:108; cf. 6:128). For the perpetuity and/or eternity of the posthumous states, see the essay "Death, Dying, and the Afterlife in the Quran."

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& Truly God is not ashamed to set forth a parable of a gnat or something smaller. As for those who believe, they know it is the truth from their Lord, and as for those who disbelieve, they say, "What did God mean by this parable?" He misleads many by it, and He guides many by it, and He misleads none but the iniquitous.

26 It is said that this verse was revealed either when the hypocrites objected that God would not employ such parables—namely, those directed against them in vv. 17–20; or when a group of Jews scoffed at the notion that God would use a fly (22:73) or spider (29:41) in a parable; or when idolaters brought these same objections. _Or something smaller_ ( _fawqahā_ ), which is often understood literally to mean "above that," can also be understood as "something beyond that" in its lowliness (R).

The verse implies that the very same message can both guide and mislead, which is something rather different from simply being ignored. According to this understanding, by being denied the parable (and presumably other Divine teachings) is not neutralized for disbelievers, but places them farther astray. This echoes the previous verses in which God seals the hearts and perception of disbelievers. Being _iniquitous_ ( _fāsiq_ ) makes the truth for the denier into something other than the truth, which is to say that one's moral quality decides, at least in part, one's level of understanding. Those who are misled and labeled _the iniquitous_ here are generally considered to be the hypocrites (Ṭ).

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' Those who break God's Pact after accepting His Covenant, and sever what God has commanded be joined, and work corruption upon the earth, it is they who are the losers.

27 The _Covenant_ mentioned in this verse is understood as the general obligation of human beings to acknowledge God's Oneness and worship Him (IK) as understood in the pre-eternal covenant between God and human beings (7:172); or it refers to _And they swore by God their most solemn oaths that, were a warner to come unto them, they would be more rightly guided than any of the communities_ (35:42), which means the Arabs before the coming of the Prophet (R); or it refers to a specific covenant made with the People of the Book. See the essay "The Quranic View of Sacred History and Other Religions." Some say that _what God has commanded be joined_ refers to blood ties, whose importance and maintenance as commanded by God appears elsewhere in the Quran: _Reverence . . . family relations_ ( _ar ḥām;_ 4:1); _But family relations have the strongest claim on one another in the Book of God_ (8:75); _Family relations are closer to one another, according to the Book of God_ (33:6); _Were you to turn away, would you perchance work corruption upon the earth and break your family relations?_ (47:22). Others consider it to include any such Divine Command to keep things joined (IK). Some mention in this context that not only the Arabs had blood ties to the Prophet; the Jews did also, since Isaac and Ishmael (the progenitor of the Arabs) were brothers. The _losers_ are such in the sense of being bereft of something; _khāsir_ can also denote "being lost" in the sense of losing one's way or losing one's self.

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( How can you disbelieve in God, seeing that you were dead and He gave you life; then He causes you to die; then He gives you life; then unto Him shall you be returned?

28 The four stages mentioned here are before birth, during earthly life, earthly death, and resurrection. (See also 40:11: _They will say, "Our Lord, Thou hast caused us to die twice over, and given us life twice over."_ ) The initial lifelessness (lit. "dead") is understood either as one's "existence" in the material stuff of the body, literally in the loins of one's parents or the dust of the earth, or as the state of being _a thing unremembered_ (76:1) or "unknown" in that a thing is called "dead" among the Arabs when its traces are effaced and it is not "mentioned" or "remembered" ( _madhkūr,_ Ṭ). In either case, it refers to our "nonexistence" before our life in this world. Someone like the Sufi mystic Ibn ʿArabī (d. 638/1240) would understand the "lifelessness" of our pre-earthly condition to be a state of nonmanifestation within God's Knowledge as opposed to nothingness in the ordinary sense of this term. That to which life is first given would thus be that form ( _ṣ ūrah_) in God's eternal Knowledge.

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) He it is Who created for you all that is on the earth. Then He turned to Heaven and fashioned it into seven heavens, and He is Knower of all things.

29 For God's creation of things _for_ human beings, see also 16:5; 16:13; 26:166. This idea also relates to God's making creation subservient to human beings as in 22:65; 31:20; 45:13. _Turned to_ translates the verb _istawā,_ which is also rendered "mounted" in other contexts; see also 7:54; 10:3; 20:5; 25:59; 32:4; 57:4. For the seven heavens, also see 41:12, where the context is the six days of creation; 67:3, in which they are _one upon another;_ 65:12, which also mentions the creation _from the earth the like thereof—_ that is, earths upon earths; the early Quran commentator Mujāhid (d. 104/722–23) mentions "heavens above one other" and "earths above one another"; and 71:15, which also mentions the "levels" of heavens.

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Ð And when thy Lord said to the angels, "I am placing a vicegerent upon the earth," they said, "Wilt Thou place therein one who will work corruption therein, and shed blood, while we hymn Thy praise and call Thee Holy?" He said, "Truly I know what you know not."

30 _Vicegerent_ renders _khalīfah,_ a word that can also mean "successor" or "deputy," hence _khalīfat rasūl Allāh,_ or "successor/steward of God's Messenger," shortened to _khalīfah_ (anglicized as "caliph"). In some verses, such as here and 6:165, _khalīfah_ appears to denote a universal human inheritance and responsibility, since all human beings are in their inner reality the _khalīfah_ of God. In others, the sense of "successor" comes to the fore (e.g., 7:69, which refers to _vicegerents after the people of Noah_ ). See also 7:74; 10:14; 10:73; 27:62; 35:39. At another level of interpretation, some commentators say that _khalīfah_ comes from _khalafa_ ("to come after") and means that human beings come after all creatures and all grades of being are summarized in the human state.

Ibn ʿAbbās is reported to have said that Iblīs was a member of a tribe of angels called _al- ḥinn_ (a word related to _jinn_ ), was named al-Ḥārith, and was a custodian of Paradise. All the angels were created from light, except this tribe, which was created from "smokeless fire" (cf. 55:15). The first to inhabit the earth were the jinn, who caused corruption there and spilled blood. Then God sent Iblīs among that host of angels called _al- ḥinn_. Iblīs and his compatriots killed them and sent them off to the islands of the sea and the edges of the mountains. He was filled with pride for accomplishing something no one else had done. After Adam's body was created from clay, it remained a lifeless form for forty years, during which Iblīs taunted it by flying in and out of it, saying, "You are nothing! If I come to power over you, I will destroy you, and if you come to power over me, I will defy you." Then it was said to those angels who were with Iblīs (not all the angels) that they should prostrate before Adam. Iblīs said, "No, I will not prostrate before him. I am better than him, older, and greater. You created me from fire, while you created him from clay" (cf. 7:12; Ṭ). The only other indication in the Quran of such an order of creation is found in 15:26–27: _And We indeed created man from dried clay, made of molded mud, and the jinn We created earlier from scorching fire._

That jinn inhabited the earth before human beings is accepted by many commentators. But al-Rāzī prefers the opinion that God spoke to all the angels, not only those who warred alongside Iblīs. Nevertheless, some specifics of the story, such as that Iblīs was a member of a tribe of angels, can hardly be counted as reliable and are certainly from popular narratives, since an authority such as Ibn ʿAbbās would have known that the Quran in 18:50 identifies Iblīs as a jinn, not an angel.

It does, however, provide one possible explanation for the angels' question, _Wilt Thou place therein . . . ,_ namely, that they had previous experience with the blood and corruption of the earth's previous inhabitants. However, many commentators explain the angels' apparently audacious question as an expression of wonder on their part, rather than doubt or concern (R). They marvel at God's Wisdom, but are not alarmed by it. It is thought that disobedience or any brand of rebelliousness is impossible for angels, though al-Rāzī notes that the Muʿtazilites believed that angels could be disobedient.

_Hymn Thy praise and call Thee Holy_ can also be read, "We glorify Thee while praising Thee" (Z); cf. 32:15; 39:75; 42:5. _I know what you know not_ is generally understood to mean that, despite the inevitability of bloodletting and corruption, good things will come of the creation of human beings, but only God knows what they are (R). As mentioned in 2:11–12c, such corruption can also refer to the degradation of the natural environment.

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Ñ And He taught Adam the names, all of them. Then He laid them before the angels and said, "Tell me the names of these, if you are truthful."

31 Some derive _Adam_ from _adīm,_ meaning the surface of the earth, in keeping with the _ḥ adīth,_ "Truly God created Adam from a handful taken from the entire earth. The Children of Adam thus correspond to the earth, some being red or black or white, or in between, and [they experience] ease and sorrow, bad and good."

The _names_ Adam is taught are considered by some, such as Ibn ʿAbbās, to be those that people use in discourse with one another, such as "man," "sea," "mountain," and even "kettle." To others, such as Mujāhid, they are "the names of everything." Still others say he was taught the names of angels; or that he was taught the names of all his progeny, which the commentator al-Ṭabarī prefers, in part because the pronoun _hum_ is used rather than _hā ʾ,_ indicating human or angelic named objects. The plural of persons (human beings and angels) is the masculine plural, but the plural of other things (animals, inanimate objects) is usually expressed by the feminine singular pronoun, though this rule does not always hold (e.g., 24:45, where _hum_ refers to _beasts_ ). For al-Rāzī, this means that Adam indeed was taught all the languages of the earth, and his descendants came to prefer one over the others in the course of time. The commentator al-ṭabrisī adds that a similar process would have taken place after the flood. _Laid them before_ refers either to the names themselves or to the objects named.

For some, to be taught the names of things means to be given knowledge of all things. Ibn ʿArabī's interpretation of this passage begins by pointing out that in relation to the world angels "are like the spiritual and sensory faculties" in human beings. As the faculties of men and women are diverse, so are the angels in their myriad functions arrayed in a hierarchy. Each human faculty or power is by definition limited to what it is in itself, and each angel, by Ibn ʿArabī's analogy, is limited to what it is; that is, in its knowledge and function. Thus each of these faculties "is veiled and cannot see anything superior to itself." Adam was capable of knowing all the Divine Names, unlike the angels who "did not possess the synthesis possessed by Adam, and were not aware of the Divine Names by which it [namely, Adam's synthetic reality] is set apart such that they could glorify the Real and proclaim Him holy through them. Nor did they know that God possesses Names to whose knowledge they did not attain, therefore not glorifying Him with them nor proclaiming Him holy as did Adam." Thus, Adam could know God in ways the angels could not.

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Ò They said, "Glory be to Thee! We have no knowledge save what Thou hast taught us. Truly Thou art the Knower, the Wise."

32 This verse indicates the limitation of the knowledge of God by angels as far as the universal comprehensive nature of this knowledge is concerned.

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Ó He said, "Adam, tell them their names." And when he had told them their names He said, "Did I not say to you that I know the unseen of the heavens and the earth, and that I know what you disclose and what you used to conceal?"

33 For the _Unseen of the heavens and the earth,_ see also 35:38; 49:18; and for _Knower of the Unseen_ more generally, see, e.g., 13:9; 23:92 64:18. _What you used to conceal_ could refer to Iblīs' pride or to the belief attributed to the angels that "God never creates a thing except that we are more noble than it" (Ṭ). But with this interpretation, the angels would have accepted Adam's excellence without objection, and what they concealed would have been virtue, not the pride one might gather from their judgment of their own nobility.

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Ô And when We said to the angels, "Prostrate unto Adam," they prostrated, save Iblīs. He refused and waxed arrogant, and was among the disbelievers.

34 For the account and meaning of the prostration before Adam, see 7:11–27; 15:31–40; 17:61–65; 18:50.

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Õ We said, "O Adam, dwell thou and thy wife in the Garden and eat freely thereof, wheresoever you will. But approach not this tree, lest you be among the wrongdoers."

35 The story of the fall of Adam and Eve from Paradise appears here and in 7:19–25 and 20:120–23. Relative to Genesis 2–3, the Quranic account gives fewer details. Some commentators mention an array of details about Adam, Eve, the Garden, and the fall, many of which find their origin in Jewish and Christian, and perhaps even Arab, oral traditions. Many of these traditions describe Eve (Ḥawwāʾ), who is referred to as Adam's wife rather than Eve in the Quran; the kind of tree or plant from which Adam and Eve ate (apple vs. some type of grain); what form Iblīs took; and even where they were first exiled. But some of these details are not attested to very strongly in the _Ḥ adīth,_ and some (such as some registered by al-Ṭabarī) do not rise above the level of folklore. The Quran itself provides the foundation and details of the story of Adam and Eve, which has a different meaning in Islam than in Judaism or Christianity.

The Garden in which Adam and Eve dwelled is indeed paradisal; they would _neither hunger therein, nor go naked, . . . neither thirst therein, nor suffer from the heat of the sun_ (20:118–19), in addition to experiencing the unconstrained enjoyment of the Garden's fruits, as mentioned in this verse. Eating from the _tree,_ according to Iblīs, would have made them angels, or able to live forever (7:20), and in 20:120 he promises them _the Tree of Everlastingness and a kingdom that never decays_. Among the possibilities offered for the type of tree are grain, grapevine, and fig. (The Quran never uses the word "fruit" in this context, but says only that they ate from the _shajarah,_ a word that can include also vegetative growth such as trees, shrubs, and bushes.)

One view (R) has it that the promise of eternal life mentioned in 7:20 and 20:120 would have had no attraction if Adam were already dwelling in the "Garden of Rewards," which the Quran promises to believers. The command to _get_ . . . _down_ (v. 36) is the same verb used in v. 61 ( _Go down to a town_ . . .), where it does not imply a vertical descent, but a change in location. Moreover, those who enter the Garden will not be _expelled therefrom_ (15:48). Also, if Adam were created from earth, then where is the ascent from earth to Heaven in this account? The commentator al-Qurṭubī (who is not of this opinion) also mentions that the Quran says of the Garden, _They hear therein neither idle talk nor lying_ (78:35), and yet Iblīs did lie to them, which is indeed how he caused them to be expelled from it. These considerations would seem to indicate that this is a different Garden from the "Garden of Rewards."

The consensus view, though, is that the Garden of Adam and the promised Garden are the very same (R, Q). It is not "a" garden, but "the" Garden ( _al-jannah_ ), "well known" as the eternal Garden promised to believers. Some respond to the opinion that Iblīs could not have lied in the Garden by arguing that he could have whispered to them from somewhere outside the Garden, and that the promise never to be expelled applies only to those granted entry to Paradise after their sojourn on earth as a reward for their good deeds (Ṭs).

Surveying these options, al-Rāzī offers this final possibility: "These are all possible, and the textual proofs are weak and contradictory; so one should cease, and refrain from being categorical. And God knows best." On this and similar issues (such as Eve's creation and entry in the Garden) he takes a similar attitude, that one cannot know for sure, and one does not need to know, as this is not central to the Quranic telling of the account.

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Ö Then Satan made them stumble therefrom, and expelled them from that wherein they were, and We said, "Get you down, each of you an enemy to the other. On the earth a dwelling place shall be yours, and enjoyment for a while."

36 The metaphorical meaning of _made them stumble_ is the same in both Arabic and English: a falling into sin or error. The command _get you down_ is in the second-person plural, which grammatically can apply to Adam and Eve or to Iblīs as well. The interpretation most in keeping with the Quranic text understands the addressees to be Adam and Eve and all their progeny, sometimes including Iblīs and his progeny, with Adam and Eve representing humanity as a whole.

The _dwelling place_ ( _mustaqarr_ ) has been understood as a place to live, as in _the earth as an abode_ (40:64, using _qarār,_ a word of similar derivation) or as a reference to earthly graves, although other uses of _mustaqarr_ in the Quran (e.g., 6:98; 25:24; 36:38) indicate the former.

_For a while_ (lit. "until a moment") can signify either earthly death, the Day of Resurrection (which is the end of the world and humanity's dwelling on earth), or "an appointed time" ( _ajal_ ). It should be noted that this "fall" is not tied to the idea of "original sin," which Islam does not accept.

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× Then Adam received words from his Lord, and He relented unto him. Indeed, He is the Relenting, the Merciful.

37 Some understand _words_ as a reference to the supplication of Adam and Eve: _Our Lord! We have wronged ourselves. If Thou dost not forgive us and have Mercy upon us, we shall surely be among the losers_ (7:23). Another account mentions that Adam beseeched God, "Did you not make me vicegerent? Did you not breathe into me of Thy Spirit? Does Thy Compassion not outstrip Thy Wrath?" God's response of "Yea" to each of these questions and His informing Adam that he was forgiven constitute the words that Adam received. Others say that God taught Adam and Eve the pilgrimage, and the pilgrimage was the words. Still others claim it was a prayer (presumably given to Adam by God to recite), "There is no god but Thee! Glorified be Thee, praised be Thee! Thou knowest evil, and I have wronged myself. So forgive me! Thou art the best of forgivers!" This is repeated again, substituting "mercy" and "repentance" for "forgiveness" in the formulation (R).

In Arabic the verb for "repent" and "relent" ( _tāba/yatūbu_ ) is the same; its meaning changes only with the addition of a preposition. _Tawbah,_ the noun derived from the verb, means literally a "turning" or a "return": we turn or return to God in repentance, and He turns or returns to us. Similar passages in the Bible (Jonah 3:9; Jeremiah 15:6; Genesis 6:6) predicate a kind of "repentance" of God. _Al-Tawwāb_ (the Relenting) is the intensive participle of _tawbah,_ meaning "repentance"; see also 4:17–18c; 4:147c.

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Ø We said, "Get down from it, all of you. If guidance should come to you from Me, then whosoever follows My Guidance, no fear shall come upon them, nor shall they grieve."

Ù But those who disbelieve and deny Our signs, it is they who are the inhabitants of the Fire, abiding therein.

38–39 The opinion that the progeny of Adam are addressed here assumes that the guidance is the prophets and teachings ( _bayān_ ) and is of course in keeping with a major theme of the Quran; namely, that God is ever guiding humanity. Others have limited the address to Adam, Eve, and Satan.

According to an account by the early religious scholar Ḥasan al-Baṣrī (d. 110/728), when Adam descended to the earth, God revealed to him, "O Adam, there are four acts containing all things for thee and thy children: one is for Me, one is for thee, one is between thee and Me, and one is between thee and mankind. As for the one which is Mine, thou shalt worship Me and not associate aught with Me. As for that which is thine, thou shalt attain the reward of that which thou doest. As for that between thee and Me, thou must supplicate, and I must respond. As for that between thee and mankind, should thou befriend them with that which thou lovest, they shall befriend thee likewise" (R). In this sense, prophecy and revelation begin with the earthly history of humanity.

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@ O Children of Israel! Remember My Blessing which I bestowed upon you, and fulfill My covenant, and I shall fulfill your covenant, and be in awe of Me.

40 The _Blessing_ ( _ni ʿmah;_ see also vv. 47, 122) is usually understood to be the deliverance from Pharaoh (vv. 49–50) and the subsequent heavenly gifts of manna, quails, and the promised land; or that God placed prophets among them and sent them Divine books; or the coming of Islam, since this verse addresses the Jews in and around Madinah. _Ni ʿmah_ is understood in the most general sense as well, beginning with the gift of creation, in keeping with the universal commands of the following verses. A range of possible meaning exists for the _covenant_ ( _ʿ ahd_), which is understood broadly as people's gratitude, on the one hand, and God's Forgiveness and Reward, on the other. Another interpretation is that it refers to the _mīthāq_ ("covenant" or "pact") of 5:12: _God had made a covenant with the Children of Israel, and We raised among them twelve chieftains._ Some interpret it to mean that they should be true to the predicted coming of the Prophet, _whom they find inscribed in the Torah and the Gospel that is with them_ (7:157; Q).

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A And believe in that which I have sent down, confirming that which you have with you, and be not the first to disbelieve in it. And sell not My signs for a paltry price, and reverence Me.

41 That the Quran confirms _that which you have with you,_ usually understood to be the Torah and the Gospel, can mean either that it supports the validity and teachings of those books or that it is a fulfillment of the foretelling of the Prophet Muhammad's mission within those books (see v. 40; 7:157). This latter interpretation would turn the verse into a kind of imperative, as it implies that the Torah and Gospel demand faith in the Prophet.

Being _the first_ is not necessarily the start of a sequence, but an expression of the quality or priority of one's conviction. See also 6:14: _I was commanded to be the first of those who submit;_ 6:163: _I am the first of those who submit;_ and 7:143: _I am the first of the believers_.

On selling _for a paltry price,_ also see 2:174; 3:187; 16:95. In other places, the language of buying and selling is positive, as when God asks believers, _Who is it that will lend unto God a goodly loan? He will multiply it for him, and his shall be a generous reward_ (57:11); and when 61:10 speaks of _a commerce that shall save you._

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B And confound not truth with falsehood, nor knowingly conceal the truth.

42 _Confound_ renders the verb _labisa,_ which also has the sense of "to clothe" and therefore "to hide" and consequently "to obscure," thus including the idea of veiling as well as confusion (cf. 3:71; 6:65; 6:82; 6:137), although the subsequent command to not conceal the truth suggests the reading of _confound_.

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C And perform the prayer, and give the alms, and bow with those who bow.

43 If this were a command to perform the specific Islamic prayer ( _ṣ alāh_) and give the alms ( _zakāh_ ), as some understand it, it would be tantamount to a command to become Muslim. But passages such as 19:31; 19:55 (where we are told Ishmael commanded his people to pray and give alms); and 20:14 show that the canonical prayer and alms are not exclusive to Islam as understood to mean the religion revealed to the Prophet Muhammad. Other verses related to bowing include 3:43; 5:55; 9:112; 38:24. Again, bowing is a universal movement of worship and reverence, but it has a specific definition in the Islamic context as a particular movement in the canonical prayer.

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D Will you enjoin piety upon mankind, and forget yourselves, while you recite the Book? Do you not understand?

44 Depending on context, the term rendered _piety_ ( _birr_ ) has the sense of goodness, kindness, loyalty, sincerity, or obedience. For _piety,_ see also 2:177, 189; 3:92. The "pious" ( _abrār_ ) are often mentioned in connection with heavenly rewards (3:193; 76:5; 82:13). _Piety_ in this verse can mean obedience to God as well as prayer and alms. Some mention that it could refer to acknowledgment of the Prophet's mission or to the previous warning to the Arabs that a prophet would be sent among them (R). _Recite_ here can also mean "study" (Ṭ).

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E Seek help in patience and prayer, and this indeed is difficult except for the humble,

45 Cf. 2:153. For _patience_ ( _ṣ abr_), see also, for example, 12:18; 16:127; 23:111; 70:5; 90:17; 103:3. _ṣ abr,_ like "patience," means both the endurance of hardship and steadfastness in good. _This_ —translating a pronoun denoting _prayer_ or the admonition as a whole (IK)—is _difficult_ ( _kabīrah,_ lit. "a tremendous or momentous thing") because of the demands it places on us by day and by night (IA). Indeed, one can be patient through the commonplace discipline of deferred gratification, whereas prayer always demands, in some measure, a retreat from the world and a diminution of the ego.

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F who reckon that they shall meet their Lord and that they shall return unto Him.

46 _Reckon_ renders the verb _ẓ anna,_ which, paradoxically, can mean "to conjecture" (6:116), "to be certain" (as here), or simply "to think" (48:6) or "to believe." A similar polyvalence between uncertainty and conviction can be seen in the use of _rajā',_ usually "hope," but also with the sense of expectation or belief, as in 2:75; 71:13; and a verse similar to this one, 18:110. The Quran repeatedly mentions that we shall return and be returned to God (e.g., 2:28, 156; 23:60; 29:57).

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G O Children of Israel! Remember My Blessing which I bestowed upon you, and that I favored you above the worlds.

47 Cf. 2:122; similar language is found in 6:86: _And Ishmael, Elisha, Jonah, and Lot—each We favored above the worlds_. Some commentators understand this preeminence to be something confined to the past, in light of the fact that in 3:110 it is the Prophet Muhammad's community that is described in the Quran itself as _the best community brought forth unto mankind_. They thus view the special favor in light of the Divine blessings mentioned in 5:20: _And when Moses said unto his people, "O my people! Remember God's Blessing upon you, when He appointed prophets among you, and appointed you kings, and gave you that which He gave unto no other in all the worlds."_ The verb translated _favored_ ( _fa ḍḍala_) carries the sense of causing one thing to excel over another. _Worlds_ ( _ʿ ālamīn,_ often in the construction "Lord of the worlds") can also mean "peoples" or "nations" in context, as in 21:71, _the land that We have blessed for all peoples_. This meaning can also apply in this verse, though the more universal sense is not incorrect.

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H And be mindful of a day when no soul will avail another soul in any way, and no intercession shall be accepted from it, nor ransom taken from it; nor shall they be helped.

48 _Be mindful_ renders _ittaqā,_ which is usually translated as a variant of "reverence," but it also has the sense of being careful, aware, or on guard. This verse closely resembles v. 123, and the futility of another soul's help is described in 82:19 in similar terms. Elsewhere the Quran lists wealth and children (3:10, 116) among those things that will not avail any soul in the Hereafter.

The concept of intercession ( _shafā ʿah_) is related to similar concepts in the Quran such as _istighfār,_ meaning the seeking of forgiveness for oneself or for another, as in 40:7, where angels _seek forgiveness for those who believe_. Another example is _ṣ alāh_ (usually "prayer"), not as worship of God, but in the sense of blessing someone, as in 9:103, where God says to the Prophet, _Bless them. Truly thy blessings are a comfort for them_.

Intercession and the giving of ransom or compensation were common practices in the tribal society of Arabia and indeed in most traditional societies. Islamic Law itself contains provisions for ransoming or compensation, such as feeding a poor person when one is unable to fast (2:184). Earthly intercession and ransom are aspects of human social and legal transactions, but intercession before God in the Hereafter is a theological issue touching on God's Authority, the danger of idolatry, and the efficacy of prayer.

For some mystics, such as Ibn ʿArabī, supplicatory prayer brings into being possibilities that would not have been manifested but for that prayer. God's compassionate Love ( _ra ḥmah_) encompasses all things (7:156), and included in that infinite range of love is the love that responds only when a request is made, as in 2:152: _Remember Me, and I shall remember you;_ this does not nullify the prior love, which is a purely unasked-for gift. Ultimately, the "request" for love is itself a manifestation of God's Love, in that we cannot remember God unless He "remembers" us first. According to this interpretation, God is the mysterious author of all prayer: _We are nearer to him than his jugular vein_ (50:16); _God comes between a man and his heart_ (8:24); _And you do not will but that God wills. Truly God is Knowing, Wise_ (76:30); _And you do not will but that God, the Lord of the worlds, wills_ (81:29); _When My servants ask thee about Me, truly I am near. I answer the call of the caller when he calls Me. So let them respond to Me and believe in Me, that they may be led aright_ (2:186).

Seen in this way, all intercession is God's— _Unto God belongs intercession altogether_ (39:44)—since no plea for intercession can be made without love and remembrance on the part of the intercessor, which itself is a manifestation of God's own Will and Mercy, as mentioned in 20:109: _On that Day intercession will be of no benefit, save [that of] those whom the Compassionate has granted leave and with whose word He is content_. One could understand the Quranic statements about intercession to deny the kind of worldly bargaining or status-driven intercession that would have been of some avail on earth, but not in the Hereafter.

If one can object that intercession diminishes God's Mercy and Wisdom, one can respond that the intercession itself is a Gift of God. All that the angels, prophets, saints, and believers who are granted intercession have to offer is their goodness and faith and nearness to God, all of which come from God's Wisdom for creatures and their relationship with one another. Seen in this way, passages that deny the efficacy intercession (as in 32:4; 39:44; 74:48) do not contradict those that affirm its possibility (as in 21:28; 34:23; 53:26). For a further discussion of intercession, see 2:255c.

The _ransom_ (here _ʿ adl,_ lit. "substitution," but usually _fidyah_ ) can include anything one would seek to give in exchange for deliverance from punishment, including _an earth full of gold_ (3:91), twice as much as all the things on the earth (5:36; 13:18), and even one's own children (70:11).

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I And [remember] when We delivered you from the House of Pharaoh, who inflicted a terrible punishment upon you, slaying your sons and sparing your women. And in that was a great trial from your Lord.

49 The use of _when_ ( _idh_ ) links this and subsequent verses to v. 47 in the sense of "remember when," as _idh_ can mean "remember when" independently of the explicit use of a word such as _udhkur_ ("remember"). _Idh_ can also carry the sense of "Lo!" or "See!" or "Behold!"

The _house_ ( _āl_ ) refers to the family or people of Pharaoh (which term itself means "great house"). Other than describing it as a punishment or suffering ( _ʿ adhāb_), the Quran does not give a specific reason for the killing mentioned in this verse. In light of the fact that Pharaoh repeats the same threat later when Moses is an adult (7:127; 40:25), it would indicate that the murder of males was a form of collective punishment or control (R; cf. Exodus 1), rather than the result of a foretelling of future events, as is sometimes mentioned in the commentaries (Ṭ, R, IK), by soothsayers or astrologers (or even through a dream of Pharaoh) warning that a child would be born to the Israelites who would rise up and destroy Pharaoh's kingdom; see 20:25–28c. See also 28:4.

The _trial_ ( _balā ʾ_) is lexically a testing or finding out, here usually connected to the sufferings, but understood by some to be a _ni ʿmah,_ or blessing, which appears in 2:47 (Ṭ). In the Quran a good can also be a trial, as in 21:35: _We try you with evil and with good;_ and 7:168: _And We tried them with good things and with evil things._

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P And when We parted the sea for you and so delivered you, and drowned the House of Pharaoh as you looked on.

50 _We parted the sea for you_ is literally "We parted the sea by means of you," where the Israelites would be the agent, as it were, of the parting. The unnamed _sea_ ( _ba ḥr_) refers to a body of saltwater (Q), identified by most authorities as the Red Sea. The drowning of the Egyptians is mentioned in 7:136; 8:54; 10:90; 17:103; 20:77–79; 26:65–66 (cf. Exodus 14–15). In addition to in the story of Noah (11:36–48 passim) drowning is also mentioned as a punishment in 17:69 and 36:43.

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Q And when We appointed forty nights for Moses, and you took up the calf while he was away, while you were wrongdoers.

51 For the _forty nights,_ see also 7:142. For the _calf,_ see also 7:148–54; it is also mentioned in 2:92–93; 4:153; 20:88. _We appointed . . . for Moses_ (lit. "We made an appointment with Moses" or, according to another reading, "We promised Moses") refers to Moses' seclusion on Mt. Sinai away from the Israelites. _You took up_ refers to their worship of the calf.

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R Then We pardoned you after that, that haply you may give thanks.

52 See also 4:153, where this pardon is mentioned, a verse that also indicates the mercy and power of the Pardon and Forgiveness of God, which are beyond human understanding.

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S And when We gave unto Moses the Book and the Criterion, that haply you may be guided.

53 The _Book_ can be all of, part of, or separate from the Torah. The _Criterion_ ( _furqān_ ) is either a description of the Book as something that separates truth from falsehood or a reference to a power of discrimination given to Moses and Aaron (21:48). See also 8:41, where the "day of the _furqān_ " is rendered as the _Day of Discrimination_. Elsewhere the Prophet is given the Book and Wisdom (2:151; 3:164; 4:54), which suggests that _furqān,_ like wisdom, can be an attribute bestowed upon a prophet, rather than a revealed book, and so supports the reading of _furqān_ as a power of discrimination. For _furqān,_ which is also a name of the Quran, see also 25:1.

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T And when Moses said to his people, "O my people! You have wronged yourselves by taking up the calf. So repent unto your Maker and slay your own. That is better for you in the sight of your Maker." Then He relented unto you. Indeed, He is the Relenting, the Merciful.

54 Cf. Exodus 32:27. _Slay your own,_ in light of similar language elsewhere (cf. 2:85; 4:29), is best understood as the killing of the guilty among the Israelites by their fellow Israelites, in which case the severity of the punishment would have been all the more terrible. Some commentators add that the killed were martyrs, and the killers had their repentance accepted by them, meaning all were forgiven, so that the episode of killing their own would have been, according to this interpretation, a kind of collective punishment in itself rather than a punishment of the guilty by the innocent. _Slay your own_ is literally "slay yourselves," and indeed some view the inward meaning to be that the Israelites should slay their own egos in the spiritual sense of opposing their passions (IA, Iṣ).

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U And when you said, "O Moses, we will not believe thee till we see God openly," and the thunderbolt seized you as you looked on.

55 Cf. 4:153. The _thunderbolt,_ related etymologically to Moses' _swoon_ (7:143) and the "swoon" of the heavens and earth at the blowing of the trumpet (e.g., 39:68) on the Day of Judgment, is also a punishment for the ʿĀd and the Thamūd (41:13). The Thamūd's thunderbolt also seized them _as they looked on_. It can also refer more generally to a great calamity or destruction, or a great cry or noise, a fire, or an earthquake (Ṭ).

Some commentators (IK, R) identify this verse with the incident described in 7:155, which would mean that after the destruction of the calf, Moses went up the mountain with seventy of the choicest Israelites among those who worshipped the calf. Upon their request to see God, a _thunderbolt_ ( _ṣ āʿiqah_) struck them dead, after which Moses prayed for their revival, which God granted. Others (JJ) consider 2:55 and 7:155 as separate incidents, and some take no firm position (R). The word rendered _thunderbolt_ ( _ṣ āʿiqah_) has a broader range of meaning than _rajfah_ (the word used for the "calamity" mentioned in 7:155), but they could also refer to the same event. To see _openly_ ( _jahrat an_), which is also used with reference to speech (e.g., 21:110), means to see with one's eyes, or simply "publicly."

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V Then We raised you up after your death, that haply you may give thanks.

56 The primary understanding of the first part of this verse is that it speaks of a resurrection back to life, though some interpret it as referring to the sending of prophets among the Israelites, since the verb _ba ʿatha_ ("raise up" or "be resurrected") has the root meaning of "rouse" or "stimulate," but can also refer to the sending of prophets (e.g., 2:213). For example, the day when the Prophet was chosen as a prophet is celebrated by many Muslims as _ʿ Īd al-mabʿath,_ from the same root _b- ʿ-th._

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W And We shaded you with clouds, and sent down manna and quails upon you, "Eat of the good things We have provided you." They wronged Us not, but themselves did they wrong.

57 Cf. Exodus 16. The _clouds_ ( _ghamām;_ cf. 7:160) also _split_ the heavens (25:25), and God and the angels come _in the shadows of clouds_ (v. 210). _Manna_ is not described in the Quran except as coming from Heaven and is always mentioned together with _quails,_ though some commentators say that it came from tamarisk or even ginger or that it was a honeylike substance or a delicate bread that fell from Heaven like snow (cf. Exodus 16:31). The _good things_ ( _ṭ ayyibāt_) are the wholesome, beneficial, and lawful things of the earth. The Quran often chastises those who would forbid partaking of them (4:160; 5:87; 7:32), in particular the Children of Israel.

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X And when We said, "Enter this town, and eat freely of that which is therein wheresoever you will, and enter the gate prostrating, and say, 'Remove the burden!' that We may forgive you your sins. And We shall increase the virtuous."

58 The _town_ is thought to be Jerusalem or Jericho, although other cities in Syria or Jordan are mentioned as well. The command to _eat freely_ echoes a similar command given to Adam in Paradise (v. 35). Whether this passage refers to Moses or Joshua bears on the identity of the city, as Moses never entered the Holy Land. Al-Rāzī mentions the possibility that this _town_ is Egypt itself. He reasons that v. 59 is temporally subsequent and implies that the plague preceded any entrance into Jerusalem and thus took place during the life of Moses. Others see this passage as referring to the entrance into Jericho after its conquest (IK).

_Say, "Remove the burden!"_ is literally "Say _ḥ iṭṭah_." The commentator al-Zamakhsharī understands this word in the sense of "unburden us an unburdening," a common stylistic structure in Arabic. It would thus mean something like, "Say, 'Unburden us an unburdening,'" though the word _ḥ iṭṭah_ ("unburdening") does not explicitly appear as the grammatical object of any verb. Some understand _prostrating_ ( _sujjad an_) to mean bowing, since "prostrating" is usually more specifically associated in Islamic rites with placing one's forehead on the ground, though lexically it carries a broader meaning than this.

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Y But those who did wrong substituted a word other than that which had been said unto them. So We sent down a torment from Heaven upon those who did wrong for the iniquity they committed.

59 Cf. 7:162. According to some, rather than saying _ḥ iṭṭah_ and _prostrating_ (v. 58), they said _ḥ inṭah_ ("wheat") and entered upon their backsides, in mockery (Z). Since these words would not have been spoken in Arabic, however, the wordplay does not make for a convincing interpretation. The _torment_ ( _rijz_ ) is understood here as a punishment or act of wrath; see also 7:134–35; 8:11; 29:34; 34:5.

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` And when Moses sought water for his people, We said, "Strike the rock with thy staff." Then twelve springs gushed forth from it; each people knew their drinking place. "Eat and drink of God's provision, and behave not wickedly upon the earth, working corruption."

60 Cf. 7:160. The Quran provides few details here, and the commentators have little that is certain to say about the rock or springs, though it is generally assumed to be an incident in the wilderness. Some mention a stone, connected with Mt. Sinai or even the Edenic Garden, that the Israelites carried with them, described as being cubical or in the shape of a human head; when Moses struck the four sides, each then produced three streams of water, totaling twelve. The commentators generally assume that each knowing its place means that each of the twelve tribes had a fountain from which to drink. Some mention that each knew its drinking place, because each stream touched a member of each tribe (IK). Cf. Exodus 17:1–7, where Moses produces water for his people by striking a rock at Horeb (possibly Sinai). _Eat and drink_ is spoken by either God or Moses.

Interpreted spiritually by Ibn ʿAjībah, the stone is considered to be the heart from which spiritual life flows, and the staff is the spiritual will ( _himmah_ ), which "strikes" the egotistical soul and produces blessings of wisdom and unveilings. See v. 74, where hearts are compared to stones _from which streams gush forth_.

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a And when you said, "O Moses, we shall not endure one food, so call upon your Lord for us, that He may bring forth for us some of what the earth grows: its herbs, its cucumbers, its garlic, its lentils, its onions." He said, "Would you substitute what is lesser for what is better? Go down to a town, and you will have what you ask for." So they were struck with abasement and poverty, and earned a burden of wrath from God. That is because they disbelieved in the signs of God, and killed the prophets without right. That is because they disobeyed, and were transgressors.

61 A Biblical parallel to this verse's content is found in Numbers 11:4–5, where the Israelites crave meat and wish for the "fish . . . the cucumbers, the melons, the leeks, the onions, and the garlic" they knew in Egypt. In Numbers 11:31–35, they are given quails, only to have those who craved them struck down for their greediness in relation to God's provision. Here _garlic_ ( _fūm_ ) may also mean "wheat."

_Go down_ ( _haba ṭa_) need not be a change in elevation; analogously, in English one might say that one "descends" upon a place; one can "go down" ( _haba ṭa_) into or out of a valley, for example (Z). _Better_ is usually understood here to refer to the manna and quails, while the _lesser_ refers to the other foods they were requesting. _A town_ renders _mi ṣr,_ which can also mean a city, and used as a proper name or foreign word it means "Egypt." The orthography (which requires it be read as _mi ṣran_ and not _mi ṣra_) indicates that it could not refer to Egypt itself (Ṭ), though some mention is made of early commentators understanding this to be the " _mi ṣr_ of Pharaoh." The killing of the prophets (2:61, 87, 91; 3:21, 112, 181; 4:155; 5:70) is also mentioned several times in the Bible (Luke 13:34; Matthew 23:37; Romans 11:3; 1 Thessalonians 2:14–15; 1 Kings 19:10).

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b Truly those who believe, and those who are Jews, and the Christians, and the Sabeans—whosoever believes in God and the Last Day and works righteousness shall have their reward with their Lord. No fear shall come upon them, nor shall they grieve.

62 Cf. 5:69. _Sabeans_ renders _ṣ ābiʾ,_ which some derive from the verb _ṣ abaʾa_ insofar as it can be used to mean "to go from one religion to another." It also means "to rise," as in the case of stars, or "to come upon," "to emerge," or "to arise." Others read it as coming from _ṣ abā,_ meaning "to incline," as in from one religion to another (Ṭ). The pagan Arabs used to call the Prophet Muhammad a _ṣ ābiʾ_ in this sense, in that he had left the religion of his forefathers (R). According to the commentators the _ṣ ābiʿ_ could be: (1) people who have no recognizable religion; according to some accounts, there were people who declared, "There is no god but God," but had no rites or books or prophet, and did not accept the Prophet Muhammad; (2) people who worshipped angels and faced the _qiblah,_ reciting the Psalms; (3) a group of the People of the Book who left their religion; (4) people who think they are following the religion of Noah; or (5) monotheists who believe in the effects of the planets, and hence are unbelievers (R, Q, Ṭ). In the early centuries of Islamic history, the people of Ḥarrān in Syria who followed a religion deeply influenced by esoteric elements in earlier Greek and Near Eastern religions called themselves Ṣabeans to enjoy the status given to the _ṣ ābiʾūn_ in the Quran. Members of the present-day Mandaean sect in southern Iraq and Iran are also called _ṣ ābiʾ._ They are monotheists and consider John the Baptist to be their prophet; their main ritual is baptism, and many believe that they migrated to their present site from the Jordan Valley.

_Christians_ renders _na ṣārā_ (sing. _na ṣrān_ or _na ṣrānī_), which most plausibly derives from Jesus' hometown of Nazareth (al-Nāṣirah), but several other etymologies are also given. Acts 24:5 describes an accuser who speaks pejoratively of Paul as "a ringleader of the sect of the Nazarenes," which is the only time this term appears in the Bible. This pejorative use continued in the early centuries of Christianity, but later developed, in some quarters, as a way of labeling "Jewish Christians" as distinct from "Pauline Christians," and other terms, such as the Middle Persian _tarsāg_ and of course _kristiyān,_ came into use as labels for the followers of Christ. The precise origin of _na ṣārā_ has, for some, some bearing on whether certain beliefs mentioned in the Quran, such as the worship of Mary and Jesus (5:116) or God's taking a consort (72:3), stem from a local sect of Christians with beliefs different from mainstream Chalcedonian Christianity. Using etymologies in this way, although often interesting, can be misleading, since the origin of a word often has scant connection with its later use; for further discussion of these issues, see 3:3–4c; 4:171c; 5:17c; 5:73c.

_Those who are Jews_ makes use of the verb _hād a/yahūdu,_ which is very likely derived from the noun _yahūd,_ or "Jew," and is literally something like "those who _hād,_ " where _hād_ is a verb. Among the etymologies given are that _hād_ means "to be repentant," "to incline" toward one other, or "to move" (as when one recites the Torah; Th).

Concerning this verse the commentator al-Qushayrī writes, "The differences in paths, with the oneness of the origin, does not hinder the beauty of acceptance. Whosoever affirms [God] the Real in His signs, and believes in the truth and His Qualities of which He informs them—namely, the Truth and His Qualities—then the differences in religious paths [or laws, _shar ʿ_] and the differences in the appellation of names do not impinge on the realization of the good pleasure [of God]."

The theologian and mystic Abū Ḥamid al-Ghazzālī (d. 505/1111), in his famous work _Fay ṣal al-tafriqah,_ argues that the "Christians of Byzantium" and the "Turks" (still outside the Islamic world at that time) would come under God's Mercy. Those who know the teachings and virtues of the Prophet and yet still deny him deserve to be called disbelievers, but al-Ghazzālī gives wide latitude in recognizing the obstacles to this knowledge. How could a Turk who had never heard of Muhammad be faulted? Moreover, why should a person who grows up hearing the Prophet Muhammad referred to as "the great liar" investigate his truth claims, since one would not expect the same from a Muslim who hears of someone accused of being a false prophet? Hearing the name Muhammad means nothing if one learns only of the opposite of his true attributes. One could extend this reasoning to point out that one is unlikely to deem a religion good or desire to learn about it, if the only followers one meets are bad. Such mitigating circumstances, namely, that birthplace, upbringing, and social experience mediate one's knowledge of religion, provide ample space for God's Mercy to encompass those who believe in Him and in the Hereafter and act righteously.

Some argue that the verse refers to certain Jews, Christians, and Sabeans who adhered to these faiths before the Prophet's mission, but who then acknowledged him when he came—people such as Salmān al-Fārsī, Abū Dharr al-Ghifārī, and the monks Waraqah ibn Nawfal and Baḥīrah (R); others have understood it to include Zoroastrians as well.

Al-Zamakhsharī and some others argue that _those who believe_ refers to the hypocrites, because they affirm belief outwardly, and lump them together with Jews, Christians, and Sabeans to form a first group, which is then juxtaposed with those mentioned in the second part of the verse, the true believers in the Prophet and Islam. If this interpretation is accepted, this would be the only instance in the Quran when "those who believe" was used ironically or with the implication of referring to the hypocrites. Al-Rāzī mentions the double usage of "believe" in 4:136, _O you who believe! Believe in God and His Messenger,_ as an example where one can be called a "believer" in two senses, necessitating the command to believe, though this is not the interpretation given to that particular verse when it is discussed on its own. Indeed, in 4:136, al-Rāzī seems to approve of the opinion that the use of _mu ʾmin_ ("believer") without any qualifier is reserved solely for Muslims.

Some argue that these other groups are believers simply insofar as they affirm the truth of the Prophet Muhammad (Ṭ). However, Christians who affirm the message of Muhammad would no longer be Christian at all, just as those who practice idolatry would no longer be idolaters if they accept Muhammad. Still, it is not uncommon for commentators to insert the phrase "and follows Muhammad and acts according to his Law" as a gloss on _whosoever believes in God_ (Aj)

Al-Qurṭubī mentions an opinion, attributed to Ibn ʿAbbās, that 3:85 ( _Whosoever seeks a religion other than submission, it shall not be accepted of him, and in the Hereafter he shall be among the losers_ ) abrogates this verse. But a widely accepted principle of abrogation is that only legal rulings or commands can be abrogated, not descriptive statements, especially as regards one's status in the Hereafter.

For the commentator al-Bayḍāwī, this verse refers to those who fulfilled their obligations before their religions were abrogated by Islam, or it means that these various kinds of disbelievers are saved when they believe sincerely (since he interprets the first reference to be to hypocrites).

Many commentators on this verse disallow those who deny Islam and the Prophet to be included among those who are saved from eternal fear and grief, but as al-Ghazzālī's position makes clear, such denial is hard to verify, especially since one's rejection of Islam in later times might simply be a verdict pronounced upon Muslims and not upon the Prophet himself. Moreover, the plain sense of the verse cannot be denied without introducing inconsistencies: in no other instance is a "believer" used as a name for a hypocrite, and in no sense does a Jew or Christian following the religion of Muhammad continue to be called a Jew or Christian. Moreover, the affirmation of the belief of Jews and Christians is reinforced elsewhere in the Quran, including 3:110; 5:48; 22:67–69; for a fuller discussion, see the essay "The Quranic View of Sacred History and Other Religions." Also see commentary on 3:110–15 for similar issues relating to religious communities.

_No fear shall come upon them, nor shall they grieve_ is a description of one's life after death, the equivalent of what might be called salvation. It describes the reward of those who follow God's Guidance (v. 38), those who submit with faith (2:112), whoever believes and is righteous (6:48), the friend of God (10:62), and _those who say, "Our Lord is God"_ (46:13).

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c And when We made a covenant with you, and raised the Mount over you, "Take hold of what We have given you with strength, and remember what is in it, that haply you may be reverent."

d Then you turned away thereafter, and were it not for God's Bounty upon you, and His Mercy, you would have been among the losers.

63–64 Cf. v. 93; 4:154. _Mount_ renders _ṭ ūr,_ which commentators point out is a word of Syriac origin for "mountain" ( _jabal;_ Ṭ), but is nevertheless an Arabic word. There is general agreement among the interpreters that this verse literally means that a mountain, either Sinai or a mountain from Palestine, was uprooted and made to physically move and float over the Israelites, in order to frighten them (Ṭ, R, IK). However, it seems just as likely that the phrasing here, _raised the Mount over you,_ parallels the English construction "the mountain loomed above them." Exodus 19 mentions "a thick cloud on the mountain" and that "Mount Sinai was wrapped in smoke, because the Lord had descended upon it in a fire; the smoke went up like the smoke of a kiln, while the whole mountain shook violently" (vv. 16, 18). Before this, the Israelites were commanded, "Be careful not to go up the mountain or to touch the edge of it. Any who touch the mountain shall be put to death" (v. 12). Since the Quran does not describe the mountain as floating, but only as "rising" above the Israelites, one can understand that it loomed over them in a terrifying and meaningful way, an interpretation that is all the more plausible in light of the descriptions from Exodus 19. To _take hold . . . with strength_ is understood to mean doing so "earnestly" and "obediently" and resolving to act upon it (Ṭ, IK, R). _In it_ means in the Torah given to Moses (IK).

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e And you have indeed known those among you who transgressed in the matter of the Sabbath, and so We said to them, "Be you apes, outcast."

65 _Outcast_ can also mean "lowly" (R). This is understood by some to refer to the people described in 7:163, who were tried by God when fish would come to them only on the Sabbath. Others interpret it to mean that all previous prophets taught that Friday was the most excellent day, that the Day of Judgment would come to pass on a Friday, and that it is celebrated by the angels in Heaven. The Jews preferred Saturday as the day of God's rest, and because of their disobedience they were punished by God by being prohibited from engaging in their normal activities on that day. The Christians preferred Sunday, noting its excellence as the first day (Ṭ).

Other instances in which human beings are likened to animals include the following: _The parable of those [who were] made to bear the Torah, then did not bear it, is that of an ass bearing books_ (62:5); _And be moderate in thy pace and lower thy voice. Truly the vilest of voices are those of asses_ (31:19); _The parable of those who take protectors apart from God is that of the spider that makes a house_ (29:41); _Thus his parable is that of a dog: if you attack him, he lolls out his tongue, and if you leave him alone, he lolls out his tongue_ (7:176). Also, many _a ḥādīth_ speak of people resurrected in the form of various animals, according to their inner nature.

Al-Qurṭubī interprets it as being akin to the command of 17:50, which literally reads _Be you of stone, or of iron,_ making it rhetorical. One can read this as, "As you wish then, be apes, as you have chosen to be." Mujāhid says, "Their hearts were transformed, but they did not transform into apes," comparing it to the ass carrying books of 62:5 (IK).

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f So We made it an exemplary punishment for their time and for times to come, and an admonition for the reverent.

66 The _it_ can refer to the transformation/punishment of the community or the fish of 7:163 (Ṭ, R). _For their time and for times to come_ can refer to those who were present and those who would come after, those who were in the environs of the place at that time (lit. "in front of and behind"), or previous and subsequent sins. _Admonition_ renders _maw ʿiẓah,_ which can have a positive or a negative meaning, indicating either counsel and exhortation (as in 2:275; 3:138; 5:46) or reprimand and admonition.

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g And when Moses said to his people, "God commands you to slaughter a cow," they said, "Do you take us in mockery?" He said, "I seek refuge in God from being among the ignorant."

h They said, "Call upon your Lord for us, that He may clarify for us what she is." He said, "He says she is a cow neither old nor without calf, middling between them: so do what you are commanded."

i They said, "Call upon your Lord for us, that He may clarify for us what her color is." He said, "He says she is a yellow cow. Bright is her color, pleasing the onlookers."

p They said, "Pray for us to your Lord, that He may clarify for us what she is. Cows are much alike to us, and if God will we will surely be guided."

q He said, "He says she is a cow not broken to plow the earth or to water the tillage, sound and without blemish." They said, "Now you have brought the truth." So they slaughtered her, but they almost did not.

67–71 These verses contain an account of an encounter between Moses and the Jews that is rather detailed in comparison to other Quranic accounts. First the Israelites balk at God's Command, then interrogate Moses on its particulars, and finally obey it. Cf. Numbers 19, where a ceremony involving a red cow is mentioned. The instructions given the Israelites there, similar to those given in 2:71, are that it is to be a cow "without defect, in which there is no blemish and on which no yoke has been laid" (19:2). The seemingly impertinent questioning of the Israelites is not part of the Biblical account.

One account of the background story (Ṭ, IK) is that a rich man was secretly murdered by his heir. Moses, as the prophet of God, was asked to learn the identity of the killer. After the debate over the cow, the people finally slaughtered it, took a limb from it, and struck the corpse, which then quickened and identified the killer. This would continue the story of the cow up to v. 73.

To be _ignorant_ ( _jāhil_ ) in the Quran is more than to have a lack of knowledge; it is a disposition against it, a kind of pathological adherence to one's own way and one's ignorance. The term could also be rendered "ignoramus." Unlike the case of the blind man seeking knowledge from the Prophet (see 80:1–4), the ignoramus is deliberately ignorant and in the dark. Similar instances in the Quran show the enmity or vice inherent in the Quranic concept of ignorance: _Had God willed, He would have gathered them all to guidance—so be not among the ignorant_ (6:35); _I exhort thee, lest thou be among the ignorant_ (11:46); _If Thou dost not turn their scheming away from me, I shall incline toward them and be among the ignorant_ (12:33). It is also related to the concept of the pre-Islamic "Days of Ignorance," called the _jāhiliyyah_.

_Now you have brought the truth_ means "now you have made it clear to us" (Ṭ). That _they almost did not_ was because the cow was so costly (according to the story recounted by al-Ṭabarī, there was only one such cow, and it was owned by an old woman who was asking a very high price for it); or because they did not want the identity of the killer to come to light because of the potential scandal (Ṭ, R). The Prophet said, "Had they taken the nearest cow and sacrificed it, it would have been enough for them."

In Ibn ʿAjībah's esoteric commentary on this verse, the egotistical soul must be killed in order for the spiritual soul to live. The best time for a soul to inflict the knife of asceticism and poverty upon itself is when it is neither too old, when its habits are ingrained and change becomes more difficult, nor too young (v. 68), when it feels immortal and sees no need to change. It is a soul that does not desire the world ( _not broken to plow the earth_ ) and is pure of the blemishes that bind it to the world (v. 71). The soul is beautiful if it is good (v. 69). It is only when the soul has been purified and made beautiful and severed its inner attachment to the world that it is worthy to be sacrificed to God.

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r And when you slew a soul and cast the blame upon one another regarding it—and God is the discloser of what you were concealing—

s We said, "Strike him with part of it." Thus does God give life to the dead and show you His signs, that haply you may understand.

72–73 On the murder, also see 2:67–71c. With some variations, the commentators relate the story that the Israelites, after searching for a long time, find the cow described by Moses, purchase it for a high price, and sacrifice it. Then they take a part of the cow's body and strike the corpse of the murder victim, which is then briefly animated, long enough to answer the question of who the killer was, after which the body reverts to its previous state (IK). Thus, most commentators understand the command in v. 73 to mean, "Strike him [the corpse] with part of it [the slaughtered cow]." Assuming this is the correct interpretation, it would not be the only instance of reanimation in the Quran; others include Abraham and the birds (2:260); Jesus and the clay bird (3:49); the unnamed man thought by some to be Ezra, who died and was revived after a hundred years (2:259); and an allusion to this is when dust touched by a messenger (usually thought to be Gabriel) is used to animate the golden calf (20:96).

In a related _ḥ adīth,_ a man asked, "O Messenger of God, how does God revive the dead?" "Have you ever passed by a barren valley, and then passed by it again and it was verdant?" "Yes." "Even so is the Resurrection." In another version he replied, "Even so does God revive the dead." Sufi commentators have seen in this passage a message that one whose heart has been "slain" by worldliness must sacrifice the egotistical soul in order to give life to the heart through the remembrance of God (Ni, Su, Qu). Al-Qushayrī states, "Whoever desires that his heart be given life must sacrifice his soul. So whoever sacrifices his soul with effort gives life to his heart and the lights of vision."

In Deuteronomy 21:1–9 the Israelites are commanded to sacrifice a cow in the event that a person is found slain and the murderer remains unknown, after which the elders of the town nearest to the victim wash their hands over the cow and disavow any guilt for the crime. But the two accounts are different; one is the narration of an event, and the other, the prescription of a general law, even though there are similarities between them.

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t Then your hearts hardened thereafter, being like stones or harder still. For indeed among stones are those from which streams gush forth, and indeed among them are those that split and water issues from them, and indeed among them are those that crash down from the fear of God. And God is not heedless of what you do.

74 This verse can be understood to describe those present at the incident of the cow or the Jewish contemporaries of the Prophet insofar as they were members of the same group by affiliation and descent (R). In the first case they are rebuked for being unmoved by so obvious a sign as the raising of the dead, and in the latter case for turning away from the Quranic teaching about this incident. Even rock can be worn down and split open by the force of water. For the symbolism of water, also see 2:60. Water is a symbol of life and that by which life is made possible, whether it comes from the sky (22:63) or comes from beneath the ground (39:21) or is figured in our creation (21:30); here the image of the rock from which water comes forth is powerfully contrasted to the lifelessness of the hardened heart.

Stones crashing down from the fear of God is connected by some commentators with the incident of God's disclosing Himself to the mountain in the presence of Moses, on the occasion of which the mountain crumbled (7:143), and with 59:21: _Had We made this Quran descend upon a mountain, thou wouldst have seen it humbled, rent asunder by the fear of God_. Some commentators think that all the types of rock in this verse behave as they do because of the fear of God (Ṭ). The living consciousness of God by all creation is also mentioned in 17:44: _And there is no thing, save that it hymns His praise, though you do not understand their praise;_ and 34:10: _O you mountains! Echo God's praises with him, likewise you birds!_

Some _a ḥādīth_ mentioned in connection with this verse describe the Prophet as saying, "I know a stone in Makkah that used to greet me before I was made a prophet, and I know it even now." Regarding Mt. Uḥud, he said, "This is a mountain that loves us, and we love it." In another related _ḥ adīth_ that describes the behavior of apparently insensate objects, the Companions made a pulpit for the Prophet, but when he ascended it, the palm-tree stump beside which he used to deliver his sermons began to cry, at which the Prophet descended, embraced it, and said, "It weeps for the remembrance it used to hear." In one interpretation, the three kind of stones refer, respectively, to those human beings who weep much, those who weep little, and those who weep in their hearts without showing it outwardly (IK).

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u Do you hope, then, that they will believe you, seeing that a party of them would hear the Word of God and then distort it after they had understood it, knowingly?

75 This verse is addressed, using the plural _you,_ to the Muslim community; _they_ refers to the Children of Israel. It is one of a handful of verses that mention the "distortion" ( _ta ḥrīf_) of scriptures by the People of the Book (see also 2:59; 3:78; 4:46; 5:13, 41). According to one interpretation, the _party_ mentioned here are the seventy chosen Israelites (see 2:55c) who were said to have joined Moses on the Mount and directly heard the _Word of God_. When they returned, Moses said, "God commands thus and thus," but this group would say, "No, God commands thus and thus," misrepresenting what they had just heard (IK), or they said, "If you are able to do these things, then do them, and if you wish, then do not; there is no harm in it" (Th). One argument for this interpretation is that they "heard" the Word of God along with Moses, which is to say they did not "read" it, but the Quran speaks of those who hear God's Word indirectly, as in 9:6 (IK). Other commentators believe that this verse describes the Jewish contemporaries of the Prophet.

Although lexically _ta ḥrīf_ seems to be related to "letter" ( _ḥ arf_), its meaning is to "slant," "be oblique," "twist," or "deviate" and is often connected by the commentators with the etymologically related _in ḥirāf,_ usually understood as "deviation." Whether the Jews and Christians actually altered their transmitted books or instead skewed their interpretations while retaining a faithful text is a subject of debate in the Islamic intellectual tradition. Although later Islamic commentators and theologians often held a view that the Jews and Christians actually changed the text of the Bible, as epitomized in the work of the fifth-/eleventh-century scholar Ibn Ḥazm, the earlier commentators were not as eager to dispute the text of the Bible and preferred to view the "distortion" as an act of faulty and even malicious interpretation.

In his remarks on 3:78 al-Rāzī, for example, doubts that the prophecies pertaining to the Prophet Muhammad (see 7:157) were physically removed, since that would have required collusion on a grand scale with a well-known text. (In his commentary on 2:75, however, he states that with a less widely distributed text such an alteration would not be impossible.) He prefers to think that the prophecies required "careful thinking and contemplation in the heart" and that those texts, over time, took on a normative interpretation that drifted away from the original intent. This required a certain amount of speculation and assumption on al-Rāzī's part regarding how widespread such texts were, since it is doubtful that he had detailed knowledge of the recording and transmission of the Bible.

Often mentioned in this connection with this verse is the thesis that the scholars and jurists of the Children of Israel would make lawful what was forbidden and forbid what was lawful, in accord with their own desires (Q, R). _After they had understood it_ also supports the idea that the meaning was distorted, not the text (Ṭ).

Other instances in which the Prophet is admonished not to hope too much that his contemporaries will believe in him include 35:8: _Truly God leads astray whomsoever He will and guides whomsoever He will; so let not thy soul be expended in regrets over them;_ and 18:6: _Yet perhaps thou wouldst torment thyself with grief for their sake, should they believe not in this account_. This can be read on a spiritual level as a rebuke to those who, after having experienced visions and openings of spiritual truth, revert to formality and lore and forget the subtle knowledge they once had; or to those who act hypocritically and with bad manners with the sages and the saints and stop keeping company with companions of a spiritual nature (Aj).

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v And when they meet those who believe they say, "We believe," and when they are alone with one another they say, "Do you speak to them of what God has unveiled to you, that they may thereby dispute with you before your Lord? Do you not understand?"

76 This verse refers to a group of Jewish hypocrites (see _Sūrah_ 63) in Madinah (Ṭ, Th). They said _We believe,_ but according to some commentators they really meant only that they acknowledged that Muhammad was a prophet, but not a prophet to the Jews (Ṭ). _What God has unveiled to you_ can mean "what God has commanded you" or "what God has decided for you" (Ṭ) or "what knowledge God has given you or made easy for you to obtain" (R). Another opinion is that the phrase refers to the prophecies foretelling the coming of the Prophet, so that the first question in this verse would mean, "Do you affirm that he is a prophet, which he can then use to argue against you?" (Ṭ).

_Before your Lord_ ( _ʿ inda rabbikum_) is understood to mean that on the Day of Judgment there will be a mutual questioning or interrogation before God. According to some exegetes it can also be read, "concerning" or "with regard to" _your Lord._ Others see a similarity in usage between "in the sight of your Lord" (which is another possible translation of _ʿ inda rabbikum_) and "in the Book of God." It is argued that these two phrases are often used equivalently, the way "God commands us" and "God commands us in the Quran" are (R, Z). Other exegetes mention that a group of Jews were believers, but then became hypocrites, and this verse describes how their leaders rebuked them for telling the Muslims about the punishments they had endured, because then the Muslims would revile them and say that they were more noble than the Jews in the Sight of God (Th). For a similar exposure of secret behavior among the Prophet's antagonists, see 2:14; 3:119.

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w Do they not know that God knows what they hide and what they disclose?

77 The theme of God's knowing all things out in the open or hidden is ubiquitous in the Quran, as in 21:110; 24:29; 27:74; 28:69; 33:54; 36:76, and here connects to the conduct exposed in the previous verse (IK).

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x And among them are the illiterate who know nothing of the Book but hearsay, and they only conjecture.

78 The _illiterate_ ( _ummiyyūn_ ) are those Jews who could not read and write (Ṭ). In an opinion attributed to Ibn ʿAbbās, however, they are a people who accept no prophet or revealed book and who write a book themselves and say that it is from God; they were called _ummiyyūn_ because of their opposition to the Books of God (Ṭ). But most do not consider this opinion to be correct, since among the Arabs _ummī_ means someone who cannot write or write well (Ṭ). The commentators often mention here the _ḥ adīth,_ "We are an _ummī_ people; we do not write and we do not calculate the months." This would support the interpretation that _ummī_ means one who cannot read and write well (Th), since neither the Jews nor the Arabs of Arabia were wholly illiterate; some could read and write well, while some could do so in only a very rudimentary fashion. That the Arabs were not entirely illiterate is clear from the Islamic tradition's proven assertion that the Quran was written down during the lifetime of the Prophet, though the literate could have been a relatively small number in relation to the whole. For further discussion of the concept of _ummī,_ or "unlettered," see 7:157–58c; 62:2c.

_Hearsay_ ( _amānī_ ) means that they know only what their scholars tell them (Th); or it means things they invented, such as that the Fire will not touch them except for a certain number of days (see v. 80) or that none will enter Paradise who is not a Jew (2:111). _Amānī_ can also be rendered "hope" or "desire" (see also 2:111; 4:123; 22:52; 57:14). _They only conjecture_ is usually glossed as "they lie [about God]" or "they think/deem false things [about God]" (IK).

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y So woe unto those who write the book with their hands, then say, "This is from God," that they may sell it for a paltry price. So woe unto them for what their hands have written and woe unto them for what they earn.

79 Although _woe_ ( _wayl_ ) is an ordinary Arabic word used throughout the Quran as a cry of distress, it is also interpreted here by some as a proper name for an infernal valley in Hell based on the following _ḥ adīth_ (disputed by some, such as the commentator Ibn Kathīr): " _Wayl_ is a valley in Hell into which the disbeliever will fall for forty autumns before reaching its bottom." Or it is a mountain in Hell of blood and pus, in which case _So woe unto those/them_ could be read, "For them there will be _wayl._ " For others, it is the word that will be uttered by the punished, and it will be the cry of the disbelievers in Hell (Th). The exegetes give an account of some Jews who wrote something down and pawned it off on the ignorant Arabs for a small profit; another account links this verse with the alteration of the prophecies foretelling the coming of Muhammad (see 7:157), meaning that the descriptions of the Prophet in their book were altered so that they would describe something else (Ṭ, Th).

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À And they say, "The Fire will not touch us save for days numbered." Say, "Have you made a covenant with God? For God shall not fail to keep His Covenant. Or do you say of God that which you know not?"

80 This verse should be read together with the subsequent two verses. This claim of limited punishment is repeated in 3:24. Some commentators mention that the Jews claimed that they would suffer torment for only forty nights, corresponding to the time spent worshipping the calf, after which they would be succeeded by another people (according to some, they claimed that these inheritors of punishment would be the followers of Muhammad); others say it would be forty years; still others, only seven days, one day for each thousand years of the world's existence (IK). A _covenant_ is often mentioned in connection with the Israelites (e.g., 2:40, 100) and more generally elsewhere between God and humanity (3:77, 81; 7:172; 13:25; 33:7; 36:60). Here it is invoked against the claims that Hell would be experienced by the Jews only for a specific number of days, which the commentators point out are claims made without any warrant from scripture.

The question of a limited sojourn in Hell is extremely significant, as the main body of Islamic theology accepts the possibility of believers being removed from Hell (see 4:40c; 78:23c), a position adduced from passages such as 6:128; 11:107; and 78:23, but also from _a ḥādīth_ that describe intercession on behalf of the denizens of Hell that would allow them to leave it after a period of time (see 2:255c; 57:13c).

Al-Rāzī makes an argument regarding limited punishment in Hell based on three main points: First, he argues that v. 80 is not necessarily a denial that souls might reside in Hell only temporarily, but may be seen as a rebuke against the claim of such an exceedingly small number of days coupled with the impudent confidence in that figure in the absence of an explicit promise from God. Second, one cannot assume such forgiveness for all, but this does not prevent the possibility that an individual person may be forgiven after a time in Hell. Third, there is a difference between saying that God will not remove a believer from Hell and saying that God never promised (or made a Covenant) to remove a believer from Hell, since God can do something without having explicitly promised to do so. The absence of such a promise does not prevent God from in fact removing a person from Hell after a period of time. For more on the question of the perpetuity or eternity of Hell, see 11:106–8c; 78:23c; and the essay "Death, Dying, and the Afterlife in the Quran."

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Á Nay, whosoever earns evil and is surrounded by his sins, it is they who are the inhabitants of the Fire, therein to abide.

81 _Evil_ here is most commonly understood by commentators to mean "idolatry," the setting up of "partners" to God (or the setting up of other things as equals to God) as objects of worship (see also 4:48c). To be _surrounded by his sins_ means to be a persistent sinner, to be one who dies in sin before repenting of it, or to commit major sins as opposed to minor ones and die in that state unrepentant (Ṭ). The distinction between major and minor sin (corresponding roughly, but not exactly, to mortal sin and venial sin in the Christian tradition) is universal in Islam, although historically there have been many different lists of major and minor sins. Some are based on certain _a ḥādīth_ of the Prophet listing grave sins, while others identify major sins as those connected to _ḥ add_ punishments (e.g., murder and adultery) in the Quran or those specifically mentioned in connection with Hell or the curse of God. Major and minor sins are not strictly divided: one can repent and be forgiven for major sins, but even a minor sin can become major through obstinacy and repetition (also see 4:31c).

_Surrounded_ renders _a ḥāṭa,_ which can mean to "encircle," "enclose," or "comprehend." In a sense, one's sin overwhelms one's good actions, as one object encircles another (R), so that the decisive character of the soul is evil rather than good and the heart is what is encircled and overwhelmed (IK). In a way, only idolatry deserves eternity in Hell, as it manifests a decisive orientation of the heart (Ṭs). When God says He forgives all sins except _shirk,_ idolatry (4:48; 4:116), this means that He forgives gratuitously all sins other than _shirk,_ not that _shirk_ is unforgivable, since _God forgives all sins_ (39:53; R). On the question of forgiveness for _shirk,_ see 4:48c. See also 4:123, which says of the Hereafter, _It will not be in accordance with your desires nor the desires of the People of the Book. Whosoever does evil shall be requited for it._ The commentators connect these verses to the Jewish claim of limited days of punishment, indicating that God does not punish or withhold punishment on the basis of one's membership in a particular religious community, but on the basis of individual right or wrong actions.

The identification of major sin and its consequences became entangled politically in early Islamic history, which is why many of the creeds of the classical period discuss the status of the Companions alongside questions of God's Attributes and eschatology. The internal conflicts of the early period made the Prophet's Companions subjects in the theology of sin and error, in light of the civil wars involving major Companions and even wives of the Prophet on opposing sides, culminating in the assassination of the two Caliphs ʿUthmān and ʿAlī by extremist elements who labeled them as grave sinners, hence, according to their belief, no longer believers and therefore illegitimate. The status of individual Companions (especially the early Caliphs) became a charged issue in intercommunity politics, in which sin became both a theological and political question pertaining to both religious and temporal authority.

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 And those who believe and perform righteous deeds, it is they who are the inhabitants of the Garden, therein to abide.

82 According to some theologians, the people described in this verse could also be perpetrators of major sins, because the commission of such sin does not erase their faith and other good works. The mainstream majority opinion in Islam, both Sunni (e.g., Ashʿarite and Māturīdite) and Shiite, is that the believer who commits a grave sin is still a believer. However, although we know that God forgives sin, we cannot know which sins are forgiven and for which person; those who are punished may be punished for a period, perhaps a very long period, but then that punishment will come to an end (R). To one side of this mainstream position are theological schools and groups who have believed that the grave sinner goes to Hell forever. The Muʿtazilites espoused this view because, in their opinion, grave sin rendered one a _fāsiq_ ("reprobate" or "iniquitous"), which was for them a technical term denoting an intermediate state between believer and disbeliever, which nevertheless merited Hell. The Khawārij also believed in the damnation of the grave sinner, because committing a grave sin was tantamount to a loss of faith, meaning that a grave sinner had no faith by definition and was no longer a believer.

On the other side of the mainstream position were the Murjiʾah, who disassociated the negative effects of sin from faith far more than the mainstream position would allow, in some cases disentangling faith and action as starkly as the Khawārij had fused them. They are said to have espoused a belief that sin does not impinge on faith and that as long as individuals had faith they would go to Paradise. For the mainstream theologians, evil actions did not invalidate faith, yet faith did not preclude punishment for evil actions. In the broader Islamic tradition, the relationship between faith and action was examined much more profoundly within Sufism than in most of the dogmatic theological schools mentioned above. One's degree of love, insight, wisdom, gnosis (spiritual knowledge), and vision of inward and outward truths as were all taken into account when thinking about the many dimensions of _īmān_ ("faith/belief") and _kufr_ ("unbelief/denial"). Moreover, the Quran itself hardly presents the Hereafter as a binary reality. See the essay "Death, Dying, and the Afterlife in the Quran." The relationship of major sin to faith/belief is only one dimension of the multifaceted issue of faith or belief ( _īmān_ ).

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à And [remember] when We made a covenant with the Children of Israel, "Worship none but God; be virtuous toward parents, kinsfolk, orphans, and the indigent; speak to people in a goodly way; and perform the prayer and give the alms." Then you turned away, save a few of you, swerving aside.

83 Here _when_ can be read as "[remember] when," in connection with the previous passages recalling the history of the Israelites. This verse resembles other passages that contain universal commandments regarding truth and virtuous action, such as 6:151–53 and 17:23–39, considered by some to be among the _mu ḥkam_ verses of the Quran (on this term, see 3:7c). An alternate reading has the pronoun in the third person, so that it might be rendered "We made a covenant with the Children of Israel: they worship none but God." In this case there would be a shift from the third-person nominative to the second-person imperative beginning with _be virtuous_ in the middle of the verse, a grammatical shift not uncommon in the Quran (see the essay "Quranic Arabic: Its Characteristics and Impact on Arabic Language and Literature and the Languages and Literatures of Other Islamic peoples"). _Be virtuous toward parents_ does not have an explicit verb in Arabic, but reads literally "and toward parents virtue," where the verb "to be" or "to act" is understood (R, Ṭ); also, when the first phrase above is read in the third person, this phrase can also be read in the third person (R).

Parents are especially honored in the Quran (see 4:36; 6:151; 17:23; 29:8; 31:14; 46:15) and the _Ḥ adīth_ (see the essay "Quranic Ethics, Human Rights, and Society). These injunctions apply whether the parent is a believer or not, and the commentators often point to the example of Abraham and his restraint with his disbelieving father (19:42–48). The _ḥ adīth_ often bestows special honor upon mothers, as in the Prophetic saying, "Paradise is at the feet of mothers." For regard for one's parents, see 29:8c; 31:13–14c.

_Kinsfolk_ ( _dhu'l-qurbā,_ lit. "possessors of nearness") refers to blood relations, and their good treatment is mentioned often (2:177; 4:8; 4:36; 8:41; 17:26), as are one's responsibilities toward orphans (2:220; 4:3–10; 4:127; 6:152; 17:34; 107:2) and the poor, very often listed in the same passages as relatives and orphans. An orphan ( _yatīm_ ) was generally considered to be any minor whose father had died, as the father would have been the primary provider and protector of the child, but some considered those whose mothers had died also to be orphans.

To _speak to people in a goodly way_ includes, according to the exegetes, calling them to monotheism, enjoining what is right and forbidding what is wrong (see 3:104c); and this command to speak _in a goodly way_ applies to all people (Ṭ). Those who _turned away, save a few_ were the Children of Israel (Ṭ).

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Ä And when We made a covenant with you, "Do not shed the blood of your own, and do not expel your own from your homes." Then you ratified it, bearing witness.

84 For most commentators this verse continues the descriptions of previous Israelites (R, Ṭ). The _you_ in _Then you ratified it_ could refer to the contemporary Israelites or to their forefathers. _Bearing witness_ can mean a direct attestation or simply being present at the event as a group (R). In Madinah there were three Jewish tribes, Naḍīr, Qurayẓah, and Qaynuqāʿ, and two main Arab tribes, Aws and Khazraj. When war broke out between Aws and Khazraj, the Jewish tribes would fight on both sides of the battle, so that Jew would be fighting Jew, and they would drive one another out of their homes and take prisoners (IK, Ṭ).

These verses also touch on the question of communal versus individual responsibility. One can be passively implicated in the crimes of one's community, as when children suffer because of their parents' crimes. But one can also take an active part in a community's past crimes and be held responsible for them, such that the "sins of the fathers" are justly passed on to later generations. Insofar as individuals are willing to glory in a group identity and accept its accomplishments as an extension of the self, they expose themselves to the crimes associated with that group identity as well. From another point of view, individual human beings suffer from the crimes of their forbears insofar as they inherit the traits of those they imitate through sheer worldly ignorance (the Quran often chides people for pointing to the practices of their fathers as a moral argument). If people of a certain generation are malicious, their children will tend to inherit and copy those traits, because human beings tend to conform to the norms of their society. In this respect, the sins of the parents are passed on to the children: imitating the good and being raised in an environment of virtue and beauty are better than imitating evil and being raised among liars and thieves, if only because such environments enshrine and transmit truth and compassion to later generations.

A culture or civilization can be rescued from its moral darkness by an infusion of virtue from saints or sages and, in earlier times, prophets, but on average a community will retain the qualities of its progenitors rather than discard them. One can overcome this weight through repenting of one's own sins and living a life of active virtue, and even though one identifies oneself as a member of a group, one should deplore its crimes. But even then one might not necessarily escape the effects of communal sin, any more than an individual might escape the fire burning a neighbor's house. This is one way of interpreting the Quran's use of _you_ in the present tense even when talking about past and also future generations.

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Å And yet it is you, the very same, who kill your own and expel a party of you from their homes, conspiring against them in sin and enmity. And if they come to you as captives you ransom them, though their expulsion was forbidden to you. Do you, then, believe in part of the Book and disbelieve in part? And what is the recompense of those who do so but disgrace in the life of this world? And on the Day of Resurrection they shall be consigned to the most severe punishment. And God is not heedless of what you do.

Æ It is they who have purchased the world at the price of the Hereafter; for them the punishment shall not be lightened, nor will they be helped.

85–86 According to some, _believe in part of the Book and disbelieve in part_ refers to the contradiction between the initial expulsion, which would be a violation of the Book, and the ransom, which would be in accord with the Book (Ṭ). Others connect the disbelief in this verse with the prophecies foretelling the coming of the Prophet Muhammad, though this is not implied by the context (R). Here the wider sense of _kufr,_ or "disbelief," as rejection and denial of certain truths comes to the fore, as the lack of belief and faith _in part_ is not a direct disbelief in God's existence. Rather, the expulsion and taking of ransom are acts of hypocrisy and immorality, which are not separable from a certain degree of _kufr_.

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Ç And indeed We gave unto Moses the Book and caused a succession of messengers to follow him. And We gave Jesus son of Mary clear proofs, and strengthened him with the Holy Spirit. Is it not so that whenever a messenger brought you something your souls did not desire, you waxed arrogant, and some you denied and some you slew?

87 Here _the Book_ refers to the Torah. The _succession of messengers_ refers to those Biblical figures mentioned in the Torah and the Gospel whom the Quran considers to have been prophets sent to the Children of Israel, including David, Solomon, Elias, John, and others (R). They were sent by God to preach the Oneness of God, but in accordance with the religious law of Moses and not to bring a new religion. _Clear proofs_ renders _bayyināt,_ meaning something that makes plain, shows clearly, or demonstrates (see also the introduction to _Sūrah_ 98). In the case of Jesus, _clear proofs_ may consist of the Gospel (Ṭ) or may be a reference to his miracles, such as healing the sick and raising the dead, giving life to the figure of a bird (3:49), and telling of realities from the unseen world, though some say it can include both the miracles and the Gospel (R).

The _Holy Spirit_ in the present verse is usually identified as the Archangel Gabriel (IK); others have said it was a name by which Jesus revived the dead or that it refers to the Gospel itself (Ṭ), although this latter opinion goes against the juxtaposition of the Gospel and the Holy Spirit in 5:110. The interpretations have in common the sense of "giving life," whether it is bodily quickening or the nourishment of the heart and intelligence (R). The place of the spirit in Islamic metaphysics and epistemology is essential and profound and is, in a sense, inexhaustible as a theological category; see 17:85c; 78:38c, where the spirit is discussed further. The word _Holy, qudus,_ is defined by some as "blessing" ( _barakah_ ) or "purity" ( _ṭ uhr_), while others say _qudus_ is synonymous with the Divine Name _al-Quddūs_ ( _the Holy;_ see 59:23; 62:1). In this latter sense _the Holy Spirit_ means "the spirit of (God) the Holy" and refers then to the same Spirit that was breathed into Adam in 15:29: _I have proportioned him and breathed into him of My Spirit_. Jesus was _strengthened_ in the sense of being supported, helped, and reinforced.

For most Sufis, what this passage says outwardly to the Jews it communicates inwardly to the Muslims: God caused a succession of saints and sages to show right from wrong and guide them to the straight path, but these luminaries are often called liars or are opposed because their accusers are ruled by their passions (K). In a _ḥ adīth_ the Prophet said, "You will follow the ways of those who went before you, span by span, cubit by cubit, so much so that, were they to enter a lizard's hole, you too would enter it."

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È And they say, "Our hearts are uncircumcised." Rather, God has cursed them for their disbelief, for little do they believe.

88 In _Our hearts are uncircumcised, uncircumcised_ renders _ghulf_ (see also 4:155c), which means "covered" and can mean "sheathed" (as with a sword), but whose semantic range also allows the reading, "Our hearts are vessels," meaning their hearts contain all knowledge and stand in no need of any other, or they are empty vessels in the sense that nothing of what others say resonates with them as being true (IK, R, Th). A similarly phrased passage, _Our hearts are under coverings from that to which you call us_ (41:5), raises the question, in the minds of some commentators, of individual moral responsibility for one's state of faith: if one's organ of faith and understanding is covered, is one responsible?

Although here God seems to dismiss and rebuke the notion of hearts being covered, in 4:155 the claim _Our hearts are uncircumcised_ is followed immediately by _Nay! Rather, God has set a seal upon them for their disbelief, so they believe not, save a few_. The dismissal of the Jews' claim that their hearts are enwrapped (both here and in 4:155) is thus juxtaposed with the affirmation that they are sealed from faith. But the question need not be whether God seals hearts; indeed, a sealed heart would not be able to see that it is sealed. A soul that laments its being sealed is not completely sealed, since one cannot be aware of or believe in God unless God allows it. "My heart is covered" can be uttered cynically but has a different meaning when expressed by a person longing for God, but dismayed by the distance from Him. See also 2:7c, which addresses the question of sealing hearts and its significance for questions of predestination and responsibility based on free will.

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É And when there came to them a Book from God, confirming that which they had with them—and aforetime they used to ask for victory over those who disbelieve—so when there came to them that which they recognized, they disbelieved in it. So may the curse of God be upon the disbelievers.

89 Here the _Book_ refers to the Quran, which in several verses is described as confirming the previous scriptures (e.g., 3:3; 5:48; 6:92; 35:31). _To ask for victory_ has the sense of asking for help. It is related that before the advent of the prophethood of Muhammad, the Jewish tribes of Madinah used to tell the idolatrous Arabs that a prophet would come who would grant the Jews victory over them (IK, Ṭ). Some commentators relate that the Jews previously prayed, "O God send this prophet we find written of in our [book], so that we can punish the idolaters and slay them," but they then rejected him—that is, Muhammad—because he was not of the Israelites (see v. 90; IK). Some traditions relate that some Arab Muslims, who were formerly idolaters, would remind the Jews by saying, "Reverence God and embrace Islam. You used to ask for victory over us by means of Muhammad while we were people of idolatry, telling us that he was being sent, and describing his attributes to us" (Ṭ). Some commentators believe that _that which they recognized_ could also be understood to mean "that which they knew" or "that which they were acquainted with" and did not stem from a detailed description of the Prophet, but rather from an understanding of the general attributes of prophethood and truth that he displayed (R).

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Ґ Evil is that for which they sold their souls, that they should disbelieve in what God sent down, out of envy that God should send down His Grace unto whomsoever He will among His servants. They earn a burden of wrath upon wrath, and the disbelievers shall have a humiliating punishment.

90 Cf. v. 102, where _evil is that for which they sold their souls_ is repeated as a conclusion to the verse. The attitude criticized here is based on the Jews' reported belief that a prophet should come only from the Children of Israel. According to the commentators, because they were jealous that this dignity should pass to the Arabs, they purchased the false comfort of tribal pride at the price of faith in the Prophet Muhammad (IK, R, Ṭ). Here again a sense of rejection and lack of gratitude should be recalled in the multifaceted concept of "disbelief" ( _kufr_ ), which in this case brings out the sense of _kufr_ as "covering over (the blessings one receives)," which is not unrelated to _ghulf,_ or "enwrapped," as discussed in 2:88c. _Grace_ renders _fa ḍl,_ which can also mean "bounty," "favor," "kindness," or "superiority" depending on the context.

_His servants_ may refer to all human beings who worship God, but also to all human beings and indeed to creation as a whole. In the Quran as in Islam in general, _servant_ is often used as a term of praise (2:186, 207; 14:31; 15:42; 21:105; 25:63; 89:29) unless qualified (7:194; 36:30). _They earn a burden_ ( _bā ʾa_) can also be rendered "they became deserving." Some commentators interpret _wrath upon wrath_ as two instances of Divine Wrath, identifying the causes variously as the worship of the calf, the failure to uphold certain parts of the Torah, the rejection of Jesus, or the rejection of Muhammad (IK, R, Ṭ).

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ґ And when it is said unto them, "Believe in what God has sent down," they say, "We believe in what was sent down to us," and they disbelieve in what is beyond it, although it is the truth, confirming what is with them. Say, "Then why did you slay the prophets of God aforetime, if you were believers?"

91 _Beyond it_ is interpreted as "after" or "other than" (Ṭ). The question is a rebuke in light of the Jews' claim that _We believe in what was sent down to us,_ meaning the Torah, because those slain prophets were Israelites who only commanded their people to follow the Torah (IK). That they slew even them shows that their refusal to follow the Prophet stemmed from something other than faith in the Torah, since those prophets also confirmed the truth of what was _with them,_ and their murder was forbidden in any case (IK, Ṭ). See also 4:136c; 4:150–51c. The following verses continue the theme of faithlessness and rejection ( _kufr_ ) in the face of the revelation of the Truth.

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Ғ And indeed Moses brought you clear proofs, but then you took up the calf while he was away, and you were wrongdoers.

92 Here _clear proofs_ refer to signs such as Moses' staff turning into a serpent, Moses' hand turning white, his parting of the waters, and the provision of manna and quails (IK). On taking the calf for worship while Moses was away on Sinai, see the more detailed telling of the story in 7:148–55, and also 2:51.

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ғ And when We made a covenant with you, and raised the Mount over you, "Take hold of what We have given you with strength, and listen!" They said, "We hear, and disobey," and they were made to drink the calf into their hearts because of their disbelief. Say, "Evil is that which your belief enjoins upon you, if you are believers."

93 Regarding the raising of the Mount, see 2:63, where a similar command to take hold of the Torah and earnestly follow it is mentioned. Explaining _drink the calf,_ the commentators understand the drinking to mean that they were made to drink "the love of" the calf (R, Ṭ), meaning that they directed their love to it due to their disbelief ( _kufr_ ), which here as elsewhere can also mean "denial" and "ingratitude." A _ḥ adīth_ that similarly uses the metaphor of drinking states, "Trials and temptations come upon hearts unrelentingly like a woven mat. Any heart that is made to drink of them has a black spot placed upon it, and any heart that denies them has a white spot placed upon it. Thus two kinds of hearts arise: the white are pure and no trial can harm them so long as the heavens and the earth endure, and the others are black and ashen . . . who do not recognize what is right or deplore what is wrong except as they are made to drink from their passions."

What their _belief enjoins_ is condemned insofar as they affirm and embrace evils such as the worship of the calf, the slaying of the prophets, and other actions denounced in connection with the Israelites (cf. 4:153–61). Their _belief_ ( _īmān_ ) here is an orientation of the heart that allows it to be satiated by worldly pleasures and ambitions and is symbolic of the soul that is filled with the world and abandons guidance (Aj).

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Ҕ Say, "If the Abode of the Hereafter with God is yours alone to the exclusion of other people, then long for death, if you are truthful."

ҕ But they will never long for it, because of what their hands have sent forth, and God knows the wrongdoers.

94–95 See also 62:6: _Say, "O you who are Jews! If you claim that you are friends unto God apart from [other] people, then long for death if you are truthful."_ To long for death is a command seemingly at odds with the Islamic tradition, as in a _ḥ adīth_ of the Prophet: "Let none of you long for death because of an evil that befalls you. If one must do something, let him say, 'O God, give me life so long as life is good for me, and make me pass away if passing away is good for me.'" The reasoning behind this challenge made to the Jews (R, Th) is that death is the only way to the felicity that they here claim is theirs alone in the Hereafter, so that it is therefore a gate through which they should wish to pass with all due haste. The conditional supplication for life and death mentioned by the Prophet reflects, by contrast, the uncertainty of one's status in the Hereafter according to Islam. Like the presumption regarding the limited sojourn in Hell in v. 80 and 3:24, this belief in a guaranteed and exclusive entry into Paradise displays an excess of confidence. Those who truly expect no possible destination but Paradise should long for death, but their awareness of their own sins (75:14–15), however deep or undetected, stops them. According to some, this challenge could refer to a kind of _mubāhalah,_ a practice where two sides come together to decide the truth of an issue, each declaring a certain position and each invoking something terrible on themselves if they are wrong. In this case, it would mean that death is invoked upon whomever is lying, the Muslims or the Jews (IK, Ṭ).

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Җ You will find them the most covetous of people for life, [even] more than those who are idolaters. Each one of them would wish to live a thousand years, although that would not remove him from the punishment. And God sees whatsoever they do.

96 _Each one of them_ could grammatically refer to either the Jews who are described in the beginning of the verse or the polytheists, meaning that the Jews are more covetous even than people who wish to live a thousand years because they have no belief in a Hereafter. Another possible understanding of the grammar of this verse yields the translation "You will find them the most covetous of people for life; and among the polytheists are those who would like to live a thousand years . . . ," although this latter reading is considered unlikely (R) and not idiomatic in Arabic. Some commentators mention that this phrase refers to the Zoroastrians or Persians in general, going so far as to quote a Persian phrase, "[May you have] ten thousand years!" spoken when someone sneezes. Others, such as al-Rāzī, prefer to see "thousand" as an idiomatic way of saying "many" and dismiss the connection of it to the Zoroastrians as a specific group.

Ḥasan al-Baṣrī is reported to have said, "A hypocrite is more covetous of the world than an idolater" (IK), perhaps because of the gnawing awareness of the consequences of one's actions (Aj). On this aspect of hypocrisy, see 4:143c; 4:145c. The hypocrites' certainty in salvation is thus a delusion whose underlying truth, that their actions preclude such certitude, is not completely hidden from them. Or perhaps any hypocrites with a belief in their own special status before God will also believe that they are owed much in this world, and their hypocrisy, clouding their judgment, forces them to prefer the nearer pleasure of this life, whose conditions seem certain. The _punishment_ is that of the Hereafter. Some commentators suggest that _him_ in _remove him_ refers to the enemy of Gabriel mentioned in the next verse (IK, Ṭ).

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җ Whosoever is an enemy of Gabriel: he it is who sent it down upon thy heart by God's Leave, confirming that which was there before, and as a guidance and glad tiding for the believers.

97 Two accounts, similar in their import, give the background for this verse. One describes the Prophet being questioned by a group of Jews who ask him questions only a true prophet could answer, among which is a question about who brought Muhammad the message from God. When he answers that it was Gabriel, they say they would have followed him if he had said Michael, who is an agent of mercy in their eyes, but Gabriel is a bringer of war, death, and destruction (IK). In the second account, ʿUmar ibn al-Khaṭṭāb is visiting the Jews while they are studying the Torah, saying he does so because he enjoys experiencing the mutual confirmation of the Torah and the Quran. They tell ʿUmar that they believe that Muhammad is a prophet, but they do not follow him because they are "at peace" with some angels but not with others, and Gabriel belongs to the latter group. This statement astounds ʿUmar, who balks at the notion that one angel could be a friend and the other a foe while both sit on either side of God according to the Jews themselves. Upon returning to speak to the Prophet, he is informed that this verse has already been revealed (IK).

Michael is the preeminent angel in the Jewish tradition; he is mentioned in the book of Daniel (10:13–21) as Israel's prince and in later Jewish literature as Israel's advocate and the teacher of Moses. In other Jewish literature Gabriel and Michael appear with often complementary qualities and functions: Michael is snow, and Gabriel fire; Michael is called the merciful, while Gabriel is set over "the powers"; and attributes of gentleness are assigned to Michael and those of severity to Gabriel. The book of _Enoch,_ for example, discusses the concept of fallen angels in addition to the distribution of angelic functions and attributes. In the context of a literature that exalts Michael to the rank of foremost protector and advocate of the Children of Israel and assigns to Gabriel functions such as destruction and death (e.g., the _midrash_ describes Gabriel as the destroyer of Sodom), it is not surprising that for some Jews a tradition arose that made Gabriel an enemy to the Jews insofar as he was regarded in some rabbinic and other literature as a bringer of death and destruction, while Michael was Israel's special patron and an embodiment of mercy. In Jewish literature as a whole, however, Gabriel, though not possessing the stature of Michael, is seen in a positive light.

For Muslim commentators such as al-Rāzī, at least part of the Jews' apparent enmity toward Gabriel stemmed from the fact that Muhammad was not of Israel, in which case the invocation of Gabriel's severity would be an excuse masking their displeasure that an Arab would be chosen as a prophet and the agent of the revelation being Gabriel. For Muslims, to fault Gabriel is to fault God, who sent him. Al-Rāzī also points out that Jews deny having such a belief, but responds by noting that their deviations of the past, such as the worship of the calf, are not always reflective of their later practice.

God's message is sent down upon the Prophet's _heart_ (cf. 26:194; 53:10–11), since the heart is the seat of knowledge and understanding, not only sentiment. See 2:7c, which discusses the dimensions of the heart in the Quran.

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Ҙ Whosoever is an enemy of God, His angels and His messengers, and Gabriel and Michael: God is indeed the enemy of the disbelievers.

98 The structure of this verse does not mean that Gabriel and Michael are other than angels; for example, 55:68 mentions dates and pomegranates after mentioning fruit. Moreover, angels are sometimes referred to as messengers as well (e.g., 10:21; 11:77). In connection with the warning in this verse, commentators often mention _ḥ adīth_ narratives with similar import, such as "Whoever is an enemy of God's friend ( _walī_ ), God makes war on him."

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ҙ We did indeed send down to you clear signs, and only the iniquitous disbelieve in them.

99 The _clear signs_ are signs of Muhammad's prophethood, his personal qualities and the knowledge he possessed, which the commentators say should have been apparent to any believing Jew (IK, Ṭ).

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Ā Is it not so that, whenever they make a covenant, a group of them cast it aside? Indeed, most of them do not believe.

100 Many commentators mention that the Jews of Madinah said, "We did not make a pact or covenant regarding Muhammad," upon which this verse was revealed, which evidently means that they did not pledge to follow him specifically. Others indicate that this refers to a promise the Jews had made previously that they would follow the prophet who was to come and give them victory over the idolatrous Arabs (Ṭ, Th). (See v. 89.) Others mention that it can refer to their betraying the Prophet by breaking their alliance with him and siding with the Quraysh (see also 4:51–52c), though the meaning is not restricted to any particular incident (R).

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ā And when there came to them a messenger from God, confirming that which is with them, a group of those who have been given the Book cast the Book of God behind their backs, as if they know not.

101 Some commentators restrict _those who have been given the Book_ to the learned Jews (Ṭ), but it can apply to all those who take the Torah as their book and who disregard what it says (Q, R), which is what is meant by casting _the Book of God_ (the Torah) _behind their backs_. Though _the Book of God_ could also refer to the Quran, the mention of a group of those who were given the Book would indicate that it is indeed the Torah that is meant, and specifically its confirmation of the prophethood of Muhammad, for which the Quran asserts that there were clear signs and proofs in the Torah, as mentioned in v. 99.

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Ă And they followed what the satans recited against the kingdom of Solomon. Solomon did not disbelieve, but the satans disbelieved, teaching people sorcery and that which was sent down to the two angels at Babylon, Hārūt and Mārūt. But they would not teach anyone until they had said, "We are only a trial, so do not disbelieve." Then they would learn from them that by which they could cause separation between a man and his wife. But they did not harm anyone with it, save by God's Leave. And they would learn that which harmed them and brought them no benefit, knowing that whosoever purchases it has no share in the Hereafter. Evil is that for which they sold their souls, had they but known.

102 Some commentators read _recited against_ as "recited regarding" or "recited in" and understand _the kingdom of Solomon_ to mean "the time of the kingdom of Solomon" (Th). Some commentaries one encounters on this verse—perhaps more so than on any other in the Quran—contain elements startlingly incongruous with traditional Quranic commentary as a whole, but like other accounts connected with sacred history, the commentary here reflects a similar willingness to include a large spectrum of material of varying levels of reliability. The commentators recount several versions of a story about some teachings of Solomon or writings collected by Solomon describing the magic by which he was able to rule. These writings, buried under his pedestal, were dug up after his death and misused or tampered with. Given over to their passions, people made free use of these documents until the time of Muhammad. Other stories recount that the angels Hārūt and Mārūt were sent down to earth, because they thought themselves above human beings because of human sin. God told them that, were they to possess the same lusts and potential receptivity to Satan as human beings, they too would disobey God. When the two angels were sent down to earth, they were tempted by Venus, who, appearing as a beautiful woman, got them drunk and induced them to commit all manner of sin. Most or all of these legends are rejected by some of the major classical commentators such as Ibn Kathīr and al-Rāzī, but they nevertheless appear in some works of Quranic commentary.

_Sorcery_ ( _si ḥr_) is of several kinds, and the Arabic term can include what in English is denoted by sorcery and witchcraft, including sleight of hand (R). When it is not straightforward illusion, magic can be seen as the manipulation of hidden cosmic forces to produce a desired effect or as the attainment of knowledge of things unseen (whether they are removed in space or time) through hidden means. _Si ḥr_ can also refer to a kind of persuasive eloquence; hence the disbelievers' accusation that the Quranic recitations of Muhammad were nothing but _manifest sorcery_ ( _si ḥr mubīn;_ see, e.g., 10:2).

The verse can be well interpreted without recourse to the wildly speculative sources mentioned above. (It is indeed astounding that the notion of Venus taking on human form and seducing angels is even present in any Quranic commentary.) Solomon, despite the powers granted to him by God to command the wind and the jinn who would serve him (21:81–82), was not a denier of the true source of these powers and did not use them for evil purposes such as separating a man from his wife (a common aim of magic in premodern societies, among other venial purposes; see the introduction on _Sūrah_ 113). To the degree that the two angels (sometimes identified as Michael and Gabriel by commentators such as al-Rāzī) taught people how to read and manipulate the hidden dimensions of the cosmos, it would have been for the sake of wisdom, healing, and goodness. Being a double-edged sword, such knowledge would have been a potentially dangerous instrument for causing harm and evil; hence the angels' warning against making a bargain for such powers. This sort of bargainer would become well known in the West in the character of Faust, namely, one who sells his soul for unworthy worldly gain (note the reference to the selling of souls at the end of this verse). Spiritually, this verse can be read as describing a turning away from the heart and spirit toward the lower aspects of the ego (Aj), away from the "Solomon of the spirit" to the satans of the soul (K).

In some currents of Islamic esoteric tradition, the sorcery or magic that is mentioned here is considered to be astrology, which in its traditional form originated in Babylon and reached the West via Alexandria and the Islamic world. It is based upon a cosmological vision of correspondences between the heavens and the earth and between the objects of this world. These correspondences—between stars, minerals, plants, animals, human faculties, relationships, and so forth—are seen as the basis for astrology, alchemy, magic, and divination.

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ă And had they believed and been reverent, a recompense from God would be better, if they but knew.

103 God's Recompense is _better_ than what they purchased with their souls (see v. 102).

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Ą O you who believe! Do not say, "Attend to us," but say, "Regard us," and listen! And the disbelievers shall have a painful punishment.

104 _Attend to us_ renders _rā ʿinā_ (also see 4:46c). The term comes from an idiomatic usage of _rā ʿinā samʿak_ or _ar ʿinā samʿak_ (meaning something like "lend me your ear"), which was considered demeaning and mocking among people of the region of Makkah and Madinah (Ṭ). Al-Ṭabarī considers this together with other commands from the Prophet to call things and people by more noble-sounding names, but he dismisses the idea that it could have been a Hebrew wordplay, since it is the believers themselves who were commanded to stop saying it, and they would not have uncritically taken up calling the Prophet with a phrase they did not understand. It can also be understood in connection with 24:63, _Do not deem the Messenger's calling among you to be like your calling to one another,_ which admonishes against addressing the Prophet with too much familiarity (R). _Regard us_ can also have the meaning "wait for us," as in 57:13, but here has the sense only of desiring the Prophet's attention in a respectful way, followed by _listen,_ which here is understood as also meaning "obey" (Th).

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ą Neither the disbelievers among the People of the Book nor the polytheists wish that any good be sent down to you from your Lord, but God singles out for His Mercy whomsoever He will, and God is Possessed of Tremendous Bounty.

105 _His Mercy_ is understood to indicate the revelation and its wisdom bestowed through the prophethood of Muhammad (R, Ṭ, Th). The "singling" out thus refers to the giving of the office of prophet to Muhammad rather than to someone from another group more agreeable to the idolaters or People of the Book (see also 3:179; 16:2; 40:15).

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Ć No sign do We abrogate or cause to be forgotten, but that We bring that which is better than it or like unto it. Dost thou not know that God is Powerful over all things?

106 _Naskh,_ usually translated "abrogation," has the meaning of conveyance or copying from an original, which could extend to the notion that the entire Quran is a _naskh,_ or "copy" in relation to its origin in the _Preserved Tablet_ (85:22; Th), or something as simple as a written copy of a text. The more relevant sense in this context is "to erase" or "to obliterate," often described as the action that the sun performs on a shadow, the wind upon dust, or even old age upon youth. The root _n-s-kh_ appears four times in the Quran: in this verse; in 7:154, referring to the _inscription_ of the tablets of Moses; in 22:52, where God _effaces_ the work of Satan; and in 45:29, in regard to the _recording_ of human actions.

_Naskh_ ("abrogation") as a technical term is a key concept in the fully developed form of Islamic jurisprudence, theology, and Quranic commentary, and is a major conceptual tool for understanding the relationship between different commands and prohibitions in the Quran and the _Sunnah._ It is a crucial concept for understanding how the Quran is actually used as a source of Islamic Law and practice, and thus many of the classical commentators devote considerable attention to this particular verse. Other verses often mentioned in this connection are _God effaces what He will and establishes, and with Him is the Mother of the Book_ (13:39); _And when We replace one sign with another_ (16:101); and _And if We willed, We could take away that which We revealed unto thee_ (17:86).

In its mainstream interpretation, _naskh_ refers to the replacement of one legal ruling ( _ḥ ukm_) by another one that is instituted or revealed later in time, in which case the original text remains in the Quran, but is no longer binding as a matter of law or practice. As widely understood in the Islamic religious sciences, _naskh_ can occur only in matters of commands and prohibitions, not in descriptive passages relating to metaphysics, ethics, history, the nature of God, or the Hereafter; a ruling ( _ḥ ukm_) is a determination of legal status, not doctrine. Thus there can be no abrogation of a passage such as _God has power over all things_ (2:259) or _Whosoever believes in God and the Last Day and works righteousness shall have their reward with their Lord. No fear shall come upon them, nor shall they grieve_ (2:62); or accounts of previous prophets found throughout the Quran. _Naskh_ would not apply to commandments so universal as to be irrevocable, such as the prohibitions against murder, theft, and adultery and the command to be kind to one's parents.

Other kinds of _naskh_ have also been posited by some, such as the _naskh_ of both text and ruling. A report attributed to the Prophet's wife ʿĀʾishah, for example, states that there were commands in the Quran relating to suckling that are now neither acted upon nor part of the Quran (see 4:23c). Another type is _naskh_ of the text despite a continuation of its ruling, and the example most often cited here is the punishment of adultery by stoning. In a report attributed to ʿUmar, a verse commanding stoning was part of the Quran, but now is not, even though the command of stoning for adultery remains in effect (according to many, if not most, jurists; IK, R, Ṭ). On the question of the "stoning verse," see 24:2c.

Although it is generally agreed that one Quranic ruling may abrogate another Quranic ruling revealed earlier in time, there has been considerable difference of opinion about other kinds of _naskh,_ for example, whether Prophetic practice ( _Sunnah_ ) can abrogate the Quran or vice versa, and whether the consensus of the learned community ( _ijmā ʿ_) can abrogate a ruling from the Quran or a _ḥ adīth_. Moreover, although there has been near universal agreement among the majority of jurists that _naskh_ exists, there has been considerable variation on which verses of the Quran and aspects of _Sunnah_ are abrogated. Scholars such as the famous Islamic thinker and reformer Shāh Walī Allāh of Delhi (d. 1176/1762) placed the number of abrogated verses at 5; the commentator Ibn al-Jawzī named no less than 247; many other lists exist in between, such as Jalāl al-Dīn al-Suyūṭī's list of 21 instances. A minority of scholars, such as Abū Muslim al-Iṣfahānī (d. 934/1527), have gone so far as to say that abrogation, as a technical concept defined by the mainstream legal tradition, does not actually exist and that the apparently conflicting rulings can be reconciled.

Even among the mainstream upholders of _naskh,_ abrogation must be distinguished from (1) specification, where a verse does not contradict but provides specification regarding the general ruling of another verse; (2) the simple accumulation of law, which may or may not amount to an abrogation; and (3) the disappearance of the circumstances or causes behind the ruling, its _sabab_ or _ʿ illah_ ("effective legal cause"). In all cases the question of _naskh_ comes into play as a practical matter only when the verses are considered to be irreconcilable as legal rulings.

A small minority of scholars, such as Abū Muslim al-Iṣfahānī, reject altogether the mainstream definition of _naskh_ and employ the same passages to make their case either that _naskh_ takes place between religions (e.g., Islam in relation to Judaism and Christianity), meaning that God replaces one religion with another, or that _sign_ ( _āyah_ ) in this verse means "miracle." In the Quran many things are called a _sign:_ the she-camel of the Thamūd (17:59); the day and the night (17:12); the Companions of the Cave (18:9); Zachariah's lack of speech for three days (19:10); Jesus (19:21); the white hand of Moses (20:22); Mary and Jesus (21:91); the destruction of Noah's people (25:37); the growth of vegetation (26:8); the drowning of the Egyptians (26:67); the destruction of the people of Lot (26:174); the miracles of Moses (28:36); the creation of the heavens and the earth (29:44); the request by the disbelievers for a miracle (29:50); our creation from dust (30:20); a series of items in 30:21–25, none of which refer to the verses of the Quran, thus bearing significantly on the nature of the "abrogation" mentioned in the present verse.

_Cause to be forgotten_ ( _nunsīhā_ ) can also be understood in the sense of "abandoning," as in 9:67, _They forgot God; so He forgot them,_ where it means to "forsake" or "spurn," since God could not actually fail to remember something. With different voweling ( _nansa ʾahā_), this verb can mean literally "defer/delay," in which case the phrase would denote those signs or verses ( _āyāt_ ) that were abrogated and those that were left unchanged. Ibn Kathīr and others mention a _ḥ adīth_ about two men who used to recite a _sūrah_ that the Prophet had taught them. Then one day they tried to recite it, but they could not manage even a letter. They asked the Prophet about this inability, to which he replied, "It is one of those that has been abrogated and forgotten, so leave it." This would support a reading of "forgetting" over "deferment."

In trying to make sense of how one verse of the Word of God could be "better" than another, some interpret _better than it_ as an alleviation when it comes to matters of this world and an intensification when it comes to matters of the next world (Q, Ṭ). For example, when the night prayer was no longer an imperative of the community (73:1, abrogated by 73:20), that was a change toward ease in this world, but when the fast of Ramadan was imposed (2:185, abrogating 2:184, according to this interpretation), it afforded a greater opportunity for reward in the Hereafter. Thus, for some commentators the verse must mean "No [ruling from a] sign do We abrogate . . . ," so that it is the ruling, not the sign, that is called "better." Al-Ṭabarī, for example, compares this implied phrase to the missing phrase "the love of" in the verse _they were made to drink_ [the love of] _the calf into their hearts_ (v. 93), since they did not literally drink the calf. Others mention an interpretation that _better than it_ means "a good from it" or "a good on account of it," since the Arabic word for _better_ ( _khayr_ ) can also mean "a good," depending on the context (Q).

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ć Dost thou not know that unto God belongs Sovereignty over the heavens and the earth, and that you have neither protector nor helper apart from God?

107 This verse begins by addressing the Prophet and then expands to address human beings in general (Ṭ); similar shifts in addressee occur elsewhere, as in, for example, 33:1–2.

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Ĉ Or do you wish to question your messenger as Moses was questioned aforetime? Whosoever exchanges belief for disbelief has gone astray from the right way.

108 The questioning of Moses and related issues are discussed also in 4:153. The Quraysh would challenge the Prophet to bring a Book with the power to create flowing rivers or demand that he turn Ṣafā (a hill outside Makkah) into gold (Ṭ) or give them a tree upon which to hang ritual items (R). This last is compared with the Israelites' demand to Moses: _Make for us a god as they have gods_ (7:138).

Another pitfall related to questioning prophets is mentioned in 5:101: _O you who believe! Ask not about things which, if they were disclosed to you, would trouble you_. The Prophet said, "That Muslim commits the greatest crime who asks about a thing that is not forbidden, and which then becomes forbidden because of his asking." In another _ḥ adīth_ he said, "Those who came before you were ruined only through the multiplication of their questions and their differences with their prophets. So if I bid you do a thing, do what you can of it. And if I forbid you a thing, avoid it." Alternately, one finds praise for the Companions in the commentaries for asking the right kinds of questions, about matters such as orphans and charitable giving (e.g., 2:219–20; IK), and indeed many verses are said to have come down after questions posed by the Companions to the Prophet (e.g., 4:127; 33:35; 58:1–4).

_The right way_ renders _sawā ʾ al-sabīl; sawāʾ_ can also mean "middle," "level," or "straight" (see also 3:64c for other uses of _sawā ʾ_).

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ĉ Many of the People of the Book wish to turn you back into disbelievers after your having believed, out of envy in their souls, even after the truth has become clear to them. So pardon and forbear, until God comes with His Command. Truly God is Powerful over all things.

109 Some connect this verse with formerly Jewish Companions who, after the Battle of Uḥud, were taunted by their former coreligionists about their condition, which turned them away from Islam and back to Judaism (IK, R, Ṭ). Cf. 3:186: _You will surely be tried in your wealth and your souls, and you shall hear much hurt from those who were given the Book before you, and from those who are idolaters. But if you are patient and reverent, then that is indeed a course worthy of resolve._

On the question of _envy,_ in a _ḥ adīth_ the Prophet said, "Let there be no envy except in two things: a man who has been given wealth by God and then spends it in the way of God, and a man who has been given knowledge by God and acts in accord with it and imparts it to people." The notion of envy after exposure to the truth is discussed in 3:19; envy is also mentioned in 2:213; 4:54; 10:90; 42:14; 45:17. The great sin of Satan is often understood to be envy, as shown in 38:76, where Iblīs says of Adam, _I am better than him._ Some understand the _truth_ that was _clear to them_ to be the fact that Muhammad was a true prophet (IK, Ṭ), although in 3:19 the truth that causes dissension among the People of the Book is understood as revelation considered more broadly.

In legal terms, it is thought that this verse's command to pardon and forbear was abrogated by 9:29, which addresses the question of _jizyah,_ or "indemnity" paid by the People of the Book: _Fight those who believe not in God and in the Last Day, and who do not forbid what God and His Messenger have forbidden, and who follow not the Religion of Truth among those who were given the Book, till they pay the_ jizyah _with a willing hand, being humbled_ (IK, R, Th). However, as al-Rāzī argues, if this verse is interpreted as a command to perform a certain kind of virtuous behavior, then it is not subject to abrogation, as it is not a legal ruling ( _ḥ ukm_).

Some argue that the first verse to permit fighting (and by implication to abrogate 2:109) was 22:39: _Permission is granted to those who are fought, because they have been wronged._ Others believe 9:5 first allowed fighting. The range of opinion on abrogation is perhaps no more relevant than in the matter of war. An expansive view of legal abrogation allows for the many verses dealing with peace and forbearance to be "abrogated" by those authorizing fighting, which leads to dozens of verses being summarily abrogated. However, as al-Rāzī points out, at least in this particular case, the question of abrogation need not arise; this verse commanding forbearance and tolerance does not contradict the kind of just-war commands related to fighting elsewhere, since even in fighting Muslims are commanded to practice similar virtues, as vv. 190–94 demonstrate. For a fuller discussion of such matters, see commentary on 9:1–5; and the essays "The Quranic View of Sacred History and Other Religions" and "Conquest and Conversion, War and Peace in the Quran."

_Until God comes with His Command_ could also be rendered "until God brings His Command." The _Command_ could indicate the military defeat of either the Quraysh or those Jews who opposed the Prophet or refer to the legal status afforded the People of the Book in 9:29, mentioned above (Q, IK, Ṭ).

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Đ And perform the prayer and give the alms. Whatever good you send forth for your souls, you will find it with God. Truly God sees whatsoever you do.

110 Here and in 73:20, which is similarly phrased, the _good_ that the believers perform and find with God is connected with prayer and charity. It is understood to mean that the fruits of one's actions are reaped on the Day of Judgment, a promise in the form of a description (IK). One Companion said that when he heard the Prophet recite this verse, after it the Prophet would say, "He sees all things." (It is said that the Prophet would often pause in the midst of his recitation in order to pray or supplicate in accord with the content of a verse, for example, glorifying God in a verse about glorification or actually prostrating in a verse mentioning prostration, which is discussed in 96:19c.)

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đ And they said, "None will enter the Garden unless he be a Jew or a Christian." Those are their hopes. Say, "Bring your proof, if you are truthful."

111 The theme of God restricting His Favor to one group is repeated in v. 113, where Jews and Christians each believe that the other does not stand on firm ground; v. 135, where right guidance means following only their own religions; 5:18, where the Jews and Christians call themselves the beloved children of God; and 62:6, where Jews claim to be God's friends apart from all others. See also 4:123–24c. The _proof_ ( _burhān_ ) is a "demonstration" or "evidence" (IK) and is used similarly in 21:24; 23:117; 27:64; 28:75.

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Ē Nay, whosoever submits his face to God, while being virtuous, shall have his reward with his Lord. No fear shall come upon them; nor shall they grieve.

112 For _submits his face,_ see also 4:125; 31:22. Here "to submit" means to be sincere, and the metaphor is powerful because the face is the noblest part of one's body (Ṭ), and in a sense the most profound action in the prayer is the prostration, where one's face (the forehead and the nose) touches the ground (R). See also 3:20 and commentary. Although some commentators, such as al-Ṭabarī, understand this to mean submitting one's body and actions, which is how they understand the use of "face," others, such as Ibn Kathīr, add to this and say that the twin conditions of one's actions being acceptable to God are sincerity and conformity to the _Sharī ʿah_ (Islamic Law). This latter view would exclude hypocrites because of their lack of sincerity, but would also rule out Christian monks for their lack of conformity to the _Sharī ʿah._ Al-Rāzī, in the same way, leaves out Hindus, who, whatever their intentions, display in his view "repugnant" actions. The condition of physical conformity allows the exclusion of other religions, although the plain sense of the passage and those like it does not necessitate such exclusion as asserted by other authorities.

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ē The Jews say, "The Christians stand on nothing," and the Christians say, "The Jews stand on nothing," though they recite the Book. Likewise did those who know not speak words like theirs. God will judge between them on the Day of Resurrection concerning that wherein they differed.

113 This verse may have been revealed after a group of Jews argued with the Christian delegation from Najrān (see the introduction to _Sūrah_ 3; IK, Ṭ), though other commentators think that it can apply to Jews and Christians generally and does not require them to be present before each other or even to be contemporaries of the Prophet. _Stand on nothing_ could also be rendered "follow nothing," and in this sense some commentators suggest that in the beginning of their respective religious histories the Jews and Christians did indeed "follow something" true, but then differed and altered their religion (Ṭ). But, as others point out, this would negate the obvious intent of censure in the verse, which indicates that the Jews and Christians are wrong to make this accusation against each other (IK). They make these claims even though they _recite the Book,_ which means that in what they espouse they should affirm rather than deny the truths in the other religion; in the case of the Jews, the Torah speaks to the truth of Jesus, and in the case of the Christians, the Gospel affirms Moses and the Torah (Ṭ). The people who spoke _words like theirs_ are understood to be peoples before the Jews and Christians (IK) or possibly the idolaters who opposed Islam (R). The commentator al-Kāshānī notes that the Christians are veiled from the outward by their attachment to the inward, while the Jews are veiled from the inward by their attachment to the outward, and that similar problems beset certain schools of thought in Islam (K).

The suspension of a final verdict regarding religious differences is a consistent theme in the Quran. God's Judgment or disclosure of the truth in matters of religious disagreement on the Day of Judgment is also mentioned in 3:55; 5:48; 6:164; 10:93; 16:92; 16:124; 22:69; 32:25; 39:3, 46. The Quran states that at one time _mankind was but one community_ (10:19), and that even if all were made one community again, _they did not cease to differ_ (11:118). In other instances, the prophets are given the mission of making clear these differences (16:64, in the case of Muhammad; 43:63, in the case of Jesus).

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Ĕ And who does greater wrong than one who bars [entrance to] the mosques of God, lest His Name be remembered therein, and strives for their ruin? They are those who should not enter them, save in fear. Theirs is disgrace in this world, and theirs is a great punishment in the Hereafter.

114 _Mosques_ translates _masājid_ (sing. _masjid_ ), which is derived from the verb "to prostrate" ( _sajada_ ). Many commentators attempt to specify the mosques mentioned here. Some point to the Temple in Jerusalem (the _Farthest Mosque_ mentioned in 17:1) and the Kaʿbah in Makkah, since they are named "mosque" ( _masjid_ ) in the Quran. They also give differing accounts of the destruction of the Temple, which according to some took place with the connivance of Christians. Some say this verse refers to when at Ḥudaybiyah the Makkans stopped the Prophet from entering Makkah to pray at the Kaʿbah in 6/628 and the Muslim pilgrims agreed to go back to Madinah and return the following year (see the introduction to _Sūrah_ 48). For al-Ṭabarī, since even the idolaters never tried to destroy the Kaʿbah, it must refer to the Temple. Others see it more generally, saying that it applies to anyone who prevents people from entering any house of worship (Q). A broader interpretation of _ruin_ ( _kharāb_ ) holds that in filling the Kaʿbah with idols and the practice of idolatry, the idolaters were seeking its ruin, because it was no longer a mosque of the One God but a temple of idols (IK, Q, R). Some also mention that Abū Bakr had a small mosque in Makkah before the Muslims migrated to Madinah, a mosque the Makkans later destroyed (R).

Some try to identify specific ways in which disgrace or fear is evidenced by Christians, such as the payment of the _jizyah,_ or "indemnity" (see 9:29c; Ṭ). But others point out that the notion of disgrace can be quite broad, and that the Prophet would often pray that disgrace not be visited upon him and his community in this world (IK). Some Sufis discern another level of meaning, saying that the heart is the "house" of love and knowledge of God (the Kaʿbah is the House of God), and one does wrong in destroying it through false desires (Aj, Qu). See also 9:17: _It is not for the idolaters to maintain the mosques of God, bearing witness of disbelief against themselves._

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ĕ To God belong the East and the West. Wheresoever you turn, there is the Face of God. God is All-Encompassing, Knowing.

115 God is elsewhere called the _Lord of the East and the West_ (73:9); _Lord of the two easts and Lord of the two wests_ (55:17); and _Lord of the easts and the wests_ (70:40). The famous Light Verse (24:35) speaks of _a blessed olive tree, neither of the East nor of the West_. See also 2:142c. Regarding the remainder of the verse, the commentators converge on two main points: the practical question of the _qiblah_ (the direction of the canonical prayer) and the doctrinal matter of understanding what it means that there is the Face of God wherever one turns.

Most commentators connect this verse to the change in the _qiblah,_ which was at first oriented toward Jerusalem, but which, after the revelation of 2:144, became oriented toward the Kaʿbah in Makkah. Indeed, as a practical matter some thought that this verse gave permission to pray in any direction, but that this was abrogated by 2:144. For some, the present verse was revealed to the Prophet as a reassurance for some Muslims who told him that the previous night they could not discern the proper direction of prayer and later realized they had prayed facing in the wrong direction (IK, Q). Others connect it to the permission to pray in the direction one is facing while mounted (Āl); this permission pertains to nonrequired prayers.

Still others prefer to link it to the death of the Negus, the king of Abyssinia who had sheltered many Muslims as refugees during the worst days of the persecution in Makkah. The Prophet said, "Your brother the Negus has died; so pray for him." When those present objected that he was not a Muslim, it is said that 3:199 was revealed: _And truly among the People of the Book are those who believe in God and that which has been sent down unto you, and that which has been sent down unto them_. Then when they objected that the Negus did not face the _qiblah,_ this verse was revealed (IK, R). In another account—regarding 40:60, _Call upon Me, and I shall respond to you_ —some asked the Prophet, "In which direction?" at which this verse as revealed. In verses such as these where several occasions of revelation are given, commentators often adopt a neutral attitude and acknowledge that the occasion is not decisive in light of the doctrinal content, which in this verse is profound and universal.

_There is the Face of God_ is understood by some to simply mean, "There is God," "There is the _qiblah_ of God" (Ṭ), or "There is God's Contentment" (R). In connection with this verse many mention 28:88: _All things perish, save His Face;_ 55:26–7: _All upon it passes away. And there remains the Face of thy Lord, Possessed of Majesty and Bounty;_ 57:4: _He is with you wheresoever you are;_ and 58:7: _He is with them wheresoever they are_. Some argue that the very fact that it says _wheresoever_ is the strongest proof against anthropomorphizing God, since any body could be in only one place and not more than one place simultaneously (R).

_All-Encompassing_ ( _wāsi ʿ_) can also mean "unstinting" or "generous" (Q). Related passages include 53:32: _Truly your Lord is of vast forgiveness;_ and 7:156: _My Mercy encompasses all things_. Al-Rāzī mentions that, in connection with the ruin of mosques mentioned in the previous verse, one can understand this phrase to mean that, despite destruction of mosques, God's remembrance cannot be hindered since He is wherever one turns.

This verse can also be taken as an allusion to the Omnipresence of God, who is _the First, and the Last, and the Outward, and the Inward_ (57:3), manifest in all things, though _naught is like unto Him_ (42:11). This verse is understood to mean that God is present everywhere and is one of the scriptural foundations for the Sufi doctrine of the "oneness of being," or _wa ḥdat al-wujūd_.

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Ė And they say, "God has taken a child." Glory be to Him! Rather, unto Him belongs whatsoever is in the heavens and on the earth. All are devoutly obedient to Him,

116 Commentators do not restrict this verse to Christian theology; it can also refer to the Arab pagan belief that the angels were the daughters of God (16:57; 37:149; 43:16; 52:39); similar disavowals of Divine sonship in connection with Jesus are found in 5:17, 72; 9:30; 19:35. The Islamic arguments against God's having a child stem directly from the fundamental Islamic conception of Divine Oneness, Transcendence, Absoluteness, and Uniqueness ( _taw ḥīd_) and are based on the principle that God is unlike anything in creation, God is beyond need of all things, and His Perfection can never be implicated in the limitations inherent in "having a son." Since Islam emphasizes God as the Absolute, it denies all possibility of relativizing Him through a relationship such as fatherhood.

Although a theologian such as al-Rāzī accepts a purely metaphorical understanding of God as "father"—in the sense that a father is prior, is responsible for or is the human cause of a person's being—he would utterly reject that this in any way reflects the actual filial relationship between God and any being. His arguments are representative of much mainstream thought on the question: (1) those beings who are called God's offspring are contingent beings, hence are created, and offsprings are begotten; (2) the offspring is either eternal or not; in the first case there is nothing to make one father and the other son, and in the second case the offspring would be a created being who is begotten; (3) the offspring is of the same species as the progenitor, being similar in some ways, but different in others; this would require that each be made up of parts, which cannot be said of God; (4) one has offspring as a result of certain needs such as happiness, care in one's old age, pride, and so on, none of which are attributable to God.

The term most often translated _glory be to_ ( _sub ḥāna_) also carries the sense of "disassociation," so that _Glory be to Him!_ can also mean "God is far beyond such a thing!" which is a sense brought out often in connection with this verse (Q, Ṭ). For the general meaning of glorifying God, see 57:1c.

_Devoutly obedient_ renders _qānit,_ whose range of meaning includes compliance, humility, standing, and silence, all of which are emphasized by the commentators on this verse (Q, R, Ṭ). Since the opposite qualities are all attributes of human beings in this world, some say that this refers to their state on the Day of Resurrection, when everyone will be forced to obey, stand, and be silent before God (Q). Others understand the message of _All are devoutly obedient to Him_ to be similar to that of 13:15: _And unto God prostrates whosoever is in the heavens and on the earth, willingly or unwillingly_ (IK). The context also suggests that the phrase be understood as "All [of them] are devoutly obedient to Him," referring to Jesus, Ezra, and the angels who, far from being connected with this incorrect belief, are themselves sincere in their worship of God: _The Messiah would never disdain to be a servant of God; nor would the angels brought nigh_ (4:172). On "devout obedience," also see 3:17c; 4:34c.

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ė the Originator of the heavens and the earth. When He decrees a thing, He only says to it, "Be!" and it is.

117 _Decrees_ translates _qa ḍā,_ which can also mean "to accomplish," "to complete," or "to judge." The creative command _Be!_ is also found in 6:73; 16:40; 36:82; 40:68. In each case, all that is necessary to bring a thing into being is for God to say _Be!_ In connection with the previous verse, similar language can also be found with regard to Jesus' creation in 3:59: _Truly the likeness of Jesus in the Sight of God is that of Adam; He created him from dust, then said to him, "Be!" and he was;_ and 19:35: _It is not for God to beget a child. Glory be to Him! When He decrees a thing, He only says to it, "Be!" and it is._ For some commentators such as al-Rāzī, the command _Be!_ is meant to convey the ease and power by which God creates, requiring no preparation, practice, or effort. This view rejects the idea of a sequence of (1) a thing's nonexistence, (2) God's saying _Be!_ and (3) its existence, since one cannot address nothing, and if something exists, it does not need the _Be!_ in order to exist. Others say _Be!_ neither precedes nor follows the creation of a thing, but is coterminous with it (Q). This verse is also understood as confirming that God knows things prior to their creation, and hence before their existence (Q).

This latter idea is expanded upon by Ibn ʿArabī and many members of his school, who explain that God says _Be!_ to the forms (or "immutable essences," _al-a ʿyān al-thābitah_) in His Knowledge, meaning His Knowledge of His own Qualities and Attributes. That is to say, God knows what He will create and brings His Will and Power to bear upon that object of knowledge in order to create it by saying _Be!_ Being within God's Knowledge, it is not nothing, but neither is it yet created, nor does it possess existence. Ultimately, these views converge on the unity of God's Knowledge, Will, and Power as His inseparable Attributes and on God's complete self-sufficiency in relation to what He creates. _Be!_ ( _kun_ ) also corresponds to the Biblical _fiat lux_ ("Let there be light," Genesis 1:3) and serves to emphasize the fact that the existence of everything comes from God and His Will and that human beings do not have the power to bring anything into being out of nothing.

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Ę Those who do not know say, "Why does God not speak to us, nor a sign come to us?" Likewise did those who came before them speak words like theirs. Their hearts are alike. We have made the signs clear for a people who are certain.

118 _Those who do not know_ are identified by some as the Christians and by others as the pagan Arabs; _those who came before_ are alternately the Jews, the Christians, or the Arabs, all three together, or anyone for whom that description is true (Ṭ). Rather than a sincere question, some interpret _Why does God not speak to us, nor a sign come to us?_ as a taunt (Ṭ). A similar stream of requests or taunts is described in 17:90–95. The issue of such incredulous requests is discussed at length in 4:153c.

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ę Indeed, We have sent thee with the truth, as a bearer of glad tidings, and a warner, and thou wilt not be questioned about the inhabitants of Hellfire.

119 _Bearer of glad tidings_ ( _bashīr_ ) and _warner_ ( _nadhīr_ ) are complementary epithets used to describe the function of the Prophet (e.g., 6:48; 17:105; 34:28) and other prophets throughout the Quran. For a fuller discussion, see 4:165c. _Thou wilt not be questioned about_ can also carry the sense of "Thou art not answerable/responsible for." An alternate reading would make the verb an imperative, "And ask not about," or nominative, "And thou askest not about," although the first reading is preferred by most and is in keeping with many other instances where the Prophet is absolved of responsibility for the error of others, such as 2:272: _Thou art not tasked with their guidance;_ 35:8: _Let not thy soul be expended in regrets over them;_ and 88:22: _Thou are not a warder over them_.

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Ġ Never will the Jews be content with thee, nor the Christians, until thou followest their creed. Say, "Truly the Guidance of God is guidance. And if thou shouldst follow their caprices after the knowledge that has come to thee, thou shalt have against God neither protector nor helper."

120 For some commentators this verse is a confirmation that the question in v. 118 is not sincere, but a taunt (Q). _Creed_ renders _millah,_ a word that also can mean "community," but that can furthermore be used to refer to the religious law ( _sharī ʿah_) or "way" that defines a particular religious community (Q) and is used this way elsewhere (2:130, 135; 3:95; 4:125; 6:161; 7:88; 12:37; 14:13; 16:123; 18:20; 22:78; 38:7). See v. 145 for a similar message about the following of others' _caprices,_ meaning their egocentric whims rather than the truth. Some commentators report that when the _qiblah_ was changed to the Kaʿbah away from Jerusalem, this created resentment among the Jews and Christians, who wanted to use a truce as a delaying tactic while trying to turn the Prophet away from the new religion (Th).

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ġ Those unto whom We have given the Book and who recite it as it should be recited are they who believe in it. And whosoever does not believe in it, they are the losers.

121 The recipients of _the Book_ refers to either the Muslim believers or the learned among the Jews (Ṭ). The verb _recite_ ( _talā_ ) can also mean "to follow," so that _who recite it as it should be recited_ can also mean, "who follow it as it should be followed," an interpretation preferred by many exegetes. To recite properly means, for example, do so with humility (R). According to some, to "follow it" properly means to abstain from what the Torah forbids and to partake of what it allows (Ṭ). The theme of God commanding the People of the Book, through the Quran, to uphold the Torah and the Gospel is also addressed in 5:47, 66–68. For some, to follow the Torah is to follow ultimately the Prophet Muhammad, since the Torah is said to demand that (see 7:157), and similarly to reject the Prophet is to reject the Torah (Ṭ).

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Ģ O Children of Israel! Remember My Blessing which I bestowed upon you, and that I favored you above the worlds.

ģ And be mindful of a day when no soul shall recompense another in any way, nor shall ransom be accepted from it, nor shall intercession benefit it; and they will not be helped.

122–23 See commentary on 2:47–48.

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Ĥ And [remember] when his Lord tried Abraham with [certain] words, and he fulfilled them. He said, "I am making you an imam for mankind." He said, "And of my progeny?" He said, "My covenant does not include the wrongdoers."

124 Abraham was tried or "tested," but no specifics about this test are given in this particular passage. The commentators have differed widely over the question. Some believe these _words_ were commands given to Abraham to institute various kinds of bodily cleanliness, grooming, and ritual purification (IK, R, Ṭ). Others believe they were the rituals and prayers he was to perform, specifically the central rites of the _ḥ ajj,_ which Muslims consider to have originated with Abraham, including the circumambulation of the Kaʿbah, the running between Ṣafā and Marwah, and the pelting of the pillar representing Satan. Others see them as trials of suffering, such as circumcision, the sacrifice of his son (37:102), and the fire into which he was cast by his people, but which God made to be cool (21:68–69; Ṭ). Although Abraham is praised throughout the Quran, in this verse the commentators highlight his obedience and fulfillment of what was asked of him, mentioning it along with 53:37: _And Abraham, who fulfilled_. Some mention that this refers to his embodiment of the virtuous human qualities listed in the Quran in verses such as 9:112 and 33:35. Some also say that the word Abraham fulfilled was his selection as an _imām_. _Imām_ means most generally "leader," including a religious or political leader or the person who leads the canonical prayer. In Shiism it also has the particular meaning of one in whom the Muhammadan Light is present and who is designated the spiritual leader of the community by Divine Decree ( _na ṣṣ_).

The response to Abraham's prayer means that a wrongdoer or tyrant would not deserve a covenant with God and could not rightly be an _imām;_ or it means that such a person could be an _imām,_ but an _imām_ who does wrong would not receive the promise of the Hereafter; or it can simply be read as meaning that not all of Abraham's descendants would be virtuous, as in 37:113: _And We blessed him and Isaac. And among their progeny are the virtuous and those who clearly wrong themselves_ (Ṭ). In Shiism, the fifth and sixth Imams have cited this verse to indicate that God does not set up or allow an unjust "imam" (Ṭū). Elements similar to those in this verse are found in 25:74: _Our Lord! Grant us comfort in our spouses and our progeny, and make us_ imāms _for the reverent._

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ĥ And [remember] when We made the House a place of visitation for mankind, and a sanctuary, "Take the station of Abraham as a place of prayer." And We made a covenant with Abraham and Ishmael, "Purify My House for those who circumambulate, those who make retreat, and those who bow and prostrate."

125 This verse refers to the Kaʿbah, also called the House of God or the Sacred Mosque, which was built by Abraham and Ishmael (see v. 127). In pre-Islamic times, the Kaʿbah and the precinct surrounding it was a sanctuary, in that a murderer, for example, would be safe within it (Ṭ), which would have been seen as a continuation in some sense of its original status as established by Abraham. Some read the verb _take_ to mean "they took," referring to past people who took the station as a place of prayer (R, Ṭ). The _station of Abraham_ is a place in the close vicinity of the Kaʿbah marked by a stone that is said to have borne the footprint of Abraham. However, some consider the _station of Abraham_ to refer to the _ḥ ajj_ rites as a whole. Others consider it to be another location important in the _ḥ ajj,_ ʿArafah, Minā, or Muzdalifah (Ṭ). Circumambulation is the practice of walking around the Kaʿbah and is one of the major ritual actions of the _ḥ ajj,_ while bowing and prostration are movements in the canonical prayer. According to a _ḥ adīth_ the Prophet took ʿUmar by the hand and said, "This is the station of Abraham," upon which ʿUmar said, "Shall we take it as a place of prayer?" The Prophet said he was not commanded to do so, and some commentators say that before sunset of that day this verse was revealed.

Abraham was to _purify_ it, that is, cleanse it from idolatry and doubt (Ṭ), which in Abraham's case would mean to maintain it in that state, a state to which the Prophet Muhammad would return it later. _Those who make retreat_ means those who stay there without moving away; it derives from the root _ʿ -k-f,_ which depending on context can mean "devoted to" or "resident in." The supererogatory Islamic practice of _i ʿtikāf_ (from the same root), which consists of spending a period of time, usually a number of days, within the mosque in prayer and remembrance, is based upon the Prophet's practice of doing so during the last ten days of Ramadan. The practice of seclusion ( _khalwah_ ), or "spiritual retreat," in Sufism is also based ultimately upon _i ʿtikāf_.

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Ħ And [remember] when Abraham said, "My Lord, make this a land secure, and provide its people with fruits: those among them who believe in God and the Last Day." He said, "Whosoever disbelieves, I will grant him enjoyment for a while, then I will compel him toward the punishment of the Fire. What an evil journey's end!"

126 On the day Makkah was conquered, the Prophet said, "This land was made inviolable by God on the day the heavens and the earth were created. It is inviolable by God's Inviolability until the Day of Resurrection. Killing was not permitted to anyone therein before me, and to none after me." The word _secure_ ( _āmin_ ) is related by root to the word _sanctuary_ ( _amn_ ) in v. 125. Abraham's prayer for the land of Makkah is also mentioned in 14:37, where he asks God to _provide them with fruits_ in _a valley without cultivation._ It is reported that the Arabs would visit the Kaʿbah "for no worldly need" (Ṭ), meaning presumably for only spiritual reasons.

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ħ And [remember] when Abraham and Ishmael were raising the foundations of the House, "Our Lord, accept [it] from us. Truly Thou art the Hearing, the Knowing.

127 Some commentators relate this verse to 22:26, where God assigns or designates the place of the House. In 3:96 the Quran states, _Truly the first house established for mankind was that at Bakkah,_ an alternate pronunciation of Makkah also referenced in the Bible (Psalm 84:6). Some traditional lore attached to this verse includes accounts of a much more ancient origin for the Kaʿbah going back to Adam. In various accounts, Adam, having ceased to hear the voices of the angels due to his sins, prays to God, who informs him that He will send down a House around which people will circumambulate, just as the angels go round the Divine Throne. The House is raised up from the earth and then disappears with the flood until Abraham comes and, with his son Ishmael, brings out the foundations once again, rather than building them from nothing. Al-Ṭabarī, for his part, recounts these stories, but states that they are not reliable as actual history, although many other commentators consider them to be true.

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Ĩ And, our Lord, make us submit unto Thee, and from our progeny a community submitting unto Thee, and show us our rites, and relent unto us. Truly Thou art the Relenting, the Merciful.

128 _Submit_ and _submitting_ render _muslim,_ the participle of a transitive verb (lit. "submitter to God" in this context), which is tied to the _submission_ ( _islām_ ) mentioned in v. 132, both of which are among those verses that testify to the universal meaning of _islām,_ which existed before the revelation of the Quran. The _rites_ ( _manāsik_ ) are often taken to be the rituals of the _ḥ ajj_ (rites also mentioned in connection with the _ḥ ajj_ in v. 200), or sacrifice, or simply worship in general (Ṭ); this general meaning is found in passages such as _For every community We have appointed a rite_ (22:34, 67), referring to their respective rituals and practices. To _relent,_ here as elsewhere, suggests the reciprocity in the act of _tawbah_ (see the essay "Obstacles Faced in the Translation of the Quran"), in which God "turns" toward human beings in compassion, while they "turn" to Him in repentance (see also 2:37c). Some commentators explain that the prayer for their _progeny,_ rather than for all beings, reflects a general principle that one's kin have first right to one's kindness and concern, as in 66:6: _O you who believe! Shield yourselves and your families from a Fire whose fuel is mankind and stones_ (R). It is connected with the prayer for a messenger to be sent in v. 129 (Ṭ).

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ĩ Our Lord, raise up in their midst a messenger from among them, who will recite Thy signs to them, and will teach them the Book and Wisdom, and purify them. Truly Thou art the Mighty, the Wise."

129 The response to this prayer for a messenger is realized in v. 151, where the Prophet is described in terms identical to those in this verse. The _Book_ is most often taken to be the Quran, while the _Wisdom_ is understood to be the _Sunnah_ (the exemplary sayings and doings of the Prophet) or more generally knowledge and understanding of the religion (Ṭ), although the pairing of the _Book_ and _Wisdom_ has more universal import in the Quran and is also used in connection with Jesus (3:48; 5:110), the Children of Israel (45:16), and the House of Abraham (4:54).

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İ And who shuns the creed of Abraham, but a foolish soul? We chose him in the world and in the Hereafter he shall be among the righteous.

130 Regarding _creed,_ see 2:120c. As seen in v. 135, Abraham's _creed_ is often associated with the notion of _ḥ anīf_ (see 2:135c). _We chose him_ means that in the world he was given special favor in addition to his rank in the Hereafter. Other figures, such as Mary (3:42), Moses (7:144), Adam (20:122), the Prophet Muhammad (35:32), and other prophets (6:87), are also said to be "chosen." Many commentators understand Jews and Christians to be the ones who _shun_ the creed of Abraham (Ṭ). For some commentators this verse demonstrates the continuity between the Law of Abraham and the Law of Muhammad; the latter would in principle retain the former except in instances where the latter abrogates the former (Q). This can be seen concretely in the explicit connection of the Islamic rites of the _ḥ ajj_ with Abraham and the opinion that many of the _Sunnah_ practices relating to bodily cleanliness are thought to go back to Abraham (see 2:124c).

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ı And when his Lord said unto him, "Submit!" he said, "I submit to the Lord of the worlds."

IJ And Abraham enjoined the same upon his children, as did Jacob, "O my children, God has chosen for you the religion, so die not except in submission."

131–32 The message of submission ( _islām_ ) from v. 128 continues through to Jacob and his children. This submission to God, while being the proper name of the religion of Muhammad ( _al-islām_ ), is generalized in the Quran to imply the primordial religion and true religion as such and also to refer to a fundamental attitude and orientation of the soul toward God that is universal and part of the bequest that prophets make to their progeny. Regarding _submission,_ also see 3:19c; 3:85c; 5:3c; 6:125c as well as the essay "The Quranic View of Sacred History and Other Religions."

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ij Or were you witnesses when death came to Jacob, when he said to his children, "What will you worship after I am gone?" They said, "We shall worship thy God and the God of thy fathers, Abraham, Ishmael, and Isaac: one God, and unto Him we submit."

133 This verse is part of the general Quranic argument that the patriarchs named here cannot be claimed by the People of the Book in an exclusive and narrow way; rather, the Quran asserts that they were followers of the pure religion of Abraham (Ṭ), identified with primordial monotheism and therefore also belonging to Islam. The story of Jacob (Abraham's grandson through Isaac) and his children is more fully discussed in _Sūrah_ 12, which tells the story of his son Joseph. Jacob is often mentioned in other lists of prophets (e.g., 2:136; 4:163; 12:38). In this verse _the God_ translates _ilāh,_ which is the general noun for "god," not the proper name _Allāh_.

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Ĵ That is a community that has passed away. Theirs is what they earned and yours is what you earned, and you will not be questioned about that which they used to do.

134 This statement is repeated in v. 141. The verb "to earn" ( _kasaba_ ) also has the meaning "to commit" or "to perpetrate" depending on context. That they _will not be questioned_ is understood as meaning that they are "not responsible" in that they bear no responsibility for the actions of these earlier people (Q).

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ĵ And they say, "Be Jews or Christians and you shall be rightly guided." Say, "Rather, [ours is] the creed of Abraham, a _ḥ anīf,_ and he was not of the idolaters."

135 This claim to guidance does not mean that the People of the Book were proposing a choice; rather, each group was making this claim on behalf of its own religion (R). Here the _creed of Abraham_ is identified with Islam itself as well as with the term _ḥ anīf_. In the Quran _ḥ anīf_ often describes Abraham (4:125; 6:161; 16:120, 123), and even though it is not specifically linked with any other prophet, its usage is not restricted to him (e.g., 22:31; 98:5). It is associated with being virtuous and submissive before God (4:125), straight (6:161), upright (30:30), and devoutly obedient (16:120); it is a quality that corresponds to the unspoiled primordial nature ( _fi ṭrah_) of human beings given to them by God (see 30:30c). In almost all verses, _ḥ anīf_ also describes one who is not an idolater, an unbeliever, or a follower of Judaism or Christianity (as in the present verse); the latter two are seen as particularizations of the universal primordial religion ( _al-dīn al- ḥanīf_), which Islam reestablishes. _Ḥ anīf_ and its plural, _ḥ unafāʾ,_ are used in the Quran only in the indefinite accusative, meaning that they appear when someone is or does something "in the state of being _ḥ anīf_." It is understood to denote a state of pure _taw ḥīḍ,_ or monotheistic belief unencumbered by constraints, distortions, and idolatry, and combined with a life of virtue. Even among the non-Muslim Arabs of the Prophet's time, some of whom were _ḥ anīf_s, the quality of _ḥ anīf_ was associated with Abraham and the renunciation of idolatry and demanded the leading of a moral life. It was not a label for Jews or Christians and did not denote an organized or distinct group.

Etymologically _ḥ anīf_ is somewhat enigmatic and has led some to debate its real meaning and origins. It can mean "lame" or "crooked" and also "inclining toward." Its likely cognates in other Semitic languages give the sense of "hypocrite," "vile," and "unclean," among other infelicitous meanings such as "pagan" or "heathen" in the sense of non-Jew or non-Christian. It has been used by Christians writing in Arabic to denote Muslims, but sometimes in the sense of pagan idolatry, suggesting that perhaps the negative connotations of its Semitic cognates were not forgotten. It is not implausible that a term denoting a person who "inclined away" from a group in a negative sense could come to acquire the positive sense of one who was not bound to a specific group's limitations, distortions, and errors. One who inclines away from a group may suffer rebuke (e.g., as a non-Jew or non-Christian), but be praised when such groups are judged to be in error. The meaning of _ḥ anīf_ among the Arabs was in any case clear without any attempts to reconstruct its etymology. But with such considerations in mind and in light of its usage in the Quran, one can also see in _ḥ anīf_ the sense of not being hidebound, parochial, tribal, or sectarian to the detriment of universal truth.

In keeping with its Quranic usage and its identification in the time of the Prophet, commentators have also understood _ḥ anīf_ as "pilgrim" ( _ḥ ājj_); as "follower," in the sense of those who followed Abraham in various practices such as circumcision; or as "devoted entirely [to God]" ( _mukhli ṣ,_ also "sincere"). For al-Ṭabarī, it means the "straight" following of the way of Abraham and could not be restricted to pilgrims, which would have included pagans, or the circumcised, which would have included the Jews. He points out further that this verse does not mean that the prophets before Abraham were not _ḥ anīf_ in the sense of being straight and upright in their obedience to God, but Abraham is mentioned in this context because God made him an _imām_ of monotheism and he would have a special role for monotheists who came after him.

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Ķ Say, "We believe in God, and in that which was sent down unto us, and in that which was sent down unto Abraham, Ishmael, Isaac, Jacob, and the Tribes, and in what Moses and Jesus were given, and in what the prophets were given from their Lord. We make no distinction among any of them, and unto Him we submit."

136 The _Tribes_ ( _asbā ṭ_) refer to the twelve tribes descended from the children of Jacob, mentioned in 7:160: _And We divided them into twelve tribes_. The singular of _asbā ṭ, sibṭ,_ means "grandchild," which would signify that they are the grandchildren of Jacob (R). The ranking of the prophets is discussed in v. 285, where the Prophet and the believers are also enjoined to _make no distinction_ between the messengers of God. The present verse is considered by commentators to invalidate the selective tendency to pick and choose condemned in v. 85: _Do you, then, believe in part of the Book and disbelieve in part?_ See the essay "The Quranic View of Sacred History and Other Religions." The continuity and wholeness of religion is described in such passages as _He has prescribed for you as religion that with which He enjoined upon Noah, and that which We revealed unto thee, and that with which We enjoined upon Abraham, Moses, and Jesus, that you uphold religion and become not divided therein_ (42:13).

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ķ And if they believe in the like of what you believe in, then they shall be rightly guided. And if they turn away, then they are merely in schism and God will suffice you against them, and He is the Hearing, the Knowing.

137 The belief in _the like of what you believe in_ is thought not to mean that the object of belief is literally similar, since in Islamic theology nothing can be "like" God, but that the People of the Book should affirm what the Prophet's followers affirm and believe (Ṭ). The verse could also refer to a belief in an undistorted Torah and Gospel (see 2:75c), which would be _the like of_ what Muslims believe in (R).

_Schism_ renders _shiqāq_ (also in 2:176; 22:53; 38:2; 41:52), which carries the sense of fracture or separation and connotes an attitude of opposition and hostility (R). As in English, _suffice_ ( _kafā_ ) can mean "to be enough" as well as "to meet the needs of" or "to serve the purpose of" something. The Quran speaks of God's sufficing in many different ways: as Reckoner (4:6), Protector (4:45), Knower (4:70), Witness (4:79), Guardian (4:81), and in battle (33:25). One's own soul can also suffice as a reckoner (17:14), and in a negative sense Hell can suffice as a _blazing flame_ (4:55). _Ḥ asb_ is also rendered "suffice," as in _ḥ asbunā Allāh,_ or _God suffices us_ (3:173); also see 8:62; 8:64; 9:59; 9:129.

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ĸ "The baptism of God, and who is better than God in baptism? And we are worshippers of Him."

138 The _baptism of God_ renders _ṣ ibghat Allāh,_ which could also be translated "the coloring of God." The verb _ṣ abagha_ means "to dye," which involves plunging cloth in liquid and more generally means to cause someone to enter into something (R). The _baptism of God_ can refer back to the _creed of Abraham_ in v. 135, it can mean "[follow] the baptism of God," or it can be read as an adverbial clause connected to _We believe in God_ in v. 136 (R). Thus one explanation is that the _baptism_ ( _ṣ ibghah_) is the primordial nature ( _fi ṭrah_) in human beings, which they bear the way a cloth bears its original color (Th) and which is the _upright religion_ of 30:30. This would also connect _baptism of God_ back to the _creed of Abraham_ in v. 135 through the concept of _ḥ anīf_ (primordial monotheist), which is mentioned in both v. 135 and 30:30.

Some commentators mention Christian baptism and understand this verse to assert the superiority of Islam, as the true baptism of God, over the Christian rite (Th). Other interpretations include _ṣ ibghah_ as "purification" and also as the wont of God, God's "wont" being His unchanging actions in relation to the world (see 17:77; 33:38; 33:62; 35:33; 40:85; 48:23). For others the _ṣ ibghah_ may denote God's religion ( _dīn;_ R). These interpretations can be seen as complementary, as God's wont, religion, creed, and purification have overlapping significance, and all are brought out by the range of meaning in the term _ṣ ibghah_ in the sense of an original dye or coloration by God in the fabric of existence.

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Ĺ Say, "Will you dispute with us concerning God, while He is our Lord and your Lord? Unto us our deeds and unto you your deeds, and we are sincere toward Him."

139 This verse is a command to the Prophet; the question is directed to the Jews and Christians and, according to some, possibly the idolatrous Arabs (R, Ṭ). The Jews are said to have objected to a prophet coming from outside of the Children of Israel, while the idolatrous Arabs thought that if there were a prophet, it should be a man of higher social status than Muhammad (see 3:26; 43:31). The _dispute_ can also refer to the various questions and challenges posed to the Prophet, such as the one mentioned in v. 135. A similar approach toward disputation with the Prophet is found in 10:41: _And if they deny thee, say, "Unto me, my deeds, and unto you, your deeds";_ 2:258: _Hast thou not seen him who disputed with Abraham about his Lord;_ 3:20: _So if they dispute with thee, say, "I submit my face to God, and so too those who follow me";_ and 6:80: _His people disputed with him. He said, "Do you dispute with me concerning God, when He has guided me?"_

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ŀ Or say you that Abraham, Ishmael, Isaac, Jacob, and the Tribes were Jews or Christians? Say, "Do you know better, or does God?" And who does greater wrong than one who conceals a testimony he has from God? God is not heedless of what you do.

140 This denial of retroactive religious identity is also found in 3:65, where the People of the Book are asked, _Why do you dispute concerning Abraham, as neither the Torah nor the Gospel was sent down until after him?_ In 3:67 it is emphatically stated, _Abraham was neither Jew nor Christian, but rather was a_ ḥanīf, _a submitter_. _Testimony_ renders _shahādah,_ which is taken to imply the religion brought by Muhammad, which testifies to the same truths that the People of the Book uphold and which is moreover spoken of in their own books according to Islamic belief (IK). It can also mean that God has testified or borne witness that these prophets were not Jewish or Christian, since even their own books show that they lived before these religions existed (Ṭ). They would thus be concealing the true _ḥ anīf_ (v. 135) nature of these prophets by co-opting them into their exclusivist identity.

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Ł That is a community that has passed away. Theirs is what they earned, and yours is what you earned, and you will not be questioned about that which they used to do.

141 See v. 134, with the same wording.

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ł The fools among the people will say, "What has turned them away from the _qiblah_ they had been following?" Say, "To God belong the East and the West. He guides whomsoever He will unto a straight path."

142 See 2:115c, which discusses the _qiblah_ and how _the East and the West_ belong to God. The use of the future _will say_ in this verse does not exclude its referring to the past, as a kind of trait, and not only a prediction (R). The verse is meant partly to remind one that it is not the place itself (Jerusalem or Makkah) that merits being the direction of prayer or _qiblah,_ but the fact that God has commanded it to be so (R).

The Prophet prayed toward Jerusalem for a certain number of months after arriving in Madinah after the _hijrah_ (the emigration from Makkah); in the reports the number of months varies between thirteen and twenty, but most mention sixteen or seventeen (IK, Q, Ṭ). Some accounts state that, initially, the Prophet and his followers, while still in Makkah, prayed in the direction of the Kaʿbah, then faced Jerusalem for a brief period after migrating to Madinah, and then faced the Kaʿbah once more. Others aver, however, that even while in Makkah they prayed toward Jerusalem (Q, R). Some commentators believe that it was the hypocrites who asked this question regarding the change in direction and that, as such, they were not sincere but cynical in their intentions (Ṭ).

This question of the change of _qiblah_ is also significant for the issue of the "abrogation" ( _naskh_ ) of legal rulings in the Quran. It is the first instance of abrogation in the chronological order of revelation and is often cited as a paradigmatic case, though it is an instance of the Quran abrogating the _Sunnah_ (Q); on _naskh,_ see 2:106c. This verse is also associated with _masjid al-qiblatayn,_ or the Mosque of the Two Qiblahs, which still stands, although recently rebuilt, and is a few kilometers from the Prophet's mosque in Madinah, because it was reported that in the midst of a prayer, a caller came to announce the change in direction, at which the congregation turned, mid-prayer, and faced the new _qiblah_ (IK, Q, Ṭ).

Determining the _qiblah_ in locales outside of Makkah has been and continues to be a subject of lively debate. Several different methods have been employed throughout the centuries wherever Muslims have lived or traveled. One early method was to stand as though one were facing a wall of the Kaʿbah that was extended far enough horizontally; in this system the Islamic world was divided into geographic sectors, each praying toward a different wall of the Kaʿbah. Since the corners of Kaʿbah are oriented toward the cardinal directions and its sides face the summer sunrise and Canopus (the southern pole star frequently used for navigation), the direction of prayer was often determined by these celestial markers.

Later, increasingly sophisticated mathematical methods were developed and continue to be used to calculate the _qiblah,_ among them the great circle, which is the shortest surface line between Makkah and any spot on the earth. In North America, for example, the great circle to Makkah begins in a northeasterly direction, constantly changing compass bearing toward the southeast until it reaches Makkah. The older method for calculating the _qiblah_ direction for North America would give a southeasterly bearing, since North America would be part of the sector of the world corresponding to the Kaʿbah wall that is perpendicular to that direction. Both are used today. Another method is to face the direction that, if one kept a constant compass bearing or "rhumb line," would bring one to Makkah.

In some old Islamic cities the _qiblah_ of various mosques was not always uniformly oriented, because it was calculated using the nonmathematical means available to their inhabitants. Islamic mathematics developed sophisticated methods for determining the direction of the _qiblah_ before modern times, including the use of astronomical instruments such as astrolabes and armillary spheres. Sometimes later calculations would result in a physical adjustment of the _qiblah_ within a mosque, often with the modification of an inner wall. A _ḥ adith_ states, "Whatever is between the east and the west is a _qiblah_ " (IK, Q), which has been interpreted as providing a certain latitude when it comes to matters of exact direction, not only in the absence of mathematical calculation, but also in consideration of local conditions that might make the determination of the _qiblah_ difficult or even impossible.

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Ń Thus did We make you a middle community, that you may be witnesses for mankind and that the Messenger may be a witness for you. And We only appointed the _qiblah_ that you had been following to know those who follow the Messenger from those who turn back on their heels, and it was indeed difficult, save for those whom God guided. But God would not let your belief be in vain. Truly God is Kind and Merciful unto mankind.

143 The _thus_ at the start of this verse is thought to connect this verse to what precedes it, so that it is saying, "Just as the Kaʿbah is the center of the earth, so too are you the middle people," or, "Just as We guided you, so too have We made you a middle community" (Q). According to a _ḥ adīth,_ the Prophet said that _middle_ means "just," and a proverb (considered a _ḥ adīth_ by some) states, "The best of things is their middlemost." When one says that a man is the middlemost of his people, it means he is among their best and most esteemed people, a usage that perhaps comes from the fact that people huddle around their leader, thus placing him in the middle (Q, Ṭ). In idiomatic Arabic, often the _wasa ṭ_ ("middle") of a thing is the choicest part (R). With regard to faith and practice, to be in the middle means to avoid extremes (R): the virtue of courage lies between recklessness and cowardice, and the virtue of generosity lies between prodigality and miserliness (Aj). It can also mean that Muslims are in the middle in relation to other communities (Āl). Indeed, Muslims have argued that while Judaism emphasizes the law and Christianity emphasizes love and mercy, Islam creates a balance between the two or between emphasis on the exoteric and the esoteric; Islam also creates a balance between the concerns of this world and the demands of the Hereafter. At another level, many have pointed to the geographical location of Islam in the middle belt of the world.

To be a _witness_ means one has a consequential role in the judging of a thing through one's knowledge of that thing. Thus in 36:65 God warns, _Their hands will speak to Us, and their feet will bear witness to that which they used to earn,_ which means that the experience of the body will testify against the soul on the Day of Judgment. The commentators often mention a _ḥ adīth_ in which the Prophet said, "God will cause to enter the Garden any Muslim for whom four people bear witness." When he was asked, "Even three?" he responded, "Even three." When asked, "Even two?" he responded, "Even two." But the questioner, ʿUmar ibn al-Khaṭṭāb, said he did not ask about one. Similarly, the Prophet said, "You are God's witnesses over mankind." The commentators specifically mention various _a ḥādīth_ in which, on the Day of Judgment, the community of Muhammad will testify to other prophets' faithfulness to their missions, even when those prophets' own people do not (IK); on this issue, see 4:41c.

A _shāhid_ or _shahīd_ can also be a testimony or testament to something, evidence of something (R) in the sense that any "witness" is in a real sense a living "evidence" of something or someone. Thus a _shahīd_ is both something or someone who witnesses and something or someone who is witnessed. Read in this way, this verse is saying that the Prophet is evidence or testimony for his community to look to, and in relation to the other communities of the world the Islamic community is a testimony or evidence of something for the sake of other communities, meaning that the Prophet is there to be an indicator of the truth for his community, and the Islamic community is there to serve the same function for the rest of humanity—a way for them to have knowledge of God and the truths that flow from that knowledge. See also 22:78: _He named you_ muslim _s aforetime, and herein, that the Messenger may be a witness for you, and that you may be witnesses for mankind_.

According to al-Ṭabarī, the hypocrites objected to the change in the _qiblah_ by saying, "What is wrong with you, that you have a _qiblah,_ then you change it?" The Jews said, "Muhammad longs for his homeland, but had he remained with our _qiblah,_ we would have considered him the one we were waiting for." The Makkan idolaters said, "Muhammad has wavered in his religion." The phrase beginning _And We only appointed_ is seen as a response to all these reactions. Some Muslims said, "What about our brothers who have passed on? What of their prayers?" (Ṭ). In this respect, some commentators see _God would not let your belief be in vain_ as a reassurance for those who faced the Jerusalem _qiblah,_ but died before it was changed (IK, Q).

_We only appointed . . . to know:_ theologically, the idea that God might do something "in order to know" (18:12; 34:21; 47:31) raises the question of whether and how God knows a thing before it exists. Some interpret this to mean, "So that We observe," which would preserve the principle that God's Knowledge is eternal; that is, one could only observe a thing that exists, while God could know it before it exists (Ṭ). Some interpret it to mean, "So that My friends and partisans will know," reasoning that the actions of one's followers can be attributed to their leader, as when one says, "ʿUmar conquered Jerusalem," though he did not do so personally (Ṭ). It can also mean, "So that you will all know," referring to both Muslims and their opponents, where the use of the grammatical first person conveys a sense of kindness; that is, "We shall know" is less harsh than "you will know" when it comes to the damning verdict of disbelief (R).

Although God's saying "in order that We may know" seems to raise difficult theological questions concerning God's Knowledge, the issues are in a sense similar to those engendered by Quranic assertions that God tests people or sends them a trial, for example, _Does mankind suppose that they will be left to say, "We believe," and that they will not be tried?_ (29:2). In such cases, one could argue that, since God knows what a person would have done, there is no reason for Him to actually test that person. According to Islamic theology, although God tests in order to know, He does not wait for the answer. The answer is known already in His eternal Knowledge, but the trial and its outcome still actually take place. The whole question of God's eternal Knowledge and its relationship with the world of change is a basic theological and philosophical question to whose complexities many Islamic thinkers have devoted long studies.

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ń We have seen the turning of thy face unto Heaven, and indeed We will turn thee toward a _qiblah_ well pleasing to thee. So turn thy face toward the Sacred Mosque, and wheresoever you are, turn your faces toward it. Truly those who have been given the Book know that it is the truth from their Lord. And God is not heedless of what they do.

144 Though the change in the _qiblah_ was ordained by God, commentators give varying accounts of how Jerusalem came to be the _qiblah_ in the first place and the circumstances under which it was changed. A few have said that the Prophet chose to pray toward Jerusalem of his own accord in order to establish a bond with the local population, many of whom were Jewish or recent converts to Islam; most accounts say that the Prophet was instructed by God to face Jerusalem and then later commanded to change the direction toward Makkah (IK). The commentators say that the Prophet began to hope for a change in _qiblah_ and hence turned his face toward Heaven, because the Jews were saying, "He follows after us in our religion, and uses our _qiblah,_ " and the Prophet was displeased with their arrogance (Ṭ). Others understand that the hope to change the _qiblah_ stemmed from the Prophet's love of the House of Abraham and Abraham's _qiblah_ or from his hope that the Arabs might be more inclined toward Islam if the Kaʿbah were the _qiblah_ (R).

Al-Ṭabarī says that _those who have been given the Book know that it is the truth_ means that they know that Makkah is the true _qiblah_ for Muslims, by which al-Ṭabarī must mean that they know more generally that the Prophet is right and thus that their opposition to the change in the _qiblah_ is but one more example of their intransigence.

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Ņ And wert thou to bring every sign to those who were given the Book, they would not follow thy _qiblah._ Thou art not a follower of their _qiblah,_ nor are they followers of one another's _qiblah._ Wert thou to follow their caprices after the knowledge that has come to thee, thou wouldst be one of the wrongdoers.

145 _Every sign_ also has the sense of "every kind of sign," as in 10:96–97: _Truly those for whom the Word of thy Lord has come due will not believe, though every sign should come unto them, till they see the painful punishment_. The warning against following the _caprices_ of other religious communities is mentioned in v. 120 (see also 5:48; 13:37; 42:15) and in this verse is addressed through the example of the following of different _qiblah_ s. Jews traditionally face Jerusalem, while Christian churches were historically oriented toward the east and the rising sun, though the use of the _qiblah_ signifies more than a physical orientation; it also relates to identity and community. To say someone follows a different _qiblah_ is tantamount to excluding that person from the religious community in question. A _ḥ adīth_ states, "Whoever prays our prayer and faces our _qiblah_ and eats what we slaughter is a Muslim and is under the protection of God and the protection of His Messenger."

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ņ Those unto whom We have given the Book recognize it as they recognize their children, but a group of them knowingly conceal the truth.

146 Some commentators understand that what they _recognize . . . as they recognize their children_ is the fact that the Kaʿbah is the true _qiblah_ (Ṭ), evidently following the similar message in v. 144, where they are said to know that _it is the truth_. Others think that _recognize it_ means "recognize him," referring to the Prophet, who is known not only through the prophecies in the Bible, but also (according to the Islamic view) through his presence, his character, the signs he brought, and the truth of his message (Q, R). Thus recognizing the truth of the Kaʿbah as the _qiblah_ would be dependent upon the recognition of the truthfulness of the Prophet, rather than upon the status of the Kaʿbah itself, since Jerusalem was the legitimate _qiblah_ for a time.

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Ň The truth is from thy Lord; so be thou not among the doubters.

147 The command in this verse does not fall specifically upon the Prophet, even though it is addressed to him, but is meant to be an address to his Companions and all those in general who believe in him. This point applies to this and other seemingly superfluous commands to the Prophet, such as _And follow that which has been revealed unto thee_ (10:109), because it is taken as a given that the Prophet would be complying with the command.

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ň Everyone has a direction toward which he turns. So vie with one another in good deeds. Wheresoever you are, God will bring you all together. Truly God is Powerful over all things.

148 This verse is understood to mean that all religious communities have a _qiblah,_ or a direction of prayer (Th, Ṭ). The grammar also allows the reading, "Everyone has a direction toward which He directs him," meaning that, in the case of the Kaʿbah and Jerusalem, it is God Who chooses that human beings pray in those directions (R). Several commentators tie the command to _vie with one another in good deeds_ to refer specifically to the timely performance of the canonical prayers (R, Q), presumably because the _qiblah_ is closely associated with the prayers; similar language regarding competing in good deeds, but not connected specifically with the _qiblah,_ is found in 3:114; 5:48; 21:90; 23:56; 35:32.

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'n And whencesoever thou goest out, turn thy face toward the Sacred Mosque. Indeed, it is the truth from thy Lord. And God is not heedless of what you do.

Ő And whencesoever thou goest out, turn thy face toward the Sacred Mosque, and wheresoever you may be, turn your faces toward it, so that the people may have no argument against you—not even those among them who do wrong. Fear them not, but fear Me—and so that I may complete My Blessing upon you, and that haply you may be guided,

149–50 _Whencesoever thou goest out_ refers to leaving any place for another (Ṭ). _So that the people may have no argument against you_ is thought by most to refer to the People of the Book (Ṭ). The argument in question is thought to be based on the conceit on the part of the Jewish community that the Prophet was merely following their religion and their _qiblah_. The change in the _qiblah_ would thus nullify that claim. But this would not apply to _those among them who do wrong,_ referring to the idolatrous Makkans (Ṭ), who would not be silenced by the change in _qiblah,_ since one of their taunts was precisely that the _qiblah_ was other than the Kaʿbah. They might even have seen it as a kind of victory, since they still were custodians of the Kaʿbah, and grew more hopeful that Muhammad would drift back to their religion (Q, R, Ṭ). The message of _fear them not, but fear Me_ also appears in 3:175; 5:3; 5:44. In this verse the fixing of the direction of the _qiblah_ is part of God's completion of His Blessings for humanity. Similar passages connect these completed blessings with pilgrimage (5:3) and ablution (5:6), so that all of these connect God's Blessings with ritual practices.

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ő even as We sent among you a messenger from among you, who recites Our signs to you and purifies you, and teaches you the Book and Wisdom, and teaches you what you knew not.

151 This verse describes the fulfillment of the prayer of Abraham for a messenger to be sent to his progeny in v. 129, which also mentions the same elements of the _Book, Wisdom,_ and purification. _Even as We sent_ is thought by some to be understood as a continuation of the guidance mentioned in the previous verse (Q) or as meaning that the sending of the Messenger is part of the completion of the blessings mentioned in the previous verse (Z).

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ΠSo remember Me, and I shall remember you. Give thanks unto Me, and disbelieve not in Me.

152 It is understood by some that the beginning of the previous verse sets up the beginning of this one, meaning, "God sent you a messenger; so remember Him" (Ṭ). A saying attributed to many early commentators states, "God remembers whosoever remembers Him, and increases whosoever is grateful to Him, and punishes whosoever disbelieves in Him" (IK). According to some interpretations, one remembers God through praising Him or through acts of obedience, and God then remembers one through forgiveness (IK). A famous _ḥ adīth qudsī_ (a "sacred _ḥ adīth_," in which God is quoted but which is not part of the Quran) states, "God most high says, 'I am as my servant deems Me to be. I am with him when He remembers Me. Whosoever remembers Me within himself, I shall remember him in Myself. Whosoever remembers Me in company, I shall remember him in company better than them. Should he approach Me by a hand, I shall approach him by a cubit, and should he approach Me by a cubit, I shall approach him by a fathom. Should he come to Me walking, I shall go to him running.'" This verse is one of the Quranic foundations for the spiritual practice of the methodical remembrance of God ( _dhikr Allāh_ ), which is the central practice of Sufism, alluding to the reciprocity of remembering God and being remembered by Him. For a discussion of the virtues of _dhikr,_ or "remembrance," see 13:28c, and especially 29:45c.

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œ O you who believe! Seek help in patience and prayer. Truly God is with the patient.

153 Recourse to patience and prayer is also mentioned in v. 45, and 3:200 enjoins believers to _vie in patience,_ while 90:17 and 103:3 enjoin them to _exhort one another to patience_. Commentators usually categorize patience into three kinds: being resolute in avoiding sins, constant in meritorious actions, and content in the face of affliction (IK, R, Ṭ). God is also referred to as being with the patient in 8:46, 66; see also 2:177; 3:142; 22:35; 39:10.

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Ŕ And say not of those who are slain in the way of God, "They are dead." Nay, they are alive, but you are unaware.

154 See also 3:169 for a similar message that adds, _they are alive with their Lord, provided for_. Speaking of the posthumous state of those who die _in the way of God,_ a _ḥ adīth_ states, "The spirits of the witnesses are in the bodies of green birds flying in the Garden as they will. They alight upon lamps hanging from the Throne, and then thy Lord will turn to them, saying, 'What do you desire?' They will say, 'O Lord, what should we desire, as you have given us what you have not given to anyone else in Thy creation?' When they see that they will continue to be asked this question, they will say, 'We desire to return to the abode of the world, to set out in Thy way in order to be killed for Thy sake again.' They will say this because of the reward of martyrdom. The Lord will say, 'I have written that they will not return to it.'" Other accounts describe the spirits of the witnesses in the form of white birds eating of the fruits of the Garden or as birds perched on a tree in the Garden, a state in which they will remain until God returns them to their bodies when they are resurrected (Ṭ).

The accounts in the commentaries describe a state after death but before the Day of Resurrection that is also described in other _a ḥādīth_ as a period when human beings will be afflicted or blessed while their bodies are in the grave before they are bodily resurrected. On this question, see 3:169–71c and the essay "Death, Dying, and the Afterlife in the Quran."

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ŕ And We will indeed test you with something of fear and hunger, and loss of wealth, souls, and fruits; and give glad tidings to the patient—

155 _Souls_ here refers to friends, relatives, and other loved ones (IK). _Fruits_ can refer to food and crops, but also to children, who are "the fruit of the heart" (Q). See also 106:4, where the Quraysh are protected from _hunger and fear_. Elsewhere an ungrateful town is afflicted with _the garment of hunger and fear_ (16:112). Some interpret the _fear_ to be that of God, the _hunger_ to be the fast of Ramadan, the _loss of wealth_ to be the alms _,_ loss of _souls_ to be from sickness, and loss of _fruits_ to be the death of children (IK). When hunger befalls one in the way of God, _a righteous deed is recorded_ (9:120).

A _ḥ adīth_ states, "Patience comes at the first blow," meaning that the proof of a patient and steadfast heart is its state "in the heat of the affliction" (Q), not when it is over, in which case anyone can be patient. Although some have defined it as not complaining (see also v. 153), al-Qurṭubī notes that Job tells God, _Truly Satan has afflicted me with weariness and punishment,_ but of Job God says, _Truly We found him to be steadfast_ (38:41–44).

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Ŗ those who, when affliction befalls them, say, "Truly we are God's, and unto Him we return."

156 _Truly we are God's, and unto Him we return,_ traditionally recited by most Muslims at the moment of learning of another's death, is connected with the loss of souls mentioned in the previous verse. The theme of returning is common throughout the Quran. For example, human beings often are reminded that _unto God are all matters returned_ (2:210) and are warned to _be mindful of a day when_ they _shall be returned to God_ (2:281), _willingly or unwillingly_ (3:83), _all together_ (5:48). That human beings belong to God is an extension of such passages as _Unto Him belongs whatsoever is in the heavens and on the earth_ (v. 116; see also vv. 255, 284), which appear frequently throughout the Quran.

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ŗ They are those upon whom come the blessings from their Lord, and compassion, and they are those who are rightly guided.

157 _Blessings_ renders _ṣ alawāt_ (sing. _ṣ alāh_), a word that usually means "prayer" or "worship," but when used with the preposition _ʿ alā,_ meaning "toward" or "upon," indicates something that comes from God toward human beings rather than going from human beings toward God, as in 33:56: _Truly God and His angels invoke blessings upon_ ( _ʿ alā_) _the Prophet. O you who believe! Invoke blessings upon him, and greetings of peace!_ See also 9:99, 103.

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Ř Truly Ṣafā and Marwah are among the rituals of God; so whosoever performs the _ḥ ajj_ to the House, or makes the _ʿ umrah _,__ there is no blame on him in going to and fro between them. And whosoever volunteers good, truly God is Thankful, Knowing.

158 Ṣafā and Marwah are two hills near the Kaʿbah, between which pilgrims pass or "hurry" back and forth seven times, a practice that is said according to the traditional Islamic account to go back to the story of Hagar and Ishmael. After Abraham, following God's Command, brought them to that place and left them there (cf. Genesis 21), Hagar frantically ran from one hill to another seven times in order to look for water for Ishmael. Called _sa ʿy,_ this motion is partway between walking and running. Even though this was the action of Hagar, Muslims consider it part of the rituals of the pilgrimage, because it originated with Abraham, who built the Kaʿbah with Ishmael after the latter had become an adult (IK), and the practice was continued by the Prophet Muhammad.

Commentators point out that some of the Companions were reluctant to perform the ritual of going back and forth between Ṣafā and Marwah, fearing that it was a holdover from the Days of Ignorance and hence an idolatrous practice. This concern may have originated in a local legend that two people fornicated inside the Kaʿbah and were turned to stone; they were then placed near the Kaʿbah as a warning, and over time these stones slowly grew into the two hills (IK). Others mention that the verse may have been in response to other Companions who thought that the Kaʿbah was the only object around which such motions such as running to and fro and circumambulation should be made. The commentators point out that this verse could be understood to have addressed both questions (Q).

There are differences of opinion regarding Ṣafā and Marwah; according to some schools of thought, to go back and forth between them ( _sa ʿy_) is one of the pillars of the _ḥ ajj_ (e.g., Shāfiʿī), while for others it is only recommended (e.g., Ḥanafī), although adherents of all schools nevertheless do perform the _sa ʿy_. Those who see it as a pillar of the _ḥ ajj_ mention a _ḥ adīth_ of the Prophet, "Go to and fro [between the two hills], for God has prescribed for you the running to and fro."

_Rituals_ ( _sha ʿāʾir_) can also refer to ritual places; the root _sh- ʿ-r_ carries the sense of "that by which God is known" (Q), thus referring both to sacred symbols and sacred actions. See also 5:2; 22:32; 22:36.

The _ʿ umrah_ is a supererogatory visit to perform a shortened form of pilgrimage and can be performed during any time of the year other than the days designated for the obligatory _ḥ ajj_. The _ʿ umrah_ contains some of the elements of the _ḥ ajj,_ such as becoming _mu ḥrim—_that is, wearing two pieces of cloth; the circumambulation of the Kaʿbah; and the passing to and fro between Ṣafā and Marwah. Most scholars, especially those who see the ritual of Ṣafā and Marwah as obligatory, see _whosoever volunteers good_ as a reference to the _ʿ umrah,_ which is not an obligatory Islamic rite like the _ḥ ajj._ On the _ʿ umrah,_ see v. 196.

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ř Truly those who conceal what We have sent down of clear proofs and guidance—after We made it clear to mankind in the Book—are those who are cursed by God and cursed by the cursers,

159 This verse can either have a general import or refer specifically to the People of the Book around the Prophet (R). According to the former interpretation, it is sinful for any person to obscure a truth of religion; according to the latter interpretation, some Muslims asked a group among the People of the Book to point out to them the Prophet described in their Book, but they refused or "concealed" it (R). It can also mean that the People of the Book conceal the truth of Islam itself, by undercutting it, calling it false, and failing to make known the foretelling of the coming of the Prophet (Ṭ). The idea of concealing the truth of revelation is also addressed in v. 174; 3:187; 5:15.

Some say that the _cursers_ in this verse are the beasts of the earth, while others mention that they are the angels and the believers, as in v. 161 (Ṭ). Others also mention the possibility that the denizens of Hell, who blame them for their own state, will also curse them (R).

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Š save such as repent, and make amends, and make clear. They are those unto whom I relent. And I am the Relenting, the Merciful.

160 On repentance, see 2:37c; 2:128c, 4:17–18c; 4:147c. Here, as in other places, _repent_ and _relent_ translate the same verb (with the root meaning of "to turn") with different prepositions. _Make amends_ carries the sense of putting things right. _Make clear_ is understood to mean that they should address and clarify what they were concealing (Ṭ).

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š Indeed, those who disbelieve, and die disbelievers, upon them shall be the curse of God, the angels, and mankind all together.

161 _Curse_ is commonly understood to mean being distanced from God and driven away from His Mercy; the curse of the angels and believers is their invocation of the curse of God upon the disbelievers (Ṭ). _Mankind_ ( _nās_ ) would seem to cover all people, or it could refer only to some people, as is often the case in the Quran; or it could mean that one's own allies curse one in the Hereafter for misleading them, and since all other human beings curse what is intrinsically vile, those who die disbelievers come to have the curse of all fall upon them in one way or another (R). Al-Qurṭubī understands _curse_ to refer exclusively to the matter of the Hereafter; since a curse is meant as a kind of prodding away from disbelief and a communication of disapproval, it is of no use in the case of someone who is dead or insane. Thus this verse and others are taken as a description of the Hereafter, not a command to action in this world, as in 29:25: _Then on the Day of Resurrection you will disown one another, and you will curse one another_ (Q, Ṭ). Al-Qurṭubī further argues that the Prophet made the limits of cursing clear when he forbade the cursing or abusing of a person who was being legally punished or one who had sincerely repented, which is to say that a curse is leveled only against someone who is in a state deserving of that curse, and one does not heap insult onto injury by cursing a dead man or one who is condemned to die.

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Ţ Therein they shall abide: the punishment shall not be lightened for them, nor shall they be granted respite.

162 That the punishment will _not be lightened_ is also mentioned in 2:86; 3:88 (same wording as here); 16:85; 35:36; 43:75. On the abiding in Hell and its duration and related issues, see commentary on 2:80–82 and the essay "Death, Dying, and the Afterlife in the Quran."

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ţ Your God is one God, there is no god but He, the Compassionate, the Merciful.

163 This is one of the most often recited verses of the Quran. In all three instances in this verse _God_ renders _ilāh,_ the general noun for "god" or "divinity," rather than _Allāh,_ which is the supreme personal Name of God in Arabic. God is _one_ ( _wā ḥid_), which includes the sense of being unique, not made up of parts, without equal or like (Ṭ).

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Ť Indeed, in the creation of the heavens and the earth; and the variation of the night and the day; and the ships that run upon the sea with what benefits mankind; and the water God sends down from the sky whereby He revives the earth after its death, scattering all manner of beast therein; and the shifting of the winds; and the clouds subdued between the sky and the earth are surely signs for a people who understand.

164 Some attach this verse to a specific challenge posed by the idolaters, who said that they wanted a sign and asked that the hill of Ṣafā (see v. 158) be turned into gold, or who asked in astonishment at the monotheistic idea, "How can a single God encompass all mankind?" (Ṭ).

The listing of such natural phenomena and cosmic events as signs of God appears throughout the Quran, sometimes individually, but at other times in series, as in 30:20–27. The elements in the present verse appear elsewhere: _the variation of the night and the day_ (3:190; 10:6; 23:80; 45:5); _the creation of the heavens and the earth_ (3:190; 30:22; 42:29); the _ships_ that sail upon the sea (14:32; 17:66; 23:22; 31:31; 35:12; 42:32; 45:12). Ships are significant in being the only human-made items in this verse, but are so intimately connected to the natural world and so fragile in comparison with the sea that the very possibility of seafaring and the precarious nature of it are a reminder of God. In other contexts, it is during a storm at sea that human beings are said to turn to God sincerely, only to lapse when the storm has passed (e.g., 29:65; 31:32). The revival of the _earth after its death_ also appears in 16:65; 29:63; 30:19; 35:9; 45:5; 57:17. _Winds_ as signs of God and blessings are also mentioned in 7:57; 15:22; 25:48; 27:63; 30:46; 45:5; the word _rī_ ḥ ("wind") is related by root to _rū_ ḥ ("spirit"). The _clouds_ are made to course between the earth and the sky and are _subdued_ just as many other objects are described in the Quran as being subservient to God or being made subservient to human beings.

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ť Among mankind there are some who take up equals apart from God, loving them like loving God. But those who believe are more ardent in their love of God. If those who do wrong could but see, when they see the punishment, that power belongs altogether to God and that God is severe in punishment,

165 _Equals_ has the sense of competitors (R), as in v. 22. An alternate reading of the last sentence is, "If thou sawest those who do wrong when they see the Punishment of God, [thou wouldst see] that power belongs wholly to God." _Loving them like loving God_ means they love their idols as the believers love God or that they obey their leaders as they should obey God (Ṭ). It may also mean that they love these equals as they themselves love God (thus dividing their love between God and the idols), or that they love them as they ought to love God, or that they glorify and obey their idols or their own human leaders or other human agencies as they should God (R). These interpretations are all possible because of the wording of the verse, which can be literally rendered, "They love them like unto the love of God." The believers' love is _more ardent_ because it is directed undividedly at the one true object of love, unlike that of the idolaters, who direct love toward idols during ordinary times but then toward God in times of need, as when they call out when on a ship buffeted by waves (R).

The idea of the _love_ ( _ḥ ubb_) for God by human beings appears in this verse and in 3:31: _Say, "If you love God, follow me";_ 5:54: _God will bring a people whom He loves and who love Him;_ and 9:24: _Say, "If your_ (family and possessions) _are more beloved to you than God, . . . then wait till God comes with His Command."_ According to a _ḥ adīth,_ a man asked the Prophet, "When will the Hour come to pass, O Messenger of God?" The Prophet said, "What have you prepared for it?" The man said, "I have not prepared for it much by way of prayers or fasting or alms _,_ but I love God and His Messenger." The Prophet said, "You will be with those whom you love." More often, however, dozens of times in fact, the word _love_ ( _ḥ ubb_) is used in the Quran to describe what God loves or does not love in human beings. For example, throughout the Quran God is said to love the virtuous, those who repent, the reverent, the patient, those who trust, the just, those who fight in His way, and those who purify themselves, but He does not love disbelievers, transgressors, sinful ingrates, wrongdoers, the vainglorious, workers of corruption, prodigals, the treacherous, or the exultant.

Many commentators use this verse as an occasion to discuss the nature of _ḥ ubb_ (and the related term _ma ḥabbah_), which is the word here rendered as _love_. The English word "love" has a broader range of meaning than the Arabic _ḥ ubb,_ and several Arabic concepts correspond to "love" depending on its usage. These include _ra ḥmah_ (most often translated "mercy" or "compassion") and _mawaddah,_ as in a verse describing the sentiments between spouses: _He established affection_ ( _mawaddah_ ) _and mercy_ ( _ra ḥmah_) _between you_ (30:21).

The Quran, the _Sunnah,_ and the mainstream exoteric exegetical tradition do not treat love as a technical or esoteric concept (although the Islamic intellectual, spiritual, and poetical tradition is replete with discussions of the reality and experience of love). Rather, they accept it as a self-evident reality whose basic meaning is known, while acknowledging the difficulty of explaining how love, and indeed any concept ordinarily used for created objects, can correctly be applied to God. The asymmetry between God's Love for human beings and human beings' love for God is reflected in the Quran's almost exclusive discussion of that love as originating with God. Because God is unlike anything in the world, love for Him is hard to encapsulate in a technical definition, and the exegetes often prefer to describe it by speaking in terms of the fruits of loving God. For example, when we love someone, we long to meet them, miss them and yearn for them when they are not there, do everything we do for their sake, seek to do what makes them happy, and love what they love (Aj). These are all symptoms, as it were, of love.

In the Islamic spiritual tradition, love is usually spoken of in light of knowledge, which is to say that one loves God to the degree that one knows Him, and vice versa. Al-Rāzī says, for example, that when we see the face of the beloved, we want to see the hair, which in theological terms means that even a slight familiarity with God will arouse a virtuous desire to know Him even more, and this desire is itself a sign of love. In human life, the lover seeks to banish from the heart all but the beloved and sees all else as a kind of distraction; and among the spiritual wayfarers of Islam this is manifested in a discipline whose method and goal are the constant remembrance of God ( _dhikr Allāh_ ); also see the essay "The Quran and Sufism."

It is typical for commentators to discuss two kinds of love: One is called "desirous love" or _ḥ ubb al-hawā,_ which is when we love a thing because of what it does for us. The other kind is love for the sake of the beloved, which arises for no other reason than that the beloved's beauty, goodness, and perfection kindle love within the lover. That is to say, human beings love, or should love, God, but this love should not be seen as a means to something else (R). The first kind of love is said to be incumbent upon all believers in that one can see glorification, acts of obedience, and righteous behavior as means to the peace and happiness that God will provide as a reward for them. Lovers in the higher sense love God for God alone and, because of this love, want to perform those acts that God loves, not because of what they will gain; for them diverting oneself from what the beloved loves is more difficult than working for one's selfish ends.

At the lower level, we love what is good to us, and God's Goodness to us is everywhere. At the higher level, we love the beauty and goodness of what we know, and God's Beauty and Goodness are the object of our love to the degree that we come to know them; and in the case of God the perfections and beauties are endless, and so love for Him is potentially limitless. Sufis have written much about the distinction between what they call "metaphorical," or _majāzī,_ love and "true," or _ḥ aqīqī,_ love; the former refers to such things as romantic love and love for the things of the world, and the latter refers to love of God alone and by extension the love of other beings through the love of God.

An idea closely related to love of God is love "in" or "through" God ( _al- ḥubb fī'Llāh_), typically rendered "love for the sake of God"; a similar concept is "loving in God's Glory" ( _bi-jalāl Allāh_ ). A _ḥ adīth_ describes God saying, "Those who loved each other in My Glory shall have pulpits ( _minbar_ s) of light, and the prophets and saints will envy them." In another _ḥ adīth_ He said, "Where are those who loved one another for My Glory? Today I shall shade them in My shade, on the Day when there is no shade but Mine." The Prophet also said, "God says, 'My Love is realized for those who love one another for My sake, who are honest with one another for My sake, who give charity to one another for My sake, and who visit one another for My sake.'"

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Ŧ when those who were followed disavow those who followed, and they see the punishment, while all recourse will be cut off from them.

166 _Those who were followed_ refers to the leaders of idolatry, while _those who followed_ refers to their minions and adherents; or the two phrases may refer, respectively, to the satans and the human beings who followed them. This may also refer generally to all those who led and followed in the ways of error in the life of the world (Ṭ). _Recourse_ renders _asbāb_ (sing. _sabab_ ), which can mean a rope, a means by which to obtain something, or a cause. Here it is understood to refer to the bonds, the love, or the friendships and blood ties they shared in the world, all of which will be severed from them as a means of help in the Hereafter. According to another interpretation, the _recourse_ consists of their deeds in this life, which remain sound in the Hereafter if they are righteous deeds, but these means are cut off when they are evil (Ṭ). It can also point to the fact that they have no way of staving off the punishment or escaping the consequences of their evil actions (R).

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ŧ And those who followed will say, "If we had another turn, we would disavow them as they disavowed us." Thus does God show them their deeds as a source of regret for them, and they shall not leave the Fire.

167 The _turn_ here is the chance to return to the world. The wrongdoers' _regret_ is about having done sinful deeds or having failed to perform righteous ones; they are seeing what they would have had in the Hereafter if they had acted righteously and are tormented on account of it. According to another interpretation, they will see the houses of the Garden and wish for them, while the inhabitants of the Garden will see them and wish for God to bless them (Ṭ). Elsewhere it is said, _Then on the Day of Resurrection you will disown one another, and you will curse one another_ (29:25). The conversations that take place between the denizens of Hell are also described in 7:38–39, and Satan tells them on the Day of Judgment, _Verily God made you the Promise of truth; and I made you a promise, but I failed you_ (14:22). Al-Ṭabarī understands the last part of the verse to mean that their regret and desire for another chance at life will not remove them from the Fire, and for him this is evidence that the disbelievers will be in the Fire everlastingly.

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Ũ O mankind! Eat of what is lawful and good on the earth, and follow not the footsteps of Satan. Truly he is a manifest enemy unto you.

168 It is reported that this verse was revealed in connection with the tribes of Thaqīf, Khuzāʿah, and Banū Mudlij, who had decided that the eating of certain kinds of animals was forbidden, although the plain sense of the verse shows that it is of universal import (Q). _Good_ ( _ṭ ayyib_) also has the sense of being pleasant, agreeable, and delicious. _Lawful_ ( _ḥ alāl_) is what in Islamic Law is deemed permissible and derives from a root with a range of meanings including "untie," "set free," and "unbind." In the categorization of actions in Islamic Law, it is the opposite of _ḥ arām,_ or "forbidden."

The image of following in the footsteps of Satan is mentioned elsewhere (2:208; 6:142; 24:21) and is often described by commentators as an idiomatic way of saying that a person submits to temptation and commits evil. Satan is often called a _manifest enemy_ in the Quran (7:22; 12:5; 17:53; 28:15; 36:60; 43:62).

Some relate this verse to the practice of taking oaths that one will refrain from something or other, but oaths cannot be taken in a state of anger. When they are taken in such a state, one can pay an expiation. On carelessness in oaths, see 2:225. Ibn Kathīr mentions several incidents where some people made oaths that they would do thus and so, but were reprimanded by other Companions for "following in the footsteps of Satan." A _ḥ adīth_ states, "God said, 'I created My servants as _ḥ anīf_s. Then the satans came to them, and diverted them from their religion, and forbade for them what I had made lawful.'"

A Companion asked the Prophet how he could become someone whose supplications were accepted. The Prophet said, "Make wholesome what you eat, and your supplications will be accepted by Him in Whose Hand is the soul of Muhammad. Let a man put a forbidden morsel in his mouth and [his supplications] will not be accepted for forty days. Any man who raises his meat from ill-gotten gains is most deserving of the Fire."

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ũ He only commands you to evil and indecency, and to say of God what you know not.

169 That Satan commands people to _indecency_ ( _fa ḥshāʾ_) is also mentioned in v. 268 and 24:21. Elsewhere, both God and the prayer ( _ṣ alāh_) are described as forbidding and preventing _indecency_ (7:28; 16:90; 29:45). Al-Ṭabarī connects this _indecency_ to sacrificial practices spoken of in 5:103: _God has not established_ baḥīrah, _or_ sāʾibah, _or_ waṣīlah, _or_ ḥām. _But those who disbelieve fabricate lies against God, and most of them understand not_.

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Ű When it is said unto them, "Follow what God has sent down," they say, "Nay, we follow that which we found our fathers doing." What! Even though their fathers understood nothing, and were not rightly guided?

170 Some connect this verse to the previously observed norms of what is lawful and what is forbidden (see vv. 168–69; Ṭ), and it may be seen to be addressed to the idolaters and the People of the Book or to people in general (R). Recourse to mere custom is no excuse, as the Quran emphasizes again and again, as in 5:104: _"Sufficient for us is that which we have found our fathers practicing." What! Even if their fathers knew naught and were not rightly guided?_ Similar injunctions are addressed to the Children of Adam (7:28), the Egyptians (10:78), Abraham's people (21:53–54), and people in general (31:21; 43:24).

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ű The parable of those who disbelieve is that of one who cries to that which hears only a call and a shout. Deaf, dumb, and blind, they do not understand.

171 This verse suggests that calling to disbelievers is like calling to sheep; they hear, but only the sound and not the meaning of the call (Ṭ). This verse can also refer to the prayers idolaters offer to idols, which the insensate idols cannot hear (R). Insensibility to the wisdom of revelation is described with metaphors of animals elsewhere in the Quran, as in 62:5: _The parable of those [who were] made to bear the Torah, then did not bear it, is that of an ass bearing books;_ and 7:176: _Thus his parable is that of a dog: if you attack him, he lolls out his tongue, and if you leave him alone, he lolls out his tongue_. Being _deaf, dumb, and blind_ is also attributed to disbelievers in 2:18; 8:22; 17:97.

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Ų O you who believe! Eat of the good things We have provided you and give thanks to God if it is He Whom you worship.

ų He has forbidden you only carrion, blood, the flesh of swine, and what has been offered to other than God. But whosoever is compelled by necessity—neither coveting nor transgressing—no sin shall be upon him. Truly God is Forgiving, Merciful.

172–73 The _good things_ ( _Ṭ ayyibāt_) are those things that God has not forbidden or singled out as being sinful (Ṭ). See also 2:57c. In a _ḥ adīth_ the Prophet said, "God is good ( _ṭ ayyib_), and only accepts that which is good."

_Offered to other than God_ means food that is sacrificed to an idol, thus excluding the meat eaten by the idolaters (but not that of the People of the Book according to many jurists). In Islamic practice, an animal is slaughtered with the words, "In the Name of God." It can occur that one _is compelled by necessity,_ meaning by hunger, to eat under certain circumstances things that are forbidden in order to survive and protect one's life, but this should be done _neither coveting nor transgressing,_ meaning not with the intention of bypassing God's Commandments in order to enjoy something that is forbidden (Q, Ṭ). In such cases of necessity one is therefore permitted to eat what in normal circumstances would be forbidden.

_Coveting_ renders _bāgh in,_ which has the sense of rebellion. For some the idea of _transgressing_ ( _ʿ ādin_) also refers to the practice of highway robbery, going against the authorities, or setting out to disobey God, presumably meaning that it is not permissible to pursue food in these ways even in cases of need (Ṭ). Regarding the legal and ritual issues of _carrion, blood,_ and _the flesh of swine,_ see 5:3c.

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Ŵ Truly those who conceal what God sent down of the Book and sell it for a paltry price are those who eat naught but fire in their bellies. God will not speak to them on the Day of Resurrection, nor will He purify them. Theirs shall be a painful punishment.

174 Regarding _sell it for a paltry price,_ see 2:79c. On _fire in their bellies,_ also see 4:10c. Both phrases make the point that instead of consuming the wealth they sought in earthly life, in the Hereafter such people will consume only fire.

On God's speaking to human beings in the Hereafter, also see 3:77, which, like this verse, states, _God will not speak to them, nor will He look at them on the Day of Resurrection, nor will He purify them. And theirs shall be a painful punishment._ However, elsewhere in the Quran God speaks to human beings on the Day of Resurrection: _So by thy Lord, We shall question them all concerning that which they used to do_ (15:92–93); _Then We shall surely question those unto whom Our message was sent, and We shall surely question the messengers_ (7:6); and _He will say, "Be gone therein, and speak not to Me"_ (23:108, spoken by God in response to those asking to be removed from the Fire). According to al-Rāzī, the plain sense of v. 174 and 3:77 is that He will not speak to them at all, but in light of these other Quranic verses it is to be understood, rather, as a description of a punishment, meaning that He will not speak words of peace and welcome. Al-Rāzī notes that this resembles intimacy with a king, who shows his displeasure through imposing exile and cutting off contact, and suggests that it will be the angels who speak to people on the Day of Resurrection. Al-Ṭabarī offers a similar interpretation, taking it to mean that God will not say things agreeable to them. Al-Qurṭubī points out that one says, "He did not speak to him," to describe someone who is angry.

_Nor will He purify them_ means He will not praise them for their goodness or call them purified (Ṭ), that He will not set right their evil deeds (Q), or that He will not accept their deeds as He accepts those of the purified. The verb _zakkā_ can mean both "to purify" and "to deem purified," as in 53:32: _So do not deem yourselves purified_. Al-Rāzī points out that the punishment of indignity and humiliation is worse than that of physical punishment, which is a way of implying that the spiritual punishment of distance and separation from God constitutes the worst suffering in Hell.

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ŵ They are those who have purchased error at the price of guidance, and punishment at the price of forgiveness. How will they endure the Fire!

175 For some, this verse means, "What drove them to the deeds that brought them closer to the Fire?" meaning that it is not patience that helps them _endure the fire,_ or, "What gives them patience in relation to the Fire so that they abandon truth for falsehood?" In a general sense it can be understood as a way of saying, "What made them do this?" (R, Ṭ).

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Ŷ That is because God sent down the Book in truth. Truly those who differ concerning the Book are in extreme schism.

176 _That is because_ indicates that the punishment applies because of their treatment of God's Book, going back to v. 174 (Ṭ). For _schism_ ( _shiqāq;_ see also 22:53; 38:2; 41:52), see 2:137c. It is also possible that _Book_ could refer to the Torah and the Gospel, which attest to the truth of the Prophet according to Islamic belief, and that _differ_ pertains to questions of interpretation and distortion (see 2:75c), or it could refer to the Bible as well as the Quran together as being collectively "God's Book" (IK, Ṭ).

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ŷ It is not piety to turn your faces toward the east and west. Rather, piety is he who believes in God, the Last Day, the angels, the Book, and the prophets; and who gives wealth, despite loving it, to kinsfolk, orphans, the indigent, the traveler, beggars, and for [the ransom of] slaves; and performs the prayer and gives the alms; and those who fulfill their oaths when they pledge them, and those who are patient in misfortune, hardship, and moments of peril. It is they who are the sincere, and it is they who are the reverent.

177 _Piety_ ( _birr_ ) is understood as the obedience to God that is well established in the heart (Ṭ) or as the sum of acts of obedience and devotion that lead us closer to God; it is also used this way in relation to parents, as when one speaks of filial piety (R). It is reported that this verse was revealed when, after coming to Madinah, the Muslims observed the Jews praying westward and the Christians eastward (see 2:145c).

Faith in _God, the Last Day, the angels, the Book_ (in other passages, _Books_ ), _and the prophets_ are the five principal articles of faith upon which all Islamic creedal statements are based. They are also listed as such in the famous _ḥ adīth_ of Gabriel, where the Prophet is asked by the archangel to describe what Islam is. See 4:136, where this list of five also appears, and commentary.

To give wealth _despite loving it_ ( _ʿ alā ḥubbihi_) means that one parts with it even when one fears poverty or yearns for the benefits of wealth (Ṭ); this phrase also appears in 76:8. It is interpreted by some to mean, "because of love for Him," where the pronoun refers to God rather than to wealth and the preposition _ʿ alā_ is read as "because of" instead of "despite." Many argue that this wealth must be other than what is given in alms ( _zakāh_ ), since _alms_ is listed later in the verse as one of the things to which one contributes that wealth (R, Ṭ).

The recipients of charity listed here (e.g., orphans, the indigent, and travelers) are also mentioned in v. 215; virtuous behavior is enjoined in relation to them in 4:36; part of the spoils of war go to them (8:41; 59:7); and each of these classes of needy people is mentioned singly in many passages throughout the Quran. See also the essay "Quranic Ethics, Human Rights, and Society."

According to some, _misfortune_ ( _ba ʾsāʾ_) refers to challenges such as poverty, while _hardship_ ( _ḍ arrāʾ_) refers to matters such as sickness (Ṭ). _Moments of peril_ ( _ḥ īn al-baʾs_) is understood to mean during battle or war or when meeting the enemy (Ṭ).

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Ÿ O you who believe! Retribution is prescribed for you in the matter of the slain: freeman for freeman, slave for slave, female for female. But for one who receives any pardon from his brother, let it be observed honorably, and let the restitution be made to him with goodness. That is an alleviation from your Lord, and a mercy. Whosoever transgresses after that shall have a painful punishment.

178 Here _retribution_ renders _qi ṣāṣ,_ which means retaliation for physical injury, most important for murder; in the context of Islamic Law it also means punishment. It falls under the general legal category of _ḥ udūd,_ or corporal punishments for crimes considered especially grievous (see the essay "The Quran as Source of Islamic Law"). The broad legal, social, and cultural context of this verse is the system of tribal feuds and vendettas in the Arabia of the time, which, as the commentators describe, would often escalate to proportions way beyond the original crime. Thus one tribe might retaliate for the killing of a man by killing not only his murderer, but many other members of his tribe, which served the purpose of not only exacting revenge for past crimes, but also sustaining the status and esteem of one's own tribe. Often a tribe bent on maintaining or exalting its position would target a person of higher social standing than the one who was originally killed: killing a free person for the death of a slave, a man for the death of a woman, a notable for the death of a person of low station (Q). Like vendettas in other cultures throughout history, often the original crime was irrelevant to the ongoing status of the conflict, which was fueled simply by the most recent act of retaliation.

The commentators explain this verse as a limitation on such disproportionate use of revenge and as an injunction to carry out remedies strictly in proportion to the crime. This verse was not interpreted as saying that a woman should necessarily be killed if a woman is murdered, for example, or that anyone but the perpetrator was responsible for the act. Rather, it restricts retaliation to just compensation, leading to the prevention of escalating vendettas and a predictable set of consequences for ensuing crimes. Against the prevailing practice, the verse is understood to maintain that responsibility, for a crime is dictated precisely by the nature of the crime. Hence the wording of the verse implies that the retribution for a crime against a woman could neither fall short of nor exceed the retribution appropriate to that crime, which could vary, as will be discussed below.

Although a complex part of Islamic Law, the question of retribution for murder does have some basic features. Any punishment must be carried out only by the authorities; this verse is interpreted as disallowing vigilantism. The crime of homicide places the destiny of the perpetrator largely in the hands of the victim's next of kin, who can (1) request that the authorities carry out retaliation ( _qi ṣāṣ_); (2) accept a wergild, or monetary sum ( _diyah_ ); or (3) forgive the crime. Some legal scholars did not accept retaliation and wergild as equal alternatives in the case of clear and intentional homicide, in which case capital punishment would necessarily be carried out. Most left the choice to the victim's next of kin. Each option (punishment or wergild), once carried out, cancels the other two. Thus, once a wergild is accepted, the next of kin can no longer seek execution, and vice versa. Some jurists maintain that a killer can refuse the wergild option and submit himself for the punishment against the will of the next of kin (IK).

The understanding of _qi ṣāṣ_ in Islamic Law resembles _lex talionis_ in Roman Law as well as other systems of compensation/retaliation in the ancient and premodern worlds, including the Anglo-Saxon and other European legal traditions. It also clearly resembles certain laws in the Torah, such as Deuteronomy 19:21 ("life for life, eye for eye . . .") and Exodus 21:23, which were also interpreted by Jews in terms of compensation, often with a version of _diyah,_ or wergild. The hallmark of such systems, like the Islamic one, is not revenge, but making the punishment proportional to the crime. The Torah's rules are mentioned in 5:45.

Generally the amount of _diyah,_ or wergild, for a woman was half that of a man, reflecting the economic and social position of men and women and the difference in expected financial loss to the family of the victim. As in contemporary wrongful-death civil suits, which calculate compensation based upon expected income that is now lost, the _diyah,_ or wergild, reflects the economic realities of the time. Similar positions regarding the different financial worth and responsibility of men and women underlie the inheritance laws in 4:11–12, where, as a general rule, the inheritance of a woman is half that of a man, in light of the financial responsibilities placed on the shoulders of men in the Muslim family.

The majority of jurists make two points of equality a condition of _qi ṣāṣ,_ or retribution: both the murder victim and the perpetrator must be free and be Muslims. They say that a Muslim would not be executed for killing a _kāfir_ (a disbeliever), nor a free man for killing a slave, though there would be some punishment in these cases if there was intentional murder. The Ḥanafī school, however, makes no distinction, since for it the operative part of the law is that a life is a life ( _a life for a life,_ 5:45) and that it is the fact that a person has been _slain,_ and nothing else, that is operative legally, as in the present verse. Followers of this school also note that the Prophet said, "The blood of all Muslims is equal." For other possible scenarios all jurists are agreed on the matter of _qi ṣāṣ,_ which is to say that there is no distinction made in capital punishment between victims who are male or female, adult or child, sane or insane, or notables or commoners, with the possible exception that some jurists disallow the possibility of forgiveness for someone who murders a woman (IK). _Qi ṣāṣ_ is not applied in the case of the killing of someone who has the legal status of a belligerent enemy, which is to say that, although _qi ṣāṣ_ would apply for the killing of a _dhimmī,_ or non-Muslim treaty holder (see 9:29), it would not apply during a state of war for the killing of a person from a non-Muslim state with which there was no established treaty.

Beyond these general guidelines regarding _qi ṣāṣ,_ legal authorities have differed over other considerations, such as whether the death was direct (e.g., by knife) or indirect (e.g., by falling into a pit); how the execution should be carried out; standards of evidence; what constitutes fair wergild ( _diyah_ ); how it should be paid out, by whom, and to whom; and the role of the state in such matters. These questions gave rise to a variety of opinions regarding _qi ṣāṣ_ and the _diyah_ among the various schools of Islamic Law.

The second part of the verse enjoins that wergild, if chosen, be collected with propriety and that the payment likewise be paid out honorably (Q). The _alleviation_ refers to the very fact that a wergild can be accepted for homicide. Some interpret this Quranic injunction as being lighter in comparison with the laws of the Children of Israel, although the laws were in many ways similar. The Torah says, "Show no pity" (Deuteronomy 19:21), whereas the Quranic text discourages harshness by saying, _But whosoever forgoes it out of charity, it shall be an expiation for him_ (5:45). The rabbinical tradition, however, did incorporate the possibility of wergild into the law of punishment.

The last sentence in this verse is understood to address those who might seek retaliation after the settling of the wergild, which, as mentioned above, cancels any further claim on the part of the next of kin. Should a person accept a wergild, then go on to kill the perpetrator, execution of that person becomes mandatory and no wergild can be accepted from him.

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Ź In retribution there is life for you, O possessors of intellect, that haply you may be reverent.

179 There is _life_ in the exemplary punishment of _qi ṣāṣ,_ because it both serves as a deterrent for future crimes and places a concrete value on human life. Moreover, because the maximum revenge is limited to the execution of the perpetrator and vendettas are forbidden, it is a way of preserving life (Ṭ).

_Possessors of intellect_ translates _ūlu ʾl-albāb,_ which literally means "possessors of the kernels," using the symbolism of the nut to show that wisdom is deeper than the shell, that one needs to grasp and be nourished by the kernel, or inner truth, of things; see also 2:197, 269; 3:7, 190; 5:100; 12:111; 13:19; 14:52; 38:29, 43; 39:9, 18, 21; 40:54; 65:10; 39:9c.

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ƀ It is prescribed for you, when death approaches one of you and he leaves some good, to make a bequest for parents and kinsfolk in an honorable way—an obligation upon the reverent.

180 _Bequest_ ( _wa ṣiyyah_) is also used in 4:12 and 5:106. Here _some good_ ( _khayr_ ) means one's property, as in, _Whatever good you spend_ (2:272), and also, _Truly he is fierce in his love for good things_ (100:8). According to one interpretation, the prescription here is a conditional one, being an _obligation upon the reverent_ only if one _leaves some good,_ which does not make such a bequest a universal obligation. This command would not change the status of those who have debts or other financial obligations, which must be paid from one's property even after death. Thus the first phrase is taken to mean, "Should one desire to make a bequest." There are differences of opinion as to what amount must be involved for a bequest to be made; some jurists assign a specific amount, while others consider any sum, large or small, to be a possible bequest (Q).

In general there are two main restrictions on bequests in Islamic Law: (1) that they account for no more than a third of one's property, and (2) that the bequest not be designated for a person who automatically inherits according to the Quranic injunctions concerning shares of inheritance. Some consider this verse to be abrogated completely; others say it is partially abrogated in the case of those legally entitled to an inheritance share as stipulated in 4:11–13, but continues to apply in the case of others (Ṭs). Some, including the Shiites (who have a substantially different interpretation of inheritance law from Sunnis when it comes to the relationship between quota and nonquota heirs), believe that this verse was not abrogated and that nothing in it contradicts any other verse of the Quran.

The question of abrogation arises because of the _ḥ adīth,_ "Let there be no bequests for heirs." This _ḥ adīth,_ if taken as universally applicable, renders the verses concerning bequests partially incompatible with those describing inheritance shares. It means that one cannot make a bequest for those who, according to the shares specified by the Quran, would receive part of the deceased's property automatically without any bequest. For some commentators and jurists, such as al-Qurṭubī, the acceptance of this _ḥ adīth_ as binding shows that the _Sunnah_ can abrogate the Quran (see 2:106c for a discussion of abrogation), while for others this shows that the present verse is not abrogated for the very same reason, namely, that a _ḥ adīth,_ about which one has less certainty ( _yaqīn_ ) than about the Quran, cannot replace a ruling of the Quran (Ṭs). Al-Qurṭubī acknowledges that the only text preventing a harmonization of the Quranic injunctions regarding bequests and inheritance is this _ḥ adīth_ barring bequests for heirs. Some have tried to harmonize them by saying that the parents and relatives here are those who would not inherit in any case (e.g., parents who were disbelievers and thus nonquota heirs).

As a moral issue, bequests are to be made first to relatives and only secondarily to nonrelatives; early commentators severely condemned those who would leave relatives in need while giving property to nonrelatives (Q). One proof text for the one-third restriction on bequests is a _ḥ adīth_ in which the Prophet said to a man who offered to make a bequest of two-thirds or one-half of his wealth, "One-third, and a third is considerable. It is better to leave your heirs free from want than to leave them destitute and begging from people."

Prior to the institution of the Quranic rules of bequest and inheritance, the custom of Arabia was that male relations would inherit through the male line, called agnatic inheritance. The Quranic shares, which included the nearest male relatives, demoted the customary agnatic heirs to a secondary status in relation to the inheritance shares; they could still inherit under Sunni law, but only from the property left after the quota shares had been distributed. In Shiism, agnatic inheritance is rejected, and a system of proximity in blood kinship is used for the residual property after the distribution of the shares, applying equally for the male and female lines.

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Ɓ Then if anyone alters it after hearing it, its sin shall indeed be upon those who alter it. Truly God is Hearing, Knowing.

181 This verse means that one cannot alter a bequest, although an inherently invalid bequest can be canceled or modified. A bequest of greater than one-third, for example, would be reduced to one-third, and a bequest to give a person a forbidden substance such as wine could be nullified (Q).

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Ƃ But whosoever fears injustice or sin from the testator, and sets matters aright between them, there is no sin upon him. Truly God is Forgiving, Merciful.

182 This verse addresses the possibility that a testator might act prejudicially with regard to his heirs through manipulating his bequests. For example, he might make a bequest to his daughter-in-law with the intent of enriching his son, which would violate the rule that legal heirs cannot receive bequests (Q). A _ḥ adīth_ states, "Injustice [ _janaf,_ the same word as in this verse] in the matter of bequests is a major sin [ _kabīrah_ ]." It is the duty of the community to adjust or cancel such bequests when it becomes clear that their intent was to circumvent the Quranic laws of inheritance (Q). _Them_ refers to the heirs, and _him_ to the executor of the estate, the witness of the bequest (as required by 5:106), or whoever has this responsibility (R), although some seem to place the responsibility on the heirs to address this question (Q). _There is no sin upon him_ in such a case because, although altering a bequest would ordinarily be a sin, in this case justice overrules the instructions of the testator (R).

The commentators point out that none of this is meant to diminish the virtue of giving charity while one is still "healthy and avid" ( _ṣ aḥīḥun shaḥīḥ _un__ ), an expression referring to the period of one's life when one can enjoy one's wealth. Several _a ḥādīth_ speak to this, as for example, "He who spends or gives charity at the time of his death is like one who donates something after he has had his own fill of it." All jurists agree that during life individuals may do whatever they choose with their property and may give away as much of it as they desire (Q).

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ƃ O you who believe! Fasting is prescribed for you as it was prescribed for those before you, that haply you may be reverent,

183 _Fasting_ ( _ṣ iyām,_ also _ṣ awm_) is the subject of vv. 183–87. These verses address some issues relating to the pre-Ramadan fasting practices of the Muslim community. As constituted in its final form, the obligatory fast of Ramadan is considered by all schools of law to be one of the five pillars of Islam. It consists of abstaining completely from food, drink, and sexual relations from dawn until sunset for all the days of the lunar month of Ramadan. In cases of hardship, including illness and travel, one can eat and drink and then make up for the lost day by fasting on another day after Ramadan or by giving alms if one is unable to make up the fast, such as in the case of diabetics. Women who are pregnant, nursing, or menstruating are exempted from the fast, with varying rules for replacing or expiating for those lost days. The fast of Ramadan was imposed shortly before the Battle of Badr (2/624; Th). _Those before you_ may refer to either the Christians, all the People of the Book, or all people in general (R).

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Ƅ for days numbered. But if any one of you be ill or on a journey, it is a number of other days, and for those who can bear it, the ransom of feeding an indigent person. Whosoever volunteers good, that is better for him, and to fast is better for you, if you but knew.

184 The phrase _days numbered_ is a subject of disagreement; some identify it as referring to the days of Ramadan, others the days of fasting before the fast of Ramadan was instituted. When the Prophet first came to Madinah, it is said that the community was fasting three days per month in addition to ʿĀshūrāʾ (the tenth day of Muḥarram). According to a _ḥ adīth,_ when they arrived in Madinah they found the Jews fasting on Yom Kippur (the same day as ʿĀshūrāʾ), and the Prophet ordered the Muslims to fast that day, saying that they had more right than Jews to celebrate Moses, though the commentaries are inconsistent about the nature of the Yom Kippur celebration.

There is disagreement about whether these three days per month were obligatory in the same way that Ramadan would come to be. Those who did not consider the pre-Ramadan fast as obligatory interpret vv. 183–84 as referring to Ramadan itself. Others say the fast of three days per month was the first to be prescribed, which was then abrogated by the fast of Ramadan, but al-Ṭabarī, among others, argues that those who say this have no firm report showing that any fast before Ramadan was made obligatory. It should be noted that fasting three days per month was and continues to be a meritorious deed that many pious Muslims perform in imitation of the Prophet. These three days are typically the thirteenth, fourteenth, and fifteenth days, or the days of the full moon, or according to some the beginning, middle, and end of each lunar month. It is plausible that before the institution of Ramadan the Muslim community observed this practice, but not in the manner of an obligation, and that after the Ramadan fast became an obligation, it has continued on as a meritorious practice.

One opinion holds that the fast of Ramadan was obligatory, but that in the beginning one had the option of feeding one poor person instead, per day of fasting, based upon _For those who can bear it, the ransom of feeding an indigent person,_ but that this injunction was abrogated by _Let him among you who is present fast during that [month]_ in v. 185. Others consider that there had been no abrogation in these verses and hold that _those who can bear it_ refers to old people who could conceivably fast, but for whom it would be a severe hardship (Q). In this latter interpretation, the verb rendered _can bear it_ would mean something like "are burdened." It would thus mean "they are able to bear" in the sense that "they bear it with difficulty." This latter meaning is part of the lexical root _ṭ -w-q,_ from which the verb originates (Q).

_Whosoever volunteers good_ may refer to feeding people beyond what the verse requires or to providing the person one is required to feed with more than the bare minimum of food (Q). Al-Qurṭubī, among others, offers the idea that fasting is better than expiation and that choosing to fast while traveling or ill, so long as it is not too great a hardship, is better, but adds, "God knows best."

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ƅ The month of Ramadan is that wherein the Quran was sent down as guidance to mankind, as clear proofs of guidance, and as the Criterion. Let him among you who is present fast during that [month]. And whosoever is ill or on a journey, it is a number of other days. God desires ease for you, and He does not desire hardship for you. [It is] so that you may complete the number and magnify God for having guided you, that haply you may give thanks.

185 Some mention accounts that the Quran first came down to the "earthly heaven" (i.e., the lowest of the "seven heavens") from the _Preserved Tablet_ (85:22) and remained there and then Gabriel brought it down passage by passage to the Prophet (Q); see 97:1–2c. Muslims consider Ramadan a particularly blessed month, both because it is the month of fasting and also because it is the month when the Quran began to be revealed. In a _ḥ adīth,_ the Prophet said, "When Ramadan comes, the gates of the Garden are opened, and the gates of the Fire are locked, and the satans are fettered."

When people fall ill or are traveling, they have the option of breaking the fast and fasting on another day after Ramadan in order to make up for it. Opinions range on how sick one must be and what type of journey qualifies. These exemptions apply in another manner to the canonical prayers, which one can shorten and combine when one is on a journey. To _complete the number_ can mean to make up all missed days of fasting by fasting on days other than those of Ramadan or simply to complete the full number of days in the lunar month itself, which is twenty-nine or thirty days.

_Magnify God_ is thought to refer to the practice of chanting extra formulas of _takbīr_ (the chanting of _Allāh u akbar,_ meaning "God is great!" or "God is greater" or "God is the greatest"), which takes place after the fast of Ramadan is over. This magnification takes different forms, such as chanting formulas of _takbīr_ while on the way to the mosque for the ʿĪd prayer (the prayers in the morning after the last day of Ramadan) or repeating magnifications after each prayer during the three days of ʿĪd. Examples are "God is great, God is great, there is no god but God, God is great, God be praised!" and "God is great and grand, and praised be He often, and glorified be He day and night!" See also v. 203.

The exemptions from the rules of fasting (for the old, sick, traveling, etc.) are part of the _ease_ that God bestows; the Quran states that God _does not desire hardship for you,_ which is also mentioned in 22:78: _He_ . . . _has placed no hardship for you in the religion_ (Sh). In this regard, some mention the _ḥ adīth_ of the Prophet, "Make things easy, not difficult. Cause people to rejoice, not to flee."

_So that you may complete_ either is connected with the previous sentence and refers to more of what _God desires_ or is a continuation of the command to fast from v. 183, so that it would mean, "Fasting is prescribed for you . . . so that you may complete" (Z).

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Ɔ When My servants ask thee about Me, truly I am near. I answer the call of the caller when he calls Me. So let them respond to Me and believe in Me, that they may be led aright.

186 It is reported that this verse came as a response to some Companions who asked the Prophet, "Where is our Lord?" or "At what hour should we call upon God?" after the revelation of 40:60: _Call upon Me, and I shall respond to you_. Others mention that it was a response to questions such as, "How shall we make our call, O Prophet of God?" (Ṭ). Others say it was revealed after a Bedouin came and asked the Prophet, "Is our Lord near, such that I shall whisper to Him, or far, such that I shall shout to Him?" (R). In a related vein, the Prophet, while on a journey, reportedly reprimanded some Companions who were shouting their prayers, saying, "You are calling One who is neither deaf nor absent, but are calling One who is Hearing, Near" (R); _al-Qarīb_ ("the Near") is a Divine Name. Some interpret the verb rendered _let them respond to Me_ ( _yastajībū_ ) to mean "let them ask of Me," which would echo the first phrase of this verse (R). This verse is one of the most central and often quoted verses of the Quran concerning God's nearness to us and the reality of reciprocity between the human call to God and His response.

The Prophet said, "Calling [upon God] is a form of worship." _Call_ renders _du ʿāʾ,_ which can also mean "individual prayer," "supplication," or "summons" depending on context. It can also be translated simply as "prayer" in the sense that one prays by calling upon God to receive something or to ask for a specific blessing. The sense of "prayer" in this verse is highlighted in M. Lings' evocative translation of this verse: "I answer the prayer of the pray-er when he prayeth Me," but _du ʿāʾ_ does not extend to all possible uses of the English word "prayer." A similar passage can be found in 27:62, where God is spoken of as _He Who answers the one in distress when he calls upon Him._ In 7:55 believers are told, _Call upon your Lord humbly and in secret;_ and in 42:26 it is said, _He responds to those who believe and perform righteous deeds_.

Several other verses mention God's nearness, such as 50:16: _We are nearer to him than his jugular vein;_ and 17:57, which asks concerning God and other idols, _Which of them is nearer?_ In 34:50 it is said of God, _Truly He is Hearing, Nigh_. Nearness to God is a part of what it means to be in Paradise, as in 38:25: _Truly nearness unto Us shall be his, and a beautiful return;_ and at the moment of death it is said to those gathered around the dying person, _We are nearer to him than you, though you see not_ (56:85). Other places where God's Nearness in mentioned include 4:135; 9:99; 34:37.

Al-Rāzī and some other commentators connect the message of this verse to the prayers of magnification commanded in the previous verse and also to the alleviation of the requirements of fasting, which came after some Companions had difficulty in fulfilling them (see v. 187).

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Ƈ You are permitted, on the nights of the fast, to go unto your wives. They are a garment for you, and you are a garment for them. God knew that you were betraying yourselves, so He relented unto you and pardoned you. So now lie with them and seek what God has prescribed for you, and eat and drink until the white thread and the black thread of the dawn become clear to you. Then complete the fast until nightfall and do not lie with them while you are in retreat in the mosques. Those are the limits set by God, so approach them not. Thus does God make clear His signs to mankind, that haply they may be reverent.

187 Many commentators report that before the revelation of this verse, Muslims would fast after sleeping; after sunset, when one broke the fast, one could eat until the _ʿ ishāʾ_ prayer (i.e., the end of twilight and the beginning of night), but that sleep would begin the next day's fast. Upon waking, one would be in a state of fasting. Some maintain that the Muslim community would abstain from sexual activity for the whole of Ramadan, even during the night, though the basis of this account is unclear. This verse is considered an alleviation of those requirements. It is reported that ʿUmar ibn al-Khaṭṭāb, the prominent Companion and second Caliph, confessed to having had sexual relations with his wife after she said she had fallen asleep; he was remorseful about it and sought recourse. Commentators also mention Qays ibn Ṣirmah, who came home after a harsh day of work while he was fasting. His wife did not have food for him and went out to get some, but he could not stay awake and was asleep before she returned, so he continued to fast through the next day (Q).

_Seek what God has prescribed_ can mean seek to have children; seek to fulfill what Quran commands you; seek _the Night of Power,_ meaning a night during Ramadan when the Quran was first revealed (see 97:1); seek exemption and latitude when it is offered in matters of ritual; or seek to have sexual relations in a legitimate way (IK).

_The white thread and the black thread_ refer to dawn and the night, respectively; "the white thread" is an idiom for the day (Q). Various _a ḥādīth_ describe the level of light that indicates the start of daybreak and ends the night, whether the indication is seeing light in the sky itself or the illumination of the tops of mountains (IK).

_Retreat in the mosques_ refers to the practice of _i ʿtikāf,_ during which a person remains in the mosque for a number of days in a state of prayer and remembrance ( _dhikr_ ). According to many reports the Prophet would spend the last ten days of Ramadan in the mosque in _i ʿtikāf;_ during his final Ramadan he spent twenty.

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ƈ And devour not your property among yourselves falsely, nor proffer it to judges that you may knowingly devour a part of people's property sinfully.

188 In addition to noting the plain sense of this verse, which forbids the enticing or bribing of judges, some commentators point out that in the ultimate sense even a sincere judge's ruling can never render the forbidden lawful or the lawful forbidden. Although judges' decisions are to be respected, they are not infallible and do not remove the moral weight of one's actions, for which one will answer on the Day of Judgment (IK). On the matter of adjudicating disputes, the Prophet is reported to have said, "I am only a man, and it may be that when two disputants come to me one will be more eloquent in his argument and I will judge in his favor. But whomever I judge in favor of against the right of a Muslim has only received a parcel of the Fire" (IK). On the question of dispensing justice, see also 4:135c.

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Ɖ They ask thee about the new moons. Say, "They are markers of time for mankind and for the _ḥ ajj_ _."_ It is not piety that you should come to houses from their rear, but piety is he who is reverent and comes into houses by their doors. So reverence God, that haply you may prosper.

189 Here _new moons_ ( _ahillah,_ sing. _hilāl_ ) does not refer to the new moon considered purely astronomically, which refers to when the moon is still invisible (dark moon), but to the first visible crescent of the lunar cycle. During the dark moon, the moon is between the earth and the sun, so that the dark side of the moon faces the earth; this is referred to as lunar conjunction. A lunar conjunction does not usually cause a solar eclipse, because the lunar orbit is tilted several degrees in relation to the earth's orbit around the sun, and hence the three bodies are only in an approximately straight line. (That is also why the full moon is visible from the earth when the earth is approximately in between the moon and the sun.) The new moon or crescent ( _hilāl_ ) appears when the moon moves far enough out of conjunction for a thin strip of the illuminated side of the moon to become visible. During the dark moon phase, the sun and moon set together over the western horizon, but at the start of a new lunar month, the sun sets first, leaving the moon just above the horizon for a short time. If the moon is far enough out of line between the earth and the sun, the crescent will become visible before the moon follows the sun below the horizon and disappears. The sighting of this new crescent begins the new lunar month in the Islamic calendar. (In the last part of the lunar month leading up to the dark moon, the moon "sets" before the sun and is below the horizon until it rises later in the night.)

On the question of entering houses _from their rear_ or _by their doors,_ it was reported that the Helpers, or Anṣār (the natives of Madinah who had become Muslims), would not enter their houses by their doors when returning from a journey, but would go over a wall instead in order to enter the house (IK). Others relate that the Anṣār and the rest of the Arabs (other than the religious confederation called the Ḥums, which included the Quraysh; see v. 199) would not enter through their doors in a state of _i ḥrām_ (a state of ritual purity in preparation for pilgrimage). Others say that when the people of Yathrib would return from a festival, they would enter their houses from the back, considering this to be a pious act. This verse brought the emphasis back to _reverence_ ( _taqwā_ ) over a superstitious practice (IK).

This verse is interpreted spiritually in many Islamic sources to mean that everything should be approached properly and in conformity with its essential nature. Ibn ʿAjībah, for example, notes in his commentary on this verse that spiritual wayfarers on their journey to God have three houses whose gates they must pass through: the Law ( _sharī ʿah_), the Spiritual Path ( _ṭ arīqah_), and the Truth ( _ḥ aqīqah_), each of which has three gates. The three gates of the Law are repentance, obedience, and reverence; those of the Path are sincerity, the purification from faults, and the realization of virtue; and the three gates of the Truth (also translated as the Reality) are concentration, contemplation, and gnosis (spiritual knowledge). That is to say, human beings should approach God through the means He accepts, the means He has given them.

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Ɛ And fight in the way of God against those who fight against you, but do not transgress. Truly God loves not the transgressors.

Ƒ And slay them wheresoever you come upon them, and expel them whence they expelled you, for strife is worse than slaying. But do not fight with them near the Sacred Mosque until they fight with you there. But if they fight you, then slay them. Such is the recompense of the disbelievers.

ƒ But if they desist, then truly God is Forgiving, Merciful.

Ɠ And fight them until there is no strife, and religion is for God. But if they desist, then there is no enmity save against the wrongdoers.

Ɣ The sacred month for the sacred month, and retribution for forbidden things. So whosoever transgresses against you, transgress against him in like manner as he transgressed against you, and reverence God, and know that God is with the reverent.

190–94 Many of the issues raised in this passage are addressed in the essay "Conquest and Conversion, War and Peace in the Quran." V. 190 is considered by some to be the first verse in the chronological order of revelation to permit fighting, though others dispute this opinion and consider the first such passage to be 22:39: _Permission is granted to those who are fought, because they have been wronged_. Among those passages that had previously forbidden fighting (i.e., while in Makkah and initially in Madinah), some list 41:34: _Repel_ [evil] _with that which is better; then behold, the one between whom and thee there is enmity shall be as if he were a loyal protecting friend;_ 5:13: _Thou wilt not cease to discover their treachery, from all save a few of them. So pardon them, and forbear;_ 73:10: _Bear patiently that which they say and take leave of them in a beautiful manner;_ and 88:22: _Thou are not a warder over them_ (IK, Q).

Some report that these verses were revealed in connection with the Treaty of Ḥudaybiyah. In 6/628 the Muslims set out from Madinah for Makkah in order to perform the _ʿ umrah_ (lesser pilgrimage), but were met on the road by the Makkans at Ḥudaybiyah. There they came to an agreement that the Muslims would turn back, but would be allowed to return to perform the _ʿ umrah_ the following year. Then, as the time for that approached, some grew apprehensive about going to Makkah, fearing attack and being called upon to fight in the sacred precinct during the sacred months. This verse was then revealed in order to set the guidelines for engagement (Q, R).

Many commentators use this passage to discuss the usual rules of war, such as the prohibition against killing women, children, monks, hermits, the chronically ill, old men, and peasants (IK, Q). For example, Ibn ʿAbbās said, "Do not kill women, children, old men, or those who offer peace and restrain their hand. If you do that, you will have transgressed against them" (Ṭ). The Umayyad Caliph ʿUmar ibn ʿAbd al-ʿAzīz (r. 99–101/717–20) commented on this passage in a letter, saying it meant, "Fight not those who do not fight you" (Ṭ).

This passage is among the most direct in describing the limits of warfare. Muslims are commanded to fight those who fight them first, to expel those who first expel them, but in doing so they are subject to limits. In _transgress against him in like manner as he transgressed against you,_ the "transgression" that Muslims are ordered to commit is not seen as illegitimate, as the verb _transgress_ ( _i ʿtadā_) would ordinarily imply. It is, rather, a legitimate response to aggression and in this sense could also be correctly translated "attack him in like manner as he attacked you" (Ṭ). This is similar to the message of 16:126: _And if you would punish, then punish with the like of that wherewith you were punished;_ and also 42:40: _The recompense of an evil is an evil like unto it_.

In _strife is worse than slaying, strife_ renders _fitnah,_ a word that can also mean "trial," "temptation," or "sedition" (see also 3:7; 3:19; 4:91). Among the acts considered worse than slaughter are disbelief, idolatry, and becoming an apostate from Islam in favor of idolatry, as these things lead to perdition in the Hereafter (Ṭ). The phrase could also mean that some fighting now is better than a state of strife that would lead to even greater fighting and death later, an important idea in later Islamic political philosophy. The commentators typically gloss _strife_ as "idolatry" ( _shirk_ ) and hence also interpret the end of _fitnah_ to mean the end of that idolatry. Some also reason that _if they desist_ means "if they stop being idolaters and become Muslims," though others simply state that it is the fighting and hostility from which they must desist (R). The interpretation that the conversion of the idolaters is the final goal is problematic, not only in light of the plain sense of this verse, but also in view of other passages, such as 9:6: _And if any of the idolaters seek asylum with thee, grant him asylum until he hears the Word of God. Then convey him to his place of safety._ This passage makes a clear distinction between those who fight against Muslims and those who do not, those who expel them and those who do not, and little explanation is provided by the commentators who seem to take the position that hostilities begin with fighting and expulsion (political causes), but can end only with repentance and conversion to Islam (spiritual causes). Al-Rāzī mentions that _and religion is for God_ shows that the purpose of fighting is to end disbelief and idolatry, though it is unclear why this would not be simply an extension of the goal of ending the very real danger posed by the idolaters. For more on this issue, see commentary on 8:38–40.

Regarding the command _do not fight with them near the Sacred Mosque until they fight with you there,_ it should be recalled that the precinct around the Kaʿbah, the _ḥ aram,_ was considered inviolable by the Arabs as a tradition going back to the time of Abraham; see 2:126c.

_The sacred month for the sacred month_ refers to the fact that, although according to the terms brokered at Ḥudaybiyah (6/628) the Muslims had to turn back, they were able to return the following year (AH 7) to perform the lesser pilgrimage ( _ʿ umrah_) in the month of Dhu'l-Qaʿdah. _Retribution for forbidden things_ refers to the rites of pilgrimage, which were restored by the return in that second year, meaning they were a compensation from God for the rites that they were unable to perform the previous year (Ṭ). The multiple "sacred things" are thought to refer to the sacred or inviolable month, the sacred land of Makkah, and _i ḥrām_ (the ritual state of pilgrims before performing the pilgrimage rites; R, Ṭ). Others state that when the Makkans heard that Muslims had been forbidden to fight during the sacred months, they thought they could take advantage of their quiescence. This verse was revealed indicating that if any shed the blood of a Muslim during the sacred month, their blood is liable to be shed in the sacred month as well, meaning that Muslims should observe the inviolability of _forbidden things_ (e.g., spilling blood in the sacred precincts of Makkah), but not to the point of self-destruction (R).

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ƕ And spend in the way of God and do not, with your own hands, cast yourselves into ruin. And be virtuous. Truly God loves the virtuous.

195 One casts oneself _into ruin_ by being miserly and ungenerous with regard to giving charity and spending in the way of God or, according to some, by being satisfied with family and wealth and abandoning struggle in the way of God (IK, Ṭ). This verse is also sometimes invoked to condemn recklessness. For example, during a battle with the Byzantines, the Companion Abū Ayyūb al-Anṣārī heard some people reference _do not ._ . . _cast yourselves into ruin_ when a man charged the Byzantine lines and was killed. He corrected them and said that the verse was revealed in connection with some Companions who had secretly begun talking about their desire to live with their wealth and replenish what they had lost rather than continuing to strive in the way of God (Ṭ). Another interpretation sees this verse as addressed to people who, having committed a sin for which they think they cannot be forgiven, continue sinning because they feel doomed in any case (IK). Instead of turning in repentance, they surrender to moral despair (Ṭ). Others interpret it according to its plain sense, understanding it as a warning to avoid anything that would lead to self-destruction, including courting Divine Punishment by doing what God has forbidden (Ṭ).

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Ɩ Complete the _ḥ ajj_ and _ʿ umrah_ for God, and if you are hindered, then [make] such offering as is easy. And do not shave your heads until the offering reaches its place of sacrifice. But whosoever among you is ill or has an ailment of his head, then [let there be] a ransom by fasting, charity, or rite. When you are safe, let those who enjoy the _ʿ umrah_ ahead of the _ḥ ajj_ [make] such offering as is easy. Whosoever finds not [the means], let him fast three days during the _ḥ ajj_ _,_ and seven when you return. That is ten altogether. This is for those whose family dwells not near the Sacred Mosque. And reverence God, and know that God is severe in retribution.

196 The command to _complete . . . the ʿumrah_ raises the question of whether and/or how the _ʿ umrah_ is considered obligatory. The _ḥ ajj,_ or "pilgrimage," is one of the five pillars of Islam and is universally considered an obligation upon all able-bodied Muslims who can afford it. The _ʿ umrah,_ or "visit," however, is generally considered to be a voluntary pilgrimage according to Islamic Law, although some scholars consider it to be a requirement like the _ḥ ajj_. As will be seen below, the _ḥ ajj_ and _ʿ umrah_ were often performed during the same trip. The _ḥ ajj_ and _ʿ umrah_ are sometimes rendered as the greater pilgrimage and the lesser pilgrimage, respectively, and sometimes _ʿ umrah_ is referred to as _ḥ ajj al-ʿumrah._

Others take the word _complete_ to mean that once one sets out to perform the _ḥ ajj_ or _ʿ umrah,_ one should complete it without interruption; this is not unlike the obligation to complete a fast outside of Ramadan once it is begun, which is to say one is obligated to finish a supererogatory fast once it has been started, and if one does break it, one must make up that day. Thus one could be commanded to complete the _ʿ umrah_ without the _ʿ umrah_ being obligatory a priori. This interpretation of the command to _complete_ would also apply to anyone performing the _ḥ ajj_ for a second time, since the _ḥ ajj_ is only obligatory once. To complete these rites _for God_ means that one should not perform them for the purposes of trade, meeting people, or other worldly benefits, but only to worship God (Q, Ṭ). This intention is concretely manifested by entering into the state of _i ḥrām,_ when many ordinarily permissible things are forbidden (Ṭ).

Thus a few commentators say that _complete_ does not mean that either rite is obligatory, but rather means "institute them according to their rules" (Ṭ). The obligation of the _ḥ ajj_ is, however, established through other verses, such as 3:97, _Pilgrimage to the House is a duty upon mankind before God for those who can find a way,_ as well as in many _a ḥādīth_. But al-Ṭabarī also mentions opinions that consider the _ʿ umrah_ to be a requirement associated with the _ḥ ajj_ in the same way that alms and prayer are two requirements often associated with each other and mentioned together. The schools of law differ on this question, although, as will be seen below, the question tends to become moot since the _ʿ umrah_ is often performed in conjunction with the _ḥ ajj_. Some read the declension after _ʿ umrah_ in a way that would allow the verse to mean, "Complete the _ḥ ajj,_ and the _ʿ umrah_ is for God," though this is a minority opinion (Ṭ).

Being _hindered_ can describe anything that obstructs believers in their performance of the _ḥ ajj,_ such as being ill or injured or in danger of encountering a hostile party on the way. A person in those circumstances may send _such offering as is easy_ instead (Ṭ). The _offering_ is almost unanimously specified to be a sacrifice of, at a minimum, a sheep, but other sacrificed animals, such as cows or camels, are also mentioned (Ṭ). At Ḥudaybiyah (on the road from Madinah to Makkah), when the Prophet and his Companions were hindered from making the _ʿ umrah,_ they shaved their heads and sacrificed their animals there, not in Makkah as they ordinarily would have done. Because of this fact, some maintain that for the _offering_ to reach _its place_ means for it to reach the place where it will be eaten (Ṭ), since most of the animals sacrificed ritually during the _ḥ ajj_ or _ʿ umrah_ are consumed after slaughter. Others argue that depending on circumstances the sacrifice should actually reach Makkah before one shaves one's head or cuts one's hair, which is the final act of the _ʿ umrah_ (although not obligatory).

Since one who is sick is exempted from the _ḥ ajj_ and _ʿ umrah_ in any case, it would seem that being _hindered,_ which can include illness, refers to hindrances that arise after one has already set out in a state of _i ḥrām_ (Ṭ). The Ḥanafī school of law, for example, says that if any are on the road and get lost, stung, bitten, or sick, they should send the offering or its monetary equivalent ahead, and then their _ʿ umrah_ will be considered complete (Q). In general there is a range of positions regarding what constitutes a hindrance to the pilgrimage, where the offering should go, and whether one needs to make up a missed attempt at the _ʿ umrah_ or _ḥ ajj_. At the end of both _ḥ ajj_ and _ʿ umrah,_ one usually shaves one's head or cuts one's hair, and in the case of one who has a head or scalp ailment preventing this act, _a ransom by fasting, charity, or rite_ is required. _Rite_ ( _nusuk_ ) here refers specifically to sacrifice, though the word literally means "ritual" or "act of worship." The ransom of fasting is to fast for ten days; the ransom of feeding the poor is to feed ten poor people; and the ransom of sacrifice is at least a sheep (Q).

_Let those who enjoy the_ ʿumrah _ahead of the ḥajj_ refers to one of three combinations of _ʿ umrah_ and _ḥ ajj_ carried out by those coming from outside of Makkah to perform them. In the first case, one enters into the state of _i ḥrām,_ performs the _ḥ ajj,_ and then leaves _i ḥrām;_ one then reenters _i ḥrām_ and performs the _ʿ umrah_. This is called _ifrād,_ or "isolating." In the second case, which this verse addresses, one enters into the state of _i ḥrām,_ performs the _ʿ umrah,_ leaves that _i ḥrām,_ then enters into a new state of _i ḥrām_ to perform the _ḥ ajj_. This practice, sometimes also called _tamattu ʿ,_ or "enjoyment," is when one performs the _ʿ umrah_ before the _ḥ ajj,_ but does not remain in one's _i ḥrām_ between the _ʿ umrah_ and _ḥ ajj_. In this case one can then "enjoy" being out of _i ḥrām_ and free of the restrictions it entails before reentering _i ḥrām_ for the _ḥ ajj_. In the third case, one performs the _ʿ umrah,_ but remains in one's state of _i ḥrām_ and performs the _ḥ ajj,_ which is called _qirān,_ or "joining." The schools of law differ over which of these methods is most meritorious.

It is reported that the Arabs had severely frowned upon performing the _ʿ umrah_ during the time of the _ḥ ajj_ and were reluctant to do so until the Prophet himself performed the _ʿ umrah_ during Dhu'l-Ḥijjah, the month of the _ḥ ajj_ (Q). Thus, according to one view, since the month of the _ḥ ajj_ is for the _ḥ ajj_ and not for the _ʿ umrah_ (which can be done anytime during the year), the offering or fasting was instituted if one carried out the "enjoyment" of leaving _i ḥrām_ between performing the _ʿ umrah_ and _ḥ ajj,_ since even the performance of the _ʿ umrah_ itself during the month of _ḥ ajj_ is a mercy from God (Q). As for the _three days_ of fasting enjoined for those who are unable to make an offering, opinions differ. Some allow it to be the three days preceding the stay in ʿArafah, others the three days after, when the pilgrims stay in Mina (Q). The _seven days_ are considered by some to be best performed when one returns to one's homeland, while for others _when you return_ simply refers to the state of leaving one's _i ḥrām_ (Q). Those who were local to Makkah were not subject to these same guidelines regarding the practice of the _ʿ umrah_ and _ḥ ajj_. One opinion is that those who dwell near the Sacred Mosque are those who would not shorten their prayers if they traveled there, while others place the limits at the border points ( _mawāqīt_ ) in the environs of Makkah where one enters into a state of _i ḥrām_ when intending to perform a pilgrimage.

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Ɨ The _ḥ ajj_ is during months well known. Whosoever undertakes the _ḥ ajj_ therein, let there be neither lewdness, nor iniquity, nor quarreling in the _ḥ ajj_. Whatsoever good you do, God knows it. And make provision, for indeed the best provision is reverence. And reverence Me, O possessors of intellect.

197 The _months well known_ are considered to be Shawwāl, Dhu'l-Qaʿdah, and Dhu'l-Ḥijjah, although some say only the first ten days of Dhu'l-Ḥijjah, since the rules regarding sacrifice change after the Day of Sacrifice. According to many authorities it is discouraged ( _makrūh_ ) to enter _i ḥrām_ for the _ḥ ajj_ in months other than these; that is, one should not enter _i ḥrām_ and stay in it until the _ḥ ajj_ is performed in Dhu'l-Ḥijjah. _Lewdness_ refers to sexual intercourse, which, if it occurs before the Day of ʿArafah, invalidates the _ḥ ajj_ and requires a person to make a sacrificial offering and perform the _ḥ ajj_ again. Others point out that _lewdness_ refers to talking with or about women to whom one is not closely related (in the case of men). A _ḥ adīth_ states, "By Him in Whose Hand is my soul, there is no deed between Heaven and earth better than struggle in the way of God, and a _ḥ ajj_ performed faithfully in which there is no lewdness, iniquity, or argument." The _quarreling_ does not refer to intellectual disagreements, but to interchanges resulting in anger and insults. Al-Qurṭubī notes that there used to be arguments about the Station of Abraham (see 2:125c), as the Quraysh would observe a spot different from that of the other Arabs. He prefers to think that the prohibition here is about the place and time of the _ḥ ajj,_ but it could also refer to the practice of boasting that sometimes accompanied the pilgrimage, where some would claim that their _ḥ ajj_ was better than that of others, that their forefathers were better, and so forth (Q).

To _make provision_ means to come materially prepared for the _ḥ ajj_ and not to rely upon the locals and other pilgrims for food and shelter. The _ḥ ajj_ is not in any case incumbent upon those without the necessary financial means. At a spiritual level, one can speak of _reverence_ ( _taqwā_ ) as a provision for the Hereafter, likened to the provision one makes for the pilgrimage in this world (Q).

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Ƙ There is no blame upon you in seeking a bounty from your Lord. Then, when you pour out from Arafat, remember God at the sacred ground. And remember Him as He guided you, though formerly you were of those astray.

198 This verse is understood to say that commerce is permissible during the _ḥ ajj_ and that engaging in it does not nullify the _ḥ ajj,_ though to refrain and devote oneself totally to the spiritual aspect of things is better (Q). Some say _the sacred ground_ is the hill named Quzaḥ, where the leader of the prayer stands to lead the joint _maghrib_ and _ʿ ishāʾ_ prayers after the pilgrims come from ʿArafah. Others say the verse seems to indicate that it is simply Muzdalifah itself, since it is a place of prayer and remembrance and is where one goes after the stay at ʿArafah (R). One remembers God there through various formulas such as _al- ḥamdu li'Llāh_ ("Praise be to God"), _Allāh u akbar_ ("God is Great"), and _sub ḥān Allāh_ ("Glory be to God; R).

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ƙ Then surge onward whence the people surge onward, and ask God for forgiveness. Truly God is Forgiving, Merciful.

199 This verse refers to the movement of pilgrims from ʿArafah to Muzdalifah. It is said to be addressed to the Ḥums, a confederation of the Quraysh and other tribes linked by a professed devotion to the Kaʿbah and the _ḥ aram,_ the immediate environs around the Kaʿbah. They would not stay with the other people when they went to ʿArafah and hence would not _surge onward_ with the others from there, but rather remained at Muzdalifah, considering it, unlike ʿArafah, to be a part of the _ḥ aram;_ they deemed that the entire _ḥ ajj_ should take place in the _ḥ aram_ (Q, R). (This is also the same group identified as not observing the taboo against entering doors while in _i ḥrām_ in v. 189). _Then surge_ does not denote temporal succession; rather, the _then_ functions as a kind of logical connector to what precedes it, like "so" or "and so" (Q).

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Ȁ And when you have carried out your rites, remember God as you remember your fathers, or with more ardent remembrance. For among mankind are those who say, "Our Lord, give to us in this world," but have no share in the Hereafter.

200 _Rites_ refers either to the sacrifice of animals, which take place during _ʿ Id al-aḍḥā,_ or the Feast of Sacrifice, marking the end of the _ḥ ajj,_ or to all the rituals of the _ḥ ajj_ whose essential purpose is the remembrance of God (Q). _As you remember your fathers_ points to the custom of the Arabs, at the conclusion of the _ḥ ajj,_ of engaging in the magnification and celebration of their ancestors' past glories, often in a spirit of rivalry (Q). Others interpret _remember God as you remember your fathers_ to mean that one should call upon and remember God the way a small child calls upon mother and father, in a state of helplessness, utter dependence, and trust (Q).

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ȁ But among them are those who say, "Our Lord, give us good in this world and good in the Hereafter, and shield us from the punishment of the Fire!"

201 It is reported that one of the most often repeated supplications of the Prophet was "Our Lord, give us good in this world and good in the Hereafter, and protect us from the Fire!" (IK) This supplication is also frequently repeated by Muslims in their individual prayers and appears often in books of prayer. _Good_ in this verse renders _ḥ asanah,_ which like many other words derived from the root _ḥ -s-n_ has the sense of "that which is beautiful." See also 7:156: _And prescribe good for us in the life of this world, and in the Hereafter;_ 16:30: _For those who are virtuous in this world, there shall be good, and the Abode of the Hereafter is better;_ 16:122: _And We granted him good in this world, and surely in the Hereafter he shall be among the righteous_. A similar message is given in 42:20: _And whosoever desires the harvest of this world, We shall give him some thereof, but he will have no share in the Hereafter_.

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Ȃ It is they who have a portion from what they have earned, and God is swift in reckoning.

202 This verse refers to either the first group, who sought the good of this world (v. 200), or the second group, who sought the good of both this world and the Hereafter (v. 201), or both groups; that is, the person who sought the world would receive some good in the world, while the person who sought both would receive good in both (R).

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ȃ Remember God in days numbered, but whosoever hastens on after two days, no sin shall be upon him, and whosoever delays, no sin shall be upon him—for the reverent. So reverence God, and know that unto Him shall you be gathered.

203 _Days numbered_ refers to the eleventh through the thirteenth of Dhu'l-Ḥijjah, which pilgrims spend at Mina, often called the days of _tashrīq,_ a word of uncertain derivation and hence difficult to translate. These are the three days after the Day of Sacrifice, not including that day, and during those days one rite that the pilgrims perform is to cast stones at the columns representing Satan (R, Q). _Hastens on after two days_ means that one stays in Mina for only two days (until the twelfth of the month) rather than remaining three days (until the thirteenth). One then makes a farewell circumambulation around the Kaʿbah, and the _ḥ ajj_ is complete.

The command to _remember God_ is thought to refer to the magnification of God, or _takbīr_ ( _Allāh u akbar,_ "God is great!"), recited while throwing pebbles at the columns and also at the times of the prayers during those days. The _takbīr_ during the prayers is recited not only by the pilgrims, but by all Muslims during this period, from the day of the Feast of Sacrifice (the tenth of Dhu'l-Ḥijjah) until the last days of _tashrīq_ (see above; Q). The litanies of _takbīr_ are very similar to those recited at the end of Ramadan, the foundation of which is a variation of _Allāh u akbar, Allāhu akbar, lā ilāha illa'Llāh, wa'Llāhu akbar wa li'lLāhi'l-ḥamd_ ("God is Great! God is Great! There is no god but God! God is Great, and praise be to God!"); other litanies are also sometimes added.

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Ȅ And among mankind is he whose talk of the life of this world impresses thee, and he calls God as witness to what is in his heart, though he is the fiercest of adversaries.

204 Although many mention specific incidents that may have been the occasion for vv. 204–7, most prefer to see these verses as universal teachings on the nature of hypocrisy (IK, R, Ṭ). Some commentators mention in this context a certain Akhnas ibn Shurayq al-Thaqafī, who feigned interest in embracing Islam and even went so far as to say, "God knows what is in my heart" (Ṭ). The verb rendered _impresses_ can also mean "to please," "to evoke wonder," "to cause to marvel," or "to delight." _Fiercest of adversaries_ can also mean "most crooked in disputation" (Ṭ). Other commentators mention as the occasion for the revelation of this verse an incident in which some Makkans pretended to want to learn about Islam and asked the Prophet to send a delegation of learned men to teach them. When the delegation was sent, it was ambushed and murdered on the road to Makkah by the Quraysh (Th).

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ȅ And when he turns away he endeavors on the earth to work corruption therein, and to destroy tillage and offspring, but God loves not corruption.

205 _Turns away_ can refer to becoming angry or more generally to leaving the presence of those one is deceiving (Ṭ). According to some this verse describes a particular hypocrite who burned some people's fields and hamstrung their donkey. The _tillage_ refers to crops and agriculture, while the _offspring_ refers to livestock, though some commentators say it can mean any offspring, including human ones (IK, R, Ṭ). _Corruption_ ( _fasād_ ), literally "rot," is used here, as in most instances in the Quran, to mean corruption in the broadest sense, including decadence and immorality. Such verses about the corruption of the earth are interpreted by some Muslims to also be referring to injustice in society and also to the destruction of the natural environment, as in vv. 11, 30.

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Ȇ And when it is said to him, "Reverence God," vainglory seizes him sinfully. Hell suffices him, what an evil resting place!

206 The concept of sufficiency ( _suffices_ ) is used both in a positive and in a negative sense in the Quran, often in the sense of "serving the purpose" of something, in this case punishing the misdeeds of the worker of corruption; see 2:137c.

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ȇ And among mankind is one who sells his soul seeking God's Good Pleasure, and God is Kind unto His servants.

207 As with the verses above, commentators mention specific individuals to whom the verse may refer, but prefer to see it also as a universal message. This verse is connected with the general precept of "enjoining right and forbidding wrong" ( _al-amr bi'l-ma ʿrūf wa'l-nahy ʿan al-munkar_), a major ethical theme of the Quran mentioned in 3:104, 110, 114; 7:157; 9:71, 112; 22:41; 31:17. It is reported that ʿUmar ibn al-Khaṭṭāb, the second Caliph, commented on this verse, describing the _one who sells his soul_ as "a man who sets out to enjoin right and forbid wrong and is slain." In this sense _sells his soul_ can also mean "sells his life," since _nafs_ can also mean "life" in addition to "soul" or "self." Others suggest that this verse may refer to those Companions of the Prophet who spent money on the emigration from Makkah to Madinah or who lost it by being forced to leave their wealth behind in Makkah when they migrated (IK, Ṭ). Some mention that this verse was connected with ʿAlī's act of sleeping in the Prophet's bed while he migrated from Makkah for Madinah during the _hijrah_ in order to buy time for the Prophet, who was a target of the Makkans' hostility (Th). In its more universal sense one _sells his soul_ means that one gives away one's selfish desires or one's life for the sake of God, a virtuous bargain in the ultimate sense.

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Ȉ O you who believe! Enter into peace all together, and follow not the footsteps of Satan. Truly he is a manifest enemy unto you.

208 Many interpret _peace_ ( _silm_ ) here to mean "submission" ( _islām;_ R, Ṭ), but acknowledge that this is not the word's literal meaning. Others interpret it to mean "enter into obedience" (IK). _All together_ renders _kāffatan,_ an adverb that can also be read as "altogether" (R), in which case the command would mean "enter into all of it," not "all of you enter it." Some report that this verse was revealed in connection with a group of Jewish converts who still desired to observe the Sabbath and other specifically Jewish rituals that did not explicitly contradict Islamic teachings (e.g., by continuing to abstain from certain foods that Muslims are permitted to eat). One possible interpretation is that, if it does mean _islām_ and is addressed to Muslims, it means that Muslims should immerse themselves more deeply and completely in _islām_ and not omit any of its rites and commands (R). Others think that it is addressed to Jews and Christians (i.e., believers in Moses and Jesus), urging them to convert en masse to Islam or to embrace the totality of Islam (Q). The verse can also suggest that when people enter into peace, they should do so together and not be factionalized. _Follow not the footsteps of Satan_ also appears in v. 168; 6:142; 24:21.

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ȉ And should you stumble after the clear proofs have come to you, then know that God is Mighty, Wise.

209 The word _stumble_ ( _zalla_ ) can also mean "to slip" or "to err." The _clear proofs_ can refer to the Prophet, the Quran, Islam, or all of them (Ṭ).

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Ȑ Do they wait for naught less than that God should come in the shadows of clouds, with the angels, and that the matter should have been decreed? And unto God are all matters returned.

210 An alternate reading of _that God should come in the shadows of clouds, with the angels_ would be "that God should come and that the angels [should come] in the shadows of clouds," according to which the coming "in the shadows of clouds" would apply only to the angels (Ṭ). Some say this means "that [the Judgment/Command of] God should come," indicating that what God has promised or threatened will come in the clouds. For some this verse refers to the angels who come at the moment of death (see 32:11 and commentary), while others interpret it as a description of events on the Day of Resurrection (R), as in 25:25: _And the day when the heavens are split open with clouds and the angels are sent down in a descent_. The commentators are careful to point out that this verse could not mean that God moves from place to place or could even be located in a place, as this would limit God and introduce change into His Nature. _That the matter should have been decreed_ refers to the finality of the Hereafter, when one's deeds have already been done and there is no adding to or subtracting from them (R); see also 6:8, _Had We sent down an angel, then the matter would be decreed_. _Unto God are all matters returned,_ which is usually understood to mean their return to Him in the Hereafter, is also found in 3:109; 8:44; 11:123; 22:76; 35:4; 57:5.

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ȑ Ask the Children of Israel how many clear proofs We gave them. And whosoever alters the Blessing of God after it has come to him, truly God is severe in retribution.

211 This verse is addressed to the Prophet, and the _clear proofs_ are, according to the commentators, the miracles of Moses such as the casting of his staff, his white hand, the parting of the waters, and the drowning of the Israelites' enemies (see 7:105–36; Ṭ). The _blessing_ is interpreted to mean the trust and covenant that God made with the Jews; to "alter" it means to deny it or disbelieve in it (Ṭ). _Alters_ renders the verb _baddala,_ which can also mean "to substitute," and some commentators mention the accusation that Jews engaged in distortion, or _ta ḥrīf,_ of their scripture (see 2:75c) in this connection (Q).

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Ȓ The life of this world is made to seem fair unto those who disbelieve, and they ridicule those who believe. But those who are reverent shall be above them on the Day of Resurrection. And God provides for whomsoever He will without reckoning.

212 This verse is said to have been revealed about the Makkan idolaters, or the Madinan hypocrites, or the Jewish leaders in Madinah who belittled the Muslim community for being made up of the poor and the weak (Th). There are various _a ḥādīth_ that describe how the believers who were belittled and mocked will receive great fame on the Day of Resurrection, while their abusers will be humiliated and punished (Q). The Companion Abū Dharr related the following exchange between him and the Prophet: "'Abū Dharr, look around and find the most exalted man you can see in the mosque.' I looked, and there was a man sitting wearing fine clothes, and I said, 'That one.' Then he said, 'Look around and find the lowliest man you can see in the mosque.' So I looked, and there was a weak man wearing tattered clothes, and I said, 'That one.' Then the Prophet said, 'By Him in Whose Hand is my soul, that latter is better in the Sight of God than a world full of that former's kind.'"

_God provides for whomsoever He will without reckoning_ (cf. 3:37; 24:38) can mean either that God does not give a reckoning to anyone concerning what He does or that because of His Infinitude, He does not need to reckon or keep an account of what He gives fearing that it will dwindle (Th). Furthermore, this giving can be both in this world and in the Hereafter (R). For some it could refer to the absence of a reckoning on the Day of Judgment for a select few who will enter Paradise directly, hence _without reckoning_ (R). It can also allude to the incommensurability of God's Blessings and Punishments, as in 6:160, _Whosoever brings a good deed shall have ten times the like thereof_ (see also 2:245, 261; 4:40; 64:17). It can moreover be seen to point to God's infinite Mercy and the imponderable nature of Divine Mercy and Forgiveness.

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ȓ Mankind was one community; then God sent the prophets as bearers of glad tidings and as warners. And with them He sent down the Book in truth, to judge among mankind concerning that wherein they differed. And only they who were given it differed concerning it, after clear proofs came to them, out of envy among themselves. Then God guided those who believe to the truth of that wherein they differed, by His Leave. And God guides whomsoever He will unto a straight path.

213 That _mankind was one community_ refers, for some, to the period between Adam and Noah; al-Ṭabarī states that the exact dates are not significant to the meaning of the verse. Some believe that people were unified in disbelief and degradation, which was then corrected by Noah and later Abraham; others describe a state of unity in submission ( _islām_ ) to God when all human beings followed one religion (Ṭ, Th). Another interpretation attributes this oneness to the person of Adam, meaning that humanity began as one individual, but then became many. Such a usage of _community_ ( _ummah_ ) referring to a single person is found in 16:120: _Truly Abraham was a community_. Others understand _one community_ as an allusion to the pretemporal covenant all human beings made with God, described in 7:172 (Q, Th). See also 10:19, which mentions the one community of the past; other verses (5:48; 11:118; 16:93; 42:8) mention that had God willed, humanity would be one community.

Many understand an implied phrase in this first sentence, so that it would read _Mankind was one community_ (and then they differed); _then God sent the prophets_ (R). This reading would explain why God would then send the prophets _to judge_ concerning _that wherein they differed_. Most commentators reason that the purpose of sending prophets is to correct error and sin, and they would be superfluous if human beings were united in one true religion (R).

Another interpretation is that the initial history of humanity was one without the need for the commands and prohibitions of religion, and the sending of prophets mentioned in this verse refers to a later time when prophecy became necessary (Th). Al-Rāzī disapprovingly relates an opinion he attributes to Qāḍī ʿIyāḍ (d. 544 /1149), a prominent Mālikī jurist and theologian, that the first period was one in which human beings acted according to the intellect (both theoretical and practical); that is, they knew that there was a Creator, that one should be good to others, that lying and oppression are bad, that one should be just, and so forth. Pride, envy, and other vices eventually crept in and led to division, which then necessitated the sending of prophets.

But such a view would have to take into account that Adam was the first prophet according to Islamic belief, and the _clear proofs_ would have begun with him and continued throughout history. It is useful to recall here that in discussing 3:19 ( _Those who were given the Book differed not until after knowledge had come to them_ ), many commentators point out that after several generations the Jews and Christians came to differ each within their own group, and an analogy can be made with Adam and the initial _one community,_ whose members began as one, but then came to differ among themselves over the truth. The Israelite prophets, for example, were sent to one people with one religion, who nevertheless differed among themselves. See 3:19c (and also 98:4c), where the apparent paradox of differences arising after the coming of revelation is discussed further. Here, as in 3:19 and 98:4, the passage suggests that it is upon receiving truth and guidance that people enter into differences over questions of belief and practice, and that there is something almost inevitable about this occurrence given the tendencies of human nature.

Here _the Book_ is taken as the general name for all the revealed books (Sh), or it is simply a specific book, namely, the Torah, if this verse is read in connection with only the Jews and Christians (Ṭ). _Clear proofs_ ( _bayyināt_ ) refers not only to revealed books, but also to any reality that demonstrates the Truth of God. Some commentators variously identify _that wherein they differed_ to be the Truth as such, the revealed Book (including their own), or Islam and/or the Prophet (Sh).

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Ȕ Or did you suppose that you would enter the Garden without there having come to you the like of that which came to those who passed away before you? Misfortune and hardship befell them, and they were so shaken that the Messenger and those who believed with him said, "When will God's Help come?" Yea, surely God's Help is near.

214 Similar verses mentioning the testing of faith include 3:142 and 29:2–3. According to some this verse was revealed in connection with the Battle of the Trench ( _al-Khandaq,_ 5/627), also called the Battle of the Parties ( _al-A ḥzāb_), which is discussed in 33:9–20; others connect it to the Battle of Uḥud (3/625; Th). It is related that the burden of being exiled and living without their property was a hardship for those who had left it behind in Makkah to migrate to Madinah, and they suffered the taunts and insults of the locals and hypocrites who asked them how long they would sacrifice themselves and their property for a seemingly losing cause (R, Th).

The _Messenger_ is not identified, but some interpret it to mean Muhammad; others say that, because all prophets encounter severe trials, it could be a general description of all of them (Th). Perhaps to protect the idea of the perfect faith of the prophets, some interpret the question _When will God's Help come?_ to mean that, although the Messenger knew the help was coming, he was seeking to hasten it (Q). Examples of prophets being troubled include 12:110: _The messengers despaired and thought that they were deemed liars;_ 15:97: _We know that thy breast is straitened;_ and 26:3: _Perhaps thou dost torment thyself that they are not believers_. Indeed, the station of prophethood in the Quran does not preclude the prophets' human vulnerability to fear, sadness, and discouragement. See 21:83, which mentions the story of Job.

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ȕ They ask thee what they should spend. Say, "Let whatever of your wealth you spend be for parents, kinsfolk, orphans, the indigent, and the traveler. Whatever good you do, truly God knows it."

215 It is said that this verse was revealed prior to the institution of the formal alms, or _zakāh,_ and thus refers to ordinary charitable giving (Sh, Ṭ). The list of charitable recipients is familiar and appears in one form or another in many places throughout the Quran (e.g., v. 177; 4:36; 8:41; 59:7); see also the essay "Quranic Ethics, Human Rights, and Society."

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Ȗ Fighting has been prescribed for you, though it is hateful to you. But it may be that you hate a thing though it be good for you, and it may be that you love a thing though it be evil for you. God knows, and you know not.

216 On the general topic of warfare, see the essay "Conquest and Conversion, War and Peace in the Quran." Some early commentators argued that _fighting has been prescribed for you_ referred only to the Companions of the Prophet and that fighting alongside him was an individual responsibility for each of them, but later became a communal responsibility; that is, after Islam's precarious beginnings in Makkah, where warfare was forbidden, and its initial phase in Madinah, to which Muslims had migrated to survive and where they continued to fight to ensure their survival as a religious community, Islam itself was no longer in danger of being eradicated, and the universal prescription was lifted (Q, R). Some scholars of the early generations, such as Saʿīd ibn al-Muṣayyab (d. 94/713), deemed fighting in the way of God to be an everlasting obligation upon Muslims, while others, such as Sufyān al-Thawrī (d. 161/778), said it was a voluntary action (Q). When challenged as to why he would not participate in fighting during the First Civil War, ʿAbd Allāh ibn ʿUmar (d. 74/693), the son of the second Caliph, ʿUmar ibn al-Khaṭṭāb, told his interlocutors, "We did that during the time of the Prophet, when Islam was small, when a man would be tried in his religion, and they would either kill him or torture him. But then Islam became great, and there was no trial ( _fitnah_ )." Al-Rāzī notes that the "unanimous consensus," or _ijmā ʿ,_ is that when fighting is called for, it is a communal responsibility, except if Muslim lands are invaded, in which case it becomes an individual responsibility.

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ȗ They ask thee about the sacred month—about fighting therein. Say, "Fighting therein is grave, but turning [others] from the way of God—and disbelieving in Him—and from the Sacred Mosque, and expelling its people, is graver in the sight of God. Strife is graver than slaying." And they will not cease to fight you until they make you renounce your religion, if they are able. Whosoever among you renounces his religion and dies as a disbeliever, their deeds have come to naught in this world and the Hereafter, and they are the inhabitants of the Fire, abiding therein.

217 It is said that this verse was revealed in connection with a Companion, ʿAbd Allāh ibn al-Jaḥsh, who led a scouting mission against the Quraysh a year and a half after the migration from Makkah to Madinah, but before the Battle of Badr in 2/624. At an oasis between Ṭāʾif and Makkah, they killed a certain ʿAmr ibn al-Ḥaḍramī, took two prisoners, and returned with the spoils. These Companions claimed to have thought it was the last day of Jumādā'l-Ākhirah, not knowing that it was actually the first of Rajab, one of the sacred months in Arabia, since the calendar was dependent upon sighting the crescent moon (see 2:189c). When they returned to Madinah, the Prophet refused the portion of the spoils they had brought him and told them, "I did not command you to fight during the sacred months." The Quraysh condemned the breach and accused the Prophet of transgressing the accepted norm of observing the sacred months and spilling blood when it was forbidden. Eventually the matter was settled through a prisoner exchange and the payment of wergild for ʿAmr ibn al-Ḥaḍramī. The verse reminds all concerned that the current state of affairs was a result of Qurayshī transgressions, and that their enmity was unremitting and included not only expelling the Muslims, but preventing them from making pilgrimage and torturing them in order to make them renounce their religion.

Any who renounce their religion can reenter Islam, although in such a case some jurists believe that certain obligations, notably the _ḥ ajj,_ must be performed again. The verb for _renounce_ ( _irtaddā_ ) is often translated "apostasy," but this can be a misleading translation in some cases. On the matter of choosing religion the Quran says elsewhere, _And say, "It is the truth from your Lord! So whosoever will, let him believe, and whosoever will, let him disbelieve"_ (18:29); _There is no coercion in religion. Sound judgment has become clear from error_ (2:256). It also commands the Prophet to say to the disbelievers, _Unto you your religion, and unto me my religion_ (109:6); and God tells the Prophet and his followers, _So leave Me with those who deny this discourse_ (68:44).

Many classical and contemporary scholars, although not a majority, have declared that the mere changing of one's religion is no cause for punishment by the community, especially in light of the Quranic passages quoted above. Rather, such a move must amount to a seditious or destabilizing act in a political sense. This was, in their view, why the first Caliph, Abū Bakr, took up arms against the tribes who left the Muslim community in the so-called _riddah_ wars, and why the Prophet left many people alone who left the religion. It would explain, for example, why some early religious authorities, such as Ibn ʿAbbās and ʿAlī ibn Abī Ṭālib, as well as Abū Ḥanīfah and Sufyān al-Thawrī, did not allow the execution of women who renounced Islam (Q). This would seem to reflect a political and social cause rather than an intrinsically theological one, a cause that would be contingent upon external circumstances. During certain periods of the Prophet's life, changing religion amounted to changing sides in the political sense and thus to high treason, and hypocrites were among the deadliest of enemies of the early community, often collaborating with the Qurayshī idolaters and those tribes who were allied with them.

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Ș Truly those who believe and those who emigrate and strive in the way of God—it is they who hope for the Mercy of God. And God is Forgiving, Merciful.

218 When v. 217 was revealed, it is said that ʿAbd Allāh ibn al-Jaḥsh and those with him despaired and doubted that they would receive merit for their actions, even though they were absolved of having committed a crime, and this verse was a comfort and promise to them (R).

The notion of _hope_ reflects the idea that no reward is certain, that everything is in God's Hands, and that one might still die a disbeliever, but it may also be understood as a descriptive statement, indicating that believers should approach God with an attitude of hope and fear (R). This idea of hope is also connected by some with 2:46 ( _Who reckon that they shall meet their Lord and that they shall return unto Him_ ) in that the hoping and reckoning are descriptions of both what believers do and what they are called to do.

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ș They ask thee about wine and gambling. Say, "In them there is great sin and [some] benefits for mankind, but their sin is greater than their benefit." They ask thee what they should spend. Say, "What can be spared." Thus does God make clear unto you the signs, that haply you may reflect

219 For a discussion of the proscription of drinking wine, see 4:43c. _Gambling_ renders _maysir,_ which literally denotes one type of gambling; gambling more generally is known as _qimār_. In _maysir_ people draw arrows over meat, akin to drawing straws; the loser has to pay for the meat without getting any and is chided and ribbed, while the winners give their portions to the poor as a demonstration of generosity (Z). In this connection many of the commentators discuss various kinds of "play" ( _la ʿb_) and debate their legitimacy. In Islamic Law generally gambling in the form of wagering is forbidden, while playing games, such as chess and backgammon, as an idle pastime is frowned upon by many as a spiritual distraction, usually without being forbidden outright. Both games in fact came to the West from the Islamic world, and not being forbidden in the technical legal sense, both are popular among Muslims, even many devout ones.

Regarding the _benefits for mankind_ in wine, al-Qurṭubī mentions that it helps with digestion, makes a miserly person magnanimous, gives boldness to the timid, gives color to the face, helps one to have sex, and makes one feel good for a short time. (Although this verse mentions specifically wine, Islamic Law understands this ruling to apply to all alcoholic drinks.) As for the benefits of gambling, he mentions that one can acquire wealth without effort and that the poor can benefit, since it was customary for the winners to distribute the meat of the _maysir_. As for their harm, intoxication leads to loss of one's rational faculties, quarreling, violence, promiscuity, impaired judgment, and forgetting the remembrance of God. In later judicial philosophy, the ruling on intoxication played a major part in identifying "protection of the intelligence" as one of the essential objectives of the Law ( _maqāsid al-Sharī ʿah_). Similarly, gambling creates enmity and despair (R), produces ill-gotten gains, and is thus a diversion from the healthy and wholesome pursuit of profit and gain. The risk associated with gambling factors into Islamic financial theory, in that certain kinds of transactions are invalid because they entail excessive risk, and this risk is related to the prohibition against _ribā_ (usually but imperfectly translated "usury"), which is discussed by some Islamic financial theorists as carrying a severe form of risk. _Ribā_ is discussed in vv. 275–80.

On the question of spending in charity, _what can be spared_ renders _al- ʿafw,_ which means "what is easy" or "what is done without difficulty" (R) and in other contexts means "pardon" or "forgiveness." There is disagreement over whether this refers to voluntary giving or to a required duty. Among those who uphold the former view are those who believe that this directive was abrogated by the institution of the alms ( _zakāh_ ); others point out that there is no contradiction between the existence of the institution of the _zakāh_ and a command to give charity (Q). The commentators note here that this means that one should be neither miserly nor improvident in matters of charity and that one should never impoverish oneself as a result of charitable giving. This verse is seen as expanding upon the question of giving in v. 215, which describes the recipients of charity, by further describing how much one should give (Q). The extent of proper charitable giving is also discussed in 17:29: _And let not thine hand be shackled to thy neck; nor let it be entirely open_.

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Ƞ upon this world and the Hereafter. And they ask thee about orphans. Say, "Setting matters aright for them is best. And if you intermingle with them, they are your brothers. And God knows the one who works corruption from one who sets aright, and had God willed, He would have put you to hardship. Truly God is Mighty, Wise."

220 The Quranic theme of the Hereafter's superiority over this world is connected here with wine and gambling; one should _reflect upon_ the transitory goods and lasting evils engendered by them and judge them in relation to the fleeting world and the abiding Hereafter (IK, R, Ṭ). It is possible to read the end of the previous verse and the start of this one as "Thus does God make clear, in this world and the Hereafter, the signs."

Other verses that mention taking care of orphans' property include 4:10 and 6:152. It is related that Muslims were scrupulous in keeping the property of orphans separate and would eat and drink from completely separate sources so as not to consume what belonged to the orphans; when this became difficult for the custodians, they would therefore sometimes stay aloof from the orphans in their care, so that at times the property of the orphans would spoil or become ruined (Ṭ). It is useful to remember that an orphan's inheritance would have often been in the form of fruit trees and livestock, and it is precisely through using them (e.g., by picking the fruit and riding and breeding the livestock) that their value and usefulness would have been maintained until the orphan could grow up and take possession of them. Another opinion sees this verse as addressing not a prior Muslim practice but a prevailing Arab custom of staying separate from orphans, not eating together with them or riding on the mounts used by them, as it was considered inauspicious or an ill omen to be guilty of stealing from an orphan even in pre-Islamic Arabia (Q).

In the Quran the opposite of corruption ( _ifsād_ or _fasād_ ) is often an act of _setting matters aright,_ or _i ṣlāḥ,_ related by root to _ṣ ulḥ,_ meaning "peacemaking" or "reconciliation," and _ṣ āliḥ_ or "righteous." "Intermingling" means drinking the same drink, eating the same food, riding the same mounts, being served by the same servants, and so on (Ṭ). The message in this verse is to deal equitably with the orphan's property, which is legally inviolable, but whose inviolability is not meant to harm the orphan. Hence reasonable latitude is given for the just use of an orphan's property, avoiding a pedantic and counterproductive separation between the custodian's property and that of the orphan (Q, R). _They are your brothers_ is not conditional upon the preceding phrase, _if you intermingle with them;_ rather, it is a clarification that intermingling with their property in a just fashion carries no blame (IK, R). That God could have _put you to hardship_ highlights the inherent difficulties associated with maintaining the property of orphans, and that to balance the responsibility of disposing of that property with observing its intrinsic inviolability is often a matter of judgment. This judgment is itself overseen by God, who _knows the one who works corruption from one who sets aright_. For a longer treatment on other aspects of the law pertaining to orphans, see commentary on 4:2–10.

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ȡ Marry not idolatresses until they believe. Truly a believing slave woman is better than an idolatress, though she be pleasing to you. And marry none to the idolaters until they believe. Truly a believing slave is better than an idolater, though he should impress you. They are those who call unto the Fire, but God calls unto the Garden and forgiveness, by His leave, and makes clear His signs to mankind, that haply they may remember.

221 Islamic Law allows for marriage with women among the People of the Book, but not with idolaters, a permission given in 5:5, which states that _the chaste women of those who were given the Book before you_ are lawful to marry. Some commentators believe that 5:5 partially abrogated the ruling in this present verse so as to allow marriage between Muslim men and women from among the People of the Book (R, Ṭ), but the question arises only if the People of the Book were to be taken as a class of idolaters. Many maintain that the prohibition against marrying idolaters was never directed against the people of the Book (Q). In either case, the final legal ruling allows marriage with Jews and Christians, though some jurists have also included in this category marriage with Zoroastrians and, in India, with Hindus. A minority opinion held that in fact this verse abrogates 5:5 and hence no marriage with a non-Muslim is allowed. _And marry none to the idolaters_ is most often, but not always, understood as a command to not give any Muslim woman in marriage to a non-Muslim man. For the related subject of marrying believing slave women, see also 4:25c.

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Ȣ They ask thee concerning menstruation. Say, "It is a hurt, so keep away from women during menses, and do not approach them until they are purified. And when they are purified, go in unto them in the way God has commanded you." Truly God loves those who repent, and He loves those who purify themselves.

222 This verse is understood to prohibit vaginal intercourse during menstruation without prohibiting other contact. The commentators mention that before Islam menstruating women would not sleep in the same bed or eat from the same plate as others, Arab customs that may have been influenced by Jewish (Leviticus 15:19–33) or Zoroastrian (Avesta, Vendidad 16) prescriptions and proscriptions, which mandated a relatively high level of separation for menstruating women and the ritual purification of objects that they had touched (R, Ṭ).

For some the _hurt_ ( _adha_ ) refers to the discomfort it causes women (Q); many others understand it to mean "uncleanness" specifically relating to the menstrual blood (R, Ṭ); still others simply gloss the _hurt_ as a reference to the blood without attaching the notion of uncleanness to it.

Some interpret _until they are purified_ to mean the cessation of the flow of menstrual blood. Most schools of law understand this verse to mean that a woman, at the end of her period, should perform the major ablution, or _ghusl,_ which entails a washing of the entire body ritually with water, before having intercourse. Under certain circumstances the Ḥanafī school allows intercourse after the cessation of blood, but before the major ablution, or _ghusl_. There is no formal expiation or punishment for having intercourse during menstruation, although some monetary payment to the poor such as a _dīnār_ or half a _dīnār_ is sometimes mentioned in this connection (Q). It is not considered a major act of disobedience, although pious Muslims refrain from it.

Other actions generally prohibited for menstruating women include the canonical prayer ( _ṣ alāh_), fasting, circumambulation of the Kaʿbah during the _ḥ ajj_ or _ʿ umrah,_ reciting the Quran aloud, and physically touching the Quran. Also restricted are remaining inside the mosque (rather than passing through) and retreat in the mosque ( _i ʿtikāf_), although these seem to have more to do with blood staining the mosque than any other concern. In this vein, the Prophet asked his wife to bring him a mat from the mosque. She said, "I am menstruating." And he said, "Your menses are not in your hands."

_Go in unto them in the way God has commanded you_ refers to resuming vaginal intercourse, which is forbidden during menses. Jurists are unanimous in forbidding intercourse during menstruation as well as anal sex at any time, but in general have allowed other types of physical affection and fondling during menstruation. In many _a ḥādīth_ it is reported that the Prophet would not stay aloof from his wives during their periods, but would show them physical affection such as kissing and fondling, short of engaging in intercourse. Other than ensuring that an item be cleaned if menstrual blood comes in contact with it, Islamic teaching does not deem the touch of a menstruating woman to be unclean or to render anything unclean, although she should not touch the Quran.

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ȣ Your women are a tilth to you, so go unto your tilth as you will, but send forth for your souls. And reverence God and know that you shall meet Him, and give glad tidings to the believers.

223 This verse is seen by some as giving permission for any kind of vaginal intercourse, the symbolism of _tilth_ referring to procreation (IK, Ṭ). In a clash of prevailing customs, some Companions abhorred intercourse in positions where the man was behind the woman, while others practiced intercourse in all positions. In some cases, Emigrants from Makkah married Helpers, who were natives of Madinah, and the latter refused certain positions for intercourse. In some accounts, certain Companions came to the Prophet to inquire about these matters, which served as the occasion for the revelation of this verse. In some narrations, the Prophet said of this verse, "A single orifice" (Ṭ), referring to vaginal intercourse. Most commentators note that the grammar of the verse in Arabic denotes direction and place and devote their primary attention in commenting on this verse to "in what part of the body" one has intercourse and "coming from what direction"; they are generally emphatic that this verse does not refer to "when" or "how" or at whose behest intercourse takes place (R, Ṭ, Ṭs). _Send forth_ means to perform good deeds that will benefit one in the Hereafter; see 5:80–81c; 82:5c; 75:13c.

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Ȥ And make not God a hindrance, through your oaths, to being pious and reverent and to making peace between people. And God is Hearing, Knowing.

224 Rules regarding oaths are also discussed in 5:89: _God will not take you to task for that which is frivolous in your oaths, but He will take you to task for the oaths you have pledged in earnest;_ and 68:10: _So obey not any vile oath-monger_. These verses all convey the message against making excessive oaths and emphasize the seriousness of taking an oath; even in pre-Islamic Arabia it was considered a vice to be immoderate in oath taking. The present verse condemns oaths against righteous behavior, such as swearing never to speak to relatives, to give charity, to make peace between two people, to reverence God, or, in general, to perform some good deed (Q, Ṭ).

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ȥ God will not take you to task for carelessness in your oaths. Rather, He will take you to task for what your hearts have earned, and God is Forgiving, Clement.

225 This verse is interpreted by some to refer to the habit of repeating "by God" ( _wa'Llāhi_ ) for emphasis in everyday speech, which was a common habit among the Arabs and continues today even among non-Arab Muslims and non-Muslim Arabs. Others mention that it could refer to a situation in which a person believes something to be true, swears to it, and then finds out the belief is incorrect, in which case no expiation is required. This verse is also taken to exclude oaths taken in anger (Q).

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Ȧ Those who forswear their wives shall wait four months. And if they return, God is Forgiving, Merciful.

ȧ But if they resolve on divorce, truly God is Hearing, Knowing.

226–27 These verses address the practice of a man staying away from his wife but not divorcing her, leaving her without the sexual benefits of marriage and without the freedom to marry another, which in pre-Islamic times could last years (Q, R). In this context to _forswear_ means to make an oath that one would not have sexual relations with one's wife. To _forswear_ in this sense is not the same as divorce, and the period of _four months_ sets an upper limit on this abstention within marriage. Specifically, it is understood to draw a line beyond which the abstention is taken as an intent to cause harm to the wife (R). _If they return_ means that they resume intercourse; the return is still valid if one intends to return to one's wife, but is hindered for some reason, as the intent to cause harm no longer exists, while for some it simply means that one bear witness that he has returned (Q, Ṭ). Many understand _God is Forgiving, Merciful_ in this context to indicate that no expiation is necessary _if they return_ (Ṭ), though others believe some form of expiation, such as feeding the poor, is necessary, as returning to one's wife would then constitute going back on the oath of staying away from her (Ṭ).

Some say that these stipulations only apply when the oath is made in anger with the intent to cause harm, and that when someone swears not to have sexual relations for some other reason, for example, with the intention of protecting the well-being of a nursing child, the ruling of this verse does not apply (IK, Q, R, Ṭ). Others say that the forswearing mentioned here can refer to any oath that keeps one from having sexual relations with one's wife, while others say that the forswearing need not even pertain to sexual relations, but may pertain to any matter where the intent is to cause harm to the wife, such as not speaking to her or touching her (Ṭ). Perhaps the most serious point of disagreement is whether, upon the completion of the four months, divorce is effected automatically in the eyes of the Law or whether other steps must be taken. Some maintain that after the period of four months, divorce could be imposed by a judge at the request of the wife (Q, Ṭ).

***

Ȩ Divorced women shall wait by themselves for three courses, and it is not lawful for them to conceal what God has created in their wombs, if they believe in God and the Last Day. And their husbands have better right to restore them during that time, if they desire to make peace. [The women] are owed obligations the like of those they owe, in an honorable way. And men have a degree over them, and God is Mighty, Wise.

228 In the type of divorce discussed here, called _ṭ alāq,_ the husband declares divorce from his wife, after which she observes a period of waiting ( _ʿ iddah_) amounting to _three courses,_ during which the couple do not have sexual relations, before the divorce is final. These _three courses_ are three menstrual periods, but some disagreement exists over whether the _courses_ ( _qurū ʾ_) are marked by the actual menstrual flow, the flow's cessation, or by the ritual washing ( _ghusl_ ) that allows the wife to then perform the canonical prayer. Until the waiting period is over, the husband can still withdraw his intention to divorce and the couple can resume normal marital relations. _It is not lawful for them to conceal_ means that they should not conceal any possible pregnancy from the husbands who have just divorced them. That the husbands _have better right to restore them during that time_ means that husbands, being the party who initiated the divorce, retain the right to resume the marriage before the waiting period is over. In Islamic Law the wife's options for divorce do not operate under the rubric of _ṭ alāq_ divorce, but under _khul ʿ_ divorce, discussed in v. 229 and 4:20.

_The women_ appears in brackets in place of the feminine plural pronoun. According to some, _[The women] are owed obligations the like of those they owe_ means that each side owes something to the other—that is, wives should obey their husbands and husbands should treat their wives well and with respect; for others, it means that women have a right to sexual relations similar to that of men (Ṭ). It is reported that Ibn ʿAbbās said, "I beautify myself for my wife, just as she beautifies herself for me" (Q). For others, it is a question of mutual protection from harm, where the man does not harm the wife through an endless cycle of divorce and reconciliation, and the wife does not harm the husband by hiding what she might be carrying in her womb (Ṭ). Others mention that the point of marriage is closeness, love, and peace, which should be shared between husband and wife, and al-Rāzī says, "One might even say that [in this] the share of the woman is more abundant."

In _And men have a degree over them,_ many commentators understand a kind of _noblesse oblige._ Ibn ʿAbbās is reported to have said, "This _degree_ is a reference to men's encouraging good relations and their generosity toward women in wealth and virtuous behavior, which means that the one possessing the upper hand must be biased against himself" (Q). Others state that this _degree over them_ consists of men's economic advantages and also obligations and their ability to fight in the way of God (although some female Companions of the Prophet did participate in fighting) or refers to qualities such as strength and intelligence (Q).

Interpreted spiritually, this verse can mean that the soul ( _nafs_ ) has rights owed to it and rights that it owes, which in the context of Islamic spiritual psychology means that, although the spirit ( _rū ḥ_) dominates over the powers of the soul, it is precisely through the soul that spiritual progress takes place. Thus, one must be gentle with the soul, letting it rest when it needs it, to ensure healthy spiritual progress (Aj). The wedding of the soul to the spirit is a common motif in Islamic spiritual literature.

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ȩ Divorce is twice; then keep [her] honorably, or release [her] virtuously. It is not lawful for you to take aught from what you have given [your wives], except that the two should fear that they would not uphold the limits set by God. So if you fear that they will not uphold the limits set by God, there is no blame upon the two in what she may give in ransom. These are the limits set by God; so transgress not against them. And whosoever transgresses against the limits set by God, it is they who are the wrongdoers.

229 A couple can reconcile after a declarative divorce ( _ṭ alāq_) only twice. After the third divorce declaration, the divorce is final. The third divorce declaration is referred to either by the phrase _release [her] virtuously_ or, in v. 230, _Should he then divorce her_ (Q). In the other main type of divorce, called a _khul ʿ_ divorce (see also 4:20), the wife initiates the divorce and can give a _ransom_ as part of obtaining the divorce. That is to say, a wife's property becomes material to the _khul ʿ_ divorce procedure, while the man may divorce without any transfer of wealth, which is the inverse of the procedure of marriage, where a wife collects a bridewealth from her husband as a part of the marriage contract, but has no financial responsibility within the marriage. Put another way, a man negotiates his way into a marriage through the bridewealth, and a woman can negotiate her way out of a marriage through the _khul ʿ_ divorce process.

_It is not lawful for you to take aught from what you have given [your wives]_ refers to the bridewealth given to wives as stipulated in the marriage contract (see 4:24c); _your wives_ appears in brackets in place of the feminine plural pronoun. The verse makes an exception in cases where a wife may, in the absence of mistreatment from her husband, negotiate a divorce from her husband by returning some or all of her bridewealth. A husband cannot initiate a _ṭ alāq_ divorce and then ask for any part of the bridewealth back, except in certain cases, such as a marriage that is not yet consummated, in which case he can expect half to be returned (see v. 237). Nor can he mistreat his wife in order to compel her to seek a _khul ʿ_ divorce and thereby regain some or all of the bridewealth.

In one example, described as the first instance of such a _khul ʿ_ divorce, a wife came to the Prophet and complained about her new husband's repulsive physical appearance, and the Prophet divorced them after negotiating the return of the two orchards her husband had given her (IK, Q, R, Ṭ).

The _limits set by God_ are those rules established by God governing marriage and divorce (Q, R). A _fear_ that the couple will _not uphold the limits set by God_ as a condition for _khul ʿ_ divorce is generally interpreted to mean a fear that the couple would not be able to sustain a lawful marriage with its obligations of companionship and sexual relations and its prohibitions against adultery and abuse. Some have concluded that such a fear is not a necessary condition for a _khul ʿ_ divorce; others say that both spouses must have that fear. Still others assert that the wife's fear is enough, but that a man's fear alone is not sufficient (Q, Ṭ); that is, if a wife wishes to remain married, but the husband does not, for whatever reason, a _khul ʿ_ divorce is not permissible, and he can take no part of her property as part of a divorce. In the _ṭ alāq_ divorce, initiated by the husband, the wife retains all her wealth. Others have interpreted _so if you fear_ to refer to the Muslim community's judgment of the couple. Indeed, some opinions grant arbiters, chosen by the spouses to help them reconcile their marital differences, the power to divorce them or to recommend divorce, if the arbiters think no reconciliation is possible (see 4:35c).

For some commentators _khul ʿ_ divorce is connected with the presence of "discord and animosity" in the marriage ( _nushūz;_ see commentary on 4:34–35, 128) coming from both sides, as evidenced by the plain sense of the verse, which uses the dual form ( _that the two should fear_ ). Others deem the "discord and animosity" operative in the _khul ʿ_ divorce to be what originates from the wife in the form of clearly expressed statements of hatred, physical aversion, disrespect, or contempt toward her husband (Q). But these two opinions are not contradictory, as such negative feelings on the part of the wife, even in the absence of any intentional ill-treatment by her husband, can easily produce negative emotions on the part of the husband. In commentaries on this verse, there is a general message that a bad marriage could lead to other evils such as adultery and social instability and that two people who are denied companionship and intimacy may grow resentful, angry, and open to disobedience (R).

Opinions vary over the upper limit to be negotiated. Some say it should not exceed the amount of the bridewealth. Others say it can be any amount, since no figure is given in the verse. But even those who allow the amount to exceed the bridewealth think that it is shameful and reprehensible to accept it (Q, Ṭ).

***

Ȱ Should he then divorce her, she is no longer lawful for him until she marries a husband other than him. And should he divorce her there is no blame upon the two to return to each other, if they deem that they shall uphold the limits set by God. These are the limits set by God, which He makes clear to a people who know.

230 The prohibition against the couple remarrying each other after the third divorce declaration unless and until the woman marries and divorces another man is an extension of the logic of limiting declarative divorce (v. 229) and the "forswearing" of marital relations (v. 226). That means that if a man were free to remarry his wife after three divorce declarations, he would then be free to conduct yet another three divorce declarations and repeat the process continuously, thus keeping the wife from the full enjoyment of marriage (through successive waiting periods) while denying her the freedom to marry another. Forbidding a man from remarrying a woman after making her wait three sets of three courses (one set after each divorce declaration) limits the harm he can inflict on her and discourages him from declaring divorce, since the prospect of remarrying a woman who is married to someone else is in most cases unlikely. According to most jurists the intervening marriage needs to have been consummated for the original couple to remarry (R, Q, Ṭ). This condition applies for those who have carried out three divorces; remarriage with only a single divorce declaration is discussed in v. 232.

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ȱ And when you have divorced women and they have fulfilled their term, keep them honorably or release them honorably, and do not keep them so as to cause harm and thus transgress. Whosoever does that surely wrongs himself. And do not take God's signs in mockery, and remember God's Blessing upon you, and what He sent down to you of the Book and Wisdom, exhorting you thereby. And reverence God, and know that God is Knower of all things.

231 _Keep them so as to cause harm_ refers to the practice of declaring divorce, then taking one's wife back just before the waiting period is over, and repeating this action in order to harm her (Ṭ; see commentary on 2:229–30). _And thus transgress_ could also be read "in order to transgress." In this context, to _take God's signs in mockery_ means to declare divorce and then say, "I was only playing," or to take a similar attitude with any matter of marriage and divorce (Ṭ). On the idea of taking God's signs in mockery, also see 5:57–58; 31:6; 45:9, 35. The Book and Wisdom are mentioned together also in v. 129; 3:48; 4:113; 5:110; 45:16; 62:2.

***

Ȳ And when you have divorced women and they have fulfilled their term, do not hinder them from marrying their husbands when they have consented to each other honorably. Therewith are counseled those among you who believe in God and the Last Day. That is more virtuous and purer for you. God knows, and you know not.

232 It is said that this verse was revealed when a man balked at the idea of his sister, who was divorced and single, remarrying the man who had divorced her (Ṭ). This verse allows a couple to remarry even after they have gone through a complete legal divorce, but not in the case of the third consecutive divorce declaration; on the matter of remarrying after the third divorce declaration ( _ṭ alāq_), see 2:229c.

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ȳ And let mothers nurse their children two full years, for such as desire to complete the suckling. It falls on the father to provide for them and clothe them honorably. No soul is tasked beyond its capacity. Let no mother be harmed on account of her child, nor father on account of his child. And the like shall fall upon the heir. If the couple desire to wean, by their mutual consent and consultation, there is no blame upon them. And if you wish to have your children wet-nursed, there is no blame upon you if you pay honorably that which you give. And reverence God, and know that God sees whatsoever you do.

233 This verse addresses the status of women who bear children from husbands who have divorced them, since feeding and clothing one's wife is an obligation of marriage in all cases. _Two full years_ is the maximum time period during which the father must provide material support to the nursing mother, although the parents can agree to a shorter period of nursing, as stated later in the verse, _by their mutual consent and consultation_. The mother can nurse for a shorter period, and the father cannot compel her to continue, but he must provide support if necessary for up to two years of nursing (Q). That the father must _provide for them and clothe them_ means that he must, according to his means, provide what he can. The verse acknowledges that not all fathers can provide equally, since one must do so _honorably_ ( _bi'l-ma ʿrūf_), meaning to an honorable or morally acceptable level, which is reinforced by the recognition that _no soul is tasked beyond its capacity_ (cf. 2:286; 6:152; 7:42; 23:62; 65:7). See also 46:15 and 31:14, which discuss the length of pregnancy and nursing.

That neither parent _be harmed on account of_ the child relates to either nursing or custody, or both. The mother is not to harm the father by refusing to nurse his child or by trying to keep the father away, and similarly the father is not to harm the mother by keeping her child from her and refusing to let her nurse the child when she wishes to do so (Q, Ṭ).

Several opinions are offered regarding the identity of the _heir_ who has obligations similar to those of the father, should the latter pass away. It is generally understood to refer to the heirs of the father, who inherit a portion of the wealth upon which the nursing mother and child have a claim. Upon the father's death, during the two-year period, these heirs are responsible for the material support prescribed in this verse (Q). Others say it refers to agnates ( _ʿ aṣabah,_ male relatives through the male line), and others consider it to mean any relative too close in blood relation to marry (Q). Another opinion states that the heir is the child himself or herself, in which case the support would come from what the child inherits from the father, but if there are no such funds, it falls upon the state to support the child, and if the state does not, it falls upon the community (Q). Some interpret the heir's obligation to include only the intent not to harm the parent by means of the child, while others say the heir's obligation also includes the material support to the mother the father would have been obligated to provide (Q). If both parents agree, the child can have a wet nurse, who would be paid for by the father, not the mother (Q).

Most jurists agree that, so long as she does not remarry (presumably because they reason a father would not willingly allow his child to be raised by another man), the mother has greater right to custody and to raise the child than does the father. There are varying opinions on this matter, and some allow the child to choose after a certain age (Q).

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ȴ And those among you who are taken by death and leave behind wives, let them wait by themselves four months and ten days. And when they have fulfilled their term, then there is no blame upon you in what they do concerning themselves in an honorable way. And God is Aware of whatsoever you do.

234 Widows are to wait four months and ten days before they can remarry, unless they are pregnant, in which case they wait until they deliver, whichever period of time is longer (IK, Q); this is also discussed in v. 240 and 65:4. What they do _concerning themselves_ refers to their entering into a new marriage after the period of waiting.

_Wait by themselves_ is taken by some jurists to mean that they cloister themselves in their homes, on the basis of certain _a ḥādīth_ that point to widows keeping themselves home and not putting on perfume or ornaments (Q). Other prominent early jurists, such as Ḥasan al-Baṣrī, say the text simply refers to refraining from marriage.

In contrast to the waiting period outlined here, it is related that in pre-Islamic times widows were often required to wait a year, observing such practices as wearing their worst clothes, neither grooming nor bathing, and marking the end of their mourning by leaving their house; the end of the mourning period was marked by flinging a piece of animal dung and rubbing the front of their bodies with an animal, acts of unclear significance (IK).

***

ȵ And there is no blame upon you in intimating a proposal to [these] women, or in keeping it within yourselves. God knows that you mean to seek them in marriage, but do not pledge your troth with them secretly save that you speak in an honorable way, and resolve not upon the marriage tie until the term prescribed is fulfilled. And know that God knows what is within your souls; so beware of Him, and know that God is Forgiving, Clement.

235 _Intimating_ a proposal means that one can express a desire for marriage, yet stop short of proposing and making an agreement. For example, a man can say, "I hope I can marry a righteous woman," or, "I do not wish to marry any other woman," or, "I desire to marry," but he would not be allowed to say, "Promise me you will marry me and not another person" (IK). Actually contracting a marriage during this time period is forbidden. _Save that you speak in an honorable way_ means that one's interaction with widows should not go beyond the limits of the intimation mentioned at the start of the verse (IK). _Do not pledge your troth with them secretly_ can mean either that they should not agree to marry or that they should not consummate a marriage (IK, Q).

Some say that if two people actually consummate a marriage before the waiting period expires, the two are forbidden to marry each other forever, and the woman must remain unmarried for the remainder of the waiting period from her dead husband and the waiting period from her premature marriage. If they contract an agreement to marry, but do not consummate, then they must wait out the waiting period, after which the man must propose again (IK, Q).

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ȶ There is no blame upon you if you divorce women not having touched them or not having designated a bridewealth. But provide for them—the wealthy according to his means, the straitened according to his means—an honorable provision: an obligation upon the virtuous.

236 See 33:49, which also discusses divorce before the consummation of a marriage. _Not having touched them_ refers to consummation of the marriage. This verse refers to the case in which a couple have contracted a marriage, but have not consummated it or agreed upon the bridewealth yet. As with the bridewealth itself, a wealthy man would give a different amount than a poorer man in this set of circumstances. Some say that if the couple cannot agree on an amount, it should be half of the bridal payment of those with similar means (see next verse). On bridal payments in general, see 4:24c.

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ȷ And if you divorce them before touching them or designating a bridewealth, then [it shall be] half of what you designated, unless they forgo it or he whose hand holds the marriage tie forgoes. And to forgo is nearer to reverence. Forget not bounteousness among yourselves. Truly God sees whatsoever you do.

237 _He whose hand holds the marriage tie_ is the husband himself, in which case he would forgo the half of the bridal payment that he could legitimately expect to get back (IK, Q). In this case "holding the marriage tie" refers to the husband's prerogative of divorce (see v. 228), since it is he who is exercising his power to divorce his wife; this verse refers to divorce declared by the husband ( _ṭ alāq_), not _khul ʿ_ divorce (see v. 229; R). The party _nearer to reverence_ would then be the one who forgoes one's "half" and allows the other party to have the entirety of the bridewealth after the divorce, thus realizing the virtue of _bounteousness among yourselves_ (Q, R). Others interpret the holder of the marriage tie to be the legal guardian ( _wakīl_ ) whose permission is usually necessary for a woman to marry, in which case the wife would, with the guardian's approval, forgo the half of the bridewealth she had been entitled to keep. The difficulty with this position is that, although the guardian is necessary for marriage, he has no legal control over the bridewealth, which is the personal property of the wife (Q).

There is an opinion that consummation is not necessary for a man to lose his right to half the bridewealth, and that if the husband is secluded with his wife in such a way that consummation was possible, he must pay the bridewealth in full (IK, R).

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ȸ Be mindful of your prayers, and the middlemost prayer, and stand before God in devout obedience.

238 To _be mindful of your prayers_ means one should observe them in a timely fashion, during the time when they are meant to be offered, and also to be fully present and concentrated while praying (IK, Ṭ). The _prayers_ refer to the five canonical prayers, but there is no general consensus regarding the meaning of _the middlemost prayer;_ it is identified variously as one or another of the five daily prayers, although some maintain that its identity is unknown (Ṭ). Others consider it to be the congregational Friday prayer ( _jumu ʿah_), or the ʿĪd prayer, or even the five prayers together (IK). Regarding the concept of _devout obedience,_ which also connotes silence, obedience, and humility among other virtues, see 2:116c; 3:17c; and especially 4:34c.

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ȹ But if you are fearful, then on foot or mounted. Then when you are secure, remember God, as He taught you what you knew not.

239 One can be _fearful_ when in battle or under persecution. Commentators mention that in cases of fear, such as during open warfare, one can pray while riding or walking, whether it is in the direction of the _qiblah_ (facing the Kaʿbah) or not. One can, rather than bow and prostrate, nod and lightly move one's head in a manner corresponding to the motions of the prayer; according to some, one can shorten one's prayers down to one cycle of prayer, rather than two, three, or four (IK). Prayer in conditions of fighting and fear is discussed in detail in 4:101–2.

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ɀ And those among you who are taken by death and leave behind wives, [let them] bequeath to their wives provision for the year, without turning them out. But if they leave, there is no blame upon you in that which they do concerning themselves honorably. And God is Mighty, Wise.

240 Some believe this verse's ruling was abrogated by the waiting period of four months and ten days described in v. 234, but others see no contradiction between the two, understanding the present verse to be affirming the option of a widow to receive up to one year of maintenance while living in her late husband's house; if she remarries before that, _there is no blame upon_ the heirs of the husband for stopping their support (Q). _That which they do concerning themselves_ is similar to the phrase in v. 234.

Others say that this was abrogated by the inheritance shares of 4:12 (Q). But if this is seen as a right to reside and receive sustenance for a year with the option of leaving earlier, there is no necessary contradiction and no need for abrogation.

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Ɂ And for divorced women an honorable provision—an obligation upon the reverent.

241 The message of this verse is similar to that in v. 236, though that verse pertains to women divorcing where the marriage was yet to be consummated, while the present verse has a general import and places an obligation upon all men to make some manner of provision for women they divorce (IK).

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ɂ Thus does God make clear unto you His signs, that haply you may understand.

242 The showing or making _clear_ the _signs_ (of God) is a common refrain throughout the Quran (e.g., 2:266; 3:103; 5:89; 24:61), and the use of _thus_ ( _kadhālika_ ) signifies a specific referent, namely, that on the preceding questions of divorce God makes His signs clear, but it also serves as a reminder that God does so in general.

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Ƀ Hast thou not seen those who left their homes by the thousands fearing death? Whereupon God said to them, "Die," then revived them. Truly God is Possessed of Bounty for mankind, but most of mankind do not give thanks.

243 It is related that this verse refers to a group among the Children of Israel who fled either a plague or war, apparently in disobedience, in order to reach a place of safety, but were nevertheless caused to die, after which a prophet was sent to revive them (Q, Ṭ). In this context some commentators mention that the Prophet Muhammad commanded people not to flee a place where there was a plague or to travel to a place where there was a plague (Ṭ, Th). Some say that the historical people or time is unimportant, as a theme of the verse is that God has the Power of life and death over human beings, that they cannot determine their own life and death, and that the Prophet and believers should take a lesson from this fact, especially since the subsequent verse mentions a command to fight in the way of God (Q).

Some commentators see this verse as a reference to the story described in Ezekiel 37:1–14, where Ezekiel is commanded to revive a valley filled with dry bones (Ṭ), but the Biblical account does not contain mention of why the valley was full of bones, and beyond the revival of the dead there are no similarities between the two accounts.

***

Ʉ So fight in the way of God, and know that God is Hearing, Knowing.

244 Some think that _fight in the way of God_ is the command given to those who were revived in v. 243; others assert that because the grammar indicates a direct address, not a historical narration, the verse should be read as a general moral injunction to believers to struggle for the truth (Q, R, Ṭ), which can be a spiritual as well as physical struggle. If the latter interpretation is correct, the mention of fighting in this verse indicates that it was revealed after armed struggle was permitted for Muslims; see the essay "Conquest and Conversion, War and Peace in the Quran."

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Ʌ Who shall lend unto God a goodly loan, which He will multiply for him many times over? And God withholds and outstretches, and unto Him shall you be returned.

245 Some consider this verse to continue the line of thought in the previous one, in which case the _goodly loan_ would be a metaphor for the effort expended and risk undertaken in fighting in the way of God. Others believe the verse begins anew and refers to the giving of one's wealth in charity or for religious causes, while still others point out there is no contradiction between these two interpretations (R). On lending God _a goodly loan,_ see 5:12; 64:17; 73:20; 57:11c. In all such instances, commentators point out that to serve God and do good is always, as it were, a good bargain, and one can also engage in "unprofitable" transactions, such as when one sells God's signs _for a paltry price_ (e.g., 2:41). God's multiplication of good is described in 6:160: _Whosoever brings a good deed shall have ten times the like thereof,_ and also discussed in 57:18.

"Withholding" and "outstretching" are two very important concepts in Islamic spirituality. The verb "withholds" is related to the state of spiritual contraction ( _qab ḍ_), and the verb "outstretches" is related to the state of expansion ( _bas ṭ_). Interpreted spiritually, this verse describes a threefold process of spiritual realization: inner purification ( _God withholds_ ), the acquisition of the virtues ( _and outstretches_ ), and finally spiritual realization and illumination ( _and unto Him shall you be returned_ ). Some Sufis describe contraction and expansion as "two states that follow each other in the heart like the night follows the day." Contraction and expansion are also related to the twin states of fear and hope, which must be kept in balance in order for a soul to progress spiritually. Seen in another way, when God _withholds_ one is exposed to His Quality of Majesty, and when He _outstretches,_ one experiences His Quality of Beauty (Aj).

***

Ɇ Hast thou not seen the assembly of the Children of Israel, after Moses, when they said to a prophet of theirs, "Raise up a king for us, that we may fight in the way of God." He said, "Might it be that, were fighting prescribed for you, you would not fight?" They said, "And why should we not fight in the way of God, having been expelled from our homes and [away from] our children?" Then when fighting was prescribed for them they turned back, save a few among them. And God knows well the wrongdoers.

246 _Raise up a king for us, that we may fight in the way of God_ could refer to the same request of the Israelites to Samuel in 1 Samuel 8:19–20, "But we are determined to have a king over us, so that we also may be like other nations, and that our king may govern us and go out before us and fight our battles."

***

ɇ And their prophet said to them, "Truly God has raised up Saul for you as king." They said, "How shall he have sovereignty over us while we have more right to sovereignty than he, and he has not been given abundance of wealth?" He said, "Truly God has chosen him over you, and has increased him amply in knowledge and body." And God gives His Sovereignty to whomsoever He will, and God is All-Encompassing, Knowing.

247 Saul's low social status, which is here the source of the Israelites' disdain for his kingship, is mentioned by Saul himself when Samuel first speaks to him in 1 Samuel 9:21: "Saul answered, 'I am only a Benjaminite, from the least of the tribes of Israel, and my family is the humblest of all the families. . . . Why then have you spoken to me in this way?'" And in 1 Samuel 10:27 the Israelites express their disdain: "But some worthless fellows said, 'How can this man save us?' They despised him and brought him no present." The basis for their aversion to Saul as king is similar to that for the aversion of the Quraysh and the Jews to Muhammad at his election as a prophet, namely, his lack of wealth and status among the Quraysh and his non-Jewish lineage among the Jews; see also 3:26c. In the case of Saul, the commentators understand this account to mean that Saul was from neither a kingly nor a priestly line, but hailed from the tribe of Benjamin (R). Saul's intelligence and physical prowess were intrinsic qualities useful for a good leader; the status and wealth expected by the people would be qualities extrinsic to any man, "accidental" to his nature (R). _Increased him amply in knowledge and body_ could also be rendered "increased him in excellence of knowledge and body." The granting of sovereignty by God is also mentioned in 3:26; 4:54; 12:101.

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Ɉ And their prophet said to them, "Truly the sign of his sovereignty shall be that the ark come to you bearing tranquility from your Lord and a remnant left by the House of Moses and the House of Aaron, borne by the angels. Truly in that is a sign for you, if you are believers."

248 The commentators relate that the ark was returned, after being either lost or taken in battle, as a sign of Saul's right to lead, though in the case of this passage much or all of the information in the commentaries seems to be based on Biblical or Talmudic material. In the Biblical account, the ark was returned from its capture by the Philistines after they were afflicted with plagues and other torments, but it resided in a private dwelling for many years in Kiriath-jearim, northwest of Jerusalem. Biblical commentators point out that during this time the Israelites were in a state of religious decline and had grown indifferent to the ark; during this period Samuel labored to revive the religion. Indeed, in 1 Chronicles 13:3 David says, "We did not turn to it [the ark] in the days of Saul." The fate of the ark during the time of Saul is not described in the Bible except with regard to its neglect.

In v. 248, the ark reenters the life of the Israelites in a way that functions as a sign for Samuel's truthful prophecy regarding Saul, but no details or chronology are given. From the Quranic perspective, it could mean that the chronology conventionally understood from 1 Samuel, in which the ark returns many years before Saul's anointing, is a misreading—which is possible if one considers the history given in Samuel as that of overlapping strands rather than a linear chronology—and that the ark returned around the time Samuel designated Saul as king. That an old but neglected sacred object should return could have had a special significance to the Israelites, leading them to rediscover a part of their own sacred history. Alternately, it could it be that the prophet (Samuel), in pointing to the ark as a sign, was in effect saying, "The ark has returned to you while I was your judge; so believe my prophecy about Saul" (Ṭ). In one Muslim account the Israelites, except for a single family who kept the ark, were prevented from coming near the ark from the time of its return from the Philistines until the time of Saul; some understood this to mean that, even though it was not in the possession of another people, the ark and its blessings were inaccessible to the Israelites (Ṭ).

The _tranquility_ ( _sakīnah_ ) within it may refer to either an object that would arouse tranquility in the hearts of the Israelites or something, properly referred to as _sakīnah,_ that was contained within it. Some point out that the grammar of the phrase would allow the translation "that the ark come to you on account of which there will be tranquility" (R). This tranquility ( _sakīnah_ ) is also mentioned in 9:26, 40; 48:4, 18, 26. If understood as something whose presence would cause tranquility, it might refer to prophecies from books of Moses and Aaron telling of the victories to which Saul would lead them (Ṭ).

The _remnant_ of Moses and Aaron is given several interpretations, among them the staff of Moses (v. 60), the fragments of stone tablets Moses brought from Sinai (7:150), the manna (see v. 57), and the clothing of Moses and Aaron, including Moses' sandals (see 20:12; Q, Ṭ).

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ɉ And when Saul set out with the hosts he said, "Truly God will try you with a stream. Whosoever drinks from it is not of me, and whosoever tastes not of it is of me—save one who scoops out a handful." But they drank from it, save a few among them. So when he crossed it, he and those who believed with him, they said, "We have no power today against Goliath and his hosts." Those who deemed they would meet their Lord said, "How many a small company have overcome a large company by God's leave! And God is with the patient."

249 Some have drawn a parallel between this verse and the account of Gideon's crossing the Jordan River in Judges 7:4–7, though the similarities are typological and not historical. In the Gideon account, the test was known to Gideon alone, the army was not aware they were being divided into two categories (those who drank with their mouths and those who did so with their hands), and the purpose was to reduce the army's numbers to three hundred men, so as to show that the Will of God could be carried out with a small number of fighters. In the Quranic account, Saul openly tests the faith of his soldiers, who are commanded to take only a handful of water and no more.

From a Quranic point of view, Saul's test of his army could be a reenactment of sacred history (Gideon lived before Samuel and Saul), much as parting the waters is a recurring theme in the Old Testament, taking place at the hands of Moses while the Israelites were escaping from the Egyptians through the Red Sea and by the ark when the people were crossing the Jordan during the time of Joshua (Joshua 3:14–17). That this incident echoes Gideon's crossing, whose purpose was to show that God could defeat many with few, is reinforced by the statement in this verse of those who believed that _they would meet their Lord, "How many a small company have overcome a large company by God's leave!"_ This group _deemed_ they would meet their Lord, meaning they were either certain of the Hereafter or prepared to die (Q).

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ɐ And when they went forth against Goliath and his hosts they said, "Our Lord, pour patience upon us, make firm our steps, and help us against the disbelieving people."

ɑ And they routed them, by God's leave, and David slew Goliath, and God gave him sovereignty and wisdom, and taught him of what He wills. And were it not for God's repelling people, some by means of others, the earth would have been corrupted. But God is Possessed of Bounty for the worlds.

250–51 The Quranic account here assumes a general knowledge of the story of Saul, David, and Goliath: though a young boy, David is appointed by Saul to face Goliath as the Israelites' champion and fells the huge warrior with a stone from his sling (cf. 1 Samuel 17). He was given _wisdom,_ meaning that, as a major prophet in the Islamic tradition, he inherited the prophethood of Samuel, and _sovereignty,_ meaning he inherited the kingship of Saul (Ṭ). For further description of David and his prophethood and reign, see 38:17–29.

_Were it not for God's repelling people, some by means of others_ is similar to the message of 22:40, where the destruction of houses of worship is thwarted by this _repelling_. Here it is the corruption of the earth as such that is averted through this repelling of some by others. Commentators state that God uses good people to repel the effect of evil people, but offer different interpretations as to who precisely repels whom. Some say this refers to the "Substitutes" ( _abdāl_ ), human beings who are inwardly members of a spiritual hierarchy through which God dispenses grace and protection to the world; they are forty in number, and when one dies, that one is replaced by another person (Q). Others interpret it to mean that the prayerful and the pious are used to repel those who do not pray and are impious, whose sins would otherwise destroy humanity, or that the obedient repel the evil of the disobedient (Ṭ). In a _ḥ adīth_ the Prophet says, "God repels the punishment of the one who does not pray by means of the one who prays, and of the one who does not give alms by means of the one who gives alms _,_ and of the one who does not fast by means of the one who fasts, and of the one who does not make the _ḥ ajj_ by means of the one who makes _ḥ ajj,_ and of the one who does not struggle by means of the one who struggles."

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ɒ These are God's signs which We recite unto thee in truth, and truly thou art among the messengers.

252 This verse is addressed directly to the Prophet, and some commentators see vv. 243–51 as an encouragement for the Prophet in his struggles with his own enemies, reminding him that the messengers and prophets of the past underwent similar trials (Ṭ).

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ɓ Those are the messengers. We have favored some above others. Among them are those to whom God spoke, and some He raised up in ranks. And We gave Jesus son of Mary clear proofs and strengthened him with the Holy Spirit. Had God so willed, those who came after them would not have fought one another after the clear proofs had come to them. But they differed: among them were those who believed, and among them were those who disbelieved. And had God so willed, they would not have fought one another. But God does as He wills.

253 This verse, which states that some prophets are _favored above others,_ and others like it (3:163, _ranked in degrees_ ) are usually understood in light of others that command believers to say, _We make no distinction between any of His messengers_ (v. 285; see also 2:136; 3:84). In Islamic belief this ranking in degrees is understood to pertain to the prophets' missions, not their individual spiritual perfections. Thus, all prophets are considered equally to be protected from sin ( _ma ʿṣūm_), but are given varying levels of earthly power (Solomon had a great earthly kingdom, Jesus did not), different kinds of miraculous signs (Moses' staff, Solomon's commanding the wind), and are sent to different segments of humanity (in Islamic belief the Prophet Muhammad was sent to all people, while other prophets were sent only to their own). _To whom God spoke_ is usually considered to mean Moses specifically (see 7:143).

Jesus' strengthening with the _Holy Spirit_ is also mentioned in v. 87 and 5:110; and in 16:102 the _Holy Spirit_ is mentioned in connection with Muhammad. See 2:87c, where this Spirit is variously identified as the Spirit God breathed into human beings (15:29), the Archangel Gabriel, or the Gospel itself, all of which share the quality of being life-giving, whether it is bodily quickening or the nourishment of the heart and intelligence (R). The word _holy,_ or "sacred" ( _qudus_ ), can also mean "pure."

_And had God so willed, they would not have fought one another_ echoes similar passages, such as _And had God willed, He would have made you one community_ (5:48). The question of God's willing or not willing humanity to be united in one religion is also discussed in v. 213; 10:19; 11:118; 16:93; 42:8. Fighting _after the clear proofs had come_ refers to the conflict between communities who have received Divine revelation; on this question see also 2:213c as well as 3:19; 42:14; 45:17; 98:1.

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ɔ O you who believe! Spend from that which We have provided you before a day comes wherein there shall be neither bargaining, nor friendship, nor intercession. And the disbelievers, they are the wrongdoers.

254 This verse refers to the Day of Judgment, when the time for performing good deeds has passed (Ṭ). Spending from what God has given is one of the earliest descriptions of a believer in this _sūrah_ (v. 3) and is repeated throughout the Quran. The ordinary bargaining and appeals to friends and protectors upon which one can rely in this world are useless on that Day. The present verse is very similar in content to 14:31 and 40:18, and the message that friends will not avail one another is also mentioned in 43:67: _Friends on that Day will be enemies to one another;_ 44:41: _The Day when no friend will avail a friend in any way;_ and 70:10: _And no loyal friend shall ask about a loyal friend_. Here it is noted by many commentators that the ability to intercede is unavailable only to the disbelievers (R, Ṭ); on the complex issue of intercession in the Quran, see 2:48c; 2:255c.

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ɕ God, there is no god but He, the Living, the Self-Subsisting. Neither slumber overtakes Him nor sleep. Unto Him belongs whatsoever is in the heavens and whatsoever is on the earth. Who is there who may intercede with Him save by His leave? He knows that which is before them and that which is behind them. And they encompass nothing of His Knowledge, save what He wills. His Pedestal embraces the heavens and the earth. Protecting them tires Him not, and He is the Exalted, the Magnificent.

255 This verse is known as _Āyat al-Kursī,_ the "Pedestal Verse," sometimes rendered "Throne Verse," and is perhaps the most well known single verse of the Quran, taking its name from the _Pedestal_ ( _kursī_ ) mentioned in it. It is often recited by Muslims setting out on a journey or seeking either spiritual or physical protection; and like the short _sūrah_ s toward the end of the Quran, it is often one of the first passages Muslims memorize. The Prophet told his Companions to recite it before going to sleep, identified it as the greatest verse ( _āyah_ ) of the Quran, and said that it was "a fourth of the Quran." This is one among many other _a ḥādīth_ that speak of its special place (IK). It is one of the most common passages of the Quran to adorn mosques and private homes and is often carried on one's person in the form of pendant, amulet, or similar object.

_There is no god but He_ also appears in v. 163; 3:2 (where _the Living, the Self-Subsisting_ also appears); 3:6; 4:87; 6:102; 7:158; and in many other places. Within the text of the Quran, the _shahādah,_ or testimony of faith, takes the form "God, there is no god but He" much more often than "There is no god but God."

_The Living_ ( _al- Ḥayy_) is, doctrinally speaking, one of the most important Divine Names in Islam, considered to be among the "mothers of the Names" ( _ummahāt al-asmā ʾ_), and occupies a place in Islamic theology conceptually equivalent to Being. Theologically, a living being is that which is able to fully actualize all its perfections (R). Thus, in describing God's fundamental perfections, Muslims often say that God's Power is directed by His Will, which is determined by His Knowledge, all of which depend on His Life. _The Self-Subsisting_ translates _al-Qayyūm,_ an intensive form of a root meaning "to stand," "to sustain," or "to establish," which means that God subsists through Himself, but also that all things subsist through Him (IK, Ṭ). _Slumber_ ( _sinah_ ) and _sleep_ ( _nawm_ ) are usually understood to mean a kind of dozing and deep sleep, respectively, and God's eternal wakefulness is connected by commentators with _protecting [the heavens and the earth] tires Him not_. It also means that He is always aware of His creation, and there is no interruption in this awareness.

The question of intercession ( _shafā ʿah_) is also discussed in v. 48, where the plain sense of the verse would seem to deny the possibility of anyone interceding on behalf of anyone else before God. Here, the possibility of intercession is affirmed conditionally, by posing a question regarding who could intercede with God _save by His leave_. In Islamic belief, the most significant kind of intercession is carried out by the Prophet on the Day of Judgment for the sake of his community, but also for all of the world, a status that Muslims understand to be conferred upon him by virtue of his _praiseworthy station_ ( _maqām ma ḥmūd_), mentioned in 17:79.

However, many Muslims, for example, the theologian al-Ghazzālī, have said that intercession is also granted to the saints and even ordinary believers in keeping with their spiritual rank. In Shiite doctrine, intercession is also available through the Imams, who play a central role in intercession for the faithful. In a sense, and as discussed in 2:48c, without the reality of intercession there would be no meaning to the prayers of forgiveness the angels make on behalf of human beings (e.g., 40:7) or to those prayers human beings make on behalf of other human beings (e.g., 12:97–98; 24:62, which commands the Prophet, _Seek forgiveness for them from God_ ). Indeed, anytime one prays for someone else, one is affirming a belief in intercession, because one believes that God responds to that prayer. In this sense, intercession is a special kind of supplicatory prayer. Many other verses convey a message similar to _There is no intercessor, save by His leave_ (10:3; 19:87; 20:109; 21:28; 39:44; 43:86; 53:26), meaning that intercession itself can be performed only if the Divine Will permits it. Other verses that deny intercession do so for those who do wrong or disbelieve (40:18; 74:48), and still others say that God is the only intercessor (6:51, 70; 32:4; 39:44), which means ultimately it is only He who intercedes.

_That which is before them_ refers to the Hereafter, and _that which is behind them_ refers to the life of the world, or the two phrases can mean what is to come after people die and what happened before they were created. They may also refer to good and evil deeds, those they have committed and those they have yet to carry out (R). The pronoun _them_ refers to all those who would intercede and all those for whom intercession is offered (R).

_Knowledge_ here is used in the sense of "what is known" (R). A similar passage speaks of God as _Knower of the Unseen; He does not disclose His Unseen to anyone, save to the one whom He approves as a messenger_ (72:26–27). In 2:32 the angels say to God, _We have no knowledge save what Thou hast taught us._

Some interpret the _Pedestal_ ( _kursī_ ) to be the "place of the feet," where one places one's feet while sitting on a throne, hence the common translation of _kursī_ as "Footstool," but this translation is problematic, especially since commentators often see _kursī_ as another name for the Throne ( _ʿ arsh;_ Ṭ, R). Since a pedestal can mean a throne as well as that upon which a throne rests (and hence where one places one's feet), the rendering of "pedestal" for _kursī_ is preferable. Indeed, in many Islamic cosmologies the Pedestal is above the cosmos, and the Throne is above the Pedestal, a symbolism that would collapse with the use of "footstool" to translate _kursī_ , since a footstool sits in front of a throne, not underneath it.

There are various _a ḥādīth_ that state that the Pedestal encompasses the heavens and the earth, and the Throne encompasses the Pedestal (IK). According to Ibn ʿAbbās the heavens and the earth in comparison to the Pedestal are like a ring cast into the wilderness (IK). Others interpret _Pedestal_ to mean knowledge, sovereignty, or authority, used metonymously here the way one uses "the crown" to refer to a monarch (R). Muslims attempt to avoid the two extremes of interpreting such passages as only metaphor or allegory, which allows human beings to read their own desires into the meaning of the Quran, and literalistic anthropomorphism, which assigns to God location in space and feet comparable to our own. In esoteric commentaries on the Quran, both _kursī_ and _ʿ arsh_ possessed specific symbolic meanings, and the verse is seen to contain in its inner meaning a whole cosmology.

_Protecting them,_ referring to the aforementioned heavens and earth, means that God sustains their very being encompassing the whole created order. _Tires Him not_ can also mean "is not difficult for Him" (R) or it does not cause Him to stop.

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ɖ There is no coercion in religion. Sound judgment has become clear from error. So whosoever disavows false deities and believes in God has grasped the most unfailing handhold, which never breaks. And God is Hearing, Knowing.

256 Similar statements regarding faith are also found in 10:99–100: _And had thy Lord willed, all those who are on the earth would have believed all together. Wouldst thou compel men till they become believers? It is not for a soul to believe, save by God's Leave;_ and 18:29: _And say, "It is the truth from your Lord! So whosoever will, let him believe, and whosoever will, let him disbelieve"_ (see also 76:3; 2:217c). Some report that this verse was revealed in connection with some Muslims who had children among the Banū Naḍīr, a Jewish tribe that was exiled by the Muslim community from Madinah after they were found plotting against the Prophet. Before the coming of Islam, some women of Yathrib (later Madinah) whose children died in infancy made a vow that, if they had children who survived, they would have them raised Jewish, which is how these children came to be among the Banū Naḍīr. These Muslim parents questioned whether they should force their children to join the Muslim community (Q, Ṭ). Another account describes a Muslim man whose two sons became Christians and left for Syria with the merchants who had converted them (Ṭ). And a third account mentions that some Muslims were wet-nursed by Jews, and when the Jewish clans to which they belonged were exiled, they wanted to leave with them and become Jews, but their families forced them to remain Muslims (Ṭ).

According to some sources this verse refers specifically to the People of the Book or to anyone from whom one can take the _jizyah_ (see 9:29c; IK, R). Indeed, many argue that the import of this verse is not absolute, since the Prophet, in his campaign and ultimate victory against the idolatrous Arabs, did not give them the option of remaining idolaters or paying the _jizyah_ (IK, Ṭ). The Arabs were in fact forced to abandon idol worship, although some disagree over whether they could become Jews and Christians and fall under the protected status of _There is no coercion in religion_ (R). This position would entail, in effect, that among a certain group of religions recognized by Islam (including Judaism, Christianity, and Zoroastrianism), _there is no coercion in religion_.

Others argue that this verse was abrogated by those verses that command Muslims to fight (e.g., 9:5), but this interpretation is not chronologically consistent with the three possible occasions of revelation for this verse, which all involve conditions resulting from conflict with the Jews, who were banished by force. This shows, as do many other verses in the Quran, that the fighting Muslims carried out was motivated by political circumstances and not the desire to convert. More important, coercion in religion negates the idea of responsibility before God ( _taklīf_ ), in which one is taken to account for one's actions in both this life and the Hereafter (R). As an ethical or moral pronouncement, this verse is not subject to abrogation at all (see 2:106c). The Makkan idolaters were a special case, because they had been for years the primary threat to the very existence of Islam as a religion. Although forced conversions were not completely unknown in later Islamic history (including from Sunnism to Shiism and vice versa), they can be counted as rare exceptions to the historical rule. For a more detailed treatment of these questions, see the essay "Conquest and Conversion, War and Peace in the Quran."

_Sound judgment_ translates _rushd,_ which also means "maturity" and "being rightly guided"; _error_ translates _ghayy,_ which also carries the sense of transgression and temptation. _False deities_ renders _ṭ āghūt,_ a word that seems to be related to the verb meaning "to rebel" and that is interpreted variously to refer to Satan, magicians, soothsayers, idols, or any being who rebels and trespasses against God (R); for a longer discussion, see 4:51–52c. The _unfailing handhold_ (cf. 31:22) refers to either faith or the _shahādah,_ "There is no god but God" ( _lā ilāha illa'Llāh_ ). The word for _breaks_ refers to fractures that do not show or cause separation, meaning that the _handhold_ does not give way even slightly or imperceptibly.

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ɗ God is the Protector of those who believe. He brings them out of the darkness into the light. As for those who disbelieve, their protectors are the idols, bringing them out of the light into the darkness. They are the inhabitants of the Fire, abiding therein.

257 On the concept of _Protector_ ( _walī_ ), which can also mean "ally" and "friend," see 3:28c; 4:88–90c. The symbolism of light and darkness, which appears throughout the Quran, is presented here with an explicit symmetry describing the ascent into light and the plunge into darkness; also see 5:16c; 24:35c. For the majority of commentators, light and darkness refer to belief or faith ( _īmān_ ) and disbelief or denial ( _kufr_ ), or guidance and error (Ṭ). Going from darkness into the light is also mentioned in 5:16; 14:1, 5; 33:43; 57:9; 65:11.

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ɘ Hast thou not considered him who disputed with Abraham about his Lord because God had given him sovereignty? When Abraham said, "My Lord gives life and causes death," he said, "I give life and cause death." Abraham said, "Truly God brings the sun from the east. Bring it, then, from the west." Thus was he who disbelieved confounded. And God guides not wrongdoing people.

258 Commentators sometimes understand the antagonist here to be Nimrod, though this is based on folkloric material; he is not named in any _ḥ adīth_ and his place even in the Bible is ambiguous at best. It is said that this man _who disputed with Abraham_ brought out two people, killing one and leaving the other alive, and said, _I give life and cause death._ A similar dynamic can be seen in the conversation between Moses and Pharaoh, when Pharaoh said, _I am your lord most high_ (79:24). "Give life and cause death" appears in many places in the Quran; see 2:28c.

Grammatically, the recipient of _sovereignty_ could be either Abraham or his antagonist, since Abraham's descendants are described as having been given a _mighty sovereignty_ (4:54), but most commentators believe that it refers to the worldly power of the other person (R). Abraham's triumph in the encounter both exposes the pretense of the ruler who sought to mimic God's Power over life and death and reflects a general Quranic theme that the world of nature is full of signs of God. Abraham encounters the rising sun in a different context in 6:78.

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ə Or [think of] the like of him who passed by a town as it lay fallen upon its roofs. He said, "How shall God give life to this after its death?" So God caused him to die for a hundred years, then raised him up. He said, "How long hast thou tarried?" He said, "I tarried a day or part of a day." He said, "Nay, thou hast tarried a hundred years. Look, then, at thy food and thy drink—they have not spoiled. And look at thy donkey. And [this was done] that We may make thee a sign for mankind. And look at the bones, how We set them up, then clothe them with flesh." When it became clear to him he said, "I know that God has power over all things."

259 Commentators typically identify the man in this verse as Ezra, but others mention Ezekiel and even Khiḍr (see _Sūrah_ 18), which is why the _thou_ is used in the translation. Others say that this verse refers not to a saint or prophet, but to a disbeliever who is shown the reality of Resurrection (R). _Fallen upon its roofs_ means that the roofs had collapsed and the walls fell onto them; the word for _fallen_ ( _khāwiyah_ ) also evokes the sense of "empty."

The question _How long hast thou tarried?_ is also asked of the sleepers in the cave in 18:19 and the resurrected soul on the Day of Judgment (23:112). Some say that the bones of the donkey were made to come back to life and be clothed with flesh, though others believe this phrase refers to the man himself (R).

It is thought by some that God's making this person a sign means that he was made a prophet (Ṭ), but elsewhere Pharaoh was also made a sign (10:92), and he is the opposite of a prophet. If this person is understood to be a prophet, his question is not taken as one of pernicious doubt, but in the same spirit as the question posed by Abraham in v. 260: _My Lord, show me how Thou givest life to the dead._

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ɠ And when Abraham said, "My Lord, show me how Thou givest life to the dead," He said, "Dost thou not believe?" He said, "Yea, indeed, but so that my heart may be at peace." He said, "Take four birds and make them be drawn to thee. Then place a piece of them on every mountain. Then call them: they will come to thee in haste. And know that God is Mighty, Wise."

260 The verse implies no context for Abraham's question, but commentators nevertheless record several possibilities. Abraham saw a scene on a coast where creatures of the sea, land, and air were all eating other creatures and wondered how resurrection could bring all the pieces of these animals together; or it was part of his exchange with his antagonist in v. 258, where the sign would have given Abraham a stronger hand or lent support to his message to other people; or it may have been in connection with the sacrifice of his son or that Abraham wanted confirmation of his special status as prophet. Many interpret it spiritually to mean the revival of dead hearts through the Spirit (R).

_Dost thou not believe?_ is understood to be a kind of implicit affirmation of Abraham's faith, as if to say, "You believe, so why are you asking?" _That my heart may be at peace_ evokes other Quranic references, such as 89:27, where the _soul at peace_ is invited to enter Paradise, and 13:28, where souls _are at peace_ in the remembrance of God. Here commentators grapple with the idea that Abraham would be out of this state of peace. Some suggest that there are degrees of spiritual knowledge, and that Abraham is speaking of going from one depth of understanding to another, not that he is expressing doubt about God's existence or His Power (R). Since believers acknowledge no end to the Glories of God, Abraham's question can be seen as an expression of a desire to witness ever more of God's Self-Disclosure, to use the language often employed by Sufis. Regarding this verse a _ḥ adīth_ says, "We have more right to doubt than did Abraham." Abraham's "doubt" was an entreaty for more knowledge, not a hesitation about God's existence. Even the Prophet Muhammad is commanded to say, _My Lord! Increase me in knowledge!_ (20:114), which is not meant to highlight the Prophet's ignorance, but to point to God's Limitlessness and His infinite Reality.

The verb in _make them be drawn to thee_ is understood by many, perhaps even a majority, to mean "cut," though this interpretation leaves the difficulty of the place of the prepositional phrase _to thee_ (R). According to this interpretation, Abraham takes four birds (peacock, eagle, raven, and rooster), cuts them up into pieces, and then places them on four mountains, representing the four cardinal directions. He then calls them, at which point the scattered parts of the birds reassemble into their original forms and come flying back to him. According to one reading, the eagle represents lust for food; the rooster, lust for sex; the crow, excessive curiosity; and the peacock, vanity, though many different lists of birds are to be found in the commentaries (R).

The other interpretation, reflected in the translation, is that there is no killing of the birds mentioned in the verse. Rather, Abraham first made each bird be drawn to him, then placed them, alive, each on a mountain, and then called them to himself. This interpretation would then represent the reunification of souls and their bodies with the ease of a man calling to a bird, which comes in haste to him (R).

It is related that Ibn ʿAbbās said of Abraham's question and God's gentle response to it, "There is no more hopeful verse in the Quran than this one." The colleague in conversation with Ibn ʿAbbās said that for him the most hopeful verse was 39:53: _O My servants who have been prodigal to the detriment of their own souls! Despair not of God's Mercy. Truly God forgives all sins_ (IK).

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ɡ The parable of those who spend their wealth in the way of God is that of a grain that grows seven ears, in every ear a hundred grains. And God multiplies for whomsoever He will, and God is All-Encompassing, Knowing.

261 _And God multiplies for whomsoever He will_ is echoed in 24:38: _That God may reward them for the best of what they have done, and increase them from His Bounty. And God provides for whomsoever He will without reckoning_. The Divine Name _All-Encompassing_ ( _al-Wāsi ʿ_) also means "generous." The Prophet is reported to have said, "God makes the good deed of the son of Adam to be tenfold, or seven hundred fold, except for the fast, for God says, 'The fast is for me, and I reward it'" (IK). Sometimes such _a ḥādīth_ use more concrete imagery, as when a man came to the Prophet and said, "This camel I give in the way of God," and the Prophet replied, "On the Day of Judgment you shall have seven hundred camels" (IK).

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ɢ Those who spend their wealth in the way of God and then follow not what they spent with preening or injury shall have their reward with their Lord, and no fear shall come upon them, nor shall they grieve.

ɣ An honorable word and forgiveness are better than an act of charity followed by injury. And God is Self-Sufficient, Clement.

262–63 Exulting in one's generosity or reminding the needy of their neediness destroys the virtue in charitable giving (R). It is better to offer _an honorable word_ to the poor who ask for help and _forgiveness_ for any harm they may cause, either because their manner is rough or because they may cause embarrassment. One should be kind and gentle with the poor, and if their asking causes one trouble or discomfort, one should forgive them for it (R).

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ɤ O you who believe! Do not annul your acts of charity through preening and injury, like he who spends his wealth to be seen of men and believes not in God and the Last Day. His parable is that of a smooth rock with dust upon it: a downpour strikes it, and leaves it barren. They have no power over anything of what they earned. And God guides not the disbelieving people.

ɥ And the parable of those who spend their wealth seeking God's Good Pleasure, and out of a confirmation in their souls, is that of a garden upon a hill: a downpour strikes it, and brings forth its fruit twofold. And if a downpour strikes it not, then a soft rain. And God sees whatsoever you do.

264–65 The worst model of charity is one who gives only for appearance's sake, as in 107:6–7, which mentions _those who strive to be seen, yet refuse small kindnesses_. These verses compare the merit of two kinds of giving through the symbolism of rain striking the earth. When a downpour strikes the earth on a smooth stone, it can only wash it away, meaning it produces no real benefit. When it lands on a fertile garden, the surplus of water causes the garden to double its yield, symbolizing the fruit of charity with the right intention. _And if a downpour strikes it not, then a soft rain_ is taken to mean that, even if the amount of rain is not great, the garden will at least thrive normally and bear its fruit.

Some commentators mention that certain kinds of oases flourish and have rich earth collect on them when they are slightly elevated, and that this is what is meant by _a garden upon a hill_. Moreover, on a hill of this sort, there are no streams that flow, and so it can be nourished only by rain (Q). Others say that _upon a hill_ ( _bi-rabwah_ ) must mean something more like "that which rises," meaning fertile soil from which crops grow upward, yielding the translation "the parable of a fertile garden." Al-Rāzī argues that a garden upon a hill would not be reached by streams and would be exposed to too much wind, while a garden in a hollow would be inundated with water and would not receive the better effects of wind. He argues that the best garden is on level ground and prefers to relate _rabwah_ to the verb "to grow," which comes from the same root. Such growth through charity is mentioned in the _ḥ adīth,_ "When a person gives a lawfully earned date in charity, God takes it in His Hand and causes it to grow as one of you would grow his foals or camels, until it becomes like a mountain or even greater."

_Out of a confirmation in their souls_ means that the givers affirm and have certainty of faith in their act of giving (IK, Ṭ) or that they do so because they have confirmation of the Truth of God or certainty (Z). Or it can mean that when they give, they take care and confirm where they place their charity to make sure that it is used properly (Q, R).

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ɦ Would any one of you wish to have a garden of date palms and grapevines with rivers running below, partaking therein of every kind of fruit, old age then befalling him while he had weakly progeny, and a whirlwind with fire then befalling it, such that it is consumed? Thus does God make clear unto you the signs, that haply you may reflect.

266 For some this verse is a parable of those who follow up their charitable giving with _preening and injury,_ as mentioned in v. 264, meaning that at the end of their life, they will have nothing of value to leave behind and nothing will bear fruit for them in the Hereafter. Their charity is like the fruits of the garden, and their insults and boasting are like the fiery whirlwind that devours it, and they have no progeny who could protect or support them (R). According to another interpretation attributed to Ibn ʿAbbās, this verse refers to those who do good works, but afterward turn to evil works, thereby wiping away the value of earlier past actions (Q). _Every kind of fruit_ can mean something like "many kinds of fruit." _With rivers running below_ is a common image symbolizing the paradisal state; see 2:25c.

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ɧ O you who believe! Spend of the good things you have earned and of that which We have brought forth for you from the earth, and seek not the bad, spending of it though you would not take it without shutting your eyes to it. And know that God is Self-Sufficient, Praised.

267 A similar message appears in 3:92: _You will never attain piety till you spend from that which you love_. In a famous _ḥ adīth_ the Prophet stated, "None of you believes until he desires for his neighbor what he desires for himself" (in another version, "for his neighbor" reads "for his brother"). Here _good things_ can mean either what one considers wholesome and desirable, what one would not reject, or what is lawful, not forbidden. One should not seek unlawful or distasteful means to give in charity. It is reported that a group of Companions would bring bunches of dates from their date palms and hang them in the mosque for the poorest of the Muslims to eat. When another group sought to perform the same act, but brought inferior dates that no one would want, it is said that this verse was revealed (IK).

On the subject of charity, a _ḥ adīth_ states, "Truly God distributes your provisions among you, just as He distributes your virtues among you. God gives of the world to those whom He loves and does not love, but gives religion ( _dīn_ ) only to those whom He loves. Whosoever God has given religion, God loves him. By Him in Whose Hand is my soul, no servant submits until his heart and tongue submit, and no believer believes until his bodily parts are safe from his misfortunes." When asked what the misfortunes were, the Prophet replied, "His lies and his wrongdoing. No servant receives blessing by earning wealth that is unlawful and giving it in charity; nor is it accepted from him if he donates it; nor does he leave it to anyone but that it goes to the Fire. God does not erase evil with evil, but he does erase evil with good. Evil does not erase evil." Another _ḥ adīth_ states, "Do not feed others with what you yourself would not eat."

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ɨ Satan threatens you with poverty and commands you to indecency. And God promises you forgiveness from Him, and bounty. And God is All-Encompassing, Knowing.

268 Satan makes one dread poverty, causing one to refrain from giving charity, and moreover inspires one to commit other sins and acts of disobedience, whereas God causes the soul to remember forgiveness and generosity (IK). Al-Rāzī argues, for example, that ideally people should give from the best that they have, and that what begins as a desire to part only with the dregs can lead to a fear of giving any charity at all. This miserliness then infects the rest of the soul, which struggles to keep all that it desires while relinquishing nothing of what is of value to him. One's passivity to Satan's promptings then leads to the active commission of other sins, until one gradually ceases doing any good and commits every manner of evil. In this vein, a _ḥ adīth_ states, "Satan has an inspiration ( _lummah_ ) for the son of Adam, and the angel has one. As for Satan's inspiration, it is a promise to do evil and tell lies against the truth. As for the angel's inspiration, it is a promise to do good and affirm the truth. When one encounters that, let him know that it is from God, and let him praise God, and when one encounters the other, let him seek refuge from Satan." _All-Encompassing_ ( _al-Wāsi ʿ_) also carries the meaning of "abundantly Generous in His Forgiveness" (R).

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ɩ He grants wisdom to whomsoever He will. And whosoever is granted wisdom has been granted much good. Yet none remember save the possessors of intellect.

269 _Wisdom_ here is interpreted as knowledge of the meaning of the Quran, including the abrogating and the abrogated, the symbolic and the determined (see 3:7), the order of revelation, and the licit and the forbidden, or as the fear of God, in accordance with the saying, "Fear of God is the beginning of wisdom." _Wisdom_ in this context is sometimes also glossed as intelligence ( _ʿ aql_) or comprehension ( _fahm_ ). Certain theologians see in this verse an allusion to the power of rational demonstration. Some interpret this wisdom to mean prophethood ( _nubuwwah_ ), but others dispute this interpretation (Q, R, Ṭ). The spirit or the intellect takes its nourishment from wisdom, unlike the desires of the ego, which are satisfied by the indecencies mentioned in the previous verse (R). _Wisdom_ as knowledge or understanding differs from right action, but in a sense _wisdom_ is the combination of understanding and right action based upon it (R). In a _ḥ adīth_ the Prophet said, "Let there be envy in only two things: a man to whom God has given wealth and who exhausts it in the way of truth, and a man to whom God has given wisdom and who judges by it and teaches it." On _possessors of intellect,_ see 2:179c.

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ɰ And whatever sum you spend, or vow you vow, truly God knows it. And the wrongdoers shall have no helpers.

270 _God knows it_ means that He keeps an account of it (Ṭ) and knows what the intention was behind the act, great or small (R). The _wrongdoers_ here are understood to be those who give for hypocritical reasons, as described in v. 264.

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ɱ If you disclose your acts of charity, that is well. But if you hide them and give to the poor, that is better for you, and will acquit you of some of your evil deeds. And God is Aware of whatsoever you do.

271 Many _a ḥādīth_ speak to the virtue of giving secretly, often including a variation of the saying, "Let the left hand know not what the right hand is doing." In an opinion attributed to Ibn ʿAbbās, when it comes to obligatory actions such as the institutional alms ( _zakāh_ ) _,_ performing them openly is twenty-five times better, while voluntary or supererogatory giving is seventy times better when done privately or secretly (IK, Ṭ). Open charity, it is reasoned, provides a good example for others, shows the poor that there is recourse in their neighbors, and creates an open bond between people in a community (R). Secret charity is a test of sincerity, since one gives but garners no prestige in the eyes of others for one's generosity.

_Acquit you_ is related to "expiation" ( _kaffārah_ ), meaning that the good deeds are a kind of atonement for the evil ones. The message of this verse is also present in 11:114: _Truly good deeds remove those that are evil_. Some commentators say, "Charity puts out sin like water puts out a fire" (Ṭ), as in the _ḥ adīth,_ "When you perform an evil deed, follow it with a good deed and it will wipe it away." When asked, "Is [remembrance of] 'There is no god but God' [ _lā ilāha illa'Llāh_ ] a good deed?" the Prophet said, "It is the best of good deeds." Instead of _that is better for you, and will acquit you of some of your evil deeds,_ some read here a first-person plural pronoun rather than the third-person singular, giving the translation, "that is better for you, and We will acquit you of some of your evil deeds" (Ṭ).

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ɲ Thou art not tasked with their guidance, but God guides whomsoever He will. Whatever good you spend, it is for yourselves, when you spend only seeking the Face of God. And whatever good you spend shall be paid to you in full, and you shall not be wronged.

272 This verse uncouples charity from religious identity. Various occasions for its revelation are given. Some relate that the Prophet used to give charity to all, but when the impoverished among the Muslim community grew large, he restricted charity to Muslims only, at which time this verse was revealed (Q). In another version, a Companion had grandparents who were idolaters and who asked her for charity, but she did not wish to give it to them until she asked the Prophet, at which time this verse was revealed. In yet another version, some Companions had relatives among the Jewish tribe of Qurayẓah and would not give them charity unless they became Muslim (IK, R).

A similar message is found in 60:8: _God does not forbid you, with regard to those who did not fight you on account of religion and did not expel you from your homes, from treating them righteously and being just toward them._ That the Prophet himself is not responsible for whether people accept guidance is also related in 28:56: _Surely thou dost not guide whomsoever thou lovest, but God guides whomsoever He will;_ see also 3:20; 5:92, 99; 13:40; 16:82; 29:18; 36:17; 42:48; 64:12; 88:21–22.

The Quran reiterates that God does not need humanity's good works, as in 41:46: _Whosoever works righteousness, it is for his own soul_ (also 45:15). In a long _ḥ adīth,_ it is related that a man gave charity to someone at night, only to learn the next day that he had given it to an adulterer; the same thing happened the next night with a rich man, and then the next night with a thief. Each time people began to talk about it, but he was told that his charity was accepted and that perhaps it would keep the adulterer from his vices, inspire the rich man to give, and keep the thief from stealing. _Shall be paid to you in full_ refers to the reward one receives in the Hereafter for one's good works.

The idea of _seeking the Face of God_ also appears in 30:38–39, which speaks of _those who desire the Face of God_ (also see 76:9). On the use of the phrase "Face of God," also see 2:115c; 55:26–27c.

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ɳ [It is] for the poor who are constrained in the way of God, who are not able to travel the earth. The ignorant one supposes them to be wealthy because of their restraint. Thou knowest them by their mark: they do not ask of people importunately. And whatever good you spend, truly God knows it.

273 The verb _constrained_ connotes something that hinders one on a journey or prevents one from setting out. It is reported that this verse pertains to the People of the Veranda ( _ahl al- ṣuffah_), a group of poor and homeless Muslims who stayed in a roofed area connected to the mosque in Madinah and who were known for their piety, devotion, and asceticism (Q, R). They were _not able to travel the earth_ either because they were too poor to do so or because they were vulnerable to enemies outside Madinah (Q).

Regarding requests for charity, it is said, based on certain _a ḥādīth,_ that any who possess a certain amount of wealth—40 _dirham_ s was sometimes mentioned—would be categorized as "importunate," were they to beg. In a _ḥ adīth_ the Prophet said, "The indigent person ( _miskīn_ ) is not the one who wanders about you, whom you feed morsel by morsel. The indigent person is one who restrains himself, and does not ask people importunately."

Several other verses mention people being known _by their mark,_ including 48:29: _Their mark upon their faces is from the effect of prostration;_ 7:46, 48; 47:30; 55:41. Some interpret this _mark_ to refer to the pallor of the hungry or to other physical traits signaling their exertions or difficulties. Many interpret _mark_ to refer to the manifestation of the soul in one's physical body, especially in the face. A _ḥ adīth_ states, "Fear the _firāsah_ of the believer, for he sees by the light of God" (IK). _Firāsah,_ which could be rendered "the skill of spiritual physiognomy," refers to the ability to perceive qualities of the soul through the form of the body, especially the face. Thus, the mark of the truly poor is the manifestation of their humility and self-effacement, perceptible in their bodies while not being of the body (R).

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ɴ Those who spend their wealth by night and by day, secretly and openly, shall have their reward with their Lord. No fear shall come upon them, nor shall they grieve.

274 This is the last verse in the section vv. 260–74, whose main theme is the giving of charity. Beyond its general import, some commentators interpret this verse to be referring to specific people, for example, ʿAlī ibn Abī Ṭālib and Abū Bakr al-Ṣiddīq, who are reported to have given a certain sum in the fashion described in this verse, giving one quarter of it by night, one by day, one secretly, and one openly (IK, R, Ṭ).

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ɵ Those who devour usury shall not rise except as one rises who is felled by the touch of Satan. That is because they say, "Buying and selling are simply like usury," though God has permitted buying and selling and forbidden usury. One who, after receiving counsel from his Lord, desists shall have what is past and his affair goes to God. And as for those who go back, they are the inhabitants of the Fire, abiding therein.

275–81 _Usury_ is the usual translation for _ribā,_ and this commentary follows this common rendering. However, it must be noted that these terms are not strictly synonymous. Insofar as "usury" is understood as an unreasonably high rate of interest or simply any interest at all, it can be a misleading translation for _ribā_. Not all interest is _ribā,_ and moreover not all _ribā_ is interest. _Ribā_ simply means "increase," "gain," or "growth," and in the Quran and _Ḥ adīth_ it refers to two main types of transactions: "growth through deferment" ( _ribā al-nasī ʾah_) and "growth through surplus" ( _ribā al-fa ḍl_). It is one of the most complex and multifaceted aspects of Islamic Law.

In pre-Islamic Arabia the _ribā_ of deferment was the charging of a fee on an interest-free loan once it came due. The founder of the Mālikī school of law, Imām Mālik (d. 179/795), writes in his _al-Muwa ṭṭāʾ:_ " _Ribā_ in the pre-Islamic times was that a man would be owed a debt by another man for a set term. When the term was due, he would say, 'Will you pay it off or give me _ribā_ ( _a-taq ḍī aw turbī_)?' If the man paid, he took it. If not, he increased his debt and lengthened the term for him." Many believe that the general prohibitions in the Quran allowing trade but forbidding _ribā_ refer to this practice, which was a deferment on already existing loans at the time of their maturity. The deferment often led to doubling of the principal in a year and then redoubling when the deferment period expired and another deferment became necessary. This radical compounding is mentioned in 3:130: _O you who believe! Devour not usury, doubling and multiplying_. A debtor could eventually lose all his possessions to the creditor through the doubling and redoubling mentioned in the Quran.

When it comes to the lesser-known but equally important _ribā_ of surplus, there is a _ḥ adīth_ that says, "Gold for gold, silver for silver, wheat for wheat, barley for barley, dates for dates, and salt for salt; like for like, hand to hand, in equal amounts; and any increase is _ribā_." The "surplus" ( _fa ḍl_) in this type of _ribā_ refers to the disparity in amounts between the two objects traded. For example, it is reported in a _ḥ adīth_ that the Companion Bilāl visited the Prophet with some high-quality dates, and the Prophet inquired about their source. Bilāl explained that he traded two volumes of lower-quality dates for one volume of higher quality. The Prophet said, "This is precisely the forbidden _ribā_! Do not do this. Instead, sell the first type of dates, and use the proceeds to buy the other." Moreover, the stipulation "like for like, hand to hand, in equal amounts" was understood to prevent trading, for example, an ounce of gold now for an ounce of gold at some point in the future. In such a transaction the time factor creates an inequality: an ounce of gold is worth more now than in the future because one loses the ability to use it in the meantime, and this disparity is a "surplus" (which applies in matters of trade, not charitable loans). Furthermore, jurists disagreed over whether the relevant legal attribute of these six commodities in the aforementioned _ḥ adīth_—so that trading them in the way the Prophet described was obligatory—was that they were measurable, fungible, storable, usable as food, or some combination of these attributes (Q). Based upon this reasoning, they would then extend the _ribā_ rules to other items based upon whether they possessed the relevant attributes.

At a more fundamental level, jurists have tried to understand the moral question underlying two seemingly quite different kinds of transactions, one involving the cost of credit, the other involving trade in commodities of the same kind but different amounts or at different times, both bearing the name _ribā_. Some have seen, in both types of _ribā_ prohibitions, a protection against unfair pricing. In a lease or credit sale, for example, both parties can negotiate a fair price for the extension of credit linked to market conditions. In the case of trading goods of different qualities but of the same kind or of the same good at different times, fair pricing is difficult to ensure, hence the Prophet's command to "sell the first type of dates, and use the proceeds to buy the other [type of dates]," thus grounding the sale in fairly priced existing market conditions.

The rules about _ribā_ , moreover, are always understood in terms of risk, which in Arabic is called _gharar,_ a word semantically linked to "deception" ( _ghurūr_ ). Unlawful risk is present in a sale if the uncertainty it entails makes the transaction equivalent to gambling. Thus in a _ḥ adīth_ it is said, "The Prophet has forbidden the purchase of the unborn animal in its mother's womb, the sale of the milk in the udder without measurement, the purchase of spoils of war prior to their distribution, . . . and the purchase of the catch of a diver [i.e., the future catch from the sea of an undetermined amount]." Thus one cannot sell an item one does not actually possess, whose attributes are unknown, or that does not yet exist. Since risk is always present in some form in all honest business transactions, jurists allowed certain kinds of transactions, such as forward sales on agricultural products, which, though they amount to sales in the future of nonexistent items and involve risk, were allowed because of their social and economic benefits and also in many cases necessity. Forward sales of crops were practiced in Madinah (see v. 282), though the Prophet set strict conditions on them, as did later jurists following his example, so that they would not be made to bear excessive risk or become a cover for the forbidden _ribā_.

It is said by some that this passage dealing with _ribā_ was one of the last or even the last to be revealed; 4:176 and 5:3 are also sometimes listed as the last verse in the chronological order of revelation. This fact is sometimes cited as a reason for the relative paucity of _a ḥādīth_ regarding the actual workings of _ribā,_ especially when considering how intricate and subtle the laws on _ribā_ and related questions would come to be (IK, Q). The cancellation and prohibition of _ribā_ is also mentioned in the Prophet's "Farewell Sermon" at the end of his last pilgrimage in AH 10, a little over two months before his death.

275 _Shall not rise except as one rises who is felled by the touch of Satan_ refers to how the usurers are resurrected out of their graves (Ṭ). Many _a ḥādīth_ speak of the terrible consequences on the Day of Judgment for those who are guilty of _ribā:_ they are resurrected in a maddened state of choking or with bellies the size of houses with snakes coming out of them. Regarding _one who . . . desists shall have what is past,_ a _ḥ adīth_ states, "Lo! All _ribā_ from pre-Islamic times is forgiven. You shall have the principal of your wealth, and you shall neither wrong nor be wronged." That means that although the original amount can still be legitimately expected, the added increase to the principal was canceled; see also v. 279. This applied only to outstanding _ribā;_ past _ribā_ was not open to being reclaimed (Q).

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ɶ God blights usury and causes acts of charity to grow. And God loves not any sinful ingrate.

276 In _causes acts of charity to grow, grow_ is the verbal form of _ribā_. On the concept of causing charity to grow, see 2:261c.

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ɷ Truly those who believe, perform righteous deeds, maintain the prayer, and give the alms shall have their reward with their Lord. No fear shall come upon them, nor shall they grieve.

277 _Alms,_ mentioned here and in many other places, are obligatory and an integral dimension of Muslim devotional and social life. As a form of institutional charity, they are contrasted with the moral opposite, _ribā_ (see 2:275–81c). It is reported that the Prophet said, "The ultimate result for anyone who engages in _ribā,_ even if that _ribā_ brings growth, is loss." This verse has content similar to that in 2:62 and 5:69.

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ɸ O you who believe! Reverence God, and leave what remains of usury, if you are believers.

ɹ And if you do not, then take notice of a war from God and His Messenger. If you repent, you shall have the principal of your wealth, and you shall neither wrong nor be wronged.

278–79 The second half of v. 279 can also be translated, "If you repent, you shall have the principal of your wealth, neither wronging nor being wronged." The debtor was still liable for the original loan, or _principal of your wealth,_ but this verse canceled any additional fees or interest that had accrued to that loan as a result of deferring it past its original term. In this way creditors would not forfeit their wealth, and debtors would not be responsible for the increases to the original loan amount through _ribā_. Of _then take notice of a war from God and His Messenger_ Ibn ʿAbbās said, "On the Day of Resurrection it will be said to the one who partook of _ribā,_ 'Take up your sword for war!'" (Ṭ). Some say that this means that they have made themselves the enemies of or hostile to God and the Messenger (Q). To practice _ribā_ can be a cause for taking up arms against violators on the part of legitimate authority, forcing them to give up their gains from _ribā_ or fighting them if they refuse to relinquish them or desist (IK, Q, R, Ṭ).

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ʀ And if one is in difficult circumstances, let there be a respite until there is ease, and it is better for you to give [it] as charity, if you but knew.

ʁ And be mindful of a day when you shall be returned to God. Then every soul will be paid in full for what it earned, and they shall not be wronged.

280–81 In the Islamic tradition, loans (as opposed to investments) were ideally charitable in nature, owing to the time factor in giving and taking money (see 2:275–81c) and since other transactions and financial instruments, such as credit sales and leases, were available for non-charitable investments and the raising of funds. Hence the invitation in this passage to turn previously _ribā_ -laden loans into charity in the case of a debtor in dire financial circumstances: _and it is better for you to give [it] as charity_. A _ḥ adīth_ states, "Whosoever grants a delay to one in difficult circumstances shall be credited an act of charity for each day of it." This does not negate the claim of a lender to the original principal, since the verse encourages _a respite until there is ease,_ but does not require it (Q).

The passage on _ribā_ ends with a reminder that all matters, including economic ones, will be accounted for in the Hereafter. It uses _and they shall not be wronged_ in regard to a soul's ultimate destiny, which is similar to the phrase used in connection with a creditor's right to the loan principal in v. 279.

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ʂ O you who believe! When you contract a debt with one another for a term appointed, write it down. And let a scribe write between you justly, and let not any scribe refuse to write as God taught him. So let him write, and let the debtor dictate, and let him reverence God his Lord, and diminish nothing from it. And if the debtor is feeble-minded or is weak, or is unable to dictate himself, then let his guardian dictate justly. And call to witness two witnesses from among your men, and if there are not two men, then a man and two women from among those whom you approve as witnesses, so that if one of the two errs, the other can remind her. Let not the witnesses refuse when they are called, and be not averse to write it down, small or great, with its term. That is more equitable with God, more sure for the testimony, and more likely to keep you from doubt. Unless it is trade of present goods that you transact between yourselves: then there is no blame upon you not to write it. And take witnesses when you buy and sell between yourselves. And let neither scribe nor witness be harmed. Were you to do that, it would be iniquitous of you. And reverence God. God teaches you, and God is Knower of all things.

282 This is the longest single verse in the Quran. It is said to have been revealed in connection with agricultural forward sales, but is generally applicable to all agreements, including loans (Ṭ), where payment and delivery do not take place simultaneously (IK, Q). In a forward sale (also see 2:275–81c) as practiced in Madinah at the time of the Prophet, one could receive payment for agricultural goods to be delivered one, two, or three years in the future. Of these transactions the Prophet said, "Whosoever contracts a forward sale, let it be for a set amount, a set weight, and a set time." This represents an exception to the general rule that one is prohibited from selling what one does not possess, because the agricultural seller legitimately requires funds to buy seeds and care for the crops before they are harvested, and the income-expenditure cycle is on a yearly, not daily or even monthly, basis (Q).

Though not without risk, a forward sale is not equivalent to gambling, and the social benefit is thought to outweigh the potential harm and uncertainty. The general condition for sellers is that they should own the means to produce the product (e.g., date palms if selling dates), that the product should be of known traits and attributes (e.g., the quality of the dates), and that it should be a known quantity to be delivered at an established time in a place where such delivery is possible. The condition on buyers is that they should pay in fungible or monetary material, since the reason for the exception is that the sellers of agricultural goods do not possess liquid wealth, but own agricultural land or animals not easily convertible into money (Q).

The one who has to deliver the product or repay a loan, the _debtor_ (used in the general sense of one who owes, including the seller in a forward sale), is responsible for dictating the terms; according to some commentators, this is because the creditor is more liable to describe a higher amount, and presumably because the seller would normally be in the weaker position as an owner of nonliquid assets (Q).

_Write it down_ is not understood to mean that writing can replace a living witness; the writing was meant to serve as a means of remembering the terms of the agreement (Q); in Islamic Law the testimony was primarily oral and only secondarily written. _Let not any scribe refuse to write as God taught him_ means that the writing of contracts is a communal obligation ( _far ḍ kifāyah_), which means that someone in society must be available to carry out what is a solemn duty, but not every single person has a personal responsibility ( _far ḍ ʿayn_) for doing so (Q, R). One who _is feeble-minded or is weak, or is unable to dictate himself_ is interpreted to mean someone who is mentally disabled, a minor, or someone who is sick to the point of incapacitation, respectively (IK, Ṭ).

Among the variety of interpretations concerning the stipulation that, if one cannot find two men to serve as witnesses, one may call two women and one man, it is acknowledged that this provision is peculiar to the commercial transactions mentioned in this verse (IK, Q, R, Ṭ) and differs from other kinds of testimony. Other verses explicitly equate male and female testimony, such as 24:6–9, where accusations of adultery are given equal consideration whether they are made by the husband or the wife. In the classical Islamic legal tradition, women were generally excluded from bearing witness in cases involving corporal punishments and _qi ṣāṣ_ (see 2:178c), but even in such cases it seems to be a question of preference, since in the absence of a male witness, women's testimony would be accepted (Q). Such preferences likely reflect a general social aversion to involving women in such matters. Moreover, since cases are adjudicated by a judge, it is impossible, strictly speaking, to quantify the value of testimony, and a judge simply needs all the relevant evidence to come to a decision.

_If one of the two errs, the other can remind her:_ "to err" means to forget some aspect of the contract (Q, R, Ṭ). The commentators have generally hewed close to two interpretations of this phrase: that by being reminded the erring woman would become equal, legally, to the man; or that the two women together were equal, legally, to the man. The latter was more widely accepted. It is also true that some commentators, but not all, understood this verse to indicate an essential inferiority in women's ability to judge objectively and hence the intrinsic unreliability of their testimony. Nothing in the verse demands such a reading, however, and indeed the very structure of the transaction described indicates otherwise. This verse could easily describe a situation in which two female parties arrange a forward sale and bring in two men as witnesses. In Islamic Law women, like men, can transact any sale or loan on their own behalf, including any number of transactions where witnesses are not necessary; thus the provision for two women to act as witnesses in place of a single man in forward sales or debts must reflect a different purpose.

There are no rules about individual women entering into such contracts, but since the women of the time, as a general rule, would have been inexperienced with the particulars of potentially complex financial arrangements, accepting two women in the place of one man would have been more practical, since the purpose of such testimony was to ensure the proper observance of the particulars of the loan or sale. Considering the social conditions of the time, for women to participate in this way at all would have been itself a major change, and to require two of them in such transactions can be understood as providing a measure of protection for them against bullying or manipulation, rather than as an indictment of their testimony. Indeed, jurists such as Abū Bakr ibn ʿArabī, in _A ḥkām al-Qur'ān,_ wondered why a man could not remind one woman if she erred, and he could not arrive at an answer.

If one reads this provision for women's testimony in light of the legally established principle upholding women's competence to own property and carry out economic transactions, it suggests that the stipulation regarding women's testimony in the present verse is particular to this circumstance and is meant to address certain social or communal difficulties a woman might face when witnessing in such a case. Unlike spot sales, which require no witnesses or written contracts, a forward contract involved items requiring a certain level of expertise to understand. Indeed, _from among those whom you approve as witnesses_ suggests that it is a matter of competence in a specific area, and such transactions would not have been widely carried out by women of the time. Moreover, such arrangements could extend over years, and women would not necessarily be as available to act as male witnesses, from a strictly social point of view, over a long period of time. The _trade of present goods_ refers to a transaction where delivery is made at the time of payment and is thus concluded instantaneously, obviating the need to write a formal contract.

***

ʃ And if you are on a journey and cannot find a scribe, then let there be a pledge in hand. And if one of you trusts the other, let him who is trusted deliver his trust, and let him reverence God his Lord. And conceal not the testimony. Whosoever conceals it, truly his heart is sinful. And God knows whatsoever you do.

283 _And cannot find a scribe_ can also mean that one does not find the means with which to write the contract down (Q, Ṭ). _Let there be a pledge in hand_ refers to collateral property that is given by the debtor to the creditor, or the seller to the buyer in a forward sale, as a guarantee in the absence of a written contract with witnesses. But the verse then leaves open the possibility that one will trust the other party without taking a pledge in the form of property. Some believe that this latter provision abrogated the rules set out in v. 282 regarding contracts, but many believe that this provision applies only in the special circumstance of the person being on a journey, and that in ordinary circumstances one should make a written contract (Q, R, Ṭ).

***

ʄ Unto God belongs whatsoever is in the heavens and whatsoever is on the earth. And whether you disclose what is in your souls or hide it, God will bring you to account for it. He forgives whomsoever He will, and punishes whomsoever He will, and God is Powerful over all things.

284 Some report that the disclosure or hiding mentioned in this verse refers specifically to the testimony or witnessing legislated in vv. 282–83, namely, that the witness bears a moral responsibility for discharging this important duty truthfully (Ṭ). Following a more universal reading of this verse, it is reported that, upon hearing this verse, many Companions were distressed and grieved, fearing they could never escape from the reality it described, that _God will bring_ them _to account_ for what is disclosed or hidden. Some worried that it meant that they would be held responsible for fleeting thoughts, and some wept from fear. According to this version of the account, the subsequent two verses, which are the final verses of this _sūrah,_ were revealed in part to quell the disquiet in their hearts (Ṭ).

Although some think that _God tasks no soul beyond its capacity_ in v. 286 abrogates v. 284, there is no contradiction between the two, and moreover since these are descriptions of God's Acts and not legal rulings, they are not subject to abrogation. Also, the language _bring you to account_ need not mean punishment (Ṭ), since according to Islamic belief people will first be called to account for all their deeds on the Day of Judgment before entering Paradise or Hell, except for the elect who go to Paradise directly (see also 2:212c). Regarding this accounting, see, for example, 18:49: _And they will say, "Oh, woe unto us! What a book this is! It leaves nothing out, neither small nor large, save that it has taken account thereof."_

On the subject of being taken to account for one's inward and outward actions, a _ḥ adīth_ states, "Whosoever intends a good deed but does not do it, God records a completed good deed for him. If he intends it and does it, God records ten good deeds and up to seven hundred times more or even greater than that. If he intends to commit an evil deed but does not do it, God records a good deed for him. If he intends to do it and does it, God records a single evil deed for him." This _ḥ adīth_ and similar ones distinguish between a psychological state and an executed choice, recognizing the difference between a concrete intention one is unable to carry out because of external circumstances beyond one's control—as when a would-be murderer's gun malfunctions as the trigger is pulled—and a vengeful thought that haunts one's mind, but that one sincerely seeks to overcome.

***

ʅ The Messenger believes in what was sent down to him from his Lord, as do the believers. Each believes in God, His angels, His Books, and His messengers. "We make no distinction between any of His messengers." And they say, "We hear and obey. Thy forgiveness, our Lord! And unto Thee is the journey's end."

ʆ God tasks no soul beyond its capacity. It shall have what it has earned and be subject to what it has perpetrated. "Our Lord, take us not to task if we forget or err! Our Lord, lay not upon us a burden like Thou laid upon those before us. Our Lord, impose not upon us that which we have not the strength to bear! And pardon us, forgive us, and have mercy upon us! Thou art our Master, so help us against the disbelieving people."

285–86 These final two verses constitute some of the most often recited and memorized passages in the Quran, encompassing both a statement of faith and true belief in v. 285 and a supplicatory prayer to God in v. 286. They are in fact often recited together. It is reported that the Prophet said of these two verses, "Whosoever recites these two verses during the night, they will suffice him," and also, "I was given the two verses that seal [the _sūrah_ ] 'The Cow' from a storehouse beneath the Throne _(min kanz in taḥta'l-ʿarsh)_." In another _ḥ adīth_ it is said that during his Night Journey and Ascension ( _al-isrā'_ and _al-mi ʿrāj;_ see 17:1; 53:1–18) the Prophet was given three things: the five canonical prayers, the final two verses of "The Cow," and forgiveness of sins for any member of his community who does not ascribe partners to God.

The five fundamental articles of Islamic faith—namely, belief in God, angels, books, messengers, and the return to God ( _and unto Thee is the journey's end_ )—are summarized here; they are also listed in v. 177 and 4:136. _We make no distinction_ is spoken by the believers and appears also in v. 136; 3:84; 4:152; the ranking of prophets is discussed in v. 253 and 3:163. Beyond the question of ranking and equality, the statement of the believers that they make no distinction between the prophets is also meant to distinguish them from the Jews, who rejected Jesus and Muhammad, and from the Christians, who rejected Muhammad. _Thy forgiveness_ is understood as an entreaty, with an implied verbal imperative, meaning "Grant us Thy forgiveness."

The message that God _tasks no soul beyond its capacity_ is also found in 2:233; 6:152; 7:42; 23:62. The verbs _earned_ and _perpetrated_ are closely related by root and can be synonymous depending on context. _It shall have what it has earned_ means that what it earned is added to its merit, while _subject to what it has perpetrated_ refers to sins for which it is held responsible (R, Ṭ).

_Take us not to task if we forget or err_ can refer to sins of omission, such as forgetting to offer the canonical prayers, or of commission, such as adultery (IK). _Lay not upon us a burden_ is understood to refer to the covenant or pact that was also made with different conditions with other religious communities, such as the Jews and Christians (Ṭ), and is usually interpreted to mean that in many ways Islam represented an alleviation and reduction of the ritual and legal obligations placed on people's past (IK), though it may also refer to other burdens. _Impose not upon us that which we have not the strength to bear_ refers to commands and prohibitions that would be too difficult to uphold (R). Some commentators mention in this context the _ḥ adīth,_ "Truly God has absolved my community of mistakes, forgetfulness, and that which they were compelled to do."

Various _a ḥādīth_ describe how, after each of the phrases of supplication uttered by the Prophet or the believers in this verse ( _take us not to task, lay not upon us, impose not upon us, pardon us, forgive us, have mercy upon us_ ) God says, "I have done so" or "Yes," or the Prophet is told by Gabriel, "He has done so" (IK, Ṭ). It is said that, upon completing this _sūrah,_ the prominent Companion Muʿādh ibn Jabal would say _āmīn,_ or "amen," which is also usually said at the end of the recitation of the _Fāti ḥah,_ the opening _sūrah_ of the Quran (IK).

##

## The House of ʿImrān

## _Āl ʿImrān_

From the Madinan period, Āl ʿImrān _,_ or "The House of ʿImrān," refers to the family line, or "house," of ʿImrān mentioned in v. 33. Early in the _sūrah_ there is a discussion of the interpretation of the Quran (v. 7), raising questions of its levels of meaning and the spiritual qualities necessary to understand the depths of the text.

Among the events of sacred history described in this _sūrah_ are the birth and early life of Mary, the mother of Jesus (vv. 35–43), the birth of Jesus (vv. 45–47), his miracles (v. 49), and his relationship with his apostles (vv. 52–57). Like _al-Baqarah,_ this _sūrah_ addresses the status of the People of the Book, both Jews and Christians, criticizing them strongly, but also distinguishing between the good and the bad among them and affirming their belief in God and the uprightness of some among them (vv. 61–115, 199).

A considerable portion of this _sūrah_ is devoted to the events of the Battle of Uḥud (3/625), the second major battle that followed the first battle, the Battle of Badr. In this second battle the community of believers fought the Makkans at the foot of Mt. Uḥud, outside Madinah. This part of the _sūrah_ also deals, among other matters, with the moral issues of cowardice, hypocrisy, and worldly attachment and theological questions such as the state of souls once they leave this worldly existence (vv. 121–79).

It is said that the first part of this chapter (between thirty to eighty verses according to various opinions) was revealed on the occasion of the visit to Madinah of a delegation of Christians from Najrān, one of whom was said to be honored by the Byzantines for his knowledge of religion (R). According to the traditional accounts, it was reported that in the course of the debate with the Prophet they said that Jesus was God, because he revived the dead, healed lepers, and spoke of unseen realities; that he was the son of God, because he had no human father; and that he was the third of three, because in scripture God says, "We did/made," and so on, whereas if He were not three, He would have said, "I did/made." The account also reports that the Prophet asked the following set of questions, which were followed by the Christians' responses:

"Do you not know that there is no child who does not resemble his father?"

"Yes."

"Do you not know that our Lord is Living and does not die, and that Jesus is subject to passing away ( _ya ʿtī ʿalayhi'l-fanāʾ_)?"

"Yes."

"Do you not know that our Lord sustains all things, preserving them, guarding them, providing for them?"

"Yes."

"Was Jesus able to do any of those things?"

"No."

"Do you not know that nothing on earth or in heaven is hidden from God most high?"

"Yes."

"Did Jesus know aught of it save what he was taught?"

"No."

"Do you know not that God formed Jesus in the womb as He willed, and that our Lord does not eat food, nor consume drink, nor defecate?"

"Yes."

"Do you not know that [in the case of] Jesus his mother bore him as women do, then gave birth to him as women do, then fed him as children are fed, after which he ate food, drank, and defecated?"

"Yes."

"So how can it be as you allege?"

According to the account, it was after this that the first part of the chapter was revealed (Al, Ṭ).

_Āl ʿImrān_ follows _al-Baqarah,_ and in some of the _a ḥādīth_ describing the various "virtues" of the Quran it is paired with _al-Baqarah_ and the two are called the "radiant ones" ( _al-zahrāwiyān_ ): "Recite the Quran, and it will intercede on the Day of Resurrection for those who are devoted to it. And recite the two radiant ones, _al-Baqarah_ and _Āl ʿImrān _,__ which will come on the Day of Resurrection as if they were two clouds, or like two rays of the sun, or like two flocks of birds that will argue on behalf of their devotees."

### In the Name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful

¡ _Alif. Lām. Mīm._ * God, there is no god but He, the Living, the Self-Subsisting. + He sent down the Book upon thee in truth, confirming what was before it, and He sent down the Torah and the Gospel J aforetime, as a guidance to mankind. And He sent down the Criterion. Truly those who disbelieve in the signs of God shall have a severe punishment. And God is Mighty, Possessor of Vengeance. Z Truly naught is hidden from God on earth or in Heaven. j He it is Who forms you in the wombs however He will. There is no god but He, the Mighty, the Wise. z He it is Who has sent down the Book upon thee; therein are signs determined; they are the Mother of the Book, and others symbolic. As for those whose hearts are given to swerving, they follow that of it which is symbolic, seeking temptation and seeking its interpretation. And none know its interpretation save God and those firmly rooted in knowledge. They say, "We believe in it; all is from our Lord." And none remember, save those who possess intellect. { "Our Lord, make not our hearts swerve after having guided us, and bestow upon us a mercy from Thy Presence. Truly Thou art the Bestower. | Our Lord, Thou art the Gatherer of mankind unto a Day about which there is no doubt." Truly God will not fail the tryst. Ċ As for those who disbelieve, neither their wealth nor their children will avail them aught against God. And it is they who shall be fuel for the Fire. Ě [It is] like the affair of the House of Pharaoh and those who were before them; they denied Our signs. So God seized them for their sins, and God is severe in retribution. Ī Say to the disbelievers, "You shall be vanquished and gathered unto Hell, an evil resting place!" ĺ There was a sign for you in the two hosts that met, one host fighting in the way of God and the other disbelieving, whom they [the former] saw as twice themselves as the eye sees. And God strengthens by His help whomsoever He will. Truly in that is a lesson for those who possess insight. Ŋ Made to seem fair unto mankind is the love of passions, among them women, children, hoarded heaps of gold and silver, horses of mark, cattle, and tillage. Those are the enjoyment of the life of this world. And God, with Him is the beautiful return. Ś Say, "Shall I inform you of what is better than that? For those who are reverent, there shall be with their Lord Gardens with rivers running below—they shall abide therein—and spouses made pure, and Contentment from God." And God sees His servants, Ū who say, "Our Lord, truly we believe, so forgive us our sins, and shield us from the punishment of the Fire," ź the patient, the truthful, the devoutly obedient, those who spend, those who seek forgiveness before dawn. Ɗ God bears witness that there is no god but He, as do the angels and the possessors of knowledge, upholding justice. There is no god but He, the Mighty, the Wise. ƚ Truly the religion in the sight of God is submission. Those who were given the Book differed not until after knowledge had come to them, out of envy among themselves. And whosoever disbelieves in God's signs, truly God is swift in reckoning. Ȋ So if they dispute with thee, say, "I submit my face to God, and so too those who follow me." And say to those who were given the Book and to the unlettered ones, "Do you submit?" Then if they submit, they will be rightly guided, but if they turn away, then thine is only to convey. And God sees His servants. ! Truly those who disbelieve in God's signs and kill the prophets without right, and kill those who enjoin justice among mankind: give them glad tidings of a painful punishment. " They are those whose deeds have come to naught in this world and in the Hereafter, and they shall have no helpers. # Hast thou not considered those who were given a portion of the Book, [being] called to the Book of God that it may judge between them. Then a group among them turned away. $ That is because they say, "The Fire will not touch us save for days numbered." That which they used to fabricate has deluded them in their religion. % How shall it be when We gather them unto a Day in which there is no doubt, and every soul will be paid in full for what it earned, and they shall not be wronged? & Say, "O God, Master of Sovereignty. Thou givest sovereignty to whomsoever Thou wilt, and wrestest sovereignty from whomsoever Thou wilt. Thou exaltest whomsoever Thou wilt, and abasest whomsoever Thou wilt. In Thy Hand is the good. Truly Thou art Powerful over everything. ' Thou makest the night pass into the day, and Thou makest the day pass into the night. Thou bringest forth the living from the dead, and Thou bringest forth the dead from the living. And Thou providest for whomsoever Thou wilt without reckoning." ( Let not the believers take the disbelievers as protectors apart from the believers. Whosoever does that has no bond with God, unless you guard against them out of prudence. And God warns you of Himself, and unto God is the journey's end. ) Say, "If you hide what is in your breasts or disclose it, God knows it, and He knows whatsoever is in the heavens and whatsoever is on the earth." And God is Powerful over all things. Ð On the Day when every soul will find presented the good it did, and the evil it did, it will wish that there might be a distant term between it and itself. And God warns you of Himself, and God is Kind unto His servants. Ñ Say, "If you love God, follow me, and God will love you and forgive you your sins. And God is Forgiving, Merciful." Ò Say, "Obey God and obey the Messenger." If they turn away, then truly God loves not the disbelievers. Ó Truly God chose Adam, Noah, the House of Abraham, and the House of ʿImrān above the worlds, Ô as progeny, one from another. And God is Hearing, Knowing. Õ [Remember] when the wife of ʿImrān said, "My Lord, truly I dedicate to Thee what is in my belly, in consecration. So accept it from me. Truly Thou art the Hearing, the Knowing." Ö And when she bore her, she said, "My Lord, I have borne a female," and God knows best what she bore, and the male is not like the female, "and I have named her Mary, and I seek refuge for her in Thee, and for her progeny, from Satan the outcast." × So her Lord accepted her with a beautiful acceptance, and made her to grow in a beautiful way, and placed her under the care of Zachariah. Whenever Zachariah entered upon her in the sanctuary he found provision with her. He said, "Mary, whence comes this unto thee?" She said, "It is from God. Truly God provides for whomsoever He will without reckoning." Ø Then and there, Zachariah called upon his Lord. He said, "My Lord, grant me from Thy Presence a good progeny. Truly Thou hearest all calls!" Ù Then the angels called to him while he was praying in the sanctuary, "God gives thee glad tidings of John, confirming a word from God, noble and chaste, a prophet, from among the righteous." @ He said, "My Lord, how shall I have a boy when age has overtaken me and my wife is barren?" He said, "Thus does God do whatsoever He will." A He said, "My Lord, appoint for me a sign." He said, "Your sign is that you shall not speak to the people for three days, save through signs." And remember your Lord much, and glorify [Him] at eventide and at dawn. B And [remember] when the angels said, "O Mary, truly God has chosen thee and purified thee, and has chosen thee above the women of the worlds. C O Mary! Be devoutly obedient to thy Lord, prostrate, and bow with those who bow." D This is from the tidings of the Unseen, which We reveal unto thee. And thou wast not with them when they cast their lots [to choose] who among them would care for Mary, and thou wast not with them when they were disputing. E When the angels said, "O Mary, truly God gives thee glad tidings of a Word from Him, whose name is the Messiah, Jesus son of Mary, high honored in this world and the Hereafter, and one of those brought nigh. F He will speak to people in the cradle and in maturity, and will be among the righteous." G She said, "My Lord, how shall I have a child while no human being has touched me?" He said, "Thus does God create whatsoever He will." When He decrees a thing, He only says to it, "Be!" and it is. H And He will teach him the Book, Wisdom, the Torah, and the Gospel. I And [he will be] a messenger to the Children of Israel, "Truly I have brought you a sign from your Lord. I will create for you out of clay the shape of a bird. Then I will breathe into it, and it will be a bird by God's Leave. And I will heal the blind and the leper and give life to the dead by God's Leave. And I will inform you about what you eat and what you store up in your houses. Truly in that is a sign for you, if you are believers. P And [I come] confirming that which was before me, the Torah, and to make lawful unto you part of that which was forbidden unto you. And I have come to you with a sign from your Lord. So reverence God and obey me. Q Truly God is my Lord and your Lord; so worship Him. This is a straight path." R And when Jesus sensed disbelief in them, he said, "Who are my helpers unto God?" The apostles said, "We are God's helpers. We believe in God; bear witness that we are submitters. S Our Lord, we believe in what Thou hast sent down, and we follow the messenger, so inscribe us among the witnesses." T And they plotted, and God plotted. And God is the best of plotters, U when He said, "O Jesus, I shall take thee and raise thee unto Me, and purify thee of those who disbelieved, and place those who followed thee above those who disbelieved, until the Day of Resurrection. Then unto Me is your return, and I shall judge between you concerning that wherein you used to differ. V And as for those who disbelieve, I shall punish them with a severe punishment in this world and the Hereafter; and they shall have no helpers. W And as for those who believe and perform righteous deeds, He shall pay them their rewards in full. And God loves not the wrongdoers." X This is what We recite unto thee of the signs and the Wise Reminder. Y Truly the likeness of Jesus in the sight of God is that of Adam; He created him from dust, then said to him, "Be!" and he was. ` The truth is from thy Lord; so be not among the doubters. a And to whomsoever disputes with thee over it, after the knowledge that has come unto thee, say, "Come! Let us call upon our sons and your sons, our women and your women, ourselves and yourselves. Then let us pray earnestly, so as to place the curse of God upon those who lie." b This is indeed the true account; there is no god but God, and truly God is the Mighty, the Wise. c And if they turn away, then God knows well the workers of corruption. d Say, "O People of the Book! Come to a word common between us and you, that we shall worship none but God, shall not associate aught with Him, and shall not take one another as lords apart from God." And if they turn away, then say, "Bear witness that we are submitters." e O People of the Book! Why do you dispute concerning Abraham, as neither the Torah nor the Gospel was sent down until after him? Do you not understand? f Behold! You are the very same who dispute concerning that of which you have knowledge; so why do you dispute concerning that of which you have no knowledge? God knows, and you know not. g Abraham was neither Jew nor Christian, but rather was a _ḥ anīf _,__ a submitter, and he was not one of the idolaters. h Truly the people worthiest of Abraham are those who followed him, and this prophet and those who believe. And God is the Protector of the believers. i A group among the People of the Book wishes to make you go astray; yet they make none go astray but themselves, though they are unaware. p O People of the Book! Why do you disbelieve in God's signs, while you are witness? q O People of the Book! Why do you confound the truth with falsehood, and knowingly conceal the truth? r And a group of the People of the Book say, "Believe in what was sent down unto those who believe at the start of the day, and disbelieve at its end, that haply they may return. s And believe none but him who follows your religion. . ." Say, "Truly guidance is God's Guidance." ". . . lest anyone be granted the like of what you were granted or dispute with you before your Lord." Say, "Truly bounty is in God's Hand. He grants it to whomsoever He will, and God is All-Encompassing, Knowing." t He selects for His Mercy whomsoever He will, and God is Possessed of Tremendous Bounty. u Among the People of the Book is one who, were you to entrust to him a _quintal,_ would render it back to you. And among them is one who, were you to entrust to him a _dinar,_ would not render it back to you unless you kept standing over him. That is because they say, "There is nothing to stop us when it comes to the non-Jews." But they knowingly speak a lie against God. v Yea! Whosoever fulfills his pact and is reverent—truly God loves the reverent. w Truly those who sell God's Pact and their oaths for a paltry price, they shall have no share in the Hereafter and God will not speak to them, nor will He look at them on the Day of Resurrection, nor will He purify them. And theirs shall be a painful punishment. x And there is indeed a group among them who twist their tongues with the Book, that you may suppose it to be from the Book. But it is not from the Book. And they say, "It is from God," though it is not from God. And they knowingly speak a lie against God. y It is not for any human being, God having given him the Book, judgment, and prophethood, to then say to the people, "Be servants of me instead of God." Rather, "Be sages, from having taught the Book and from having studied." À And he would not command you to take the angels and the prophets as lords. Would he command you to disbelief after your having been submitters? Á And [remember] when God made the covenant of the prophets: "By that which I have given you of a Book and Wisdom, should a messenger then come to you confirming that which is with you, you shall surely believe in him and you shall help him." He said, "Do you agree and take on My burden on these conditions?" They said, "We agree." He said, "Bear witness, for I am with you among those who bear witness."  Then whosoever turns away after that, they are the iniquitous. à Do they seek other than God's religion, while whosoever is in the heavens and on the earth submits to Him, willingly or unwillingly, and unto Him they will be returned? Ä Say, "We believe in God and what has been sent down upon us, and in what was sent down upon Abraham, Ishmael, Isaac, Jacob, and the Tribes, and in what Moses, Jesus, and the prophets were given from their Lord. We make no distinction among any of them, and unto Him we submit." Å Whosoever seeks a religion other than submission, it shall not be accepted of him, and in the Hereafter he shall be among the losers. Æ How shall God guide a people who have disbelieved after having believed, having borne witness that the Messenger is true, and the clear proofs having come to them? And God guides not wrongdoing people. Ç They are those whose recompense is that upon them shall be the curse of God, the angels, and mankind all together, È abiding therein; the punishment shall not be lightened for them, nor shall they be granted respite, É except those who repent after that, and make amends, for truly God is Forgiving, Merciful. Ґ Truly those who disbelieve after having believed, then increase in disbelief, their repentance shall not be accepted, and they are the ones who are astray. ґ Truly those who disbelieve and die while they are disbelievers, an earth full of gold would not be accepted from any one of them, were he to offer it in ransom. For them there shall be a painful punishment, and they shall have no helpers. Ғ You will never attain piety till you spend from that which you love. And whatever you spend, truly God knows it. ғ All food was lawful unto the Children of Israel, save what Israel had forbidden for himself, before the Torah was sent down. Say, "Bring the Torah and recite it, if you are truthful." Ҕ So whosoever fabricates a lie against God after that, it is they who are the wrongdoers. ҕ Say, "God has spoken true. So follow the creed of Abraham, a _ḥ anīf _,__ and he was not of the idolaters." Җ Truly the first house established for mankind was that at Bakkah, full of blessing and a guidance for the worlds. җ Therein are clear signs: the station of Abraham, and whosoever enters it shall be secure. Pilgrimage to the House is a duty upon mankind before God for those who can find a way. For whosoever disbelieves, truly God is beyond need of the worlds. Ҙ Say, "O People of the Book! Why do you disbelieve in God's signs, while God is Witness over what you do?" ҙ Say, "O People of the Book! Why do you turn those who believe from the way of God, seeking to make it crooked, while you are witnesses? And God is not heedless of what you do." Ā O you who believe! If you obey a group among those who were given the Book, they will render you disbelievers after your having believed. ā How can you disbelieve, while God's signs are recited unto you and His Messenger is among you? And whosoever holds fast to God is indeed guided unto a straight path. Ă O you who believe! Reverence God as He should be reverenced, and die not except in submission. ă And hold fast to the rope of God, all together, and be not divided. Remember the Blessing of God upon you, when you were enemies and He joined your hearts, such that you became brothers by His Blessing. You were on the brink of a pit of fire and He delivered you from it. Thus does God make clear unto you His signs, that haply you may be rightly guided. Ą Let there be among you a community calling to the good, enjoining right, and forbidding wrong. It is they who shall prosper. ą And be not like those who became divided and differed after the clear proofs had come to them. And it is they who shall have a great punishment Ć on the Day when faces whiten and faces blacken. As for those whose faces blacken, "Did you disbelieve after having believed? Then taste the punishment for having disbelieved." ć And as for those whose faces whiten, they will be in the Mercy of God, abiding therein. Ĉ These are God's signs which We recite unto thee in truth, and God desires no wrong for the worlds. ĉ Unto God belongs whatsoever is in the heavens and whatsoever is on the earth, and unto God are all matters returned. Đ You are the best community brought forth unto mankind, enjoining right, forbidding wrong, and believing in God. And were the People of the Book to believe, that would be better for them. Among them are believers, but most of them are iniquitous. đ They will not harm you save a [trifling] hurt. And if they fight you, they will turn their backs upon you; then they will not be helped. Ē They shall be struck with abasement wherever they are come upon, save by means of a rope from God and a rope from mankind. And they shall earn a burden of wrath from God, and they shall be struck with indigence. That is because they used to disbelieve in God's signs and kill the prophets without right. That is for their having disobeyed and transgressed. ē They are not all alike. Among the People of the Book is an upright community who recite God's signs in the watches of the night, while they prostrate. Ĕ They believe in God and the Last Day, enjoin right and forbid wrong, and hasten unto good deeds. And they are among the righteous. ĕ Whatsoever good they do, they will not be denied it. And God knows the reverent. Ė Truly those who disbelieve, neither their wealth nor their children will avail them aught against God. They are the inhabitants of the Fire, abiding therein. ė The parable of what they spend in this life of the world is that of a frigid wind that strikes the tillage of a people who have wronged themselves, destroying it. God wrongs them not, but themselves do they wrong. Ę O you who believe! Take not intimates apart from yourselves; they will not stint you in corruption. They wish you to suffer. Hatred has appeared from their mouths; yet what their breasts conceal is greater. We have indeed made clear the signs for you, were you to understand. ę Lo! You are the ones who love them, while they love you not, though you believe in the Book entire. And when they meet you they say, "We believe," but when they are alone they bite their fingers at you from rage. Say, "Die in your rage!" Truly God knows what lies within breasts. Ġ If good befalls you, it vexes them, and if evil befalls you, they rejoice in it. But if you are patient and reverent, their plot will not harm you in the least. Truly God encompasses what they do. ġ And remember when thou didst leave thy household at daybreak to assign the believers their positions for the battle. And God is Hearing, Knowing. Ģ Remember when two companies among you were on the verge of losing heart, though God was their Protector. And in God let the believers trust. ģ God certainly helped you at Badr, when you were lowly. So reverence God, that haply you may give thanks. Ĥ Remember when thou saidst unto the believers, "Is it not enough for you that your Lord should support you with three thousand angels sent down?" ĥ Yea, if you are patient and reverent, and they come at you immediately, your Lord will support you with five thousand angels bearing marks. Ħ God made it not save as a glad tiding for you, and that your hearts may repose thereby—and there is no victory save from God, the Mighty, the Wise— ħ that He may cut off a faction of those who disbelieve or abase them, so that they be turned back disappointed. Ĩ Naught is thine in the matter, whether He relent unto them or punish them, for truly they are wrongdoers. ĩ Unto God belongs whatsoever is in the heavens and whatsoever is on the earth. He forgives whomsoever He will and punishes whomsoever He will, and God is Forgiving, Merciful. İ O you who believe! Devour not usury, doubling and multiplying. And reverence God, that haply you may prosper. ı And be mindful of the Fire that has been prepared for the disbelievers. IJ And obey God and the Messenger, that haply you may receive mercy. ij And hasten unto forgiveness from your Lord, and for a garden whose breadth is the heavens and the earth—prepared for the reverent, Ĵ who spend in ease and hardship, and curb their rage, and pardon others—and God loves the virtuous— ĵ and who, when they commit an indecency or wrong themselves, remember God and then seek forgiveness for their sins—and who forgives sins but God?—and who do not knowingly persist in what they have done. Ķ For these, their reward is forgiveness from their Lord, and Gardens with rivers running below, abiding therein. Blessed indeed is the reward of the workers [of righteousness]! ķ Wonts have passed before you; so journey upon the earth and behold how the deniers fared in the end! ĸ This is an exposition for mankind, and a guidance and exhortation for the reverent. Ĺ Do not falter and do not grieve, for you will be ascendant if you are believers. ŀ If a wound afflicts you, a like wound has already afflicted that people. And such days We hand out in turns to mankind. And [this is] so that God may know those who believe, and take witnesses from among you—and God loves not the wrongdoers— Ł and so that God may assay those who believe and blight the disbelievers. ł Or did you suppose that you would enter the Garden without God knowing those among you who strived, and without knowing those who were patient? Ń You did indeed long for death before you met it. Now you have seen it, looking on. ń Muhammad is naught but a messenger; messengers have passed before him. So if he dies or is slain, will you turn back on your heels? Whosoever turns back on his heels will not harm God in the least, and God will reward the thankful. Ņ It is not for any soul to die save by God's Leave—an enjoined term. Yet whosoever desires the reward of this world, We shall give him of it; and whosoever desires the reward of the Hereafter, We shall give him of it. And We shall reward the thankful. ņ How many a prophet had many devoted men fight alongside him! They did not then falter in the face of what befell them in the way of God, nor did they weaken, nor did they demean themselves. And God loves the patient. Ň Their words were but to say, "Our Lord, forgive us our sins and our prodigality in our affairs, and make firm our steps, and help us against the disbelieving people." ň And God gave them the reward of this world and the most beautiful reward of the Hereafter, and God loves the virtuous. 'n O you who believe! If you obey those who disbelieve, they will turn you back on your heels; then you will be overturned as losers. Ő Rather, God is your Master, and He is the best of helpers. ő We shall cast terror into the hearts of those who disbelieve for having ascribed partners unto God, for which He has not sent down any authority. And their refuge shall be the Fire, and evil is the abode of the wrongdoers. Œ And God certainly was true to His Promise to you when you were eradicating them by His Leave, until the moment you lost heart, and quarreled with one another about the matter, and disobeyed, after He had showed you that which you loved. Among you are those who desire this world, and among you are those who desire the Hereafter. Then He turned you from them, to test you, and He certainly pardoned you—God is Possessed of Bounty for the believers— œ when you were climbing, casting a glance to no one, while the Messenger was calling you from your rear. So He recompensed you with sorrow upon sorrow, that you may not grieve over what escaped you or what befell you. And God is Aware of whatsoever you do. Ŕ Then He sent down upon you—after sorrow—security, a sleepiness enveloping a company among you, while a company were anxious over themselves, thinking about God what is not true—the thinking of the Age of Ignorance—saying, "Do we have any decision [in this]?" Say, "The decision belongs entirely to God." They hide in their souls what they do not disclose to you, saying, "Had we any decision [in this], we would not have been slain here." Say, "Had you stayed in your houses, those who were destined to be slain would have gone out to their places of rest." And [this is] so that God may test what is in your breasts and so that He may assay what is in your hearts. And God knows what lies within breasts. ŕ Those of you who turned away on the day the two hosts met—Satan alone made them slip because of part of what they committed. And God certainly pardoned them; truly God is Forgiving, Clement. Ŗ O you who believe! Be not like those who disbelieve and say of their brethren when they travel upon the earth or campaign, "Had they stayed with us, they would not have died and been slain," that God may make that a source of regret in their hearts. And God gives life and causes death, and God sees whatsoever you do. ŗ And indeed if you are slain or die in the way of God, truly forgiveness and mercy from God are better than what they amass. Ř And indeed if you are slain or die, truly unto God shall you be gathered. ř Then [it was] by a mercy from God that thou wert gentle with them. Hadst thou been severe [and] hard-hearted they would have scattered from about thee. So pardon them, ask forgiveness for them, and consult them in affairs. And when thou art resolved, trust in God; truly God loves those who trust. Š If God helps you, none shall overcome you. And if He forsakes you, who then can help you thereafter? And in God let the believers trust. š It is not for any prophet to defraud. And whosoever defrauds will bring what he obtained by fraud on the Day of Resurrection. Then every soul shall be paid what it has earned in full, and they shall not be wronged. Ţ Is he who pursues God's Contentment like one who earns a burden of anger from God, and whose refuge is Hell? An evil journey's end! ţ They are ranked in degrees in the sight of God, and God sees whatsoever they do. Ť God certainly favored the believers when He sent them a Messenger from among themselves, who recites His signs unto them, and purifies them, and teaches them the Book and Wisdom, while aforetime they were in manifest error. ť And when an affliction befell you, though you wrought an affliction twice its like, did you say, "Whence is this?" Say, "It is from yourselves." Truly God is Powerful over all things. Ŧ And that which befell you on the day the two hosts met was by God's Leave, and that He may know the believers, ŧ and that He may know the hypocrites. And it was said unto them, "Come, fight in the way of God or defend [yourselves]." They said, "Had we known there would be fighting, we would have followed you." That day they were closer to disbelief than to belief, saying with their mouths what was not in their hearts. And God knows best what they conceal. Ũ Those who said of their brethren, while they were sitting [at home], "Had they obeyed us, they would not have been slain." Say, "Then ward off death from yourselves, if you are truthful." ũ And deem not those slain in the way of God to be dead. Rather, they are alive with their Lord, provided for, Ű exulting in what God has given them from His Bounty, and rejoicing in those who have not yet joined them from among those who remain behind—that no fear shall come upon them, nor shall they grieve— ű rejoicing in Blessing and Bounty from God, and that God neglects not the reward of the believers, Ų who responded to God and the Messenger after being afflicted by wounds; for those among them who have been virtuous and reverent there shall be a great reward, ų to whom the people said, "Truly the people have gathered against you, so fear them." But it increased them in faith, and they said, "God suffices us, an excellent Guardian is He!" Ŵ So they returned with Blessing and Bounty from God, untouched by evil. And they pursued the Contentment of God, and God is Possessed of Tremendous Bounty. ŵ That is only Satan, sowing fear of his friends. So fear them not, but fear Me, if you are believers. Ŷ And let not those who hasten unto disbelief grieve thee. Truly they will not harm God in the least. God desires to give them no share in the Hereafter, and theirs shall be a great punishment. ŷ Truly those who have purchased disbelief at the price of belief will not hurt God in the least, and theirs shall be a painful punishment. Ÿ And let not those who disbelieve suppose that the respite We grant them is good for them. We only grant them respite that they may increase in sin, and theirs shall be a humiliating punishment. Ź God will not leave the believers as you are till He separates the bad from the good. And God will not apprise you of the Unseen, but God chooses from His messengers whomsoever He will. So believe in God and His messengers. And if you believe and are reverent, you shall have a great reward. ƀ And let not those who are miserly with what God has given them from His Bounty suppose that it is good for them; rather, it is evil for them. On the Day of Resurrection they will be collared by that with which they were miserly. And unto God belongs the inheritance of the heavens and the earth, and God is Aware of whatsoever you do. Ɓ God has certainly heard the words of those who said, "God is poor, and we are rich." We shall record what they said, and their slaying of the prophets without right, and We shall say, "Taste the punishment of the burning." Ƃ That is because of what your hands sent forth, and because God wrongs not His servants. ƃ [As for] those who say, "Truly God has committed us to not believe in any messenger until he brings us a sacrifice consumed by fire," say, "Messengers certainly came before me with clear proofs and with that whereof you speak; so why did you slay them, if you are truthful?" Ƅ So if they deny thee, they certainly did deny messengers before thee, who came with clear proofs, scriptures, and the luminous Book. ƅ Every soul shall taste death, and you will indeed be paid your reward in full on the Day of Resurrection. And whosoever is distanced from the Fire and made to enter the Garden has certainly triumphed. And the life of this world is naught but the enjoyment of delusion. Ɔ You will surely be tried in your wealth and your souls, and you shall hear much hurt from those who were given the Book before you, and from those who are idolaters. But if you are patient and reverent, then that is indeed a course worthy of resolve. Ƈ [Remember] when God made the covenant with those who were given the Book, "You shall make it clear to the people, and not conceal it." Then they cast it behind their backs and sold it for a paltry price. Evil indeed is their selling! ƈ Do not suppose that those who exult in what they have brought about and love to be praised for what they have not done—do not suppose that they are delivered from the punishment; theirs is a painful punishment. Ɖ Unto God belongs sovereignty over the heavens and the earth, and God is Powerful over all things. Ɛ Truly in the creation of the heavens and the earth and the variation of the night and the day are signs for the possessors of intellect, Ƒ who remember God standing, sitting, and lying upon their sides, and reflect upon the creation of the heavens and the earth, "Our Lord, Thou hast not created this in vain. Glory be to Thee! Shield us from the punishment of the Fire. ƒ Our Lord! Whomsoever Thou makest to enter into the Fire, Thou hast surely disgraced him. And the wrongdoers shall have no helpers. Ɠ Our Lord! Truly we have heard a caller calling to faith, saying 'Believe in your Lord,' so we believed. Our Lord, forgive us our sins and absolve us of our evil deeds, and take us unto Thee with the pious. Ɣ Our Lord! Give us what Thou hast promised us through Thy messengers, and disgrace us not on the Day of Resurrection. Truly Thou wilt not fail the tryst." ƕ So their Lord answered them, "I shall not let the work of any worker among you, male or female, be in vain; each of you is like the other. So those who emigrated, and were expelled from their homes, and were hurt in My way, and fought and were slain—I shall absolve them of their evil deeds and shall make them enter Gardens with rivers running below, a reward from God. And God, with Him is the most beautiful reward. Ɩ Let it not delude thee that those who disbelieve are free to come and go in the land. Ɨ It is a little enjoyment. Then their refuge is Hell, an evil resting place! Ƙ But [as for] those who reverence their Lord, theirs shall be Gardens with rivers running below, abiding therein, as a welcome from God. And that which is with God is better for the pious. ƙ And truly among the People of the Book are those who believe in God and that which has been sent down unto you, and that which has been sent down unto them, humble before God, not selling God's signs for a paltry price. It is they who shall have their reward with their Lord. Truly God is swift in reckoning. Ȁ O you who believe! Be patient, vie in patience, persevere, and reverence God, that haply you may prosper.

## Commentary

¡ _Alif. Lām. Mīm._

1 _Alif, lām,_ and _mīm_ are the same letters that start the previous _sūrah_. See 2:1c. They could represent "God knows best" ( _Allāhu a ʿlam_); or _Allāh, Jibrīl,_ and _Mu ḥammad;_ or the _alif_ of oneness (i.e., as the first letter), the _lām_ of kindness ( _lu ṭf_), and the _mīm_ of sovereignty ( _mulk;_ Su).

***

* God, there is no god but He, the Living, the Self-Subsisting.

2 For a fuller discussion of the two Names of God _the Living, the Self-Subsisting,_ see 2:255c.

***

+ He sent down the Book upon thee in truth, confirming what was before it, and He sent down the Torah and the Gospel

J aforetime, as a guidance to mankind. And He sent down the Criterion. Truly those who disbelieve in the signs of God shall have a severe punishment. And God is Mighty, Possessor of Vengeance.

3–4 The first part of v. 4 should be read as continuous with v. 3. Although some understand a distinction between the two instances of _sent down_ in v. 3, arguing that the former ( _nazzala_ ) reflects that the Quran ( _the Book_ ) was revealed in parts and the latter ( _anzala_ ) indicates the Torah and Gospel were revealed all at once (R, Z), others hold that these two verbs are used interchangeably in the Quran (Ṭb).

For _the Criterion_ ( _al-Furqān_ ), see also 2:53, 185; 8:29; 21:48; 25:1. Here it is usually considered to refer to the Quran itself, though _furqān_ has a wider meaning, as evidenced by its connection with Moses and Aaron (see 2:53; 21:48). Understanding _furqān_ to mean "discernment," or that by which things are distinguished, some have also seen it as God's indication of what is true and false regarding Jesus, since otherwise the Quran would be denoted by both _the Book_ and _the Criterion_ instead of only one of them (Ṭ). Others say that it refers to the Psalms (see 17:55), or that this power of distinguishing truth from falsehood— _furqān_ —is a second description of the three scriptures following their initial mention _as a guidance to mankind,_ which is to say they all contain what separates truth from falsehood, forbidden from licit, and so forth (R).

For Muslims, _Tawrāt_ (Torah) usually refers to the five books of Moses (much less commonly, it is thought to denote the entire Tanakh), and _Injīl_ (Gospel) refers to the revelation given to Jesus. But questions remain as to whether the _Injīl_ is the same as the _evangelion_ (Greek, "Gospel"), and whether the _Tawrāt_ is the same as the Pentateuch as we now have it. There was most likely no Arabic translation of the Bible at the time of the Quranic revelation; such a translation only appeared at least a century later. It is unlikely that in the early seventh century the texts in circulation would have been significantly different from the texts approved by Jewish and Christian authorities at the end of the fourth century, when both canons and the central doctrines of Christianity, including the Trinity, were formally established.

These verses state that these books were revealed in the past, but the Quran confirms _what was before it_ ( _ma bayna yadayh i_), which is understood to mean "previous to" by the commentators, but which can also mean "in the presence of," as does the English word "before." Sensitive to this question, al-Rāzī asks himself, "How can this phrase refer to what is past?" and answers, "That lore, owing to how familiar it is, is referred to in that way," namely, as though it is present to the revelation of the Quran and commonly known if only in a general way. Jesus is spoken of in a similar fashion in 5:46, where Jesus and the message given to him confirm the Torah, and 5:47 follows with language very similar to that in 3:6.

The Quran confirms (e.g., 2:41; 2:101; 6:92) what was _before it,_ but does not describe the content of that existing teaching. If both the texts and interpretation of the People of the Book are true and correct, it would be through their moral shortcomings that they fail in their religion. This seems unlikely, since the Quran criticizes some of their doctrines (4:171), not only their behavior. If the texts are true, but the interpretation is incorrect, this would support the position of those who accuse the People of the Book of distorting ( _ta ḥrīf_) the meaning, but not the text of scripture (see 2:75; 4:46; 5:13, 41). For example, in later times some Muslims argued that the Trinity, as described in the Nicene Creed, is nowhere to be found in the Biblical text, but results from a faulty interpretation.

Another possibility is that the _Injīl_ given to Jesus is conveyed by the existing Gospel, but is not coterminous with it, yet is still recognized and sanctioned by God. In this connection, it should be noted that, although monks are praised in the Quran (5:82), it is asserted that monasticism was not prescribed for them, but was a practice they initiated themselves (57:28). This would make the existing Gospel a different kind of Divine book than the Quran, constituting a work of Divinely inspired or approved authors rather than a message delivered directly through Gabriel. This would agree with the view of Christians themselves that the text is guided and sanctioned by God, but not directly revealed. In this way, the truths and commands of the _Injīl_ given to Jesus are communicated to Christians through _that which they had with them_ (2:89) and _what_ is _before_ the Quran. One could thus hold that the Quran, when referring to the _Injīl_ that the Christians have with them, includes both the text and the normative tradition around that text insofar as they convey Christ's original message to his apostles, which was given to him by God.

A similar approach could be taken regarding the _Tawrāt_ (the Torah), which would allow Muslims to acknowledge the scriptures of the People of the Book, since God acknowledges them in the Quran, without affirming some of the interpretations and practices that may diverge from the original revelation. Such distinctions between text and interpretation are necessary, since God holds Himself and the People of the Book to their covenant (2:40; 9:111); mentions a partial (hence not total) forgetting of the original message (5:14); describes Islam as a fulfillment of prophecies in the Bible (7:157); enjoins Jews and Christians to govern themselves according to their scriptures (5:43–47, 68); and advises the Prophet to _ask the people of the Reminder,_ interpreted by most as the People of the Book (16:43; 21:7). For those reasons and because there is little to support a belief that the Bible has changed significantly since the seventh century, it becomes necessary to see the Quranic statements about the Jewish and Christian scriptures in light of the existing Jewish and Christian traditions and not as an alleged variation existent at the time. A _ḥ adīth_ states, "Do you not see these Jews and Christians? They read the Torah and the Gospel and do not act in accord with them." See the essay "The Quranic View of Sacred History and Other Religions" and the commentary on 3:113–15; 48:28. The description of God as _Mighty, Possessor of Vengeance_ is also found in 5:95; 14:47; 39:37.

***

Z Truly naught is hidden from God on earth or in Heaven.

5 Cf. 14:38; 27:75.

***

j He it is Who forms you in the wombs however He will. There is no god but He, the Mighty, the Wise.

6 Many see this verse as an implicit argument against divinizing Christ, as Jesus himself was once within the womb (IK, R). The development in the womb is described more fully in 22:5.

***

z He it is Who has sent down the Book upon thee; therein are signs determined; they are the Mother of the Book, and others symbolic. As for those whose hearts are given to swerving, they follow that of it which is symbolic, seeking temptation and seeking its interpretation. And none know its interpretation save God and those firmly rooted in knowledge. They say, "We believe in it; all is from our Lord." And none remember, save those who possess intellect.

7 This verse is perhaps the most direct discussion in the Quran of the science of Quranic interpretation. Each part of the Quran conventionally called a "verse" in English means originally "a sign" ( _āyah_ ), as Arabic has a separate word for "verse" as it applies to poetry. A sign ( _āyah_ ) can be either within us or outside of ourselves (see 41:53). Here Quranic _signs_ (or passages) are described as being either _determined, mu ḥkam,_ or _symbolic, mutashābih_. The verb _ḥ akama_ means lexically to "curb," "repel," "command," or "judge" and hence is rendered by "determine." A solidly made structure or knot is also called _mu ḥkam_. To be _mutashābih_ is for things to be alike or resemble one another, as in 2:25, 70, 118; 6:99; 6:144; 13:16. _Mutashābih_ can also mean "unknown" or "undetermined" in the sense that one cannot tell whether a thing is there or not; that is to say, a thing's being can "resemble" that thing's _not_ being so (R). One can understand the Quran as wholly _mu ḥkam,_ based on 11:1, _a Book whose signs have been determined_ ( _mu ḥkam,_ in the verb form _u ḥkimat_), as well as wholly _mutashābih,_ based on 39:23: _God has sent down the most beautiful discourse, a Book consimilar_ ( _mutashābih_ ); the present verse says that it is partly _mu ḥkam,_ partly _mutashābih_ (R, Ṭ). It can be wholly _mu ḥkam_ in that it is all truly the Book of God, and wholly _mutashābih_ in that its parts are alike in beauty, in affirming each other (IK, Th), and in having an inner and symbolic meaning.

Among the many opinions (R, Ṭ, Th), examples of what can be considered _mu ḥkam_ are (1) the abrogating as opposed to the abrogated (see 2:106; and the essay "The Quran as Source of Islamic Law"); (2) perennial moral commandments such as 6:151–53 and 17:23–39—including prayer to the One God, justice, truthfulness, generosity, and humility, and the condemnation of murder, theft, and adultery—which all religious communities follow, as opposed to the variable specifics of those commandments, such as number of prayers and amount of alms; (3) that which deals with the licit and the forbidden ( _ḥ alāl_ and _ḥ arām_), as opposed to that which addresses other matters; (4) that which can have only one interpretation, as opposed to that which can allow several interpretations; (5) the stories of the prophets in the Quran, as opposed to the elements within those stories that change upon repetition, as in 7:107 and 20:20, where two synonyms for "serpent" are used to describe Moses' transformed staff; (6) that whose interpretation is known and understood by the scholars as opposed to that which cannot be known, such as the moment when the world will end; (7) that which is clear, whose truth or falsehood can be known by common people, so that one does not need to search for its meaning in the _mutashābih;_ (8) the openings of the chapters of the Quran (which is the meaning of their being the _Mother of the Book;_ see below), as opposed to the remainder of the text. Some say the _mutashābih_ are the single letters at the start of some _sūrah_ s (see 2:1c).

At least some of these possibilities can be further clarified by thinking of the _mu ḥkam_ as unambiguous or univocal, and the _mutashābih_ as multivalent or equivocal—not in the sense of being unclear or questionable, but of being open to levels of meaning. For example, _the Hand of God_ would be symbolic or equivocal for most theologians in _The Hand of God is over their hands_ (48:10), since the Hand of God could not be purely identical to a human hand or any other material hand. Thus "hand" is not strictly _determined_ by the literal understanding of the word. Muslims have differed about what passages are symbolic or equivocal and who is qualified to identify and interpret them. Indeed, the commentators themselves often point out (R, Th) that a common pitfall among theologians and interpreters is to consider a passage to be determined or unequivocal when its plain sense agrees with one's theological position, but symbolic or equivocal when it disagrees.

_Mother of the Book_ also appears in 13:39: _God effaces what He will and establishes, and with Him is the Mother of the Book;_ and 43:4: _And truly it is with Us in the Mother of the Book_. Many identify the _Mother of the Book_ with the _Preserved Tablet_ (see 85:22). Makkah is called Mother of Cities (6:92; 42:7). An _umm_ ("mother") can also be the leader of a group of travelers, the flag of an army, or the archetype or origin of something, and idiomatically both the singular and plural ( _ummahāt_ ) can mean the main, principal, or original instances of something (e.g., the principal virtues). That the _mu ḥkam_ are the _Mother of the Book_ can also mean they comprise or entail the Book or are its focus and point of convergence (Ṭ).

Both _hearts_ (9:117; 61:5) and eyes (33:10) can swerve, usually understood to mean from the truth. Thus many gloss _zaygh_ ( _swerving_ ) as "doubt" or say that those who have swerving in their hearts are the hypocrites (Ṭ). Beyond this general meaning, some give an occasion for the revelation of the phrase mentioning _swerving_. The Christians said to the Prophet, "Do you not say that he [Jesus] is the Word of God and a Spirit from Him?" (4:171). The Prophet answered, "Indeed." They said, "That suffices us!" presumably thinking that they had just won the argument. At that moment, this part of the verse was revealed, the connection being that "Spirit" and "Word" are _mutashābih_ rather than _mu ḥkam_. Another opinion is that some Jews sought knowledge of how long the Muslim community would last on earth based upon decoding the abbreviated letters (Ṭ, Th).

_Fitnah,_ here translated _temptation,_ can also mean _strife_ (2:217; 8:39). The interpreters believe it refers to _shirk,_ or to doubts that would be created in human hearts (Ṭ). One can read the rebuke as being directed against the deviancy in hearts that seek to interpret the Quran for false reasons.

_Interpretation_ renders _ta ʾwīl,_ generally meaning "explanation," and is used also in connection with dreams ( _Sūrah_ 12 passim; 18:78). Etymologically it has the sense of "bringing back to the origin"; hence the same word is translated in 17:35 as _in the end_ in the sense of the ultimate return. The Quranic usage (with regard to the understanding of dreams and the mysterious actions of Moses' companion) indicates that _ta ʾwīl_ is the act of taking something whose meaning is either unclear, ambiguous, symbolic, allegorical, or metaphorical and returning it to its true meaning. In classical Islamic learning it became conventional to refer to the transmission of texts and quotations from sources considered to be normative and authoritative as _tafsīr,_ while _ta ʾwīl_ refers to what a commentator might then proceed to say about a passage, especially in attempting to draw out spiritual, esoteric, or moral dimensions of the passage. However, the two words are near synonyms for many commentators on the Quran (e.g., al-Ṭabarī's mainly historical and textual commentary is subtitled _ta ʾwīl āy al-Qur'ān_), and the sense of _ta ʾwīl_ as representing a separate class of interpretation is not part of the Quran's usage but became common later.

_And none know its interpretation save God and those firmly rooted in knowledge. They say, "We believe in it; all is from our Lord":_ An alternate pause in the Arabic would yield the translation, "And none know its interpretation save God. And those firmly rooted in knowledge say, 'We believe in it; all is from our Lord.'" This reading reserves all interpretation of the _mutashābih_ to God; the _firmly rooted_ ( _rāsikhūn_ ) are then characterized merely by their faith in it. However, as the commentator al-Thaʿlabī points out, in practice all schools of thought interpret the entire Quran; despite declarations that only God knows the interpretation of _mutashābih_ verses, they pass over no aspect of the Quran in silence, though degrees of uncertainty about their meanings remain. Some say this means, "We believe in the _mutashābih,_ but only act by the _mu ḥkam_" (Ṭ). See also the essay "Quranic Commentaries."

The question of unambiguous versus multivalent passages, coupled with the possibility or impossibility of knowing what is multivalent and symbolic and what is not, have given rise to several positions on interpreting the Quran, especially on questions of moral responsibility, eschatology, and God's Attributes. At one extreme are those who approach the Quran as literalists, seeing only one discrete true meaning identified with the literal and outward sense, even if that meaning is unknown. At the other end are those who dispense with the plain sense and embrace metaphor and allegory, often to avoid attributing created qualities to God such as spatial or temporal extension, which often leads to an impoverished, rationalized meaning. Most interpreters, however, affirm the plain sense, but in such a way as to also plumb the text's deeper levels of meaning. Taken as a whole, the genre of Quranic exegesis includes the dimensions of interpretation known to the medieval Western world as the literal, moral, allegorical, and anagogical (which are also reflected in this commentary).

Sufis such as Ibn ʿArabī and Rūmī (d. 672/1273) as well as philosophers such as Mullā Ṣadrā affirm all these levels of meaning at once. For them literalists err in reading everything as though it were _mu ḥkam,_ while rationalists, such as the Muʿtazilites, read everything as though it were _mutashābih,_ that is, open to more than one meaning, but as determined by one's own sense of plausibility rather than a multivalent approach toward the plain sense of the text and its deeper possibilities. They consider other theologians, such as the Ashʿarites, to be inconsistent in their application of the distinction between _mu ḥkam_ and _mutashābih_. Moreover, beyond the proper application of _mu ḥkam_ and _mutashābih,_ Sufis assert that only certain spiritual qualifications of the reader of the Quran open up the Book's deeper meaning, since a blind or hardened heart cannot understand the fullness of God's Word. For a lengthier discussion of many of these issues, see the essay "Traditions of Esoteric and Sapiental Quranic Commentary."

Regarding _those who possess intellect,_ see 2:179c.

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{ "Our Lord, make not our hearts swerve after having guided us, and bestow upon us a mercy from Thy Presence. Truly Thou art the Bestower.

8 Many consider the words in this verse to be spoken by the _firmly rooted in knowledge_ (v. 7). A _ḥ adīth_ in which the Prophet paraphrases this verse begins with a prayer, "O God, Changer of hearts, keep my heart upon Thy religion." When asked if hearts change, he said, "Yes. No man of the Children of Adam was created but that his heart lies between two of the Fingers of God, most High and Glorified. If He wills, He makes it go straight, and if He wills, He makes it swerve." This verse, like many others (e.g., 2:6–10), raises the question of whether and how God causes or denies faith to a human heart.

_A mercy_ could also be simply "mercy." The preposition _ladun,_ meaning "at" or "in the presence/possession of," is here rendered _Presence_. See 18:10 for similar wording, and especially 18:65, which mentions _knowledge from Our Presence._ This Quranic theme gives rise to the term _al- ʿilm al-ladunī_ in later Islamic spirituality, meaning "God-given knowledge."

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| Our Lord, Thou art the Gatherer of mankind unto a Day about which there is no doubt." Truly God will not fail the tryst.

9 The _tryst_ ( _mī ʿād_) is an appointed meeting or something promised and is used often in reference to God's promises and threats regarding the Hereafter (13:31; 34:30; 39:20). It is similar in meaning to _maw ʿid,_ also rendered _tryst_ (20:58; 11:17). These words are also related etymologically to the theologically important concepts of _wa ʿd_ and _wa ʿīd,_ "promise" and "threat," respectively, which also refer to the thing promised or threatened (e.g., 4:122; 9:111; 10:48; 36:52). See also the essay "The Quran and Schools of Islamic Theology and Philosophy."

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Ċ As for those who disbelieve, neither their wealth nor their children will avail them aught against God. And it is they who shall be fuel for the Fire.

10 Cf. 3:116; 26:88; 60:3. The Quran frequently refers to the fact that in the logic of this world riches buy preferential treatment and children provide status, protection, and a means of surviving beyond death; these are mentioned alongside other desirable objects of this world in v. 14. Yet on the Day of Judgment they carry no influence with God, who bestowed them in the first place (16:72; 17:6), and can even be a source of trial for human beings (8:28; 64:14–15); on the same theme, they can be a means by which disbelievers come to punishment, and believers should not be impressed by them (9:55, 85; 68:10–14). What is desirable in this world is not always a sign of God's Favor or a guarantee against the punishment of the Hereafter (9:69; 18:39–40; 23:55; 34:35); righteousness and piety, not wealth and children, endure and bring reward (18:46; 34:37); and wealth and children can be a distraction and diversion from the remembrance of God (57:20; 63:9; 71:21).

Human beings as _fuel for the Fire_ of Hell is also mentioned in 2:24; 21:98; 66:6. In a _ḥ adīth,_ the Prophet described a future time when those who recite and teach the Quran, considering no one to be superior to them because of their position, would be an example of "fuel for the Fire."

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Ě [It is] like the affair of the House of Pharaoh and those who were before them; they denied Our signs. So God seized them for their sins, and God is severe in retribution.

11 _Da ʾb,_ here translated _affair_ in the sense of "matter" or "case," can also be taken to mean "wont" or "way." As an illustration of the warning presented in the previous verse, it is mentioned that the worldly wealth of the Egyptians and others did not help them when God destroyed them (7:133–36). They were _seized_ ( _akhadha,_ lit. "taken"), which in Quranic usage often means "punished" (e.g., 4:153; 7:73).

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Ī Say to the disbelievers, "You shall be vanquished and gathered unto Hell, an evil resting place!"

12 Some believe this verse is directed at the idolatrous Makkans (Th). Others report that the Prophet admonished some of the Jews of Madinah, upon his victorious return from the Battle of Badr (see 3:13c), that their fate could be like that of the Quraysh (IK, Ṭ). They haughtily dismissed the warning, after which this verse was revealed. For _Hell,_ see the essay "Death, Dying, and the Afterlife in the Quran." _Resting place_ translates _mihād,_ which can mean a bed or even cradle, lexically a place smoothed out and prepared for rest. It is, however, usually used in connection with Hell, although in 78:6 and 43:10 the related term _mahd_ is used in reference to the earth. This verse echoes similar verses that warn of both defeat in this world and punishment in the next (e.g., 5:33; 5:41; 22:11; 33:57). Some read this as third person ("that they shall be vanquished"), which does not change the meaning (IK, Ṭ, R). Examples of such shifts in grammatical person are found in the Quran; see the essay "Quranic Arabic: Its Characteristics and Impact on Arabic Language and Literature and the Languages and Literatures of Other Islamic Peoples."

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ĺ There was a sign for you in the two hosts that met, one host fighting in the way of God and the other disbelieving, whom they [the former] saw as twice themselves as the eye sees. And God strengthens by His help whomsoever He will. Truly in that is a lesson for those who possess insight.

13 This verse is taken by most as a reference to the Battle of Badr, in 2/624, which was the Muslim community's first major military encounter with and victory over the Makkans. _They_ in _whom they saw_ can refer to either the believing army or the enemy, but most scholars seem to prefer the former (IK, R, Ṭ). Cf. 8:44, where each side is said to have seen the other side as fewer in number during the battle (see also 8:44c). The commentators sometimes attempt to reconcile this verse and 8:44, because Islamic tradition consistently numbers the Quraysh army at one thousand (or nearly that number) and the Muslims at just over three hundred. Doubling the latter would give less than a thousand. But an army on the battlefield whose size is triple one's own might well appear as only double. Moreover the wording in this verse is different from that in 8:44, _And [remember] when He showed them to you, when you met them, as being few in your eyes, and made you appear to be few in their eyes,_ as there is no similar suggestion in the present verse that God caused them to see an army of a different size from the one that was actually there. One explanation is that the _twice_ could mean twice again, implying three times as much in total (Ṭ), which would then approximate the traditionally accepted ratio of three to one. Others connect it to 8:66: _And if there be one hundred steadfast among you, they shall overcome two hundred_. But the actual numbers are not crucial to the message of the verse, as evidenced by the different ratio mentioned in 8:65: _And if there be one hundred of you, they shall overcome one thousand of those who disbelieve_.

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Ŋ Made to seem fair unto mankind is the love of passions, among them women, children, hoarded heaps of gold and silver, horses of mark, cattle, and tillage. Those are the enjoyment of the life of this world. And God, with Him is the beautiful return.

14 _Made to seem fair_ ( _zuyyina_ ) describes a common theme connecting fallen human beings to their ephemeral desires (cf. 2:212; 9:37) and can mean, in other contexts, "to adorn" (15:16). Although the objects of desire in this verse are spoken of positively elsewhere in the Quran as things for which one should be grateful in this world, here their seductive side is brought out, echoing 18:46: _Wealth and children are the adornment of the life of this world;_ and many other verses (see 3:10c). _Heaps_ translates _qanā ṭīr_ (sing. _qin ṭār_). Some try to give an exact measure for _qin ṭār,_ but in this context it should simply be taken as denoting a vast amount, hence _hoarded heaps_ to match the consonance of the Arabic _qanā ṭīr munqaṭarah_. _Horses of mark_ refers to either branded or beautiful horses. For _cattle,_ see 6:138. For _beautiful return_ ( _ma ʾāb_), referring to the Garden, see also 13:29; _Sūrah_ 38 passim.

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Ś Say, "Shall I inform you of what is better than that? For those who are reverent, there shall be with their Lord Gardens with rivers running below—they shall abide therein—and spouses made pure, and Contentment from God." And God sees His servants,

15 _That_ refers to the aforementioned passions, which are a pale shadow of the joys of the Hereafter. Regarding _reverence,_ see 2:2c. Regarding the Garden's _rivers_ and _spouses made pure,_ see 2:25c; 4:57c. God's _Contentment_ ( _ri ḍwān_) is at the pinnacle of the paradisal state, since _Contentment from God is greater_ even than the Gardens of Paradise (9:72). God's Contentment ( _ri ḍwān_) is also sought in this world (5:16; 48:29; 57:27; 59:8), and God and human beings can be reciprocally content or pleased with each other, as in 89:28: _Return unto thy Lord, content, contenting;_ and also in 5:119; 58:22; 98:8. Contentment and Good Pleasure are opposed to God's Wrath (3:162; 47:28). The Prophet described an exchange between God and the denizens of the Garden: "Are you content?" "Why should we not be content, as Thou hast given us what no one else among Thy creation has been given?" "Shall I give you what is better than that?" "O Lord, what could be better than that?" "I shall loose My Contentment ( _ri ḍwān_) upon you, and be not angry with you ever again."

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Ū who say, "Our Lord, truly we believe, so forgive us our sins, and shield us from the punishment of the Fire,"

16 _Those who_ refers to the reverent servants from the previous verse. The verb _shield us_ (cf. 2:201; 3:191; 40:7) is etymologically related to _reverence_ ( _taqwā;_ see 2:2); for example, one can be _shielded from the avarice of his soul_ (59:9; 64:16), which relates to the sense of _taqwā_ as being mindful and on guard when it comes to sin and obedience to God.

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ź the patient, the truthful, the devoutly obedient, those who spend, those who seek forgiveness before dawn.

17 For _devoutly obedient_ ( _qānit_ ), which carries the sense of conformity, but also of constancy, standing, and silence, see 4:34c. _Those who spend_ (see 2:3c) do so in the way of God; this carries the sense of giving for the good, and not only of monetary expenditure. _Ere dawn_ translates _as ḥār_ (see also 51:18), which refers to the last part of the night before the morning twilight. The Prophet would rise for prayers before dawn and strongly encouraged others to do so. On the supererogatory night prayer, also see 17:79; 25:64; 73:20. In Islamic spirituality, the night vigil ( _tahajjud, qiyām al-layl_ ) is profoundly significant. It is when one is alone for none to see, and the world is quiet, and there is an ease of concentration and inwardness. It is the inverse of one's usual state during the day, when the egotistical passions are awake, but the spiritual heart is often asleep.

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Ɗ God bears witness that there is no god but He, as do the angels and the possessors of knowledge, upholding justice. There is no god but He, the Mighty, the Wise.

18 _Upholding justice_ is thought by most to refer to _God_ or _He,_ but grammatically it could refer to the _angels_ and _possessors of knowledge_ as well. This latter opinion is made more plausible by the very similar wording of 5:8: _O you who believe! Be steadfast for God, bearing witness to justice;_ as well as that of 4:135. It can also be read in connection with the start of the next verse, meaning that "God, the angels, and the believers bear witness that truly the religion . . ." God is the supreme witness in that He was when there was nothing else with Him (as is said in a well-known _ḥ adīth,_ "God was and there was nothing other than Him"), and He thus has most right to be called a witness (R). God is spoken of as Witness throughout the Quran; see, for example, 5:117: _And Thou art Witness over all things_. God bears witness along with the angels in 4:166: _God Himself bears witness to that which He has sent down unto thee . . . and the angels bear witness._ See also 7:172, where the primordial covenant between human beings and God is framed as humans bearing witness or attesting to the Lordship of God.

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ƚ Truly the religion in the sight of God is submission. Those who were given the Book differed not until after knowledge had come to them, out of envy among themselves. And whosoever disbelieves in God's signs, truly God is swift in reckoning.

19 _Submission_ ( _islām_ ) is both the proper name of the religion revealed through the Prophet Muhammad and a state that describes the adherents of any true religion who conform themselves to God's Will. The Quran describes previous prophets as "those who submit"—Abraham and Jacob (2:132); Abraham and Ishmael (2:128); the apostles of Christ (3:52; 5:111)—and hence as followers of _islām._ Many Muslims say that this verse shows that the only religion acceptable to God is the one revealed to the Prophet of Islam, but the most universal meaning of it, which been emphasized by many Islamic authorities over the ages, is that _islām_ in this verse refers to submission to God even if it is not in the context of Islam as the specific religion revealed through the Quran. Cognizant of the broader Quranic sense of submission, the commentators do not restrict _islām_ to simply denoting the proper name of the revelation to the Prophet Muhammad; yet a number of them assert that, after the coming of the Prophet Muhammad, no religion other than his will be accepted by God. They apply a similar conclusion to 3:85: _Whosoever seeks a religion other than submission_ ( _islām_ ), _it shall not be accepted of him_. For a fuller discussion of this view of Islam's unique validity, see 2:62c; 3:3–4c; 3:85c; 3:113–15c as well as the essay "The Quranic View of Sacred History and Other Religions."

The second part of this verse is similar to 98:4: _Those who were given the Book did not become divided until after the clear proof had come unto them_. Some mention that the Jews, after having been entrusted with the Torah by Moses, began to dispute about it after several generations, and that the Christians came to differ regarding the Gospel later (Aj, Th). Some say that the worst of the Jews' differences emerged after they became the learned community among humanity (Ṭ). Still others say it refers to people's reception of the Prophet Muhammad and the Quran; some accepted it, some said it was meant only for the Arabs, and others rejected it outright (Aj).

_Envy_ is usually understood to imply seeking wealth, power, and status. _Reckoning_ ( _ḥ isāb_) may refer to God's "counting up" of human deeds (Ṭ), related to their final judgment by God (see also 24:39; 40:17), but can also refer to God's reckoning in this world, as in 13:41. It can have a positive (2:202) or negative connotation (3:199).

One might say that the application of _knowledge_ is a double-edged sword and that with guidance comes the possibility of misguidance: _He misleads many by it, and He guides many by it, and He misleads none but the iniquitous_ (2:26). One can be taught spiritual, psychological, eschatological realities and benefit from those truths, but human intelligence cannot always escape the distortion of the will. Just as each vice is, in a sense, a warped virtue, so too can truth be misrepresented or misinterpreted so as to be misused; when truth is used as a means to achieve false ends, rather than an end in itself, strife and schism ensue.

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Ȋ So if they dispute with thee, say, "I submit my face to God, and so too those who follow me." And say to those who were given the Book and to the unlettered ones, "Do you submit?" Then if they submit, they will be rightly guided, but if they turn away, then thine is only to convey. And God sees His servants.

20 To _submit_ one's _face_ (see also 2:21; 31:22) signifies a reorientation of one's being. In a sense, the face represents what is most intimate, most direct in reflecting the states of the soul, highest in outward appearance, and the most beautiful part of the human body. In the Quran, one seeks the _Face of God_ (e.g., 2:272; 13:22). Cf. Psalm 27:8, "Your face, Lord, do I seek." And _All things perish, save His Face_ (28:88; cf. 55:26–27). See also 6:79: _Truly, as a_ ḥanīf, _I have turned my face toward Him Who created the heavens and the earth;_ and 10:105: _And Set thy face toward the religion as a_ ḥanīf _, and be thou not among the idolaters._

_Unlettered_ is thought to refer to the idolatrous Arabs, who had no scripture (Ṭ), or to anyone without a Divine book (R). See also 62:2, _He it is Who sent among the unlettered a Messenger from themselves,_ in which _Messenger_ means Muhammad. _Unlettered (al-ummī)_ is thus also an epithet of the Prophet (7:157–58). This term also appears in connection with the People of the Book in 2:78. The idea that it is the Prophet's duty _only to convey_ the message is also found in 88:21–22: _Thou art but a reminder; thou art not a warder over them;_ 2:272; 13:40; 29:18 _. Sees_ translates _ba ṣīr,_ which connotes not only sight or ordinary vision, but also knowledge and penetrating insight.

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! Truly those who disbelieve in God's signs and kill the prophets without right, and kill those who enjoin justice among mankind: give them glad tidings of a painful punishment.

21 This verse is understood in reference to disbelievers among the People of the Book, more particularly the Children of Israel (Ṭ). On the killing of prophets, a crime mentioned in connection with the Children of Israel more than once in the Quran, see 2:61. Some think this verse refers to the tyrannical rulers of Israel (Th). Al-Ṭabarī mentions a _ḥ adīth_ that states, "The worst punishment on the Day of Resurrection is for those who were killed by a prophet or killed a prophet." Here, it is not just the killing of the prophets that is addressed, but also the killing of _those who enjoin justice,_ who are not prophets themselves, but who stand up for truth. An example would be the man who came running in support of the message bearers in 36:20–28. In this connection, al-Rāzī mentions the _ḥ adīth,_ "The best struggle is to speak a true word in the presence of a tyrannical ruler." Several commentators mention the _ḥ adīth,_ "O Abū ʿUbaydah! The Children of Israel killed forty-three prophets in one hour at the start of the day. One hundred and seventy men of the Children of Israel then stood to command what is right against those who killed them and to forbid them from committing evil. They killed them all at the end of the same day. They are the ones God mentioned, Glorified and Majestic is He."

To _give tidings,_ when stated without an explicit object, has the sense of glad tidings and is often used this way in the Quran. It is related to "glad tidings" ( _bushrā_ ) and "bringer of glad tidings" ( _bashīr_ ), a title also given to the Prophet Muhammad, sometimes in combination with his function as a "warner" ( _nadhīr_ ).

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" They are those whose deeds have come to naught in this world and in the Hereafter, and they shall have no helpers.

22 _Come to naught_ renders _ḥ abaṭa,_ which has the sense of failure and futility. On earth, disbelievers' works ultimately fail, are reviled by posterity, and bear no positive fruit in the life to come, because they were undertaken with the wrong intention (R, Ṭ). They have no helpers, since death robs them of the benefits they enjoyed in life, and in the Hereafter they must stand alone. Having _helpers_ is sometimes interpreted as related to the possibility of intercession and ransom, as in 2:48, where such means of trying to stave off the consequences of one's conduct in this world are described as futile.

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# Hast thou not considered those who were given a portion of the Book, [being] called to the Book of God that it may judge between them. Then a group among them turned away.

23 _Those who were given a portion_ again refers to the People of the Book; the _Book_ here is not the Quran, but the Torah. The commentators mention an account where two prominent Jews committed adultery and brought their case to the Prophet, hoping to avoid the penalty of stoning. The Prophet called for their most learned man in Torah to come and recite the passage on stoning; when the man attempted to cover the passage with his hand, a Companion pointed it out. The Prophet commanded that the punishment be carried out according to the Torah, which surprised and angered the Jews (Q), even though the Prophet had called their _Book_ to _judge between them_. This incident is also sometimes referenced in connection with 5:43: _And how is it that they come to thee for judgment, when they have the Torah, wherein is God's Judgment?_

In another account the Prophet invited a group of Jews to Islam, upon which they asked the Prophet, "What is your religion?" to which he answered, "The creed of Abraham." They said, "Abraham was a Jew," to which he responded, "Then let us go to the Torah." The Jews refused, and this verse was then revealed (R). Another version describes how, after the Jews refused Islam, the Prophet invited them to consult the Torah, where they would find him described. They refused. Although the exact context is somewhat uncertain, the common thread in these accounts is the Prophet's recourse to the Torah, which its custodians hesitated about or refused.

Al-Qurṭubī notes that Muslims can read and act according to the Torah, except for whatever is known to be abrogated by the Quran or _ḥ adīth,_ and that they are obligated to act in accord with the religious laws of previous prophets (an observation he repeats in his treatment of 5:43) unless these laws are abrogated by Islam. However, for al-Qurṭubī this would have been conditional upon the text being authentic, and although the Prophet would have known what was authentic, we cannot do likewise. Although tempered by questions of abrogation ( _naskh;_ see 2:106) and distortion ( _ta ḥrīf;_ see 2:75), this verse and 5:43 can be seen to suggest, together with the Prophet's actions, the continuing religious validity and spiritual efficacy of previous scriptures for the followers of those religions. See also the essay "The Quranic View of Sacred History and Other Religions."

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$ That is because they say, "The Fire will not touch us save for days numbered." That which they used to fabricate has deluded them in their religion.

24 _Days numbered_ (cf. 2:80), according to some, refers to the Jews' belief that they would be punished for only forty nights, corresponding to the time spent worshipping the calf, after which they would be replaced by another people (Ṭ). Others mention seven days, one day for each thousand years of the earth's existence as they calculated it (IK, R). Whatever duration they claimed, to believe that their days of punishment in the Hereafter would be "numbered" suggests their unwarranted confidence in avoiding eternal punishment.

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% How shall it be when We gather them unto a Day in which there is no doubt, and every soul will be paid in full for what it earned, and they shall not be wronged?

25 Some commentators understand _unto a day_ to signify all that they will undergo on that day (R, Ṭ), while for others it simply means the Day of Judgment itself (Th). _Paid in full_ is a common way of expressing the soul's experience on the Day of Judgment and is related to the word for fulfilling one's oaths, as in 2:40: _Fulfill My covenant, and I shall fulfill your covenant._

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& Say, "O God, Master of Sovereignty. Thou givest sovereignty to whomsoever Thou wilt, and wrestest sovereignty from whomsoever Thou wilt. Thou exaltest whomsoever Thou wilt, and abasest whomsoever Thou wilt. In Thy Hand is the good. Truly Thou art Powerful over everything.

26 This verse is often used in Islamic piety as a prayer. _O God_ translates _Allāhumma,_ since this construction designates an address to God in the second person, but opinions differ over its etymology. Some consider it a shortening of _yā Allāhu ummanā bi-khayr_ ("O God, bring us good"), but others suggest somewhat less plausibly that the _mīm_ of the suffix takes the place of the traditional vocative particle _yā_ (usually rendered "O"); some scholars speculate that it comes from Aramaic or Akkadian. It is not related to the plural form, as is the case with the Hebrew _Elohim_.

_Master of Sovereignty_ renders _mālik al-mulk,_ two words closely related etymologically to each other and also to "king" ( _malik_ ) and "dominion" ( _malakūt_ ). _Mulk_ can also mean "rule" or "possession"; see 67:1c. Some recount that the Prophet asked for the sovereignty over Byzantium and Persia for his religion, after which this verse was revealed (Aj, R). Some say _mulk_ here refers to prophethood (Ṭ) and could thus be meant to counter objections from various quarters to the selection of Muhammad as a prophet, objections that stemmed from that fact that he was not of the Children of Israel, that he was not considered, before being chosen as a prophet, the most prominent or notable of the Arabs, or that he was a human being and not an angel. All commentators understand _the good_ to mean all possible good.

***

' Thou makest the night pass into the day, and Thou makest the day pass into the night. Thou bringest forth the living from the dead, and Thou bringest forth the dead from the living. And Thou providest for whomsoever Thou wilt without reckoning."

27 The theme of the night and day passing into one another appears also in 22:61; 31:29; 35:13; 57:6. On the cycle of life and death, also see 2:28. In the Quran this cycle refers both to creation as such, which is brought out from the "death" that is nonexistence, and to the cycles of life on earth, both human and of other living things, such as the revival of dry earth by rain (2:164). In one _ḥ adīth_ the Prophet advised a Companion who was in debt, "Shall I inform you of a prayer that, if you used it, and if you had a debt equal to Mt. Uḥud in gold, God would free you of it? Recite _Say, 'O God, Master of Sovereignty_ . . .' until ' _. . . without reckoning_ ' [i.e., vv. 26–27] [and then say], 'O Compassionate One of this world and the Hereafter, and Merciful One of them both, Thou givest from these [two worlds] as Thou wilt, and withholdest from these [two worlds] as Thou wilt! Bestow Mercy upon me that will make me beyond need of the mercy of those other than Thee!"

For Ibn ʿAjībah, those who are sovereign over their ego are exalted by God in both worlds, and those who take their ego as sovereign are abased in both worlds. Ibn ʿAjībah speaks to the esoteric tradition that interprets the _night_ as the night of the soul—that is, the soul in a state of spiritual contraction—and the _day_ as the soul's relief and spiritual expansion, which in the spiritual life are said to inevitably follow upon one another.

Some interpret the notion that God provides _without reckoning—_ that is, for whomsoever He wills—and the assertion that _God does as He wills_ (2:253; 14:27) to imply that God is "free" to be what appears to human beings to be unjust, while others claim that God can reward and exalt only those who are deserving. But the supremacy of God's Will does not detract from or contradict His Goodness and Compassion; at the same time God could never be bound by a human conception of merit, as the span of any life includes both this world and the next and human beings do not possess God's measures. For the commentators, _without reckoning_ can mean that none can hold God to account, that His giving is limitless, or that He can give without regard to the merit of human beings (R, Ṭs). It also can allude to God's infinite Mercy beyond any human measure.

***

( Let not the believers take the disbelievers as protectors apart from the believers. Whosoever does that has no bond with God, unless you guard against them out of prudence. And God warns you of Himself, and unto God is the journey's end.

28 In this context, _protectors_ renders _awliyā ʾ_ (sing. _walī_ ), a multifaceted word that can mean "protector," "ruler," "ally," "client," or "friend" depending on the context. The subject matter here is not friendship in the ordinary sense, but allegiance and group alignment in which the political stakes go beyond mere confessional identity. According to one view, this verse was revealed in connection with hypocrites in Madinah who were collaborating with the Makkans against the Prophet; others believe it referred to a friendship between some Helpers and certain Jewish men who wanted to lead them away from their religion; still others mention the case of a prominent Companion at the Battle of the Trench who wanted to marshal several hundred Jews to fight on the side of the Prophet, though generally without explaining why this suggestion was rejected (R, Ṭ, W). In these possible accounts it is primarily the political dimension that is in view. See 4:88–90c, which gives the political context of a verse employing similar language, as well as 4:144; 5:51; 5:57. Also see 3:118: _O you who believe! Take not intimates apart from yourselves; they will not stint you in corruption. They wish you to suffer_. Similar prohibitions apply to those who reject God, but take another agent as their _walī_ (7:30; 11:20; 13:16; 18:102; 29:41; 39:3; 42:6, 9, 46). _Has no bond with God_ could be translated literally, "is not of God in aught," the phrase "of [someone]" meaning to be allied or associated with them, to be part of their community—to be "one of them."

_Prudence_ translates _tuqāh,_ which some read as _taqiyyah;_ the latter is more widely known and often translated "dissimulation," though the word itself is etymologically related to "taking care" and "being wary" and is lexically related to _taqwā,_ or reverence (see 2:2c). Those who _guard against them out of prudence_ are exempted if they fear death or great harm through persecution at the hands of the community in which they live, in which case they can hide their faith through words but not through actions, which is to say they can deny to others that they are Muslim, but they cannot then violate the major rules of Islam by, for example, murdering, stealing, or committing adultery under the cover of this denial (Q, R, Ṭ). Elsewhere the Quran excuses _the one who is coerced, while his heart is at peace in faith_ (16:106), revealed in connection with the earliest martyrs in Makkah (Q), whose identity as Muslims put them in mortal danger. Others mention an exception that is made for blood relatives, in which case a disassociation in religion is still necessary even if the familial connection is maintained (Ṭ). The commentators mention an incident in which two Companions were captured by Musaylimah, a man who claimed to be a prophet, and were asked to affirm his prophetic status alongside that of Muhammad. One of them did, but the other did not, but neither lost faith in his heart. The Prophet said, "As for the first victim, he stayed with his certainty and truth, and happy is he. As for the second, he received the leniency of God, and there is no blame on him."

The concept of _taqiyyah_ is often associated more strongly with the Shiites, since during the period of the Imams (until about the mid-third/ninth century) _taqiyyah_ was considered an important virtue in Shiite piety, though it was later deemphasized when the Shiites constituted a large number and as the political position of Shiism became less insecure; _taqiyyah,_ however, continued throughout the history of Shiism and is still considered legitimate when circumstances necessitate it. The Sunni view toward _taqiyyah_ is substantially the same at a legal and political level, though the terminology might differ. At a spiritual level, _taqiyyah_ has also been used, in both Shiite Islam and the Sufi tradition in Sunni Islam, in the context of hiding or concealing spiritual teachings that are not appropriate for everyone.

God _warns you of Himself_ is taken to mean that He warns about His Wrath and Punishment. Some suggest that there is an elision of a word, meaning something like "God warns you of [His own punishment]," while others read it as "God warns you of that very thing," referring back to the act of taking others as allies and protectors (R).

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) Say, "If you hide what is in your breasts or disclose it, God knows it, and He knows whatsoever is in the heavens and whatsoever is on the earth." And God is Powerful over all things.

29 Cf. 28:69; also see 31:16: _If it be but the weight of a mustard seed, be it in a rock, in the heavens, or on the earth, God will bring it forth_. The Quran frequently describes how God knows what _lies within breasts_ (e.g., 3:119; 5:7; 8:43; 11:5; 29:10; 31:23; 39:7; 40:19; 42:24; 57:6; 64:4; 67:13; 100:10), and mention of His Omniscience is often combined with that of His Omnipotence.

***

Ð On the Day when every soul will find presented the good it did, and the evil it did, it will wish that there might be a distant term between it and itself. And God warns you of Himself, and God is Kind unto His servants.

30 Some understand _On the day when_ as a continuation of the warning in v. 28, so that together they would mean, "God warns you about Himself concerning a day when . . ." Others connect it to _the journey's end_ in v. 28, "And unto God is the journey's end . . . on the day when . . ." (R). Still others read it as having an elided verb, meaning something like, "And remember a day when . . ." (Ṭ). This evokes 99:6–8, when human beings will see every _mote's weight_ of evil or good they committed, and 18:49, when the book will be handed to them in the Hereafter in which they will _find present . . . whatsoever they did_. _Term_ ( _amad_ ) in this context refers not to a span of time, but to an appointed moment, and so the wish here is for a postponement (JJ, R). Of related meaning is 43:38: _Till, when he comes unto Us, he will say, "Would that there were between me and Thee the distance of the two easts!"_ See also the essay "Death, Dying, and the Afterlife in the Quran."

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Ñ Say, "If you love God, follow me, and God will love you and forgive you your sins. And God is Forgiving, Merciful."

31 For some, the command in this verse is a response to the position of the Christians of the Najrān delegation, who said they worshipped the Messiah out of love for God and that they loved their Lord (Th). In this connection some also mention the claims of the idolatrous Arabs that they worshipped the idols out of love for God, _We do not worship them, save to bring us nigh in nearness unto God_ (39:3). Al-Thaʿlabī mentions the _ḥ adīth,_ "Idolatry ( _shirk_ ) is more hidden than the creeping of an ant upon a stone on a dark night. The least of it is to love something tyrannical or to hate something just. Is religion other than loving in God and hating in God? God said, _Say,_ ' _If you love God, follow me, and God will love you._ '" It is noteworthy that this verse says _follow me_ and the next says _obey God and obey the Messenger,_ since not every act of following is an act of obedience. One cannot, in an ordinary sense, be a follower of God, but one can obey Him as well as His Prophet.

This verse puts to the test the claims of those who say that they love God, since in the presence of one of His prophets this should translate into action. Love demands, or inevitably leads to, a sacrifice of the soul. Even true earthly love cannot be a mere feeling or sensation. _Love_ renders the verb _ḥ abba_ (whose corresponding noun is _ḥ ubb_ or _ma ḥabbah_), one of several Arabic words denoting love (others include _ra ḥmah, ḥilm, mawaddah, luṭf,_ and _ʿ ishq,_ the last of which does not appear in the Quran), and here denotes the responsive dimension of God's Love, unlike _ra ḥmah_ (usually "compassion" or "mercy"; see 1:3c), which in Islamic theology and spirituality has both an unconditional and a responsive dimension. The Quran mentions God's Love for human beings much more often than their love for God. In Islamic spirituality it is more important to be considered beloved than a lover of God, as reflected in one of the names of the Prophet, _Ḥ abīb Allāh,_ whose primary meaning is "the Beloved of God," though it can also mean "the Lover of God." The Sufis say that we cannot be the beloved of God without loving Him and we cannot love Him unless He loves us. For more on _love,_ see 2:165c.

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Ò Say, "Obey God and obey the Messenger." If they turn away, then truly God loves not the disbelievers.

32 See also 4:80: _Whosoever obeys the Messenger obeys God;_ and 4:59: _Obey God and obey the Messenger and those in authority among you_. Such passages describe obedience to the Prophet as second only to obedience to God and set in place the normative character of the Prophet's teachings and actions (as do other passages such as 3:132; 5:92; 8:2, 20, 46; 24:54; 33:33; 47:33; 49:14; 64:12). Conformity with the sayings and doings of the Prophet is an essential aspect of Islamic Law and gave rise to the genre of _a ḥādīth_ that records the _Sunnah,_ or Wont of the Prophet (see the essay "The Quran as Source of Islamic Law"). For the Sufis the Prophet is a living presence through whom God acts to provide the spiritual traveler the strength to move along the path toward God. In the eyes of all Muslims, those who claim to love God and His Prophet but fail to follow them fall short in their faith. _Indeed, you have in the Messenger of God a beautiful example_ (33:21).

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Ó Truly God chose Adam, Noah, the House of Abraham, and the House of ʿImrān above the worlds,

Ô as progeny, one from another. And God is Hearing, Knowing.

33–34 The language of "being chosen by God" ( _mu ṣṭafā_) is used in connection with several figures in the Quran (see 3:42; 6:84–87; 7:144; 38:47). In fact, one of the names of the Prophet Muhammad is _al-Mu ṣṭafā,_ "the Chosen One." _House_ is used here in the sense of familial line. As in other places, such as 21:71, _above the worlds_ could also be read as "above all peoples" and is used in connection with other figures as well (e.g., 2:47; 6:86; 7:140).

ʿImrān is the name of Mary's father (also in v. 35; 66:12), who is not named in the Bible, but is known in extra-Biblical literature as Joachim, which means "He whom Yahweh set up." The commentators who equate the name ʿImrān with the Hebrew Amram (the name of Moses' father), and thus believe that both the father of Moses and the father of Mary were separately named ʿImrān, do not seem to be aware of the name Joachim. The Quran and _Ḥ adīth_ do not name Moses' father; so it is unclear how the equation between ʿImrān and Amram came to be, even though commentators as early as Muqātil (d. 150/767) seem to accept it, and they make an explicit distinction between the two (including the centuries between them). It is noteworthy that ʿImrān comes from the root _ʿ -m-r,_ among whose meanings is to "erect," "build," or "set up." The name is close to the word _ʿ umrān,_ which means a building, edifice, or structure, and the _-ān_ ending is common in Arabic, as in the name ʿUthmān and many other words, such as _gha ḍbān, subḥān, sakrān, ḥirmān, ḥasrān, furqān._ One could speculate that _ʿ Imrān Allāh_ is equivalent to _Yehoyaqim_.

_As progeny, one from another_ is understood in terms of bloodlines, in that the House of ʿImrān is descended from the House of Abraham, which is descended from Noah, who descended from Adam (M). It is also understood as a spiritual filiation, in that these houses and figures are connected through their worship of and obedience to the One God (Ṭ). The verse can also be read as a way of not elevating one family line over another, as the phrase rendered here as _one from another_ appears as _the one of you is as the other_ in 4:25 (M).

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Õ [Remember] when the wife of ʿImrān said, "My Lord, truly I dedicate to Thee what is in my belly, in consecration. So accept it from me. Truly Thou art the Hearing, the Knowing."

35 _[Remember] when_ renders the Arabic particle _idh,_ which indicates attachment to something that has preceded. In this instance it is said to be related, as is often the case, to the implied injunction _udhkur,_ meaning "remember" or "mention." It is reported that Mary's father, ʿImrān, died before she was born, and her mother, Ḥannah (Anne), promised to dedicate her child to the service of the Temple, to study and learn from the Book and to be free of other responsibilities outside of service and worship (R, Ṭ).

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Ö And when she bore her, she said, "My Lord, I have borne a female," and God knows best what she bore, and the male is not like the female, "and I have named her Mary, and I seek refuge for her in Thee, and for her progeny, from Satan the outcast."

36 Some commentators consider Anne to be the one who remarks upon the gender of the child, _and the male is not like the female,_ meaning that it would not have been possible for a girl to have carried out the same responsibilities as a boy in the Temple; commentators mention here differences in physical strength and endurance, but issues of ritual purity related to menstruation may also have been a barrier to service in the Temple (IK, Ṭ). By _progeny_ commentators understand an allusion to Jesus. Some mention that this could be interpreted as connoting the superiority of the female, in that, though she was expecting a male, God chose to give her a female child (Q) who would bear and manifest knowledge of God (R). One way of understanding _the male is not like the female_ is that it establishes that there are real, meaningful differences between the sexes; at the same time, however, God _accepted her with a beautiful acceptance_ (v. 37), suggesting that those differences are irrelevant from the spiritual point of view.

Seeking refuge in God from Satan is frequently mentioned in the Quran: _So when you recite the Quran, seek refuge in God from the outcast Satan_ (16:98); _And should a temptation from Satan provoke thee, seek refuge in God_ (7:200; 41:36). _The outcast_ literally means "the stoned one," evoking the casting of stones; throwing stones against columns representing Satan is a part of the rites of the _ḥ ajj_.

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× So her Lord accepted her with a beautiful acceptance, and made her to grow in a beautiful way, and placed her under the care of Zachariah. Whenever Zachariah entered upon her in the sanctuary he found provision with her. He said, "Mary, whence comes this unto thee?" She said, "It is from God. Truly God provides for whomsoever He will without reckoning."

37 Depending on how the verb in _placed her under the care of Zachariah_ is read, this could also be translated, "Zachariah took her under his care" (IK, Ṭ). This verse is usually understood in light of v. 44: _And thou wast not with them when they cast their lots [to choose] who among them would care for Mary_. In the Islamic tradition, Zachariah's wife is Mary's maternal "aunt," not necessarily her mother's sister, but her mother's relative (IK; cf. Luke 1:36).

God accepted her prayer _with a beautiful acceptance_ by protecting Mary, and then Jesus. A possible Christian counterpart to the Quran's narration about Mary's life at the Temple, but one that does not appear in the Bible, is found in noncanonical literature such as the _Protoevangelium of James,_ which describes the presentation, or entrance, of Mary into the Temple, an event recognized by Catholic and Orthodox traditions. According to this account, Mary was presented at the Temple at age three by her parents, who had previously been childless, in fulfillment of their vow. They promised that, if a child were born to them, that child would be dedicated to the service of God. Almost nothing of Mary's youth is to be found in the Bible itself.

The latter part of this verse, _Whenever Zachariah entered ._ . . _without reckoning,_ is found inscribed, in many mosques throughout the Islamic world, over the semicircular hollow or niche ( _mi ḥrāb_) in the front inner wall, sometimes topped by an arch, that marks the direction of prayer toward Makkah and before which the imam stands to lead the canonical prayer. In this verse, _mi ḥrāb_ is translated _sanctuary,_ as Mary's sanctuary would have been a separate room or area, not a niche hollowed out in a wall. It is mentioned in v. 39 as the place where Zachariah is given news of his son John's impending birth and again in 19:11 as the place from which he emerges to signal his people to glorify God.

The _provision_ can be either material or spiritual, or both (IK). Some commentators say that Mary would have had the fruits of summer in winter and of winter in summer, but others have said, rather, that what she was given seemed to multiply beyond the original amount (Ṭ). That _God provides for whomsoever He will without reckoning_ (cf. 2:212; 3:27; 24:38) means that God's Provision is limitless, uncountable, and that God answers to no one for the way in which He provides for His creation; see 2:212c. That the fruits were out of season would have implied that no human being could have brought them to her. This Divine provision is also a symbol of the fact that both Mary and her mother conceived "out of season," Mary, because no man had touched her, and her mother, because of her advanced age.

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Ø Then and there, Zachariah called upon his Lord. He said, "My Lord, grant me from Thy Presence a good progeny. Truly Thou hearest all calls!"

Ù Then the angels called to him while he was praying in the sanctuary, "God gives thee glad tidings of John, confirming a word from God, noble and chaste, a prophet, from among the righteous."

38–39 _Then and there_ means upon seeing the blessing bestowed upon Mary (Ṭ). The story of Zachariah and John is given in fuller detail in 19:2–15, which describes Zachariah's fear of what his existing heirs might do after his death and his mention of his own and his wife's advanced age. _Confirming a word from God_ is understood to mean that John will confirm Jesus son of Mary, who is described as _a Word from Him_ in v. 45 (R, M, Ṭ). To "confirm" means to affirm the truth of something or someone; it is used in many verses to describe the Quran itself as a confirmation of previous revelations (e.g., 2:41; 3:4; 5:48). _Noble_ ( _sayyid_ ) is understood to mean learned, devout, wise, generous, reverent of God, clement, and temperate (IK, Ṭ). _Chaste,_ according to some, refers to someone who abstains from sexual relations with women or vice versa, though many commentators believe this means abstention only from illicit sexual relations, not total celibacy (IK).

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@ He said, "My Lord, how shall I have a boy when age has overtaken me and my wife is barren?" He said, "Thus does God do whatsoever He will."

A He said, "My Lord, appoint for me a sign." He said, "Your sign is that you shall not speak to the people for three days, save through signs." And remember your Lord much, and glorify [Him] at eventide and at dawn.

40–41 For a fuller discussion of John's birth and Zachariah's sign from God, which consists in his not being able to speak but communicating through gestures or _signs,_ see 19:2–15. _At eventide_ is the time from the declining of the sun until its setting, and _at dawn_ the time from daybreak until sunrise.

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B And [remember] when the angels said, "O Mary, truly God has chosen thee and purified thee, and has chosen thee above the women of the worlds.

42 The _and [remember] when_ at the start of this verse is continued with the _when_ at the start of v. 45, both of which set up _She said_ in v. 47, so that it would mean, "When the angels said what they said, she said . . ." A _ḥ adīth_ states, "Mary the daughter of ʿImrān, Khadījah bint Khuwaylid [the Prophet's first wife], Fāṭimah bint Muhammad [the Prophet's daughter], and Āsiyah the wife of Pharaoh suffice you among the women of the worlds." This and similar _a ḥādīth_ speak of these four women as being the best or most perfect of all women (IK), and most Muslims believe that these women lead the soul of blessed women to Paradise.

In this verse Mary is _chosen, purified,_ and then _chosen_ a second time. Some understand the first election to refer to the first part of her life, when she was given to devotion and service in the Temple and was granted miraculous sustenance (see v. 37), and the second, to her being given the miracle of Jesus' birth (R). _Purified_ is understood to mean her purity of intention and worship (R), but, as in other contexts, to be purified can also mean to be kept pure from the defilement of the evil of others. The verse has language similar to that of Luke 1:42, where it is said to Mary, "Blessed art thou among women."

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C O Mary! Be devoutly obedient to thy Lord, prostrate, and bow with those who bow."

43 Regarding _devoutly obedient_ ( _qānit_ ), which carries the sense of conformity, but also of constancy, being in a standing position, and silence, see 4:34c. Prostration and bowing are mentioned together in 2:125 in a command to Abraham and Ishmael, and _bow with those who bow_ also appears in 2:43.

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D This is from the tidings of the Unseen, which We reveal unto thee. And thou wast not with them when they cast their lots [to choose] who among them would care for Mary, and thou wast not with them when they were disputing.

44 _Unseen_ ( _ghayb_ ) can mean what is absent from us through being invisible or hidden, but also what is absent by being in the past, in the future, or in another state of being; the Quran also points out that the prophet was not witness to the events at Sinai in 28:44, 46. The most widely accepted account is that the priests of the Temple desired to be the custodians of Mary after she entered the Temple (see v. 37) and cast lots to decide who would have the privilege (IK, M). In many places the Bible mentions that lots were cast on a regular basis for matters of varying levels of importance (choosing persons—who would be king, who would offer incense in the Temple, who would sacrifice an animal—and also for divination), not only for occasional intractable decisions. Some commentators believe, however, that Zachariah was not disputed as the custodian or caretaker of Mary (Ṭ), since he was the husband of her maternal relative. In the latter interpretation, the disputation regarding Mary could have been a question of her ongoing care or of who would serve her in the Temple. But it is more widely accepted that indeed they cast lots and it was God's Will that she be given into the care of Zachariah.

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E When the angels said, "O Mary, truly God gives thee glad tidings of a Word from Him, whose name is the Messiah, Jesus son of Mary, high honored in this world and the Hereafter, and one of those brought nigh.

45 _When_ renders the particle _idh,_ which is thought by some to be a continuation of the _when_ at the beginning of v. 42 (Z), although it is read by others to be connected to v. 44, so that it could be read, "Thou wast not with them when . . . and when . . ." _When_ may also serve as a kind of connecting particle that does not necessarily give the sense of "when" or any other concrete meaning. Some interpret Jesus' description as _a Word from Him_ to mean that Jesus was a means by which God's Word became manifest in the world, in a manner analogous to the way one refers to the sultan as the "shadow of God on earth" to indicate that he is a means by which God's Justice is manifest on earth. Since Jesus was created "directly" by the word "Be!" (see v. 47), one might also say that his association with _the Word_ is stronger and more unmediated, in the way one says that a generous person is generosity itself, or pure nobility, and the like (R). On the concept of Jesus as Word, see 4:171c.

_Messiah_ renders _al-Masī ḥ,_ which corresponds closely in meaning to the Hebrew _mashiach_ (Z), "anointed one." The commentators do not mention the later eschatological associations of this word in the Judeo-Christian tradition. Even in Judaism the word was first used to designate anointed kings or priests and is used in the Bible as a title for the Persian king Cyrus who freed the Jews from captivity in Babylon, the high priest, David, the patriarchs, and Israel as a whole. _Those brought nigh_ refers, in the Hereafter, to the foremost believers, mentioned in 56:11, 88; 83:21, 28; it also refers to the angels (4:172). The idea of being _brought nigh_ is also used by Pharaoh in the worldly sense of being part of the ruler's inner circle (see 7:114; 26:42).

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F He will speak to people in the cradle and in maturity, and will be among the righteous."

46 On Jesus' speaking in the cradle, see commentary on 19:29–31.

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G She said, "My Lord, how shall I have a child while no human being has touched me?" He said, "Thus does God create whatsoever He will." When He decrees a thing, He only says to it, "Be!" and it is.

47 For Gabriel's announcement of Jesus to Mary, see 19:16–21. _He only says to it, "Be!"_ is discussed in 2:117c and is also found in 6:73; 16:40; 19:35; 36:82; 40:68. In v. 59 of this _sūrah,_ it is connected explicitly with Adam and Jesus.

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H And He will teach him the Book, Wisdom, the Torah, and the Gospel.

48 Regarding the Quranic understanding of the _Torah_ ( _Tawrāt_ ) and the _Gospel_ ( _Injīl_ ), see 3:3–4c. The Book and Wisdom appear together in many verses of the Quran describing what was given to various prophets (e.g., 2:151; 3:164; 4:54). They are used in connection with Jesus also in 5:110, and with the Children of Israel in 45:16.

That Jesus was taught the Book _and_ the Torah and the Gospel raises the question about what "the Book" refers to here. Some solve this by saying that _the Book_ ( _kitāb_ ) must mean the ability to write ( _kitābah_ ; IK, R). However, in Arabic the conjunction _wa_ ("and," but simply designated by a comma here after _Book_ ) can in certain cases denote two nouns in apposition, as in 2:98, _Whosoever is an enemy of God, His angels and His messengers, and Gabriel and Michael,_ where Gabriel and Michael, who are archangels, are mentioned alongside the other angels; that is, in this verse the Book and the Torah would not necessarily refer to different things.

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I And [he will be] a messenger to the Children of Israel, "Truly I have brought you a sign from your Lord. I will create for you out of clay the shape of a bird. Then I will breathe into it, and it will be a bird by God's Leave. And I will heal the blind and the leper and give life to the dead by God's Leave. And I will inform you about what you eat and what you store up in your houses. Truly in that is a sign for you, if you are believers.

49 For a discussion of the miracles mentioned in this verse, see 5:110c, where similar points are discussed. Although some opinions record that the _blind_ are those who can see during the day, but not at night, or they are the bleary-eyed ( _a ʿmash_), most commentators understand it to refer to those who are born blind. _The leper:_ leprosy was widely known in the ancient world, causing severe disfigurement and nerve damage, and was highly contagious. Until recently it was incurable by medical means.

_And I will inform you . . . your houses:_ some relate that as a child Jesus would tell his playmates or his classmates about what their parents were doing or what they kept in their houses (R), while others say that this was in relation to a time when the people were forbidden to store up food in their houses (R, Ṭ). Others say that this refers to the table onto which food descended in 5:112–15, adding to the story the detail that they were supposed to partake of the feast of the table, but were not to store up any of it; they did so and were chastised for it (Ṭ). Jesus' giving _life to the dead_ is accepted in both the Quran and the Bible, but the Quran emphasizes the fact that both Jesus' giving life to the clay bird (not found in the New Testament) and his raising of the dead were miracles that happened _by God's Leave_.

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P And [I come] confirming that which was before me, the Torah, and to make lawful unto you part of that which was forbidden unto you. And I have come to you with a sign from your Lord. So reverence God and obey me.

Q Truly God is my Lord and your Lord; so worship Him. This is a straight path."

50–51 Jesus is also said to confirm the Torah in 5:46 and 61:6. The language of confirmation echoes the manner in which the Quran is said to confirm earlier revelations (2:41, 91, 97; 3:3; 4:47; 5:46; 35:31; 46:30; 61:6). _To make lawful unto you part of that which was forbidden_ is understood to pertain to certain dietary restrictions, but not to fundamental moral injunctions such as those against murder and adultery (Q, Ṭ). What was previously forbidden and is now made lawful was either some of the rules in the Torah (see 4:160; 6:146) or restrictions the Israelites imposed upon themselves in succeeding generations (see v. 93; IK, Q). This latter interpretation, that Jesus did not change any aspect of Moses' original revelation, is supported by Jesus' words in 43:63: _I have come unto you with wisdom and to make clear to you some of that wherein you differ._ Some commentators maintain that what Jesus brought was "gentler" than what Moses brought and constituted an "alleviation" (Ṭ). _Reverence God and obey me_ is spoken also by the prophets Noah, Hūd, Ṣāliḥ, Lot, and Shuʿayb (see 26:108, 126, 144, 163, 179, respectively). The statement that God is _my Lord and your Lord_ is also spoken by Jesus in 5:72, 117; 19:36; 43:64; by Hūd in 11:56; and by Moses in 40:27; 44:20.

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R And when Jesus sensed disbelief in them, he said, "Who are my helpers unto God?" The apostles said, "We are God's helpers. We believe in God; bear witness that we are submitters.

52 The _disbelief_ is understood to mean actual hostility beyond simple rejection, and commentators contextualize this verse in relation to Jesus' being in exile or fleeing from those wishing to kill him (R, Ṭ). _Helpers unto God_ is understood to mean, "Helpers [along] with God" (Ṭ), so that the question means more specifically, "Who will add their help to that of God?" (R) or "Who will be my helpers [in my fleeing] unto God?" (R). _Apostles_ translates _ḥ awāriyyūn,_ a word that may be derived from the Ethiopic _ḥ awārya. Submitters_ renders _muslimūn_ (cf. 5:111) and is one of several places in the Quran in which _islām_ and _muslim_ convey a universal meaning beyond indicating followers of Muhammad specifically (2:128, 132; 5:111; see 3:19c).

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S Our Lord, we believe in what Thou hast sent down, and we follow the messenger, so inscribe us among the witnesses."

53 The idea of _witnesses_ reflects an important theme in the Quran regarding testifying and bearing witness, which is carried out by human beings, angels, and God, as in 3:18: _God bears witness that there is no god but He, as do the angels and the possessors of knowledge, upholding justice_. In 3:64 the Muslim community is commanded to say, _Bear witness that we are submitters,_ if others turn away from them. _Witness_ ( _shāhid_ ) can have the dual sense of someone who knows as well as someone who upholds and confirms. See also 2:143c.

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T And they plotted, and God plotted. And God is the best of plotters,

54 _They plotted_ refers to Jesus' enemies. Other verses mention God's "scheming" against the schemes of disbelieving people (8:30; 13:42; 27:50). Some understand God's "scheming" to refer to His taking and raising Jesus unto Himself (see v. 55, and commentary on 4:157–58).

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U when He said, "O Jesus, I shall take thee and raise thee unto Me, and purify thee of those who disbelieved, and place those who followed thee above those who disbelieved, until the Day of Resurrection. Then unto Me is your return, and I shall judge between you concerning that wherein you used to differ.

55 Cf. 4:158. _Take_ in _I shall take thee_ translates _mutawaffī,_ which is usually understood to mean that God takes one unto Himself, that is, in death. In the context of this verse, most assert, however, that it does not refer to being taken in death, but rather to being taken from the world (Ṭ), although others believe this does refer to God causing Jesus to die. Others say it refers to sleep, as in 6:60: _He it is Who takes your souls by night;_ and 39:42: _God takes souls at the moment of their death, and those who die not during their sleep_ (IK). See 4:157c for a discussion of the crucifixion and end of Jesus' earthly life.

_Purify thee_ can mean to free him from his enemies or to absolve him of their doings (R). Some understand _place those who followed thee above those who disbelieved_ to refer to the historical relationship of Christians to Jews (IK), though for others it means that the Muslims who believe in him in the proper way, not the Christians, will be "placed above" the disbelievers (Ṭ). For others, it is a question of the superiority of proof and demonstration, meaning that the believers' arguments will always be "placed above" those of the disbelievers (R). Many commentators also mention the belief that Jesus will return before the end of time, fight the Dajjāl ("Antichrist"), and rule according to the Law of Muhammad until the world comes to an end. In a _ḥ adīth,_ the Prophet is reported to have said, "No man has greater claim to Jesus than I do, because there was no prophet between us, and he will be my vicegerent over my community. He will descend, and when you see him you will know him." For God's Judgment or disclosure of the truth in matters of religious disagreement ( _that wherein you used to differ_ ) on the Day of Judgment, see 2:113c.

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V And as for those who disbelieve, I shall punish them with a severe punishment in this world and the Hereafter; and they shall have no helpers.

W And as for those who believe and perform righteous deeds, He shall pay them their rewards in full. And God loves not the wrongdoers."

56–57 Punishment and reward are meted out in both this life and the Hereafter, as in 2:114; 3:22; 16:30 (cf. 16:122; 39:10).

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X This is what We recite unto thee of the signs and the Wise Reminder.

58 The _Wise Reminder_ ( _al-dhikr al- ḥakīm_) is another name for the Quran, though some understand this to refer to the _Preserved Tablet_ (85:22) from which all revelation comes down to earth. This verse ends the passage in which God is addressing Jesus and begins to directly address the Prophet Muhammad regarding belief in Jesus.

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Y Truly the likeness of Jesus in the sight of God is that of Adam; He created him from dust, then said to him, "Be!" and he was.

59 It is reported that these verses were revealed while the Christian delegation from Najrān was in Madinah (see the introduction to this _sūrah_ ). These Christians reportedly argued that since Jesus had no human father, he was truly God's son. This verse constitutes one of the central arguments in the Quran against the divinity of Christ. It acknowledges the miraculous nature of his birth, but rejects the implication that this makes him Divine. If God could create Adam, who had neither earthly father nor mother, _from dust,_ he could also create Jesus from the "blood" of Mary (R). The word _likeness_ means that certain attributes of Adam and Jesus are alike (R). Regarding the Divine fiat _Be!_ which appears also in 6:73; 16:40; 36:82; 40:68, see 2:117c.

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` The truth is from thy Lord; so be not among the doubters.

60 This verse says not to doubt the description of Jesus in the previous verse (Ṭ).

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a And to whomsoever disputes with thee over it, after the knowledge that has come unto thee, say, "Come! Let us call upon our sons and your sons, our women and your women, ourselves and yourselves. Then let us pray earnestly, so as to place the curse of God upon those who lie."

61 There are varying accounts of the details of the encounter, but the elements common to the story are that when the Christians refused to embrace Islam and continued to hold to their beliefs about Jesus, they were challenged _to place the curse of God upon those who lie,_ and the two sides agreed to meet the next day. Upon retiring, the Christians consulted among themselves and concluded that, since they wished to remain Christian, no further good could come from entering into this challenge; either they feared the curse of God upon themselves if Muhammad was in fact a true prophet or that they feared Muhammad politically and did not desire to become his political enemy. According to some reports, the Prophet came out the next day with his daughter Fāṭimah and her two sons, Ḥasan and Ḥusayn; other accounts also include ʿAlī, Fāṭimah's husband and the Prophet's cousin, as the verse says the disputants' sons and women were part of the challenge (IK, R, Ṭ). Rather than enter into this challenge, the Christians declined and, according to some versions, said, "We seek refuge in God!" (IK). Then the Prophet and the Najrān delegation came to an agreement that the Najrānīs would become a treaty-holding people ( _dhimmī_ ), remaining Christian and running their own affairs, but paying a yearly indemnity ( _jizyah;_ see 9:29) to the Muslim community. They requested that the Prophet send back with them a trustworthy Companion, which the Prophet did, according to one account in order that he might act as a kind of arbiter among them regarding some preexisting financial issues. For Ibn Kathīr this incident took place in 9/631, since the Najrānīs were the first to pay _jizyah,_ and the _jizyah_ was imposed after the conquest of Makkah; but this chronology depends on the various and sometimes conflicting reports regarding the circumstances under which the Najrānīs came to Madinah, what transpired while they were there, and the agreement that was reached before they left.

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b This is indeed the true account; there is no god but God, and truly God is the Mighty, the Wise.

c And if they turn away, then God knows well the workers of corruption.

62–63 The _true account_ is understood to refer to the preceding verses, meaning that they are a true account of Jesus' reality and of what led to the prayer challenge (R), or it refers to the Quran as a whole and the accounts it relates (Q). It is noteworthy that here _there is no god but God_ translates _mā min ilāhin illā'Llāh,_ not the usual formula _lā ilāha illa'Llāh_. The latter is the standard Islamic testimony of faith in Arabic; the former is understood by some as a kind of intensification of the negation of other gods (R, Z).

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d Say, "O People of the Book! Come to a word common between us and you, that we shall worship none but God, shall not associate aught with Him, and shall not take one another as lords apart from God." And if they turn away, then say, "Bear witness that we are submitters."

64 Interpreting this verse hinges on the understanding of _common_ ( _sawā ʾ_), a word sometimes understood as meaning "just" or "fair." _Sawā ʾ_ comes from a root meaning "level [with]," "same," "equal," "straight," "sound," "well-proportioned," or "middle [of]," as in _sawā ʾ al-sabīl,_ which literally means "the middle of the road," but idiomatically means "the right way" (e.g., 28:22). Thus this phrase is interpreted by some to mean not that the Quran is calling the People of the Book to observe what Christianity or Judaism have in common with Islam, but that this word (or these words) to which the Prophet is calling the People of the Book are just and fair (R). Al-Rāzī glosses it thus: "Come to a word in which there is fair treatment from each of us to the other." Others, while accepting the gloss of "just," go on to explain that it refers to what these religions have in common, since they all claim to worship God (M), and others similarly say that _sawā ʾ_ refers to that regarding which the Quran, the Torah, and the Gospel do not differ (Z). Al-Thaʿlabī quotes an opinion of Ibn Masʿūd that to call some to the _sawā ʾ_ of something is to call them to the middle of it.

For some, the command in this verse was meant to address the Jews in and around Madinah, while for others it was directed at both Jews and Christians (Ṭ), but some restricted it to the Christians of Najrān in particular (Q). Some understand _take one another as lords_ to mean that one prostrates before them (Ṭ); for others it means that one is obedient to them to the detriment of the truth (R). This part of the verse is similar to 9:31: _They have taken their rabbis and monks as lords apart from God, as well as the Messiah, son of Mary, though they were only commanded to worship one God_.

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e O People of the Book! Why do you dispute concerning Abraham, as neither the Torah nor the Gospel was sent down until after him? Do you not understand?

f Behold! You are the very same who dispute concerning that of which you have knowledge; so why do you dispute concerning that of which you have no knowledge? God knows, and you know not.

65–66 _That of which you have knowledge_ refers to the People of the Book's knowledge of Muhammad and his religion, including the foretellings of the coming of the Prophet that Muslims maintain Jews and Christians find in their own scriptures (see 7:157; Q); others say their dispute was over what was forbidden or lawful in their own religion (R, Z); still others say they disputed whether the law of the Quran differs from the law of the Torah and the Gospel (R). _That of which you have no knowledge_ refers to their claims regarding Abraham, about whom they have no direct knowledge, unlike those matters about which they had direct knowledge, but still could not agree upon (Q, R, Ṭ).

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g Abraham was neither Jew nor Christian, but rather was a _ḥ anīf _,__ a submitter, and he was not one of the idolaters.

67 Related to this verse is 2:135: _And they say, "Be Jews or Christians and you shall be rightly guided." Say, "Rather, [ours is] the creed of Abraham, the_ ḥanīf, _and he was not of the idolaters."_ Alongside Abraham, 2:140 adds _Ishmael, Isaac, Jacob, and the Tribes_ among those who were neither Jews nor Christians. The related question of the claims of Jews and Christians to having a special status before God is mentioned in 2:111–13 and 5:18. For a discussion of the concept of _ḥ anīf,_ see 2:135c. Regarding _submitter,_ 3:19c.

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h Truly the people worthiest of Abraham are those who followed him, and this prophet and those who believe. And God is the Protector of the believers.

68 _Worthiest of Abraham_ means having the most claim on him, the most right to be associated with him (IK, R). _Worthiest_ translates _awlā,_ a term that is related to _walī,_ "protector" or "friend," which appears later in this verse in the description of God as the _Protector_ of the believers. In this sense, to say that they are _awlā_ means they have the strongest bond of _walāyah_ (inheritance, protection, friendship, alliance) with Abraham. A _ḥ adīth_ of the Prophet states, "Every prophet has protection ( _walāyah_ ) from among the prophets, and my protector among them is my father, the Friend of God ( _Khalīl Allāh_ ), Abraham." The _walāyah_ mentioned in this _ḥ adīth_ can also evoke the sense of succession and inheritance in the spiritual sense.

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i A group among the People of the Book wishes to make you go astray; yet they make none go astray but themselves, though they are unaware.

69 Some People of the Book _go astray_ themselves insofar as they reject the truth that exists before them in the person of the Prophet Muhammad and the revelation of the Quran; or they _go astray_ because they _wish to turn you back into disbelievers after your having believed, out of envy in their souls_ (2:109). This verse resembles other verses that describe how the effects of evil actions rebound upon those who commit them, as in 2:9: _They would deceive God and the believers; yet they deceive none but themselves, though they are unaware;_ and 2:57: _They wronged Us not, but themselves did they wrong._ Some commentators as well as ordinary Muslims take this as a warning not to be taken in by false friends among the People of the Book (R). The desire of others for the suffering and disbelief of the Muslim community are also mentioned in 3:118: _They wish you to suffer;_ 4:89: _They wish that you should disbelieve, even as they disbelieve, that you may be on a level with them;_ 60:2: _And they wish you to disbelieve;_ and 68:9: _They wish that thou might compromise_.

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p O People of the Book! Why do you disbelieve in God's signs, while you are witness?

q O People of the Book! Why do you confound the truth with falsehood, and knowingly conceal the truth?

70–71 The warning of v. 70 resembles that of v. 99: _O People of the Book! Why do you turn those who believe from the way of God, seeking to make it crooked, while you are witnesses?_ The wording of v. 71 is similar to that of 2:42: _And confound not truth with falsehood, nor knowingly conceal the truth._ These verses are usually understood to refer to the rejection of the mission of the Prophet by Jews and Christians, even though he is foretold, according to Islamic belief, in their sacred books (see 7:157; Ṭ). Some say that their being _witnesses_ means that they bear witness to the truth of the prophets in their own tradition, who themselves manifest the same truths (Q).

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r And a group of the People of the Book say, "Believe in what was sent down unto those who believe at the start of the day, and disbelieve at its end, that haply they may return.

72 It is thought that this verse refers to a stratagem on the part of some Jews to pray with the Muslims at the start of the day, affirming their belief in Islam, but then at the end of the day to revert back to their own religion with the intention of creating doubt and uncertainty in the minds of the Muslims about Islam (IK, Ṭ); that is, their about-face would be a more powerful cause of doubt in the minds of the Prophet's followers, _that haply they may return_ to their pre-Muslim ways (Ṭ).

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s And believe none but him who follows your religion. . ." Say, "Truly guidance is God's Guidance." ". . . lest anyone be granted the like of what you were granted or dispute with you before your Lord." Say, "Truly bounty is in God's Hand. He grants it to whomsoever He will, and God is All-Encompassing, Knowing."

73 The subtle grammatical structure of this verse lends itself to several interpretations. As translated, the first clause is a continuation of what was said by _a group of the People of the Book_ in the previous verse. Their words are then interrupted by a command that the Prophet say to them, _Truly guidance is God's Guidance,_ after which the words of the People of the Book resume. Then the Prophet is commanded to say, _Truly bounty is in God's Hand._ Alternately, the Prophet may have been given two successive Commands to speak to the People of the Book, in which case it would be translated, "Say, 'Truly guidance is God's Guidance, [this guidance being] that someone be granted the like of what you were granted or dispute with you before your Lord.' Say, 'Truly bounty is in God's Hand. He grants it to whomsoever He will, and God is All-Encompassing, Knowing.'" Another reading would make the intervening clause a partial question, interpreted to mean, "Say, 'Truly guidance is God's Guidance. Is it that someone be granted the like of what you were granted or dispute with you before your Lord [that leads you to object]?'" (Q, R, Ṭ). Similar words spoken by the People of the Book appear in 2:14; also 2:76: _And when they meet those who believe they say, "We believe," and when they are alone with one another they say, "Do you speak to them of what God has unveiled to you, that they may thereby dispute with you before your Lord? Do you not understand?"_ As in other instances, _All-Encompassing_ ( _al-Wāsi ʿ_) means also "Generous" and "Munificent."

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t He selects for His Mercy whomsoever He will, and God is Possessed of Tremendous Bounty.

74 _Selects for His Mercy_ could also mean "singles out for His Mercy." The language used to describe God's Mercy reflects that describing His Bounty in the previous verse, both of which He bestows upon _whomsoever He will,_ underscoring the vastness and generosity of God and the limitless ways in which He provides and shows kindness (R). More specifically, the one _He selects for His Mercy_ here refers to the Prophet ( _al-Mu ṣṭafā,_ "the Chosen One"), who has been selected for prophethood, even if others object (see 3:26c); it may also refer to the Quran or to Islam itself (Ṭ).

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u Among the People of the Book is one who, were you to entrust to him a _quintal,_ would render it back to you. And among them is one who, were you to entrust to him a _dinar,_ would not render it back to you unless you kept standing over him. That is because they say, "There is nothing to stop us when it comes to the non-Jews." But they knowingly speak a lie against God.

v Yea! Whosoever fulfills his pact and is reverent—truly God loves the reverent.

75–76 Distinguishing between the good and bad among the People of the Book is revisited in 3:113: _They are not all alike. Among the People of the Book is an upright community who recite God's signs in the watches of the night, while they prostrate._ A _quintal_ ( _qin ṭār_) is an amount many times larger than a _dīnār,_ though not necessarily a precise measure (R); see also 3:14, where the plural of _qin ṭār_ is translated _heaps,_ and 4:20, where it means a _great sum_.

What is entrusted can refer to a loan, a purchase, or simply something given for safekeeping (Q). According to one explanation, some Jews considered previous agreements between them and former Jews who became Muslims (but who were still Jews when those agreements were made) to be null and void, claiming that this was the teaching from the Torah (Q) or that it was attributed to an excess of tribalism (R). _Non-Jews_ renders _ummiyyūn_ (sing. _ummī_ ), elsewhere rendered _illiterate_ (2:78) or _unlettered_ (3:20; 7:157–58; 62:2); see 3:20c. Here it is understood to mean that, from the point of view of the Jews speaking, the contractual obligations with non-Jews were different, and they did not have to be observed with the same care, if at all, with those Jews who had become Muslims (Q, R, Ṭ). It is said that some Muslims came to Ibn ʿAbbās and made a similar claim against some members of a non-Muslim treaty-holding community ( _ahl al-dhimmah_ ), saying, "There is nothing to stop us when it comes to them." They were corrected by Ibn ʿAbbās, who told them that it was not permissible to take any wealth from the treaty peoples beyond what they paid in indemnity, or _jizyah_ (Q; for the _jizyah,_ see 9:29). Many commentators use this verse as an occasion to speak of the importance of protecting trusts and repaying what one owes. Al-Qurṭubī quotes a long _ḥ adīth_ stating that, regarding the weighty matter of returning trusts to their owners, resentment leads to perfidy, and perfidy leads to a lack of compassion, which in turn leads to being cursed and outcast, which ultimately leads to Islam leaving one's heart.

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w Truly those who sell God's Pact and their oaths for a paltry price, they shall have no share in the Hereafter and God will not speak to them, nor will He look at them on the Day of Resurrection, nor will He purify them. And theirs shall be a painful punishment.

77 Cf. 2:174. Selling one's ultimate destiny _for a paltry price_ is an act frequently decried in the Quran, whether it is selling God's signs (2:41; 3:199; 5:44; 9:9), God's Book (2:79, 174; 3:187), or an oath with God (16:95). _No share in the Hereafter_ means no share of its goodness and blessings, not that one will have no experience of the events after death (R, Ṭ). The phrase translated by _no share_ ( _lā khalāq_ ) is also used to describe someone who lacks virtues. Although some commentators understand from this verse that God will not speak to or look at such people at all, others understand this to be an expression of displeasure and punishment, since other verses describe God speaking even to disbelievers on the Day of Judgment (e.g., 7:6; 15:92–93; 23:108). To not wish to speak with or look upon a person is an expression of anger or wrath and, when coming from God, is a severe form of punishment, just as God's looking upon or speaking with a person is a great form of blessing (R). For more discussion, see 2:174c. As in 2:174, _nor will He purify them_ means He will not praise them for their goodness or deem them purified (Ṭ), or He will not set right their evil deeds (Q), or He will not accept their deeds as He accepts those of the purified. The verb _zakkā_ can mean both to purify and to deem purified, as in 53:32: _So do not deem yourselves purified_.

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x And there is indeed a group among them who twist their tongues with the Book, that you may suppose it to be from the Book. But it is not from the Book. And they say, "It is from God," though it is not from God. And they knowingly speak a lie against God.

78 Much like 2:79 ( _So woe unto those who write the book with their hands, then say, "This is from God"_ ), this verse has been interpreted to mean outright forgery, obfuscation—by means of misinterpretations—of the prophecies fortelling the coming of the Prophet Muhammad, or the deception for worldly purposes of ignorant people who were told that the Torah says so-and-so when they did not have the ability to read the Torah for themselves (R, Ṭ); see 2:79c, which suggests that these distortions were isolated incidents meant to deceive people who did not know the scriptures. _Twist their tongues with the Book_ means their tongues are twisted for the purposes of distorting or misrepresenting the Book of God (Z); that is, they bend or contort their words while reciting the Book, so as to change or misrepresent it (R). Regarding the "distortion" of scriptures, see 2:75c; 4:46c; 5:13c; 5:41c.

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y It is not for any human being, God having given him the Book, judgment, and prophethood, to then say to the people, "Be servants of me instead of God." Rather, "Be sages, from having taught the Book and from having studied."

79 It is reported that the Prophet was asked by the Jews whether he wanted to be an object of worship, as Jesus was among the Christians (Ṭ), or that he was asked whether he thought people should prostrate themselves before him (an act associated with worship) rather than greet him normally (Z). _Judgment_ ( _ḥ ukm_) can also mean "rule." To be _servants_ ( _ʿ ibād,_ sing. _ʿ abd_) means to be worshippers of something. Although most commentators draw a connection between this verse and the Islamic rejection of the worship of Jesus, other types of worship directed at human beings are similarly deplored, as in 9:31: _They have taken their rabbis and monks as lords apart from God_. It is related thematically to 5:116: _And when God said, "O Jesus son of Mary! Didst thou say unto mankind, "Take me and my mother as gods apart from God?" He said, "Glory be to Thee! It is not for me to utter that to which I have no right."_

_Sages_ renders _rabbāniyyūn_ (cf. 5:44, 63), a word interpreted variously as meaning those who are wise, knowledgeable, or pious (Ṭ) or the most eminent of religious scholars who understand the lawful and the forbidden (Q); on this term, see especially 5:43–44c. A variant of _rabbānī, ribbiyyūn,_ appears in 3:146 as _devoted men_. An alternate reading of the verse's final phrase would give the translation, "from having known the Book and from having taught it" (Ṭ).

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À And he would not command you to take the angels and the prophets as lords. Would he command you to disbelief after your having been submitters?

80 This verse can also be read as resuming from the middle of the previous verse, meaning, "It is not for any human being . . . to command you to take the angels and prophets as lords." _And he would not_ means the Prophet would not do so, although others read this as "And He would not," meaning that God does not command the worship of angels and prophets (JJ, R). The taking of other figures as _lords_ is also mentioned in 3:64 and 9:31.

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Á And [remember] when God made the covenant of the prophets: "By that which I have given you of a Book and Wisdom, should a messenger then come to you confirming that which is with you, you shall surely believe in him and you shall help him." He said, "Do you agree and take on My burden on these conditions?" They said, "We agree." He said, "Bear witness, for I am with you among those who bear witness."

 Then whosoever turns away after that, they are the iniquitous.

81–82 The particle _lamā,_ rendered here as _by that which_ and as _should_ (in _should a messenger_ ), gives rise to different possible translations that are nonetheless substantively similar. It can be interpreted to mean that the Book and Wisdom are invoked in a covenant that binds a prophet, and by extension his followers, to follow a later, true messenger, should he come confirming _that which is with you_. Here _by that which I have given_ is understood to be an oath (Ṭ). Some commentators see this as a direct command to the various prophets to affirm Muhammad, should he appear during their own lifetime. The verse may actually be referring to the followers of the prophets, since prophets would never _turn away_ or become _iniquitous,_ though their followers might (Q, R); that is, since belief in the Prophet Muhammad or any true prophet is incumbent upon prophets themselves, it is also incumbent upon their followers (R).

_Do you agree and take on My burden_ can be understood to be spoken by God to the prophets or to be spoken by the prophets to their followers (R), though the commentators seem to agree that _Bear witness, for I am with you_ is spoken by God (Q, R, Ṭ). Commentators typically emphasize that it is the Prophet Muhammad to whom reference is made here, and they mention the foretelling of the coming of Muhammad, _whom they find inscribed in the Torah and the Gospel that is with them_ (7:157), though al-Rāzī, for example, acknowledges that the covenant pertains to any prophet who fulfills the criteria in the verse.

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à Do they seek other than God's religion, while whosoever is in the heavens and on the earth submits to Him, willingly or unwillingly, and unto Him they will be returned?

83 For some, _whosoever is in the heavens_ refers to the angels, while those on _the earth_ refer to human beings (IK, R). _Submits_ ( _aslama_ ) is the verbal form of _islām,_ or "submission." _Willingly_ ( _ṭ awʿan_) can also be rendered "obediently," while _unwillingly_ ( _karh an_) can mean "grudgingly." In an apparent paradox, this verse asserts that all beings submit to God, and some do so unwillingly. Some explain this by saying that all beings must in some sense succumb to God's Will (IK), implying a passive rather than active submission. Others mention that believers submit in life willingly, while disbelievers submit in death unwillingly (R), but their submission at the moment of death does them no good (Q), as mentioned in 40:85: _But their believing benefited them not when they saw Our Might._

The willingness and unwillingness of those in the heavens and on the earth are also mentioned in 41:11; 13:15: _And unto God prostrates whosoever is in the heavens and on the earth, willingly or unwillingly, as do their shadows in the morning and the evening_. This verse is related to many other verses that speak of all creatures prostrating before God (e.g., 22:18) or glorifying God, as in 17:44: _The seven heavens, and the earth, and whatsoever is in them glorify Him. And there is no thing, save that it hymns His praise, though you do not understand their praise_.

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Ä Say, "We believe in God and what has been sent down upon us, and in what was sent down upon Abraham, Ishmael, Isaac, Jacob, and the Tribes, and in what Moses, Jesus, and the prophets were given from their Lord. We make no distinction among any of them, and unto Him we submit."

84 See 2:136, which is nearly identical with this verse, and commentary.

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Å Whosoever seeks a religion other than submission, it shall not be accepted of him, and in the Hereafter he shall be among the losers.

85 It is reported that this verse was revealed in connection with one of the Companions who left Islam along with twelve other people and went to Makkah (Q, M, Th). Although some commentators record the opinion that considers 2:62 ( _Whosoever believes in God and the Last Day and works righteousness shall have their reward with their Lord_ ) to have been abrogated by this verse, this type of abrogation is not recognized by mainstream Islamic Law and Quran interpretation, since only a ruling or legal command can be abrogated, not a truth or a report, such as one has here (see 2:62c). However, the idea that 3:85 abrogates 2:62 is connected to the interpretation expressed by some commentators (R, Ṭ) that this verse denies the "acceptability" of any form of religion other than that brought by the Prophet Muhammad. This opinion is not without its inconsistencies, however, since it does not take into account the more general and universal use of _islām_ and _muslim_ in the Quran to refer to all true, monotheistic religion; see 2:128c; 2:131–32c; 3:19c; 3:52c; 5:111c; and the essay "The Quranic View of Sacred History and Other Religions."

In 2:62 the issue is whether the notion of belief or faith ( _īmān_ ) can be applied to Jews, Christians, and Sabeans, while in this verse the question is whether _islām,_ or submission to God, can include others beyond the followers of the Prophet Muhammad. Opinions seem to leave the interpretation open. Ibn Kathīr, for example, understands _a religion other than submission_ here to mean, "A path other than what God has laid down," which can include the People of the Book, while al-Zamakhsharī says that in this verse _islām_ ( _submission_ ) means recognizing Divine Unity ( _taw ḥīd_) and submitting one's face to God, attributes not limited to the followers of Muhammad. Moreover, reading this verse in the context of those that precede and follow it and taking into consideration the occasion of revelation mentioned above, one could reasonably conclude that the scope of this verse is limited to those people who, after having accepted Islam, then make a conscious decision to leave it. This would echo the themes brought up in vv. 79–80 as well as v. 86, which mention those who disbelieve in Islam after having believed in it.

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Æ How shall God guide a people who have disbelieved after having believed, having borne witness that the Messenger is true, and the clear proofs having come to them? And God guides not wrongdoing people.

86 _People_ refers to either apostates or the People of the Book (Ṭ). Those who uphold the former interpretation point to the case of a Companion who left Islam and went to Makkah (see v. 85), but later repented, returned to Islam, and was accepted; his repentance is mentioned in v. 89: _except those who repent after that_. The clause beginning _having borne witness_ could also be translated, "and who bore witness that the Messenger is true; and that clear proofs came to them" (R, Z).

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Ç They are those whose recompense is that upon them shall be the curse of God, the angels, and mankind all together,

È abiding therein; the punishment shall not be lightened for them, nor shall they be granted respite,

87–88 On being cursed, widely interpreted to mean being distanced from God and driven away from mercy, see 2:161c, where the joint curse of God, the angels, and human beings is also discussed. See also 7:38: _Every time a community enters [the Fire], it curses its sister;_ and 29:25: _Then on the Day of Resurrection you will disown one another, and you will curse one another_.

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É except those who repent after that, and make amends, for truly God is Forgiving, Merciful.

89 The Companion who left Islam (see v. 85) reportedly wrote a letter to his family asking if repentance was possible, and this verse was revealed (Ṭ).

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Ґ Truly those who disbelieve after having believed, then increase in disbelief, their repentance shall not be accepted, and they are the ones who are astray.

90 _Their repentance shall not be accepted_ can refer to those who repent only at the moment of death (e.g., 4:18: _And repentance is not accepted from those who do evil deeds till, when death confronts one of them, he says, "Truly, now I repent";_ Q, R). Or it can mean that any repentance from such a person would not be sincere (R). Or it can be saying that an initial repentance is nullified by the increase in disbelief; if a person disbelieves, repents, and disbelieves again, the first repentance is no longer valid (R). _Then increase in disbelief_ can also refer to the sins that ensue after one leaves belief or faith ( _īmān;_ Q, Ṭ). Although the context would seem to indicate that Muslim apostates are spoken of in this verse, commentators also mention that it could refer to People of the Book who believed in the coming of the Prophet Muhammad, but then rejected him, and went on to show enmity toward him and the believers; it could also refer to the Jews who believed in Moses, but rejected Jesus (R).

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ґ Truly those who disbelieve and die while they are disbelievers, an earth full of gold would not be accepted from any one of them, were he to offer it in ransom. For them there shall be a painful punishment, and they shall have no helpers.

91 Dying as disbelievers is also mentioned in 2:161, 217; 4:18; 9:125; 47:34. The idea of trying to give ransom in the Hereafter is also discussed in 2:48c. Offering expiation or ransom in this life, where such deeds are accepted by God if sincerely offered, is contrasted with trying to strike a bargain after one's life has ended and the opportunity to choose between good and evil is gone. The idea that even an earth full of goods is inadequate ransom in the Hereafter is also mentioned in 5:36; 10:54; 13:18; 39:47. The opposite of dying in disbelief, dying as a believer, is mentioned in v. 102, where believers are commanded: _Die not except in submission._ This same command is enjoined by Abraham and Jacob upon their children in 2:132.

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Ғ You will never attain piety till you spend from that which you love. And whatever you spend, truly God knows it.

92 _Piety_ ( _birr_ ) can also mean the rewards of piety (Q). Depending on the context, _birr_ carries with it a sense of goodness, kindness, loyalty, sincerity, or obedience. For _piety,_ see also 2:44, 177, 189. The "pious" ( _abrār_ ) are often mentioned in connection with heavenly rewards (3:193; 76:5; 82:13); see 2:44c; 76:5–6c. Many commentators connect this verse with the story of a Companion who had a tract of land in Madinah that was his most prized possession and that he desired to give in the way of God (Q, R, Ṭ). But the _Ḥ adīth_ is so replete with examples of the Prophet and Companions giving charity that this verse could not be limited in its import to a single incident. This verse echoes the injunction to give wealth, _despite loving it_ (2:177; cf. 76:8), and is similar in theme to 2:267, which enjoins Muslims to _spend of the good things_ they _have earned,_ and warns against giving what is the least desirable of their property. It is also echoed by a famous _ḥ adīth,_ "None of you believes until he desires for his neighbor what he desires for himself" (or in another version, "for his brother"). Spiritually speaking, one cannot advance until one gives away one's ego, which one loves above all things (Aj).

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ғ All food was lawful unto the Children of Israel, save what Israel had forbidden for himself, before the Torah was sent down. Say, "Bring the Torah and recite it, if you are truthful."

93 According to this verse, before the revelation of the Torah, there were no prohibitions to abide by for the descendants of Jacob except those that Jacob, also known as Israel, had imposed on himself and that his children followed him in observing (Q, Ṭ). This verse is interpreted as a response to those Jews who claimed that the current prohibitions in the Torah were always in effect, as part of their argument against the possibility of one religion (Islam) abrogating another (Judaism; R). According to one account, Jacob was afflicted with some sickness and swore that if God cured him, he would give up certain kinds of food (IK, Q, Th); in another account his doctors told him to avoid certain foods, which he then forswore (Th); still others say he avoided certain foods out of simple asceticism (Th). Some commentators believe that the Torah then enshrined the prohibitions that were already being observed (Ṭ, Th). It is possible that message of this verse is found in some form in Genesis 32:32, where it is said that, due to Jacob's injury after wrestling with the angel, Israelites do not eat the thigh muscle on the socket of the hip, where Jacob was injured; that is, such a prohibition would have predated the Torah.

According to one interpretation, vv. 93–95 should be read as a single passage, as it is all understood as a response to those Jews who said that Abraham was subject to the same prohibitions that the Jews still practiced (Th). Jacob/Israel, a descendant of Abraham, then forbade some things for himself, though all things were previously lawful to consume. Even so, some commentators are reticent to attribute to the pre-Torah Jews the eating of carrion or pork and understand this verse to refer to the misattribution to Abraham of the detailed prohibitions (e.g., those dealing with dietary restrictions) found in Jewish Law (R). The verse then commands the Prophet to challenge them to bring a proof from the Torah that Abraham ever observed such prohibitions. See also 4:160c; 6:146c.

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Ҕ So whosoever fabricates a lie against God after that, it is they who are the wrongdoers.

94 _That_ refers to the challenge to recite from the Torah in v. 93 (Ṭ), in which case _after that_ would mean after it is shown that the body of prohibitions by which the Israelites lived did not exist before the revelation of the Torah (R); presumably the Torah would show that Abraham's life was lived before these prohibitions went into effect.

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ҕ Say, "God has spoken true. So follow the creed of Abraham, a _ḥ anīf _,__ and he was not of the idolaters."

95 _God has spoken true,_ here, specifically regarding Jacob and what was made lawful and forbidden in the Torah (Ṭ). _God has spoken true_ ( _ṣ adaqa Allāh_) is often uttered by Muslims after completing a passage of recitation from the Quran outside of the canonical prayers. On Abraham and the concept of _ḥ anīf,_ see 2:135c.

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Җ Truly the first house established for mankind was that at Bakkah, full of blessing and a guidance for the worlds.

96 _Bakkah_ is another name for Makkah, a different pronunciation of the same name resulting from an exchange of the _m_ and _b_ sounds, a common pronunciation alteration in Arabic (Z). Some opine that Bakkah meant the actual ground of the Kaʿbah itself and Makkah referred to the land around it (Ṭ, Z). Others derive the name from the verb _bakka,_ meaning "to crowd," in reference to the crowding that takes place as a result of pilgrimage or to the fact that only in Makkah do men and women "crowd together" in the same place for prayer (Ṭ, Z). Later scholars have speculated as to whether the valley of Baca mentioned in Psalm 84:6 refers to Makkah, a question that is highly dependent upon various elements in that psalm, including the meaning of Baca, which could be "weeping" or "balsam trees."

One interpretation of this verse is that the Kaʿbah was not the first house ever built, but it was the first one established for _all_ human beings—not only some—to come for worship (R). Others say it is _first_ in being _full of blessing and a guidance for the worlds_ (Ṭ), in which case _first_ ( _awwal_ ) could connote the sense of "foremost," as in _I am the first of those who submit_ (6:163), referring to priority or status rather than temporal sequence. Commentators also mention interpretations based on traditional myths that describe the Kaʿbah's foundations as dating back to the time of Adam (see 2:127c), thus interpreting the Kaʿbah as being literally the first house ever built, referring not to the stones from which it was built, but to the ground plan and the place where it stands (R, Ṭ).

If one understands _mankind_ ( _nās_ ) as "the people"—namely, the people of the region—it could mean that the Kaʿbah was the first temple established for the Arabs, which would reflect the story of Abraham and Ishmael described in 2:125–27 as well as the idea that God _assigned for Abraham the place of the House_ in 22:26, rather than helping him to discover it.

To be _full of blessing_ ( _mubārak an_) derives from blessing or grace ( _barakah_ ), which has the root meanings of growth and permanence (R). Regarding the Kaʿbah a _ḥ adīth_ states, "One prayer at this Mosque is like a thousand prayers in all other mosques." In commenting on _full of blessing,_ al-Rāzī pauses to reflect upon the great numbers of people of "exalted spirits, sacred hearts, luminous inner mysteries, and divine minds" who pray following the direction of prayer ( _qiblah_ ) established by God to be the Kaʿbah, further remarking that at every moment part of humanity is offering prayers in the direction of Makkah and has been doing so for thousands of years (i.e., both before and after the advent of Islam).

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җ Therein are clear signs: the station of Abraham, and whosoever enters it shall be secure. Pilgrimage to the House is a duty upon mankind before God for those who can find a way. For whosoever disbelieves, truly God is beyond need of the worlds.

97 The _clear signs_ refer to the _station of Abraham;_ some say they refer to the footprints of Abraham that are believed to be preserved on the ground there (Ṭ). It may also mean there are clear signs that this is indeed the structure built by Abraham and that God has exalted and blessed it (IK). The station of Abraham, a place in the close vicinity of the Kaʿbah, is discussed in 2:125c. There is a minority opinion that reads this in the singular, "clear sign" (Ṭ), in which case it would refer to the station of Abraham.

_Whosoever enters it shall be secure_ is read by some as referring to the past, in which case it would be rendered, "Whosoever entered it was secure," since in pre-Islamic Arabia the _ḥ aram,_ or precinct around the Kaʿbah, was a place where one could seek sanctuary and not be captured or arrested (Ṭ; see also 2:125–26; 14:35; 28:57). Many believe that under Islam the Kaʿbah and the _ḥ aram_ no longer serve this function, that one can no longer hide there from prosecution, and that any crimes committed there are equally liable to penalty (Ṭ), although the penalty is not carried out there. Another opinion holds that it is indeed a sanctuary, but that the person using it as sanctuary must not engage in trade, speak with anyone, take up lodging, or be fed by anyone. This would essentially starve out the sanctuary seeker, who would then be prosecuted after leaving it (Ṭ). In any case, if a crime takes place in the _ḥ aram_ itself, then it cannot serve as a sanctuary from prosecution for that crime (Ṭ).

Others point out that the majority allow punishment there, as the Prophet ordered the execution of Ibn Khaṭal even though he was clinging to the curtains of the Kaʿbah when the Muslims conquered Makkah. Some note that, since as a matter of historical fact some people were indeed not "secure" after the revelation of this verse, it must refer to the past (Q). Some say that "secure" could mean "it shall be made secure," so that it is a command that people are meant to follow, but might violate (R). Another interpretation is that whoever enters the House in order to perform its rites will be safe from the Fire of Hell (Q, R), although other instances of the word _secure_ suggest a more conventional usage referring to physical safety in this world. Indeed, in treating 2:126, many commentators point to the _ḥ adīth_ regarding the limited but real violence during the conquest of Makkah (i.e., the killing of Ibn Khaṭal and a handful of others), when the Prophet said, "This land was made inviolable by God on the day the heavens and the earth were created. It is inviolable by God's Inviolability until the Day of Resurrection. Killing was not permitted to anyone therein before, and to none after me. It was only permitted to me for an hour of a day."

_Pilgrimage to the House is a duty_ is thought to be the passage that institutes the _ḥ ajj_ as a requirement; others believe it is 2:196 that does so (IK). _Who can find a way_ refers to those who are physically and financially able to undertake the _ḥ ajj_. _Whosoever disbelieves_ can refer to denial of the obligatory nature of the _ḥ ajj_ (Q) or to a general rejection of God and the Day of Judgment (Ṭ).

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Ҙ Say, "O People of the Book! Why do you disbelieve in God's signs, while God is Witness over what you do?"

ҙ Say, "O People of the Book! Why do you turn those who believe from the way of God, seeking to make it crooked, while you are witnesses? And God is not heedless of what you do."

98–99 The Prophet is commanded to challenge the People of the Book regarding their rejection of him (Ṭ). Some interpret their attempts to _make the way of God crooked_ (cf. 7:45; 11:19; 14:3) as an act of misdirection, since, when they were asked about it, the People of the Book denied that Muhammad was foretold in their books (Ṭ); see 7:157. It is understood not as a physical hindering, but as a desire on their part to misguide Muslims and turn them away from their own religion by making it _crooked,_ that is, making it appear false (Q, Ṭ), in order to create doubt in the minds of as many Muslims as possible (R). That they are _witnesses_ refers to the fact that they should be conscious of the Messenger's presence among them (v. 101) and that the truths the Prophet teaches are not unfamiliar to them, but are in fact found in their own sacred books (Q).

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Ā O you who believe! If you obey a group among those who were given the Book, they will render you disbelievers after your having believed.

100 An incident is often reported in connection with this part of the _sūrah_ dealing with division among the believers (vv. 100–106). One of the Jews of Madinah happened upon a gathering of Muslims belonging to the previously warring tribes of Aws and Khazraj. He began to instigate trouble between them by reminding them of their wars and the insults they used to hurl at one another and succeeded in heating up the gathering to the point that the Muslims almost came to blows. When the Prophet heard this, he came out and said, "Would you return to the practices of the times of ignorance [before Islam], though I am among you, and God has honored you with Islam and reconciled your hearts?" They then laid down their weapons, embraced one another, and left with the Prophet (Q, R).

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ā How can you disbelieve, while God's signs are recited unto you and His Messenger is among you? And whosoever holds fast to God is indeed guided unto a straight path.

101 The point of this verse is that, in the face of both the revelation of the Quran and the presence of the Prophet, people have all the proof they need to keep them from disbelief (R). The challenge presented by the Quran, in its eloquence and inimitability (see 2:23; 10:38; 11:13; 17:88), is here coupled with mention of the Prophet himself. The description of the Prophet's physical and spiritual presence is a major aspect of the Islamic tradition, regarding which there is an entire genre of literature. Muslims consider his physical presence and demeanor to have been signs of the truth of his message and vocation, and the Companions believed that his actual physical body carried blessings and a kind of palpable grace. This belief has continued among later generations of Muslims.

To "hold fast" (see also v. 103) evokes in Arabic the image of a person holding on to something to avoid falling into harm, in this case disbelief ( _kufr;_ R). Here it can mean to hold fast to God's religion and to obedience (Ṭ) or to the Quran itself (Q). _Is indeed guided unto a straight path_ is understood either to be identical with "holding fast," meaning that the very act of holding fast is God's Guidance for His creatures, or that in holding fast one will then become guided (R).

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Ă O you who believe! Reverence God as He should be reverenced, and die not except in submission.

102 For God to be given all due reverence is for Him to be "obeyed not defied, remembered not forgotten, thanked not denied" (Ṭ). _Reverence God as He should be reverenced_ is similar in wording to _They did not measure God with His true measure_ (6:91; 22:74; 39:67), in that both phrases use the word _ḥ aqq,_ which denotes a right or what something is due; in other contexts _ḥ aqq_ means "truth" or "reality" and can also be an adjective meaning "true," as in "true religion." It is reported that the command in the present verse was considered too heavy a burden, one that could never be fulfilled, and caused great anxiety among the Companions; some speculated that it was therefore abrogated by 64:16: _So reverence God as much as you are able_ (M, R, Ṭ). This is similar to the speculation made regarding 2:284: _And whether you disclose what is in your souls or hide it, God will bring you to account for it;_ and 2:286: _God tasks no soul beyond its capacity_. It was said that 2:284 alarmed the Muslim community as being too rigorous a standard for sinful human beings, so it was then abrogated by 2:286. But as pointed out in 2:284c, such matters as God's Qualities or actions in the Hereafter are not subject to abrogation. Indeed, some argue that to reverence God _as He should be reverenced_ is precisely to reverence Him _as much as you are able,_ given that _God tasks no soul beyond its capacity_ (R). It is also interpreted to mean that one should fear God's Punishment and Wrath as they should be feared (M). The command to _die not except in submission_ is enjoined by Abraham and Jacob upon their children in 2:132.

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ă And hold fast to the rope of God, all together, and be not divided. Remember the Blessing of God upon you, when you were enemies and He joined your hearts, such that you became brothers by His Blessing. You were on the brink of a pit of fire and He delivered you from it. Thus does God make clear unto you His signs, that haply you may be rightly guided.

103 _The rope of God_ is usually understood to be the community of Muslims ( _al-jamā ʿah;_ ṭ), which would logically flow into _and be not divided;_ or it refers to the Quran itself, and at the deepest level to faith in God. In a _ḥ adīth_ the Quran is described as "a rope extended from Heaven to earth." Others say the _rope_ refers to a covenant or pact (IK), reflecting the usage of _rope_ in v. 112: _They shall be struck with abasement wherever they are come upon, save by means of a rope from God and a rope from mankind_. According to some Shiites, the Imams are the _rope of God_ (Ṭs). The _rope_ is also understood to mean devotion ( _ikhlā ṣ_) toward God (Ṭ).

In 42:13 the same command to not become _divided_ is given to Noah, Abraham, Moses, and Jesus. The People of the Book are described as having become divided in 42:14 and 98:4, after the revelation had come to them. Similarly, in this verse Muslims are warned against becoming _divided_ after Islam has come to them. _When you were enemies_ is understood to be the time before the coming of Islam, when the strong would prey upon the weak (Ṭ); more specifically, it refers to the tribal wars among the Arabs such as those among the Aws and Khazraj in Madinah before the arrival of the Prophet Muhammad (IK); see 2:84c; 3:100c. The joining of hearts is also mentioned in 8:62–63: _He it is Who supports thee with His help, and with the believers, and joined their hearts._ The believers are described as brothers elsewhere, including 15:47; 49:10. They were on _the brink of a pit of fire_ because of their disbelief before they were guided by Islam (R, Ṭ) and were separated from that fire only by not having died yet (Ṭs). A parable about a similar kind of brink is also mentioned in 9:109 _._

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Ą Let there be among you a community calling to the good, enjoining right, and forbidding wrong. It is they who shall prosper.

104 The concepts of _enjoining right_ and _forbidding wrong_ appear again in vv. 110, 114; 7:157; 9:71, 112; 22:41; 31:17. In Islamic history, these ideas have been invoked in discussions regarding the legitimacy of political rebellion, the right to privacy, the speaking of difficult truths to those in power, and the balance between personal and communal responsibility. There is a wide range of opinion among jurists and theologians regarding how obligatory enjoining right and forbidding wrong are and in what situations such obligation would apply. A _ḥ adīth_ often quoted in reference to this subject states, "Whosoever among you sees a wrong being done, let him change it with his hand, and if he is unable then with his tongue, and if he is unable then with his heart and that is the feeblest of belief." Although the heart usually refers to what is most essential, in this case "a wrong being done" calls for outward action, not only an inner attitude. _Right_ renders _ma ʿrūf,_ which can also be translated "honorable," "decent," "good," or "fair," and when rendered as a noun can refer to a courtesy or a kindness. It also means, literally, "what is known/recognized" and in this sense denotes what is conventional, generally acceptable, customary, or familiar. In encompassing the sense of both custom and goodness, it resembles the root meaning of the English word "moral," which derives from the Latin root that means "customs," as does the word "mores." _Wrong_ renders _munkar,_ which can also be translated "dishonorable," "indecent," "bad," or "foul," and when rendered as a noun can mean atrocity or abomination or, literally, "that which is denied or disavowed."

Some interpret the _community_ here to refer to the elect of the Companions (IK, Ṭ), though others believe that _among you_ does not refer to a distinct group, since the entire Muslim community is praised in v. 110 for _enjoining right and forbidding wrong_ (R); as such it can be read as descriptive, giving the translation, "And may you be a community calling to the good . . ." But for others it is meant to describe a segment of the community, since many Muslims—such as many women and children and the elderly in general—would not be able to fulfill the requirements of enjoining right and forbidding wrong insofar as this requires influencing the actions of others. Many believe these commands are specific to the _ʿ ulamāʾ,_ or scholars, since an ignorant person might inadvertently call one to evil or enjoin what is wrong; many also see it as a communal responsibility that is fulfilled so long as some segment of the community is carrying it out (Q, R). The moral concept of communal responsibility is also demonstrated in 9:122, where only a segment of the community is considered to have the need to seek out expertise in religious matters.

Some interpret enjoining right and forbidding wrong to be the two kinds of _good,_ mentioned in the first part of the verse, to which one calls others (R). Others say that one can interpret the _right_ as what is considered good and beautiful in one's consciousness, and the _wrong_ as what is considered bad and ugly (M), meaning that _right_ and _wrong_ are determined not only through religious teaching, but also by one's innate moral consciousness. The Prophet said, in answering a question about piety ( _birr_ ), "Consult your heart. Piety is that by which the soul and heart find peace."

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ą And be not like those who became divided and differed after the clear proofs had come to them. And it is they who shall have a great punishment

105 This verse refers to the People of the Book; see 2:213c; 3:19c.

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Ć on the Day when faces whiten and faces blacken. As for those whose faces blacken, "Did you disbelieve after having believed? Then taste the punishment for having disbelieved."

ć And as for those whose faces whiten, they will be in the Mercy of God, abiding therein.

106–7 _On the Day_ either is directly connected with the previous verse or stands alone with an implied word so that it would mean, "Remember the Day when . . ." (R). The implied phrase "[it will be said to them]" is understood to come after _As for those whose faces blacken_ (R, Ṭ). Faces blackening is an Arabic idiom describing a state of distress, shame, or grief, as in 43:17, when a man's _face blackens_ upon hearing news of an infant girl. A similar meaning is invoked in 10:26, where it is said that _neither darkness nor abasement_ will come over the faces of the virtuous. _Blackened faces_ are also mentioned in 39:60. Conversely, when _faces whiten_ denotes joy and relief and spiritually refers to the light of faith. V. 106 is interpreted by some to refer to Muslims who renounce their faith before they die (Ṭ). Others interpret it as the renunciation or disavowal of the primordial pretemporal covenant when human beings bore witness that God was their Lord (see 7:172) or as a reference to hypocrites generally, insofar as they attest to faith and then knowingly commit actions that contradict it (Ṭ).

Those who _disbelieve after having believed_ are variously identified as all disbelievers in general or as the various sects that appeared in later Islamic history after the death of the Prophet, including the Khawārij, a puritanical movement that emerged within a generation of the Prophet's death (Q, R). Some commentators adduce various _a ḥādīth_ of the Prophet that describe visions he had of the Hereafter, where, to his dismay, some Companions were driven away from his presence. In the vision the Prophet was told that he did not know what they would do after him (IK, Q). The context of the verse would suggest that the phrase refers to the disbelievers mentioned in vv. 90, 100–101. Other verses use the faces of human beings to describe their state in the Hereafter, such as 10:26–27; 14:50; 17:97; 18:29; 23:104; 75:22–24; 80:38–41.

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Ĉ These are God's signs which We recite unto thee in truth, and God desires no wrong for the worlds.

ĉ Unto God belongs whatsoever is in the heavens and whatsoever is on the earth, and unto God are all matters returned.

108–9 One reading of v. 108 says that God does not desire that human beings do wrong (R). Another reading connects this verse with v. 109 and says that God has no need to wrong or to be unjust to anything or anyone, since He has power over all things and all things belong to Him (IK, Q), or it simply means that God does not in fact wrong anyone (M). These verses raise the question of God's relationship to good or evil; namely, what does it mean to say that _God desires no wrong for the worlds_? One perspective, typified in Ashʿarite theology, states that God does no wrong because wrong ( _ẓ ulm_) is definable as trespassing upon what belongs to another, and since everything belongs to God, nothing He does could amount to a wrong. Another prominent perspective, typified by the Muʿtazilite school of theology, states that God is always just, and what is just or unjust are objective features of the world recognizable by human beings. Some philosophers and Sufis make a distinction between God's "prescriptive command" ( _al-amr al-taklīfī_ ) and the "engendering command" ( _al-amr al-takwīnī_ ); the former refers to what God asks of human free will and the latter to God's Power to create. Being free, human beings can choose what God does not want, but cannot oppose what God wills to be. See the essay "The Quran and Schools of Islamic Theology and Philosophy."

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Đ You are the best community brought forth unto mankind, enjoining right, forbidding wrong, and believing in God. And were the People of the Book to believe, that would be better for them. Among them are believers, but most of them are iniquitous.

110 Some understand this verse to mean that Muslims are destined to be the best religious community as already "written" in the _Preserved Tablet_ (85:22) and that it is implied that Muslims should live up to this destiny (R), a reading that is possible because the verb can be read as either present or past tense (i.e., "You were the best community [in the Preserved Tablet]."). Another understanding, also based on a past-tense reading, understands these words as being spoken to the Muslims in Paradise to describe their life in the world (R). The verb can also signify that they "become" the best community by virtue of enjoining right and forbidding wrong (R). This _community_ is interpreted variously to mean the Emigrants who left Makkah for Madinah with the Prophet (Ṭ), the elect of the Companions of the Prophet, or the Prophet's Companions as a whole. It can also refer to the Islamic community as a whole when compared with other religious communities. _Best community_ may also refer to those who are the best people toward other people, which is the domain of enjoining right and forbidding wrong and explains why action is placed before faith in this verse (IK). The verse can be seen as describing the Muslim community's role in relation to other peoples in a way similar to the Quran's being described as a _protector_ ( _muhaymin_ ) in relation to other scriptures (5:48).

The passage _And were the People of the Book to believe, that would be better for them. Among them are believers, but most of them are iniquitous_ is the subject of varying interpretations. In its plain sense, it could be interpreted to be saying that if they all believed it would be better for them, and indeed some of them are believers, a view seemingly adopted by al-Zamakhsharī, for example, who makes a distinction between belief in God in general and belief in Muhammad as His Prophet. Moreover, since belief ( _īmān_ ) is contrasted with being iniquitous ( _fāsiq_ ) rather than with being a disbeliever ( _kāfir_ ), the sense of being false to their own religions seems to be highlighted here. Indeed, al-Rāzī and al-Ṭabarī both interpret _iniquitous_ as referring to Jews' and Christians' failure to observe their own faiths; al-Rāzī interprets this iniquity as an act of being false to what is already false, and al-Ṭabarī interprets it as an act of being false to the true teachings of the Torah and the Gospel, which, most Muslims maintain, demand the acceptance of the Prophet Muhammad. Many understand _among them are believers_ as a reference to prominent Jews and Christians who embraced Islam, such as ʿAbd Allāh ibn Salām, the Abyssinian Negus, who provided sanctuary for many Muslims during the early persecutions by the Makkans (M, R, Ṭ). According to this later interpretation, the Negus became a Muslim himself, but this is problematic and contradicts other accounts; see 5:82–83c.

Such interpretations depend on allowing the categories of "Muslims" (i.e., followers of the religion brought by Muhammad) and "People of the Book" to overlap. If ʿAbd Allāh ibn Salām was Muslim, then he was not in any sense one of the People of the Book unless these are political designations like "Arab" or "Byzantine." By the same token, if one is _among_ the People of the Book (i.e., one of them), then one is by definition not a Muslim. Although the terms "Muslims" and "People of the Book" can designate political entities, the Quran and _Ḥ adīth_ do not refer directly to a Muslim (i.e., a follower of Muhammad) as one of the People of the Book or vice versa. This fact does not prevent the scope of _muslim_ —namely, one who submits to God—from embracing others beyond the followers of Muhammad (see 3:85c). A similar overlap between "Muslims" and "People of the Book" is proposed by some commentators for v. 113, where Muslims are grouped by some commentators as "People of the Book" in order to make sense of _Among the People of the Book is an upright community_. _Among them are believers_ is often skipped in some commentaries, such as those of al-Qurṭubī, Ibn Kathīr, and al-Māturīdī.

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đ They will not harm you save a [trifling] hurt. And if they fight you, they will turn their backs upon you; then they will not be helped.

111 The _hurt_ ( _adhā_ ) refers to an insult or a taunt or to blasphemous claims about God (R, Ṭ, Th). That the People of the Book would, when challenged with physical danger, turn their backs is also mentioned in 59:12, where it also says that they will not be helped. Not being helped or not having helpers is a fate often associated with perdition in the Hereafter and in this world (e.g., 2:270, 3:22, 56; 4:52; 9:74; 16:37).

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Ē They shall be struck with abasement wherever they are come upon, save by means of a rope from God and a rope from mankind. And they shall earn a burden of wrath from God, and they shall be struck with indigence. That is because they used to disbelieve in God's signs and kill the prophets without right. That is for their having disobeyed and transgressed.

112 Similar themes, including _abasement, wrath,_ and _indigence,_ are addressed in 2:61. They are understood by some to refer to the status of the People of the Book during times of war when they are belligerents, whose property could be legitimately seized as spoils and children taken as prisoners, among other things (R). Others say the _abasement_ refers to the _jizyah,_ the indemnity levied on non-Muslims, and _dhimmah,_ the state of living as a non-Muslim treaty people under Muslim rule (Q; see 9:29). Some, however, dispute that this _abasement_ refers to the _jizyah,_ because the _jizyah_ does not disappear with the _rope from God_ and _rope from mankind,_ interpreted to mean a covenant with God and a covenant with the believers (Ṭ). Others point to the historical situation of Jews as exiles who are historically poor and powerless, since the verb could be understood as referring to the past or the future (R).

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ē They are not all alike. Among the People of the Book is an upright community who recite God's signs in the watches of the night, while they prostrate.

113 Although this verse is usually interpreted as setting up a distinction among different kinds of People of the Book, some understand _they are not all alike_ to refer to Muslims and the People of the Book together, meaning that Muslims are not like the Jews and Christians (Q, Ṭ). The word _upright_ renders _qā ʾimah,_ which connotes justice (Ṭ) as well as evokes the literal "standing up" of worshippers in prayer. Some think the _upright community_ refers to a group of Jews who became good Muslims (Ṭ); see 3:110c. Several somewhat enigmatic occasions of revelation are provided for this verse. Some mention an incident in which the Muslims were waiting for the Prophet to lead the night prayer in the mosque and the Prophet said to them, "No people from among any of the religions are remembering God at this hour other than you." Vv. 113–15 were then revealed. Another version states that this _upright community_ refers specifically to forty people of Najrān, thirty-two people from Abyssinia, and three from Byzantium who followed the religion of Jesus and affirmed the truth of Muhammad. Another account says that it refers to a people who prayed between sunset and the end of twilight (R).

One interpretation of this verse identifies Muslims as People of the Book, since they do indeed follow a Book from God, and thus sees this as a comparison between Muslims ( _the upright community_ ), on the one hand, and Jews and Christians, on the other (R), while others say "People of the Book" can mean a people following a "good way." Some state, without exposition, that there are believers among the People of the Book (M). To be _upright_ is interpreted as meaning being just (Ṭ) and maintaining the limits set by God, obeying Him and not distorting the Books (M, Th).

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Ĕ They believe in God and the Last Day, enjoin right and forbid wrong, and hasten unto good deeds. And they are among the righteous.

ĕ Whatsoever good they do, they will not be denied it. And God knows the reverent.

114–15 Whether these verses refer to the Muslims or to the People of the Book depends on how the _upright community_ is identified in v. 113 and how _among them are believers_ is interpreted in v. 110. These verses are similar in content to 2:62 and 5:69 (see commentary on those verses) and address similar issues of identifying what it means to believe in God and the Last Day and to be righteous. Some understand _they will not be denied it_ as a way of reassuring the former Jews who were grieved by the assertions of their former coreligionists, who said that their actions were futile now that they had abandoned Judaism and embraced Islam (IK, R). Some read the verb here in the second person, giving the translation, "you will not be denied it" (Q, Ṭ).

As with vv. 110 and 113 as well as 2:62 and 5:69, among others, the identification of current Muslims as being among the People of the Book often raises new questions as it seeks to answer others. As noted in 3:113c, "People of the Book" and "Muslims" appear to be treated as overlapping categories only in commentaries attempting to make sense of verses such as vv. 110–15; 2:62; and 5:69. Moreover, it is unclear why Muslims such as ʿAbd Allāh ibn Salām needed special reassurance in the face of their former coreligionists' taunting. The plain sense of the verse suggests more strongly that it is addressed to Muslims unsure of how to judge the belief and actions of the People of the Book, informing Muslims that God does not reject the good deeds of the People of the Book when they are truly good and that _they_ (the People of the Book) _are not all alike_ (3:113).

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Ė Truly those who disbelieve, neither their wealth nor their children will avail them aught against God. They are the inhabitants of the Fire, abiding therein.

116 Some note that wealth and children are thought to be the most dependable and beneficial goods in life, but they will nevertheless be of no use to anyone in the Hereafter (R). Elsewhere the Quran states that wealth and children will not avail _save for him who comes to God with a sound heart_ (26:89). Possessing wealth and children deludes the disbeliever into a sense of security and superiority _simply because he possesses wealth and children_ (68:14), a theme also developed in 34:35–37, where the positive dimension of wealth and children is mentioned. See also 9:85; 17:64; 18:46; 19:77; 23:55; 71:21.

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ė The parable of what they spend in this life of the world is that of a frigid wind that strikes the tillage of a people who have wronged themselves, destroying it. God wrongs them not, but themselves do they wrong.

117 Other verses invoke the wind's destructive power in order to describe how unrooted and sterile the actions of disbelievers are in this life. In this verse the wind is cold, while in 2:266 it burns, and in 14:18 the deeds of disbelievers are already ashes waiting to be blown away. Verses involving the nourishing dimension of wind include 7:57; 25:48; 30:46; 35:9. The wronging of oneself is mentioned numerous times in the Quran (3:135; 4:97; 9:70; 16:33; 29:40; 30:9; 34:19; 35:32; 37:113).

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Ę O you who believe! Take not intimates apart from yourselves; they will not stint you in corruption. They wish you to suffer. Hatred has appeared from their mouths; yet what their breasts conceal is greater. We have indeed made clear the signs for you, were you to understand.

118 _Intimates_ renders _bi ṭānah,_ meaning confidants or trusted friends (denoting both the singular and plural); it also literally means the inner lining of a garment, evoking a sense of direct closeness and intimacy. They are those to whom one tells one's secrets (Ṭ). _They will not stint you in corruption_ means that when it comes to the act of corruption, they will not be miserly in providing that corruption. This is interpreted by some commentators to mean that in certain important matters pertaining to the affairs of Muslims, such as writing contracts or sending significant messages, one should not rely on non-Muslims (IK, Q); in this vein al-Qurṭubī bemoans the fact that in his day Muslims were relying on Jews and Christians as scribes and secretaries, although this is a reflection of the society of his day. Others seem to interpret this as a statement on human nature in general, mentioning a _ḥ adīth_ that states, "God has sent no prophet, nor appointed any vicegerent, save that he had two groups of intimates. One group enjoins and encourages what is right while the other enjoins and encourages what is evil. He is protected who is protected by God," which is interpreted to mean that God will protect whom He will from the evil promptings of those who are close to them.

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ę Lo! You are the ones who love them, while they love you not, though you believe in the Book entire. And when they meet you they say, "We believe," but when they are alone they bite their fingers at you from rage. Say, "Die in your rage!" Truly God knows what lies within breasts.

119 Depending on whether these enemies are hypocrites or People of the Book, this _love_ can refer to various matters. _You are the ones who love them, while they love you not_ can mean that, although you love them in Islam (as religious brothers and sisters), they in truth do not love you; or it can mean that you wish for them to become Muslim (an act of love), while they wish for you to remain or become disbelievers; or it can mean that you do not wish for them to fall into distress, while they wish that you be afflicted by trouble (R).

_Though you believe in the Book entire_ refers to Muslims' affirmation not only of the Quran, but also what was revealed before it (IK, Ṭ). Making the claim that _we believe,_ but saying something different when one is alone with one's true allies, is also described in 2:14, 76; 5:41. _Die in your rage!_ is interpreted to be a call to increase the cause of their rage, namely, the success and flourishing of Islam, rather than a direct call for death (R, Z).

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Ġ If good befalls you, it vexes them, and if evil befalls you, they rejoice in it. But if you are patient and reverent, their plot will not harm you in the least. Truly God encompasses what they do.

120 This verse reflects the statement in v. 118 that _they wish for you to suffer_. The same sentiment appears in a supplication of Moses in 7:150: _Let not the enemies rejoice in my misfortune_. To be _patient_ carries the sense of being steadfast and constant. That _their plot will not harm you at all_ echoes the message of v. 111, where it is said that they cannot harm except through insults and taunts. Moreover, beyond simple self-interest, their joy at another's suffering shows just how severe their enmity is (IK).

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ġ And remember when thou didst leave thy household at daybreak to assign the believers their positions for the battle. And God is Hearing, Knowing.

121 Although most see this as a reference to the Battle of Uḥud, some say it refers to the Battle of Aḥzāb (often called the Battle of the Trench; IK, R, Ṭ). Uḥud took place in 3/625, approximately one year after the defeat of the Makkans at the Battle of Badr (see 8:5). The Quraysh set out for Madinah, seeking revenge against the Prophet and his followers for the unexpected and humiliating defeat at Badr, in which the Muslims were greatly outnumbered. The Makkans camped at the foot of Mt. Uḥud, between the mountain and the city of Madinah. The Prophet consulted with the community, many of whom suggested waiting within the city and using its fortifications to their advantage; another group preferred going out to face the enemy. The Prophet ultimately decided to go out from the city to confront the Makkans directly. Some sources have said that ʿAbd Allāh ibn Ubayy, generally known as the leader of the hypocrites, withdrew from the battle with approximately one-third of the Madinan forces (about three hundred of nearly one thousand), ostensibly out of anger that his suggestion to remain in the city was ultimately not heeded (IK). Before the battle was joined, the Prophet ordered a group of archers to remain in position atop a hill no matter what transpired during the battle; this is what the commentators understand by _assign the believers their positions for the battle_. When many of them disobeyed at a crucial point in the battle in order to capture a share of the spoils, the remaining archers were overtaken and the rear and flank of the Madinan forces were exposed. The Madinans lost their advantage and suffered losses, and some believers fled (see v. 144), but the Makkans did not achieve a full victory. They returned to Makkah without pushing farther into the city of Madinah itself.

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Ģ Remember when two companies among you were on the verge of losing heart, though God was their Protector. And in God let the believers trust.

122 The two _companies_ refer to Banū Salimah (of Khazraj) and Banū Ḥārithah (of Aws; IK, Ṭ). Though they contemplated abandoning the battle, as had ʿAbd Allāh ibn Ubayy (see v. 121), ultimately they did not. _Though God was their Protector_ can also be rendered "and/but God is their Protector." According to this latter interpretation, the phrase is a sign that God was Merciful to them despite their inner equivocation (R).

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ģ God certainly helped you at Badr, when you were lowly. So reverence God, that haply you may give thanks.

123 The Battle of Uḥud was launched by the Makkans as revenge for the Battle of Badr a year earlier. For a longer discussion of Badr, see 8:5c.

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Ĥ Remember when thou saidst unto the believers, "Is it not enough for you that your Lord should support you with three thousand angels sent down?"

ĥ Yea, if you are patient and reverent, and they come at you immediately, your Lord will support you with five thousand angels bearing marks.

Ħ God made it not save as a glad tiding for you, and that your hearts may repose thereby—and there is no victory save from God, the Mighty, the Wise—

124–26 There is a debate over whether these words were spoken by the Prophet to the believers regarding the Battle of Badr or the Battle of Uḥud (R). If it refers to Badr, v. 124 continues from the phrase in the previous verse, ". . . when you [the believers] were lowly . . . [and] when thou [the Prophet] saidst unto the believers," in which case, the particle _idh_ is rendered "when" rather then _remember when_. If read as being spoken at Uḥud, it continues from v. 121, "and remember when thou didst leave thy household . . . when thou saidst."

There is disagreement among the traditional sources over whether angels fought at Uḥud or not. Most commentators hold that the angels fought only at Badr (IK, R); see also 8:9–12. They are thought to have participated in the battle in various ways. Some say the angels assumed visible or invisible form and actually killed disbelievers, and accounts exist in the _Ḥ adīth_ and _sīrah_ (biographical literature about the Prophet) that describe certain mysterious deaths (e.g., heads flying off enemies' bodies as if severed) and mysterious fighters (presumed to be angels) witnessed during the battle of Badr (IK, Q). Another interpretation sees the help of the angels as being spiritual, strengthening the believers' hearts, heightening their senses, increasing their power, and giving them courage by their presence (R). The most common opinion is that no angels fought at Uḥud (only at Badr) and that the ones at Uḥud were sent as a kind of moral support (IK, Q, R), although some have pointed out that God does not need angels to support the believers (Ṭ). Thus, _a glad tiding for you_ in v. 126 is interpreted to be a reference to the support mentioned in v. 125 (R), where believers would find happiness in the fact that the angels would come (IK) or at least in the promise that they would come (Q).

In v. 125 _immediately_ carries the sense of "without hesitation" or "at once." There is disagreement over whether the promise of v. 125 to _support_ them _with five thousand angels_ was fulfilled or whether the believers failed to be patient and reverent so that the five thousand angels were never sent (Q, Ṭ). Some say that _bearing marks_ ( _musawwimīn_ ) can refer to the angels being sent or to their sending something, since the word can also refer to one who sends an animal out to pasture or uses such an animal as a mount in battle (Q, R).

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ħ that He may cut off a faction of those who disbelieve or abase them, so that they be turned back disappointed.

127 _Cut off a faction_ is understood to mean that God eliminated a part of them during Badr, although others say this refers to Uḥud (Ṭ). _Turned back disappointed_ means they could not achieve victory against the believers (Ṭ).

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Ĩ Naught is thine in the matter, whether He relent unto them or punish them, for truly they are wrongdoers.

ĩ Unto God belongs whatsoever is in the heavens and whatsoever is on the earth. He forgives whomsoever He will and punishes whomsoever He will, and God is Forgiving, Merciful.

128–29 Verses with a similar message include 2:272: _Thou art not tasked with their guidance, but God guides whomsoever He will;_ 3:20: _but if they turn away, then thine is only to convey;_ and 28:56: _Surely thou dost not guide whomsoever thou lovest, but God guides whomsoever He will_. According to one account, v. 128 was revealed in connection with the Prophet's reaction to his enemies' attacks. He fought at Uḥud and was physically wounded during the battle, reportedly chipping or breaking one of his lateral incisors and suffering a wound that caused him to bleed from his face (Ṭ). The Prophet stated, "How can a people prosper who bloody their prophet while he is calling them to their Lord?" Then this verse was revealed. In another account, during the canonical prayer the Prophet (after rising from bowing) said, "O God, curse so-and-so," at which time this verse was revealed, and in some versions the Prophet specifically named some people who would later become Muslims (IK). But according to other accounts, it was said that he would imprecate against the believers' enemies, until this verse was revealed, after which he ceased to do so. These two versions of the account differ insofar as one directly links the Prophet's actions to the revelation, while the other shows only how the verse relates to the Prophet's actions more generally.

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İ O you who believe! Devour not usury, doubling and multiplying. And reverence God, that haply you may prosper.

130 For an extended discussion of _usury_ ( _ribā_ ), see 2:275–81c.

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ı And be mindful of the Fire that has been prepared for the disbelievers.

131 _Be mindful_ renders a word usually translated "reverence," but which also connotes fear, taking care, and being on guard; see 2:2c.

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IJ And obey God and the Messenger, that haply you may receive mercy.

132 Obedience to the Prophet is discussed in many verses in the Quran (e.g., 4:80; 8:1; 24:54; 48:17) and obedience is also mentioned with regard to other prophets throughout _Sūrah_ 26. Cf. v. 31, which links following the Prophet with receiving God's Love (see also 3:31c), just as this verse links obeying the Prophet with receiving God's Compassion and Mercy.

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ij And hasten unto forgiveness from your Lord, and for a garden whose breadth is the heavens and the earth—prepared for the reverent,

133 Cf. 57:21. It is said that the Byzantine emperor Heraclius sent an emissary to the Prophet saying, "You call to a garden whose breadth is the heavens and the earth. So where is the fire?" The Prophet replied, "Glory be to God! Where is the night when the day comes?"

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Ĵ who spend in ease and hardship, and curb their rage, and pardon others—and God loves the virtuous—

134 A _ḥ adīth_ states, "Whosoever curbs his anger even though he is able to release [act on] it will be filled with security and faith by God." Another _ḥ adīth_ states, "He is not forceful who throws down his opponent, but he who controls his soul when he is angry." See also 42:37: _who . . . when they are angry, forgive. Ease_ refers to a time when one's wealth is plentiful (Ṭ), though some interpret it to mean that, whether the reverent are happy or sad or whether giving makes them feel happy or irritates them, they still spend for good causes (R). The word rendered _rage_ is _ghay ẓ,_ which some differentiate from _gha ḍab_ (also often rendered "anger"), in that _ghay ẓ_ is the internal aspect of _gha ḍab,_ while _gha ḍab_ is anger manifested in words or physical actions (Q). _And pardon others_ refers to those over whom one has power (Q). Spiritually speaking, this verse is understood to mean that believers do not hoard away things from God, giving both their bodies and their souls (Qu); some Sufis say that if one wants to know the station of a spiritual traveler ( _faqīr_ ), one should do something to anger the person and see what comes out (Aj).

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ĵ and who, when they commit an indecency or wrong themselves, remember God and then seek forgiveness for their sins—and who forgives sins but God?—and who do not knowingly persist in what they have done.

Ķ For these, their reward is forgiveness from their Lord, and Gardens with rivers running below, abiding therein. Blessed indeed is the reward of the workers [of righteousness]!

135–36 One can _remember God_ by recalling His Anger and Punishment, being aware that God is always watching over, or by pronouncing God's Name (Aj). There is no great sin once forgiveness is sought, and no small sin that is done perpetually (Aj). An _indecency_ ( _fā ḥishah_) is something that is ugly or trespasses the limits of a norm. _Knowingly persist_ means they do so intentionally or with an awareness that their action is a sin or is forbidden (Ṭ). Some report that v. 135 was revealed in connection with a man who bought dates from a beautiful woman, impetuously embraced her and kissed her, and then regretted it (Q). _Workers [of righteousness]_ ( _ʿ āmilīn_) refers to those who perform right actions, and for some this constitutes evidence that entering Paradise is not only a matter of God's Grace, but that it also involves at least some element of human action (R).

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ķ Wonts have passed before you; so journey upon the earth and behold how the deniers fared in the end!

137 _Wonts_ renders _sunan,_ the plural of _sunnah_. The Quran refers to the wont of previous peoples (4:26; 8:38; 15:13; 17:77; 18:55; 35:43) and to the _wont of God_ (33:38, 62; 35:43; 40:85; 48:23). The most common usage in the Islamic tradition for _sunnah_ is the _Sunnah_ of the Prophet Muhammad, which comprises his sayings and doings, which are recorded and transmitted through the _Ḥ adīth._ Because the Prophet's life is both morally and legally normative for Muslims, _Sunnah_ came to signify also that class of actions and behaviors that, though not strictly enjoined as an obligation, are nevertheless recommended in order to follow the Prophet's example. When referring to "the _Sunnah_ " Muslims are referring to the Prophet's _sunnah,_ though the word has the general meaning of established practices, a way of living that has been in some way instituted as a norm, whether good or bad from the Islamic point of view. Thus a _ḥ adīth_ states, "Whosoever establishes a good wont ( _sunnah_ ) shall have its reward and the reward of those who act according to it until the Day of Resurrection, and whosoever established an evil wont shall bear its burden and the burden of those who act according to it until the Day of Resurrection." In the present verse _sunan_ ( _wonts_ ) could also be rendered "cultures," if culture is understood in the general sense of received norms of practice and knowledge. For some, there is an implied sense here of "the [peoples who practiced] wonts" (Q). Some connect this verse with the battle of Uḥud, the implication being that the enemies of the believers will meet with a fate similar to that of the enemies of prophets before them (Q).

_The end_ ( _ʿ āqibah_) refers not only what comes last, but also denotes the result, upshot, or consequence of an act and its effect upon the being of the actor. This verse, like dozens of others, invites people to contemplate the end, or result, of such wonts, or "cultures," by actually witnessing what they left behind after their end, sometimes referring to them as wrongdoers (10:39), those who were warned (10:73), the deniers (16:36), and the workers of corruption (27:14). Some commentators specifically mention those peoples with whom the Arabs had some familiarity, such as the ʿĀd (see 46:21–26) and the Thamūd (see 27:45–52), but the primary lesson drawn from considering the ends of earlier peoples is that their worldly power and wealth did not save them from a terrible fate (Ṭ). Some say that one can acquire this knowledge without actually traveling, but simply by hearing stories of such peoples, though hearing is less powerful than seeing (R).

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ĸ This is an exposition for mankind, and a guidance and exhortation for the reverent.

138 _Exposition_ translates _al-bayān,_ which is also known as one of the names of the Quran (see 55:4). In this context, some commentators say that _an exposition_ refers to the whole Quran (Q), while others say that it refers only to what was just said in the previous verses (Ṭ). In 5:46, the Torah is also described as _a guidance and an exhortation to the reverent._

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Ĺ Do not falter and do not grieve, for you will be ascendant if you are believers.

139 _Do not falter_ connotes also "do not deem yourselves weak" (Q); see also 47:35. The believers should _not grieve_ over the losses that they have suffered in battle (Ṭ). To be _ascendant_ ( _a ʿlawn_, sing. _a ʿlā_) means they will triumph over their enemies (Q) or that their end will be better than that of their enemies (IK, R). Some read the particle _idh_ as "since" rather than "if" and understand _if you are believers_ to mean "since you are believers" (Q).

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ŀ If a wound afflicts you, a like wound has already afflicted that people. And such days We hand out in turns to mankind. And [this is] so that God may know those who believe, and take witnesses from among you—and God loves not the wrongdoers—

Ł and so that God may assay those who believe and blight the disbelievers.

140–41 _That people_ refers to the believers' enemies who, at the battle of Badr the year before, had suffered injuries and losses at the hands of the believers (IK, R), even as the believers now suffered wounds at their enemies' hands at the Battle of Uḥud. _We hand out in turns_ is interpreted by some using the Arabic proverb, "One day for you, one day against you" (Ṭ), an expression of the ephemerality of the world (R). According to some, it is assumed that God will grant victory to the believers, but when the believers disobey or lose faith, their enemies get the better of them (Q); that is, God does not support the disbelievers as such, but does so to test the believers with loss (R). To _take witnesses from among you_ can mean that some of them are given the noble station of being witnesses to human sin and disobedience (R), but it is widely understood to mean that they will die in the way of God and be martyrs (IK, R, Ṭ), even though the sense of martyrdom is not necessarily evoked in other uses of _shahīd_ ("witness") in the Quran.

Grammatically, _And [this is] so that God may know_ functions with an implicit phrase so that it says something like either "[God did thus] so that He may know" or "So that God may know [He will do thus]" (Z). For a discussion of the theological issues concerning God's Knowledge raised by _so that God may know,_ see 2:143c.

_Assay_ refers to refining or removal of impurities. It is understood to be a process of trials to test patience (Ṭ). _Blight_ also appears in 2:276. Here it is understood to mean reduction and shortage, the decrease of a thing until one can no longer see any of it (R).

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ł Or did you suppose that you would enter the Garden without God knowing those among you who strived, and without knowing those who were patient?

142 Cf. 29:2. This verse is understood to mean not that God's Knowledge is incomplete (see v. 139), but that one must strive and be patient in order to enter the Garden (R). Put another way, it is like saying, "I know no good in him," meaning, "He is no good" (Z). The verb in the clause _and without knowing those who were patient_ is read by some to mean, "without God knowing those among you who strived such that He would know those who were patient" (Q, R). In commenting on this verse, al-Rāzī says, "Know that love of this world cannot coexist with happiness in the Hereafter, and to the degree that one of them increases the other diminishes. That is because happiness in the world only is achieved by the heart's occupation with worldliness, and happiness in the Hereafter can only be achieved by emptying the heart of all that is other than God and filling it with the love of God. Not all those who affirm the religion of God are truthful. Rather, in the difference there is a question of the sway of things that we hate and things that we love. Love is that which does not diminish with difficulty and does not increase through fulfillment. If love survives the onset of suffering, it is shown to be true love."

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Ń You did indeed long for death before you met it. Now you have seen it, looking on.

143 This verse is thought to address certain believers who did not participate in the Battle of Badr and yet who hoped to have the chance to fight against the idolaters in the way of God (Ṭ); they _longed for death_ in the sense of longing for the fighting that could lead to death (Ṭ). Some interpret _you have seen it, looking on_ to be a kind of emphatic statement akin to, "You heard it with your own ears" (Ṭ); others think that it means they saw it with untrammeled vision (Q), or that it implies a question, "You have seen it, looking on, so why then did you flee?" (Q), referring to the events at Uḥud when, during the heat of battle, some believers retreated or fled (see v. 144).

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ń Muhammad is naught but a messenger; messengers have passed before him. So if he dies or is slain, will you turn back on your heels? Whosoever turns back on his heels will not harm God in the least, and God will reward the thankful.

144 Similar verses include 39:30: _Surely thou wilt die, and surely they will die;_ and 3:185: _Every soul shall taste death._ As mentioned in 3:128–29c, the Prophet was seriously injured during the Battle of Uḥud, and in the fog of the battle rumors began to circulate that he was not only injured, but killed, causing alarm and hesitation among some of the believers and temporarily raising the morale of the idolaters. One Companion was reported to have said, "O people, if Muhammad has died, then the Lord of Muhammad will not die. How shall you live your lives after the Messenger of God? Fight as he fought, and die as he died!" Moreover, some hypocrites taunted the believers, saying that if Muhammad were truly a prophet, he would not have been killed, and prodded the believers to return to their old religion. Years later, immediately after the Prophet had died, some Companions, such as ʿUmar ibn al-Khaṭṭāb, refused to believe he was dead. In his famous words to the Muslim community after the Prophet's death, Abū Bakr reminded the people of this verse, and ʿUmar is reported to have responded, "It is as though I had never recited those words before that day."

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Ņ It is not for any soul to die save by God's Leave—an enjoined term. Yet whosoever desires the reward of this world, We shall give him of it; and whosoever desires the reward of the Hereafter, We shall give him of it. And We shall reward the thankful.

145 _An enjoined term_ is thought to include an implicit verb and to mean "He enjoined an enjoined term" (Ṭ). It is said that _whosoever desires the reward of this world_ refers to those seeking after the spoils of war, glory, and renown (R), though it has a more universal import (Q). This verse reinforces the message of the previous verse that all human beings, including prophets, will die, and this death does not diminish the mission of prophethood (R). Moreover, it is interpreted as a means of imparting wisdom regarding fear and courage, a reminder that fear and cowardice do no one any good, and that one should courageously fight for the good (R). It also denies the hypocrites the right to say such things as, "Had he been with us, he would not have died" (R). A long _ḥ adīth_ describes a warrior, a philanthropist, and a scholar who expect Paradise for their actions while having only worldly intentions: the warrior for his fighting and dying, the philanthropist for giving charity, and the scholar for teaching others. Their true intentions of gaining only worldly renown and glory are exposed by God on the Day of Judgment, and they are rewarded with the Fire instead of Paradise. Regarding desiring the rewards of both this world and the Hereafter, see also 2:201.

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ņ How many a prophet had many devoted men fight alongside him! They did not then falter in the face of what befell them in the way of God, nor did they weaken, nor did they demean themselves. And God loves the patient.

146 Some read _fight_ ( _qātala_ ) as "were killed" ( _qutila_ ), in which case it would mean, "And how many a prophet was killed, while there were alongside him many devoted men!" (R, Ṭ). Al-Ṭabarī prefers this interpretation, as it accords with the plain sense of the previous verses.

_Devoted men_ translates _ribbiyyūn,_ which is interpreted by some as a form of _rabbāniyyūn,_ rendered in this translation as _sages_ (Z; see v. 79). Others suggest that it refers generally to large groups (Ṭ); some give ten thousand as the specific number for _ribbī_ and interpret _ribbiyyūn_ to mean large numbers of learned people ( _ʿ ulamāʾ;_ Ṭ) or patient people (Q).

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Ň Their words were but to say, "Our Lord, forgive us our sins and our prodigality in our affairs, and make firm our steps, and help us against the disbelieving people."

147 Some interpret _our sins_ to mean small sins and _our prodigality_ to mean great sins (Q). _Prodigality_ renders _isrāf,_ which means both waste and excess, the going beyond bounds.

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ň And God gave them the reward of this world and the most beautiful reward of the Hereafter, and God loves the virtuous.

148 Some interpret the _reward of this world_ to refer to victory and spoils, and stability in the world (Ṭ); see 4:134c. Although in other verses it is stated that God is said to love the reverent (see 3:76; 9:4, 7), the patient (3:146), the just (5:42; 60:8), and the equitable (49:9), among others, the virtuous in general are cited most often as those whom God loves (see 2:195; 3:134; 5:13, 93).

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'n O you who believe! If you obey those who disbelieve, they will turn you back on your heels; then you will be overturned as losers.

149 _Those who disbelieve_ is interpreted to mean variously the Muslims' enemies among the Jews, Christians, hypocrites, and idolaters (Ṭ). _Back on your heels_ means back to disbelief after faith (Ṭ). _As losers_ can mean, as in other instances, both those who are lost and those who have lost everything.

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Ő Rather, God is your Master, and He is the best of helpers.

150 This verse counsels seeking refuge with God, seeking help from no other (Ṭ).

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ő We shall cast terror into the hearts of those who disbelieve for having ascribed partners unto God, for which He has not sent down any authority. And their refuge shall be the Fire, and evil is the abode of the wrongdoers.

151 Although this verse can be understood more generally, it is reported that, on the way back to Makkah after the Battle of Uḥud, the idolaters lamented that they did not eradicate the Muslim community, though they had inflicted severe casualties upon them. When the Makkans had mustered the intention to return to Madinah, God cast terror into them until they lost heart and continued on toward Makkah (Q, Ṭ).

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Œ And God certainly was true to His Promise to you when you were eradicating them by His Leave, until the moment you lost heart, and quarreled with one another about the matter, and disobeyed, after He had showed you that which you loved. Among you are those who desire this world, and among you are those who desire the Hereafter. Then He turned you from them, to test you, and He certainly pardoned you—God is Possessed of Bounty for the believers—

152 The first part of this verse refers to the failure of the archers to stand their ground, abandoning their positions on the high ground to ensure their share of the spoils once they saw the battle's tide turn in the believers' favor (Q; see v. 121). _Showed you that which you loved_ thus refers to coming victory portended by early events in the battle, such as the killing of the idolaters' standard bearers (Q). The _you_ in _and He certainly pardoned you_ refers to either the archers specifically or the believers as a whole (Q). The Companion Ibn Masʿūd reportedly said that, prior to the revelation of this verse, he had not known or believed that any among the Prophet's Companions could be characterized as _those who desire this world_ (Ṭ). _Quarreled with one another_ means that some of the archers did not want to leave their posts to seek after the spoils and insisted on staying and following the Prophet's orders (Q, Ṭ). _Turned you from them_ means that you (the believers) were turned away from them (the disbelievers), because of your disobedience, failing to achieve the rout that would have been yours if you had been obedient; _to test you,_ that is, to try you (Ṭ). _He certainly pardoned you_ means that God did not utterly eradicate them, according to some interpretations, even though what they did was an enormity, disobeying the Prophet in the midst of battle (Ṭ).

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œ when you were climbing, casting a glance to no one, while the Messenger was calling you from your rear. So He recompensed you with sorrow upon sorrow, that you may not grieve over what escaped you or what befell you. And God is Aware of whatsoever you do.

153 _When you were climbing_ continues the discussion of the events of the previous verse, but if the _when_ is translated "Remember when . . . ," it can also indicate the beginning of a new sentence (R). Although the verb rendered _climbing_ ( _a ṣʿada_) has the root meaning of "to go up," some say that in the form the root takes here it means to traverse level ground (Ṭ), not to climb. According to this reading, one performs the action _a ṣʿada_ through a valley, while another verb, _ṣ aʿida_, is used to indicate going up a mountain. Reading the verb to mean traversing level ground would, moreover, be in accord with the narration of events, which indicates that, far from climbing, some of the believers are being blamed for descending from their posts on high ground to chase after the spoils. However, others interpret this to mean that, when the battle turned against the believers, some fled up Mt. Uḥud (Ṭ). _Casting a glance to no one_ means not caring about anyone else. As they were running away, the Prophet was reportedly calling from behind them, "To me! Servants of God! To me! Servants of God!" (Q, R, Ṭ).

_Sorrow upon sorrow_ is understood by some to mean "sorrow because of sorrow"; that is, they were made to feel sorrow for having made the Prophet sorrowful (R). Or it can mean "sorrow after sorrow," in which case the first sorrow was the news that the Prophet had died, and the second was the casualties they suffered later, or the reverse (Ṭ); or it was losing both the battle and the spoils, then hearing the gloating of the enemy (Ṭ); or the first was the loss of the battle, which was then followed by fear that the idolaters would return to finish them off and complete their victory over them (R). Still others interpret it to mean a kind of compounded, relentless grief (R).

_That you may not grieve_ is connected to either _So He recompensed you_ or _He certainly pardoned you_ from v. 152. According to the former, God caused sorrow in them for their causing sorrow in the Prophet, but saved them from the grief over losing the spoils of battle (R). It is also interpreted to mean that God caused them sorrow, so that they would not become attached to the world and be neither saddened at losing it nor pleased at gaining it (R). Al-Rāzī mentions that the very act of retreating or running away is a kind of sorrow, because one feels weak and cowardly.

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Ŕ Then He sent down upon you—after sorrow—security, a sleepiness enveloping a company among you, while a company were anxious over themselves, thinking about God what is not true—the thinking of the Age of Ignorance—saying, "Do we have any decision [in this]?" Say, "The decision belongs entirely to God." They hide in their souls what they do not disclose to you, saying, "Had we any decision [in this], we would not have been slain here." Say, "Had you stayed in your houses, those who were destined to be slain would have gone out to their places of rest." And [this is] so that God may test what is in your breasts and so that He may assay what is in your hearts. And God knows what lies within breasts.

154 _Sleepiness_ ( _nu ʿās_) here is either a description of _security_ or an independent object of the verb _sent down_. In the latter case it means, "sent down sleepiness as safety," where the two words are reversed, or "we made you sleep safely" (R). According to Ibn Masʿūd, to sleep during a battle shows one's trust and faith in God and one's detachment from the world, but sleep during prayer shows one's distance from God (R). This sleepiness was thus a kind of miracle and moreover caused them to rest physically, so that they might carry on the battle; it was a sign that God was on their side (R). Some of the believers were able, while on the field, to achieve a restful sleep. One _ḥ adīth_ tells of a Companion who said he would fall asleep and his sword would fall out of his hand, and this happened repeatedly.

_Anxious over themselves_ means they were afraid (R). _Thinking about God what is not true_ refers to the belief of some of them that, if Muhammad really were a prophet, they would not have encountered the setbacks at Uḥud (R). Al-Rāzī also offers a discussion about providence in commenting upon this verse, asserting that we should not claim to derive what God wills or does from our egocentric evaluation of pleasure and suffering, because we do not possess all the measures by which we might judge whether such and such a thing is bad or good, including success or failure on the battlefield.

_Do we have any decision?_ referring to the decision to go out and meet the idolaters in battle (see v. 121), is a question spoken by the hypocrites (Q), although al-Rāzī thinks that this question could have been spoken by the believers in a sincere way in their anticipation of victory. The hypocrites were arguing that it was foolish for them to go out and meet the Makkans in battle, and that had they stayed in Madinah, they would not have suffered such casualties. _Places of rest_ refers to their final resting places, where they will lie when they are dead (Q, R). _So that God may test_ means He does so in order to separate out the hypocrites from the sincere (R).

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ŕ Those of you who turned away on the day the two hosts met—Satan alone made them slip because of part of what they committed. And God certainly pardoned them; truly God is Forgiving, Clement.

155 _The day the two hosts met_ refers to the battle between the idolaters and the believers at Uḥud (Ṭ). What this verse describes would have happened after the archers left the high ground and the Makkans began to make gains against the believers (see v. 121). Many details exist in the _ḥ adīth_ and _Sīrah_ (biographical literature about the Prophet) regarding the Battle of Uḥud, but there is no unanimity as to which group of people this verse describes. According to some commentators, _those of you who turned away_ could refer to a group of the believers who ran away from the fighting or to a group who remained back in Madinah, or it means that some ran away to the city while others clambered up Uḥud (Ṭ). Others believe that it refers to a specific group of known individuals: ʿUthmān ibn ʿAffān, Saʿd ibn ʿUthmān, and ʿUqbah ibn ʿUthmān (Ṭ), who ran either out of simple fear or because they believed the rumor that the Prophet had been killed (see v. 144). That some eminent Companions are included among those who turned away and then were pardoned by God is explained as a lesson in God's Forgiveness by commentators, who also cite, for example, God's accepting Adam's repentance and pardoning him (see 2:37; Q).

_Because of part of what they committed_ can also be read as "in part of what they committed," meaning Satan caused them to _slip_ only in certain matters, not more generally (R). But according to the former reading, it could mean that they were made to slip precisely because they turned away, since one error or sin can lead to another (R). Some interpret this verse to mean that they ran away because they did not wish to die except in a state of perfection and were afraid to meet God before they had achieved true repentance (R).

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Ŗ O you who believe! Be not like those who disbelieve and say of their brethren when they travel upon the earth or campaign, "Had they stayed with us, they would not have died and been slain," that God may make that a source of regret in their hearts. And God gives life and causes death, and God sees whatsoever you do.

156 _Say of their brethren_ has the sense of "on account of their brethren," meaning they say this because of what happened to them (Z). The words _Had they stayed with us_ are spoken by either disbelievers in general, the hypocrites in general, or specifically ʿAbd Allāh ibn Ubayy (see v. 121; Q, R). Some understand it to mean that those who could have prevented their friends and relatives from going out to campaign or travel for some other reason would be made to feel regret and anguish upon hearing these words, because they failed to stop their relatives and friends from going out to their doom; or the words were spoken simply to create doubt (and hence regret) in the hearts of weaker believers (R). The verse could be telling the believers, "Be not like them, so that God may make that a source of regret in their hearts," a regret that might also be experienced by them on the Day of Judgment for their having spoken those words (R). That _God gives life and causes death_ restates a point made in v. 154, namely, that human beings should never forget that God, not human agency, determines life and death. It is also interpreted spiritually to mean that God quickens the hearts of His friends and brings death to the hearts of His enemies (R).

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ŗ And indeed if you are slain or die in the way of God, truly forgiveness and mercy from God are better than what they amass.

Ř And indeed if you are slain or die, truly unto God shall you be gathered.

157–58 _What they amass_ refers to their wealth or more broadly to their collecting the vanities of the world (IK). The state of those who are slain or die is discussed in 3:169–71c.

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ř Then [it was] by a mercy from God that thou wert gentle with them. Hadst thou been severe [and] hard-hearted they would have scattered from about thee. So pardon them, ask forgiveness for them, and consult them in affairs. And when thou art resolved, trust in God; truly God loves those who trust.

159 Other verses describing the Prophet's treatment of the believers include 7:199; 9:128; 26:215. This gentleness was directed toward the Prophet's Companions and followers who had fallen short in their conduct during the battle (Ṭ). _Scattered from about thee_ means they would have left the Prophet (Ṭ).

_Consult them in affairs_ refers to matters of war, since the Prophet by definition would not consult them in matters of revelation (Q, R). Before the battle the Prophet did precisely that, consulting with the Muslims of Madinah about whether they should remain in the city or ride out to meet the idolaters in battle (see v. 121). Many view any consultation carried out by the Prophet to be superfluous and good only as a kind of flattery, since he had revelation and needed no one's advice (Q), but this is rejected by many, and the Prophet did consult his contemporaries, men and women, in many matters. Some see the Prophet's act of consulting others as a means of establishing consultation as a wont of his community (R). Others note that there are all sorts of things to be known in the world and quote the Prophet's qualification of his own knowledge of the world in the famous _ḥ adīth,_ "You all know more about the affairs of this world of yours," thus giving a more substantive interpretation to the Prophet's consultation. According to one view, this verse reassures the Companions not only that they were forgiven, but that God still looks upon them with favor by telling the Prophet to consider their judgment (R). _Consult them in affairs_ also contains guidance for politics in general and the affairs between human beings and throughout the centuries has been important for Islamic political thought and the ideal of political action and especially in the modern period when Muslims have sometimes used the Quranic concept of consultation to interpret the Western notion of democracy. _When thou art resolved_ means when the Prophet has come to a decision on his own, not based on consultation (Q), or that after the Prophet has gone through consultation, he should then make his attitude one of trust in God, not in human deliberations (R).

On the subject of gentleness, al-Rāzī quotes a saying attributed to ʿAlī: "God has been so good to us! We were idolaters, and if the Messenger of God had come with this entire religion all at once, and with the Quran all at once, the responsibilities would have weighed heavily upon us, and we would not have entered Islam. Rather, he called us to a single word, and when we accepted it and tasted the sweetness of faith, we accepted what came after it, word upon word, in a gentle way, until the religion was completed and the law was perfected."

The Prophet is to _pardon them_ when it is a matter of their having violated his rights and _ask forgiveness for them_ insofar as they have violated God's rights (R, Z). Al-Rāzī argues that this is an obligation only for the Prophet and that the believers are merely encouraged to do so, since "the sins of those brought nigh ( _muqarrabūn_ ) are the virtues of the pious ( _abrār_ )." He also notes that this verse indicates that even great sins can be forgiven, since 8:16 states that turning one's back on the enemy during battle _shall certainly earn wrath from God,_ and fleeing from the battlefield is often listed as one of the great sins, though this is not universally held. The concept of _trust_ ( _tawakkul_ ) is a cornerstone of Islamic spirituality, and believers are told to trust in God in dozens of verses (e.g., 4:81; 5:23; 8:61; 25:28).

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Š If God helps you, none shall overcome you. And if He forsakes you, who then can help you thereafter? And in God let the believers trust.

160 This verse is often interpreted to mean that God helped the believers at Badr, but forsook them at Uḥud (R). _Thereafter_ means after being forsaken, but it can also be read as referring back to God, in which case it would be rendered "who can help you other than He?" (R). This verse is one of the most famous Quranic verses, cited often by Muslims throughout life. In reaffirming the supremacy of God's Power, this verse is similar in rhetorical form to 10:107; 28:71; 39:38: _If God desires some harm for me, could they remove His Harm, or if He desires some mercy, could they withhold His Mercy?_

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š It is not for any prophet to defraud. And whosoever defrauds will bring what he obtained by fraud on the Day of Resurrection. Then every soul shall be paid what it has earned in full, and they shall not be wronged.

161 _Defraud_ renders a verb often associated with the unfair distribution of the spoils of war or purloining of some part of it. For some this refers to the battle of Badr when a valuable textile went missing, and it was said the Prophet might have taken it, on which occasion this verse was revealed (R, Ṭ). For others it is simply a command to distribute the spoils equitably and not favor one person or group over another (Ṭ). Another view sees the purpose of this revelation was simply to inform people that the Prophet does not do such a thing, which is al-Ṭabarī's preferred interpretation (Ṭ).

Some say that this verse refers to the matter of the archers, who were initially given none of the spoils they precipitously sought to secure during the battle, or that it refers to certain expeditionary groups the Prophet sent out, distributing the spoils before their return (Q, Ṭ). Others say it was revealed after the archers tried to explain themselves and the motivation for their hasty decision, meaning that they did not need to act as they did to guarantee their shares (R). Still others say that this verse has nothing to do with spoils, but commands the Prophet never to withhold from people any of the revelation he has been given (Ṭ). In another view it has the general sense of "no prophet should betray anyone" or "no prophet should be betrayed" (Q, Ṭ).

In connection with _whosoever defrauds will bring what he obtained by fraud_ some mention various _a ḥādīth_ describing how people will come to the Prophet on the Day of Judgment literally with the objects they wrongfully took hanging around their necks, even with stolen animals upon their backs. They will ask for the Prophet's help, but he will not be able to give it (Q, Ṭ). This is a message similar to that of v. 180: _On the Day of Resurrection they will be collared by that with which they were miserly_.

Though many commentators treat this verse in the context of purloining the spoils of war, they also generalize it to refer to any kind of embezzlement or misuse of a trust (Q, R). To consume or keep the spoils of war before they are fairly divided is considered by many to be a major sin, subject to varying levels of punishment, including physical punishment (Q). More broadly, any kind of mishandling or corruption in the matter of public goods is severely condemned in Islam. In connection with this verse some commentators mention a _ḥ adīth_ describing a man who was sent by the Prophet to collect the alms ( _zakāh_ ) _;_ when he returned he said, "This is for you, and this was given as a gift to me." The Prophet severely reprimanded him for this, asking if he waited for his gift at his mother's and father's house, meaning that the accepting of the "gift" was an unjust practice that could not have been applied to all people equally.

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Ţ Is he who pursues God's Contentment like one who earns a burden of anger from God, and whose refuge is Hell? An evil journey's end!

162 Similar verses comparing believers and unbelievers, the righteous and the unrighteous, include 32:18; 38:28; 45:21. The notion of a _burden of anger_ or wrath from God also appears in 2:61, 90; 3:112.

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ţ They are ranked in degrees in the sight of God, and God sees whatsoever they do.

163 _Ranked in degrees_ can mean at the most basic level that the two aforementioned groups in v. 162 are at different levels in this world (Ṭ), but it is also interpreted to mean that those who are punished are ranked at different levels of suffering in the Hereafter, just as those who achieve Paradise experience varying levels of bliss (R). That God will reward or punish in _degrees_ in accord with people's actions is explicitly stated in 6:132 and 46:19. On this topic see also the essay "Death, Dying, and the Afterlife in the Quran." This verse can also be seen as a general affirmation of the general principle that reality consists of a hierarchy of levels.

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Ť God certainly favored the believers when He sent them a Messenger from among themselves, who recites His signs unto them, and purifies them, and teaches them the Book and Wisdom, while aforetime they were in manifest error.

164 The wording of this verse closely matches that of 2:129 and links the coming of the Prophet Muhammad with the prayer of Abraham in that verse; see also 2:151; 62:2. That a human being like them, _from among themselves,_ should be God's Messenger was a cause of the idolaters' incredulity and denial of Muhammad's prophethood, as in 54:24: _Shall we follow a single human being from among us?_ and 11:12: _Why has no treasure been sent down upon him, or an angel not come with him?_ Part of the answer to this latter question is given in 15:8: _We do not send down the angels, save in truth, and were We to do so, they would be granted no respite._ In 7:69 they are questioned as to why they marvel at this appointment of a human being like them, an incredulousness also described in 10:2; 38:4; 50:2. _Manifest error_ refers to their state in the pre-Islamic Age of Ignorance.

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ť And when an affliction befell you, though you wrought an affliction twice its like, did you say, "Whence is this?" Say, "It is from yourselves." Truly God is Powerful over all things.

165 According to this verse, the believers caused twice the affliction to the idolaters at Badr that the idolaters caused at Uḥud. The number of believers killed at Uḥud is considered to have been 70; at Badr the believers killed approximately 70 idolaters, but also took 70 prisoners (Ṭ), which is in a sense equivalent to twice as many, because prisoners can be executed; if they had executed the prisoners, that would mean 140 people killed (Q). For some this verse means that the believers were afflicted at Uḥud because they ransomed the prisoners of Badr, while others say this happened because they disobeyed the Prophet through their aforementioned faltering or pursuing the spoils or by running away (R, Ṭ). Some suggest that _twice its like_ refers to this retreat; that is, the believers put the idolaters to flight at the battle of Badr and had done so also at the start of the battle of Uḥud, though the battle later turned against them and they were put to flight, resulting in the believers routing the idolaters twice overall, but suffering that fate themselves only once (R). _Whence is this?_ refers to the flight during the battle, meaning, "If this is a true prophet, why did this rout take place?" (R)

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Ŧ And that which befell you on the day the two hosts met was by God's Leave, and that He may know the believers,

166 Regarding _that He may know the believers,_ see 3:140–41c. _The day the two hosts met_ refers to the Battle of Uḥud.

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ŧ and that He may know the hypocrites. And it was said unto them, "Come, fight in the way of God or defend [yourselves]." They said, "Had we known there would be fighting, we would have followed you." That day they were closer to disbelief than to belief, saying with their mouths what was not in their hearts. And God knows best what they conceal.

167 Regarding _that He may know the hypocrites,_ see 3:140–41c. This verse refers to the withdrawal of ʿAbd Allāh ibn Ubayy with approximately three hundred others before the battle began (see v. 121). When called upon to stay and fight with the Prophet, he said, "We do not believe there will be fighting. If we knew that there would be fighting, we would be with you" (Q). This can mean either that they did not believe there would be fighting, only a kind of tense standoff, or that if fighting ensued, it would not be a battle, but an all-out massacre (R); in either case, their attitude would have been hypocritical, not sincere.

_Or defend [yourselves]_ means that, if they would not fight in the way of God, they should at least fight in their own self-defense (Q); that is, they should not be cowards. Or it can mean that they should "repel" the enemy, even if there is no fighting, by at least remaining on the battlefield, forming ranks, and giving the appearance of greater numbers (Ṭ).

Some say _they were closer to disbelief than to belief_ shows that one should not call anyone who declares the testimony of faith ( _shahādah_ ) a disbeliever, since even God said only that they were closer to disbelief ( _kufr_ ) than to belief ( _īmān_ ), rather than calling them disbelievers outright (R). For others this means that outwardly they were closer to disbelief, but inwardly actually fully disbelievers (Q).

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Ũ Those who said of their brethren, while they were sitting [at home], "Had they obeyed us, they would not have been slain." Say, "Then ward off death from yourselves, if you are truthful."

168 It is said that this verse was revealed in connection with ʿAbd Allāh ibn Ubayy and other hypocrites. What they said to the survivors regarding those who had been killed (Ṭ) is similar to the statement in v. 156: _Had they stayed with us, they would not have died and been slain_. The theological issues related to death are similar to those of v. 156: all matters of life and death are determined and ordained by God (R). In a sense this verse, like v. 156, exposes the illogicality of applying a counterfactual argument when it concerns God's Will. Since it was the Will of God for them to die that day, the hypocrites are in essence claiming to know what God would have done under other circumstances, though they do not realize that this is the logical conclusion of their assertion. It is as if they were saying, "You could have warded off death by staying home," to which the reply is that no one can ward off death at a place and time ordained by God. These words would have been spoken not only regarding _brethren_ in the spiritual sense, but also concerning blood relatives (Q).

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ũ And deem not those slain in the way of God to be dead. Rather, they are alive with their Lord, provided for,

Ű exulting in what God has given them from His Bounty, and rejoicing in those who have not yet joined them from among those who remain behind—that no fear shall come upon them, nor shall they grieve—

ű rejoicing in Blessing and Bounty from God, and that God neglects not the reward of the believers,

169–71 See 2:154c, which also negates the notion that those who are slain in the way of God are dead. Unlike 2:154, these verses expand upon the description of those who were killed in the way of God, but are truly alive. Commentators mention accounts similar to that of the green birds around the Divine Throne described in 2:154c. Other accounts describe how, in the midst of receiving all that they ask for, the believers ask to return to the world so that they can die again in the way of God (R, Ṭ). _They are alive with their Lord_ can also be understood as "God knows them to be alive," or it means that they are in proximity to God, as reflected in the translation. Al-Rāzī considers and rejects the idea that this means that they will be alive in the future in the Hereafter, preferring the understanding that they are alive at that instant. Since all human beings will be alive in the Hereafter, he argues, there would be no purpose to saying, _And deem not those slain in the way of God to be dead_. Moreover, that they are _rejoicing in those who have not yet joined them_ shows that they are alive at that moment. These and similar verses were used extensively in Islamic theology to support the idea that souls are alive between physical death and the Resurrection, against the views of some theologians such as some Ashcarites.

Vv. 169–71, even more so than 2:154, raise questions regarding the state of those who have died while others remain alive in this world, since they describe the dead as _exulting_ and _rejoicing_. In traditional Islamic eschatology, there is a stage after death called the "trial of the grave," which is sometimes referred to as the _barzakh,_ or "barrier," and lasts until the Day of Resurrection ( _yawm al-qiyāmah_ ), when all human beings rise from their graves, as described in many verses (e.g., 22:7; 54:7). Many _a ḥādīth_ allude to the experience of souls in this intervening period; in them the Prophet speaks to or prays at the graves of people, virtuous souls experience the grave as spacious and light-filled, and vicious souls are beset with torments and a state of narrow confinement. It is said that souls will be questioned in the grave by the angels Nakīr and Munkar regarding their conduct in life. Then, after this questioning in the _barzakh,_ at the end of the world, all human beings will be resurrected and face final judgment.

In a particularly vivid account, it is reported that after the Battle of Badr the Prophet called out to the slain of the enemy, "Have you found what your Lord promised to be true?" When asked why he was addressing the dead, he told the questioners, "You cannot hear better than they can." Other _a ḥādīth_ say that the recently deceased can hear the footsteps of the funeral procession, are tormented by the wailing of their relatives, or are comforted by the prayers of the Prophet at their graves. Among the funeral rites commonly practiced by Muslims is the "instruction of the dead" ( _talqīn al-mayyit_ ), in which people "instruct" the dead and remind them of their faith in the Oneness of God and in the Prophet Muhammad, although some claim this practice is valid only as one approaches death, not after death. Moreover the recital of verses of the Quran at the burial, especially _Sūrah_ 36, _Yā Sīn,_ and 55, _al-Ra ḥmān,_ is a practice that most Muslims consider to be a _sunnah_ of the Prophet, done for the benefit of the dead, not the living. Moreover, almost all Muslims believe that, wherever they are, if they send prayers and salutations to the Prophet, these will be conveyed to him, and indeed an address to the Prophet, "Peace be upon thee, O Prophet" ( _al-salāmu ʿalayka ayyuha 'l-nabī_), is a part of the canonical prayer ( _ṣ alāh_); see 33:56c.

It is not easy to classify neatly the stages of the soul's journey beyond this world, since the Quran and _Ḥ adīth_ describe torments and pleasures experienced after death, then during the Day of Judgment itself after the resurrection of the dead, and finally at the various levels of the Garden and the Fire. Verses such as 2:154 and 3:169 do not give details regarding "where" the dead are, and the picture is further enriched (and perhaps made more imponderable) by _a ḥādīth_ such as "The grave is a Garden from among the Gardens of Paradise, or a pit from among the pits of the Fire"; "The grave is the first station of the Hereafter. If a person is delivered from it, what comes after is easier, but if he is not delivered, what comes after is harsher"; and, "Whosoever among you has died, his resurrection has taken place."

One can imagine that, after death, time is not the linear time experienced in this life. A person's temporal journey after death transcends time as experienced by the living, partially or totally, so that the departed can be in Paradise "now" from a certain point of view, even though the Day of Resurrection is still in the future according to the view from this world.

These verses and _a ḥādīth_ speak to those who are still in this world and its spatial and temporal confines and suggest that the soul retains a kind of attachment to the physical body and to the world, even as it exists in another dimension or level of reality. Other traditions, such as those describing souls who are spared the questioning of the Day of Judgment, and indeed 2:154 and 3:169 suggest that exalted souls detach themselves from the world easily and quickly and ascend to God's proximity, while worldly souls, to varying degrees, cling to the world in accordance with their attachment to it. V. 170 suggests that those who have died have a certain benevolent solicitude and relationship to those still living in this world, _rejoicing in those who have not yet joined them_.

It should be noted that a central doctrine of Islamic eschatology is the affirmation of bodily resurrection, that in the Hereafter human beings will be embodied, not disembodied spirits, although these will be bodies of another kind, sometimes called "subtle" ( _la ṭīf_) or "luminous" ( _nūrānī_ ) bodies in various schools of Islamic philosophy and Sufism. Even the trials in the grave are described in bodily as well as spiritual terms, as are the tribulations of the Day of Judgment, the rewards of Paradise, and the punishments of the Fire (all of which must be understood symbolically).

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Ų who responded to God and the Messenger after being afflicted by wounds; for those among them who have been virtuous and reverent there shall be a great reward,

172 The day after the Battle of Uḥud, the Prophet called those who had participated in the battle the previous day to set out with him to pursue the Makkans, who were still on the road between Makkah and Madinah and might have returned for another attack. Most of the Muslims, including the Prophet, were already wounded. They stopped several miles outside Madinah, at a place called Ḥamrāʾ al-Asad. Although the Muslims were badly wounded and even fewer in number than they had been the previous day, the Prophet was able to arrange for a man from the tribe of Khuzāʿah (a non-Muslim tribe with whom the Prophet had a treaty) to tell the idolaters that the Madinans were in hot pursuit of them and in far greater numbers than what the Makkans had encountered the previous day, because they now included all those who had remained in the city away from the fighting. Additionally, the Prophet ordered hundreds of individual campfires to be lit at night, in sight of the Makkan camp, to give the illusion of greater numbers.

A minority of commentators hold that these verses deal with the incident of the "Lesser Badr," referring to an agreement reportedly made between the two sides immediately after Uḥud to meet on the anniversary of the Battle of Badr at the site of the original battle. According to this account, the Prophet and his followers set out to meet the opponents at the appointed time and place, but the idolaters did not follow through on the promise to have another battle. Ultimately, the believers found only a market there, where they bought goods and returned to Madinah (Q); see 3:174c.

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ų to whom the people said, "Truly the people have gathered against you, so fear them." But it increased them in faith, and they said, "God suffices us, an excellent Guardian is He!"

173 These words of warning were reported to have been spoken either by travelers on the way to Madinah who passed by the Makkan contingent on the road or by the hypocrites, who had been warning against fighting all along (Q), reminding the Madinans of the possibility of the Makkans' regrouping and attacking Madinah again. Indeed, many of the Makkans were eager to return to Madinah to win a more decisive victory. The word of the Madinans' greater numbers and eagerness for battle along with the appearance of campfires indicating substantially greater numbers led the Makkans to decide against returning to Madinah. The declaration _God suffices us_ or _God suffices me_ also appears in 9:59, 129; 39:38; _God suffices us, an excellent Guardian is He!_ ( _ḥ asbunā'Llāh wa niʿma'l-wakīl_) is a famous prayer invoked often by Muslims especially at times of danger. This verse is interpreted allegorically to mean that those of a spiritual nature should not be discouraged when worldly people unite to repudiate them, and that in fact the repudiation of worldly people will be only further proof of the truth of their spiritual attainment (Aj).

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Ŵ So they returned with Blessing and Bounty from God, untouched by evil. And they pursued the Contentment of God, and God is Possessed of Tremendous Bounty.

174 They were _untouched by evil_ in the sense of having avoided harm or injury from the enemy, since they returned to Madinah having staved off a second battle (Ṭ). Alternately, it may refer to their returning from the "Lesser Badr" without having to engage in fighting (see v. 172). Some say the _blessing_ refers to worldly goods, while bounty is a good of the Hereafter (R).

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ŵ That is only Satan, sowing fear of his friends. So fear them not, but fear Me, if you are believers.

175 According to this verse, Satan inspires the disbelievers to frighten the believers (Q, Ṭ). Here _Satan_ may also refer to the disbelievers and hypocrites themselves, since human beings can also be referred to as "satans" in the Quran (R; see 2:14c; 6:112c). The believers' assertion that God suffices them (v. 173) in the face of the attempts of others to frighten them (this verse) also appears in 39:35. The command to _fear them not, but fear Me_ is also found in 2:150 and 5:3.

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Ŷ And let not those who hasten unto disbelief grieve thee. Truly they will not harm God in the least. God desires to give them no share in the Hereafter, and theirs shall be a great punishment.

176 The Prophet is spoken of as being grieved or saddened by others' disbelief and denial in 5:41: _Let them not grieve thee;_ 10:65 and 36:76: _Let not their speech grieve thee;_ 31:23: _Let not his disbelief grieve thee;_ 35:8: _So let not thy soul be expended in regrets over them_. The notion of having a _share in the Hereafter_ refers to having a share in its goodness and blessing (see 3:77 and commentary), not that such people will have no experience in the Hereafter whatsoever. _Those who hasten unto disbelief_ may include the idolatrous Makkans, who were the Prophet's own kinsmen trying to harm him (R); the People of the Book, who according to the Quran should have recognized and followed him; or the hypocrites, who claimed belief, but strove to undercut the believers at many turns (Q).

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ŷ Truly those who have purchased disbelief at the price of belief will not hurt God in the least, and theirs shall be a painful punishment.

177 Using the mercantile image of buying and selling as a metaphorical description of fruits of human moral choices and actions is a common rhetorical construction in the Quran. For other examples, see 2:16 and 2:175, which speak of those _who have purchased error at the price of guidance;_ and 2:86: _It is they who have purchased the world at the price of the Hereafter_.

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Ÿ And let not those who disbelieve suppose that the respite We grant them is good for them. We only grant them respite that they may increase in sin, and theirs shall be a humiliating punishment.

178 _The respite We grant them_ refers to the disbelievers being given more life to live, instead of dying or being killed. That they should not _suppose that the respite We grant them is good for them_ can be interpreted to mean that, since they are disbelievers, giving them long life can only be worse for them, or it can mean that God punishes their disbelief by increasing them in it, in which case the dark state of disbelief ( _kufr_ ) is a punishment in itself and not only a cause of later punishment. That God should respond to disbelief by giving people the opportunity to increase in their disbelief raises theological questions about whether human beings are always free to believe, but God's response can be better understood if one interprets the state of _kufr_ (which is a state of being without guidance, meaning, or hope) as suffering itself, which also entails further suffering by leading one to commit further evil actions (see also 2:7c). Some read the verb _suppose_ in the imperative (Q), giving the translation, "And do not suppose that the respite We grant to those who disbelieve is good for them."

Al-Rāzī describes a debate between Ashʿarites and Muʿtazilites over the question of whether God "wants" some people to increase in sin ( _We only grant them respite that they may increase in sin;_ see also v. 176: _God desires to give them no share in the Hereafter_ ). The Ashʿarites argue that this means God is the agent of both good and evil from the point of view of human beings (R). The Muʿtazilites, however, argue that since God _did not create jinn and mankind save to worship_ Him (51:56), He does not desire for them to disbelieve and rebel. The Ashʿarites respond that 51:56 is a general verse, but 3:178 is specific and still holds true in the face of it. The Muʿtazilites go on to argue that what would be _good for them_ relates specifically to the outcome of battle, meaning that they should not think that their survival during the battle is better than the death of those who fought in the way of God, since all it achieved was allowing them to go on living in a wicked state; God granted them life, but not because He favored them. Another interpretation reads the particle in this sentence as representing causation, not intent, so that it would be translated, "We grant them a respite which only results in their increasing in sin." Al-Rāzī rejects this interpretation as a contradiction of the verse's plain sense.

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Ź God will not leave the believers as you are till He separates the bad from the good. And God will not apprise you of the Unseen, but God chooses from His messengers whomsoever He will. So believe in God and His messengers. And if you believe and are reverent, you shall have a great reward.

179 That God will separate _the bad_ ( _khabīth_ ) _from the good_ ( _ṭ ayyib_) means He will separate the hypocrites from the sincere believers (Ṭ). Some interpret these words as being addressed to the disbelievers and hypocrites, meaning that God would not leave the believers in the same state as those who disbelieve. However, for most commentators it is an address to the believers themselves, promising them that they will not be left mixed together with the hypocrites and disbelievers (Q). _God will not apprise you of the Unseen_ means that He will not reveal what is in the hearts and minds of human beings (i.e., whether they are truly believers or not), but rather will use trials and tribulations as a means of exposing the sincerity or hypocrisy of people, as happened at the Battle of Uḥud, when the sincerity of the believers was tested (R, Ṭ). Some say that this verse was revealed after the believers asked for a way to distinguish between the true believers and the hypocrites (Q). Others say that it was, rather, a challenge issued by an opponent of the Prophet, bidding him to tell the difference between the two groups (Ṭ). _But God chooses from His messengers whomsoever He will_ means that He singles them out from among other human beings, to be given knowledge regarding the state of people's hearts (R, Ṭ). Spiritually, this verse can be understood as a description of the purification of the soul, a removal of _the bad from the good,_ encouraging spiritual travelers to continue on the path but without expecting, as their final goal, to gain any kind of secret knowledge by it; rather, they should be seeking after God alone (Aj).

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ƀ And let not those who are miserly with what God has given them from His Bounty suppose that it is good for them; rather, it is evil for them. On the Day of Resurrection they will be collared by that with which they were miserly. And unto God belongs the inheritance of the heavens and the earth, and God is Aware of whatsoever you do.

180 This verse is interpreted to refer to the hoarding of both material wealth and spiritual knowledge; those who did not share spiritual knowledge are the People of the Book, because they refused to teach the Book they had (Ṭ). The imagery of being _collared_ by what one withheld is similar to the imagery in v. 161. Among the interpretations attributed to the Prophet for this verse is that a person's hoard of wealth will appear on the Day of Judgment as a serpent following him, slowly consuming him or wrapping itself around him, and the serpent will say to him, "I am your wealth; I am your treasure." The deleterious effects of miserliness are also discussed in 4:37; 47:37–38; 57:24. The end of this verse is similar to 19:40: _We shall inherit the earth and whatsoever is upon it_. Commentators distinguish between human inheritance and the kind spoken of here, in that God is always in possession of the heavens and the earth and inherits them only in the sense that all other owners cease to be and He alone remains (Q, R, Ṭ).

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Ɓ God has certainly heard the words of those who said, "God is poor, and we are rich." We shall record what they said, and their slaying of the prophets without right, and We shall say, "Taste the punishment of the burning."

Ƃ That is because of what your hands sent forth, and because God wrongs not His servants.

181–82 It is said that some Jews, upon hearing the verse _Who shall lend God a goodly loan?_ (2:245; 57:11), taunted the Muslims by saying that this means that they are rich and God is poor, not because they actually believed it, but in order to stir up disquiet in the hearts of the weak among the believers (Q); see also 47:38: _God is the Rich, and you are the poor_. Their words and deeds will be recorded in the book they will read from on the Day of Judgment (Q), referred to in 17:13–14; 18:49; 69:19–25; 78:29; 84:7–10. _Slaying of the prophets without right_ (see also 2:61c) refers to events in the Israelite past, but is also interpreted here (and in other places) as a reference to their approval or acceptance of it (Q). In this vein, some quote a _ḥ adīth_ of the Prophet: "When a sin is committed on earth, whosoever is present but deplores it is like one who was absent from it. Whosoever is absent from it but approves it is like one who was present."

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ƃ [As for] those who say, "Truly God has committed us to not believe in any messenger until he brings us a sacrifice consumed by fire," say, "Messengers certainly came before me with clear proofs and with that whereof you speak; so why did you slay them, if you are truthful?"

183 The commentators describe a challenge posed to the Prophet by some prominent Jews, who asked him to prepare a sacrificial offering that would be consumed by a fire from Heaven (Q, Ṭ). Fire coming down from Heaven or from an angel is mentioned in the Bible in connection with Elijah (1 Kings 18:22–38), David (1 Chronicles 21:26), Solomon (2 Chronicles 7:1), Gideon (Judges 6:21), and Manoah (Judges 13:20). Many commentators note that since a miraculously burned offering was not exhibited even by all the prophets of Israel, and since the practice of Jewish animal sacrifice had stopped after the destruction of the Second Temple, the challenge thus amounted to an empty and cynical ploy (R). On the slaying of the prophets more generally, see 2:61c. As a spiritual allegory, this verse is seen as describing the soul's stubbornness in refusing to follow the spiritual way and coming up with excuses to fool itself (Aj).

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Ƅ So if they deny thee, they certainly did deny messengers before thee, who came with clear proofs, scriptures, and the luminous Book.

184 The _clear proofs_ are various demonstrations of truth (IK, Q). _Scriptures_ renders _zubur,_ which etymologically means something that is written; according to some it can refer to any book containing wisdom (R). It is different from _zabūr,_ which refers specifically to the Psalms of David ( _al-Zabūr_ ). _Luminous Book_ refers to the Torah and the Gospel, but is not necessarily something different from the scriptures ( _zubur_ ); the _and_ in _and the luminous Book_ signifies that _scriptures_ and _luminous Book_ are the same object (R), although _scriptures_ can refer to Divine revelations sent to messengers in a more general sense (e.g., to Abraham, as mentioned in 87:18–19; IK).

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ƅ Every soul shall taste death, and you will indeed be paid your reward in full on the Day of Resurrection. And whosoever is distanced from the Fire and made to enter the Garden has certainly triumphed. And the life of this world is naught but the enjoyment of delusion.

185 The Arabic allows this first phrase (also in 21:35; 29:57) to be also translated, "Every soul tastes death" and "Every soul is a taster of death," signifying that death is not only a future event, but can also be a state of being or a recurring experience of the soul. Some mention that, in connection with _whosoever is distanced from the Fire and made to enter the Garden,_ the Prophet said, "The area covered by a whip [i.e., how far you can reach with a whip] in the Garden is better than this world and everything in it." Verses similar in theme include _All things perish, save His Face_ (28:88); and _All upon it passes away. And there remains the Face of thy Lord, Possessed of Majesty and Bounty_ (55:26–27). Al-Qushayrī says of this verse that the cup of death has been placed in the hand of every living being, and one can either drink it well and find bliss or drink it with a grimace and a wail. It is a very often quoted verse among Muslims and even appears on many tombstones. See also the essay "Death, Dying, and the Afterlife in the Quran."

_Delusion_ ( _ghurūr_ ) connotes vanities, deception, pride, and even peril; _enjoyment of delusion_ also appears in 57:20. The notion of this world as being a place of ephemeral _enjoyment_ ( _matā ʿ_) is mentioned throughout the Quran (e.g., 2:36; 3:14, 197; 4:77; 7:24; 9:38; 10:23, 70; 16:80, 117; 21:111; 28:60–61; 36:44; 40:39; 42:36; 43:35).

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Ɔ You will surely be tried in your wealth and your souls, and you shall hear much hurt from those who were given the Book before you, and from those who are idolaters. But if you are patient and reverent, then that is indeed a course worthy of resolve.

186 _Your souls_ can be rendered "yourselves," but also as "your own," meaning your near kinsmen and members of your clan or tribe (Ṭ). The trial of wealth and souls is also mentioned in 2:155: _And We will indeed test you with something of fear and hunger, and loss of wealth, souls, and fruits_. _Much hurt_ refers to taunts and insults; it renders an Arabic word that can mean both physical harm and verbal deprecation as well as falsehoods and blasphemies about God and His prophets (Ṭ). _A course worthy of resolve_ also appears in 31:17; 42:43.

This verse reflects other verses that counsel patience and forbearance in the face of those who reject the prophetic messages, such as 20:44, where Moses and Aaron are commanded with regard to Pharaoh, _Yet speak unto him gently, that haply he may remember or have fear;_ 41:34: _Repel_ [evil] _with that which is better; then behold, the one between whom and thee there is enmity shall be as if he were a loyal protecting friend;_ and 45:14: _Tell those who believe to forgive those who hope not for the days of God_. Al-Rāzī and al-Qurṭubī reject the argument that this verse is abrogated by the verses allowing fighting, since patience and leniency in the face of ridicule and insults was a wont of the Prophet and his Companions throughout their lives, even during the days of war (Q, R).

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Ƈ [Remember] when God made the covenant with those who were given the Book, "You shall make it clear to the people, and not conceal it." Then they cast it behind their backs and sold it for a paltry price. Evil indeed is their selling!

187 _God made the covenant_ is interpreted to mean that the prophets made a covenant with their peoples by God's Leave (Ṭ). This verse can be understood as a general condemnation of anyone who is given knowledge, but then does not teach it, even though it is speaking specifically of the Jews (Q). The _it_ in _make it clear . . . and not conceal it_ refers back to _the Book,_ though some offer the interpretation that this refers more specifically to the foretellings of the coming of the Prophet Muhammad believed by Muslims to be found in earlier scriptures (Q, R; see 7:157). The Prophet said, "Whosoever conceals knowledge from his people will wear one of the bridles of the Fire," and ʿAlī said, "God tasks no ignorant person with learning until he tasks a learned person with teaching." On this theme of the People of the Book concealing what God has revealed to them, see also 2:42, 76, 140, 146, 159, 174; 3:71; 5:15; 6:91. The casting aside of the covenant and the Book is also mentioned in 2:100–101 and refers to the lack of commitment to it and failure to live according to its teachings (R).

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ƈ Do not suppose that those who exult in what they have brought about and love to be praised for what they have not done—do not suppose that they are delivered from the punishment; theirs is a painful punishment.

188 Those who _exult in what they have brought about_ while wanting to be _praised for what they have not done_ find happiness in worldly things and passions, yet want to be known as sincere, pious people (R). The commentators mention different kinds of hypocrisy and deceit to which this verse seems to be referring. It is reported by some that this verse was revealed in connection with certain hypocrites who would find an excuse not to go out with the Prophet when he left for a battle, but would seek pardon from him upon his return and, moreover, seek to be praised for their actions (IK). Or it refers simply to the hypocrites in general, those who wanted to be praised for a faith they did not possess. Others say it refers to the practices of People of the Book, such as distorting their scriptures and then wanting to be praised as devoted people of religion. Or it refers to the concealing of truth mentioned in v. 187, exulting in this concealment while still desiring to be praised as learned (R).

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Ɖ Unto God belongs sovereignty over the heavens and the earth, and God is Powerful over all things.

189 On God's having _sovereignty over the heavens and the earth,_ see also 5:17, 40; 24:42; 42:49; 45:27; 48:14; 67:1c.

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Ɛ Truly in the creation of the heavens and the earth and the variation of the night and the day are signs for the possessors of intellect,

190 It is said that the Prophet would recite vv. 190–200 of this _sūrah_ every night. When it was first revealed, the Prophet stood to pray, and while he was praying Bilāl came to call him to the congregational prayer, found him weeping, and said, "O Messenger of God, why dost thou weep, though God has forgiven thee whatever sins you have or may commit?" He said, "O Bilāl, shall I not be a grateful servant, since God has revealed the verse _Truly in the creation of the heavens and the earth and the variation of the night and the day are signs for the possessors of intellect_?" He then said, "Woe unto him who recites it and does not reflect upon it" (Q). Muslims are therefore advised not only to read, but also to meditate deeply upon the meanings—in fact, levels of meaning—of this verse.

_Creation_ renders _khalq,_ which can refer not only to God's creative Act, but also to the nature or qualities of _the heavens and the earth_ as being created, or _makhlūq_. On the _variation of the night and the day,_ see also 2:164 (where _the creation of the heavens and the earth_ is also mentioned); 10:6; 23:80; 45:5. For a discussion of _possessors of intellect_ ( _ūlu'l-albāb_ ), see 2:179c; 39:9c; see also 13:19; 14:52; 38:29; 39:18.

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Ƒ who remember God standing, sitting, and lying upon their sides, and reflect upon the creation of the heavens and the earth, "Our Lord, Thou hast not created this in vain. Glory be to Thee! Shield us from the punishment of the Fire.

191 _Standing, sitting, and lying_ as three modes of remembering God are also mentioned in 4:103. On one level, one should always be remembering God, since a human being is always in one of these three states (R). It can refer also to remembrance in the heart, by the tongue (R), or in the various positions of the prayer (e.g., for people who must perform the canonical prayer sitting or lying down due to physical disability or illness; IK). It can, moreover, refer to all modes of remembrance, including the recitation of the Quran, and it is one of the scriptural bases of the Sufi practice of remembrance of God ( _dhikr Allāh_ ) at all times. That creation is not _in vain_ is echoed in 21:16: _We did not create Heaven and earth and whatsoever is between them in play;_ and 38:27: _And We did not create Heaven and earth and whatsoever is between them in vain; that is the conjecture of those who disbelieve_. Nevertheless, the positive symbolic nature of the world as an object of contemplation, emphasized in the Quran, and its reflecting the Wisdom of its Creator should not be confused with the seductive, dispersive dimension of life in this world, spoken of in 6:32 as but _play and diversion_ (also in 29:64; 47:36; 57:20). The "life" of this world suggests the frailties and passions of the subjective ego, which can turn God's creation into a diversion and end in itself, but God's creative Act and the objective nature of the heavens and the earth as reflections of His Qualities and Wisdom are signs pointing to truths beyond themselves. Other verses that mention the nature of God's creation as an object of reflection or meditation include 10:24; 13:3; 16:11, 69; 30:8; 45:13.

This verse also indicates that one can meditate upon God through His creation and His Attributes and Qualities reflected in it, but not upon God's Essence directly, since the Divine Essence can never be the direct object of meditation by limited human consciousness (R). In this sense this verse echoes the message of 41:53: _We shall show them Our signs upon the horizons and within themselves till it becomes clear to them that it is the truth_.

A _ḥ adīth_ states, "One hour of reflection [or meditation, _tafakkur_ ] is better than a night's vigil." Meditation and reflection are mentioned many times in the Quran (13:3; 16:11, 44, 69; 30:21; 39:42; 45:13; 59:21), and the notion of reflection ( _tafakkur_ or _fikr_ ) forms an important foundation of Islamic spirituality. Some say, "Reflection ( _fikr_ ) is the lamp of the heart. If it vanishes the heart has no illumination" (Aj). It is reported that the wife of Abū Dharr al-Ghifārī said he would spend his days in reflection in a corner of his house, and the wife of Abū Bakr said that is how he would spend his nights (Aj). In this vein, Ḥasan al-Baṣrī is reported to have said, "If one's words are not wisdom, they are vain. If one's silence is not reflection, it is absentmindedness. If one's thought is not contemplation, it is play" (Aj).

_Shield us from . . . the Fire_ is a theme that appears also in 2:201; 3:16; 40:7.

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ƒ Our Lord! Whomsoever Thou makest to enter into the Fire, Thou hast surely disgraced him. And the wrongdoers shall have no helpers.

192 This "disgrace" is said to be specific to those who enter the Fire but never leave it, not those who are only there for a time (Q, Ṭ). On this topic al-Ṭabarī quotes a saying of Ḥasan al-Baṣrī that those who committed some sin will enter the Fire, but will at some point leave it because of the faith that exists in their hearts. For more on this issue, see the essay "Death, Dying, and the Afterlife in the Quran."

This verse also shows the spiritual or psychic torment of the Hereafter, since disgrace is not a material punishment (R), just as _They shall hear no idle talk therein, but only "Peace!"_ (19:62) does not describe material rewards in the Garden. This verse has been sometimes employed by theologians in the debate over whether the perpetrator of a great sin can still be considered a believer or if such a person will enter the Fire. Since in 66:8 it is said that the Day of Judgment is _the Day when God will not disgrace the Prophet and those who believe with him,_ some assert that no believers can enter the Fire, since, in doing so, they would be disgraced (R).

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Ɠ Our Lord! Truly we have heard a caller calling to faith, saying 'Believe in your Lord,' so we believed. Our Lord, forgive us our sins and absolve us of our evil deeds, and take us unto Thee with the pious.

193 The _caller_ is most often interpreted to be the Prophet Muhammad, though some see it as a reference to the Quran itself, since the Quran reaches everyone and only a limited number of people actually heard the Prophet (R). Found in many manuals of prayer, this verse is one of the most famous Islamic prayers and is repeated often by pious Muslims.

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Ɣ Our Lord! Give us what Thou hast promised us through Thy messengers, and disgrace us not on the Day of Resurrection. Truly Thou wilt not fail the tryst."

194 _What Thou hast promised us through Thy messengers_ can mean either that God made the promise to the messengers, or that the messengers conveyed this promise to others (R), or both. Here al-Rāzī comments on the apparent pointlessness of praying to God to do something He would do in any case, such as fulfilling His Promise, noting that such prayers are not calls to action, but rather expressions of humility, deference, and meekness by the believer, such as 21:112: _My Lord, judge with truth!_ and 40:7: _Our Lord, Thou dost encompass all things in Mercy and Knowledge, so forgive those who repent and follow Thy way_. That is, these are supplications, but God does not do these things as a response to them; rather, these supplications are a kind of response to those actions by God. V. 191 mentions the bodily punishment of the Fire, but here the believers seek deliverance from the spiritual punishment of _disgrace_ (R).

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ƕ So their Lord answered them, "I shall not let the work of any worker among you, male or female, be in vain; each of you is like the other. So those who emigrated, and were expelled from their homes, and were hurt in My way, and fought and were slain—I shall absolve them of their evil deeds and shall make them enter Gardens with rivers running below, a reward from God. And God, with Him is the most beautiful reward.

195 _Each of you is like the other_ means that reward for obedience and righteous deeds is not differentiated between men and women or different tribes and groups (R). The phrase can also mean "Each of you is 'of' the other," in the manner of "Whosoever does that is one 'of' us" (R). Moral equality between men and women is also mentioned in other verses, such as 9:71: _But the believing men and believing women are protectors of one another, enjoining right and forbidding wrong_. The emigration and expulsion refer to the fate suffered by the believers in Makkah when they migrated to Madinah. _Those hurt in My way_ can refer to those being insulted and ridiculed as well as those who have received physical injury.

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Ɩ Let it not delude thee that those who disbelieve are free to come and go in the land.

Ɨ It is a little enjoyment. Then their refuge is Hell, an evil resting place!

196–97 It is reported that this verse came in response to a remark made by some believers that, while they were suffering from hunger, the idolaters traveled freely throughout the land and made profit from their commerce (cf. 40:4; Q); others say that this was spoken by the hypocrites (R). Though this verse is addressed to the Prophet, it is considered to have a broader audience, as if to say, "O listener" (R). These two verses also echo the idea found in v. 178.

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Ƙ But [as for] those who reverence their Lord, theirs shall be Gardens with rivers running below, abiding therein, as a welcome from God. And that which is with God is better for the pious.

198 _A welcome_ renders _nuzul,_ a word referring to what a host prepares for a guest (R); see also 18:102, 107; 32:19; 37:62; 41:32c; 56:56, 93.

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ƙ And truly among the People of the Book are those who believe in God and that which has been sent down unto you, and that which has been sent down unto them, humble before God, not selling God's signs for a paltry price. It is they who shall have their reward with their Lord. Truly God is swift in reckoning.

199 According to some, this verse was revealed in connection with the death of the Negus, the Christian king of Abyssinia who provided asylum for believers from Makkah before the migration from Makkah to Madinah (Q, R); this event is also given by some as the occasion for revelation for 2:115. Other opinions about who this verse refers to include forty people from Najrān (from the tribe of Banū al-Ḥārith ibn Kaʿb), or thirty-two people from Abyssinia, or eight people from Byzantium who followed the religion of Jesus and then became Muslims (R, Th), though further details are not provided. Mujāhid states that it refers to all the believers among the People of the Book (R, Th), but without specifying what this "belief" means.

Part of the objection to the Prophet's praying for the Negus was that the latter was a Christian, an objection voiced by sincere followers, but also by the hypocrites, who feigned outrage that the Prophet would perform funerary rites for a Christian he had never even met (R, Ṭ). Though this verse presents the People of the Book as a separate group ( _unto you_ versus _unto them_ ), it affirms that some members of this group believe in what was _sent down unto_ the community of the Prophet. In keeping with interpretations applied to similar verses dealing with Christians and Jews, some commentators understand this as a reference to former Christians or Jews, such as ʿAbd Allāh ibn Salām, who had converted to Islam (Ṭ; see also commentary on 3:113–15). Commentators often leave the status of the Negus open-ended, referring to the hesitation regarding prayer for a Christian on the part of the community, but recording neither a positive statement on the part of the Prophet beyond his calling the Negus "your brother," nor that the Prophet corrected them by informing them that he was in fact a Muslim and not a Christian (see 5:82–83c). In mainstream Islamic thought, for a person to believe in what was sent down to the Prophet is precisely to become a Muslim, and this may be why the commentaries are generally mute about the nature of "belief" in this verse. This issue is related to, but separate from, the status of belief of Jews and Christians as such, which is discussed at length in 2:62c; 5:69c; 5:82–83c; and elsewhere. The question raised by this verse consists in what it means to remain one of the People of the Book while believing in _that which has been sent down_ to the Prophet Muhammad.

It is possible to interpret this verse to refer to the affirmation of the truths that, according to Islam, are expressed by all true religions: belief in the One God, the judgment of the Hereafter, and the moral obligations of justice and mercy in this life and similar issues. Insofar as the Negus believed in these things, he would have believed in _that which has been sent down unto you_. But since this kind of phrasing, as found in verses that mention belief in what was revealed to the Prophet and what was revealed to other prophets, often denotes a more specific affirmation of the Torah, the Gospel, the Psalms, and the Quran, the question remains as to the status of a Jew or Christian ("them") who believes in what was sent down to the Prophet Muhammad. There may be a third possibility often left unexplored by Muslims until recently: that one can remain a Christian while affirming the veracity of the Prophet Muhammad and of what was revealed to him. This possibility may be understood to have been mentioned in 5:82, which speaks in positive and praiseworthy terms of _those who say, "We are Christians."_ In 5:83 they are described in this way: _When they hear that which was sent down unto the Messenger, thou seest their eyes overflow with tears because of the truth they recognize._ Some commentators note that this may refer to Christians in general, not only those who would later become Muslims, and would include those who accepted the prophethood of Muhammad, but continued to live according to the " _sharī ʿah_ of Jesus," as discussed in 5:82–83c.

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Ȁ O you who believe! Be patient, vie in patience, persevere, and reverence God, that haply you may prosper.

200 _Be patient_ and _vie in patience_ are two forms of the same root ( _ṣ -b-r_), the first referring to patience itself, the second to a contest of patience in which one should outdo the enemy in patience and endurance (R, Z). _Persevere_ renders _rābi ṭū_ (noun form _ribā ṭ_), which comes from a root with a range of meanings including to "tie," "fortify," and "join." Though _ribā ṭ_ has the general meaning of being steadfast and firm, more specifically the word refers to taking up a border or frontier post (or to the post itself) in defense of the community or in anticipation of an attack; it is called _ribā ṭ_ because one "ties" or bridles one's horse, as referred to in 8:60, _horses tethered [for battle]_ ( _ribā ṭ al-khayl;_ R). In this vein, there are _a ḥādīth_ such as "One day of _ribā ṭ_ in the way of God is better in God's Eyes than this world and all that is in it." Other _a ḥādīth_ speak of _ribā ṭ_ as a deed whose merit accrues even after death, since the defense of the community allows others to accomplish their acts of piety and righteousness (IK, Q). Referring to the spiritual understanding of _ribā ṭ,_ in a _ḥ adīth_ the Prophet said, "Performing ablutions under unpleasant conditions, multiplying one's steps to the mosque, and waiting for the prayer after the prayer, that is _ribā ṭ_." Here "waiting for the prayer after the prayer" refers to waiting in remembrance, devotion, and reflection between two of the canonical prayers (such as the late afternoon and sunset prayers). This is a spiritual _ribā ṭ,_ which is compared with the martial _ribā ṭ_ by the famous jurist al-Nawawī (d. 676/1278) in his commentary on the aforementioned _ḥ adīth_. In the same way, two types of _jihād_ (striving) are described in a well-known _ḥ adīth_ in which the Prophet said to those returning from a battle, "You have returned from the lesser _jihād_ to the greater _jihād_." When asked what the greater _jihād_ was, he said, "A servant's _jihād_ against his passions."

##

## Women

## _al-Nisā ʾ_

_A l-Nisāʾ_ was revealed in Madinah around the fourth year of the _hijrah_ and after the crucial Battle of Uḥud, which took place outside of Madinah between the Muslims and the still idolatrous Quraysh of Makkah. It takes its name from the fact that much of the _sūrah_ deals with women and their rights along with various conditions of marriage, marital relations, and laws of inheritance. Most of the first part (vv. 1–36, 127–30, 176) is legislative in nature, as is the section dealing with war and peace and how Muslims should act in these situations. Altogether this _sūrah_ is among the most important and fundamental for Islamic jurisprudence ( _fiqh_ ).

The _sūrah_ also deals with the status of the hypocrites ( _munāfiqūn_ ) and those Jews who turned against the Islamic community in Madinah after the Battle of Uḥud (3/625), in which the Muslims suffered defeat at the hands of the Quraysh. Moreover, there are many verses in this _sūrah_ dealing with those Jews who denied both Christianity and Islam and the Christians who divinized Jesus (vv. 44–55, 153–73). The most sensitive verses from the point of view of relations between Christianity and Islam concern the Islamic view of the end of the earthly life of Jesus and the question of his crucifixion (vv. 157–59).

After a long discussion on such general religious issues, the _sūrah_ ends with a verse again related to legislative matters. It seems that the Quran wants to emphasize at the termination of this long _sūrah_ the inseparable relation between Islamic religious beliefs and the social behavior of Muslims based on revealed Law.

### In the Name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful

¡ O mankind! Reverence your Lord, Who created you from a single soul and from it created its mate, and from the two has spread abroad a multitude of men and women. Reverence God, through Whom you demand your rights of one another, and family relations. Truly God is a Watcher over you. * Give orphans their property, and exchange not the bad for the good, nor consume their property with your own. Truly that would be a great sin. + If you fear that you will not deal fairly with the orphans, then marry such women as seem good to you, two, three, or four; but if you fear that you will not deal justly, then only one, or those whom your right hands possess. Thus it is more likely that you will not commit injustice. J And give the women their bridewealth as a free gift, but if they are pleased to remit unto you any part thereof, then consume it with wholesome enjoyment. Z And give not the feeble-minded your property, which God has placed in your hands to manage, but provide for them and clothe them from it, and speak unto them in an honorable way. j And test the orphans until they reach the age of maturity; then if you perceive in them sound judgment, deliver unto them their property, and consume it not wastefully and in haste before they come of age. Whosoever is rich should abstain, but whosoever is poor should partake thereof in an honorable way. And when you deliver unto them their property, bring witnesses on their behalf, and God suffices as a Reckoner. z Unto the men a share of what parents and kinsfolk leave, and unto the women a share of what parents and kinsfolk leave, be it little or much—a share ordained. { And when kinsfolk, orphans, and the indigent are present at the division, make provision from it for them and speak unto them in an honorable way. | Let those who would dread if they left behind their own helpless progeny have fear; let them reverence God and speak justly. Ċ Truly those who consume the property of orphans unjustly only consume fire in their bellies, and they will burn in a blazing flame. Ě God enjoins upon you concerning your children: unto the male a share equal to that of two females; but if there are only daughters, two or more, then unto them is two-thirds of what he leaves; if only one, then unto her a half. And unto his parents—each of the two—a sixth of what he leaves if he has a child; but if he has no child and his parents are his [only] heirs, then unto his mother a third; and if he has brothers, then unto his mother a sixth, after paying any bequest he may have bequeathed or any debt. Your parents or your children—you know not which of them are nearer to you in benefit. [This is] an obligation ordained by God. Truly God is Knowing, Wise. Ī And unto you a half of what your wives leave, if they have no child, but if they have a child, then unto you a fourth of what they leave, after paying any bequest they may have bequeathed or any debt. And unto them a fourth of what you leave if you have no child, but if you have a child, then unto them an eighth of what you leave, after paying any bequest you may have bequeathed or any debt. If a man or woman leaves no direct heir, but has a brother or sister, then unto each of the two a sixth; but if they are more than two, they share equally a third, after paying any bequest he may have bequeathed or any debt, without harm to anyone—a duty ordained by God, and God is Knowing, Clement. ĺ Those are the limits set by God: whosoever obeys God and His Messenger, He will cause him to enter Gardens with rivers running below, abiding therein. And that is the great triumph. Ŋ But whosoever disobeys God and His Messenger, and transgresses His limits, He will cause him to enter a Fire, abiding therein, and he shall have a humiliating punishment. Ś As for those of your women who commit an indecency, call four witnesses among you to bear witness against them. And if they bear witness, then confine them to their houses until death takes them, or until God appoints for them another way. Ū And if two of those among you are guilty thereof, punish them both; but if they repent and make amends, then let them be. Truly God is Relenting, Merciful. ź God only accepts the repentance of those who do evil in ignorance and then turn quickly in repentance: these are the ones unto whom God relents, and God is Knowing, Wise. Ɗ And repentance is not accepted from those who do evil deeds till, when death confronts one of them, he says, "Truly now I repent," nor from those who die as disbelievers. For those We have prepared a painful punishment. ƚ O you who believe! It is not lawful for you to inherit women through coercion, nor to prevent them from marrying [again], that you may take away some of what you have given them, unless they commit a flagrant indecency. And consort with them in a kind and honorable way; for if you dislike them, it may be that you dislike a thing in which God has placed much good. Ȋ If you desire to take one wife in place of another, even if you have given to one of them a great sum, take back nothing from it. Would you take it by way of calumny and manifest sin? ! And how can you take it back, when you have lain with one another and they have made with you a solemn covenant? " And marry not those women whom your fathers married, save for what is past. Truly it was indecent and loathsome, an evil way. # Forbidden unto you [as wives] are your mothers, your daughters, your sisters, your fathers' sisters, your mothers' sisters, your brothers' daughters, your sisters' daughters, your milk-mothers and milk-sisters, the mothers of your wives, the stepdaughters in your care—born of your wives with whom you have consummated marriage, but if you have not consummated the marriage with them, then there is no blame on you—and the wives of your sons who are from your loins, and two sisters together, save for what is past. Truly God is Forgiving, Merciful. $ And married women [are forbidden unto you] save those whom your right hands possess; thus has God prescribed for you. Lawful unto you are all others whom you would seek in marriage with gifts from your property, in honest wedlock and not in fornication. And those women whom you enjoy thereby, give unto them their bridewealth, as an obligation; but there is no blame on you for what you agree to after the obligation. God is Knowing, Wise. % And whosoever among you has not the means to marry free, believing women, then [marry] the believing young women among those whom your right hands possess; God knows best your faith, the one of you is as the other, so wed them by the permission of their people, and give unto them their proper bridewealth, as married women, not as fornicators or paramours. And when they are married, should they commit an indecency, they shall be liable to half the punishment of free women. This is for the one among you who fears he will sin, but it is better for you to be patient. God is Forgiving, Merciful. & God desires to make [this] clear unto you, and to guide you to the traditions of those who went before you, and to relent unto you. And God is Knowing, Wise. ' God desires to relent unto you, but those who follow lusts desire that you go tremendously astray. ( God desires to lighten [your burden] for you, for man was created weak. ) O you who believe! Consume not each other's wealth falsely, but trade by mutual consent, and slay not yourselves. Truly God is Merciful unto you. Ð And whosoever does that in enmity and injustice, We shall cause him to burn in a Fire; and that is easy for God. Ñ If you shun the grave sins that you are forbidden, We shall absolve you of your evil deeds and cause you to enter at a noble gate. Ò And covet not that by which God has favored some of you above others—unto men a share of what they have earned, and unto women a share of what they have earned—but ask God for His Bounty. Truly God is the Knower of all things. Ó To each We have appointed heirs for what parents and kinsfolk leave. Those to whom you have given your oath, give them their share. Truly God is Witness over all things. Ô Men are the upholders and maintainers of women by virtue of that in which God has favored some of them above others and by virtue of their spending from their wealth. Therefore the righteous women are devoutly obedient, guarding in [their husbands'] absence what God has guarded. As for those from whom you fear discord and animosity, admonish them, then leave them in their beds, then strike them. Then if they obey you, seek not a way against them. Truly God is Exalted, Great. Õ And if you fear a breach between the two, then appoint an arbiter from his people and an arbiter from her people. If they desire reconciliation, God will bring about agreement between them. Truly God is Knowing, Aware. Ö Worship God, and ascribe not partners unto Him. And be virtuous toward parents and kinsfolk, toward orphans and the indigent, toward the neighbor who is of kin and the neighbor who is not of kin, toward the companion at your side and the traveler, and toward those whom your right hands possess. Truly God loves not one who is a vainglorious boaster, × those who are miserly and enjoin people to be miserly, concealing what God has given them from His Bounty. We have prepared for the disbelievers a humiliating punishment. Ø And those who spend their wealth to be seen of men, and believe not in God or the Last Day. Whosoever has Satan for a companion has an evil companion indeed! Ù What harm would it have done them were they to believe in God and the Last Day, and spend of that which God has provided them. God knows them well. @ Truly God commits not so much as a mote's weight of wrong: if there is a good deed, He will multiply it and grant from His Presence a great reward. A How will it be when We bring forth a witness from every community, and We bring thee as a witness against these? B On that Day those who disbelieved and disobeyed the Messenger will wish that they were level with the earth, and they will conceal no account from God. C O you who believe! Draw not near unto prayer when you are drunken until you know what you are uttering, nor in a state of ritual impurity—unless you are passing through—until you have washed. But if you are ill, or on a journey, or one of you has come from satisfying a call of nature, or you have touched women, and you find no water, then resort to clean earth, and wipe your faces and your hands. Truly God is Pardoning, Forgiving. D Hast thou not considered those who were given a portion of the Book, who purchase error, and wish that you too should stray from the path? E God knows best your enemies. God suffices as a Protector, and God suffices as a Helper. F Among those who are Jews are those who distort the meaning of the word, and say, "We hear and disobey," and "Hear, as one who hears not!" and "Attend to us!" twisting their tongues and disparaging religion. And had they said, "We hear and obey" and "Listen" and "Regard us," it would have been better for them and more proper. But God cursed them for their disbelief, so they believe not, save a few. G O you unto whom the Book has been given! Believe in what We have sent down, confirming that which is with you, before We blot out faces and turn them backwards, or curse them as We cursed those [who broke] the Sabbath. And the Command of God shall be fulfilled. H Truly God forgives not that any partner be ascribed unto Him, but He forgives what is less than that for whomsoever He will, for whosoever ascribes partners unto God has surely fabricated a tremendous sin. I Hast thou not seen those who deem themselves pure? Rather, it is God Who purifies whomsoever He will, and they shall not be wronged so much as the thread of a date stone. P See how they fabricate lies against God! That suffices as a manifest sin. Q Hast thou not considered those who were given a portion of the Book, who believe in idols and false deities, and say of those who disbelieve, "These are guided more rightly than those who believe." R They are those whom God has cursed, and whomsoever God curses, thou wilt not find for him any helper. S Or have they a share in sovereignty? If they did, they would not give men so much as the speck on a date stone. T Or do they envy men on account of what God has given them of His Bounty? We gave the House of Abraham the Book and Wisdom, and We granted them a mighty sovereignty. U Among them are those who believe in him, and among them are those who turn away from him. And Hell suffices as a blazing flame! V Those who disbelieve in Our signs, We shall surely cause them to burn in a Fire. As often as their skins are consumed, We shall replace them with other skins, that they may taste the punishment. Truly God is Mighty, Wise. W But for those who believe and perform righteous deeds, We shall cause them to enter Gardens with rivers running below, abiding therein forever. There they shall have spouses made pure, and We shall cause them to enter plenteous shade. X God commands you to return trusts to their rightful owners and, if you judge between men, to do so with justice. Excellent indeed is the instruction God gives you. Truly God is Hearing, Seeing. Y O you who believe! Obey God and obey the Messenger and those in authority among you. And if you differ among yourselves concerning any matter, refer it to God and the Messenger, if you believe in God and the Last Day. That is better, and fairer in outcome. ` Hast thou not seen those who claim that they believe in that which was sent down unto thee and in that which was sent down before thee, desiring to seek judgment from false deities, although they were commanded not to believe in them? But Satan desires to lead them far astray. a And when it is said unto them, "Come to what God has sent down and to the Messenger," thou seest the hypocrites turn from thee with aversion. b How will it be when misfortune befalls them because of what their hands have sent forth? Then they will come to thee, swearing by God, "We sought naught but virtue and harmony." c They are those whom God knows what is in their hearts. So turn away from them, and admonish them and speak to them about their souls with penetrating words. d We sent no messenger, save that he should be obeyed by God's Leave. If, when they had wronged themselves, they had but come to thee and sought forgiveness of God, and the Messenger had sought forgiveness for them, they would surely have found God Relenting, Merciful. e But no, by thy Lord, they will not believe until they have made thee the judge between them in their disputes, and find no resistance in their souls to what thou hast decreed, and surrender with full submission. f And had We prescribed for them, "Lay down your lives" or "Leave your homes," they would not have done so, save a few. And had they done what they were exhorted to do, it would have been better for them, and a stronger confirmation. g Then We would surely have granted them, from Our Presence, a great reward, h and We would surely have guided them unto a straight path. i Whosoever obeys God and the Messenger, they are with those whom God has blessed, the prophets, the truthful ones, the witnesses, and the righteous. What beautiful companions they are! p Such is the Bounty from God, and God suffices as Knower. q O you who believe! Take your precautions; then go forth in companies or go forth all together. r Among you indeed is one who would tarry; then, if misfortune should befall you, he would say, "God has blessed me, in that I did not accompany them." s But should a bounty come to you from God, he would surely say—as if there had been no affection between you and him—"Oh, would that I had been with them, so that I had attained a great triumph!" t Let them fight in the way of God, those who would sell the life of this world for the Hereafter. And whosoever fights in the way of God—whether he is slain or victorious—We shall grant him a great reward. u And what ails you that you fight not in the way of God, and for the weak and oppressed—men, women, and children—who cry out, "Our Lord! Bring us forth from this town whose people are oppressors, and appoint for us from Thee a protector, and appoint for us from Thee a helper." v Those who believe fight in the way of God, and those who disbelieve fight in the way of false deities. Fight, therefore, against the allies of Satan. Surely the scheme of Satan is ever feeble. w Hast thou not seen those unto whom it was said, "Restrain your hands, and perform the prayer, and give the alms." But when fighting was prescribed for them, behold, a party of them feared men, even as they should have feared God, or with greater fear, and they said, "Our Lord! Why hast Thou prescribed fighting for us? If only Thou wouldst grant us reprieve for a term nigh." Say, "Scant is the enjoyment of this world, and the Hereafter is better for those who are reverent, and you shall not be wronged so much as the thread of a date stone." x Wheresoever you may be, death will overtake you, though you should be in towers raised high. And if good befalls them, they say, "This is from God," but if evil befalls them, they say, "This is from thee." Say, "All is from God." What is with these people that they scarcely understand any tiding? y Whatever good befalls thee, it is from God, and whatever evil befalls thee, it is from thyself. We sent thee as a messenger unto mankind, and God suffices as a Witness. À Whosoever obeys the Messenger obeys God, and as for those who turn away, We have not sent thee as their keeper. Á They profess obedience, but when they leave thee, a party of them conspire by night [to do] other than what thou sayest. But God records what they conspire by night. So turn away from them and trust in God. God suffices as a Guardian.  Do they not contemplate the Quran? Had it been from other than God, they would surely have found much discrepancy therein. à And whenever tidings come unto them, whether of security or fear, they spread it about, whereas had they referred it to the Messenger and to those in authority among them, those of them whose task it is to investigate would have known it. Were it not for God's Bounty toward you, and His Mercy, you would surely have followed Satan, save a few. Ä So fight in the way of God. Thou art accountable only for thyself, and urge on the believers. It may be that God will restrain the might of the disbelievers, for God is stronger in might and more severe in punishment. Å Whosoever intercedes for a good cause shall receive a share of it; and whosoever intercedes for an evil cause shall share in its burden; and God is Sustainer of all things. Æ And when you are offered a greeting, respond with a greeting that is better, or return it; surely God takes account of all things. Ç God, there is no god but He. He will surely gather you all unto the Day of Resurrection, about which there is no doubt. And who is truer than God in speech? È What is with you that you are [divided into] two groups concerning the hypocrites, when God Himself has cast them back for that which they have earned? Do you seek to guide those whom God has led astray? Whomsoever God leads astray, thou wilt not find a way for him. É They wish that you should disbelieve, even as they disbelieve, that you may be on a level with them. So take them not as protectors till they migrate in the way of God. But if they turn their backs, then seize them and slay them wherever you find them, and take no protector or helper from among them, Ґ save those who seek refuge with a people with whom you have a covenant, or those who come to you with hearts reluctant to fight you, or to fight their own people. Had God willed, He could have given them authority over you, and then surely they would have fought you. So if they withdraw from you, and do not fight you, and offer peace, God allows you no way against them. ґ You will find others who desire to be secure from you, and secure from their own people, yet whenever they are tempted back to hostility, they are plunged back into it. So if they withdraw not from you, nor offer you peace, nor restrain their hands, then seize them and slay them wheresoever you come upon them. Against these We have given you clear warrant. Ғ It is not for a believer to slay a believer, unless it be in error. Whosoever has slain a believer in error, let him set free a believing slave and pay compensation to the victim's family, unless they remit it in charity. If he belonged to a people at war with you, but was a believer, then a believing slave is to be set free. And if he belonged to a people with whom you have a covenant, let him pay compensation to the victim's family, and let him set free a believing slave. Whosoever finds not [the means], let him fast two consecutive months as a penance from God. God is Knowing, Wise. ғ Whosoever slays a believer willfully, his recompense is Hell, abiding therein. God is wroth with him, and curses him, and prepares for him a mighty punishment. Ҕ O you who believe! When you go forth in the way of God, be discerning, and say not unto him who offers you peace, "You are not a believer," seeking the ephemeralities of the life of this world, for with God are abundant spoils. Thus were you yourselves beforehand, but God has been gracious to you. Therefore be discerning. Truly God is Aware of whatsoever you do. ҕ Those who stay behind among the believers—except for the disadvantaged—and those who strive in the way of God with their goods and lives are not equal. God favors those who strive with their goods and their lives a degree above those who stay behind. Unto both God has promised that which is most beautiful. But He favors those who strive with a great reward above those who stay behind: Җ degrees conferred by Him, and forgiveness and mercy. Surely God is Forgiving, Merciful. җ When the angels take the souls of those who were wronging themselves, [the angels] say, "In what state were you?" They say, "We were weak and oppressed in the land." [The angels] will say, "Was not God's earth vast enough that you might have migrated therein?" These shall have their refuge in Hell—what an evil journey's end! Ҙ But not so the [truly] weak and oppressed among the men, women, and children, who neither have access to any means nor are guided to any way. ҙ As for such, it may be that God will pardon them, for God is Pardoning, Forgiving. Ā Whosoever migrates in the way of God will find upon the earth many a refuge and abundance, and whosoever forsakes his home, emigrating unto God and His Messenger, and death overtakes him, his reward will fall upon God, and God is Forgiving, Merciful. ā When you travel upon the earth, there is no blame upon you for shortening your prayers if you fear that the disbelievers may attack you; verily the disbelievers are your manifest enemy. Ă When thou art with them and leadest them in prayer, let one group of them stand with thee in prayer, taking their arms with them. When they have performed their prostrations, let them withdraw to the rear, and let another group come that has not prayed and let them pray with thee, taking precaution and their arms. The disbelievers wish you to be heedless of your arms and your baggage that they might assault you all at once. There is no blame on you if you lay aside your arms when you are troubled by heavy rain or illness. But take your precaution. Surely God has prepared for the disbelievers a humiliating punishment. ă When you have completed the prayer, remember [and invoke] God, standing, sitting, or lying on your sides. Then when you are secure, observe proper prayer, for prayer at fixed hours is prescribed for the believers. Ą Slacken not in the pursuit of these people. If you are suffering, verily they suffer even as you suffer, while you hope from God that for which they do not hope. Surely God is Knowing, Wise. ą Verily We have sent down unto thee the Book in truth, that thou mightest judge between men according to what God has shown thee. So be not an advocate for those who betray their trust. Ć And seek forgiveness of God; surely God is Forgiving, Merciful. ć And plead not on behalf of those who betray their own selves. Surely God loves not the one given to treachery and sin. Ĉ They seek to hide themselves from men, but they cannot hide from God. He is with them when they conspire by night with words displeasing to Him, and God encompasses whatsoever they do. ĉ There you are, pleading on their behalf concerning the life of this world! But who will plead with God on their behalf on the Day of Resurrection, or be a guardian for them? Đ Whosoever does evil or wrongs himself, and then seeks forgiveness of God, he will find God Forgiving, Merciful. đ And whosoever commits a sin, commits it only against his own soul, and God is Knowing, Wise. Ē And whosoever commits an offense or a sin, and then casts it upon one who is innocent, bears the burden of calumny and a manifest sin. ē Were it not for God's Bounty toward thee, and His Mercy, a party of them would have plotted to lead thee astray, but they lead astray only their own souls, and they can do thee no harm in the least. God has sent down unto thee the Book and Wisdom, and has taught thee what thou knewest not; God's Bounty toward thee is great indeed. Ĕ There is no good in most of their secret converse, save for him who enjoins charity or kindness or reconciliation between men. And whosoever does that, seeking God's Good Pleasure, We shall grant him a great reward. ĕ But whosoever opposes the Messenger, after guidance has been made clear to him, and follows a way other than that of the believers, We shall leave him on [the path] he has taken, and We shall cause him to burn in Hell—what an evil journey's end! Ė Truly God forgives not that any partner be ascribed unto Him, but He forgives what is less than that for whomsoever He will. Whosoever ascribes partners unto God has surely gone far astray. ė They call upon only females in His stead; they call upon none but a defiant Satan, Ę whom God has cursed, who said, "Assuredly I shall take of Thy servants an appointed share, ę and surely I shall lead them astray, and arouse desires in them. I shall command them and they will slit the ears of cattle; I shall command them and they will alter God's creation." Whosoever takes Satan as a protector apart from God has surely suffered a manifest loss. Ġ He makes them promises and stirs in them desires, but Satan promises naught but delusion. ġ Such will have their refuge in Hell, and will find no refuge therefrom. Ģ But for those who believe and perform righteous deeds, We shall cause them to enter Gardens with rivers running below, abiding therein forever. God's Promise is true, and who is truer in speech than God? ģ It will not be in accordance with your desires nor the desires of the People of the Book. Whosoever does evil shall be requited for it, and he will find no protector or helper for himself apart from God. Ĥ And whosoever performs righteous deeds, whether male or female, and is a believer, such shall enter the Garden, and they shall not be wronged so much as the speck on a date stone. ĥ And who is better in religion than the one who submits his face to God, and is virtuous, and follows the creed of Abraham, as a _ḥ anīf?_ And God did take Abraham for a friend. Ħ Unto God belongs whatsoever is in the heavens and whatsoever is on the earth, and God encompasses all things. ħ They seek a ruling from thee concerning women. Say, "God gives you a ruling concerning them, and that which has been recited to you in the Book concerning the orphan girls—to whom you give not what is prescribed for them though you desire to marry them—and also the helpless among the children: that you should uphold justice for the orphans. Whatever good you do, surely God knows it well." Ĩ If a wife fears animosity or desertion from her husband, there is no blame upon them should they come to an accord, for an accord is better. Souls are prone to avarice, but if you are virtuous and reverent, surely God is Aware of whatsoever you do. ĩ You will not be able to deal fairly between women, even if it is your ardent desire, but do not turn away from one altogether, so that you leave her as if suspended. If you come to an accord and are reverent, truly God is Forgiving, Merciful. İ If the two separate, God will enrich both out of His Abundance, and God is All-Encompassing, Wise. ı Unto God belongs whatsoever is in the heavens and whatsoever is on the earth. We have enjoined those who were given the Book before you, and We enjoin you to reverence God. But if you disbelieve, [know that] unto God belongs whatsoever is in the heavens and whatsoever is on the earth, and God is Self-Sufficient, Praised. IJ Unto God belongs whatsoever is in the heavens and whatsoever is on the earth, and God suffices as a Guardian. ij If He so wills, He can remove you, O mankind, and bring others [in your stead], and God has full power to do so. Ĵ Whosoever desires the reward of this world, with God is the reward of this world and the Hereafter. God is Hearing, Seeing. ĵ O you who believe! Be steadfast maintainers of justice, witnesses for God, though it be against yourselves, or your parents and kinsfolk, and whether it be someone rich or poor, for God is nearer unto both. So follow not your caprice, that you may act justly. If you distort or turn away, truly God is Aware of whatsoever you do. Ķ O you who believe! Believe in God and His Messenger, and the Book He sent down upon His Messenger, and the Book He sent down before. Whosoever does not believe in God and His angels and His Books and His messengers and the Last Day has wandered far astray. ķ Those who believe and then disbelieve, and then believe and then disbelieve, and then increase in disbelief, God will not forgive them nor guide them unto any way. ĸ Give glad tidings to the hypocrites that for them awaits a painful punishment. Ĺ Those who take disbelievers as protectors instead of believers—do they seek might through them? Truly might belongs to God altogether. ŀ He has already sent down upon you in the Book that when you hear the signs of God being rejected and mocked, do not sit with them till they engage in some other discourse, or else you will surely be like them. Truly God will gather the hypocrites and the disbelievers in Hell all together— Ł those who wait upon you, and if a victory comes to you from God, they say, "Were we not with you?" But if the disbelievers have some success, they say, "Did we not overwhelm you, and did we not protect you from the believers?" God will judge between you on the Day of Resurrection, and God will not grant the disbelievers a way over the believers. ł Verily the hypocrites seek to deceive God, but it is God Who deceives them. When they perform the prayer, they perform it idly and to be seen of men, and they remember God but little— Ń wavering between this [and that], being neither for one group nor for the other. Whomsoever God leads astray, thou wilt not find a way for him. ń O you who believe! Do not take the disbelievers as protectors instead of the believers. Do you wish to give God a clear warrant against you? Ņ Surely the hypocrites will be in the lowest depths of the Fire, and thou wilt not find for them any helper, ņ save those who repent and make amends, and hold fast to God, and devote their religion entirely to God. Those are with the believers, and God will grant the believers a great reward. Ň Why should God punish you if you give thanks and believe? God is Thankful, Knowing. ň God loves not that evil should be spoken of openly, save by one who has been wronged. God is Hearing, Knowing. 'n Whether you display a good deed openly or conceal it, or pardon an evil, truly God is Pardoning, Powerful. Ő Truly those who disbelieve in God and His messengers, and seek to make a distinction between God and His messengers, and say, "We believe in some and disbelieve in others," and seek to take a way between— ő it is they who are truly disbelievers, and We have prepared for the disbelievers a humiliating punishment. Œ But those who believe in God and His messengers and make no distinction between any of them—unto them He will give their rewards. God is Forgiving, Merciful. œ The People of the Book ask thee to bring a book down upon them from Heaven; indeed, they asked a greater thing of Moses, for they said, "Show us God openly," whereupon the thunderbolt seized them for their wrongdoing. Then they took up the calf, even after clear proofs had come to them. Yet, We pardoned this and We gave Moses a manifest authority. Ŕ And We raised the Mount over them, at [the making of] their covenant, and We said to them, "Enter the gate, prostrating," and We said to them, "Do not transgress the Sabbath." And We made with them a solemn covenant. ŕ Then for their breaking of their covenant, and their disbelieving in the signs of God, and their slaying of the prophets without right, and their saying, "Our hearts are uncircumcised,"—Nay! Rather, God has set a seal upon them for their disbelief, so they believe not, save a few— Ŗ and for their disbelief, and their uttering against Mary a tremendous calumny, ŗ and for their saying, "We slew the Messiah, Jesus son of Mary, the messenger of God"—though they did not slay him; nor did they crucify him, but it appeared so unto them. Those who differ concerning him are in doubt thereof. They have no knowledge of it, but follow only conjecture; they slew him not for certain. Ř But God raised him up unto Himself, and God is Mighty, Wise. ř There is not one of the People of the Book, but will surely believe in him before his death, and on the Day of Resurrection he will be a witness against them. Š And for the wrongdoing among those who are Jews, We forbade them certain good things that had been made lawful unto them, and for their turning many from the way of God, š and for their taking usury, though they had been forbidden it, and for their consuming men's wealth falsely. And We have prepared for the disbelievers among them a painful punishment. Ţ But those among them who are firmly rooted in knowledge, and the believers, believing in that which was sent down unto thee and in that which was sent down before thee, those who perform the prayer and give the alms and believe in God and the Last Day—unto them shall We grant a great reward. ţ Verily We have revealed unto thee, as We revealed unto Noah and the prophets after him, and as We revealed unto Abraham and Ishmael and Isaac and Jacob and the Tribes, and Jesus and Job and Jonah and Aaron and Solomon, and unto David We gave the Psalms, Ť and messengers We have recounted unto thee before, and messengers We have not recounted unto thee; and unto Moses God spoke directly, ť messengers as bearers of glad tidings and as warners, that mankind might have no argument against God after the messengers. And God is Mighty, Wise. Ŧ But God Himself bears witness to that which He has sent down unto thee—He sent it down with His Knowledge—and the angels bear witness. And God suffices as a Witness. ŧ Verily those who disbelieve and who turn from the way of God have certainly wandered far astray. Ũ Verily those who disbelieve and do wrong, God will not forgive them, nor will He guide them to any path, ũ save the path of Hell, to abide therein forever; and that is easy for God. Ű O mankind! The Messenger has come to you with the truth from your Lord; so believe! It is better for you. But if you disbelieve, unto God belongs whatsoever is in the heavens and the earth, and God is Knowing, Wise. ű O People of the Book! Do not exaggerate in your religion, nor utter anything concerning God save the truth. Verily the Messiah, Jesus son of Mary, was only a messenger of God, and His Word, which He committed to Mary, and a Spirit from Him. So believe in God and His messengers, and say not "Three." Refrain! It is better for you. God is only one God; Glory be to Him that He should have a child. Unto Him belongs whatsoever is in the heavens and whatsoever is on the earth, and God suffices as a Guardian. Ų The Messiah would never disdain to be a servant of God; nor would the angels brought nigh. Whosoever disdains His service, and is arrogant, He will gather them unto Himself all together. ų As for those who believe and perform righteous deeds, He shall pay them their rewards in full, and will increase them from His Bounty. But as for those who are disdainful and arrogant, He will punish them with a painful punishment, and they will find no protector or helper for themselves apart from God. Ŵ O mankind! Verily there has come unto you a proof from your Lord. And We have sent down unto you a clear light. ŵ As for those who believe in God and hold fast to Him, He will cause them to enter into His Mercy and Bounty, and will guide them unto Himself upon a straight path. Ŷ They seek a ruling from thee. Say, "God gives you a ruling concerning the one without a direct heir. If a man dies having no child, but he has a sister, then unto her belongs half of what he leaves, and he will inherit from her if she has no child. If there be two sisters, then unto them belongs two-thirds of what he leaves. If there be brothers and sisters, then unto the male a share equal to that of two females." Thus does God make [this] clear unto you, lest you should go astray. And God is Knower of all things.

## Commentary

¡ O mankind! Reverence your Lord, Who created you from a single soul and from it created its mate, and from the two has spread abroad a multitude of men and women. Reverence God, through Whom you demand your rights of one another, and family relations. Truly God is a Watcher over you.

1 That God created human beings _from a single soul_ is also mentioned in 6:98; 7:189; 31:28; 39:6; the creation of _its mate_ therefrom is also mentioned in 7:189; 39:6. Elsewhere, God's having made for human beings "mates from among themselves" or "in pairs" is considered a Divine gift for which humanity should be grateful and in awe (16:72; 30:21; 35:11; 42:11; 78:8). The present verse indicates a progression in human creation from singularity ( _a single soul_ , reflecting the singularity of God), to duality ( _its mate_ ), to multiplicity ( _a multitude of men and women_ ). The _single soul_ is widely understood to refer to Adam, and _its mate_ to Eve (Ḥawwāʾ). Although _soul_ ( _nafs_ ) is grammatically feminine and _mate_ ( _zawj_ ) is grammatically masculine, this does not necessarily make the correlation to Adam and Eve, respectively, problematic for most commentators (Q, R, Ṭ, Ṭs). The interweaving of masculine and feminine references suggests a reciprocity of the masculine and feminine in human relations and marriage, which is also implied in other verses (cf _._ 2:187; 30:21).

Commentators typically understand this verse as a reference to the story of Eve's creation from Adam's rib as found in Genesis 2:21–23 (IK, Q, Ṭ, Z), although some modern commentators are skeptical of this association, feeling it relies too heavily on the Biblical tradition. The story of Eve's creation from Adam's rib is referenced in the canonical _Ḥ adīth,_ but the Quran nowhere explicitly recounts Eve's creation. _And from it_ ( _minhā_ ) _created its mate_ may simply mean that the _mate_ (Eve) was created of the same nature as the original _single soul_ (Adam), since to be "of/from another" ( _min anfus_ ) can mean to be of the same type or character (R; cf. 3:164; 9:128; 16:72). The fifth Shiite Imam, Muhammad al-Bāqir (d. ca. 114/732), reportedly said that Eve was created from the same superior clay as Adam (Ṭs). The statement regarding humanity's common origin from a single soul and its mate could also be meant to engender brotherly and sisterly love between all human beings and to discourage boasting about one's ancestral legacy, as all human beings are ultimately of common parentage (IK, R, Ṭ, Ṭs).

_Reverence God, through Whom you demand your rights of one another, and family relations_ may be related to the pre-Islamic Arab practice of swearing upon "God and family relations." However, most favor the view that this passage instructs men to _reverence God_ through obedience to His commands and to reverence _family relations_ by maintaining good relations with family members. _Family relations_ translates _ar ḥām;_ the singular is _ra ḥim,_ the primary meaning of which is "womb," derived from the same root as _ra ḥmah,_ meaning "mercy," and the Divine Name _al-Ra ḥmān,_ "the Compassionate." A _ḥ adīth_ states, "The Compassionate ( _Al-Ra ḥmān_) created the womb ( _al-ra ḥim_), and whoever maintains ties to it, God will maintain ties to him, and whoever cuts himself off from it, God cuts Himself off from him." Elsewhere, the imperative to worship God is paired with commands to be good to family (4:36; 17:23; 47:22; R). The first part of this verse indicates the kinship of all human beings, as they are created from the same _soul_ and _mate,_ while the latter part commands reverence for one's relatives. Taken together, they suggest a Divine imperative to recognize one's responsibility to all human beings as one's "brothers and sisters."

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* Give orphans their property, and exchange not the bad for the good, nor consume their property with your own. Truly that would be a great sin.

2 In the Quran and Islamic Law, _orphans_ ( _yatāmā;_ sing. _yatīm_ ) refers to children who have lost their father or both parents. The occasion for the revelation of this verse was the case of an orphan in the care of his uncle. When he reached maturity, he asked his uncle for his property, but the uncle refused him (Q, W). When the young man took the case to the Prophet, this verse came in response, commanding guardians to _give orphans their property_ (i.e., their inheritances). Read in combination with v. 6, the present verse indicates that one should hold the property of orphans in trust until they reach maturity, at which point it should be given to them in full. The verse warns against exchanging _the bad for the good,_ that is, defrauding orphans of their inheritance by rendering them their property in substandard goods or currency—for example, by giving them emaciated livestock (IK, Q). Alternately, it means one should not exchange the _bad_ practice of consuming orphans' property for the _good_ practice of preserving it (Z). The verse requires that guardians be conscientious about maintaining an orphan's property, lest they consume the orphan's property along with their own. After this verse was revealed, some guardians reportedly kept their property completely separate from that of the orphans in their care; to soften this condition, 2:220 was revealed: _if you intermingle with them, they are your brothers_ (Q, Ṭ).

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+ If you fear that you will not deal fairly with the orphans, then marry such women as seem good to you, two, three, or four; but if you fear that you will not deal justly, then only one, or those whom your right hands possess. Thus it is more likely that you will not commit injustice.

3 This verse makes a connection between the just treatment of orphans and just marriage practices. It can indicate simply that people should be equally vigilant concerning the proper treatment of wives and orphans (Ṭ). This means marrying only the women whom one can properly support and whose rights in marriage one can uphold. All commentators are explicit that this verse did not establish a new license for polygamy or encourage it, but rather limited the more excessive practices of polygamy common in pre-Islamic Arabia by setting four as the maximum number of wives a man can have at one time. If a man is unable to adequately provide for multiple wives or treat them equitably, he is advised to take _only one_. If providing for even one would prove difficult, he is advised to take a slave wife ( _those whom your right hands possess_ ), because a slave wife, although entitled to kind treatment, was not owed the same financial and conjugal rights as a free wife (see v. 25). A man who takes more wives than he can provide for from his own wealth may be tempted to pilfer the property of orphans in his care to maintain his family (Ṭ). Thus the just treatment of both orphans and wives is more likely when a man is not overburdened with dependents.

A widespread interpretation of this verse, attributed to the Prophet's wife ʿĀʾishah, is that it concerns orphan girls who were vulnerable to abuse by their guardians. Since an orphan girl's guardian was often also her _wakīl_ —the male guardian legally able to give her in marriage—he might seek to marry her to himself or others without her consent, seek to marry her himself for a discounted bridal gift, or refuse to marry her to anyone in order to keep her wealth for himself while mistreating her. The verse instructs men who might be tempted toward these abusive practices to marry women not in their custody and thus not vulnerable to these abuses (IK, Q, Ṭ). ʿĀʾishah asserts that v. 127, which criticizes men for wishing to marry orphan girls without giving them their bridal gifts, was a Divine clarification of the injunction in the present verse (IK).

Dealing _justly_ between one's wives means treating them equitably with regard to financial support, love, companionship, and conjugal relations (Q). V. 129 states that men will never be able to deal equitably between their wives, even if they desire to do so. Some have asserted that although treating one's wives equally is an ideal one should strive for, lack of perfection in this regard does not itself nullify the legitimacy of polygamous marriage (see 4:129c). This whole verse revolves around the issue of justice; it favors neither polygamy nor monogamy absolutely and advises the form that best facilitates the just treatment of orphans, wives, and other dependents.

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J And give the women their bridewealth as a free gift, but if they are pleased to remit unto you any part thereof, then consume it with wholesome enjoyment.

4 This verse establishes the legal requirement that Muslim men provide a bridal gift to the women they marry, that this must be given _as a free gift,_ without condition, and that it must be given to the women themselves. It is understood as prohibiting practices meant to deprive women of their bridewealth, such as arranging to marry off widows in exchange for their bridewealth, or keeping for oneself the bridewealth of one's daughters or orphan girls in one's care (IK, Q, Ṭ, Z). However, it was legitimate for husbands to accept and _consume . . . with wholesome enjoyment_ any part of the bridewealth that their wives were willing to give them, as long as it was given freely and without compulsion.

***

Z And give not the feeble-minded your property, which God has placed in your hands to manage, but provide for them and clothe them from it, and speak unto them in an honorable way.

5 _The feeble-minded_ ( _sufahā ʾ_) here refers to dependents unable to care adequately for themselves or manage property. Although the verse instructs one not to give one's own property to the feeble--minded, it may pertain also to the property of the feeble-minded themselves, whose wealth should be managed for them by their guardians (Ṭ; cf. 2:282). Some have suggested that _the feeble-minded_ refers to women and minors (Ṭ), who should not be entrusted with property, lest they lose or corrupt it. But such an interpretation contradicts vv. 2 and 4, which command that women and orphans be given their property, and is not upheld by Islamic Law, which essentially gives women full control of their property as acquired through bridewealth, inheritance, other gifts, and earned income. Moreover, _feeble-minded_ ( _sufahā ʾ_) is rendered in the masculine plural in Arabic, rather than the more specific feminine plural, and so clearly refers to individuals of either gender who are mentally incompetent, not to women in particular (Q, Ṭ). Some have said that _feeble-minded_ refers only to those whose mental condition requires their confinement (Q, Ṭ). This verse may also prohibit Muslims from entrusting their property to non-Muslims, who would not recognize or be sufficiently aware of Islamic laws governing financial matters, such as the prohibition against usury (Q).

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j And test the orphans until they reach the age of maturity; then if you perceive in them sound judgment, deliver unto them their property, and consume it not wastefully and in haste before they come of age. Whosoever is rich should abstain, but whosoever is poor should partake thereof in an honorable way. And when you deliver unto them their property, bring witnesses on their behalf, and God suffices as a Reckoner.

6 _Sound judgment_ is understood as possession of a correctly functioning rational faculty, a healthy and upstanding character, an understanding of how to manage property, and sound religion to the degree that one no longer requires custodial care (Ṭ). The _age of maturity_ is considered by many to be eighteen for males according to Islamic Law, but should they not manifest _sound judgment_ by this age, some jurists indicate that one may withhold their property from them for, at most, another seven years (Z). Others put the age of maturity at fifteen or seventeen (Q). Some have said that it should be the age at which one is considered morally responsible rather than a simple biological threshold, such as puberty (Ṭs). Testing their judgment may include giving them some money and observing how they manage it (Q). There is debate about whether the requirements for giving the orphans their property include both physical maturity and the development of sound judgment or if either alone suffices (Q).

The wealthy should _abstain_ from the orphans' property, but those who are in straitened circumstances can _partake thereof in an honorable way,_ meaning that they can take only as much as they need for necessities—particularly food—and it is considered a loan that must be repaid, even posthumously (Ṭ; cf. 2:152; 17:34). The guardian may benefit from the milk of the orphan's livestock, the fruit produced on the orphan's land, or the services of the orphan's riding animals as long as he uses the property in a way that maintains and does not diminish its worth and he does not seek to profit monetarily by it. According to some, however, even this limited permission to consume orphans' wealth was abrogated by v. 10 (Q). The command to _bring witnesses_ when giving orphans their property is generally considered mandatory, and some suggest that one should bring witnesses whenever one takes a loan from the orphan's property (Q).

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z Unto the men a share of what parents and kinsfolk leave, and unto the women a share of what parents and kinsfolk leave, be it little or much—a share ordained.

7 In pre-Islamic Arabia only adult men were entitled to inherit. This verse was revealed with regard to the situation of a widow with three daughters left destitute by her husband's male heirs (W). The verse establishes that both men and women are legally entitled to a fixed and mandatory share of the wealth of their deceased relatives. Specific rules for apportioning the estate to the male and female heirs follow in vv. 11–13.

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{ And when kinsfolk, orphans, and the indigent are present at the division, make provision from it for them and speak unto them in an honorable way.

8 Commentators debate whether this verse is still legally binding or has been abrogated and how it should be reconciled with the establishment of specified shares of inheritance for various relatives in vv. 11–13. Many consider the present verse legally binding—although some admit it is largely ignored—and also indicate that that what is given to _kinsfolk_ (meaning those without a legally prescribed share of the inheritance), _orphans, and the indigent_ is at the discretion of the legal heirs (IK, Q, Ṭ, Ṭs). This may mean giving them a share of the estate or providing food for them from the inherited property (Q, Ṭ). Other opinions hold that this verse was abrogated by vv. 11–13 or that it refers to that portion of one's wealth (one-third) that one can bequeath to other than one's legal heirs prior to death (IK, Ṭ, Ṭs). According to some, making such provision from the inheritance is a recommended but not required practice (Q, Ṭs, Z).

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| Let those who would dread if they left behind their own helpless progeny have fear; let them reverence God and speak justly.

9 Those who are dividing up their inheritance while still alive or making their final bequests should keep their minor children uppermost in their mind and be careful to leave them an amount sufficient for their provision (Ṭ). Those present when a man is near death should also avoid encouraging him to make other bequests that would significantly reduce the money that would go to his children (Q, Ṭ, Ṭs). Alternately, it may mean that those making their bequests should think about making some provision for the orphans, since they would fear for the fate of their own children, should they become orphans and be dependent on the kindness and generosity of others (JJ, Ṭs). This verse was revealed prior to the verses that detail fixed shares of the inheritance for one's children (Q).

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Ċ Truly those who consume the property of orphans unjustly only consume fire in their bellies, and they will burn in a blazing flame.

10 This metaphor of self-destruction through greed suggests the threat of Hellfire that awaits the unjust. It is sometimes connected to a _ḥ adīth_ in which the Prophet describes a vision of Hell he received; in it those who wrongly consumed the orphans' property had flames emerging from their bodies (Q, Ṭ, Z). Considering the context, this may be a warning to those making their bequests who have wrongly used the property of orphans (that they should return it at this time) or a warning to the disbelievers who refused to allow women and children to inherit (Q). On the basis of this verse, usurping the wealth of orphans is considered one of the most grievous sins.

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Ě God enjoins upon you concerning your children: unto the male a share equal to that of two females; but if there are only daughters, two or more, then unto them is two-thirds of what he leaves; if only one, then unto her a half. And unto his parents—each of the two—a sixth of what he leaves if he has a child; but if he has no child and his parents are his [only] heirs, then unto his mother a third; and if he has brothers, then unto his mother a sixth, after paying any bequest he may have bequeathed or any debt. Your parents or your children—you know not which of them are nearer to you in benefit. [This is] an obligation ordained by God. Truly God is Knowing, Wise.

11 V. 7 made it clear that wives and children were to receive a portion of the inheritance of the deceased, contrary to pre-Islamic practice, and vv. 11–12 clarify and quantify the portion of the inheritance to which children, parents, siblings, and spouses are legally entitled. This verse was reportedly revealed in reference to a woman and her daughters who had been denied a share of her husband's inheritance (the same or a similar case mentioned in connection with v. 7) or to a dying man who asked the Prophet how to apportion his inheritance (Q, Ṭ, Ṭs, W). When the verse was first revealed, there was much resistance to it among the Prophet's followers, who were stunned that women and minor children, who could not fight and were not entitled to shares of booty obtained in battle, should inherit a significant portion from their husbands and fathers (IK, Q, Ṭ). Although women have an unquestionable right to inherit according to the Quranic injunctions here, sons and daughters do not inherit equally. This discrepancy was justified by the fact that men were ideally the sole providers for their families (IK). Regarding the statement _But if there are only daughters . . . unto them is two-thirds of what he leaves,_ some early authorities held that the remaining third should go to any grandsons from a deceased male child (Q).

The part of this verse that assigns a legal portion to parents abrogates an earlier practice that allowed legal shares of the estate to go to children, but not to parents, who previously could acquire a share of their children's estate only through a specific bequest on the part of the deceased (IK, Q, Ṭ, Ṭs). Although the portion for male children is twice that for female children, here, the explicit portion for the two parents is equal. However, a custom that continued into the Prophet's time assumed the father of the deceased to be the nearest kinsman. This meant that after all shares had been legally apportioned, including the sixth shares to each parent, the father would receive anything that remained in addition to his sixth share (IK, Ṭ). A different Shiite opinion, however, holds that if the deceased leaves only a daughter and parents, the daughter gets half of the estate and each of the parents receives a sixth, but that the daughter, rather than the father, will then further inherit whatever remains after the shares have been apportioned (Ṭs). If the deceased's only heirs are parents, the mother is explicitly entitled to a third. No explicit share is mentioned for the father, because it is understood that, as the nearest kinsman, he would inherit the remainder, in which case he would effectively inherit two-thirds of the estate, twice the share of the mother (IK, Q, Ṭ).

Early authorities generally agreed that the parents' portion is calculated after payment has gone to the spouse or spouses of the deceased, with the mother inheriting a third and the father two-thirds (IK, Z) of what is left. The Shiite view and a minority Sunni view, however, hold that the mother receives a third of the total estate, and that the father receives whatever remains after the shares of spouse and mother have been apportioned (Ṭs). The mother is entitled to a third, even if the deceased has a sibling (either a full or a half sibling), as long as it is only a single sibling, but if there is more than one sibling, the mother's portion is reduced to a sixth (Ṭ). Some commentators say that only the mother's portion is reduced in the case of siblings, not the father's, because the father, unlike the mother, has the responsibility of providing for these siblings financially, including the means for them to marry, or because the mother's other sixth is meant to go to the siblings. However, it is more likely that the reduction of the mother's share is mentioned explicitly, because it is only in the case of siblings who have no father that siblings may inherit at all (Ṭ). A number of traditions indicate that siblings never inherit when the father of the deceased is alive. Therefore, if the deceased is survived by both parents and also siblings, the mother receives a sixth and the father the remaining five-sixths (Z).

All the foregoing shares are payable only after the payment of _any bequest . . . or any debt_. Although _bequest_ is mentioned first, Prophetic tradition and communal consensus indicate that debts are to be paid first, then bequests (which are not to exceed a third of the remaining), and finally the shares of the legal heirs (IK, Ṭ). The shares to children and parents are apportioned by Divine Decree rather than by individual bequest, because _you know not which of them are nearer to you in benefit_ —that is, you do not know which of them will benefit you most in the Hereafter or in this life (IK, Ṭ, Z). As these portions are established by God, they should not be seen as a gift on the part of the deceased. Rather, upon death, all property returns to God (He is the "Inheritor"; see 15:23); these injunctions can therefore be understood as a Divine redistribution of the wealth of the deceased. This and the following verse establish specific injunctions, not only general principles, concerning the economic aspect of Muslim life. The specificity of these Quranic injunctions led to a whole science called the "science of inheritance" and played an important role in the development of the science of algebra by Muslim mathematicians.

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Ī And unto you a half of what your wives leave, if they have no child, but if they have a child, then unto you a fourth of what they leave, after paying any bequest they may have bequeathed or any debt. And unto them a fourth of what you leave if you have no child, but if you have a child, then unto them an eighth of what you leave, after paying any bequest you may have bequeathed or any debt. If a man or woman leaves no direct heir, but has a brother or sister, then unto each of the two a sixth; but if they are more than two, they share equally a third, after paying any bequest he may have bequeathed or any debt, without harm to anyone—a duty ordained by God, and God is Knowing, Clement.

12 The reduction of the husband or wife's share of the spouse's estate applies in the case of the existence of children or grandchildren (IK). If the deceased has more than one wife, they divide the portion allotted for the wife equally among themselves (IK, Q, Z). Dying without a _direct heir_ ( _kalālatan_ ) means dying without having a father or grandfather and without any children, or dying without one or the other (Ṭ). In such a case, when there is more than one sibling (from the same mother), they share a third of the estate, divided into equal shares, irrespective of gender (IK, Ṭ). One should note, however, that v. 176 reestablishes the gender disparity among sibling shares by specifying that a brother inherits twice the share of a sister. The apportioning of the inheritance through bequest and Divine Decree should be done without harm or prejudice to any heir. Prophetic tradition forbids bequeathing, separately, a portion of one's estate to those who are already guaranteed a specific legal share—for example, making a separate bequest to a particular son or daughter in addition to his or her Quranically ordained share (IK, Q)—as this may be done to favor one child or heir over another. Causing harm in this way is considered a major sin ( _kabīrah;_ IK, Ṭ). The very specific rulings regarding inheritance in various schools of Islamic jurisprudence are based on different interpretations of such Quranic verses, complemented by the _Ḥ adīth._

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ĺ Those are the limits set by God: whosoever obeys God and His Messenger, He will cause him to enter Gardens with rivers running below, abiding therein. And that is the great triumph.

Ŋ But whosoever disobeys God and His Messenger, and transgresses His limits, He will cause him to enter a Fire, abiding therein, and he shall have a humiliating punishment.

13–14 The rules for dividing and apportioning the estate of deceased believers is identified as being among _the limits set by God_ ( _ḥ udūd Allāh_). It is thus clear that such apportioning is mandatory, not merely recommended, and that failure to comply places one in a state of disobedience that may lead to eternal perdition, while complying brings heavenly reward.

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Ś As for those of your women who commit an indecency, call four witnesses among you to bear witness against them. And if they bear witness, then confine them to their houses until death takes them, or until God appoints for them another way.

15 Committing _an indecency_ ( _fā ḥishah_) here refers specifically to adultery and fornication ( _zinā;_ IK, Q, Ṭ, Ṭs, Z). This verse deals only with women who commit these acts, and the ruling here apparently applies to both married and unmarried women, although some commentators suggested that it applied only to married women (Ṭ). The verse also applies only to Muslim women; it does not apply to non-Muslim women, even if they are married to Muslim men (Q). It establishes the need for four eyewitnesses as a special and mandatory condition for a conviction of adultery or fornication. Most commentators indicate that these witnesses need to be male (Ṭ), and Islamic Law establishes that they must also be mentally and religiously sound and of the age of legal responsibility, usually considered to be puberty, and cannot have themselves been convicted of any major sin or crime (see commentary on 24:4–9). Although the present verse may appear to make it the responsibility of the husband to procure four witnesses, most agree that it also establishes guidelines for judges and legal authorities in their prosecution of such cases (Ṭs).

The punishment established here is confinement to the home until death or _until God appoints . . . another way_. This other way is usually considered to be a reference to the _ḥ add_ punishment of one hundred lashes (and, according to one _ḥ adīth,_ also banishment for a year) that would later be established for both male and female fornicators explicitly in 24:2 as well as to the punishment of stoning for married male and female adulterers, which is not Quranic, but based on a reported Prophetic precedent (see 24:2c). These later developments are usually considered to abrogate the ruling in the present verse (IK, Ṭ). However, some suggest that this ruling may be combined with that in 24:2, so that after the _ḥ add_ punishment has been administered, the female fornicator should be confined to her home until death or until God provides her _another way,_ that is, marriage, which would inhibit further fornication (Z). (Cf. 24:3, which allows marriage for fornicators, provided that they marry only other fornicators.)

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Ū And if two of those among you are guilty thereof, punish them both; but if they repent and make amends, then let them be. Truly God is Relenting, Merciful.

16 The meaning of _two of those among you_ is debated. Most commentators and jurists consider it a reference to the male and female who commit an act of fornication or adultery. Some say that it refers specifically to unmarried fornicators and that the preceding verse refers specifically to married adulteresses (Q, IK, Ṭ). Others suggest that since the pronoun and the verb are in the masculine dual form, it may refer to those guilty of a homosexual act between two men (IK, JJ)—sometimes adding that the previous verse may refer to those guilty of female homosexual acts (Z)—but there is significant doubt about this interpretation. Some combine vv. 15–16 to mean that "confinement" and "punishment" are prescribed for female fornicators, and "punishment" alone is prescribed for male fornicators here (Q).

_Punish_ here translates _adhū,_ which can mean to harass, hurt, or insult. In this context, it is usually interpreted to mean a stern public rebuke, rather than a corporal punishment (Z), although some say it may also include a mild beating (Q, Ṭ). In either case, commentators widely agree that this verse and the previous one were abrogated by the prescribed punishment of lashing for fornication in 24:2 and the reported Prophetic precedent of prescribing stoning for married adulterers (Q, Ṭ). However, repentance and a return to rectitude is said to avert the punishment from the perpetrators (Ṭ, Z), because "one who repents of a sin is as one who has not sinned" (IK). Some maintain that this applies only to this punishment, but not to the _ḥ add_ punishment for fornication revealed in 24:2 (Q).

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ź God only accepts the repentance of those who do evil in ignorance and then turn quickly in repentance: these are the ones unto whom God relents, and God is Knowing, Wise.

Ɗ And repentance is not accepted from those who do evil deeds till, when death confronts one of them, he says, "Truly now I repent," nor from those who die as disbelievers. For those We have prepared a painful punishment.

17–18 Cf _._ 6:54; 16:119. Doing _evil_ here may include a general state of disbelief ( _kufr_ ) as well as particular acts of disobedience (Q). _Those who do evil in ignorance_ seems to suggest those who sin unintentionally, but most commentators broaden it, either claiming that it refers to anyone who sins, even purposefully, while being ignorant of the full repercussions or Divine punishment it entails (Q, R, Ṭ) or asserting that anyone who commits an act of disobedience to God is, effectively, in a state of ignorance (Q, R, Ṭ). See, for example, 12:33, where Joseph fears that by sinning he may become one of _the ignorant,_ and 12:89, where the woman who attempted to seduce Joseph, identified in Islamic tradition as Zulaykhā, is said to have been in a state of ignorance, although she clearly seduced him with intention. Some even argue that it must refer to sins committed intentionally, since unintentional sins do not require repentance at all (R).

There is also debate about how _quickly_ one must _turn . . . in repentance_ to be eligible for Divine Forgiveness. As is made clear in v. 18, it must precede death. Some say repentance must occur while one is still in a state of health; others, that it must be prior to the certainty of death; still others, that it must simply be before death itself (IK, R, Ṭ). The broadening of the time frame seems justified by a _ḥ adīth_ that states, "The door of repentance is open until the sun rises from the West"; or by a _ḥ adīth qudsī_ (sacred _ḥ adīth_) in which God states (with some variations) in the first person, "I will not prevent the repentance of a son of Adam while the spirit remains in him" (Q, Ṭ). However, insofar as true repentance requires making amends and demonstrating that one will not return to the sinful behavior, one should repent while one is still in a state of mental lucidity, physical capability, and moral responsibility rather than when one is very near death or has a debilitating disease (Q, Ṭ). If the repentance cannot be deemed "quick," the sinner can still hope for forgiveness from God (cf. 9:102), but cannot count on it with certainty (R).

Most hold that true repentance requires abstaining from that particular sin in the future, although Muʿtazilites, one of the two major schools of Sunni theology, held that it required abstaining from sin in general thereafter (Q). It is not correct to say that God is obligated to accept repentance under these conditions, but rather that He has promised to do so in myriad verses and He is true to His Promise (Q, R). If He can be described as "obligated" to forgive, He is obligated only by Himself (see 6:12, where it says that God has _prescribed Mercy for Himself_ ), not in response to human action. Some maintain that this verse was abrogated by vv. 48 and 116, in which all sins other than idolatry are open to the possibility of Divine Forgiveness (Ṭ). Repentance of a major sin does not necessarily avert the worldly punishment prescribed for it (Q).

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ƚ O you who believe! It is not lawful for you to inherit women through coercion, nor to prevent them from marrying [again], that you may take away some of what you have given them, unless they commit a flagrant indecency. And consort with them in a kind and honorable way; for if you dislike them, it may be that you dislike a thing in which God has placed much good.

19 In pre-Islamic Arabia (particularly in Madinah, according to some), as in other tribal systems, a woman could be inherited by the male relatives of her deceased husband. This meant that she effectively belonged to them: they could either marry her to one of their own or someone else (and keep her dowry) or prohibit her from remarrying at all unless she forfeited any money she received from her husband. In either case, they would keep the dowry and/or inheritance she had received from her deceased husband within the family (JJ, Q, Ṭ), which seems to have been the primary motivation for this practice. This verse explicitly prohibits this practice, however, and was reportedly revealed in response to the case of a Madinan woman whose stepson claimed to inherit her upon her husband's death (Ṭ, W; see v. 22, where marriage to the former wives of one's father are forbidden under any circumstances). This verse, in connection with vv. 11–13, clearly establishes that women are subjects and not objects of inheritance—inheritors themselves, rather than part of what is inherited. Alternately, _It is not lawful for you to inherit women through coercion_ could be read, "It is not lawful for you to inherit _from_ women through coercion," perhaps referring to a version of the practices cited above in which a relative of the woman's deceased husband would confine her to his home and prevent her from remarrying until she died, at which point he would inherit her property (Q).

_To prevent them from marrying_ renders _ta ʿḍilūhuna,_ which may also mean "to treat harshly." However, the same verb appears in 2:232, where it clearly refers to an attempt to prevent women from remarrying after divorce. If one considers the full semantic range of the word, it can be seen that the Quran is prohibiting any attempt to unlawfully retrieve property that has been given to a woman by her husband. It may be directed at (1) the heirs of a deceased man, who may attempt to prohibit his wife from remarrying, lest she thereby transfer any property she has received from her husband to a new family; (2) a husband who seeks to prevent a wife whom he has divorced from remarrying (since in pre-Islamic times a man could draw up an official document preventing a wife he had divorced from remarrying without his explicit consent, in order to get her to ransom herself by returning part of her bridewealth); or (3) a husband who wishes to divorce his wife, but instead treats her harshly in an attempt to force her to ransom herself through a return of some of her bridewealth (i.e., to exercise the option of _khul ʿ_ divorce, in which a woman seeks a divorce in exchange for returning some or all of her bridewealth; cf. 2:229).

The verse makes an exception in the case of a woman who has committed _a flagrant indecency_. Although _flagrant indecency_ in v. 17 refers to adultery specifically, some argue that the term here might also apply to the case of a wife who has behaved with extreme _discord and animosity_ ( _nushūz_ ) toward her husband (Q, Ṭ, Z; see v. 34). If _flagrant indecency_ here refers solely to adultery, then this verse would seem to be abrogated by the verse that establishes a public _ḥ add_ punishment for fornicators and adulterers. Men are urged to _consort_ with their wives _in a kind and honorable way_ —that is, to treat them with kindness and familiarity (the Prophet's tender relations with his wives is cited as an example [IK]), to fulfill the rights they are owed, and to make themselves pleasing to their wives, as they would want their wives to make themselves pleasing to them (Q). _It may be that you dislike a thing in which God has placed much good:_ see 2:216, where a similar statement is made to those who dislike fighting in the way of God.

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Ȋ If you desire to take one wife in place of another, even if you have given to one of them a great sum, take back nothing from it. Would you take it by way of calumny and manifest sin?

20 A husband is not permitted to reappropriate any of the bridewealth he has given to his wife, regardless of how great its value might be, should he desire to divorce her and marry another. Nor is he permitted to use _calumny_ (e.g., by falsely accusing her of the kind of _flagrant indecency_ that would allow him to attempt to retake some of the bridewealth, according to the preceding verse) or _manifest sin_ (unjust treatment) in order to coerce her into giving back her bridewealth to ransom herself. _Great sum_ translates _qin ṭār,_ a word of non-Arabic origin denoting a large measure or a hundredweight (cf. 3:14, 75). This verse indicates the permissibility of giving large sums of money or property to women in marriage. According to a well-known report, the second Caliph, ʿUmar ibn al-Khaṭṭāb, tried to restrict bridal gifts to 400 _dirham_ s. However, a woman challenged him on this, citing this verse as evidence that the Quran placed no limits on the amount of money a man could offer his bride. ʿUmar conceded the point and retracted the restriction (IK, Z). Cf. 2:229, where a husband is similarly instructed not to take back any of his wife's bridewealth when he divorces her, but an exception is made in a case where the couple fear that they cannot _uphold the limits set by God_. In the latter case the wife may give back some of her bridewealth in order to _ransom_ herself. This is exactly what is known as _khul ʿ_ divorce in Islamic Law and usually requires the consent of the husband.

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! And how can you take it back, when you have lain with one another and they have made with you a solemn covenant?

21 _Lain with_ ( _af ḍā ilā_) literally means to come upon someone, usually in a private or intimate manner. It is an indirect reference to the husband and wife having had intimate sexual contact or intercourse (IK, Ṭ, Ṭs) or to their having been alone together or having lain under a single cover (Q, Ṭs). For Abū Ḥanīfah (d. 150/767), founder of the Ḥanafī school of law, for the couple to have been alone together is sufficient to entitle a woman to the full bridal payment, although for al-Shāfiʿī (d. 204/820), founder of the Shāfiʿī school of law, this entitles her to only half (Q). Although v. 19 allows the husband to reclaim some of the bridewealth if the wife is guilty of _flagrant indecency,_ the Prophet reportedly refused to allow a husband to reclaim the bridal payment in two cases: in one, a man had accused his wife of indecency and they had been separated through mutual cursing (see 24:6–9); and in another a groom learned that his new bride was pregnant by another (IK). A husband can accept back some or all of the bridewealth in the case of _khul ʿ_ divorce (2:229), since in that case it is the wife who is seeking the divorce.

The word _covenant_ ( _mīthāq_ ) is occasionally used in the Quran to refer to agreements between human beings, such as treaties (4:90–92; 8:72), but more frequently designates spiritual agreements between God and the Israelites (2:63, 83–4; 4:154; 5:12, 70; 33:8), the prophets (3:81; 33:7) or the believers (13:20; 57:8). The _solemn covenant_ here refers to the covenantal words the groom utters during the marriage ceremony. It may refer to the groom's assent to the charge, sometimes issued by the bride's guardian, that he keep his new wife honorably or release her virtuously—language derived from 2:229–31 (IK, Q, Ṭ, Ṭs, Z) or simply to his verbal acceptance of the marriage (Q, Ṭ, Z). Others consider the _solemn covenant_ a reference to the Prophet's statement in his sermon at the Farewell Pilgrimage: "Be reverent with regard to women! Truly you take them as a trust from God, and their private parts are made lawful for you by the Word of God" (IK, Q, Ṭ, Ṭs, Z).

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" And marry not those women whom your fathers married, save for what is past. Truly it was indecent and loathsome, an evil way.

22 The pre-Islamic Arabs reportedly recognized the same prohibitions concerning marriage partners as those stipulated in the Quran, except that they would marry their father's wives (i.e., their stepmothers) and allowed marriage to two sisters. Vv. 22–23 prohibit these two practices, respectively (IK, Ṭ). According to some reports, after the revelation of v. 19 ( _It is not lawful for you to inherit women through coercion_ ), some Muslim men continued to marry the wives of their fathers, as long as the women consented. This verse established an absolute prohibition on the practice, even without coercion (Q).

This verse was reportedly revealed in regard to four different cases in which a man desired to marry the wife of his deceased father. According to one report, Qays, the son of Abu'l-Qays ibn al-Aṣlat (a Madinan Muslim) wished to marry his father's wife. The widow felt it was improper and consulted the Prophet, after which this verse was revealed banning the practice absolutely (IK, Q, W).

The ban on marrying the wives of one's father applied even if the woman's marriage to the father was never consummated (Ṭ); conversely, the ban applied to any woman with whom one's father had had sexual relations, even outside of wedlock, since _married_ ( _naka ḥa_) can also refer to sexual relations in general (Q, Ṭs). An exception is made only for women who had relations with one's father prior to Islam (Q).

Marrying the wife of one's father is _loathsome,_ because it is hateful to God and because the practice may engender feelings of loathing for one's father (IK). Al-Rāzī considers the description of this practice as _indecent and loathsome, an evil way,_ to refer to the fact that it is repugnant from an intellectual, legal, and customary point of view. The verse may also be read, "And marry not women in the manner that your fathers married," suggesting a general prohibition against any pre-Islamic marriage custom that contradicts Islamic principles (Ṭ).

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# Forbidden unto you [as wives] are your mothers, your daughters, your sisters, your fathers' sisters, your mothers' sisters, your brothers' daughters, your sisters' daughters, your milk-mothers and milk-sisters, the mothers of your wives, the stepdaughters in your care—born of your wives with whom you have consummated marriage, but if you have not consummated the marriage with them, then there is no blame on you—and the wives of your sons who are from your loins, and two sisters together, save for what is past. Truly God is Forgiving, Merciful.

23 In addition to wives of their fathers (v. 22), Muslim men cannot marry their _mothers,_ including grandmothers; their _daughters,_ including granddaughters; or their _sisters,_ including both full and half siblings (Q). Al-Shāfiʿī suggests that a man's biological daughter born out of wedlock might not be subject to this prohibition, but all other schools of law prohibit marriage to any biological daughter (IK).

A _milk-mother_ is a wet nurse, a woman who nurses a child, but who is not the child's biological mother. The Quran permits parents to pay a wet nurse to suckle a child (2:233, 65:6). Milk-siblings (here _milk-sisters_ ) are otherwise unrelated persons who, as infants or children, were wet-nursed by the same woman. Relations established through suckling had a legal status similar to blood relations. Thus a woman who nursed a man when he was a child is _ma ḥram_ to him—meaning that she does not need to cover in front of him and he can never marry her. These same permissions and prohibitions apply to the biological children of the wet nurse and her husband and to others she has nursed (Z). Two exceptions are that a man can marry the sister of his milk-son or the mother of his milk-brother (Z). There is some debate as to how long a child must nurse for the milk relationship to be established. ʿĀʾishah maintained that a verse had been revealed requiring ten sucklings for the establishment of milk relations, but this was later changed to five (IK, Q). A more widely transmitted report states that "one or two sucklings" do not establish legal milk relations, which led some to claim that at least three sucklings were required. On the basis of other _a ḥādīth,_ al-Shāfiʿī required that a child be suckled at least five times (IK, Q), whereas the Twelver Shiite school requires fifteen (or, variously, ten; Ṭs). For most legal scholars, the nursing has to occur within the first two to three years of the child's life (IK, Q, Ṭs).

There was a dispute about whether the exception made for marrying stepdaughters ( _rabā'ib,_ sing. _rabībah_ ) who were born of wives with whom one had not consummated the marriage also applies to marrying the mothers of such wives. The consensus of the community is that the exception only clearly applied to stepdaughters (Q, Ṭ, Ṭs). Nonetheless, some early authorities reportedly held that only when one had consummated marriage with a woman was one prohibited from marrying her mother (IK). Some reportedly read the verse with the following addition: _and the mothers of your wives_ "with whom you have consummated marriage" (Z). As in the discussion of v. 21, some early scholars debated the extent of intimate contact that legally constituted consummation (Q, Ṭs, Z). Some viewed any intimate contact with a woman as prohibiting marriage to her daughter, although the Shāfiʿī school held that the prohibition pertained only in the case of marriage (Q).

The terms _rabībah_ for "stepdaughter" and _rabīb_ for "stepson" are said by some commentators to derive from the fact that a stepparent often undertakes the raising ( _tarbiyah_ ) of stepchildren (Q, Ṭs), an idea further emphasized by the phrase _in your care_ ( _fī ḥujūrikum_). A minority tradition suggests that this means that stepdaughters not living with their stepfathers are potential marriage partners. But most understand this not as a condition ( _shar ṭ_) of the prohibition (IK, Q, Ṭs), but merely as a description of the close family contact one normally has with a stepchild, which is precisely what makes stepchildren forbidden as marriage partners (Z).

As with the prohibition against marrying the former wives of one's fathers, the prohibition against marrying former wives of one's sons applies regardless of whether the marriage was consummated or not (Ṭ). The prohibition is limited to the wives of _your sons who are from your loins,_ which includes the wives of one's milk-sons (i.e., the wives of men who had been nursed by one's wife), but excludes adoptive sons. Some commentators connected this verse to the Prophet's marrying the former wife of his adopted son, Zayd ibn Ḥārithah. Since Zayd was an adopted son, not a son _from his loins,_ the marriage was permissible (IK, Q, Ṭ, Z; see also 33:4, 37, 40). Marrying two sisters is forbidden, _save for what is past,_ meaning that such marriages arranged prior to the revelation of this verse could stand (Q). However, the Prophet reportedly ordered men who desired to enter Islam, but had two sister wives, to divorce one (IK).

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$ And married women [are forbidden unto you] save those whom your right hands possess; thus has God prescribed for you. Lawful unto you are all others whom you would seek in marriage with gifts from your property, in honest wedlock and not in fornication. And those women whom you enjoy thereby, give unto them their bridewealth, as an obligation; but there is no blame on you for what you agree to after the obligation. God is Knowing, Wise.

24 _Married women_ translates _mu ḥṣanāt,_ which can also mean "chaste women." It derives from _a ḥṣana,_ meaning "to fortify or make inaccessible"; see 21:91; 66:12, where Mary is described as a woman who _preserved her chastity_ ( _allatī a ḥṣanat farjahā_). Married or chaste men are described as _mu ḥṣinīn,_ "preservers of chastity" (vv. 24–25), but married or chaste (and sometimes "free" as opposed to "slave") women are usually described as _mu ḥṣanāt_ (using the passive participle) to signify that they have _been made_ inaccessible, usually by marriage (cf. v. 25, where it means in two instances "chaste (slave) women" and "free women"; and 5:5; 24:4, 23, where it means "chaste women"). Most agree that here it refers specifically to married women. Thus the Quran forbids marrying women married to other men, save for slave or captive women, _those whom your right hands possess_.

This verse was reportedly revealed regarding women captured during the Battle of Ḥunayn (8/630), whom the Muslims were concerned about having sexual relations with, or marrying, as they were wives of the defeated tribesmen. This verse was then revealed, indicating that a Muslim man could have sexual relations with or marry them even without a formal divorce from their previous husbands, as long as they waited one month to ensure they were not pregnant by their former husbands (IK, JJ, Q, Ṭ, Ṭs). Other reports say this verse was meant to forbid the Muslims in Madinah from marrying women who had come as Emigrants to Madinah, but were still married to idolaters in Makkah, since their husbands might later become Muslims themselves and seek to reunite with their wives (Ṭ). Some commentators extended this exception to slave women, indicating that if a man purchased a married slavewoman, his purchase effectively divorced her from her husband, and he was thus allowed to have sexual relations with her (IK, Q, Ṭ, Ṭs). Others questioned this, citing a _ḥ adīth_ of the Prophet demonstrating the opposite precedent (IK, Q, Ṭ) and claiming that _those whom your right hands possess_ here refers exclusively to female war captives (IK, Ṭs).

Alternately, some consider the present verse to be a continuation of v. 3: _Marry such women as seem good to you, two, three, or four: but if you fear that you will not deal justly, then only one, or those whom your right hands possess_. According to this interpretation, _mu ḥṣanāt_ refers to women whom one might marry beyond the limit of four, which would be completely forbidden, unless they were slave women (IK, Ṭ). Some argue that the purpose of this verse was to forbid illicit sexual relations ( _zinā_ ) generally, allowing sexual relations only with those whom a man literally "possessed the right to" ( _malaka_ ) through either marriage or slavery (Q, Ṭ, Ṭs). Still others claim that _mu ḥṣanāt_ here includes all its possible referents: married, free, or chaste women, either Muslim or from among the People of the Book (Ṭ). Thus sexual relations with all such women are forbidden save through proper marriage, the only exception being for slave or captive women who were neither Jewish nor Christian (Ṭ).

_All others_ are those with whom marriage has not been forbidden in vv. 22–23, and they must be married _with gifts from your property,_ that is, by rendering the agreed-upon bridal gift. Although some traditions suggest that the bridal gift may be rendered as a service (e.g., promising to take the bride on the _ḥ ajj_), others say that the explicit mention here of _gifts from your property_ means that the bridal payment should be quantifiable money or goods (Q).

The Arabic term for the bridal payment here is _ujūr,_ meaning literally "wages"; elsewhere _ṣ aduqāt_ (v. 4) or _farī ḍah_ (lit. "obligation," 2:236–37) is used. In Islamic legal discourse, the bridal payment is generally referred to as _mahr/muhūr,_ but this term is not Quranic. A widely reported early interpretation of this part of the verse connected it with the practice of temporary marriage ( _mut ʿah_). _You enjoy_ ( _istimta ʿtum_) is etymologically related to _mut ʿah,_ the technical term for temporary marriage. A number of prominent early authorities, including al-Suddī, Ubayy ibn Kaʿb (d. between 19/640 and 35/655), and Ibn ʿAbbās, recited this verse with an additional phrase: _And those women whom you enjoy thereby_ "for a term appointed," _give unto them their bridewealth_ (IK, Ṭ, Ṭs).

Ibn ʿAbbās and Shiite commentators considered this verse, with or without the addition, to be a reference to _mut ʿah_—a practice still legitimate in Shiite Islam, but considered by most Sunnis to have been forbidden by the Prophet at the end of his life or, according to most, by the second Caliph, ʿUmar ibn al-Khaṭṭāb. Shiites claim that no verse in the Quran specifically abrogates it and that the Prophet never forbade it (Ṭs, Ṭū). The earliest Shiite commentaries attribute the verse's interpretation as a reference to _mut ʿah_ to Jaʿfar al-Ṣādiq (Qm). Those who connect the verse to _mut ʿah_ argue that the passage _And those women whom you enjoy thereby, give unto them their bridewealth_ cannot refer to permanent marriage, because in permanent marriage at least half of the bridal payment must be paid even if the marriage is never consummated and so is not contingent on a man "enjoying" his wife, as this verse indicates (Ṭs, Ṭū); they also understand the next clause, _but there is no blame on you for what you agree to after the obligation_ (has been fulfilled), as meaning that a couple may extend their temporary marriage beyond the established term if they both agree (IK, Ṭ).

Al-Ṭabarī rejects this altered reading, because of the absence of the added phrase in the standard Quranic codex, and does not accept the interpretation of the verse as referring to _mut ʿah,_ as he considers the practice to have been decisively forbidden by the Prophet (Ṭ). Ibn Kathīr accepts the verse's reference to _mut ʿah_, but claims that its ruling regarding _mut ʿah_ was abrogated, although he notes that Ibn ʿAbbās continued to consider it legitimate in cases of necessity ( _ḍ arūrah;_ IK). Al-Zamakhsharī notes Ibn ʿAbbās' interpretation of this verse as a reference to _mut ʿah,_ but reports that Ibn ʿAbbās repented of his support for _mut ʿah_ on his deathbed (Z). Others consider the verse's ruling regarding _mut ʿah_ to be abrogated by the verses on inheritance, since there is no inheritance for a temporary wife (Q), although the children of such a marriage do inherit. For those who read the verse as applying only to permanent marriage, _there is no blame on you for what you agree to after the obligation_ (has been fulfilled) means, as in v. 4, that a variety of other financial arrangements and gifts, when agreed to by husband and wife, are legitimate once the stated bridal payment has been rendered (IK, Ṭ). The husband's inability or failure to pay for his wife's maintenance, for example, does not invalidate the marriage or nullify his right to sexual relations with his wife.

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% And whosoever among you has not the means to marry free, believing women, then [marry] the believing young women among those whom your right hands possess; God knows best your faith, the one of you is as the other, so wed them by the permission of their people, and give unto them their proper bridewealth, as married women, not as fornicators or paramours. And when they are married, should they commit an indecency, they shall be liable to half the punishment of free women. This is for the one among you who fears he will sin, but it is better for you to be patient. God is Forgiving, Merciful.

25 _Free, believing women_ uses _mu ḥṣanāt,_ discussed in 4:24c, to denote "free" women as opposed to slave women. A minority variant reading has _al-mu ḥṣināt_—denoting the active rather than passive participle—indicating that such women actively make themselves sexually inaccessible, or chaste (Q, Ṭ). Although the previous verse was interpreted to make permissible sexual relations with captive or slave women, this verse indicates the permissibility of fully marrying slave women, but those belonging to others, not one's own (Q, Ṭs). However, given that the word for "marry" ( _yanki ḥa_) can also mean to have sexual relations, some interpreted this verse to mean that a man unable to marry a free woman could have sexual relations with his slave woman (Z), although this seems to be a minority view.

Most understood this verse to mean that a man could fully marry a slave woman if he was unable to marry a free, believing woman for lack of financial _means,_ or if he _fears he will sin,_ which some commentators interpret as a lack of patience to withstand the frustration of one's sexual desires (IK, Q). Most understood this permission as applying only in cases of necessity (IK, Q, Ṭ, Ṭs), because of the difficulties inherent in a slave woman's having both a master (for she remains someone else's slave) and a husband, and also because the children produced by the union were legally subject to the woman's master (Q). Given the undesirable consequences of this situation, some said it was preferable to marry a free Jewish or Christian woman rather than a Muslim slave woman (Q, Z).

The verse is also understood as limiting such marriages to _believing_ slave women, thus prohibiting marriage to idolatrous slaves (Q; cf. 2:221). Al-Ṭabarī maintains that Jewish and Christian slave women are likewise forbidden as marriage partners by this verse, a position also taken by Mālikī, Shāfiʿī, and Twelver Shiite Law (Ṭs), although others assert that Jewish and Christian women—slave or free—were permissible as wives (Ṭ, Z; cf. 5:5). Although the permission to marry slave women is a mercy from God, _it is better . . . to be patient_ and await a change in circumstances. Some legal scholars placed additional restrictions on this practice, such as limiting the number of slave wives, prohibiting a man from having both a slave and a free wife, and requiring the dissolution of a man's marriage to a slave wife upon his marrying a free one (Q).

_God knows best your faith_ articulates the Islamic principle that the inner reality of faith can be determined only by God. Membership in the Muslim community was therefore based solely on one's testimony of faith ( _shahādah_ ) and outward compliance with the required practices of Islam (see 49:14c). Thus a slave woman who claimed to be a believing Muslim had to be accepted as such and could be married by a free Muslim man. Although the distinction between slave and free remained, a slave woman's Islamic faith placed her in the same spiritual rank as other Muslims— _the one of you is as the other_ —asserting the spiritual equality between all Muslims before God, regardless of social or worldly status (Q, Ṭs, Z).

Marrying such slave women had to be done according to proper procedures: they were to be _wed . . . by the permission of their people,_ that is, their masters (Q, Ṭ, Ṭs, Z), and with _proper bridewealth_ (Ṭ). Some viewed the bridal payment as belonging fully to the married slave woman, but most thought her master was entitled to it (Q, Ṭs, Z). Slave women were to be married _as married women, not as fornicators,_ the latter referring to those who openly engage in sexual misconduct, or as _paramours,_ referring to those who have illicit sexual relations with a single partner discreetly (Ṭ, Q, IK). In pre-Islamic Arabia open fornication was proscribed, but secret sexual misconduct was tolerated; the Quran clearly forbids both (cf. 6:151), but some reports note that the former is a worse sin because of its greater negative social consequences. After the slave women _are married,_ they are liable to punishment for _an indecency,_ meaning sexual misconduct, but only to half the punishment imposed on free women—that is, fifty lashes instead of a hundred (see 24:2). The halving of the punishment may reflect the greater vulnerability of slave women or their lower status. See, for the opposite example, 33:30, in which the women of the Prophet's household, given their superior status, are liable to double the punishment for sexual misconduct.

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& God desires to make [this] clear unto you, and to guide you to the traditions of those who went before you, and to relent unto you. And God is Knowing, Wise.

' God desires to relent unto you, but those who follow lusts desire that you go tremendously astray.

( God desires to lighten [your burden] for you, for man was created weak.

26–28 The prohibitions and permissions regarding marriage detailed in vv. 22–25 are considered to be a reinstatement of marital laws established by previous prophets (Ṭ, Z). _Those who follow lusts_ (v. 27) may refer explicitly to fornicators or more generally to those who follow their desires instead of the prescriptions of religion. Minority traditions suggest that these may be references to the People of the Book, particularly Jews, or Zoroastrians, who reportedly had a less restrictive view of legitimate marriage partners (Ṭ); the latter permitted marriage to nieces, for example. _God desires to lighten [your burden] for you_ —that is, by allowing men of insufficient means to marry slave women— _for man was created weak_ —that is, with a generally weak capacity to resist sexual desire and attraction to women for long (Ṭ). The Quran mentions that God _lightened the burden_ for Muslims in other ways (8:66); and similar accommodations for human weakness are implied in permitting sexual relations between spouses on the nights of Ramadan (2:187) and in God's reducing the number of daily prayers at the Prophet's request during the Night Journey (IK). The Quran states that God _desires ease_ for His servants (2:185), and other verses indicate that the religious obligations of Muslims are easier than those of earlier communities (7:157) and those they impose on themselves (3:93). Ibn ʿAbbās considered vv. 26–28 to be among the eight important verses in this _sūrah_ that demonstrate God's Mercy toward human beings (the others are vv. 31, 40, 48, 110, 147; R, Z).

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) O you who believe! Consume not each other's wealth falsely, but trade by mutual consent, and slay not yourselves. Truly God is Merciful unto you.

Ð And whosoever does that in enmity and injustice, We shall cause him to burn in a Fire; and that is easy for God.

29–30 _Consume not each other's wealth falsely_ means that people should not seek to obtain wealth through means expressly forbidden in the Quran, including usury ( _ribā;_ 2:275–78; 3:130; 30:39), gambling (2:219; 5:90–91), and fraudulent mercantile practices (7:85; 17:35; 55:8–9; 83:1–3); such practices are presented as one of the key vices of the destroyed the people of the prophet Shuʿayb (11:84; 26:181–83). The command _slay not yourselves_ was traditionally understood to mean that Muslims should not slay one another, as they are all members of the same religious community (cf. 4:92–93; 17:33). Except in certain cases where blood money can be given in place of punishment, the penalty prescribed for slaying a fellow believer is death, indicating that if a believer kills a fellow believer, it is as if one has slain oneself (Ṭ). Since the verse commands Muslims _slay not yourselves_ ( _anfusakum_ ), it also indicates that suicide is forbidden (Q). _And whosoever does that in enmity and injustice_ —that is, whoever kills a fellow believer or, some say, transgresses any of the major rules established to this point in the _sūrah_ —shall have Hellfire as a reward.

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Ñ If you shun the grave sins that you are forbidden, We shall absolve you of your evil deeds and cause you to enter at a noble gate.

31 The Quran here makes a distinction between _the grave sins_ ( _kabā'ir_ ) and comparatively minor _evil deeds_ ( _sayyi ʾāt_), promising that avoidance of the former will entail forgiveness for the latter. This is one of many Quranic examples of God's merciful judgment of human beings and of His compensation and compassion for their inherent moral flaws. The Quran never explicitly identifies particular sins as either major or minor. Some maintain that _the grave sins_ are transgressions of any of the moral laws established to this point in the _sūrah_ (Ṭ). Other reports list seven _grave sins_. According to al-Ṭabarī, a widely cited list attributed to ʿAlī ibn Abī Ṭālib includes associating other gods with God ( _shirk_ ); killing a soul that God has not made it lawful to kill; slandering a chaste woman; consuming the wealth of orphans; usury; fleeing the battlefield; and returning to the Bedouin life after settling (settling and renouncing the Bedouin life were closely connected with adopting the Islamic religious and social lifestyle). All of these are denounced in the Quran, but other sins, such as theft, which are similarly denounced in the Quran, are missing from this list; and although the false accusation of fornication is listed as a major sin, fornication itself is not, nor is adultery.

Alternate lists of seven sometimes omit _shirk_ (perhaps for its obviousness) and the return to the Bedouin life, but include false testimony, disobeying one's parents (Ṭ), or fornication (Z). Variant lists include apostasy, despairing of God's Mercy, and witchcraft (Ṭ, Ṭs). Al-Ṭabarī considered the most authentic list to be found in a _ḥ adīth_ that identifies four major sins: _shirk_ , killing someone, disobedience to parents, and false testimony (Ṭ). Ibn ʿAbbās maintained that no sin was minor, as long as one persisted in it, and no sin was a grave sin, as long as one repented (Aj, Ṭs, Z). Still others say that the _grave sins_ include all that God has explicitly forbidden in the Quran or any sin for which God's curse or a worldly or otherworldly punishment has been specified (Ṭ). Some argue that all acts of disobedience to God are _grave sins_ and none can be considered "minor" except in relation to other sins (Ṭs), although if this were so, the Quranic differentiation between _grave sins_ and _evil deeds_ here and elsewhere (18:49; 49:7; 54:53) would be meaningless (R). Al-Rāzī suggests that _grave sins_ may indicate varieties of _kufr_ (disbelief), that is, disbelief in God, the prophets, the Last Day, or the Sacred Law. This would be consistent with v. 48, which states that God forgives all sins except _shirk_ (idolatry; R).

Those who avoid these sins will be absolved of their _evil deeds_ —that is, minor sins (Ṭ)—and be made _to enter at a noble gate,_ which might also be translated "to enter with a noble entry." Some consider God's forgiveness of the lesser sins to be the result of an "excess of reward" for having avoided major ones (Z). Al-Rāzī, however, does not view acts of obedience or disobedience as necessitating specific rewards or punishments that could be weighed against one another and rejects the implication that failure to avoid the grave sins necessarily means that lesser sins will not be absolved. Rather, he emphasizes God's free and abundant Mercy toward human beings. Although Sufi commentators agree that the truly great sin is _shirk_ (idolatry), they consider _shirk_ to also mean an excessive attachment to worldly things, and even the assertion of the independent existence of one's own soul in a way that would obscure pure devotion to and utter reliance upon God. Hence the Sufi saying, sometimes attributed to Rābiʿah al-ʿAdawiyyah (d. 183/801): "Your existence is a sin to which no other sin can be compared!" (K, Qu).

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Ò And covet not that by which God has favored some of you above others—unto men a share of what they have earned, and unto women a share of what they have earned—but ask God for His Bounty. Truly God is the Knower of all things.

32 _God has favored some . . . above others_ in worldly provision, and this inequality engenders moral challenges—wealth and poverty, for example, challenge human beings to be generous and humble, respectively—and moral trial comes through both good things, such as wealth and children (64:15), and hardship (21:35). The assertion that God is the _Knower of all things_ suggests that this differentiation is a matter of Divine Wisdom (Z). This verse was reportedly revealed either after the Prophet's wife Umm Salamah or some other women complained that men received twice the share of inheritance (see vv. 11–12, 176) and had the possibility of attaining greater spiritual reward for their participation in _jihād_ (v. 95), or after some men expressed the desire that their reward in the next life be double that of women, even as their share of inheritance in this life is doubled (IK, Ṭ, W, Z), and some women wished that their burden in the next life would be half that of men's, like their share of the inheritance (Ṭs). Mujāhid notes that this verse was revealed in response to these complaints, along with either 33:35 (Ṭ) or 3:195 (IK), both of which indicate an otherworldly reward for righteous men and women explicitly and without differentiation (Ṭ).

Rather than desiring what has been given to others, which can lead only to envy, every individual should _ask God for His Bounty_ (Ṭ), which may include worldly goods, but which also refers to the bounty of faith and worship that leads to reward in the next life (Ṭ). A _ḥ adīth_ further encourages believers: "Ask God for His Bounty, for truly He loves to be asked" (Ṭs).

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Ó To each We have appointed heirs for what parents and kinsfolk leave. Those to whom you have given your oath, give them their share. Truly God is Witness over all things.

33 _Heirs_ translates _mawālī,_ which is etymologically related to _awliyā ʾ_ ("friends," "allies"; sing. _walī_ ). Both terms are employed throughout the Quran to refer to various close relationships, including inheritance, kinship, servitude, friendship, and alliance. Here the term is a clear reference to _heirs_ among one's kinsfolk (Ṭ), indicating that kin relations are the legitimate heirs ( _heirs for what parents and kinsfolk leave;_ Z), but also that others to whom one has given one's _oath_ —that is, with whom one has made a pact of alliance—should be given _their share_ of inheritance. This verse was revealed in regard to the reportedly common practice in Arabia of men adopting others as their sons in order to allot them some of their inheritance (Q, Ṭ, W) or the practice of two men entering into an agreement by which each would inherit from the other and avenge the other if one of them was killed (IK, Q, Ṭ). The famous "brothering" ( _mu'ākhāh_ ), in which the Prophet established relations of "brotherhood" entailing inheritance between pairs of Makkan Emigrants and Madinan Helpers shortly after coming to Madinah, was an early Islamic version of such an alliance, but one with a spiritual and communal purpose. A minority understand this verse specifically in reference to this event (IK, Ṭ), while most consider the verse to be an abrogation of earlier forms of Arabic inheritance that allowed for inheritance between non-kin relations.

Islamic inheritance was limited to blood kin who were assigned specified shares of the estate in vv. 11–12. The primacy of kin relations in inheritance was also established in 8:75 (Q, Ṭ), abrogating 8:72, which could be interpreted as allowing inheritance between the Emigrants and the Helpers (Ṭ). Some have understood the present verse to mean that, although such alliances between nonkinsfolk should no longer be made and kinsfolk are now the only legitimate heirs, pacts of alliance that had been made in the past should be respected (IK, Ṭ, Z). Others say that the share that this verse directs Muslims to give to those to whom they have made an _oath_ refers to granting them a share among the bequests that they might make for up to one-third of their estate prior to its division among legal heirs; or it means rendering them the mutual support and counsel, but not the monetary inheritance, that the pact originally stipulated (IK, Q, Ṭ) A minority view counted one's freed slaves among one's _mawālī_ and thus, according to this verse, among one's legal heirs, but most consider that it is only a master who might inherit from a freed slave, but not vice versa (Q).

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Ô Men are the upholders and maintainers of women by virtue of that in which God has favored some of them above others and by virtue of their spending from their wealth. Therefore the righteous women are devoutly obedient, guarding in [their husbands'] absence what God has guarded. As for those from whom you fear discord and animosity, admonish them, then leave them in their beds, then strike them. Then if they obey you, seek not a way against them. Truly God is Exalted, Great.

34 This verse is the clearest statement of a man's role and authority in the marital relationship as head of the household in relation to his responsibility to provide for his wife. Other verses suggest mutuality in the relationship between husband and wife (2:187, 233), but this verse indicates a hierarchy from a certain perspective between the two, at least on the social plane (see also 2:228). This verse identifies men as the _upholders and maintainers_ ( _qawwāmūn_ ) of women (the Arabic may also be translated "managers" or "guardians," although not in the sense of guardians over minors or the mentally incompetent), and this has traditionally been understood to mean that men are entitled to expect certain kinds of behavior on the part of their wives and that they have the right and duty to supervise, educate, and discipline them (IK, Q, Ṭ, Ṭs) or to command or prohibit them (Z).

Men have this position _by virtue of that in which God has favored some of them above others,_ which, because it repeats the almost identical phrasing in v. 32, likely refers to men's greater share in inheritance relative to women, _and by virtue of their spending from their wealth,_ that is, to support the women. Thus many interpret the verse as referring to the greater financial assets of men and their spending of these assets on the bridal gift and maintenance for their wives (IK, Q, Ṭ, Ṭb)—that is, these additional assets constitute a favor (combined with responsibility) God gives to men, but one that, in principle, comes back to women in the form of marital support (Q).

For Ibn ʿAjībah, this is "acquired" authority, since men's more authoritative position in the marital relationship is "acquired," at least in part, by their fulfillment of the duty to support the women of their family including, but not limited to, their wives. Many commentators and the Mālikī and Shāfiʿī legal schools considered men's authority and financial responsibility in marriage to be directly linked (Ṭs), so that a man who did not support his wife could no longer claim authority over her (Q), although for al-Qurṭubī such a situation constituted a nullification of the marriage contract. Many commentators also claimed, however, that the "favor" that God has given to men includes spiritual and worldly distinctions not necessarily related to financial matters. Among the distinctions they consider to have been given, if not exclusively, at least in many cases in greater measure to men are intelligence, authority, strength, and the responsibility for _jihād_ ; some also assert that all prophets and most scholars and religious authorities were men (Aj, IK, Q, Ṭs, Ṭb, Z). However, this is reading much into a verse that is located among, and echoes the language of, verses dealing specifically with inheritance and marital support and is more naturally read as a continuation of these discussions specifically.

Righteous wives are those who are _devoutly obedient_ ( _qānitāt_ ), that is, obedient in a spiritual or religious sense. Given the context of the verse, most commentators gloss _qānitāt_ here as women who exhibit obedience ( _ṭ āʿah_) generally, including or especially to their husbands (IK, Q, Z). However, it should be noted that all other instances of _qānit_ in the Quran denote obedience to and worship of God, not human beings (cf _._ 2:116, 238; 3:17, 43; 16:120; 33:31, 35; 39:9; 66:12). Given its wider Quranic usage, _qānitāt_ could be translated "pious" or "devout" women, in which case the term is not necessarily meant as a direct reference to a woman's obedience to her husband. But insofar as obedience to one's husband—within rational and religious limits—was considered to be religiously proper for a woman in marriage, some commentators suggested that _devoutly obedient_ describes a wife who is obedient to both God and husband (Aj, Ṭs). Many connect the two by indicating that the husband has a moral duty to guide and discipline his wife toward proper religious devotion (Q, Ṭ). Righteous women also guard _what God has guarded_ —that is, their chastity and their husbands' property (IK, Q, Ṭ, Z), both of which God has made inviolable ( _has guarded_ ) and both of which they have a duty to protect in their husbands' absence. Again, although these are a woman's responsibilities to her husband, they are presented here primarily as her responsibilities toward God—she is protecting what He has made inviolable. Some say _guarding . . . what God has guarded_ means that a woman should guard herself as God has guarded her through various protections that He, and not the husband, has established on her behalf (Ṭb, Ṭs, Z).

_Those from whom you fear discord and animosity_ refers to those who have demonstrated these things through their actions. To _fear_ here means to "know" (Q, Ṭ, Ṭs); in other words, it refers to demonstrated hostility, not merely the suspicion thereof _. Discord and animosity_ collectively translates _nushūz,_ which comes from a root meaning "to rise up" or "to be elevated" (cf. 58:11). It thus connotes an attitude of high-handedness, haughtiness, or arrogance. _Nushūz_ is explained by different commentators as referring to various inappropriate behaviors on the part of the wife, most commonly, some form of disobedience toward the husband, which may include immodest behavior toward other men, coming and going without regard for the husband's wishes, arrogant disregard for—or resistance to—the rights of the husband, loathing the husband, abandoning his bed, or desiring to leave him (IK, Q, Ṭ, Ṭs). This last seems more consistent with the use of the term in v. 128, which discusses the situation in which a woman fears _nushūz_ from her husband and where the term is usually interpreted as referring to cruel treatment, aversion, or loss of affection.

In the face of a woman committing _nushūz,_ a husband is given a set of three sanctions to correct her behavior. These three sanctions are commonly understood as progressive (Q, Ṭb, Z), meaning that husbands should begin with verbal correction ( _admonish them_ ); that is, they should remind their wives of their religious duties and obligations in the marriage (Q, Ṭ). If this does not succeed in changing the wife's behavior, men may _leave them in their beds,_ usually understood to mean refraining from sexual relations with them. A minority tradition indicates that it means to remain aloof from them and refuse to speak with them, and some permit men to have sexual relations with their wives without speaking to them in this situation (IK, Ṭ). However it is interpreted, such staying away from one's wife should last no longer than one month, following Prophetic precedent (Q). Because refusing to share the bed of a wife who is already averse to her husband may serve to encourage or reward, rather than deter, her negative demeanor toward her husband, some commentators argue that this sanction should be meted out simultaneously with the third sanction, "striking" her (Ṭ).

This last sanction is directly related to the occasion for the revelation of the verse, as it was reportedly revealed in relation to a woman or her family who came to the Prophet, complaining that her husband had hit her. The Prophet immediately ordered retaliation ( _qi ṣāṣ;_ 2:178; 5:45) against the husband. This verse was then revealed, allowing a husband to strike his wife in certain circumstances, and the Prophet aborted the retaliation, saying, "I wanted one thing and God wanted another" (IK, Q, Ṭ, Ṭs, W, Z). Perhaps considering the Prophet's own dislike of husbands striking their wives as suggested in this widely transmitted report as well as reports indicating that he never struck his own wives, commentators generally indicate that striking one's wife is to be used only as a last resort, and some prominent legal scholars, including al-Shāfiʿī, considered it something to be avoided (R). Some have indicated that it is justified only as a means of avoiding the more socially painful consequence of divorce—an interpretation consistent with the following verse, which stipulates that serious effort should be expended to try to reconcile and avoid divorce.

The commentators are unanimous in asserting that to _strike_ here refers only to a moderate and noninjurious form of physical force—"without violence" ( _ghayr mubarri ḥ_), using language found in a _ḥ adīth_ on this same issue (Q), and "without leaving a mark" ( _ghayr mu ʾthir;_ IK, Q, Ṭ, Ṭs, Z). This is based on a _ḥ adīth_ that lists the rights that a woman is owed from her husband: "That he feed her and clothe her, that he never strike her in the face or mar her beauty, and that he not abandon her, save in the house" (Ṭ). Some commentators assert that this "striking" should not even cause pain (Aj). Ibn ʿAbbās explained that it means hitting with a _siwāk_ (a thin, flexible twig chewed on for dental hygiene; Q, Ṭ, Ṭs). Islamic Law prohibits injurious violence against one's wife, and some schools of Islamic Law consider it a legitimate reason for which a woman can seek a divorce.

Some recent interpretations of _strike them_ seek to avoid the sense of physical hitting entirely by invoking alternate idiomatic meanings of _ḍ araba_ ("to strike"), arguing that the verb can mean simply to leave the wife, given other Quranic usages of _ḍ araba,_ such as _ḍ araba fi'l-sabīl_ (v. 94), which means to set out on a path, or _ḍ araba fi'l-arḍ,_ which means to journey (2:273; 3:156; 4:101; 5:106; 73:20). Such interpretations are not entirely convincing, however, since the wider semantic range of _ḍ araba_ they invoke is activated only by various prepositions and syntaxes not found in the present verse. To use an analogous example in English, "strike him" is unambiguous in its meaning, even if "strike a balance" or "strike a pose" are other idiomatic uses for the verb "to strike." Moreover, the occasion of revelation is widely held to be the issue of a man's right to strike his wife, and so one would expect the verse to address this issue specifically. It should be reiterated, however, that none of the classical commentators or Islamic legal scholars viewed this verse as a license to commit serious physical violence or inflict bodily harm on one's wife; and given the steps one needed to take before reaching the point of "striking" one's wife, it may be viewed as a ban on beating one's wife in anger.

Finally, commentators note that these sanctions are understood to be strictly for the purpose of altering the wife's behavior, not for punishment, and they are to be abandoned once she has ceased the problematic behavior (Ṭ, Q, Z). _Then if they obey you, seek not a way against them:_ if the wife returns to obedience to Islamic Law, then the husband has no right to act maliciously or harmfully toward her. If the woman repents of her behavior, it should be as if it never happened (Aj); and even if she agrees to obey while retaining feelings of aversion for her husband, he has no right to punish her for this, for she has no religious obligation to love her husband (Aj, Q, Ṭ, Ṭs).

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Õ And if you fear a breach between the two, then appoint an arbiter from his people and an arbiter from her people. If they desire reconciliation, God will bring about agreement between them. Truly God is Knowing, Aware.

35 If the problems between a husband and wife cannot be resolved between them, or if a husband cannot resolve his problem with his wife's conduct through the means recommended above, two arbiters should be appointed. The arbiters should be trusted relatives of each spouse, since they are more familiar with the situation and have the interests of their respective family members at heart. The arbiters are charged with determining, if possible, which spouse is at fault and recommending either terms of reconciliation or a mutually agreed-upon divorce. The extent of the arbiter's power to reconcile or separate the married couple is unclear. Some have suggested they bring their recommendations to the local authority for implementation; others have felt they have the power to reconcile or dissolve the marriage upon their own agreement; still others felt that any action taken has to be with the consent of the two spouses (Z). A report from ʿAlī ibn Abī Ṭālib indicates that the two arbiters should have the power to dissolve the marriage upon their agreement, but that this power must be delegated to the arbiters by the married couple in advance. If the arbiters recommend separation and the wife is found to be at fault or their differences are simply irreconcilable, the wife might be asked or pressured to return part of her bridewealth to effect a mutual divorce, as in 2:229: _If you fear that they will not uphold the limits set by God, there is no blame upon the two in what she may give in ransom;_ some indicate, however, that such a decision remains ultimately in her hands (Ṭ). _If they desire reconciliation, God will reconcile them_ may refer to the arbiters (Ṭ), to the spouses, or both (Z).

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Ö Worship God, and ascribe not partners unto Him. And be virtuous toward parents and kinsfolk, toward orphans and the indigent, toward the neighbor who is of kin and the neighbor who is not of kin, toward the companion at your side and the traveler, and toward those whom your right hands possess. Truly God loves not one who is a vainglorious boaster,

36 This is one of several verses that place virtue toward parents immediately after the command to worship none but God (see also 2:83; 6:151; 17:23; 31:13–14) and enjoin kindness toward parents generally (46:15; 29:8). The Arabic word here used to denote virtuous behavior is _i ḥsān,_ which comes from a root meaning "beautiful"; various derivations from the root denote virtue, moral beauty, and goodness or doing what is beautiful and good. In relation to parents it has the meaning of filial piety. The list provided here of those to whom one should be virtuous, kind, and charitable is similar to other such lists in the Quran (cf _._ 2:83, 177, 215; 9:60; 16:90; 17:26; 30:38).

Although the _neighbor who is of kin_ is generally considered to refer to one's family members, a minority tradition identifies it as a reference to Muslims generally, that is, those to whom one is close in religion. The _neighbor who is not of kin,_ or _al-jār al-junub,_ may mean nonfamily members or friends, but also those who are distant from oneself geographically or in religion. The word _junub_ relates to something that is distant; the state of ritual impurity brought about by sexual relations is also referred to as _junub_ (4:43), meaning distance from prayer, as one cannot pray until purifying oneself. This verse also enjoins virtue toward slaves ( _those whom your right hands possess_ ), which may mean freeing them, an act repeatedly recommended as a form of expiation (cf. 4:92; 5:89; 58:3; 90:13), or simply treating them well.

The _companion at your side_ may refer to one's traveling companion or more specifically to one's wife. The verse thus enjoins kindness and virtuous behavior as a rule toward all, particularly toward those over whom one might have a certain power because they are dependents (elderly parents, needy family or orphans, wives) or lower in social status (orphans, non-Muslims, slaves). Al-Qurṭubī asserts that similar enjoinders to kindness toward others are found in all Divinely revealed books and can, in fact, be known through one's intelligence even without a scriptural command.

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× those who are miserly and enjoin people to be miserly, concealing what God has given them from His Bounty. We have prepared for the disbelievers a humiliating punishment.

Ø And those who spend their wealth to be seen of men, and believe not in God or the Last Day. Whosoever has Satan for a companion has an evil companion indeed!

Ù What harm would it have done them were they to believe in God and the Last Day, and spend of that which God has provided them. God knows them well.

37–39 Many verses enjoin spending wealth for the good of others; and miserliness ( _bukhl_ or _bakhal_ ) is morally reprehensible, not only because it manifests a lack of charity, but also because it conceals _what God has given . . . from His Bounty,_ indicating ingratitude for or even rejection of this Divine bounty. Such miserliness can be directly linked to disbelief, _kufr,_ since _kufr_ also connotes both "covering over, concealing" and "ingratitude"—hence the reference to the punishment of the _disbelievers_ (or "the ungrateful" or "those who cover over"; _kāfirīn_ ) at the end of v. 37 (IK, R). Bounty ( _fa ḍl_) connotes wealth beyond what one needs, and the morally appropriate way to deal with such excess is to expend it in pious ways, as elucidated in the previous verse; cf. 3:180; 9:76; 17:100; 25:67; 57:24; 92:8. "Miserliness" may also connote greed for the wealth of others and so lack of contentment with what God has provided (Ṭ, Z).

Some early commentators indicated that these verses were addressed to the Jews of Madinah, who were "miserly" with their scripture and "concealed" some of the knowledge that God had bestowed on them in the Torah (R, Ṭ, Z). This interpretation, though found in many sources, seems to take the verse out of its obvious context as part of an explicit discussion about how to appropriately spend one's wealth, and thus seems rather unlikely. Some commentators see the verse as criticizing "miserliness" in both wealth and knowledge. The verse also criticizes those who spend in charity, only _to be seen of men_. These verses may be addressed to the Madinan hypocrites who feigned belief in Islam for self-serving purposes. For other critiques of hypocritical, pious ostentation, see 2:264; 4:142; 8:47; 107:4–7.

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@ Truly God commits not so much as a mote's weight of wrong: if there is a good deed, He will multiply it and grant from His Presence a great reward.

40 This verse is one of many affirming that God does not engage in even the slightest injustice (see also 3:117; 11:101; 16:33, 118; 43:76). Some commentators assert that it is impossible to attribute injustice to God, as to be unjust means to transgress boundaries or the rights of others, and since God is Creator, He has no boundaries. Rather, it is He who establishes these rights and boundaries and so cannot be said to transgress them; according to certain theologians, He is capable of injustice, but proscribes it for Himself (R, Qu; cf. 6:12, 54, where He _has prescribed Mercy for Himself_ ).

_Mote's weight_ translates _mithqāl dharrah,_ which conveys something so small that it has no apparent weight at all (Ṭ; cf. 10:61; 34:3,22; 99:7–8). _Dharrah_ can also mean "particle," "speck," or "atom" and is frequently glossed as referring to the tiniest of red ants or the smallest of seeds. The idea that God "multiplies" _a good deed_ ( _ḥ asanah,_ related to _i ḥsān_)—that is, multiplies its reward (Ṭ, Q)—is an important aspect of God's Justice and Mercy. God does not necessarily reckon as we reckon, and in His Mercy He reckons good deeds beyond their actual "weight"; see 6:160: _Whosoever brings a good deed shall have ten times the like thereof;_ and 2:245, 261; 57:11, 18; 64:17, where the money spent in good works "multiplies." Here the factor by which good deeds are multiplied is not specified, implying that God multiplies good deeds beyond measure.

According to Ibn Masʿūd, on the Day of Judgment God settles all claims that one person might hold against another by granting the claimant the good deeds of the debtor. After all such debts and claims have been rectified, if individuals still have a _mote's weight_ of good to their credit, God multiplies it and they enter the Garden. However, if the claims against them far exceed their good deeds, they will perish (Ṭ). A tradition attributed to Abū Saʿīd al-Khudrī (d. 74/693) claims that eventually God will remove from Hellfire all those with a _mote's weight_ of good to their credit (Q), and many Ashʿarite theologians adduced this verse to argue that God would eventually remove all believers from Hellfire and that the reward for good deeds could not be nullified by the punishment for evil ones. Conversely, Muʿtazilites used the earlier part of the verse to assert that, since God does no injustice, all injustice originates from human beings, thus supporting their doctrine that human beings, not God, are the authors of their own deeds (R).

Al-Rāzī makes a distinction between the multiplied reward God bestows for virtuous deeds and the _great reward_ He bestows _from His Presence_ at the end of the verse. The former is a reward for the physical acts one accomplishes in life; the latter refers to the "pleasure that is only obtained through direct vision [of God], being immersed in love and true knowledge"; it cannot be the reward for merely physical acts of obedience, but is only made possible by what God deposits in the "soul sanctified through [Divine] illumination, purity, and light." The former grants "bodily happiness"; the latter provides "spiritual happiness."

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A How will it be when We bring forth a witness from every community, and We bring thee as a witness against these?

41 Cf. 16:89. As God sends a prophet to every community, this prophet stands as a witness on the Day of Judgment to his own community's acceptance or rejection of his Divine message (cf. 16:84; 28:85; 57:19; also 4:159, where Jesus is said to be a witness against the People of the Book generally). Several verses assert that the Muslim community will collectively serve as witness over earlier communities, or for all of humanity, and that Muhammad will be a witness over the Muslims (2:143, 22:78), and also their intercessor (Qu). Although Islamic tradition views each prophet as the witness over his own religious community for all generations, the Prophet Muhammad reportedly implored God, "[I am] a witness over them so long as I remain among them, but when Thou takest me to Thyself, it is Thou who art the Watcher over them, and Thou art Witness over all things," directly invoking the words Jesus speaks in 5:117. Some interpret the articulation of the Prophet's role as witness in the present verse as a rebuke directed at the disbelievers of his own time, against whom he would stand as witness on the Day of Judgment. The Prophet was reported to have wept upon the recitation of this verse, contemplating the weight of this responsibility (IK, Q).

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B On that Day those who disbelieved and disobeyed the Messenger will wish that they were level with the earth, and they will conceal no account from God.

42 _On that Day—_ that is, the day the prophetic witnesses will be called forth (v. 41)—the disbelievers and disobedient will be so terrified of being held to account that they will long to be _level with the earth,_ that is, to be unnoticeable and so not accountable, in fact, to be nothing, for to be dust would be preferable to being punished in the Fire. This is similar to the lament of the disbelievers in 78:40: " _Oh, would that I were dust!_ " The disbelievers' wish to be _level with the earth_ may also connote a desire that the earth devour them or cave in below them, for the earth is the active subject in the Arabic construction here. The Quran is emphatic about the impossibility of concealing anything from God, for even if people seek to lie about what they did in life, their own body parts will testify against them on the Day of Judgment (24:24; 36:65; 41:20–22).

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C O you who believe! Draw not near unto prayer when you are drunken until you know what you are uttering, nor in a state of ritual impurity—unless you are passing through—until you have washed. But if you are ill, or on a journey, or one of you has come from satisfying a call of nature, or you have touched women, and you find no water, then resort to clean earth, and wipe your faces and your hands. Truly God is Pardoning, Forgiving.

43 In Islamic Law, drinking alcohol or ingesting any intoxicating substance is forbidden. However, four verses address the consumption of wine or intoxicating drinks, and only one of them bans wine explicitly. The earliest of the four, 16:67, refers to the "strong drink" that people derive from the fruit of the vine as a sign of God's merciful provision for human beings and contains no indication of wine's harmful properties. In 2:219 it says that in drinking wine and gambling there is _great sin, but [some] benefits_. The present verse can be seen as a gloss on this, instructing Muslims to avoid drunkenness at the times of prayer. Finally, 5:90 instructs Muslims to avoid wine and gambling entirely, as they are _of Satan's doing_. Although only this last verse amounts to an absolute prohibition against the consumption of alcoholic drink, Islamic jurisprudence, basing itself upon Prophetic sayings ( _a ḥādīth_) and practice ( _Sunnah_ ), has consistently viewed this last revealed verse as the authoritative one that abrogates the legal implications of the other three.

In the present verse, believers are asked to _draw not near unto prayer_ in a state of drunkenness, that is, not to approach the prayer itself or the mosque ( _ṣ alāh/ṣalawāt,_ or "prayer(s)," can also connote the place of prayer; cf. 22:40), or prepare themselves for prayer until they are sober and know what they are reciting. This part of the verse was reportedly revealed when some Companions of the Prophet attempted to pray after having drunk wine (when it was still permissible) and incorrectly recited a Quranic passage during the prayer (W, Z). After this verse was revealed, Muslims would drink wine only after they had completed the evening prayer ( _ʿ ishāʾ_), and they continued this practice until wine was forbidden (Q). A minority tradition extends the meaning of "drunkenness" ( _sukārā_ ) to include excessive sleepiness that would similarly impair one's ability to pray properly. Such an interpretation would mean that the verse was not entirely abrogated by the later prohibition against drinking wine (Q, Ṭ).

_Ritual impurity_ translates _junub,_ which denotes major ritual impurity and derives from a root meaning to be distant from something; in this case, one should keep oneself distant from prayer—and places of prayer—until one has properly purified oneself, just as one should avoid these when intoxicated. According to legal scholars, the state of _junub_ also prohibits one from touching or reciting the Quran. _Until you have washed_ refers to completing the major ritual ablution, which requires full immersion (as in a bath or shower). An exception is made for those _passing through,_ that is, travelers in a state of _junub_ who need to seek shelter temporarily in a mosque, or those Companions of the Prophet who needed to pass through the mosque to go out of their homes, because their homes were adjacent to the mosque in Madinah (Q).

This verse also establishes an important easing of the rules of ritual purity by allowing the substitution of _clean earth_ for water in circumstances where one is ill (and so unable to look for water or in fear that washing with water will increase one's illness) or on a journey and unable to find water (see also 5:6 for a nearly identical set of injunctions related to purity). This part of the verse was reportedly revealed when the Prophet's wife ʿĀʾishah lost a necklace while journeying with the Prophet and a group of Muslims. The Prophet ordered the group to make camp at the site, so that people could look for the lost necklace. There was no water at the site, and people began to complain that they were unable to wash for prayers. When the time for the dawn prayer came, this verse was revealed allowing ritual purification with _clean earth_ (W).

This way of performing the ritual ablution came to be known as _tayammum,_ from the verb _tayammamū_ ( _resort to_ ), employed in this verse, and is most commonly performed using a clean piece of rock. A _ḥ adīth_ refers to the _tayammum_ when it lists God's having made dust ( _turāb_ ) purifying for the Muslims as one of the blessings with which God favored Muslims over other peoples (Q). The term used for _earth_ ( _ṣ aʿīd_) in _clean earth_ may denote high, hard, or rocky ground. However, the term for _clean_ ( _tayyib_ ) may also mean "good," "pure," or "wholesome," so some suggest that it refers to arable soil (Q). Al-Ṭabarī asserts that it refers to any pure or clean part of the surface of the earth. In either case, the dust ( _turāb_ ) that attaches to one's hands when striking the "earth" is the purifying substance, as is made clear in the _ḥ adīth_ above. Precious metals and gems are not suitable as sources of _clean earth_ for the _tayammum_.

There are differences among the legal schools as to whether the absence of water is a condition for the acceptability of the _tayammum;_ how extensively one has to search for water; how ill one has to be before resorting to the _tayammum;_ whether the _tayammum_ removes the impurity or merely makes it temporarily acceptable for a Muslim to pray; and whether the prayer has to be repeated if water is found before the prescribed time of the prayer has elapsed (Q). They also disagree about the extent to which one would have to "touch women" in order to become impure. Some argue that this refers only to sexual intercourse, while others claim it means touching of any kind, regardless of whether the touching excited sexual desire (Q). Legal instructions for the _tayammum_ require one to make the _niyyah_ or intention to perform the _tayammum_ then to touch the earth or rub a piece of stone twice, once to wipe the face and again to wipe the hands.

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D Hast thou not considered those who were given a portion of the Book, who purchase error, and wish that you too should stray from the path?

E God knows best your enemies. God suffices as a Protector, and God suffices as a Helper.

44–45 The question is addressed to the Prophet, asking rhetorically if he has not _seen_ —that is, been informed of— _those who were given a portion of the Book_. Most take this as a reference to the Jews, although they are not explicitly mentioned here. Nonetheless, this opens a sequence of verses critical of the Jews of Madinah and their response to the Prophet's message. To _purchase error_ is one of many mercantile metaphors used to describe the foolishness of acquiring transitory worldly gain by surrendering or "selling" things of spiritual value (see 2:16, 86, 175, and similarly 3:177; 4:74; 5:44; 16:95). _Purchasing error_ here refers to the Madinan Jews' rejection of the Prophet's message, despite their having knowledge of the spiritual truth in their _portion of the Book_. The verse also criticizes them for trying to draw the Muslims into error as well by seeking to discredit the Prophet (Ṭ). The verse advises Muslims that such people are their spiritual _enemies,_ against whom God is their sufficient _Protector_ and _Helper_. It is reiterated elsewhere that God is the only true _Protector_ and _Helper_ (see 2:107, 120; 4:123, 173; 9:74, 116; 29:22; 33:18, 65; 42:9, 31; 48:22).

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F Among those who are Jews are those who distort the meaning of the word, and say, "We hear and disobey," and "Hear, as one who hears not!" and "Attend to us!" twisting their tongues and disparaging religion. And had they said, "We hear and obey" and "Listen" and "Regard us," it would have been better for them and more proper. But God cursed them for their disbelief, so they believe not, save a few.

46 Here the phrase _are those who_ has been added in the translation, as it is assumed by most commentators to be elided in the Arabic. An alternate interpretation, favored by al-Ṭabarī, reads this as a continuation of the rhetorical question in 4:44: _Hast thou not considered those who were given a portion of the Book . . . Among those who are Jews distort the meaning ._ . . ( _those who were given a portion of the Book_ is the subject of the sentence; _distort,_ the verb beginning the predicate). In either reading, the Jews of Madinah are the particular object of the criticism in 4:44–55. Ibn Kathīr reads this as a general condemnation of Jews, although the historical context is primarily the Prophet's conflict with the Madinan Jews. Here the criticism (repeated in 2:75; 5:13, 41) is that they _distort the meaning of the word_ (lit. "they distort words from their places or contexts"). This may mean that they distort the words of the Torah (IK, Q) or that they rearranged the words of scripture (Z). A minority reading suggests it is the words of the Prophet that they distort (Q).

The verse criticizes their mocking remarks to the Prophet. They acknowledge having received the Prophet's message ( _We hear_ ), but assert their defiance of it ( _and disobey_ ). They command the Prophet to _hear,_ but then mock that he _hears not._ Alternate translations could be "Hear, may you hear not!" (Ṭ, Ṭs, Z), which would clearly make it a curse or imprecation, or "Hear, may you not be heard!" that is, may your words or call not be accepted (Ṭ, Ṭs, Z). They are further accused of issuing the command _Attend to us_ ( _rā ʿinā_), which might mean simply "Pay attention to us" or "Consider us," but they alter the pronunciation or tone of the command, _twisting their tongues,_ so that it becomes condescending and disparaging in connotation; and in disparaging the Prophet, they are _disparaging religion_. Some suggest that their deliberate mispronunciation of the word made it sound like a derogatory term in Hebrew (Z). They should have said, _Listen_ and _Regard us_ (using a different term, _un ẓurnā;_ see 2:104) _._ For their insolence and denial, _God cursed them,_ so that _they believe not, save a few_. This may also be translated "they believe not, save a little" (Q); cf. 2:88. Elsewhere the Quran pronounces a curse on any who conceal Divine Revelation or torment the Prophet (2:159; 33:57), two charges leveled here against the Madinan Jews.

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G O you unto whom the Book has been given! Believe in what We have sent down, confirming that which is with you, before We blot out faces and turn them backwards, or curse them as We cursed those [who broke] the Sabbath. And the Command of God shall be fulfilled.

47 This passage calls on the People of the Book, but more specifically the Jews of Madinah, to believe in the revelations given to the Prophet, as they are said to confirm the previous scriptures given to the Jews (see, e.g., 2:89; 3:81; 6:92; 46:12). If not, a warning is issued that God will _blot out faces and turn them backwards._ Since the face is a symbol for or a manifestation of the state of the individual soul, Divine punishment is often said to be meted out upon faces (see, e.g., 3:106; 8:50; 20:111; 88:2). Some say _blot out faces_ means that their facial features, notably their eyes, will be removed, so they will be blinded (Q); _turn them backwards_ means that their eyes will be placed behind their heads, rendering them incapable of seeing what is before them, so that they have to walk backwards (Ṭ). Others say it is metaphorical, meaning they will be blinded to the path to truth and so turned back toward error (Q, Ṭ). It further warns that He may _curse them_ as He _cursed those [who broke] the Sabbath;_ see 2:65, where God curses Sabbath violators by saying, _Be you apes, outcast._ The present verse may thus suggest that the Madinan Jews will be cursed in this same manner for deriding the Prophet (Q, Ṭ). Several Madinan Jews reportedly converted to Islam after the revelation of this verse (Ṭ), and their conversion served to avert the punishment, threatened in this verse, from the Madinan Jews as a whole (Q). Others assert that the verse alludes to the Jews' eventual exile from much of Arabia (Q, Ṭ, Z).

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H Truly God forgives not that any partner be ascribed unto Him, but He forgives what is less than that for whomsoever He will, for whosoever ascribes partners unto God has surely fabricated a tremendous sin.

48 The sin of _shirk,_ ascribing partners to God in worship or in His role as Creator, is considered to be the only sin God will not forgive (see also v. 116). Although this term is often associated with idolatry in the crass form of worshipping humanly constructed idols—and indeed _mushrikūn,_ the active participle from the same root, is often translated "idolaters"—it can also refer to those who worship human authorities, false deities, angels (see 17:40c; 53:26–27), jinn (6:100; 34:41), or natural phenomena (6:76–78) as having independent influence and authority over the world or human destiny. The sin of _shirk_ could also be broadened to include subtler ways of setting up "equals" with God, such as loving or fearing anything but God. The present verse compelled many to examine their own hearts and excise all such forms of "hidden _shirk_ " (Aj, Qu).

Some say that this verse was revealed, in part, to clarify the assertion in 39:53 that _God forgives all sins,_ making an exception for _shirk_ (Ṭ). However, the possibility of forgiveness for _shirk_ is precluded only for one who dies unrepentant (Z; see 67:10–11c). The verse does not guarantee forgiveness for sins other than _shirk,_ but allows for its possibility (Ṭ). ʿAlī ibn Abī Ṭālib reportedly said that this verse gave him the greatest hope (Q), and Ibn ʿAbbās considered it one of the eight most important verses about forgiveness (see 4:26–28c).

Some have seen this verse as a continuation of the warning issued to the Madinan Jews in v. 47 and even claim that it indicates that Jews can be considered _mushrikūn,_ although this has never represented the general opinion among Muslim scholars. Nonetheless al-Rāzī argues syllogistically that since v. 47 warns that the Jews' failure to believe in the message of the Quran will bring certain punishment, this failure to believe is de facto an "unforgivable sin"; since the only unforgivable sin is _shirk,_ their failure to believe in the Quran is tantamount to _shirk_. However, this interpretation collapses the categories of _shirk_ and _kufr_ into one, whereas the two are distinct in the Quran and Islamic Law.

In the Quran, Jews and Christians are clearly identified as religious practitioners separate from the _mushrikūn_ (see 22:17; 98:1c), even if it sometimes suggests they might be guilty of something that approximates _shirk_ (cf. 5:72; 9:30). In other places Jews and Christians are explicitly included in the category of "those who believe in God and the Last Day" and who may, therefore, enjoy a blessed Afterlife (2:62; 5:69). This clearly shows that Jews cannot be considered to be _mushrikūn_ —that is, those who take partners unto God in worship—since that unforgiveable sin would necessarily bar them from such blessings in the Hereafter. This verse can also be read as a mitigation rather than an intensification of the threat to the Madinan Jews: if v. 47 threatens punishment for the Jews' failure to believe in the Quranic message, v. 48 could be read as offering hope that all other sins—perhaps even a failure to believe in the Quran and the Prophet on the part of the Jews (essentially _kufr,_ or disbelief, but short of _shirk_ )—are open to possible forgiveness. It is only _shirk,_ theologically and legally distinct from _kufr,_ that cannot be forgiven.

Most early commentators read this verse as a general statement of hope to the believers concerning God's willingness to forgive rather than as a particular threat to the Madinan Jews. Ibn ʿUmar reports that upon the death of a fellow Muslim who he and others knew had committed a great sin, they bore witness that he was among the people of Hell. When this verse was revealed, they ceased to do so, as they realized that even great sins were open to Divine Forgiveness (Th).

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I Hast thou not seen those who deem themselves pure? Rather, it is God Who purifies whomsoever He will, and they shall not be wronged so much as the thread of a date stone.

P See how they fabricate lies against God! That suffices as a manifest sin.

49–50 These verses continue the criticism of the Madinan Jews (Q) or more likely of the People of the Book in general (Z) who _deem themselves pure_. Most commentators see this as a reference to spiritual assertions the Jews or the People of the Book are said to make elsewhere in the Quran, particularly their declaration that they are the children and the beloved of God (5:18) and that they have an exclusive claim on Paradise (2:111; Q, Ṭ, Z). Some say that it refers to a group of Madinan Jews who approached the Prophet, claiming that they were free of sin, that what they did during the day was forgiven at night (Q, Ṭ, W, Z), or that they could absolve one another of their sins through intercession (Q, Ṭ), although the Quran does not attest to any such claims being made explicitly by the People of the Book. The Quran warns people in general not to consider themselves pure (53:32). God alone knows those who are truly pure and those who are not _._

_They shall not be wronged so much as the thread of a date stone_ indicates that God does not treat people unjustly even in the slightest way (cf. 4:77, 124; 17:71; 19:60). _The thread of a date stone_ renders _fatīl,_ which might also mean the bit of soil that one can find by scraping between one's fingers; in either case, it is a common Quranic metaphor for insignificance.

Such assertions of purity and sinlessness are said in v. 50 to be _lies against God,_ a sin in itself. The claim of purity for one's soul is unacceptable in Islam. Even the falsely accused prophet Joseph asserted, when the treachery of his would-be seductress was revealed, _But I absolve not my own soul. Surely the soul commands to evil_ (12:53). Claims of purity for oneself were particularly odious to the Sufis, who warned that the carnal soul ( _nafs_ ) was not the locus of purity in the human being, that being pleased with one's own soul extinguished the lights of certitude (Su) and was the source of disobedience and heedlessness (Aj), and that anyone who was persuaded by others' high opinions of their purity or by their own high estimation of themselves was veiled in ignorance (Qu).

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Q Hast thou not considered those who were given a portion of the Book, who believe in idols and false deities, and say of those who disbelieve, "These are guided more rightly than those who believe."

R They are those whom God has cursed, and whomsoever God curses, thou wilt not find for him any helper.

51–52 Some of _those who were given a portion of the Book_ —that is, some among the Jews and Christians—are here criticized for believing in _idols and false deities_ ( _al-jibt wa'l- ṭāghūt_). _Al-jibt_ appears only in this verse; _al- ṭāghūt_, however, appears in several other verses and denotes a variety of false sources of authority, false objects of worship, and false causes (cf. 2:256c; 4:60, 76; 5:60; 16:36; 39:17).

Some identify _al-jibt_ and _al- ṭāghūt_ as two idols of the Quraysh, although others consider _al-jibt_ to refer to idols and _al- ṭāghūt_ to soothsayers (Ṭ). It is also widely reported that these terms refer to two leaders of the Madinan Jews, Kaʿb ibn al-Ashraf and Ḥuyayy ibn Akhtab (and perhaps other Madinan Jewish delegates), who visited the Makkans after Badr or Uḥud. When the Makkans insisted that they were good people who provided for the Kaʿbah pilgrims and maintained ties of kinship, while Muhammad turned away from the Kaʿbah and severed his ties of kinship, Kaʿb and Huyayy declared that the Makkans ( _those who disbelieve_ ) were _guided more rightly than those who believe_ (JJ, W). At the request of their hosts, the Jews reportedly paid homage to the idols _al-jibt_ and _al- ṭāghūt_ to convince the Makkans that they were willing to support them against the Prophet (Ṭ). Other reports identify _al-jibt_ as a soothsayer and _al- ṭāghūt_ as Kaʿb ibn al-Ashraf (Ṭ); still others identify _al-jibt_ as sorcery and _al- ṭāghūt_ as Satan, or the reverse (Ṭ). Al-Zamakhsharī identifies Kaʿb and Huyayy as believers in _al-jibt_ for acceding to their hosts' request to bow down to idols and as believers in _ṭ āghūt_ for obeying Satan in seeking to form an alliance against the Prophet.

_Al-jibt wa'l- ṭāghūt_ can also be taken to refer to all false objects of worship or false authorities to whom people turn instead of to God, whether idols, other human beings, or Satan (Ṭ), and so has a general application beyond the historical context of its revelation. Being _cursed_ by God is said to mean being exiled from His Mercy (Ṭ, Ṭs).

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S Or have they a share in sovereignty? If they did, they would not give men so much as the speck on a date stone.

53 This verse poses a rhetorical question whose answer is negative, meaning that _they_ (the Madinan Jews) do not have a _share in sovereignty_ (Q, Ṭ, Z). This is usually understood to mean a lack of earthly authority, although some see it as meaning spiritual authority (Z). The verse asserts that if they did have a _share in sovereignty,_ they would deny their subjects, with regard to their rights (Q), even _so much as a speck on a date stone_ ( _naqīr_ ). _Naqīr,_ which might also mean the inner pith of the date stone, is also used in v. 124 as a metaphor for insignificance. Al-Qurṭubī notes that the verse begins with the conjunction "or," which does not seem to be connected with anything prior to it. He therefore suggests that something has been elided in the text and that the full meaning is "Are they more deserving of prophecy than him unto whom it has been sent, _or have they a share in sovereignty_?"

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T Or do they envy men on account of what God has given them of His Bounty? We gave the House of Abraham the Book and Wisdom, and We granted them a mighty sovereignty.

54 Again addressing the Jews of Madinah, this verse asks if they _envy_ the _Bounty_ —that is, the prophecy—that _God has given_ to the Prophet, or to the Arabs through the Prophet (Ṭ); cf. 2:90, 109, 213; 3:19; 42:14; 45:17, where differences among the religious communities are said to be the result of envy. It suggests that the envy of the Madinan Jews toward the Muslims prevented them from accepting the Prophet's message as a confirmation of their own scripture (IK). Al-Qurṭubī cites a _ḥ adīth_ that says, "Envy consumes good deeds as fire consumes wood"; and the Prophet reportedly said, "I have not seen any oppressor who more resembles the oppressed than the envier" (Q). Envy is considered a sin against God, as it shows a lack of contentment with what one has been given by Him; it is said to have been the first sin committed in the celestial realm (referring to Satan's envy of Adam; see 7:11–13) and the first committed on earth (referring to Cain's envy of Abel; see 5:27–31; Q).

This verse further asserts that God has given the _House of Abraham_ revelation and inspiration: _the Book and Wisdom_ (cf. 57:26). The _Book_ is said to refer to _the scriptures of Abraham and Moses_ (87:19) as well as to the Psalms ( _al-Zabūr_ ) and the Gospel (Ṭs), while the _Wisdom_ refers to Divine inspiration that did not take the form of a written "book" (Ṭ). God is also said to have given the House of Abraham _a mighty sovereignty_ ( _mulk_ ). In 2:124, Abraham is made an _imām for mankind,_ a term that generally denotes religious authority, but can also mean political authority. _Mulk_ here most likely refers to the kingdom of David and Solomon (Ṭ) or the combination of worldly and spiritual authority that they enjoyed (Ṭs).

Others assert that the _Bounty_ for which the Jews of Madinah envied the Prophet included the Quranic permission he received to marry women without a specified limit (33:50), thus exceeding the limit of four wives allowed other men (Ṭ). According to this interpretation, the reference to the _sovereignty_ God bestowed upon the House of Abraham later in the verse is meant to remind the Jews that their own forebears, David and Solomon, possessed not only mighty kingdoms, but many wives as well, far exceeding the number of wives the Prophet married (Z). The invocation of the _House of Abraham_ may also indicate that the Prophet and his forefathers could be considered, along with the Jews, to be the rightful heirs to Abraham's legacy of Divine Revelation and Sovereignty (Z), given the Quranic story of Abraham's establishment of his descendants and his religion in Arabia, specifically Makkah, through his own efforts and those of his son Ishmael (cf. 2:125–29; 14:35–37; 22:26–29).

According to Shiite interpretations, based on a report attributed to Jaʿfar al-Ṣādiq, the _men_ who are envied in this verse are the Prophet and his family: the _Bounty_ for which the Jews envy the Prophet is prophecy, and the _Bounty_ for which they envy the Prophet's family is the spiritual authority ( _imāmah_ ) that was granted to them (Ṭs).

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U Among them are those who believe in him, and among them are those who turn away from him. And Hell suffices as a blazing flame!

55 Among the Jews of Madinah, there are _those who believe in him,_ that is, in the Prophet and in his revelation as a confirmation of their own, and there are _those who turn away from him_. _Him_ here might also refer to Abraham (Q, Ṭs, Z). Alternately, _Among them are those who believe in him_ may be translated, "Among them are those who believe in it," where "it" refers to the Quran (Q). _And Hell suffices as a blazing flame_ indicates that although the worldly punishment with which the Jews were threatened in v. 47 was averted when some of them accepted the Prophet's message, the punishment of those who continued to disbelieve was deferred to the Hereafter, where they will suffer in Hell (Ṭ, Ṭs).

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V Those who disbelieve in Our signs, We shall surely cause them to burn in a Fire. As often as their skins are consumed, We shall replace them with other skins, that they may taste the punishment. Truly God is Mighty, Wise.

56 The image of the skins of those in Hell being _consumed_ ( _na ḍijat,_ lit. "roasted") repeatedly and indefinitely, conveys the unending nature of the punishment. This is also among a number of verses that are understood by some commentators as suggesting that the pleasures and torments of the Afterlife as described in the Quran are meant to be taken literally rather than as metaphors for spiritual reward and punishment. Others say that _skins_ refers to the _garments made of pitch_ (14:50) that those in Hell will wear (Ṭ, Q) These are replaced as they are burned up, so that the condemned can be set alight again and again. The constant renewal of their skins has also been understood as indicating a continuous change in the attributes of those in Hell without any change in their essence.

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W But for those who believe and perform righteous deeds, We shall cause them to enter Gardens with rivers running below, abiding therein forever. There they shall have spouses made pure, and We shall cause them to enter plenteous shade.

57 Cf. v. 122. To _believe_ and to _perform righteous deeds_ are frequently mentioned together as the basic criteria of those who deserve Paradise (see, e.g., 2:25; 5:9; 7:42; 30:15; 31:8; 32:19). _With rivers running below_ is one of the most common characteristics of the paradisal Garden, and the image of ample _shade_ is also found in many paradisal descriptions (13:35; 36:56; 56:30; 76:14; 77:41). A _ḥ adīth_ states, "There is a tree in the Garden such that one could ride in its shade for a hundred years without leaving it" (IK, Ṭ). The presence in the Garden of _spouses made pure_ is likewise common (2:25; 3:15), and these spouses may be the same as the _maidens_ said to await the righteous there (cf. 37:48; 38:52; 44:54; 52:20; 55:56, 72; 56:22; 78:33). The commentators explain the purity of these spouses as meaning that they are free of all suspicion, of all forms of ritual impurity, of all impure bodily fluids and waste, and of the reproductive functions of menstruation and pregnancy that characterize earthly women (IK, Ṭ), as well as of all vileness, imperfection, and sin (IK). Other verses indicate that the righteous among one's earthly spouses will join one in the Garden (13:23; 36:56; 40:8; 43:70), and so another possible meaning of _spouses made pure_ might be earthly spouses now purified in the paradisal state.

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X God commands you to return trusts to their rightful owners and, if you judge between men, to do so with justice. Excellent indeed is the instruction God gives you. Truly God is Hearing, Seeing.

58 Cf. 2:283; 23:8. Note also that one of the critiques made of some of the People of the Book is that they would be reluctant to return a trust (3:75). This verse begins a section (vv. 58–70) whose theme is the nature of authority. According to one report, this verse was revealed at the time of the conquest of Makkah. When the Prophet entered Makkah, he asked ʿUthmān ibn Ṭalḥah for the key to the Kaʿbah, which was in his possession. ʿUthmān initially refused, but it was eventually taken from him. The Prophet's uncle ʿAbbās sought to become the new keeper of the Kaʿbah key, as he was already in charge of providing water for pilgrims to the shrine. But when this verse was revealed, the key was returned to its original keeper, who, upon learning of the revelation, proclaimed his belief in the prophecy of Muhammad (IK, Q, Ṭ, W).

Without denying the particular historical context of the verse, most commentators interpret it more broadly, understanding _return trusts to their rightful owners_ as a command to all trustees in both worldly and spiritual matters (Q, Z). Some take this as a command to obey those exercising legitimate authority—a command made more explicitly in v. 59—but it is more likely addressed to ruling authorities themselves, who should distribute among their people the charitable funds and spoils of war with which they have been entrusted (Ṭ). This interpretation better fits the context, as the next clause, commanding those who _judge_ to _do so with justice,_ seems to be addressed to authority figures rather than their subjects. This interpretation also makes vv. 58–59 a reciprocal pair: v. 58 commands ruling authorities to treat their subjects with justice, and v. 59 requires obedience to those authorities on the part of their subjects (Ṭ).

Nonetheless, the verse is best understood as a general command to all who hold a "trust" of any kind, including deposits and securities as well as things borrowed or found (Q). The singular "trust" ( _amānah_ ) is also used to denote the moral and spiritual responsibility humanity has accepted from God (33:72), and many commentators claim that, in the present verse, the command to _return trusts_ also means fulfilling religious obligations, such as prayer and fasting (IK, Q). Shiite tradition also interprets this and the following verse in relation to the Shiite Imams. The fifth and sixth Imams, Muhammad al-Bāqir and Jaʿfar al-Ṣādiq, interpreted _return trusts to their rightful owners_ as a command to the Imams that they render the imamate to their rightful successors—a reference to the principle of _na ṣṣ,_ or designation, by which each Imam declares his successor before his own death (Ṭs, Ṭu).

The command to _judge . . . with justice_ should also be understood to have a general application, insofar as all human beings can be said to be both in charge of and responsible for something and so can be said to have authority over some matter (even if it is simply their own family or body), which they should execute justly (Q). The Divine Names _Hearing_ and _Seeing_ are also paired elsewhere (cf. 4:134; 22:61, 75; 31:28; 58:1) and together reinforce the notion of God's Omniscience. The primacy of _Hearing_ over _Seeing_ may be linked to the primacy of sound in the creation of the world (God "speaks" the world into being through the command "Be!"; see, e.g., 2:117) and in the transmission of Divine Revelation as spoken word in Islam.

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Y O you who believe! Obey God and obey the Messenger and those in authority among you. And if you differ among yourselves concerning any matter, refer it to God and the Messenger, if you believe in God and the Last Day. That is better, and fairer in outcome.

59 Cf. 3:32; 5:92; 24:54; 47:33; 64:12. Some interpret the command to _obey God and obey the Messenger and those in authority among you_ as indicating that obedience to the Prophet is tantamount to or a means of obedience to God (Ṭ; cf. v. 80) and that obedience to those the Prophet has placed in authority is tantamount to obedience to the Prophet. A _ḥ adīth_ makes this clear: "Whoever obeys me has obeyed God, and whoever obeys my commander has obeyed me; whoever disobeys me has disobeyed God, and whoever disobeys my commander has disobeyed me" (IK, Ṭ, Ṭs, Z). Most understand _obey the Messenger_ as commanding obedience to the Prophet, both during his lifetime and posthumously, by following his _Sunnah_ (Ṭ; cf. 3:32c; 33:21c).

A larger question surrounds the identity of _those in authority among you_. For some, this refers to the commanders the Prophet sent on military campaigns. One report connects this verse to an incident where ʿAmmār ibn Yāsir, an early Companion of the Prophet, granted amnesty to a man during a military campaign without consulting the designated commander, Khālid ibn al-Walīd, who was angered by this and refused to honor the amnesty. The two men took the dispute to the Prophet, who upheld the amnesty granted by ʿAmmār, but instructed him never again to disregard the authority of his military commander (IK, Ṭ, W). Others identify _those in authority among you_ as Muslim religious and legal scholars ( _ʿ ulamāʾ_), because of their knowledge of the Quran and the _Sunnah,_ through which God and the Prophet are obeyed (Q, Ṭ). Still others consider this a reference to the Companions of the Prophet in general or Abū Bakr and ʿUmar (the first two Caliphs) in particular (Q, Ṭ).

The general nature of the command to obey _those in authority_ may suggest that even imperfect leaders should be obeyed. Some commentators cite a _ḥ adīth_ that indicates that one will be rewarded for obeying those in authority, regardless of the virtue of their character and rule (IK, Ṭ). The general statement this verse makes about obedience to authority has led some Muslims to view obedience, even to unjust rulers, as preferable to the chaos and social harm that may result from a revolt, and a well-known tradition states, "One day of anarchy is worse than a thousand years of tyranny." Other traditions, however, forbid Muslims from obeying a leader who commands an act of disobedience toward God. Thus many argue that the command to obey _those in authority among you_ applies only to just rulers who command obedience to God (Z). ʿAlī ibn Abī Ṭālib observed that since this verse was immediately preceded by a command to rulers that they _return trusts to their rightful owners_ and _judge between men . . . with justice_ , the present command to obey _those in authority among you_ refers only to those who rule justly (Q).

If individual Muslims or a group of Muslims disagree with an authority, they are to _refer_ the matter _to God_ by consulting the Quran or to _the Messenger_ by bringing the matter to him personally (as Khālid and ʿAmmār did in the above report) or by consulting his _Sunnah_ (Q, Ṭ, Z). This is among a number of verses that establish the importance of obeying the Prophet or following his example even in matters not addressed by the Quran (cf. 3:31; 4:83; 24:63; 33:21). Some might argue that the command to _refer_ disagreements _to God and the Messenger_ limits Muslims to consulting only these two sources, the Quran and the _Sunnah,_ rather than the interpretations of scholars or religious authorities, but this view is not consistent with v. 83, which recommends Muslims refer such matters _to the Messenger and to those in authority among them_ (Q).

Shiites interpret _those in authority among you_ as a reference to the Shiite Imams and proof of their spiritual infallibility ( _ʿ iṣmah_), for they claim that God would only demand obedience to one preserved from religious error (Ṭs). Shiite commentators also extend the command to refer differences _to God and the Messenger_ to apply to the Imams as well, because for Shiites the Imams "stand in the place of the Messenger after his death" (Ṭs). In the Sufi tradition, _those in authority among you_ can also refer to Sufi _shaykh_ s, or guides (Aj, Qu, Su), as well as to the "gnostics," that is, those who have sought out and acquired spiritual knowledge of God (Aj).

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` Hast thou not seen those who claim that they believe in that which was sent down unto thee and in that which was sent down before thee, desiring to seek judgment from false deities, although they were commanded not to believe in them? But Satan desires to lead them far astray.

a And when it is said unto them, "Come to what God has sent down and to the Messenger," thou seest the hypocrites turn from thee with aversion.

60–61 For a discussion of _false deities_ ( _ṭ āghūt_) as false authorities, see 4:51–52c. Vv. 60–65 were reportedly revealed in response to a dispute between a Madinan Jew and a Madinan hypocrite (see commentary on 3:167; 63:1–8). By some accounts, the hypocrite was a former Jew who claimed to have embraced Islam. The Jewish man wanted to take their dispute to the Prophet, knowing that he would judge honestly, but the hypocrite convinced him to take the dispute to a local soothsayer or to the Madinan Jewish leader Kaʿb ibn al-Ashraf. In v. 60, the men are chastised for seeking judgment from false authorities, instead of the Prophet (Q, Ṭ, Ṭs, W), because _they were commanded not to believe in them_ (cf. 2:256). The last line of v. 60 implicates Satan, not God, in their having been led astray, and for some this serves as a refutation of the predestinarian theological view ( _jabr_ ) that holds that God chooses to guide or mislead certain people (Ṭs, Ṭū). When this hypocrite and others like him are called _to what God has sent down and to the Messenger,_ they _turn_ away from the Prophet. _The hypocrites turn from thee_ could also be translated, "the hypocrites bar [others] from thee," referring to the hypocrite's rejection of the Jew's suggestion that they take their dispute to the Prophet. The behavior of the hypocrites who _turn_ away when they are called to _what God has sent down_ is contrasted by the description of the believers in 24:51, who, _when they are called unto God and His Messenger, . . . say, "We hear and we obey."_ For some, the present verse is a rebuke to all those who seek judgment outside of the Quran and the _Sunnah_ (IK) or a general prohibition against seeking judgment from anyone who does not judge by God's Law (Ṭs, Ṭū).

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b How will it be when misfortune befalls them because of what their hands have sent forth? Then they will come to thee, swearing by God, "We sought naught but virtue and harmony."

c They are those whom God knows what is in their hearts. So turn away from them, and admonish them and speak to them about their souls with penetrating words.

62–63 The judgment wrongdoers receive in the next life is the result of _what their hands have sent forth,_ an idea repeated over a dozen times in the Quran to emphasize that human beings are solely responsible for their fate in the Hereafter. Their actions are _sent forth,_ to be confronted on the Day of Judgment (cf. 2:95; 5:80; 8:51; 18:57; 59:18; 62:7; 78:40; 82:5; 89:24). Here, however, the suggestion is that the misfortunes generated by their wrongdoing might also be visited upon them in this life (R). When confronted with their sins, the disbelievers, instead of repenting, defend their actions, saying, _We sought naught but virtue and harmony,_ either deceptively or in self-delusion (cf. 2:11–12; 9:107). _God knows_ the hypocrisy they hide _in their hearts._ The Prophet is instructed to _turn away_ from the disbelievers—that is, to avoid openly punishing them; he is to _admonish them_ and seek to persuade them _with penetrating words_ rather than confronting them aggressively with force. _Turn away_ here may also mean to refuse to accept their excuses (Ṭs). Some say that these two verses refer to a group of hypocrites who built another mosque just outside Madinah. Ultimately, this was revealed to the Prophet to be a challenge to his authority and a threat to his person, as they may have been using it to plot against him, and the mosque was destroyed. Yet, those who had built it claimed they did so only seeking _what is best_ (9:107; Q). The verses may also continue the discussion of the two disputants seeking judgment, who excused their behavior by claiming that their intention was only the promotion of _virtue and harmony_ (JJ).

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d We sent no messenger, save that he should be obeyed by God's Leave. If, when they had wronged themselves, they had but come to thee and sought forgiveness of God, and the Messenger had sought forgiveness for them, they would surely have found God Relenting, Merciful.

64 This verse continues the discussion of the two men who _wronged themselves_ by seeking judgment from someone other than the Prophet, stressing the necessity of obeying prophetic messengers: God sent them for no other purpose. For Muʿtazilite thinkers, this was proof that it was God's Will that prophets be obeyed by all, and that He did not, as certain predestinarian thinkers asserted, intend that anyone disobey them or be misguided concerning them. For Ashʿarite commentators, like al-Rāzī, however, much hinges on the statement that the messengers are obeyed _by God's Leave_. They see this as a strong proof of their theological position that obedience or disobedience on the part of any person exists _by God's Leave,_ not solely through the moral choices of the individual. That God intended the messengers to be obeyed is also seen as affirming their spiritual infallibility (R). The verse further suggests the intercessory role of the Prophet, for it asserts that if these two men _sought forgiveness of God_ for themselves, the Prophet would also seek forgiveness for them, and they would then find God _Relenting_ and _Merciful_. However, the Prophet's seeking forgiveness for them is dependent upon their own repentance. In the Quran prophets often seek forgiveness for their people: the Prophet Muhammad is told to seek forgiveness for his followers (3:159; 24:62); Jacob agrees to seek forgiveness for his sons (12:97–98); and Abraham seeks forgiveness for his father (19:47; 60:4). But where there is no corresponding attitude of repentance on the part of those for whom forgiveness is sought, the prophet's efforts on their behalf are said to be both inappropriate and ineffectual (see 9:80, 113–14; 63:5–6). The angels are also said to seek forgiveness for the believers (40:7) and _for those on earth_ (42:5). For a further discussion of intercession ( _shafā ʿah_) and seeking forgiveness for others ( _istighfār_ ), see 2:48c; 2:255c.

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e But no, by thy Lord, they will not believe until they have made thee the judge between them in their disputes, and find no resistance in their souls to what thou hast decreed, and surrender with full submission.

65 People cannot be considered believers until they make the Prophet the _judge between them in their disputes_ and have no doubt or unease about his judgments (Ṭ). One report connects this verse to the case of a dispute brought to the Prophet for judgment by the Prophet's early Companion and cousin al-Zubayr ibn al-ʿAwāmm (d. 36/656) and one of his neighbors concerning the use of a water channel. The neighbor was unhappy with the Prophet's ruling and suggested that he had favored al-Zubayr, because al-Zubayr was his cousin. This verse was revealed, chastising his critical attitude toward the Prophet's judgment (Ṭ, W). However, it seems more likely that the verse continues the discussion of the incident addressed in vv. 60–64, although it may also have been invoked in relation to the incident with al-Zubayr.

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f And had We prescribed for them, "Lay down your lives" or "Leave your homes," they would not have done so, save a few. And had they done what they were exhorted to do, it would have been better for them, and a stronger confirmation.

g Then We would surely have granted them, from Our Presence, a great reward,

h and We would surely have guided them unto a straight path.

66–68 _Lay down your lives_ translates _uqtulū anfusakum,_ which could also be rendered "slay yourselves" or, metaphorically, "mortify yourselves" (in the sense of killing your vain desires), as it is in 2:54, which refers to God's command through Moses to the Israelites after the golden calf incident. Some see the present verse as addressing the Jews and as referencing the command in 2:54 as a way of suggesting that few of those in the Prophet's time would have fulfilled such a command (Ṭ). The verse suggests that they would also have been unwilling to follow a Divine command to _leave your homes,_ a command that tested many earlier prophets and prophetic communities, as well as Muhammad's. It was, in part, the willingness of the Prophet's Makkan followers to leave their homes and families and migrate to Madinah that earned them the high religious status of "Emigrants" that they were afforded in the first Muslim community. And in the Madinan period, prior to the conquest of Makkah, leaving one's home and family and migrating, or making _hijrah,_ to Madinah was a requirement of full membership in the Muslim community (8:72).

Some see the present verse as continuing to address specifically the two men who sought judgment from someone other than the Prophet referenced in vv. 60–65 (Ṭ), although it may speak in general to all those whose claims of belief were questionable, whether they were certain Jews, Madinan hypocrites, or others. Had they done as they were told (which, in context, likely means to consult God and the Prophet in their affairs; see v. 59), _it would have been better for them,_ in this world and the next, and would have been _a stronger confirmation_ of their faith. It would have better convinced others of their sincerity and given them greater resolution in their own beliefs and actions, since the resolution of the hypocrite is always weak (Ṭ).

The _great reward from Our Presence_ ( _min ladunnā_ ), also mentioned in v. 40, has been understood as a spiritual reward received from God's very Presence that surpasses any physical reward or delight one can experience. It is sometimes associated with the vision of God or with being completely overwhelmed by love and knowledge of Him (R on 4:40). For _straight path,_ see 1:6c.

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i Whosoever obeys God and the Messenger, they are with those whom God has blessed, the prophets, the truthful ones, the witnesses, and the righteous. What beautiful companions they are!

p Such is the Bounty from God, and God suffices as Knower.

69–70 Cf. 4:59 and commentary. Those who are obedient are among _those whom God has blessed,_ that is, those who have been granted guidance and success in this life and Paradise in the next (Ṭ). Moreover, the verse indicates that they shall have the company of the most excellent in Paradise, including the prophets. This verse was reportedly revealed when some of the Prophet's Companions expressed dismay at the thought that those who so enjoyed the Prophet's company on earth would be denied it in the Hereafter since, as a prophet, Muhammad would be exalted far above them. This verse made clear that the obedient shall have the company of their prophet after death (JJ, Ṭs, W, Z). According to several _a ḥādīth,_ the Prophet assured his followers that if they love God, the Prophet, and the righteous, although they may have fallen short in their own works, they shall be "with those whom they love" in the next life.

The _truthful ones_ ( _ṣ iddīqīn_), which might also be translated "the sincere _,_ " are those who believe in and follow the prophets in complete sincerity (Ṭ) or the most morally excellent among their companions (JJ, Z); in later usage, _ṣ iddīq_ came to denote something that approximates "saint." The Prophet's close Companion and the first Caliph, Abū Bakr, was given the epithet _al- Ṣiddīq_ (the Truthful One), in part because he affirmed the truthfulness of the Prophet's account of his miraculous Night Journey when many others doubted it, just as he believed in the first revelation.

_Witnesses_ ( _shuhadā ʾ_) could also be rendered "martyrs" and is sometimes glossed as meaning those who die in the way of God (Ṭ). However, limiting _witnesses_ to those killed for the sake of religion does not seem consistent with the wider Quranic usage, as the term is also mentioned in the context of bearing witness to Divine covenants as well as testifying to the truth in a legal, religious, or spiritual matter. Al-Rāzī argues that the word refers to all who bear witness to the truth of religion, whether they do so by proof and argument or with sword and shield (R).

_The righteous_ ( _ṣ āliḥīn_) refers to those who do what is right both publicly and in secret (Ṭ). This passage echoes 57:19, where those who obey God and the Messenger are themselves described as the _truthful_ ( _ṣ iddīqūn_) and _witnesses_ ( _shuhadā ʾ_), whereas in the present verse it is said that those who are obedient shall be _with_ the _truthful_ and the _witnesses_. According to a Shiite report, Jaʿfar al-Ṣādiq considered _the truthful ones_ and _the witnesses_ as references to the Imams, and _the righteous_ as a reference to their followers (Ṭs). Al-Rāzī sees vv. 68–69 as forming a commentary on 1:6–7, in which the believers pray to be guided upon the _straight path_ and placed among those _whom Thou hast blessed;_ the answer to this prayer is that those who obey God and the Prophet shall be granted both (R).

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q O you who believe! Take your precautions; then go forth in companies or go forth all together.

71 _Take your precautions_ instructs the Muslims to take up arms or otherwise prepare themselves against their enemies. The commentators are clear that preparing oneself in this way does not signify a lack of trust in God, and in connection with this verse they frequently cite a _ḥ adīth_ in which the Prophet instructed a man, "Tether [your camel], then place your trust in God" (Aj, Q, R). For al-Qushayrī, taking such precautions means fleeing from all that is other than God. To _go forth in companies_ means to go out to the enemy as separate military units or raiding parties, whereas _go forth all together_ refers to the Muslims going to battle as a single army, under the leadership of the Prophet (Ṭ).

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r Among you indeed is one who would tarry; then, if misfortune should befall you, he would say, "God has blessed me, in that I did not accompany them."

s But should a bounty come to you from God, he would surely say—as if there had been no affection between you and him—"Oh, would that I had been with them, so that I had attained a great triumph!"

72–73 Among those who _would tarry_ is said to be the Madinan hypocrite ʿAbd Allāh ibn Ubayy, who held back from joining the Prophet's army at the Battle of Uḥud (3/625). He and other Madinan hypocrites lagged behind, so that they would not arrive in time to join the Prophet's army in battle. If _misfortune should befall_ the Prophet's army, they would consider it providential that they were not with them (JJ). _But should a bounty come . . . from God_ —that is, should the Prophet's army win the battle—they would lament that they could not share in the honor and the spoils of the victory. Al-Rāzī notes that some commentators gloss _one who would tarry_ ( _yuba ṭṭiʾanna_) as "one who would weigh down [the Muslim army] with hesitation and delay" and connect it with 9:38 ( _O you who believe! What ails you, that when it is said unto you, "Go forth in the way of God," you sink down heavily to the earth?_ ), since to "slow down" or "weigh down" is a common meaning of _yuba ṭṭiʾanna_. Al-Rāzī, however, disagrees with this interpretation, since the verse suggests that the hypocrites simply lag behind so as to avoid the battle rather than to slow down the Muslim army.

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t Let them fight in the way of God, those who would sell the life of this world for the Hereafter. And whosoever fights in the way of God—whether he is slain or victorious—We shall grant him a great reward.

74 _Fighting in the way of God_ means fighting for His religion and His commands and calling others to it (Ṭ). Cf. 22:39–40, where the first command given to the Muslims to fight indicates that the right to fight is granted for the protection of all those who remember God. Selling _the life of the world for the Hereafter_ is one of several mercantile metaphors used to describe the sacrifices one should make for God. Cf. 2:207; and also 9:111, where it is said of the believers who fight in the way of God that _God has purchased . . . their souls and their wealth in exchange for the Garden being theirs._ By contrast, in 2:86 those Israelites who had broken the covenant are described as having _purchased the world at the price of the Hereafter_. Some commentators have interpreted the verb _sell_ ( _yashrūna_ ) here as meaning, by contrast, "purchase" (usually _yashtarūna_ ), so that the verse would be translated, "Let them fight in the way of God, those who would purchase the life of this world for [the price of] the Hereafter" (R, Z). In the latter interpretation, the statement is addressed to the hypocrites and those _who would tarry_ (v. 72), who prefer the life of this world over that of the next, and who are admonished to _fight in the way of God_.

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u And what ails you that you fight not in the way of God, and for the weak and oppressed—men, women, and children—who cry out, "Our Lord! Bring us forth from this town whose people are oppressors, and appoint for us from Thee a protector, and appoint for us from Thee a helper."

75 This verse indicates that fighting to relieve the oppressed is a legitimate basis for religious warfare (Q; also see 2:191–93; 8:39; and the essay "Conquest and Conversion, War and Peace in the Quran"). However, this verse is widely reported to relate specifically to those Muslims residing in Makkah who were oppressed and mistreated by their relatives and prevented from migrating to Madinah and so cried out to be "brought forth," or delivered, _from this town,_ that is, Makkah (IK, JJ, Q, R, Ṭ, Z). This verse urges the Muslims to fight to aid and liberate their suffering fellow Muslims in Makkah. _Weak and oppressed_ collectively translates _musta ḍʿafūn,_ which denotes both meanings. Cf. vv. 97–98, where certain wrongdoers seek to excuse their actions after death by claiming that they were _weak and oppressed_ ( _musta ḍʿafūn_) in the land. Their excuse is not accepted, but in v. 98 an exemption is given to those who were truly _weak and oppressed among the men, women, and children_. Ibn ʿAbbās claimed that he and his mother were among the _women and children_ who were _weak and oppressed_ in Makkah and who were thus excused by v. 98 (IK, Q, Z). Children are mentioned among the oppressed to make clear the extent of the cruelty of the Makkan idolaters, who would reportedly torture children in an effort to make their parents desist from their Islamic faith (R, Z); _children_ here might also be a metaphorical reference to Muslim slaves, who were likewise incapable of leaving Makkah to join the community in Madinah (Z).

The _weak and oppressed_ Muslims of Makkah cry out for a _protector_ ( _walī_ ) and a _helper;_ their prayer is answered when the Prophet and his army take control of Makkah in 8/630. After the conquest of Makkah, the Prophet reportedly appointed ʿAttāb ibn Asīd (or Usayd) to redress the injustices suffered by the Muslims in Makkah before its conquest (JJ, Ṭ, Z). This verse also highlights the importance and effectiveness of supplicating God for one's needs, for when the oppressed of Makkah cried out to God for relief, He answered them in full (Ṭs). Some say that when the oppressed of Makkah supplicated God for relief, they specifically mentioned the suffering of their children to call down more effectively God's Mercy upon them (Kā, Z). Ibn ʿAjībah reads this verse as encouraging all spiritual seekers to strive and fight against the baser human passions that oppress and weaken the true lights and mysteries of the spirit within. Like the oppressed of Makkah, these inner lights remain imprisoned in the carnal soul unless one fights to liberate them from the chains of base desire and spiritual heedlessness.

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v Those who believe fight in the way of God, and those who disbelieve fight in the way of false deities. Fight, therefore, against the allies of Satan. Surely the scheme of Satan is ever feeble.

76 To _fight in the way of God_ here, as elsewhere, indicates to fight for the cause of justice and goodness, in obedience to God and in accordance with His Law ( _Sharī ʿah_). The disbelievers, by contrast, fight for _false deities,_ which translates _ṭ āghūt_ (see 4:51–52c). According to al-Rāzī, God does not ordain the means or tactics for fighting, but only the proper intention and aim: the fighting must be for God alone. Fighting for any other reason—such as pride or a desire for spoils—amounts to fighting for _false deities_ (R, Ṭs). In this verse, _false deities_ is widely glossed as Satan (Ṭ), given the following exhortation to fight _the allies of Satan_ (i.e., his "protectors" or "friends," _awliyā ʾ_). If the disbelievers are the allies ( _awliyā ʾ_) of Satan, the believers have God as their Protector or Ally ( _Walī;_ R). The feebleness of Satan's guile lies in the fact that his allies fight out of fear or jealousy of the believers, while the believers fight for God and with hope for Paradise, and if they neglect to fight, they do so in fear of Divine retribution. Moreover, the disbelievers fight in doubt and fear of death, as they have no hope of reward in the Hereafter, and this makes them weak (Ṭ, Ṭs). The _scheme_ ( _kayd_ ) of _Satan_ , or elsewhere of the disbelievers, is both intrinsically weak and rendered feeble and ineffectual by God (cf. 3:120; 8:18; 52:46).

In the inward, spiritual fight against the base passions of the soul, true believers stand with God against the lower elements of their own souls, whereas disbelievers are allies of their own lower souls against God (ST). For Ibn ʿAjībah, fighting in the way of God means striving only to attain God's Presence; whereas striving in one's action for any worldly or otherworldly gain removes one from the ranks of the "allies" or "friends" ( _awliyā ʾ_) of God. Muslims who fight for the otherworldly reward of Paradise are still "believers," but the true _awliyā ʾ_ strive for God alone (Aj).

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w Hast thou not seen those unto whom it was said, "Restrain your hands, and perform the prayer, and give the alms." But when fighting was prescribed for them, behold, a party of them feared men, even as they should have feared God, or with greater fear, and they said, "Our Lord! Why hast Thou prescribed fighting for us? If only Thou wouldst grant us reprieve for a term nigh." Say, "Scant is the enjoyment of this world, and the Hereafter is better for those who are reverent, and you shall not be wronged so much as the thread of a date stone."

77 _Those unto whom it was said, "Restrain your hands_ . . . _"_ refers to a group of Muslims of Makkah who were told to refrain from fighting the disbelievers in Makkah while they (the Muslims) were still resident there (JJ) and to simply _perform the prayer, and give the alms_ —the only two religious duties incumbent upon them at that time. Al-Rāzī asserts that the verse makes clear that prayer and alms _,_ which demonstrate the proper attitude toward God and His creation, respectively, must precede striving or fighting in the way of God. Some list several prominent Companions among the group referenced here who came to the Prophet complaining of their humiliation at being unable to fight to redress the wrongs they had suffered at the hands of the disbelievers. The Prophet responded that he had been commanded to forgive, not to fight (IK, Q, R, Ṭ, W). Ibn Kathīr notes that the lack of permission to fight the disbelievers in Makkah was both because Makkah was a sanctuary that was supposed to remain free of violence and because the Muslims were yet small in number. However, the granting of permission to fight after the move to Madinah likely has less to do with the strength of the Muslims at that time, for when fighting was initiated in Madinah, the Muslims were still few and inadequately equipped in comparison to the Makkans. It likely has more to do with their having left the sacred precinct of Makkah and with the growing extent of the injustices that the Muslims had endured at the hands of the Makkans.

When fighting was eventually prescribed for them once they were in Madinah, some of this same group were reluctant (cf. 47:20), fearing to face their enemies in battle _even as they should have feared God,_ and they thus asked God to postpone this obligation for them until _a term nigh,_ that is, until they could die a natural death (Ṭ). Their reluctance is explained as being the result of fear, not of religious doubt (Q, Z). Nonetheless, the attribution of such reluctance to the Muslim believers, some of whom were prominent Companions, seemed untenable to many commentators, and they considered this verse to be referring to others.

Mujāhid reads vv. 77–83 as referring to the Jews, who refused to fight when commanded (5:21–24; IK, Ṭ). Al-Rāzī considers the possibility that the verse simply refers to the natural fear of death that all human beings, even the Companions, occasionally experienced, but asserts that the verse more likely addresses the Madinan hypocrites, since the degree of resistance to the Divine command manifest in this verse is unlikely to have come from believing Muslims. He suggests that this verse addresses the same group of hypocrites whose negative spiritual attitude is criticized in v. 78. Those fearful of fighting are admonished that the _enjoyment of this world_ is _scant_ and perishes; the _Hereafter is better_ and is everlasting, more plentiful, and surer (R, Ṭ). _You shall not be wronged;_ that is, God will not neglect to reward such people for whatever good they have done, despite their reluctance toward fighting (Z), _so much as the thread of a date stone_ ( _fatīl;_ see 4:49–50c).

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x Wheresoever you may be, death will overtake you, though you should be in towers raised high. And if good befalls them, they say, "This is from God," but if evil befalls them, they say, "This is from thee." Say, "All is from God." What is with these people that they scarcely understand any tiding?

78 _Towers_ ( _burūj_ ) _raised high_ refers to tall and seemingly impenetrable fortresses, according to most, but some claim that it refers to the "towers" or "constellations" ( _burūj_ ) in the heavens (cf. 15:16; 25:61; 85:1; Q, R, Ṭ, Z). The verse addresses the attitude of Madinan hypocrites and those Jews who were reluctant to join the Muslims in battle. When some Muslims were killed at Uḥud, those who had stayed behind asserted that, had the slain Muslims remained with them, they would not have been killed (W). It also encourages the believing Muslims who were reluctant to fight because they _feared men, even as they should have feared God_ (v. 77) to fight without fear of death (R), for death is always before them, wherever they might be, and death in the way of God brings eternal happiness (R, Ṭ; cf. 33:16). The verse indicates that everyone has an allotted time in this world, and once that time has elapsed, death cannot be escaped; if one is not killed in battle, for example, one will die some other way (Q).

_If good befalls them—_ that is, certain Jews or hypocrites of Madinah—they claim that it is a blessing from God, _but if evil befalls them,_ they blame it on the Prophet. A drought occurred in Madinah shortly after the Prophet's arrival there, and some Madinan Jews reportedly blamed it on the Prophet's coming (JJ, Q). Others say that Madinah was thriving at the time of the Prophet's coming to the city; but with the rise of the resistance of the Jews and hypocrites toward the Prophet, God withheld some of the bounty, as he had done in the case of other prophets (R; cf. 7:94: _We sent no prophet to a town but that We seized its people with misfortune and hardship, that haply they would humble themselves_ ). However, other commentators say that the present verse refers to those who, when they fought on the side of the Prophet, if they were victorious (as at the Battle of Badr in 2/624), would consider it a blessing God had ordained for them; but when they met with defeat or injury (as at the Battle of Uḥud in 3/625), would blame their failure on poor leadership on the part of the Prophet (Q, R, Ṭ). Cf. 7:131 and 27:47, where people accuse Moses and Ṣāliḥ, respectively, of bringing misfortune and ill-omen.

However, this verse asserts that _all is from God,_ both victory and defeat, blessings and afflictions—He favors people with the former and tries them with the latter, and all takes place according to His Decree (Ṭ). In 7:198, however, it is asserted that God tries people with both good and evil. Al-Zamakhsharī, a Muʿtazilite, argues that blessings and afflictions are not only for the purpose of Divine favor and trial, but also represent a Divine response to obedience and disobedience, respectively; al-Rāzī, however, argues that obedience and disobedience are also _from God,_ supporting the Ashʿarite view, which emphasizes Divine agency in the creation of human moral acts (see the essay "The Quran and Schools of Islamic Theology and Philosophy").

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y Whatever good befalls thee, it is from God, and whatever evil befalls thee, it is from thyself. We sent thee as a messenger unto mankind, and God suffices as a Witness.

79 Note that the verse is addressed to the Prophet Muhammad, but is meant for his community, and indeed for human beings in general. This verse seems in some ways to contradict v. 78, which asserts that _all is from God_ (v. 78)—the good and the evil. Here, the good one enjoys is from God (cf. 16:53), which He gives as a blessing or a trial from His Wisdom (Z). But the evil one experiences _is from thyself_ (cf. 3:165), in the sense that one has earned it through disobedience and sin (Z, Ṭ), although some indicate that it nonetheless occurs through God's Decree (Ṭ). See 42:30: _Whatever misfortune befalls you is because of that which your hands have earned; and He pardons much;_ and 3:117; 10:44; 29:40; 30:9, where the Quran asserts that God does not wrong people, but rather they wrong themselves.

Some say that the present verse refers to the defeat the Muslims suffered at Uḥud, which was brought about when some of the Muslims disregarded the command to hold back from pursuing the fleeing Makkans (Q; cf. 3:152–53). If v. 78 affirms the view that all things originate with God, this verse suggests that some evil—including the spiritual evil of failing to believe, or being led astray—is brought about in response to human disobedience. The Muʿtazilite al-Qāḍī ʿAbd al-Jabbār (d. 415/1025) notes the apparent conflict between this verse and the previous one and resolves it by claiming that when the _evil_ refers to sin and disobedience, it is from oneself, but when it refers to adversity and misfortune, it is from God (R).

However, others assert that _good_ and _evil_ in this context do not refer to acts of obedience or disobedience (as they do elsewhere), but only to good and bad fortune, since the verse speaks of the good and evil that _befalls_ one, not the good and evil that one commits (Q). Al-Rāzī argues that even belief is a gift from God, since it is a "good," and all good _is from God;_ by extension, then, disbelief is from God as well—if God has power over the one, He has power over the other (R). As for _whatever evil befalls thee, it is from thyself,_ al-Rāzī and others read this as a rhetorical question, meant to demonstrate that the opposite is true, so that it should read, "Whatever befalls thee, is it from thyself?" (Q, R)..

Others emphasize that all goodness comes from God as a free and undeserved gift, or bounty ( _fa ḍl_); whereas all evil is acquired or earned through human actions (Qu; Rb). Kāshānī reconciles the apparent contradiction in vv. 78–79, by indicating that, although everything comes from God insofar as He is the active cause ( _al-sabab al-fā ʿilī_) of all things, human beings are the passive or receptive cause ( _al-sabab al-qābilī_ ) of evil, through their own receptivity to it. _We sent thee—_ that is, the Prophet—as a _messenger unto mankind,_ which indicates the universal scope of his prophetic mission (Z; see also 7:158; 21:107; 34:28).

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À Whosoever obeys the Messenger obeys God, and as for those who turn away, We have not sent thee as their keeper.

80 Regarding obedience to God and the Messenger, and the relationship between them, see 3:32, 132; 4:59; 5:92; 8:1, 20, 46; 24:54; 33:33; 47:33; 49:14; 58:13; 64:12. The statement that the Prophet is not the _keeper_ of those to whom he delivers the message is found in various places in the Quran; see 6:107; 11:86; 42:6, 48. For similar statements, see 6:66; 10:108; 17:54; 39:41.

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Á They profess obedience, but when they leave thee, a party of them conspire by night [to do] other than what thou sayest. But God records what they conspire by night. So turn away from them and trust in God. God suffices as a Guardian.

81 This verse concerns either the Madinan hypocrites (JJ) or those Muslims who were reluctant to fight with the Prophet out of fear (Ṭ). _Conspire by night_ translates _bayyata,_ which means to do something (usually secretly) at night. Rather than "scheming," the word may simply mean that they reneged on the vows they had made to the Prophet when they went away from him at night (Ṭ). The verb _bayyata_ may also mean simply to give much thought and contemplation to something (R); in this case, it would mean that the hypocrites pondered the benefit or harm to themselves in following the Prophet's commands before deciding if they should obey them as they had promised to do (Q). _God records_ (lit. "writes") what they do at night in the book of their deeds (Z), or He _records_ it by mentioning it in this verse of the Quran (R). _Turn away from them_ means to leave them as they are, without disputing or seeking vengeance against them (Z; see 4:62–63c), and without revealing their night scheming (R).

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 Do they not contemplate the Quran? Had it been from other than God, they would surely have found much discrepancy therein.

82 _Do they not contemplate the Quran_ (cf. 47:24) is meant here to indicate that if those who _conspire by night_ (v. 81) were to contemplate the Quran, they would understand the Divine provenance of the Prophet's commands (Ṭ); if the Quran were of human composition, _they would have found much discrepancy_ —that is, inconsistency, shortcomings, self-contradiction, and falsehoods (cf. 41:42)— _therein_ (Q, Ṭ, Ṭs). Although there are different recitations ( _qirā ʾāt_) of the Quran, different numberings of the verses, and even different legal rulings found in the abrogated ( _mansūkh_ ) and abrogating ( _nāsikh_ ) verses (regarding abrogation, see 2:106c), all of these apparent differences are considered to be true in themselves (Ṭs).

The fact that the Quran includes both the abrogated and abrogating verses indicates that the Prophet did not seek to conceal these differences or to "revise" or "refine" the Quranic message to create a superficial consistency. This verse represents one of several challenges the Quran poses to its detractors in order to convince them of its Divine origin. Elsewhere the Quran challenges those who disbelieve to produce a single _sūrah_ like it (2:23; 10:38), suggesting that they will be unable to do so.

But this verse can also have a more general application. For some, the assertion that there is no _discrepancy_ in the Quran should discourage people from arguing over the meaning of the Quran's difficult, ambiguous, or symbolic verses (cf. 3:7). Ibn Kathīr argues that one should understand and interpret difficult verses in such a way that they are consistent with those that are clearly understandable, since there is no _discrepancy_ in the Quran's message. According to a widely reported _ḥ adīth,_ the Prophet became visibly angry when he witnessed some of his Companions arguing loudly using different verses of the Quran against one another and warned that previous religious communities had been destroyed by such disputes (IK). Others, however, consider this verse as giving license and encouragement to pondering the Quran in search of its meaning, thereby invalidating simple, unthinking imitation of others' opinions ( _taqlīd_ ) regarding the Quran, and legitimizing the use of analogical reasoning in its interpretation and application (Q, Ṭs).

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à And whenever tidings come unto them, whether of security or fear, they spread it about, whereas had they referred it to the Messenger and to those in authority among them, those of them whose task it is to investigate would have known it. Were it not for God's Bounty toward you, and His Mercy, you would surely have followed Satan, save a few.

83 This verse, like vv. 77–82, addresses the doubts and inappropriate actions of the Madinan hypocrites and/or those Muslims whose faith was weakened by adversity (JJ); or it specifically refers to those who _conspire by night_ in v. 81 (Ṭ). These people would spread rumors of the success or defeat of the military parties the Prophet had sent out, leading to apprehension and perhaps misinformation among the Muslims. By spreading the information so indiscriminately, they also risked allowing this information to fall into the hands of their enemies (Ṭ, Z); since they sometimes attributed these reports to the Prophet, if they turned out to be false, the Prophet's credibility would suffer (R). In addition to the general meaning, this verse likely refers specifically to the events leading up to what is known as the "Lesser Badr," when rumors of a large Makkan army spread fear among the Muslims (see 4:84c). As in all difficult matters, they should have first _referred_ these reports _to the Messenger_ and _those in authority_ (v. 59), who could properly ascertain the truth of the tidings (Z). _Those in authority_ may refer to the Prophet's close Companions (JJ, Z), his commanders (R, Ṭ), or those possessed of intellect and religious understanding (R, Ṭ). It is their responsibility to _investigate_ such reports by making appropriate inquiries (Ṭ). For Shiites, _those in authority among them_ refers to the Shiite Imams (Ṭs). Al-Rāzī sees this verse as legitimizing the practice of analogical reasoning, _qiyās,_ by which rulings on new situations or issues are derived from existing rulings; _qiyās_ is a kind of "investigation," and the people of religious authority and knowledge have been delegated this task by this verse, according to his reading.

_God's Bounty_ and _His Mercy_ may refer to His sending the Prophet and the Quran, through which the believers are rightly guided and have not _followed Satan_ (R, Z). _God's Bounty_ and _Mercy_ may also refer to the victories God had granted the believers; without them, even the believers might have _followed Satan, all save a few_ who possessed keen insight and unshakeable resolve (R). The _few_ may also refer to those possessed of religious authority and understanding ( _whose task it is to investigate_ ). Some consider _all save a few_ to qualify other statements earlier in the verse, so that it might be read _they spread it about . . . all save a few_ (Ṭ). The believers and the Prophet Muhammad are elsewhere reminded of how much they owe to _God's Bounty_ and _His Mercy_ in saving them from both physical and moral harm (cf. 2:64; 4:113; 24:10, 14, 20, 21).

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Ä So fight in the way of God. Thou art accountable only for thyself, and urge on the believers. It may be that God will restrain the might of the disbelievers, for God is stronger in might and more severe in punishment.

84 The command to _fight in the way of God_ is made both to the Muslim believers and to previous religious communities in the Quran; see 2:190, 244; 3:167; 4:74. _Thou art accountable only for thyself_ are words spoken to Muhammad; see 24:54; 4:80c, where it is stated that the Prophet is not the _keeper_ of those to whom he brings the message. Also see 5:25, where Moses similarly asserts that he has _no power over anyone save_ himself and his brother. From this verse the Prophet understands that he has been instructed to _fight in the way of God,_ regardless of how many join with him or hold back, for it is God Who will grant him victory, not his army (Z). _God is stronger in might and more severe in punishment_ than the disbelievers, in this case, the Makkans.

Some say that this refers to the would-be battle known as the "Lesser Badr." After the Muslims' defeat at Uḥud, the Qurayshī leader, Abū Sufyān, and the Prophet agreed to meet the following year at Badr for another military contest. When the time came, Abū Sufyān was reluctant to go and sent a spy to spread disinformation in Madinah about the overwhelming Makkan force that awaited them at Badr in order to dissuade them from going to battle (this is possibly what v. 83 is referring to when it castigates the spreading of rumors about the _security or fear_ of the Muslims in relation to their enemies). After the defeat at Uḥud and as false rumors of a massive Makkan army spread, most Madinans were reluctant to join the Prophet for this battle. The Prophet reportedly declared, "By Him in Whose Hand is my soul, I shall go forth, even if alone!" (JJ). The Prophet thus went forth with only seventy men to meet Abū Sufyān's army, but when they arrived at the agreed-upon place, no one was there, and the campaign was aborted (R).

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Å Whosoever intercedes for a good cause shall receive a share of it; and whosoever intercedes for an evil cause shall share in its burden; and God is Sustainer of all things.

85 _Whosoever intercedes for a good cause_ by aiding individual Muslims, protecting their rights, defending them, or supplicating God on their behalf (Z) will receive a _share of_ the good that is brought about. For the spiritual implications of intercession, see 2:255c. Although this verse applies to intercession in general, many commentators understand it in the context of the battles between the Madinan Muslims and the Makkans spoken of in the previous verses. _Whosoever intercedes for a good cause_ by supporting and equipping the Muslim army shall receive a _share of_ the reward for participating in the religious cause; and _whosoever intercedes for an evil cause_ by supporting or equipping the army of the enemies of religion shall receive a _share_ of _its burden,_ that is, of the punishment of those who fight on their behalf (Ṭ). Given the context of the two previous verses, it may mean that when the Prophet calls his community to _fight in the way of God,_ he shares in the reward they will receive for answering the call, although, as v. 84 makes clear, he will not be held accountable if they do not. In this reading, those who intercede _for an evil cause_ refers to the Madinan hypocrites who tried to dissuade the Madinans from responding to the Prophet's call (R). The Divine Name _Sustainer_ ( _Muqīt_ ) literally means "Nourisher," and many commentaries gloss it as "Powerful," "Preserver," or "Witness" (Q, Ṭ).

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Æ And when you are offered a greeting, respond with a greeting that is better, or return it; surely God takes account of all things.

86 When one is offered a greeting ( _ta ḥiyyah_), which is usually understood to be the proper Islamic greeting, "Peace be upon you ( _al-salāmu ʿalaykum_)," one should _respond with a greeting that is better,_ such as, "And upon you be peace, and the Mercy of God, and His Blessing," or simply _return it,_ that is, respond in a similar manner by saying, "And upon you be peace ( _wa- ʿalaykum al-salām_)," or simply, "And upon you." Cf. 6:54; 7:46; 10:10; 11:69; 13:24; 14:23; 15:52; 16:32; 19:62; 25:75; 33:44; 39:73; 51:25; 56:26, where this greeting is attributed to or enjoined upon the believers, the prophets, the people of Paradise, or the angels.

Note that in 33:56 believers are told to offer greetings of peace to the Prophet, and Muslims continually do this throughout their prayers and devotions. Peace ( _al-Salām_ ) is also one of the Divine Names (59:23), and thus God's Name is effectively invoked at both the beginning of the initial greeting ( _al-salāmu ʿalaykum_) and the end of its appropriate response ( _wa- ʿalaykum al-salām;_ R). A _ḥ adīth_ says, "Peace is among the Names of God that He has made manifest on earth; so spread it among yourselves" (ST). God Himself issues greetings of peace upon the people of Paradise (36:58) and upon the prophets (11:48; 37:79, 109, 120, 130).

Returning a greeting of peace is incumbent upon all Muslims as a matter of religious practice (Aj, R). A _ḥ adīth_ informs believers that spreading greetings of peace along with sharing food with others, maintaining family relations, and praying in the middle of the night are acts that will grant one Paradise (R). According to Ibn ʿAbbās, if a man passes by a group of Muslims and gives them greetings of peace but receives no response, "The Holy Spirit is removed from them, and the angels return the man's greeting" (R, Z). One _ḥ adīth_ says, "By Him in Whose Hand is my soul, you will not enter the Garden until you believe, and you will not believe until you love one another. Should I not tell you that which, if you do it, will make you love one another? [It is] to spread greetings of peace among yourselves" (IK). In general, a younger person should initiate the greeting to an older person; a smaller group should initiate the greeting to a larger one; a passer-by should initiate the greeting to one who is sitting or standing by (R, Z); and a person visiting someone's home should greet the hosts before entering (24:27; R). Offering a greeting of peace is sometimes optional—and in some cases may even be inappropriate, as when a person is engaged in something more important, such as praying (Q, R)—but responding to one is required (IK, Q, R, Ṭ).

Some commentators suggest that responding to a greeting with one _that is better_ is appropriate when the original greeter is a fellow Muslim, but if the original greeter is a non-Muslim, one should simply _return_ the greeting in a similar manner (IK, Q, R, Ṭ). A few commentators assert that one should not greet disbelievers or those who engage in immoral or inappropriate behavior at all (JJ, R), but this seems to conflict with Quran 25:63; 28:55; and 48:39, which all suggest a greeting of peace as the proper response to such persons. When one is in the presence of non-Muslims or even wrongdoers, some suggest offering a conditional greeting, such as the one Moses gave in the presence of Pharaoh, _Peace be upon him who follows guidance!_ (20:47; Z). Most commentators, however, understand the present verse as requiring Muslims to accept and respond in kind to any greeting of peace that they are offered, even if offered by a disbeliever (IK, R) or by an unknown person in a situation of warfare, since there is little harm in accepting and reciprocating a greeting of peace (R); see 8:61: _And if they incline toward peace, incline thou toward it, and trust in God_.

Despite the requirement to respond to such a greeting, many assert that, according to tradition ( _sunnah_ ), a Muslim should not initiate the greeting with a non-Muslim (IK, Q, R,). Yet, it is important to remember the Quranic precedent of the prophet Abraham, who initiated a greeting of peace to his father, although his father was an idolater who threatened to persecute him (Q); cf. 19:47. The word for _greeting, ta ḥiyyah,_ is derived from the root meaning "life" and originates in the pre-Islamic practice of greeting people with the statement, "May God give you life ( _ḥ ayyāka'Llāh_)." In the canonical prayer, Muslims say, "All salutations belong to God ( _al-ta ḥiyyātu li'Llāh_)," which means that all security from harm comes from God (Q, R). _Surely God takes account of all things,_ that is, He is _Ḥ asīb,_ the one who takes account; in this case the meaning is that He takes account of even the small things one does, such as extending proper greetings. But _ḥ asīb_ can also mean one who suffices, as in the etymologically related Quranic phrase _ḥ asbī Allāh,_ meaning _God suffices me_ (39:38).

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Ç God, there is no god but He. He will surely gather you all unto the Day of Resurrection, about which there is no doubt. And who is truer than God in speech?

87 This is one of many assertions of God's Oneness (cf. 2:163, 255; 3:2, 6, 18, 62; 6:102, 106; 7:158; 9:31; 16:2; 20:8, 14, 98; 23:116; 27:26; 28:70, 88; 35:3; 39:6; 40:3, 62, 65; 44:8; 59:22–23; 64:13; 73:9). For the idea that human beings shall be gathered together _unto a Day_ or at _the Hour_ about which _there is no doubt,_ see 3:9, 25; 6:12; 18:21; 22:7; 40:59; 42:7; 45:26, 32. _And who is truer than God in speech_ also appears in v. 122, although the word for _speech_ in the present verse is _ḥ adīth,_ and in v. 122 it is _qīl_.

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È What is with you that you are [divided into] two groups concerning the hypocrites, when God Himself has cast them back for that which they have earned? Do you seek to guide those whom God has led astray? Whomsoever God leads astray, thou wilt not find a way for him.

É They wish that you should disbelieve, even as they disbelieve, that you may be on a level with them. So take them not as protectors till they migrate in the way of God. But if they turn their backs, then seize them and slay them wherever you find them, and take no protector or helper from among them,

Ґ save those who seek refuge with a people with whom you have a covenant, or those who come to you with hearts reluctant to fight you, or to fight their own people. Had God willed, He could have given them authority over you, and then surely they would have fought you. So if they withdraw from you, and do not fight you, and offer peace, God allows you no way against them.

88–90 These verses have been reported to concern different incidents or a set of similar incidents in the Islamic community's early Madinan years. All of these incidents involve a group of professed believers in Islam who either refuse to settle in Madinah, refuse to remain there, or refuse to meet their obligations (namely, to _fight in the way of God;_ v. 84) as Muslim residents of Madinah. One account of the revelation of this verse relates it to a group of Muslims, resident in Madinah, who set out with the Muslims for the Battle of Uḥud (3/625), but then decided to return to Madinah (IK, Q, Ṭ, W, Z). Also see 3:167, where this same group claims, disingenuously, _Had we known there would be fighting, we would have followed you_. The Prophet's Companions divided into _two groups_ over what to do with them; some wanted to kill the deserters, and others wanted to let them be (IK, R, Ṭ). These verses were then revealed, indicating that God Himself had removed them ( _cast them back_ ) because of their own misdeeds; thus they reverted to the status of idolaters whose lives and property were no longer protected (Ṭ). This context does not seem to fit vv. 89–90, however, which are addressed to a group of "hypocrites" who had left Madinah entirely or were resident outside it.

Other accounts connect this verse more plausibly to a group of Makkans who came to Madinah and embraced Islam, but then left the city after seeking the Prophet's permission to do so and never returned (Ṭ, W, Z) or left the city after having committed crimes against the believers (R). In another account, they claim to have left Madinah to avoid a plague that had broken out there (Q, Ṭ). But in v. 89, their hypocrisy and disbelief are exposed, and the Muslims are warned not to take them _as protectors_ ( _awliyā ʾ_) _till they migrate in the way of God,_ that is, until they commit to settling in Madinah. _But if they turn their backs_ —that is, if they turn against the believers as, according to one report, they did by eventually choosing to settle with the idolaters (Ṭs, Z)—they should be considered enemies, and the Muslims are instructed to _seize them and slay them wherever they find them_. However, some reports say that this group eventually sought shelter with another group who had a treaty with the Prophet (Ṭ). Thus v. 90 offers this exception: _save those who seek refuge with a people with whom you have a covenant_.

The present verses are also sometimes said to refer to a group of Makkans who claimed to be Muslim, but were secretly aiding the idolaters. When they approached Madinah, a group of Companions wanted to kill them, while another argued against killing a group of people who (they thought) believed as they believed, even if they had not committed to living in and fighting for the Madinan community. The Prophet took no clear stand on the issue, and then this verse was revealed, indicating their hypocrisy (IK, Ṭ). These verses may also concern a group of people residing in Makkah who claimed to be believers in Islam, but did not migrate to Madinah (Q, R, Ṭ, Z), indicating that such people cannot be considered the _protectors_ ( _awliyā ʾ_) of the Muslims until they migrate to Madinah (Ṭ). Cf. 8:72, where only those who _believe, and migrate, and strive with their wealth and themselves in the way of God, and those who sheltered and helped_ —that is, the Anṣār, the natives of Madinah who had embraced Islam— _are protectors_ ( _awliyā_ ) _of one another._ However, the situation addressed in vv. 88–90 concerns not half-committed Muslims, but disbelievers putting on an air of belief, who _wish that you should disbelieve, even as they disbelieve_. In this case, the Muslims are similarly told that they are not obligated to them _till they migrate_. But if the disbelievers _turn their backs_ —that is, renounce their religion _—_ then they can be seized and slain wherever they are found. The exception to this course of action again involves the Prophet's treaty obligations, as it does in 8:72, but in a different way: if such false believers (hypocrites) _seek refuge with a people with whom_ the Muslims _have a covenant_ and _withdraw . . . and do not fight,_ then no permission is granted to fight them.

In any of these cases, v. 88 indicates that it is God who has _cast them back_ from their claims of belief and returned them to the status of disbelievers because of their deeds; thus neither the Prophet nor the Muslims can expect to be able to guide them back, for _whomsoever God leads astray, thou wilt not find a way for him._ For some the statement that God _cast them back for that which they have earned_ and that they are thereafter _led astray_ supports the view that a failure to believe, or being led morally astray, is a Divine punishment that comes as a consequence of disobedience (Ṭs). Those with an Ashʿarite perspective stress the overpowering influence of the Divine "leading astray" suggested here and understand the assertion in v. 88 that _whomsoever God leads astray, thou wilt not find a way for him_ to indicate God's ultimate power over human moral fate (Q, R).

Vv. 89–90 address how the Muslims in Madinah should deal with those who leave the community or have been _cast back_ to disbelief. If such people openly _turn their backs_ on the Muslims, the Muslims are instructed to _seize them and slay them,_ for they are now to be considered enemies. But if they seek refuge with a treaty people or if they _have hearts reluctant to fight_ —that is, they are neither with you nor against you (IK)—and under these conditions _withdraw, do not fight,_ and _offer peace,_ then the Muslims have _no way against them_ and should let them be. The Quran forbids Muslims from fighting those who do not fight or harm them and urges them to agree to peace when their opponents seek peace (2:190; 4:94; 8:61; 60:8; 49:9). Some scholars have argued that later revelations (9:5, 29) speak of fighting the idolaters and disbelievers without mention of their having initiated hostilities toward the Muslims, and thus they consider those later verses to have abrogated the present verses and other verses that instruct the Muslims to desist and make peace with those who do the same. Yet even in those later verses, the Quran leaves open the possibility of treaties and other arrangements with the disbelievers, and it seems untenable to think that these two verses (9:5, 29), revealed in the particular context of the Muslim expansion throughout the Arabian Peninsula in the final years of the Prophet's life, would abrogate the theme of maintaining peace and forbearance even in the face of one's detractors and enemies, which is ubiquitous throughout the Quran. For an examination of the issue of abrogation especially as it relates to the issue of fighting or opposing non-Muslims, see 2:256c.

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ґ You will find others who desire to be secure from you, and secure from their own people, yet whenever they are tempted back to hostility, they are plunged back into it. So if they withdraw not from you, nor offer you peace, nor restrain their hands, then seize them and slay them wheresoever you come upon them. Against these We have given you clear warrant.

91 If the previous verse prohibits fighting hypocrites who refuse to fight the Muslims, this verse gives the believers a _clear warrant_ to do so against those who turn hostile. This latter group discussed here is variously identified as a group of Makkans who came to profess their belief to the Prophet, but then returned to Makkah and idolatry (Ṭ; cf. 4:88–90c) or as the tribes of Asad and Ghaṭafān (JJ, R, Z). In this verse, _hostility_ translates _fitnah,_ a term with a semantic range that includes civil strife or sedition (2:191–93, 271; 8:39), temptation or trial (2:102; 3:7), and oppression. Some commentators understand _fitnah_ here to mean that they were _tempted back_ to idolatry or disbelief (Ṭ, Q) and indicate that the ease with which they returned to idolatry suggests that they were truly idolaters at heart (Q). The instruction to _seize them and slay them wheresoever you come upon them_ is similarly given in relation to idolaters or those who have initiated hostilities against the Muslims (see 2:191; 4:89; 9:5). Ibn ʿAjībah typologically compares the "hypocrites" in vv. 89–91 with certain aspects of the soul. The aspect of the soul that _commands to evil_ (cf. 12:53) is analogous to those described in v. 89, who are not only hypocritical with regard to their own faith, but who also have the evil intention of turning believing Muslims from their faith; whereas those described in the present verse are analogous to the wavering aspect of the soul that is always torn between obedience and disobedience. When this aspect of one's soul urges toward disobedience, it must be fought without restraint.

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Ғ It is not for a believer to slay a believer, unless it be in error. Whosoever has slain a believer in error, let him set free a believing slave and pay compensation to the victim's family, unless they remit it in charity. If he belonged to a people at war with you, but was a believer, then a believing slave is to be set free. And if he belonged to a people with whom you have a covenant, let him pay compensation to the victim's family, and let him set free a believing slave. Whosoever finds not [the means], let him fast two consecutive months as a penance from God. God is Knowing, Wise.

92 For other prohibitions against killing, see 5:32; 25:68; for its repercussions, punishment, or reparations, cf. 2:178–79; 5:45; 17:33. Several _a ḥādīth_ indicate how seriously God takes the killing of Muslims; one states, "The killing of a believer is graver with God than the perishing of the world itself" (Q). The present verse addresses the accidental, unintentional, or unwitting killing of a believer and was reportedly revealed when a Muslim Emigrant, ʿAyyāsh ibn Abī Rabīʿah, killed a former disbeliever who had once flogged him severely for his adherence to Islam. The former disbeliever had, unbeknownst to ʿAyyāsh, embraced Islam and had come to Madinah, where ʿAyyāsh killed him (Ṭ, W, Z). Another report indicates that this verse was revealed when the Companion Abu'l-Dardāʾ killed an enemy whom he came upon unexpectedly on the outskirts of a battle. When the man saw Abu'l-Dardāʾ, he confessed the _shahādah,_ the Muslim testimony of faith in the One God and the prophethood of Muhammad, but Abu'l-Dardāʾ killed him anyway, not accepting his confession as he should have (Ṭ, Z).

In such cases, the slayer must free a Muslim slave in his possession and pay compensation ( _diyah,_ or "blood money") to the victim's family. The amount was set by most Islamic legal scholars as one hundred camels, or a thousand gold pieces ( _dīnār_ s) for those who do not own camels (Q, Ṭ), to be paid over three years by the slayer's paternal relatives (JJ) and divided among the victim's heirs with the rest of his estate according to the proportions mandated in vv. 11–12 (Z). The victim's family may _remit it_ out of charity, which is in the spirit of other verses that seek to promote unity and forgiveness among Muslims even after grievous injury (e.g., the substitution of blood money for the execution of the killer in the case of an intentional killing in 2:178 and 5:45; and the swiftness of reconciling and making peace between believers fighting among themselves in 49:9). Freeing a _believing slave_ is an expiation for other offenses, such as breaking a pledge (5:89) or renouncing a wife through the unacceptable pre-Islamic practice of _ẓ ihār_ (for this practice, see 58:1–2 and commentary), and is also a praiseworthy form of charity (90:13). This form of expiation is particularly meaningful here: in response to the loss of one life, another is given a new life through freedom (Z).

Most commentators require that the freed slave be an adult who has freely chosen Islam and practices observantly (Ṭ). If the victim is a believer, but hails from an enemy clan or tribe, then a slave is to be freed in expiation, but no compensation is paid to the victim's family (Ṭ); if the victim hails from a non-Muslim clan with whom the Muslims have a treaty (such as the protected People of the Book, or _dhimmī_ s), then compensation is also paid. Most agree that the victim need not be a Muslim, since Islamic Law requires compensation for the death of a _dhimmī,_ although some say it is half that for a Muslim (Q, Ṭ). For those who are poor, a fast of _two consecutive months_ serves as expiation in place of freeing a slave, as it does in the case of engaging in a pre-Islamic practice of divorce called _ẓ ihār_ (58:4), but there is debate about whether this fasting eliminates the need for compensating the victim's family as well (Ṭ). In the case of _ẓ ihār,_ feeding the poor is another possible expiation for those unable to fast, and some scholars maintain that this is also a possible expiation for unintentional killing (JJ). Although there is the possibility of a Divine relenting here, some assert that there is no such relenting for the one who kills a believer intentionally, as stated in the following verse.

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ғ Whosoever slays a believer willfully, his recompense is Hell, abiding therein. God is wroth with him, and curses him, and prepares for him a mighty punishment.

93 There is some debate about what it means to kill another _willfully_ and about the kind of assault or injury that would indicate that killing was the ultimate intent. Some say that in any assault with a deadly weapon, such as a sword, murder can be assumed to be the intention. Others say striking a person with a strong, heavy object (e.g., a piece of iron) can also indicate murderous intent (Ṭ). Questions arose over cases where a deliberate assault on someone using a nonlethal weapon (e.g., a wooden stick or a whip) resulted in death, although harming the victim, rather than killing him, was the actual intent. Some maintain that the perpetrator is required to pay the full compensation to the victim's family, but not liable to execution; others hold that he is liable to physical retaliation as well (Q).

Some hold that the killing of a believer intentionally is a sin for which there is no forgiveness; although others maintain the possibility of forgiveness for one who is contrite (Ṭ), a possibility clearly indicated in 25:68–71. Critics of the latter view, however, assert that the present verse was revealed after 25:68–71 and thus may abrogate the possibility of forgiveness suggested in 25:68–71 (Q); or that the possibility of forgiveness mentioned in 25:68–71 was meant only for those who committed murder and other serious offenses prior to accepting Islam (Ṭ). The Muʿtazilites, who maintained the certainty of the Divine punishments mentioned in the Quran, asserted that eternal punishment was the inevitable fate of all those who intentionally killed a believer; and one _ḥ adīth_ asserts that any who participate in the killing of a believer intentionally will arrive on the Day of Judgment with the words, "Despair of God's Mercy!" written on their brow (Z).

This view seems inconsistent, however, with other verses indicating that idolatry ( _shirk_ ) is the only unforgiveable sin (vv. 48, 116) and that God accepts the repentance of His servants (see, e.g., 9:104; 20:83; 42:25). Most scholars therefore accepted the possibility of repentance and forgiveness even for an intentional killer (Q); and some asserted, based on a _ḥ adīth,_ that punishment of the killer in this world serves as an atonement for him in the next (Th). Al-Ṭabarī upholds the possibility of forgiveness, citing 39:53: _Say, "O My servants who have been prodigal to the detriment of their own souls! Despair not of God's Mercy. Truly God forgives all sins. Truly He is the Forgiving, the Merciful._ Al-Rāzī also considers forgiveness possible, arguing that if the sin of disbelief ( _kufr_ ) can be forgiven by God, then surely killing can as well.

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Ҕ O you who believe! When you go forth in the way of God, be discerning, and say not unto him who offers you peace, "You are not a believer," seeking the ephemeralities of the life of this world, for with God are abundant spoils. Thus were you yourselves beforehand, but God has been gracious to you. Therefore be discerning. Truly God is Aware of whatsoever you do.

94 Following the strong prohibitions against killing another believer found in the previous verses, Muslims are here instructed to _be discerning_ and exercise great caution that those whom they fight are truly enemies of God and the Prophet (Ṭ). To this end, they should accept the claims of belief on the part of all those they encounter, even enemies in battle, lest, it is implied, they render themselves liable to the extreme punishments God imposes upon those who kill fellow believers. And since peace is the greeting of Muslims (see v. 4:86 and commentary) and that by which they are known, anyone who _offers you peace_ should not be dismissed as a disbeliever (Ṭ). The offering of peace here may also mean an offer to cease hostilities, rather than a greeting (R, Ṭ). This verse was reportedly revealed in relation to several incidents in which Muslims either pursued a man from an enemy tribe in order to kill him and take his possessions as booty, only to have him profess his belief in Islam once they had reached him, or came upon a presumed enemy who offered them a greeting of peace (Ṭ, W). In these various cases, the Muslims assumed that the man made the statement insincerely, only to save his life, and so killed him anyway and took the booty. In all these cases, the Prophet denounced the actions of his followers, and this verse was revealed to indicate that Muslims must accept a profession of belief from anyone who utters it, not reject it _seeking the ephemeralities of the life of this world,_ that is, the booty they could acquire by killing the person (W).

The verse supports the Islamic idea that the true character of a person's faith is known only to God, and so human beings must accept others' claims of belief at face value. Indeed, in one of the accounts that reportedly occasioned this verse, the Prophet rebukes a Muslim for having killed a former enemy who had confessed belief because he thought his confession was insincere, asking him if he had opened his victim's heart to test the truth of his claims to belief. The killer later died, and it is said that when they tried to bury him, the earth itself repeatedly spat him out, symbolizing the ultimate and otherworldly rejection of one guilty of such a crime (R, Ṭ). In addition to warning of the harsh consequences Muslims face for rashly killing someone who may be a fellow believer, this verse also implicitly reminds Muslims that when they fight, they do so only for the sake of religion, self-defense, or the defense of the helpless (cf. 4:75), not for booty— _for with God are abundant spoils_. So once the enemy professes belief, even if insincerity is suspected, hostilities should cease (cf. 2:190–93; 4:90; 8:39; 60:8). When encountering a profession of faith from one they thought a disbeliever, Muslims are to remember _thus were you yourselves beforehand,_ meaning either that previously they were disbelievers or that some of them, while in Makkah, hid their belief out of fear of persecution (R, Ṭ). The verse ends by repeating for emphasis the command that Muslims _be discerning_ in these matters and reminding them that _God is Aware_ of all that they do.

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ҕ Those who stay behind among the believers—except for the disadvantaged—and those who strive in the way of God with their goods and lives are not equal. God favors those who strive with their goods and their lives a degree above those who stay behind. Unto both God has promised that which is most beautiful. But He favors those who strive with a great reward above those who stay behind:

95 This verse, which Ibn ʿAbbās says was revealed in relation to those who fought in the Battle of Badr (2/624; Q, Ṭ), establishes the moral superiority of those believers who strive ( _mujāhidūn_ ) and sacrifice their wealth and themselves _in the way of God_ over those who _stay behind_ (lit. "sit") and do not make such sacrifices, favoring the former by _a degree_ (cf. 9:20). It could also be translated "in degree," allowing for the possibility that the _mujāhidūn_ may be raised above others by more than one degree (as suggested by the use of the plural in v. 96, _degrees conferred by Him_ ). The moral nobility and reward of the _mujāhidūn_ are mentioned throughout the Quran (see, e.g., 2:218; 5:54; 8:74; 9:41–44), and striving in the way of God is presented as a test of spiritual character (cf. 3:142; 9:16; 47:31). Striving can be done with one's _goods_ and/or one's life—that is, by supporting the struggle financially or physically (cf. 49:15; 61:11; but also 9:86–88, where certain wealthy men are criticized for wanting an exemption from fighting, presumably for having supported the struggle financially). This verse follows the long list of injunctions concerning fighting that begins in v. 71. Al-Rāzī speculates that the confirmation here of a great reward for those who strive in God's way was meant to counter any doubt or hesitation Muslims might feel after the severe warnings of caution about whom one could fight or kill in the preceding verses.

According to many commentators the verse was initially revealed without _except for the disadvantaged._ One of the Prophet's blind Companions (or a group of them) complained that he was unable to participate in battle given his condition. The Prophet was then overcome by a new revelation of the verse that included _except for the disadvantaged_ (Q, R, Ṭ, W). The _disadvantaged_ may include those with physical deficiencies or infirmities or those who lack equipment and resources (R). See 4:32c, where women in the community also complained to the Prophet about the greater spiritual reward men could earn through _jihād,_ a possibility not usually open to women.

There is some debate as to whether the added clause means that _the disadvantaged_ are, unlike capable nonstrivers, actually equal in merit to the _mujāhidūn_ who strive in the way of God or simply that they are exempt from the obligation to do so. Al-Rāzī argues that it likely means that they are equal, since the ultimate purpose of all religious duties is "to illuminate the heart with the knowledge of God," and so to the extent that _disadvantaged_ ones, who are exempt from _jihād,_ can nonetheless achieve this to the same degree as the _mujāhidūn,_ they are equal. This is similar to the implication in 4:32 that though women are usually unable to participate in _jihād,_ they enjoy the same possibility for merit and reward through fulfilling the other religious duties incumbent upon them (see 4:32c). Others suggest that the reward of the _disadvantaged_ is equal to that of the strivers, because reward in the Hereafter is based on God's favor, not solely on individual merit, and because reward accords with intention, not action (Q).

Some commentators read _those who strive in the way of God_ as referring not only to those who go out into battle, but also to those who strive to _enjoin right and forbid wrong_ (22:41; Su) or to those who strive against the negative tendencies of their own soul (Aj, R)—both common ethical interpretations of _jihād,_ or "striving," in the Quran. However, the exemption for the _disadvantaged_ in this verse suggests that here the Quran is primarily addressing physical (not just moral) struggle. To both groups— _those who strive,_ and those who _stay behind_ or, some say, only to the _mujāhidūn_ and the _disadvantaged_ who _stay behind_ (Q)—God has promised _that which is most beautiful,_ that is, Paradise. This reflects the fact that _jihād_ is a collective rather than an individual duty—incumbent upon the Muslim community as a whole, but not upon every individual in it (R). Yet within the context of Paradise, the verse suggests that the reward of the strivers will surpass that of (capable) nonstrivers.

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Җ degrees conferred by Him, and forgiveness and mercy. Surely God is Forgiving, Merciful.

96 _Degrees_ here seems to be an elaboration upon the _degree_ or the _great reward_ by which God favors the _mujāhidūn_ over others in v. 95. These _degrees_ may represent the level one attains in Paradise, the degrees of forgiveness or mercy received from God (R), or even the degrees of closeness to God one obtains by striving to please Him (Aj). The use of the plural _degrees_ in this verse, rather than the single _degree,_ as in v. 95, may indicate that while the _mujāhid_ is favored in this world by a single _degree_ (namely, the spoils of war he acquires thereby), he is favored many degrees or in multiple ways in the Hereafter (R); or it may indicate that the _mujāhidūn_ are favored by a single degree over the disadvantaged who are unable to strive, but by _degrees_ over those who _stay behind_ without a legitimate excuse (Q). Alternately, it may mean that the multiple _degrees_ of favor are for those who strive and sacrifice in every way: "with their lives and their wealth and their heart, [the last being] the noblest form of striving" (R). According to a _ḥ adīth,_ "There are a hundred degrees in Paradise that God has prepared for those who strive in His way, the distance between each two degrees being as the distance between Heaven and earth" (IK).

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җ When the angels take the souls of those who were wronging themselves, [the angels] say, "In what state were you?" They say, "We were weak and oppressed in the land." [The angels] will say, "Was not God's earth vast enough that you might have migrated therein?" These shall have their refuge in Hell—what an evil journey's end!

97 _The souls of those who were wronging themselves_ is widely considered to refer to those Makkans, such as ʿAlī ibn Umayyah and Abu'l-Qays ibn al-Walīd (IK), who claimed to accept Islam (some say hypocritically), but failed to migrate to Madinah (R, Ṭ, W). Some of these were compelled to join and fight alongside the Makkan idolaters at the Battle of Badr. The use of the gerund _wronging themselves_ is meant to indicate that they were taken while in the state of wrongdoing (R), for some of them died in the battle, and when the angels came to take their souls, they offered the excuse of oppression. But the response is that oppression is no excuse for believers who neglected the difficult, but possible, solution of emigrating elsewhere. According to some reports, some of these Makkan believers who were compelled to fight at Badr were taken as prisoners of war by the Muslims, and 8:70 was then revealed, indicating that, in having been captured rather than killed in this state, they had the possibility of Divine forgiveness (Ṭ).

_When the angels take the souls_ may also be read, grammatically, in the past tense: "When the angels took the souls." The verse can thus be understood as having both a general application and a particular, historical one (R, Z). Several verses mention the great spiritual merit and reward acquired by those who migrate for the sake of religion (2:218; 4:66–67, 100; 9:20; 16:41; 22:58; 59:9), and a _ḥ adīth_ indicates that those who migrate for the sake of preserving and practicing religion share a special bond with both Abraham and the Prophet Muhammad, who were commanded to do likewise (Q, Z); but the present verse and others reflect the fact that migration to Madinah was also considered essential in order for the newly converted to attain full status within the Muslim community from the period between 622, when the Prophet migrated there, until the conquest of Makkah in 630 (cf. 4:89; 8:72). Those who did not migrate and supported the disbelievers out of purported helplessness shall, like them, have their _refuge in Hell_. The early commentator al-Suddī (d. 127/744) claims that once this verse was revealed, all those who had embraced Islam but not migrated to Madinah were considered disbelievers ( _kuffār_ ) until they migrated (Ṭ), although this seems to be a harsher verdict on those who failed to migrate than what is found in 8:72. Al-Qurṭubī suggests that the fact that angels question them reproachfully about their state at all indicates that they were wrongdoing Muslims, not disbelievers.

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Ҙ But not so the [truly] weak and oppressed among the men, women, and children, who neither have access to any means nor are guided to any way.

ҙ As for such, it may be that God will pardon them, for God is Pardoning, Forgiving.

98–99 Although religious oppression in their native land is not a valid excuse for those with the option to migrate elsewhere—in this case, to Madinah in particular—the Quran here offers the possibility that God will forgive those who are genuinely _weak and oppressed,_ such that they lack the physical capacity or financial _means_ to migrate, or are not _guided to any way;_ that is, they have no knowledge of how to reach Madinah (Ṭ). Cf. 4:75 and commentary, where the believers are admonished to fight for the cause of the _weak and oppressed,_ understood by some as referring to those Muslims in Makkah who were unable to migrate to Madinah. It is reported that after the midday prayer the Prophet would regularly pray for the release of the believers still trapped in Makkah among the idolaters (Ṭ, Ṭs). Ibn ʿAbbās, who claims to have been among those truly _weak and oppressed_ in Makkah, says that after v. 97 was revealed, the Muslims in Madinah wrote of the verse to those in Makkah, informing them that they could claim no excuse for not migrating. So they attempted to leave, but the idolaters caught up with them and tormented them, and the Makkan Muslims understood it to be a punishment from God. After this, 29:10 was revealed, criticizing their continued weakness in the face of oppression, and when the Makkan Muslims were informed of it, they despaired of their moral fate until 16:110 was revealed, indicating that if they attempted again to migrate and succeeded thereafter in joining the Muslims in striving in God's way, they would be forgiven (Ṭ). Al-Rāzī warns, however, that migrating from one's native land is difficult for anyone, and claiming that one was unable to migrate simply because it would entail hardship is not acceptable; the excuse of weakness and oppression is acceptable from only those in circumstances that truly prevent them from migrating.

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Ā Whosoever migrates in the way of God will find upon the earth many a refuge and abundance, and whosoever forsakes his home, emigrating unto God and His Messenger, and death overtakes him, his reward will fall upon God, and God is Forgiving, Merciful.

100 For other verses on the reward that accrues to one who migrates for the sake of religion, see 2:218; 4:66–67; 9:20; 16:41; 22:58; 59:9. Here, the Quran seeks to lessen the hesitation some believers might feel about migrating by indicating that for those who succeed, there will be the earthly rewards of finding _many a refuge and abundance,_ and for those who die in the attempt, there will be reward with God in the next life. _Many a refuge_ translates _murāghim,_ which may also mean "many wide-open spaces," "much freedom to roam" (Ṭ), or "many paths by which to leave" (Z). In connection with this verse or the previous ones, some commentators relate the account of an elderly Muslim in Makkah who, upon hearing of the warning in v. 97 to those who do not emigrate, instructed his sons to aid him in leaving Makkah, though he was infirm and had to be carried on a bed. He is said to have died en route to Madinah (Ṭ, W). Upon hearing of his death, some Muslims suggested his reward would have been greater had he reached Madinah, while the Makkan disbelievers mocked his fate; this verse was thus revealed indicating that God Himself undertakes the reward of such a person (R, Z).

According to al-Zamakhsharī, the Divine reward mentioned in this verse applies to anyone who dies while traveling away from home for any religious purpose, including seeking knowledge, making the _ḥ ajj,_ participating in _jihād,_ escaping religious persecution, cultivating asceticism, or seeking lawful provision. This interpretation suggests that there is something spiritually edifying or meritorious in undertaking the hardships of traveling for any good purpose, and the Quran encourages its readers to _journey upon the earth_ to learn about God's creation and the moral fate of others (see, e.g., 3:137; 6:11; 16:36; 27:69; 35:44) and suggests that it may be a mode of acquiring spiritual understanding (18:60–82). In _Sūrah_ 106, the safe journeys of the Quraysh in summer and winter are mentioned as a Divine favor.

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ā When you travel upon the earth, there is no blame upon you for shortening your prayers if you fear that the disbelievers may attack you; verily the disbelievers are your manifest enemy.

Ă When thou art with them and leadest them in prayer, let one group of them stand with thee in prayer, taking their arms with them. When they have performed their prostrations, let them withdraw to the rear, and let another group come that has not prayed and let them pray with thee, taking precaution and their arms. The disbelievers wish you to be heedless of your arms and your baggage that they might assault you all at once. There is no blame on you if you lay aside your arms when you are troubled by heavy rain or illness. But take your precaution. Surely God has prepared for the disbelievers a humiliating punishment.

101–2 These verses contain accommodations in religious practice for those who are traveling (cf. 2:184–5; 4:43; 5:6). One may shorten or alter the performance of the canonical prayers specifically in the situation of fear of enemy attack; it was widely understood, on the basis of Prophetic precedent, that those traveling a substantial distance could also shorten those canonical prayers consisting of four cycles of recitation and prostration ( _raka ʿāt_) to two cycles. When someone questioned why the Muslims continued to shorten their prayers when traveling, even when they were in no danger, the Prophet said, "It is a charitable gift God has given you; so accept His charity!" (Ṭ). However, some question remained as to whether this accommodation applied to all travelers or only to those who feared enemy attack. According to one report, the first part of v. 101, _When you travel upon the earth, there is no blame on you for shortening your prayers,_ was revealed in response to a group of merchants who traveled on business and asked the Prophet about how they should pray on their journeys. Later, however, when the Muslims were in danger of being attacked by the idolaters while on a military campaign, the remainder of the verse was revealed along with v. 102, indicating the ways in which Muslims should take caution and keep guard when saying their prayers while in danger of attack (Ṭ). Al-Ṭabarī indicates that separating the two parts of v. 101 in this way is grammatically problematic.

However, there do appear to be two different alterations to the canonical prayer suggested in these two verses. The first is simply a shortening of the prayer from four to two cycles—an accommodation based upon Prophetic _Sunnah_ that applies to all travelers and is known as the "traveling prayer" ( _ṣ alāt al-safar;_ Q). The second, described in detail in v. 102, is the "prayer of fear" ( _ṣ alāt al-khawf_), which is performed while armed. The standing and bowing portions of the prayer are performed together by the prayer leader and all the lines of those following him; but during the prostration ( _sujūd_ ), the front line prostrates along with the prayer leader, while the back line stands guard and prostrates only after the others have stood up. They then alternate positions. Thus the prayer leader prays two cycles of prayer, but each line prostrates with the prayer leader during only one of the prostrations, standing guard during the other.

Some say that when the Prophet and his Companions prayed the "prayer of fear," one line would pray along with the Prophet for two cycles of the prayer, while the other stood guard; then they would alternate, so that the Prophet prayed a total of four cycles of prayer, but each line participated in only two of them (Ṭ). This verse was reportedly revealed when the Prophet and the Muslim army were facing an army of Makkan idolaters at ʿUsfān, led by Khālid ibn al-Walīd, who was at that time one of the fiercest Makkan warriors against the Prophet and his community. When the idolaters saw the Muslims praying the midday ( _ẓ uhr_) prayer, they decided to attack them while they were in the vulnerable state of praying. This verse was thus revealed between the midday and later afternoon ( _ʿ aṣr_) prayers, so that the defensive practice could be implemented during the _ʿ aṣr_ prayer and the attack avoided (Ṭ, W).

Some assert that when praying the "prayer of fear" while traveling, the two cycles normally said while traveling are halved again to one (Ṭ). For accommodations to prayer in a state of fear, see 2:239, where Muslims are allowed to pray on foot or on horseback when they fear enemy attack. Although Muslims are supposed to pray the "prayer of fear" while holding their weapons for protection, one may put them down if it becomes too difficult because of _rain or illness_. Some say this was revealed in relation to the Companion ʿAbd al-Raḥmān ibn ʿAwf _,_ who was wounded at the time (Ṭ). The _humiliating punishment_ for the disbelievers is Hellfire (Ṭ).

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ă When you have completed the prayer, remember [and invoke] God, standing, sitting, or lying on your sides. Then when you are secure, observe proper prayer, for prayer at fixed hours is prescribed for the believers.

103 After the Muslims have finished the shortened "prayer of fear," they are instructed to continue to worship by remembering and invoking God (both meanings are found in the Arabic _udhkurū Allāh_ )—that is, through the repeated affirmation of His Oneness, by uttering the formula of glorification ( _tasbī ḥ_), or by making a personal supplication to God for themselves or for victory (Q, Ṭ)—in any position that they are able to in their constrained condition, _standing, sitting, or lying_ on their sides (cf. 3:191). Elsewhere, Muslims are enjoined to _remember God much_ as they face battle (8:45). However, the injunction to _remember God_ in these various circumstances indicates more generally the importance of the spiritual aspiration of remembering God ( _dhikru ʾLlāh_) at all times and serves as the scriptural basis for the Sufi teaching about invoking and remembering God at all moments of life, that is, being _dā ʾim al-dhikr_ (in constant remembrance). The importance of the remembrance or invocation ( _dhikr_ ) of God is a major theme throughout the Quran. Certain passages indicate that _dhikr,_ in addition to its ordinary meaning of invocation and remembrance, also refers to a specific or even somewhat ritualized form of invocation connected with prayer (2:239; 7:206; 87:15), congregational worship in sacred places (2:114; 24:36), worship during the _ḥ ajj_ (2:198–203), and glorifications of God, often said to be uttered _morning and evening_ (3:41; 7:205; 20:33–34; 33:41–42; 43:13).

But when they are _secure,_ no longer in a state of fear of enemy attack, Muslims should return to the normative mode of prayer, with the full number of prayer cycles ( _rak ʿāt_). The verse then reiterates that prayer at the prescribed times is incumbent upon the Muslims. Indeed, the importance of praying at fixed times is implicit in the accommodations made to the prayer in the previous two verses, since substantial changes to the length and mode of prayer may be made in order to accommodate meeting the fixed times of prayer even in cases of extreme danger. Others say that this means that once one is secure, one should finish the prayers by saying the parts that were omitted (Ṭ).

Ibn ʿAjībah also gives a spiritual meaning to this latter command, suggesting that when one has completed the physical prayer, one should immerse oneself in the "prayer of the heart" until one becomes _secure_ in the Holy Presence; once _secure_ in that Presence, one should perform the "prayer of witnessing and seeing," which is the "constant prayer" (see 70:22–23). Other Sufi commentators stress the distinction between the canonical prayer, done at specified times and when one is _secure,_ and the practice of invoking or remembering God—that is, the "presence of the heart"—which should be constant (Qu). _Prayer at fixed hours is prescribed for the believers_ is considered the scriptural basis for the obligatory canonical prayers and is often cited in daily Muslim life. These words are inscribed in many places of worship and cited in various texts.

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Ą Slacken not in the pursuit of these people. If you are suffering, verily they suffer even as you suffer, while you hope from God that for which they do not hope. Surely God is Knowing, Wise.

104 This verse was reportedly revealed after the Battle of Uḥud (3/625), encouraging the Muslims to continue to pursue Abū Sufyān, the leader of the idolaters (JJ). When the Muslims complained of their weakness from the wounds they had suffered at Uḥud, the verse reminded them that the idolaters _suffer even as you suffer,_ but lack the hope the Muslims have for reward in the next life (Ṭ) and for victory and Divine support even in this life, as promised throughout the Quran (IK)—a hope that should give them, in the form of strength and encouragement, an advantage that the idolaters can never have (IK, JJ, Ṭ).

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ą Verily We have sent down unto thee the Book in truth, that thou mightest judge between men according to what God has shown thee. So be not an advocate for those who betray their trust.

Ć And seek forgiveness of God; surely God is Forgiving, Merciful.

ć And plead not on behalf of those who betray their own selves. Surely God loves not the one given to treachery and sin.

105–7 These verses indicate that one of the purposes of the revelation to the Prophet was that he might _judge between men according to what God has shown_ him—that is, according to what God has taught him (R). Some scholars adduce this phrase to demonstrate that the Prophet had been given permission to perform _ijtihād_ —that is, to derive independent rulings from the principles and laws contained in the Quran (IK). These three verses were reportedly addressed to the Prophet in relation to an incident in which Ṭuʿmah ibn Ubayriq, a Muslim who was likely a hypocrite ( _munāfiq;_ R), had stolen a piece of armor and hid it among the belongings of one of the Jews of Madinah in order to avoid discovery and later accused him of the theft. The Prophet initially attempted to defend Ṭuʿmah at the behest of the latter's relatives, but in v. 105 he was warned not to defend _those who betray their trust,_ and in v. 106 he was instructed to seek forgiveness for his initial willingness to do so (IK, JJ, Ṭ). V. 107 again warns against advocating for _those who betray their own selves_.

The parallelism between _those who betray their trust_ in v. 105 and _those who betray their own selves_ in v. 107, which both refer to the same people, reflects the Quranic idea that one's moral or immoral actions ultimately affect only oneself (see v. 111). Hence the assertion found throughout the Quran in relation to wrongdoers that God does not wrong people, but that they wrong themselves (see, e.g., 2:57; 3:117; 7:160). Here in betraying one's _trust,_ one ultimately betrays oneself. The Prophet is instructed to apply the rulings of the Quran without favoritism toward anyone—even on behalf of a (perhaps nominal) fellow Muslim against a member of another religious community (R).

Because here the Quran admonishes the Prophet to avoid advocating for those who are treacherous and to seek forgiveness, a few have argued that these verses indicate that the Prophet was initially willing to advocate for the lying Ṭuʿmah, which would seem to cast doubt on the commonly accepted theological principle of _ʿ iṣmah,_ which holds that all prophets are protected against the commission of any major sin. Al-Rāzī responds to this argument by noting that the report of this incident indicates that, although the Prophet was concerned about the situation and willing to get involved, he took no decisive action right away, but waited for the guidance of revelation, which eventually came. The instruction to the Prophet to _seek forgiveness of God,_ he further argues, may be read as an instruction to seek forgiveness for others—namely, for those who tried to persuade him to advocate for Ṭuʿmah.

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Ĉ They seek to hide themselves from men, but they cannot hide from God. He is with them when they conspire by night with words displeasing to Him, and God encompasses whatsoever they do.

108 This verse, along with vv. 109–14, continues to address the issue of those who _betray their own selves_ (v. 107) through wrongdoing and treachery. They may hide their shameful actions from others (as they nearly did in the case of Ṭumʿah), but, as the Quran frequently repeats, nothing can be hidden from God. Here and elsewhere hypocrites and wrongdoers are accused of conspiring or devising schemes _by night,_ that is, in private and away from the gaze of others (see 4:81; 34:33). _God encompasses whatsoever they do_ could more literally be rendered, "God is encompassing ( _mu ḥīṭ_) of whatsoever they do"; the same or a similar phrase also appears in 3:120; 4:126; 8:47; 11:92; 41:54, where it tends to be used in an ominous way in relation to disbelievers and their wrongdoing. _Mu ḥīṭ_ is considered a Divine Name and on its own is usually rendered _All-Encompassing_ (see 85:20).

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ĉ There you are, pleading on their behalf concerning the life of this world! But who will plead with God on their behalf on the Day of Resurrection, or be a guardian for them?

109 In _There you are, pleading on their behalf,_ "you" is in plural rather than singular and thus refers not to the Prophet (who is admonished against advocating for the treacherous in vv. 105–7), but to those who would seek to defend the Ubayriq clan or others engaged in similar wrongdoing or to plead for the Prophet's support on their behalf. As the Quran emphasizes in 2:270; 3:56; 71:25, and many other places, wrongdoers will have no advocate or defender before God on the Day of Judgment.

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Đ Whosoever does evil or wrongs himself, and then seeks forgiveness of God, he will find God Forgiving, Merciful.

110 The promise of forgiveness is here likely extended to both the treacherous wrongdoers and those who would wrongfully seek to defend them (Ṭ).

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đ And whosoever commits a sin, commits it only against his own soul, and God is Knowing, Wise.

111 The meaning here is that through immoral actions, one ultimately harms or wrongs only oneself, since God is not harmed by such actions and the offense given to other creatures endures only in this life. Yet, the effect of both moral and immoral actions endures for those who commit them in the form of congruous reward and punishment in the next life. Throughout the Quran, the wrongdoers are repeatedly referred to as those who _wrong themselves,_ and in several places, including here, the correspondence between moral and immoral acts and their reward and punishment amounts to a kind of moral reflexivity, where actions are ultimately done only to or for oneself (see, e.g., 2:9, 272; 3:69; 6:123; 8:60; 9:34–35; 10:23; 29:6; 35:18).

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Ē And whosoever commits an offense or a sin, and then casts it upon one who is innocent, bears the burden of calumny and a manifest sin.

112 This verse continues to address the incident involving Ṭuʿmah ibn Ubayriq, who, after committing theft, blamed it on a Jewish resident of Madinah (see 4:105–7c). Although _an offense or a sin_ and _calumny and a manifest sin_ may seem to be rough pairs of synonyms or nouns placed in apposition for greater effect, the commentators understand these terms as referring to different kinds of acts. They suggest various distinctions between an _offense_ and a _sin: offense_ refers to an error or a wrong done unintentionally, whereas _sin_ denotes an intentional wrongful act (R, Ṭ); _offense_ denotes a minor infraction and _sin_ a major one (R, Z); or _offense_ is a "victimless" sin that spiritually harms only the one who commits it, while _sin_ is an action that harms another (R). Al-Rāzī asserts that those who blame another will be _burdened_ both with _calumny,_ meaning that they will experience great shame in this life, and with _a manifest sin_ , which indicates their greater punishment in the Hereafter.

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ē Were it not for God's Bounty toward thee, and His Mercy, a party of them would have plotted to lead thee astray, but they lead astray only their own souls, and they can do thee no harm in the least. God has sent down unto thee the Book and Wisdom, and has taught thee what thou knewest not; God's Bounty toward thee is great indeed.

113 _God's Bounty_ and _Mercy_ toward _thee—_ that is, the Prophet—can be understood to mean in this context that He revealed to the Prophet the true guilt of Ṭuʿmah and so prevented the Prophet from being led _astray_ by Ṭuʿmah's fellow clansmen, who misrepresented Ṭuʿmah's innocence and sought to have the Prophet pardon and intercede on behalf of their guilty kinsman. In doing so, He protected the Prophet from committing an error in judgment with regard to both Ṭuʿmah and the innocent man he had accused and thereby prevented Ṭuʿmah's advocates from bringing spiritual _harm_ to the Prophet. Thus God preserved the Prophet's _ʿ iṣmah,_ that is, his protection from sin and moral error. This verse also indicates the same moral reflexivity suggested in v. 111, for in seeking to lead the Prophet astray, they misled only themselves. According to al-Ṭabarī, Ṭuʿmah's would-be advocates knew that their attempt to solicit the Prophet's defense of Ṭuʿmah was effectively an attempt to lead the Prophet astray, since they had been warned by the prior revelation in v. 105, _be not an advocate for those who betray their trust,_ and thus knew that defending the treacherous Ṭuʿmah was not acceptable to God. See also 3:69, where, in seeking to lead others astray, the disbelievers mislead only themselves; and 39:41, where the soul's going astray is said to harm none but itself.

From a theological perspective, some understand _God's Bounty_ toward the Prophet in this verse to be a reference to his prophethood; they consider _His Mercy_ to be a reference either to the special aid He rendered to the Prophet or more specifically to the Prophet's _ʿ iṣmah,_ or moral inerrancy (R, Ṭs, Z), which mainstream Islamic doctrine attributed to all prophets. In other verses, however, _God's Bounty_ and _Mercy_ are used in reference to God's revelation of a particular guidance to the believers as a whole—a guidance that similarly prevents them from making serious errors of judgment—and so does not seem to relate only to the specific qualities given to the prophets (see 4:83; 24:10, 14, 20, 21). In the present verse, God protects the Prophet from being led astray by teaching him what he did not know, either in the sense of revealing to him the hidden nature of affairs and the inner intentions of people or simply in the sense of instructing him in religious Law (Z), the _Book and Wisdom_ (R). The Quran elsewhere speaks of God granting various prophets both the _Book and Wisdom_ (2:129, 151, 231; 3:81, 164; 4:54; 5:110; 62:2); the _Book_ refers to the scripture itself, and _Wisdom_ to religious knowledge and understanding more generally. For al-Rāzī, the reiteration of the greatness of _God's Bounty,_ after describing His Revelation of the _Book and Wisdom_ and His teaching the Prophet what he did not know, is a clear indication that knowledge is the "noblest of the bounties and virtues" that God may bestow.

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Ĕ There is no good in most of their secret converse, save for him who enjoins charity or kindness or reconciliation between men. And whosoever does that, seeking God's Good Pleasure, We shall grant him a great reward.

114 In itself, _secret converse_ ( _najwā_ ) is morally neutral. It can be positive, as in this verse, where it may be used to enjoin _charity or kindness or reconciliation,_ for which one can expect a _great reward_. But as this verse and others indicate, _secret converse_ may also portend plotting and ill intentions. Cf. 58:7–10, where _secret converse_ is said to be known to God, but forbidden when it is done _with a view to sin, enmity, and disobeying the Messenger_. The believers are then told to _converse in secret with a view to piety and reverence_. The next line warns that _secret converse is only from Satan_ , presumably when it is ill-intentioned (see 114:4–6, in which God's protection is sought against the _stealthy whisperer,_ who is Satan, or against jinn and men). A _ḥ adīth_ warns, "The speech of the Children of Adam always works against them, not for them, except when it is to command the right and forbid the wrong, or to invoke God" (Z). Hypocrites in general (v. 81), and Ṭuʿmah's clansmen in particular (v. 108) are also said to conspire by night ( _bayyata_ ), and so, presumably, in secret. Here as elsewhere, the Quran praises those who do good deeds _seeking God's good Pleasure,_ meaning with pure intention, not for worldly purposes or to seek the pleasure or praise of others (Z); see 2:207, 265; 60:1.

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ĕ But whosoever opposes the Messenger, after guidance has been made clear to him, and follows a way other than that of the believers, We shall leave him on [the path] he has taken, and We shall cause him to burn in Hell—what an evil journey's end!

115 This verse likely closes the discussion of the incident involving Ṭuʿmah, who is said to have returned to Makkah after his theft was revealed and abandoned Islam (R, Z). The verse thus issues a warning to those who, like Ṭuʿmah, break with the Prophet after having recognized his spiritual guidance.

_Opposes the Messenger_ means to become his enemy, despite being aware that he is a prophet bringing right guidance; following _a way other than that of the believers_ indicates disbelief ( _kufr;_ Ṭ). For al-Rāzī, this verse is evidence for the moral inerrancy ( _ʿ iṣmah_) of the Prophet, since if he were errant, it would not always be a punishable sin to oppose him. The legal scholar al-Shāfiʿī and some other major commentators considered this verse proof of the authority of communal consensus ( _ijmā ʿ_), one of the four sources of Islamic Law in the Shāfiʿī school. In making a connection between one who _follows a way other than that of the believers_ and those who oppose _the Messenger,_ this verse can be taken to indicate that both the Messenger and the "way of the believers" represent authoritative sources of guidance that cannot be rightly opposed (R, Z). Insofar as the verse indicates the necessity of following the Prophet and the "way of the believers," Al-Rāzī also holds that it is proof that right guidance requires external examples to be followed and cannot be based simply upon one's own intuitive knowledge or inherent sense of right and wrong.

For Shiites, however, the verse is not understood to mean that one must follow the path of the believers as individual human beings who are fallible, whose state of belief cannot be definitively ascertained, and whose status as "believers" may change over time. For leading Twelver Shiite commentators, the "way of the believers" refers to the way prescribed by the teachings of their Imams (Ṭs, Ṭū), since they considered these teachings to be Divinely guaranteed and complementary to the teachings of the Prophet.

The warning that one who opposes the Prophet and the way of the believers will be left by God _on [the path] he has taken_ means that he will be left to continue on the path of error (Z) or of worshipping idols or false deities, and though he may seek the help of those deities on the Last Day, they will not avail him (Ṭ). Al-Rāzī says that some assert that this verse was abrogated by later verses such as 9:29, which enjoins Muslims to _fight those who do not believe in God . . . and who follow not the Religion of Truth_ and thus takes a more aggressive stance against apostates, in this world, rather than leaving the consequences of their actions to the Hereafter.

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Ė Truly God forgives not that any partner be ascribed unto Him, but He forgives what is less than that for whomsoever He will. Whosoever ascribes partners unto God has surely gone far astray.

116 See 4:48 (a nearly identical verse) and commentary.

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ė They call upon only females in His stead; they call upon none but a defiant Satan,

Ę whom God has cursed, who said, "Assuredly I shall take of Thy servants an appointed share,

ę and surely I shall lead them astray, and arouse desires in them. I shall command them and they will slit the ears of cattle; I shall command them and they will alter God's creation." Whosoever takes Satan as a protector apart from God has surely suffered a manifest loss.

117–19 _Females_ here likely refers to the three female deities worshipped by the pagan Makkans, al-Lāt, al-ʿUzzah, and Manāt, who are mentioned by name in 53:19–20 and whom the pagan Makkans believed to be the "daughters" of Allāh (Z). Other Makkan deities were also female, and the verse may reference them as well. One minority opinion considers _females_ to be a reference to the angels that the Makkans _name . . . with female names_ (53:27; Ṭ), who were also considered by the Makkans to be the daughters of Allāh (Z). The female character of these idols, deities, and "angels," referenced explicitly here and in the passages in _Sūrah_ 53, was for some medieval commentators a particular reason to belittle these idolatrous practices. A number of commentators considered the female to be lowlier and closer to pure "matter" than the male (Q, R), making the Makkan worship of female idols even worthier of ridicule in their eyes.

Elsewhere, the Quran rebukes the Makkans for assigning these "daughters" to God, when they themselves were dismayed by the birth of a daughter (see 16:57–58). Minority opinions attributed to ʿĀʾishah and Ibn ʿAbbās, however, eliminated the female reference entirely by reading the word _ināth_ ("females") as "idols" ( _uthun_ or _awthān;_ Q, R, Z), both possible readings on the basis of the early consonantal text of the Quran, although this is not among the approved readings of the verse according to the Islamic science of variant recitations ( _qirā ʾāt_). Certainly, even if the Quranic condemnation here pertains directly to the worship of these false female deities, it can be understood as extending to all false and idolatrous objects of worship.

In calling upon these _females,_ their devotees are, in effect, worshipping them (R); and in doing this they are unwittingly calling upon or worshipping the _defiant Satan,_ for it is Satan who deceives them into idol worship, so when they engage in that act, they obey him (Z). Al-Qurṭubī claims that each idol worshipped in pre-Islamic Arabia had its own "satan" that accompanied it, and this satan would speak by inspiring words in the idol's custodian or priestess, who would then relate them to the people. Cf. 22:3 and 37:7, which also make reference to _a defiant demon_. However, in vv. 118–19, this _satan_ is identified as the one who said, _Assuredly I shall take of Thy servants an appointed share,_ making it clear that "satan" here refers not to an unspecified demon (although it is presented in the indefinite form), but to the defiant Satan in the story of Adam's creation who vows to lead human beings astray; see 7:16–18; 17:62. He arouses in them _desires_ (v. 119) for both good things in this world, such as long life and increased wealth, and good things in the next, such as undeserved Divine forgiveness (Z).

The practice of slitting _the ears of cattle_ was part of a pagan ritual of the Makkans. They would slit the ears of female camels who had given birth five times, with the fifth offspring being male, to indicate that they should no longer be used (Z). Al-Ṭabarī says that this practice was part of the pagan ritual known as _ba ḥīrah,_ mentioned in 5:103. For other pagan rituals concerning livestock, see 6:136–39.

V. 119 asserts that it is also by Satan's command that people _alter God's creation_ which, following upon the previous reference to slitting the ears of livestock, refers to various, unacceptable forms of mutilation perpetrated on animals, but especially on human beings—including tattooing and castrating men to serve as eunuchs, practices condemned by Islamic legal scholars, but found, historically, in some parts of the Islamic world (Z). Muslims do practice male circumcision, however, and some legal schools consider female circumcision (the cutting of the skin around the clitoris), if it is limited in nature, to be _sunnah._ In general, rules regarding circumcision tend to be discussed as matters of ritual purity, rather than as forms of "altering God's creation." Neither practice is mentioned in the Quran, and the tradition on which female circumcision is based is not accepted by all; some Muslims consider female circumcision a form of bodily mutilation that should be prohibited in Islam and it is not practiced in most Islamic countries.

Another opinion understands _alter God's creation_ as meaning to alter His original religion, given that God's creation and the "upright religion" are identified with each other in 30:30: _Set thy face to religion as a_ ḥanīf, _in the primordial nature from God upon which He originated mankind—there is no altering the creation of God; that is the upright religion._ In the latter verse, both God's creation and His religion are associated with the primordial nature ( _fi ṭrah_) endowed by God. When the pagan Arabs performed these rituals on livestock or human beings, they were both engaging in practices not ordained by God, and so altering His pure religion, and altering the nature of these creatures, and so violating the original nature of God's creation.

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Ġ He makes them promises and stirs in them desires, but Satan promises naught but delusion.

120 God's promises are true, as is repeatedly asserted (see, e.g., 3:152; 4:122; 7:44; 10:4), but Satan's promises are false and _naught but delusion_ (see also 17:64). In 14:22 Satan himself asserts that God's promise was true, but that he (Satan) had failed in his promises. See also 31:33; 35:5–6, where Satan is identified as the _Deluder._

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ġ Such will have their refuge in Hell, and will find no refuge therefrom.

121 Hell or "the Fire" is described, perhaps with ironic intention, as a _refuge_ for disbelievers and wrongdoers throughout the Quran; see, for example, 3:151; 4:97; 8:16; 13:18; 24:57; 45:34; 79:39. That those condemned to Hell will find _no refuge_ is also mentioned in 14:21; 41:48; 42:47; 75:11.

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Ģ But for those who believe and perform righteous deeds, We shall cause them to enter Gardens with rivers running below, abiding therein forever. God's Promise is true, and who is truer in speech than God?

122 For the often repeated description of Paradise as a _Garden with rivers running below,_ see 2:25 and commentary.

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ģ It will not be in accordance with your desires nor the desires of the People of the Book. Whosoever does evil shall be requited for it, and he will find no protector or helper for himself apart from God.

Ĥ And whosoever performs righteous deeds, whether male or female, and is a believer, such shall enter the Garden, and they shall not be wronged so much as the speck on a date stone.

123–24 These verses relate to the debate between the adherents of different religions as to which is better or truer. _Your desires_ and _the desires of the People of the Book_ may indicate the desire of the Muslims and the desire of Jews and Christians, respectively, to claim the superiority of their own religion (Ṭ; see 2:111–13). Or they may be claiming special leniency when it comes to Divine Judgment regardless of their acts because of their membership in a particular religious community (Z); for examples of such claims by the People of the Book, see 2:80; 3:24; 5:18. Another opinion asserts that the verse is directly addressing the idolaters and that _your desires_ thus refers to the desire or claim of the idolaters that they will not be resurrected and punished for their deeds. Al-Ṭabarī considers the latter interpretation more likely, since _desires_ here translates _amānī,_ which is etymologically related to the term used for the false _desires_ Satan arouses in people to lead them astray in vv. 119–20, and so should be associated with those who are actually astray (such as the Makkan idolaters), rather than with the believing Muslims. In either case, the Quran negates these claims, indicating that there will indeed be punishment and reward in the Hereafter, and it will based not solely upon membership in a particular religious community, but upon individual belief and the performance of righteous deeds, for _whosoever does evil shall be requited for it,_ and _whosoever performs righteous deeds, whether male or female, and is a believer, such shall enter the Garden_ (for similar statements about human moral potential and reward made explicitly to both genders, see 3:195; 40:40).

The condition _and is a believer_ may be meant to indicate particularly a Muslim believer, as the term is used throughout the Quran to refer to believers in the Quranic message specifically; however, the Quran also asserts that anyone who _believes in God and the Last Day and works righteousness_ (2:62; 5:69) will have a blessed Afterlife and explicitly includes faithful Jews and Christians among those to whom this applies. It is thus possible to understand the condition of being a _believer_ here in the more general sense of anyone who believes in God and the Last Day. The condition of being a _believer_ is mentioned explicitly in v. 124 as a requirement for the reward of righteous deeds, but in v. 123 the punishment for evil deeds is presented as applicable to all. This reportedly troubled some of the Prophet's Companions, who feared punishment for their missteps despite their belief in Islam and found it hard to reconcile this verse with other verses that assert that minor sins may be forgiven or "removed" by good deeds (see, e.g., 4:31; 11:114). The Prophet assured them that, for believers, the hardships they suffer in life—from major calamities to suffering the prick of a thorn—will serve as expiation for their sins or, from a different perspective, that punishment for such sins was meted out through the adversities in this life, both great and small (R, Ṭ).

As the reported concerns of the Prophet's Companions would seem to indicate, such verses must be understood in the larger context of the Quran's discussion of God's judgment of human beings, a discussion that leans heavily toward affirming God's capacity to forgive and suggesting multiple compensations for human shortcoming. See, for example, 6:160: _Whosoever brings a good deed shall have ten times the like thereof; but whosoever brings an evil deed shall be recompensed only with the like thereof, and they shall not be wronged._ See also the essay "Death, Dying, and the Afterlife in the Quran."

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ĥ And who is better in religion than the one who submits his face to God, and is virtuous, and follows the creed of Abraham, as a _ḥ anīf?_ And God did take Abraham for a friend.

125 True religious superiority, however, is attained on the individual, not communal, level by submitting one's _face to God_ —a symbolic expression meaning the submission of one's whole self to God—as well as being _virtuous_ and following the pure _creed of Abraham, as a_ ḥanīf (cf. 2:130; for _ḥ anīf,_ see 2:135c; 30:30c). Vv. 124–25 can be understood as bringing together the three levels of religious commitment mentioned in the famous _ḥ adīth_ of Gabriel: outward submission through righteous acts ( _islām_ ), correct and sincere faith ( _īmān_ ), and virtue ( _i ḥsān_) achieved through a constant awareness of God. In v. 124, otherworldly reward is promised for those who perform righteous deeds and hold correct belief; but in v. 125, being _virtuous_ is connected with submitting one's _face to God,_ indicating that the "best" religion is achieved by those who manifest true virtue through complete, rather than merely outward, submission to God. In the present verse, such complete submission to God is directly connected to Abraham. The Quran suggests that Muslims have an advantage over other monotheists in following the _creed of Abraham,_ since the claim that Abraham was a Jew or a Christian is rejected (2:140; 3:65–67) and elsewhere Abraham and his creed are explicitly connected to the Prophet Muhammad and his religious community (2:135; 3:68; 6:61; 16:123). Moreover, in the Quran the exclusively Islamic practice of the _ḥ ajj_ as well as the reverence for the Makkan _ḥ aram_ are initiated by Abraham himself (2:125–26; 3:97; 22:26–30; R).

Here Abraham is famously identified as the intimate _friend_ of God ( _khalīl_ ). Of all the laudatory comments made about Abraham in the Quran, it is his identification here as God's intimate _friend_ that gives Abraham his most well known honorific title in Islam, _Khalīl Allāh_. Although this particular honorific is used primarily for Abraham, some argue that it is a quality belonging to all the prophets, including Muhammad (Ṭs). _Khalīl_ indicates a friendship so close that one loves and hates whatever one's friend loves and hates and thus chooses allies and enemies in accordance with the allies and enemies of one's friend (Ṭ). The Quran indicates that this is the ideal relationship that all believers should have with God, since it warns that the enemies of God should also be the enemies of the believers, and that the believers should not take the enemies of God as their friends (see, e.g., 60:1). Abraham demonstrates this himself, according to the statement in 9:114, which says that he used to pray for forgiveness for his father, _but when it became clear to him that he was an enemy of God, he repudiated him_. Sufi authors and commentators understand _khalīl_ as referring to a fullness of love ( _ma ḥabbah_) and say that Abraham was called _Khalīl Allāh_ because love of God permeated ( _takhallala_ , from the same root as _khalīl_ ) every aspect of his being (Aj; Ibn ʿArabī, _Fu ṣūṣ al-ḥikam, faṣṣ_ 5).

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Ħ Unto God belongs whatsoever is in the heavens and whatsoever is on the earth, and God encompasses all things.

126 _Encompasses_ here translates _kāna mu ḥīṭ_ (see 4:108c). The active participle, _Mu ḥīṭ,_ is one of the Divine Names and on its own is often translated _All-Encompassing_ (85:20). In the Quran, the Divine Name _Mu ḥīṭ_ is usually mentioned in connection with a rebuke or threat to the disbelievers or hypocrites, although when it is invoked by Muslims, as with other Divine Names, it does not pertain necessarily to Divine rebuke. Here it is used in a more universal and metaphysical sense— _God encompasses all things_. This verse closes the previous discussions of belief, hypocrisy, and idolatry and initiates a brief return, in the next four verses, to a discussion of marital issues addressed earlier in the _sūrah_.

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ħ They seek a ruling from thee concerning women. Say, "God gives you a ruling concerning them, and that which has been recited to you in the Book concerning the orphan girls—to whom you give not what is prescribed for them though you desire to marry them—and also the helpless among the children: that you should uphold justice for the orphans. Whatever good you do, surely God knows it well."

127 This verse and v. 129 extend the discussion of orphans, marriage, and _dealing justly_ with one's wives initiated in v. 3. When the Prophet was asked for a _ruling . . . concerning women,_ this verse was revealed, instructing him to remind them that they should already know the rule, for they already have _that which has been recited to you in the Book concerning the orphan girls_. ʿĀʾishah contended that the present verse was issued as a clarification of v. 3 (Ṭ, Q; see also 4:3c) and was meant to prevent male guardians from either marrying orphan girls without giving them their full bridal gifts or refusing to marry them to themselves or others, so as later to assume the girls' inheritance, should the guardian outlive them.

The first of these seems consistent with the rebuke concerning orphan girls that follows: _you give not what is prescribed for them though you desire to marry them,_ thus reiterating the insistence that orphan girls be married properly, with a bridal payment, to avoid their exploitation (see v. 3c; W). However, _though you desire to marry them_ employs the verb _raghiba,_ which, when used with certain prepositions, means to desire or prefer something, but when used with other prepositions, means the opposite—to dislike or be averse to something. In the present verse, the preposition has been elided, opening the verb to both meanings. Thus some commentators understand the Arabic to mean "though you desire _not_ to marry them" and consider it to refer to the latter practice of refusing to either marry undesirable orphan girls or marry them off to others (cf. v:19), in hopes that the girls would predecease them, allowing them to take the girls' inheritance portions for themselves (JJ, Q, Ṭ). Open as it is to both meanings, this part of the verse thus precludes both ways of mistreating orphan girls, both marrying them off without giving them their rightful bridal payment or refusing to marry them in order to keep their inheritance for oneself.

Given that the verse also mentions _the helpless among the children_ and _orphans_ in general, many early commentators considered the reminder about _that which has been recited to you in the Book_ to refer to the general rulings about inheritance in vv. 11–12. As noted in the commentary on those verses, some of the Prophet's Companions were unhappy with the command to give allotted shares of the inheritance to women and young children, who did not inherit according to pre-Islamic Arabian custom. According to a report from the early authority Saʿīd ibn Jubayr (d. 95/714), their dissatisfaction with the inheritance provisions for women and children led them to persist in questioning the Prophet about this and seeking, through him, further Divine clarification. According to this report, the present verse represents the Divine response to their questioning, apparently rebuking them for seeking a ruling on a matter for which a ruling has already been clearly prescribed and thereby affirming the rules of inheritance in vv. 11–12 (Ṭ). All of these reported interpretations of this verse, however, collectively indicate that some of the Prophet's Companions, discontented with the new rules for inheritance, perhaps particularly as they pertained to orphan girls, complained about them, attempted to circumvent them (see commentary on 4:3, 11, 12), or hoped to have them changed by a new Divine decree. In this verse all such efforts are rebuffed and the earlier Quranic rulings are thereby implicitly reaffirmed.

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Ĩ If a wife fears animosity or desertion from her husband, there is no blame upon them should they come to an accord, for an accord is better. Souls are prone to avarice, but if you are virtuous and reverent, surely God is Aware of whatsoever you do.

128 This verse continues as part of the _ruling . . . concerning women_ requested by some of the Prophet's Companions in the previous verse (R). _Animosity_ translates _nushūz,_ which has as its root meaning high-handedness, arrogance, or aloofness and is also used in v. 34, where it is men who fear _nushūz_ (translated _discord and animosity_ ) from their wives. Both this verse and v. 34 speak of one who "fears" animosity from a spouse, but in both cases this is understood to mean that the animosity has been clearly displayed and is not merely suspected (Q; see 4:34c). A wife's _nushūz_ toward her husband in v. 34 is widely understood as disobedience, or a failure to respect his marital or conjugal rights due to lack of affection, or to aversion and a desire to separate from him. In the present verse, a husband's _nushūz_ is construed differently, although somewhat analogously, as neglect of his wife because of a desire or inclination toward other women or wives or as a desire to divorce her due to a loss of affection or an aversion toward her (JJ, Ṭ).

It is clear that the Quran recognizes that such unilateral feelings of aversion on the part of either husband or wife may lead to divorce and in both cases allows for extraordinary measures to prevent it. A husband may discipline his wife to counter her animosity or disrespect toward him (v. 34), while a woman facing _animosity or desertion from her husband_ is, by contrast, encouraged to arrange _an accord_ with him. According to most commentators, this means agreeing to give her husband part of her bridal payment or other property or forfeiting some of her rights as a wife (e.g., to conjugal relations or financial maintenance) in order to remain married to her husband and avoid desertion or divorce (JJ, R, Ṭ). Because of the possibility of polygamy in Islam, this may mean agreeing to allow her husband to spend more time or money on another (perhaps younger or more desirable) cowife; and in relation to this verse, some cite the case of Sawdah bint Zamʿah, an older wife of the Prophet who agreed to give her allotted "night" with the Prophet to his young wife ʿĀʾishah (Q, Ṭ). This and similar instances cited by commentators in connection with this verse indicate that arrangements in which one wife agrees to a certain inequality of companionship or conjugal rights in relation to a cowife is permissible only in the case of the consent of the cowives themselves (Q).

In Islamic Law, divorce is permitted but discouraged and considered reprehensible ( _makrūh_ ); a well-known _ḥ adīth_ says that divorce is the most odious of all lawful things unto God. Thus here and elsewhere the Quran encourages various means of avoiding divorce (see 2:228–30; 4:35), indicating that a "settlement" that avoids this _is better_.

_Souls are prone to avarice_ ( _shu ḥḥ_) addresses the greed and selfishness innate to both men and women (Q) who would put their own interests and desires above those of their spouse or the marital union. Cf. 59:9; and 64:16: _Whosoever is shielded from the avarice_ ( _shu ḥḥ_) _of his soul, it is they who shall prosper._ Some early commentators suggest that it is the selfishness or _avarice_ of the wife in particular that is intended here, since it is she who is being asked to forfeit some of her marital rights, which she may hold dearly and be reluctant to forfeit (Ṭ). But the text does not indicate that the comment is gender-specific and may well reference the husband's _avarice_ or selfishness in seeking younger women (Q, R) or additional children, both of which are identified in 3:14 as earthly _passions_ and _the enjoyment of the life of this world_ that cannot compare to the beautiful rewards of the Hereafter. The promise to those who _are virtuous and reverent_ in these matters—that is, those who overcome their avarice and agree to compromise for the sake of their spouse—is that God takes notice of their actions and, it is implied, will reward them for it.

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ĩ You will not be able to deal fairly between women, even if it is your ardent desire, but do not turn away from one altogether, so that you leave her as if suspended. If you come to an accord and are reverent, truly God is Forgiving, Merciful.

129 This verse presents a means of reconciling the command given at the beginning of the _sūrah_ that men _deal justly_ among multiple wives or take only one (v. 3), and the reality, acknowledged in v. 128, that in a situation where men can take more than one wife and there are no barriers to a man divorcing his wife, a woman is vulnerable both to the diversion or loss of her husband's affection in favor of another and to _desertion_ because of her husband's right to unilateral divorce. _You will not be able to deal fairly between women_ acknowledges that affection and attraction are involuntary feelings that a husband cannot always apportion "equally" between his wives. This reality was noted by many commentators in their discussion of v. 3, where they explain that the command given there is to treat wives equally in tangible measures, such as the amount of time and money spent on each wife, and that it does not require equality in more intangible things, such as love and affection. Many say that the present verse was revealed in relation to the Prophet's wife ʿĀʾishah, whom the Prophet is said to have loved above his other wives, although he maintained strict equality between them in the tangible matters of financial support and time spent with each (IK, Ṭ, Ṭb). In a _ḥ adīth,_ the Prophet says with regard to his equal rotation among his wives, "O God, this is my division of that which I control [i.e., his time], so do not blame me for that which Thou controlest, and I do not [i.e., his affection for particular wives]" (Ṭ, Z).

Although v. 128 suggests remedies that might be used to avoid divorce, should a less favored wife find herself in danger of losing her husband, the present verse addresses the issue from the perspective of the husband. The verse can be understood as recommending that the husband cooperate in his wife's attempt to seek a peaceful settlement, since the command _do not turn away from one altogether, so that you leave her as if suspended,_ implies that he accept her offer to limit her demands on him in exchange for avoiding divorce or desertion. _As if suspended_ is understood as referring to a wife's being suspended or "imprisoned" between effectively having no husband, since he avoids her company, and yet not being widowed or divorced (Ṭ) and thus free to marry another. The Quran elsewhere demands that a woman be released in full after divorce or widowhood, freeing her to pursue marriage elsewhere without restriction (see 2:229–31; 4:19 and commentary). In connection with this verse, some commentators cite a _ḥ adīth_ that says, "Whosoever has two wives, and inclines toward one of them and away from the other, will come on the Day of Resurrection leaning to one side" (IK, Ṭ, Z). The verse ends by reiterating the importance of _an accord_ made with an attitude of reverence, indicating that it will engender God's forgiveness for such human shortcomings.

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İ If the two separate, God will enrich both out of His Abundance, and God is All-Encompassing, Wise.

130 Although the Quran recommends or requires several remedies to avoid divorce (see vv. 35, 128), if divorce is the outcome, this verse asserts that God continues to care for both spouses and will enrich them _out of His Abundance_ by providing the possibility of new spouses better suited and more pleasing or beneficial to them (R, Ṭ). Cf. v. 32 where both men and women are told to _ask God for His Bounty,_ rather than envying one another concerning what the other has been given.

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ı Unto God belongs whatsoever is in the heavens and whatsoever is on the earth. We have enjoined those who were given the Book before you, and We enjoin you to reverence God. But if you disbelieve, [know that] unto God belongs whatsoever is in the heavens and whatsoever is on the earth, and God is Self-Sufficient, Praised.

IJ Unto God belongs whatsoever is in the heavens and whatsoever is on the earth, and God suffices as a Guardian.

ij If He so wills, He can remove you, O mankind, and bring others [in your stead], and God has full power to do so.

131–33 The promise in v. 130 that God will enrich both separated spouses is followed by a threefold repetition of the frequent Quranic assertion that _unto God belongs whatsoever is in the heavens and whatsoever is on the earth_. The first of these immediately follows the promise of God's enrichment of the separated spouses, thus inspiring trust in a better future for them both through a reminder of the extent of the Divine _Abundance_ mentioned in v. 130. _Those who were given the Book before you_ refers to Jews and Christians who, like Muslims, are similarly enjoined to be reverent toward God. According to al-Rāzī, this indicates that the command to reverence God is a Divine Law ( _sharī ʿah_) common to all religious communities. But should they choose disbelief over reverence of God, they are reminded again that _unto God belongs whatsoever is in the heavens and whatsoever is on the earth_.

_Self-Sufficient_ translates _Ghanī,_ a term that is sometimes rendered "rich," but that denotes not primarily great wealth, but rather complete independence of everything else; it could be translated "free of need." Being _Self-Sufficient,_ He is neither increased by acts of obedience and worship, nor diminished by human disobedience and disbelief (R). The third repetition precedes the warning in v. 133 that God can remove human beings altogether and replace them with others, emphasizing God's Independence and Self-Sufficiency in relation to His creatures (see 6:133, where a similar warning is likewise preceded by an assertion that God is _Self-Sufficient;_ 5:54; 14:19; 47:38). Nearly all commentators read this in a universal way, meaning that God can completely remove existing human beings and bring others—or another kind of creation entirely. According to one report, when this verse was revealed, indicating that God could bring _others_ in their stead, the Prophet put his hand on the back of Salmān al-Fārsī (Salmān the Persian), saying, "It is this people [that is meant], that is, the Persians" (Q, Z).

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Ĵ Whosoever desires the reward of this world, with God is the reward of this world and the Hereafter. God is Hearing, Seeing.

134 Several passages of the Quran affirm the idea that God rewards people in both this world and the next, a concept that is often associated in the Quran with the prophets and their immediate followers (although it is not limited to them). See 12:56–57, where Joseph is given the worldly reward of being "established" _in the land,_ a statement that is followed by a reminder that the reward of the Hereafter is better; 3:146–48, where the reward of this world and the next is said to have been given to those who fought patiently alongside the prophets; and 29:27, where Abraham is given by God a _reward in this world_ and _in the Hereafter he shall truly be among the righteous_. Moses is also said to have been rewarded with _wisdom and knowledge_ when he _reached maturity,_ thus during his life (28:14).

Conversely, this verse can also be read as applying in a negative sense to the Madinan hypocrites—perhaps, again, to the advocates of Ṭuʿmah ibn Ubayriq, which is the reported context for vv. 105–15 (see commentary on 4:105–7, 112–13)—who outwardly manifest belief in order to obtain the _reward of this world,_ namely, the booty they might acquire through fighting alongside the Prophet or the general protection they receive as Muslims in Madinah (Ṭ). The _reward of . . . the Hereafter_ is therefore an ironic and ominous allusion to the "reward"—that is, the punishment—they will have in the next life for their hypocrisy (Ṭ). Indeed, the "reward of this world" is sometimes counterposed to the reward of the Hereafter (see, e.g., 3:145; 33:28–29, where the wives of the Prophet are asked to choose between the good of this world and the reward of the next). A well-known _ḥ adīth_ says that those who made the migration from Makkah to Madinah "for the sake of worldly benefit or for a woman" shall have that for which they migrated, implying that their reward for migrating will come in this life rather than in the Hereafter.

Yet there is no reason that this verse must be read only in the negative sense, and other commentators acknowledge that those who struggle sincerely for the sake of religion may have the reward of both this world and the next (Z). See 2:201: _But among them are those who say, "Our Lord, give us good in this world and good in the Hereafter, and shield us from the punishment of the Fire!"_ This verse is a common prayer offered by Muslims, often on a daily basis.

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ĵ O you who believe! Be steadfast maintainers of justice, witnesses for God, though it be against yourselves, or your parents and kinsfolk, and whether it be someone rich or poor, for God is nearer unto both. So follow not your caprice, that you may act justly. If you distort or turn away, truly God is Aware of whatsoever you do.

135 Establishing and upholding justice in society is a key concern of the Quran. God establishes justice by setting _the Balance_ within creation itself (15:19; 55:7; 57:25), by commanding justice among human beings through revelation (7:29; 16:90; 42:17; 57:25), and by weighing deeds in a set balance on the Day of Judgment (21:47). In 3:18, God is described as _upholding justice_ ( _qā ʾiman bi'l-qisṭ_), employing an Arabic phrase similar to the one used here and in v. 127 for the human effort to maintain justice. Thus as God commands justice, the believer is expected to do so as well. God is said to _love_ those who are just (5:42; 49:9; 60:8), and those who slay the upholders of justice are placed on a par with those who deny God's signs and kill His prophets (3:21). Cf. 5:8, _O you who believe! Be steadfast for God, bearing witness to justice,_ which presents something of a rearranged version of the statement in the present verse _be steadfast maintainers of justice, witnesses for God_. Taken together the two verses indicate that standing for God and for justice are deeply linked. Al-Ṭabarī rephrases the meaning of this part of the present verse as follows: "Uphold justice for [the sake of] God when you bear witness." Other commentators confirm that the real meaning of this verse is that one's testimony should never be for the sake of oneself or for another, but only for the sake of God (Bḍ, Z) and in justice; that is, truthful witnessing is a claim that God has over the human being. The Sufi Rūzbihān al-Baqlī says in his commentary, "The spirit of Oneness ( _taw ḥīd_) will not find root in a person's heart, so long as God has a claim upon him that he has not fulfilled."

The Quran requires the presence of witnesses for commercial transactions (2:282), the transfer of wealth to orphans upon maturity (4:6), and adjudicating serious criminal charges (4:15; 24:2–9). In order to judge between people "with justice," as God commands (4:58; 5:42), society has to depend upon people honestly and fully witnessing to the truth, without regard for the ultimate consequences of their truthful testimony, which is not in their hands. According to this verse, testimony should not be swayed either by self-interest ( _though it be against yourselves_ ) or ties of kinship ( _or [against] your parents or kinsfolk_ ). One should note that one has a duty to testify not only against others, but even against oneself, and that truthful witnessing takes precedence even over the kindness and deference the Quran asserts one owes to parents and kinsfolk. Given the command here to testify truthfully, even against kinsfolk, this part of the verse may also be addressed to the specific case of Ṭuʿmah ibn Ubayriq and his clan, discussed in vv. 105–15 (Ṭ; see 4:105–7c; 4:112c; 4:113c).

Testimony should also not be swayed by the wealth or poverty of the parties in question. A witness might be moved to alter testimony in favor of a wealthy individual in order to gain favor or, conversely, in favor of a poorer individual out of sympathy (JJ). One reported occasion for this revelation is an incident in which the Prophet was inclined to rule in favor of a poor man, thinking him incapable of truly harming the wealthier man (Ṭ, W). But readers are reminded that _God is nearer unto both,_ meaning that He is the ultimate caretaker of both (as in v. 130, _God will enrich both out of His Abundance_ ), and that it is His task to establish ultimate justice between the rich and the poor (Ṭ).

It is not people's prerogative to bend the laws to achieve what they may consider ultimately just; that would be _following_ their _caprice_. In a similar vein, believers are warned elsewhere not to be swayed in judgment by either _hatred for a people_ (5:8) or _pity_ for the accused (24:2). True justice is served by simply bearing witness to what one knows objectively and directly, not by passing along hearsay. See 24:13, where it is said that those who accuse an innocent woman of indecency without bringing _four witnesses_ are simply _liars in the Eyes of God_.

_That you may act justly_ uses the verb _ta ʿdilū,_ which can mean either "to be just" or, somewhat paradoxically, "to deviate." The former meaning is likely here, as in the translation: _follow not your caprice, that you might act justly_ (R). However, it might also mean either "follow not your caprice, lest you deviate [from the truth in your testimony]" (Bḍ, Z) or "follow not your caprice, lest you deviate [from justice]." All interpretations of this phrase, however, sum up the larger meaning of the verse, which is that one must not allow one's desires or predilections to cause one to deviate from the service of justice through truthful testimony. The verse ends with a reminder that God is _Aware_ , should any _distort_ testimony or _turn away_ from giving testimony altogether, thereby concealing the truth (Ṭ).

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Ķ O you who believe! Believe in God and His Messenger, and the Book He sent down upon His Messenger, and the Book He sent down before. Whosoever does not believe in God and His angels and His Books and His messengers and the Last Day has wandered far astray.

136 This is one of two verses in the Quran (the other is 2:177) that articulates a list of required Muslim beliefs that closely matches the list contained in the _ḥ adīth_ of Gabriel, where faith, or _īmān,_ comprises belief in God, His angels, His messengers, His books, the Last Day, and the Divine Decree. The present verse begins with a positive command to believe in _God, His Messenger, the Book He sent down upon His Messenger_ (i.e., the Quran), and _the Book He sent down before_. Although _Book_ is used in the singular here, it refers to all previous revealed books, that is, to "scripture" used as a collective noun. After the positive command, a warning is issued against disbelieving in five specific things: _God, His angels, His Books_ (all revealed scriptures, including the Quran), _His messengers_ (all prophets, minor and major), and the _Last Day_ (the Resurrection and Final Judgment). See 2:285, where in a similar list the "Last Day" is not mentioned, but the return to God is ( _unto Thee is the journey's end_ ). Most commentators argue that a failure to believe in any one item on this list or a failure to believe in any one prophet or message is effectively a failure to believe in all of them (see vv. 150–51; R, Ṭ, Z); and since the existence of angels, messengers, and the Last Day is affirmed in scripture, a failure to believe in these things reflects a hypocritical, selective, or insufficient belief in scripture itself.

To the extent that only Muslims believed in the Quran and the Prophet Muhammad along with the other books and messengers, Muslims were sometimes considered "believers" in the fullest sense. Thus when the Quran refers to "believers," it is often, but not always, understood to specify Muslim believers. Most commentators view this verse as a command to Muslims to believe not only in the Quran, but also in all previous revealed scripture (Z). Since the verse addresses those who are already "believers," this specific list of required beliefs may be meant to reinforce, or better inform, their existing faith; alternately, the verse may be addressed to the hypocrites who claim belief (and so are addressed, satirically, as "O you who believe"), but whose faith is not complete or sincere (R).

Another interpretation, however, understands _O you who believe_ as addressed specifically to Jews and Christians, insofar as these two groups believe in the previously revealed scriptures, the Torah and Gospel, respectively (R, Ṭ, Z). Even commentators who read the verse as primarily addressed to Muslims cite an occasion for the revelation in which a group of Madinan Jews came to the Prophet and declared that, although they believed in his message and the message of the Torah, they did not believe in the other scriptures and prophets. This verse then came down, commanding belief in all of them (R, Z). It is important to note that other verses clearly mention that there are Jews and Christians who believe in the Prophet and the Quran while remaining Jews and Christians (see 3:199 and commentary), thus indicating that such Jews and Christians should be considered believers by the standards of the present verse.

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ķ Those who believe and then disbelieve, and then believe and then disbelieve, and then increase in disbelief, God will not forgive them nor guide them unto any way.

137 Following upon the articulation of required beliefs in the previous verse, this verse warns those who waver in their belief. By acknowledging the possibility of returning to belief after having apostatized, the verse indicates the possibility of communal (legal) acceptance of a former believer who leaves the community of faith, but then repents and seeks to reenter it. However, the verse also suggests that each time one falls away from belief, the possibility for a full return is diminished, as it leads to an "increase" in disbelief. For those who continue to waver in this way, "increasing" _in disbelief,_ the Quran issues a rare warning that _God will not forgive them_ and that they will be bereft of His Guidance.

Because the act of apostasy is mentioned three times before the warning is issued, some commentators have asserted that the repentance of an apostate from the faith should be accepted only three times. Most, however, argue that repentance is always accepted (Ṭ), even if continued acts of apostasy make full and lasting repentance unlikely, either because of the negative effect of repeated apostasy upon the soul (Z) or because such wavering indicates that belief was never firmly rooted in such a heart (R). The possibility of forgiveness is thus closed only to one who continues _increasing in disbelief_ until death and dies in that state (R, Ṭ)—the state in which one dies being, for some, the true indicator of faith or lack thereof (R). The latter position is supported by vv. 145–46, where it is said that the hypocrites are in _the lowest depths of the Fire . . . save those who repent and make amends_. Muʿtazilites and others argued that _God will not . . . guide them_ meant that they would not be guided in the Hereafter to the paradisal Garden, that is, after their disbelief had been fully confirmed by their having died in this state (R, Ṭs) or, alternately, that He removes His Guidance from them in this life as a punishment (Ṭs, Ṭū). For Ashʿarites it is simply an assertion that God does not guide disbelievers, even in this life (R). The reference to "increasing" _in disbelief_ is understood by Ashʿarite theologians as supporting their doctrinal assertion that there were degrees of both faith and disbelief (R). Contrary to the Muʿtazilites, Ashʿarites held that acts of obedience or sin increased one in faith or disbelief, respectively.

Some assert that the verse applies to Jews or Christians who, having believed in their scriptures, then manifest disbelief by refusing to accept prophets and scriptures that come after their own or by compromising their belief in their own scriptures (Ṭ); see 3:72. Early Shiite _tafsīr_ traditions considered this to be a reference to Muslims who manifested belief during the lifetime of the Prophet, but later refused to accept the authority of ʿAlī ibn Abī Ṭālib—an authority that, for Shiites, was alluded to in the Quran and openly affirmed by the Prophet before his death (Qm). The most likely interpretation, however, is that it refers to the hypocrites in the Prophet's community who wavered in their belief (Ṭ). It is likelier that it applies to hypocrites, rather than Jews and Christians, since other verses of the Quran assert the possibility of salvation for those who are Jews and Christians (2:62; 5:69); so the failure of individual Jews and Christians to become Muslims would not itself seem to close off the possibility of their eventual salvation. Moreover, this verse is followed immediately by a lengthy discussion of the hypocrites in vv. 138–46, thus making the hypocrites the more likely referent.

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ĸ Give glad tidings to the hypocrites that for them awaits a painful punishment.

138 Following the assertion of God's lack of forgiveness for those who waver in their belief and ultimately die in disbelief, this verse instructs the Prophet to _give glad tidings_ ( _bashshir_ ) to such hypocrites of the punishment that awaits them. _Glad tidings_ is usually used to mean the good news of salvation the Prophet brings to the righteous believers, for the Quran elsewhere asserts that on the Day of Judgment, _there shall be no glad tidings for the guilty_ (25:22). But, as here, the Quran occasionally uses this term in an ironic or mocking tone when warning of the fate of disbelievers (see 3:21; 9:3, 34; 31:7; 45:8; 84:24) or when mentioning the fact that, in the pre-Islamic period, the Arabs often reacted to the "glad tidings" of the birth of a daughter with grief and rage; see 16:59; 43:17.

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Ĺ Those who take disbelievers as protectors instead of believers—do they seek might through them? Truly might belongs to God altogether.

139 The concept of protectorship ( _walāyah_ ) was an important social principle in the tribal culture of pre-Islamic Arabia, denoting a bond of complete loyalty and mutual defense. In the Quran, the concept is powerfully invoked to express religious, rather than tribal, association and alliance as well as power and authority. The believers are repeatedly reminded that God is their ultimate Protector ( _Walī_ ), that the Prophet and their fellow believers are their only true protectors ( _awliyā ʾ_) in the human realm (see, e.g., 2:107, 257; 3:68, 122; 4:45; 5:55; 6:14, 127; 7:196; 8:72; 9:71, 116), while idolaters seek protection vainly from their idols (e.g., 2:257, 13:16) and disbelievers seek protection with Satan and each other (e.g., 7:30; 8:73; 16:100). The believers are repeatedly warned not to seek the protection of those outside their religious community, including Jews and Christians (3:28; 4:89, 144; 5:51, 57), or even their own family members, if they are not believers (9:23).

In the present verse, _those who take disbelievers as protectors instead of believers_ are the hypocrites mentioned in the two preceding verses. In seeking strength from those outside the community of believers—that is, with the Jewish clans (R, Z) or with the idolaters (Ṭs)—they violate bonds of loyalty to the religious community of the believers, showing their perfidy and opportunism and manifesting their lack of trust in the sufficiency of God's protection. The verse mocks the idea of seeking strength or _might_ ( _ʿ izzah_) through such alliances of protection, when _might belongs to God altogether_. See 63:8, where _might_ ( _ʿ izzah_) belongs to God, the Messenger, and the believers; and 29:41: _The parable of those who take protectors apart from God is that of the spider that makes a house. Truly the frailest of houses is the spider's house, if they but knew_.

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ŀ He has already sent down upon you in the Book that when you hear the signs of God being rejected and mocked, do not sit with them till they engage in some other discourse, or else you will surely be like them. Truly God will gather the hypocrites and the disbelievers in Hell all together—

140 In the same vein as v. 139, this verse suggests that the sincerity of one's religious faith or even one's true religious identity is revealed not only by one's actions and words, but also by the character of those with whom one chooses to associate. It is not enough simply to avoid "rejecting" or "mocking" the _signs of God;_ one must also refuse to sit passively among those who do, thereby lending silent support and tacit approval to their impious discourse (Z). Both in "seeking protection" with the disbelievers, mentioned in v. 139, and in sitting with those who mock the signs of God—here, likely meaning the Quranic message specifically—one shows oneself to be a hypocrite.

The verse indicates that God _has already sent down_ a prohibition against sitting with people engaged in such discourse. This may be a reference to the general prohibition against associating with disbelievers indicated in v. 139 (Ṭ), but may also be a reference to the Makkan verse 6:68: _And when thou seest those who engage in vain discourse about Our signs, turn away from them till they engage in other discourse. And if Satan should cause thee to forget, then once thou hast remembered, sit not in the company of wrongdoing people._ To sit among such people is to _be like them_.

That God _will gather the hypocrites and the disbelievers in Hell all together_ reinforces this same point about guilt through the choice of association: in choosing protectors and friends from among the disbelievers, the hypocrites have shown themselves to be disbelievers as well and share in their ultimate fate. People's religious character is manifested in the company they keep, and so, conversely, those who seek the company of the righteous can be assumed to be "like them" and perhaps also to be with them in the Hereafter; see 4:69–70c.

For al-Ṭabarī, this verse serves as a warning not to sit with people engaged in vain or immoral discourse of any kind. An early Shiite interpretation of this verse understood the _signs of God_ that are _rejected and mocked_ to be a reference to the Shiite Imams (Qm); although Shiites may not have always been in a position to challenge those who denigrated the Imams and their followers, they were not to remain in the company of those engaged in such discourse.

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Ł those who wait upon you, and if a victory comes to you from God, they say, "Were we not with you?" But if the disbelievers have some success, they say, "Did we not overwhelm you, and did we not protect you from the believers?" God will judge between you on the Day of Resurrection, and God will not grant the disbelievers a way over the believers.

141 The hypocrites reveal their hypocrisy, in large part, through their reluctance to join the Muslims in their battles against the disbelievers and in their desire to share in the benefits of Muslim victories while avoiding the negative consequences of possible defeat (cf. vv. 72–73); in v. 139, a similar concern with self-preservation moves them to seek alliances of protection with those outside the Muslim community. The present verse, however, suggests not only that they are reluctant to assume the risks of battle, but that they are, in fact, in communication with the Muslims' enemies. When the Muslims are victorious, the hypocrites say to the Muslims, _Were we not with you?_ in order to claim a share of the spoils (Ṭ). But when the Muslims are defeated, they approach the Muslims' enemies to claim that it was their own treacherous failure to join the battle that had helped undermine the Muslim effort, thus aiding the disbelievers in their victory over the Muslims, saying, _Did we not protect you from the believers?_

God denies the disbelievers _a way over the believers,_ that is, a way to triumph over them or a proof against them, _on the Day of Resurrection_. Some, however, understand this as a promise that the believers, as a community, will not suffer ultimate defeat at the hands of the disbelievers in this world (IK, Q). On the basis of this last part of the verse, legal scholars held that a disbeliever (i.e., any non-Muslim) should not possess a Muslim slave—for such enslavement would clearly grant the disbeliever a "way over" the Muslim—and thus it was illegal to sell a Muslim slave to a disbeliever (IK). Should a slave embrace Islam while under the ownership of a disbeliever, the disbeliever is required to sell or free the slave; if the non-Muslim owner fails to do so before his death, the Muslim slave becomes his heir (Q).

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ł Verily the hypocrites seek to deceive God, but it is God Who deceives them. When they perform the prayer, they perform it idly and to be seen of men, and they remember God but little—

142 Cf. 2:9, where the hypocrites seek to deceive others, but deceive only themselves. Here _it is God Who deceives them,_ in that He allows them to be protected by their hypocritical claims of belief in this life (Ṭ, Z). This leads them to assume, incorrectly, that their hypocrisy has gone undetected and that they will not be punished. Al-Suddī and other early commentators read this verse in connection with 57:13: _On the Day when men who are hypocrites and women who are hypocrites will say to those who believe, "Wait for us that we may borrow from your light," it will be said, "Turn back and seek a light!" Thereupon a wall with a gate will be set down between them, the inner side of which contains mercy, and on the outer side of which lies punishment_ (see also 2:17). They thus assert that on the Day of Resurrection, the hypocrites will be given a light with which they will walk with the Muslims, just as they did in the life of the world, but then it will be suddenly snatched away from them and extinguished, and they will be left in darkness when they reach the "wall" that separates them from the believers (Ṭ, Z).

Their prayer is done _idly,_ that is, without sincerity or the proper intention of drawing near to God (Ṭ) or else reluctantly and without hope of reward or fear of punishment from God (R, Z), but only _to be seen of men_ and so gain social advantage by it. See 107:4–6, where the shallowness of praying only _to be seen_ is demonstrated by the fact that such prayer is not accompanied by moral action; and v. 38, which criticizes those who _spend their wealth_ (i.e., give charity) _to be seen of men_.

_They remember God but little_ indicates that they do not avail themselves of the various means for remembering God that are an intrinsic part of faithful Muslim life. For example, they rarely (or only hypocritically) invoke or remember God through formulas such as "Praise be to God ( _al- ḥamdu li'Llāh;_ Ṭ, Z). Insofar as "remembering God" is a synonym for prayer itself, it is clear that _they remember God but little_ in this way, because they pray only in public settings, never when out of sight of others (R, Z). Moreover, even when praying in public, they may not recite the requisite quiet or silent invocations of God that are part of the prayer, but merely perform the outward motions and utterances (R).

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Ń wavering between this [and that], being neither for one group nor for the other. Whomsoever God leads astray, thou wilt not find a way for him.

143 According to al-Zamakhsharī, the hypocrites "waver" between "this and that"—that is, between faith and unbelief—under the influence of Satan and their own passions. However, the next line of this verse asserts the theologically difficult idea that it is God who _leads_ certain people _astray;_ and when He does so, they are helpless (see 2:7c). For such persons, the Quran says, there is no _way_ (here; 4:88; 42:46), no guide (7:186; 13:33; 39:23, 36; 40:33), and no protector (18:17). The Muʿtazilites generally interpreted such "misguidance" on God's part as the withdrawal of His "Divine Favor" ( _lu ṭf_) and Guidance as a punishment for disobedience. Although the Ashʿarites usually accepted this possibility as well, they also held that God may simply choose to mislead certain people (R). Some also asserted that verses such as this refer to God's "leading astray" in the Hereafter those whose worldly actions had condemned them (R). The many passages in this _sūrah_ and elsewhere that criticize the hypocrites led al-Rāzī to assert that hypocrisy was a more evil state even than disbelief, a sentiment that seems to be in the same vein as the Biblical statement in Revelation 3:16: "Because you are lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I am about to spit you out of my mouth." The idea that hypocrisy is worse than even disbelief is also apparently borne out by v. 145.

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ń O you who believe! Do not take the disbelievers as protectors instead of the believers. Do you wish to give God a clear warrant against you?

144 This verse repeats the criticism of those who would seek protectors outside the believing community. See 4:139 and commentary.

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Ņ Surely the hypocrites will be in the lowest depths of the Fire, and thou wilt not find for them any helper,

145 This verse supports the idea that hypocrisy is among the worst of human moral conditions, perhaps even worse than disbelief, since hypocrites are said to be _in the lowest depths of the Fire_. Some commentators argue that hypocrisy is indeed worse than disbelief, since it compounds a lack of belief with belittling Islam and deceiving the believers (Bḍ, R, Z). Moreover, their deceit allows them to act as spies for the disbelievers, compromising the Muslim cause from within and betraying the secrets of the Muslims to their enemies (R; see v. 141).

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ņ save those who repent and make amends, and hold fast to God, and devote their religion entirely to God. Those are with the believers, and God will grant the believers a great reward.

146 Even for hypocrites, the door to Divine Forgiveness remains open for _those who repent_ of their hypocrisy and come sincerely to believe in God, His Messenger, and the Quran. They must also _make amends_ by performing righteous acts and following the commands and prohibitions of the religion and _hold fast to God,_ that is, to the covenant with God that all human beings have undertaken, according to the Quran, to recognize His Lordship (see 7:172 and commentary). Finally they are required to _devote their religion entirely to God,_ that is, to do all of these things for God and not for any other purpose, hoping for His Reward and fearing His Punishment, and through a desire to draw near to Him, seeking "His Face" (Aj, Ṭ; see 2:272; 13:22; 92:20) or "His Good Pleasure" (R; 2:207, 265; 4:114). The explicit requirement that the former hypocrites _devote their religion entirely to God_ is necessary, according to al-Ṭabrisī, because hypocrisy is a sin of the heart, and so full repentance from it requires a "repentance of the heart," for which merely changing one's outward actions is not enough. For those who truly repent in this way, they will be _with the believers_ and receive their _reward,_ not with the disbelievers (as in v. 140) or in the _lowest depths of the Fire_ (as in v. 145).

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Ň Why should God punish you if you give thanks and believe? God is Thankful, Knowing.

147 In Arabic there is a semantic connection between repentance and forgiveness, both of which can be signified by the verb _tāba,_ which literally means "to return." Repentance and forgiveness represent a mutual "turning" between two parties toward each other. The previous verse set out the conditions for the true repentance of the hypocrite, and in this verse there is a Divine relenting or turning away from the threatened punishment of the hypocrite. Also here a similar semantic reciprocity exists between the repentant hypocrite's act of "giving thanks" (using the verb _shakara_ ) and the Divine Attribute _Thankful_ ( _Shākir_ ), literally "the Thankful One," both derived from the same root. The audible reciprocity in the Arabic conveys a tone of mutual relenting and reconciliation after the dire warnings to the hypocrites in vv. 137–45.

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ň God loves not that evil should be spoken of openly, save by one who has been wronged. God is Hearing, Knowing.

148 Given that this verse follows upon a discussion of the repentance of hypocrites, some say that the _evil_ that should not be _spoken of openly_ is the former hypocrisy of the repentant hypocrite. Once hypocrites have repented, they should no longer be vilified or reminded of their previous hypocrisy (R). The verse also has a general application, however, for it reflects the principle in Islamic ethics that one should conceal the faults of others or even one's own, except, of course, when one is called upon to witness to a particular act (see v. 135). Evil should not _be spoken of openly,_ so that the moral dignity of the individual and the wider community may be maintained.

Al-Rāzī gives as the occasion for the revelation of this verse, an incident in which Abū Bakr was verbally abused in a gathering with the Prophet present. Abū Bakr remained quiet for a while and then began to refute the man's claims. As he did this, the Prophet rose to leave. Abū Bakr asked the Prophet why he sat through the man's abuse of him, but left when Abū Bakr responded. The Prophet responded: "Verily an angel was answering on your behalf, but when you responded to him, the angel left and Satan came in, and I do not remain in a gathering once Satan comes." This verse was then revealed.

Despite Abū Bakr's case, the verse does make an exception for _one who has been wronged,_ who may make open claims about the injustice suffered in order to seek justice or aid against the one who committed the injustice (Ṭ). Similarly, those who have been wronged are given a general right to defend themselves or retaliate against those who have wronged them (42:41). The invocation of the Divine Names _Hearing_ and _Knowing_ at the end of the verse serve to reassure that whether evil is spoken of openly or concealed, it is known to God (see 6:3; 21:110; 87:7).

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'n Whether you display a good deed openly or conceal it, or pardon an evil, truly God is Pardoning, Powerful.

149 After allowing one to speak openly of the wrong one has suffered at the hands of another, the Quran now urges one to _pardon an evil_ that one has suffered and reminds readers that _Pardoning_ is a Divine Attribute that one should seek to emulate (Z). In this verse, God is described as both _Pardoning_ and _Powerful_. To pardon when one has the "power" to retaliate is the nobler moral option than pardoning when one has no such power (Q), and to pardon from a position of power approximates the Divine Attributes mentioned here.

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Ő Truly those who disbelieve in God and His messengers, and seek to make a distinction between God and His messengers, and say, "We believe in some and disbelieve in others," and seek to take a way between—

ő it is they who are truly disbelievers, and We have prepared for the disbelievers a humiliating punishment.

150–51 In v. 136 and 2:285, faith is defined, in part, by a belief in God and all of His prophets and revealed books. The comprehensive nature of belief according to Islam means that to be selective in the prophets and books one recognizes or to believe in God, but not in all His prophets and revelations is, to enter the realm of disbelief. Here the Quran warns against making such _a distinction between God and His messengers,_ for those who truly believe in God will also follow His messengers. See 3:31, where the Prophet is instructed: _Say, "If you love God, follow me, and God will love you and forgive you your sins."_ Elsewhere the Quran indicates that one should not make such distinctions between or among the messengers themselves (2:136, 285; 3:84). Those who believe in God but not in His messengers or believe in some messengers but not others seek _a way between_ —that is, a way between belief and disbelief (Z); but v. 151 states that such people are _truly disbelievers,_ indicating that there is no path between belief and disbelief and that those who reject any essential element of belief are in the category of disbelievers (Z). Many commentators consider this to be a reference to the Jews and Christians who rejected the prophecy of Muhammad. As such, it marks a shift from the lengthy discussion of the hypocrites in vv. 137–47 to one about the People of the Book, which is the focus of the rest of the _sūrah_.

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Œ But those who believe in God and His messengers and make no distinction between any of them—unto them He will give their rewards. God is Forgiving, Merciful.

152 The threat of punishment for disbelievers who seek to make a distinction between belief in God and His prophets is followed here by a corresponding promise of reward for those who believe without making such distinctions. The reminder that God is _Forgiving, Merciful_ is understood by some to be an indication that all believers will ultimately be forgiven their misdeeds in the next life; even if they may be punished for them for a time, their punishment will not be eternal (R, Ṭ).

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œ The People of the Book ask thee to bring a book down upon them from Heaven; indeed, they asked a greater thing of Moses, for they said, "Show us God openly," whereupon the thunderbolt seized them for their wrongdoing. Then they took up the calf, even after clear proofs had come to them. Yet, We pardoned this and We gave Moses a manifest authority.

153 The _People of the Book_ here refers specifically to the Jews and, according to some reports, to certain Madinan Jewish leaders (Th, Z). Their request that the Prophet _bring a book down upon them from Heaven_ as a proof of his prophethood is understood as a request that he bring an inscribed tablet similar to the one Moses brought (R, Ṭ, Z); see 28:48, where the Madinan Jews ask why the Prophet was not _given the like of that which was given to Moses._ See also 17:93, where unspecified disbelievers, likely the Makkan idolaters, assert that they will not believe in the Prophet until he brings down a book they _can read_. Some understand the request made of the Prophet in the present verse to be a request for a book or written document addressed exclusively to the Jews or one explicitly validating the prophethood of Muhammad (Ṭ). The Israelites' request to Moses, _Show us God openly,_ is also recounted in 2:55, where they make the request explicitly as a condition of their belief in Moses' prophethood. In both accounts, it is understood that the request is made by the seventy leading Israelites whom Moses took as representatives to the covenant making at Sinai (R, Th, Z; cf. 7:155; Exodus 24), and in both God responds with a thunderbolt that, in 2:55–56, is said to have struck them dead, after which they were revived. Cf. 7:143, where Moses himself asks to see God, but is told _Thou shalt not see Me_ and is instructed instead to look at the mountain.

In 2:260, Abraham also requests to be "shown" God's power of resurrection, and because he affirms that he does so within the context of sincere belief, the response is not a punishing thunderbolt; moreover, the request is granted. The cases of Abraham and Moses indicate that the human desire to see the Divine is not in itself blameworthy; rather, it depends on the intention with which the request is made. The Israelites' making and worshipping the calf and God's forgiveness thereof is mentioned elsewhere (2:51–54, 92–93), and fuller accounts of the incident are found in 7:148–56 and 20:86–97.

That _clear proofs had come to them_ refers to their having been struck down upon their request to see God "openly," which should have made it clear to them that the God they must worship, unlike the calf they crafted for themselves, cannot be seen in visible form (Ṭ). _Clear proofs_ can refer to the many miraculous acts performed by Moses, such as the parting of the sea (Q), although elsewhere these are referred to as _clear signs_ (see 17:101; 28:36).

The _manifest authority_ given to Moses may refer either to the proof of his truthfulness and the veracity of his prophethood (Q, Ṭ) or to the authority with which he was able to command the Israelites to repent and atone for having worshipped the calf (Z; see 2:54).

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Ŕ And We raised the Mount over them, at [the making of] their covenant, and We said to them, "Enter the gate, prostrating," and We said to them, "Do not transgress the Sabbath." And We made with them a solemn covenant.

154 _The Mount_ ( _al- Ṭūr_) refers to Mt. Sinai here and wherever it is found in the Quran (2:63, 93; 19:52; 20:80; 28:29, 46; 52:1), although the full name "Mount Sinai" is given in two places ( _Ṭ ūr Saynāʾ,_ 23:20; _al- Ṭūr Sīnīn,_ 95:2). The raising of the Mount over the Israelites is widely understood to refer to God's lifting of the mountain from its place and causing it to hover over the Israelites at the making of the covenant, as a sign warning them to make and/or keep the covenant (R; see also 2:63, 93). However, this image may simply be meant to convey their awe at the immensity of the mountain before them (see 2:63–64c). _Enter the gate, prostrating_ refers to the command to enter the land that had been promised to the Israelites; see 2:58; 5:21–23; 7:161. The importance of the Israelites' keeping of the Sabbath and the severe consequences of breaking it are also mentioned in 2:65; 4:47; 7:163. The covenant between God and the Israelites is mentioned in many places (e.g., 2:40, 83–84; 5:12, 70); see also the essay "The Quranic View of Sacred History and Other Religions."

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ŕ Then for their breaking of their covenant, and their disbelieving in the signs of God, and their slaying of the prophets without right, and their saying, "Our hearts are uncircumcised,"—Nay! Rather, God has set a seal upon them for their disbelief, so they believe not, save a few—

155 The Israelites' _breaking of their covenant_ is mentioned elsewhere in the Quran; see 2:83–85; 5:13. Their _disbelieving in the signs of God_ refers to the Quranic claim that they did not accept all of the messages and prophets sent to them (Ṭ), including Jesus. _Slaying of the prophets without right_ is a claim made against the Israelites in several places; see 2:61, 91; 3:181–83; 5:70. For Biblical references to the slaying of minor prophets by the Israelites, cf. Jeremiah 2:30; 26:20–23; Luke 13:34.

_Our hearts are uncircumcised_ also appears in 2:88 and is meant to express, metaphorically, their deliberate lack of receptivity to the prophetic messages sent to them (Ṭ); cf. 41:5. _Uncircumcised_ translates _ghulf,_ which can also mean "enwrapped" (Ṭ), and as this term appears only in the context of a claim by Israelites or Jews who are unfaithful to their covenant, it also carries an additional spiritual resonance. As Israelites or Jews, they were "circumcised" bodily and outwardly, as a mark of their membership in the covenant community. Their claim, then, that their "hearts" are uncircumcised suggests that their acceptance of the covenant, like their circumcision, was only outward and had not penetrated into their hearts. Cf. Leviticus 26:41 and Jeremiah 9:26, where disobedient Israelites are referred to as having "uncircumcised hearts." Their claim that their hearts are uncircumcised is met with the more emphatic assertion that God Himself _has set a seal upon_ their hearts _._

This concept of a _seal_ placed upon people's eyes, ears, or hearts—that is, upon the principal human faculties of learning and understanding—is invoked in many other places (see, e.g., 2:7; 7:100–101; 9:93; 16:108; 30:59; 63:3). The idea that a seal has been placed as a barrier to religious understanding has been understood by some in the predestinarian sense of an inherent insensitivity or nonreceptivity toward revelation. Many Islamic theologians, however, understand this _seal_ upon hearts as being a Divinely imposed punishment in response to moral transgression and disobedience (see, e.g., 10:74; 2:7c). Here the seal is expressly imposed as a punishment for their disbelief ( _kufr_ ); their breaking of the covenant and the other transgressions mentioned in this verse and in vv. 156–57 are the reason for God's forbidding _them certain good things that had been made lawful unto them_ in v. 160. The assertion that _they believe not, save a few_ may also be rendered, "they believe not, save a little"—meaning that they believe only in some of the prophets and messages (R, Ṭ)—and is found elsewhere in connection with the People of the Book (e.g., 2:88; 4:46).

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Ŗ and for their disbelief, and their uttering against Mary a tremendous calumny,

156 The _tremendous calumny against Mary_ refers to the implied accusation of indecency against her when she, as an unmarried woman (in the Islamic tradition), brought forth her son Jesus (Z); see commentary on 19:27–28. Al-Qushayrī identifies Mary as a "friend [of God]" or "saint" ( _waliyyah,_ fem. of _walī_ ) and indicates that two kinds of people will be chastised for their attitude toward such saintly persons: those who exaggerate concerning their station, such as, in Mary's case, those who considered her to be Divine (see 5:116); and those who denounce them—for example, those who accused Mary of indecency rather than recognizing the miracle of her son's birth (Qu).

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ŗ and for their saying, "We slew the Messiah, Jesus son of Mary, the messenger of God"—though they did not slay him; nor did they crucify him, but it appeared so unto them. Those who differ concerning him are in doubt thereof. They have no knowledge of it, but follow only conjecture; they slew him not for certain.

157 Although the Quran addresses and criticizes the Christian belief in the Trinity (v. 171; 5:73) and the divinity of Jesus (5:17, 72, 116; 9:31), this is the only passage that addresses the belief in Christ's crucifixion and death. It does not come in the context of a critique of Christian belief, however, but rather as part of a lengthy passage criticizing historical incidents of Jewish unfaithfulness to their covenant. It is important to note that here the critique is not aimed directly at the belief in Christ's crucifixion and death, but rather at the Jews' claim to have killed him. Their claim, seen as their way of mocking and dismissing Jesus' prophethood (Z), is understood in the context of the Quranic assertion that the Israelites or Jews rejected some of the prophets that had been sent to them (in v. 155 and elsewhere).

Although the verse only directly criticizes a Jewish claim to have killed and crucified Jesus, it is widely understood in the Islamic tradition as meaning that Jesus was not crucified or killed at all; it only _appeared so unto them_ , that is, to the Jews as well as to most of Jesus' followers. Various accounts are given to explain how it _appeared so unto them_. According to some commentators, when the Jewish authorities came to arrest Jesus, he was among a group of his followers. They did not know who among them was Jesus, because a Divine ruse had made them all appear the same, and one of Jesus' followers was thus taken and killed in his place (IK, Ṭ, Z). Some accounts indicate that one of Jesus' followers in particular volunteered to sacrifice himself by assuming Jesus' likeness (IK, Ṭ, Z). According to one account, this follower was crucified (i.e., publicly exposed) after being killed (IK). This follows the order mentioned in the verse itself: _they did not slay him; nor did they crucify him,_ and in general, Muslims understood crucifixion as a punishment carried out after death in most, but not all, cases.

Another account from Wahb ibn Munabbih (d. early second/eighth century), an early commentator who brought his knowledge of Judeo-Christian teachings to bear on Quranic interpretation, claims that it was one of Jesus' perfidious followers (presumably Judas) who, after attempting to betray Jesus, was made to assume Jesus' appearance and was killed in his stead. (IK, Ṭ, Z). Because most accounts indicate that it appeared not only to the Jews, but also to all or most Christians, that Jesus had been killed, al-Ṭabarī argues that no blame or accusations of dishonesty can be leveled at Christians who believe in Jesus' death and crucifixion.

The idea that someone was killed in Jesus' stead after having assumed his likeness, voluntarily or otherwise, is found widely throughout the commentary tradition. A notable exception to this is al-Rāzī, who finds the idea that God would perpetrate such a deception in the physical realm, particularly as it relates to individual identity, unacceptable. If we cannot rely on our senses to identify individuals, then the proper application of Islamic Law, which is dependent upon physical witnessing and upon the certainty of people's identities in matters of marriage and so forth, would be called into doubt. It is worth noting, however, that there are other Quranic accounts of providential Divine "deception," such as when God is said to have altered the believers' perception of the enemy army at Badr, so that they would not be discouraged by the enemy's greater size (see 8:43 and commentary).

_Those who differ concerning him_ may refer specifically to the Jews, who were unsure whether they had really killed Jesus (Ṭ, Z) and so _follow only conjecture_ regarding the matter. Others, however, consider this to refer to the Christians who differ over Jesus' nature—divine or human—and thus on the issue of whether he was crucified only in his "human" aspect, but not in his "divinity" (Q). _Concerning him_ can also be read as "concerning it," meaning the entire affair of the crucifixion, a reading preferred by al-Zamakhsharī. _They slew him not for certain_ may refer to Jesus, indicating certainty that he was not slain, in contrast to the "doubts" and "conjectures" of those who _differ concerning him_. This last line of the verse, however, may be read idiomatically to mean "they did not kill [their doubt] about the matter"; that is, they remained in a state of doubt and conjecture (M, Q).

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Ř But God raised him up unto Himself, and God is Mighty, Wise.

158 See also 3:55 and commentary. The present verse, along with 3:55, represents the source of the Islamic belief that Jesus, as in the Christian tradition, ascended directly to God. _Raised up_ here translates _rafa ʿa,_ which literally means "to raise," rather than _ba ʿatha,_ which is used elsewhere to mean "to resurrect" after death. The verse is thus understood as referring to Jesus' direct ascension from the earthly realm to the Presence of God without the intervening event of death. The Quran is clear elsewhere, however, that Jesus is not Divine (5:116). Logically, then, he must share in human mortality. Islamic tradition holds Jesus will return near the end times to fight the Antichrist ( _al-Dajjāl_ ) and will thereafter eventually die and be resurrected with the rest of humanity. Cf. 19:33, where Jesus affirms his future death and "resurrection," saying, _Peace be upon me the day I was born, the day I die, and the day I am raised alive_ ( _ub ʿathu ḥayyan,_ from _ba ʿatha_).

The Gospel account indicates that Jesus' followers witnessed, or at least believed in, his death, resurrection, and ascension. However, because the Quran seems to present death and direct ascension in contradistinction to each other when it says, _They slew him not for certain. But God raised him up unto Himself_ (vv. 157–58), some Islamic accounts understand these as representing two separate beliefs about Jesus' fate. Ibn Kathīr, for example, indicates that some of Jesus' followers witnessed his ascension and so were aware that he had not died, while others witnessed his "seeming" death and so believed the Jewish account that they had slain him. It should be noted, however, that the idea of resurrection even in this life, rather than between this world and the next, is not unacceptable from the Quranic perspective; see, for example, 2:259, where God caused a man _to die for a hundred years, then raised him up_ ( _ba ʿathahu,_ referring to resurrection, not ascension).

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ř There is not one of the People of the Book, but will surely believe in him before his death, and on the Day of Resurrection he will be a witness against them.

159 Some commentators understand this verse to mean that all of the _People of the Book,_ although here primarily Jews, will _believe in_ Jesus before Jesus' own death, that is, after he returns near the end of time to fight the Antichrist or Dajjāl (see 4:158c; IK, Ṭ, Z). Another interpretation holds that the verse means that all of the People of the Book would believe in Jesus before their own deaths (IK, Ṭ, Z), although this seems to be a far less plausible explanation, for most Jews die without having accepted the prophethood of Jesus. Some commentators add that their "belief in him" immediately before death will be of no avail to them, just as Pharaoh's declaration of belief in "the God of the Children of Israel" as he was drowning brought him no benefit (see 10:90–91). On the Day of Resurrection, Jesus will serve as a _witness against_ all of the People of the Book. That is, he will bear witness that he delivered the Divine message entrusted to him and that in doing so he affirmed his own status as a human messenger of God (Ṭ), thus refuting both the claims of his divinity made by Christians and the rejection of his prophethood by the Jews.

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Š And for the wrongdoing among those who are Jews, We forbade them certain good things that had been made lawful unto them, and for their turning many from the way of God,

160 After the discussion of the fate of Jesus and his ascension to God, refuting the Jews' claim to having killed him, this verse resumes the thread of criticism toward the Jews begun in v. 155. For all of these offenses, the Quran asserts that the Jews were forbidden _certain good things_ ( _ṭ ayyibāt_) _that had been made lawful to them_. _Ṭ ayyibāt_ is usually employed to mean earthly provisions granted by God and refers explicitly to food in several places; see 2:172; 5:5; 20:81; 23:51; as well as 2:57; 7:160, where it is used in reference to the manna and quails God provides the Israelites in the desert. The present verse refers to the prohibition of certain foods for the Jews; see also 3:93: _All food was lawful unto the Children of Israel, save what Israel had forbidden for himself, before the Torah was sent down;_ and 6:146, where they are forbidden clawed animals and the fat of oxen and sheep.

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š and for their taking usury, though they had been forbidden it, and for their consuming men's wealth falsely. And We have prepared for the disbelievers among them a painful punishment.

161 Engaging in _ribā_ (usually rendered _usury_ ) is strongly denounced and forbidden in several verses (2:275–79; 3:130; 30:39, where it is contrasted with the spiritual profit one gains through charity), and the present verse indicates that this prohibition had been ordained for the Jews as well (as it is in Exodus 22:25; Leviticus 25:36–37), but that they did not adhere to it. For the practices that constituted their _consuming men's wealth falsely,_ see 4:29–30c. See also 9:34, where certain Jewish and Christian religious authorities ( _rabbis and monks_ ) are said to _consume the wealth of people falsely_. As a result of the forbidden financial practices of which some Jews are here accused, some Islamic legal scholars questioned whether engaging in commerce with the Jews was permissible; however, both the Quran (see 5:5) and the known practices ( _sunnah_ ) of the Prophet indicate that such commerce is lawful (Q). At the end of the verse, it is specifically the _disbelievers among_ the Jews (i.e., those who neglected or broke their covenant in the ways mentioned in vv. 155–61) who will face a _painful punishment_ in the Hereafter.

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Ţ But those among them who are firmly rooted in knowledge, and the believers, believing in that which was sent down unto thee and in that which was sent down before thee, those who perform the prayer and give the alms and believe in God and the Last Day—unto them shall We grant a great reward.

162 After the discussion of "disbelieving" Jews in vv. 155–61, this verse mentions those among the Jews who are _firmly rooted in knowledge_ (on this phrase, see 3:7c), which means to possess certain religious knowledge (Qu). This epithet was reserved for those who had knowledge of both legal and theological issues (R); for those who combined knowledge of the teachings and religious duties of the religion with their implementation in practice (R); or for those who possessed inner knowledge. If _and the believers_ is understood to be a further description of the righteous among the Jews, it indicates that it is possible for believing and pious Jews to remain Jews, even as they accept both their own scripture and _that which has been sent down unto_ Muhammad, and in fact to receive _a great reward_ in the Hereafter for their belief and good deeds. Many commentators mention that, historically, this verse refers to certain Madinan Jewish scholars, such as ʿAbd Allāḥ ibn Salām, who accepted the validity of Muhammad's prophethood (R, Ṭs, Z).

The _believers_ here can also be read as a specific reference to Muslim believers (R, Ṭ, Ṭs,). In the latter case, _those firmly rooted in knowledge_ both among the Jews and the believing Muslims shall be granted _a great reward_. Because _those who perform the prayer_ ( _muqayyimina al- ṣalāh_) is in the accusative, unlike the other descriptors here, some commentators suggest the verse should be translated "the believers, believing in that which has been sent down unto thee and in that which has been sent before thee [and in] those who perform the prayer," in which "those who perform the prayer" is a reference to the angels (Ṭ) or the prophets (R, Z) and thus one of the objects of belief (Ṭ). Since performing the prayer and giving alms are joined together so frequently in the Quran, however, it seems unlikely that they were meant to be separated in this way, and some commentators note that the shift from the nominative to the accusative in a list can be used to indicate praise for the characteristic thus distinguished by the shift in case (Ṭs, Z).

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ţ Verily We have revealed unto thee, as We revealed unto Noah and the prophets after him, and as We revealed unto Abraham and Ishmael and Isaac and Jacob and the Tribes, and Jesus and Job and Jonah and Aaron and Solomon, and unto David We gave the Psalms,

163 Many similar verses present lists of God's messengers through whom He conveyed revelation, all of which Muslims are to accept (e.g., 2:136; 3:84; 6:83–89; 19:49–58). In this particular context, some see it as a response to those asking the Prophet to _bring a book down upon them from Heaven_ (v. 153), refuting their claim that God had not sent a book to anyone after Moses (Ṭ, Z). The _Psalms_ given to David translates _al-Zabūr,_ which, when used in the singular and in the definite, and certainly when it is connected explicitly with David, is generally assumed to refer to the Psalms (17:55; 21:105), some of which Judeo-Christian tradition considers to be of Davidic authorship. When this term is used in the plural ( _zubur_ ) and not associated with David as a prophet, it is rendered simply as "scriptures" (e.g., 3:184; 16:44; 26:196). This is the first place in the Quranic text where the Biblical figures of Job and Jonah are identified as prophets; for more on Job, see 6:84; 21:83–84; 38:41–44; and for Jonah, see 6:86; 10:98; 37:139–48; 68:48–50.

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Ť and messengers We have recounted unto thee before, and messengers We have not recounted unto thee; and unto Moses God spoke directly,

164 Although the Quran contains mention of twenty-six prophets, Islamic tradition holds that there were many more, in fact, 124,000. Here, as in 40:78, the Quran explicitly indicates that there are prophets not mentioned in the Quran, whose stories God _has not recounted_ to Muhammad or his followers, thus alluding to the universal reality of revelation and keeping the door open for sacred figures of other religious traditions, such as the Buddha and Confucius, to be considered prophets to their religious communities, as they were later by some Muslim scholars familiar with these other religious traditions. This verse mentions the distinction given to Moses as a prophet in Islam: God spoke to him directly (see also 2:253, where being spoken to by God is cited as a particular distinction given to some prophets). This is the basis of Moses' prophetic title in Islamic tradition, _Kalīm Allāh_ (one who speaks with God). That is also why some Muslims refer to Jews as _kalīmī_ s. In Exodus 33:11 and Deuteronomy 34:10, this ability to speak directly with God is also said to set Moses apart from other prophets of Israel.

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ť messengers as bearers of glad tidings and as warners, that mankind might have no argument against God after the messengers. And God is Mighty, Wise.

165 The two functions of the prophets as _bearers of glad tidings_ and as _warners_ are mentioned together throughout the Quran (e.g., 2:213; 6:48; 7:188; 11:2; 17:105; 18:56; 25:56; 33:45; 34:28; 48:8). The Quran indicates that God sends guidance and warning to all peoples (13:7; 35:24); and although it recounts many examples of God destroying a people for their wrongdoing (e.g., 7:59–99), it also asserts that He does this only after a prophet has come to them with a warning (26:208; 28:59). In the present verse, the messengers are sent so _that mankind might have no argument against God,_ that is, no claim that they were not properly guided and warned, so that they might seek to avoid punishment for their evil actions (cf. 5:19; 20:134).

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Ŧ But God Himself bears witness to that which He has sent down unto thee—He sent it down with His Knowledge—and the angels bear witness. And God suffices as a Witness.

166 Cf. 3:18, where God _bears witness,_ along with the angels and the _possessors of knowledge,_ to God's Oneness.

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ŧ Verily those who disbelieve and who turn from the way of God have certainly wandered far astray.

Ũ Verily those who disbelieve and do wrong, God will not forgive them, nor will He guide them to any path,

ũ save the path of Hell, to abide therein forever; and that is easy for God.

167–69 The Quran repeatedly chastises those who _turn from the way of God,_ which may refer to placing intellectual or physical obstacles in the way of those who would seek to follow Divine Guidance, and so deliberately attempting to lead them astray, or else turning away from the way of God oneself. Although the Quran emphasizes God's infinite capacity for forgiveness and the universality of His Guidance in the form of prophetic messages (see 4:165c), it also indicates that He will not forgive certain sins. Here, in v. 168, those who _disbelieve and do wrong_ —that is, by turning from the way of God (v. 167), among other things—are deprived both of God's Forgiveness and His Guidance. See vv. 48, 116, where it is said God will not forgive _that any partner be ascribed unto Him_ ( _shirk_ ). See also v. 137, which indicates that God will not forgive those who waver between belief and disbelief and gradually _increase in disbelief;_ 9:79–80, where He does not forgive the disbelievers who _ridicule_ the believers; and 47:34, where He does not forgive those who disbelieve and _turn from the way of God._ Even in these cases as well as the present one, God's Forgiveness remains open to sincerely repentant disbelievers or wrongdoers (R, Z).

***

Ű O mankind! The Messenger has come to you with the truth from your Lord; so believe! It is better for you. But if you disbelieve, unto God belongs whatsoever is in the heavens and the earth, and God is Knowing, Wise.

170 Here people are urged to believe because it is _better_ for them. That is, one believes for the benefit of oneself, not for God, who possesses _whatsoever is in the heavens and the earth_ and so is neither enriched nor diminished by the belief or disbelief of His creatures.

***

ű O People of the Book! Do not exaggerate in your religion, nor utter anything concerning God save the truth. Verily the Messiah, Jesus son of Mary, was only a messenger of God, and His Word, which He committed to Mary, and a Spirit from Him. So believe in God and His messengers, and say not "Three." Refrain! It is better for you. God is only one God; Glory be to Him that He should have a child. Unto Him belongs whatsoever is in the heavens and whatsoever is on the earth, and God suffices as a Guardian.

171 From the Quranic perspective, if the error of the Jews is in their failure to recognize certain prophets who had been sent to them, the error of the Christians is to _exaggerate_ in their religion by ascribing divine status to their prophet, Jesus (R). In this verse, then, _O People of the Book_ is addressed primarily to Christians. The verse asserts the Quranic view of Jesus as _only a messenger of God,_ meaning a human messenger like Muhammad and the prophets who preceded him (see also 5:75). The understanding of Jesus as a _messenger of God_ is consistent with several Gospel verses that state that Jesus was sent by the Father (see, e.g., John 5:23; 5:30; 5:36–37; 6:39; 6:44; 6:57; 8:16; 8:18; 8:29; 8:42; 10:36; 12:49; 14:24; 17:21; 17:25; 20:21.) Yet, the Quran ascribes unique distinctions to certain prophets, which then become the basis of their honorific titles in Islamic tradition. For example, God is said to have taken Abraham _for a friend_ (v. 125), the basis of his honorific title _Khalīl Allāh_ (the intimate friend of God), and to have spoken to Moses "directly" (v. 164), the basis of his honorific title _Kalīm Allāh_ (one who speaks with God).

In the present verse, the uniqueness of Jesus among the messengers is affirmed in several ways, including his title _Rū ḥ Allāh_ ("Spirit of God"). He is referred to here and in certain places, however, as the _Messiah_ ( _al-Masī ḥ_), a term that in Arabic is understood to refer to his having been purified by God of sin (Ṭ). This is not unrelated to the concept of being "anointed," the root meaning of the word in Hebrew.

He is also identified as God's _Word_ (see also 3:45; 19:34), an idea that has clear resonance with the Gospel tradition, where Jesus is identified as the "Word" of God (see John 1). Christian and Islamic tradition, however, derive different theological conclusions from this appellation. In the Islamic context, the identification of Jesus as God's _Word_ does not preclude or overshadow his function as the bringer of the Gospel, which, like the Torah and the Quran, represents God's Word and message to humanity. Some commentators interpret _His Word_ here as the tidings Mary received of his miraculous conception in her womb or as an allusion to the Divine Creative Command _Be!_ by which Christ was formed in Mary's womb (see 3:45, 59; R, Ṭ). However, while all created beings are brought into existence through God's Word, Christ alone is specifically identified as "a Word from God." Some might argue, therefore, that Jesus, by virtue of being identified as God's _Word,_ somehow participates (uniquely) in the Divine Creative Command, although this is not the traditional Islamic understanding of Jesus' identification as _a Word from Him_ (3:45).

The miracle of Jesus' virgin birth is also alluded to here in that he is identified as God's Word _committed to Mary_ ( _alqāhā ilā Maryam_ ), which could also be rendered "cast upon Mary." Cf. 66:12, where it is said that God _breathed_ His Spirit into Mary. Consistent with the implicit representation in 66:12 of Jesus as God's "Spirit" breathed into Mary, in the present verse Jesus is also identified as _a Spirit_ from God. Cf. 2:87, 253; 5:110, where Jesus is _strengthened . . . with the Holy Spirit._ It is on this basis that Jesus is given the honorific title of "Spirit of God" ( _Rū ḥ Allāh_) in the Islamic tradition. Some commentators, however, understand Jesus' description as _a Spirit from_ God metaphorically and consider _Spirit_ here to be either a reference to Jesus' purity or a metaphor for God's Mercy ( _ra ḥmah;_ R).

In addition to reaffirming the full humanity of Jesus, the present verse commands Christians to _say not "Three."_ This is understood as a command to abandon the doctrine of God as Trinity. Here they are merely told to _refrain_ from asserting this doctrine, as it is _better_ for them. In 5:73, Christians who call God "Three" are more seriously criticized, but this verse is embedded in a larger discussion that seems to be addressing those Christians who took not only Jesus, but also his mother, Mary, to be divine (see 5:73c). In both the present verse and 5:73, however, the orthodox doctrine of the Trinity as three "persons," or hypostases, "within" the One God is not explicitly referenced, and the criticism seems directed at those who assert the existence of three distinct "gods," an idea that Christians themselves reject.

Al-Rāzī is aware that Christians do not believe in three separate gods, but rather in three qualities ( _ṣ ifāt_) in a single Divine Essence, but argues that the claim that the Divine Reality inhered in the human form of Christ belies the idea that the trinitarian concept ultimately posits a single Divine Essence. He also contrasts the Christian doctrine of aspects, or hypostases, within a single Divine Essence with the Islamic doctrine of God's Names and Qualities, which, unlike the Christian hypostases, are not understood as aspects of God that can be seen as multiple, distinct entities (R).

Despite these strong criticisms of Christian trinitarian doctrine as well as the implication through juxtaposition in 5:72–73 that Christian beliefs in the divinity of Jesus, and in God as _the third of three_ can be understood as a kind of _shirk_ (ascribing partners unto God), Islamic Law never considered Christians to be "idolaters" ( _mushrikūn_ ) and accepted Christians' own assertions of monotheistic belief, maintaining the clear distinction the Quran itself makes between idolaters ( _mushrikūn_ ) and the People of the Book.

Having addressed the Christian belief in the divinity of Jesus and in the trinitarian concept of God, the present verse concludes by refuting the Christian belief in the divine sonship of Jesus: _Glory be to Him that He should have a child_. For other rejections of the notion of Jesus' divine "sonship" or of God's having offspring of any sort, see 2:116; 6:100–101; 9:30; 10:68; 16:57; 17:111; 43:16.

***

Ų The Messiah would never disdain to be a servant of God; nor would the angels brought nigh. Whosoever disdains His service, and is arrogant, He will gather them unto Himself all together.

ų As for those who believe and perform righteous deeds, He shall pay them their rewards in full, and will increase them from His Bounty. But as for those who are disdainful and arrogant, He will punish them with a painful punishment, and they will find no protector or helper for themselves apart from God.

172–73 Here again the exclusive humanity of Jesus is asserted: _The Messiah would never disdain to be a servant_ ( _ʿ abd_) _of God._ The Arabic term for "servant" ( _ʿ abd_) can also mean "slave" and describes the relationship of all human beings, ultimately, to God; it also designates those pious persons who willingly choose to submit their will to the Will of God. Jesus is God's _servant,_ of course, in both senses. To reject or _disdain_ servanthood in relation to God is nothing but unjustifiable arrogance, and all those _who are disdainful and arrogant_ will receive a _painful punishment._ Some commentators view the assertion of Jesus' "servanthood" in relation to God as a response to a statement made by the Christian delegation from Najrān in their discussion with the Prophet. The delegates reportedly took exception to the Islamic claim that Jesus was a (mere) "servant" (or as they may well have understood, "slave") and "messenger" of God and considered it an insult to Jesus. This verse asserts in response that rejecting or disdaining "servanthood" is a form of arrogance in relation to the Divine that Jesus, and even the angels, would never display (R).

The Najrān delegation, likely under the influence of Abyssinian Monophysite doctrine, may well have held that Jesus' divinity completely overwhelmed his humanity, and so would have been particularly averse to such a description of Jesus. However, it should be noted that orthodox Christian doctrine maintains the full humanity of Christ as a theological necessity, even if it holds that this humanity is inseparable, mysteriously, from his divinity. Although the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit are all of the same essence and thus equally divine in orthodox Christian doctrine, the Father is the cause and the principle of the divine nature, which is in the Son and in the Spirit, and thus has some degree of superiority.

***

Ŵ O mankind! Verily there has come unto you a proof from your Lord. And We have sent down unto you a clear light.

ŵ As for those who believe in God and hold fast to Him, He will cause them to enter into His Mercy and Bounty, and will guide them unto Himself upon a straight path.

174–75 These verses conclude the discussion of the People of the Book and their beliefs, implying that the Quran has now brought them convincing _proof_ ( _burhān,_ which denotes an irrefutable argument) and a _clear light_ through which they may now understand the importance of being faithful to their covenant with God and the truth about their own prophets and revelations.

***

Ŷ They seek a ruling from thee. Say, "God gives you a ruling concerning the one without a direct heir. If a man dies having no child, but he has a sister, then unto her belongs half of what he leaves, and he will inherit from her if she has no child. If there be two sisters, then unto them belongs two-thirds of what he leaves. If there be brothers and sisters, then unto the male a share equal to that of two females." Thus does God make [this] clear unto you, lest you should go astray. And God is Knower of all things.

176 This final verse revisits the issue of inheritance addressed in vv. 11–12, and particularly the case, mentioned in v. 12, of the one who dies without direct heir ( _kalālah_ ), that is, without a father or son (or, in some interpretations, without a parent or child). V. 12 says one-third of the estate of such a person is to be divided among the siblings of the deceased, but does not differentiate the shares according to gender or number of the siblings. The present verse increases the portion of the estate to be divided among the siblings and delineates the division among the siblings more specifically. Thus if the deceased has but a single sister, she will inherit fully half of his estate; two (or more) sisters will inherit two-thirds. In the case of there being both brothers and sisters, two-thirds of the estate is to be shared between them, with a brother receiving twice the share of a sister, following the general principle that a male relative inherits twice the share of a similarly related female relative. In all of these cases, the remainder of the estate is to be either divided up among more distant relatives (uncles, aunts, cousins, nephews, nieces) or rendered to the public treasury ( _bayt al-māl_ ) of the Islamic state (Ṭū).

The revisiting of this issue was, according to one report, occasioned by a complaint from the early Companion Jābir ibn ʿAbd Allāh (d. 78/697); according to the earlier ruling, his nine sisters would have had to share a mere third of his estate (Q, Ṭ, W). The early commentators differed over how the inheritance was to be divided if the deceased left a daughter as well as a sister, but no son. Some understood this to mean that if a person died leaving a daughter and a sister, each received half of the estate. Ibn ʿAbbās and the Twelver Shiite legal school, however, held that the presence of a surviving daughter, like that of a son, meant that the deceased was not technically a _kalālah_ (one dying without a parent or child to inherit from him) and so precluded any inheritance for a sister (Q, Ṭ, Ṭū). According to several reports from the Prophet's Companion al-Barā' ibn ʿĀzib, this was the final verse of the Quran revealed to the Prophet, although other verses, such as 5:3 and particularly 2:281, are more widely attested as the final Quranic verse (JJ, Q, Ṭ). Other verses sometimes considered to be the final passage of the Quranic revelation include 9:128–29 and 110:1–3.

##

## The Table Spread

## _al-Mā ʾidah_

A Madinan _sūrah, al-Mā ʾidah_ contains verses that are considered to be among the last that the Prophet Muhammad received, and all of its verses were revealed after the conquest of Makkah in 8/630 (Z). The _sūrah_ itself is one of the last complete _sūrah_ s revealed to the Prophet (Q), along with _al-Fat ḥ_ ( _Sūrah_ 48), although _al-Na ṣr_ ( _Sūrah_ 110) is widely believed to have been the last (IK). The triumphant line in v. 3, _This day I have perfected for you your religion, and completed My Blessing upon you, and have approved for you as religion, Submission (Islam),_ is one of several individual verses variously reported to be the last that the Prophet received before his death (the others are 2:281; 4:176; 9:128–29; 110:1–3). This verse and several others in the _sūrah_ were reportedly revealed in the course of the Prophet's parting sermon during the Farewell Pilgrimage in 10/632 (Q, Z). According to several reports, the Prophet received this _sūrah_ while he was riding on a camel. The camel could not bear the weight of its descent, however, and the Prophet had to dismount (IK). The _sūrah_ takes its name from the miraculous _table spread with food (al-mā ʾidah_) that God sends down to Jesus and his apostles at their request in vv. 112–15.

The opening section of the _sūrah,_ vv. 1–11, contains various ritual and legal prescriptions concerning the pilgrimage, lawful foods, intermarriage, and ritual purity interspersed with reminders of God's blessings upon the Muslim community and of the necessity of fulfilling the covenant with Him. The tone of these opening lines is religiously triumphant and hopeful and, with its repeated mention of God's blessings and His covenant, bears some comparison with Moses' final sermon as recounted in the Biblical book of Deuteronomy.

The content of this _sūrah_ is concerned primarily with two major issues: The first is the establishment of a series of ritual and legal rulings considered to be definitive by virtue of the late revelation of the _sūrah_. Some assert that no ruling in this _sūrah_ was ever abrogated (Q), although some claim that parts of v. 2 and v. 106 have been abrogated (IK). The Prophet is reported to have said, "O people! _Sūrat al-Mā ʾidah_ is among the last that came down, so whatever it makes licit, you should consider licit, and whatever it makes forbidden, you should consider forbidden" (Q), and a similar statement is attributed to the Prophet's wife ʿĀʾishah (IK, Q). Its rulings include prescriptions concerning the pilgrimage or _ḥ ajj_ (vv. 1–2, 95–97), dietary law (vv. 3–5, 87–88), wine and gambling (vv. 90–91), and making bequests (vv. 106–8). This _sūrah_ also establishes the legal punishments ( _ḥ udūd;_ sing. _ḥ add_) for _those who wage war against God and His Messenger, and endeavor to work corruption upon the earth_ (v. 33), understood to pertain to exceedingly violent crimes against the community, including armed robbery and aggression (vv. 33–34), as well as theft (vv. 38–39). The "call to prayer" is also mentioned exclusively in v. 58, although it does not refer to it by its technical term, _adhān_.

The second and larger issue with which the _sūrah_ is concerned is the definitive establishment of relations between the Muslim community and the People of the Book. On the one hand, this _sūrah_ contains much criticism of Jews and Christians. They are accused of breaking or forgetting their covenants with God (vv. 12–14); Christians are chastised for exaggerated claims of divinity for Jesus and his mother (vv. 17–18, 116); and the Israelites' refusal to obey Moses' command to fight is recounted (vv. 20–26). At the same time, there is a discussion of the normalizing of relations between Muslims and the People of the Book that also includes the establishment of some boundaries. Thus in v. 5, Muslims are allowed to eat their food and to marry women from among them, thereby allowing for substantial social relations between Muslims and the People of the Book. But in vv. 51–57, political boundaries are established between these communities, as Muslims are warned not to take Jews and Christians as protectors to the exclusion of members of the Muslim religious community (although Islamic Law does allow treaties of alliance between the Muslim state, or states, and Christian or Jewish political entities). Vv. 41–47 concern the ability of the Prophet, and by extension the authority of the Islamic state, to render judgment in legal disputes among the People of the Book; they also establish that these two communities have their own "law and way" (v. 48) and that they should judge themselves according to their own scriptures (vv. 43–47). Vv. 82–85 present a beautiful portrait of Christian devotion, and the very end of the _sūrah_ recounts Jesus' extraordinary miracles (vv. 110–15)—including the unique story of the _table spread_ ( _al-mā ʾidah_) and its descent from Heaven—but concludes with a warning about those Christians who disbelieved thereafter. The _sūrah_ ends with a final statement of God's complete Sovereignty and Power over all things.

### In the Name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful

¡ O you who believe! Fulfill your pacts. Lawful unto you are grazing cattle, save that which is recited unto you, hunted game being unlawful when you are in the state of pilgrim sanctity. Truly God decrees whatsoever He desires. * O you who believe! Do not violate the sanctity of the rituals of God, nor the sacred month, nor the offerings, nor the garlands, nor those bound for the Sacred House, seeking the Bounty of their Lord, and [His] Contentment. But when you have left the state of pilgrim sanctity, then hunt for game. And let not hatred for a people who once turned you away from the Sacred Mosque lead you to transgress. Help one another toward piety and reverence; do not help one another toward sin and enmity. And reverence God. Truly God is severe in retribution. + Forbidden unto you are carrion and blood, the flesh of swine and that which has been offered to other than God, that which has been strangled or beaten to death, that which has been killed by falling or has been gored to death, that which has been mangled by beasts of prey—save that which you may purify—and that which is sacrificed on stone altars, and that which you allot with divining arrows; that is iniquity. This day those who disbelieve have despaired of your religion. So fear them not, but fear Me! This day I have perfected for you your religion, and completed My Blessing upon you, and have approved for you as religion, Submission ( _Islām_ ). But whosoever is compelled by hunger, without inclining toward sin, then surely God is Forgiving, Merciful. J They ask thee what is lawful unto them. Say, "Lawful unto you are all good things." And as for the hunting animals you have taught, teaching them from that which God has taught you, eat of what they catch for you, and mention the Name of God over it. And reverence God; truly God is swift in reckoning! Z This day, all good things are made lawful unto you. The food of those who have been given the Book is lawful unto you, and your food is lawful unto them. And likewise the chaste women of the believers, and the chaste women of those who were given the Book before you, when you have given them their bridewealth as married women, not as fornicators, nor as paramours. And whosoever rejects belief, his deeds have come to naught, and in the Hereafter he shall be among the losers. j O you who believe! When you rise to perform the prayer, wash your faces, and your hands up to the elbows, and wipe your heads and your feet up to the ankles. If you are in a state of major ritual impurity, then purify yourselves. But if you are ill, or on a journey, or one of you has come from satisfying a call of nature, or you have touched women, and you find no water, then resort to clean earth, and wipe therewith your faces and your hands. God desires not to place a burden upon you, but He desires to purify you, and to complete His Blessing upon you, that haply you may give thanks. z And remember God's Blessing upon you, and His covenant by which He bound you, when you said, "We hear and we obey." And reverence God. Truly God knows what lies within breasts. { O you who believe! Be steadfast for God, bearing witness to justice, and let not hatred for a people lead you to be unjust. Be just; that is nearer to reverence. And reverence God. Surely God is Aware of whatsoever you do. | To those who believe and perform righteous deeds, God has promised forgiveness and a great reward. Ċ And those who disbelieve and deny Our signs, they shall be the inhabitants of Hellfire. Ě O you who believe! Remember God's Blessing upon you, when a people were prepared to stretch forth their hands against you, but He withheld their hands from you. Reverence God, and in God let the believers trust. Ī God had made a covenant with the Children of Israel, and We raised among them twelve chieftains. And God said, "I am with you!" Surely, if you perform the prayer, and give alms, and believe in My messengers and support them, and lend unto God a goodly loan, I shall surely absolve you of your evil deeds, and shall cause you to enter Gardens with rivers running below. But whosoever among you disbelieves thereafter, surely he has strayed from the right way. ĺ Then for their breaking of their covenant, We cursed them and hardened their hearts. They distort the meaning of the Word, and have forgotten part of that whereof they were reminded. Thou wilt not cease to discover their treachery, from all save a few of them. So pardon them, and forbear. Truly God loves the virtuous. Ŋ And with those who say, "We are Christians," We made a covenant. Then they forgot part of that whereof they were reminded. So We stirred up enmity and hatred among them, till the Day of Resurrection. God will inform them of what they used to do. Ś O People of the Book! Our Messenger has come unto you, making clear to you much of what you once hid of the Book, and pardoning much. There has come unto you, from God, a light and a clear Book, Ū whereby God guides whosoever seeks His Contentment unto the ways of peace, and brings them out of darkness into light, by His Leave, and guides them unto a straight path. ź They indeed have disbelieved who say, "God is the Messiah, son of Mary." Say, "Who would have any power over God if He desired to destroy the Messiah, son of Mary, and his mother, and those on earth all together?" Unto God belongs sovereignty over the heavens and the earth and whatsoever is between them. He creates whatsoever He will, and God is Powerful over all things. Ɗ And the Jews and the Christians say, "We are the children of God, and His beloved ones." Say, "Why then does He punish you for your sins?" Nay, but you are mortals of His creating. He forgives whomsoever He will, and He punishes whomsoever He will, and unto God belongs sovereignty over the heavens and the earth and whatsoever is between them, and unto Him is the journey's end. ƚ O People of the Book! Our Messenger has come unto you, making things clear to you, after an interval in [the series] of messengers, lest you should say, "There came unto us no bearer of glad tidings, nor any warner." But there has come unto you a bearer of glad tidings and a warner. And God is Powerful over all things. Ȋ And when Moses said unto his people, "O my people! Remember God's Blessing upon you, when He appointed prophets among you, and appointed you kings, and gave you that which He gave unto no other in all the worlds. ! O my people! Enter the Holy Land, which God has prescribed for you, and do not turn back, or you shall become losers." " They said, "O Moses! In this land are a domineering people. We shall not enter it till they leave it. But if they leave it, we shall enter." # Two men whom God had blessed among those who feared [Him] said, "Enter upon them by the gate, for once you have entered it, you will be victors. And trust in God, if you are believers." $ They said, "O Moses! We shall never enter it, so long as they remain therein. So go forth, thou and thy Lord, and fight! We shall sit here." % He said, "My Lord! I have no power over anyone save myself and my brother; so separate us from the iniquitous people!" & He said, "Then verily it shall be forbidden them for forty years, while they shall wander on the earth. So grieve not for the iniquitous people." ' And recite unto them, with truth, the account of Adam's two sons, when they each offered a sacrifice, and it was accepted from one of them, though not accepted from the other. One said, "I will surely slay you!" [The other] said, "God accepts only from the reverent. ( Even if you stretch forth your hand against me to slay me, I shall not stretch forth my hand against you to slay you. Truly I fear God, Lord of the worlds. ) I desire that you should be burdened with my sin and your sin and so become one of the inhabitants of the Fire. Such is the recompense of the wrongdoers." Ð Then his soul prompted him to slay his brother, and he slew him, and thus came to be among the losers. Ñ Then God sent a crow, scratching the earth, to show him how he might conceal his brother's nakedness. He said, "Oh, woe unto me! Am I not able to be even as this crow and conceal my brother's nakedness?" And he came to be among the remorseful. Ò For this reason, We prescribed for the Children of Israel that whosoever slays a soul—unless it be for another soul or working corruption upon the earth—it is as though he slew mankind altogether, and whosoever saves the life of one, it is as though he saved the life of mankind altogether. Our messengers have certainly come unto them with clear proofs. Yet even after that, many of them are prodigal on the earth. Ó Verily the recompense of those who wage war against God and His Messenger, and endeavor to work corruption upon the earth is that they be killed or crucified, or have their hands and feet cut off from opposite sides, or be banished from the land. That is their disgrace in this world, and in the Hereafter theirs shall be a great punishment, Ô save those who repent before you overpower them. And know that God is Forgiving, Merciful. Õ O you who believe! Reverence God, and seek the means to approach Him, and strive in His way, that haply you may prosper. Ö Truly those who disbelieve, were they to possess all that is on the earth and the like of it besides with which to ransom themselves from the punishment of the Day of Resurrection, it would not be accepted from them. And theirs shall be a painful punishment. × They will wish to come forth from the Fire, but they shall not come forth from it. And theirs shall be a lasting punishment. Ø As for the male thief and the female thief, cut off their hands as a recompense for what they have earned, as an exemplary punishment from God. Truly God is Mighty, Wise. Ù But whosoever repents after his wrongdoing, and makes amends, God will relent unto him. Truly God is Forgiving, Merciful. @ Dost thou not know that unto God belongs sovereignty over the heavens and the earth? He punishes whomsoever He will, and He forgives whomsoever He will. And God is Powerful over all things. A O Messenger! Let them not grieve thee, those who hasten unto disbelief, those who say, "We believe" with their mouths, while their hearts believe not, and those who are Jews, who listen to lies and to others who have not come to thee. They distort the meaning of the word, saying, "If you are given this, then take it, but if you are not given this, then beware!" For whomsoever God desires that he be tried, thou hast no power to avail him aught against God. They are those whose hearts God desired not to purify. Theirs is disgrace in this world, and in the Hereafter they shall have a great punishment. B Those who listen to lies, and consume what is unlawful—if they come to thee, then judge between them, or turn away from them. If thou turnest away from them, they will not harm thee in the least. But if thou judgest, judge between them with justice. Truly God loves the just. C And how is it that they come to thee for judgment, when they have the Torah, wherein is God's Judgment? Yet even after that, they turn their backs, and they are not believers. D Truly We sent down the Torah, wherein is a guidance and a light, by which the prophets who submitted [unto God] judged those who are Jews, as did the sages and the rabbis, in accordance with such of God's Book as they were bidden to preserve and to which they were witnesses. So fear not mankind, but fear Me! And sell not My signs for a paltry price. Whosoever judges not by that which God has sent down—it is they who are disbelievers. E And therein We prescribed for them: a life for a life, an eye for an eye, a nose for a nose, an ear for an ear, a tooth for a tooth, and for wounds, retribution. But whosoever forgoes it out of charity, it shall be an expiation for him. Whosoever judges not by that which God has sent down—it is they who are wrongdoers. F And in their footsteps, We sent Jesus son of Mary, confirming the Torah that had come before him, and We gave him the Gospel, wherein is a guidance and a light, confirming the Torah that had come before him, as a guidance and an exhortation to the reverent. G Let the people of the Gospel judge by what God has sent down therein. Whosoever judges not by that which God has sent down—it is they who are iniquitous. H And We have sent down unto thee the Book in truth, confirming the Book that came before it, and as a protector over it. So judge between them in accordance with what God has sent down, and follow not their caprices away from the truth that has come unto thee. For each among you We have appointed a law and a way. And had God willed, He would have made you one community, but [He willed otherwise], that He might try you in that which He has given you. So vie with one another in good deeds. Unto God shall be your return all together, and He will inform you of that wherein you differ. I And judge between them in accordance with what God has sent down, and follow not their caprices. And beware of them, lest they tempt thee away from some part of that which God has sent down unto thee. And if they turn away, know that God desires to smite them for some sin of theirs, and surely many among mankind are iniquitous. P Is it the judgment of the Age of Ignorance that they seek? And who is fairer in judgment than God, for a people who are certain. Q O you who believe! Take not Jews and Christians as protectors. They are the protectors of one another. And whosoever takes them as protectors, surely he is of them. Truly God guides not wrongdoing people. R Yet thou seest those in whose hearts is a disease hastening to them, saying, "We fear lest a change of fortune should befall us." It may be that God will grant victory, or a command from Him. And then they shall be remorseful for that which they secretly harbored in their souls. S And those who believe will say, "Are these the ones who swore by God with their most solemn oaths that they were with you?" Their deeds have come to naught, and they have become losers. T O you who believe! Whosoever among you should renounce his religion, God will bring a people whom He loves and who love Him, humble toward the believers, stern toward the disbelievers, striving in the way of God, and fearing not the blame of any blamer. That is the Bounty of God, which He gives to whomsoever He will. And God is All-Encompassing, Knowing. U Your protector is only God, and His Messenger, and those who believe, who perform the prayer and give alms while bowing down. V And whosoever takes as his protector God, and His Messenger, and those who believe—the party of God, they are the victorious! W O you who believe! Take not as protectors those who take your religion in mockery and as play, from among those who were given the Book before you, or the disbelievers, and reverence God, if you are believers. X And when you call to prayer, they take it in mockery and as play. That is because they are a people who do not understand. Y Say, "O People of the Book! Are you vengeful toward us for no other reason than that we believe in God and in that which has been sent down unto us and in that which was sent down before, and because most of you are iniquitous?" ` Say, "Shall I inform you of something worse than that by way of recompense from God? Whomsoever God has cursed and upon whom is His Wrath, and among whom He has made some to be apes and swine, and who worship false deities, such are in a worse situation, and further astray from the right way." a When they come to you, they say, "We believe." But they certainly entered with disbelief and they have certainly left with it, and God knows best what they were concealing. b Thou seest many of them hastening to sin and enmity, and consuming what is forbidden. Evil indeed is that which they were doing. c Why do the sages and the rabbis not forbid them from their sinful speech and their consuming what is forbidden? Evil indeed is that which they were working. d The Jews say, "God's Hand is shackled." Shackled are their hands, and they are cursed for what they say. Nay, but His two Hands are outstretched, He bestows as He wills. Surely that which has been sent down unto thee from thy Lord will increase many of them in rebellion and disbelief. And We have cast enmity and hatred among them till the Day of Resurrection. As often as they ignite a flame for war, God extinguishes it. They endeavor to work corruption upon the earth. And God loves not the workers of corruption. e Had the People of the Book believed and been reverent, We would surely have absolved them of their evil deeds, and caused them to enter Gardens of bliss. f Had they observed the Torah and the Gospel and that which was sent down unto them from their Lord, they would surely have received nourishment from above them and from beneath their feet. There is a moderate community among them; but as for many of them, evil is that which they do! g O Messenger! Convey that which has been sent down unto thee from thy Lord, and if thou dost not, thou wilt not have conveyed His message. And God will protect thee from mankind. Surely God guides not disbelieving people. h Say, "O People of the Book! You stand on naught till you observe the Torah and the Gospel, and that which has been sent down unto you from your Lord." Surely that which has been sent down unto thee from thy Lord will increase many of them in rebellion and disbelief. So grieve not for disbelieving people. i Truly those who believe, and those who are Jews, and the Sabeans, and the Christians—whosoever believes in God and the Last Day and works righteousness, no fear shall come upon them, nor shall they grieve. p We indeed made a covenant with the Children of Israel, and sent messengers unto them. Whensoever a messenger brought them what their souls did not desire, some they would deny and some they would slay. q And they supposed that there would be no trial, and so became blind and deaf. Then God relented unto them; then [again] many of them became blind and deaf. And God sees whatsoever they do. r They certainly disbelieve, those who say, "Truly God is the Messiah, son of Mary." But the Messiah said, "O Children of Israel! Worship God, my Lord and your Lord." Surely whosoever ascribes partners unto God, God has forbidden him the Garden, and his refuge shall be the Fire. And the wrongdoers shall have no helpers. s They certainly disbelieve, those who say, "Truly God is the third of three," while there is no god save the one God. If they refrain not from what they say, a painful punishment will befall those among them who disbelieved. t Will they not turn to God in repentance and seek His forgiveness? And God is Forgiving, Merciful. u The Messiah, son of Mary, was naught but a messenger—messengers have passed away before him. And his mother was truthful. Both of them ate food. Behold how We make the signs clear unto them; yet behold how they are perverted! v Say, "Do you worship, apart from God, that which has no power to benefit or harm you, when it is God Who is the Hearing, the Knowing?" w Say, "O People of the Book! Do not exaggerate in your religion beyond the truth, and follow not the caprices of a people who went astray before, and led many astray, and strayed from the right way." x Those who disbelieved among the Children of Israel were cursed by the tongue of David and Jesus son of Mary. That was because they disobeyed and used to transgress. y They would not forbid one another from the wrong they committed. Evil indeed is that which they used to do. À Thou seest many of them allying with those who have disbelieved. Evil indeed is that which they have sent forth for their souls: the anger of God is upon them, and in punishment shall they abide. Á And had they believed in God and the Prophet, and that which was sent down unto him, they would not have taken them as protectors, but many of them are iniquitous. Â Thou wilt surely find the most hostile of men toward those who believe to be the Jews and those who ascribe partners unto God. And thou wilt find the nearest of them in affection toward those who believe to be those who say, "We are Christians." That is because among them are priests and monks, and because they are not arrogant. Ã And when they hear that which was sent down unto the Messenger, thou seest their eyes overflow with tears because of the truth they recognize. They say, "Our Lord, we believe, so inscribe us among the witnesses. Ä And how should we not believe in God and the truth that has come unto us, when we desire that our Lord should cause us to enter among the righteous people?" Å So God rewarded them for what they said with Gardens that have rivers running below, to abide therein, and that is the recompense of the virtuous. Æ As for those who disbelieved and denied Our signs—such shall be the inhabitants of Hellfire! Ç O you who believe! Do not forbid the good things that God has made lawful unto you, and do not transgress. Surely God loves not transgressors. È Eat of that which God has provided you that is lawful and good, and reverence God, in Whom you are believers. É God will not take you to task for that which is frivolous in your oaths, but He will take you to task for the oaths you have pledged in earnest. The expiation thereof is the feeding of ten indigent people with the equivalent of that which you feed your own family, or clothing them, or freeing a slave. And whosoever finds not [the means], let him fast for three days. That is the expiation for your oaths when you have sworn [them]. But keep your oaths. Thus does God make clear unto you His signs, that haply you may give thanks. Ґ O you who believe! Wine, and gambling, and idols, and divining arrows are but a means of defilement, of Satan's doing. So avoid it, that haply you may prosper. ґ Satan desires only to sow enmity and hatred among you through wine and gambling, and to turn you away from the remembrance of God, and from prayer. Will you, then, refrain? Ғ Obey God and obey the Messenger, and be wary. But if you turn away, then know that only the clear proclamation is incumbent upon Our Messenger. ғ There is no blame upon those who believe and perform righteous deeds for that which they have eaten, so long as they are reverent, and believe, and perform righteous deeds, then are reverent and believe, and then are reverent and virtuous. And God loves the virtuous. Ҕ O you who believe! God will surely try you with something of the game you obtain with your hands and your spears, so that God may know the one who fears Him unseen. So whosoever transgresses after that, his shall be a painful punishment. ҕ O you who believe! Slaughter not any game while you are in a state of pilgrim sanctity. And [for] the one among you who slaughters it intentionally, a recompense of cattle, the like of that which he slaughtered, as judged by two just men among you, as an offering brought to the Kaʿbah, or the expiation of feeding the indigent, or the equivalent of this in fasting, that he may taste the evil consequences of his affair. God has forgiven that which is past, but whosever relapses, God will take vengeance upon him, and God is Mighty, Possessor of Vengeance. Җ The game of the sea and the food thereof is made lawful unto you—an enjoyment for you and for the travelers—but the game of the land is forbidden unto you so long as you remain in a state of pilgrim sanctity. And reverence God, unto Whom you shall be gathered. җ God has made the Kaʿbah, the Sacred House, a support for mankind, and the sacred month, and the offerings, and the garlands, this that you might know that God knows whatsoever is in the heavens and whatsoever is on the earth, and that God is Knower of all things. Ҙ Know that God is severe in retribution, and that God is Forgiving, Merciful. ҙ Only the proclamation is incumbent upon the Messenger. And God knows what you disclose and what you conceal. Ā Say, "The good and the wicked are not equal, though the abundance of the wicked may impress you." So reverence God, O possessors of intellect, that you may prosper. ā O you who believe! Ask not about things which, if they were disclosed to you, would trouble you. And if you ask about them while the Quran is being sent down, they will be disclosed to you. God has pardoned this, and God is Forgiving, Clement. Ă A people before you asked about these things, then came to be disbelievers therein. ă God has not established _ba ḥīrah,_ or _sā ʾibah,_ or _wa ṣīlah,_ or _ḥ ām_. But those who disbelieve fabricate lies against God, and most of them do not understand. Ą And when it is said unto them, "Come unto that which God has sent down, and unto the Messenger," they say, "Sufficient for us is that which we have found our fathers practicing." What! Even if their fathers knew naught and were not rightly guided? ą O you who believe! You have charge of your own souls. He who is astray cannot harm you if you are rightly guided. Unto God shall be your return all together, and He shall inform you of what you used to do. Ć O you who believe! The witness between you, when death approaches one of you, at the time of the bequest, shall be two just men among you, or two from among other than yourselves if you are traveling upon the earth when death befalls you. Detain the two of them after the prayer, and let them both swear by God, if you doubt [them], "We will not sell it for any price, though he were a kinsman, nor will we conceal the witness of God, for then we would surely be among the sinners." ć But if it is discovered that the two of them are guilty of sin, then two others shall stand in their place, from those most entitled as claimants, and swear by God, "Indeed, our witness is truer than their witness, and we have not transgressed, for then we would surely be among the wrongdoers." Ĉ Thus it is more likely that they will bear true witness, or fear that their oaths will be countered by oaths thereafter. And reverence God and listen. God guides not iniquitous people. ĉ The day when God will gather the messengers and say, "What response did you receive?" they will say, "We have no knowledge. Truly it is Thou Who knowest best the things unseen." Đ Then God will say, "O Jesus son of Mary! Remember My Blessing upon thee, and upon thy mother, when I strengthened thee with the Holy Spirit, that thou mightest speak to people in the cradle and in maturity; and when I taught thee the Book, Wisdom, the Torah, and the Gospel; and how thou wouldst create out of clay the shape of a bird, by My Leave, and thou wouldst breathe into it, and it would become a bird, by My Leave; and thou wouldst heal the blind and the leper, by My Leave; and thou wouldst bring forth the dead, by My Leave; and how I restrained the Children of Israel from thee, when thou didst bring them clear proofs, and those who disbelieved among them said, 'This is naught but manifest sorcery.' đ And when I inspired the apostles to believe in Me and in My messenger, they said, 'We believe. Bear witness that we are submitters.'" Ē When the apostles said, "O Jesus son of Mary! Is thy Lord able to send down to us from Heaven a table spread with food?" He said, "Reverence God, if you are believers." ē They said, "We desire to eat from it, so that our hearts may be at peace, and we may know that thou hast spoken truthfully unto us, and we may be among the witnesses thereto." Ĕ Jesus son of Mary said, "O God, our Lord! Send down unto us a table from Heaven spread with food, to be a feast for us—for the first of us and the last of us—and a sign from Thee, and provide for us, for Thou art the best of providers." ĕ God said, "I shall indeed send it down unto you. But whosoever among you disbelieves thereafter, I shall surely punish him with a punishment wherewith I have not punished any other in all the worlds." Ė And when God said, "O Jesus son of Mary! Didst thou say unto mankind, 'Take me and my mother as gods apart from God?'" He said, "Glory be to Thee! It is not for me to utter that to which I have no right. Had I said it, Thou wouldst surely have known it. Thou knowest what is in my self and I know not what is in Thy Self. Truly it is Thou Who knowest best the things unseen. ė I said naught to them save that which Thou commanded me: 'Worship God, my Lord and your Lord.' And I was a witness over them, so long as I remained among them. But when Thou didst take me [to Thyself], it was Thou Who wast the Watcher over them. And Thou art Witness over all things. Ę If Thou punisheth them, they are indeed Thy servants, but if Thou forgiveth them, then indeed Thou art the Mighty, the Wise." ę God said, "This is the Day wherein the truthful shall benefit from their truthfulness. For them shall be Gardens with rivers running below, abiding therein forever. God is content with them, and they are content with Him. That is the great triumph." Ġ Unto God belongs sovereignty over the heavens and the earth and whatsoever is therein, and He is Powerful over all things.

## Commentary

¡ O you who believe! Fulfill your pacts. Lawful unto you are grazing cattle, save that which is recited unto you, hunted game being unlawful when you are in the state of pilgrim sanctity. Truly God decrees whatsoever He desires.

1 This verse is widely understood as being addressed to Muslims in general; it enjoins them to _fulfill_ their _pacts,_ meaning to complete in full the religious commitments they have made to God (cf. 2:40; 3:76; 13:20; 16:91; 33:23). Some early commentators, however, considered it to be addressed to the People of the Book as well, or to the People of the Book specifically, since they are all enjoined to fulfill their pacts or their covenant with God (see 2:40). The prominent early _Ḥ adīth_ scholar Ibn Shihāb al-Zuhrī (d. 124/741) claims to have seen a letter that the Prophet sent to the Christians of Najrān containing the first four verses of this _sūrah_ (Q), indicating that they were addressed to Christian believers as well. Some have suggested the _pacts_ here may also refer to the pacts of alliance and protection made among the Arabs in pre-Islamic times (Q, Ṭ).

However, as this is the opening verse of a _sūrah_ largely concerned with Muslim religious obligations as well as the covenantal obligations of all the People of the Book, it most likely refers to fulfilling religious pacts with God generally (Ṭ), which may also include the proper conclusion of marital, commercial, and treaty agreements, which are governed by religious Law (Q; see 2:177; 6:152, where this phrase is used in relation to religiously prescribed social transactions).

_Grazing cattle_ ( _bahīmat al-an ʿām_) designates camels, cows, and sheep (Ṭ), grazing animals commonly eaten in Arabia, and, according to some commentators, includes all forms of such animals, even their young and those in the womb when the mother is slaughtered (Ṭ). It may also include wild grazing animals, such as deer (Ṭ), although others argue these animals fall under the rules governing hunted animals (Q). The exception, _save that which is recited unto you_ (see also 22:30), refers to carrion, the blood of the lawful animals (Ṭ), any animal over which the Name of God has not been mentioned, and any animal that has been slaughtered according to idolatrous rites (vv. 3–4; 6:118–19, 121, 145) or been killed in an unacceptable manner (see v. 3). The flesh of swine is also forbidden (v. 3), but is not considered to be among the exceptions to lawful grazing cattle, specifically, as swine are not "grazing" animals (Ṭ).

This _sūrah,_ revealed partly in the context of the Prophet's Farewell Pilgrimage (in 10/632), contains several passages related to the pilgrimage ( _ḥ ajj_). Thus the verse also mentions the ban on hunting game while performing the pilgrimage, which requires a special state of purity ( _i ḥrām_) that prohibits hunting or slaughtering animals, with the exception of sea creatures (see 5:95–96).

***

* O you who believe! Do not violate the sanctity of the rituals of God, nor the sacred month, nor the offerings, nor the garlands, nor those bound for the Sacred House, seeking the Bounty of their Lord, and [His] Contentment. But when you have left the state of pilgrim sanctity, then hunt for game. And let not hatred for a people who once turned you away from the Sacred Mosque lead you to transgress. Help one another toward piety and reverence; do not help one another toward sin and enmity. And reverence God. Truly God is severe in retribution.

2 This verse is one of several that give Islamic endorsement to various sacred elements and rituals associated with Makkah and the pilgrimage to it that were already part of the pre-Islamic practices of the Arabs (see also v. 97; 2:196–203; 22:26–36). One should not violate or breach the _sanctity of the rituals_ ( _sha ʿāʾir_) _of God_. _Sha ʿāʾir_ can mean either "rituals" or "ritual places." The verse is understood as an injunction to recognize all the sacred rites and places associated with the pilgrimage (Ṭ, Z), to avoid all things prohibited in a state of pilgrim sanctity ( _i ḥrām;_ Ṭ), and to fulfill all the elements of the pilgrimage ritual (Q, Ṭ). Although some suggest that the prohibition against violating the _rituals_ ( _sha ʿāʾir_) _of God_ relates to following all Divine commands and prohibitions in general (Ṭ), and in later Islamic usage _sha ʿāʾir_ can refer to other sacred rites, the Quran employs _sha ʿāʾir_ exclusively in connection with the Makkan pilgrimage, denoting various rites and sacred places associated with it; see 2:158 (where the term refers specifically to the sacred hills of Ṣafā and Marwah); 22:32, 36. The sanctity of the precincts of Makkah, and especially the Sacred Mosque, constituted of the Kaʿbah and the _ḥ aram_ that surrounds it, was observed by refraining from violence or bloodshed in this area, which was recognized as a protected sanctuary (see 3:97c), although 2:191 allows fighting in the sacred precinct if the Makkans initiate hostilities there.

In addition to the spatial sanctity of these places, the verse mentions the temporal sanctity of the _sacred month_. Some say that the reference to the _sacred month_ in the singular here denotes all four sacred months during which there was traditionally an abstention from violence in the pre-Islamic period: Rajab, Dhu'l-Qaʿdah, Dhu'l-Ḥijjah, and Muḥarram, the seventh, eleventh, twelfth, and first months, respectively, on the lunar Arab (and also later the Islamic) calendar (Q, R). The Quran here and elsewhere (see 2:217; 9:36) upholds the sanctity of these months in the Islamic context as well. During the years of successive battles between the Madinan Muslims and the Makkan idolaters, the Quran allowed for fighting during these months under certain conditions (see 2:194, 217). Some consider the sanctity of these months to be abrogated (at least in relation to fighting idolaters) by 9:5, which enjoined Muslims, _Slay the idolaters wheresoever you find them_. But in some of the last verses revealed, including the present verse, v. 97, and 9:36, as well as in an address given by the Prophet during his Farewell Pilgrimage (IK), the sanctity of these months is upheld. Some consider the _sacred month_ in the present verse to refer specifically to Dhu'l-Ḥijjah, the month in which the major pilgrimage is performed (Z); while others suggest that it may mean Rajab (R, Ṭ) or Dhu'l-Qaʿdah, specifically (Ṭ).

The verse then forbids specifically harming or destroying the _offerings_ (the livestock set aside to be ritually slaughtered at the conclusion of the pilgrimage; see also 2:196; 5:97; 48:25) or failing to observe their inviolate status as sacrificial offerings, symbolized by the _garlands_ traditionally placed around the necks of these animals (see also v. 97). Such garlands were reportedly used during the pre-Islamic pilgrimage as well, and their use was considered to have been originally an Abrahamic practice (Q).

Finally, one must allow _those bound for the Sacred House_ (i.e., pilgrims to the Kaʿbah) to travel in safety and peace. According to some, this verse was revealed after the conquest of Makkah, but before the revelation of 9:1–28, which banned the idolaters from the Kaʿbah pilgrimage. During this brief interim, the idolaters were not prohibited from performing the major or minor pilgrimage to the Kaʿbah. One report claims that this verse was revealed in relation to a man who had once come to Madinah from Yamāmah feigning interest in embracing Islam, but who later left without making a religious commitment. On his way out of Madinah, he led away some camels belonging to the Madinan Muslims. After the conquest of Makkah, but before idolaters had been banned from the pilgrimage, some Muslims saw this same man coming to make the pilgrimage to the Kaʿbah, leading the stolen camels with garlands around their necks, indicating that they had been dedicated for sacrifice at the Kaʿbah. When they recognized him and the stolen camels, they questioned whether to allow him to proceed or not, and this verse was revealed, indicating that they were not to interfere with the man or the sacrificial camels (Q, Ṭ, W). After the revelation of 9:1–28, however, the idolaters were no longer afforded the protections of the sacred months or pilgrim status (IK, Q); this represents a clear example of _naskh_ (abrogation), where one Quranic verse abrogates the legal ruling (but not the text) of another verse. The universal nature of the protections of the sacred months and pilgrim status implied in this verse were therefore considered abrogated, insofar as they no longer pertained to idolaters (Ṭ).

_Those bound for the Sacred House_ are described as seeking both _the Bounty of their Lord, and [His] Contentment,_ indicating that people may make the _ḥ ajj_ hoping both for worldly gain through trade or commerce conducted in the process and for the spiritual purpose of pleasing God and being rewarded accordingly (Ṭ). Those _people who once turned_ the believers _away from the Sacred Mosque_ are the former Makkan idolaters, who had driven the Muslims from their homes in Makkah and had thwarted the Muslims' attempt to perform the lesser pilgrimage ( _ʿ umrah_) to the Sacred Mosque in 6/628, during the height of the struggle between the Madinan Muslims and the Makkan idolaters (Ṭ, 48:25; see also 2:114; 8:34; 22:25 for criticism of those who bar others from the _mosques of God_ or the _Sacred Mosque,_ specifically). These former Makkan idolaters had gone from being the sworn enemies of the Muslim community to being its newest members in a matter of days, and the believers are warned not to allow any lingering ill will or _hatred_ for them to lead them to _transgress_ the rights of the new converts or (in 5:8) _to be unjust_ in their dealings with them.

The Prophet made this point emphatically in his own treatment of the new Makkan converts. Shortly after Makkah had fallen to the Muslims and the Makkans embraced Islam en masse after having fought the Muslims for years, the Prophet led the Muslims, including these new converts, into battle against an aggressive tribe to the south of Makkah. When the battle was won, the Prophet made the extraordinary gesture of giving all of the considerable spoils of this battle exclusively to the new Makkan Muslims, to assure them of their full standing in the Muslim community and to alleviate any lingering resentments they might have borne toward the Muslims.

***

+ Forbidden unto you are carrion and blood, the flesh of swine and that which has been offered to other than God, that which has been strangled or beaten to death, that which has been killed by falling or has been gored to death, that which has been mangled by beasts of prey—save that which you may purify—and that which is sacrificed on stone altars, and that which you allot with divining arrows; that is iniquity. This day those who disbelieve have despaired of your religion. So fear them not, but fear Me! This day I have perfected for you your religion, and completed My Blessing upon you, and have approved for you as religion, Submission ( _Islām_ ). But whosoever is compelled by hunger, without inclining toward sin, then surely God is Forgiving, Merciful.

3 According to most commentators, this verse was revealed as the Prophet was delivering his Farewell Sermon on Mt. ʿArafāt, which occurred on a Friday during his final pilgrimage (Q, Ṭ, W). For this reason and because of its reference to the "perfection of the religion," it is one of several verses thought to be among the last the Prophet received (the others are 2:281; 4:176; 9:128–29; 110:1–3). A minor opinion expressed by Mujāhid, however, held that it was revealed at the time of the conquest of Makkah (Q).

The prohibition that this verse places on certain foods is similar to what is found in several other verses (2:173; 6:118–19, 145; 16:115) in that it prohibits animals already found dead ( _carrion_ ), the blood, even of licit animals, _the flesh of swine,_ and meat that has been consecrated or sacrificed in the name of some being other than God. The present verse is likely the last of the food prohibition verses to be revealed because it provides more detail than earlier verses about the modes of death that prohibit an animal from being consumed. This verse establishes explicit prohibition on meat that has been killed by strangulation, whether deliberate, as reportedly practiced by some idolaters (Ṭ), or accidental (Q, Ṭ). It is also illicit to eat animals that have been beaten to death, a practice reportedly used by Arab idolaters in pre-Islamic times (Q). Similar prohibitions apply also to hunted game. For example, a _ḥ adīth_ states that if one hits an animal with a blunt arrow, which kills it without piercing it, the animal is considered "beaten to death" and may not be eaten (Q). The verse similarly prohibits eating animals that have died from a high fall, whether accidental or deliberately caused (Q), or that have been _gored to death_. Animals killed and partially eaten by other animals are also not legitimate to eat.

An exception to all these cases is made for _that which you may purify_ ( _dhakkaytum,_ from _dhakkā_ ), meaning in this case an animal that one might properly slaughter before its death. Thus an animal that has been injured by any of the means mentioned above, but that one is able to properly slaughter before it has died from its injuries, is licit to eat (Q, Ṭ). The exception does not apply to the cases of _carrion_ or the _flesh of swine,_ which are prohibited absolutely (Ṭ). The verb _dhakkā,_ which can be a synonym for the verb "to sacrifice" ( _dhabi ḥa_), used in the next phrase, comes from a root meaning "fragrant," "delicious," or "pure." Some have suggested that its connection to ritual slaughtering is that the meat of an animal slaughtered in this way becomes fragrant and pleasing to eat, since with the blood drained it dries quickly; it may also be related to the idea that the meat of the animal becomes purified thereby (Ṭ).

Proper ritual slaughtering in Islamic dietary law requires that the animal's throat be slit, preferably severing the jugular vein, in order to kill it quickly and cause the least suffering, and the blood must be allowed to drain out. One must mention the Name of God over the animal and face it in the direction of the canonical prayer ( _qiblah;_ Q). Additionally, the animal should be treated with kindness: the killing should not be preceded by a violent struggle, the animal should be well rested, and it should be killed with a sharp knife, so that it causes the least pain (Q). One should also turn one's face away from the animal when slaughtering it and remain aware that it is only by God's permission that one may kill and eat the animal (Q). All of these practices have the effect of removing the slaughterer's sense of absolute power over the animal and of maintaining the comfort and dignity of the animal to the extent possible.

For hunted game, the Name of God should be pronounced before launching the weapon or unleashing the dog intended to hunt the game, and the game must be killed in a manner that causes blood to flow. Finally, the reported idolatrous practices of sacrificing animals _on stone altars_ ( _ʿ alā nuṣub_)—or alternately, "to idols," since _nu ṣub_ can also mean "idols"—or dividing the portions with _divining arrows_ likewise make the meat illicit to eat. Cf. 5:90, where "divining arrows" are prohibited along with other idolatrous practices (see also 5:90c). _That is iniquity_ may refer particularly to this last practice (Q), but more likely refers to any transgression of the limits established in this verse (Q, Ṭ).

_This day those who disbelieve have despaired of your religion_ means that on the day this verse was revealed (according to most, on the Day of ʿArafah during the Prophet's final pilgrimage) the disbelievers have lost all hope of turning the Muslims away from their faith (Q, Ṭ). _Fear them not, but fear Me_ is also found in 2:150; 3:175; 5:44 (variant). The "perfection" of the religion and the "completion" of blessing are widely understood as referring either to the fact that the Prophet's pilgrimage to Makkah established the rites and procedures for the final Muslim ritual obligation, the _ḥ ajj,_ or to the completion of the Quranic revelation, although not all agree that this was the last verse to be revealed. Some claim that no other ritual or legal rulings were revealed to the Prophet after this day (Ṭ, Ṭū, Z), although others assert that additional verses containing legal, but not ritual, prescriptions were revealed after this verse (Q).

According to some early Shiite traditions, this verse was reportedly revealed at the site of Ghadīr Khumm in Juḥfah, where the Prophet and the rest of the pilgrims had halted on their return journey to Madinah after the final pilgrimage. At this site, the Prophet reportedly declared, "For whomever I am his master ( _mawlā_ ), ʿAlī is [also] his master ( _mawlā_ )." Both Sunni and Shiite sources record this event, but it holds special significance for Shiites, who understand the Prophet's statement on this occasion to have been a direct nomination of ʿAlī as spiritual and political leader of the Muslim community after the Prophet, an interpretation not accepted by Sunnis. According to these Twelver Shiite traditions, the "perfection of religion" and "completion of blessing" in this verse are thus said to refer to the establishment of spiritual authority ( _walāyah/wilāyah_ or _imāmah_ ) in the line of ʿAlī (Qm, Ṭū). Some Shiite traditions, however, place both the Prophet's statement regarding ʿAlī and this verse at the time of the Prophet's Farewell Sermon at ʿArafah _,_ rather than at the site of Ghadīr Khumm on the return trip to Madinah.

The "perfection of religion" and "completion of blessing" may also refer to the victory over the idolaters and idolatry and their decisive banishment from the pilgrimage (Ṭ, Z). _Approved for you as religion, Submission (Islām)_ could also be rendered, "chosen for you as religion, Submission (Islam)." Here, _Islām_ is widely considered to be used in the confessional sense of those who follow the religion revealed in the Quran through the Prophet Muhammad, rather than in the universal sense of submission to God that the terms _islām_ and _muslim_ have elsewhere in the Quran (see, e.g., 2:131; 3:19, 85; and the essay "The Quranic View of Sacred History and Other Religions"). According to a report in al-Ṭabarī, however, _islām_ here indicates the full submission of one's heart to the principle of Divine Oneness ( _taw ḥīd_) and represents a level higher than merely the verbal affirmation of this truth.

The end of the verse returns to the issue of lawful food, reminding those who are compelled by hunger to violate the laws prescribed for the proper killing and consumption of meat, but intend no sin by it, that God is _Forgiving_ and _Merciful_ toward them. Similar exemptions for those compelled in exceptional circumstances to consume unlawful meat can be found in all major verses dealing with dietary law (see 2:173; 6:119, 145; 16:115). For a general exemption for those facing religious compulsion, see 16:106.

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J They ask thee what is lawful unto them. Say, "Lawful unto you are all good things." And as for the hunting animals you have taught, teaching them from that which God has taught you, eat of what they catch for you, and mention the Name of God over it. And reverence God; truly God is swift in reckoning!

4 Here and in v. 5, the Quran mentions the lawfulness of the many _good things_ ( _ṭ ayyibāt_), most specifically food, that God has provided for the believers, and elsewhere they are enjoined to partake of these things (16:114) and to be grateful for them (8:26). The freedom to enjoy _all good things,_ however, is tied to notions of Divine favor and the spiritual purity of a religious community throughout the Quran. After the manna and quails were sent to Moses and the Israelites in the desert, they were instructed, _Eat of the good things We have provided you_ (2:57; 20:81), and in 3:93 the Quran states, _All food was lawful unto the Children of Israel, save what Israel had forbidden for himself, before the Torah was sent down._ As a response to the "wrongdoing" of the Israelites, however, this changed, and certain things that had been lawful for them were made unlawful (4:160; 7:160).

Jesus, who is said by the Quran to have brought a message of spiritual renewal for the Israelites and to have confirmed the Torah, is thus also said to have come _to make lawful unto_ them _part of that which was forbidden unto_ them (3:50); and the Prophet Muhammad is similarly said to have come to make _good things lawful_ for "them," which, in context, seems to refer to the Jews, although it also applies to Muslims. Although the Quran criticizes those who consume "unlawful things" (5:42, 62–63), it also criticizes those who deem "unlawful" what God has made lawful (5:87; 7:32; 10:59; 16:116), thus restricting God's favor and provision without warrant. Insofar as such arbitrary restrictions are attributed to the Arabian idolaters, they may be understood as a sign of the spiritual decadence of a religious community.

This verse allows the use of dogs or other animals and birds, such as falcons, in hunting licit game. Some Islamic traditions suggest that dogs are unclean, but this verse explicitly allows keeping dogs trained for hunting and, by extension, those that provided protection or other valuable services to human beings; it is thus understood that in such cases their unclean status does not apply (Ṭ, W). _Teaching them from that which God has taught you_ refers to teaching them to obey human command and to catch prey without eating from it (JJ, Ṭ). The prey that hunting animals catch is licit to eat, so long as one has pronounced the Name of God before releasing the hunting animal or over the prey that has been caught, if it is still alive. However, if the prey has been caught by a wild or unknown animal or if the hunting animal has eaten part of the prey, then it is not licit to eat it, either because it indicates that the animal has not been properly trained (Ṭ), as required by this verse, or because it indicates that the animal is considered to have caught it for itself. Some say, however, that if the hunting animal has consumed some of the animal, but one reaches it before the prey has died, and can thus mention the Name of God over it and slaughter it properly, then it is licit according to the exception established in v. 3 (Ṭ).

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Z This day, all good things are made lawful unto you. The food of those who have been given the Book is lawful unto you, and your food is lawful unto them. And likewise the chaste women of the believers, and the chaste women of those who were given the Book before you, when you have given them their bridewealth as married women, not as fornicators, nor as paramours. And whosoever rejects belief, his deeds have come to naught, and in the Hereafter he shall be among the losers.

5 The statement that the lawfulness of all good things is established on _this day_ echoes the statements in v. 3, _this day those who disbelieve have despaired or your religion,_ and _this day I have perfected for you your religion_. It similarly carries the triumphal tone of the full establishment of the Islamic community and its laws and rites and implicitly links the lawfulness of _all good things_ for them to the Divine favor and approval for the community in v. 3. Some assert that _this day_ refers not to the day the verse was revealed, but to the era of Islam itself (Q). Although various idolatrous practices related to killing and consuming meat were prohibited in v. 3, the present verse explicitly permits Muslims to eat of the food of the People of the Book—understood by most to mean the meat slaughtered by Jews and Christians specifically here—clearly distinguishing the practices of the latter from those of the idolaters. A notable exception to this interpretation is found in the early Shiite commentary tradition, which considered _the food of those who have been given the Book_ to refer to vegetables, grains, or other foods that did not require ritual slaughtering (Qm, Ṭū). Yet, most reports interpret the license to eat the food of the People of the Book rather broadly; some argue that even food that has been presented as an offering to a church (Ṭ) or slaughtered in the name of the Messiah (Q) is licit. Some early Companions, however, including ʿAlī ibn Abī Ṭālib and ʿĀʾishah, held that if one heard a Jew or Christian slaughtering an animal in the name of the something other than God, one should not eat it (Q), since 6:121 commands: _And eat not of that over which the Name of God has not been invoked_ (Q).

The status of the People of the Book is further distinguished from that of the idolaters with regard to marriage. The Quran explicitly forbids marrying idolaters (2:221; 60:10–11), but this verse allows intermarriage with the People of the Book, suggesting the possibility of extensive social relations between Muslims and members of these religious communities. _Chaste women_ translates _mu ḥṣanāt,_ which may mean either "chaste women" or "free women," and the term has been interpreted differently in this context. When it is interpreted to mean "chaste," it is understood to refer to the woman's present status, not necessarily to her past actions, for women who had been unchaste but then repented regained their "chaste" status and were eligible for marriage (Ṭ). According to several reports, ʿUmar ibn al-Khaṭṭāb warned that once a woman had repented of such actions, those past actions were not to be brought up in future proposals for marriage (Ṭ). Some commentators understand _chaste women of those who were given the Book_ to mean "free women of those who were given the Book" and argue that Muslim men may marry only free Jewish and Christian women, since the Quran only grants explicit permission to marry believing (i.e., Muslim) slave women (2:221; 4:25; Ṭ). When Muslim men marry women from the People of the Book, they must marry them properly according to Islamic Law, giving them _their bridewealth_ and not taking them _as fornicators_ —those with whom one commits open acts of fornication—or _as paramours_ —those with whom one secretly engages in illicit sexual relations (see 4:25c, where the same conditions apply to marrying believing slave women). This prohibition does not include the case of _mut ʿah,_ a form of temporary marriage allowable under Shiite law and accepted by at least some Sunni jurists.

Despite the license Muslim men are given to marry Jewish and Christian (and according to some, Zoroastrian) women, some questioned the advisability of the practice when there were sufficient numbers of Muslim women to marry. Twelver Shiite tradition usually discouraged marrying Jewish or Christian women, except in cases of an absence of Muslim marriage partners or when such women were taken as temporary, not permanent, wives (Ṭū), although the practice nevertheless exists among Shiites (for a discussion of temporary marriage and the Shiite perspective on it, see 4:24c).

Some early commentators questioned whether the license to eat the food of the Jews and Christians and to marry their women was limited to those Jews and Christians who followed their own religious practices properly or applied more broadly to all those who resided within the Islamic state. Most commentators, however, interpreted this to apply to all Jews and Christians (Q, Ṭ). Although other religious communities, such as Zoroastrians, had protected status under Islamic rule, they did not always enjoy the same religious standing as Jews and Christians under Islamic Law. Although some Islamic scholars considered them to be among the People of the Book, many did not; for the latter they were simply a protected religious community. The permission granted here to eat the food and marry the women of _those who have been given the Book_ is therefore widely considered to apply only to Jews and Christians, although some Muslim scholars embraced a broader definition of "People of the Book" that would also include Zoroastrians or other non-Abrahamic religions.

The verse concludes with the assertion that _whosoever rejects belief, his deeds have come to naught,_ reflecting the Islamic theological principle that in the absence of proper belief good deeds have no reward in the next life (cf. 2:217; 3:21–22; 6:88; 7:147; 9:17; 18:105; 33:19; 39:65).

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j O you who believe! When you rise to perform the prayer, wash your faces, and your hands up to the elbows, and wipe your heads and your feet up to the ankles. If you are in a state of major ritual impurity, then purify yourselves. But if you are ill, or on a journey, or one of you has come from satisfying a call of nature, or you have touched women, and you find no water, then resort to clean earth, and wipe therewith your faces and your hands. God desires not to place a burden upon you, but He desires to purify you, and to complete His Blessing upon you, that haply you may give thanks.

6 This verse describes the three ways in which Muslims perform ablutions to purify themselves ritually before prayer. The first and most common manner of ablution described here is the _wu ḍūʾ,_ which is required in cases of minor ritual impurity caused by various forms of bodily discharge or by having slept or otherwise lost consciousness. All schools of law consider the _wu ḍūʾ_ obligatory before the five daily canonical prayers as well as prior to performing other prayers, such as the funeral prayer or supererogatory prayers. The schools of law are also unanimous in recommending that one perform the _wu ḍūʾ_ prior to reciting the Quran or _Ḥ adīth,_ entering a mosque, making the call to prayer ( _adhān_ ), eating, and sleeping; upon rising; and after speaking angry or immoral words. The Shāfiʿī school also recommends the _wu ḍūʾ_ after bleeding, eating slaughtered meat, visiting tombs, or carrying the dead.

_When you rise to perform the prayer, wash_ might seem to indicate that one must make the ablution anew whenever one comes to prayer, regardless of one's existing state of ritual purity, although Islamic Law requires it only when one is in a state of ritual impurity. Many commentators explain that when this verse was revealed, it required a new ablution before every prayer, regardless of one's state of purity; after the conquest of Makkah, however, the Prophet performed a single ablution before the noon prayer and went on to pray subsequent prayers without renewing his ablution. This was thus taken as an abrogation of the previous requirement of renewing one's ablutions before each prayer (Q, Ṭ). On the basis of this Prophetic precedent, one was required to renew ablutions only after losing one's state of ritual impurity or awaking from sleep, although renewing one's ablution before each prayer remains a meritorious act (Ṭ).

The _wu ḍūʾ,_ based on this verse and interpreted according to Prophetic practice, is generally understood to entail washing the face, including rinsing the nostrils and the mouth; washing the hands and arms to just above the elbow; wiping the head, including the ears; and washing or wiping the feet up to the ankles. In addition to the specific acts mentioned in the verse, the Mālikī, Shāfiʿī, Ḥanbalī, and Twelver Shiite (Jaʿfarī) schools of law also required that the _wu ḍūʾ_ be preceded by a statement of intention ( _niyyah_ ) and that washing of the various bodily parts be done in immediate succession. The Shāfiʿī, Ḥanbalī, and Jaʿfarī schools also require that the various parts be washed in the order that they are mentioned in the Quranic verse, and the Mālikī school requires that the areas be rubbed, rather than merely having water poured over them. Some commentators, such as al-Qurṭubī, also held that every performance of _wu ḍūʾ_ must include all of these steps, in the order they are presented in the verse.

The commentators debated whether one needed to "wash" the feet or merely "wipe" them, since _your feet up to the ankles_ seems to be the direct object of the immediately preceding verb, _wipe_. Many commentators preferred this reading, including Ibn ʿAbbās and other Companions as well as Twelver Shiite commentators (Ṭs). Others, however, argued that _and wipe your heads_ was a self-contained phrase, while the phrase _your feet up to your ankles_ was an object governed by the more distant verb _wash_. A report from the Companion Anas ibn Mālik states that "wiping" the feet is what the verse requires, but "washing" is the Prophet's _Sunnah_ (Q, Ṭ). The two opinions are sometimes reconciled by arguing that, although the literal meaning of the verse is that one must wipe one's feet, it is "washing" that is really meant (Q, Ṭ). Some less common reports claim that the Prophet had merely wiped his sandals in the course of his ablutions, giving rise to the minority opinion that one needed only to "wipe the shoes" to complete this final part of the ablution. The major Sunni schools of law generally require washing the feet on the basis of the predominant Prophetic _Sunnah_ and the consensus of the community (Q), but wiping the shoes is accepted in the Shiite Jaʿfarī school and sometimes practiced in cold winter months among Sunni Muslims as well.

The second form of ablution indicated in this verse is the _ghusl,_ which is required in the case of _major ritual impurity,_ such as that caused by menstruation, sexual intercourse, seminal discharge, and according to some, touching a dead body. This requires taking a full bath or shower in which all body parts are washed in a ritual manner.

Finally, the third manner of purification mentioned here, a practice known as _tayammum,_ applies when illness or a lack of water makes performing ablutions with water unhealthy or impossible. In such cases, Muslims may ritually purify themselves by wiping their faces and hands with _clean earth_ (for more on this practice see 4:43 and commentary). _God desires not to place a burden upon_ those for whom performing a full ablution with water would present a hardship or impossibility and thus ordains this alternative form of purification ( _tayammum_ ) under certain circumstances. The idea that God ordains some flexibility in ritual obligations for the benefit of those experiencing hardship is found elsewhere in the Quran (see, e.g., 2:185, 280).

_Complete His Blessing_ echoes v. 3, suggesting that both the purification through ablution and the easing of this requirement in certain circumstances are indicative of God's favor toward the Islamic community. Although the ablutions detailed in this verse are means of ritual, rather than directly moral, purification, several _a ḥādīth_ link the performance of the ablution and the removal of sins (Q, Ṭ). The Prophet said, "Whosoever performs ablution, and does it in a beautiful way, his sins shall leave his body, even from under his fingernails"; and a well-known _ḥ adīth_ states that purity is "half of faith" (Q).

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z And remember God's Blessing upon you, and His covenant by which He bound you, when you said, "We hear and we obey." And reverence God. Truly God knows what lies within breasts.

7 _God's Blessing_ on the Muslim community is invoked here, as it is in vv. 3, 6, and 11, tying these verses together as a collective and triumphal statement of special Divine favor revealed toward the end of the Prophet's life and mission. Al-Rāzī asserts that to _remember God's Blessing_ is not necessarily a command meant to spur a new recollection of these blessings after a time when they were forgotten, but rather a call to remember and be thankful for these blessings always, lest the future success and prosperity of the community accustom Muslims to ease and lead them to forget the Divine source of the blessings.

The community is also called to remember _His covenant by which He bound_ them. Most consider this covenant to refer collectively to the various pacts of allegiance ( _bay ʿah_) that the community had made with the Prophet: the pacts concluded with the future Emigrants and Helpers to obey the Prophet and defend and support the Muslim community just prior to the Prophet's migration from Makkah to Madinah in 1/622; the renewal of that pledge of allegiance ( _bay ʿah_) on the outskirts of Makkah during the community's unsuccessful attempt to make pilgrimage and in the midst of tense treaty negotiations with the Makkan idolaters at Ḥudaybiyah in 6/628; and any individual pledge ( _bay ʿah_) made to the Prophet to obey him and follow his guidance (R, Ṭ, Z). All such pledges to obey the Prophet can be considered a covenant with God ( _His covenant_ in this verse) in light of the Quranic assertion that whoever obeys the Prophet obeys God (4:80) and the Quranic statement addressed to the Prophet regarding the pact at Ḥudaybiyah: _Truly those who pledge allegiance unto thee pledge allegiance only unto God. The Hand of God is over their hands_ (48:10; R).

A minor tradition, primarily associated with Mujāhid, interprets _His covenant_ here as a reference to the pretemporal covenant and testimony given by all human beings (or "children of Adam") that they recognize God as their Lord (7:172; R, Ṭ). Some prominent commentators cast doubt on this interpretation by noting that the verse is not addressed generally to the children of Adam, but to the Muslim community specifically (R), and that this discussion is followed in v. 12 by a contrasting account of the Israelites' failure to keep their covenant with God, indicating that here the reference is to a covenant with the Muslim community exclusively (Ṭ; see also the essay "The Quranic View of Sacred History and Other Religions"). The idea that God knows one's inner thoughts and intentions is found throughout the Quran, and the final warning given here, that _God knows what lies within breasts,_ is repeated in 3:119, 154; 8:43; 11:5; 29:10; 31:23; 35:38; 39:7; 42:24; 57:6; 64:4; 67:13. This warning can be understood as a reminder not to break the covenant either outwardly or inwardly and secretly, for God knows and holds one accountable for what _lies within breasts_ (R).

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{ O you who believe! Be steadfast for God, bearing witness to justice, and let not hatred for a people lead you to be unjust. Be just; that is nearer to reverence. And reverence God. Surely God is Aware of whatsoever you do.

8 The believers are commanded to _be steadfast for God, bearing witness to justice,_ which echoes, in inverted form, the injunction in 4:135: _Be steadfast maintainers of justice, witnesses for God_. In both verses, and especially in their juxtaposition, a fundamental connection is established between standing for God—that is, bearing witness to His Oneness and His Lordship (R)—and standing for justice. Both verses also assert that in standing for God and for justice one should not be influenced by human considerations, such as loyalty to family, questions of social status (4:135), or hatred and enmity (here). Cf. v. 2, where the believers are similarly warned not to let _hatred for a people_ lead them to transgress; transgressing the limits set by God is one definition of injustice (R). To stand for justice, even against one's family or toward one's enemies is to stand for God, and being just is _nearer to reverence_. To _be just_ toward one's enemies means to refrain from treating even the idolaters in a manner that transgresses the limits established in Divine Law, including killing their women and children or breaking treaties with them (R, Z). Some note that this constitutes a strong warning against injustice of any kind, for if one is prohibited from acting unjustly even toward disbelievers, how must God view injustice toward fellow believers (R, Z)? See also 3:18: _God bears witness that there is no god but He, as do the angels and the possessors of knowledge, upholding justice_.

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| To those who believe and perform righteous deeds, God has promised forgiveness and a great reward.

Ċ And those who disbelieve and deny Our signs, they shall be the inhabitants of Hellfire.

9–10 The reminder at the end of the previous verse that _God is Aware of whatsoever you do_ serves simultaneously as a promise to the obedient and a warning to the sinful (R). In these two verses, the promise for the righteous believers is identified as _forgiveness and a great reward;_ the warning for the sinful as _Hellfire_. Divine forgiveness is promised in several places for those who demonstrate a fundamental righteousness (see, e.g., 4:31; 25:70).

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Ě O you who believe! Remember God's Blessing upon you, when a people were prepared to stretch forth their hands against you, but He withheld their hands from you. Reverence God, and in God let the believers trust.

11 The believers are reminded for the final time in this opening part of the _sūrah_ to remember _God's Blessing upon_ them. The _people_ who _were prepared to stretch forth their hands against_ them may refer to the idolaters who tried to oppress and kill the Muslims. But God _withheld their hands_ in that He prevented the idolaters, who initially had greater numbers and strength than the Muslims, from overwhelming them and destroying their community (R). Several other reports indicate that this verse was revealed in relation to a specific incident in which the Prophet's enemies attempted to kill him when he was in a defenseless state. In one report he was resting in the shade of a tree and had removed his weapon. A Bedouin came and seized the weapon and attempted to kill him with it, but was prevented by God from doing so despite his efforts (R, W).

Others claim that it was revealed when the Prophet and his close Companions went to the Banū Naḍīr, a Jewish clan of Madinah, seeking assistance in paying the wergild ( _diyah_ ) for two men whom his men had killed in error. The leader of the clan invited them in and feigned hospitality while secretly plotting to kill the unarmed Prophet. The Archangel Gabriel came, however, to inform the Prophet of the danger, and he left before they could carry out their plot (R, Ṭ, W). Al-Ṭabarī favors this latter interpretation, noting that immediately after this verse the _sūrah_ begins to discuss the Children of Israel and their wrongdoing.

It seems more likely, however, that this verse is meant to remind the Muslims of God's protection of them and their fledgling community against the powerful forces against them, since it is addressed to the believers as a whole, and the pronoun "you" is plural throughout the verse, indicating that it refers to God's continued protection of the Muslims as a community. Moreover, the verse can be understood as concluding the opening section of this _sūrah_ that addresses the Muslim community as a whole, reminding them of God's various blessings and favors toward them.

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Ī God had made a covenant with the Children of Israel, and We raised among them twelve chieftains. And God said, "I am with you!" Surely, if you perform the prayer, and give alms, and believe in My messengers and support them, and lend unto God a goodly loan, I shall surely absolve you of your evil deeds, and shall cause you to enter Gardens with rivers running below. But whosoever among you disbelieves thereafter, surely he has strayed from the right way.

12 Having enjoined the Muslim believers to remember God's Blessing upon them (vv. 7, 11) and to fulfill their covenant (v. 11), the Quran now turns to offer a cautionary tale about the Jews and the Christians, who also had a covenant with God, which they broke, despite the blessings that God had bestowed upon them (R). The covenant with the Children of Israel is mentioned several times in the Quran and, as here, is usually followed by a discussion of their later unfaithfulness to that covenant or wrongdoing generally; see 2:40, 63, 83, 93; 4:154; 5:70; 7:169. The _twelve chieftains_ is a reference to the leaders of the twelve Israelite tribes (see 7:159–60, where the community of Moses is said to have been divided into _twelve tribes_ by God; also 2:60). _Chieftain_ translates _naqīb,_ a term that in later Islamic usage sometimes referred to the local head of a family of descendants of the Prophet ( _shurafā ʾ_); in Sufism, _naqīb_ became a title of authority given to certain leaders within the Sufi orders and sometimes to the saintly forebears of a particular order.

In the context of the present verse, early commentators commonly connect these twelve chieftains to the story of the Israelites being called to enter the land that they had been promised in vv. 21–25. The twelve were said to be trustworthy men chosen as witnesses or guarantors for their respective tribes by Moses, who then asked them to enter the land in advance of the rest of the Israelites to scout out the territory (Ṭ, Z). They returned and, against Moses' orders, reported the terrifying might of the land's Canaanite inhabitants, which led to the Israelites' refusal to enter and fight for the land in v. 22 (Z). The Biblical Joshua (Yashūʿah ibn Nūn) is said to have been the representative of the prophet Joseph's clan among these twelve (Ṭ) and to have been one of the _two men_ (in v. 23) who remained willing to enter the land despite the might of its inhabitants (R, Ṭ, Z). Some suggest that the _twelve chieftains_ here may also refer to twelve righteous kings (Z) or judges (R) through whom God led the Israelites. The following promise from God, _I am with you!_ and the subsequent injunction to fulfill religious obligations may be addressed to the _twelve chieftains_ (R), to all Israelites and their descendants (Ṭ), or likely to both.

Although the Quran recognizes ritual and legal differences between religious communities, the performance of prayer and the giving of regular alms ( _zakāh_ ) are frequently represented as essential practices in the religions of the People of the Book and indeed in all true religious communities (2:43, 83, 177, 277; 4:77, 162; 7:156; 19:31, 55; 21:73; 22:41; 24:37; 98:5). According to this verse and others, part of the covenant required them to recognize future prophets, and their failure to recognize certain prophets, including Muhammad, and their rejection, indeed slaying, of other unnamed prophets are consistently part of the Quranic critique of the Jews (see, e.g., 2:89–91; 4:155–57; 5:70).

The concept of lending God _a goodly loan_ is a metaphor for expending one's effort and wealth for the cause of religion; cf. 2:245; 57:11, 18; 64:17; also 73:20, where, as here, it is connected with the duties of prayer and the giving of alms ( _zakāh_ ).

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ĺ Then for their breaking of their covenant, We cursed them and hardened their hearts. They distort the meaning of the Word, and have forgotten part of that whereof they were reminded. Thou wilt not cease to discover their treachery, from all save a few of them. So pardon them, and forbear. Truly God loves the virtuous.

13 The Israelites' _breaking of their covenant_ is a common theme in the Quran (see 2:63, 83, 93; 4:155; 7:169), as it is in the Hebrew scriptures. Those Israelites who were unfaithful to their covenant are here said to be _cursed_ by God, as they are elsewhere (see 2:88; 4:46–47; 5:64; also 5:78, where they are said to have been _cursed by the tongue of David and Jesus son of Mary_ ). Being cursed by God is understood by some to mean being exiled from His Mercy (Z).

God is also said here to have _hardened their hearts_ in response to their breaking the covenant. The idea that people's hearts may be "hardened" or "sealed," often as a result of their own wrongdoing, such that they are no longer receptive to Divine messages or to the "remembrance of God," is found throughout the Quran; see 2:7, 74; 6:43; 39:22; 57:16; also 10:88, where Moses asks God to seal the hearts of Pharaoh and his people (God is similarly said to harden Pharaoh's heart throughout the Biblical account in Exodus). Some understand "hardened" hearts to indicate hearts rendered "impure" through a mixture of belief and disbelief; this idea is metaphorically linked to the phenomenon of precious metals, such as gold and silver, which in their pure state are relatively soft and malleable, but become "hardened" when they are mixed with other metals to form an alloy (R, Ṭ, Z).

The charge that the Israelites or the Jews _distort the meaning of the Word_ (referred to in Arabic as _ta ḥrīf_) is understood to mean either that they rearranged the words of scripture in a manner that altered their meaning or that they misrepresented or misinterpreted the meaning of the scriptural words. This is said to be a clear manifestation of their hardened hearts (Z); see also 2:75c; 4:46c; v. 41. Forgetfulness is a common human vice, beginning with Adam (20:115), and necessitating a long series of prophetic "reminders" and Divine "signs," which are themselves also often forgotten; see v. 14; 6:44; 7:165; 20:126.

The mention of _their treachery_ likely relates to the incident alluded to in v. 11 with _a people . . . prepared to stretch forth their hands against you,_ which is widely interpreted as referring to a plot by the Jewish Banū Naḍīr clan (Ṭ; see 5:11c). Despite fears or even expectations of treachery, Muslims are enjoined to _pardon them, and forbear_ (cf. 2:109; 3:159; 7:199; 24:22). A widely cited report from the early commentator Qatādah (d. early second/eighth century) asserts that the injunction to _pardon them, and forbear_ was abrogated by 9:29, which calls for fighting disbelieving People of the Book until they had paid the _jizyah,_ or tax that non-Muslim communities were to pay to the Islamic state (IK, Ṭ, Th). In the chronology of revelation, however, this _sūrah_ likely postdates the revelation of 9:29, since _Sūrah_ 9 was reportedly revealed in the year 9/631, while the present _sūrah_ was revealed—according to many, in its entirety—during the Prophet's Farewell Pilgrimage in 10/632, at the very end of his life. Some commentators do not accept, therefore, that 9:29 abrogates the injunction to pardon the Jews in the present verse, arguing that the two verses are not necessarily mutually exclusive, since once the People of the Book have agreed to pay the _jizyah,_ there is no reason one cannot forgive them for past transgressions (R, Ṭ). See also the essay "Conquest and Conversion, War and Peace in the Quran." The present verse, following shortly after permission is given to eat the food and marry the women of the People of the Book, may reflect a broader intention in this very late _sūrah_ to reestablish normative and peaceful relations between Muslims and the People of the Book. _God loves the virtuous_ is repeated in 2:195; 3:134, 148; 5:93.

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Ŋ And with those who say, "We are Christians," We made a covenant. Then they forgot part of that whereof they were reminded. So We stirred up enmity and hatred among them, till the Day of Resurrection. God will inform them of what they used to do.

14 This verse asserts that Christians, like Israelites/Jews, entered into a covenant with God and, like them, _forgot a part_ of the "reminder" that had been given them. The consequences, however, are different. Whereas the Israelites' failure with regard to the covenant leads to spiritual punishment by God, the Christians' forgetting of the covenant results in _enmity and hatred among them,_ alluding to the factionalism or sectarianism within the Christian community spurred by theological differences (IK, Ṭ) or to hatred between Jews and Christians—although the latter is a less likely interpretation in this context, since the verse seems to be addressed exclusively to the Christians (Ṭ). Factionalism is also presented as a mode of Divine punishment in 6:65, although not in relation to Christians specifically. That _God will inform them of what they used to do_ on the Day of Resurrection is consistent with other passages of the Quran suggesting that religious differences will remain, perhaps providentially, until there is Divine clarification in the Hereafter; see 2:113; 3:55; 5:48; 6:164; 10:93; 16:92, 124; 22:69; 32:25; 39:3, 46.

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Ś O People of the Book! Our Messenger has come unto you, making clear to you much of what you once hid of the Book, and pardoning much. There has come unto you, from God, a light and a clear Book,

15 For other allusions to the People of the Book or others "hiding" part of the scriptures, see 2:42, 140, 146, 159, 174; 3:71, 187; 6:91. Several commentators explain, by way of example, that the Jews and Christians _hid_ those parts of their scripture that referred to the coming of Muhammad (see 7:157, which asserts that the Prophet was _inscribed_ in the Torah and Gospel) as well as those passages that established the punishment of stoning for adultery (JJ, Ṭ, Z). The Prophet brought the latter to light when a Jewish adulterer and adulteress were brought to him for judgment; after learning that stoning was the punishment prescribed for this offense in the Torah, he followed it and ordered them to be stoned; see 3:23c. The concept of light ( _nūr_ ) is frequently associated with the guidance that comes through the prophets and revelation (6:91; 7:157; 21:48; 42:52; 64:8), and in 9:32–33 and 61:8–9 the Quran mentions those who would try to _extinguish the light of God,_ which, in context, could be read as an attempt to conceal Divine Revelation. In this verse, the _light_ sent from God may be understood as referring to Muhammad (Ṭ), and the _clear Book,_ to the Quran; see 12:1; 26:2; 27:1; 28:2; 43:2; 44:2 for other references to the Quran as the _clear Book,_ although the term is also used for God's Knowledge of all things (see, e.g., 10:61). Alternately, both _light_ and _clear Book_ may be taken as references to the revelation of the Quran (Z).

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Ū whereby God guides whosoever seeks His Contentment unto the ways of peace, and brings them out of darkness into light, by His Leave, and guides them unto a straight path.

16 The most sincere and meritorious of believers are those who do righteous deeds seeking the _Contentment_ (or _"_ good pleasure") of God; see 2:207, 265; 4:114; 5:2; 59:8. _Ways of peace_ translates _subul al-salām,_ which could also mean the path or way to God, since Peace ( _al-Salām_ ) is one of the Names of God (Ṭ). God's bringing the believers out of darkness into light is mentioned also in 2:257; 14:1, 5; 33:43; 57:9; 65:11. Here _darkness_ translates _ẓ ulumāt_ (lit. "darknesses"), which is always contrasted with "light," singular, suggesting a connection between darkness and the "multiplicity" of this world, on the one hand, and, on the other, a connection between light (which is always singular in the Quran) and the Oneness of God and of His Guidance through revelation, both of which are identified with light itself ("Light," or _Nūr,_ is one of the Divine Names, and in 24:35 God is described as the _Light of the heavens and the earth_ ). The _straight path_ is associated with the life lived in accord with Divine Guidance throughout the Quran (see, e.g., 1:6; 2:142; 3:101; 6:87; 43:61; 67:22).

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ź They indeed have disbelieved who say, "God is the Messiah, son of Mary." Say, "Who would have any power over God if He desired to destroy the Messiah, son of Mary, and his mother, and those on earth all together?" Unto God belongs sovereignty over the heavens and the earth and whatsoever is between them. He creates whatsoever He will, and God is Powerful over all things.

17 This verse is one of several places (cf. 4:171; 5:72, 75, 116; 9:31) where the Quran criticizes the Christian belief in the divinity of Jesus, who here is referred to simply as _the Messiah_ ( _al-Masī ḥ_); see also 4:157, 171–72; 5:72, 75; 9:30–31. The reference to _his mother_ in this verse also suggests criticism of those who would worship or divinize Mary (see also v. 116). The denial of the divinity of Christ (and Mary) is issued through an assertion of God's destructive and creative Power ( _He creates whatsoever He will_ ), the implication being that Jesus and Mary, along with _those on earth all together,_ are God's creations, and so also subject to His ability to destroy them at will. _He creates whatsoever He will_ (cf. 24:25; 30:54; 42:49) also indicates that He may create in any manner that He will, including creating a human being, like Jesus, who was without a biological father (R, Z). In their being created by God, Jesus and Mary are no different from other human beings (Z). _Who would have any power over God_ translates _fa-man yamliku min Allāhi shay ʾan,_ an idiomatic expression containing the verb _yamliku,_ meaning literally "to own" and, by extension, to control. This is then contrasted (in the Arabic) with the assertion _Unto God belongs sovereignty_ ( _li'Llāhi mulk_ ), since _mulk_ ("sovereignty") is derived from the same root as _yamliku_. Since Christ's divinity is refuted through reference to God's all-encompassing creative power over His creatures, the verse also implicitly refutes the Christian doctrine that Christ was not created ("begotten, not made," according to the Nicene Creed).

Theologically oriented commentators, including al-Zamakhsharī and al-Rāzī, observe that, although the verse is criticizing Christians who would limit God's Being to His manifestation in a human being (Christ), this is not the actual teaching of Christian doctrine. Thus when the Quran criticizes the belief that "God is the Messiah," one could argue that it is not criticizing official Christian doctrine (which might say that the Messiah is God, but not that God is the Messiah), but rather an exaggerated and thus unorthodox understanding of Christ's nature. Al-Zamakhsharī and al-Rāzī, however, argue that, in its attribution of creative power and ruling authority to Christ as well as in its assertion of the incarnation of God in Christ's human form, Christian doctrine is theologically tantamount to such an understanding, even if it is not the explicit teaching of most Christians.

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Ɗ And the Jews and the Christians say, "We are the children of God, and His beloved ones." Say, "Why then does He punish you for your sins?" Nay, but you are mortals of His creating. He forgives whomsoever He will, and He punishes whomsoever He will, and unto God belongs sovereignty over the heavens and the earth and whatsoever is between them, and unto Him is the journey's end.

18 The Quran frequently criticizes the idea that God has sons or daughters (2:116; 6:100; 9:30; 10:68; 17:40, 111; 18:4; 19:35, 88–93; 21:26; 25:2; 37:149, 153; 39:4; 43:16, 81–82; 52:39; 72:3). This is the only place, however, where the Quran criticizes Jews and Christians for referring to themselves as _the children of God,_ an idea mentioned explicitly in the Christian Gospels (see, e.g., Matthew 5:9; Luke 20:36; John 11:52). In the Hebrew scriptures, the Israelite people are collectively referred to as the "firstborn son" of God (see Exodus 4:22–23), and as the royal representatives of Israel, both David and Solomon are referred to as the "son" of God (see Psalm 2:7; 1 Chronicles 28:6). According to Ibn ʿAbbās, this verse was intended as a response to some Madinan Jews who rejected the Prophet's calls to Islam and warnings of Divine punishment by asserting that, as the _children of God, and His beloved ones,_ they had nothing to fear (Ṭ, Z). Although the Quran does not criticize their claim as an explicit assertion of divinity for individual Jews and Christians (JJ, R), the verse refutes this general claim, at least partly, in the same manner that it refutes claims of divinity for Jesus or Mary, that is, by reminding Jews and Christians that they are _mortals_ and beings _of His creating_ and so bounded by a birth and a death over which they have no ultimate control.

The commentators are generally aware that the Jewish and Christian claim to be _children of God_ is not a literal one; rather, they assert that it is a metaphorical and/or a genealogical extension of their respective claims about Ezra and Jesus being His "sons" (IK, R, Z; cf. 9:30). Some cite the Gospel passage in which Jesus says to his followers, "I am ascending to my Father and your Father" (John 20:17), as a possible source for this misunderstanding (IK), although the metaphorical idea of God as "Father" is found in various places in the Judeo-Christian scriptures and seems to have been well established in the Judaic context prior to the Gospel accounts. Al-Rāzī links Jewish and Christian claims to be _the children of God_ to implicit claims of special Divine Mercy and favor that they are said to have made for themselves according to other passages in the Quran (cf. 2:111, 135). The verse also refutes the claim of Jews and Christians that they are _the children of God, and His beloved ones_ by arguing that such a status would preclude His punishing them for their sins—something that, the commentators observe, both Christians and Jews accept, even if Jews believe they will be punished for only a brief period (cf. 2:80; 3:24).

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ƚ O People of the Book! Our Messenger has come unto you, making things clear to you, after an interval in [the series] of messengers, lest you should say, "There came unto us no bearer of glad tidings, nor any warner." But there has come unto you a bearer of glad tidings and a warner. And God is Powerful over all things.

19 The Quran repeatedly asserts the clarity of the prophetic messages, signs, and books, and it indicates that one of the purposes of prophecy is precisely to clarify spiritual and ethical matters made obscure by human error or falsification; see v. 15, where Muhammad makes clear what the People of the Book _once hid of the Book;_ and 16:64 and 43:63, where Muhammad and Jesus, respectively, are said to have made clear _that wherein they differed_. _Interval_ here translates _fatrah,_ used to denote a temporary cessation of revelation either between different prophets and prophetic eras or sometimes between instances of revelation sent to Muhammad (see 17:106). Here it refers to the span of time between the prophetic missions of Jesus and Muhammad. Some but not all commentators assert that there were no other prophets sent between these two major prophets (IK). Others claim that there were four minor prophets sent in the interim: three in the Judeo-Christian line, perhaps the "message bearers" alluded to without name in 36:14 (see 36:13–14 and commentary), and the fourth, an Arab prophet whose name was Khālid ibn Sinān al-ʿAbsī (Q, Z). The role of the prophets as "bearers of glad tidings" and "warners" is mentioned throughout the Quran (see, e.g., 2:213; 4:165; 6:48; 18:56). Many prominent early Quran commentators among the Prophet's Companions asserted that the verse was revealed as a response to some of the Jews of Madinah who claimed that no "bearer of glad tidings or warner" had been sent by God after Moses (Ṭ).

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Ȋ And when Moses said unto his people, "O my people! Remember God's Blessing upon you, when He appointed prophets among you, and appointed you kings, and gave you that which He gave unto no other in all the worlds.

20 Both Muslims and the followers of Moses or other prophets are told to _remember God's Blessing_ upon them (2:231; 5:7, 11; 14:6; 35:3). The prophets _He appointed_ among them would here refer to Abraham and the other prophets among his descendants. Moses' statement that God had _appointed_ them _kings_ is said to refer to His having given them sovereignty over their own affairs and having freed them from the tyranny of Pharaoh (Q). That God gave the Israelites _that which He gave unto no other in all the worlds_ is similar to other statements of the unique Divine favor the Israelites enjoyed (cf. 2:47, 122; 7:140; 45:16) and may refer to the miraculous manna and quails through which they were sustained in the desert (see 2:57, 7:160, 20:80), to the many prophets and signs that He sent to them (Q), or to the fact that He granted them many good things of both this world and the next (IK). The commentators point out that this unique favor was enjoyed by the Israelites "in their time" (IK, Q) and thus was not absolute.

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! O my people! Enter the Holy Land, which God has prescribed for you, and do not turn back, or you shall become losers."

21–26 Cf. Numbers 13–14 for the Biblical counterpart to this account.

21 Some commentators explicitly connect the _Holy Land_ ( _al-ar ḍ al-muqaddasah_) ordained for the Israelites (cf. 7:137) with Abraham, indicating that he was shown this land and given it as an inheritance for his progeny (R, Z)—which from an Islamic point of view would also include his Arab Muslim descendants through Ishmael. It is interesting that the Quran describes this land as blessed in a universal way, and as the "Holy Land"—a term used widely today in Judeo-Christian contexts for this land, but one that is used only very rarely in the Bible itself. The exact location of this _Holy Land_ mentioned in the Quran is unclear. Various reports locate it in Sinai, Syria, Jericho, or an area encompassing parts of Syria, Palestine, and Jordan (R, Ṭ, Z); others identify it simply as the land of the Jerusalem sanctuary ( _al-bayt al-muqaddas;_ Z). Al-Ṭabarī claims that the exact location is unknowable, but that it lies somewhere between the Euphrates and Nile rivers (although not encompassing all of this area).

Some commentators assert that God _prescribed_ ( _kataba,_ which could also mean "inscribed") the Israelites' right to reside in this land in the Preserved Tablet, which is understood by many as referring to the repository of eternal Divine Knowledge and Revelation (R, Ṭ, Z; cf. 85:22). The universal sacredness of this land is alluded to elsewhere, as in 17:1, which mentions _the Farthest Mosque_ (referring to the site of the ancient Jewish Temple in Jerusalem), saying that its _precincts We have blessed;_ and 21:71, _And We delivered him_ (Abraham) _and Lot to the land that We blessed for all peoples,_ although some believe the latter verse refers to Makkah. _Do not turn back_ may be a command not to retreat from the land without fighting for it, but it may also be rendered "do not turn your backs," that is, on the Divine command and obedience to the prophet Moses.

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" They said, "O Moses! In this land are a domineering people. We shall not enter it till they leave it. But if they leave it, we shall enter."

22 After the Divine to enter the land, Moses reportedly chose twelve men, one from each of the twelve tribes of Israel (see 5:12c), to enter the land in advance and report to him on its inhabitants. While there, the advance party witnessed the great size and might of the inhabitants. According to some reports, they were discovered and seized by one of the land's inhabitants, but released thereafter so that they could warn their own people not to enter the land (Ṭ). When they returned, they reported to Moses, _O Moses! In this land are a domineering people_ ( _jabbārīn_ ). _Jabbār_ may also be rendered "tyrant," in that it denotes a person of overwhelming force or power, able to compel others to do his will. _Al-Jabbār_ is also one of the Divine Names (mentioned in 59:23), conveying God's ultimate power over all others. When the term is applied to a human being, it has the negative sense of tyrant and oppressor, because the exercise or assumption of such power over others belongs rightly to God alone (Ṭs). Despite Moses' assurance that God would lead them to victory if they were righteous and obedient to their prophet (cf. v. 12), the Israelites refused to enter.

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# Two men whom God had blessed among those who feared [Him] said, "Enter upon them by the gate, for once you have entered it, you will be victors. And trust in God, if you are believers."

23 _Two men_ among the twelve sent to assess the land, however, remained confident in God's ability to grant them victory over its inhabitants. These _two men_ are identified in the commentary as the Biblical Joshua (Yashūʿah ibn Nūn) and Caleb (Kālib ibn Yūfannah), who tried to calm the fears of the Israelites and instill confidence in their ability to overcome the land's inhabitants with the help of God (R, Ṭ, Th, Z). This description accords with the Biblical account, although a minor report indicates that the _two men_ represent two of the lands' inhabitants who had been converted to belief in Moses' prophethood and had returned with the advance Israelite party (R, Ṭ).

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$ They said, "O Moses! We shall never enter it, so long as they remain therein. So go forth, thou and thy Lord, and fight! We shall sit here."

24 _So go forth, thou and thy Lord_ is understood to mean "go forth, Moses, with the help of thy Lord," since God cannot be said to "go forth" in a physical sense (Ṭ). There are reports that the Prophet's Companions understood this account in vv. 21–26 as a warning to them to follow the Prophet's command, even to go into battle against a powerful enemy, rather than exhibiting the cowardice and lack of faith demonstrated by the Israelites in this story. According to one report, at Ḥudaybiyah, when the Prophet and his Companions were barred from entering Makkah to perform the pilgrimage and were engaged in a potentially dangerous confrontation with the more powerful Makkans in 6/628, the Companion Miqdād ibn al-Aswad cited the present Quranic verse and said, "By God, we will not be like the Israelite party, when they said to their prophet, _So go forth, thou and thy Lord, and fight! We shall sit here;_ but rather [we shall say]: 'Go forth, thou and thy Lord, and fight! Verily we shall be fighting along with you'" (Ṭ). A variation of this account connects it to the Battle of Badr in 2/624 (IK).

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% He said, "My Lord! I have no power over anyone save myself and my brother; so separate us from the iniquitous people!"

& He said, "Then verily it shall be forbidden them for forty years, while they shall wander on the earth. So grieve not for the iniquitous people."

25–26 In his frustration with the Israelites' refusal to follow his command, Moses complained to God that he had no control over, and by extension no moral accountability for, any save himself and his _brother_ , Aaron. Although Joshua and Caleb were faithful to his command (see 5:23 and commentary), al-Zamakhsharī suggests that Moses does not include them among those over whom he has "power" because, in his despair with the Israelites, he cannot be sure of the loyalty of any of them, save his brother, a fellow prophet. Alternately, al-Zamakhsharī suggests that Moses may here be using _brother_ in a religious sense to mean all those who faithfully follow him in his religion, rather than just his biological brother, Aaron. Moses' supplication to God, _separate us from the iniquitous,_ is understood to be a plea to God to judge or decide between Moses and his brother, on the one hand, and his "iniquitous" followers on the other (Ṭ, Z).

The Divine response to Moses' plea for judgment comes in v. 26: _Then verily it_ (meaning the land) _shall be forbidden them for forty years, while they shall wander on the earth_. That the land was _forbidden them_ may be understood to mean that they were physically prevented from entering it or that they were to observe the prohibition as a matter of devotion and submission to God (R). The subsequent command to _grieve not for the iniquitous_ clearly connects this Divine statement to Moses' supplication against the "iniquitous" in v. 25. The command to _grieve not_ is said to have been addressed to Moses, who was dismayed by the severity of the punishment meted out to his people as a result of his supplication and regretted having made it (R). Although the Israelites were forbidden from the land for forty years, God's "ordainment" of the land for them remained, being inscribed in the Preserved Tablet according to some commentators (see 5:21c), but in suspension (Z).

The beginning of v. 26 may also be read, "Then verily it shall be forbidden them. For forty years they shall wander on the earth," indicating that the exile was "permanent" for the disobedient among the Israelites, since they would most likely die before they were able to enter it (Ṭ). Later Jericho was conquered under the leadership of Joshua, whom the commentators consider to be a prophet sent to guide the Israelites after Moses' death (Q, Ṭ, Z), although some reports claim that Moses entered Jericho along with Joshua (R, Ṭ, Z) and personally killed one of the giants—or _a domineering people_ ( _jabbārīn_ ) mentioned in v. 22—among its inhabitants (Ṭ). The commentators, like the Biblical account, state that none of the other Israelites who were adults at that time, save the obedient Joshua and Caleb, survived to enter the land that God had ordained for them (Ṭ, Z, Numbers 14).

Because the Divinely imposed exile and wandering are presented as a punishment for the "iniquitous" and disobedient Israelites, and because Moses had asked that he and his brother be "separated from them," some questioned whether Moses and Aaron remained with the Israelites during their period of wandering. Most claim that they did, and some assert that the exile was not difficult for them and caused them no hardship, just as the fire into which Abraham was thrown remained cool for him (21:69; R, Z). God is also said to have continued to grant comfort and sustenance even to the Israelites themselves during their exile (Ṭ, Z), including providing them water from the twelve springs that miraculously flowed from a rock when Moses struck it with his staff (see 2:60; 7:160; Ṭ).

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' And recite unto them, with truth, the account of Adam's two sons, when they each offered a sacrifice, and it was accepted from one of them, though not accepted from the other. One said, "I will surely slay you!" [The other] said, "God accepts only from the reverent.

27–32 Cf. Genesis 4. These verses recount the story of the Biblical Cain and Abel, and like its Biblical version the Quranic story of Cain and Abel serves as a prototype of the inclination of fallen human beings toward violence and the killing of their own "brothers." Within its specifically Quranic context, the story is read by some commentators as offering a subtle commentary on issues related particularly to the People of the Book raised elsewhere in the _sūrah_.

_Recite unto them_ , _with truth_ may mean that Muhammad should relate this account to the Jews and/or the idolaters who, according to the interpretation of v. 11, had plotted to kill Muhammad and some of his Companions (Z): _Remember God's Blessing upon you, when a people were prepared to stretch forth their hands against you, but He withheld their hands from you_ (see 5:11c) _._ The idiomatic phrase _stretch forth their hands against_ is also used to describe the intent to kill in the present account (v. 28), suggesting a thematic link between the two passages. Insofar as the story is about the moral danger of spiritual envy, it may be directed at those Jews and Christians who were hostile to Muhammad's message out of spiritual envy (R; spiritual envy in general, on the part of earlier religious communities, is suggested in v. 59 and stated directly in 2:90, 109, 213; 3:19; 4:54; 45:17).

The conclusion of this account with a reminder about the gravity of the sin of murder as it is found in God's message to the Israelites (v. 32) further suggests that this account may have been directed, in part, toward the People of the Book. Al-Ṭabarī, however, suggests that the reason for telling this story was to encourage the Muslims to deal leniently and forgivingly with those Jews who had been plotting to kill Muhammad and some of his followers, and hence to follow the example of Abel, who did not raise his hand against his brother despite his brother's threat to kill him. He cites a _ḥ adīth,_ "Verily God gives you the example of the two sons of Adam; so take [the path of] the better of the two, and leave [the path of] the worse" (Ṭ).

27 _Adam's two sons_ refers to the Biblical Cain (Qābīl) and Abel (Hābīl). The two were either commanded by God to offer a sacrifice (Ṭ) or, according to some commentators, engaged in rival sacrifices in order to compete for the right to marry Cain's twin sister, whom both Cain and Abel desired (R, Ṭ, Z). Abel, being a herdsman, offered a fattened sheep for the sacrifice, while Cain, who grew crops, offered some of his produce. The Quranic account indicates that God accepted the sacrifice of the one (understood to be Abel) and not the other (understood to be Cain), but, like the Biblical account, does not indicate the reason for this choice. Some commentators explain that while Abel sacrificed his most prized sheep, Cain offered the poorest produce from his crop (Ṭ). _Sacrifice_ here renders _qurbān,_ a word whose root, _q-r-b,_ is related primarily to nearness, indicating that "sacrifice" is understood primarily as a means of drawing closer to God. Al-Ṭabarī notes that closeness to God was the essential motivation of both Cain and Abel in their sacrifice, thus casting doubt on the accounts that indicate that their sacrifices were part of a competition over a woman, although al-Rāzī attributes pious intent in the sacrifice only to Abel. _God accepts only from the reverent,_ Abel's statement in response to his brother's threat, is meant to indicate that the latter's sacrifice was not accepted because it had not been done with proper "reverence" or fear of God (Ṭ, Z), as he had offered only a lowly and unfitting sacrifice (Ṭ).

Al-Ṭabarī notes that the practice of sacrificial offering for earlier religious communities was like the practices of charity and alms for Muslims and, more broadly, that righteous acts, including prayer and fasting as well as mandatory charity, take the place of sacrifice in Islam. _Offered a sacrifice_ translates _qarraba,_ a verb that can also be used in connection with giving charity (R, Z). Insofar as prayer, fasting, and charity are analogous to ritual sacrifice in the Islamic perspective, _God accepts only from the reverent_ serves as a general reminder that only ritual or moral acts done with "reverence" are accepted by God (R, Z). However, in Islam, the rites of the _ḥ ajj_ culminate with the sacrificial slaughter of animals and the Muslim Feast of Sacrifice ( _ʿ Īd al-aḍḥā,_ sometimes also called _ʿ Īd al-qurbān_), both of which commemorate God's halting Abraham's test, during which he was to sacrifice his son, and His provision of a ram for the sacrifice instead. The meat from the sacrificial slaughtering at the end of the pilgrimage rite is given to charity, which would seem to confirm partially al-Ṭabarī's assertion that, in Islam, charity toward the poor partly takes the place of ritual sacrifice found in earlier religions. See 22:36–37, where it says of the _sacrificial camels_ to be slaughtered during the pilgrimage: _Neither their flesh nor their blood will reach God, but the reverence from you reaches Him._

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( Even if you stretch forth your hand against me to slay me, I shall not stretch forth my hand against you to slay you. Truly I fear God, Lord of the worlds.

28 Commentators question why Abel refused to oppose his brother's attack or defend himself, even though Cain had clearly stated his intention to kill him. Some argue that this was a way of clarifying and emphasizing the enormity of his brother's murderous intention and action (R, Ṭ), while others claim that attacking another in self-defense had not been made legitimate at this early stage of human history (Ṭ, Z). Others point out that Abel's statement, _I shall not stretch forth my hand against you to slay you,_ is not necessarily an abandonment of self-defense, but an abandonment of the intention to kill his brother preemptively or in the process of self-defense (Q, R). Some accounts indicate that Cain killed Abel while he was sleeping, and Abel was thus unable to defend himself, which does not preclude the possibility that Abel would have defended himself, had he been awake (Q, R). It may also be the case that Abel considered it better to be killed than to kill, even in self-defense (R). Al-Qurṭubī notes that the pious and prominent early Muslims who, like ʿAbd Allāḥ ibn ʿUmar, abstained from fighting fellow Muslims and taking sides in the First Civil War (36–40/656–61) cited, by way of justification, the example of Abel, who demonstrated greater strength in abstaining from violence that could have resulted in the death of his brother—a fellow monotheist, even if, at that moment, a disobedient and iniquitous one.

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) I desire that you should be burdened with my sin and your sin and so become one of the inhabitants of the Fire. Such is the recompense of the wrongdoers."

29 _I desire that you should be burdened with my sin and your sin_ is understood to mean that, rather than attacking his brother in return, Abel preferred to allow his brother to assume the full burden of the sin. _My sin_ ( _ithmī_ ) here is not intended to mean that Cain would bear the burden of Abel's sins—for the Quran and Islamic tradition are clear that none bears the moral burden of another—but rather that Cain would bear the burden of the sin of killing Abel. Thus _my sin_ really means "the sin of killing me" ( _ithm qatlī_ )—the intervening _qatl_ ("killing") is elided (R, Ṭ, Z)—whereas _your sin_ —that is, Cain's sin—refers to the other acts of disobedience he had committed up to that time.

***

Ð Then his soul prompted him to slay his brother, and he slew him, and thus came to be among the losers.

30 Cain's carnal soul _prompted him to slay his brother,_ meaning that it led or encouraged him to kill him, that it made it easy for him, or that it made it seem good to him and emboldened him to undertake the crime (Aj, R, Ṭ, Z). Although _soul_ may simply refer to the individual as an independent moral entity, in certain verses in the Quran and in pious and Sufi literature the "soul" can represent the seat of the passions that drive human beings to behave in immoral ways; see 12:53, where the prophet Joseph says, _But I absolve not my own soul. Surely the soul commands to evil._ In connection with this verse, al-Qushayrī remarks that once the soul—influenced as it is by its vain desires—has formulated an intention to do evil (as Cain had in v. 27), subsequent calls to right or just action become muted, perhaps explaining why Abel's response to his brother's threat had no apparent effect. According to most reports, Cain killed his brother in his sleep by crushing his head between two rocks, an idea some say he received from Satan (R, Ṭ, Z). Although Adam lived many years after Abel's murder, it is said that he never laughed again (R, Z).

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Ñ Then God sent a crow, scratching the earth, to show him how he might conceal his brother's nakedness. He said, "Oh, woe unto me! Am I not able to be even as this crow and conceal my brother's nakedness?" And he came to be among the remorseful.

31 Some commentators indicate that Abel was the first person to have been killed, or even to have died, among human beings; hence Cain's ignorance of how to dispose of his body (Ṭ, Z). Cain does not know how to conceal Abel's _nakedness_ and protect it from wild beasts, since the practice of burying the dead had not yet been established (Ṭ). God then sent a living crow who "scratched the earth" with its beak and feet to bury another crow, thereby demonstrating to Cain how to properly bury his brother's corpse (Ṭ), indicating that the rite of burial was taught to human beings by God. Seeing the crow able to dispose of the other crow's body causes Cain to realize his terrible moral state as well as his ignorance, as he had not had the decency or knowledge to do this for his own brother and so became _remorseful_. Other accounts say that the crow was digging in the earth in order to bury some other thing and this gave Cain the idea of burying his brother; or that the crow came and began covering the dead Abel with earth, and when Cain saw how much dignity was afforded his victim, he became _remorseful_ (R). _Nakedness_ translates _saw ʾah,_ which can also be used to allude to one's private parts. Al-Zamakhsharī asserts that _saw ʾah_ here denotes the shame of Abel's exposed body, whereas al-Ṭabarī simply glosses _saw ʾah_ as "corpse." _Oh, woe unto me_ translates _waylatī,_ which is an exclamation of spiritual regret found elsewhere in the Quran (see 2:79c), often when the certainty of Divine punishment is realized; see 18:49; 21:14, 47, 97; 25:28; 36:52; 37:20; 68:31.

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Ò For this reason, We prescribed for the Children of Israel that whosoever slays a soul—unless it be for another soul or working corruption upon the earth—it is as though he slew mankind altogether, and whosoever saves the life of one, it is as though he saved the life of mankind altogether. Our messengers have certainly come unto them with clear proofs. Yet even after that, many of them are prodigal on the earth.

32 The account of Adam's two sons here and in the Bible is focused on the gravity and horror of the act of murder. Cain's initial inability to hide Abel's corpse in the Quranic account and the statement that Abel's blood was "crying . . . out from the ground" in the Biblical account (Genesis 4:10) both suggest the particular difficulty of concealing a crime of murder, and thus the likelihood of punishment in this world as well as the next. In this verse concluding the account, the Quran further emphasizes the enormity of the sin of murder by stating that God _prescribed for the Children of Israel_ that the killing of one soul was like the killing of _mankind altogether_ and, analogously, that saving a life was like saving _mankind altogether._ The Jewish commentary tradition as contained in both the Mishnah and the Talmud similarly connects this specific idea, which became an important part of Jewish ethics, to the story of Cain and Abel.

In explaining the symbolic equivalence the verse suggests between killing a single soul and killing all humanity, some commentators claim that the intended meaning is that killing a soul of particular spiritual importance—such as a prophet or a "just imam"—is like killing all humanity; others say that killing a single soul is like killing all humanity from the point of view of the murdered individual (Q, Ṭ). Some, however, consider the gravity of murder from the perspective of its offense to the Creator, for whether one kills a single person or many, one has violated what God has made most sacred (Q).

Mujāhid asserts that the punishment in the Hereafter is equally grave for all murderers, regardless of the number of their victims, since the terrible punishment threatened for killing a believer is not increased even in the case of multiple victims (Q, Ṭ); although others take this statement to mean that the worldly punishment for murder is the same for one or multiple victims (Q, Ṭ), since the perpetrator has only one life that can be taken. The exception _unless it be for another soul_ exempts killing in the course of carrying out lawful capital punishment against one who has killed another soul—or for any other crime that carries the penalty of capital punishment, such as adultery committed by married persons (R)—as well as killing those who are _working corruption,_ understood to mean idolatry, warring against the Muslims, or terrorizing roads (Q, Ṭ, Z). For _working corruption,_ and its penal consequences, see v. 33.

_Whosoever saves the life of one_ is understood variously as referring to those who, as the kin of the murder victim, forgo retaliation and agree to accept compensation or simply forgive the perpetrator (see 2:178 and commentary) or to those who save people from fatal peril, such as fire or drowning (Ṭ, Z). Some broaden the idea of saving a life to include more indirect or spiritual modes of saving, such as by lifting a person out of poverty or providing guidance if one is spiritually or morally astray (Qm).

The verse indicates that the moral principle equating the value of a single life to that of all humanity in matters of killing and saving was ordained explicitly for the Children of Israel. Some commentators explain that the latter are mentioned specifically, as they were the first religious community threatened with eternal punishment for the sin of murder (Q); al-Rāzī argues that the Children of Israel are singled out here because of the alleged plot of certain Jews of Madinah against the Prophet, as mentioned in 5:11c. Other commentators indicate that the moral principle applies equally to the Muslim community (IK, Q, Ṭ).

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Ó Verily the recompense of those who wage war against God and His Messenger, and endeavor to work corruption upon the earth is that they be killed or crucified, or have their hands and feet cut off from opposite sides, or be banished from the land. That is their disgrace in this world, and in the Hereafter theirs shall be a great punishment,

33 This verse contains one of the five Quranic _ḥ add_ punishments—that is, Divinely ordained capital or corporal punishments—to be carried out by the Islamic state against those convicted of crimes considered to undermine the moral fabric of the Islamic community as a whole, including murderers, thieves, adulterers, slanderers, and, here, _those who wage war against God and His Messenger_ ( _mu ḥāribūn_). This phrase is understood to mean those who attack and terrorize members of the Islamic community directly, since one cannot "wage war" against God (Q). The crimes covered under this _ḥ add_ punishment are referred to collectively as _ḥ irābah_ and consist of armed robbery, assault (including rape), and murder, particularly of innocent travelers along the road, although this is widely considered to include attacks in cities and settled areas as well. The use of weapons, threats of extreme violence, or other tactics to instill fear are the hallmark of these crimes and distinguish them from other forms of robbery or assault.

Although the phrase _work corruption upon the earth_ may seem to be open to wide interpretation, its meaning in this verse has been limited by most major commentators to the armed crimes mentioned above and their detrimental effect on the safety and security of the community. Nonetheless, the idea of "working corruption upon the earth" is mentioned in several other places, where it is often connected with "behaving wickedly upon the earth" and opposed to "setting things aright upon it." It is sometimes used to indicate spiritual corruption and its otherworldly consequences; see 2:11–12, 27, 220; 3:63; 7:56, 142; 10:40, 81; 16:88. In 2:30, however, the angels foresee that establishing human beings as "vicegerents" on earth will mean their "working corruption" and "shedding blood," thus linking "working corruption" to physical violence and suggesting that it is a fundamental tendency within the human character (cf. 30:41), an idea borne out by the story of Cain and Abel in vv. 27–31. "Working corruption" is implicitly or explicitly connected to physical violence elsewhere (see, e.g., 2:205; 5:64; 26:183; 27:48–49; 28:4) and often implies a combination of spiritual and worldly corruption; see 7:74, 85–86, 103; 11:85; 13:25.

The most widely attested occasion for the revelation of this verse is an incident in which a group of men from the ʿUraynah and ʿUkl tribes came to the Prophet feigning a desire to embrace Islam. The Prophet accepted them into the community, but they soon complained to him that, as Bedouin, they found the settled life of Madinah unbearable. The Prophet thus allowed them to leave the city and sent with them a camelherd and some camels to milk for sustenance. Once outside the city, however, they brutally maimed and killed the camelherd and made off with the camels the Prophet had given them to use. The Prophet had the men apprehended and reportedly ordered that their hands and feet be cut off, their eyes gouged out, and their bodies exposed until death (Q, Ṭ, W). This verse then came down, establishing the punishment for such crimes as being the four penalties listed here: the cutting off of a hand and foot on opposite sides, execution, crucifixion, and banishment (cf. 20:71, where Pharaoh threatens his sorcerers with similar punishments when they repent and become followers of Moses).

Given that the perpetrators were also, among other things, apostates ( _murtaddūn_ ), since they embraced Islam in the presence of the Prophet, then renounced it through their actions, a small minority have considered the verse to apply to apostates in general (Ṭ). It seems clear, however, that the severe punishments in this verse pertain specifically to those who commit various crimes brazenly and with exceptional brutality, violence, and terrorization of innocent people.

Some say that this verse, with its list of punishments for such criminals, was sent as a clarification in light of the Prophet's actions or even an endorsement of them (Ṭ). Others understand it as a partial criticism and abrogation of the severity of the Prophet's response, since the verse contains no endorsement of the practice of gouging out eyes or exposure until death (Q, Ṭ). According to some, the verse can be read as implicitly banning torture (Q); and in fact the Prophet had refrained from any kind of torture both before and after this incident (Q). Others reject the assertion that the verse abrogated or criticized the Prophet's behavior, claiming either that the Prophet had wanted to gouge out the eyes of the perpetrators, but when the verse was revealed he refrained from doing so, or that the Prophet's additional order to gouge out their eyes was done as retribution ( _qi ṣāṣ,_ see 2:178 and commentary) for the similar maiming the perpetrators had inflicted on the camelherd (Q, Ṭ).

Some commentators and a minority of legal authorities argued that the Islamic authority (or _imām_ ) could use his discretion to apply one or a combination of the four punishments listed here for one convicted of _ḥ irābah_ (Q, Ṭ). Al-Shāfiʿī and others legal scholars, however, considered the punishments to correlate in specific ways to the severity of the crime: those who committed murder in the course of _ḥ irābah,_ but not theft, were subject to simple execution; those who committed theft, but not murder, had their hand and foot amputated; those who committed both theft and murder were killed and crucified; and those who terrorized others, but did not kill or steal in the process, were banished (JJ, Q, Ṭ, Ṭs).

There has been some debate among jurists about the specific procedures for carrying out these punishments. Crucifixion, understood to mean the exposure of the criminal in public, was usually carried out, historically, after the execution of a criminal in Islamic society—as a means of public deterrence—not as a means of execution itself. Some legal scholars recommended crucifixion prior to execution, but not as the means to it, so that perpetrators would be exposed, but then almost immediately killed, lest they endure suffering that would constitute torture, which is forbidden (Q, Ṭs). Banishment is interpreted by some early commentators as meaning that perpetrators should be pursued relentlessly until driven from Islamic lands. Most, however, understood it to mean that they should be exiled from their native territory to another or that they should be imprisoned, which effectively "banished" them from human society (Q, Ṭ, Ṭs). Imprisonment was reportedly first implemented as a punishment by the second Caliph, ʿUmar ibn al-Khaṭṭāb, who would imprison such offenders until they had fully repented (Q). The idea that the worldly _disgrace_ and punishment of sin will be compounded by punishment _in the Hereafter_ is articulated in other forms elsewhere; see v. 41; 2:114; 9:74; 13:33–34.

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Ô save those who repent before you overpower them. And know that God is Forgiving, Merciful.

34 Here, as in the case of all sins, even grave ones, the door of repentance is left open. Repentance for these crimes may spare the perpetrators punishment in the Hereafter, but is considered to spare the perpetrators earthly punishment only if they repent before they are "overpowered," that is, before they are caught and brought to the authorities. This parallels the idea that repentance spares a person punishment in the next life only if it is made before death, after which the Divine sentence and punishment become certain (see 4:17–18c). In most schools of law, once the perpetrator of a major crime has been brought before the authorities and convicted, applying the prescribed _ḥ add_ punishment is mandatory; but if a perpetrator is forgiven by the victim and not denounced to the authorities, then the punishment need not be applied (Q, Ṭ). Although repentance averts the _ḥ add_ punishments listed in v. 33, the rights of the victims are maintained insofar as the perpetrator is still required to pay restitution for damaged or stolen property and is liable to retribution, or _qi ṣāṣ_ (see 2:178 and commentary). As in the case of the law of retribution itself, a victim has the right to have justice exacted from the perpetrator, but to forgive the perpetrator and avoid a public denunciation is considered to be of higher spiritual merit and a way of participating in the Divine Attributes _Forgiving_ and _Merciful,_ invoked at the end of this verse.

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Õ O you who believe! Reverence God, and seek the means to approach Him, and strive in His way, that haply you may prosper.

35 Seeking _the means to approach_ God, or elsewhere "nearness" to Him, is presented in the Quran as both a lofty spiritual goal (and its reward; 17:57; 38:25, 40) and the result of obedient and virtuous acts (9:99; 34:37). In several verses, those who hold the highest spiritual rank are described as _those brought nigh_ (56:11, 88; 83:21, 28). Following upon the previous verse allowing for the repentance of criminal wrongdoers, the _means of approach_ to God might here allude to either the sinner's act of repentance or the forgiveness and acceptance of sincere repentance on the part of the victim. Those who seek to achieve nearness by other means, however, such as through the intercession of false deities, are rebuked (39:3; 46:28). A well-known _ḥ adīth qudsī_ (sacred _ḥ adīth_) describes the best means of approach to God as being the fulfillment of the mandatory religious acts, such as prayer, charity, and fasting. The _ḥ adīth_ then indicates that the pious servant of God may draw yet nearer to Him through supererogatory good works. In Sufi thought, seeking to approach God and attaining nearness to Him are the loftiest of spiritual goals and stations.

For Sufi commentators, as for others, right action and fulfilling religious duties was the primary _means of approach_ to God, although Sufi commentators also stress cultivating spiritual virtues, such as patience, contentment, and sincerity as "means of approach" to God (Su, Qu). Ibn ʿAjībah sees the means to approach as necessarily including a spiritually accomplished _shaykh,_ who can guide the aspirant toward removing the soul's impurities, thereby increasing nearness to God. To _strive in His way_ is also a common injunction throughout the Quran (see, e.g., 2:218; 4:95; 8:72, 74; 9:20; 49:15).

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Ö Truly those who disbelieve, were they to possess all that is on the earth and the like of it besides with which to ransom themselves from the punishment of the Day of Resurrection, it would not be accepted from them. And theirs shall be a painful punishment.

× They will wish to come forth from the Fire, but they shall not come forth from it. And theirs shall be a lasting punishment.

36–37 The certainty of the reckoning after death is a central theme of the Quran, and the Quran repeatedly asserts the futility of seeking to _ransom_ oneself with worldly goods in order to escape punishment in the Hereafter. See 2:48, 123; 3:91; 10:54; 13:18; 39:47; 57:15; 70:11.

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Ø As for the male thief and the female thief, cut off their hands as a recompense for what they have earned, as an exemplary punishment from God. Truly God is Mighty, Wise.

Ù But whosoever repents after his wrongdoing, and makes amends, God will relent unto him. Truly God is Forgiving, Merciful.

38–39 V. 38 contains another of the five _ḥ add_ punishments specifically mentioned in the Quran (see 5:33c), establishing the amputation of a hand as the punishment for theft. According to al-Qurṭubī, amputation was the punishment for theft in the pre-Islamic ( _jāhiliyyah_ ) period in Arabia as well. Although some commentators argued that this penalty applied to all manner of theft, regardless of the amount or degree, most legal authorities asserted, on the basis of a Prophetic _ḥ adīth_ and the precedent of the early Caliphs, that the punishment applied only to those who stole a significant sum or a very precious object. The minimum amount for which the penalty can be applied is variously given as 3 _dirham_ s (3 grams of silver) or, most commonly, one quarter of a _dīnār_ (1 gram of gold) or their equivalent in goods (Q, Ṭ). Others put the minimum amount at the worth of a shield (Q). For less than this, the penalty is restitution or compensation for the stolen goods, which al-Shāfiʿī considers to be mandatory even for those to whom the _ḥ add_ punishment is also applied (Q).

The verse is explicit that the penalty applies equally to both male and female thieves, as is the case explicitly for adultery (see 24:2–3) and as is understood to be the case with all _ḥ add_ penalties. To emphasize the point and the universality of the penalty, the Prophet famously asserted that even if his beloved daughter Fāṭimah were to be caught stealing, he would not hesitate to apply the penalty to her as well (IK).

Although the penalty is meant to be disabling, it is not intended to result in death, and Islamic Law requires that medical procedures be used to stop the bleeding and prevent death. The _ḥ add_ punishments are understood to be a right God has against the perpetrator of crimes that, like theft, have a destabilizing effect on the society at large. Each thus serves not only as a _recompense_ for the crime, but also as an _exemplary punishment_ meant to deter others from such crimes and keep their overall incidence very low. To _make amends_ here, according to al-Qurṭubī, means repenting of all disobedient actions.

As in v. 34, the door of repentance remains open, even for the worst of criminals. The commentators debated whether or not repentance spared a thief from the punishment of amputation. Some asserted that it did; others argued that it did not and that God's "relenting" toward the repentant thief, promised in these verses, pertains only to his judgment and punishment in the Hereafter (Q, Ṭ). Several _a ḥādīth_ indicate that the Prophet assured repentant thieves who had undergone the _ḥ add_ punishment that they were forgiven by God and had been purified of their sin as a result of the punishment (IK). Similar to the case of armed offenses ( _ḥ irābah_), discussed in vv. 33–34, foundational legal scholars, including Abū Ḥanīfah and al-Shāfiʿī, held that the _ḥ add_ punishment could be averted only if the perpetrator were forgiven by the victim and not brought before the authorities (JJ, Z).

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@ Dost thou not know that unto God belongs sovereignty over the heavens and the earth? He punishes whomsoever He will, and He forgives whomsoever He will. And God is Powerful over all things.

40 This verse closes the section on punishment with a reminder that God is the ultimate judge, and the true dispenser of both punishment and forgiveness. Al-Rāzī understands this verse as supporting the Ashʿarite thesis that God's inherent right to punish some while forgiving others—even if it might seem arbitrary to the human mind—is justified on the basis of His _Sovereignty_ and "ownership" ( _mulk,_ which means both) of all things as their Creator.

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A O Messenger! Let them not grieve thee, those who hasten unto disbelief, those who say, "We believe" with their mouths, while their hearts believe not, and those who are Jews, who listen to lies and to others who have not come to thee. They distort the meaning of the word, saying, "If you are given this, then take it, but if you are not given this, then beware!" For whomsoever God desires that he be tried, thou hast no power to avail him aught against God. They are those whose hearts God desired not to purify. Theirs is disgrace in this world, and in the Hereafter they shall have a great punishment.

41 This verse is one of many that seek to comfort the Prophet in the face of those who reject or assail his message, here referring to both the hypocrites— _those who say, "We believe" with their mouths, while their hearts believe not_ —and those Jews of Madinah who sought to undermine or discredit the Prophet's mission. Some commentators indicate that hypocrites and the Jews are not necessarily grouped together here, and that _while their hearts believe not, and those who are Jews, who listen to lies_ may be read, "while their hearts believe not. Those who are Jews listen to lies" (R, Z). _Who listen to lies,_ which was widely understood to mean listening to and accepting as truth the lies that were told, may also be read, "who listen [to the Prophet] in order to lie or deny [what he says]" (R).

The most widely reported context given for the specific issues mentioned with regard to the Jews in vv. 41–44 is the incident mentioned in 5:15c, in which the case of two Jewish adulterers from a nearby town, either Khaybar or, in some accounts, Fadak, were brought for judgment to the Prophet by the Madinan Jews on behalf of their coreligionists outside Madinah (Ṭ, Z). When the Prophet asked about the Torah ruling on the matter, he was reportedly given distorted information, as the Jews sought to conceal the Torah's prescribed penalty of stoning and avert this punishment from the two adulterers (W). That these Jews _listen to lies_ is understood to mean that they listen to their own rabbis' misrepresentation of the Torah teachings. That they listen to _others who have not come to thee_ refers to their consulting with the Jews outside Madinah, in Khaybar (or Fadak), who instructed the Madinan Jews: _if you are given this_ —that is, if the Prophet ordains flogging for the adulterers— _then take it,_ but if _you are not given this,_ and they are given the penalty of stoning, _then beware!_ (Ṭ, W, Z). A minority report says that this verse and vv. 41–47 in general refer to a dispute brought to the Prophet by two Madinan Jewish clans, the Banū Naḍīr and Banū Qurayẓah, about whether compensation ( _dīyah_ ) can be accepted rather than execution for the slaying of one who is of a lower tribal standing than the murderer (Q, Ṭ).

_Distort the meaning of the word_ ( _yu ḥarrifūna'l-kalima min baʿdi mawāḍiʿihi_) can mean, literally, to move words from their proper place in the text, and some suggest that the Madinan Jewish leaders removed the stoning passage from its context in the Torah's discussion of adultery (JJ). This "distortion" ( _ta ḥrīf_) of the scriptural text on the part of the Jews is similarly described in 2:75; 4:46; 5:13. Multiple accounts say that when the Jews requested a ruling from the Prophet on the two Jewish adulterers, and he demanded to know the ruling in the Torah, they took him to a young rabbi named Ibn Ṣūriyā, who confirmed the Torah penalty of stoning. He or another Jewish authority apprised the Prophet that the Jewish leaders had decided to change the prescribed penalty of stoning when they became reluctant to carry it out against those of high social standing and so substituted the alternate penalty of flogging and public humiliation, which they were more comfortable imposing upon all adulterers (Ṭ, Z). The Prophet thereafter decided to impose the penalty of stoning on the adulterers, asserting that this practice was a revival of the original teaching of the Torah (Ṭ).

_That he be tried_ ( _fitnatahu_ ) can refer to either trial or temptation. In the negative context in which it is found, however, some major commentators understand this verse to mean that when God desires that some be in error, no one, not even the Prophet, has the power to change their spiritual situation against God's Will (R, Ṭ). Thus there is no reason for the Prophet to be saddened by their rejection of him. For similar reassurances to the Prophet about those who rejected the Quranic message, see v. 68; 3:176; 6:33; 10:65; 16:127; 31:23; 36:76. Such people are _those whose hearts God desired not to purify_. For al-Rāzī, this means that God refuses to aid them spiritually as a consequence of their evil actions or that He refuses to _purify_ them of the negative passions and emotions that lead them to disbelief. For the pairing of _disgrace in this world_ and _punishment_ in the Hereafter, see 5:33 and commentary.

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B Those who listen to lies, and consume what is unlawful—if they come to thee, then judge between them, or turn away from them. If thou turnest away from them, they will not harm thee in the least. But if thou judgest, judge between them with justice. Truly God loves the just.

42 This verse continues the discussion of the Madinah Jews who attempted to deceive the Prophet when they came to him for judgment. That they _consume what is unlawful_ refers not to food, but to illegal financial gain (JJ), most specifically bribery (Ṭ), and is mentioned in connection with the Jews of the Prophet's time in vv. 62–63 as well. _If they come to thee, then judge between them, or turn away from them_ gives the Prophet the option of adjudicating a matter among the People of the Book that is brought to him or refusing to do so. Islamic legal scholars considered this incident and this verse as bearing upon the Islamic authorities' right to adjudicate at least some crimes and disputes among the non-Muslims within the Islamic state when no Muslim is involved in the matter. Both al-Shāfiʿī and Mālik held that if a serious matter between two non-Muslims is brought to the Islamic ruler ( _imām_ ), he may choose to adjudicate their case or abstain from it (Q); if the Islamic ruler declined to rule on the case, it would be adjudicated within the non-Muslims' own religious community. Some say that this choice to adjudicate such cases or abstain from doing so was abrogated by v. 48, which instructs the Prophet to _judge between them in accordance with what God has sent down,_ although others disagree (Q, Ṭ). Al-Shāfiʿī, Mālik, and other legal scholars considered it the duty of the Islamic ruler to adjudicate all serious disputes among non-Muslims that also involve a Muslim. Once the matter is brought to the Islamic ruler, however, the matter is to be adjudicated according to Islamic Law (Q, Ṭ; cf. 5:48–49 and commentary). For the importance of judging with justice, see 4:58, 135 and commentary. See also 4:65, where the unwillingness of certain Madinan hypocrites to accept the Prophet's judgments in their disputes is a sign of their lack of belief. _God loves the just_ is repeated in 60:8.

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C And how is it that they come to thee for judgment, when they have the Torah, wherein is God's Judgment? Yet even after that, they turn their backs, and they are not believers.

D Truly We sent down the Torah, wherein is a guidance and a light, by which the prophets who submitted [unto God] judged those who are Jews, as did the sages and the rabbis, in accordance with such of God's Book as they were bidden to preserve and to which they were witnesses. So fear not mankind, but fear Me! And sell not My signs for a paltry price. Whosoever judges not by that which God has sent down—it is they who are disbelievers.

43–44 The opening question in v. 43 suggests the disingenuousness of the Madinan Jews in seeking the Prophet's judgment on a matter already clearly decreed in their own scriptures, and that they were merely seeking a more lenient ruling than the one they had been given (Ṭ). This verse, then, along with vv. 44–47, indicates that the Torah and the Gospel remain valid sources of moral and legal judgment and guidance for Jews and Christians, respectively, even after the coming of the Prophet—indeed, even in his presence. See also v. 68, where the People of the Book are likewise enjoined to observe their scriptures. The Torah is described here as containing _a guidance and a light,_ as it is in 6:91. The _prophets who submitted [unto God]_ is thought, by some, to refer to the Prophet Muhammad, because of the connection to the notion of "submission" ( _islām;_ Ṭ), but it more likely refers to those Israelite prophets who lived between Moses and Jesus (Z). _Sages_ translates _rabbāniyyūn,_ which is defined in several different ways by early Islamic commentators: as the legal (or political) authorities among the Jews (Ṭ); as the ascetic devotees ( _zuhhād_ ) among the descendants of Aaron, and so perhaps "priests" (Z); or as the most authoritative scholars among the Jews, those comparable to Islamic jurisprudents ( _mujtahidūn_ ) insofar as they were qualified to issue decisive rulings on religious Law (R). _Rabbis_ translates _a ḥbār,_ which was usually glossed simply as the religious scholars ( _ʿ ulamāʾ_) among the Jews. The warning _fear not mankind, but fear Me_ is also found in v. 3; 2:150; 3:175.

The warning against "selling" weighty religious matters—such as Divine revelations and covenants— _for a paltry price_ is a common metaphorical warning and chastisement in the Quran, meant to suggest the absurdity of such an exchange and the inevitable loss one incurs in trading something of eternal value—Divine guidance and salvation—for the ephemeral things of this world (cf. 2:41, 79, 174; 3:77, 187, 199; 9:9; 16:95). Together these two commands enjoin the Jewish authorities and scholars to preserve the Torah as it had been revealed and to avoid altering it, either out of fear of others or to gain wealth and social standing by changing the laws to suit influential people (cf. the warning against unlawful consumption, meaning "bribery" in v. 42).

Those who do not judge according to _that which God has sent down_ —here invoking the case of the Jews neglecting the judgment on adulterers found in the Torah—are _disbelievers, kāfirūn_. _Kāfirūn_ also has the meaning of those who "cover" or "hide" something and may thus refer to those who, like the Jews in this incident, try to conceal the words or rulings found in scripture (Ṭ), rather than to those in an absolute state of disbelief. The warning to those who do not judge _by that which God has sent down_ is repeated in vv. 45 and 47, where such people are described as _wrongdoers_ and _iniquitous,_ respectively. An interpretation attributed to the early commentator Ibn ʿAbbās asserts that those who actively oppose or reject the Judgment of God are disbelievers, while those who simply fail to judge according to Divine Law are _wrongdoers_ (v. 45) and _iniquitous_ (v. 47; Z). The Quran states elsewhere that judgment is ultimately the prerogative of God alone (6:57, 62; 12:40, 67).

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E And therein We prescribed for them: a life for a life, an eye for an eye, a nose for a nose, an ear for an ear, a tooth for a tooth, and for wounds, retribution. But whosoever forgoes it out of charity, it shall be an expiation for him. Whosoever judges not by that which God has sent down—it is they who are wrongdoers.

45 This verse provides a general description of the law of retribution found in the Torah (see Exodus 21:24; Leviticus 24:20; Deuteronomy 19:21), although forgoing the retribution _out of charity_ is not mentioned in these Biblical passages. Al-Rāzī indicates that this verse was meant to remind the Jews of the law of the Torah regarding retribution for murder and injury. Indeed, some commentators suggest that vv. 41–44 refer not only to the Jews altering the penalty for adultery, but also to their neglect of the proper retribution and penalty for killing. The Madinan Jewish clans, the Banū Naḍīr and Banū Qurayẓah, would reportedly alter the required retribution in accordance with the relative social standing of the killer and the victim. As the Banū Naḍīr were of a higher social standing than the Banū Qurayẓah, if a member of the Banū Naḍīr killed one of the Banū Qurayẓah, he would not face retribution, but merely be required to pay compensation; in the reverse situation, however, the perpetrator would be killed or required to pay a much higher amount of compensation (R, Ṭ). The present verse is meant to indicate that the true Torah ruling regarding retribution, _a life for a life,_ makes no accommodation based on the social status of killer or killed and makes no provision for the payment of compensation ( _dīyah_ )—an alternative allowed in Islamic Law. According to this verse, the laws of the Torah allow only equivalent retribution or outright forgiveness (Q, R).

Although the commentators understand this to be a description of the law of retribution as given specifically to Moses, similar principles exist for Muslims (cf. 2:178; 2:178c; 4:92; 42:40). Forgoing lawful retribution as an act of charity is said in the present verse to be an _expiation_ for sin, but the commentators have differed over whether this act expiated the sins of the forgiving party as a reward for his charity or whether it served to expiate the sin of the offender (Ṭ, Z). Al-Ṭabarī argues that the expiation is for the forgiving party, since another _ḥ adīth_ clearly indicates that expiation for the offender comes through the carrying out of the _ḥ add_ penalty for the crime; and he cites a _ḥ adīth_ that states that forgoing one's right to retribution as an act of charity serves as an expiation of one's own sins. A reward from God for the forgiving party seems indicated in 42:40, suggesting either that the expiation is for the forgiver or, alternately, that the expiation is for the offender and a separate "reward" from God lies in store for the forgiver (R).

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F And in their footsteps, We sent Jesus son of Mary, confirming the Torah that had come before him, and We gave him the Gospel, wherein is a guidance and a light, confirming the Torah that had come before him, as a guidance and an exhortation to the reverent.

46 _In their footsteps_ means in the footsteps of the _prophets who submitted,_ mentioned in v. 44 (R, Z). In the present verse both Jesus and the Gospel he brings are separately described as _confirming the Torah_. Jesus is also described as confirming the Torah in 3:50 and 61:6, as is John the Baptist in 3:39. That Jesus "confirms the Torah" means that he upholds the validity of all Torah rulings not specifically abrogated by the Gospel (Ṭ); see also 3:50, where Jesus comes _to make lawful_ unto the Israelites _part of that which was forbidden_ to them. The Gospel here, like the Torah in v. 44, is described as containing _a guidance and a light_. The Quran is also described as a _light_ in v. 15; 7:157; 64:8.

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G Let the people of the Gospel judge by what God has sent down therein. Whosoever judges not by that which God has sent down—it is they who are iniquitous.

47 Several commentators note that enjoining the _people of the Gospel_ to _judge by what God has sent down therein_ means that they should follow the rulings of the Torah in most cases, since Jesus himself lived largely according to Torah rulings, with the exception of those that the Gospel abrogates (IK), and since the Gospel itself contains teachings and exhortations, but relatively few legal rulings (Z). This verse indicates that the Gospel remains a valid source of guidance for _the people of the Gospel,_ just as vv. 43–44 suggest that the Jews can continue to find guidance in the Torah. The continuing validity of these two scriptures is also suggested in v. 68: _O People of the Book! You stand on naught till you observe the Torah and the Gospel, and that which has been sent down unto you from your Lord_. Several commentators, however, argue that the exhortation here to follow the Gospel indicates only that they should have followed the Gospel prior to the coming of the Quran, which thereafter abrogated the scripture that came before it (IK, R). This reading seems implausible in light of other Quranic verses, however, since v. 43 questions why the Jews have come to the Prophet for judgment (regarding two Jewish adulterers) _when they have the Torah,_ indicating that Prophetic adjudication is not necessary (even during his lifetime) as long as they follow their own scripture. And indeed, in issuing his ruling in that case—namely, the implementation of the penalty of stoning, the Prophet stated that his actions were intended to revive (and thus legitimate) the Torah ruling for the Jews (see commentary on 5:41–44).

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H And We have sent down unto thee the Book in truth, confirming the Book that came before it, and as a protector over it. So judge between them in accordance with what God has sent down, and follow not their caprices away from the truth that has come unto thee. For each among you We have appointed a law and a way. And had God willed, He would have made you one community, but [He willed otherwise], that He might try you in that which He has given you. So vie with one another in good deeds. Unto God shall be your return all together, and He will inform you of that wherein you differ.

48 This verse addresses the Prophet directly and describes _the Book_ sent down to him—that is, the Quran—as _confirming the Book that came before it,_ just as the Gospel confirms the Torah. The Quran is also described as "confirming" earlier scriptures in 2:41, 89, 91, 97, 101; 3:3, 81; 6:92; 35:31; 46:30. The Quran is further described as a _protector_ ( _muhaymin_ ) over the previous scriptures, meaning that the Quran testifies to the validity of the earlier scriptures and serves as their trustee, keeper, and guardian (Ṭ, Z). "Protector" ( _al-Muhaymin_ ) is also one of the Names of God in the Quran (59:23). The idea of the Quran as guardian and keeper of previous revelations is consistent with 5:41c and 5:45c, which report that the Prophet ordered the sentence of stoning for the two idolaters as well as retribution for killing and injury in order to reestablish the original Torah rulings on these matters. When the Prophet "judges between them"—that is, the People of the Book—this verse enjoins him to do so in accordance with _what God has sent down,_ which most major commentators understand to mean that he should judge according to what God has revealed to him, namely, the Quran (Bḍ, Ṭ, Z). Alternately, it could mean that he should judge the People of the Book according to _what God has sent down_ to them, namely, their own scriptures (which is what the Prophet explicitly does in the incident discussed in vv. 41–43). That he should _follow not their caprices_ means that he should not rule in accordance with their unwarranted digressions from or alterations to their own law, as discussed in vv. 41–47 (Ṭ), or that he should not comply with their desire to alter or neglect what has come to the Prophet himself in the Quran (Bḍ). The Prophet is similarly warned against following the _caprices_ of the People of the Book in the following verse, as well as in 2:120, 145; 42:15.

Although vv. 41–47, taken together, suggest the validity of Jews and Christians judging by their own scriptures, and thus the continuing spiritual guidance to be found in those scriptures, this verse goes farther by asserting the providential nature of different religious communities and their distinct laws and practices. Indeed, the verse does not pertain only to Jews and Christians, but rather makes a universal statement about all religions. _For each among you We have appointed a law and a way_ indicates that different religious communities may have different ritual and legal formulations specifically "appointed" for them by God, and that each religious community is independent of the laws of other such communities, even if the essential truths and principles of the religions are the same (IK, Q, R, Ṭ).

_Law_ here translates _shir ʿah,_ from the same root as _sharī ʿah,_ the technical term for religious law, and Islamic Law in particular; _way_ ( _minhāj_ ) denotes a path that is smooth and clear (Ṭ, Z). For some commentators, these different "laws" and "ways" are not valid simultaneously; rather, God ordains a particular "law" and "way" for each era (Bḍ, Z). A minority opinion attributed to the early commentator Mujāhid understands _a law and a way_ as a reference to one law and one way, namely, Islam (Ṭ). Ibn Kathīr argues that in _for each among you We have appointed a law and a way,_ the word "Quran" was elided, but meant to be understood, so that the phrase would read, "for each among you We have appointed [the Quran] as a law and a way," indicating the universality of Quranic rulings. These more exclusivist readings, however, seem inconsistent with the verse's clear implication that it is the Divine Will that there be multiple religious communities, as expressed in the next line of this verse, _had God willed, He would have made you one community_ (Ṭ). Grammatically, this is a counterfactual conditional statement indicating that human beings do not exist as _one_ (religious) _community,_ because God has not willed it as such. See also 2:213; 10:19; 11:118; 16:93; 42:8, where the reality of multiple human religious communities is also mentioned.

Moreover, the present verse goes on to state a Divine purpose for this plurality of religious forms, namely, _that He might try you in that which He has given you,_ by testing your obedience (Ṭ). Thus like other modes of human differentiation mentioned in the Quran—including gender, race, and social status (cf. 49:13)—the existence of different religious communities can be understood as a matter of Divine Wisdom whose intention is advancing the spiritual good of human beings. A good example of religious differentiation as a test of obedience can be seen in 2:143–45, where God is said to appoint different directions of prayer ( _qiblah_ s) for different communities; He appointed for the Muslims a _qiblah_ different from that of the People of Book, so that He would _know those who follow the Messenger from those who turn back_. Commentators who interpret the different revealed religious forms as having validity only in particular historical situations, however, suggest that the existence of different religions is a "trial" to distinguish the faithful from those who disbelieve (Q) with regard to the religious form that was ordained by God for their own time, abrogating those that came before it (IK).

The subsequent command, _vie with one another in good deeds_ (cf. 2:148; 3:114), however, seems most plausibly addressed to human beings as a whole (Ṭ) and thus supposes not a process of supersession among religious forms, but rather a contemporaneous existence of different religious communities competing in virtue. The competition is in _good deeds_ and thus on the practical rather than theological level. Resolving the intractable theological differences between the religions may not be a vocation for religious adherents in this world; rather, these may be matters only resolved by God in the Hereafter, when _He will inform you of that wherein you differ._ This verse carries enormous importance for the question of religious pluralism from an Islamic perspective. Since it is one of the key verses confirming the essential truth of different religious forms and indicating that the formal differences between religions have been Divinely ordained, it has played a central role in contemporary Islamic discussions of religious pluralism.

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I And judge between them in accordance with what God has sent down, and follow not their caprices. And beware of them, lest they tempt thee away from some part of that which God has sent down unto thee. And if they turn away, know that God desires to smite them for some sin of theirs, and surely many among mankind are iniquitous.

49 This verse repeats the injunction to judge between the People of the Book according to scripture, and many of the major commentators note that it is the Islamic scripture alone by which the Prophet should judge (Q, Ṭ). The verse also repeats the warning not to follow the _caprices_ of the People of the Book. Ibn ʿAbbās links the warning to the Prophet about being "tempted away from" the revelations he has been given to a reported incident in which a group of Madinan Jewish authorities, including Ibn Ṣūriyā (see 5:41c), tried unsuccessfully to persuade the Prophet to side with them in a dispute they had with some of their fellow coreligionists in Madinah; they "tempted" him with the suggestion that, if he were to rule in their favor, they would become believers in his message and confirm the truth of his prophethood and that, given their influence, the wider Jewish population would follow them in this matter (IK, Q, Ṭ, Z).

For some, the fact that the Quran here warns the Prophet about the possibility of his being "tempted" by them indicates that, although prophets never sin intentionally, they may have lapses of judgment or make errors (Q, R). The warning, however, seems to relate generally and plausibly to the Prophet and to the Quran's concern, discussed in vv. 41–47, that the Jews follow the Torah rulings as they had been revealed to them, without alteration. And some say that the warning to the Prophet is that the Jews might mislead him into issuing an incorrect ruling by lying to him about the true content of the Torah and the penalties it prescribes (Ṭs). If the Jews should _turn away_ from the Prophet's ruling, the Quran seems to console the Prophet by telling him that their refusal merely reflects God's desire to _smite them for some sin of theirs_. For al-Rāzī, this proves that all good and evil comes about through the Will of God for some ultimate purpose.

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P Is it the judgment of the Age of Ignorance that they seek? And who is fairer in judgment than God, for a people who are certain.

50 The _Age of Ignorance_ ( _jāhiliyyah;_ cf. 3:154; 33:33) refers to the era in Arabia prior to the coming of Islam, an era marked by idolatry and a culpable "ignorance" of true religion. The _judgment of the Age of Ignorance,_ unguided as it was by any religious law, was governed solely by human opinion and caprice (IK). The reference to the _judgment of the Age of Ignorance_ may pertain particularly to the issue of the differential penalties for killing reportedly meted out among the Jewish clans according to the social status of killer and killed (R, Z; see 2:178c; 5:45c). Such judgment, which takes social status into consideration, was characteristic of the tribal system in Arabia, but unacceptable in Divine Law (cf. 4:135; 5:45c). The verse thus serves as a chastisement to those who would reject the Prophet's judgment because it did not accord with their own wishes, reminding them that such approaches to judgment are the hallmark of an idolatrous age ignorant of Divine Law and its ultimate justice, benefit, and mercy (IK, Ṭ).

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Q O you who believe! Take not Jews and Christians as protectors. They are the protectors of one another. And whosoever takes them as protectors, surely he is of them. Truly God guides not wrongdoing people.

51 This verse addressed to Muslims ( _O you who believe_ ) forbids them to take Jews and Christians _as protectors_ ( _awliyā ʾ_). _Awliyā ʾ_ (sing. _walī_ ) can also mean "friends" or "allies" (see also 3:28c; 4:139c), but here more likely denotes those whom one would turn to as a protector or dominant authority. This term and the verbal noun from the same root, _walāyah,_ are used in the Quran to denote the bonds of loyalty, mutual protection, and friendship that ideally mark the relationship between members of the same religious community (see, e.g., 8:72; 9:71). Although this is the only verse in the Quran in which believers are urged not to take Jews and Christians, specifically, as protectors, believers are elsewhere urged to avoid taking as protectors those who disbelieve (3:28; 4:89, 139, 144), those who mock their religion (v. 57), God's enemies (60:1), and even close relatives who _prefer disbelief to belief_ (9:23). That Jews and Christians _are protectors of one another_ indicates that they realize those bonds of loyalty among themselves, as separate religious communities; and in vv. 80–81, they are criticized for having themselves taken "disbelievers" as protectors.

This verse reportedly concerned certain Madinan Muslims who had political allies and protectors among the Jews. One report tells of the Companion ʿUbādah ibn al-Ṣāmit, one of the natives of Madinah who had become Muslim (Anṣār) but had maintained alliances of mutual protection with the Jewish clans. He came to the Prophet to renounce his attachment to them and to declare that his only "protectors" were God, the Prophet, and the believers (see v. 55). Another Madinan Muslim, ʿAbd Allāh ibn Ubayy, subsequently came to the Prophet declaring his need to maintain a similar relationship of protection with his Jewish allies, and this verse then came down, instructing him and believers generally not to do so (Q, R, Ṭ). Another account reports that after the Muslims suffered the military loss at Uḥud, some Muslims, feeling vulnerable, established allies among the Jewish clans. This verse was meant to forbid this practice (Ṭ).

The verse warns that whoever takes the Jews and Christians as protectors is _of them,_ meaning one of them. Thus to seek an alliance of mutual protection with Jews or Christians is to identify oneself as one of them, since the relationship of mutual protection ( _walāyah_ ) with one's coreligionists is what defines one, in part, as a member of the religious community. See also 3:28 and 4:139, where taking such allies _apart from the believers_ —that is, apart from fellow Muslims—is explicitly criticized. For some this means that the status of one who allies with members of another religious community, such as with Jews or Christians, has the same status, legally and theologically, as the other members of that religious community (Q, Ṭū). The verse's prohibition against alliances of protection with those outside the Muslim community likely had much to do with the fluid and somewhat precarious social and political situation of the fledgling Islamic community during the time of the Prophet; and it is important to note that Islamic Law, developed after the Islamic state had become fully established, allowed agreements of mutual protection with non-Muslim states and political entities. According to some commentators, this verse also means, in part, that the relationships of inheritance between those who ally themselves with another group and the members of the Muslim community are nullified, since the root for _awliyā ʾ/walī_ can relate to inheritance as well as to mutual protection (Q, Ṭs).

The word for _protector_ ( _awliyā ʾ/walī_) can also mean "friend," and thus the verse may cast doubt on the acceptability of Muslims maintaining amiable relations with Jews and Christians, leading some but not all to conclude that one should not have close relationships with them or confide in them (Z). Some commentators include a report that the second Caliph, ʿUmar ibn al-Khaṭṭāb, adduced this verse in an (unsuccessful) attempt to persuade his provincial governor, Abū Mūsā al-Ashʿarī, to stop employing the services of his Christian scribe (IK, R, Z). Nonetheless, most commentators as well as the reported occasion of revelation for this verse make clear that here the word connotes something closer to "protector" or "ally" and situates it in a context of the Islamic community struggling to define and establish itself against those who were enemies of the religion. The verse should not be interpreted as forbidding friendly relations with Jews and Christians on a purely personal level, since such a reading would contradict v. 5, which allowed for the most intimate of personal relationships—marriage—to exist between Muslim men and Jewish and Christian women, and 60:7–8, which states that Muslims may behave justly and kindly to any who do not fight them _on account of religion_ or otherwise oppress them.

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R Yet thou seest those in whose hearts is a disease hastening to them, saying, "We fear lest a change of fortune should befall us." It may be that God will grant victory, or a command from Him. And then they shall be remorseful for that which they secretly harbored in their souls.

52 _Those in whose hearts is a disease_ describes those of impure intentions (33:32) or those who _secretly_ harbor _in their souls_ a deep religious hypocrisy or doubt (see 2:8–11; 24:47–50; 33:12, 60; 47:20, 29; 74:31). This verse may be addressing the specific case of ʿAbd Allāh ibn Ubayy, mentioned in connection with the previous verse, or more likely hypocrites in general, who, fearing a _change of fortune,_ attempted to "hedge their bets" by establishing supportive alliances with those outside the Muslim community who would protect them if the community suffered adversity (R, Ṭ). Such people are warned that God may _grant a victory_ ( _fat ḥ_)—widely understood as a reference to the future Muslim victory over religious opponents (R, Z) or over the Makkans in 8/630 (Ṭ)—which will cause them to regret their hypocrisy ( _that which they secretly harbored in their souls_ ). The word _fat ḥ_ can also mean "judgment," so another reading is that God may "grant a judgment," but many reconcile the two readings by considering the conquest of Makkah to manifest God's ultimate judgment in favor of the Muslim believers over the Makkan idolaters (Ṭ). He may also send _a command_ that will cause similar regret, and many early commentators interpret this as the implementation of the tax ( _jizyah_ ) on the non-Muslim residents of the Islamic state (Q, Ṭ; see 9:29) or the later expulsion of the Jews and Christians from the central regions of Arabia (R, Z). Alternately, some suggest that this _command_ might be a sudden revealing of the insincere intentions of the hypocrites (Ṭ, Z). According to al-Rāzī, _it may be that God will grant victory_ indicates a promised certainty, not a mere possibility, as the wording may literally suggest.

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S And those who believe will say, "Are these the ones who swore by God with their most solemn oaths that they were with you?" Their deeds have come to naught, and they have become losers.

53 If the _command_ that God may bring in v. 52 represents a sudden revealing of the hidden insincerity of the hypocrites, as some have posited, then the believers' question here is an expression of surprise at the hypocrisy of those who had sworn _their most solemn oaths that they were with_ them as well as of gratitude for God's granting success to those who were sincere in their faith (R, Ṭ, Z). Alternately, the believers' question may be addressed to the Jews with whom some Muslims had sought alliance, meaning, _Are these_ (hypocrites) _the ones who swore by God . . . that they were with you_ (the Jews); see also 59:11, where the hypocrites are reported to have vowed their protection for their Jewish allies (Z). The Quran and Islamic teachings in general explicitly require both belief and "good deeds" for salvation (see, e.g., 2:25; 3:57; 4:57). Although some schools of theology have accepted the possibility of eventual salvation through faith alone, most have considered works to be indicative of or related to faith, and all have agreed, on the basis of this and similar verses, that works in the absence of proper faith will be meaningless on the Day of Judgment (Z) and effectively _come to naught_ (cf. 2:217; 5:5; 6:88; 7:147; 9:17; 18:105; 33:19; 39:65; 47:32), since they merit no reward and have no salvific value (R, Ṭ, Z). Those who do good deeds without faith are the _losers_ in the Hereafter, meaning that they will perish for their lack of faith, despite their deeds (Ṭ). In a deeper sense, what one might consider "good deeds" are not really "good" unless they are combined with faith.

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T O you who believe! Whosoever among you should renounce his religion, God will bring a people whom He loves and who love Him, humble toward the believers, stern toward the disbelievers, striving in the way of God, and fearing not the blame of any blamer. That is the Bounty of God, which He gives to whomsoever He will. And God is All-Encompassing, Knowing.

54 Cf. 4:133; 6:133; 14:19; 35:16; 47:38. This verse makes it clear that those who _renounce_ ( _yartadda_ ) the religion of Islam do no harm to God or ultimately to His religion, since God will replace them with those who are sincerely bound to God by mutual love. As this verse immediately follows the discussion of improper alliances with members of the Jewish and Christian communities in vv. 51–53, it may suggest that such alliances are tantamount, in some cases, to apostasy ( _irtidād,_ from the same root as _yartadda;_ R, Ṭ). However, this should not be understood in absolute terms, since both the Prophet and the early Muslim authorities engaged in treaty relations with non-Muslim powers or groups, and the Christian king of Abyssinia famously sheltered and protected a group of Muslims from persecution in Makkah prior to the migration to Madinah. The problem emerges in situations in which such alliances entail the risk of division among the Muslims or betrayal of the Muslim community by or in favor of its enemies. Many major commentators consider the verse as referring to and foretelling the apostasy of some Arab tribes during the later life of the Prophet as well as several other tribes who renounced their allegiance to the Madinan caliphate after the Prophet's death (JJ, Q, R, Z).

Commentators have differed over the identity of those whom _God will bring_ in place of the renouncers (cf. 4:133; 6:133; 14:19; 35:16; 47:38). Many consider it a reference to the first caliph, Abū Bakr, who successfully fought the apostate Arab tribes (IK, Ṭ, R, Z). Many also note that it may refer, on the basis of a _ḥ adīth,_ to Abū Mūsā al-Ashʿarī and his tribe or Yemeni tribes in general, who played a major role in the Islamic conquests under the second caliph, ʿUmar ibn al-Khaṭṭāb (IK, Q, R, Ṭ, Z). Less widely reported interpretations consider it a reference to the Madinan Helpers (Anṣār; Ṭ, Ṭū) or to the people of Salmān al-Fārsī—that is, the Persians—also on the basis of a _ḥ adīth,_ although one less widely reported than the one involving Abū Mūsā al-Ashʿarī (R, Ṭs, Z). Additionally, some raise the possibility that the reference may be to ʿAlī ibn Abī Ṭālib (d. 40/661), the Prophet's cousin, son-in-law, and close Companion as well as the fourth caliph. ʿAlī carried the standard at the Battle of Khaybar (7/629), and on the eve of the battle the Prophet reportedly said, "Tomorrow I shall give the standard to one who loves God and His Messenger, and whom God and His Messenger love" (R, Ṭs, Ṭū). Despite these differing views, the reference is likely general as well as historical and is meant to indicate that God will never lack for sincere servants, despite the perfidy and hypocrisy of others.

Interpretations of this verse were sometimes connected to Sunni-Shiite debates about the relative merits of Abū Bakr, whom Sunnis agree is the legitimate first caliph, and ʿAlī, whom Shiites believe should have been caliph immediately after the death of the Prophet. The fact that the verse could be considered a reference to Abū Bakr or to ʿAlī inspired some commentators to issue long defenses of its proper attribution to either Abū Bakr (R) or ʿAlī (Ṭs, Ṭū), primarily on the basis of which one best exemplified the other characteristics mentioned in the verse: _humble toward the believers, stern toward the disbelievers, striving in the way of God_.

Additionally, some Shiite commentators interpret the verse's mention of those who renounce their religion as a reference to those who rebelled against the authority of ʿAlī's caliphate, particularly the people of Baṣrah, who initiated the First Civil War (36–40/656–61) during his tenure as Caliph; and some Shiite reports indicate that ʿAlī cited this verse during the opening battle of the First Civil War in Baṣrah (Ṭb, Ṭū). One Shiite commentator even connects this verse to what some early Shiites considered to be the "apostasy" of the Prophet's Companions who endorsed the caliphate of Abū Bakr and rejected what they believed to be the rightful and Divinely granted authority of ʿAlī (Qm). This rather extreme view concerning non-Shiite Muslims was, however, later rejected by most Imāmī Shiite authorities. Nevertheless, some Shiite traditions consider those whom _God will bring_ in the place of the renouncers to refer to the future Mahdī, understood by Shiites to be a descendant of ʿAlī who will restore the Muslim community to its rightful (ʿAlid) leadership and avenge the injustices perpetrated against the descendants of the Prophet (Qm, Ṭs). The Sunni commentator al-Rāzī, however, argues that this verse is among the strongest proofs against the extreme Imāmī Shiite contention that after the death of the Prophet, all those who confirmed the caliphate of Abū Bakr and neglected the authority of ʿAlī had "apostatized," or renounced their religion. Al-Rāzī argues that since this verse promises that those who renounce their religion will be "replaced," and these early Companions clearly were not, it belies this early Shiite claim.

This verse has also been extensively discussed among theological and mystical commentators because of the mutual and reciprocal nature of love between God and His sincere servants it suggests in the phrase _a people whom He loves and who love Him_. The Quran makes numerous statements about those whom God loves (the virtuous, the patient, the just) and those whom He does not (the sinners and transgressors), and love of God as a characteristic of the believers is also mentioned in 2:165 and commentary. The present verse is distinct, however, in that God's love of certain people is directly linked to their love of Him.

Some commentators were theologically uncomfortable with the idea that a relationship of love could exist between a human being and God. For example, some gloss those _who love Him_ as those who obey God and seek to please Him and those _whom He loves_ as those whom He rewards for their obedience (Ṭū, Z). However, this interpretation of human beings' love of God as "obedience" and God's love of human beings as "reward" seems to reverse the implied causality in the verse, since obedience (the servants' love for God) should precede God's reward thereof (His Love of them), whereas the verse suggests, conversely, that God's love of people precedes their love for Him. Because the verse seems to indicate that God's love for a person must precede that person's love for God (R), some mystical commentators connect this verse to the idea that the human inclination toward God is the result of God's having turned toward humanity first (Aj) or that God's love for human beings necessarily engenders human love of God (Qu). For al-Ghazzālī, this means that human love of God in this verse cannot simply be glossed as obedience to God, which must logically come before God's reward thereof ( _I ḥyāʾ ʿulūm al-dīn,_ v. 4, p. 393).

Yet some commentators criticized in the strongest terms those interpreters—particularly the Sufis—who posit a relationship of essential love between human beings and God (Z), given the incommensurability between the two. Mystical writers responded in several ways. Al-Ghazzālī, for example, argues that God's love of anything, including humanity, is merely God's love of Himself, since He is infinite and nothing exists outside of His Being; whereas human love for God is nothing but God's intentional unveiling of Himself in the heart of the one seeking nearness to God, whose seeking itself is made possible only through God's determination ( _I ḥyāʾ,_ v. 4, p. 437). The mystical poet Rūmī cites this verse in his major work, _Masnawī-i ma ʿnawī,_ asserting that love is an attribute that belongs to God alone and thus that human beings participate in it in only a derivative fashion (bk. 5, 2184–90).

Mystical writers also discuss this verse as pointing to the distinct reality of love in the relationship between God and men and women. Al-Qushayrī, for example, asserts that God's love for certain of His creatures is more particular than the Mercy that He shows toward all of His creatures. Although God's "Mercy" includes all the blessings that God might bestow, His "Love" is a more exclusive and ennobling relationship that He has with certain of His servants. Al-Qushayrī further distinguishes the love of the servant for God from other forms of piety or obedience, stating that such love is a "subtle state" that allows the servant to find delight in the Presence of God, His Beloved, and leads to the complete "disappearance" of the lover's separate existence in the remembrance ( _dhikr_ ) of God. He describes it as an "intoxication" from which one never recovers and an "illness" for which there is no cure and for which no cure is sought.

The people _whom He loves_ are also described as _humble_ ( _adhillatan_ ) toward fellow believers; _adhillatan_ indicates not only humility, but also sympathy, mercy, and tenderness (R, Ṭb, Ṭū, Z). Toward the disbelievers, however, they are _stern_ ( _a ʿizzah_), that is, harsh, showing their might. A parallel sentiment is expressed in 48:29, where the true followers of the Prophet are described as _harsh against the disbelievers, merciful to one another._ In acting so, in their _striving in the way of God_ for the success of the religion, and in their _fearing not the blame of any blamer,_ they present a sharp contrast to the hypocrites addressed in vv. 51–53, who make improper and even treasonous alliances out of fear (Z). Many commentators connect _striving in the way of God_ here with the early Muslim community's struggle against the apostate tribes, mentioned above. However, in the discourse on love that al-Qushayrī offers on this verse, which is typical of the Sufi understanding of this phrase, _striving in the way of God_ is purely spiritual, consisting of the struggle to maintain perfect obedience to God's commands, to detach oneself from worldly attachments, and to stand witness to God at every moment. _That is the Bounty of God_ refers to the existence of the meritorious spiritual qualities of the believers mentioned in this verse. For al-Rāzī, this is proof that all good things, including the righteous acts of human beings, come ultimately from God (R). For others, however, this simply refers to God's Favor ( _lu ṭf;_ Ṭū, Z), by which He leads people toward belief and good actions.

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U Your protector is only God, and His Messenger, and those who believe, who perform the prayer and give alms while bowing down.

55 This verse continues the discussion of _protectors_ begun in v. 51, reiterating that the believers should take only _God, and His Messenger, and those who believe_ as protectors ( _awliyā ʾ;_ Ṭ). In this verse one's primary _protector_ ( _walī_ ) is God, one of whose Names is _Walī,_ and one then takes His Prophet and the other believers as _awliyā ʾ_ as a natural extension of or corollary to one's _walāyah_ in relation to God (Bḍ, R). Some consider this verse to be an endorsement of ʿUbādah ibn al-Ṣāmit (see 5:51c), who renounced his alliance with the Jewish clans and vowed his alliance solely to the Prophet and his community (IK, R). Others consider it to be a response to some Companions of the Prophet who complained about being socially ostracized by the Jewish clans Banū Qurayẓah and Banū Naḍīr (JJ, W).

Those _who perform the prayer and give alms while bowing down_ can be understood as a description of the believers in general (Ṭ) or of the sincere believers who are untainted by hypocrisy (R, Z; cf. 9:71). To pray and give _alms while bowing down_ may also indicate that one performs these religious deeds in a state of humility (R, Z; cf. 2:43, which also connects prayer and alms with "bowing down"). However, it is widely reported in both Shiite and Sunni commentaries that many early authorities, including the influential early commentators Ibn ʿAbbās and Mujāhid, considered this to be a specific reference to ʿAlī ibn Abī Ṭālib, the Prophet's son-in-law, cousin, and the fourth Islamic caliph. According to these reports, the verse refers to an incident in which ʿAlī, while in the act of bowing during the prayer, gave his ring to a man requesting charity (Bḍ, IK, Ṭ, Z, W). The verse is thus seen as encouraging the practice of giving charity whenever it is requested and recommending that believers seek to emulate Alī's high degree of virtue in refusing to delay giving the needed charity, even until the end of the prayer (Z). A minority tradition considers this verse to be a reference to Abū Bakr (R).

Shiites sometimes refer to this verse as the "verse of _wilāyah/walāyah_." Although _walī_ is generally translated "protector" or "friend," the position of _walī_ and the corresponding state of _wilāyah/walāyah_ are also spiritual concepts that hold particular importance for Shiites, who have used these terms traditionally to refer to the unique spiritual authority of ʿAlī and his consequent right to succeed the Prophet as spiritual and political leader of the Muslim community. They consider this verse to be a reference to ʿAlī as the _walī_ of the believers, after God and the Prophet, and thus interpret it as one of the clear indications of ʿAlī's rightful authority over the Muslim community (Ṭb, Ṭū).

A number of Sunni authors who acknowledge the widespread connection of this verse to ʿAlī ibn Abī Ṭālib nonetheless argue that traditions defending this thesis are not entirely sound (IK) or that they do not bear out the legitimist interpretations for ʿAlī that the Shiites attribute to them. Al-Rāzī, for example, denies that _wilāyah/walāyah_ means anything other than friendship or mutual support here, rejecting the idea that it refers to a kind of spiritual authority and noting that ʿAlī did not reportedly adduce this verse in favor of his own right to the caliphate during a council ( _shūrā_ ) that was convened to resolve the issue of the caliphate after the death of the second caliph, ʿUmar, in 22/644. Yet, the prevalence of the association of this verse with ʿAlī, even in Sunni commentaries and among some of the earliest authorities, argues strongly for its authenticity in the early Islamic _tafsīr_ tradition.

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V And whosoever takes as his protector God, and His Messenger, and those who believe—the party of God, they are the victorious!

56 Those who follow the injunction in vv. 51 and 55 to avoid taking protectors other than God, the Messengers, and the believers, are here described as the _party of God_ ( _ḥ izb Allāh_)—a term that has been adopted by many groups in Islamic history up to today, including the Shiite movement and political party Hezbollah (an anglicized rendering of _ḥ izb Allāh_) in contemporary Lebanon. _Party of God_ is also used in 58:22, where it is described as consisting of those _who shall prosper,_ those with whom God is content, and those who are content with God; they are contrasted with the _party of Satan_ in 58:19.

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W O you who believe! Take not as protectors those who take your religion in mockery and as play, from among those who were given the Book before you, or the disbelievers, and reverence God, if you are believers.

57 This verse continues the discussion about those whom the believers should take as protectors. _Those who take your religion in mockery and as play_ is understood to refer to those who feign belief outwardly, but harbor disbelief inwardly. The enemies of the believers are not only those who fight the religion, but also those who ridicule it. The Quran frequently mentions those who "mock" religion itself as well as the prophets (e.g., 15:11), the signs (e.g., 30:10), and the warnings of destruction sent by God (e.g., 11:8) and warns that they will eventually be destroyed by _that which they used to mock_ (see, e.g., 6:10; 16:34; 39:48; 40:83; 45:33; 46:26). To take _religion . . . as play_ is to engage in it vainly and without commitment or serious purpose (cf. 6:70; 7:51). This passage reportedly refers to hypocrites whom some of the Muslim believers had befriended, warning the Muslims to discontinue their close relations with them (R, Ṭ, W, Z). Alternately, it is said to refer to some Jews and idolaters who would mock Muslims when they made the prostration in prayer (Q).

The verse mentions both _those who were given the Book before you,_ that is, Jews and Christians feigning belief in Islam, and _the disbelievers_. The latter is taken as a separate category referring to the idolaters (Ṭ). For the foundational legal scholar al-Shāfiʿī, this verse meant that Muslims should not take People of the Book as allies, even against the idolaters (Q). As discussed in 5:51c, the command seems to pertain specifically to the circumstances of the new Islamic community in Madinah. Some say that it was connected with an incident in which the Prophet refused the help of some Madinan Jews who offered to fight alongside him in the Battle of Uḥud (3/625; Q); see 3:28c, where a similar incident is reported during the Battle of the Trench in 5/627.

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X And when you call to prayer, they take it in mockery and as play. That is because they are a people who do not understand.

58 _When you call to prayer_ is considered a scriptural basis for the Islamic ritual practice of the call to prayer, technically referred to as the _adhān_ (R, Z). This is the only verse that mentions the call to prayer directly, although it does not use the technical term, _adhān_. The call to prayer is ideally made publicly before each of the five daily prayers, and the text of the call in Sunni Islam is as follows:

_Allāh u akbar, Allāhu akbar_ (God is great! God is great!).

_Allāh u akbar, Allāhu akbar_ (God is great! God is great!).

_Ashhad u an lā ilāha illa'Llāh_ (I bear witness that there is no god but God).

_Ashhad u anna Muhammadan rasūlu'Llāh_ (I bear witness that Muhammad is the Messenger of God).

_Hayya ʿalā'l-ṣalāh_ (Come to the prayer).

_Hayya ʿalā'l-falāḥ_ (Come to prosperity or salvation).

_Allāh u akbar, Allāhu akbar_ (God is great! God is great!).

_Lā ilāha illa'Llāh_ (There is no god but God).

The Shiite call to prayer adds _Ashhad u anna ʿAlīyyan walī Allāh_ ("I bear witness that ʿAlī is the _walī_ of God") after _Ashhad u anna Muhammadan rasūlu'Llāh_. It also adds the line _Hayya ʿalā khayr al-ʿamal_ ("Come to the best of acts," that is, prayer) after _Hayya ʿalā'l-falāḥ_.

Although the Prophet is said by some to have heard the call to prayer during his Night Journey (Q), this practice was instituted only after the Muslims began praying in the direction of the Kaʿbah, about two years after the migration from Makkah to Madinah, when some Companions of the Prophet are said to have had dreams about such a call to prayer, and several prominent Companions indicated the need for a public announcement of the times of prayer (Q). It is reported in connection with this verse that some Christians or Jews in Madinah would mock and cast ill omens upon the Prophet or the believers when they heard the call to prayer (IK, Q, Ṭ, Z); or that the disbelievers mocked the call to prayer as a religious innovation or as having an ugly sound (Q, R, W). They mock in this way only _because they are a people who do not understand_. According to al-Rāzī, those of real understanding know that prayer is the best of all human acts, and he quotes the saying, "The noblest movement is prayer, and the most beneficial stillness is fasting."

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Y Say, "O People of the Book! Are you vengeful toward us for no other reason than that we believe in God and in that which has been sent down unto us and in that which was sent down before, and because most of you are iniquitous?"

59 This verse is similar to 7:126, where, after Pharaoh's sorcerers repent and come to believe in Moses, Pharaoh threatens to kill them, and they respond, _You take vengeance upon us only because we believed in the signs of our Lord when they came unto us_. See also 85:8. One report considers this verse to have come down in relation to some Jews of Madinah who broke with the Prophet because of his affirmation of the prophethood of Jesus (referenced in the phrase _that which was sent down before_ ), which the Jews did not accept (R, Ṭ). The verse also indicates that their rejection of the Prophet had its roots in the "iniquity" of many among them, that is, their own deviation from the religion and laws of God, which compelled them to harbor ill will toward the Prophet, the Quranic message, and the Muslim community.

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` Say, "Shall I inform you of something worse than that by way of recompense from God? Whomsoever God has cursed and upon whom is His Wrath, and among whom He has made some to be apes and swine, and who worship false deities, such are in a worse situation, and further astray from the right way."

60 _By way of recompense_ translates _mathūbat an_, which usually denotes a positive "recompense," a reward rather than a punishment. Its use here to introduce Divine punishment is therefore ironic, and this verse is similar in tone to those in which the Prophet is told to give _glad tidings_ of punishment to come (Z; see, e.g., 4:138 and commentary). _Whomsoever God has cursed_ means those He has exiled from His Mercy (Ṭ). _Among whom He made some to be apes_ is likely a reference to God's having said to those Jews who violated the Sabbath, _Be you apes_ (see 2:65; 7:163–66). That God _made some to be apes and swine_ can therefore be understood as a metaphor for the state—in either this world or the next—of those who deliberately violate religious Law (see 2:65c). These can also be seen as a reference to God's changing their hearts, hardening them (see 2:74; 5:13; 6:43) and making them prone to heedlessness ( _ghaflah;_ Aj). Some say that _apes_ refers to those who broke the Sabbath, and _swine_ refers to those among Jesus' followers who betrayed him during his last supper (Q, R). That they _worship false deities_ ( _ṭ āghūt_) is also mentioned in 4:51 (on _ṭ āghūt,_ see 4:51–52c) and may refer to the Israelites' worship of the golden calf (Z; for Quranic accounts of this incident, see 7:148–56; 20:86–97).

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a When they come to you, they say, "We believe." But they certainly entered with disbelief and they have certainly left with it, and God knows best what they were concealing.

61 This verse reportedly refers to a group of Madinan Jews who came to the Prophet claiming to believe in him and in the message he brought. Their claims were disingenuous, however, and God is said to have made their hypocrisy known to the Prophet (Ṭ, Z).

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b Thou seest many of them hastening to sin and enmity, and consuming what is forbidden. Evil indeed is that which they were doing.

62 For the claim that the Jews of Madinah were _consuming what is forbidden,_ see 5:42; 5:42c, where this is widely reported to refer to illicit gain and bribery. The _sin_ to which they hasten is glossed, by some, as "lying" (R, Z) or as "disbelief," although it may relate to all manner of sin (Ṭ). Their _enmity_ may refer to several things mentioned elsewhere in the Quran, including their hostility toward the Prophet, their general wrongdoing, and their transgression of the limits set by God (Ṭ, Z).

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c Why do the sages and the rabbis not forbid them from their sinful speech and their consuming what is forbidden? Evil indeed is that which they were working.

63 _Sages_ translates _rabbāniyyūn_ (see 5:44; 5:43–44c). If the previous verse criticizes those Jews who were _hastening to sin and enmity,_ the present one criticizes the religious leaders among the Jews who, while knowing better, did nothing to _forbid_ their followers from engaging in _sinful speech_ and illicit consumption. They were not "judging according to the Judgment of God" (Ṭ); see also vv. 44, 47. This sin of omission on the part of the knowledgeable _sages_ can be considered more serious and deeply rooted than the sin of ordinary people who lack extensive religious knowledge. This difference is manifest in the parallel closing lines of vv. 62 and 63. Of the common sinners among the Jews, v. 62 says, _Evil indeed is that which they were doing,_ referring to their general sinfulness and lack of belief. But in v. 63, in reference to the sages, the Quran states, _Evil indeed is that which they were working,_ meaning what they brought about through their refusal to forbid wrongful behavior, despite their ability to have changed it by acting and ruling correctly on the basis of their knowledge (R). Some early authorities, such as Ibn ʿAbbās and Ḍaḥḥāk (d. 105/723), reportedly considered this to be among the severest and most frightening verses of the Quran (R, Ṭ, Z), perhaps because of the warning it implies for those who possess religious knowledge, like themselves, but who fail to live up to the moral responsibilities incumbent upon such persons.

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d The Jews say, "God's Hand is shackled." Shackled are their hands, and they are cursed for what they say. Nay, but His two Hands are outstretched, He bestows as He wills. Surely that which has been sent down unto thee from thy Lord will increase many of them in rebellion and disbelief. And We have cast enmity and hatred among them till the Day of Resurrection. As often as they ignite a flame for war, God extinguishes it. They endeavor to work corruption upon the earth. And God loves not the workers of corruption.

64 The image of "shackled hands" is sometimes used in discussions of the torments of Hell and the helplessness of those faced with Divine punishment in the Hereafter (e.g., 13:5; 34:33; 40:71), but it is also associated with miserliness (see 17:29). Miserliness is clearly the intended meaning here, and those who make this statement are suggesting that God withholds His Provision and His Bounty, at least from them (Ṭ). The Divine response to this charge is to turn the accusation back on the accusers: _shackled are their hands_. This response indicates, as do many other verses, the reflexive nature of sin and falsehood in the Quran, as the very wrong one intends for others is unwittingly brought upon oneself (e.g., 2:9: _They would deceive God and the believers; yet they deceive none but themselves_ ). _Shackled are their hands_ may also be read, "May their hands be shackled!," that is, from all good things (Ṭ). They are _cursed_ for _what they say_. To be _cursed_ is widely understood to mean "exiled from God's Mercy" (Ṭ).

Al-Rāzī acknowledges that the Jews, as such, certainly do not make such claims about God's Hand being _shackled_ as part of their doctrinal beliefs. In fact, they are quite aware of God's Might and Power and of the impossibility that such a claim about God could be true. He thus suggests that the Jews who said this did not do so in earnest, but rather as a way of ridiculing the Muslims. He suggests, for example, that they would take a Quranic question like, _Who shall lend God a goodly loan?_ (2:245; 5:12; 57:11), pretend to understand it literally—that God is in actual need of a "loan" from His servants—and then argue facetiously that _God's Hand is shackled_ by need in order to make the Quranic question seem absurd. Alternately, he suggests that when the Jews saw the dire financial situation in which the early Muslim community at Madinah found itself, they may have said mockingly that the hand of the "God of Muhammad" was shackled, as it may have appeared to them that He did not materially help His community (R). Some commentators suggest that when the fortunes of the Jews of Madinah changed for the worse with the rise of Islam in Madinah and Arabia generally, they said, _God's Hand is shackled,_ meaning that He now withholds His blessings from the Jews as a community (R, Z). Their claim that _God's Hand is shackled_ may also refer or relate to their claim elsewhere that God would not punish them in the Fire save for a _number of days_ (2:80; 3:24), since this latter claim suggests a certain limitation on the part of God.

The claim that God's Hand is _shackled_ is then contrasted with the image of _His two Hands . . . outstretched_ ( _mabsū ṭatān_), that is, open and giving as _He bestows as He wills_. This description of God's Hands as _outstretched_ ( _mabsū ṭatān_) forms part of the Quranic basis for the Divine Name _al-Bāsi ṭ,_ "the Open-Handed"; and in several verses, it is said that God _outspreads_ ( _yabsu ṭu_) _and straitens provision for whomsoever He will_ (13:26; 17:30; 28:82; 29:62; 30:37; 34:36, 39; 39:52; 42:12).

The apparently anthropomorphic image of God's _two Hands_ also occurs in 38:75, where God indicates that He created Adam _with His two Hands_. Some interpreters consider all references to God's "Hand" (in the singular or the dual) as metaphors for the Blessings He bestows on His creatures (as in this verse) or for His Strength and Power. See, for example, 38:45, where Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob are described as _possessed of strength_ ( _ūlu'l-aydī_ ), literally, "possessed of hands." (Ṭ). Some Islamic scholars argued that references to God's Hand or Hands in the Quran have to be understood literally, even if God's Hand cannot be considered to be of the same nature as a human hand, thereby rejecting an explicitly anthropomorphic interpretation (Ṭ). Some suggest that the claim _God's Hand is shackled,_ using the singular "hand," is refuted by the statement _His two Hands are outstretched,_ using the dual "two Hands" in order to indicate the great abundance of God's provision bestowed upon His creatures (R, Z), although al-Ṭabarī rejects this interpretation, arguing that the dual form always represents two specific things and cannot be made to signify simple abundance (Ṭ). If God's Hand can be seen as a metaphor and symbol for the blessings He bestows, then His "two Hands" might be a metaphor for two different kinds of blessings God might bestow, for example, the blessings of this world and of the Hereafter, or outward and inward blessings, or the blessings of granting benefit and preventing harm (R).

This verse further mentions the paradoxical idea, found elsewhere in the Quran, that prophecy or revelation, although intended to bring guidance, may actually lead some people farther astray (cf. 3:19; 5:68; 8:2; 9:124; 17:41, 60, 82; 35:42; 71:6; 74:31). Here the revelation the Prophet receives from God serves to _increase many of them in rebellion and disbelief_. Revelation and prophecy are thus referred to in several places as the _Criterion_ ( _Furqān;_ 2:53, 185; 3:4; 21:48; 25:1), meaning that part of their function is to distinguish and separate believers from disbelievers, the latter being frequently described as repelled by the Divine message, as in 74:49–51: _So what ails them that they turn away from the Reminder, as if they were frightened asses fleeing from a lion?_

As a punishment for their _rebellion and disbelief,_ God casts _enmity and hatred among them_ —that is, among the Jews or the People of the Book in general _—till the Day of Resurrection_ (see also v. 14, where this internal _enmity and hatred_ is also attributed to the Christians). Some commentators suggest that this means that God casts _enmity and hatred_ between the Jews and the Christians (Ṭ). The Jews repeatedly _ignite a flame for war,_ but _God extinguishes it_. Some interpret this as a reference to their unsuccessful animosity to the Prophet's mission (Ṭ), while other commentators see it as a reference to a series of military losses for the Jews from the time of the Assyrian and Babylonian invasions (which many consider the Quran to allude to in 17:5). For the idea of "working corruption upon the earth," see 5:33c; 30:41c.

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e Had the People of the Book believed and been reverent, We would surely have absolved them of their evil deeds, and caused them to enter Gardens of bliss.

65 _Had the People of the Book believed—_ that is, in the Quran and the prophethood of Muhammad—according to most commentators, they would have been forgiven their sins. Although "believe" is sometimes used to refer to the general act of believing in God and the Last Day among Jews and Christians as well as Muslims (see, e.g., 2:62; 5:69), the term "believer" is most commonly used in the Quran to refer to those who believe in all prophets and books, necessarily including the Prophet Muhammad and the Quran, and thus specifically to a believing member of the Islamic community; see 4:136c. For verses with a similar message concerning the People of the Book or earlier peoples, see 2:103; 7:96.

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f Had they observed the Torah and the Gospel and that which was sent down unto them from their Lord, they would surely have received nourishment from above them and from beneath their feet. There is a moderate community among them; but as for many of them, evil is that which they do!

66 This is one of several verses in this _sūrah_ indicating the importance of Jews and Christians following their own scriptures (see also vv. 44, 47, 68) and suggesting that these scriptures remain a source of spiritual _nourishment._ "Observing" the Torah and Gospel is understood by some commentators in a limited sense to mean merely upholding the covenant with God established in those scriptures in a general way, which would not preclude Jews and Christians from following the Prophet—indeed, according to some, it would require them to follow the Prophet Muhammad, whom the Quran indicates was _inscribed_ in the Torah and Gospel (R; see 7:157; 61:6). It can also be understood as enjoining them to continue to uphold the rituals and laws prescribed in these scriptures (R) in keeping with the statement in v. 48 that God had prescribed _a law and a way_ for every religious community. Yet, the verse also requires them to observe _that which was sent down to them from their Lord_. This is understood by many early commentators as referring to the Quran (Q, Ṭ), although some have thought it might be a reference to certain prophetic books, such as the book of Daniel, found in the Hebrew scriptures, but outside of the Torah narrowly defined (Q, R).

For the People of the Book to observe both their own Scriptures and the Quran means, according to some commentators, that Jews and Christians should follow those teachings in the Torah and the Gospel that were either endorsed by the Quran or at least not declared false in it (Ṭ). Had they done this, _they would surely have received nourishment from above them and from beneath their feet._ Most commentators read this statement as an image of worldly prosperity, meaning that God would have sent them rain from the heavens and brought forth nourishing vegetation for them from the earth (R, Ṭ, Z). As such, it may be read either as a counterpart to the spiritual prosperity that it is said would be theirs if they _had . . . believed and been reverent_ in v. 65 (R) or as a response to the claim in v. 64 that _God's Hand is shackled,_ since this claim suggests God's withholding of worldly provision (Ṭ). Alternately, this metaphor for prosperity can be read as a spiritual allegory relating to what the verse itself says about the People of the Book following both their own scriptures and _that which was sent down to them from their Lord_ (i.e., the Quran, according to most commentators). For the People of the Book, the nourishment _from beneath their feet_ would be the teachings of their own scriptures—that is, the metaphorical spiritual seeds they have already "planted" in their hearts—and the nourishment _from above them_ —that is, the life-giving rain—would be the Quran, both of which are _sent down unto them from their Lord._ Rain provides direct nourishment to human beings alongside the crops that come from the ground, but the rain also nourishes those very crops. Continuing the spiritual allegory, the Quranic message, like the rain, provides both direct spiritual nourishment to the People of the Book and indirect spiritual nourishment by bringing new life to their own scriptures, to their "nourishment from below."

This verse indicates that among the Jews and Christians there remains a _moderate community_ ( _ummat an wasaṭan_), that is, a community that takes a middle course between extremes. The Arabic here is different from that used to describe the Muslim community as _a middle community_ ( _ummat un muqtaṣidatun;_ 2:143), but descriptions of moderation and balance are associated in a variety of ways with what is good and proper in the Quran (cf. 15:19; 17:29; 68:28). Consistent with the interpretation of the People of the Book following their own scriptures and accepting the Quranic message, some commentators understand _moderate_ as describing those Jews and Christians who "moderate" their beliefs in a way consistent with _that which was sent down unto them from their Lord,_ that is, the Quran. Specifically, they see it as a reference to those People of the Book who neither exaggerate the station of Jesus by considering him to be the son of God (as do the Christians) nor underestimate his spiritual rank by refusing to consider him a prophet of God (as do the Jews; Ṭ); rather, they see him as a Divinely sent prophet, as he is presented in the Quran. This statement may also be read in conjunction with other passages in the Quran that describe those People of the Book who are just in their dealings with the Muslims (3:75; R), or those who _take a middle course_ ( _muqta ṣid_) between wrongdoing and being those who are _foremost in good deeds_ (35:32). Some commentators suggest that this "moderate community" may refer to People of the Book who have become believers by embracing Islam (Q, R), although this does not seem to fit with the description of them as "taking a middle course," and if this is so, it is not clear why they should be differentiated from other Muslims who converted from paganism.

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g O Messenger! Convey that which has been sent down unto thee from thy Lord, and if thou dost not, thou wilt not have conveyed His message. And God will protect thee from mankind. Surely God guides not disbelieving people.

67 This verse is situated in the middle of a long and often critical discussion of the People of the Book, leading some to suggest that the message the Prophet may have been hesitant to convey is the criticism of these other religious communities (Ṭ). Some read the threat _if thou dost not, thou wilt not have conveyed His message_ to mean that if the Prophet were to conceal even the smallest part of what had been revealed to him, it would be as if he had not conveyed the message at all or as if he had concealed all of it (Z). According to one report, the Prophet stated the God had revealed to him that if he did not convey all of the revelation that came to him, God would punish him (Z). The Prophet's wife ʿĀʾishah argued that this verse should serve as a sufficient refutation of those who claim the Prophet had concealed parts of the revelation that he received (IK, Q, Ṭ, Ṭs).

The verse's assurance to the Prophet that _God will protect thee from mankind_ does suggest, however, that he at times feared people's reaction to the message. According to one report, when the Prophet was in Makkah and he and his followers were in constant danger from the Quraysh, the Prophet used to conceal some of the revelations that he received, but once the Prophet's community strengthened, he was ordered in this verse to _convey_ all that had been revealed to him. Alternately, some reports indicate that when the Prophet was in Makkah, he (or, variously, his uncle Abū Ṭālib) always arranged to have him guarded by others. After this verse was revealed, along with its promise of Divine protection, the Prophet indicated that fear left him completely (R, Ṭ), and he discontinued the practice of having guards (IK, Q). Others suggest that this assurance relates to an incident in which a Bedouin wanted to kill the Prophet and came upon him with a sword while the Prophet was alone and unarmed. The Bedouin asked, "Who can protect you from me?" The Prophet answered, "God," at which point the Bedouin's hand began to tremble with fear, and the sword fell from his hand (Q, Ṭ). A similar story is told in relation to the revelation of v. 11 (see 5:11c).

Twelver Shiite commentaries explicitly connect this verse to the Prophet's reported announcement at Ghadīr Khumm, just after the completion of his Farewell Pilgrimage in 10/632, regarding his cousin and son-in-law, ʿAlī ibn Abī Ṭālib, "For whomever I am his master ( _mawlā_ ), ʿAlī is [also] his master ( _mawlā_ ); O God, befriend the friend of ʿAlī and be the enemy of his enemy." The Shiite commentaries suggest that the Prophet was hesitant to make this announcement, which Imāmī Shiites consider to be a matter of Divine inspiration, although it is not in the Quran, because he feared the reaction among some of his Companions. This verse was then revealed to him, indicating his duty to convey the Divine message and promising Divine protection for him, after which he stood with ʿAlī in front of his gathered Companions and made the announcement (al-ʿAyyāshī, Qm, Ṭb, Th, Ṭū).

A small number of Sunni commentators also link this verse to Prophetic statements relating to the spiritual merits of ʿAlī, including the statement, "For whomever I am his master, ʿAlī is [also] his master," or to Ghadīr Khumm, specifically (Āl, Th). Other Sunni commentators connect this verse to the announcements the Prophet made during his sermon during the Farewell Pilgrimage, which preceded the Ghadīr Khumm event by a matter of days (IK), thus indicating, like the Shiite views above, that the verse pertains to directives the Prophet gave to his community at the very end of his life. Those reports that situate the revelation of this verse in the context of the Farewell Pilgrimage and related events, such as the Prophet's announcement at Ghadīr Khumm, seem to be most plausible, since this _sūrah_ is generally thought to be late Madinan in its entirety; many scholars maintain that vv. 1–11 of this _sūrah_ were revealed in the context of the Prophet's sermon during the Farewell Pilgrimage.

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h Say, "O People of the Book! You stand on naught till you observe the Torah and the Gospel, and that which has been sent down unto you from your Lord." Surely that which has been sent down unto thee from thy Lord will increase many of them in rebellion and disbelief. So grieve not for disbelieving people.

68 As in v. 66, this verse reiterates the importance of Jews and Christians observing both their own scriptures, the Torah and the Gospel, and _that which has been sent down unto you from your Lord,_ which most commentators understand to mean the Quranic message brought by the Prophet (see 5:66; 5:66c). The idea that many of the People of the Book _will be increased in rebellion and disbelief_ echoes v. 64, which indicates that _that which has been sent down unto_ the Prophet will increase some of the People of the Book in "rebellion and disbelief" (see 5:64; 5:64c). Here, as elsewhere, the Prophet is told to _grieve not_ for those who are unresponsive to the Divine message (cf. 5:26; 27:70). Some connect this verse to the injunction to the Prophet in the previous verse to _convey that which has been sent down_ to him, indicating that this message to the People of the Book to follow their own scriptures as well as the Quran was what the Prophet had hesitated or feared to convey (R, Ṭ).

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i Truly those who believe, and those who are Jews, and the Sabeans, and the Christians—whosoever believes in God and the Last Day and works righteousness, no fear shall come upon them, nor shall they grieve.

69 This verse is nearly identical to 2:62; see 2:62c. Compare this verse also to 22:17, where it is said that _God will judge_ between _those who believe,_ the _Jews, the Sabeans, the Christians,_ and _the Magians_ (or Zoroastrians, _majūs_ ), on the Day of Resurrection. This present verse, however, situated as it is within a _sūrah_ largely devoted to the People of the Book, and within a long section that discusses the People of the Book critically, represents one of the most important Quranic affirmations of the potential of those outside the Muslim community to achieve salvation. Although Jews, Christians, and Sabeans are mentioned specifically, the verse also refers more broadly to _whosoever believes in God and the Last Day and works righteousness,_ thereby opening the possibility of salvation even beyond the Abrahamic faiths. This verse, along with v. 5, which allows intermarriage between Muslim men and People of the Book, and v. 48, which indicates that God has ordained more than one religious "law" and "way," argues for the continued validity of Judaism, Christianity, and by extension other Divinely revealed religions, despite the strong criticism of certain Jewish and Christian doctrines and practices found here and elsewhere in the Quran.

The present verse affirms that for those who both believe and act properly, _no fear shall come upon them_ —that is, they have no dread for their future after resurrection— _nor shall they grieve;_ that is, they have no sorrow about the past or about having left the earthly realm, for what they are certain to receive in the Hereafter is better (R). In other words, such people have no concern for either the future or the past, indicating that those who have achieved salvation are understood to live in the "eternal now" of the paradisal state.

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p We indeed made a covenant with the Children of Israel, and sent messengers unto them. Whensoever a messenger brought them what their souls did not desire, some they would deny and some they would slay.

70 This verse is one of several that mention the Divine covenant with the Children of Israel; see also 2:63, 83–84, 93; 4:154; 5:12; 7:134. For the Divine covenant with the People of the Book in general or Christians, see 3:187; 5:14; 7:169. See also the essay "The Quranic View of Sacred History and Other Religions." The rejection of previous messengers and prophets by their people is a common theme running throughout the Quran; for other references specifically to the Israelites' rejection and slaying of certain prophets, see 2:87, 91; 3:183–84; 4:155 and commentary.

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q And they supposed that there would be no trial, and so became blind and deaf. Then God relented unto them; then [again] many of them became blind and deaf. And God sees whatsoever they do.

71 In the Quran, spiritual insensitivity to the prophetic messages is frequently referred to as a kind of blindness or deafness (see, e.g., 2:171, 6:104; 7:64; 10:43; 11:28; 13:19; 27:4, 66, 81; 30:53; 41:17, 44; 43:36–37, 40), and it is said in 22:46: _Truly it is not the eyes that go blind, but it is hearts within breasts that go blind_. Moreover, this spiritual blindness is said to continue in the Hereafter (see, e.g., 17:72, 97; 20:102, 124–25). The Quran seems to assert both that there can be a preexisting moral "blindness" and "deafness" that impedes an individual's ability to be spiritually convinced and moved by the messages of the prophets and that it is the willful mocking, rejection, or transgression of those messages that leads to a state of blindness (see, e.g., 2:14–18). Because the Quran indicates that all human beings were born in a state of _fi ṭrah—_that is, with the pure and _primordial nature from God_ (30:30)—and have an innate awareness of spiritual truth or at least of the Lordship of God (7:172), many have understood "blindness" to the truth brought by the prophets to be the result of a certain moral deformity brought about by sin and repeated moral transgression itself or the result of a Divine "curse," as punishment for sin (see, e.g., 47:23).

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r They certainly disbelieve, those who say, "Truly God is the Messiah, son of Mary." But the Messiah said, "O Children of Israel! Worship God, my Lord and your Lord." Surely whosoever ascribes partners unto God, God has forbidden him the Garden, and his refuge shall be the Fire. And the wrongdoers shall have no helpers.

72 See v. 17, where the specific belief that _God is the Messiah_ is also criticized as "disbelief," and the commentary on this verse as well as other verses where the divinity of Jesus is directly or indirectly refuted (3:59; 4:171–72; 5:75, 116–17; 9:31). In the present verse, the words of _the Messiah—_ that is, Jesus son of Mary—are adduced to refute any belief in his divinity. From the Islamic perspective, Jesus' statement that God is _my Lord and your Lord_ (also found in 3:51; 5:117; 19:36; 43:64) asserts his full humanity and "servanthood" in relation to God. The only parallel in the Gospel to the words attributed to Jesus in this verse is found in John 20:17, where Jesus refers to God as "my father and your father," although this is not in the context of a command to worship God, as it is in the Quran, and the conception of God as "father," as noted elsewhere, is problematic from a Quranic perspective (see, e.g., 5:18, where Jews and Christians are criticized for their claim to be the "children of God"). In the present verse and in 9:31, the criticism of the belief in the divinity of Jesus is followed by strong warning against "ascribing partners unto God" ( _shirk_ ), leading some to consider any explicit claim that Jesus (or _the Messiah_ ) is God Himself to be a form of _shirk_ and to see the warning and its consequences (being forbidden the Garden) as directed at those who make this claim (Z). Some major commentators, however, indicate that the explicit claim criticized in this verse is made only by certain sects among the Christians, mentioning, in particular, the Jacobites (R, Ṭ), who rejected the notion of Christ's "dual nature" as human and Divine and instead asserted a more essential unity between God and Christ.

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s They certainly disbelieve, those who say, "Truly God is the third of three," while there is no god save the one God. If they refrain not from what they say, a painful punishment will befall those among them who disbelieved.

73 Whereas the previous verse criticizes belief in the divinity of Jesus, this verse criticizes the Christian doctrine of the Trinity, or at least an exaggerated form of that doctrine in which God is one of three separate entities to be worshipped. Some commentators understood the Christian Trinity criticized here to comprise God, Jesus, and his mother, Mary, as three distinct deities (R, Ṭ), based on v. 75, where the human characteristics of Mary and Jesus are emphasized, presumably in response to those who considered them divine, and v. 116, where the divinization of Mary among some followers of Jesus is directly criticized. Commentators were generally aware, however, that the orthodox Christian doctrine of the Trinity considered God, Christ, and the Holy Spirit, and not Mary, as three persons in a single Divinity (IK, Q, R), and some argued that it was only certain sects, such as the Jacobites and Nestorians, who held to a belief in three distinct deities (IK, Q). Al-Rāzī understood the three persons in the orthodox Christian doctrine of the Trinity to represent for Christians three aspects of God, respectively: His Essence, His Word, and His Life. Al-Rāzī's explanation puts trinitarian doctrine in terms that make some sense in relation to the Islamic view of God's Essence and Attributes, but it does not persuade him to view this doctrine as acceptable, and he describes it, nonetheless, as clear error.

In 4:171, the People of the Book are told merely to _refrain_ from saying _Three,_ which is commonly understood to refer to the trinitarian doctrine; in the present verse, saying that _God is the third of three_ is clearly identified as a form of disbelief, and a _painful punishment_ is threatened for those who do not "refrain" from asserting this, as they were commanded to do in 4:171. Some commentators argue that the threat of punishment is not only for certain sects among the Christians, but for Christians in general, since the Quran suggests here and elsewhere that certain common Christian doctrines are forms of "disbelief," and the punishment in this verse is threatened for all who disbelieve (Ṭ, Z), or at least those who persist in this disbelief and do not _turn to God in repentance_ (v. 74), as they are urged to do in the next verse (R, Z). However, the verse clearly threatens punishment only for _those among them who disbelieved,_ suggesting that it is not for all Christians. Moreover, an interpretation that considers all Christians to be barred from the Garden in the next life would openly contradict both v. 69 and 2:62 (as well as 3:113), where Christians and anyone who _believes in God and the Last Day and works righteousness shall have their reward with their Lord. No fear shall come upon them, nor shall they grieve,_ and is not consistent with the description of Christian virtue in vv. 82–85 _._ For a longer discussion of the Quranic criticism of trinitarian doctrine, see 4:171c.

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t Will they not turn to God in repentance and seek His forgiveness? And God is Forgiving, Merciful.

74 In this verse, those who hold to doctrines of Jesus' nature and the Trinity that contradict the principle of the Oneness of God ( _taw ḥīd_) are urged to repent.

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u The Messiah, son of Mary, was naught but a messenger—messengers have passed away before him. And his mother was truthful. Both of them ate food. Behold how We make the signs clear unto them; yet behold how they are perverted!

75 Jesus is described as a messenger of God throughout the Quran, and in 4:171, as here, he is described as _only a messenger_ in order to refute claims about his divinity, although in 4:171 he is identified as _His Word_ and as _a Spirit from Him_. Muhammad is also described as being a "messenger," and a statement identical to the one in this verse is made concerning Muhammad in 3:144: _Muhammad is naught but a messenger; messengers have passed before him._ Jesus' mother, Mary, is described as _truthful_ ( _ṣ iddīqah_), a feminine construction of _ṣ iddīq,_ a term sometimes used in the Quran to describe prophets (see, e.g., 19:41, in relation to Abraham; 19:56, regarding Idrīs) or particularly saintly people ; see, for example, 4:69, where the truthful are said to be in the company of the prophets, the witnesses, and the righteous, as those _whom God has blessed_. Some connect her description as _truthful_ ( _ṣ iddīqah_) to her role as one of those who affirmed the truth of Jesus' prophethood and message, just as the Prophet Muhammad's close Companion Abū Bakr was given the title al-Ṣiddīq _,_ because he affirmed the truth of Muhammad's miraculous Night Journey (Z). Others connect it to the Quranic statement that Mary _confirmed_ ( _ṣ addaqat_) _the Words of her Lord and His Books_ (66:12; R).

The assertion in this verse that both Mary and Jesus _ate food_ is meant to affirm their full humanity and refute those who see them as divine. Of course, Christian theology also sees Christ as "fully human" as well as "fully divine," and the Quranic view of Jesus as fully human is consistent with certain verses of the New Testament, such as Luke 18:19 and Philippians 2:6–8, which stress Jesus' humanity in relation to God.

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v Say, "Do you worship, apart from God, that which has no power to benefit or harm you, when it is God Who is the Hearing, the Knowing?"

76 The Quran frequently poses the rhetorical question contained in this verse, either directly or through the words of the prophets, as an argument against those who would worship something other than God; see 10:18, 106; 13:16; 20:88–89; 21:62–66; 22:12; 25:55; 26:71–73.

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w Say, "O People of the Book! Do not exaggerate in your religion beyond the truth, and follow not the caprices of a people who went astray before, and led many astray, and strayed from the right way."

77 See 4:171, where the same command is given to the People of the Book in general not to _exaggerate in . . . religion_. In both verses, however, the command is addressed primarily to the Christians in relation to their claims of divinity for Jesus. The _people who went astray before_ is understood by some to be a reference to the Jews, who rejected and disbelieved in Christ's prophethood and message entirely (Ṭ). Others consider the _people who went astray before_ to refer to the early leaders and authorities of the Christian community who established the Christological and trinitarian doctrines criticized here and who, through these doctrines and later through their rejection of the Prophet Muhammad, _led many astray_ (IK, Z). Still others consider the verse to be addressed to both Jews and Christians, urging them to accept _the truth_ that Jesus was a major prophet of God and to believe in the message and signs that he brought, but not to _exaggerate_ beyond this to make claims of his divinity or his sonship in relation to God (Q); or it urges them to avoid various errors they or their religious leaders had made in the past, as discussed in this long section beginning in v. 41 (R, Ṭs).

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x Those who disbelieved among the Children of Israel were cursed by the tongue of David and Jesus son of Mary. That was because they disobeyed and used to transgress.

78 Here and elsewhere in the Quran, the majority of commentators read _cursed_ as meaning "exiled from Divine Mercy." In the present verse, the disbelievers among the Israelites are cursed not by God, but by the prophets David and Jesus. According to some early commentators, this refers to statements concerning disbelieving Israelites found in the Psalms of David and the Gospel of Jesus; some mention that they were also cursed in the Torah of Moses and in the Quran brought by Muhammad (Ṭ, Z). Some commentators connect the cursing by David and Jesus with God's curse, mentioned in v. 60, by which some were made into apes and swine (Ṭ). Many also connect the cursing by David with the curse upon the Sabbath violators mentioned in 7:163–66, who are reported to be the people of Eilat (JJ, R, Z), and link the cursing by Jesus to those who disbelieved after the miraculous table spread with food had been sent down to Jesus (see vv. 114–18; JJ, R, Z).

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y They would not forbid one another from the wrong they committed. Evil indeed is that which they used to do.

79 The importance of "forbidding wrong" is repeatedly mentioned in the Quran (3:114; 9:112; 22:41; 31:17). Enjoining right and forbidding wrong among those in one's own community is an obligatory religious duty in Islamic Law, and as such it is both a central moral responsibility for individual Muslims and an important basis of the moral society (see 3:104c). The disbelieving Israelites are criticized in the present verse for not forbidding _the wrong they committed,_ that is, wrongs committed among themselves or by their own people. In relation to the importance of forbidding wrong, one commentator cites the _ḥ adīth,_ "The best striving ( _jihād_ ) is a word of truth" (Th). See v. 63, where the rabbis and sages among the Jews are blamed for not forbidding their followers from sinful speech and unlawful consumption.

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À Thou seest many of them allying with those who have disbelieved. Evil indeed is that which they have sent forth for their souls: the anger of God is upon them, and in punishment shall they abide.

Á And had they believed in God and the Prophet, and that which was sent down unto him, they would not have taken them as protectors, but many of them are iniquitous.

80–81 The People of the Book are sometimes considered "disbelievers" not in an absolute sense, but only insofar as they do not meet the Quranic requirement of believing in all prophets and scriptures, including Muhammad and the Quran. These verses, however, establish a clear distinction between the People of the Book and the disbelievers, since the former are criticized for _allying with,_ or "taking protectors among," _those who have disbelieved_. The Quran also forbids Muslim believers from seeking protectors among the "disbelievers" and "wrongdoers," who are _protectors of one another_ (8:73; 45:19), and even among Jews and Christians (5:51). Vv. 80–81 are understood as referring to certain Jews of Madinah, or certain hypocrites among them, who allied with the idolaters ( _mushrikūn_ ) against the Muslim believers (Q, Ṭ, Z); for a discussion of reported cooperation between certain Madinan Jews and the Makkan idolaters, see 4:51–52c.

In v. 81, their taking protectors among the disbelievers is presented as a result of their refusal to believe in _God and the Prophet, and that which was sent down unto him,_ understood by some to mean their refusal to believe in Muhammad and the Quran (Ṭ). An alternate reading of v. 81 understands it to mean that _had they believed in God and_ their own prophet, Moses, and _that which was sent down unto him—_ that is, the Torah—they would not have sought out alliances among the disbelievers (R). Both readings, however, indicate that the rise of Muhammad as a prophet presented his Jewish contemporaries in Arabia with the choice of either allying with him, whose message both affirmed and challenged the Jews' own religious understanding and practice, or allying with the disbelievers, that is, the idolaters, whose religious views were anathema to their own. _That which they have sent forth for their souls_ refers to their deeds in this life for which they will be recompensed in the Hereafter; see 75:13c.

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 Thou wilt surely find the most hostile of men toward those who believe to be the Jews and those who ascribe partners unto God. And thou wilt find the nearest of them in affection toward those who believe to be those who say, "We are Christians." That is because among them are priests and monks, and because they are not arrogant.

à And when they hear that which was sent down unto the Messenger, thou seest their eyes overflow with tears because of the truth they recognize. They say, "Our Lord, we believe, so inscribe us among the witnesses.

82–83 Although both Jews and Christians are privileged in the Quran as "People of the Book," with whom the Muslims have a particularly close affinity (see v. 5, where Muslims can intermarry with and eat the food of _those who have been given the Book_ ), in v. 82 Jews and Christians are differentiated with regard to their attitude toward Muslim believers. Here the Jews are described as the most _hostile_ to the believers, along with the idolaters (cf. 2:96, where both Jews and idolaters are said to be among _the most covetous people for life_ ), while the Christians are said to be the _nearest . . . in affection_ to Muslim believers. Some indicate that the Jews' hostility toward the believers made it particularly difficult for them to accept the truth of the Quran and the Prophet's mission, while the Christians' "nearness in affection" to the believers made it comparatively easier for them to accept the Quranic message (Z).

Although some commentators consider these statements to be absolute in nature and not limited to a particular historical situation (Th), such an interpretation is belied by the fact that at various points in Islamic history Muslims had better relations with the Jews than with Christians and Christian dynasties—the Crusades and the Spanish Reconquista would be two clear examples of this fact. It thus seems more plausible to contextualize this verse within the life of the Prophet and the early Muslim community. The Jews of Madinah and of the surrounding region presented a continual challenge to the Prophet's authority as a prophet, and some of them reportedly colluded with the Makkan idolaters to harm the Prophet and his community. By contrast, certain Christian figures played positive and pivotal roles in the Prophet's early life and mission. The Christian monk Baḥīrah first recognized Muhammad as a prophet; Waraqah, the Christian cousin of the Prophet's wife Khadījah, identified the early revelations the Prophet received as being Divine in origin and consistent with the Christian scriptures he knew (see the introduction to _Sūrah_ 96); and the Negus, the Christian king of Abyssinia, sheltered some of the Makkan Muslims from persecution by keeping them as guests in Abyssinia for years until they could later journey to Madinah. The Negus reportedly recognized the affinity between the Islamic teachings and his own religious beliefs as a Christian and thus refused to hand over the Muslim refugees to the idolatrous Quraysh, who demanded their return.

One early commentator claimed that this verse came in response to the Muslims' first encounter with the Negus, when they were seeking shelter from the Makkan idolaters, although this does not make chronological sense, since this _sūrah_ is widely considered to have been revealed in full in Madinah, and the original encounter with the Negus was during the Makkan period (IK). According to most commentators, however, the occasion for the revelation of these verses was the later visit of a delegation sent by the Negus to the Prophet in Madinah. When the Quran was recited to the Christian delegation, they began to weep and became believers (IK, Ṭ, Th, Z). Some accounts state that the delegation returned to the Negus and recited the Quran to him, whereupon he became a believer as well (Ṭ, Th). However, there is no historical evidence that the Negus later became Muslim, and the verse attributes positive attributes to Christians in general, not only to those who later embraced Islam (Th), since the Christians are described as _nearest . . . in affection toward those who believe,_ rather than as Muslim believers themselves (see also 57:27, where the virtues of Christians are similarly praised). Some say that this refers to those Christians who heard the message brought by Muhammad and believed in his prophethood, although they continued to live according to the " _sharī ʿah_ (religious law) of Jesus" or the "way of the Gospel," thus remaining "Christian" in a confessional sense (IK). Nonetheless, the report about the Negus does illustrate the good relations between the Prophet's community and an important Christian dynasty in the region and suggests that a certain spiritual affinity between the Christians and the Muslims was a basis for their good relations.

In v. 82, the Christians' nearness to the Muslim believers is attributed partly to the presence of _priests and monks_ among them, suggesting that these men serve as exemplars of Christian virtue. _Priests_ translates _qassīsīn,_ which some commentators understand to mean the religious scholars ( _ʿ ulamāʾ_) among the Christians (IK, Z), while a single report from the Prophetic Companion Salmān al-Fārsī—who was formerly Zoroastrian and then briefly Christian before embracing Islam—claims that the Prophet glossed _qassīsīn_ as the "truthful (or saintly) ones" ( _ṣ iddīqīn;_ IK). Despite the implied praise of Christian monks in this verse, the Quranic and Islamic attitude toward Christian monasticism is somewhat mixed. The Christian institution of monasticism has no parallel in the Islamic context and is in some ways inconsistent with the Islamic ideal of balancing worldly obligations with spiritual devotions, as exemplified by the Prophet himself, who explicitly discouraged his Companions from practicing the celibacy and excessive asceticism often associated with Christian monasticism. The Quran also blames certain monks for _consuming the wealth of people falsely_ and _turning from the way of God_ (9:34) and criticizes their followers for having taken them as _lords apart from God_ (9:31). In 57:27, the Quran describes monasticism as something Christians _invented,_ not something ordained for them (see 57:27c). See also 3:113, where it says in reference to the People of the Book, _They are not all alike. Among the People of the Book is an upright community who recite God's signs in the watches of the night, while they prostrate_.

Christians are also said to be "near" to Muslim believers, because _they are not arrogant_. Arrogance is a vice derided in all religious traditions, and the Quran repeatedly connects arrogance to the spiritual blindness that leads people to reject the signs of God, which include the prophets and their messages; see 2:87; 6:93; 7:75–76, 146; 10:75; 23:67; 31:7; 35:42–43; 39:59, 72; 41:15; 45:8, 31; 46:10; 63:5; 71:7. Arrogance is contrasted with the attitude of humility and gratitude that compels one to prostrate before God and to worship Him (cf. 4:172–73; 16:49; 21:19; 32:15; 40:60; 41:37–38). The assertion that Christians are not _arrogant_ thus suggests both their inclination to worship and devote themselves to God and their receptivity to God's signs and prophetic messages.

The latter is borne out in v. 83, where they are said to be particularly sensitive to the spiritual truth of the Quran, which _they recognize_ and which causes their eyes to _overflow with tears_. For similar responses to the Quran among some of the People of the Book, see 17:107–9, where the Prophet is told to say of the Quran, _Surely those who were given knowledge before it, when it is recited unto them, fall down prostrate on their faces. And they say, "Glory be to our Lord! The promise of our Lord is indeed fulfilled." And they fall down on their faces, weeping, and it increases them in humility;_ and 28:52–53. Some commentators on this verse also mention the _ḥ adīth,_ "Recite the Quran and weep, and if you do not weep [naturally], then cause yourself to weep" (Th). In v. 83, the Christian response to hearing the Quran is also to say _we believe,_ that is, in Muhammad as a Divinely sent prophet (even if they remained Christians, confessionally, as discussed above) and in the Quran as the truth from God (Ṭ). Their plea _inscribe us among the witnesses_ may mean that they wish to be counted either among those who recognize the truth and the Oneness of God or among the religious community of Muhammad specifically (R, Ṭ, Z).

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Ä And how should we not believe in God and the truth that has come unto us, when we desire that our Lord should cause us to enter among the righteous people?"

84 The response of these Christians is to ask rhetorically, _And how should we not believe in God_ —that is, in His Oneness _—and the truth that has come unto us_ through His revelations (Ṭ), given that they desire to be in the company of the righteous in order to obtain the blessings of God (Z). The _righteous people_ here may mean the Prophet and his Companions or simply those who affirm God's Oneness (Ṭ); and some commentators suggest that the Christians' overall response here indicates a new awareness of the need to abandon their trinitarian beliefs (R). Their desire to be _among the righteous people_ is also, for some, a sign of their belief, since disbelievers desire no such thing (Z).

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Å So God rewarded them for what they said with Gardens that have rivers running below, to abide therein, and that is the recompense of the virtuous.

Æ As for those who disbelieved and denied Our signs—such shall be the inhabitants of Hellfire!

85–86 The image of Gardens with _rivers running below_ as a reward for believers and the virtuous is found throughout the Quran (see 2:25c), as is the idea that disbelievers and those who deny God's signs will be punished in Hellfire in the next life (see, e.g., 2:39; 5:10; 7:36; 22:51; 57:19; 64:10).

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Ç O you who believe! Do not forbid the good things that God has made lawful unto you, and do not transgress. Surely God loves not transgressors.

È Eat of that which God has provided you that is lawful and good, and reverence God, in Whom you are believers.

87–88 Earlier in this _sūrah_ and elsewhere, the Quran clearly delineates lawful and unlawful foods; see 2:173; 5:3–5; 6:118–19, 145; 16:115. These stipulations are presented in a way that suggests that the limits on what can be consumed are rather few, and that in fact Muslims have a wide range of lawful foods available to them that they can eat and enjoy freely, as enjoined in v. 88 (cf. 2:168, 172; 16:114). In this vein, the Quran is critical of those who would forbid lawful things arbitrarily and without Divine warrant; see 6:138–45, 150–51; 7:32 (with regard to adornment in dress, rather than food); 16:116. _God loves not the transgressors_ is repeated in 2:190 and 7:55; and in 10:74 it is said that God sets _a seal upon the hearts of the transgressors._

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É God will not take you to task for that which is frivolous in your oaths, but He will take you to task for the oaths you have pledged in earnest. The expiation thereof is the feeding of ten indigent people with the equivalent of that which you feed your own family, or clothing them, or freeing a slave. And whosoever finds not [the means], let him fast for three days. That is the expiation for your oaths when you have sworn [them]. But keep your oaths. Thus does God make clear unto you His signs, that haply you may give thanks.

89 The Quran often speaks about the serious nature of oaths—that is, swearing on God's Name or, according to some, on the Quran, since swearing on other things is not legitimate (Q)—and their misuse. Here _that which is frivolous in your oaths_ relates most specifically to oaths taken arbitrarily to avoid certain lawful foods, following the injunctions in vv. 87–88 to not restrict the consumption of lawful things (Ṭ), but it has a more general application. This verse makes it clear that swearing to abstain from certain lawful things does not make them actually forbidden according to God (Q). Other verses mention the importance of being true to one's oaths (3:77; 38:44) and warn against using them disingenuously or for harmful purposes (2:224; 16:91–92, 94). The Quran also criticizes disbelievers and hypocrites for either breaking their oaths or using them deceptively (5:53; 6:109; 16:38; 24:53; 35:42).

Here also, as discussed in 2:225c, God does not hold one accountable for oaths that are _frivolous_ or made carelessly, but only for those that are _pledged in earnest_. Some commentators, however, maintain that it is these frivolous oaths that require the _expiation_ mentioned in the latter part of the verse, and the meaning is that God will not hold one accountable for _frivolous_ oaths for which one has made expiation (Ṭ). Others say that it is the oaths _pledged in earnest_ that require expiation, particularly those made with sinful intent (Ṭ) or those made and not fulfilled (Ṭ). For oaths taken with the intent of deception or lying ( _kadhb_ ), there is no expiation (Q, Ṭ).

Expiation by _the feeding of ten indigent people_ is understood to mean providing for them in various ways. Some consider a combination of bread, dates, and oil to be what is required, but the best provision would be meat (Ṭ). Others consider a certain amount of wheat or other grain to be sufficient, while still others say it means feeding them lunch and supper (Ṭ). The expiation of _clothing them_ may include giving them one or two articles of clothing, sometimes specifically including a head covering (Q, Ṭ). For both of these cases, some stipulate that the recipient must be truly poor and cannot be a dependent or close family member, for whom one is responsible in any case (Q). Some indicate that the recipient must be a free person, since a slave should be taken care of by his or her master; and there is some disagreement about whether the recipient must be a Muslim or not. The Ḥanafī school of law allows the food or clothing to be given to the poor among other religious communities (Q). Regarding giving charity to non-Muslims, see 2:272c; 60:8c. If one frees a slave for purposes of expiation, it must be a slave in good health, without physical deficiency (Ṭ). Some say the expiation of fasting must be for three consecutive days, although others maintain that this is not required, since it is not stipulated specifically in the verse, as it is, for example, in 58:4, which mandates that one _fast two months consecutively_ for a certain kind of oath against one's wife (Q, Ṭ). In either case, fasting is sufficient only as a means of expiation for those without the means of providing for the poor (Ṭ). For other passages where similar forms of expiation are mandated, see 2:184; 4:92; 5:95; 58:2–4.

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Ґ O you who believe! Wine, and gambling, and idols, and divining arrows are but a means of defilement, of Satan's doing. So avoid it, that haply you may prosper.

ґ Satan desires only to sow enmity and hatred among you through wine and gambling, and to turn you away from the remembrance of God, and from prayer. Will you, then, refrain?

90–91 This is the fourth and final passage in the chronological order of revelation relating to intoxicating drinks, and it enjoins their ultimate and complete prohibition. In 16:67, the image of _fruits . . . from which you derive strong drink_ is presented as a sign of God's generous provision for human beings. However, in 2:219 both wine and gambling are said to have some _benefit,_ but also _great sin_. Then in 4:43 people are told to avoid prayer when in a state of drunkenness. In the present verses wine and gambling are included, along with _idols_ and the pre-Islamic, pagan practice of using _divining arrows_ to allot food and other goods, as among those things that bring spiritual impurity and should be completely avoided. _Gambling_ translates _maysir,_ a specific form of gambling popular in pre-Islamic Arabia (see 2:219c), although the verse is understood as applying to all forms of gambling, just as the prohibition on wine in these verses is understood as a prohibition on all intoxicants.

That the prohibition of wine ( _khamr_ ), which technically refers to wine made from grapes, nonetheless extends to all intoxicating beverages was reportedly explained by ʿUmar ibn al-Khaṭṭāb in a sermon in which he said, "Wine ( _khamr_ ) is that which clouds ( _khāmara_ ) the intellect," indicating that the prohibition applies to any substance that, when consumed, clouds the mind (IK). Moreover, the ban on intoxicating beverages includes not only their consumption, but also their sale and any profit attained by it (IK).

Some considered the ban on gambling to extend to all games that squander people's time fruitlessly, such as chess and backgammon (IK), although these latter were never banned in Islamic Law, and both have remained popular games among Muslims to the present day. In this verse, _idols_ ( _an ṣāb_) is likely a reference to the idolatrous practice of sacrificing animals on stone altars ( _nu ṣub_), which is mentioned in v. 3 as a practice that made the meat unlawful to consume.

Some accounts report that the present verse was revealed after some of the Prophet's Companions became drunk and began to fight with one another until one man was seriously injured (Ṭ). V. 91 thus indicates that wine and gambling should be avoided, because they are a means through which Satan may cause _enmity and hatred_ among the believers and lead them to neglect _remembrance of God_ and _prayer._ Intracommunal _enmity and hatred_ are said elsewhere to be the fate of Christians (v. 14) and of Jews (v. 64) as a result of their forgetfulness or disobedience.

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Ғ Obey God and obey the Messenger, and be wary. But if you turn away, then know that only the clear proclamation is incumbent upon Our Messenger.

92 The combined injunction to _obey God and obey the Messenger_ is found throughout the Quran (see 3:32, 132; 4:59; 8:1, 20, 46; 24:54; 33:33; 47:33; 58:13; 64:12; see also 7:156–57; 59:7), although in this context it is likely meant to encourage obedience specifically to the prohibitions listed in vv. 90–91 (R, Ṭ). This is one of several places where the Prophet is reminded that his only duty is to deliver _the clear proclamation_ (cf. 3:20; 5:99; 13:40; 16:82; 29:18; 36:17; 42:48; 64:12). In the same vein, the Prophet is repeatedly reminded that he has no control over others' reactions to the message that he delivers and thus is not responsible for those who remain unmoved by it (see, e.g., 4:80; 6:107; 42:6, 48).

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ғ There is no blame upon those who believe and perform righteous deeds for that which they have eaten, so long as they are reverent, and believe, and perform righteous deeds, then are reverent and believe, and then are reverent and virtuous. And God loves the virtuous.

93 This verse was revealed in response to concerns among the Prophet's Companions about those Muslims who had died before the revelation of the prohibition against drinking wine in vv. 90–91. As these verses banning wine were revealed late in the Madinan period, well after the battles of Badr and Uḥud, many good Muslims who had drunk wine throughout their lives had already died. This verse assures the Companions that their fellow Muslims who had lived in obedience and virtue would not be blamed _for that which they_ had _eaten_ or consumed previous to the prohibition of these substances (Q, R, Ṭ, W).

A similar exemption for acts committed before their prohibition is found in 2:275, allowing those who practiced usury prior to its prohibition to keep what they had gained by it in the past. In the same vein, in 2:143 mention of the change of the _qiblah_ direction is followed by the statement _but God would not let your belief be in vain_. This was reportedly a response to concern among the Companions about those believers who had died before the change (Q, R).

Given that the reason for the prohibition of wine and gambling in v. 91 is that it causes _enmity and hatred_ among people and causes them to neglect _prayer_ and the _remembrance of God,_ some reportedly adduced the present verse to argue that the consumption of wine was permissible as long as one could do it without these negative results, or that what one consumed would not negatively affect those who were reverent, believed, performed _righteous deeds,_ and were _virtuous_. This conclusion, however, is strongly contradicted by the _Sunnah_ of the Prophet and the consensus of the community ( _ijmā_ ) regarding the absolute nature of the prohibition of wine in vv. 90–91 and by the widely accepted interpretation of the present verse as relating specifically to those who drank wine but died prior to its prohibition (R).

The three things with which being _reverent_ is combined in this verse—believing, performing _righteous deeds,_ and being _virtuous_ —are essentially identical to the three major components of the Islamic religion as identified in the well-known _ḥ adīth_ of Gabriel: proper belief ( _īmān_ ); submission ( _islām_ ) to the obligatory acts of worship, which is what most understand by _righteous deeds_ in this verse; and _virtue_ ( _i ḥsān_), which is "worshipping God as if you did see Him." Some describe _righteous deeds_ in this verse as the observance of all obligatory religious acts and prohibitions, and _virtue_ as the performance of supererogatory acts of worship by which one seeks to draw nearer to God (Q, Ṭ), echoing another _ḥ adīth qudsī_ (sacred _ḥ adīth_), which states, "My servant brings nothing that I like more than the duties I have made incumbent upon him. Then My servant continues to draw nigh unto Me through supererogatory works until I love him . . ." Indeed, here and in several other places, God is said to "love" _the virtuous_ (2:195; 3:134, 148; 5:13), who, according to the _ḥ adīth_ above, are those who seek to draw near to God through supererogatory works. Some commentators state that to have earned God's Love in this way is the highest spiritual degree and the noblest station (R; also see the essay "The Quran and Sufism"). Other interpretations of the threefold mention of reverence ( _taqwā_ ) in this verse are that it is meant for emphasis; that it refers to being mindful of what was prohibited in the past, what is prohibited at present, and what will be prohibited in the future (Q, R); or that it means having reverential fear of disbelief, of major sins, and of minor sins (Q, R).

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Ҕ O you who believe! God will surely try you with something of the game you obtain with your hands and your spears, so that God may know the one who fears Him unseen. So whosoever transgresses after that, his shall be a painful punishment.

94 Since those in the state of pilgrim sanctity ( _i ḥrām_) are prohibited from hunting or slaughtering animals, the trial here is that pilgrims observe this prohibition fully, even avoiding small or helpless game that can be captured easily and have no way to escape (e.g., small birds and their eggs), and observing the prohibition even when out of sight of others (Q, Ṭ), thus demonstrating that they fear God even while _unseen_. The game obtained with _hands_ refers to small game, such as birds, and game obtained with _spears_ refers to larger animals (Q, Ṭ).

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ҕ O you who believe! Slaughter not any game while you are in a state of pilgrim sanctity. And [for] the one among you who slaughters it intentionally, a recompense of cattle, the like of that which he slaughtered, as judged by two just men among you, as an offering brought to the Kaʿbah, or the expiation of feeding the indigent, or the equivalent of this in fasting, that he may taste the evil consequences of his affair. God has forgiven that which is past, but whosever relapses, God will take vengeance upon him, and God is Mighty, Possessor of Vengeance.

95 Here the ban on killing game while in a state of pilgrim sanctity is clearly stated and is understood as applying to those making either the major or the minor pilgrimage ( _ḥ ajj_ or _ʿ umrah_). It is the actual taking of the life of a living animal that is prohibited, and thus if other pilgrims were to eat from the killed game, no repentance or expiation would be incumbent upon them (Q). One is permitted, however, to kill an animal, not for food, but because it is immediately threatening to human life, such as a lion, a wolf, or even a scorpion. This verse was reportedly revealed after one of the Madinan Helpers made the lesser pilgrimage ( _ʿ umrah_) in 628, during which he killed a wild donkey (Q). The verse establishes that expiation is required from one who violates this ban intentionally—that is, not accidentally—or because he has simply forgotten that he is in a state of pilgrim sanctity.

Several means of expiation are listed, including _feeding the indigent_ and _fasting,_ which, as already mentioned, are also means of expiation for broken oaths, among other things (see 5:89 and commentary); but since this violation would take place in the context of the pilgrimage, the primary means of expiation is giving the equivalent, some say the monetary equivalent (Q, Ṭ), of the animal slaughtered as an _offering brought to the Ka ʿbah,_ that is, brought to the Makkan sanctuary ( _ḥ aram_) to be distributed among the needy there (JJ, Q). The _two just men_ determine the worth or equivalent of the slaughtered animal, so that an equivalent offering can be made to the Kaʿbah. Their estimation of the worth of the slaughtered animal is also the basis of the extent of the other modes of expiation, should they be chosen, in that one must spend the equivalent amount in feeding the poor or fast one day for every standard measure (approximately half a liter) of food the slaughtered animal is determined to have contained (Q). Because of the sacred character of Makkah, hunting of any kind is not permitted within its precincts, even for nonpilgrims, and its trees may also not be cut. Some reports and _a ḥādīth_ apply these prohibitions to the city of Madinah as well. No expiation is required for violating these principles, however, since the issue of expiation in the present verse relates only to those in pilgrim sanctity ( _ihrām;_ Q). _God has forgiven that which is past,_ that is, illicit killing of game done in the pre-Islamic period ( _jāhiliyyah;_ Ṭ). The description of God as _Mighty, Possessor of Vengeance_ is also found in 3:4; 14:47; 39:37.

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Җ The game of the sea and the food thereof is made lawful unto you—an enjoyment for you and for the travelers—but the game of the land is forbidden unto you so long as you remain in a state of pilgrim sanctity. And reverence God, unto Whom you shall be gathered.

96 _The game of the sea_ that is licit for Muslims to eat under all circumstances refers to the meat of both freshwater and saltwater fish (Ṭ, Ṭū), but generally excluded predatory fish, such as sharks, and certain amphibious creatures, such as frogs, which the Mālikī school permitted, but others did not (Q). The Jaʿfarī Shiite school of law explicitly required the fish to have scales in order for it to be licit to eat, but also permitted shrimp; whereas some legal interpretations in the Ḥanafī school prohibited all shellfish. To be licit for pilgrims, however, most maintain that the meat must come from sea creatures that live only in the water, thus excluding amphibious creatures and certain shellfish that can also live on land (JJ, Q, Ṭ).

_The game of the sea_ refers to seafood that is caught through human effort, but _the food thereof_ is understood by many to mean dead fish that have washed up on the shore, which can then be collected and eaten (Ṭ). The permissibility of eating fish that washes up dead on the shore is accepted by most as an exception to the prohibition against eating "carrion" (otherwise forbidden in 2:173; 5:3; 6:145; 16:115), because it comes from the sea, which, according to a _ḥ adīth,_ is a pure substance that can be used for ablutions (Q). Shiite commentators, however, generally argue that it is illicit under all circumstances to eat fish that have washed up dead on the shore (Ṭs, Ṭū); they maintain instead that _the game of the sea_ refers to fish caught fresh while in a state of pilgrim sanctity, and that _the food thereof_ refers separately to fish caught earlier, salted, and preserved to carry as provisions on a journey (Ṭs). Others derive a similar meaning from the description of seafood as _an enjoyment for you and for the travelers,_ indicating that _for you_ and _for the travelers_ refer, respectively, to the continuous abundance of fresh fish for those living or traveling near the sea or rivers and to the practice of salting and preserving fish to use as provisions for travelers on lengthy journeys on land (Ṭ, Ṭū).

There is some disagreement about the extent of the repeated prohibition _but the game of the land is forbidden unto you_. V. 95 indicates only that one may not kill game while in a state of pilgrim sanctity, but the present verse seems to prohibit eating from _the game of the land_ in a general or absolute sense while one is making the pilgrimage, whether one has killed it oneself or not. On the basis of different interpretations of these two verses, early authorities disagreed as to whether it was only killing game that was prohibited for pilgrims, or whether pilgrims should avoid eating all meat from hunted game, both that killed by their own hand and that killed by another.

ʿAlī ibn Abī Ṭālib considered eating the meat of hunted game of any kind to be discouraged ( _makrūh_ ) for pilgrims, while ʿUmar ibn al-Khaṭṭāb and ʿUthmān ibn ʿAffān considered it lawful to eat the meat of game killed by others (Ṭ). Several reports say that the Prophet was given some meat from hunted game as a gift while he was in pilgrim sanctity and that he returned it. This may, however, be because he believed that the meat had been intentionally hunted and killed on his behalf—that is, to give to him as a gift—and a _ḥ adīth_ states that the meat of hunted game is licit for pilgrims to consume, so long as they neither hunted it themselves nor had it hunted or killed on their behalf (Ṭ).

The Mālikī, Shāfiʿī, and Ḥanbalī schools thus accept that pilgrims may eat the meat of hunted game, so long as it was not killed by the pilgrims themselves or killed on their behalf. The Ḥanafī school, however, reads v. 95 more literally to mean that the prohibition applies only to game hunted and killed by the pilgrims themselves, while the meat of game hunted even on his behalf is licit for them to eat (Q). A contrasting opinion attributed to ʿAlī ibn Abī Ṭālib, Ibn ʿAbbās, and several other prominent early authorities, however, holds that the general prohibition on hunted game found in the present verse means that the meat of any hunted game is illicit for pilgrims (Q, Ṭs); this is also the view of the Twelver Shiite Jaʿfarī school of law (Ṭs). Some early authorities indicate that one can eat the meat of game one has hunted and killed prior to entering the state of pilgrim sanctity ( _i ḥrām_), although others, including Ibn ʿAbbās, do not accept this distinction (Q); Shiite commentators also reject this distinction (Ṭū).

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җ God has made the Kaʿbah, the Sacred House, a support for mankind, and the sacred month, and the offerings, and the garlands, this that you might know that God knows whatsoever is in the heavens and whatsoever is on the earth, and that God is Knower of all things.

97 Although the pilgrimage rites and access to the Makkan sanctuary ( _ḥ aram_) and the Kaʿbah were made exclusive to Muslims in the last year of the Prophet's life (see 5:2c) and non-Muslims can no longer go there, the present verse is one of several that suggest that the Makkan sanctuary has universal significance for all people, describing it as _a support for mankind_. For similar statements regarding the benefit of the sanctuary and its rites for _mankind,_ see 2:125; 3:96; 22:25. _Mankind_ translates _al-nās,_ which is not necessarily universal in connotation and can mean simply "people." Some commentators thus explain that the Kaʿbah is described as a _support for mankind,_ because it served to order the affairs of the Arabs in the pre-Islamic period (Ṭ), for just as Makkah is a place of sanctuary for wild birds and animals, in that they cannot be hunted within its borders, so too did it serve as a sanctuary for human beings (R). Since even the idolatrous Arabs observed its sacred status and maintained a ban on violence in the Kaʿbah sanctuary, it served to hold back "the strong from the weak, the evil from the virtuous, and the oppressor from the oppressed" (Ṭ). Some interpret the description of the Kaʿbah as _a support for mankind_ to mean a support for the Arabs, specifically, during the _jāhiliyyah_ period, when there was no authority to maintain order in Arabia, and that it now serves as a support for Muslims by orienting their religious rites of pilgrimage and prayer (R, Ṭ). Al-Rāzī also understands the description of the Kaʿbah as a _support for mankind_ to indicate that God has _made the Ka ʿbah_ in such a way that human beings have a natural awareness of its majesty and an inherent desire to go toward it (R).

In this verse, the _sacred month, the offerings,_ and _the garlands_ are mentioned, along with the Kaʿbah itself, as a _support for mankind_. The _sacred month_ may refer specifically to the month of Dhu'l-Ḥijjah (Z), when the pilgrimage was and is still performed, or to the four sacred months collectively (see 5:2c), in which travelers were safe from harm in pre-Islamic Arabia (R, Z); the _offerings_ refer to sacrificial animals destined for the sanctuary who could not be harmed; and _the garlands_ refer to ornamental wreaths the pre-Islamic Arabs would put around the necks of the sacrificial animals, so others would know their status and not harm or impede them as they were being led to the Kaʿbah; see 5:2 and commentary.

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Ҙ Know that God is severe in retribution, and that God is Forgiving, Merciful.

98 The description of God in this verse as being _severe in retribution_ ( _shadīd al- ʿiqāb_) comes at the end of a series of prohibitions related to the pilgrimage, and the same phrase is found at the end of v. 2, which similarly contains commands and prohibitions related to the pilgrimage. It is also found in 3:11; 40:22; 59:4, 7. The description of God as both _severe in retribution_ and _Forgiving_ and _Merciful_ (a pairing similar to that found in 13:6 and 40:3) reflects the widely held principle that a true believer is always suspended between fear of God's Wrath and hope in His Mercy. In this vein, some quote a saying, "Were the fear of a believer weighed against his hope, they would be equal" (R). The fact that the verse concludes with the mention of God's merciful and forgiving qualities is understood by some to mean that these qualities predominate in the Divine Nature (R), as in a famous _ḥ adīth qudsī_ (sacred _ḥ adīth_), "My Mercy takes precedence over My Wrath."

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ҙ Only the proclamation is incumbent upon the Messenger. And God knows what you disclose and what you conceal.

99 See 5:92c, which also discusses the reminder to the Prophet that his only responsibility is to deliver _the clear proclamation_. God's Knowledge of the unseen is repeatedly mentioned in different ways throughout the Quran. His Knowledge of what human beings disclose and hide of their own thoughts and nature is also mentioned specifically in 2:33; 11:5; 14:38; 16:19, 23; 24:29; 27:25, 74; 28:69; 33:54; 36:76; 60:1; 64:4.

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Ā Say, "The good and the wicked are not equal, though the abundance of the wicked may impress you." So reverence God, O possessors of intellect, that you may prosper.

100 This is one of many places where the Quran asserts the spiritual and qualitative inequality of human beings in a variety of ways. See, for example, 9:19; 11:23–24; 16:76; 35:19; 39:29; 57:10; 59:20; and especially 39:9: _What of one who is devoutly obedient during the watches of the night, prostrating and standing [in prayer], wary of the Hereafter and hoping for the Mercy of his Lord [_. . . _]? Say, "Are those who know and those who do not know equal? Only possessors of intellect reflect."_ In the present verse, _the wicked_ are compared to _the good,_ and although the wicked may exist in great quantity, it is understood that the good surpass the wicked in spiritual quality. With regard to the abundance of the wicked, a _ḥ adīth_ says, "Mankind is like a hundred camels, among whom you can scarcely find one to ride" (Aj). According to some, the comparison between _the wicked_ and _the good_ may refer to wicked or good things—that is, those that are licit and illicit—rather than to people (Ṭs, Ṭū).

The phrase _possessors of intellect_ ( _ūli'l-albāb_ or _ūlu'l-albāb_ in other contexts) is found throughout the Quran (see, e.g., 2:269; 3:7, 190; 12:111; 13:19; 14:52; 38:29, 43; 39:9, 18, 21; 40:54) and, as in the present verse, they are directly addressed by the Quran in several places; see 2:179, 197; 65:10. _Intellect_ translates _albāb,_ which has the primary meaning of "pith" or "kernel," denoting the pure inner essence of something, and the secondary meaning of pure intellect or heart, insofar as these represent the purest spiritual essence of the human soul (Iṣ). Such people may also be said, more literally, to possess knowledge of the inner essence of things, which must be discerned with the intellect rather than reason or the senses. Ibn ʿAjībah glosses _ūli'l-albāb_ here as "possessors of pure hearts _,_ " who "avoid the wicked, even if they are many, and who betake themselves to the good, even if they are few." In this sense, "intellect" is very different from "reason" or "rationality," in that intellect represents a faculty for the attainment of unitive knowledge directly connected to God through which one acquires knowledge of essential realities, whereas reason is the human faculty of discernment that arrives at knowledge through a logical, analytical, and dialectical process that is dualistic in its approach.

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ā O you who believe! Ask not about things which, if they were disclosed to you, would trouble you. And if you ask about them while the Quran is being sent down, they will be disclosed to you. God has pardoned this, and God is Forgiving, Clement.

Ă A people before you asked about these things, then came to be disbelievers therein.

101–2 The most widely attested account about the revelation of these verses reports that they came in response to a man who, when the Prophet announced that the _ḥ ajj_ was incumbent upon believers, asked if this meant they were required to make the _ḥ ajj_ every year. The Prophet ignored his question three times before responding, "No. But if I had said yes, it would have been obligatory for you!" (Q, Ṭ, W, Z). In another version of the Prophet's response, the Prophet added, "Keep silent regarding those things about which I am silent, for those who came before you were only destroyed by their questions and by disputing with their prophets" (Ṭ), echoing the warning in v. 102. The Prophet's answer suggests that there may be an intentional leniency or mercy in the ambiguities of certain religious commands. If one pushes to have them clarified, it might make the obligation more difficult or too difficult. Thus people should refrain from asking questions of this nature, for _if_ the matter _were disclosed_ to them, it _would trouble_ them (Ṭ).

Other reports indicate that these verses were revealed in response to those who would ask the Prophet disingenuous questions in order to test or belittle him. Such people would ask him about things that would naturally be unknown to him, such as who their father was or where their lost camel had wandered (Q, Ṭ, W), the answers to which, especially in the first case, might reveal troubling information best left unknown (R). Another report indicates that these verses were revealed after some people asked the Prophet about the idolatrous practices of _ba ḥīrah, sāʾibah, waṣīlah,_ and _ḥ ām,_ which are mentioned and refuted in v. 103 (Q, Ṭ). The general warning in v. 101 about asking questions whose answers might _trouble you_ would be applicable to all three types of questions mentioned above and can be read in connection to the statement in v. 92 that _only the clear proclamation is incumbent upon Our Messenger_ (R). Thus one should not question the Prophet about religious obligations beyond what has been revealed to him or about matters, like lost camels, that do not pertain to religious guidance and about which the Prophet has not been given any special knowledge. The Quran repeatedly states that neither the Prophet Muhammad nor the earlier prophets had access to knowledge of the unseen beyond what had been revealed to them (see, e.g., 3:44; 6:50; 7:188; 11:31).

In a more general way, some indicate that these verses are meant to discourage excessive questioning of any type and connect them to a _ḥ adīth_ in which it is said that one of the three things God dislikes among people is "too much questioning" ( _kathrat al-su ʾāl;_ Q). Nonetheless, the present verses clearly address inappropriate questioning, which is likely to lead to troubling answers, and some commentators are careful to note that appropriate questions, asked in a genuine search for religious guidance, are not discouraged (Q, R).

_And if you ask about them while the Quran is being sent down_ —that is, while the Prophet was still alive and able to receive revelation (JJ, Z)— _they will be disclosed to you_. This may indicate, by way of warning, that those who asked about such matters while the Quran was still in the process of being revealed were in particular danger of receiving a more difficult command as a result of their questions, since their questions would certainly be answered (JJ, Z). However, this statement can also be read as a license to ask legitimate questions regarding what has already been revealed, for example, about what a particular verse of the Quran means. If such questions are asked while the Prophet is still alive to receive revelation, the answers _will be disclosed_ (R). What _God has pardoned_ may be excessive or inappropriate questioning in the past (Q, R, Ṭ, Z) or perhaps the past sins that might be revealed by the answers the Prophet gives to certain inappropriate questions (R).

V. 102 mentions _a people before you_ who asked similar questions, leading them to become disbelievers. There are several examples in the Quran of earlier prophets being questioned disingenuously or inappropriately by their followers. See, for example, 4:153, where the Israelites tell Moses, _Show us God openly,_ and are then seized by a thunderbolt; 2:246–47, where the Israelites ask for a king, and when God appoints Saul for them, they proceed to question his qualifications; and 2:67–71, where Moses relates to the Israelites God's command to slaughter a cow, and they respond by asking a series of questions about the exact nature of the cow to be slaughtered in a manner that suggests an inappropriate distrust of Moses. Like the question about the _ḥ ajj_ mentioned above, their questioning makes a given command even more difficult to fulfill. Some commentators connect the reference to earlier communities who had asked inappropriate questions of their prophets to the people who asked the Prophet ṣaliḥ for a sign to prove that he was truly a prophet. When he brought them a sacred she-camel as a sign, his people hamstrung her and so brought destructive punishment down upon themselves (see 7:73–79; 11:61–68; 26:141–58; Q, Ṭ, Z). Some commentators also suggest that one example of previous peoples asking inappropriate questions of their prophets is the followers of Jesus who asked for a table spread with food ( _mā ʾidah_) to be sent down in vv. 112–15 (Q, Ṭ, Z). The Quran does not relate this account in as critical a tone as it does the story of the Israelites and the cow, but in v. 115 God does warn that any who disbelieve after He had fulfilled their request would receive an unprecedented punishment.

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ă God has not established _ba ḥīrah,_ or _sā ʾibah,_ or _wa ṣīlah,_ or _ḥ ām_. But those who disbelieve fabricate lies against God, and most of them do not understand.

103 The four Arabic terms in this verse refer to particular kinds of camels that, for various reasons, the Arabian idolaters used to consider sacred and dedicate to the gods. Such camels could not be ridden or milked for human consumption, but had to be allowed to wander and graze freely. The commentators differ on the precise nature of each of these kinds of camels, and the distinctions they mention for these different consecrated camels tend to overlap. Some report that _ba ḥīrah_ referred to a female camel who had borne five offspring (Q), the fifth of which, according to some, had to be a male (R). _Sā ʾibah_ generally referred to a female camel that was consecrated to the gods voluntarily by its owner as a supplicatory offering for overcoming illness, for protection on a journey, or as a means of giving thanks for some good fortune (R). Others report that _sā ʾibah_ may have referred to a slave that was freed completely, one for whom all ties to the former master had been severed (R). The _wa ṣīlah_ was either a female camel who had given birth to many female offspring (JJ)—particularly valuable for their milk—or a female camel who had given birth to a male and a female offspring (R). _Ḥ ām_ (the only reference to a male camel among the four) refers to the male camel who had sired many offspring (JJ) or whose offspring had sired another generation of offspring (R) and so was allowed to graze freely and could not be ridden or made to carry any burden (R).

These sacred camels would often be marked by slit ears, so that people who came upon them would be aware of their sacred status and not disturb them. See 4:119, where Satan vows to lead people astray by, among other things, commanding them to slit the ears of their livestock. See also 6:136–39, 143–45, and 10:59, which criticize the idolatrous Arabs for arbitrarily making certain kinds of livestock sacred or consecrating them to their gods. These practices are reported to be some of the first ways in which the pre-Islamic Arabs deviated from the monotheistic religion of Abraham (Ṭ). Besides being idolatrous in orientation, these practices also violate the Quran's repeated objection to arbitrarily restricting the enjoyment or consumption of the good things that God has provided for human beings (see 5:87–88 and commentary). Moreover, when they falsely represent practices they have devised themselves as either requirements of Divine Law or means of approaching the Divine (IK), they _fabricate lies against God,_ an enormous sin often connected in the Quran with the religious innovations of previous religious communities; see 3:24, 93–94; 6:21, 93, 137–40, 144; 7:37, 152; 10:17–18, 59–60, 69; 16:56, 116.

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Ą And when it is said unto them, "Come unto that which God has sent down, and unto the Messenger," they say, "Sufficient for us is that which we have found our fathers practicing." What! Even if their fathers knew naught and were not rightly guided?

104 See 2:170, for a nearly identical verse. Following upon v. 103, which repudiated the traditional idolatrous practices of making certain camels arbitrarily "sacred," the present verse suggests that such practices cannot continue to be justified by the idolaters' claims to be following the traditions of their fathers. Throughout the Quran many peoples are said to have rejected the messages of the prophets sent to them, because they were reluctant to abandon their existing idolatrous and immoral practices. Such people often invoke their fathers and their fathers' corrupt religious guidance as a basis for their rejection of the prophet. Some manifest outrage at the prophet's demand that they abandon the traditions of their fathers; see, for example, 34:43: _And when Our signs are recited unto them as clear proofs, they say, "This is naught but a man who desires to turn you from that which your fathers used to worship";_ as well as 2:170; 7:70; 10:78; 11:62, 87; 14:10; 23:24; 28:36; 31:21; 43:22–23. Elsewhere, disbelievers invoke their fathers' teachings as an excuse for their own idolatrous or immoral practices, in an ineffective attempt at deflecting blame from themselves; see 7:28: _When they commit an indecency, they say, "We found our fathers practicing it, and God has commanded us thus." Say, "Truly God commands not indecency. Do you say of God that which you know not?"_ See also 21:51–54 and 26:69–76, where Abraham upbraids his people for uncritically following the idolatrous teachings of their fathers.

This general theme, which is articulated in many of the prophetic narratives in the Quran, serves as a strong basis for the resistance to the practice of "blind obedience" ( _taqlīd_ ), without inquiry, to other people purported to be authorities in matters of religious doctrine (R). At the very least, this verse suggests that one is responsible for finding worthy sources of instruction and guidance in religion (R, Z), for when the disbelievers in this verse plead their loyalty to their fathers' traditions, they are chastised for following those who _knew naught and were not rightly guided_. Regardless of inherited customs, the Quran makes it clear that individuals are personally morally responsible for their own religious choices on the basis of what Islamic tradition considers an inherent awareness of the Being and Oneness of God, to which the Quran says they testified in a pretemporal covenant, as related in 7:172.

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ą O you who believe! You have charge of your own souls. He who is astray cannot harm you if you are rightly guided. Unto God shall be your return all together, and He shall inform you of what you used to do.

105 If the previous verse rejected the claim of the disbelievers who refused prophetic guidance on the basis that they were following the practices of their fathers, the present verse can be read, in one sense, as asserting that all human beings have responsibility for the fate of their own souls. _You have charge of your own souls_ could also be read in the imperative: "Take charge of your own souls!" which some commentators see as an admonition to take care to preserve one's own soul from religious disobedience (Q, R). _He who is astray_ may be a reference to the "fathers" from whom the disbelievers in the previous verse claim to take their religious guidance. It may also be a reference to other disbelievers, or perhaps even to Satan, who is said in several verses to possess no independent authority over people's souls or moral choices (see 14:22; 15:42; 16:99; 17:65; 34:21).

Most commentators, however, interpret this verse to mean that ultimately one is morally responsible for only oneself. The commentators' primary concern with this verse was the extent to which the idea that one was morally responsible for only oneself would compromise the importance of _enjoining right and forbidding wrong,_ established as a principle for believers and the believing community in other verses of the Quran (3:104, 110, 114; 7:157, 199; 9:67) and considered one of the religious obligations of all Muslims, individually and collectively (R, Ṭ). Most commentators maintain, therefore, that this verse does not in any way nullify the obligation to enjoin right and forbid wrong, but simply indicates that if one's calls nevertheless go unheeded, one bears no moral responsibility for those who refused to accept the admonition (R, Ṭ, Z). Others interpret _you have charge of your own souls_ to mean "you have charge over your own," meaning that you have a moral responsibility to guide the members of your own religious community, but not those outside it (R). Some say that the intended meaning is that one should not be grieved by the recalcitrance of others (R) in the face of moral admonition, since even the Prophet is told that he has no control over whether the Divine message he brings will be accepted or not (see 5:92c; 5:99c).

A number of statements attributed to the Prophet's Companions asserted that the time for the message of this verse to take effect had not yet been realized. They suggested that it was only in the distant, perhaps apocalyptic, future, when people will be widely impervious to religious guidance and the world will be filled with moral enormities, that people would become responsible for simply protecting their own souls from moral destruction (Ṭ, Th). This represents a rather weak view, however, since it would restrict the relevance of the verse to circumstances in the distant future.

The idea that God will _inform_ people in the Hereafter about what they _used to do,_ their own past actions and things over which there were religious differences, is mentioned in several other places in the Quran (5:48; 6:60; 9:94, 105; 10:23; 29:8; 31:15; 39:7; 62:8).

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Ć O you who believe! The witness between you, when death approaches one of you, at the time of the bequest, shall be two just men among you, or two from among other than yourselves if you are traveling upon the earth when death befalls you. Detain the two of them after the prayer, and let them both swear by God, if you doubt [them], "We will not sell it for any price, though he were a kinsman, nor will we conceal the witness of God, for then we would surely be among the sinners."

106 In Islamic Law, one may bequeath up to one-third of one's wealth prior to one's death to anyone who is not already entitled to an ordained share of inheritance as stipulated in 4:11–12. The Quran initially enjoined leaving bequests in a general way for parents and other relatives (2:180) and for widows (2:240). After the revelation of 4:11–12, which assigned specific shares of the inheritance to parents, widows, and other close relatives, most Islamic legal schools considered the stipulated heirs to be ineligible to receive such bequests (see 2:180c for a fuller discussion). One of the stipulations of 4:11–12, however, is that any known bequests made by the deceased to others must be rendered before the remainder of the property is divided among the legal heirs.

Such bequests must be made in the presence of two witnesses, which is also true of other transactions of property; see 2:282, regarding the contracting of debt, and 4:6, which concerns giving orphans their property when they reach maturity. In the present verse, _the witness between you,_ or according to another reading, "the witness to what is with you," _when death approaches_ must be _two just men among you,_ which is widely interpreted to mean two men from among the community of Muslims (Ṭ). _Two from among other than yourselves_ could thus refer to non-Muslims who might be called upon to witness the bequest when one is _traveling upon the earth,_ presumably among non-Muslims (Q, Ṭ). Some say that the non-Muslim witnesses may be from any religious community, since the verse is not specific on this issue, but others say that they should be from the Jewish, Christian, or Zoroastrian communities, and testimony from those belonging to these three communities has been legally accepted in Islamic courts (Ṭ). In Islamic courts in India, Hindu testimony was also accepted in some cases. A minority interpret _two just men among you_ to mean two men from among one's neighbors, in which case, _two from among other than yourselves_ would refer to those outside one's immediate community (Q, Ṭ). Based upon the gender of the adjective _just_ ( _dhawā ʿadl_), the verse is understood as requiring two male witnesses (Q).

The present verse was reportedly revealed after an incident involving a Muslim man who became ill and died while traveling with two Christian companions. The young man entrusted his possessions to his companions to give to his family. Upon their return, the companions gave the man's possessions to his family, and the Prophet made them swear that they had held nothing back. Later, however, it was discovered that they had kept for themselves a valuable silver drinking vessel. When one of the deceased's heirs saw the cup, he recognized it as one of the deceased man's possessions and testified that it should have been part of the bequest (Ṭ, Z).

Commentators generally indicate that it is necessary for the witnesses to be "detained" or made to swear an oath before God only in cases where their faithfulness is suspect (Q, Ṭ). Detaining _them after the prayer_ ( _ṣ alāh_) is widely understood to mean after the Islamic late afternoon ( _ʿ aṣr_) prayer, as it was reported that the Prophet's practice was to exact oaths from people at this time specifically (Ṭ). Some maintain, however, that _the prayer_ does not necessarily refer to the Islamic canonical prayer, since the witnesses might be non-Muslims, in which case they should be detained after their own prayer (Ṭ), presumably because they are more likely to be faithful witnesses and to fear making a false oath before God after having completed their prayers. The oath to _not sell it for any price_ is a promise that they will not profit from their witnessing in any way (Ṭ). This verse is also evidence that solemn oaths should be sworn _by God,_ an idea supported by a _ḥ adīth,_ "Whosoever would swear an oath, let him swear by God or be silent" (Q). The foundational legal scholar al-Shāfiʿī, however, also permitted swearing upon a written copy of the Quran (Q). Regarding the significance of oath taking, see v. 89.

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ć But if it is discovered that the two of them are guilty of sin, then two others shall stand in their place, from those most entitled as claimants, and swear by God, "Indeed, our witness is truer than their witness, and we have not transgressed, for then we would surely be among the wrongdoers."

107 _But if it is discovered that the two of them are guilty of sin_ —that is, of betraying the trust they specifically undertook as witnesses to the bequest of the deceased (Q, Ṭ)—then _two others_ will stand in their place. These _two others_ will be among _those most entitled as claimants_ to the bequest of the deceased (Ṭ), whose rights have therefore been violated by the unfaithful witnesses (Ṭ). This phrase may also be rendered "those nearest to it," meaning both those most entitled to receive the bequest and those nearest to the affairs of the deceased and thus having greater knowledge of his situation (Z). These _two others_ must take an oath to their own truthfulness because, as claimants to the bequest, they are not disinterested witnesses (Ṭ). As part of this oath they swear that they have not _transgressed,_ that is, exceeded the limits in the testimony they have given regarding the bequest (Ṭ).

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Ĉ Thus it is more likely that they will bear true witness, or fear that their oaths will be countered by oaths thereafter. And reverence God and listen. God guides not iniquitous people.

108 The various procedures for assuring the truthful witness of those present at a bequest in vv. 106–7 are intended to make it likely that the witnesses will execute the bequest faithfully and to increase public trust in such matters. Some suggest that the verses are intended to impress upon all people the solemnity and seriousness of taking oaths or serving as witnesses to such bequests (Q). As such, vv. 106–8 are among a number of passages that insist upon the religious duty of truthful witness (4:135; 5:8) and of faithfully fulfilling matters with which one has been entrusted (2:283; 4:58; 8:27; 23:8–11; 70:32–35).

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ĉ The day when God will gather the messengers and say, "What response did you receive?" they will say, "We have no knowledge. Truly it is Thou Who knowest best the things unseen."

109 This verse is meant as a warning about _the day when God will gather the messengers_ and can be understood to mean "Beware of the day when . . ." Although no explicit warning is issued, some indicate that the verse follows upon the admonition in v. 108, _reverence God and listen_ (R, Ṭ, Ṭs, Z), or upon the last sentence of v. 108, so that it reads, _God guides not the iniquitous people_ [on] _the day when God will gather the messengers_ (R, Z). God's question to the prophets, _What response did you receive?_ is meant as a rebuke to their people (Bḍ, Ṭ). The question is addressed to the prophets, because they are the leaders of their communities (Th). The commentators seek to explain why the prophets, when questioned by God about this matter, claim that they _have no knowledge_ of it, when, as witnesses for and against their own communities, they surely know the answer. Some commentators suggest that even the prophets will be too overwhelmed with awe at the terrors of that Day to respond immediately, but will later regain their composure and proceed to testify to the actions of their respective communities (Ṭ, Z). This explanation is hard to reconcile, however, with other verses that state that the believers—and the prophets are surely among them—will have no fear on that Day (2:62; 21:103; R, Ṭs).

Considering the prophets' further response, _Thou . . . knowest best the things unseen_ (cf. v. 116), they may simply be indicating that they are not aware of what their communities have done after they themselves have passed away or of the secret intentions of their followers (R, Ṭ, Z). Yet, this explanation also seems inconsistent with the Quranic idea that the prophets will testify against their communities on the Day of Judgment (2:143; 4:69; 22:78; 57:19). The prophets' statement that they _have no knowledge_ is probably best understood as the prophets' expression of humility before God's Knowledge (Z), meaning either "we have no knowledge save what Thou hast taught us," which is identical to the response the angels give to God in 2:32, or "we have no knowledge save that Thy Knowledge thereof is the same or greater" (Bḍ, R, Ṭ). In the same vein, it may also be the prophets' acknowledgment that, although they know the outward aspects of people's actions, God alone knows their secrets (R). Thus the prophets, although aware of the deeds of their communities, prefer to entrust the matter of their judgment to God (Z).

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Đ Then God will say, "O Jesus son of Mary! Remember My Blessing upon thee, and upon thy mother, when I strengthened thee with the Holy Spirit, that thou mightest speak to people in the cradle and in maturity; and when I taught thee the Book, Wisdom, the Torah, and the Gospel; and how thou wouldst create out of clay the shape of a bird, by My Leave, and thou wouldst breathe into it, and it would become a bird, by My Leave; and thou wouldst heal the blind and the leper, by My Leave; and thou wouldst bring forth the dead, by My Leave; and how I restrained the Children of Israel from thee, when thou didst bring them clear proofs, and those who disbelieved among them said, 'This is naught but manifest sorcery.'

110 This verse continues in the context of God speaking to the prophets on the Day of Judgment, but here and for nearly the remainder of the _sūrah_ God addresses Jesus specifically regarding his mission and the actions of his followers. The present verse rehearses many of the extraordinary qualities attributed to Jesus throughout the Quran. He is _strengthened . . . with the Holy Spirit_ (see 2:87, 253; for the role the Spirit plays in his creation, see also 4:171; 19:17; 21:91; 66:12). The _Holy Spirit_ ( _rū ḥ al-qudus_) is widely understood in its Quranic context and in the commentary tradition to be a reference to the Archangel Gabriel, the angel of revelation (Ṭ; see also 16:102; 17:85; 26:193; 42:52; 97:4). It is also identified with the Spirit ( _al-Rū ḥ_) as such, which the Quran describes as being _from the Command of my Lord_ (17:85). Given the grammatical form of _rū ḥ al-qudus,_ it could also be rendered "Spirit of the holy" or even "Spirit of God," since it is related to the Divine Name _al-Quddūs_ ( _the Holy;_ see 59:23; R); see also 2:87c. Given the connection between Jesus and the Spirit, his prophetic title is _Rū ḥ Allāh,_ or "Spirit of God," which can therefore also be used as a proper name in Islam.

In this verse Jesus is also described as a bearer of revelation in a manner similar to that used to describe other prophets: he has been taught _the Book and Wisdom_ (3:81; 4:54, 113), a phrase used to refer to the scriptures of the prophets and to the prophets' knowledge of their meaning, respectively (Ṭ; see also 2:129, 151, 231; 3:164; 62:2); and he has been given _clear proofs,_ also said of Jesus in 2:87, 253, and used as a general term for Divine Revelation in all its forms throughout the Quran. Jesus' ability to _speak to people in the cradle,_ meaning his ability to speak to people while he himself was an infant, also found in 3:46 and 19:29–30, is an exclusively Quranic attribute not found in the Bible. His creating live birds out of clay birds, healing the _blind_ and the _leper,_ and raising the dead are likewise recounted in 3:49 (for _blind_ and _leper,_ see 3:49c). These last three miraculous powers attributed to Jesus are extraordinary in that they suggest powers usually reserved for God: God is the one who heals in 26:8; He is the raiser of the dead throughout the Quran; and the creation of birds from clay and bringing them to life by breathing upon them is exactly parallel to God's creation of the human being (15:26–29; 32:7–9; 38:71–72). The verse repeatedly makes clear, however, that all these powers are done by God's leave ( _by My Leave_ ) and so are ultimately His. Jesus' ability to heal and power to raise the dead are also found in the canonical Gospels, and a similar account of Jesus' creating birds from clay is given in the noncanonical _Infancy Gospel of Thomas._

That God _restrained the Children of Israel from_ him is understood by most commentators to mean that He thwarted their attempt to slay him, since the Quran asserts that they did not _slay him; nor did they crucify him_ (see 4:157 and commentary). Jesus' miracles are dismissed by some as _manifest sorcery_ (see also 61:6). Similar accusations of sorcery were made against Muhammad (6:7; 10:2; 21:3; 43:30; 46:7; 74:24; also 54:2, regarding the splitting of the moon), Moses (10:76; 20:57; 27:13; 28:36), and the messengers of God in general (11:7; 34:43; 37:15).

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đ And when I inspired the apostles to believe in Me and in My messenger, they said, 'We believe. Bear witness that we are submitters.'"

111–15 These verses recount the incident in which Jesus' apostles request, and God sends down _from Heaven,_ a table _spread with food_ ( _al-mā ʾidah_—from which this _sūrah_ takes its name).

111 Cf. 3:52–53, where Jesus' apostles also testify that they are _muslim_ s—that is, submitters unto God—although their assertion there is followed by the statement in 3:54 that they _plotted_. In this verse, God speaks in the first person to state that He _inspired the apostles to believe,_ using a verb for "inspired" that is related to _wa ḥy,_ which usually denotes prophetic revelation. In this context, it is glossed as a "casting into the heart," indicating a less direct or verbatim form of inspiration than what the prophets received (IK, Ṭ). From a theological perspective, the fact that the apostles' "belief" precedes their submitting unto God as _muslim_ s indicates that inward belief should precede the outward conforming of one's actions to the Divine Will (R), an idea reflected in the Islamic theological formulation that faith consists of "knowledge in the heart, affirmation with the tongue, and proper action with the limbs."

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Ē When the apostles said, "O Jesus son of Mary! Is thy Lord able to send down to us from Heaven a table spread with food?" He said, "Reverence God, if you are believers."

ē They said, "We desire to eat from it, so that our hearts may be at peace, and we may know that thou hast spoken truthfully unto us, and we may be among the witnesses thereto."

112–13 The apostles' question seems to suggest a certain doubt in God's Omnipotence, since they ask whether God is _able_ to send down the table spread with food. They may have desired such food for either simple nourishment or the spiritual blessing of consuming heavenly food (Āl), or both. Yet it is the apparent disrespect or lack of appreciation of God's Power that their question suggests that leads Jesus to respond, with a tone of rebuke according to some, _Reverence God, if you are believers. Reverence God_ ( _ittaqū'Llāh_ ) also carries the meaning "Have fear of God" (Ṭ). Because their request comes shortly after the recounting of Jesus' many miraculous abilities in v. 110, it may suggest a certain ingratitude for the signs they have already been given (R). Some early commentators read the verse to indicate that the apostles were asking Jesus if he was able to beseech God on their behalf to send down the table, rather than questioning God's ability to do so (Ṭ). In the latter case, Jesus' response was meant as a rebuke, since their asking for a sign might indicate their lack of faith or certainty in Jesus' status as a prophet (Ṭ, Z), despite their claim of faith in v. 111. The Quran contains several other accounts of people requesting a sign from their prophets due to lack of faith (see 4:153; 6:37, 109; 7:203c).

The apostles' response to Jesus' rebuke is to express their desire that their _hearts may be at peace_ and that they might have direct confirmation of Jesus' prophetic message. This response suggests that the apostles' motivations are similar to those of Abraham in 2:260: _And when Abraham said, "My Lord, show me how Thou givest life to the dead," He said, "Dost thou not believe?" He said, "Yea, indeed, but so that my heart may be at peace"_ (R). In fact, Jesus' words _Reverence God, if you are believers_ may not be meant as a rebuke at all, but rather as a reminder that an attitude of reverence would lead God to fulfill their request (R). The apostles' promise to be _witnesses thereto_ means either that they will be witnesses to this miracle for those not present or that they will be witnesses to the truth of God's Oneness and Power and to Jesus' prophethood (Ṭ, Z).

According to one commentator, the apostles' request followed a thirty-day fast, after which Jesus had advised them that God would grant them any need they might have (Th), thus creating a parallel between this account and the Islamic _ʿ Īd al-fiṭr_ (the Feast of Breaking Fast), which follows the month-long fast of Ramadan (note that when Jesus makes the request of God in v. 114, he indicates that it should be a "feast," _ʿ īd,_ for them). Although this story has no direct parallel in the Gospel accounts, and some consider it something known only to Muslims through the Quran (IK), it may be linked with the Gospel account of the multiplication of the loaves and fishes (Matthew 14:13–21; Mark 6:32–44) or more indirectly with the story of the Last Supper, and by extension to the "heavenly food" of the Christian Eucharist, which is based on it. Insofar as it is a story of faith and miracles, it may also be compared to Gospel accounts of Jesus rebuking his apostles for lacking faith in God's ability to provide food for them (see Matthew 6:31; 16:5–10; Luke 12:28–29) or asserting that the lack of faith prevents God's miraculous intervention (Matthew 17:15–21).

***

Ĕ Jesus son of Mary said, "O God, our Lord! Send down unto us a table from Heaven spread with food, to be a feast for us—for the first of us and the last of us—and a sign from Thee, and provide for us, for Thou art the best of providers."

ĕ God said, "I shall indeed send it down unto you. But whosoever among you disbelieves thereafter, I shall surely punish him with a punishment wherewith I have not punished any other in all the worlds."

114–15 Jesus' prayer that the _table from Heaven spread with food_ be _a feast_ ( _ʿ īd_) _for us—for the first of us and the last of us_ may simply be a request that God send down sufficient food for all Jesus' followers (Ṭ, Z). As such, it has some resonance with the Gospel account of the multiplication of the loaves and fishes (mentioned in 5:112–13c). However, Jesus' wish that the Heaven-sent table be a _feast,_ using _ʿ īd,_ which connotes both "returning" and "joy" and is used to denote Muslim religious holidays, may also indicate that he and his followers, present and future, would observe the day of this event as a sacred feast (R, Ṭ, Z). Some say that this perpetually observed feast day is Sunday (Z), which would support the suggestion that this Quranic account is a reference to the Eucharist.

Varying reports indicate that the Heaven-sent food consisted of fish (Ṭ, Z), of meat and bread, of paradisal fruits, or of all kinds of food except meat (Ṭ). According to one report, it came down as a red cloth spread with food, between two clouds, whereupon Jesus prayed, "O God, make me one of the thankful. O God, make this [table] a mercy, and make it not a punishment" (R, Z). Some commentators, however, maintain that no _table . . . spread with food_ was sent down at all, and the story is simply a parable told to discourage people from asking for such things in the future (R, Ṭ); some report that the apostles withdrew their request and repented after hearing God's warning in v. 115 that whoever disbelieves after He sent down the table will be punished _with a punishment_ such as none have seen before (IK, Ṭ, Z). However, given God's affirmation, in v. 115, _I shall indeed send it down unto you_ and the principle that whatever God promises shall come to pass, most commentators maintain that the table was actually sent down (IK, R). And despite the varying accounts of its contents, this table may represent, above all, the descent of spiritual blessings and nourishment (R).

***

Ė And when God said, "O Jesus son of Mary! Didst thou say unto mankind, 'Take me and my mother as gods apart from God?'" He said, "Glory be to Thee! It is not for me to utter that to which I have no right. Had I said it, Thou wouldst surely have known it. Thou knowest what is in my self and I know not what is in Thy Self. Truly it is Thou Who knowest best the things unseen.

116 Some assert that God's questioning of Jesus in this verse took place immediately after his ascension (3:55; 4:158). Yet the verse seems, rather, to bring the discussion back to God's questioning the prophets, apparently on the Day of Judgment, about how people responded to their messages, as initiated in v. 109. Although many prophets and their messages were forgotten over time, the issue here is the extent to which Jesus' spiritual station was exaggerated by his followers after his death to the point that they attributed divinity to him and his mother. Following immediately upon the warning in v. 115 that whoever disbelieved after the miracle of the table would be punished, this verse suggests that this is the disbelief of which they had been warned.

Although traditional Christian doctrine does not view Mary as a member of the Trinity, the Quran may here be referring to certain Orthodox and Roman Catholic doctrines regarding Mary, for example, her identification as Theotokos, or "Mother of God," which is a doctrinal extension of the Christian belief in Christ's divinity. The implicit criticism of the divinization of Mary here may also suggest that she is understood to be the third person in the Trinity as it is criticized by the Quran (cf. 4:171; 5:73), rather than the "Holy Spirit," since the latter term is used in the Quran, as already mentioned, primarily as a reference to the Archangel Gabriel, and it is never suggested that he was improperly divinized. In this verse, however, the Quran may be criticizing not Christian doctrinal formulations concerning Mary, but rather popular Christian exaggerations of Mary's status that approach divinization, similar to the Quranic criticism in 9:31: _They have taken their rabbis and monks as lords apart from God, as well as the Messiah, son of Mary, though they were only commanded to worship one God._

Connecting the belief in Jesus' divinity to his miraculous actions recounted in v. 110, al-Rāzī says that if Christians consider Jesus' miracles to have been "created" by him at will—that is, that he, rather than God, had full control over them—then they effectively consider him Divine (R). Jesus indicates that he bears no responsibility for such exaggerations of his or his mother's status, but rather than directly denying that he commanded his followers to take him and his mother _as gods apart from God,_ he demonstrates an attitude of proper comportment before God by offering a response of perfect humility, saying he had _no right_ to utter such a thing (Bḍ, R). His further response is similar to that given by the prophets in v. 109, indicating that his testimony is ultimately unnecessary, since God knows all things, including _the things unseen_ (see v. 109 and commentary), thus properly deferring the matter to Him (R). Jesus' statement that God knows what is in his _self,_ but that he does not know what is in God's _Self,_ may simply mean that God knows whatever Jesus knows, while God's Knowledge remains unknown to Jesus (Z), or that God knows what Jesus might hide within himself, but that Jesus does not know what is hidden in God (R). _Self,_ used in connection with both Jesus and God, translates _nafs;_ in the case of Jesus, it refers to his human soul, whereas in the case of God, it can be said to refer to His Essence (R).

***

ė I said naught to them save that which Thou commanded me: 'Worship God, my Lord and your Lord.' And I was a witness over them, so long as I remained among them. But when Thou didst take me [to Thyself], it was Thou Who wast the Watcher over them. And Thou art Witness over all things.

Ę If Thou punisheth them, they are indeed Thy servants, but if Thou forgiveth them, then indeed Thou art the Mighty, the Wise."

117–18 _Worship God, my Lord and your Lord_ is a common formulation of the prophetic message found throughout the Quran. Jesus gives this same command in 3:51; 5:72; 19:36; 43:64; it is attributed to Hūd in 11:56, Moses in 40:27 and 44:20, and Muhammad in 2:139 and 42:15. Continuing in the same tone of humility seen in vv. 109 and 116, Jesus claims no ability to be witness for his people after his time on earth; his witness lasted only for the duration of his earthly life, but God, he says, is _Witness over all things._ In fact, some maintain that the purpose of God's question to Jesus in v. 116 was to inform Jesus of his followers' actions after he was no longer among them rather than to obtain knowledge of things that God, being omniscient, would have already known (Ṭ).

Jesus further manifests his humility before God by refusing to suggest either the punishment or the forgiveness of his errant followers; instead, he entrusts the matter entirely to God. Although the error of taking Jesus and his mother _as gods apart from God_ (v. 116) might be considered by some as a form of _shirk_ (ascribing partners to God, "idolatry") and thus as "unforgiveable," according to 4:48 and 4:116, many commentators suggest that these Christian beliefs do not actually rise to the level of _shirk,_ but are rather considered mere "sins," which God may certainly forgive (R). The Ashʿarites, who refuse to limit God's freedom to assign reward or punishment by making it contingent upon human actions, consider His possible forgiveness of Christian errors of belief as fully within the scope of His just action and Wisdom (R). Jesus' suggestion that God may forgive his followers, while also leaving the matter of their punishment or forgiveness completely in God's Hands, indicates the proper manner in which prophets intercede for their people, and some consider this verse a proof that God may accept the intercession of prophets on behalf of their sinful followers (R). According to a _ḥ adīth,_ the Prophet was once heard praying from night until morning, reciting only v. 118 in each cycle of prayer. When a Companion, Abū Dharr, asked him about this matter, the Prophet responded that he had been asking His Lord for the ability to intercede for his community and that it had been granted for all those who were innocent of the sin of _shirk_ (IK).

***

ę God said, "This is the Day wherein the truthful shall benefit from their truthfulness. For them shall be Gardens with rivers running below, abiding therein forever. God is content with them, and they are content with Him. That is the great triumph."

119 Commentators consider God's statement here to be the final part of His address to Jesus, either immediately after his ascension or more likely on the Day of Judgment (R, Ṭ). This verse concludes the account of God's reckoning with the prophets and their followers in vv. 109–18 with a promise of bliss in the Hereafter for those who are _truthful_. Cf. 33:7–8, where a connection is made between the covenant God establishes with the prophets and His questioning the _truthful . . . concerning their truthfulness;_ and 33:24, where God rewards _the truthful for their truthfulness_. The reward for truthfulness is said to apply only to those who were truthful in their earthly lives, when it was a matter of choice. None can avoid being truthful on the Day of Judgment (not even Satan), but they are not rewarded for it (R, Z).

The present verse brings together several common descriptions of inward and outward paradisal bliss that are repeated throughout the Quran. The blessed will abide forever in _Gardens with rivers running below,_ an image presented dozens of times throughout the Quran (see 2:25 and commentary). They experience a state of mutual contentment with God, also mentioned in 9:100; 58:22; 89:28; 98:8. Al-Rāzī describes this state of mutual contentment as one of the wondrous secrets of Paradise whose reality cannot be described in words (R). The bliss of the Hereafter is always described in the Quran as a state of joy that is calm and peaceful, and "contentment" is mentioned as the characteristic of paradisal existence in 3:15; 9:21, 72; 22:59; 69:21; 88:9; 92:21; 93:5; 101:7. Moreover, deeds are considered righteous insofar as they are undertaken with the intention of seeking God's Contentment with them; see 3:174; 5:2, 16; 9:109; 19:6; 57:27; 59:8. Finally, attaining the reward of Paradise is described as _the great triumph,_ a phrase connected with the blessings of Paradise throughout the Quran (see, e.g., 3:185; 4:13; 6:16; 9:72, 89, 100; 10:64; 45:30; 48:5). Some commentators, however, indicate that in the present verse, _the great triumph_ describes the state of mutual contentment with God to the exclusion of the other paradisal blessings (Qu, R). This is supported by reading this verse in conjunction with 9:72: _God has promised the believing men and the believing women Gardens with rivers running below, to abide therein, and goodly dwellings in the Gardens of Eden. But Contentment from God is greater; that is the great triumph!_ Contentment from God ( _ri ḍwān_) is thus understood to allude to the highest Paradise.

***

Ġ Unto God belongs sovereignty over the heavens and the earth and whatsoever is therein, and He is Powerful over all things.

120 Some view this statement as a final rebuke to those who would attribute divinity to Jesus and Mary (mentioned in v. 116), indicating that they, along with all beings, fall under God's Sovereignty and Power (Aj, Ṭ). Al-Rāzī says that this verse is meant as a final warning to people that they, like all created beings, animate and inanimate, are completely under God's Power and submitted to His Will, and that whatever knowledge or power they may ascribe to themselves is nothing before His Knowledge and Power. Al-Rāzī notes that this _sūrah_ opens with a reminder to the believers to "fulfill their pacts" with God and proceeds to outline various ritual and legal requirements that they must meet. But the _sūrah_ ends with the final absorption of the individual soul in the totality of God's Reality. If the _sūrah_ opens by establishing the laws governing the servant and thus the relationship of servanthood to Lordship, it ends with the reminder that all that is other than God is contingent in essence and remains completely within God's Sovereignty and Power (R).

##

## The Cattle

## _al-An ʿām_

Revealed in the Makkan period, _al-An ʿām_ clearly addresses the challenges faced by the Prophet and the Muslims engaged in a religious struggle with the idolatrous Makkans. The _sūrah_ takes its name from the discussion of idolatrous ritual prohibitions on the consumption of certain kinds of cattle and the Quranic assertion, in response, that God puts no such restrictions on the cattle He has created and allowed for human consumption (vv. 136–45). The primary concern of the _sūrah_ is to refute through powerful arguments various kinds of idolatry in general—including the worship of idols, celestial bodies, and jinn—and to discredit the idolatrous and humanly invented ritual practices of the Makkans in particular. Many consider this _sūrah_ to be a late Makkan one and thus to reflect the culmination of the Prophet's struggle and effort to persuade the Makkans to abandon idolatry and follow the Quranic message prior to his migration from Makkah to Madinah in 622. The Prophet is directly addressed throughout the _sūrah_ and given specific arguments and challenges to pose to the disbelievers in Makkah. Its verses collectively sum up the Quranic argument against all forms of idolatry.

According to a _ḥ adīth,_ " _Sūrat al-An ʿām_ was sent down all at once, accompanied by seventy thousand angels, hymning glorifications and praises" (IK, Q, Z). A longer version of this ḥadīth cited by al-Zamakhsharī adds, "So whoever recites _al-An ʿām,_ praise and blessings be upon him; these seventy thousand angels seek forgiveness for him with each verse of _Sūrat al-An ʿām,_ day and night." Another report mentions that one particular verse (v. 59, which begins, _And with Him are the keys of the Unseen. None knows them but He_ ) was sent down with twelve thousand angels of its own (Q). Some early authorities, however, considered certain verses, perhaps vv. 20, 23, 91, 93, 114, 141, and 151–53, to have been revealed in Madinah (Z). Some consider v. 145, which designates four kinds of meat forbidden to Muslims, to have been revealed during the Farewell Pilgrimage on the Day of ʿArafah (Q).

The _sūrah_ begins with a powerful statement of God as the universal and omniscient Creator (vv. 1–3). After rejecting the Makkans' excuses for not heeding the warning of the Prophet Muhammad, the _sūrah_ continues with a reminder of the fate that befell previous generations who had ignored the warnings of the messengers God had sent them and a preview of the fate that awaits them in the Hereafter (vv. 4–31). Vv. 32–36 seek to console the Prophet in the face of the Makkans' rejection, and vv. 37–73 include a series of arguments and statements that the Prophet is instructed to present in the face of the idolaters' continued rejection of the Quranic message. In vv. 74–83, there is the account of Abraham's argument against worshipping anything other than God, in which he points out to his people that even the celestial bodies, which they considered to have great power over the earth and its inhabitants, were ephemeral and changing. This pericope about Abraham is followed by a mention of the prophets and revelations that came after him, concluding with a mention of the Quran as part of, and a confirmer of, this prophetic and scriptural legacy (vv. 84–92).

Vv. 95–99 discuss God as the giver of both life and death, in this world and the next. Several verses in the latter half of the _sūrah_ address the arbitrary restrictions on the consumption of certain kinds of meat as observed by the Makkan idolaters—along with the pre-Islamic Makkan practice of "slaying their children" (vv. 137, 140)—and counters with a simpler set of dietary restrictions as revealed to the Prophet (vv. 116–21, 136, 138–50) and a concise list of Divinely imposed commands and prohibitions (vv. 151–53). After further warnings to the Makkans about the consequences of rejecting the Quranic message, the _sūrah_ concludes with a powerful statement of monotheistic belief and utter devotion to the One God that the Prophet is instructed to issue in the face of continuing Makkan resistance (vv. 161–64). Perhaps by way of warning, the final verse (v. 165) invokes the idea that God causes generations to succeed one another in the life of the world, whose vagaries are merely a test of individual human character.

### In the Name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful

¡ Praise be to God, Who created the heavens and the earth, and made darkness and light. Yet those who do not believe ascribe equals to their Lord! * He it is Who created you from clay, then decreed a term. A term is appointed with Him—yet still you doubt! + He is God in the heavens and on the earth: He knows your secret and that which you make public, and He knows that which you earn. J Never did a sign from among the signs of their Lord come unto them, but that they turned away from it. Z They indeed denied the truth when it came unto them, but tidings will soon come to them of that which they used to mock. j Have they not considered how many a generation We destroyed before them? We had established them on the earth more firmly than We have established you, and We sent the sky upon them with abundant rains, and made rivers flow beneath them. Then We destroyed them for their sins, and brought into being after them another generation. z Had We sent down unto thee a Book inscribed on parchment, such that they could touch it with their hands, those who do not believe would have said, "This is naught but manifest sorcery." { And they would say, "Why has not an angel been sent down unto him?" Had We sent down an angel, then the matter would be decreed, and they would be granted no respite. | Had We made him an angel, We would have sent him as a man, thus obscuring for them that which they themselves obscure. Ċ Messengers have surely been mocked before thee. Then those who scoffed at them were beset by that which they used to mock. Ě Say, "Journey upon the earth and behold how the deniers fared in the end." Ī Say, "Unto whom belongs whatsoever is in the heavens and on the earth?" Say, "Unto God. He has prescribed Mercy for Himself. He will surely gather you on the Day of Resurrection, in which there is no doubt. Those who have lost their souls, they do not believe. ĺ Unto Him belongs all that dwells in the night and in the day, and He is the Hearing, the Knowing." Ŋ Say, "Shall I take as a protector anyone other than God, the Originator of the heavens and the earth, who feeds and is not fed?" Say, "I was commanded to be the first of those who submit." And be not among the idolaters. Ś Say, "Truly I fear the punishment of a tremendous Day should I disobey my Lord." Ū Whosoever is spared on that Day, He has certainly been merciful unto him, and that is the manifest triumph. ź If God should touch thee with affliction, none can remove it save He, and should He touch thee with goodness, then He is Powerful over all things. Ɗ He is Dominant over His servants; and He is the Wise, the Aware. ƚ Say, "What thing is greatest as testimony?" Say, "God is Witness between you and me. And this Quran has been revealed unto me, that thereby I may warn you and whomsoever it may reach. Do you truly bear witness that there are other gods beside God?" Say, "I bear no such witness." Say, "He is only One God, and truly I am quit of that which you ascribe as partners unto Him." Ȋ Those unto whom We gave the Book recognize it as they recognize their own children. Those who have lost their souls, they do not believe. ! Who does greater wrong than one who fabricates a lie against God or denies His signs? Surely the wrongdoers will not prosper. " And on the Day when We shall gather them all together, We shall say unto those who ascribed partners unto God, "Where are those partners whom you claimed?" # Then their contention will be but to say, "By God, our Lord, we were not idolaters." $ Behold how they lie against themselves, but that which they used to fabricate has forsaken them. % Among them are those who listen to thee, but We have placed coverings over their hearts, such that they understand it not, and in their ears a deafness. Were they to see every sign, they would not believe in it, so that when they come to thee, they dispute with thee. Those who disbelieve say, "This is naught but fables of those of old." & And they forbid it, and keep away from it, and they destroy none but themselves, though they are unaware. ' If thou couldst see when they are arraigned before the Fire, whereupon they will say, "Would that we were sent back! Then we would not deny the signs of our Lord, but we would be among the believers!" ( Nay, but it has now become clear to them what they used to hide. And even if they were sent back, they would return to the very thing they had been forbidden. Truly they are liars. ) They say, "There is naught but our life in this world, and we shall not be resurrected." Ð If thou couldst see when they are arraigned before their Lord, He will say, "Is this not the truth?" They will say, "Yea, indeed, by our Lord!" He will say, "Then taste the punishment for having disbelieved." Ñ Lost indeed are those who deny the meeting with God till, when the Hour comes upon them suddenly, they say, "Alas for us, that we neglected it!" They will bear their burdens upon their backs. Behold! Evil is that which they bear! Ò The life of this world is naught but play and diversion. Better indeed is the Abode of the Hereafter for those who are reverent. Do you not understand? Ó We know well that what they say grieves thee. Yet, it is not thee that they deny. Rather, it is the signs of God that the wrongdoers reject. Ô Surely messengers were denied before thee, and they bore patiently their being denied and persecuted till Our help came to them. None alters the Words of God, and there has already come unto thee some tidings of the messengers. Õ And if their turning away is distressing to thee, then seekest, if thou canst, a tunnel into the earth, or a ladder unto the sky, that thou mightest bring them a sign. Had God willed, He would have gathered them all to guidance—so be not among the ignorant. Ö Only those who hear will respond. As for the dead, God will resurrect them, and unto Him they shall be returned. × They say, "Why has no sign been sent down unto him from his Lord?" Say, "Surely God has the power to send down a sign." But most of them know not. Ø There is no creature that crawls upon the earth, nor bird that flies upon its wings, but that they are communities like yourselves—We have neglected nothing in the Book—and they shall be gathered unto their Lord in the end. Ù Those who deny Our signs are deaf and dumb, in darkness. Whomsoever God will, He leads astray, and whomsoever He will, He places him upon a straight path. @ Say, "Think to yourselves: were the Punishment of God to come upon you, or were the Hour to come upon you, would you call upon anyone other than God, if you are truthful?" A Nay, but it is upon Him that you would call, and He would remove that which had caused you to call upon Him, if it be His Will, and you would forget whatever partners you had ascribed unto Him. B We have indeed sent messengers unto communities before thee, and We seized them with misfortune and hardship, that they might humble themselves. C If only, when Our Might came upon them, they had humbled themselves. But rather their hearts hardened, and Satan made all they used to do seem fair unto them. D So when they forgot that whereof they had been reminded, We opened unto them the gates of all things, till, as they exulted in what they were given, We seized them suddenly, whereupon they came to despair. E Thus was cut off the last remnant of the people who did wrong. Praise be to God, Lord of the worlds! F Say, "Think to yourselves: were God to take away your hearing and your sight and seal your hearts, what god other than God would restore them unto you?" Behold how We vary the signs; yet still they turn away. G Say, "Think to yourselves: were the Punishment of God to come upon you suddenly or openly, would any be destroyed save the wrongdoing people?" H We do not send the messengers save as bearers of glad tidings and as warners. Thus whosoever believes and makes amends, no fear shall come upon them, nor shall they grieve. I But as for those who deny Our signs, the punishment shall befall them for the iniquity they committed. P Say, "I do not say unto you that with me are the treasuries of God; nor do I know the unseen; nor do I say unto you that I am an angel. I follow only that which is revealed unto me." Say, "Are the blind and the seer equal? Will you not, then, reflect?" Q Warn hereby those who fear that they will be gathered unto their Lord—they have, apart from Him, no protector and no intercessor—that they might be reverent. R And drive not away those who call upon their Lord morning and evening, desiring His Face. Naught of their reckoning falls upon thee and naught of thy reckoning falls upon them, such that thou shouldst drive them away and thus become one of the wrongdoers. S Thus did We try some of them by means of others, that they might say, "Are these the ones whom God has graced among us?" Does God not know best those who are thankful? T When those who believe in Our signs come to thee, say, "Peace be upon you! Your Lord has prescribed Mercy for Himself, that whosoever among you does evil in ignorance and thereafter repents and makes amends, He is truly Forgiving, Merciful." U Thus do We expound the signs, that the way of the guilty may be made clear. V Say, "I am forbidden to worship those whom you call upon apart from God." Say, "I will not follow your caprices, for then I would have gone astray, and I would not be among the rightly guided." W Say, "Truly I stand upon a clear proof from my Lord, and you have denied Him. That which you seek to hasten is not within my power. Judgment belongs to God alone, He relates the Truth, and He is the best of deciders." X Say, "If that which you seek to hasten were within my power, then the matter would be decreed between you and me, and God knows best the wrongdoers." Y And with Him are the keys of the Unseen. None knows them but He; and He knows what is on land and sea; no leaf falls but that He knows it, nor any seed in the dark recesses of the earth, nor anything moist or dry, but that it is in a clear Book. ` He it is Who takes your souls by night, and He knows what you commit by day. Then by day He resurrects you, that a term appointed may be fulfilled. Then unto Him shall be your return, and He shall inform you of that which you used to do. a And He is Dominant over His servants. He sends guardians over you, till, when death comes unto one of you, Our messengers take him, and they neglect not their duty. b Then they are returned unto God, their true Master. Surely judgment belongs to Him, and He is the swiftest of reckoners. c Say, "Who saves you from the darkness of land and sea, when you call upon Him humbly and in secret [saying], 'If only He saves us from this, we shall surely be among the thankful'?" d Say, "God saves you from this and from every distress; yet you ascribe partners unto Him!" e Say, "He is the One Who has power to send a punishment upon you from above you or from beneath your feet, or to confound you as discordant factions and make you taste the might of one another." Behold how We vary the signs, that they may understand. f Thy people have denied it, though it is the truth. Say, "I am not a guardian over you. g For every tiding there is a fixed setting, and soon you shall know." h And when thou seest those who engage in vain discussion about Our signs, turn away from them till they engage in other discourse. And if Satan should cause thee to forget, then once thou hast remembered, sit not in the company of wrongdoing people. i Their reckoning falls not upon those who are reverent, but [upon them is] a reminder, that they might be reverent. p Leave those who take their religion to be play and diversion, and who are deluded by the life of this world, but remind them with it, lest any soul be delivered to ruin because of what it has earned—it has no protector apart from God, nor any intercessor, and though it should offer every kind of ransom, it shall not be accepted from it. Those are the ones delivered to ruin for that which they have earned. Theirs shall be a drink of boiling liquid and a painful punishment for having disbelieved. q Say, "Apart from God, shall we call upon that which neither benefits nor harms us, and be turned back on our heels after God has guided us, like one bewildered, seduced by satans on the earth, though he has companions who call him to guidance, 'Come to us!'?" Say, "Indeed, the Guidance of God is the true guidance, and we are commanded to submit to the Lord of the worlds, r and to perform the prayer and to reverence Him; it is unto Him that you shall be gathered." s He it is Who created the heavens and the earth in truth; and on the day He says "Be!" and it is, His Word is the Truth. And sovereignty is His on the Day when the trumpet is blown, Knower of the Unseen and the seen; and He is the Wise, the Aware. t And when Abraham said unto his father, Azar, "Do you take idols for gods? Truly I see you and your people in manifest error." u Thus did We show Abraham the dominion of the heavens and the earth, that he might be among those possessing certainty. v When the night grew dark upon him, he saw a star. He said, "This is my Lord!" But when it set, he said, "I love not things that set." w Then when he saw the moon rising he said, "This is my Lord!" But when it set, he said, "If my Lord does not guide me, I shall surely be among the people who are astray." x Then when he saw the sun rising he said, "This is my Lord! This is greater!" But when it set, he said, "O my people! Truly I am quit of the partners you ascribe. y Truly, as a _ḥ anīf_ _,_ I have turned my face toward Him Who created the heavens and the earth, and I am not of the idolaters." À His people disputed with him. He said, "Do you dispute with me concerning God, when He has guided me? I fear not the partners you ascribe unto Him, save as my Lord wills. My Lord encompasses all things in Knowledge. Will you not, then, remember? Á How should I fear the partners you ascribe, when you do not fear ascribing partners unto God for which He has sent down to you no authority? So which of the two parties has greater right to security, if you know?  Those who believe and who do not obscure their belief through wrongdoing, it is they who have security, and they are rightly guided." à That was Our argument, which We gave unto Abraham against his people. We raise in degrees whomsoever We will. Truly thy Lord is Wise, Knowing. Ä And We bestowed upon him Isaac and Jacob, each We guided. And We guided Noah before, and among his progeny, David, Solomon, Job, Joseph, Moses, and Aaron—thus do We recompense the virtuous. Å And Zachariah, John, Jesus, and Elias—each was among the righteous. Æ And Ishmael, Elisha, Jonah, and Lot—each We favored above the worlds. Ç And from among their fathers, and their progeny, and their brethren, We chose them and guided them unto a straight path. È That is the Guidance of God, with which He guides whomsoever He will among His servants. But were they to ascribe partners unto God, all that they were doing would have come to naught. É They are those to whom We have given the Book, judgment, and prophethood. So if they do not believe in them, We have entrusted them to a people who will not disbelieve in them. Ґ They are those whom God has guided, so follow their guidance. Say, "I ask not of you any reward for it. It is naught but a reminder for the worlds." ґ They did not measure God with His true measure when they said, "God has not sent down aught to any human being." Say, "Who sent down the Book that Moses brought as a light and a guidance for mankind, which you make into parchments that you display, while hiding much? And you were taught that which you knew not, neither you nor your fathers." Say, " _Allāh,"_ then leave them to play at their vain discourse. Ғ And this is a blessed Book that We have sent down, confirming that which came before it, that thou mayest warn the Mother of Cities and those around her. Those who believe in the Hereafter believe in it, and they are mindful of their prayers. ғ Who does greater wrong than one who fabricates a lie against God, or says, "It has been revealed unto me," though naught has been revealed unto him, and one who says, "I will send down the like of what God has sent down"? If thou couldst see when the wrongdoers are in the throes of death, and the angels stretch forth their hands, "Yield up your souls! This day shall you be recompensed with the punishment of humiliation for having spoken untruth against God, and for waxing arrogant against His signs." Ҕ And [God will say], "Now you have come unto Us alone, just as We created you the first time, and you have left behind that which We had bestowed upon you. We see not with you your intercessors—those whom you claimed were partners [unto God]. Now the bond between you has been severed, and that which you once claimed has forsaken you." ҕ Truly God is the Cleaver of the grain and the fruit stone. He brings forth the living from the dead, and He is the One Who brings forth the dead from the living. That is God—how, then, are you perverted— Җ Cleaver of the dawn. He has made the night for repose, and the sun and the moon for reckoning. Such is the decree of the Mighty, the Knowing. җ He it is Who has made for you the stars, that you might be guided by them amid the darkness of land and sea. We have expounded the signs for a people who know. Ҙ And He it is Who brought you into being from a single soul, and then [has given you] a dwelling place and a repository. We have expounded the signs for a people who understand. ҙ And He it is Who sends down water from the sky. Thereby We bring forth the shoot of every plant, and from it We bring forth vegetation, from which We bring forth grain in closely packed rows; and from the date palm and from its sheaths, [We bring forth] clusters of dates hanging low, and gardens of grapes, olives, and pomegranates, like unto one another and yet not alike. Look upon their fruits, as they grow and ripen! Truly in that are signs for a people who believe. Ā They make the jinn partners unto God, though He created them, and falsely attribute sons and daughters to Him, without any knowledge. Glory be to Him! Exalted is He above that which they ascribe! ā The Unique Originator of the heavens and the earth! How should He have a child when He has no consort, and He created all things, and He is Knower of all things? Ă That is God, your Lord, there is no god but He, Creator of all things. So worship Him. And He is Guardian over all things. ă Sight comprehends Him not, but He comprehends all sight. And He is the Subtle, the Aware. Ą Insight has come to you from your Lord. So whosoever sees clearly, it is to the benefit of his own soul. And whosoever is blind, it is to its detriment, and I am not a keeper over you. ą Thus do We vary the signs, lest they should say, "You have studied," and that We might make it clear for a people who know. Ć Follow that which has been revealed unto thee from thy Lord—there is no god but He—and turn away from the idolaters. ć Had God willed, they would not have ascribed partners unto God. We have not made thee a keeper over them, nor art thou their guardian. Ĉ Do not revile those whom they call upon apart from God, lest they should revile God out of enmity, without any knowledge. Thus have We made the deeds of every community seem fair unto them. Then unto their Lord shall be their return, and He will inform them of that which they used to do. ĉ They swear by God with their most solemn oaths that were a sign to come unto them, they would surely believe in it. Say, "Signs are with God alone." What will make you realize that, even if they were to come, they would still not believe? Đ We shall cause their hearts and their sight to waver, as they did not believe in it the first time, and We shall leave them to wander confused in their rebellion. đ Even if We were to send down angels unto them, and the dead were to speak to them, and We were to gather all things in front of them, they would still not believe, unless God wills. But most of them are ignorant. Ē Thus have We made for every prophet an enemy—satans from among mankind and jinn, who inspire each other with flowery discourse in order to deceive. Had thy Lord willed, they would not have done so. So leave them and that which they fabricate, ē so that the hearts of those who believe not in the Hereafter may incline toward it, and be content with it, and so commit that which they commit. Ĕ [Say,] "Shall I seek a judge apart from God, when it is He Who has sent down unto you the Book, expounded?" Those unto whom We have given the Book know that it has been sent down from thy Lord in truth; so be not among the doubters. ĕ The Word of thy Lord is fulfilled in truth and justice. None alters His Words, and He is the Hearing, the Knowing. Ė Wert thou to obey most of those on earth, they would lead thee astray from the way of God; they follow naught but conjecture, and they do but surmise. ė Surely thy Lord knows best those who stray from His way, and He knows best the rightly guided. Ę So eat of that over which the Name of God has been invoked, if you are believers in His signs. ę What ails you that you eat not that over which the Name of God has been invoked, when He has expounded for you that which He has forbidden you, unless you are compelled thereto? Indeed, many lead astray through their own caprices, without any knowledge. Surely thy Lord is He Who knows best the transgressors. Ġ Forsake sin, both outward and inward. Surely those who commit sin shall be recompensed for that which they used to do. ġ And eat not of that over which the Name of God has not been invoked; truly it is iniquity. Indeed, the satans inspire their friends to dispute with you, and if you obey them, you are surely idolaters. Ģ Is he who was dead, and to whom We give life, making for him a light by which to walk among mankind, like unto one who is in darkness from which he does not emerge? Thus for the disbelievers, what they used to do was made to seem fair unto them. ģ And thus have We made great ones among the guilty in every town, that they may plot therein. But they only plot against themselves, though they are unaware. Ĥ And when a sign comes unto them, they say, "We will not believe till we are given the like of that which was given to the messengers of God." God knows best where to place His message. Humiliation before God and a severe punishment shall soon befall the guilty for that which they used to plot. ĥ Whomsoever God wishes to guide, He expands his breast for submission. And whomsoever He wishes to lead astray, He makes his breast narrow and constricted, as if he were climbing to the sky. Thus does God heap defilement upon those who do not believe. Ħ This is the path of thy Lord, made straight. We have expounded the signs for a people who take heed. ħ Theirs shall be the Abode of Peace with their Lord, and He shall be their Protector, because of that which they used to do. Ĩ On the Day when He shall gather them all together [He shall say], "O company of jinn! Many among mankind have you claimed." And their friends among mankind will say, "Our Lord! We have profited from each other, but now we have reached our term which Thou hadst appointed for us." He will say, "The Fire is your abode, to abide therein, except as God wills. Truly thy Lord is Wise, Knowing." ĩ Thus do We make the wrongdoers allies of one another because of that which they used to earn. İ "O company of jinn and human beings! Did not messengers come unto you from among yourselves, recounting unto you My signs, and warning you of the meeting with this your Day?" They will say, "We bear witness against ourselves." The life of this world deluded them, and they bear witness against themselves that they were disbelievers. ı That is because thy Lord would never destroy towns for their wrongdoing while their people were heedless. IJ Unto each are degrees in accordance with that which they have done, and thy Lord is not heedless of that which they do. ij Thy Lord is Self-Sufficient, Possessed of Mercy. If He will, He can remove you, and in your place appoint whomsoever He will to succeed you, just as He brought you into being from the progeny of another people. Ĵ Indeed, that which you are promised shall come to pass, and you cannot thwart [it]. ĵ Say, "O my people! Work in accordance with your ability; I, too, am working. Soon you shall know whose end is the Abode. Surely the wrongdoers will not prosper." Ķ And they dedicate to God a share of the crops and cattle He created, saying, "This belongs to God"—or so they claim—"and this belongs to our partners." But that which is for their partners does not reach God, and that which is for God does reach their partners. Evil indeed is the judgment they make! ķ Likewise have their partners made the slaying of their children seem fair unto many of the idolaters, that they may ruin them and confound them in their religion. Had God willed, they would not have done so. So leave them and that which they fabricate. ĸ And they say, "These cattle and crops are sacrosanct; none shall eat of them save whom we will"—or so they claim—and [there are] cattle whose backs are forbidden, and cattle over which they do not invoke the Name of God, fabricating against Him. Soon will He recompense them for that which they used to fabricate. Ĺ And they say, "That which is in the bellies of these cattle is reserved for our males, and forbidden to our wives, but if it be stillborn, then all shall have a share therein." Soon will He recompense them for that which they ascribe. Truly He is Wise, Knowing. ŀ Lost indeed are those who slay their children foolishly, without knowledge, and make forbidden that which God has provided them, fabricating against God. They indeed have gone astray, and were not rightly guided. Ł He it is Who brings into being gardens, trellised and untrellised, and the date palm and crops with diverse produce, olives and pomegranates, like unto one another and yet not alike. Eat of their fruit when they grow, and pay the due thereof on the day of its harvest, but be not prodigal. Truly He loves not the prodigal. ł And [He produces] the cattle, some for burden and some for slaughter. Eat of that which God has provided you, and follow not the footsteps of Satan. Truly he is a manifest enemy unto you. Ń Eight pairs: of sheep, two, and of goats, two. Say, "Is it the two males He has forbidden or the two females, or that which the wombs of the two females contain? Tell me with knowledge, if you are truthful." ń And of camels, two, and of oxen, two. Say, "Is it the two males He has forbidden or the two females, or that which the wombs of the two females contain? Or were you present when God enjoined this upon you?" Who does greater wrong than one who fabricates a lie against God, that he may lead men astray without knowledge? Truly God guides not wrongdoing people. Ņ Say, "I do not find in that which is revealed unto me anything forbidden to one who would eat thereof, save carrion or blood poured forth, or the flesh of swine—for that is surely defilement—or a sinful offering made to other than God. But whosoever is compelled by necessity, without willfully disobeying or transgressing, truly thy Lord is Forgiving, Merciful." ņ And unto those who are Jews, We forbade every animal with claws; and of oxen and sheep We forbade them the fat thereof, save that upon their backs or their entrails or that which is mingled with bone. Thus did We recompense them for their willful disobedience, and surely We are truthful. Ň But if they deny thee, say, "Your Lord is Possessed of vast Mercy, but His Might will not be averted from the guilty people." ň Those who ascribe partners unto God will say, "Had God willed, we would not have ascribed partners unto God, nor our fathers, nor would we have forbidden anything." Those who were before them had similarly denied, till they tasted Our Might. Say, "Do you have any knowledge that you can produce for us? You follow naught but conjecture, and you merely surmise." 'n Say, "Unto God belongs the conclusive argument. Had He willed, He could surely have guided you all." Ő Say, "Bring forward your witnesses who can bear witness that God has forbidden this." Then if they bear witness, do not bear witness with them, and do not follow the caprices of those who deny Our signs, nor those who believe not in the Hereafter and ascribe equals unto their Lord. ő Say, "Come, I will recite that which your Lord has forbidden you: that you ascribe nothing as partner unto Him, and that you be virtuous toward parents, and that you slay not your children for fear of poverty—We will provide for you and for them—and approach not indecencies, whether outward or inward, and slay not the soul that God has made inviolable, save by right. This He has enjoined upon you, that haply you may understand." Œ And approach not the orphan's property, save in the best manner, till he reaches maturity. And observe fully the measure and the balance with justice. We task no soul beyond its capacity. And when you speak, be just, even if it be [against] a kinsman, and fulfill the pact of God. This He has enjoined upon you, that haply you may remember. œ This indeed is My path made straight; so follow it, and follow not other ways, lest they separate you from His way. This He has enjoined upon you, that haply you may be reverent. Ŕ Then We gave unto Moses the Book, complete for those who would be virtuous, as an exposition of all things, and as a guidance and a mercy, that haply they might believe in the meeting with their Lord. ŕ And this is a blessed Book that We have sent down; so follow it and be reverent, that haply you may receive mercy. Ŗ Lest you should say, "The Book was only sent down upon two groups before us, and we were indeed heedless of their study." ŗ Or lest you should say, "If the Book had been sent down upon us, we would surely have been better guided than they." Now there has come unto you a clear proof from your Lord, a guidance and a mercy. So who does greater wrong than one who denies the signs of God and turns away from them? Soon shall We recompense those who turn away from Our signs with a terrible punishment for their having turned away. Ř Do they await aught but that the angels should come upon them, or that thy Lord should come, or one of the signs of thy Lord should come? On the day that one of the signs of thy Lord does come, believing will be of no avail to any soul that did not believe beforehand and did not earn some goodness in its belief. Say, "Wait! We, too, are waiting." ř Truly those who have divided their religion and become factions, thou hast nothing to do with them. Their matter rests with God alone; then He will inform them about that which they used to do. Š Whosoever brings a good deed shall have ten times the like thereof; but whosoever brings an evil deed shall be recompensed only with the like thereof, and they shall not be wronged. š Say, "Truly my Lord has guided me unto a straight path, an upright religion, the creed of Abraham, a _ḥ anīf_ _,_ and he was not of the idolaters." Ţ Say, "Truly my prayer and my sacrifice, my living and my dying are for God, Lord of the worlds. ţ He has no partner. This I am commanded, and I am the first of those who submit." Ť Say, "Shall I seek a lord other than God, while He is lord of all things? No soul does evil, save against itself, and none shall bear the burden of another. Then unto your Lord is your return and He will inform you of that wherein you differed." ť He it is Who appointed you vicegerents upon the earth and raised some of you by degrees above others, that He may try you in that which He has given you. Truly thy Lord is Swift in retribution, and truly He is Forgiving, Merciful.

## Commentary

¡ Praise be to God, Who created the heavens and the earth, and made darkness and light. Yet those who do not believe ascribe equals to their Lord!

1 This _sūrah_ opens with a reference to God as Creator of _the heavens and the earth_ and of _darkness and light_. Invoking _the heavens and the earth_ and _darkness and light_ highlights both the duality of the created world in relation to God's Oneness and the totality of His creative Power. That the Makkans _ascribe equals to their Lord_ is thus made to seem absurd in the face of their own recognition of His all-encompassing creative Power. Some early commentators noted the similarity of this opening verse to the opening section of the Torah (Genesis 1:1–5), with its reference to God's creation of the heavens and the earth and separation of light from darkness (Ṭ). As throughout the Quran, the word for _light_ ( _nūr_ ) is singular, but darkness is rendered in the plural ( _ẓ ulumāt_), implying that although there are multiple kinds of darkness, light is one, just as there are multiple kinds of falsehood, but Truth is ultimately one (R, Z; see also 5:16c), even if there are degrees of light, and on the level of the created order there can be said to be multiple truths.

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* He it is Who created you from clay, then decreed a term. A term is appointed with Him—yet still you doubt!

2 Adam is described as being made of _clay_ over a dozen times in the Quran. The clay from which Adam and here, by extension, all human beings are created is variously described in the Quran as being like potter's clay (55:14); as _dried clay, made of molded mud_ (15:26); as _a draught of clay_ (23:12); and as _viscous clay_ (37:11). As for all created things, God has _decreed a term_ for human beings, that is, an earthly life span (cf. 11:3; 30:8; 39:42; 46:3). The second reference to a term, _a term is appointed with Him,_ may be a further description of the "decreed term" that precedes it, although most commentators distinguish between these two "terms": the first refers to one's earthly life span set by God, and the second, to the final moment of reckoning (IK, Q, Ṭ); for other references to an "appointed term," see 6:60; 7:34; 10:49; 14:10; 16:61; 35:45; 71:4. When the two "terms" are understood as referring to death and the moment of reckoning, respectively, the verse can be read as parallel to 2:28: _How can you disbelieve in God, seeing that you were dead and He gave you life; then He causes you to die; then He gives you life; then unto Him shall you be returned?_ (Ṭ). It is also consistent with verses that mention God bringing forth _the living from the dead_ (as when He brings living human beings forth from dead clay or resurrected beings forth from the dead on the Day of Judgment) and bringing forth _the dead from the living_ (as when He causes human beings to die, ending their earthly life); see 6:95; 10:31; 30:19.

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+ He is God in the heavens and on the earth: He knows your secret and that which you make public, and He knows that which you earn.

3 Although the Quran mentions repeatedly that all that is in the heavens and on earth belongs to God and that He _knows whatsoever is in the heavens and whatsoever is on the earth_ (3:29; 5:97; 29:52; 58:7; 64:4), this is the only place where He is described as being _God in the heavens and on the earth._ Some commentators, perhaps concerned that the reference to God being _on the earth_ might compromise His Transcendence, explained this part of the verse as meaning that He is "called God" or "worshipped as God" _in the heavens and on the earth_ (IK). _That which you earn_ refers to the deeds one chooses to perform in life and the corresponding reward or punishment that they entail.

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J Never did a sign from among the signs of their Lord come unto them, but that they turned away from it.

Z They indeed denied the truth when it came unto them, but tidings will soon come to them of that which they used to mock.

4–5 _Never did a sign . . . come unto them, but that they turned away from it_ (cf. 26:5–6; 36:46) refers to an idea reiterated in the various Quranic accounts regarding people of previous ages who rejected the messengers and signs that were sent to them and so were destroyed _by that which they used to mock;_ see 6:10; 11:8; 16:34; 21:41; 26:5–6; 39:48; 40:83; 45:33; 46:25. The present verse served as a direct warning to the Quraysh, who rejected the message of warning brought by the Prophet and "mocked" the idea of resurrection, that they might likewise be besieged by a Divine reckoning. Taken more specifically and in the historical context in which it was revealed in the Makkan period, those who _denied the truth when it came unto them_ may refer to the Quraysh, who denied the Prophet Muhammad and the Quran. The _tidings_ that would come to them would thus refer to their defeat at the hands of the Muslims at the Battle of Badr (2/624; Q, Ṭ). Commentators generally read v. 5 as warning of an earthly, rather than an otherworldly, punishment to come (IK), although others say it may refer to punishment in either this world or the next (Z).

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j Have they not considered how many a generation We destroyed before them? We had established them on the earth more firmly than We have established you, and We sent the sky upon them with abundant rains, and made rivers flow beneath them. Then We destroyed them for their sins, and brought into being after them another generation.

6 The Quran frequently mentions previous peoples destroyed for their iniquity and refusal to accept the teachings of their prophets, mentioning both towns (7:4; 21:11; 22:45, 48; 47:13; 50:36) and whole generations (17:17; 19:74, 98; 20:128; 32:26; 36:31; 38:3) that had been destroyed. This is a theme more common in the Makkan _sūrah_ s than in the Madinan ones, and in the present context the warning is likely addressed to the Quraysh, who may have thought themselves too powerful to suffer destruction. Thus the Quran, here and elsewhere, warns that some of the destroyed peoples were stronger and better established than the Quraysh, but were nonetheless utterly destroyed (cf. 19:74; 47:13; 50:36). God may choose to allow disbelievers or wrongdoers to dwell in comfort or even in prosperity for a while, leading them to think that they have been blessed with good fortune, in this case in the form of _abundant rains_ and _rivers,_ before unexpectedly destroying them for their sins; see also 2:266; 15:3–4; 16:54–55; 22:48; 23:54–56; 44:25–28; 68:17–20; especially 43:51, where Pharaoh invokes the streams watering his domain as proof of his sovereignty and, mistakenly, of his imperviousness to the destruction of which Moses had warned him. _Generation_ translates _qarn,_ which can also mean "century" (Q). The idea that God replaces an iniquitous people or generation with another is found elsewhere in the Quran (5:54; 7:169; 23:28–31, 41–42), for it is God who _brought into being the generations_ (28:45).

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z Had We sent down unto thee a Book inscribed on parchment, such that they could touch it with their hands, those who do not believe would have said, "This is naught but manifest sorcery."

7 Although all the prophets are said to have brought evidentiary miracles to support their missions, the Quran often suggests that such miraculous signs have little effect on entrenched disbelievers and that their requests for "signs" of various types are made disingenuously, serving only as excuses for not accepting God's message. For examples of such requests, see 2:118; 10:20; 13:7; 20:133; 25:21; 29:50. The present verse may be a response to those who expected the Prophet to bring a complete scripture, in writing, as did Moses. See 25:32, where the disbelievers ask why the Quran has not been sent down _as a single whole,_ and 28:48, where they ask why the Prophet was not given _the like of that which was given to Moses_. Given the Makkan context, this verse may be a response to those disbelievers in Makkah who said to the Prophet, _And we shall not believe in your ascension till you bring down unto us a book we can read_ (17:93; Q). In the Quran such displays of the prophets' evidentiary miracles often result in accusations of "sorcery" by those who deny their prophethood (see, e.g., 10:2; 21:3; 20:57; 28:36; 37:15; 5:110c).

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{ And they would say, "Why has not an angel been sent down unto him?" Had We sent down an angel, then the matter would be decreed, and they would be granted no respite.

| Had We made him an angel, We would have sent him as a man, thus obscuring for them that which they themselves obscure.

8–9 Here, as in several other verses, the disbelievers question why God has not sent an angel either with the Prophet or instead of the (human) Prophet (cf. 11:12; 15:7; 17:92–95; 25:7, 21; 43:53). The response in v. 8 is that were an angel to be sent down _the matter would be decreed,_ meaning that either their own punishment or the Final Hour would be at hand _and they would be granted no respite_ such that they might repent and come to believe (Ṭ). Some commentators say that this is because the descent of an angel would be such a clear and incontrovertible sign of the truth of the message that, were they to disbelieve after this, they would surely be destroyed without the opportunity to repent (Ṭ, Z); others suggest that the very sight of the angel might be powerful enough to cause their immediate death (Q, Z). For this reason, v. 9 indicates that, even were God to send down an angel as a messenger, He would send him in the outward form of a human being, lest the sight of the angel overwhelm and destroy people (Ṭ). When the Archangel Gabriel appeared to the Prophet and occasionally to his Companions at the same time, he is said to have done so in human form, and when the angelic messenger, understood to be Gabriel, visits Mary, he _assumed for her the likeness of a perfect man_ (19:17). Being sent in the form of a man, however, the angelic messenger would be no more convincing to the disbelievers than a human messenger, leaving them further confused about the true nature of the message and the messenger. Moreover, the human form of the angelic messenger would give the leaders of the disbelievers another means of discrediting the message in the eyes of their followers, since they could argue that even this additional confirming messenger was merely human, like themselves (Q).

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Ċ Messengers have surely been mocked before thee. Then those who scoffed at them were beset by that which they used to mock.

10 The warning that those who mock the prophetic warners and their messages will be _beset by that which they used to mock_ is also found in 11:8; 16:34; 21:41; 39:48; 40:83; 45:33; 46:26.

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Ě Say, "Journey upon the earth and behold how the deniers fared in the end."

11 The Quran repeatedly reminds its listeners that the guilty, the corrupt, the schemers, and those who denied the warnings they had been sent by God did not fare well in the end (3:137; 7:84–86, 103; 10:39, 73; 12:109; 16:36; 27:14, 51, 69; 30:9, 42; 35:44; 37:73; 40:21, 82; 43:25; 47:10). This verse follows upon the warning in v. 6 about previous generations destroyed in this world for their rejection of the prophets. The command to _behold how the deniers fared in the end_ was directed at the Arabs who would have passed the ruined remains of bygone towns and settlements on their frequent travels. Such sites have been invoked widely in Islamic literature as sources of admonition and warning, insofar as they were occasions to learn about the destruction that befell people of earlier ages.

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Ī Say, "Unto whom belongs whatsoever is in the heavens and on the earth?" Say, "Unto God. He has prescribed Mercy for Himself. He will surely gather you on the Day of Resurrection, in which there is no doubt. Those who have lost their souls, they do not believe.

ĺ Unto Him belongs all that dwells in the night and in the day, and He is the Hearing, the Knowing."

12–13 The Prophet is here instructed to remind the disbelievers of God's Sovereignty and His ability to destroy them at will by posing and answering the question, _Unto whom belongs whatsoever is in the heavens and on the earth?_ (Q). The question may have been rhetorical for the idolatrous Makkans, since despite their mocking of the Prophet and the warning he brought, some did acknowledge _Allāh_ as the Creator of the heavens and the earth (see also 31:25; 39:38; 43:9, 87), although not in the sense understood in the Abrahamic traditions. That all things belong to God is then reiterated in v. 13.

That God _has prescribed Mercy for Himself_ (see also v. 54) indicates that although God remains absolutely free, He has nonetheless obligated Himself to act with mercy toward His creatures. A well-known _ḥ adīth qudsī_ (sacred _ḥ adīth_) conveys the same message, "When God decreed the created realm, He prescribed for Himself in a Book that is with Him, 'Truly My Mercy prevails over My Wrath,'" (Q); and in another _ḥ adīth qudsī,_ God says, "My Mercy has precedence over My Wrath." The Prophet reportedly would pray during his daily devotions, "O God, I seek refuge in Thy Contentment from Thine Anger, and in Thy Forgiveness from Thy Punishment, and in Thy Mercy from Thy Wrath." See also 7:156, where God speaks, saying, _I cause My Punishment to smite whomsoever I will, though My Mercy encompasses all things._ Mercy is therefore the dominant aspect of God's relationship with His creatures, as established by His own self-obligation.

In the context of implicit warning about the destruction that awaits those who reject the warnings of the messengers, this statement that God has _prescribed Mercy for Himself_ explains why He does not bring the punishment down upon the disbelievers immediately, but rather gives them a period of respite, that they might repent and come to believe (Q, Ṭ). More generally, the Mercy God obligates for Himself may refer to His having undertaken to guide His creatures to an understanding of His Oneness (Z). Although God is described by many Attributes in the Quran, "Mercy" is the only one that He is said to have "prescribed" for Himself, indicating that Mercy has a unique and supreme status among all His Attributes. That God "prescribes" Mercy for Himself also indicates that Mercy is an intrinsic or essential quality of God, not merely a way of relating to His creatures, since it could only be an essential "mercifulness" that prescribes Mercy as a principle of God's acts in the first place. Although God's Mercy continues into the Hereafter, the period of respite and guidance for human beings on earth will eventually come to an end when God gathers all _on the Day of Resurrection._ Here and elsewhere, this day is described as one _in which there is no doubt_ (2:2; 3:9, 25; 4:87; 22:7; 40:59; 45:26).

_Those who have lost their souls_ by ascribing equals to God (v. 1), turning away from His signs (v. 4), and mocking the message of the Prophet (vv. 5–10) _do not believe;_ that is, their lack of faith can be seen as a result of these ruinous actions and beliefs (Z) _._ This statement is repeated in v. 20, but in the present context, some commentators read _those who have lost their souls_ as a description of those whom God will _gather . . . on the Day of Resurrection_ (Ṭ).

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Ŋ Say, "Shall I take as a protector anyone other than God, the Originator of the heavens and the earth, who feeds and is not fed?" Say, "I was commanded to be the first of those who submit." And be not among the idolaters.

14 The Prophet is told to respond to the demand of the Makkan idolaters that he recognize the deities they worship besides God by pointing out the inanity of worshipping anything that is not totally independent of all need and by identifying himself as _the first of those who submit_ (on this statement, see 6:162–63c). The Prophet is then warned personally by God to _be not among the idolaters_.

_Originator_ translates _Fā ṭir,_ a Divine Name, which is derived from a verb meaning to "split" or "cleave." In the Quran, the term always occurs as part of the larger phrase _Originator of the heavens and the earth_ (see 12:101; 14:10; 35:1; 39:46; 42:11). The verbal form of this word, however, is also used in the context of God's creation of human beings (11:51; 17:51; 20:72; 32:22; 43:27), whence its etymological relation to the _fi ṭrah,_ or primordial nature, which God creates in all human beings (see 30:30 and commentary).

That God _feeds and is not fed_ refers simultaneously to God's provision of sustenance for all things and to His utter independence of all need (3:97; 4:131; 10:68; 29:6; 31:26). According to a _ḥ adīth,_ the Prophet rose to wash his hands after finishing a meal and said, "Praise be to God _who feeds and is not fed_ " (IK). Cf. 51:56: _I did not create jinn and mankind, save to worship Me. I desire no provision from them, nor do I desire that they should feed Me_. See also 5:75, where it is said of Jesus and his mother that _both of them ate food,_ indicating that their dependence upon earthly sustenance serves as an argument against their divinity.

That the Prophet was _commanded to be the first of those who submit_ (cf. v. 163; 39:12) may indicate that he was the first among the people of his time to submit to God, setting an example that his contemporaries would follow (R, Ṭ, Ṭs, Z), or that he was the "first" in rank among those who submitted (Ṭb), or that he alone received Divine Revelation (Ṭs). See also 7:153 and 26:51, where Moses makes a similar claim.

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Ś Say, "Truly I fear the punishment of a tremendous Day should I disobey my Lord."

15 In this verse, the Prophet is told to affirm his own fear of God's punishment, and hence his susceptibility, along with all human beings, to God's Judgment. In a _ḥ adīth,_ the Prophet says, "I have the best knowledge of God among [the people ], and I fear Him most among them."

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Ū Whosoever is spared on that Day, He has certainly been merciful unto him, and that is the manifest triumph.

16 _Whosoever is spared_ from punishment on the Day of Resurrection has attained _the manifest triumph_. Salvation in the Hereafter is described as a _manifest triumph_ or a _great triumph_ in over a dozen verses and is often associated, as it is here, with God forgiving people's sins or otherwise sparing or shielding them from the Fire, suggesting Divine Mercy toward those whose deeds may have made them liable to punishment (Z); see 3:185; 40:9; 44:56–57; 48:5; 61:12; 64:9.

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ź If God should touch thee with affliction, none can remove it save He, and should He touch thee with goodness, then He is Powerful over all things.

17 Although this verse is addressed specifically to the Prophet, it has a more general application and affirms that God alone has power over all benefit or harm that may come to a human being and that none can alter the benefit or harm He may decree for a person. Nonetheless, Divine Mercy is always operative, for God _has prescribed Mercy for Himself_ (v. 12) and His _Mercy encompasses all things_ (7:156). See also 3:160 and commentary; 10:107; 28:71; 35:2; 39:38; 48:11. Elsewhere in the Quran, idols and false deities are dismissed as those who do not possess the power to either aid or harm their human devotees (5:76; 10:18, 106; 13:16; 20:89; 21:66; 22:12; 25:55; 26:73); the Prophet proclaims that he has no power to bring benefit or prevent harm to himself (7:188; 10:49); and even sorcery is said to have no power to harm _save by God's Leave_ (2:102).

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Ɗ He is Dominant over His servants; and He is the Wise, the Aware.

18 _He is Dominant over His servants,_ a statement that recurs in v. 63, means that all things are humbled and abased before God, that He alone is truly worshipped (Ṭ), and that all things are subservient to Him (Z) and under His ultimate Authority and Power. This verse thus represents a culmination of the discussion of God's absolute Sovereignty and Power begun in v. 12.

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ƚ Say, "What thing is greatest as testimony?" Say, "God is Witness between you and me. And this Quran has been revealed unto me, that thereby I may warn you and whomsoever it may reach. Do you truly bear witness that there are other gods beside God?" Say, "I bear no such witness." Say, "He is only One God, and truly I am quit of that which you ascribe as partners unto Him."

19 God is described as _Witness_ in several places (3:98; 4:33, 79, 166; 10:46; 22:17; 33:55; 34:47; 41:53; 58:6; 85:9), and "Witness" ( _Shahīd_ ) is considered one of the Names of God. The prophets sometimes invoke God as "Witness" between themselves and their wrongdoing people; see 5:117, where Jesus, when questioned by God about the claims of divinity his later followers made for him and his mother, says, _I was a witness over them, so long as I remained among them. But when Thou didst take me [to Thyself], it was Thou who wast the Watcher over them. And Thou art Witness over all things;_ and 17:96, where the Prophet is told to say that God is a sufficient witness between himself and the disbelievers among his people. The Prophet is instructed to tell his people that the Quran was revealed to him so that he might thereby warn them _and whomsoever it may reach,_ indicating that the Quran has a universal message that is operative beyond the Prophet's own community and that it serves as a Divine warning to all whose ears or eyes it may reach (Ṭ).

According to a report, the Prophet is here told to ask, _Do you truly bear witness that there are other gods beside God_ in response to some disbelievers among his people who asked him if he really believed that there were no other gods beside God (Ṭ). Like Abraham, also raised among idolaters, the Prophet directly dissociates himself from the beliefs of his people, saying, _I am quit of that which you ascribe as partners unto Him_. See v. 78 for Abraham's identical claim, and also 11:54–55, where the pre-Islamic Arabian prophet Hūd similarly dissociates himself from the idolatry of his people.

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Ȋ Those unto whom We gave the Book recognize it as they recognize their own children. Those who have lost their souls, they do not believe.

20 The assertion that the People of the Book _recognize it_ —that is, the Quranic message— _as they recognize their own children_ is also made in 2:146 (see commentary on this verse). The statement _those who have lost their souls_ —that is, through willful rejection of the Prophet's clear message— _do not believe_ is also found in v. 13 (see commentary).

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! Who does greater wrong than one who fabricates a lie against God or denies His signs? Surely the wrongdoers will not prosper.

21 The rhetorical interrogative _who does greater wrong than_ is found in several places, frequently in reference to those who fabricate lies against God (6:93, 144; 11:18; 18:15; 61:7); to those who deny God's signs or the truth (6:157; 18:57; 32:22); or, as in this case, to both (7:37; 10:17; 29:68; 39:32). Elsewhere it applies to those who _bar [entrance to] the mosques_ (2:114) or conceal testimony (2:140). To _fabricate a lie against God_ is to commit some form of religious error, specifically to hold a false belief or engage in a false religious practice, while claiming that one is following Divine guidance in doing so, as in 7:28: _When they commit an indecency, they say, "We found our fathers practicing it, and God has commanded us thus." Say, "Truly God commands not indecency. Do you say of God that which you know not?"_ Their "fabricating a lie against God" may also refer to any of the idolatrous practices attributed to the pre-Islamic Arabs, from their worship of false deities to their imposition of arbitrary religious restrictions upon themselves (see 5:103; 6:139), and perhaps also to certain Islamically unacceptable Jewish and Christian religious claims mentioned in the Quran (R), although the latter seems less likely, given the Makkan context of this _sūrah_. The verb _prosper_ is often used in relation to those who prosper morally by believing and following right guidance in this life and who will thus be rewarded for their faith and good deeds in the Hereafter (see, e.g., 2:5; 7:8; 23:1–11). By contrast, _wrongdoers,_ and elsewhere disbelievers (28:82), _prosper not,_ meaning that they will not find what they seek in this world or the next (R).

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" And on the Day when We shall gather them all together, We shall say unto those who ascribed partners unto God, "Where are those partners whom you claimed?"

# Then their contention will be but to say, "By God, our Lord, we were not idolaters."

$ Behold how they lie against themselves, but that which they used to fabricate has forsaken them.

22–24 Several Quranic passages depict those who _ascribed partners unto God_ being asked on the Day of Judgment about the false idols they worshipped (16:27; 28:62–65; 28:74–75; 40:73–74; 41:47–48). In some cases, they continue to call upon those false deities to no avail, while in others they admit their religious error. Here, however, their response is to deny that they were idolaters and so to _lie against themselves,_ just as they had lied against God and His signs in v. 21. Here as elsewhere, the Quran warns that all false authorities and deities worshipped in this life will "forsake" their worshippers in the next (cf. 6:94; 7:37; 10:30; 14:22; 16:86–87; 40:73–74).

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% Among them are those who listen to thee, but We have placed coverings over their hearts, such that they understand it not, and in their ears a deafness. Were they to see every sign, they would not believe in it, so that when they come to thee, they dispute with thee. Those who disbelieve say, "This is naught but fables of those of old."

25 The concept of individuals or their hearts being "veiled" or "covered" in such a way as to prevent comprehension of God's signs and the Quranic verses (both referred to as _āyāt_ ) is found in several other places; see 2:7; 17:46; 18:57, 101; 36:9; 41:5; 45:23; 50:22; 83:14–15. _Deafness_ is similarly used to signify spiritual deafness in 2:18, 171; 5:71; 6:39; 8:22; 17:97; 18:57; 41:5, 44; 47:23. God's signs have no effect upon those who are spiritually "veiled" and "deaf" and do not bring them to belief (cf. 2:145; 7:146; 10:96–97). For example, when the moon was split by the Prophet in response to the disbelievers' request for a "sign," they dismissed it as mere _sorcery_ (see 54:1–2; 54:1c). The present verse was reportedly revealed about the leaders of the Quraysh, including Abū Sufyān and Abū Jahl, who listened to the Prophet and the Quran, but could not comprehend or accept its meaning (Z).

Since it is God who is said to _have placed coverings over their hearts,_ and thus their understanding, as well as _in their ears a deafness,_ some commentators who subscribe to a more predestinarian view of God's relationship to human beings understand the verse to mean that God prevents some people from believing. For them, the verse serves as proof that the belief or disbelief of individuals comes from God; the "veil" over their hearts serves as a metaphor for an innate predisposition toward disbelief (R). Others, however, note that calling people to a message of belief that they have been predisposed not to understand would seem inconsistent with the Quranic assertion that God _tasks no soul beyond its capacity_ (2:286); it would also grant the disbelievers an argument against God and the Prophet since they could claim that they are not responsible for following something they have been prevented from understanding (R).

The verse can also be understood, however, to mean that the stubbornness of such people in rejecting the message served to create within them a negative moral state that further prevented their acceptance of the message; or similarly, that God deprived them of His necessary guidance and left them to their own intellectual devices as a consequence of their evil actions and false beliefs (R; see 2:26; 14:27; 40:34, 74; 45:32, where this is clearly indicated). It may also simply indicate that their refusal to benefit or be guided by the Quranic message put them in the same position as one who was indeed blinded by a veil or is "deaf" to it (Q). The "veil" can also be said to be a reference to a "darkness of soul" that obscures the light of the message for the individual (Aj). The disbelievers' attempt to dismiss the Quranic message, particularly its warnings about Resurrection and Judgment, as _fables of those of old_ is also mentioned in 8:31; 16:24; 23:83; 25:5; 27:68; 46:17; 68:15; 83:13.

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& And they forbid it, and keep away from it, and they destroy none but themselves, though they are unaware.

26 This verse likely continues the discussion of those Makkans and leaders of the Quraysh who refused to heed the Quranic message brought by the Prophet. They both _forbid it_ —that is, they forbid others from following it—and _keep away from it,_ or "flee from it" themselves (Ṭ, Ṭs). An alternate interpretation attributed to some early exegetes understands _they forbid it_ to mean they forbid that any harm come to the Prophet, while nonetheless "keeping away from" or refusing to accept the content of his prophetic message. As such, they consider it a reference to the Prophet's uncle, Abū Ṭālib, who was the guardian of the Prophet when the latter was a young boy and served as a crucial protector of the Prophet in the early years of his prophetic mission, but who, many believe, refused to become a follower of his message (IK, R, Ṭ, Z). Interpreting the verse as referring to Abū Ṭālib's "forbidding" harm to the Prophet, however, does not seem consistent with the situation of this verse within a lengthy passage chastising the Makkan idolaters generally or with the verse's condemnation of this action as spiritually destructive ( _they destroy none but themselves_ ), since protecting the Prophet would be a meritorious act. Shiite exegetes also reject this interpretation, since they believe that Abū Ṭālib did embrace Islam (Ṭs).

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' If thou couldst see when they are arraigned before the Fire, whereupon they will say, "Would that we were sent back! Then we would not deny the signs of our Lord, but we would be among the believers!"

( Nay, but it has now become clear to them what they used to hide. And even if they were sent back, they would return to the very thing they had been forbidden. Truly they are liars.

27–28 The claim made in the words of those _arraigned before the Fire_ can be read in two ways. The first, as reflected in the translation, indicates that if they _were sent back_ , they _would not deny the signs_ and _would be among the believers_ (cf. 26:102). With different voweling, however, it could yield the meaning "Would that we were sent back and that we did not deny the signs of our Lord and that we were among the believers" (Ṭ). Although both readings are possible, the first rendering seems more consistent with the statement in v. 28 that _even if they were sent back,_ they would return to their former ways, which would then be understood as a response to their claim in v. 27. In v. 28, _what they used to hide_ refers to their evil deeds in the life of the world, which in the Hereafter _become clear to them_ or are manifested clearly before them (Ṭ). The consequences of their evil deeds are also now likewise apparent as they stand in or before the Fire.

Some say that these two verses refer to the hypocrites, who hid their disbelief in earthly life, but whose disbelief was made clear in the Hereafter; or to the People of the Book whose error in rejecting the prophecy of Muhammad would be made clear to them in the next life (Z). This latter does not seem consistent with the context of this _sūrah_ and passage, which is clearly aimed at the pagan idolaters of Makkah.

_What they used to hide_ may also refer to their attempt to hide their polytheism, or _shirk,_ from God on the Day of Judgment (see vv. 23–24) or to the Makkan leaders' attempt to hide the reality of Resurrection and Judgment from their followers (R). The verse may well be alluding to all that was hidden on earth, but will be made manifest in the Hereafter, since the Quran elsewhere describes the Day of Resurrection as _the Day when the secrets are tested_ (86:9). The disbelievers' assertion in v. 27 that, if sent back, they would not _deny the signs_ of God and would be believers is presented as nothing but a ruse, for their promise is made because of fear of the Fire, not because of true desire for belief, and thus brings no spiritual benefit (R). Moreover, v. 28 asserts that if they were sent back, _they would return_ to their former deeds, and as such it declares them _liars_. For those who held that human moral destiny and belief were matters of Divine Decree ( _qa ḍāʾ_), this verse could serve as proof that a second chance at belief would not avail disbelievers, even after seeing the consequences of their disbelief, since their disbelief was a matter already decreed before their initial temporal existence (R).

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) They say, "There is naught but our life in this world, and we shall not be resurrected."

29 This is one of several places in the Quran where the disbelievers explicitly deny the Resurrection (see 23:36; 44:35; 64:7); and their skepticism about resurrection is a key element of their disbelief in the Quranic message as a whole (see, e.g., 17:49, 98; 23:82; 37:16; 56:48).

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Ð If thou couldst see when they are arraigned before their Lord, He will say, "Is this not the truth?" They will say, "Yea, indeed, by our Lord!" He will say, "Then taste the punishment for having disbelieved."

30 This verse returns to the image in v. 27 of the disbelievers _arraigned_ for judgment in the Hereafter. After a life of disbelief in God's signs, and particularly in the reality of resurrection and judgment, they are now asked, _Is this not the truth?_ Experiencing the Resurrection and Judgment, they now affirm their reality, but to no avail, and they are told to _taste the punishment for having disbelieved_ (see 46:34 for a nearly identical passage). See also 7:44, where those of the Garden call out to those in the Fire, saying, _We have found that which our Lord promised us to be true. Have you found that which your Lord promised to be true?_ They respond in the affirmative, but are immediately cursed. That the punishment in the next world is "tasted" is mentioned in over two dozen verses and alludes to the idea that the Reality of God, His Judgment, and the consequences of human actions will be known by the disbelievers experientially, and thus undeniably, after having scoffed at the prophetic warnings about them during their earthly lives (see, e.g., 3:181; 4:56; 7:39; 8:14; 32:21 and commentary). Even in this world, certain forms of atonement for sin are said to have the intended effect of making transgressors _taste the evil consequences_ of their transgression (5:95; 59:15; 64:5; 65:9).

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Ñ Lost indeed are those who deny the meeting with God till, when the Hour comes upon them suddenly, they say, "Alas for us, that we neglected it!" They will bear their burdens upon their backs. Behold! Evil is that which they bear!

31 The Quran commonly refers to those who disbelieved in this life as being _lost_ or "losers" in the Hereafter. _Those who deny the meeting with God,_ thinking _there is naught but our life in this world_ (v. 29), will have the realization of their error "come upon them suddenly" with the coming of _the Hour_ (see also 7:188; 12:107; 21:40), meaning the Day of Resurrection and universal judgment. Their cry, _Alas for us,_ expresses their regret over failing to prepare for this day. Al-Rāzī explains this as a deep, existential regret, as disbelievers realize that they have squandered the intellect and other faculties bestowed upon them by God, through which they were meant to realize the truth and develop virtuous character. Using a commercial metaphor, al-Rāzī describes it as the regret of those whose poor choices have caused them to lose not only the anticipated return on an investment, but the borrowed principal as well. The _burdens_ they bear _upon their backs_ may be their sins and transgressions themselves (Ṭ); or the _burden of wrath from God_ that is earned as a result of those sins (see 2:61, 90; 3:112, 162); or the burden of the warning and reminders they refused to heed in their earthly lives (cf. 20:100–101, where the reminder becomes a burden in the Hereafter for those who ignored it during their lives).

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Ò The life of this world is naught but play and diversion. Better indeed is the Abode of the Hereafter for those who are reverent. Do you not understand?

32 This world is described as mere _play and diversion_ (see also 29:64; 47:36; 57:20) insofar as play and diversion involve a certain delusion in which the inner reality of things is obscured by outward appearances (R). The pejorative description of the world as _play_ is meant not to disparage play of any sort, which is certainly permissible in Islam, but rather to make the point that many of those things accorded great weight and significance in this world are as mere child's play in relation to the reality of the Hereafter. Cf. 3:185, where the life of this world is said to be _naught but the enjoyment of delusion,_ and 57:20, where it is more expansively described as _play, diversion, glitter, mutual boasting, and vying for increase in property and children_.

At the same time, however, the Quran affirms that this world was created with Divine purpose and that God did not create _Heaven and earth and whatsoever is between them in play_ (21:16; 44:38). Thus it is not the purposeful "life in the world" that is dismissed here, but rather an attachment to its fleeting rewards and satisfactions (R). The Quran frequently warns against seeking the _ephemeralities of the life of this world_ at the expense of morality, virtue, or the pursuit of spiritual concerns (e.g., 4:94; 7:169; 8:67; 24:33; 75:20–21), and against taking religion itself as mere _play and diversion_ (6:70; 7:51). That _the Abode of the Hereafter_ is better for the _reverent,_ since its enjoyments are both more noble and more lasting, is repeated in several places (4:77; 7:169; 9:38; 12:109; 13:26; 16:30; 17:21; 29:64; 40:39), emphasizing the foolishness of those who would _purchase the world at the price of the Hereafter_ (2:86; 14:3) or prefer the goods of this world to those of the next (3:145; 16:107; 86:16–17). A well-known _ḥ adīth_ makes a similar point: "The world is the prison of the believer and the paradise of the disbeliever" (R).

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Ó We know well that what they say grieves thee. Yet, it is not thee that they deny. Rather, it is the signs of God that the wrongdoers reject.

33 The Prophet was reportedly saddened by those who rejected his message, in both Makkah and Madinah, and the Quran frequently consoles him, telling him not to grieve for those who reject the message (3:176; 5:41, 68; 10:65; 16:127; 18:6; 26:3; 27:70; 31:23; 35:8; 36:76). This is the only instance, however, when the Prophet is comforted by being told that he should not consider their denial a personal rejection of him as a messenger or as a truthful person, since his truthfulness was widely acknowledged by the people of Makkah and Madinah, as reflected in his having been given the name al-Amīn ("the trustworthy") by his fellow Makkans even prior to his prophetic mission (Ṭ, Z). Rather, their denial should be understood as a rejection of the message itself, of the very _signs of God,_ because of their own moral stubbornness (Ṭ). The implication that one's reaction to or attitude toward the Prophet is indicative of one's attitude toward God is also found, for example, in 48:10: _Truly those who pledge allegiance unto thee_ (Muhammad) _pledge allegiance only unto God. The Hand of God is over their hands;_ and in 3:31, where the Prophet is instructed to say, _If you love God, follow me, and God will love you._ That the disbelievers' rejection is ultimately directed at God and His signs, not at the Prophet himself, and that many of them rejected the Quranic message while acknowledging the personal truthfulness of Muhammad indicate the seriousness of their spiritual recalcitrance (Z).

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Ô Surely messengers were denied before thee, and they bore patiently their being denied and persecuted till Our help came to them. None alters the Words of God, and there has already come unto thee some tidings of the messengers.

34 In this verse, the Prophet is reminded that the messengers who preceded him were similarly _denied and persecuted,_ a consolation and encouragement also offered to the Prophet in 3:184; 6:10; 13:32; 21:41; 35:4; 38:12; 40:5. These earlier prophets _bore patiently_ their rejection, and thus the Prophet is implicitly instructed to show similar patience and confidence that God's help will come, as it had unfailingly come in the past. The idea that all prophets eventually receive Divine help is connected with the Islamic belief that all prophetic missions are ultimately victorious (37:171–73; 58:21) _._ For _none alters the Words of God,_ see also 6:115; 10:64; 18:27. Here _the Words of God_ may refer to the Quran (Th), in which case the assertion that _none alters_ it would indicate the Divine protection God gives to both His Word and to the Prophet who delivers it. _The Words of God_ might also refer to God's promise of deliverance and eventual victory to the Prophet, indicating that it has been Divinely decreed and so will inevitably come to pass (IK, R). Some have understood _the Words of God_ here as referring to God's Decree for all things, suggesting that the disbelief of the disbelievers has also been decreed by God and that nothing the Prophet or anyone else can do will ultimately change their rejection of the message (R). _Some tidings of the messengers_ refers to the Quranic accounts of previous prophets, some of which had already come as revelation to the Prophet by this point in his mission, that is, while he was still in Makkah.

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Õ And if their turning away is distressing to thee, then seekest, if thou canst, a tunnel into the earth, or a ladder unto the sky, that thou mightest bring them a sign. Had God willed, He would have gathered them all to guidance—so be not among the ignorant.

35 As a further response to the Prophet's sadness over the disbelievers, this verse presents him with the challenge _seekest, if thou canst, a tunnel into the earth, or a ladder unto the sky, that thou mightest bring them a sign._ It is understood that the Prophet cannot do such things (Z), and thus the rhetorical challenge serves to reinforce the idea that the Prophet has no personal control over the acceptance or denial of the Divine message he brings, as the ultimate effect of religious guidance lies with God alone. _Had God willed, He would have gathered them all to guidance_ is similar to other verses suggesting that human religious diversity—including both those guided by other religious paths and those who refuse all such guidance—is providential. See 5:48; 16:93; and 42:8, which indicate that _had God willed,_ He could have made mankind a single religious community; and 6:107, where _had God willed,_ the idolaters would not have _ascribed partners_ to God. The present verse and those that make similar statements about God's Will regarding the religious orientation of human beings were seen by some theologians and commentators as proof that God "creates" human acts, or at least the irresistible drive to do those acts, good or bad, and thereby decrees the ultimate moral destiny of His creatures (R); others read them in the precisely opposite way to mean that _had God willed,_ He could have "compelled" all human beings to guidance or to a single religious community, but did not do so (R, Z), so that they might choose their religious destiny freely.

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Ö Only those who hear will respond. As for the dead, God will resurrect them, and unto Him they shall be returned.

36 _Only those who hear will respond_ is understood to mean that only those to whom God has given the ability to hear the call of the Prophet and the Quranic message and to understand it will respond. As such, it expresses the idea found in other verses that there are some people whom God has made spiritually "deaf" and lacking in understanding, and that such people will remain impervious to revelation (see 6:25 and commentary). _The dead_ whom God _will resurrect_ may refer specifically to the disbelievers, meaning that when they are dead, they will be resurrected along with all other human beings and judged for their disbelief (Ṭ). It may also mean that the disbelievers are "dead" in a spiritual sense, through disbelief, ignorance, and heedlessness (Aj, R). The connection between being spiritually "deaf" and spiritually "dead" is also made clearly in 27:80: _Surely thou dost not make the dead hear, nor dost thou make the deaf hear the call when they turn their backs_. Like the present verse, 27:80 is situated within a larger passage explaining the Prophet's inability to guide those whom God has made impervious to His Guidance.

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× They say, "Why has no sign been sent down unto him from his Lord?" Say, "Surely God has the power to send down a sign." But most of them know not.

37 The Quran makes repeated reference to the disbelievers' skepticism about why _no sign_ has come to prove the reality of Muhammad's prophethood and the truthfulness of the message with which he had been sent (2:118; 7:203; 10:20; 13:7, 27; 20:133). But it also indicates in various ways throughout this _sūrah_ (vv. 4, 25, 35, 46, 109, 124) and elsewhere (e.g., 7:132, 146; 10:97, 101; 12:105) that such signs are of no avail for those who stubbornly refuse to believe. According to Muslim tradition, all prophets are sent with "signs," often understood to mean "evidentiary miracles" ( _mu ʿjizāt_), that serve as proof of their prophethood. The Prophet Muhammad's true "sign" and "miracle" is believed to be the Quran itself, whose verses are referred to as "signs" ( _āyāt_ ) and whose beauty and power, of both language and meaning, are considered "inimitable" (cf. 2:23; 10:38). This "sign," however, was not sufficient for the disbelievers, perhaps because their requests for "signs" were disingenuous and driven by an attitude of spiritual stubbornness that the "signs" alone could not overcome (R). Moreover, the Quran affirms that the "signs" of God's Power and Benevolence can be found all around, in nature and in human beings themselves, for those who genuinely wish to see them (see, e.g., 12:105; 16:10–13, 65–69; 26:7–8; 30:21; 34:9; 36:33–35; 41:53; 45:12–13).

_Surely God has the power to send down a sign_ implies that God sends such signs according to His own Will and for His own purposes, rather than in response to human requests (cf. 26:3). God's refusal to honor their request for a sign might also be a demonstration of His Mercy (R), for as indicated in v. 8, once a clear sign, such as a visible angel, is sent, people no longer have any excuse for disbelief, and so become liable to immediate punishment if they do not believe thereafter (cf. 5:114–15). Thus withholding such a sign can be understood as an act of Divine respite (IK, R), particularly if such a sign would be unlikely to have a positive effect on belief or if it might render its recipient more liable to immediate punishment; see 17:59; 26:4.

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Ø There is no creature that crawls upon the earth, nor bird that flies upon its wings, but that they are communities like yourselves—We have neglected nothing in the Book—and they shall be gathered unto their Lord in the end.

38 This is one of several verses indicating that nonhuman creatures have a relationship with God that is in some ways analogous to that of human beings. See 16:68–69, where God reveals knowledge to the bees; 17:44 and 24:41, where it is said that all things in Heaven and on earth glorify God; and 38:18–19, where the mountains and the birds hymn God's praises along with David. The present verse seems to go farther, however, indicating that all animals constitute _communities like yourselves;_ in Quranic usage "community" ( _ummah_ ) usually denotes a specifically religious community (see, e.g., 3:110; 10:47). Insofar as the Quran asserts that at least some animals receive revelation and glorify God, they can be described as religious communities, that is, as groups of beings defined by a certain mode of relating to God as their Creator. Some commentators assert that animals are aware of God and His Oneness (R, Th), suggesting that they praise and glorify Him consciously. Some suggest that the description of animals as _communities_ is merely a way of saying that animals are creatures ( _khalq_ ) of God (IK) or that they, like human beings, are the recipients of God's Mercy, Succor, and Bounty (R); see 11:6; 29:60. Such a basic and straightforward notion, however, seems rather pointless (R) and does not fully explain the use of the important term _ummah_ in relation to animals or account for all its implications. For example, in 10:47 the Quran states that _for every community_ ( _ummah_ ) _there is a messenger._ Reading 10:47 in conjunction with the present verse suggests that every animal "community" received a Divinely sent message, just as did all human communities (R).

The indication in the present verse that these various animal groups constitute "communities," specifically "religious communities ( _umam_ )" like those of people, and the clear mention in other verses that all creatures "praise God" (17:44; 24:41) and thus exist in some sort of conscious relationship with their Creator together make a strong argument for the necessity of giving ethical consideration to the rights and needs of all creatures, not only to those of human beings. If all creatures enjoy such a relationship with their Creator and were created to praise Him, then it cannot be assumed that human beings alone enjoy the right to ethical treatment and consideration in His religion. Even if the Quran asserts that God has made natural phenomena _subservient_ to human beings (14:32; 16:14; 22:36–37, 65; 31:20)—that is, He has provided them to human beings for their benefit and use—human beings must consider what right they have to treat God's creatures cruelly or without regard for their innate spiritual value or to utterly destroy them by using or consuming them rapaciously, irresponsibly, or wastefully.

Moreover, _shall be gathered_ ( _yu ḥsharūn_) _unto their Lord_ employs a verb used over twenty times in the Quran to denote the universal Resurrection of human beings on the Last Day for Final Judgment. Commentators do not agree on whether this means that animals will, like human beings, be resurrected and face judgment or whether it simply means that they will be gathered to their deaths (IK, Ṭ, Th). One _ḥ adīth_ quoted by some in connection with this verse indicates that the final gathering will entail some moral resolution or meting out of justice even for animals (IK, Ṭ, Th); another suggests that human beings will be held accountable for those animals they have killed in vain (R). Yet another _ḥ adīth_ states that after rendering judgment upon and for the animals, God will simply command them to return to dust, at which point the disbelievers will wish that they too could be returned to dust rather than face punishment (an allusion to 78:40; IK, R, Ṭ, Th).

The idea that God's "gathering" and perhaps His reckoning encompass all the beasts of land and air suggests His limitless ability to keep account of His creatures and should thus increase human beings' certainty of their own resurrection, accounting, and judgment (Ṭ, Z). The second-/eighth-century scholar Sufyān ibn Uyaynah considered the beasts and birds of this verse to refer to different moral categories of human beings, who in their earthly lives and habits have come to resemble certain animals (R), an idea also found in more sophisticated form in the philosophical writings of Ṣadr al-Dīn al-Shīrāzī (d. 1050/1640), for whom the resurrection or otherworldly return of various animals represents the return of certain lower aspects of individual human beings ( _al- Ḥikmat al-ʿarshiyyah_). Ṣadr al-Dīn al-Shīrāzī also presents a philosophical argument for the resurrection of animals, and indeed of all animate and inanimate creatures in their own right (see _Risālat al- ḥashr_, Tehran: Intasharat-i Mawla, 1984, pp. 92–117). The idea that animals will be "gathered" to resurrection may seem to be supported by 81:5, where one of the events of the Last Day is said to be that _the wild beasts_ will be _gathered_ (using the same verb).

The reference to _the Book_ here may be a reference to either the Preserved Tablet (85:22), in which the destiny of all created things has been written (Th), or the Quran (R). Although the Quran cannot be said to contain detailed knowledge of all things, many would argue that it contains the essential and principal knowledge from which all the Islamic sciences, and indeed all spiritually beneficial knowledge, may be derived (R). For example, the Quran does not stipulate all of the commands and prohibitions that became part of Islamic Law ( _Sharī ʿah_), many of which were derived from Prophetic precedent, from the consensus of the believing community, or forms of human reasoning, such as reasoning through analogy ( _qiyās_ ) or on the basis of the principle of equity ( _isti ḥsān_); yet the authority of these other sources of law can be derived from the Quran (R). For example, the Quran indicates the necessity of following the commands and the practices ( _Sunnah_ ) of the Prophet (e.g., 33:21; 47:33; 59:7) as well as the reliability of the believing community (3:110).

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Ù Those who deny Our signs are deaf and dumb, in darkness. Whomsoever God will, He leads astray, and whomsoever He will, He places him upon a straight path.

39 For other references to the spiritual "deafness" that leads some to deny God's signs, see 6:25c; for other references to the combination of spiritual "deafness" and "dumbness," see 2:18, 171; 8:22; 17:97. _In darkness_ refers to the state of being misguided or astray, as the Quran frequently juxtaposes _darkness_ to light to refer to the state of being astray in contrast to being guided by God (e.g., 5:16; 14:1; 33:43; 57:9). That God _leads astray_ certain people and guides others is mentioned in several verses. In some cases, He leads astray those already in a state of disbelief or wrongdoing (2:26; 14:27; 40:34, 74; 45:23), although elsewhere the "leading astray" is considered to be either explicitly or implicitly a matter of His Will (7:155; 14:4, 27; 16:93; 35:8; 74:31); and His "leading astray" is represented as decisive, for those without His Guidance have no _way,_ no _guide,_ and no _protector_ (4:88, 143; 7:186; 13:33; 17:97; 18:17; 30:29; 39:23; 40:33; 42:44–46). These Quranic verses led to serious theological questions about God's role in human moral choice and destiny as well as the meaning of God's "Will." The Muʿtazilites argued that God's "leading astray" is not an act of direct misguidance, but rather a withholding of Divine Favor, or _lu ṭf_ (Z), by which God gives human beings guidance and makes them receptive to it; or this "misguidance" or "leading astray" refers to the Hereafter, when, as a result of their disbelief or misdeeds, He will lead them away from Paradise and toward Hellfire (R). Ashʿarites, however, held that God created human acts and that guidance or misguidance, faith or disbelief, were ultimately determined by His Will (R).

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@ Say, "Think to yourselves: were the Punishment of God to come upon you, or were the Hour to come upon you, would you call upon anyone other than God, if you are truthful?"

A Nay, but it is upon Him that you would call, and He would remove that which had caused you to call upon Him, if it be His Will, and you would forget whatever partners you had ascribed unto Him.

40–41 Many of the pagan and idolatrous Makkans, to whom this _sūrah_ is primarily addressed, referred to the Creator as _Allāh,_ although they worshipped other deities in addition to Him. As a means of demonstrating to them that _Allāh_ is not one among many gods, but indeed the one and only God, these verses ask the idolaters to think about whom they would _call upon_ for deliverance _were the Punishment of God_ to come upon them suddenly. This _Punishment_ might refer to the coming of a catastrophic worldly destruction of their communities such as befell peoples in the past (cf. 7:65–79; 11:50–68; 54:18–29) or to _the Hour,_ the universal apocalypse (Ṭ). The question is a rhetorical one, and the answer given in v. 41 is that in such an existential crisis, they would undoubtedly call upon God ( _Allāh_ ), their Creator. These verses are similar to others in which people in situations of grave peril are moved to call upon God to save them (see 6:63–64; 7:189–90; 10:22–23; 17:67; 29:65; 30:33; 31:32).

In v. 41, God's saving them offers hope that they will _forget whatever partners_ they _had ascribed unto Him_ and abandon the false deities they had worshipped alongside God, realizing that they bring no benefit (R). In other verses, however, such supplicants often forget God once they have been saved or go on to worship other gods after that; and even in the present verses, the implication may be that they merely forget their false deities temporarily during their moment of peril (Z). These verses contribute to the Quran's pervasive argument that false deities have no power to help those who worship them, in either this life or the next (see, e.g., 6:71; 7:37, 194–95; 28:64; 46:4) and thus that such deities are worshipped purely in vain. In v. 41, God may remove the peril that had moved them to supplicate Him _if it be His Will,_ suggesting that He may or may not respond to such a prayer for deliverance. Elsewhere, however, the Quran affirms that God responds to those who call upon Him (cf. 2:186; 40:60). For Ashʿarites, God's response to a supplicant is dependent purely upon His Will, and v. 41 supports their argument; for Muʿtazilites, God responds or does not respond depending upon which ultimately serves the greater good (R).

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B We have indeed sent messengers unto communities before thee, and We seized them with misfortune and hardship, that they might humble themselves.

C If only, when Our Might came upon them, they had humbled themselves. But rather their hearts hardened, and Satan made all they used to do seem fair unto them.

D So when they forgot that whereof they had been reminded, We opened unto them the gates of all things, till, as they exulted in what they were given, We seized them suddenly, whereupon they came to despair.

42–44 Cf. 23:75–76; 44:12–16. The Quran mentions _misfortune_ ( _ba ʾsāʾ_) and _hardship_ ( _ḍ arrāʾ_) together elsewhere as means by which human beings are tested (2:177). Many commentators suggest that the first refers to loss of wealth and straitened circumstances, and the second to illness and physical suffering (R, Ṭ, Z). Encounters with both good and evil serve as tests of faith (7:168; 21:35), since ease may make people overly exultant or forgetful (see v. 44), while adversity can make them despairing or ungrateful (see 11:9–10; 28:58; 41:49–51). Tests of adversity or ease are sometimes mentioned, as here, in connection with the sending of prophets and messengers; the circumstances of either hardship (2:214) or an alternation between hardship and ease serve to deepen the spiritual test brought by the prophet (see, e.g., 7:94–95, 130–35). In v. 43, when people fail to respond to such tests of adversity with humility, their _hearts_ are _hardened_ (cf. 2:74; 5:13; 10:88; 57:16), while Satan causes their actions to _seem fair unto them_ , so that they see their evil actions as good. Although this is a Satanic tactic (see 15:39; 27:24), the Quran also suggests that this delusion is a general human tendency (see 2:212; 3:14; 6:108, 122, 137; 8:48; 9:37; 10:12; 13:33; 16:63; 27:4; 29:38; 40:37; 41:25; 47:14).

_They forgot that whereof they had been reminded_ —that is, they forgot the lesson they should have learned from their _misfortune and hardship_ (R, Z) regarding their utter dependency on God, or they forgot the message brought by the messenger (Ṭ). In response, God did not send immediate punishment, but rather _opened unto them the gates of all things,_ removing their suffering and granting them ease and prosperity. This Divine interweaving of hardship and ease is likened by some to the actions of a caring father, who is by turns harsh and gentle with his child, seeking to cultivate moral character (R, Z). Alternately, God's temporarily granting ease to those who reject His messengers and allow their hearts to be _hardened_ rather than humbled by adversity can be understood as a means by which they are lured further toward the world (Ṭ). A _ḥ adīth_ states, "When you see that God has given much to one of His servants in this world, despite his disobedience, it is only as a temptation" (IK, R, Ṭ).

Like those before them, they _exulted,_ thinking they had been blessed and that their actions were therefore _fair,_ in the sense of beautiful and good. _Came to despair_ renders _mublisūn,_ which also connotes those in a state of regret or those who are dumbfounded, unable to speak in defense of themselves. It is said to be related to the name Iblīs (Ṭ), a name of Satan in the Quran (2:34; 7:11; 15:31; 17:61; 18:50; 26:95; 34:20). Their sense of _despair,_ when God _seized them suddenly,_ was heightened because of the contrast with the ease and prosperity they had enjoyed previously (R), just as Iblīs's banishment is more dramatic in contrast to the nearness to God he had previously enjoyed. The overall effect of these verses, and others like them, is to encourage detachment in relation to adversity and prosperity in this world, avoiding both bitterness and self-satisfaction, and to engender an awareness that the vicissitudes of earthly life are merely a Divine test and do not necessarily reflect either Divine pleasure or dissatisfaction.

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E Thus was cut off the last remnant of the people who did wrong. Praise be to God, Lord of the worlds!

45 To _cut off the last remnant_ of a people (cf. 7:72; 8:7; 15:66; 69:6–8) means to "uproot" and eliminate them entirely as a people, in this case through a sudden punishment, such as that mentioned in v. 44 (R). This terrible warning is followed by a formula of praise to God in recognition of God's many merciful efforts to bring these people to guidance before their destruction (R, Ṭs).

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F Say, "Think to yourselves: were God to take away your hearing and your sight and seal your hearts, what god other than God would restore them unto you?" Behold how We vary the signs; yet still they turn away.

46 In several places, the Quran mentions that God may thwart people's appreciation of spiritual truth by blocking their hearing, sight, or hearts—the latter understood to be the seat of spiritual understanding—or otherwise rendering them ineffective (cf. 2:7, 17; 7:100–101; 16:108; 45:23; for the "sealing of hearts" specifically, see 4:155; 9:87, 93; 10:74; 30:59; 40:35; 42:24; 47:16; 63:3). God's power over human affliction and deliverance and the inability of any but God to remove an affliction He Himself has ordained are also mentioned in 6:17 and 10:107; and in 28:71–72 and 39:38 they are presented, as here, in the form of a rhetorical question addressed to the disbelievers. To _vary the signs_ means to present them in different forms or to bring out all their aspects; see also 6:65, 105; 7:58; 17:41; 46:27. _Signs_ ( _āyāt_ ) may refer to Quranic verses, but can also refer to all means of Divine revelation and theophany, including the marvels of the created order and the interior dimensions of the human soul (cf. 41:53). That God "varies the signs" may refer to the manner in which the Quran invokes various images and created phenomena or explains them in different ways as repeated proofs of God's Oneness. Similarly, the Quran's parables and warnings are said to be presented in various ways; see 17:89; 18:54; 20:113.

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G Say, "Think to yourselves: were the Punishment of God to come upon you suddenly or openly, would any be destroyed save the wrongdoing people?"

47 That the punishment may come upon the wrongdoers _suddenly or openly_ means that it may befall them either when they are unaware, for example, at night while they are sleeping, or in broad daylight, coming unexpectedly before their very eyes (Z); that is, it may come upon them either with or without warning (R). The rhetorical question _would any be destroyed save the wrongdoing people_ seems to indicate that only wrongdoers would suffer destruction in the face of such a Divine punishment, though in the Quran worldly destruction usually comes upon whole peoples (save for their prophets and the few righteous people who followed them), as we see in the case of the people of Noah and Lot as well as that of the Arabian tribes the ʿĀd and the Thamūd (see, e.g., 7:59–93; 11:25–95). See also 8:25: _And be mindful of a trial that will not befall only those among you who do wrong._ Al-Rāzī argues that even in cases where worldly punishment comes upon a people as a whole, the righteous will ultimately receive their reward with God in the Hereafter, as suggested in v. 48, while the wrongdoers will have lost "both this world and the next" (R).

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H We do not send the messengers save as bearers of glad tidings and as warners. Thus whosoever believes and makes amends, no fear shall come upon them, nor shall they grieve.

I But as for those who deny Our signs, the punishment shall befall them for the iniquity they committed.

48–49 Messengers and prophets are referred to repeatedly as _bearers of glad tidings and as warners_ (see 2:119, 213; 4:165; 5:19; 7:188; 11:2; 17:105; 18:56; 25:56; 33:45; 34:28; 35:24; 48:8). That those who believe and are righteous are spared fear and grief is similarly repeated in over a dozen verses (2:38, 62, 112, 262, 274, 277; 3:170; 5:69; 7:35, 49; 10:62; 43:68; 46:13). In v. 48 it is those who both believe inwardly and demonstrate righteousness outwardly through acts of obedience who are spared fear and grief, whereas in v. 49 the punishment befalls those who both reject faith by "denying God's signs" and commit _iniquity_. These verses, and others like them, demonstrate the deeply interconnected reality of faith and acts, indicating that both the inward and outward aspects of one's spiritual state determine one's ultimate spiritual punishment or reward.

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P Say, "I do not say unto you that with me are the treasuries of God; nor do I know the unseen; nor do I say unto you that I am an angel. I follow only that which is revealed unto me." Say, "Are the blind and the seer equal? Will you not, then, reflect?"

50 As an argument for their rejection of Muhammad's prophethood, the disbelievers repeatedly cited the Prophet's human rather than angelic nature (6:91; 11:12; 15:7; 17:94–95; 21:3; 25:7, 21; 43:53), his inability to foretell the precise coming of the Hour or the Day of Judgment (7:187; 10:48–49; 67:25–26), and his failure to produce miraculous worldly goods (17:90–91). Elsewhere they claimed that his message was not accompanied by a miraculous sign (2:118; 10:20; 13:7; 17:92–93; 20:133; 29:50)—although for Muslims the Quran itself is the greatest miracle, inimitable through mere human effort (2:23–24; 10:38; 11:13–14), and also the Prophet reportedly split the moon as a miraculous sign to the disbelievers (as mentioned obliquely in 54:1–2).

In the present verse, the Prophet is instructed to respond to similar criticisms issued by the disbelievers in vv. 8–9 and 37 by asserting that he does not claim to be an angel (cf. 17:93; 18:110; 41:6) and that he follows _only that which is revealed_ to him (cf. 46:9), not his personal whim. In words identical to those of Noah in 11:31, he rejects any notion that he possesses the _treasuries of God_ —that is, the power to bring worldly provision and benefit to himself or others (R, Ṭ)—or that he knows the _unseen,_ such as the timing of future events through which he or others could profit (R). The Quran elsewhere indicates that the _unseen_ is known only to God (6:59; 10:20; 27:65), save for what He chooses to reveal to His messengers (3:44; 11:49; 12:102; 72:26–27).

The rhetorical question _are the blind one and the seer equal_ (also found in 11:24; 13:16; 35:19; 40:58) pertains to spiritual, not physical blindness. It asks whether the believers who are guided to and understand the truth of the Quranic message are like the disbelievers who are blind to it. See 22:46: _Truly it is not the eyes that go blind, but it is hearts within breasts that go blind_. As "seeing" here is a metonym for possessing spiritual knowledge and understanding, the rhetorical question in this verse is also similar to that in 39:9: _Are those who know and those who do not know equal?_ Here as elsewhere, the Quran invites its audience to _reflect_ upon its verses, parables, and proofs or upon God's creation in order to facilitate spiritual understanding (see, e.g., 3:191c; 11:24, 30; 16:17; 30:8; 37:155; 45:23; 56:62).

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Q Warn hereby those who fear that they will be gathered unto their Lord—they have, apart from Him, no protector and no intercessor—that they might be reverent.

51 _Warn hereby_ —that is, with the Quran (IK)— _those who fear that they will be gathered unto their Lord_ on the Day of Judgment. _Those_ may refer to either Muslims who believe in their own resurrection and fear God's Judgment, but are deficient in their works; or the People of the Book, who believe in the Day of Judgment, but have not accepted the prophethood of Muhammad; or those idolaters who harbor a hidden fear of the reality of the Day of Judgment and may thus be amenable to the Prophet's warning (Z). That there is _no protector and no intercessor_ in the Hereafter other than God (see also 6:70; 32:4) is consistent with other verses that limit intercession to God or those to whom He has given the power to intercede, such as the Prophet, according to the majority Muslim opinion. For a fuller discussion of intercession, see 2:48c; 2:255c. Jaʿfar al-Ṣādiq, the sixth Shiite Imam, understood the _intercessor_ in this verse to be the Quran itself, saying, "Warn by means of the Quran those who anticipate the meeting with their Lord [cf. 50:45 for similar wording] and make them long for what shall be at that time, for truly the Quran is an intercessor which will intercede on their behalf" (Ṭs, Ṭū).

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R And drive not away those who call upon their Lord morning and evening, desiring His Face. Naught of their reckoning falls upon thee and naught of thy reckoning falls upon them, such that thou shouldst drive them away and thus become one of the wrongdoers.

52 This verse was reportedly revealed when a group of prominent Makkans indicated that they wished to join the Prophet's teaching circle, but were loathe to sit among and be associated with some of Muhammad's other followers who were of low social standing (including Bilāl and other freed slaves) and so asked the Prophet to send them away. Some reports indicate the Prophet was not asked to send away these followers altogether, but rather to send them to the back rows of prayer, so that the prominent Makkans would not be seen standing or praying behind those of lower social status (Ṭ). The Prophet refused to "drive away" his poorer followers (in 11:27–29 and 26:111–14 Noah refuses to do the same), but was prepared to agree to have these followers temporarily depart when the prominent Makkans came to sit with him. This verse was then revealed forbidding him from "driving away" his pious followers _who call upon their Lord morning and evening_ (IK, R, Ṭ, W). See also 18:28: _Make thy soul patient with those who call upon their Lord morning and evening, desiring His Face,_ reportedly revealed in a similar circumstance (Ṭ, W); and 80:1–10c, about the incident in which the Prophet is admonished for registering displeasure when his teaching attracted a poor blind man rather than the wealthier Makkans.

These passages raise the question of how the Prophet could seem to favor these prominent Makkans, who were still preoccupied with worldly status, over his sincere followers and how his actions should be evaluated, considering that the verse here indicates that, were he to _drive away_ his followers, as he may have been prepared to do temporarily, he would _become one of the wrongdoers_. Al-Rāzī argues that even if the Prophet were initially prepared to accede to the Makkans' demand, his intention was only to facilitate their acceptance of Islam, and since the Prophet could continue to instruct his poorer followers at another time, there would be no spiritual harm to them either. Moreover, the Prophet, according to al-Rāzī, cannot be said to have sinned in his apparent initial willingness to accommodate the Makkans' demand (R), since his intention was good.

That God should be "called upon," "glorified," or "invoked" _morning and evening_ (see also 19:11; 33:42; 48:9; 76:25) can be said to refer to praying the five canonical prayers at their prescribed times, to performing supererogatory acts of invoking God ( _dhikr Allāh_ ) or reciting the Quran, or to all of them (R, Ṭ). To do so _desiring His Face_ (cf. 2:272; 30:38–39; 76:9) may mean, literally, with the hope of seeing God's Face, for any sincere lover longs to see the face of the beloved (R), but also it refers metaphorically to sincerity of intention among the Prophet's followers (IK, R). _Naught of their reckoning falls upon thee_ echoes the Quranic idea that _none shall bear the burden of another_ (6:164; 17:15; 35:18; 39:7; 53:38). In the syntactical context of the verse, _their reckoning_ seems most likely to refer to the reckoning of _those who call upon their Lord morning and evening,_ meaning that the Prophet need only judge his followers' piety on the basis of their outward actions (Z).

Some commentators explain this as a response to an accusation made by some of the Quraysh that the poor followed the Prophet not out of religious sincerity, but only because they hoped to be fed and clothed by him. According to this interpretation, the verse was meant to indicate that the Prophet had no responsibility to assess the possible ulterior motives behind his followers' apparent piety (R). Others suggest, more plausibly, that it refers to the reckoning of the prominent Makkans who made the request regarding the Prophet's followers. The verse indicates that the Prophet need not be so concerned with their embracing Islam that he should accede to their demand and "drive away" his pious followers at their behest (Z).

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S Thus did We try some of them by means of others, that they might say, "Are these the ones whom God has graced among us?" Does God not know best those who are thankful?

53 That God tries _some of them by means of others_ (cf. 47:4) refers generally to the idea that the discrepancies in wealth and power among human beings serves as a trial for all (Ṭ); the strong are tested with regard to their responsibility toward the needy, and the needy with regard to their trust in God and their humble acceptance of others' charity. In this context, it refers specifically to the way in which the humble social status of the Prophet's early followers constituted a "test" for the prominent Makkans, who had to overcome their false association of spiritual worth with social standing, an association indicated in the contemptuous question, _Are these the ones whom God has graced among us?_ It was also a test of their attachment to their own social status, since as new followers of the Prophet, they would have to accept being instructed to some extent by the Prophet's poorer followers, who had preceded them in adopting the religion (R) and were thus more firmly rooted in it. At the same time, this was also a test for the needier followers of the Prophet, who watched the disbelieving Makkans continue to prosper, while they themselves remained poor and vulnerable to persecution at the hands of the powerful who disparaged their faith (R). These needier followers could also ask, in reference to the wealthy, disbelieving Makkans, _Are these the ones whom God has graced among us?_ wondering why God continued to grant worldly prosperity to those who rejected His religion (R). It is unclear whether the question is posed by the poorer believers or the wealthier disbelievers and may well be understood as a question each group asked regarding the other.

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T When those who believe in Our signs come to thee, say, "Peace be upon you! Your Lord has prescribed Mercy for Himself, that whosoever among you does evil in ignorance and thereafter repents and makes amends, He is truly Forgiving, Merciful."

54 The saying _Peace be upon you!_ or simply _Peace!_ is mentioned several times in the Quran as the greeting for or between the people of Paradise (7:46; 14:23; 16:32; 19:62; 39:73; 56:26) and is thus the preferred greeting in Islamic society, even for those whose mother tongue is not Arabic. It is also a formula of blessing upon the prophets in the Quran (15:52; 51:25; 37:79, 109, 120, 130, 181) and Islamic tradition generally. This verse may refer to the same incident addressed in v. 53, instructing the Prophet to offer greetings of peace to those who believe, rather than "driving them away" (see v. 53); or it may mean that the Prophet should offer greetings of peace and hope for God's forgiveness to those believers, reportedly including ʿUmar ibn al-Khaṭṭāb, who initially counseled the Prophet to accede to the prominent Makkans' demand (IK, Ṭ). Alternately, it may be related to a separate incident in which a group of believers confessed to the Prophet that they had committed terrible sins. The Prophet initially said nothing, but this verse was then revealed, instructing him to greet them as believers and offer them hope of forgiveness (Ṭ). For the statement that God _has prescribed Mercy for Himself,_ see 6:12–13c. In a _ḥ adīth_ mentioned in connection with this verse the Prophet asks, "Do you know the right of God over the servants? [It is] that they worship Him and not ascribe partners unto Him." Then he said, "Do you know the right of the servants over God if they do this? [It is] that He not punish them" (IK). For the reference to God's forgiveness of one who _does evil in ignorance_ and then _repents and makes amends,_ see 4:17–18 and commentary as well as 16:119.

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U Thus do We expound the signs, that the way of the guilty may be made clear.

55 That God "expounds the signs" is mentioned four times in the present _sūrah_ and several times elsewhere; see 6:97–98, 126; 7:32, 52, 174; 9:11; 10:5, 24; 11:1; 13:2; 30:28; also 41:3, where it is the basis for the title of _Sūrah_ 41, "Expounded." In the present context, it refers to the variety of arguments and indications for the Oneness of God and the truth of Muhammad's prophethood given throughout this _sūrah_ in response to the disbelief, rejection, and false arguments of the Makkan idolaters (R, Ṭ).

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V Say, "I am forbidden to worship those whom you call upon apart from God." Say, "I will not follow your caprices, for then I would have gone astray, and I would not be among the rightly guided."

56 Having put forward a series of arguments against Makkan idolaters, the Prophet is told to make known his uncompromising rejection of the idolatry of his people (cf. 10:41, 104; 26:216; 40:66; _Sūrah_ 109), stating that he is _forbidden to worship_ their idols and false deities and that he refuses to follow their _caprices,_ that is, their whims or desires, with regard to religion and worship. Elsewhere, the Quran warns the Prophet against acquiescing to the whims of the disbelievers; see 2:120, 145; 5:48–49; 6:150; 13:37; 42:15; 45:18.

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W Say, "Truly I stand upon a clear proof from my Lord, and you have denied Him. That which you seek to hasten is not within my power. Judgment belongs to God alone, He relates the Truth, and He is the best of deciders."

X Say, "If that which you seek to hasten were within my power, then the matter would be decreed between you and me, and God knows best the wrongdoers."

57–58 The claim to _stand upon a clear proof_ from God is made by several prophets in the face of their people's rejection (11:17, 28, 63, 88; 35:40; 47:14) and is an assertion of the prophet's own clarity regarding the truth of the message he brings (Ṭ). The prospect of Divine punishment and the resurrection of human beings was consistently denied by the Makkan idolaters; yet the Quran suggests that the idolaters seem to want to _hasten,_ or that they unwittingly _hasten,_ the punishment precisely through their obstinate rejection of its reality and their insincere questions and assertions concerning both punishment and resurrection. For example, see 8:32: _And [remember] when they said, "O God, if this be the truth from Thee, rain down stones upon us from the sky, or bring us a painful punishment"_ (cf. 26:203; 27:46; 27:71–72; 37:176; 51:59). The Prophet is instructed here to make it clear that he possesses no power over the timing of such punishment, for _judgment belongs to God alone_ (cf. 6:62; 12:40, 67; 28:88), a statement that serves as a Quranic basis for the sovereignty of Divine rather than human law in Islamic thought. In the present context, the _judgment_ that belongs to God includes the determination of when His Punishment will descend (Z).

_He relates_ ( _yaqu ṣṣu_) _the Truth_ can be read with a slight orthographic change to mean, "He decrees ( _yaq ḍī_) the Truth," a reading preferred by some commentators (R, Ṭ, Z), given the context of this verse concerning God's Judgment. That God is _the best of deciders_ ( _fā ṣilīn_) indicates that He will decide between truth and falsehood and between the Prophet and those who reject his message (Ṭ). Cf. 7:87; 10:109; 11:45; 12:80; 95:8, where God is the _best_ or _most just of judges_ ( _ḥ ākimīn_). In v. 58, the folly of the idolaters' attempts to elicit the timing of Divine punishment is demonstrated by the warning that, were the timing in the hands of the Prophet, _the matter would be decreed_ —that is, the punishment would have been called down upon them already (Ṭ, Z); but it is God who decrees the timing of His Punishment, and its postponement should be seen as an act of Divine Wisdom and Mercy.

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Y And with Him are the keys of the Unseen. None knows them but He; and He knows what is on land and sea; no leaf falls but that He knows it, nor any seed in the dark recesses of the earth, nor anything moist or dry, but that it is in a clear Book.

59 The _Unseen_ ( _ghayb_ ) refers to all realities beyond the reach of ordinary human perception: God Himself, the inner thoughts and intentions of others, the inner reality of things, future events, metaphysical realities, and the spiritual and psychic realms. That God alone knows the _unseen_ is found in 6:50; 10:20; and 27:65, but this is the only verse that states that God possesses _the keys of the Unseen_ ( _mafāti ḥ al-ghayb_). A _ḥ adīth_ states, "The keys of the Unseen are five, which none knows but God: None knows what will happen tomorrow but God; none knows what is in the womb but God; none knows when it will rain but God; none knows in what place one will die but God; none knows when the Hour will be established but God" (cf. 31:34). The _keys of the Unseen_ is commonly glossed as the keys to the storehouses or treasuries ( _khazā ʾin_) from which creation is originated (R, Ṭ, Z), perhaps in connection with a _ḥ adīth_ in which the Prophet says, "I have been given the keys of eloquent speech, and victory with awe, and while I was sleeping last night, the keys of the treasuries of the earth were brought toward me till they were put in my hand." Al-Zamakhsharī suggests that _the keys of the Unseen_ are metaphorical images that grant access to otherwise inaccessible truths. Insofar as the _keys of the Unseen_ ( _mafāti ḥ al-ghayb_) refers to something that makes difficult or hidden truths accessible, it serves as the title of several important works in Islamic intellectual history, including Fakhr al-Dīn al-Rāzī's Quranic commentary and a work on the Quran by Mullā Ṣadrā.

God also knows all aspects of "seen" reality as well, that is, _what is on land and sea_. He knows them not only in a general sense, but in their particulars: the falling of every leaf, and every _seed in the dark recesses of the earth_. His Knowledge of even the smallest things may serve as a warning to human beings that God is aware of all that they do, no matter how small or hidden (Ṭ). This verse also served as a scriptural basis for the criticism made by Islamic theologians against certain Muslim philosophers, such as Ibn Sīnā, who claimed that God knows only universals, but not particulars. The connection between God's Knowledge and the statement that all realities are _in a clear Book_ is also made elsewhere in the Quran (cf. 10:61; 11:6; 27:74–75; 34:3). _Clear Book_ may be a reference to the _Preserved Tablet_ (see 85:22c; Ṭ) or to the very Knowledge of God (Z), although it is used elsewhere to refer to revealed scripture in general (5:15; 12:1; 26:2; 27:1; 28:2; 43:2; 44:2).

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` He it is Who takes your souls by night, and He knows what you commit by day. Then by day He resurrects you, that a term appointed may be fulfilled. Then unto Him shall be your return, and He shall inform you of that which you used to do.

60 _Takes your souls_ renders _yatawaffākum,_ a verb commonly used to refer to the death of a person; here, however, it refers to sleep, for in sleep, as in death, one's physical senses and limbs are rendered ineffective (R), and only the inner senses and movement of the soul continue. That God "takes souls" _by night_ and then "resurrects" them during the day indicates an analogous relationship between sleep and death, and waking and resurrection. See also 25:47: _And He it is Who made the night a garment for you, and made sleep repose, and made day a resurrection._ This analogy is also present in the story of the People of the Cave (18:13–26). Likening sleep and waking to death and resurrection makes an implicit argument for the reality of resurrection on the basis of ordinary human experience in this world: if God can withhold the ordinary waking consciousness in sleep and then return that consciousness and cause awakening on a daily basis, He can also withhold it permanently through death and cause people to "wake" through resurrection in the Hereafter (R, Ṭ).

Like Quranic arguments that invoke God's ability to "resurrect" a withered land by sending Rain (7:57; 16:65; 22:5; 29:63; 30:24; 41:39), this verse argues for God's power to resurrect by adducing His power over analogous phenomena experienced in worldly existence. God _resurrects_ people _by day,_ so _that a term appointed may be fulfilled,_ that is, so that the duration of their earthly lives may be completed (Ṭ); see also 39:42: _God takes souls at the moment of their death, and those who die not during their sleep. He withholds those for whom He has decreed death, and sends forth the others till a term appointed._ In the Quran, individuals as well as communities (7:34; 10:49), and indeed all created phenomena (see, e.g., 13:2; 31:29; 35:13; 39:5; 46:3), have an "appointed term," in keeping with the idea of Divine _qadar,_ or God's "measuring out" all things, including their temporal span of existence. The cycle of sleeping and waking also points to the vicissitudes of earthly life, characterized by alternation between God's giving or expansion ( _bas ṭ_) and withholding or contraction ( _qab ḍ_) of spiritual and physical provision. Both are ultimately transcended in the "return unto Him" either in the next world or, for the mystical seeker, in this life in the state of "union" with God that transcends the various spiritual stations (Aj).

In the Hereafter, God will _inform you of that which you used to do_ (5:105; 9:94, 105; 10:23; 29:8; 31:15; 39:7; 62:8); that is, every soul's deeds will be presented to it, sometimes metaphorically in the form of a "book" (17:71; 69:19, 25; 84:7, 10).

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a And He is Dominant over His servants. He sends guardians over you, till, when death comes unto one of you, Our messengers take him, and they neglect not their duty.

b Then they are returned unto God, their true Master. Surely judgment belongs to Him, and He is the swiftest of reckoners.

61–62 That God is _Dominant over His servants_ (see also 6:18) means that He transcends them in both His Knowledge, for He alone possesses the _keys of the Unseen_ (v. 59), and His Power, for He is able to _take . . . souls_ and return them again (v. 60). He is also _Dominant_ in that He transcends all opposites and dualities, being an "ocean without a shore" (R). _Dominant_ translates _qāhir,_ which is derived from the same root as the Divine Name the _Paramount_ ( _al-Qahhār_ ) in 12:39; 13:16; 14:48; 38:65; 39:4; 40:16; and al-Qāhir is also considered by some to be one of the Divine Names.

_Guardians_ refers to angels said to accompany each individual soul through earthly life, recording his or her deeds faithfully (Ṭ); see also 10:21; 13:11; 50:18; 82:10–12. Some say that each individual is accompanied by two angels, one to record sins and the other to record righteous acts (R). Given that God possesses knowledge of all things and thus has no need of such written records, it is understood that the benefit of the recording angels is for human beings themselves who, knowing that their deeds are being meticulously recorded, may be moved to avoid evil or dishonorable deeds (R, Z).

In the Quran, _messengers_ ( _rusul_ ) usually refers to prophets, but here and in several other verses it refers to angels; see 22:75: _God chooses messengers from among the angels and from among mankind._ In the present verse, it refers to angels sent by God to collect spirits of the deceased (Ṭ; cf. 7:37); see also 32:11, which mentions a single _Angel of death,_ identified in Islamic angelology with ʿIzrāʾīl (Azrael). The angelic _messengers_ in the present verse may be understood as assisting the angel of death; some say the _messengers_ "take" the souls, and the angel of death carries them off (R, Ṭ). It is unclear whether the recording angels and the angels that take souls at death are the same angels performing different functions, although the predominant tendency has been to see them as separate angels (R); see 32:11c. _Then they are returned unto God_ for judgment and recompense. That _judgment belongs to_ God is repeated again (see vv. 57–58 and commentary). God's "swiftness" in reckoning is also mentioned elsewhere (2:202; 3:19, 199; 5:4; 13:41; 14:51; 24:39; 40:17), as is His swiftness in retribution (6:165; 7:167).

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c Say, "Who saves you from the darkness of land and sea, when you call upon Him humbly and in secret [saying], 'If only He saves us from this, we shall surely be among the thankful'?"

d Say, "God saves you from this and from every distress; yet you ascribe partners unto Him!"

63–64 The Quran gives several examples of people calling upon God for help in moments of great distress, only to forget and return to idolatry when the moment of need has passed (see, e.g., 7:189–90; 30:33). As in the present verse, some of these examples are connected with perils at sea (17:67; 29:65; 31:32). The _darkness of land and sea_ may simply refer to the anxiety-producing vicissitudes of earthly life, or it may be a metaphorical reference to the different types of "darkness" human beings experience, including both inward and outward sources of fear and sadness. Some Sufi interpretations consider the _darkness of land_ to represent the various forms of earthly adversity encountered by those following the Islamic exoteric Law ( _Sharī ʿah_) and the darkness _of sea_ to represent the spiritual difficulties and challenges faced by those pursuing the mystical path ( _ṭ arīqah;_ Aj). Calling upon God _humbly and in secret_ suggests supplication done in a private and sincere fashion (R), not merely for show (see also 7:55). This, together with the supplicants' promise that, if God delivers them, they will be _among the thankful,_ points to the spiritual benefits one may derive from the experience of danger or distress, including the motivation to _call upon_ God as well as the humility, sincerity, and thankfulness such supplication engenders (R).

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e Say, "He is the One Who has power to send a punishment upon you from above you or from beneath your feet, or to confound you as discordant factions and make you taste the might of one another." Behold how We vary the signs, that they may understand.

65 To send a punishment _from above you or from beneath your feet_ (cf. 5:66; 29:55; 33:10) means, idiomatically, to cause it to come from all sides. It may also be a reference to the various ways in which punishment comes or threatens to come upon people in the Quran (IK, R): _from above,_ as in the flooding rains upon Noah's people, the rain of stones upon the people of Lot and others (15:74; 17:68; 26:173; 27:58; 29:33, 40; 54:34; 67:17), and the destructive cry or thunderbolt that destroys or accompanies the destruction of various peoples (2:55; 4:153; 11:67, 94; 15:73, 83; 18:40; 23:41; 29:40; 36:29, 49, 53; 38:15; 41:13, 17; 50:42; 51:44; 54:31; 80:33); and _from beneath_ their feet, as in earthquakes (7:78, 91; 29:37) or being "swallowed up" by earth or sea (16:45; 17:68; 28:81; 29:40; 34:9; 67:16).

Dividing into _discordant factions_ is mentioned elsewhere as an error committed by previous religious communities and something Muslims should strive to avoid (cf. 3:103–5; 30:32; 42:13–14; 98:4). The present verse warns that God might _confound you as discordant factions_ as a punishment; cf. 5:14, where the consequence of Christians forgetting their covenant with God is that He _stirred up enmity and hatred among them_. When the present verse was revealed, the Prophet was disturbed and requested through the Archangel Gabriel that God spare his community such punishments. Gabriel returned with the response that, although God would spare them the punishment _from above . . . and from beneath_ their feet, He would not spare them the division into discordant factions and the consequent conflicts that would ensue; that is, they would _taste the might of one another_ (IK, R, Ṭ). The Prophet thus said, "My community will divide into seventy-two sects, only one of which will be saved" (R; see also IK and Abū Dāwūd, _K. Al-sunnah,_ where the Prophet predicts seventy-three sects). The Prophet's mention of seventy-two sects into which his community would later divide was influential in the writings of later Islamic heresiographers, who attempted to classify different theological perspectives in Islam into seventy-two distinct "sects" ( _firaq_ ). The Prophet also warned about the consequences of violence among his community, saying, "If the sword [of mutual fighting] comes down upon my community, it will not be removed until the Day of Resurrection" (IK, Ṭ).

Since this verse identifies factionalism in religion as a possible Divine punishment, some might argue that this verse should be read as prohibiting disagreements or debates concerning religious teachings entirely (Ṭ). It might therefore be interpreted as a scriptural basis for discouraging the establishment of different theological and legal schools in Islam, although the coexistence of different legal and theological schools has had a long and largely (although by no means entirely) peaceful history in Islam, and a well-known Prophetic _ḥ adīth_ describes differences among his community as a mercy (al-Suyūṭī, _al-Jāmi ʿ al-ṣaghīr_). However, the consensus of the Muslim community has long been that different theological and legal schools are acceptable within the large umbrella of Islam, so long as the basic principles of Islamic belief are upheld. The warning in this verse, moreover, seems to pertain primarily to factions engaged in mutual violence, since through them _you taste the might of one another. We vary the signs_ renders _nu ṣarrifu'l-āyāt,_ which means literally to turn the signs about or move them in different directions and thus, figuratively, to show them in all their aspects; see 6:46c; 6:105; 7:58; 17:41; 46:27.

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f Thy people have denied it, though it is the truth. Say, "I am not a guardian over you.

g For every tiding there is a fixed setting, and soon you shall know."

66–67 That the Prophet Muhammad was not made a _guardian over_ his people or, elsewhere, a _keeper_ or _watcher_ over them (cf. 4:80; 6:104, 107; 10:108; 17:54; 25:43; 39:41; 42:6, 48) indicates that the Prophet's duty was only to convey the Divine message (cf. 3:20; 13:40; 29:18). He was not responsible for the acceptance or rejection of the message by people; that is their own moral responsibility as well as a matter that is ultimately in God's Hands, for as it says in 10:100: _It is not for a soul to believe, save by God's Leave._ Cf. 5:25 and 11:86 for this assertion in relation to other prophets.

_For every tiding_ —that is, for every message of warning sent by God through the prophets—here referencing the Quranic warnings in particular, _there is a fixed setting,_ meaning a period of time during which the warning is operative; after that, what has been warned about will come to pass. _Soon you shall know_ warns that the punishment for rejecting the Prophet's message is imminent, and when it comes, those who rejected it will know the truth of the warnings he brought (Ṭ). The imminent punishment refers, according to some, to the Battle of Badr (2/624), in which the Muslims inflicted a crushing defeat upon the Quraysh of Makkah, or to the Muslims' eventual triumph over the idolaters with the conquest of Makkah (8/630); but it can also be a warning that death and Judgment are ever nigh, and when they occur, those who rejected the Quranic message _shall know_ the truth of it and of its warnings (R, Ṭ).

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h And when thou seest those who engage in vain discussion about Our signs, turn away from them till they engage in other discourse. And if Satan should cause thee to forget, then once thou hast remembered, sit not in the company of wrongdoing people.

i Their reckoning falls not upon those who are reverent, but [upon them is] a reminder, that they might be reverent.

68–69 The disbelievers _engage in vain discussion_ about the signs of God, seeking to deny and deride them (Ṭ; cf. 4:140; 6:112). The Quran links such vain discussion elsewhere with "playing" in a pejorative sense (see 6:32c; 6:91; 9:65; 43:83; 52:12; 70:42), since one should not take religion as mere _play_ and _diversion_ (cf. 5:57; 6:70; 7:51). According to the Quran, _vain discussion_ of any sort should be avoided (23:3), and 24:14–16 indicates that _vain discussion_ in matters of religion and law can have serious consequences for the community, in that it can lead, for example, to false accusations of adultery, which may then give rise to serious miscarriages of justice and to mutual division and mistrust among believers. This verse thus counsels the Prophet, and by extension all believers, to avoid or remove themselves from groups engaged in _vain discussion_ about religious matters, an idea supported by other Quranic verses (cf. 4:140; 6:91, 112; 7:180; 43:83; 70:42). Here, one need only turn away from them until they move on to another topic (Z). The Quran similarly counsels those who encounter such discussions: _Say,_ "Allāh," _then leave them to play at their vain discourse_ (v. 91).

Some reports connect the warning in this verse regarding those who engage in _vain discussion about Our signs_ to the _discordant factions_ mentioned in v. 65, indicating that the warning pertains not only to the disbelievers, but even to those believers who would engage in fruitless and divisive debate about religion (Ṭ). Some literalists have taken this verse to mean a prohibition against all discussion and debate regarding religious issues, and thus as an indication that one should rely only on a literal reading of the scripture. But al-Rāzī rejects such an interpretation, indicating that the verb for "engaging in vain discussion" ( _yakhū ḍū_) means precisely to engage in discussion that is disrespectful and disparaging, and the warning thus does not pertain to sincere religious deliberation, which is encouraged in the Quran.

Addressing the Prophet specifically, but all believers as well, the verse indicates that Satan may _cause_ people _to forget_ the prohibition against sitting among those engaged in vain discussion of religion or perhaps make them unaware initially that the conversation has changed to a disparaging one, but as soon as they become aware of it, they should remove themselves from the discussion. Elsewhere in the Quran (cf. 12:42; 58:19), it is said that Satan causes people to forget but that he is capable of causing the Prophet to forget raises some difficult issues (Āl), although other verses in the Quran suggest that even the prophets can be the object of Satan's whisperings; see 22:52: _And no messenger or prophet did We send before thee, but that when he had a longing, Satan would cast into his longing, whereupon God effaces what Satan cast_.

The _reckoning_ of the disbelievers and those who _engage in vain discussion_ about the signs of God will not fall upon _those who are reverent,_ that is, those who fear God and are observant of His commands and prohibitions. Even if they temporarily find themselves among those engaged in such activity, they need not fear being judged by association, for none bears the burden of another (see 6:52c). But it is incumbent upon the believers to deliver _a reminder_ to those engaged in such discourse; that is, believers should not only leave them, but also show their displeasure with and opposition to the discussion and exhort them against it (Z).

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p Leave those who take their religion to be play and diversion, and who are deluded by the life of this world, but remind them with it, lest any soul be delivered to ruin because of what it has earned—it has no protector apart from God, nor any intercessor, and though it should offer every kind of ransom, it shall not be accepted from it. Those are the ones delivered to ruin for that which they have earned. Theirs shall be a drink of boiling liquid and a painful punishment for having disbelieved.

70 One should leave not only those engaged in _vain discussion_ of religion (v. 68), but all those _who take religion to be play and diversion_ (see also 7:51). The latter phrase can refer to several types of people, among them those who do not take religious matters seriously; those who follow religions that are themselves nothing but folly, such as religions that entail idolatry; those who make judgments in religious matters based merely on their own whims and desires; those who take the religious festivals ordained by God as mere opportunities for _play and diversion;_ or those who support religion only to attain worldly ends, such as power, authority, or wealth (R, Z). All such people can be considered _deluded by the life of the world_ (cf. 6:130; 31:33; 35:5; 45:35). As in vv. 68–69, leaving those who treat religion disdainfully or without due seriousness should be accompanied by an admonitory reminder ( _remind them with it,_ i.e., with the Quran or religion itself; R), in the hope that they may become reverent (v. 69) or that they may become rightly guided and avoid being _delivered to ruin_ for their sins.

Reminding people in this life is important, for there is no repentance or atonement for sins accepted in the next life; there they will have _no protector_ and no _intercessor_ (see also 6:51; 32:4) and cannot ransom themselves (cf. 2:48; 2:123; 3:91; 5:36; 10:54; 13:18; 39:47; 57:15; 70:11). Certain pious Sunni interpreters say that this verse was revealed in relation to the Prophet's close Companion and first Caliph, Abū Bakr al-Ṣiddīq, whose son tried to lure him back to idolatry (Z). Since the believers are told merely to avoid or warn the idolaters, some interpreters attribute this message to the weak position of the Muslim community when this verse was revealed, prior to the migration from Makkah to Madinah in 622, and consider the nonconfrontational approach to the idolaters enjoined here to have been abrogated by a later Madinan verse that commands the believers to _slay the idolaters wheresoever you find them_ (9:5; Q, Ṭ). The image of a _drink of boiling liquid_ is used in connection with Hell in several verses (10:4; 18:29; 37:67; 38:57; 40:72; 44:44–46; 56:54, 93; 78:25; 88:54) and contrasts sharply with the cool and pleasing drinks of the Garden (cf. 37:45–47; 76:5–6; 17–18, 21; 83:25–28).

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q Say, "Apart from God, shall we call upon that which neither benefits nor harms us, and be turned back on our heels after God has guided us, like one bewildered, seduced by satans on the earth, though he has companions who call him to guidance, 'Come to us!'?" Say, "Indeed, the Guidance of God is the true guidance, and we are commanded to submit to the Lord of the worlds,

r and to perform the prayer and to reverence Him; it is unto Him that you shall be gathered."

71–72 The folly of worshipping _that which neither benefits nor harms_ is repeatedly mentioned in relation to idols and false deities; see 5:76; 10:18, 106; 13:16; 20:89; 21:66; 22:12; 25:55; 26:71–73. The futility of "calling upon" any other than God for help is evoked in 2:171: _The parable of those who disbelieve is that of one who cries to that which hears only a call and a shout;_ and 13:14: _Those to whom they supplicate apart from Him answer them not in the least, save as one who stretches forth his palms toward water that it may reach his mouth, though it never reaches him_. To "turn back on one's heels" means to return to a state of ignorance after having received God's guidance. _Satans,_ in the plural and general form, refers to the agents of Satan, who may be jinn in the service of Satan proper, or human beings who wittingly or unwittingly do his bidding (cf. 2:14, 102; 6:112, 121; 7:27, 30; 19:68; 23:97; 26:221). _Satans,_ both human and jinn, are said to "seduce" human beings through "whispering," evoking the subtlety with which they entice people away from the path of guidance (cf. 7:20; 20:120; 114:4). The Quran also mentions, however, satans in the service of the prophet Solomon (21:82; 38:37), suggesting that in some places they simply refer to jinn. Here the _satans_ seduce them _on the earth_ or, as read figuratively by al-Rāzī, "lure them into a deep hole."

The _companions who call him to guidance_ can be understood as referring to sincere and rightly guided companions who try to persuade him to follow guidance, but their call goes unheeded. If v. 70 was revealed in relation to the attempt of Abū Bakr's son to lure his father to idolatry, the present verse may refer to Abū Bakr calling his son _to guidance_ (R). A minority, however, interpret the _guidance_ to which the companions call to be false guidance (R, Ṭ). That God's guidance _is the true guidance_ (see also 2:120; 3:73) means that there is no guidance outside of His; all paths to which one may be "guided," other than His, are paths that lead astray (Bḍ, R). The Prophet is instructed to respond to his people's calls to idolatry by saying that he has been _commanded to submit to the Lord of the worlds_ (see also 40:66), to _perform the prayer_ —that is, the canonical prayer, performed five times a day (see 2:3c)—and to _reverence_ God—that is, to be ever mindful of His unseen Presence and of His commands and prohibitions; for a longer discussion of the important Quranic concept of _reverence_ ( _taqwā_ ), see 2:2 and commentary. According to al-Rāzī, the three commands to _submit_ ( _aslama_ ) to God, to _perform the prayer,_ and to _reverence_ God represent the best of the various modes of human action: submission ( _islām_ ) is, along with faith, the best of the "acts of the heart"; prayer is the best of the acts of the limbs; and reverence is the best of the "acts of omission," insofar as reverence refers to the pious fear or mindfulness that helps one avoid sin.

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s He it is Who created the heavens and the earth in truth; and on the day He says "Be!" and it is, His Word is the Truth. And sovereignty is His on the Day when the trumpet is blown, Knower of the Unseen and the seen; and He is the Wise, the Aware.

73 God _created the heavens and the earth in truth_ (10:5; 14:19; 15:85; 16:3; 29:44; 30:8; 39:5; 44:39; 45:22; 46:3; 64:3), that is, in accordance with the nature of reality and with purpose (JJ) rather than in play (21:16; 44:38) or in vain (3:191; 38:27); this can also indicate that the world He has created is in itself good (R), not evil, and created in goodness. This sentence can also be read, "He it is Who created the heavens and the earth with the Truth," that is, with His Word, for _His Word is the Truth,_ as when _He says_ [to something], _"Be!" and it is_ (cf. 2:117c; 3:47, 59; 16:40; 19:35; 36:82; 40:68) or when He creates the heavens and the earth by calling them to Himself (41:11; Ṭ). Muslim theologians debated whether the Speech ( _kalām_ ) of God was created in time or was eternal and uncreated. Some have argued that this verse supports the latter theological position (although in this verse _Word_ translates _qawl,_ rather than _kalām_ ), since if it is by God's Word that all things are created, then His Word must preexist creation and be therefore "uncreated" (Ṭ). According to some, _the day_ on which _He says "Be!"_ is ultimately the same as _the Day when the trumpet is blown_ (Ṭ). The blowing of the trumpet is invoked in several verses as the herald of the apocalypse and the onset of the Day of Judgment (18:99; 20:102; 23:101; 27:87; 36:51; 39:68; 50:20; 69:13; 74:8; 78:18), and thus the Divine Creative Command here likely refers to the manner in which God will resurrect the dead on this day; He will create them anew using the command through which they were created the first time, "Be!"; see 17:51: _Then they will say, "Who will bring us back?" Say, "He who originated you the first time"_ (Ṭ).

The word for trumpet, _ṣ ūr,_ can be read with different voweling as _ṣ uwar,_ meaning "forms," which would give the meaning: "And Sovereignty is His on the Day when the forms are blown upon," that is, when God breathes His Spirit upon the forms of created things and brings them into being (R, Ṭ), although this is a minority reading. For breathing as a means of Divine creation, see 15:29; 21:91; 32:9; 38:72. Either interpretation makes the point that the world is brought into being and brought to a conclusion in an analogous manner, and that creation in this world and resurrection in the next are simply two modes of Divine generation. God is also referred to as _Knower of the Unseen and the seen_ in 9:94, 105; 13:9; 23:92; 32:6; 39:46; 59:22; 62:8; 64:18.

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t And when Abraham said unto his father, Azar, "Do you take idols for gods? Truly I see you and your people in manifest error."

74–83 This pericope about Abraham and his people demonstrates in narrative form the Quranic argument for God's Oneness and Transcendence in relation to created reality and is often cited as an indication that _taw ḥīd,_ or God's Oneness, is evident to any who objectively and sincerely contemplate the nature of the universe. At the same time, the story has raised some theological difficulties, since Abraham appears to identify, at least temporarily, a star, the moon, and the sun, as "his Lord." Some hold that Abraham did not make such claims sincerely, but only feigned them to make the point to his idolatrous people that all things are temporal and subject to change save for the One God (IK, R). Others suggest that this pericope recounts a genuine process of intellectual deduction through which Abraham came to know the Oneness of God by observing the ephemerality of all created things (Sy, Ṭ, Ṭū).

Several commentators connect this passage with a legendary account of Abraham's birth and early life. According to this account, when Abraham was born, the king in the region—whom some identify as Nimrod (also see 2:258c)—dreamed that a boy would be born who would usurp his power and so ordered all young boys in the kingdom to be killed. Abraham's mother gave birth to Abraham in secret and hid him in a cave, where she occasionally visited him, but where he was fed and nurtured by the Archangel Gabriel. As a result, he grew up knowing that he had a Lord to whom he owed obedience and worship, and when he first emerged from the cave, he mistakenly identified a star as "his Lord," then the moon, and finally the sun, before realizing that his Lord transcended all of these celestial bodies (R, Ṭ).

This story, which has no basis in the Quranic or Biblical accounts of Abraham's early life, seems to amalgamate several thematic elements from other Quranic and Biblical prophetic narratives and has its own theological difficulties. Some objected to the idea that a prophet could mistakenly identify, even temporarily, a created reality, such as a star, with God, since this is a form of _shirk,_ or idolatry. One response to this view has been to claim that Abraham made this erroneous identification when he was still a young child, before the age of religious responsibility and before he became a prophet (IK, R, Ṭū). Even if this is read as an account of Abraham's own rational deduction of the Oneness of God, this reasoning process nonetheless has a revelatory aspect to it, since in v. 75 it is God who shows Abraham _the dominion of the heavens and the earth, that he might be among those possessing certainty;_ and v. 83 identifies Abraham's discourse with his people as _Our argument, which We gave unto Abraham against his people._ The two interpretations of this narrative may be reconciled, however: although Abraham may have been merely feigning worship of the celestial bodies to make a rhetorical argument about monotheism for the benefit of his people, his demonstration may reflect an earlier process of intellectual deduction that was inspired by his wonder at the celestial bodies, but ultimately ended in his certainty regarding _taw ḥīd_.

Sufi commentators have tended to see this passage as a symbol for progressive spiritual illumination or increasing levels of spiritual certitude ( _yaqīn_ ). Each of these celestial bodies represents a state of spiritual understanding attained by the seeker. The "setting" of each of these bodies represents the seeker's realization of the limitations of his or her current spiritual station, engendering a period of darkness or trial from which he or she may emerge into a state of greater spiritual certainty and illumination. For al-Qushayrī, the _star_ represents the intellect that first witnesses the truth through demonstrative proof ( _burhān_ ); _the moon_ represents the knowledge that is attained with increasing clarity and elucidation of thought; and _the sun_ represents the brilliant light of gnosis (spiritual knowledge). Similarly, he interprets Abraham's marveling at these three celestial bodies as his first seeing created things through God, then seeing them for God, and finally the complete effacement of all things in God (Qu).

74 _Azar_ is given as the name of Abraham's father in the Quran, although only in this verse. In the Biblical account, his father is Terah (Genesis 11:25–32), and some commentators suggest that Terah may have been a second or alternate name for him (IK, JJ, R, Ṭ). Some suggest that _Azar_ was the name of an idol, and Abraham calls his father by this name as a way of disparaging his idol worship (IK, R, Ṭ). Others have suggested that Azar was Abraham's uncle (R, Ṭū), who is referred to as his _father_ in the general sense of an older paternal relative (cf. 2:133, where Jacob identifies Ishmael as among his _fathers,_ although Ishmael was his uncle). This suggestion was driven, in part, by the fact that, although Terah is a spiritually neutral figure in the Bible, Azar is identified not only as an idol worshipper, but as a maker of idols (Ṭ). Some Muslims, particularly Shiites, hold that the father of a prophet cannot be a disbeliever or an idolater (Ṭū, R), citing a _ḥ adīth_ in which the Prophet says, "God transferred me from pure loins to pure wombs; I was not sullied by the filth of the _jāhiliyyah_ [the Age of Ignorance, or idolatrous pre-Islamic Arabia]" (R, Ṭū). Moreover, if references to Azar and to Abraham's father were really references to his uncle, it would explain why Abraham can dissociate himself from him (9:114) without contradicting the Quranic injunction to maintain good relations even with disbelieving parents (31:14–15; R). Nonetheless, the most literal reading of this and other verses is that Azar was Abraham's father and that he was an idolater (R).

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u Thus did We show Abraham the dominion of the heavens and the earth, that he might be among those possessing certainty.

75 That God showed Abraham _the dominion of the heavens and the earth_ may mean simply that Abraham witnessed the wondrous phenomena of the celestial and terrestrial realms that are also visible to human beings in general. The Quran indicates elsewhere that anyone who observes and reflects upon these phenomena with sincerity and a sound mind should come to the conclusion that there is an all-powerful God who is One (cf. 10:101; 34:9). Since Abraham was given _sound judgment_ by God (21:51), he was able to apply reason to his observations of the world around him in order to arrive at the reality of monotheism (IK). Al-Rāzī argues that the manifestation of God's Being and Power in natural phenomena is always objectively observable, but is veiled for many by human error and the preoccupation with worldly things. When Abraham rejected his father's idolatry (v. 74), he attained a new intellectual clarity that allowed him to see this Divine Self-Manifestation with the inner eye of his intellect (R). God's showing Abraham _the dominion of the heavens and the earth_ is, however, more widely associated with a miraculous and revelatory journey in which God split open the heavens, allowing Abraham to see all its levels up to the Divine Throne itself, and cleaved the earth so that he could see to its lowest level (IK, R, Ṭū, Z). Al-Rāzī suggests that though any thoughtful monotheist might see proofs of God's Being in the created order, Abraham experienced this Divine Self-Manifestation to an extent that is made accessible to only the greatest prophets, such as Muhammad, citing the Prophet's reported supplication, "O God, show me things as they truly (and really) are!" (R).

God shows Abraham _the dominion_ in order to grant him _certainty_ in his spiritual beliefs; _certainty_ here refers to a kind of knowledge arrived at usually after a period of doubt or confusion has been overcome through reflection and contemplation (R) or as the result of a vision. Abraham's initial aversion to idolatry and inclination toward monotheism are thus strengthened through this experience of Divine Self-Manifestation. This clause might also be read to mean that God showed Abraham the _dominion,_ "because he was among those possessing certainty" (R), that is, as a reward for the spiritual insight he had already attained.

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v When the night grew dark upon him, he saw a star. He said, "This is my Lord!" But when it set, he said, "I love not things that set."

w Then when he saw the moon rising he said, "This is my Lord!" But when it set, he said, "If my Lord does not guide me, I shall surely be among the people who are astray."

x Then when he saw the sun rising he said, "This is my Lord! This is greater!" But when it set, he said, "O my people! Truly I am quit of the partners you ascribe.

76–78 As noted above, commentators differed over whether the demonstration of God's Transcendence relative to temporal phenomena in these three verses represents Abraham's own gradual realization of pure monotheism through a process of intellectual deduction or is simply Abraham's rhetorical argument against his people's idolatry. The latter interpretation seems to fit best the surrounding context, since Abraham's discourse in these verses is preceded by his explicit criticism of idolatry (v. 74) and his being shown _the dominions of the heavens and the earth_ (v. 75). According to this latter interpretation, Abraham's statement _This is my Lord!_ upon seeing the star, and then upon seeing the moon and the sun, was not made in earnest, but rather sarcastically or in jest—perhaps with a tone of incredulity, as if to say, "Is this my Lord?!" (Ṭ). Or it was said as a means of setting up his opponents in an argument by beginning with a repetition of his opponents' own view, which would then be gradually disproved (R); see 21:51–67, where Abraham takes a similar approach. See also 37:88–89, where Abraham, while engaged in an argument with his people, glances at the stars and declares, _I am sick,_ perhaps indicating his actual view concerning his people's worship of the stars.

Abraham's declaration in v. 77, _If my Lord does not guide me, I shall surely be among the people who are astray,_ indicates, as in v. 71, that the only guidance is God's guidance and it was perhaps meant to indicate to his people their own religious status (R). After the setting of the sun, Abraham declares himself _quit of the partners_ his people ascribe to God; similar statements are made by Abraham in 43:26 and 60:4 as well as by Muhammad in v. 19 and the Arabian prophet Hūd in 11:54.

Abraham's discourse regarding the celestial bodies was relevant to his people's worship of stone idols either because the idols served as representations of celestial deities worshipped by his people (IK, R) or because he was making the point that, if even the celestial bodies, which travel through the sky and seem so sublime, can be shown to be ephemeral, it was all the more nonsensical to worship stone idols, which could not even move (Ṭū). Some commentators report that among Abraham's people were astrologers (JJ, R), who considered a celestial body to be influential when it was waxing and weak and ineffectual when it was waning; thus according to al-Rāzī, Abraham's argument about the waning of the celestial bodies should have been persuasive. The _star,_ which some identify as Venus (IK, JJ), _the moon,_ and _the sun_ were the brightest and therefore considered the most powerful of the seven celestial bodies reportedly worshipped by Abraham's people (IK).

For some, this passage serves as an argument that although religious truth is not entirely self-evident (R, Ṭū), neither can it be based simply upon blind imitation (R), such as was practiced by Abraham's people in continuing to worship the idols of their fathers. Rather, religious certainty must be based upon sincere and objective reflection and upon clear proofs and arguments derived from observations of the created order; otherwise there would be no point in Abraham issuing a proof of this kind (R).

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y Truly, as a _ḥ anīf_ _,_ I have turned my face toward Him Who created the heavens and the earth, and I am not of the idolaters."

79 Cf. 10:105; 30:30. To "turn" or, variously, "submit" or "set" one's face toward God means to orient one's whole being toward the worship and obedience of God (R); see also 2:112; 3:20; 7:29; 31:22; 30:43. _Ḥ anīf_ is used predominantly in connection with Abraham in the Quran (2:135; 3:67, 95; 4:125; 6:161; 16:120, 123), but also elsewhere to denote a pure monotheism that avoids all manner of idolatry (22:31; 30:30; 98:5); it is also associated with the Prophet Muhammad both before and after the onset of his prophetic mission. For a fuller discussion of _ḥ anīf,_ see 2:135c; 30:30c.

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À His people disputed with him. He said, "Do you dispute with me concerning God, when He has guided me? I fear not the partners you ascribe unto Him, save as my Lord wills. My Lord encompasses all things in Knowledge. Will you not, then, remember?

80 Abraham's people _disputed with him,_ by professing that they were merely following the traditions of their forefathers (cf. 21:53; 43:23); by expressing surprise that Abraham would limit worship to a single God (cf. 38:5); or by threatening that their false deities and idols would bring harm upon him for his rejection of them (R, Ṭ). Abraham wonders how his people think their vain disputations will have an effect upon one, such as himself, who has been guided by God, and how they can hope to frighten him by invoking the _partners_ they _ascribe_ unto Him, that is, idols who can bring "neither harm nor benefit" (R; cf. vv. 17, 71–72). His qualification _save as my Lord wills_ indicates that he fears only what comes from God, and if he were to fear the _partners_ his people ascribe to Him, it would only be as a result of God's Will to test him in some way (R). That God _encompasses all things in Knowledge_ (20:98; 40:7; 65:12) means that everything occurs according to His Wisdom (R) and Knowledge. See 2:255: _He knows that which is before them and that which is behind them. And they encompass nothing of His Knowledge, save what He wills. His Pedestal embraces the heavens and the earth_.

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Á How should I fear the partners you ascribe, when you do not fear ascribing partners unto God for which He has sent down to you no authority? So which of the two parties has greater right to security, if you know?

 Those who believe and who do not obscure their belief through wrongdoing, it is they who have security, and they are rightly guided."

81–82 Abraham continues his argument with his people, expressing amazement that they could expect him to fear helpless idols, although they had no fear of ascribing partners unto God _for which He has sent down . . . no authority,_ that is, no proof of their reality (R, Ṭ; see also 7:33, 71; 12:40; 22:71; 53:23). He challenges them as to _which of the two parties,_ he or they, _has greater right to security,_ meaning from Divine punishment. The answer is, _those who believe and who do not obscure their belief through wrongdoing,_ that is, those who do not obscure their belief in God through _shirk,_ or idolatry (IK, Ṭ). For some, this refers to those who combine their faith with good works of all kinds (R). When this verse came down, the Prophet's Companions were reportedly fearful, asking the Prophet, "Who is it who believes and never does wrong [lit. never wrongs oneself]?" The Prophet responded by indicating that what is meant by _wrongdoing_ here is precisely idolatry (IK, Ṭ). The Prophet is also reported to have said, "Those _who have security_ and _are rightly guided_ are those who are thankful when they receive, who are patient when they are denied, who seek forgiveness when they have done wrong, and forgive when they have been wronged" (IK).

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à That was Our argument, which We gave unto Abraham against his people. We raise in degrees whomsoever We will. Truly thy Lord is Wise, Knowing.

83 _That was Our argument_ refers to either the argument about who should fear God's punishment and who should feel secure from it, put forth by Abraham in vv. 80–82, or the argument regarding the celestial bodies in vv. 76–78, or both (R). The Quranic account of Abraham portrays him as engaging in several rhetorical and sometimes dramatic arguments with his people regarding the truth of monotheism and the inanity of idolatry (cf. 2:258; 19:42; 21:51–67; 37:83–96). Al-Rāzī observes that the Quran frequently invokes the story of Abraham in the context of the Prophet's arguments with the Makkan idolaters (as is the case in this _sūrah_ ), because even the idolatrous Arabs had great respect for Abraham as their prominent and pious ancestor, and they were aware that he was held in great esteem by the Jews and Christians as well (R); given the latter, Abraham is also invoked in Quranic arguments against certain exclusivist religious claims attributed to Jews and Christians (cf. 2:135, 140; 3:65–68). In the Quran, then, Abraham is both the master of argumentation and an important example for the Quran's own arguments against certain religious claims attributed to Jews, Christians, and idolaters. The Quran elsewhere enjoins the Prophet and the believers to argue with their religious opponents in a manner that is clear (18:22) and beautiful (16:125) and to know that _unto God belongs the conclusive argument_ (v. 149).

_We raise in degrees whomsoever We will_ may refer to degrees of provision and power apportioned in this life (6:165; 43:32); degrees of Divine reward for virtuous action (4:95–96; 9:20; 46:19); degrees of knowledge and wisdom (JJ), since elsewhere the idea of _degrees_ or _ranks_ is connected specifically with knowledge (12:76; 58:11); or degrees of prophethood, since the Quran mentions degrees or ranks among the prophets (2:253). In this context the implication is that God raised Abraham in degrees by virtue of the _argument_ that He gave him against his people (R). For al-Rāzī, this verse is evidence that the literalists who disparage the use of argumentation in religion are wrong, for it is through this _argument_ that God raises Abraham _in degrees_ (R).

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Ä And We bestowed upon him Isaac and Jacob, each We guided. And We guided Noah before, and among his progeny, David, Solomon, Job, Joseph, Moses, and Aaron—thus do We recompense the virtuous.

84 _And We bestowed upon him_ —that is, upon Abraham—his progeny, _Isaac and Jacob,_ as a reward for his obedience and sincerity in worshipping the One God, after he had left his people (IK, Ṭ). All those mentioned by name in vv. 84–86 are considered prophets in Islam. Isaac is usually mentioned along with his father, Abraham, his brother Ishmael, or his son Jacob. Isaac and Jacob are also identified together as prophets in 19:49 and also as a Divine gift to Abraham in 21:72; see commentary on 51:27–30 for the account of Abraham and his wife Sarah receiving the news of Isaac's impending birth. _And We guided Noah before,_ since Noah predates Abraham. _And among his progeny_ refers to the progeny of Noah, although most of the figures named in vv. 84–86 are also Abraham's progeny. For the story of Noah, see 7:59–64; 10:71–73; 11:25–48; 23:23–30; 26:105–21; 37:75–82; 54:9–15; _Sūrah_ 71. For David, see 2:251; 4:163; 17:55; 21:78–80; 27:15–16; 34:10–11; 38:17–26. For Solomon, David's son, see 21:78–82; 27:15–44; 34:12–16; 38:30–40. For Job, who is said to be a descendant of Isaac through his son, Esau (Ṭ), see 21:83–84; 38:41–44. For Joseph, see _Sūrah_ 12. Substantial Quranic narratives related to Moses and Aaron are found in 2:49–74; 5:20–26; 7:103–55; 10:75–90; 18:60–82; 20:9–99; 26:10–67; 27:7–14; 28:3–47; 43:46–56; 79:15–26. _Thus do We recompense the virtuous,_ such as these prophets, who were recompensed because they were patient and obedient in times of trial (Ṭ).

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Å And Zachariah, John, Jesus, and Elias—each was among the righteous.

85 Zachariah is the uncle of Mary, the mother of Jesus, as well as the father of John; for accounts related to him and his son, John, see 3:37–41; 19:2–15; 21:89–90. For significant passages related to Jesus, see 2:253; 3:45–59; 4:157, 171–72; 5:110–18; 19:34–36, among others. Since this verse continues from the previous one, Jesus is identified as being among the _progeny_ of Noah and Abraham; as Jesus' only human parent is Mary, this identification demonstrates that progeny may be determined through the female as well as the male line (IK, JJ). This was a precedent of importance to Shiites and others who held the Prophet's descendants in particular esteem, since all of Muhammad's descendants come through the female line of his daughter Fāṭimah (Qm, Ṭ). Elias is also mentioned in 37:123–32; some commentators report that he was a nephew or descendant of Aaron (JJ, Ṭ), while others identify him with Idrīs (mentioned in 19:56–57 and 21:85), who some say was the grandfather of Noah (Ṭ, Ṭs).

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Æ And Ishmael, Elisha, Jonah, and Lot—each We favored above the worlds.

86 _Ishmael,_ the first son of Abraham, is identified as both a messenger ( _rasūl_ ) and a prophet ( _nabī_ ) in 19:54, terms that have a technical distinction in Islamic theology. "Messengers" generally refers to prophets who bring a new religion, establish a religious community, or are recipients of a scripture that is revealed through them; the larger category of "prophet" includes messengers, but also all those sent by God to bring Divine tidings or warnings within the context of an existing religious community, rather than to establish a new one (see the essay "The Quranic View of Sacred History and Other Religions"). See 2:125–28, where Ishmael and Abraham together raise the Kaʿbah from its foundations and thus reestablish this sacred sanctuary in Arabia. _Elisha_ is described as _among the excellent_ in 38:48. _Jonah_ is mentioned in 10:98, that is, in the _sūrah_ that bears his name, although his story is told in greater detail in 37:139–48. _Lot_ is a nephew of Abraham, and his story is told in several places; see 7:80–84; 11:77–83; 15:57–77; 26:160–73; 27:54–58; 29:28–35; 37:133–38; 54:33–38; 66:10. Each of these figures is described as _favored_ by God _above the worlds,_ which is widely understood to mean "favored above all the people of their time" (Ṭ). The phrase is also used to describe the Children of Israel as a whole (2:47, 122; 7:140).

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Ç And from among their fathers, and their progeny, and their brethren, We chose them and guided them unto a straight path.

87 In addition to the figures named in vv. 84–86, some _from among their fathers, and their progeny, and their brethren_ were "chosen" and _guided,_ but not all, as some of their relatives and offspring were neither chosen nor guided, and in fact some became disbelievers (JJ). To be "chosen" here means chosen for God's religion or chosen to bring His messages to people; it could also mean that God singled them out for His Love (Ṭ).

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È That is the Guidance of God, with which He guides whomsoever He will among His servants. But were they to ascribe partners unto God, all that they were doing would have come to naught.

88 _That is the Guidance of God_ refers to the guidance that came through the prophets mentioned in vv. 84–87. God _guides whomsoever He will_ is also mentioned in 2:142, 213, 272; 10:25; 14:4; 16:93; 22:16; 24:46; 28:56; 35:8; 39:23; 42:52; 74:31. But if those who were thus guided by God were to _ascribe partners unto God,_ and therefore commit the sin of _shirk,_ all good deeds they did or had done would _come to naught;_ that is, such people would forfeit any reward they might have attained for their deeds, since good deeds are spiritually meaningless when accompanied by _shirk_.

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É They are those to whom We have given the Book, judgment, and prophethood. So if they do not believe in them, We have entrusted them to a people who will not disbelieve in them.

89 _They_ —that is, the prophets mentioned in vv. 84–86—are those to whom God gave the _Book_ and _judgment_. _Book_ is a reference to scripture, and _judgment_ to either the prophet's knowledge of scripture and its decrees or the prophet's innate intellect, which grants him profound understanding of the Book (Ṭ). See also 21:74, 79; 26:21; 28:14, where God grants various prophets judgment, usually in conjunction with knowledge. Somewhat analogously, the prophets are also given _the Book and Wisdom_ (2:129, 151, 231; 3:81, 164; 4:54, 113; 5:110; 62:2), the latter term referring to the prophet's knowledge of the scriptures. _So if these_ —that is, the Makkans— _do not believe_ in the Quran and the prophethood of Muhammad, the benefit of the Quranic revelation and Muhammad's prophethood will be _entrusted . . . to a people who will not disbelieve_. The latter has been interpreted as a reference to the Makkan Emigrants and Madinan Helpers (JJ), to the Madinan Helpers specifically (Ṭ, Ṭū), or to the prophets themselves (Ṭū). Cf. 5:54: _O you who believe! Whosoever among you should renounce his religion, God will bring a people whom He loves and who love Him_.

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Ґ They are those whom God has guided, so follow their guidance. Say, "I ask not of you any reward for it. It is naught but a reminder for the worlds."

90 The Prophet is instructed to say that he seeks no _reward,_ monetary or other, for the message he brings; the same assertion is made by the Prophet in 38:86 as well as by Noah (11:29; 26:109); Hūd (11:51; 26:127); Ṣāliḥ (26:145); Lot (26:164), and Shuʿayb (26:180). See also 36:21, where true messengers are described as _those who ask not of you any reward and who are guided_. The _reminder for the worlds_ (cf. 12:104; 38:87; 68:52; 81:27) is the Quran, a description or title indicating that the relevance of its message is universal, not limited to a particular people (R).

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ґ They did not measure God with His true measure when they said, "God has not sent down aught to any human being." Say, "Who sent down the Book that Moses brought as a light and a guidance for mankind, which you make into parchments that you display, while hiding much? And you were taught that which you knew not, neither you nor your fathers." Say, " _Allāh,"_ then leave them to play at their vain discourse.

91 Several commentators assert that this verse was revealed when a group of Jews, or by some accounts a rabbi named Mālik ibn al-Sayf (JJ, W), came to debate with the Prophet and at one point claimed that _God has not sent down aught to any human being_. In saying this, _they did not measure God with His true measure_ (cf. 22:74; 39:67), since by denying God's Revelation to human beings, they did not adequately appreciate either His Majesty (Ṭ) or His Mercy toward them (Bḍ, Z). It seems more likely, however, that the verse reflects the Prophet's ongoing discourse with the idolaters of Makkah, since that is a predominant theme of this _sūrah,_ and since the Jews clearly did not reject the idea that God sends down revelation to human beings (Ṭ). The Prophet is instructed to respond to this claim by asking who, then, sent down _the Book that Moses brought,_ that is, the Torah, which is described as _a light and a guidance,_ two concepts closely associated elsewhere with prophethood and revelation (cf. 7:157; 21:48; 42:52; 64:8).

_Which you make into parchments that you display_ seems to indicate that the Prophet is here being commanded to address himself to the Jews, who recorded the Torah on parchment, but it can also be read with slightly different orthography to mean, "which they make into parchments they display" (JJ, Ṭ), suggesting that the Prophet is being commanded to speak about the Jews, not to them; some, including al-Ṭabarī, prefer this latter reading. Despite recording the Torah on _parchments_ for _display,_ the Jews are also said to be _hiding much_ of what is in the Torah. Allusion to the claim that the Jews concealed parts of the Torah from others and from their own people is also made in 2:42, 140, 146; 3:71, 187; 5:15. Commentators often asserted that what they concealed were passages or interpretations of passages that describe the future coming of the Prophet Muhammad (Ṭ) as well as passages containing certain legal injunctions (see 5:15c).

The Prophet is instructed to say _Allāh_ as a response to his own question regarding who sent down the Book that Moses brought; cf. vv. 12, 63–64, where the Prophet similarly responds to his own rhetorical questions about God in his discourse with the Makkan idolaters. Having mentioned the name _Allāh,_ he is then instructed to _leave them to play at their vain discourse_. This instruction, often repeated and practiced by devout Muslims, appears also elsewhere in the Quran; see vv. 68–69 and commentary. _And you were taught that which you knew not_ may be addressed to the Jews, meaning either that they learned through the Torah what they _knew not_ (Aj) or that that they had been given knowledge through the Prophet in addition to what is in the Torah (Z). This sentence may also have been addressed to the believing Muslims (Ṭ). Some Sufi commentators consider _Say, "Allāh," then leave them to play at their vain discourse_ to be a general instruction to invoke the name _Allāh,_ either inwardly or outwardly, in all situations and to abandon concern with all else, leaving everything in God's Hands (Aj, Su).

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Ғ And this is a blessed Book that We have sent down, confirming that which came before it, that thou mayest warn the Mother of Cities and those around her. Those who believe in the Hereafter believe in it, and they are mindful of their prayers.

92 _This . . . blessed Book_ is the Quran, which contains much benefit for humanity (R, Z). That the Quran confirms _that which came before it_ is a central Quranic theme and is fundamental to the Islamic understanding of the Quran (and also of the Gospel) in relation to previous scriptures (see 2:41, 89, 91, 97, 101; 3:3, 50, 81; 4:47; 5:46, 48; 10:37; 12:111; 35:31; 46:12, 30; 61:6). _Mother of Cities_ is a reference to Makkah. It was given this title because the Kaʿbah, established at its center, is said to have been the first house of worship set up for mankind (see 3:96; Bḍ, R, Z); or because, as some claim, it was the first city built by human beings; or because it represents the direction in which the people of the surrounding Arabian towns turned in prayer and to which they made pilgrimage (Bḍ, R, Z). Thus human beings gather there, just as children gather around their mother (R). Some traditions claim that Makkah earned the title Mother of Cities, because the whole earth was unfolded from beneath the Kaʿbah (Bḍ, R)—an image perhaps meant to evoke, metaphorically, the Kaʿbah's spiritual primordiality and centrality. _And those around her_ may refer to the whole Arabian Peninsula or to the whole world (R). The verse asserts that _those who believe in the Hereafter_ —that is, in the Day of Resurrection and Judgment— _believe in it_ —that is, the Quran—indicating that belief in the reality and consequences of the Hereafter is essential to religion and faith (Z). Such people are also _mindful of their prayers,_ since prayer is the pillar of the religious life (Z) and inextricably intertwined with faith. In a _ḥ adīth,_ the Prophet says, "Whosoever leaves off prayer intentionally has disbelieved" (R), although this _ḥ adīth_ likely refers to those who not only neglect to pray, but consider it to be unnecessary.

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ғ Who does greater wrong than one who fabricates a lie against God, or says, "It has been revealed unto me," though naught has been revealed unto him, and one who says, "I will send down the like of what God has sent down"? If thou couldst see when the wrongdoers are in the throes of death, and the angels stretch forth their hands, "Yield up your souls! This day shall you be recompensed with the punishment of humiliation for having spoken untruth against God, and for waxing arrogant against His signs."

93 The rhetorical question _Who does greater wrong than one who fabricates a lie against God_ (cf. 6:21, 144; 7:37; 10:17; 11:18; 29:68; 61:7) invokes a common Quranic criticism of disbelievers. "Fabricating a lie" against God is associated with the idea of creating false idols, inventing false religious beliefs, making false religious assertions (see 6:21c), and, as here, falsely claiming that one's own ideas represent Divine Revelation (see 3:93–94; 5:103; 6:138–40, 144–45; 16:116). In several places Muhammad and other prophets are also accused by their disbelieving people of having "fabricated" their messages (10:38; 11:13, 35; 21:5; 25:4; 28:36; 32:3; 34:8, 43; 42:24; 46:8). Some commentators say that this verse was revealed regarding one or both of the false Arab prophets Musaylimah (JJ, IK, Ṭ, W, Z) and al-Aswad al-ʿAnsī (Z), who were contemporary with the Prophet Muhammad.

Other reports connect this verse with a certain follower of the Prophet named ʿAbd Allāh ibn Abī Sarḥ, who was asked by the Prophet to record some parts of the Quranic revelation, but who eventually came to think that he himself was capable of receiving the revelation received by Muhammad. He later renounced Islam, only rejoining the community after the conquest of Makkah (W, Z). The verse is nonetheless general and criticizes all those who would claim to be able to compose poetry or prose that was the like of the Quran (cf. 8:31; JJ, Ṭ). That _the angels stretch forth their hands_ toward those _in the throes of death_ (cf. 8:50, where the angels are described as _striking their faces and their backs_ ) and demand that they _yield up_ their souls is consistent with other verses indicating the angels' role in transitioning people from life to death (see 6:61–62c). _Waxing arrogant_ is an attitude associated with Satan (2:34; 7:13; 38:74–75) and the disbelievers (14:21; 16:22; 25:21; 28:39; 35:43; 37:35; 40:60; 46:20; 71:7; 74:23), and in several places, as here, _waxing arrogant_ specifically describes the disbelievers' attitude toward God's signs as brought by the prophets (7:40, 133; 10:75; 23:45–46, 66–67; 39:59; 45:31).

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Ҕ And [God will say], "Now you have come unto Us alone, just as We created you the first time, and you have left behind that which We had bestowed upon you. We see not with you your intercessors—those whom you claimed were partners [unto God]. Now the bond between you has been severed, and that which you once claimed has forsaken you."

94 After their souls are taken, God will address them, _Now you have come unto Us alone,_ for although the Day of Resurrection is a day of universal judgment, every person will feel utterly alone (cf. 19:95; 22:2; 80:32–37), just as they were _created . . . the first time,_ that is, alone (see 74:11c) and naked (JJ). They are also alone in the sense that they will be brought to judgment without the benefit of their worldly means, wealth, associates, and children (Z), which they strove to acquire and which gave them status and protection in worldly life (R), for they will have _left behind_ the goods and provision that God _had bestowed_ upon them in this world. Al-Rāzī explains that, although worldly goods are left behind and that the connection between these goods and the one who strove to acquire them is _severed,_ the effort one has made to acquire knowledge of God and virtue and the good deeds done in this life are, by contrast, "sent forth" to be met again in the Hereafter, for _whatever good you send forth for your souls, you will find it with God better and greater in reward_ (73:20) _. Your intercessors_ here refers to the false idols or deities they had ascribed as partners unto God and to whom they attributed the power of intercession with God (cf. 10:18); on intercession, see 2:48c; 2:255c. The Quran mentions in several verses that false idols, deities, and authorities, including Satan, will disown and "forsake" those who followed or venerated them in earthly life (see 6:24; 7:37; 14:22; 16:86–87; 25:28–29; 40:73–74).

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ҕ Truly God is the Cleaver of the grain and the fruit stone. He brings forth the living from the dead, and He is the One Who brings forth the dead from the living. That is God—how, then, are you perverted—

95 That God _is the Cleaver of the grain and the fruit stone_ is connected to His bringing _forth the living from the dead_ in that splitting open the grain and fruit stone causes life to come forth from what is (or seems to be) dead (Ṭ). The connection between "cleaving" or "splitting" and creating is also made semantically in the Divine Name _al-Fā ṭir,_ "the Originator," which is derived from the root meaning "to split" (for the mention of this Divine Name, which is also the title of _Sūrah_ 35, see 6:14; 12:101; 14:10; 35:1; 39:46; 42:11, where it always occurs in the context of the phrase _Originator of the heavens and the earth_ ). He _brings forth the living from the dead_ both when He creates human beings the first time and when He brings them forth through resurrection after death. He _brings forth the dead from the living_ when He causes death, or the end of their earthly existence; see also 3:27; 10:31; 30:19. In this context it is important to recall the two Divine Names _Mu ḥyī_ (Giver of Life; 30:50; 41:39) and _Mumīt_ (Bringer of Death). The living coming forth from the dead and the dead from the living can refer not only to the individual human being, who is given life and then dies, but also to the complementary movements of creation and resurrection, referred to in Islamic discourse as _mabda ʾ_ (origin) and _ma ʿād_ (return), by which human souls, and indeed all beings, are transported between this world and the next (see 10:4c). An analogous cycle of death and life is also seen in various ways in the created order, for example, when the apparently "dead" seed comes forth from the living plant and the living plant from the "dead" seed (R, Ṭ).

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Җ Cleaver of the dawn. He has made the night for repose, and the sun and the moon for reckoning. Such is the decree of the Mighty, the Knowing.

җ He it is Who has made for you the stars, that you might be guided by them amid the darkness of land and sea. We have expounded the signs for a people who know.

96–97 The themes of "cleaving" and duality presented in v. 95 continue in these two verses. That God is the _Cleaver of the dawn_ alludes to the manner in which the first light of dawn seems to cleave or split the darkness of night (Bḍ, R, Ṭ). That God created _night for repose_ is invoked in several places as a mercy God has bestowed upon human beings (cf. 10:67; 25:47; 27:86; 28:73; 40:61; 78:9), as is His having created the sun and moon to be useful _for reckoning_ time (2:189c; 10:5; 17:12) and determining the direction of the _qiblah_ (R). After invoking the sun and the moon as means of temporal reckoning, v. 97 mentions the stars as a means of spatial orientation by which people can be guided (see also 16:16) in the absence of the sun and the moon (R), that is, _amid the darkness of land and sea,_ referring to either the physical darkness of the night or, symbolically, the moral and intellectual darkness of error and misguidance (Ṭ). If the _darkness of land and sea_ refers to the darkness of moral and intellectual confusion or error, the sun, moon, and stars can represent different levels of moral guidance and spiritual illumination (see 6:76–78c). The Quran frequently invokes the sun, moon, and stars together: for example, in Abraham's argument in vv. 76–78 and in Joseph's dream about his father and brothers (12:4). These three kinds of celestial bodies are also described as _made subservient by His Command_ (7:54; 16:12) and as prostrating to Him (22:18); see also 55:5–6 _._

God _expounded the signs_ (cf. 6:55, 97–98, 126; 7:32, 174; 9:11; 10:5, 24; 13:2; 30:28; 41:3; 41:44); that is, He explained them in detail, _for a people who know,_ meaning those possessing intellect, who think and reflect correctly and who reason from sensory realities to intellectual ones and from the seen to the unseen (R, Ṭs); cf. v. 98, where the signs are expounded _for a people who understand_.

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Ҙ And He it is Who brought you into being from a single soul, and then [has given you] a dwelling place and a repository. We have expounded the signs for a people who understand.

98 For the idea that God brings humanity _into being from a single soul,_ see 4:1c.

Different meanings have been given for _dwelling place_ ( _mustaqarr_ ) and _repository_ ( _mustawda ʿ_), which are also juxtaposed in 11:6: _There is no creature that crawls upon the earth, but that its provision lies with God. And He knows its dwelling place and its repository._ In keeping with the overall theme of life and death, creation and resurrection in this part of the _sūrah,_ some consider _dwelling place_ to refer to the womb and _repository_ to the grave (Ṭ, Z); the womb and the grave each represent a physical space in which the soul transitions from one world to the next—the first being the locus for the descent of the soul from the spiritual to the earthly realm, and the second being the site from which it is resurrected. The most common interpretation, however, is that _repository_ refers to the loins of the male, and _dwelling place_ to the female womb (IK, R, Ṭ, Z) or, much less commonly, the reverse (R). Still others, however, interpret _dwelling place_ as one's temporary dwelling on earth, and _repository_ as one's permanent place with God (Ṭ), or inversely, that _repository_ is one's temporary home on earth, which is always subject to change, and _dwelling place_ is one's place in the next world, because of the ultimate "permanence" of one's state in the Hereafter (R). Taken together, the various interpretations evoke the journey of the soul between its transitory life in this world and its "permanent" abode in the next.

These are signs _expounded . . . for a people who understand,_ that is, for a people willing to understand or endowed by God with the power of understanding (R). Here and elsewhere, references to God's having _expounded the signs_ can be understood as encouraging contemplation and reflection (Ṭs).

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ҙ And He it is Who sends down water from the sky. Thereby We bring forth the shoot of every plant, and from it We bring forth vegetation, from which We bring forth grain in closely packed rows; and from the date palm and from its sheaths, [We bring forth] clusters of dates hanging low, and gardens of grapes, olives, and pomegranates, like unto one another and yet not alike. Look upon their fruits, as they grow and ripen! Truly in that are signs for a people who believe.

99 God's sending down _water from the sky_ is repeatedly mentioned as a sign of Divine Power and Benevolence through which He revives the earth (16:65; 22:63; 29:63; 30:24; 43:11), provides drink for human beings (15:22), and gives them a means to "purify" themselves and _remove the defilement of Satan_ (8:11). Here and in several other places, it is specifically cited as the means by which diverse crops and fruits come forth from the earth (see v. 141, whose language is very similar to the present verse, as well as 2:22; 14:32; 16:10–11; 20:53; 23:18–19; 31:10; 35:27; 39:21; 50:9–10; 78:14–16). The verse begins with a reference to God in the third person ( _He it is Who sends down water_ ), but it continues with God speaking in the first-person plural ( _Thereby We bring forth the shoot of every plant_ ). The juxtaposition of the more distant third person for God's sending down water from above with the more direct and intimate first person for God's bringing forth every plant simultaneously evokes God's Transcendence relative to the earthly realm and His Immanence in all of its minute workings.

The verse encourages wonder that such diverse fruits and produce come forth after being watered with the same water (cf. 13:4; Bḍ; Z) and evokes God's ability to bring forth diversity and multiplicity from singularity, as when He creates the multiplicity of human beings from a _single soul_ (v. 98; for a fuller discussion, see 4:1c). The produce mentioned here: _grain_ (36:33; 50:9; 55:12; 78:15; 80:27), the _date palm_ and _dates_ (16:67; 36:34; 50:10; 55:11, 68; 80:29), _grapes_ and their vines (16:67; 36:34; 80:28), _olives_ (80:29), and _pomegranates_ (55:68) are also found in other verses as examples of God's bountiful provision in the world and, in some cases, in the heavenly Garden. For the idea that the fruits of the earth and of Paradise are symbolically analogous or comparable, see 2:25c. _Clusters of dates hanging low_ suggests both bounty and ease, as the fruit hangs low when it is heavy and ripe, thus making it easily accessible (cf. 55:54). The produce is _like unto one another and yet not alike,_ indicating the resemblance certain plants have to one another, even when their produce is very different (Bḍ, JJ), and further evoking the theme of the interwoven nature of oneness and multiplicity in creation.

_Truly in that are signs_ of God's Oneness, Power, and Wisdom (Bḍ), _for a people who believe,_ a phrase implicitly linked to _a people who know_ in v. 97 and _a people who understand_ in v. 98. Those who believe are the real beneficiaries of these _signs,_ for they alone are able to see in these signs the proofs of Divine Power and Oneness, whereas those who disbelieve have hearts that are "sealed" against such understanding (Ṭ; cf. 6:46c; 2:26, where the disbelievers are unable to grasp the meaning of God's parables).

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Ā They make the jinn partners unto God, though He created them, and falsely attribute sons and daughters to Him, without any knowledge. Glory be to Him! Exalted is He above that which they ascribe!

100 For an extended discussion of the jinn, see the introduction to _Sūrah_ 72. Jinn cannot be understood as partners to God, any more than celestial bodies can (see vv. 76–78), because they too are created. According to 55:15, God _created jinn from smokeless fire,_ and in 7:12 and 38:76, Satan adduces his creation from fire as an argument for his superiority over human beings. People _make the jinn_ —and by extension the angels and other subtle beings who are nonetheless created by God (R)— _partners unto God_ when they worship or venerate them, when they consider them to be biologically related to God (cf. 37:158; R), or when they follow the "whisperings" (114:4–6) of satans and obey them (cf. v. 121; Bḍ, R). Al-Rāzī considered this verse to be a criticism of the Zoroastrian belief in a God of goodness and light, who creates all good things, and a god of evil and darkness, who creates evil things, thus suggesting that the latter is a cocreator with God (R).

People also _attribute sons and daughters to Him,_ which may refer to the Quranic criticism of Christians for having done so with regard to Christ (5:17, 72; 9:30; 19:35; see also 9:30, where certain Jews are said to have considered Ezra to be a son of God) as well as to the idolaters who considered some of the female deities they worshipped or certain angels to be God's "daughters" (16:57; 37:149; 43:16; 52:39; 53:27); see 2:116c; 4:117–19c. That God is _Exalted . . . above that which they ascribe_ means that He is above having offspring (JJ).

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ā The Unique Originator of the heavens and the earth! How should He have a child when He has no consort, and He created all things, and He is Knower of all things?

Ă That is God, your Lord, there is no god but He, Creator of all things. So worship Him. And He is Guardian over all things.

101–2 _The Unique Originator_ translates _Badī ʿ,_ which literally means what is unique, unprecedented, and without peer or equal. It can also mean one who brings something into existence for the first time, and this is the meaning reflected in the translation here and in 2:117. In v. 101, the impossibility of God having a child is argued on the basis that He has _no consort_ ( _Ṣ āḥibah_), meaning no female partner through whom He could beget offspring (see 72:3). In the earthly realm, offspring result from the sexual union of a male and a female of the same species, but no such _consort_ or partner could be ascribed to God, for He transcends all species (Z), and _naught is like unto Him_ (42:12). Moreover, God creates by fiat, by saying _"Be!" and it is_ (2:117; 3:47, 59; 6:73; 16:40; 19:35; 36:82; 40:68), not through a partner or by means of a process like biological conception and birth. Finally, siring offspring is a bodily process, requiring that "part" of the male body (namely, sperm) be separated from him and transferred to the body of the female; since God has no body and no "parts," such a process cannot be ascribed to Him (R, Z).

In v. 102, God's Oneness and His uniqueness as Creator is affirmed. The statement in v. 102 that God _is Creator of all things_ is understood by Ashʿarites, who subscribed to a voluntarist perspective, as extending also to human acts, and this interpretation is the basis of their belief that God is the author of all human acts (R). Muʿtazilites, however, argued that the statement that God is _Creator of all things_ is immediately followed by the command _So worship Him,_ which suggests that human acts are not created by God, for it would be purposeless, from their perspective, for God to command human beings to perform an act that He Himself had already created (R).

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ă Sight comprehends Him not, but He comprehends all sight. And He is the Subtle, the Aware.

103 The word _comprehends_ here translates _yudriku_ , which can also mean to overtake, reach, encompass, or perceive. This verse has much relevance for the theological debate over whether human beings can "see" God. Some Quranic verses indicate that it is impossible to "see God openly" and inappropriate to ask to do so (cf. 2:55; 7:143), and the present verse could be read to suggest the same. Some have argued that this verse clearly indicates that human beings cannot see God in any way, in this world or the next—a position championed by the Muʿtazilite school. The Muʿtazilite commentator al-Zamakhsharī understands this verse to mean that no human sight can attach itself to God and that He cannot be perceived in such a manner, since human sight attaches itself only to forms and bodies (Z). God has no body or form—indeed, He transcends all forms—and thus transcends the possibility of being seen. This interpretation was challenged by the Ashʿarites, some of whom argued that God is not essentially and completely impervious to all perception, since He can see Himself ( _He comprehends all sight_ ), and that although the statement _sight comprehends Him not_ indicates that not all sights can perceive Him, it does not necessarily indicate that no sight can perceive Him (R).

Some have posited that God may endow the righteous believers with a "sixth sense" on the Day of Resurrection by which they will be able to see God (R), and Sufi commentators suggest that though human _sight_ cannot comprehend God, God comprehends Himself. Thus it may be that human beings are able to see God through a kind of vision acquired from God Himself (Aj, Bq) or that God sees Himself through them. Some Shiite commentators, basing themselves upon traditions attributed to the fifth, sixth, and eighth Imams, asserted that _sight_ here does not refer to physical vision at all, but rather to the imagination or the vision of the heart, which cannot, however, "comprehend" or encompass God in His totality (Kā); Sufis also speak of the "eye of the heart" as a faculty for seeing God.

The Ashʿarites and _Ḥ adīth_ scholars also argued that the righteous believers would see God in the Hereafter on the basis of 75:22–23, _Faces that day shall be radiant, gazing upon their Lord,_ as well as a widely transmitted _ḥ adīth_ that says, "Verily you will see your Lord on the Day of Resurrection, as you see the moon when it is full, and as you see the sun when it is not obscured by clouds" (Ṭ). Moreover, 83:15 describes sinful disbelievers as being _veiled from their Lord,_ suggesting to some that the righteous believers will not be veiled and will thus be able to see their Lord. Given such support for the possibility of seeing God in the Quran and _Ḥ adīth,_ some have argued that the present verse only precludes the possibility that human sight could fully "comprehend" or encompass Him (R, Ṭ). If _sight_ is understood as a metonym for knowledge, then such an interpretation is supported by, for example, 20:110: _He knows that which is before them and that which is behind them, and they encompass Him not in knowledge_. On the basis of 75:22, others have suggested that seeing God was possible in the next life, but not in earthly life (JJ), in contrast to the view of some Sufi authorities.

God is _the Subtle,_ and thus cannot be perceived by physical vision, but Himself possesses the subtle and essential reality of "sight" and so "comprehends" all sights and realities, including the subtle ones not accessible to human vision (Z). _The Subtle_ translates _al-La ṭīf,_ which can also mean "gentle" or "kind," and Islamic tradition has generally understood the Divine Name _al-La ṭīf_ to encompass both meanings. In most Quranic contexts, however, it is translated "Subtle" (12:100; 22:63; 31:16; 33:34; 67:14) and is often paired, as here, with the Divine Name _al-Khabīr,_ meaning _the Aware,_ thus indicating a relationship between subtlety and knowledge that is also suggested by other elements of the present verse. For the one exception, see 42:19, where _La ṭīf_ should be translated "kind": _God is kind unto His servants_.

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Ą Insight has come to you from your Lord. So whosoever sees clearly, it is to the benefit of his own soul. And whosoever is blind, it is to its detriment, and I am not a keeper over you.

104 _Insight,_ literally "insights," translates _ba ṣāʾir_ (sing. _ba ṣīrah_), which is derived from the same root as _sight_ in the previous verse. Some commentators say that _sight_ refers to the vision of the physical eye, but _insight_ ( _ba ṣīrah_) refers to the "eye of the heart" (Aj) or to the "light of the heart," from which all vision derives (Z). Similarly, others gloss _insight_ as "guidance" in the form of the vision of the heart that leads one toward the truth of religion (Ṭ). "Seeing clearly" is opposed to "blindness" in this verse, as it is elsewhere (6:50; 11:24; 13:16; 35:19; 40:58), and in all such cases it refers to spiritual, rather than physical "seeing" and "blindness" (cf. 22:46). _Whosoever sees clearly_ —that is, understands the proofs and arguments for God's Oneness and has faith in the truth of the message brought by the Prophet— _it is to the benefit of his own soul,_ or literally, "it is for himself"—that is, he shall reap the reward for it (Ṭ); _whosoever is blind_ to these matters, _it is to its detriment,_ that is, "to the detriment of his soul" or literally, "against him." It is understood to be the Prophet who says, _I am not a keeper over you_ (see also 4:80; 11:86; 42:48), the implication being that God, not the Prophet, is their _keeper_ (Aj, Ṭ).

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ą Thus do We vary the signs, lest they should say, "You have studied," and that We might make it clear for a people who know.

105 For _vary the signs,_ see 6:46c. Here this phrase refers to the various arguments and proofs for God's Oneness presented up to this point in the _sūrah_ (Ṭ). The idolaters apparently accused the Prophet of having simply _studied_ with knowledgeable people among the People of the Book or of having merely read their scriptures. See 16:103: _Indeed, We know that they say, "He has merely been taught by a human being." The tongue of the one whom they falsely implicate is foreign, while this is [in] a clear, Arabic tongue_. See also 6:25; 8:31; 16:24; 23:83; 25:5; 27:68; 46:17; 68:15; and 83:13, where the idolaters similarly dismiss the revelations received by the Prophet as merely _fables of those of old,_ referring to the same idea.

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Ć Follow that which has been revealed unto thee from thy Lord—there is no god but He—and turn away from the idolaters.

ć Had God willed, they would not have ascribed partners unto God. We have not made thee a keeper over them, nor art thou their guardian.

106–7 V. 106 addresses the Prophet, indicating that after having given many proofs and arguments for God's Oneness to this point in the _sūrah,_ he should simply _turn away from the idolaters_ if they do not accept the message, for _had God willed, they would not have ascribed partners unto God_. These verses reinforce the idea in v. 104 that the Prophet has no power over, and thus no responsibility for, those who reject the message he has been charged to deliver. _Insight_ comes _from your Lord_ (v. 104); thus the matter of accepting or rejecting the message brought by the Prophet is the moral responsibility of the individual receiving it, but is also ultimately a matter that lies in God's Hands (cf. 6:66–67c). See also 6:148 and 16:35, where the idolaters themselves claim that their practice of ascribing partners to God was a matter of Divine Will, although this is understood to be an attempt to avoid their own responsibility for spiritual error and deflect punishment from themselves, and thus it is not accepted.

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Ĉ Do not revile those whom they call upon apart from God, lest they should revile God out of enmity, without any knowledge. Thus have We made the deeds of every community seem fair unto them. Then unto their Lord shall be their return, and He will inform them of that which they used to do.

108 The Muslims in Makkah used to revile the gods worshipped by the idolaters—perhaps after the revelation of 21:98, in which the idols are described as _fuel for Hell_ (Z)—and the idolaters would revile Allah in response. The leaders of the Quraysh went to the Prophet's uncle, Abū Ṭālib, and asked him to arrange an agreement with Muhammad, according to which each side would cease reviling the God or gods of the other. The Prophet initially said that he would agree to such an arrangement only if they would testify that "there is no god but God." The idolaters refused; this verse was then revealed, instructing the believers to refrain from reviling the Makkan gods (Ṭ, W). This was so that the Muslims would not become the "cause" of idolaters uttering sinful things against God in their ignorance ( _without any knowledge;_ R, Ṭ, Z). Although reviling idols may seem a proper religious act, this verse indicates that if doing so causes others to sin or to become more entrenched in their opposition to God and the messages brought by the prophets, then it does not serve the larger purpose of bringing people to religious rectitude; cf. 20:44, where Moses and Aaron are instructed to _speak gently_ to Pharaoh in order to increase the likelihood that he would accept the message they brought. Al-Rāzī doubts that the Makkans were directly reviling Allah, since even the idolaters among them believed in His existence, and suggests that the verse refers to their invoking the idea of Fate (and consequently denying Divine causality) or to their reviling the Prophet, which was a way of indirectly reviling God (R).

The idea that people's actions, even wrong actions, are _made_ to _seem fair unto them_ is repeated in over a dozen places in the Quran. In some cases it is unclear who or what makes their actions "seem fair" to them (6:122; 9:37; 13:33; 40:37; 47:14); in several places it is Satan (6:43; 8:48; 15:39; 16:63; 27:24; 29:38), while other verses, including the present one, suggest that it is God who does this, perhaps as a test (cf. 10:12; 27:4; 41:25). God may "make their actions seem fair" by granting them prosperity or respite from punishment, which leads them to think that God has approved of their actions (cf. 3:178; 7:95; 23:55–56; 34:35–37), or by leading them to think that God had willed or commanded them to engage in corrupt religious practices (cf. 6:148; 7:28; 16:35), perhaps because their fathers had done so (2:170; 5:104; 7:70; 11:62). Upon _their return_ to God after death, _He will inform them of that which they used to do_ (see also 5:105; 6:60; 9:94, 105; 10:23; 29:8; 31:15; 39:7; 62:8); that is, all human beings will be confronted with their deeds on the Day of Resurrection.

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ĉ They swear by God with their most solemn oaths that were a sign to come unto them, they would surely believe in it. Say, "Signs are with God alone." What will make you realize that, even if they were to come, they would still not believe?

109 The disbelievers and hypocrites elsewhere "swear solemn oaths" when they wish to deceive or make excuses, as in 35:42: _And they swore by God their most solemn oaths that, were a warner to come unto them, they would be more rightly guided than any of the communities. And when a warner came unto them, it increased them in naught but aversion_ (cf. 5:53; 24:53). The idea that miraculous signs (or warnings) ultimately have no effect on entrenched disbelievers is mentioned or suggested in many Quranic verses; see 6:7c. The disbelievers claim to want "signs," but the Prophet is instructed to respond, _Signs are with God alone,_ since _it was not for a messenger to bring a sign, save by God's Leave_ (13:38; 40:78). Some reports connect the present verse to an incident in which the Makkan idolaters invoked the Quranic accounts of Moses' and Jesus' miracles, as told to them by the Prophet, and then asked the Prophet to perform a similarly impressive miracle by turning Mt. Ṣafā (a sacred hill near the Kaʿbah and the site of one of the _ḥ ajj_ rituals; see 2:158) into gold. The Prophet began supplicating for this miracle, but was then informed by the Archangel Gabriel that such extraordinary signs were often followed by terrible punishment if people refused to believe in them (as suggested in the following verse), and so the Prophet ceased his supplication (IK, Ṭ, W); see 5:114–15c; 8:23c.

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Đ We shall cause their hearts and their sight to waver, as they did not believe in it the first time, and We shall leave them to wander confused in their rebellion.

110 _We shall cause their hearts and their sight to waver,_ that is, to move from one thought or state to another. _We shall cause . . . to waver_ translates _nuqallibu,_ which means to turn something over repeatedly. The use of this term connects the present verse with two well-known _a ḥādīth._ According to one, "The heart of the believer is between two fingers of the Compassionate; He turns it about ( _yuqallibuhu_ ) as He wills." In the other, the Prophet supplicates, "O Turner of hearts and sights ( _Muqallib al-qulūb wa'l-ab ṣār_)! Make my heart firm in Thy religion" (R). Although the present verse concerns neither the "believer" nor the Prophet, but rather disbelievers, some argue that nonetheless both the _a ḥādīth_ and the verse suggest God's complete power over human thought and action (R). Because the verse concerns the disbelievers specifically, however, it may also be related to the many places in the Quran where God is said to set a "seal" upon hearts, eyes, and/or ears, such that the disbelievers and wrongdoers cannot perceive or understand the religious warnings or truths that come to them (Z; see 2:7c; 6:46c). In support of this interpretation, the verse indicates that God "causes their hearts to waver" because _they did not believe in it the first time,_ suggesting that there are some who have an intrinsic resistance to the message, a resistance that perhaps can never be overcome in this world. God allows the disbelievers to _wander confused in their rebellion,_ despite the signs and warnings He brings them; that is, He neither interferes with their choice to reject religion and pursue their worldly desires, nor cuts short their earthly life to prevent their further wandering (R; see also 2:15; 7:186; 10:11; 23:75).

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đ Even if We were to send down angels unto them, and the dead were to speak to them, and We were to gather all things in front of them, they would still not believe, unless God wills. But most of them are ignorant.

111 A further response to the Makkans' implied request for a miraculous sign (v. 109), this verse reinforces the repeated Quranic reminder that even the most tremendous of signs, such as sending down an angel (see vv. 8–9 and commentary), causing the dead to speak (cf. 13:31), or gathering _all things in front of them,_ would have no effect _unless God wills_. See 10:100: _It is not for a soul to believe, save by God's Leave_. To _gather all things in front of them_ might also be translated "to gather all things in droves" (JJ, Ṭ).

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Ē Thus have We made for every prophet an enemy—satans from among mankind and jinn, who inspire each other with flowery discourse in order to deceive. Had thy Lord willed, they would not have done so. So leave them and that which they fabricate,

112 _We have made for every prophet an enemy_ (cf. 25:31) indicates that the opposition experienced by Muhammad and the other prophets was a general rule and had a Divine purpose (Bḍ). These enemies of the prophets are described as _satans_. Though Satan and satans (in the plural) are usually understood to refer to the Devil and his assistants and to the evil jinn, this verse indicates that human beings who seek to thwart religion and its messengers can also be called _satans_. The early _Ḥ adīth_ scholar Mālik ibn Dīnār (d. second/eighth century) used to say that the satans among people were worse than the satans among the jinn, for the satans who were jinn were driven away when he called out a formula seeking refuge in God from them, but the human satans persisted (Th). These "satans," here either humans or jinn, _inspire each other with flowery discourse;_ that is, they whisper to each other beautiful but vain words (Ṭ), seeking to lead one another farther astray. For the moral danger of "vain discourse" see 6:68c; and for the whispering of jinn and human beings, see 7:20; 20:120; 114:1–6, and also 50:16, where people are subject to the whisperings of their own soul.

Just as God created these _satans,_ He also allows them to deceive one another as well as others, for _had thy Lord willed, they would not have done so_. The Prophet is thus instructed to _leave them,_ rather than aggressively confront them, _and that which they fabricate,_ that is, the false religious thinking to which they incline. Although "leaving" the disbelievers in this way may allow them to continue to "wander" in their moral error and confusion (v. 110; see also 2:15; 7:186; 10:11; 27:4), confronting them aggressively may serve only to harden their resistance to the Quranic message, as suggested in v. 108: _Do not revile those whom they call upon apart from God, lest they should revile God out of enmity_.

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ē so that the hearts of those who believe not in the Hereafter may incline toward it, and be content with it, and so commit that which they commit.

113 _Those who believe not in the Hereafter_ may refer to disbelievers generally, since some commentators consider belief in the Hereafter to be one of the primary foundations of all religious belief (see 6:92c). The Prophet is told to _leave_ such people (v. 112), so that their hearts _may incline toward it,_ that is, so that they may continue to pursue their oppositional and deceitful course of action toward the Prophet and the Quranic message. That they are _content with_ their wrongful behavior suggests the idea in v. 108 and elsewhere that the disbelievers come to see their deeds as _fair,_ meaning right and good, and so are pleased with themselves. As a result, the disbelievers are left unimpeded by the Prophet (who has been told to "leave them" in v. 112) and by their own conscience (which views their actions as "fair"), and thus they continue to _commit that which they commit_. For Ashʿarite commentators, such as al-Rāzī, this verse serves as an argument for their view that God exercises control over human beings' inclinations toward either belief or disbelief (R). Muʿtazilites, by contrast, argue that verses such as the present one, which suggest that God inclines disbelievers toward disbelief, should be interpreted as referring to one of the means by which God punishes disbelievers and wrongdoers for their rejection of faith and their evil deeds; that is, disbelief and wrongdoing effectively serve as an impetus to entrench oneself in more of the same, while the lack of immediate, tangible punishment can serve to encourage the disbelievers and give them false assurances of their own rectitude or at least of their freedom from any negative consequences for their actions.

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Ĕ [Say,] "Shall I seek a judge apart from God, when it is He Who has sent down unto you the Book, expounded?" Those unto whom We have given the Book know that it has been sent down from thy Lord in truth; so be not among the doubters.

114 Here, as elsewhere, the Quran connects proper judgment among human beings directly to the sending down of _the Book_ (see also 2:213; 3:23; 4:105; 5:43–49). Most such connections between judgment and the Book, however, occur in Madinan verses, where the context concerns the central need to rely upon the Quran as well as the scriptures of the People of the Book as the basis for judgment among human beings in worldly affairs. The present verse occurs in a Makkan context, however, and relates to the ongoing discussion in this _sūrah_ of the Makkans' lack of acceptance of the Prophet and the message he brought and their request for a "sign" or miracle by which they might be certain of the truth of his prophethood. _Shall I seek a judge apart from God, when it is He Who has sent down unto you the Book_ can thus mean, "Should I seek a miraculous sign apart from God's having sent down this Quran?" since the Quran itself, with its powerful and inimitable language and message (cf. 2:24; 10:38), is considered by Muslims to be the primary "evidentiary miracle" ( _mu ʿjizah_) proving the truth of Muhammad's prophethood (Bḍ, Z). The verse may also be meant to question why the Prophet or his people should need some other way to judge right from wrong, truth from falsehood, when God has _sent down . . . the Book,_ in which the distinction between these matters is _expounded,_ that is, explained in detail (Bḍ, R). For the description of the Book as _expounded,_ see 6:55c.

Those _unto whom We have given the Book_ refers to the People of the Book, Jews and Christians in particular, whose scriptures are considered to support the truth of Muhammad's prophethood, either because they are believed to describe or name him specifically (cf. 7:157; 61:6) or because the Quranic message is in accord with the essential elements of the Jewish and Christian scriptures (Bḍ, Z). See also 10:94: _So if thou art in doubt concerning that which We have sent down unto thee, ask those who recite the Book before thee. The truth has certainly come unto thee from thy Lord. So be thou not among the doubters_. The warning _so be not among the doubters_ (in the present verse as well as in 10:94) may be addressed to the Prophet (cf. 2:147; 3:60; 11:17), since the imperative is in the second-person singular ( _lā takunanna_ ), but it may also be addressed to the Prophet's community as a whole or in fact to all people (Bḍ, R).

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ĕ The Word of thy Lord is fulfilled in truth and justice. None alters His Words, and He is the Hearing, the Knowing.

115 _The Word of thy Lord is fulfilled_ may mean that God completes His Revelation—namely, the Quran—as a whole (Ṭ); see 6:154, where the same is said of the _Book_ given to _Moses,_ as well as 9:32 and 61:8, where it is said that _God completes His Light,_ which is commonly understood to mean His Guidance or Revelation. Many commentators interpret _the Word of thy Lord_ here to refer collectively to the commands, prohibitions, promises, threats, rewards, and punishments contained in the Quran, indicating that they will all be fulfilled (Q, R, Ṭ, Z); see 7:137 and 11:119 for contexts in which similar statements are understood in this way. The Quran is _fulfilled in truth;_ that is, its accounts and promises are perfectly true, and it is _fulfilled in . . . justice,_ in that its rulings and judgments represent perfect justice (Bḍ). For _none alters His Words,_ see v. 34 as well as 10:15, 64; 18:27.

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Ė Wert thou to obey most of those on earth, they would lead thee astray from the way of God; they follow naught but conjecture, and they do but surmise.

ė Surely thy Lord knows best those who stray from His way, and He knows best the rightly guided.

116–17 The Prophet is warned in several places not to obey the disbelievers, hypocrites, and wrongdoers (18:28; 25:52; 33:1, 48; 68:8, 10; 76:24; 96:19). Erroneous religious practices and beliefs, especially those of idolaters, are said here and elsewhere to be the result of "following conjecture" and "surmising" rather than certain knowledge (6:148; 10:66; 38:27; 45:24; 53:23). The illiterate among the People of the Book and those who think that Jesus was slain are also said to follow _conjecture_ (2:78; 4:157). See 10:36 and 53:28, where _conjecture does not avail against the truth in the least_. The present verses directly precede a discussion of dietary law (in vv. 118–21), and some commentators have said that the warning to the Prophet about obeying others pertained to the idolaters' invitation to him to eat food that had been consecrated to their false deities (Ṭ). The "conjecture" and "surmising" mentioned in v. 116 may also refer to the claim of some idolaters that it was acceptable to eat carrion, since "that which God has killed is worthier to be eaten than that which you have killed" (Sy, Z). Others understand the warning more generally to mean that _most of those on earth_ follow their whims or blindly follow what their fathers have taught them, which leads them to _stray from His way_ (v. 117), rather than following true guidance (R, Z).

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Ę So eat of that over which the Name of God has been invoked, if you are believers in His signs.

ę What ails you that you eat not that over which the Name of God has been invoked, when He has expounded for you that which He has forbidden you, unless you are compelled thereto? Indeed, many lead astray through their own caprices, without any knowledge. Surely thy Lord is He Who knows best the transgressors.

118–19 In these verses, a single dietary rule is put forth, namely, that one should eat only food _over which the Name of God has been invoked,_ which some interpret as a condition for all kinds of food that one would eat (Q, Ṭ), but which in the case of meat would forbid the eating of carrion, since God's Name would not have been invoked over it before it died (R; see 6:116–17c, where a debate over the eating of carrion is reported to be the reason for the revelation of the verses). The importance of invoking God's Name over the animals one slaughters for meat is also mentioned in 5:2, where it is embedded in a more complex set of restrictions concerning meat. Both the invocation of God's Name over the animals to be slaughtered and the ritual manner of slaughtering them make the meat _ḥ alāl,_ or permissible for Muslims to eat. Dietary restrictions, including an explicit prohibition against eating carrion, are also mentioned in 2:172–73; 5:3–5; 16:114–15, where, as here, an exception is made for those who are _compelled_ by necessity ( _ḍ arūrah_), as a result of hunger, and need to eat food normally considered unlawful. For a fuller discussion of dietary laws, see 5:3–5c.

Some commentators have suggested that the statement that God _has expounded for you that which He has forbidden you_ refers to the more detailed dietary laws as found in 5:3–5 (Ṭ), although these detailed laws were revealed in Madinah, while the present verse was revealed earlier in Makkah (Q). Given that the fuller dietary laws were revealed only later in Madinah, al-Qurṭubī suggests the possibility that _He has expounded for you that which He has forbidden_ should be understood to mean, "He will expound for you." Those who _lead astray through their own caprices_ may refer to those who tried to convince the Prophet and his followers that it was better to eat carrion (which was, in a sense, killed by God), than to eat what their own hands had slaughtered (Q). They lead astray by following _their own caprices_ and _without any knowledge,_ since their arguments are based upon _conjecture_ and _surmise_ (see v. 116).

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Ġ Forsake sin, both outward and inward. Surely those who commit sin shall be recompensed for that which they used to do.

120 _Sin, both outward and inward_ refers, respectively, to sin committed publicly and sin committed secretly or in private, or to sin committed with the limbs and sin committed in the heart (Bḍ, Su). _Inward_ sin may also refer to the formulation of an intention to sin (Ṭ). Some commentators consider the _outward_ and _inward_ sin mentioned here to refer specifically to sexual indecencies committed openly or secretly; see 6:151 ( _Approach not indecencies, whether outward or inward_ ) and 7:33 ( _Say, "My Lord has only forbidden indecencies—both outward and inward_ ), where _indecencies_ ( _fawā ḥish_) in both verses is understood to refer to sexual transgression. Some have thus interpreted _outward_ sin in the present verse to refer to marrying women who are not permitted to be taken as wives (as described in 4:22–24) and _inward_ sin as a reference to adultery and fornication; others have suggested that _outward_ sin refers to open adultery or fornication, and _inward_ sin to the taking of secret paramours (cf. 4:25; 5:5)—the latter of which was reportedly tolerated by Arabs in the pre-Islamic period (Q, Ṭ). The language of the verse is general, however, and gives no indication that it is meant to refer to specific kinds of sin (Q, Ṭ); moreover, if it were meant to refer to a particular kind of sin or transgression, it would more likely refer to the transgression of dietary laws, since the verse is situated among verses concerned with eating food over which the Name of God has been mentioned (Ṭ). Some Sufi commentary interprets outward sin as seeking after the goods of this world, and inward sin as seeking after the good things of Paradise, both of which distract one from concentration on God, the Real (Su).

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ġ And eat not of that over which the Name of God has not been invoked; truly it is iniquity. Indeed, the satans inspire their friends to dispute with you, and if you obey them, you are surely idolaters.

121 This verse, like vv. 118–19, can be understood generally to mean that believers should not eat any food (meat or otherwise) _over which the Name of God has not been invoked,_ including both the meat of animals slaughtered in the name of false deities or according to pagan practices (see 2:173; 5:3; 16:114–15) and carrion, since the animal would have been killed without God's Name having been invoked over it (JJ, Ṭ). However, the meat of animals slaughtered by Muslims who simply neglect or forget to invoke God's Name during the slaughtering is generally considered licit to consume. Among the founders of the Sunni schools of jurisprudence, Mālik and al-Shāfiʿī considered it legitimate to consume such meat whether the omission of God's Name was inadvertent or deliberate (JJ, Q, Z), while Abū Ḥanīfah and Aḥmad ibn Ḥanbal (d. 241/855) held that if the omission was deliberate, one should not eat the meat (Q, Z).

Despite its general application, this verse is likely a continuing response to the idolaters' argument for the legitimacy of eating carrion, namely, that carrion is meat that has been ultimately "slaughtered by God," even if it effectively comes about through human agency (Q, Ṭ; see 6:116–17c; 6:118–19). According to some accounts, the idolaters' argument appeared persuasive to some of the Prophet's Companions (W), and the present verse was thus revealed to make it clear that eating _that over which the Name of God has not been invoked_ is _iniquity,_ that is, a clear sin and an act of disobedience (Ṭ). That _the satans,_ who may here be human beings or jinn (see 6:71–72c; 6:112), _inspire their friends to dispute with you_ can be understood to mean, generally, that those who engage in such disingenuous debate concerning God's Law encourage and incite one another in their disputations (Ṭ). Some reports claimed that the satans who _inspire their friends to dispute with you_ referred to certain Persian Zoroastrians, allied with the Quraysh, who formulated the argument regarding carrion mentioned above and encouraged the idolaters to use it against the Prophet (Ṭ, W), or that the verse concerned a group of Jews who similarly argued with the Prophet on the issue of eating carrion (Q, Ṭ). Most commentators, however, subscribed to the more general interpretation of the verse mentioned above.

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Ģ Is he who was dead, and to whom We give life, making for him a light by which to walk among mankind, like unto one who is in darkness from which he does not emerge? Thus for the disbelievers, what they used to do was made to seem fair unto them.

122 Cf. 35:22; 39:22. See also 2:28c and 6:95c, where God's bringing forth the living from the dead can be a reference to either original creation or resurrection after death. Here, however, God's giving "life" to one _who was dead_ is a metaphor for spiritual awakening, and it is followed by the mention of God's making for him _a light by which to walk among mankind,_ that is, a source of religious guidance, or perhaps the Quran specifically (Ṭ). Light is a common Quranic symbol for spiritual guidance and revelation, usually in this life (cf. 5:15; 7:157; 14:1; 21:48; 39:22; 42:52; 64:8), although the Quran also describes the righteous believers in the Hereafter being guided by a light that radiates before them (57:12; 66:8). For the idea of light as a symbol for the means by which one might _walk among mankind_ —that is, with guidance in the world—see 57:28: _O you who believe! Reverence God and believe in His Messenger; He will give you a twofold portion of His Mercy, make a light for you by which you may walk, and forgive you;_ as well as several places where God or His messengers are said to bring people out of darkness into light (2:257; 5:16; 14:5; 33:43; 57:9; 65:11). For a fuller discussion of the meaning of light and darkness (lit. "darknesses"), see 6:1c; 24:35c. Al-Rāzī interprets the one to whom God "gives life" as a reference to a person whose soul God has prepared to receive the spiritual guidance of revelation, and the _light by which to walk among mankind_ as revelation itself.

Although the verse is best understood as a metaphorical comparison between believers and disbelievers generally, it was reportedly revealed in relation to two of the leaders of the Quraysh: Abū Jahl, one of the Prophet's most determined enemies who was killed at the Battle of Badr (2/624), and Ḥamzah, the Prophet's uncle and strong supporter, who embraced Islam in Makkah, migrated to Madinah, and was killed at the Battle of Uḥud (3/625). According to one report, after Abū Jahl insulted the Prophet, the powerful and respected Ḥamzah came to the defense of his nephew and openly embraced Islam. This verse was then revealed, indicating that Ḥamzah, _who was dead,_ but was then given "life" and _a light by which to walk among mankind,_ cannot be compared with Abū Jahl, _who is in darkness from which he does not emerge_ (R, W). Other reports consider the one who is given a _light by which to walk among mankind_ a reference to the Prophet himself (R); or to ʿUmar ibn al-Khaṭṭāb, who had initially opposed the message brought by the Prophet, but converted in Makkah and became one of the Prophet's strongest supporters and eventually the second Caliph (R, Ṭ, Ṭs); or to ʿAmmār ibn Yāsir, an early Companion who later become a close supporter of ʿAlī ibn Abī Ṭālib after the Prophet's death, and who died fighting with ʿAlī at the Battle of Ṣiffīn in 37/657 (R, Ṭ, Ṭs). That the actions of the disbelievers are _made to seem fair unto them_ is found in several places in the Quran, including in vv. 43, 108, and 137 of this _sūrah;_ see 6:108c for a fuller discussion.

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ģ And thus have We made great ones among the guilty in every town, that they may plot therein. But they only plot against themselves, though they are unaware.

123 The _great ones_ who are _among the guilty in every town_ refers to those in a community who stand in strong opposition to the message of a prophet who has come to them (Ṭ); see 25:31: _Thus did We make for every prophet an enemy from among the guilty_. The present verse indicates that it is often the most powerful and authoritative members of a community who stand in stubborn resistance to a prophetic messenger (JJ, Q, R, Z), like Abū Jahl in the case of the Prophet; see 6:122c. See also as 43:23 as well as 7:60–127 and 10:75–88, where it is the _notables_ in Pharaoh's land and in other communities who most stridently oppose the message of the prophets sent to them. (Although not mentioned in the Quran, the same can be said of Jesus, who was opposed by some of the leaders of his time.) Their plot is only _against themselves_ in that it is they who are ultimately ensnared by it. Cf. 2:9 and 3:69, where it is said that those who attempt to deceive or mislead others only deceive or mislead themselves, and correspondingly, 2:272, where it is mentioned that whatever one spends in charity is spent only for oneself. These and other similar verses contribute to a theme of moral reflexivity in the Quran, in which all one's actions are done ultimately and in the deepest sense to or for oneself (see 4:111c); that is, the consequences of one's actions, though often affecting others in this life, will devolve upon only oneself in the Hereafter.

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Ĥ And when a sign comes unto them, they say, "We will not believe till we are given the like of that which was given to the messengers of God." God knows best where to place His message. Humiliation before God and a severe punishment shall soon befall the guilty for that which they used to plot.

124 Cf. 17:90–93; 74:52. Throughout this _sūrah,_ there is repeated mention of God's signs, including the disbelievers' disingenuous request for a sign (vv. 37, 109, 158) or an extraordinary event—such as the coming of an angel (vv. 8, 158) or the descent of a miraculous written book (6:7c)—as proof of Muhammad's prophethood and the truth of the message he brings. This verse indicates that even when a sign does come, the disbelievers do not accept it (cf. vv. 4, 25, 111). Instead, they demand that they themselves be given a sign (JJ, Q, R), _the like of that which was given to the messengers of God,_ meaning the prophets and messengers before Muhammad, such as Moses and Jesus (Ṭ), whose extraordinary miracles and signs are recounted in the Quran (see, e.g., 2:60; 3:49; 5:110; 7:106–8; 20:77) and whose stories were likely already known to some extent among the Makkans. According to one report, this verse was revealed after the prominent Makkan Walīd ibn al-Mughīrah claimed that he had greater right to prophethood than Muhammad, since he possessed greater wealth and progeny (Q, R)—two indicators of worldly status that the Quran categorically rejects as markers of spiritual standing (cf. 9:69; 18:39–46; and also 2:247, where the Israelites similarly question God's choice of Saul as their king given his lack of wealth). The response that _God knows best where to place His message_ warns the disbelievers neither to doubt His choice of messengers—specifically Muhammad, whom the disbelievers elsewhere consider to have insufficient social standing for the rank of prophethood (43:31)—nor to seek to receive revelations or attain to the rank of prophethood themselves. The _humiliation before God_ that will _befall the guilty_ stands in direct contrast to the worldly honor and status enjoyed by many of the disbelievers in Makkah and other communities to which prophets were sent (Z); see 6:123c.

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ĥ Whomsoever God wishes to guide, He expands his breast for submission. And whomsoever He wishes to lead astray, He makes his breast narrow and constricted, as if he were climbing to the sky. Thus does God heap defilement upon those who do not believe.

125 _Whomsoever God wishes to guide_ and _whomsoever He wishes to lead astray_ indicate that not all are guided to the truth, a point made in various ways in the Quran; see, for example, v. 35: _Had God willed, He would have gathered them all to guidance;_ and 32:13: _And had We willed, We would have given every soul its guidance_. The Quran also indicates elsewhere that God or His signs and parables may mislead some (see, e.g., 2:26; 4:143; 6:39; 14:4; 74:31), sometimes particularly the disbelievers and wrongdoers (40:34, 74).

The _breast,_ mentioned throughout the Quran, is understood to be the seat of inner thoughts and intentions as well as belief or disbelief and is associated with the heart, which lies at its center. The Quran frequently warns that God knows _what lies within breasts_ (see, e.g., 5:7; 8:43; 11:5). That God may "expand one's breast" for Islam, or submission to God, is mentioned elsewhere; see 39:22: _Is one whose breast God has expanded for submission, such that he follows a light from his Lord [_. . . _]?_ God's expanding a breast for Islam may be understood as a metaphor for God's making the soul receptive to religious truth and removing any aspects of the soul that might impede acceptance of this truth (Bḍ). The Prophet describes the expansion of the breast in a _ḥ adīth_ as "a light that God, Glory be to Him, casts into the heart of the believer, so that it is expanded and made spacious for Him." Such persons, the Prophet further noted, could be known by their "constant turning toward the abode of eternity," their "shunning the abode of delusion," and their "preparation for death before it comes." (Bḍ, IK, Ṭ, Ṭs). The expansion of the breast is also associated with the prophets; see 94:1, which addresses Muhammad: _Did We not expand for thee thy breast?_ (often thought to refer to the opening of the Prophet's breast and the cleansing of his heart prior to his receiving the Quranic revelation; see 94:1c); and 20:25, in which Moses prays, _"My Lord! Expand for me my breast!"_

In the present verse, as well as in 94:1, the expansion of the breast can be understood as a metaphor for Divine Kindness and Favor ( _lu ṭf_) and perhaps also as a reward for prior willingness to be guided toward belief (R, Ṭ, Ṭs). The expansion of the breast, however, can also be said to relate to what is referred to in Islamic metaphysical discourse as the subtle or psychic body, which transcends the physical body, but is also related to it and affects it, even in a physical way. For example, when people are in a joyful mood, they might be said to be in an "expansive state," which describes their inner psychological state, but also captures something of the outward physiological effects of joy upon their facial expressions and demeanor.

By contrast, people's breasts may be made _narrow_ or _constricted_ ( _ḥ arajan_), an image used in the Quran as a metaphorical expression for anxiety, including the prophets' concern about the reception of the message they bring (cf. 11:12; 15:97; 26:13). Here, however, it is used to indicate the inability of some to accept the Quranic message. _Ḥ araj_ also denotes a dense cluster of trees whose branches are thickly interwoven (Ṭ), thus evoking the image of a dense woodland whose choking vegetation is such that light cannot penetrate it. The image of _climbing to the sky_ is used to convey the sense of a feat that is utterly impossible, indicating that if God wishes to lead someone astray, religious belief is similarly impossible (Bḍ, Ṭ). Some understand this "narrowing" and "constricting" of the breast as a reference to doubt, despair, or even sin (Ṭ). The fifth Shiite Imam Muhammad al-Bāqir is reported to have said that for those who have not attained to truth, it is as if their heart is removed from its place and has risen into the throat, and when they attain to truth, it settles again in its place; he then quoted this verse (Ṭs).

_Thus does God heap defilement upon those who do not believe_ could refer to God's punishing the disbelievers in various ways including, perhaps, by permitting Satan authority over them (JJ, Q; cf. 15:42; 16:99, where Satan has no authority over God's believing servants). The _thus_ at the beginning of this line may also indicate that God narrows the breasts of those whom _He wishes to lead astray_ as a punishment for their prior rejection of belief. In this way, their initial disbelief results in a Divine punishment that only further entrenches them in disbelief and makes the possibility of their later coming to belief more remote (R, Ṭs). One commentator notes that there is no punishment more severe than being oblivious to truth (Qu).

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Ħ This is the path of thy Lord, made straight. We have expounded the signs for a people who take heed.

126 For the fundamental Quranic concept of the _straight path,_ see 1:6c. For God's having _expounded the signs,_ see v. 55 and commentary as well as 6:97–98; 7:32, 174; 9:11; 10:5, 24; 13:2; 30:28; 41:3, 44.

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ħ Theirs shall be the Abode of Peace with their Lord, and He shall be their Protector, because of that which they used to do.

127 The _Abode of Peace_ ( _dār al-salām_ ) has been understood in several ways in the Islamic tradition, although in this context it is most commonly considered to be a reference to the paradisal Garden, which God has prepared for His friends ( _awliyā ʾ_) in the Hereafter as a reward for the difficulties they faced and to which they responded in this life (Ṭ) and the good actions they performed. The _Abode of the Hereafter_ (found, e.g., in 2:94; 6:32; 7:169; 12:109; 16:30) is used in a similar manner to mean the Garden; see also 13:22–24, where the _reward of the Abode_ is identified as _Gardens of Eden_. Since _salām_ ("peace") is also one of the Divine Names, the _Abode of Peace_ has also been understood to mean the Abode of God (Aj, R, Ṭ, Z), although _salām_ may simply be a description of the Abode as one characterized by peace (R) or by the greeting "Peace" (Aj; see, e.g., 10:10). The _Abode of Peace_ is also mentioned in 10:25: _And God calls unto the Abode of Peace, and guides whomsoever He will unto a straight path_. Some have interpreted the _Abode of Peace_ as also referring to the rare state of spiritual peace that some souls may enter even before death (Aj). In connection with this interpretation, Ibn ʿAjībah comments that there are two Gardens, the Garden of Gnosis (true knowledge of God; _ma ʿārif_) and the Garden of Ornaments ( _zakhārif_ )—that is, of sensual pleasures—and that whoever enters the Garden of Gnosis has no longing for the Garden of Ornaments, for in the Garden of Gnosis nearness to God makes one independent of all else (Aj).

The term _Dār al-salām_ ("Abode of Peace") has had much resonance in Islam and is sometimes considered synonymous with _Dar al-islām_ ("Abode of Islam"), designating the geographical territory in which Muslims are in the majority. It has also been adopted as the name of certain Islamic cities; for example, Dar es Salam is the name of Tanzania's largest and most important city.

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Ĩ On the Day when He shall gather them all together [He shall say], "O company of jinn! Many among mankind have you claimed." And their friends among mankind will say, "Our Lord! We have profited from each other, but now we have reached our term which Thou hadst appointed for us." He will say, "The Fire is your abode, to abide therein, except as God wills. Truly thy Lord is Wise, Knowing."

ĩ Thus do We make the wrongdoers allies of one another because of that which they used to earn.

128–29 Addressed to the jinn directly, _many among mankind have you claimed_ refers to the many people the jinn led astray through _flowery discourse_ (v. 112; Ṭ) or "whispering" (114:4–6). It is important to note that _claimed_ here is not meant to suggest that the jinn "possessed" these human beings in the sense of controlling their will, but rather that the jinn merely called or tempted them toward wrongdoing, and that many responded (R). See 14:22, where Satan says to those who followed him, _I had no authority over you, save that I called you, and you responded to me._ The _term . . . appointed for us_ here, as elsewhere, may refer to the onset of the Day of Judgment (R) or simply to the end of their earthly lives (R, Ṭ). The jinn and the human beings they claimed _profited from each other:_ human beings profited from the false assurances they received by calling upon the jinn for protection against harm (see 72:6), and the jinn profited from this arrangement insofar as it attributed to them a greatness, power, and authority they did not actually possess (R, Ṭ). The verse concludes with the judgment that _the Fire_ is to be their _abode_ (here _mathwā,_ instead of _dār,_ as in v. 127). In v. 129, _We make the wrongdoers allies of one another_ may mean that God makes human wrongdoers supporters of each other in this life, that He will make them follow one another into Hellfire, or that some wrongdoers are given authority over others (Ṭ)—all meanings within the semantic range of the verb _nuwallī_.

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İ "O company of jinn and human beings! Did not messengers come unto you from among yourselves, recounting unto you My signs, and warning you of the meeting with this your Day?" They will say, "We bear witness against ourselves." The life of this world deluded them, and they bear witness against themselves that they were disbelievers.

130 The jinn, as a group, are mentioned in various places in the Quran, but only in Makkan _sūrah_ s (although Satan, who is identified as a jinn in 18:50, is mentioned in Madinan _sūrah_ s as well). In the Islamic tradition and in the Quran the jinn, like human beings, have the duty to worship God (51:56) and are mentioned here and elsewhere as addressees and recipients of Divine Revelation and Guidance (46:29–32; 55:33; 72:1–5). Like human beings, they also undergo judgment (37:158; 41:25; 46:18; 55:39) and may be punished in Hellfire (7:38, 179; 11:119; 32:13). In 27:17 and 34:12 they are said to have served the prophet Solomon. The present verse, however, seems to indicate that jinn have also been sent their own messengers who were jinn like themselves, since the question _Did not messengers come to you from among yourselves_ is addressed to both _jinn and human beings_. Some commentators accept that there are messengers among the jinn, following a literal interpretation of this verse (R, Ṭ, Z), while others assert that messengers are found only among human beings, sometimes citing 57:26, which indicates that prophethood and revelation were established among the progeny of Noah and Abraham (IK). Some suggest that the jinn may also serve as "warners" among their kind (Ṭ, Th) or as "messengers of the human messengers" (R, Ṭ, Z). When faced with judgment, the jinn and their supporters _bear witness against themselves that they were disbelievers;_ see 7:37, where human beings do the same.

ı That is because thy Lord would never destroy towns for their wrongdoing while their people were heedless.

131 Following the mention of God having sent messengers to human beings and to the jinn in v. 130, the present verse states that God sends such messengers because He would never destroy a town (or a people) for their wrongdoing while they _were heedless,_ that is, before they were made fully aware of their wrongdoing and its destructive consequences (Bḍ, JJ, Ṭ, Z). The verse can also be read to mean, "Thy Lord would never destroy towns unjustly," indicating that God would consider it unjust or "wrong" to destroy people for their religious and moral errors before they had been sufficiently warned through the sending of prophets and messengers to them (Ṭ); and as the Quran repeats in many places, God does not wrong people, but they wrong themselves (see, e.g., 3:117; 10:44; 29:40; 30:10). Most commentators, however, prefer the first reading.

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IJ Unto each are degrees in accordance with that which they have done, and thy Lord is not heedless of that which they do.

132 Here, and in several other places, the Quran speaks of people being distinguished by different _degrees_ in accordance with _that which they have done_ or, more generally, according to their religious belief and moral and intellectual qualities (cf. 3:163; 4:95; 8:4; 20:75; 46:19; 58:11). In other verses, it is said that God raises some people in degrees above others without tying this distinction explicitly to their actions; see v. 83 regarding Abraham, and v. 165 and commentary, where God raises some people _by degrees above others_ as a way of trying them. Although in v. 130 people may be heedless of their wrongdoing, or at least of its consequences, the present verse reiterates the idea, found throughout the Quran in various ways, that God is never _heedless_ or unaware of people's actions.

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ij Thy Lord is Self-Sufficient, Possessed of Mercy. If He will, He can remove you, and in your place appoint whomsoever He will to succeed you, just as He brought you into being from the progeny of another people.

133 The Divine Name _Self-Sufficient_ translates _Ghanī,_ which means, literally, free from need or "rich" in the sense of being completely independent of everyone and everything. For other instances of this Divine Name, see 2:263, 267; 4:131; 10:68; 14:8; 22:64; 27:40; 31:12, 26; 35:15; 57:24; 60:6; 64:6; also 47:38, where the Name is translated _the Rich_ in order to contrast with the description of human beings as _the poor_. The reference to God as _Self-Sufficient_ or _Rich_ relates not to material wealth or a lack of material need, but to God's ontological fullness and independence of any other reality as contrasted with human existential poverty and total dependence upon God. In Islamic philosophical terms, as first expressed fully by Ibn Sīnā (Avicenna, d. 428/1037), God is the "Necessary Being" ( _wājib al-wujūd_ ), and in relation to Him all else represents "contingent being" ( _mumkin al-wujūd;_ R) and therefore has no existence of its own. In this sense, all being and reality can be said to belong ultimately to God, as the Quran repeatedly asserts, _unto Him belongs whatsoever is in the heavens and on the earth_ (e.g., 2:116, 255; 4:171).

In the present verse, human existential dependence on God and God's independence of human beings are conveyed in the reminder that if God wills, _He can remove you,_ that is, from earthly life or existence altogether and appoint others _to succeed you_. See 11:57, where the Arabian prophet Hūd warns his people that if they do not heed the message he brings, God will cause them _to be succeeded by a people other than_ themselves; and 4:133, where it is said that if God wills, _He can remove you altogether . . . and bring others [in your stead]._ See also 10:13–14, which refers to generations destroyed on account of their wrongdoing and to those who are _vicegerents_ (which can also mean "successors") after them.

Following vv. 130–31, where it is said that God sends messengers to warn people and jinn and destroys no town without such a warning, the present verse indicates that such messages of warning are only for the benefit of their recipients. God has no need for human beings to accept His messages and warnings (Bḍ); their failure to do so neither harms nor diminishes Him in any way—indeed, as the verse asserts, He can simply destroy them and bring forth others. By failing to accept God's message, people harm only themselves; thus God's warnings to them can be understood as a means of God's Mercy toward them. It is said that God is _Possessed of Mercy_ in the most universal and perfect sense (R), since He endows all creatures with existence without need of any of them. That God is _Possessed of Mercy_ in conjunction with His being _Self-Sufficient_ can be understood to indicate that He possesses all mercy and that no one can be merciful save through His Mercy, since all are dependent upon Him for all of their existential qualities, while He depends upon none (R).

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Ĵ Indeed, that which you are promised shall come to pass, and you cannot thwart [it].

134 That God's Promise will surely _come to pass_ and that it cannot be "thwarted" by human effort are repeated in various ways throughout the Quran; cf. 10:51–53; 11:32–33; 16:46; 19:61; 39:51; 21:38–40; 34:29–30. Similarly, that _God's Promise is true_ is mentioned repeatedly; see 4:122; 10:4, 55; 18:21, 98; 30:60; 31:33; 35:5; 40:55, 77; 45:32; 46:17.

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ĵ Say, "O my people! Work in accordance with your ability; I, too, am working. Soon you shall know whose end is the Abode. Surely the wrongdoers will not prosper."

135 In the face of the continued Makkan opposition, alluded to throughout this _sūrah,_ the Prophet is instructed to tell the disbelievers, _Work in accordance with your ability;_ that is, continue with what you have been doing, including your opposition to the Quranic message, to the best of your ability, implying the futility of such actions. This statement is therefore not meant as a license, but as a warning and a threat (Ṭ), for the Prophet is also _working_ to fulfill the Divine Command and the mission that he has been given. Similarly the Prophet is elsewhere instructed to tell the disbelievers to _wait,_ as he too is _waiting_ (9:52; 10:20, 102). In the end, it will be seen which of the two has his end in _the Abode,_ that is, in the permanent Abode of the Hereafter. Elsewhere, the Quran states that _the end_ belongs to the reverent (7:128; 11:49; 13:35; 28:83).

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Ķ And they dedicate to God a share of the crops and cattle He created, saying, "This belongs to God"—or so they claim—"and this belongs to our partners." But that which is for their partners does not reach God, and that which is for God does reach their partners. Evil indeed is the judgment they make!

136 The Makkan idolaters reserved shares of the crop for God and for their _partners,_ that is, for the false deities or idols that they took as partners unto God (IK, Ṭ); see 16:56: _And they dedicate a share of that which We have provided them unto that which they know not._ The phrase _or so they claim_ indicates that this practice is something they invented and has no basis in a Divine command or revealed Law (Z). _That which is for their partners does not reach God_ means that if some of the portion intended for their _partners_ became mingled with the portion intended for God, the idolaters would restore it to the partners' share. _That which is for God does reach their partners_ means that if some of the portion dedicated to God fell into that dedicated to their partners, they would leave it as it is (JJ, Ṭ), claiming that God is Self-Sufficient and has no need of it (JJ), but also betraying their greater loyalty to the _partners_ (Ṭ).

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ķ Likewise have their partners made the slaying of their children seem fair unto many of the idolaters, that they may ruin them and confound them in their religion. Had God willed, they would not have done so. So leave them and that which they fabricate.

137 These same _partners_ have _made the slaying of their children_ —that is, the idolaters' slaying of their own children _—seem fair_ to them, either because the idolaters considered their false deities to have commanded such practices (JJ) or because _their partners_ are satans who inspire the idolaters, through their "whisperings," to slay their children. They do this in order to _ruin them,_ that is, to lead them to perdition and to obscure for them true religion—that is, the Abrahamic monotheistic tradition, established by Ishmael among the Arabs (Z)—and thus make them go astray (Ṭ). The pre-Islamic Arabs were reported to have practiced female infanticide in particular, often killing their infant daughters by burying them alive (see 81:8–9c), because of the perceived shame attached to having daughters in pre-Islamic Arabia (see 16:57–59). The Quran also warns against slaying one's children _for fear of poverty_ (6:151; 17:31) and states that those who do so are _lost_ (v. 140). In 60:12, women seeking to join the Islamic community in Madinah are asked to take a pledge that, among other things, they will not slay their children. For the statement _Had God willed, they would not have done so_ and the command to the Prophet to _leave them,_ see 6:112c.

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ĸ And they say, "These cattle and crops are sacrosanct; none shall eat of them save whom we will"—or so they claim—and [there are] cattle whose backs are forbidden, and cattle over which they do not invoke the Name of God, fabricating against Him. Soon will He recompense them for that which they used to fabricate.

138 This verse continues the discussion of arbitrary practices considered religiously necessary by the Makkan idolaters, here referencing their custom of considering certain livestock or crops to be _sacrosanct_. This may have meant that they were prohibited for slaughter or consumption in general, because the Makkans had dedicated them to God or to their false deities and idols, as mentioned in v. 136 (Ṭ), or that they were prohibited for women but allowed for men (see v. 139), for they claimed, _none shall eat of them save whom we will_ (Ṭ). Alternately, the exception _save whom we will_ was understood by some as a reference to the caretakers of the idols to whom the animals or crops were dedicated (Q). In the case of certain livestock, their _backs are forbidden,_ meaning that they could not be ridden or used for bearing burdens (cf. 6:143–44; 16:115–16). Commentators connect these practices with the rituals of _ba ḥīrah, sāʾibah, waṣīlah,_ and _ḥ ām,_ which proscribed the consumption or use of certain livestock and which are mentioned by name in 5:103 (JJ, Ṭ); for detailed discussion of these four pre-Islamic practices, see 5:103c.

The Makkan idolaters are also chastised in the present verse for eating _cattle over which they do not invoke the Name of God,_ which may refer to animals slaughtered in the names of their idols instead (Q) or simply to animals slaughtered without invoking the name of any deity. The importance of invoking the Name of God over animals one intends to slaughter for consumption is mentioned in vv. 118–21; see also 2:173; 5:3; 16:114–15. Here and in vv. 136–37, the invented, rather than revealed, nature of all these idolatrous practices is made explicit by the assertion that they are practices based merely on the idolaters' _claim,_ and by the reference to them as practices that they _fabricate._ Some consider these practices to have been inspired by the satans the idolaters had taken as partners unto God (Ṭ).

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Ĺ And they say, "That which is in the bellies of these cattle is reserved for our males, and forbidden to our wives, but if it be stillborn, then all shall have a share therein." Soon will He recompense them for that which they ascribe. Truly He is Wise, Knowing.

139 _That which is in the bellies of these cattle_ may refer to the fetuses or offspring of female livestock that had been made _sacrosanct_ (v. 138); the live offspring of some of these animals—particularly as connected with the practices of _ba ḥīrah_ and _sā ʾibah_ (see 5:103c)—were permissible exclusively for men, and only their stillborn offspring were permitted to both men and women for consumption (Bḍ, JJ). _Wives_ ( _azwāj_ ) here was widely interpreted by commentators to refer to women generally, although some reports claim that it refers to daughters ( _banāt;_ Q, Ṭ). Other reports understand _that which is in the bellies of these cattle_ to refer to the milk produced by these animals, which would then be considered permissible for men, but prohibited to women (Q). See 16:66 and 23:21, where _that which is in their bellies_ refers explicitly to the milk provided by livestock. In the present verse, however, _that which is in the bellies_ more likely refers to the offspring of the animals the Makkan idolaters considered sacrosanct, given that an exception is made for those that are _stillborn_ ( _maytat an_; lit. "dead"); although the phrase may refer to both milk and offspring (Ṭ), with the exception that _stillborn_ applies only to the latter. _That which they ascribe,_ like _that which they used to fabricate_ in v. 138, refers to the arbitrary ritual prohibitions the Makkan idolaters invented for themselves, but ascribed to God (Ṭ) or to some form of revealed Law.

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ŀ Lost indeed are those who slay their children foolishly, without knowledge, and make forbidden that which God has provided them, fabricating against God. They indeed have gone astray, and were not rightly guided.

140 This verse comes as a response to the Makkan idolaters' practice of "slaying their children," mentioned in v. 137, and to the false prohibitions they establish regarding livestock in vv. 136, 138–39, indicating that those who engage in such practices are _lost;_ that is, they lose their way in this world and face perdition in the Hereafter. The pre-Islamic Arabs, particularly the Arabs of the northern tribes of Rabīʿah and Muḍar, would _slay their children,_ specifically their daughters, out of fear either that the daughters would be captured and thus become a source of dishonor and humiliation for their families or that the burden of supporting them would impoverish their families (Bḍ, Q, Ṭ). But the Quran states that they _slay their children foolishly_ and _without knowledge,_ for it is God who provides for them and their children (Bḍ); see v. 151: _Slay not your children for fear of poverty—We will provide for you and for them_. The Quranic prohibition against slaying one's children also serves as a scriptural basis for the general prohibition of abortion in Islam, although some Islamic legal schools allow abortion within the first four months of pregnancy in exceptional cases where it is necessary to save the life of the mother.

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Ł He it is Who brings into being gardens, trellised and untrellised, and the date palm and crops with diverse produce, olives and pomegranates, like unto one another and yet not alike. Eat of their fruit when they grow, and pay the due thereof on the day of its harvest, but be not prodigal. Truly He loves not the prodigal.

141 This verse is very similar to v. 99, which also mentions God's provision of date palms, olives, pomegranates, and other crops _like unto one another and yet not alike_ (see 6:99c). In relation to vv. 136 and 140, which mention the pre-Islamic Arabs' practice of slaying their children, often out of fear of being unable to provide for them, as well as in relation to vv. 138–39, which recount the Arabs' arbitrary restrictions on the crops and livestock God has generously provided for their use and consumption, the present verse affirms it is God _Who brings into being_ the diverse crops and fruits by which human beings find sustenance. They should therefore trust in God to provide for them and their families and avoid arbitrary prohibitions on themselves or others that would limit access to the bountiful or "bounty of" crops and livestock He has provided (Ṭs).

The verse bids human beings to _eat of_ the fruit of these plants and crops _when they grow,_ but also to _pay the due thereof on the day of its harvest_. The latter phrase refers to the practice of giving a portion (perhaps as much as 10 percent) of the crop to the needy at the time of the harvest (JJ, Ṭ). Some consider this portion to be part of the mandatory alms ( _zakāh;_ Q, Ṭ), although others consider the command in the present verse, which was revealed in Makkah, to be distinct from the mandatory alms ( _zakāh_ ) as established in Madinah (Bḍ, Q, Ṭ). Twelver Shiites, basing themselves on a report attributed to the fourth Imam, ʿAlī Zayn al-ʿĀbidīn, or the fifth Imam, Muhammad al-Bāqir, hold that this form of charity involves the giving of a few handfuls of grain or other crops as distinct from the specific portion later required as part of the alms ( _zakāh_ ) (Ṭs, Ṭū). Some argue that the mandatory alms, or _zakāh,_ on agricultural produce as established by the Prophet's _Sunnah_ —which was 10 percent for crops produced by dry farming and 5 percent for crops watered by irrigation (Q)—abrogated the less specific command in this verse (Q, Ṭ). The alms ( _zakāh_ ) on produce pertains only to produce that can be stored for later use, such as grains and dried fruits, to the exclusion of perishable crops.

The command _be not prodigal_ may pertain to the portion of the harvest given in charity, indicating that one should not give so much away that one would not have enough to feed oneself and one's dependents (Bḍ, JJ); cf. 17:29. Alternately, _be not prodigal_ may mean, here, to avoid being wasteful or excessive in a way that would prevent one from giving this charitable portion (Ṭ). _He loves not the prodigal_ (see also 7:31), who are also said to be among the inhabitants of the Fire (40:43).

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ł And [He produces] the cattle, some for burden and some for slaughter. Eat of that which God has provided you, and follow not the footsteps of Satan. Truly he is a manifest enemy unto you.

142 Just as God brings forth diverse crops and fruits in v. 141, so too does He produce _the cattle, some for burden_ —that is, to be ridden and to carry loads—which pertains particularly to large livestock such as camels and horses (Ṭ), and _some for slaughter_ ( _farsh an_). _Farsh_ derives from a root whose primary meaning is to "spread out." As reflected in the present translation, it is interpreted by many to mean "for slaughter" insofar as the animal is laid or spread out for the act of slaughter (Bḍ, Z). It may also refer, however, to the rugs and coverings (another related meaning of _farsh_ ) made from the skin of such animals, which are "spread out" for furnishings (Z); in fact some commentators considered _farsh_ to refer particularly to sheep, whose skins were often used for this purpose (Q, Ṭ), although _farsh_ can mean "carpet" in general. Alternately, it can mean "for riding," since the rider is "spread out" astride the animal when riding (Iṣ). The multivalence of this term points to the variety of ways in which livestock are of use to human beings. Their usefulness for riding and transporting goods, for providing warmth and clothing, for providing food and drink, and even their beauty are invoked in several passages as signs of God's Beneficence toward humanity; see 16:5, 66, 79; 23:21–22; 36:72; 40:79.

The admonition to _eat of that which God has provided you_ (cf. 16:114) combined with the subsequent warning to _follow not the footsteps of Satan_ as he is _a manifest enemy unto you_ is also found in 2:168. That Satan is the _manifest enemy_ of human beings is established in the account of the creation of Adam and his temptation by Satan (2:36; 7:24; 20:117, 123) and is repeated as a warning in 2:208; 7:22; 12:5; 17:53; 28:15; 35:6; 36:60; 43:62.

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Ń Eight pairs: of sheep, two, and of goats, two. Say, "Is it the two males He has forbidden or the two females, or that which the wombs of the two females contain? Tell me with knowledge, if you are truthful."

ń And of camels, two, and of oxen, two. Say, "Is it the two males He has forbidden or the two females, or that which the wombs of the two females contain? Or were you present when God enjoined this upon you?" Who does greater wrong than one who fabricates a lie against God, that he may lead men astray without knowledge? Truly God guides not wrongdoing people.

143–44 _Eight pairs_ is a continuation of the description of _the cattle_ mentioned in the previous verse and refers to the male and female of each of the four classes of livestock, namely, the _sheep_ and _goats_ mentioned in v. 143 and the _camels_ and _oxen_ in v. 144 (JJ). Vv. 143–44 also deride additional prohibitions the idolaters would variously place upon eating the _males_ or the _females_ of these species or the contents of their _wombs,_ mocking the arbitrary nature of these prohibitions by asking, _Is it the two males He has forbidden or the two females,_ and challenging their knowledge and authority on the matter by asking in v. 144, _Were you present when God enjoined this upon you?_ Since the Makkan idolaters did not accept Muhammad's prophethood, or perhaps prophethood at all, as a means for knowing God's commands, the verse questions how they could be certain about the correctness of these various prohibitions, unless they were personally present when God commanded these practices (R). The rhetorical question _Who does greater wrong than one who fabricates a lie against God_ is also found in 6:21, 93; 7:37; 10:17; 11:18; 18:15; 29:68; 61:7. That _God guides not wrongdoing people_ is also stated in 2:258; 3:86; 5:51; 9:19, 109; 28:50; 46:10; 61:7; 62:5.

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Ņ Say, "I do not find in that which is revealed unto me anything forbidden to one who would eat thereof, save carrion or blood poured forth, or the flesh of swine—for that is surely defilement—or a sinful offering made to other than God. But whosoever is compelled by necessity, without willfully disobeying or transgressing, truly thy Lord is Forgiving, Merciful."

145 The Prophet is instructed to respond to the Makkan idolaters' various ritual prohibitions concerning the animals whose meat may be consumed by clearly stating that the revelation he received prohibits only _carrion_ (which the idolaters reportedly argued was licit; see commentary on 6:116–21); _blood poured forth,_ meaning the animal's liquid blood—which had to be drained from the animal's veins before its meat could be eaten—as distinct from its organs or other tissue; _the flesh of swine;_ and any animal consecrated to what is _other than God_ —that is, to a false deity or idol. An exception here, as in other verses, is made for one who is _compelled by necessity_ to eat what is otherwise considered unlawful. These same prohibitions are mentioned in 2:173; 5:3; and 16:115; for a fuller discussion of this issue, see 2:172–73c; 5:3c. In addition to the prohibited sources of meat listed here, some commentators note that on the basis of Prophetic _Sunnah_ all carnivorous beasts and birds of prey are also forbidden as sources of meat (JJ, Q).

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ņ And unto those who are Jews, We forbade every animal with claws; and of oxen and sheep We forbade them the fat thereof, save that upon their backs or their entrails or that which is mingled with bone. Thus did We recompense them for their willful disobedience, and surely We are truthful.

146 After the criticisms of the arbitrary restrictions on eating meat observed by the Makkan idolaters (vv. 136, 138–39, 143–44) and the listing of the four prohibitions related to the consumption of meat revealed to the Prophet (v. 145), this verse mentions some additional dietary prohibitions imposed by God upon the Jews as a _recompense . . . for their willful disobedience_. That God _forbade_ them _every animal with claws_ ( _dhī ẓufur_) suggests that they are forbidden all carnivorous beasts (which also became part of Islamic dietary law on the basis of Prophetic _Sunnah_ ). They are further forbidden the _fat_ of _oxen and sheep,_ except for that _upon their backs_ or intermingled with other tissue. Some legal scholars, including the founders of two of the four major schools of Sunni Law, Abū Ḥanīfah and al-Shāfiʿī, held that this prohibition on fat did not pertain to Muslims, citing a report that the Prophet did not forbid one of his followers from eating it during the siege of Khaybar (Q), during which he established other dietary prohibitions on eating beasts and birds of prey as well as donkeys.

The specific dietary prohibitions mentioned for the Jews in the present verse are largely consistent with the extensive dietary prohibitions found in Leviticus 3 and 11, as well as Deuteronomy 14, although they are not identical. For example, in Leviticus 11, the Israelites are forbidden "all that walk on their paws" (v. 27) and several different birds of prey, but also animals with undivided hooves, such as camels—although many Quranic commentators consider _dhī ẓufur_ (here translated _with claws_ ) to mean "with undivided toes" (JJ, Q, Ṭ), In Leviticus 3:9–10, the Israelites are instructed to remove the fat from the backbone and the entrails to be burned as a sacrifice. The Quran here suggests that such dietary prohibitions, which are more complex and restrictive than what is found in Islamic dietary law, were a recompense _for their willful disobedience,_ which some gloss as their mistreatment of the needy among themselves (Ṭb) or simply their "wrongdoing" (Z). Cf. 3:93: _All food was lawful unto the Children of Israel, save what Israel had forbidden for himself, before the Torah was sent down,_ indicates that there were no Divinely imposed dietary prohibitions on the Israelites prior to the revelation of the Torah.

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Ň But if they deny thee, say, "Your Lord is Possessed of vast Mercy, but His Might will not be averted from the guilty people."

147 _But if they,_ the Jews, _deny thee_ by arguing that God's Mercy is so vast that He will not punish them for their disobedience (Ṭ, Z), the Prophet is instructed to respond by affirming that the Lord's Mercy is indeed _vast_. This is so for the righteous believers, but also for the disbelievers and wrongdoers, insofar as God does not send punishment down upon them immediately. This _vast Mercy,_ however, should not lead the disbelievers or wrongdoers to think that God's _Might_ will be indefinitely _averted from the guilty people_ (Ṭ).

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ň Those who ascribe partners unto God will say, "Had God willed, we would not have ascribed partners unto God, nor our fathers, nor would we have forbidden anything." Those who were before them had similarly denied, till they tasted Our Might. Say, "Do you have any knowledge that you can produce for us? You follow naught but conjecture, and you merely surmise."

148 With this verse, the _sūrah_ resumes its engagement with the Makkan idolaters, presenting and then challenging the Makkans' claim that their invented ritual practices were a matter of Divine Will and thus suggesting that these practices were part of a revealed Law (Bḍ). Their argument is that _had God willed,_ they would not have _ascribed partners unto God,_ nor would they have _forbidden anything,_ referring to the foregoing criticism of the ritual prohibitions they observed. See 16:35 and 43:19–20, where the idolaters make a similar claim. In vv. 107 and 137, respectively, the Quran itself affirms that _had God willed,_ the idolaters would not have _ascribed partners unto God_ or slain their children (cf. 10:99).

Although these verses have been read by some to suggest that God willed the idolaters to observe these practices (R), they can also be understood to mean that God is capable of altering the idolaters' practices, but He abstains from doing so in order to allow them to choose freely whether to participate in them or not. The idolaters' own assertion that _had God willed,_ they would not have engaged in such practices is thus, on one level, an accurate assertion (Aj), but in a deeper sense it served to underscore their personal responsibility for their own actions. As such it does not have the effect of either proving that their practices have Divine sanction or allowing them to avoid personal responsibility for them. Rather, like those who made similar claims before them, they will "taste the punishment" (for other references to "tasted" punishment, see, e.g., 3:106; 4:56; 6:30; 7:39; 8:35). In response to their claims, the Prophet is instructed to ask, rhetorically, if the idolaters have _any knowledge_ that they can produce—that is, any proof for their claims (Bḍ; IK; cf. v. 144), and then to dismiss their assertions and practices as based upon mere _conjecture_ and _surmise_ (see 6:116–17c).

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'n Say, "Unto God belongs the conclusive argument. Had He willed, He could surely have guided you all."

149 The idolaters in v. 148 _follow naught but conjecture_ and, it is understood, can produce no proof that God has ordained their idolatry or their ritual prohibitions. By contrast, God possesses _the conclusive argument,_ which is clear and incontrovertible, showing all other arguments to be false, and which thus accomplishes the aim of establishing the truth and removing all doubt about religion (Ṭ, Ṭū). The word _argument_ translates _ḥ ujjah,_ which can also mean "proof." Cf. v. 83 where Abraham's argument against his people's idolatry (in vv. 76–78) is described as an argument that God _gave unto Abraham against his people,_ meaning a definitive proof or argument against their idolatry. The phrase "proof of God" ( _ḥ ujjat Allāh_) is widely used in the Islamic intellectual tradition to refer to certain and irrefutable proof or knowledge.

According to some, God's argument against humanity is constituted by the messengers He sent them, because of whom they have no excuse for not knowing true religious doctrine and law (Aj, Bḍ); perhaps for this reason, Shāh Wāli Allāh of Delhi entitled one of his key works dealing with the derivation of Islamic Law from the sayings and precedent of the Prophet _ḥ ujjat Allāḥ al-bālighah,_ "The Conclusive Argument (or Proof) of God." Twelver Shiites also explicitly identify the twelve Imams, who are their foundational spiritual guides after the Prophet, as "proofs" ( _ḥ ujaj_) of God. The seventh Shiite Imam, Mūsā al-Kāẓim, is reported to have said, "God has two arguments [or proofs] against mankind, an outward one and an inward one. As for the outward, it is the messengers, prophets, and imams, and as for the inward, it is [their] intellects" (Kā), meaning that God demonstrates conclusively the truth of religion through both the messengers and spiritual leaders He sends to mankind and human beings' own intrinsic intelligence.

_Had He willed, He could surely have guided you all_ (cf. v. 35) indicates to some commentators that, since not all were "guided," it must be that it is God's Will to guide some and not others (Aj, IK, R), an idea that may be supported by other verses indicating that God misleads some (cf., e.g., 2:26; 6:125; 40:74; 74:31). Other important commentators, however, read it to mean that although God is capable of bringing all people, involuntarily, to guidance, He wishes to entrust them with the responsibility ( _taklīf_ ) to come to guidance of their own free will and so does not "gather them all to guidance" (v. 35; Ṭū). Indeed, some argue that if God were to bring people forcibly to guidance or to disbelief, He would have no "conclusive proof" or "argument" against the disbelievers, who like those in v. 148, could contend that it was God Himself who willed their spiritual error (Ṭū).

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Ő Say, "Bring forward your witnesses who can bear witness that God has forbidden this." Then if they bear witness, do not bear witness with them, and do not follow the caprices of those who deny Our signs, nor those who believe not in the Hereafter and ascribe equals unto their Lord.

150 Having been asked if they personally were witness to God's ordaining the idolatrous prohibitions and rituals they observe (v. 144), and challenged to bring _knowledge,_ or proof, that God ordained these practices (v. 148), the idolaters are now told to _bring forward . . . witnesses_ who can testify that God had indeed instituted the dietary prohibitions they claim for themselves (vv. 136, 138–39, 143–44). If they do presume to _bear witness_ to the truth of their claims, the Prophet is instructed not to _bear witness with them,_ that is, not to give credence or support to their claims. He is further warned not to _follow_ their _caprices_ (cf. 2:120, 145; 5:48–49; 6:56; 13:37; 42:15; 45:18), that is, the caprices of the idolaters, who are then described as those who _believe not in the Hereafter_ —that is, in Resurrection and Judgment—and who _ascribe equals unto their Lord,_ committing the sin of _shirk,_ or polytheism—their two central religious errors.

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ő Say, "Come, I will recite that which your Lord has forbidden you: that you ascribe nothing as partner unto Him, and that you be virtuous toward parents, and that you slay not your children for fear of poverty—We will provide for you and for them—and approach not indecencies, whether outward or inward, and slay not the soul that God has made inviolable, save by right. This He has enjoined upon you, that haply you may understand."

ΠAnd approach not the orphan's property, save in the best manner, till he reaches maturity. And observe fully the measure and the balance with justice. We task no soul beyond its capacity. And when you speak, be just, even if it be [against] a kinsman, and fulfill the pact of God. This He has enjoined upon you, that haply you may remember.

151–52 In response to the false prohibitions the idolaters have invented for themselves, the Prophet is instructed to _recite that which your Lord has forbidden_ through authentic revelation. The list of prohibitions in these two verses brings together those mentioned elsewhere in the Quran. Throughout this _sūrah_ various ways of "ascribing partners to God," or _shirk,_ are described, including the worship of idols (v. 74), celestial bodies (vv. 76–78), and jinn (v. 100), and the admonition against _shirk_ here refers to all its forms. The paired command to _ascribe nothing as partner unto_ God (or to worship only Him) and to _be virtuous toward parents_ also appears in 2:83; 4:36; and 17:23; it indicates the importance of filial piety and suggests a relationship between proper worship of God and reverence and care for parents. After God, human beings are most indebted to their parents, given the extensive and solicitous care they were provided when they were young, and for this reason the duty to worship God alone is followed immediately by the mention of duty to parents (R). Immediately following the mention of children's duty to parents, the verse warns parents against "slaying their children" _for fear of poverty,_ indicating that they should rely upon God to provide for the needs of themselves and their children. Similar warnings against slaying one's children are found in 6:140 and 17:31, and a promise not to slay one's children was made a condition for women who wanted to join the Muslim community in Madinah as mentioned in 60:12.

The prohibition against slaying any soul _save by right_ —that is, when it is warranted as a punishment for capital transgression, such as for murder or "waging war against God and His Messenger" (5:33)—is also mentioned in 4:29, 92–93; 5:32; 17:33; 25:68. For the admonition to avoid _indecencies_ in both their _outward_ and _inward_ —that is, public and private—forms, see also 6:120c; 7:33. _Indecencies_ translates _fawā ḥish_ (sing. _fā ḥishah_), which often connotes specifically sexual transgression (see 4:15c; 4:22c), but which here more likely refers to serious sins and moral transgressions of all sorts. Shunning such sins both outwardly and inwardly demonstrates true piety, for if one were to avoid sin publicly, but commit it privately, it would indicate that one's motivation was simply to avoid public blame and not to obey God (R). Al-Rāzī observes that v. 151 contains five commands or prohibitions that can all be said to pertain to _outward_ sin, while v. 152 contains four prohibitions that relate to _inward_ sin (R), that is, sin done in private or surreptitiously, without others being witness to it. Some define "inward sin" as the intention to sin formulated in the heart (Q). According to a well-known Islamic principle based upon a _ḥ adīth,_ "Deeds are according to intentions," meaning that the reward or punishment for a given act is dependent upon the intention of the one who commits it.

In v. 152, _approach not the orphan's property . . . till he reaches maturity_ (repeated verbatim in 17:34) means that a guardian should hold the orphan's property in trust until the orphan reaches the age when knowledge and wisdom are sufficiently developed (R)—a standard that is qualitative, rather than a quantitative one measured in years. For a fuller discussion of this and the various ages given for "maturity" in Islamic Law, see 4:6c. The exception _save in the best manner_ refers to a situation in which an impoverished guardian may take a small amount from the orphan's property, although he is required to repay it when he is able, or to the guardian's right to use the orphan's property in a way that might help maintain or improve it (Ṭ); for a discussion of the terms and conditions under which a guardian may use the orphan's property, see 4:6c.

To _observe fully the measure and the balance with justice_ refers to the requirement to engage in commerce and business transactions with probity and fairness (cf. 7:85; 17:35; 26:182; 55:8–9; and 11:84–85, where the prophet Shuʿayb admonishes his people to do the same). That God tasks _no soul beyond its capacity_ is found in several verses (2:286; 7:42; 23:62) and is a central Islamic doctrine; see also 65:7: _God tasks no soul beyond that which He has given it._ The command _When you speak, be just_ refers to the importance of truthful testimony, but also to the requirement that one speak with integrity and truthfulness at all times (R). The Quran enjoins speaking honorably or _in a goodly way_ to others (2:83, 235; 4:5, 8; 33:32) as well as speaking justly (4:9; 33:70), and the injunction in v. 152 requires that one speak justly _even if it be [against] a kinsman_ (cf. 4:135). The importance of fulfilling _the pact_ ( _ʿ ahd_) _of God_ is also found in 2:40 and 13:20; in the present verse, it is understood to mean obeying the injunctions and prohibitions established by God (Ṭ).

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œ This indeed is My path made straight; so follow it, and follow not other ways, lest they separate you from His way. This He has enjoined upon you, that haply you may be reverent.

153 _My path made straight_ refers to the "straight path" ( _al- ṣirāṭ al-mustaqīm_) that leads to God and salvation (see 1:6c), and for most commentators it was understood to refer specifically to the religious path of Islam, defined by the guidance and injunctions brought by the Prophet Muhammad—including the Quranic revelation and the Prophet's own example, or _Sunnah_ (R). See also 5:15–16: _There has come unto you, from God, a light and a clear Book whereby God guides whosoever seeks His Contentment unto the ways of peace, and brings them forth from darkness into light, by His Leave, and guides them unto a straight path_.

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Ŕ Then We gave unto Moses the Book, complete for those who would be virtuous, as an exposition of all things, and as a guidance and a mercy, that haply they might believe in the meeting with their Lord.

154 _The Book_ given to Moses is the Torah, which here as elsewhere is described as a source of _guidance_ (cf. 3:3–4; 5:44). It is _complete_ in the blessings it provides to those who seek to live a life of virtue (Ṭ). It is important to note that the descriptions of the Torah here are similar to the descriptions the Quran gives elsewhere for itself. See v. 115, where the _Word of thy Lord,_ understood to be a reference to the Quran, is _fulfilled_ or completed _in truth and justice_. The _Book_ of Moses is also said in the present verse to be _an exposition of all things_ ( _taf ṣīl_); see 6:114, where the Quran is described as "expounded" ( _mufa ṣṣal_), from the same root. This verse serves as a Quranic indication that the Torah remains a valid source of guidance and a path to virtue, even after the revelation of the Quran, an idea made more explicit in 5:43–45.

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ŕ And this is a blessed Book that We have sent down; so follow it and be reverent, that haply you may receive mercy.

Ŗ Lest you should say, "The Book was only sent down upon two groups before us, and we were indeed heedless of their study."

ŗ Or lest you should say, "If the Book had been sent down upon us, we would surely have been better guided than they." Now there has come unto you a clear proof from your Lord, a guidance and a mercy. So who does greater wrong than one who denies the signs of God and turns away from them? Soon shall We recompense those who turn away from Our signs with a terrible punishment for their having turned away.

155–57 After the description of the Torah in the previous verse, the reference to the _blessed Book . . . sent down_ in v. 155 is to the Quran. As with the Torah, the Quran provides a means to obtain God's _mercy._ Once the Quran was sent down, the Makkans could no longer excuse their various moral and spiritual errors (mentioned throughout this _sūrah_ ) by claiming that _the Book,_ meaning revelation in general, had not been sent to them, but had been sent only to _two groups:_ the Jews and the Christians. For similar arguments from disbelievers that their moral error was a result of a lack of prophetic warning, see 28:47.

_Heedless_ in v. 156 translates _ghāfilīn,_ which also means to be passively oblivious or unaware. Some understand _heedless of their study_ to be a reference to the Arabs' inability to read or understand the Torah or the Gospel (IK, Z). In vv. 156–57, the Quran suggests that the Makkans may have wished to use their inability to read or study the Jewish and Christian scriptures, along with the argument that no revelation had been sent down directly to them (v. 157), as an excuse and explanation for their lack of moral guidance. The response is that such excuses from the Makkan idolaters—as well as their boast that had they been given revelation, they _would surely have been better guided than_ the Jews and Christians (cf. 35:42 for similar boast)—are belied, since _a clear proof_ had now come to them from God. This _clear proof_ is the Quranic revelation itself, which is sent down in _clear Arabic_ (Ṭ; see 26:195) and thus easily understandable to them, and which is described as _a guidance and a mercy,_ exactly as the Torah is described in v. 154.

_Who does greater wrong than one who denies the signs of God_ takes the same form as many other rhetorical questions; see, for example, 18:57; and 32:22: _And who does greater wrong than one who has been reminded of the signs of his Lord, then turns away from them?_ The phrase _turns away from them_ in v. 157 likely means that the idolaters attempt to turn others away from the signs of God (IK, Z; cf. v. 26).

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Ř Do they await aught but that the angels should come upon them, or that thy Lord should come, or one of the signs of thy Lord should come? On the day that one of the signs of thy Lord does come, believing will be of no avail to any soul that did not believe beforehand and did not earn some goodness in its belief. Say, "Wait! We, too, are waiting."

158 _Do they await aught but that the angels should come upon them, or that thy Lord should come_ (cf. 2:210; 16:33) is meant to emphasize the foolishness of the disbelievers' request for powerful heavenly signs of the truth of Muhammad's warnings of Divine Judgment, for once such signs come, the time during which they could have chosen freely to believe will have come to an end. The disbelievers' apparent waiting for the angels to _come upon them_ might mean that they seem to be waiting for their own deaths, which will be heralded by the coming of the angels of death, or for the end of the world itself (Ṭ). See 43:66 and 47:18, where disbelievers seem to be similarly inviting _the Hour_ —that is, the end of the world and Final Judgment—to come upon them. In this context, the _signs of thy Lord_ may be understood as signs of the end times, such as the sun rising from the West (Ṭ, Z). Once these events have come, _believing will be of no avail to any soul that did not believe beforehand,_ for repentance and belief only avail a soul before its own death (cf. 4:17; 6:8–9c; 6:57–58c). The Prophet is finally instructed to tell the disbelievers, who seem to be continually, but disingenuously, waiting for "proof" of Muhammad's prophethood, _Wait! We, too, are waiting_. The _We_ in this statement is generally understood as referring to the Prophet and his believing followers, although it could also refer to God. This ominous command is found in various forms elsewhere in the Quran (7:71; 9:52; 10:20, 102; 11:122; 20:135; 52:31), and is meant as a threat or warning to the disbelievers (R).

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ř Truly those who have divided their religion and become factions, thou hast nothing to do with them. Their matter rests with God alone; then He will inform them about that which they used to do.

159 The Quran here, as elsewhere, criticizes those who become divided in their religion or create sects within it (cf. 3:103–5; 5:14c; 30:32; 42:13–14; 98:4). Those who _have divided their religion_ may refer to those who believe in some aspects or doctrines of the religion and disbelieve in others. Alternately, some read the phrase with different voweling to mean "those who separate from their religion," meaning those who leave it altogether (R, Ṭ, Z). Here _those who have . . . become factions_ may refer to the Jews and Christians (R, Ṭ, Z); to the idolaters (with whom this _sūrah_ is primarily engaged) who differed as to the "partners they took unto God," partners that included idols, celestial bodies, or jinn (R); or to those within the Muslim community who introduce innovation ( _bid ʿah_) or doubt into religion (Ṭ). In connection with this verse, some commentators cite a _ḥ adīth_ in which the Prophet states that the Jews divided into seventy-one sects, and the Christians into seventy-two sects, before predicting that his own community would divide into seventy-three sects (Z). Regarding such people, the Prophet is told _thou hast nothing to do with them,_ meaning that he is instructed to leave them, rather than fight them (Ṭ), for _their matter rests with God alone_. That God will settle religious differences among people in the Hereafter by "informing" _them about that which they used to do_ (or elsewhere, "about that wherein they differed") is also mentioned in 5:14, 48; 6:108.

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Š Whosoever brings a good deed shall have ten times the like thereof; but whosoever brings an evil deed shall be recompense
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