The Message of The Quran

From: http://arthursclassicnovels.com/koran/koran-asad10.html


The Message of The Quran
translated and explained by Muhammad Asad
ForewordREAD in the name of thy Sustainer, who has created -
created man out of a germ-cell!
Read - for thy Sustainer is the Most Bountiful One
who has taught [man] the use of the pen -
taught man what he did not know.
With these opening verses of the ninety-sixth surah - with an allusion to man's humble biological origin as well as to his consciousness and intellect - began, early in the seventh century of the Chnstian era, the revelation of the Qur'an to the Prophet Muhammad, destined to continue during the twenty-three years of his ministry and to end, shortly before his death, with verse 281 of the second surah: And be conscious of the Day on which you shall be brought back unto God,
whereupon every human being shall be repaid in full for what he has earned,
and none shall be wronged;
Between these first and last verses (the first and the last in the chronological order of their revelation)1 unfolds a book which, more than any other single phenomenon known to us, has fundamentally affected the religious, social and political history of the world. No other sacred scripture has ever had a similarly immediate impact upon the lives of the people who first heard its message and, through them and the generations that followed them, on the entire course of civilization. It shook Arabia, and made a nation out of its perennially warring tribes; within a few decades, it spread its world-view far beyond the confines of Arabia and produced the first ideological society known to man; through its insistence on consciousness and knowledge, it engendered among its followers a spirit of intellectual curiosity and independent inquiry, ultimately resulting in that splendid era of learning and scientific research which distinguished the world of Islam at the height of its cultural vigour; and the culture thus fostered by the Qur'an penetrated in countless ways and by-ways into the mind of medieval Europe and gave rise to that revival of Western culture which we call the Renaissance, and thus became in the course of time largely responsible for the birth of what is described as the "age of science": the age in which we are now living. 1 It is to be borne in mind that, in its final compilation, the Qur'an is arranged in
accordance with the inner requirements of its message as a whole, and not in the
chronological order in which the individual surahs or passages were revealed.
All this was, in the final analysis, brought about by the message of the Qur'an: and it was brought about through the medium of the people whom it inspired and to whom it supplied a basis for all their ethical valuations and a direction for all their worldly endeavours: for, never has any book - not excluding the Bible - been read by so many with a comparable intensity and veneration; and never has any other book supplied to so many, and over so long a span of time, a similarly comprehensive answer to the question, "How shall I behave in order to achieve the good life in this world and happiness in the life to come?" However often individual Muslims may have misread this answer, and however far many of them may have departed from the spirit of its message, the fact remains that to all who believed and believe in it, the Qur'an represents the ultimate manifestation of God's grace to man, the ultimate wisdom, and the ultimate beauty of expression: in short, the true Word of God.
This attitude of the Muslims towards the Qur'an perplexes, as a rule, the Westerner who approaches it through one or another of the many existing translations. Where the believer, reading the Qur'an in Arabic, sees beauty, the non-Muslim reader often claims to discern "crudeness"; the coherence of the Qur'anic world-view and its relevance to the human condition escape him altogether and assume the guise of what, in Europe's and America's orientalist literature, is frequently described as "incoherent rambling";2 and passages which, to a Muslim, are expressive of sublime wisdom, often sound "flat" and "uninspiring" to the Western ear. And yet, not even the most unfriendly critics of the Qur'an have ever denied that it did, in fact, provide the supreme source of inspiration - in both the religious and cultural senses of this word - to innumerable millions of people who, in their aggregate, have made an outstanding contribution to man's knowledge, civilization and social achievement. How can this paradox be explained? 2. Thus, for instance, Western critics of the Qur'an frequently point to the allegedly
"incoherent" references to God - often in one and the same phrase - as "He", "God",
"We" or "I", with the corresponding changes of the pronoun from "His" to "Ours" or
"My", or from "Him" to "Us" or "Me". They seem to be unaware of the fact that these
changes are not accidental, and not even what one might describe as "poetic licence",
but are obviously deliberate, a linguistic device meant to stress the idea that God is
not a "person" and cannot, therefore, be really circumscribed by the pronouns applicable
to finite beings.
It cannot be explained by the too-facile argument, so readily accepted by many modern Muslims, that the Qur'an has been "deliberately misrepresented" by its Western translators. For, although it cannot be denied that among the existing translations in almost all of the major European languages there is many a one that has been inspired by malicious prejudice and - especially in earlier times - by misguided "missionary" zeal, there is hardly any doubt that some of the more recent translations are the work of earnest scholars who, without being actuated by any conscious bias, have honestly endeavoured to render the meaning of the Arabic original into this or that European language; and, in addition, there exist a number of modern translations by Muslims who, by virtue of their being Muslims, cannot by any stretch of the imagination be supposed to have "misrepresented" what, to them, was a sacred revelation. Still, none of these translations - whether done by Muslims or by non-Muslims - has so far brought the Qur'an nearer to the hearts or minds of people raised in a different religious and psychological climate and revealed something, however little, of its real depth and wisdom. To some extent this may be due to the conscious and unconscious prejudice against Islam which has pervaded Western cultural notions ever since the time of the Crusades - an intangible heritage of thought and feeling which has left its mark on the attitude towards all things Islamic on the part not only of the Western "man in the street" but also, in a more subtle manner, on the part of scholars bent on objective research. But even this psychological factor does not sufficiently explain the complete lack of appreciation of the Qur'an in the Western world, and this in spite of its undeniable and ever-increasing interest in all that concerns the world of Islam.
It is more than probable that one of the main reasons for this lack of appreciation is to be found in that aspect of the Qur'an which differentiates it fundamentally from all other sacred scriptures: its stress on reason as a valid way to faith as well as its insistence on the inseparability of the spiritual and the physical (and, therefore, also social) spheres of human existence: the inseparability of man's daily actions and behaviour, however "mundane", from his spirltual life and destiny. This absence of any division of reality into "physical" and "spiritual" compartments makes it difficult for people brought up in the orbit of other religions, with their accent on the "supernatural" element allegedly inherent in every true religious experience, to appreciate the predominantly rational approach of the Qur'an to all religious questions. Consequently, its constant interweaving of spiritual teachings with practical legislation perplexes the Western reader, who has become accustomed to identifying "religious experience" with a thrill of numinous awe before things hidden and beyond all intellectual comprehension, and is suddenly confronted with the claim of the Qur'an to being a guidance not only towards the spiritual good of the hereafter but also towards the good life - spiritual, physical and social - attainable in this world. In short, the Westerner cannot readily accept the Qur'anic thesis that all life, being God-given, is a unity, and that problems of the flesh and of the mind, of sex and economics, of individual righteousness and social equity are intimately connected with the hopes which man may legitimately entertain with regard to his life after death. This, in my opinion, is one of the reasons for the negative, uncomprehending attitude of most Westerners towards the Qur'an and its teachings. But still another - and perhaps even more decisive - reason may be found in the fact that the Qur'an itself has never yet been presented in any European language in a manner which would make it truly comprehensible.
When we look at the long list of translations - beginning with the Latin works of the high Middle Ages and continuing up to the present in almost every European tongue - we find one common denominator between their authors, whether Muslims or non-Muslims: all of them were - or are - people who acquired their knowledge of Arabic through academic study alone: that is, from books. None of them, however great his scholarship, has ever been familiar with the Arabic language as a person is familiar with his own, having absorbed the nuances of its idiom and its phraseology with an active, associative response within himself, and hearing it with an ear spontaneously attuned to the intent underlying the acoustic symbolism of its words and sentences. For, the words and sentences of a language - any language - are but symbols for meanings conventionally, and subconsciously, agreed upon by those who express their perception of reality by means of that particular tongue. Unless the translator is able to reproduce within himself the conceptual symbolism of the language in question - that is, unless he hears it "sing" in his ear in all its naturalness and immediacy - his translation will convey no more than the outer shell of the literary matter to which his work is devoted, and will miss, to a higher or lesser degree, the inner meaning of the original: and the greater the depth of the original, the farther must such a translation deviate from its spirit.
No doubt, some of the translators of the Qur'an whose works are accessible to the Western public can be described as outstanding scholars in the sense of having mastered the Arabic grammar and achieved a considerable knowledge of Arabic literature; but this mastery of grammar and this acquaintance with literature cannot by itself, in the case of a translation from Arabic (and especially the Arabic of the Qur'an), render the translator independent of that intangible communion with the spirit of the language which can be achieved only by living with and in it.
Arabic is a Semitic tongue: in fact, it is the only Semitic tongue which has remained uninterruptedly alive for thousands of years; and it is the only living language which has remained entirely unchanged for the last fourteen centuries. These two factors are extremely relevant to the problem which we are considering. Since every language is a framework of symbols expressing its people's particular sense of life-values and their particular way of conveying their perception of reality, it is obvious that the language of the Arabs - a Semitic language which has remained unchanged for so many centuries - must differ widely from anything to which the Western mind is accustomed. The difference of the Arabic idiom from any European idiom is not merely a matter of its syntactic cast and the mode in which it conveys ideas; nor is it exclusively due to the well-known, extreme flexibility of the Arabic grammar arising from its peculiar system of verbal "roots" and the numerous stem-forms which can be derived from these roots; nor even to the extraordinary richness of the Arabic vocabulary: it is a difference of spirit and life-sense. And since the Arabic of the Qur'an is a language which attained to its full maturity in the Arabia of fourteen centuries ago, it follows that in order to grasp its spirit correctly, one must be able to feel and hear this language as the Arabs felt and heard it at the time when the Qur'an was being revealed, and to understand the meaning which they gave to the linguistic symbols in which it is expressed.
We Muslims believe that the Qur'an is the Word of God, revealed to the Prophet Muhammad through the medium of a human language. It was the language of the Arabian Peninsula: the language of a people endowed with that peculiar quick-wittedness which the desert and its - feel of wide, timeless expanses bestows upon its children: the language of people whose mental images, flowing without effort from association to association, succeed one another in rapid progression and often vault elliptically over intermediate - as it were, "self-understood" - sequences of thought towards the idea which they aim, conceive or express. This ellipticism (called ijaz by the Arab philologists) is an integral characteristic of the Arabic idiom and, therefore, of the language of the Qur'an - so much so that it is impossible to understand its method and inner purport without being able to reproduce within oneself, instinctively, something of the same quality of elliptical, associative thought. Now this ability comes to the educated Arab almost automatically, by a process of mental osmosis, from his early childhood: for, when he learns to speak his tongue properly, he subconsciously acquires the mould of thought within which it has evolved and, thus, imperceptibly grows into the conceptual environment from which the Arabic language derives its peculiar form and mode of expression. Not so, however, the non-Arab who becomes acquainted with Arabic only at a mature age, in result of a conscious effort, that is, through study: for, what he acquires is but a ready-made, outward structure devoid of that intangible quality of ellipticism which gives to the Arabic idiom its inner life and reality.
This does not, however, mean that a non-Arab can never understand Arabic in its true spirit: it means no more and no less than that he cannot really master it through academic study alone, but needs, in addition to philological learning, an instinctive "feel" of the language. Now it so happens that such a "feel" cannot be achieved by merely living among the modern Arabs of the cities. Although many of them, especially the educated ones, may have subconsciously absorbed the spirit of their language, they can only rarely communicate it to an outsider - for the simple reason that, however high their linguistic education, their daily speech has become, in the course of centuries, largely corrupted and estranged from pristine Arabic. Thus, in order to obtain the requisite "feel" of the Arabic language, a non-Arab must have lived in long and intimate association with people whose daily speech mirrors the genuine spirit of their language, and whose mental processes are similar to those of the Arabs who lived at the time when the Arabic tongue received its final colouring and inner form. In our day, such people are only the bedouin of the Arabian Peninsula, and particularly those of Central and Eastern Arabia. For, notwithstanding the many dialectical peculiarities in which their speech may differ from the classical Arabic of the Qur'an, it has remained - so far - very close to the idiom of the Prophet's time and has preserved all its intrinsic characteristics.3 In other words, familiarity with the bedouin speech of Central and Eastern Arabia - in addition, of course, to academic knowledge of classical Arabic - is the only way for a non-Arab of our time to achieve an intimate understanding of the diction of the Qur'an. And because none of the scholars who have previously translated the Qur'an into European languages has ever fulfilled this prerequisite, their translations have remained but distant, and faulty, echoes of its meaning and spirit. 3 It is to be noted that under the impact of modern economic circumstances, which have
radically changed the time-honoured way of life of the bedouin and brought them, by means
of school education and the radio, into direct contact with the Levantine culture of the
cities, the purity of their language is rapidly disappearing and may soon cease to be a
living guide to students of the Arabic tongue.
THE WORK which I am now placing before the public is based on a lifetime of study and of many years spent in Arabia. It is an attempt - perhaps the first attempt - at a really idiomatic, explanatory rendition of the Qur'anic message into a European language.
None the less, I do not claim to have "translated" the Qur'an in the sense in which, say, Plato or Shakespeare can be translated. Unlike any other book, its meaning and its linguistic presentation form one unbreakable whole. The position of individual words in a sentence; the rhythm and sound of its phrases and their syntactic construction, the manner in which a metaphor flows almost imperceptibly into a pragmatic statement, the use of acoustic stress not merely in the service of rhetoric but as a means of alluding to unspoken but clearly implied ideas: all this makes the Qur'an, in the last resort, unique and untranslatable - a fact that has been pointed out by many earlier translators and by all Arab scholars. But although it is impossible to "reproduce" the Qur'an as such in any other language, it is none the less possible to render its message comprehensible to people who, like most Westerners, do not know Arabic at all or - as is the case with most of the educated non-Arab Muslims - not well enough to find their way through it unaided.
To this end, the translator must be guided throughout by the linguistic usage prevalent at the time of the revelation of the Qur'an, and must always bear in mind that some of its expressions - especially such as relate to abstract concepts - have in the course of time undergone a subtle change in the popular mind and should not, therefore, be translated in accordance with the sense given to them by post-classical usage. As has been pointed out by that great Islamic scholar, Muhammad 'Abduh,4 even some of the renowned, otherwise linguistically reliable Qur'an - commentators have occasionally erred in this respect; and their errors, magnified by the inadequacy of modern translators, have led to many a distortion, and sometimes to a total incomprehensibility, of individual Qur'anic passages in their European renditions. 4 The reader will find in my explanatory notes frequent references to views held by Muhammad
'Abduh (1849-1905). His imporiance in the context of the modern world of Islam - can never
be sufficiently stressed. It may be stated without exaggeration that every single trend
in contemporary Islamic thought can be traced back to the influence, direct or indirect,
of this most outstanding of all modern Islamic thinkers. The Qur'an-commentary planned
and begun by him was interrupted by his death in 1905; it was continued (but unfortunately
also left incomplete) by his pupil Rashid Rida under the title Tafsir al-Manar, and has
been extensively used by me. See also Rashid Rida, Ta'rikh al-Ustadh al-Imam ash-Shaykh
Muhammad 'Abduh (Cairo l35~l367 H.), the most authoritative biography of 'Abduh hitherto
published, as well as C. C. Adams, Islam and Modernism in Egypt (London 1933).
Another (and no less important) point which the translator must take fully into account is the ijaz of the Qur'an: that inimitable ellipticism which often deliberately omits intermediate thought-clauses in order to express the final stage of an idea as pithily and concisely as is possible within the limitations of a human language. This method of ijaz is, as I have explained, a peculiar, integral aspect of the Arabic language, and has reached its utmost perfection in the Qur'an. In order to render its meaning into a language which does not function in a similarly elliptical manner, the thought-links which are missing - that is, deliberately omitted - in the original must be supplied by the translator in the form of frequent interpolations between brackets; for, unless this is done, the Arabic phrase concerned loses all its life in the translation and often becomes a meaningless jumble.
Furthermore, one must beware of rendering, in each and every case, the religious terms used in the Qur'an in the sense which they have acquired after Islam had become "institutionalized" into a definite set of laws, tenets and practices. However legitimate this "institutionalization" may be in the context of Islamic religious history, it is obvious that the Qur'an cannot be correctly understood if we read it merely in the light of later ideological developments, losing sight of its original purport and the meaning which it had - and was intended to have - for the people who first heard it from the lips of the Prophet himself. For instance, when his contemporaries heard the words islam and muslim, they understood them as denoting man's "self-surrender to God" and "one who surrenders himself to God", without limiting these terms to any specific community or denomination - e.g., in 3:67, where Abraham is spoken of as having "surrendered himself unto God" (kana musliman), or in 3:52, where the disciples of Jesus say, "Bear thou witness that we have surrendered ourselves unto God (bi-anna muslimun)". In Arabic, this original meaning has remained unimpaired, and no Arab scholar has ever become oblivious of the wide connotation of these terms. Not so, however, the non-Arab of our day, believer and non-believer alike: to him, islam and muslim usually bear a restricted, historically circumscribed significance, and apply exclusively to the followers of the Prophet Muhammad. Similarly, the terms kufr ("denial of the truth") and kafir ("one who denies the truth") have become, in the conventional translations of the Qur'an, unwarrantably simplified into "unbelief" and "unbeliever" or "infidel", respectively, and have thus been deprived of the wide spiritual meaning which the Qur'an gives to these terms; Another example is to be found in the conventional rendering of the word kitab, when applied to the Qur'an, as "book": for, when the Qur'an was being revealed (and we must not forget that this process took twenty-three years), those who listened to its recitation did not conceive of it as a "book" - since it was compiled into one only some decades after the Prophet's death but rather, in view of the derivation of the noun kitab from the verb kataba ("he wrote" or, tropically, "he as a "divine writ" or a "revelation". The same holds true with regard to the Qur'anic use of this term in its connotation of earlier revealed scriptures: for the Qur'an often stresses the fact that those earlier instances of divine writ have largely been corrupted in the course of time, and that the extant holy "books" do not really represent the original revelations. Consequently, the translation of ahl al-kitab as "people of the book" is not very meaningful; in my opinion, the term should be rendered as "followers of earlier revelation".
In short, if it is to be truly comprehensible in another language, the message of the Qur'an must be rendered in such a way as to reproduce, as closely as possible, the sense which it had for the people who were as yet unburdened by the conceptual images of later Islamic developments: and this has been the overriding principle which has guided me throughout my work.
With the exception of two terms, I have endeavoured to circumscribe every Qur'anic concept in appropriate English expressions - an endeavour which has sometimes necessitated the use of whole sentences to convey the meaning of a single Arabic word. The two exceptions from this rule are the terms al-qur'an and surah, since neither of the two has ever been used in Arabic to denote anything but the title of this particular divine writ and each of its sections or "chapters", respectively: with the result that it would have been of no benefit whatsoever to the reader to be presented with "translations" of these two terms.5 5 Etymologically, the word al-qur'an is derived from the verb qara'a ("he read" or "recited"),
and is to be understood as "the reading [par excellence]", while the noun surah might be
rendered as "a step [leading to another step]" and - tropically - as "eminence in degree"
(cf. Lane IV, 1465). It should be noted, however, that when the noun qur'an appears without
the definite article al, it usually has its primary meaning of "recitation" or "discourse",
and may be rendered accordingly.
Apart from these linguistic considerations, I have tried to observe consistently two fundamental rules of interpretation.
Firstly, the Qur'an must not be viewed as a compilation of individual injunctions and exhortations but as one integral whole: that is, as an exposition of an ethical doctrine in which every verse and sentence has an intimate bearing on other verses and sentences, all of them clarifying and amplifying one another. Consequently, its real meaning can be grasped only if we correlate every one of its statements with what has been stated elsewhere in its pages, and try to explain its ideas by means of frequent cross-references, always subordinating the particular to the general and the incidental to the intrinsic. Whenever this rule is faithfully followed, we realize that the Qur'an is - in the words of Muhammad 'Abduh - "its own best commentary"
Secondly, no part of the Qur'an should be viewed from a purely historical point of view: that is to say, all its references to historical circumstances and events - both at the time of the Prophet and in earlier times - must be regarded as illustrations of the human condition and not as ends in themselves. Hence, the consideration of the historical occasion on which a particular verse was revealed - a pursuit so dear, and legitimately so, to the hearts of the classical commentators - must never be allowed to obscure the underlying purport of that verse and its inner relevance to the ethical teaching which the Qur'an, taken as a whole, propounds.
In order to bring out, to the best of my ability, the many facets of the Qur'anic message, I have found it necessary to add to my translation a considerable number of explanatory notes. Certain observations relating to the symbolism of the Qur'an as well as to its eschatology are separately dealt with in Appendix I at the end of this work. In both the notes and the appendices I have tried no more than to elucidate the message of the Qur'an and have, to this end, drawn amply on the works of the great Arab philologists and of the classical commentators. If, on occasion, I have found myself constrained to differ from the interpretations offered by the latter, let the reader remember that the very uniqueness of the Qur'an consists in the fact that the more our worldly knowledge and historical experience increase, the more meanings, hitherto unsuspected, reveal themselves in its pages.
The great thinkers of our past understood this problem fully well. In their commentaries, they approached the Qur'an with their reason: that is to say, they tried to explain the purport of each Qur'anic statement in the light of their superb knowledge of the Arabic language and of the Prophet's teachings - forthcoming from his sunnah - as well as by the store of general knowledge available to them and by the historical and cultural experiences which had shaped human society until their time. Hence, it was only natural that the way in which one commentator understood a particular Qur'anic statement or expression differed occasionally - and sometimes very incisively - from the meaning attributed to it by this or that of his predecessors. In other words, they often contradicted one another in their interpretations: but they did this without any animosity, being fully aware of the element of relativity inherent in all human reasoning, and of each other's integrity. And they were fully aware, too, of the Prophet's profound saying, "The differences of opinion (ikhtilaf) among the learned men of my community are [an outcome of] divine grace (rahmah)" - which clearly implies that such differences of opinion are the basis of all progress in human thinking and, therefore, a most potent factor in man's acquisition of knowledge.
But although none of the truly original, classical Qur'an-commentators ever made any claim to "finality" concerning his own interpretations, it cannot be often enough stressed that without the work of those incomparably great scholars of past centuries, no modern translation of the Qur'an - my own included - could ever be undertaken with any hope of success; and so, even where I differ from their interpretations, I am immeasurably indebted to their learning for the impetus it has given to my own search after truth.
AS REGARDS the style of my translation, I have consciously avoided using unnecessary archaisms, which would only tend to obscure the meaning of the Qur'an to the contemporary reader. On the other hand, I did not see any necessity of rendering the Qur'anic phrases into a deliberately "modern" idiom, which would conflict with the spirit of the Arabic original and jar upon any ear attuned to the solemnity inherent in the concept of revelation. With all this, however, I make no claim to having reproduced anything of the indescribable rhythm and rhetoric of the Qur'an. No one who has truly experienced its majestic beauty could ever be presumptuous enough to make such a claim or even to embark upon such an attempt.
And I am fully aware that my rendering does not and could not really "do justice" to the Qur'an and the layers upon layers of its meaning: for, if all the sea were ink for my Sustainer's words,
the sea would indeed be exhausted ere my Sustainer's
words are exhausted. (Qur'an 18:109).
The First Surah
Al-Fatihah (The Opening)
Mecca Period
THIS SURAH is also called Fatihat al-Kitab ("The Opening of the Divine Writ"), Umm al-Kitab ("The Essence of the Divine Writ"), Surat al-Hamd ("The Surah of Praise"), Asas al-Qur'an ("The Foundation of the Qur'an"), and is known by several other names as well. It is mentioned elsewhere in the Qur'an as As-Sab' al-Mathani ("The Seven Oft-Repeated [Verses]") because it is repeated several times in the course of each of the five daily prayers. According to Bukhari, the designation Umm al-Kitab was given to it by the Prophet himself, and this in view of the fact that it contains, in a condensed form, all the fundamental principles laid down in the Qur'an: the principle of God's oneness and uniqueness, of His being the originator and fosterer of the universe, the fount of all life-giving grace, the One to whom man is ultimately responsible, the only power that can really guide and help; the call to righteous action in the life of this world ("guide us the straight way"); the principle of life after death and of the organic consequences of man's actions and behaviour (expressed in the term "Day of Judgment"); the principle of guidance through God's message-bearers (evident in the reference to "those upon whom God has bestowed His blessings") and, flowing from it, the principle of the continuity of all true religions (implied in the allusion to people who have lived - and erred - in the past); and, finally, the need for voluntary self-surrender to the will of the Supreme Being and, thus, for worshipping Him alone. It is for this reason that this surah has been formulated as a prayer, to be constantly repeated and reflected upon by the believer. "The Opening" was one of the earliest revelations bestowed upon the Prophet. Some authorities (for instance, 'Ali ibn Abi Talib) were even of the opinion that it was the very first revelation; but this view is contradicted by authentic Traditions quoted by both Bukhari and Muslim, which unmistakably show that the first five verses of surah 96 ("The Germ-Cell") constituted the beginning of revelation. It is probable, however, that whereas the earlier revelations consisted of only a few verses each, "The Opening" was the first surah revealed to the Prophet in its entirety at one time: and this would explain the view held by 'Ali.
1:1
In the name of God, The Most Gracious, The Dispenser of Grace:1
1:2
ALL PRAISE is due to God alone, the Sustainer of all the worlds,2 (1:3) the Most Gracious, the Dispenser of Grace, (1:4) Lord of the Day of Judgment!
1:5
Thee alone do we worship; and unto Thee alone do we turn for aid.
1:6
Guide us the straight way (1:7) the way of those upon whom Thou hast bestowed Thy blessings,3 not of those who have been condemned [by Thee], nor of those who go astray!4 1 According to most of the authorities, this invocation (which occurs at the beginning of every
surah with the exception of surah 9) constitutes an integral part of "The Opening" and is,
therefore, numbered as verse 1. In all other instances, the invocation "in the name of God"
precedes the surah as such, and is not counted among its verses. - Both the divine epithets
rahman and rahim are derived from the noun rahmah, which signifies "mercy", "compassion",
"loving tenderness" and, more comprehensively, "grace". From the very earliest times, Islamic
scholars have endeavoured to define the exact shades of meaning which differentiate the two
terms. The best and simplest of these explanations is undoubtedly the one advanced by Ibn
al-Qayyim (as quoted in Manar I,48): the term rahman circumscribes the quality of abounding
grace inherent in, and inseparable from, the concept of God's Being, whereas rahim expresses
the manifestation of that grace in, and its effect upon, His creation - in other words, an
aspect of His activity.
2 In this instance, the term "worlds" denotes all categories of existence both in the physical
and the spiritual sense. The Arabic expression rabb - rendered by me as "Sustainer" -
embraces a wide complex of meanings not easily expressed by a single term in another language.
It comprises the ideas of having a just claim to the possession of anything and, consequently,
authority over it, as well as of rearing, sustaining and fostering anything from its inception
to its final completion. Thus, the head of a family is called rabb ad-dar ("master of the house")
because he has authority over it and is responsible for its maintenance; similarly, his wife
is called rabbat ad-dar ("mistress of the house"). Preceded by the definite article al, the
designation rabb is applied, in the Qur'an, exclusively to God as the sole fosterer and
sustainer of all creation - objective as well as conceptual - and therefore the ultimate
source of all authority.
3 i.e., by vouchsafing to them prophetic guidance and enabling them to avail themselves thereof.
4 According to almost all the commentators, God's "condemnation" (ghadab, lit., "wrath") is
synonymous with the evil consequences which man brings upon himself by wilfully rejecting
God's guidance and acting contrary to His injunctions. Some commentators (e.g., Zamakhshari)
interpret this passage as follows: "... the way of those upon whom Thou hast bestowed Thy
blessings - those who have not been condemned [by Thee], and who do not go astray": in
other words, they regard the last two expressions as defining "those upon whom Thou hast
bestowed Thy blessings". Other commentators (e.g., Baghawi and Ibn Kathir) do not subscribe
to this interpretation - which would imply the use of negative definitions - and understand
the last verse of the surah in the manner rendered by me above. As regards the two categories
of people following a wrong course, some of the greatest Islamic thinkers (e.g., Al-Ghazali
or, in recent times, Muhammad 'Abduh) held the view that the people described as having
incurred "God's condemnation" - that is, having deprived themselves of His grace - are those
who have become fully cognizant of God's message and, having understood it, have rejected it;
while by "those who go astray" are meant people whom the truth has either not reached at all,
or to whom it has come in so garbled and corrupted a form as to make it difficult for them
to recognize it as the truth (see 'Abduh in Manar 1,68 ff.).
The Second Surah
Al-Baqarah (The Cow)
Medina Period
THE TITLE of this surah is derived from the story narrated in verses 67-73. It is the first surah revealed in its entirety after the Prophet's exodus to Medina, and most of it during the first two years of that period; verses 275-281, however, belong to the last months before the Prophet's death (verse 281 is considered to be the very last revelation which he received).
Starting with a declaration of the purpose underlying the revelation of the Qur'an as a whole - namely, man's guidance in all his spiritual and worldly affairs - Al-Baqarah contains, side by side with its constant stress on the necessity of God-consciousness, frequent allusions to the errors committed by people who followed the earlier revelations, in particular the children of Israel. The reference, in verse 106, to the abrogation of all earlier messages by that granted to the Prophet Muhammad is of the greatest importance for a correct understanding of this surah and indeed of the entire Qur'an. Much of the legal ordinances provided here (especially in the later part of the surah) - touching upon questions of ethics, social relations, warfare, etc.- are a direct consequence of that pivotal statement. Again and again it is pointed out that the legislation of the Qur'an corresponds to the true requirements of man's nature, and as such is but a continuation of the ethical guidance offered by God to man ever since the beginning of human history. Particular attention is drawn to Abraham, the prophet-patriarch whose intense preoccupation with the idea of God's oneness lies at the root of the three great monotheistic religions; and the establishment of Abraham's Temple, the Ka'bah, as the direction of prayer for "those who surrender themselves to God" (which is the meaning of the word musliman, sing. muslim), sets a seal, as it were, on the conscious self-identification of all true believers with the faith of Abraham.
Throughout this surah runs the five-fold Qur'anic doctrine that God is the self-sufficient fount of all being (al-qayyum); that the fact of His existence, reiterated by prophet after prophet, is accessible to man's intellect; that righteous living - and not merely believing - is a necessary corollary of this intellectual perception; that bodily death will be followed by resurrection and judgment; and that all who are truly conscious of their responsibility to God "need have no fear, and neither shall they grieve".
In the name of God, The Most Gracious, The Dispenser of Grace:
2:1
Alif. Lam. Mim.1
2:2
HIS DIVINE WRIT - let there be no doubt about it is [meant to be] a guidance for all the God-conscious2 (2:3) who believe in [the existence of] that which is beyond the reach of human perception,3 and are constant in prayer, and spend on others out of what We provide for them as sustenance;4 (2:4) and who believe in that which has been bestowed from on high upon thee, [O Prophet,] as well as in that which was bestowed before thy time:5 for it is they who in their innermost are certain of the life to come! 1 Regarding the possible significance of the single letters called al-muqatta 'at, which
occur at the beginning of some surahs of the Qur'an, see Appendix II, where the various
theories bearing on this subject are discussed.
2 The conventional translation of muttaqi as "God-fearing" does not adequately render
the positive content of this expression - namely, the awareness of His all-presence
and the desire to mould one's existence in the light of this awareness; while the
interpretation adopted by some translators, "one who guards himself against evil" or
"one who is careful of his duty", does not give more than one particular aspect of
the concept of God-consciousness.
3 Al-ghayb (commonly, and erroneously, translated as "the Unseen") is used in the Qur'an
to denote all those sectors or phases of reality which lie beyond the range of human
perception and cannot, therefore, be proved or disproved by scientific observation or
even adequately comprised within the accepted categories of speculative thought: as,
for instance, the existence of God and of a definite purpose underlying the universe,
life after death, the real nature of time, the existence of spiritual forces and their
interaction, and so forth. Only a person who is convinced that the ultimate reality
comprises far more than our observable environment can attain to belief in God and, thus,
to a belief that life has meaning and purpose. By pointing out that it is "a guidance
for those who believe in the existence of that which is beyond human perception", the
Qur'an says, in effect, that it will - of necessity - remain a closed book to all whose
minds cannot accept this fundamental premise.
4 Ar-rizq ("provision of sustenance") applies to all that may be of benefit to man, whether
it be concrete (like food, property, offspring, etc.) or abstract (like knowledge, piety,
etc.). The "spending on others" is mentioned here in one breath with God-consciousness and
prayer because it is precisely in such selfless acts that true piety comes to its full
fruition. It should be borne in mind that the verb anfaqa (lit., "he spent") is always
used in the Qur'an to denote spending freely on, or as a gift to, others, whatever the
motive may be.
5 This is a reference to one of the fundamental doctrines of the Qur'an: the doctrine
of the historical continuity of divine revelation. Life - so the Qur'an teaches us - is
not a series of unconnected jumps but a continuous, organic process: and this law applies
also to the life of the mind, of which man's religious experience (in its cumulative sense)
is a part. Thus, the religion of the Qur'an can be properly understood only against the
background of the great monotheistic faiths which preceded it, and which, according to
Muslim belief, culminate and achieve their final formulation in the faith of Islam.
2:5
It is they who follow the guidance [which comes] from their Sustainer; and it is they, they who shall attain to a happy state!
2:6
BEHOLD, as for those who are bent on denying the truth6 - it is all one to them whether thou warnest them or dost not warn them: they will not believe. (2:7) God; has sealed their hearts and their hearing, and over their eyes is a veil;7 and awesome suffering awaits them.
2:8
And there are people who say, "We do believe in God and the Last Day," the while they do not [really] believe. (2:9) They would deceive God and those who have attained to faith - the while they deceive none but themselves, and perceive it not. (2:10) In their hearts is disease, and so God lets their disease increase; and grievous suffering awaits them because of their persistent lying.8 6 In contrast with the frequently occurring term al-kafirun ("those who deny the truth"),
the use of the past tense in alladhina kafaru indicates conscious intent, and is,
therefore, appropriately rendered as "those who are bent on denying the truth". This
interpretation is supported by many commentators, especially Zamakhshari (who, in his
commentary on this verse, uses the expression, "those who have deliberately resolved upon
their kufr"). Elsewhere in the Qur'an such people are spoken of as having "hearts with
which they fail to grasp the truth, and eyes with which they fail to see, and ears with
which they fail to hear" (7:179). - For an explanation of the terms kufr ("denial of
the truth"), kafir ("one who denies the truth"), etc., see note 4 on 74:10, where this
concept appears for the first time in Qur'anic revelation.
7 A reference to the natural law instituted by God, whereby a person who persistently
adheres to false beliefs and refuses to listen to the voice of truth gradually loses
the ability to perceive the truth, "so that finally, as it were, a seal is set upon
his heart" (Raghib). Since it is God who has instituted all laws of nature - which, in
their aggregate, are called sunnat Allah ("the way of God") - this "sealing" is
attributed to Him: but it is obviously a consequence of man's free choice and not an
act of "predestination". Similarly, the suffering which, in the life to come, is in
store for those who during their life in this world have wilfully remained deaf and
blind to the truth, is a natural consequence of their free choice - just as happiness
in the life to come is the natural consequence of man's endeavour to attain to
righteousness and inner illumination. It is in this sense that the Qur'anic references
to God's "reward" and "punishment" must be understood.
8 i.e., before God and man - and to themselves. It is generally assumed that the people to
whom this passage alludes in the first instance are the hypocrites of Medina who, during
the early years after the hijrah, outwardly professed their adherence to Islam while
remaining inwardly unconvinced of the truth of Muhammad's message. However, as is always
the case with Quranic allusions to contemporary or historical events, the above and the
following verses have a general, timeless import inasmuch as they refer to all people
who are prone to deceive themselves in order to evade a spiritual commitment.
2:11
And when they are told, "Do not spread corruption on earth," they answer, "We are but improving things!" (2:12) Oh, verily, it is they, they who are spreading corruption - but they perceive it not?9
2:13
And when they are told, "Believe as other people believe," they answer, "Shall we believe as the weak-minded believe?" Oh, verily, it is they, they who are weak-minded - but they know it not!
2:14
And when they meet those who have attained to faith, they assert, "We believe [as you believe]"; but when they find themselves alone with their evil impulses,10 they say, "Verily, we are with you; we were only mocking!" 9 It would seem that this is an allusion to people who oppose any "intrusion" of religious
considerations into the realm of practical affairs, and thus - often unwittingly, thinking
that they are "but improving things" - contribute to the moral and social confusion
referred to in the subsequent verse.
10 Lit., "their satans" (shayatin, pl. of shaytan). In accordance with ancient Arabic usage,
this term often denotes people "who, through their insolent persistence in evildoing
(tamarrud), have become like satans" (Zamakhshari): an interpretation of the above verse
accepted by most of the commentators. However, the term shaytan - which is derived from
the verb shatana, "he was [or 'became'] remote [from all that is good and true]"
(Lisan al-'Arab, Taj al-'Arus) - is often used in the Qur'an to describe the "satanic"
(i.e., exceedingly evil) propensities in man's own soul, and especially all impulses which
run counter to truth and morality (Raghib).
2:15
God will requite them for their mockery,11 and will leave them for a while in their overweening arrogance, blindly stumbling to and fro: (2:16) [for] it is they who have taken error in exchange for guidance; and neither has their bargain brought them gain, nor have they found guidance [elsewhere].
2:17
Their parable is that of people who kindle a fire: but as soon as it has illumined all around them, God takes away their light and leaves them in utter darkness, wherein they cannot see: (2:18) deaf, dumb, blind - and they cannot turn back.
2:19
Or [the parable] of a violent cloudburst in the sky, with utter darkness, thunder and lightning: they put their fingers into their ears to keep out the peals of thunder, in terror of death; but God encompasses [with His might] all who deny the truth. (2:20) The lightning well-nigh takes away their sight; whenever it gives them light, they advance therein, and whenever darkness falls around them, they stand still.
And if God so willed, He could indeed take away their hearing and their sight:12 for, verily, God has the power to will anything. 11 Lit., "God will mock at them". My rendering is in conformity with the generally accepted
interpretation of this phrase.
12 The obvious implication is: "but He does not will this" - that is, He does not preclude
the possibility that "those who have taken error in exchange for guidance" may one day
perceive the truth and mend their ways. The expression "their hearing and their sight"
is obviously a metonym for man's instinctive ability to discern between good and evil
and, hence, for his moral responsibility. - In the parable of the "people who kindle a
fire" we have, I believe, an allusion to some people's exclusive reliance on what is
termed the "scientific approach" as a means to illumine and explain all the imponderables
of life and faith, and the resulting arrogant refusal to admit that anything could be
beyond the reach of man's intellect. This "overweening arrogance", as the Qur'an terms
it, unavoidably exposes its devotees - and the society dominated by them - to the
lightning of disillusion which "well-nigh takes away their sight", i.e., still further
weakens their moral perception and deepens their "terror of death".
2:21
O MANKIND! Worship your Sustainer, who has created you and those who lived before you, so that you might remain conscious of Him (2:22) who has made the earth a resting-place for you and the sky a canopy, and has sent down water from the sky and thereby brought forth fruits for your sustenance: do not, then, claim that there is any power that could rival God,13 when you know [that He is One].
2:23
And if you doubt any part of what We have, bestowed from on high, step by step, upon Our servant [Muhammad],14 then produce a surah of similar merit, and call upon any other than God to bear witness for you15 - if what you say is true! (2:24) And if you cannot do it - and most certainly you cannot do it - then be conscious of the fire whose fuel is human beings and stones16 which awaits all who deny the truth! 13 Lit., "do not give God any compeers" (andad, pl. of nidd ). There is full agreement among
all commentators that this term implies any object of adoration to which some or all of God's
qualities are ascribed, whether it be conceived as a deity "in its own right" or a saint
supposedly possessing certain divine or semi-divine powers. This meaning can be brought out
only by a free rendering of the above phrase.
14 i.e., the message of which the doctrine of God's oneness and uniqueness is the focal point.
By the use of the word "doubt" (rayb), this passage is meant to recall the opening sentence
of this surah : "This divine writ - let there be no doubt about it...", etc. The
gradualness of revelation is implied in the grammatical form nazzalna - which is important
in this context inasmuch as the opponents of the Prophet argued that the Qur'an could not
be of divine origin because it was being revealed gradually, and not in one piece (Zamakhshari).
15 Lit., "come forward with a surah like it, and call upon your witnesses other than God" -
namely, "to attest that your hypothetical literary effort could be deemed equal to any part
of the Qur'an." This challenge occurs in two other places as well (10:38 and 11:13, in
which latter case the unbelievers are called upon to produce ten chapters of comparable
merit); see also 17:88.
16 This evidently denotes all objects of worship to which men turn instead of God -
their powerlessness and inefficacy being symbolized by the lifelessness of stones -
while the expression "human beings" stands here for human actions deviating from the
way of truth (cf. Manar 1,197): the remembrance of all of which is bound to increase
the sinner's suffering in the hereafter, referred to in the Qur'an as "hell".
2:25
But unto those who have attained to faith and do good works give the glad tiding that theirs shall be gardens through which running waters flow. Whenever they are granted fruits therefrom as their appointed sustenance, they will say, "It is this that in days of yore was granted to us as our sustenance!" - for they shall be given something that will recall that [past].17 And there shall they have spouses pure, and there shall they abide.
2:26
Behold, God does not disdain to propound a parable of a gnat, or of something [even] less than that.18 Now, as for those who have attained to faith, they know that it is the truth from their Sustainer - whereas those who are bent on denying the truth say, "What could God mean by this parable?"
In this way does He cause many a one to go astray, just as He guides many a one aright: but none does He cause thereby to go astray save the iniquitous, (2:27) who break their bond with God after it has been established [in their nature],19 and cut asunder what God has bidden to be joined, and spread corruption on earth: these it is that shall be the losers. 17 Lit., "something resembling it". Various interpretations, some of them of an esoteric and
highly speculative nature, have been given to this passage. For the manner in which I have
translated it, I am indebted to Muhammad 'Abduh (in Manar I,232 f.), who interprets the phrase,
"It is this that in days of yore was granted to us as our sustenance" as meaning: "It is this
that we have been promised during our life on earth as a requital for faith and righteous deeds."
In other words, man's actions and attitudes in this world will be mirrored in their "fruits",
or consequences, in the life to come - as has been expressed elsewhere in the Qur'an in the
verses, "And he who shall have done an atom's weight of good, shall behold it; and he who shall
have done an atom's weight of evil, shall behold it" (99:7-8). As regards the reference
to "spouses" in the next sentence, it is to be noted that the term zawj (of which azwaj is
the plural) signifies either of the two components of a couple - that is, the male as
well as the female.
18 Lit., "something above it", i.e., relating to the quality of smallness stressed here -
as one would say, "such-and-such a person is the lowest of people, and even more than
that" (Zamakhshari). The reference to "God's parables", following as it does immediately
upon a mention of the gardens of paradise and the suffering through hell-fire in the
life to come, is meant to bring out the allegorical nature of this imagery.
19 The "bond with God" (conventionally translated as "God's covenant") apparently refers here
to man's moral obligation to use his inborn gifts - intellectual as well as physical -
in the way intended for them by God. The "establishment" of this bond arises from the
faculty of reason which, if properly used, must lead man to a realization of his own
weakness and dependence on a causative power and, thus, to a gradual cognition of God's
will with reference to his own behaviour. This interpretation of the "bond with God" seems
to be indicated by the fact that there is no mention of any specific "covenant" in either
the preceding or the subsequent verses of the passage under consideration. The deliberate
omission of any explanatory reference in this connection suggests that the expression
"bond with God" stands for something that is rooted in the human situation as such, and
can, therefore, be perceived instinctively as well as through conscious experience: namely,
that innate relationship with God which makes Him "closer to man than his neck-vein"
(50:16). For an explanation of the subsequent reference to "what God has bidden to be
joined", see surah 13, note 43.
2:28
How can you refuse to acknowledge God, seeing that you were lifeless and He gave you life, and that He will cause you to die and then will bring you again to life, whereupon unto Him you will be brought back?
2:29
He it is who has created for you all that is on earth, and has applied His design to the heavens and fashioned them into seven heavens;20 and He alone has full knowledge of everything.
2:30
AND LO!21 Thy Sustainer said unto the angels: "Behold, I am about to establish upon earth one who shall inherit it."22
They said: "Wilt Thou place on it such as will spread corruption thereon and shed blood - whereas it is we who extol Thy limitless glory, and praise Thee, and hallow Thy name?"
[God] answered: "Verily, I know that which you do not know." 20 The term sama' ("heaven" or "sky") is applied to anything that is spread like a canopy above
any other thing. Thus, the visible skies which stretch like a vault above the earth and form,
as it were, its canopy, are called sama: and this is the primary meaning of this term in the
Qur'an; in a wider sense, it has the connotation of "cosmic system". As regards the "seven
heavens", it is to be borne in mind that in Arabic usage - and apparently in other Semitic
languages as well - the number "seven" is often synonymous with "several" (see Lisan al-'Arab),
just as "seventy" or "seven hundred" often means "many" or "very many" (Taj al-'Arus). This,
taken together with the accepted linguistic definition that "every sama' is a sama' with
regard to what is below it" (Raghib), may explain the "seven heavens" as denoting the
multiplicity of cosmic systems. - For my rendering of thumma, at the beginning of this
sentence, as "and", see surah 7, first part of note 43.
21 The interjection "lo" seems to be the only adequate rendering, in this context, of the
particle idh, which is usually - and without sufficient attention to its varying uses in
Arabic construction - translated as "when". Although the latter rendering is often justified,
idh is also used to indicate "the sudden, or unexpected, occurrence of a thing"
(cf. Lane 1, 39), or a sudden turn in the discourse. The subsequent allegory, relating as
it does to the faculty of reason implanted in man, is logically connected with the preceding
passages.
22 Lit., "establish on earth a successor" or a "vice-gerent". The term khalffah - derived from the verb khalafa, "he succeeded [another] " - is used in this allegory to denote man's rightful supremacy on earth, which is most suitably rendered by the expression "he shall inherit the earth" (in the sense of being given possession of it). See also 6:165, 27:62 and 35:39, where all human beings are - spoken of as khala'if al-ard.
2:31
And He imparted unto Adam the names of all things;23 then He brought them within the ken of the angels and said: "Declare unto Me the names of these [things], if what you say is true."24
2:32
They replied: "Limitless art Thou in Thy glory! No knowledge have we save that which Thou hast imparted unto us. Verily, Thou alone art all-knowing, truly wise."
2:33
Said He: "O Adam, convey unto them the names of these [things]."
And as soon as [Adam] had conveyed unto them their names, [God] said: "Did I not say unto you, 'Verily, I alone know the hidden reality of the heavens and the earth, and know all that you bring into the open and all that you would conceal'?"
2:34
And when We told the angels, "Prostrate yourselves before Adam!"25 - they all prostrated themselves, save Iblis, who refused and gloried in his arrogance: and thus he became one of those who deny the truth.26 23 Lit., "all the names". The term ism ("name") implies, according to all philologists,
an expression "conveying the knowledge [of a thing] ... applied to denote a substance
or an accident or an attribute, for the purpose of distinction" (Lane IV, 1435): in
philosophical terminology, a "concept". From this it may legitimately be inferred that
the "knowledge of all the names" denotes here man's faculty of logical definition and,
thus, of conceptual thinking. That by "Adam" the whole human race is meant here becomes
obvious from the preceding reference, by the angels, to "such as will spread corruption
on earth and will shed blood", as well as from 7:11.
24 Namely, that it was they who, by virtue of their purity, were better qualified to
"inherit the earth".
25 To show that, by virtue of his ability to think conceptually, man is superior in this
respect even to the angels.
26 For an explanation of the name of the Fallen Angel, see surah 7, note 10. The fact of
this "rebellion", repeatedly stressed in the Qur'an, has led some of the commentators to
the conclusion that he could not have been one of the angels, since these are incapable
of sinning: "they do not bear themselves with false pride... and they do whatever they
are bidden to do" (16:49-50). As against this, other commentators point to the Qur'anic
phrasing of God's command to the angels and of Iblis' refusal to obey, which makes it
absolutely clear that at the time of that command he was indeed one of the heavenly host.
Hence, we must assume that his "rebellion" has a purely symbolic significance and is,
in reality, the outcome of a specific function assigned to him by God
(see note 31 on 15:41).
2:35
And We said: "O Adam, dwell thou and thy wife in this garden,27 and eat freely thereof, both of you, whatever you may wish; but do not approach this one tree, lest you become wrongdoers."28
2:36
But Satan caused them both to stumble therein, and thus brought about the loss of their erstwhile state.29 And so We said: "Down with you, [and be henceforth] enemies unto one another; and on earth you shall have your abode and your livelihood for a while!"30 27 Lit., "the garden". There is a considerable difference of opinion among the commentators as
to what is meant here by "garden": a garden in the earthly sense, or the paradise that awaits
the righteous in the life to come, or some special garden in the heavenly regions? According
to some of the earliest commentators (see Manar I, 277), an earthly abode is here alluded to -
namely, an environment of perfect ease, happiness and innocence. In any case, this story of
Adam is obviously one of the allegories referred to in 3:7.
28 This tree is alluded to elsewhere in the Qur'an (20: 120) as "the tree of life eternal",
and in the ...
29 Lit., "brought them out of what they had been in": i.e., by inducing them to eat the
fruit of the forbidden tree.
30 With this sentence, the address changes from the hitherto-observed dual form to the plural:
a further indication that the moral of the story relates to the human race as a whole.
See also surah 7, note 16.
2:37
Thereupon Adam received words [of guidance] from his Sustainer, and He accepted his repentance: for, verily, He alone is the Acceptor of Repentance, the Dispenser of Grace. (2:38) [For although] We did say, "Down with you all from this [state]," there shall, none the less, most certainly come unto you guidance from Me: and those who follow My guidance need have no fear, and neither shall they grieve; (2:39) but those who are bent on denying the truth and giving the lie to Our messages - they are destined for the fire, and therein shall they abide.
2:40
O CHILDREN of Israel!31 Remember those blessings of Mine with which I graced you, and fulfil your promise unto Me, [whereupon] I shall fulfil My promise unto you; and of Me, of Me stand in awe! 31 This passage connects directly with the preceding passages in that it refers to the
continuous guidance vouchsafed to man through divine revelation. The reference to the
children of Israel at this point, as in so many other places in the Qur'an, arises
from the fact that their religious beliefs represented an earlier phase of the monotheistic
concept which culminates in the revelation of the Qur'an.
2:41
Believe in that which I have [now] bestowed from on high, confirming the truth already in your possession, and be not foremost among those who deny its truth; and do not barter away My messages for a trifling gain;32 and of Me, of Me be conscious!
2:42
And do not overlay the truth with falsehood, and do not knowingly suppress the truth;33 (2:43) and be constant in prayer, and spend in charity,34 and bow down in prayer with all who thus bow down. 32 A reference to the persistent Jewish belief that they alone among all nations have been
graced by divine revelation. The "trifling gain" is their conviction that they are "God's
chosen people" - a claim which the Qur'an consistently refutes.
33 By "overlaying the truth with falsehood" is meant the corrupting of the Biblical text, of
which the Qur'an frequently accuses the Jews (and which has since been established by objective
textual criticism), while the "suppression of the truth" refers to their disregard or
deliberately false interpretation of the words of Moses in the Biblical passage, "The Lord
thy God will raise up unto thee a prophet from the midst of thee, of thy brethren like
unto me; unto him ye shall hearken" (Deuteronomy xviii, 15), and the words attributed to
God Himself, "I will raise them up a prophet from among thy brethren, like unto thee, and
will put My words in his mouth" (Deuteronomy xviii, 18). The "brethren" of the children
of Israel are obviously the Arabs, and particularly the musta'ribah ("Arabianized") group
among them, which traces its descent to Ishmael and Abraham: and since it is to this group
that the Arabian Prophet's own tribe, the Quraysh, belonged, the above Biblical passages
must be taken as referring to his advent.
34 In Islamic Law, zakah denotes an obligatory tax, incumbent on Muslims, which is meant to
purify a person's capital and income from the taint of selfishness (hence the name). The
proceeds of this tax are to be spent mainly, but not exclusively, on the poor. Whenever,
therefore, this term bears the above legal implication, I translate it as "the purifying dues".
Since, however, in this verse it refers to the children of Israel and obviously implies only
acts of charity towards the poor, it is more appropriate to translate it as "almsgiving"
or "charity". I have also adopted this latter rendering in all instances where the term
zakah, though relating to Muslims, does not apply specifically to the obligatory tax as
such (e.g., in 73:20, where this term appears for the first time in the chronology of
revelation).
2:44
Do you bid other people to be pious, the while you forget your own selves - and yet you recite the divine writ? Will you not, then, use your reason?
2:45
And seek aid in steadfast patience and prayer: and this, indeed, is a hard thing for all but the humble in spirit, (2:46) who know with certainty that they shall meet their Sustainer and that unto Him they shall return.
2:47
O children of Israel! Remember those blessings of Mine with which I graced you, and how I favoured you above all other people; (2:48) and remain conscious of [the coming of] a Day when no human being shall in the least avail another, nor shall intercession be accepted from any of them, nor ransom taken from them,35 and none shall be succoured.
2:49
And [remember the time] when We saved you from Pharaoh's people, who afflicted you with cruel suffering, slaughtering your sons and sparing [only] your women36 - which was an awesome trial from your Sustainer; (2:50) and when We cleft the sea before you, and thus saved you and caused Pharaoh's people to drown before your very eyes; (2:51) and when We appointed for Moses forty nights [on Mount Sinai], and in his absence you took to worshipping the [golden] calf, and thus became evildoers: (2:52) yet, even after that, We blotted out this your sin, so that you might have cause to be grateful.37 35 The "taking of ransom ('adl)" is an obvious allusion to the Christian doctrine of vicarious
redemption as well as to the Jewish idea that "the chosen people" - as the Jews considered
themselves - would be exempt from punishment on the Day of Judgment. Both these ideas are
categorically refuted in the Qur'an.
36 See Exodus i, 15-16, 22.
37 The story of the golden calf is dealt with at greater length in 7:148 ff. and 20:85 ff.
Regarding the crossing of the Red Sea, to which verse 50 above alludes, see 20:77-78 and
26:63-66, as well as the corresponding notes. The forty nights (and days) which Moses
spent on Mount Sinai are mentioned again in 7:142.
2:53
And [remember the time] when We vouchsafed unto Moses the divine writ - and [thus] a standard by which to discern the true from the false38 - so that you might be guided aright; (2:54) and when Moses said unto his people: "O my people! Verily, you have sinned against yourselves by worshipping the calf; turn, then in repentance to your Maker and mortify yourselves;39 this will be the best for you in your Maker's sight."
And thereupon He accepted your repentance: for, behold, He alone is the Acceptor of Repentance, the Dispenser of Grace.
2:55
And [remember] when you said, "O Moses indeed we shall not believe thee unto we see God face to face!" - whereupon the thunderbolt of punishment40 overtook you before your very eyes.
2:56
But We raised you again after you had been as dead,41 so that you might have cause to be grateful. 38 Muhammad 'Abduh amplifies the above interpretation of al-furqan (adopted by Tabari,
Zamakhshari and other great commentators) by maintaining that it applies also to "human
reason, which enables us to distinguish the true from the false" (Manar 111, 160),
apparently basing this wider interpretation on 8:41, where the battle of Badr is described
as yawm al-furqan ("the day on which the true was distinguished from the false"). While
the term furgdn is often used in the Qur'an to describe one or another of the revealed
scriptures, and particularly the Qur'an itself, it has undoubtedly also the connotation
pointed out by 'Abduh: for instance, in 8:29, where it clearly refers to the faculty of
moral valuation which distinguishes every human being who is truly conscious of God.
39 Lit., "kill yourselves" or, according to some commentators, "kill one another". This
literal interpretation (probably based on the Biblical account in Exodus xxxii, 26-28)
is not, however, convincing in view of the immediately preceding call to repentance and
the subsequent statement that this repentance was accepted by God. I incline, therefore,
to the interpretation given by 'Abd al-Jabbar (quoted by Razi in his commentary on this
verse) to the effect that the expression "kill yourselves" is used here in a metaphorical
sense (majazan), i.e., "mortify yourselves".
40 The Qur'an does not state what form this "thunderbolt of punishment" (as-sa'iqah) took.
The lexicographers give various interpretations to this word, but all agree on the element
of vehemence and suddenness inherent in it (see Lane IV, 1690).
41 Lit., "after your death". The expression mawt does not always denote physical death. Arab
philologists - e.g., Raghib - explain the verb mata (lit., "he died") as having, in
certain contexts, the meaning of "he became deprived of sensation, dead as to the senses";
and occasionally as "deprived of the intellectual faculty, intellectually dead"; and sometimes
even as "he slept" (see Lane VII, 2741).
2:57
And We caused the clouds to comfort you with their shade, and sent down unto you manna and quails. [saying,] "Partake of the good things which We have provided for you as sustenance."
And [by all their sinning] they did no harm unto Us - but [only] against their own selves did they sin.
2:58
And [remember the time] when We said: "Enter this land,42 and eat of its food as you may desire abundantly; but enter the gate humbly and say, 'Remove Thou from us the burden of our sins',43 [whereupon] We shall forgive you your sins, and shall amply reward the doers of good."
2:59
But those who were bent on evildoing substituted another saying for that which had been given them:44 and so We sent down upon those evildoers a plague from heaven in requital for all their iniquity. 42 The word qaryah primarily denotes a "village" or "town", but is also used in the sense of
"land". Here it apparently refers to Palestine.
43 This interpretation of the word hittah is recorded by most of the lexicographers
(cf. Lane II, 592) on the basis of what many Companions of the Prophet said about it
(for the relevant quotations, see Ibn Kathir in his commentary on this verse). Thus,
the children of Israel were admonished to take possession of the promised land
("enter the gate") in a spirit of humility (lit., "prostrating yourselves"), and
not to regard it as something that was "due" to them.
44 According to several Traditions (extensively quoted by Ibn Kathir), they played, with a
derisive intent, upon the word hittah, substituting for it something irrelevant or meaningless.
Muhammad 'Abduh, however, is of the opinion that the "saying" referred to in verse 58 is
merely a metaphor for an attitude of mind demanded of them, and that, correspondingly, the
"substitution" signifies here a wilful display of arrogance in disregard of God's command
(see Manar I, 324 f.).
2:60
And [remember] when Moses prayed for water for his people and We replied, "Strike the rock with thy staff!" - whereupon twelve springs gushed forth from it, so that all the people knew whence to drink.45 [And Moses said:] "Eat and drink the sustenance provided by God, and do not act wickedly on earth by spreading corruption."
2:61
And [remember] when you said: "O Moses, indeed we cannot endure but one kind of food; pray, then, to thy Sustainer that He bring forth for us aught of what grows from the earth - of its herbs, its cucumbers, its garlic, its lentils, its onions."
Said [Moses]: "Would you take a lesser thing in exchange for what is [so much] better?46 Go back in shame to Egypt, and then you can have what you are asking for!"47
And so, ignominy and humiliation overshadowed them, and they earned the burden of God's condemnation: all this, because they persisted in denying the truth of God's messages and in slaying the prophets against all right: all this, because they rebelled [against God], and persisted in transgressing the bounds of what is right.48 45 i.e., according to their tribal divisions.
46 i.e., "Would you exchange your freedom for the paltry comforts which you enjoyed in
your Egyptian captivity?" In the course of their wanderings in the desert of Sinai, many
Jews looked back with longing to the comparative security of their life in Egypt, as has
been explicitly stated in the Bible (Numbers xi), and is, moreover, evident from Moses'
allusion to it in the next sentence of the above Qur'anic passage.
47 The verb habata means, literally, "he went down a declivity"; it is also used figuratively
in the sense of falling from dignity and becoming mean and abject (cf. Lane VIII, 2876).
Since the bitter exclamation of Moses cannot be taken literally, both of the above meanings
of the verb may be combined in this context and agreeably translated as "go back in shame
to Egypt".
48 This passage obviously refers to a later phase of Jewish history. That the Jews actually
did kill some of their prophets is evidenced, for instance, in the story of John the Baptist,
as well as in the more general accusation uttered, according to the Gospel, by Jesus:
"O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, thou that killest the prophets, and stonest them which are sent
unto thee" (Matthew xxiii, 37). See also Matthew xxiii, 34-35, Luke xi, 51 - both of which,
refer to the murder of Zachariah - and I Thessalonians ii, 15. The implication of continuity
in, or persistent repetition of, their wrongdoing transpires from the use of the auxiliary
verb kanu in this context.
2:62
VERILY, those who have attained to faith [in this divine writ], as well as those who follow the Jewish faith, and the Christians, and the Sabians49 - all who believe in God and the Last Day and do righteous deeds - shall have their reward with their Sustainer; and no fear need they have, and neither shall they grieve.50
2:63
AND LO! We accepted your solemn pledge, raising Mount Sinai high above you,51 [and saying;] "Hold fast with [all your] strength unto what We have vouchsafed you, and bear in mind all that is therein, so that you might remain conscious of God!" 49 The Sabians seem to have been a monotheistic religious group intermediate between
Judaism and Christianity. Their name (probably derived from the Aramaic verb tsebha',
"he immersed himself [in water]") would indicate that they were followers of John the
Baptist - in which case they could be identified with the Mandaeans, a community which
to this day is to be found in Iraq. They are not to be confused with the so-called
"Sabians of Harran", a gnostic sect which still existed in the early centuries of Islam,
and which may have deliberately adopted the name of the true Sabians in order to obtain
the advantages accorded by the Muslims to the followers of every monotheistic faith.
50 The above passage - which recurs in the Qur'an several times - lays down a fundamental
doctrine of Islam. With a breadth of vision unparalleled in any other religious faith,
the idea of "salvation" is here made conditional upon three elements only: belief in God,
belief in the Day of Judgment, and righteous action in life. The statement of this doctrine
at this juncture - that is, in the midst of an appeal to the children of Israel - is
warranted by the false Jewish belief that their descent from Abraham entitles them to
be regarded as "God's chosen people".
51 Lit., "and We raised the mountain (at-tur) above you": i.e., letting the lofty mountain bear
witness, as it were, to their solemn pledge, spelled out in verse 83 below. Throughout my
translation of the Qur'an, I am rendering the expression at-tur as "Mount Sinai", since it
is invariably used in this sense alone.
2:64
And you turned away after that! And had it not been for God's favour upon you and His grace, you would surely have found yourselves among the lost; (2:65) for you are well aware of those from among you who profaned the Sabbath, whereupon We said unto them, "Be as apes despicable!" - (2:66) and set them up as a warning example for their time and for all times to come, as well as an admonition to all who are conscious of God.52
2:67
AND LO! Moses said unto his people: "Behold, God bids you to sacrifice a cow."53 They said: "Dost thou mock at us?" He answered: "I seek refuge with God against being so ignorant!"54
2:68
Said they: "Pray on our behalf unto thy Sustainer that He make clear to us what she is to be like." [Moses] replied: "Behold, He says it is to be a cow neither old nor immature, but of an age in-between. Do, then, what you have been bidden!"
2:69
Said they: "Pray on our behalf unto thy Sustainer that He make clear to us what her colour should be." [Moses] answered: "Behold; He says it is to be a yellow cow, bright of hue, pleasing to the beholder."
2:70
Said' they: "Pray on our behalf unto thy Sustainer that He make clear to us what she is to be like, for to us all cows resemble one another; and then, if God so wills, we shall truly be guided aright!"
2:71
[Moses] answered: "Behold, He says it is to be a cow not broken-in to plough the earth or to water the crops, free of fault, without markings of any other colour."
Said they: "At last thou hast brought out the truth!" - and thereupon they sacrificed her, although they had almost left it undone.55 52 For the full story of the Sabbath-breakers, and the metaphorical allusion to "apes",
see 7:163-166. The expression ma bayna yadayhd, rendered here as "their time", is
explained in surah 3, note 3.
53 As is evident from verse 72, the story related in this and the subsequent passages
almost certainly refers to the Mosaic law which ordains that in certain cases of unresolved
murder a cow should be sacrificed, and the elders of the town or village nearest to the
place of the murder should wash their hands over it and declare, "Our hands have not shed
this blood, neither have our eyes seen it" - whereupon the community would be absolved of
collective responsibility. For the details of this Old Testament ordinance, see Deuteronomy
xxi, 1-9.
54 Lit., "lest I be one of the ignorant". The imputation of mockery was obviously due to the
fact that Moses promulgated the above ordinance in very general terms, without specifying
any details.
55 i.e., their obstinate desire to obtain closer and closer definitions of the simple commandment
revealed to them through Moses had made it almost impossible for them to fulfil it. In his
commentary on this passage; Tabari quotes the following remark of Ibn 'Abbas: "If [in the
first instance] they had sacrificed any cow chosen by themselves, they would have fulfilled
their duty; but they made it complicated for themselves, and so God made it complicated
for them." A similar view has been expressed, in the same context, by Zamakhshari. It
would appear that the moral of this story points to an important problem of all (and,
therefore, also of Islamic) religious jurisprudence: namely, the inadvisability of trying
to elicit additional details in respect of any religious law that had originally been given
in general terms - for, the more numerous and multiform such details become, the more
complicated and rigid becomes the law. This point has been acutely grasped by Rashid Rida,
who says in his commentary on the above Qur'anic passage (see Manar I, 345 f.): "Its
lesson is that one should not pursue one's [legal] inquiries in such a way as to make laws
more complicated ... This was how the early generations [of Muslims] visualized the problem.
They did not make things complicated for themselves - and so, for them, the religious law
(din) was natural, simple and liberal in its straightforwardness. But those who came later
added to it [certain other] injunctions which they had deduced by means of their own
reasoning (ijtihad); and they multiplied those [additional] injunctions to such an extent
that the religious law became a heavy burden on the community." For the sociological reason
why the genuine ordinances of Islamic Law - that is, those which have been prima facie
laid down as such in the Qur'an and the teachings of the Prophet - are almost always devoid
of details, I would refer the reader to my book State and Government in Islam (pp. 11 ff.
and passim). The importance of this problem, illustrated in the above story of the cow - and
correctly grasped by the Prophet's Companions - explains why this surah has been entitled
"The Cow". (See also 5 : 101 and the corresponding notes 120-123.)
2:72
For, O children of Israel, because you had slain a human being and then cast the blame for this [crime] upon one another - although God will bring to light what you would conceals56 - (73) We said: "Apply this [principle] to some of those [cases of unresolved murder]:57 in this way God saves lives from death and shows you His will, so that you might [learn to] use your reason."58
2:74
And yet, after all this, your hearts hardened and became like rocks, or even harder: for, behold, there are rocks from which streams gush forth; and, behold, there are some from which, when they are cleft, water issues; and, behold, there are some that fall down for awe of God59. And God is not unmindful of what you do! 56 See note 53 above. The use of the plural "you" implies the principle of collective, communal
responsibility stipulated by Mosaic Law in cases of murder by a person or persons unknown.
God's bringing the guilt to light obviously refers to the Day of Judgment.
57 The phrase idribuhu bi-ba'diha can be literally translated as "strike him [or "it"]
with something of her [or "it"]" - and this possibility has given rise to the fanciful
assertion by many commentators that the children of Israel were commanded to strike the
corpse of the murdered man with some of the flesh of the sacrificed cow, whereupon he was
miraculously restored to life and pointed out his murderer! Neither the Qur'an, nor any
saying of the Prophet, nor even the Bible offers the slightest warrant for this highly
imaginative explanation, which must, therefore, be rejected - quite apart from the fact
that the pronoun hu in idribahu has a masculine gender, while the noun nafs (here translated
as "human being") is feminine in gender: from which it follows that the imperative
idribuhu cannot possibly refer to nafs. On the other hand, the verb daraba (lit.,
"he struck") is very often used in a figurative or metonymic sense, as, for instance, in
the expression daraba fi'l-ard ("he journeyed on earth"), or daraba 'sh-shay' bi'sh-shay'
("he mixed one thing with another thing"), or daraba mathal ("he coined a similitude" or
"propounded a parable" or "gave an illustration"), or 'ala darb wahid ("similarly applied"
or "in the same manner"), or duribat 'alayhim adh-dhillah ("humiliation was imposed on them"
or "applied to them"), and so forth. Taking all this into account, I am of the opinion that
the imperative idribuhu occurring in the above Qur'anic passage must be translated as
"apply it" or "this" (referring, in this context, to the principle of communal responsibility).
As for the feminine pronoun ha in ba'diha ("some of it"), it must necessarily relate to
the nearest preceding feminine noun - that is, to the nafs that has been murdered, or the
act of murder itself about which (fiha) the community disagreed. Thus, the phrase idribuhu
bi-ba'diha may be suitably rendered as "apply this [principle] to some of those [cases of
unresolved murder]": for it is obvious that the principle of communal responsibility for
murder by a person or persons unknown can be applied only to some and not to all such cases.
58 Lit., "God gives life to the dead and shows you His messages" (i.e., He shows His will by
means of such messages or ordinances). The figurative expression "He gives life to the dead"
denotes the saving of lives, and is analogous to that in 5:32. In this context it refers to
the prevention of bloodshed and the killing of innocent persons (Manor 1, 351), be it through
individual acts of revenge, or in result of an erroneous judicial process based on no more
than vague suspicion and possibly misleading circumstantial evidence.
59 For an explanation of this allusion, see 7:143. The simile of "the rocks from which streams
gush forth" or "from which water issues" serves to illustrate its opposite, namely, dryness
and lack of life, and is thus an allusion to the spiritual barrenness with which the Qur'an
charges the children of Israel.
2:75
CAN YOU, then, hope that they will believe in what you are preaching60 - seeing that a good many of them were wont to listen to the word of God and then, after having understood it, to pervert it knowingly?61 (2:76) For, when they meet those who have attained to faith. they say, "We believe [as you believe]" - but when they find themselves alone with one another, they say. "Do you inform them of what God has disclosed to you, so that they might use it in argument against you, quoting the words of your Sustainer?62 Will you not then, use your reason?"
2:77
Do they not know, then, that God is aware of all that they would conceal as well as of all that they bring into the open? (2:78) And there are among them unlettered people who have no real knowledge of the divine writ,63 [following] only wishful beliefs and depending on nothing but conjecture.
2:79
Woe, then, unto those who write down, with their own hands, [something which they claim to be] divine writ, and then say. "This is from God," in order to acquire a trifling gain thereby;64 woe, then, unto them for what their hands have written, and woe unto them for all that they may have gained! 60 Here the Muslims are addressed. In the early period of Islam - and especially after their
exodus to Medina, where many Jews were then living - the Muslims expected that the Jews,
with their monotheistic beliefs, would be the first to rally to the message of the Qur'an:
a hope that was disappointed because the Jews regarded their own religion as a kind of
national heritage reserved to the children of Israel alone, and did not believe in the
necessity - or possibility - of a new revelation.
61 Cf. Jeremiah xxiii, 26 - "Ye have perverted the words of the living God".
62 Lit., "before [or "in the sight of"] your Sustainer". Most of the commentators '
(e.g , Zamakhshari, Baghawi, Razi) agree in that the expression "your Sustainer" stands
here for "that which your Sustainer has revealed", namely, the Biblical prophecy relating
to the: coming. of a prophet "from among the brethren" of the children of Israel, and
that, therefore, the above phrase implies an argument on the basis of the Jews' own
scriptures. (See also note 3} above).
63 In this case, the Old Testament.
64 The reference here is to the scholars responsible for corrupting the text of the Bible
and thus misleading their ignorant followers. The "trifling gain" is their feeling of
pre-eminence as the alleged "chosen people".
2:80
And they say, "The fire will most certainly not touch us for more than a limited number of days."65 Say [unto them]: "Have you received a promise from God - for God never breaks His promise - or do you attribute to God something which you cannot know?"
2:81
Yea! Those who earn evil and by their sinfulness are engulfed - they are destined for the fire, therein to abide; (2:82) whereas those who attain to faith and do righteous deeds - they are destined for paradise, therein to abide.
2:83
AND LO! We accepted this solemn pledge from [you,] - the children of Israel:66 "You shall worship none but God; and you shall do good unto your parents and kinsfolk, and the orphans, and the poor; and you shall speak unto all people in a kindly way; and you shall be constant in prayer; and you shall spend in charity."
And yet, save for a few of you, you turned away: for you are obstinate folk!68 65 According to popular Jewish belief, even the sinners from among the children of Israel will
suffer only very limited punishment in the life to come, and will be quickly reprieved by
virtue of their belonging to "the chosen people": a belief which the Qur'an rejects.
66 In the preceding passages, the children of Israel have been reminded of the favours that
were bestowed on them. Now, however, the Qur'an - reminds them of the fact that the way
of righteousness has indeed been shown to them by means of explicit social and moral
injunctions: and this reminder flows directly from the statement that the human condition
in the life to come depends exclusively on the manner of one's life in this world, and
not on one's descent.
67 see note 34 above.
68 The Old Testament contains many allusions to the waywardness and stubborn rebelliousness
of the children of Israel - e.g., Exodus xxxii, 9, xxxii, 3, xxxiv, 9; Deuteronomy by,
6-8, 23-24, 27.
2:84
And lo! We accepted your solemn pledge that you would not shed one another's blood, and would not drive one another from your homelands - whereupon you acknowledged it; and thereto you bear witness [even now]. (2:85) And yet, it is you who slay one another and drive some of your own people from their homelands, aiding one another against them in sin and hatred; but if they come to you as captives, you ransom them - although the very [act of] driving them away has been made unlawful to you!69
Do you, then, believe in some parts of the divine writ and deny the truth of other parts? What, then, could be the reward of those among you who do such things but ignominy in the life of this world and, on the Day of Resurrection, commitment to most grievous suffering? For God is not unmindful of what you do.
2:86
All who buy the life of this world at the price of the life to come - their suffering shall not be lightened, nor shall they be succoured!
2:87
For, indeed, We vouchsafed unto Moses the divine writ and caused apostle after apostle to follow him;70 and We vouchsafed unto Jesus, the son of Mary, all evidence of the truth, and strengthened him with holy inspiration.71 [Yet] is it not so that every time an apostle came unto you with something that was not to your liking, you gloried in your arrogance, and to some of them you gave the lie, while others you would slay?72
2:88
But they say, "Our hearts are already full of knowledge."73 Nay, but God has rejected them because of their refusal to acknowledge the truth: for, few are the things in which they believe.74 69 This is a reference to the conditions prevailing at Medina at the time of the Prophet's
hijrah. The two Arab tribes of Medina - Al-Aws and Khazraj - were, in pre-Islamic times
permanently at war with one another; and out of the three Jewish tribes living there -
the Banu Qaynuqa', Banu 'n-Nadir and Banu Qurayzah - the first-named two were allied
with Khazraj, while the third was allied with Al-Aws. Thus, in the course of their
warfare, Jew would kill Jew in alliance with pagans ("aiding one another in sin and
hatred"): a twofold crime from the viewpoint of Mosaic Law. Nevertheless, they would
subsequently ransom their mutual captives in obedience to that very same Law - and it
is this glaring inconsistency to which the Qur'an alludes in the next sentence.
70 Lit., "We caused him to be followed, after his time, by [all] the other apostles":
a stress upon the continuous succession of prophets among the Jews (see Tabari, Zamakhshari,
Razi, Ibn Kathir), which fact deprives them of any excuse of ignorance.
71 This rendering of ruh al-qudus (lit., "the spirit of holiness") is based on the recurring
use in the Qur'an of the term ruh in the sense of "divine inspiration". It is also recorded
that the Prophet invoked the blessing of the ruh al-qudus on his Companion, the poet Hassan
ibn Thabit (Bukhari, Muslim, Abu Da'ud and Tirmidhi): just as the Qur'an (58: 22) speaks of
all believers as being "strengthened by inspiration (rah) from Him".
72 Lit., "and some you are slaying". The change from the past tense observed throughout
this sentence to the present tense in the verb taqtulun ("you are slaying") is meant to
express a conscious intent in this respect and, thus, a persistent, ever-recurring trait
in Jewish history (Manor I, 377), to which also the New Testament refers (Matthew xxiii,
34-35, 37), and I Thessalonians ii, 15).
73 Lit., "our hearts are repositories [of knowledge]"- an allusion to the boast of the Jews that
in view of the religious knowledge which they already possess, they are in no need of any
further preaching (Ibn Kathir, on the authority of Ibn 'Abbas; identical explanations are
mentioned by Tabari and Zamakhshari).
74 i.e., all their beliefs are centred on themselves and their alleged "exceptional" status
in the sight of God.
2:89
And whenever there came unto them a [new] revelation from God, confirming the truth already in their possession - and [bear in mind that] aforetime they used to pray for victory over those who were bent on denying the truth -: whenever there came unto them something which they recognized [as the truth], they would deny it. And God's rejection is the due of all who deny the truth.
2:90
Vile is that [false pride] for which they have sold their own selves by denying the truth of what God has bestowed from on high, out of envy that God should bestow aught of His favour upon whomsoever He wills of His servants:75 and thus have they earned the burden of God's condemnation, over and over. And for those who deny the truth there is shameful suffering in store.
2:91
For when they are told, "Believe in what God has bestowed from on high," they reply, "We believe [only] in what has been bestowed on us" - and they deny the truth of everything else, although it be a truth confirming the one already in their possession. Say "Why, then, did you slay God's prophets aforetime, if you were (truly] believers?"76
2:92
And indeed, there came unto you Moses with all evidence of the truth - and thereupon in his absence, you took to worshipping the (golden] calf, and acted wickedly.
2:93
And, lo, We accepted your solemn pledge, raising Mount Sinai high above you, [saying,] "Hold fast with [all your] strength unto what We have vouchsafed you, and hearken unto it!" [But] they say, "We have heard, but we disobey"77 - for their hearts are filled to overflowing with love of the [golden] calf because of their refusal to acknowledge the truth.78
Say: "Vile is what this [false] belief of yours enjoins upon you - if indeed you are believers!"
2:94
Say: "If an afterlife with God is to be for you alone, to the exclusion of all other people,79 then you should long for death - if what you say is true!"
2:95
But never will they long for it, because [they are aware] of what their hands have sent ahead in this world: and God has full knowledge of evildoers. (2:96) And thou wilt most certainly find that they cling to life more eagerly than any other people, even more than those who are bent on ascribing divinity to other beings beside God: every one of them would love to live a thousand years, although the grant of long life could not save him from suffering [in the hereafter]: for God sees all that they do.
2:97
SAY [O Prophet]: "Whosoever is an enemy of Gabriel" - who, verily, by God's leave, has brought down upon thy heart this [divine writ] which confirms the truth of whatever there still remains [of earlier revelations], and is a guidance and a glad tiding for the believers -: (2:98) "whosover is an enemy of God and His angels and His message-bearers, including Gabriel and Michael, [should know that,] verily, God is the enemy of all who deny the truth."80 75 i.e., out of envy that God should bestow revelation upon anyone but a descendant of Israel -
in this particular instance, upon the Arabian Prophet, Muhammad.
76 A reference to their assertion that they believe in what has been revealed to them - i.e.,
the Law of Moses, which obviously prohibits the killing not only of prophets but of any
innocent human being. See also the concluding sentences of verses 61 and 87, and the
corresponding notes.
77 It is obvious that they did not actually utter these words; their subsequent behaviour,
however, justifies the above metonymical expression.
78 Lit., "into their hearts has been instilled the calf because of their denial of the truth":
i.e., as soon as they turned away from the genuine message propounded by Moses, they fell
into worshipping material goods, symbolized by the "golden calf".
79 An allusion to the Jewish belief that paradise is reserved for the children of Israel
alone (cf. verse III of this surah ).
80 According to several authentic Traditions, some of the learned men from among the Jews of
Medina described Gabriel as "the enemy of the Jews", and this for three reasons: firstly,
all the prophecies of the misfortune which was to befall the Jews in the course of their
early history were said to have been transmitted to them by Gabriel, who thus became in
their eyes a "harbinger of evil" (in contrast to the angel Michael, whom they regarded as
a bearer of happy predictions and, therefore, as their "friend"); secondly, because the
Qur'an states repeatedly that it was Gabriel who conveyed its message to Muhammad,
whereas the Jews were of the opinion that only a descendant of Israel could legitimately
claim divine revelation; and, thirdly, because the Qur'an - revealed through Gabriel -
abounds in criticism of certain Jewish beliefs and attitudes and describes them as
opposed to the genuine message of Moses. (For details of these Traditions, see Tabari,
Zamakhshari, Baghawi, Razi, Baydawi, Ibn Kathir.) As regards my rendering of ma bayna
yadayhi in verse 97 as "whatever there still remains of earlier revelations", see
surah 3, note 3.
2:99
For, clear messages indeed have We bestowed upon thee from on high; and none denies their truth save the iniquitous.
2:100
Is it not so that every time they made a promise [unto God], some of them cast it aside? Nay, indeed: most of them do not believe.
2:101
And [even now,] when there has come unto them an apostle from God, confirming the truth already in their possession, some of those who were granted revelation aforetime cast the divine writ behind their backs as though unaware [of what it says],81 (2:102) and follow [instead] that which the evil ones used to practice during Solomon's reign - for it was not Solomon who denied the truth, but those evil ones denied it by teaching people sorcery82 -; and [they follow] that which has come down through the two angels in Babylon, Harut and Mirut - although these two never taught it to anyone without first declaring, "We are but a temptation to evil: do not, then, deny [God's] truth!"83 And they learn from these two how to create discord between a man and his wife; but whereas they can harm none thereby save by God's leave, they acquire a knowledge that only harms themselves and does not benefit them - although they know; indeed, that he who acquires this [knowledge] shall have no share in the good of the life to come.84 For, vile indeed is that [art] for which they have sold their own selves - had they but known it! 81 The divine writ referred to here is the Torah. By disregarding the prophecies relating to
the coming of the Arabian Prophet, contained in Deuteronomy xviii, 15, 18 (see note 33 above),
the Jews rejected, as it were, the whole of the revelation granted to Moses (Zamakhshari;
also 'Abduh in Manar I, 397).
82 The expression ash-shayatin, here rendered as "the evil ones", apparently refers to human
beings, as has been pointed out by Tabari, Razi, etc., but may also allude to the evil,
immoral impulses within man's heart (see note 10 on verse 14 of this surah). The above
parenthetic sentence constitutes the Qur'anic refutation of the Biblical statement that
Solomon had been guilty of idolatrous practices (see I Kings xi, 1-10), as well as of the
legend that he was the originator of the magic arts popularly associated with his name.
83 This "declaration" circumscribes, metonymically, man's moral duty to reject every attempt
at "sorcery" inasmuch as - irrespective of whether it succeeds or fails - it aims at
subverting the order of nature as instituted by God. - As regards the designation of
Harut and Marut, most of the readings of the Qur'an give the spelling malakayn ("the
two angels"); but it is authentically recorded (see Tabari, Zamakhshari, Baghawi, Razi,
etc.) that the great Companion of the Prophet, Ibn 'Abbas, as well as several learned men
of the next generation - e.g., Al-Hasan al-Basri, Abu'l-Aswad and Ad-Dahhak - read it as
malikayn ("the two kings"). I myself incline to the latter reading; but since the other
is more generally accepted, I have adopted it here. Some of the commentators are of the
opinion that, whichever of the two readings is followed, it ought to be taken in a metaphorical
sense, namely, "the two kingly persons", or "the two angelic persons": in this they rely
on a saying of Ibn 'Abbas to the effect that Harut and Marut were "two men who practiced
sorcery in Babylon" (Baghawi; see also Manar I, 402). At any rate, it is certain that from
very ancient times Babylon was reputed to be the home of magic arts, symbolized in the
legendary persons - perhaps kings - Harut and Marut; and it is to this legend that the
Qur'an refers with a view to condemning every attempt at magic and sorcery, as well as
all preoccupation with occult sciences in general.
84 The above passage does not raise the question as to whether there is an objective
truth in the occult phenomena loosely described as "magic", or whether they are based on
self-deception: The intent here is no more and no less than to warn man that any attempt
at influencing the course of events by means which - at least in the mind of the person
responsible for it to have a "supernatural" connotation is a spiritual offence, and
must inevitably result in a most serious damage to their author's spiritual status.
2:103
And had they but believed and been conscious of Him, reward from God would indeed have brought them good - had they but known it!
2:104
O YOU who have attained to faith! Do not say [to the Prophet], "Listen to us," but rather say, "Have patience with us," and hearken [unto him], since grievous suffering awaits those who deny the truth.85
2:105
Neither those from among the followers of earlier revelation who are bent on denying the truth, nor those who ascribe divinity to other beings beside God, would like to see any good86 ever bestowed upon you from on high by your Sustainer; but God singles out for His grace whom He wills - for God is limitless in His great bounty.
2:106
Any message which, We annul or consign to oblivion We replace with a better or a similar ones.87 Dost thou not know that God has the power to will anything? (2:107) Dost thou not know that God's is the dominion over the heavens and the earth, and that besides God you have none to protect you or bring you succour? 85 This admonition, addressed in the first instance to the contemporaries of the Prophet,
has - as so often in the Qur'an - a connotation that goes far beyond the historical
circumstances that gave rise to it. The Companions were called upon to approach the
Prophet with respect and to subordinate their personal desires and expectations to the
commandments of the Faith revealed through him: and this injunction remains valid for
every believer and for all times.
86 i.e., revelation - which is the highest good. The allusion here is to 1he unwillingness of
the Jews and the Christians to admit that revelation could have been bestowed on any community
but their own.
87 The principle laid down in this passage - relating to the supersession of the Biblical
dispensation by that of the Qur'an - has given rise to an erroneous interpretation by many
Muslim theologians. The word ayah ("message") occurring in this, context is also used to
denote a "verse;" of the Qur'an (because every one of these verses contains a message).
Taking this restricted meaning of the term ayah, some scholars conclude from the above passage
that certain verses of the Qur'an have been "abrogated" by God's command before the
revelation of the Qur'an was completed. Apart from the fancifulness of this assertion -
which calls to mind the image of a human author correcting, on second thought, the proofs
of his manuscript - deleting one passage and replacing it with another - there does not
exist a single reliable Tradition to the effect that the Prophet ever, declared a verse of
the Qur'an to have been "abrogated". At the root of the so-called "doctrine of abrogation"
may lie the inability of some of the early commentators to reconcile one Qur'anic passage
with another: a difficulty which was overcome by declaring that one of the verses in
question had been "abrogated". This arbitrary procedure explains also why there is no
unanimity whatsoever among the upholders of the "doctrine of abrogation" as to which, and
how many, Qur'an verses have been affected by it; and, furthermore, as to whether this
alleged abrogation implies a total elimination of the verse in question from the context
of the Qur'an, or only a cancellation of the specific ordinance or statement contained in it.
In short, the "doctrine of abrogation" has no basis whatever in historical fact, and must
be rejected. On the other hand, the apparent difficulty in interpreting the above Qur'anic
passage disappears immediately if the term ayah is understoood, correctly, as "message",
and if we read this verse in conjunction with the preceding one, which states that the Jews
and the Christians refuse to accept any revelation which might supersede that of the Bible:
for, if read in this way, the abrogation relates to the earlier divine messages and not to
any part of the Qur'an itself.
2:108
Would you, perchance, ask of the Apostle who has been sent unto you what was asked aforetime of Moses? But whoever chooses to deny the [evidence of the] truth, instead of believing in it,88 has already strayed from the right path.
2:109
Out of their selfish envy, many among the followers of earlier revelation would like to bring you back to denying the truth after you have attained to faith - [even] after the truth has become clear unto them. None the less, forgive and forbear, until God shall make manifest His will: behold, God has the power to will anything.
2:110
And be constant in prayer, and render the purifying dues; for, whatever good deed you send ahead for your own selves, you shall find it with God: behold, God sees all that you do.
2:111
AND THEY claim,89 "None shall ever enter paradise unless he be a Jew" - or, "a Christian". Such are their wishful beliefs! Say: "Produce an evidence for what you are claiming,90 if what you say is true!" 88 Lit.. "whoever takes a denial of the truth in exchange for belief" - i.e., whoever
refuses to accept the internal evidence of the truth of the Qur'anic message and demands,
instead, an "objective" proof of its divine origin (Manor I, 416 f.).- That which was "asked
of Moses aforetime" was the demand of the children of Israel to "see God face to face"
(cf. 2:55). The expression rendered by me as "the Apostle who has been sent unto you"
reads literally, "your Apostle", and obviously refers to the Prophet Muhammad whose
message supersedes the earlier revelations.
89 This connects with verse 109 above: "Many among the followers of earlier revelation would
like to bring you back to denying the truth", etc.
90 Lit., "produce your evidence" - i.e.. "from your own scriptures".
2:112
Yea, indeed: everyone who surrenders his whole being unto God,91 and is a doer of good withal, shall have his reward with his Sustainer; and all such need have no fear, and neither shall they grieve.92
2:113
Furthermore, the Jews assert, "The Christians have no valid ground for their beliefs," while the Christians assert, "The Jews have no valid ground for their beliefs" - and both quote the divine writ! Even thus, like unto what they say, have [always] spoken those who were devoid of knowledge;"93 but it is God who will judge between them on Resurrection Day with regard to all on which they were wont to differ.94 91 Lit., "who surrenders his face unto God". Since the face of a person is the most expressive
part of his body, it is used in classical Arabic to denote one's whole personality, or
whole being. This expression, repeated in the Qur'an several times, provides a perfect
definition of islam, which derived from the root-verb aslama, "he surrendered himself" -
means "self-surrender [to God]";: and it is in this sense that the terms islam and muslim
are used throughout the Qur'an. (For a full discussion of this concept, see my note on
68:35, where the expression muslim occurs for the first time in the chronological order
of revelation.)
92 Thus, according to the Qur'an, salvation is not reserved for any particular "denomination",
but is open to everyone who consciously realizes the oneness of God, surrenders himself
to His will and, by living righteously, gives practical effect to this spiritual attitude.
93 An allusion to all who assert that only the followers of their own denomination shall
partake of God's grace in the hereafter.
94 In other words, "God will confirm the truth of what was true [in their respective beliefs]
and show the falseness of what was false [therein]" (Muhammad 'Abduh in Manar I, 428).
The Qur'an maintains throughout that there is a substantial element of truth in all
faiths based on divine revelation, and that their subsequent divergencies are the result
of "wishful beliefs" (2:111) and of a gradual corruption of the original teachings.
(See also 22: 67-69.)
2:114
Hence, who could be more wicked than those who bar the mention of God's name from [any of] His houses of worship and strive for their ruin, [although] they have no right to enter them save in fear [of God]?95 For them, in this world, there is ignominy in store; and for them, in the life to come, awesome suffering.
2:115
And God's is the east and the west: and wherever you turn, there is God's countenance. Behold, God is infinite, all-knowing.
2:116
And yet some people assert, "God has taken unto Himself a son!" Limitless is He in His glory!96 Nay, but His is all that is in the heavens and on earth; all things devoutly obey His will. (2:117) The Originator is He of the heavens and the earth: and when He wills a thing to be, He but says unto it, "Be" - and it is.
2:118
AND [only] those who are devoid of knowledge say, "Why does God not speak unto us, nor is a [miraculous] sign shown to us?" Even thus, like unto what they say, spoke those who lived before their time97 their hearts are all alike. Indeed, We have made all the signs manifest unto people who are endowed with inner certainty.
2:119
Verily, We have sent thee [O Prophet] with the truth, as a bearer of glad tidings and a warner: and thou shalt not be held accountable for those who are destined for the blazing fire.
2:120
For, never will the Jews be pleased with thee nor yet the Christians, unless thou follow their own creeds. Say: "Behold, God's guidance is the only true guidance." And, indeed, if thou shouldst follow their errant views after all the knowledge that has come unto thee, thou wouldst have none to protect thee from God, and none to bring thee succour.
2:121
Those unto whom We have vouchsafed the divine writ [and who] follow it as it ought to be followed98- it is they who [truly] believe in it; whereas all who choose to deny its truth - it is they, they who are the losers! 95 It is one of the fundamental principles of Islam that every religion which has belief in God
as its focal point must be accorded full respect, however much one may disagree with its
particular tenets. Thus, the Muslims are under an obligation to honour and protect any
house of worship dedicated to God, whether it be a mosque or a church or a synagogue
(cf. the second paragraph of 22:40); and any attempt to prevent the followers of another
faith from worshipping God according to their own lights is condemned by the Qur'an as
a sacrilege. A striking illustration of this principle is forthcoming from the Prophet's
treatment of the deputation from Christian hijran in the year 10 H. They were given free
access to the Prophet's mosque, and with his full consent celebrated their religious
rites there, although their adoration of Jesus as "the son of God" and of Mary as "the
mother of God" was fundamentally at variance with Islamic beliefs (see Ibn Sa'd I/I, '84 f.).
96 I.e., far from any imperfection such as would be implied in the necessity (or logical
possibility) of having "progeny" either in a literal or a metaphorical sense. The
expression subhana - applied exclusively to God - connotes His utter remoteness from
any imperfection and any similarity, however tenuous, with any created being or thing.
97 I.e., people who were not able to perceive the intrinsic truth of the messages conveyed to
them by the prophets, but rather insisted on a miraculous "demonstration" that those messages
really came from God, and thus failed to benefit from them. - This verse obviously connects
with verse 108 above and, thus, refers to the objections of the Jews and the Christians to
the message of the Qur'an. (See also note 29 on 74:52.)
98 Or: "apply themselves to it with true application" - i.e. try to absorb its meaning
and to understand its spiritual design.
2:122
O CHILDREN of Israel! Remember those blessings of Mine with which I graced you, and how I favoured you above all other people; (2:123) and remain conscious of [the coming of] a Day when no human being shall in the least avail another, nor shall ransom be accepted from any of them, nor shall intercession be of any use to them, and none shall be succoured.99
2:124
And [remember this:] when his Sustainer tried Abraham by [His] commandments and the latter fulfilled them,100 He said: "Behold, I shall make thee a leader of men." Abraham asked: "And [wilt Thou make leaders] of my offspring as well?" [God] answered: "My covenant does not embrace the evildoers."101 99 See 2:48. In the above context, this refers, specifically, to the belief of the Jews that
their descent from Abraham would "ransom" them on the Day of Judgment - a belief which is
refuted in the next verse.
100 The classical commentators have indulged in much speculation as to what these commandments
(kalimat, lit., "words") were. Since, however, the Qur'an does not specify them, it must be
presumed that what is meant here is simply Abraham's complete submission to whatever
commandments he received from God.
101 This passage, read in conjunction with the two preceding verses, refutes the contention
of the children of Israel that by virtue of their descent from Abraham, whom God made "a
leader of men", they are "God's chosen people". The Qur'an makes it clear that the exalted
status of Abraham was not something that would automatically confer a comparable status
on his physical descendants, and certainly not on the sinners among them.
2:125
AND LO! We made the Temple a goal to which people might repair again and again, and a sanctuary:102 take then, the place whereon Abraham once stood as your place of prayer."103 And thus did We command Abraham and Ishmael: "Purify My Temple for those who will walk around it,104 and those who will abide near it in meditation, and those who will bow down and prostrate themselves [in prayer]."
2:126
And, lo, Abraham prayed: "O my Sustainer! Make this a land secure, and grant its people fruitful sustenance - such of them as believe in God and the Last Day." [God] answered: "And whoever shall deny the truth, him will I let enjoy himself for a short while - but in the end I shall drive him to suffering through fire: and how vile a journey's end!"
2:127
And when Abraham and Ishmael were raising the foundations of the Temple, [they prayed:] "O our Sustainer! Accept Thou this from us: for, verily, Thou alone art all-hearing, all-knowing!
2:128
"O our Sustainer! Make us surrender ourselves unto Thee, and make out of our offspring105 a community that shall surrender itself unto Thee, and show us our ways of worship, and accept our repentance: for, verily, Thou alone art the Acceptor of Repentance, the Dispenser of Grace! 102 The Temple (al-bayt)- lit., "the House [of Worship]"'- mentioned here is the Ka'bah in
Mecca. In other places the Qur'an speaks of it as "the Ancient Temple" (al-bayt al-'atiq),
and frequently also as "the Inviolable House of Worship" (al-masjid al-haram ). Its
prototype is said to have been built by Abraham as the first temple ever dedicated to
the One God (see 3:96), and which for this reason has been instituted as the direction
of prayer (qiblah) for all Muslims, and as the goal of the annually recurring pilgrimage
(hajj). It is to be noted that even in pre-Islamic times the Ka'bah was associated with
the memory of Abraham, whose personality had always been in the foreground of Arabian thought.
According to very ancient Arabian traditions, it was at the site of what later became
Mecca that Abraham, in order to placate Sarah, abandoned his Egyptian bondwoman Hagar and
their child Ishmael after he had brought them there from Canaan. This is by no means improbable
if one bears in mind that for a camel-riding bedouin (and Abraham was certainly one) a
journey of twenty or even thirty days has never been anything out of the ordinary. At
first glance, the Biblical statement (Genesis xii, 14) that it was "in the wilderness of
Beersheba" (i.e., in the southernmost tip of Palestine) that Abraham left Hagar and Ishmael
would seem to conflict with the Qur'anic account. This seeming contradiction, however,
disappears as soon as we remember that to the ancient, town-dwelling Hebrews the term
"wilderness of Beersheba" comprised all the desert regions south of Palestine, including
the Hijaz. It was at the place where they had been abandoned that Hagar and Ishmael, after
having discovered the spring which is now called the Well of Zamzam, eventually settled;
and it may have been that very spring which in time induced a wandering group of bedouin
families belonging to the South-Arabian (Qahtani) tribe of Jurhum to settle there. Ishmael
later married a girl of this tribe, and so became the progenitor of the musta'ribah
("Arabianized") tribes - thus called on account of their descent from a Hebrew father and
a Qahtani mother. As for Abraham, he is said to have often visited Hagar and Ishmael; and
it was on the occasion of one of these periodic visits that he, aided by Ishmael, erected
the original structure of the Ka'bah. (For more detailed accounts of the Abrahamic
tradition, see Bukhari's Sahih, Kitab al-'Ilm, Tabari's Ta'rikh al-Umam, Ibn Sad, Ibn
Hisham, Mas'fidi's Murai adh-Dhahab, Yaqut's Mu'jam al-Buldan, and other early Muslim
historians.)
103 This may refer to the immediate vicinity of the Ka'bah or, more probably (Manor I, 461 f.),
to the sacred precincts (haram) surrounding it. The word amn (lit., "safety") denotes in this
context a sanctuary for all living beings.
104 The seven-fold circumambulation (tawaf) of the Ka'bah is one of the rites of the pilgrimage,
symbolically indicating that all human actions and endeavours ought to have the idea of God
and His oneness for their centre.
105 The expression "our offspring" indicates Abraham's progeny through his first-born son,
Ishmael, and is an indirect reference to the Prophet Muhammad, who descended from the latter.
2:129
"O our Sustainer! Raise up from the midst of our offspring106 an apostle from among themselves, who shall convey unto them Thy messages, and impart unto them revelation as well as wisdom, and cause them to grow in purity: for, verily, Thou alone art almighty, truly wise!"
2:130
And who, unless he be weak of mind, would want to abandon Abraham's creed, seeing that We have indeed raised him high in this world, and that, verily, in the life to come he shall be among the righteous?
2:131
When his Sustainer said to him, "Surrender thyself unto Me!" - he answered, "I have surrendered myself unto [Thee,] the Sustainer of all the worlds."
2:132
And this very thing did Abraham bequeath unto his children, and [so did] Jacob: "O my children! Behold, God has granted you the purest faith; so do not allow death to overtake you ere you have surrendered yourselves unto Him."
2:133
Nay, but you [yourselves, O children of Israel,] bear witness107 that when death was approaching Jacob, he said unto his sons: "Whom will you worship after I am gone?"
They answered: "We will worship thy God, the God of thy forefathers Abraham and Ishmael108 and Isaac, the One God; and unto Him will we surrender ourselves." 106 Lit., "within them".
107 I.e., "in the religious traditions to which you adhere". It is to be noted that the
conjunction am which stands at the beginning of this sentence is not always used in the
interrogative sense ("is it that ...?"): sometimes - and especially when it is
syntactically unconnected with the preceding sentence, as in this case - it is an
equivalent of bal ("rather", or "nay, but"), and has no interrogative connotation.
108 In classical Arabic, as in ancient Hebrew usage, the term ab ("father") was applied
not only to the direct male parent but also to grandfathers and even more distant
ancestors, as well as to paternal uncles: which explains why Ishmael, who was Jacob's
uncle, is mentioned in this context. Since he was the first-born of Abraham's sons,
his name precedes that of Isaac.
2:134
Now those people have passed away; unto them shall be accounted what they have earned, and unto you, what you have earned; and you will not be, judged on the strength of what they did.109
2:135
AND THEY say, "Be Jews" - or, "Christians" - "and you shall be on the right path." Say: "Nay, but [ours is] the creed of Abraham, who turned away from all that is false,110 and was not of those who ascribe divinity to aught beside God."
2:136
Say: "We believe in God, and in that which has been bestowed from on high upon us, and that which has been bestowed upon Abraham and Ishmael and Isaac and Jacob and their descendants,111 and that which has been vouchsafed to Moses and Jesus; and that which has been vouchsafed to all the [other] prophets by their Sustainer: we make no distinction between any of them.112 And it is unto Him that we surrender ourselves." 109 Lit., "you will not be asked about what they did". This verse, as well as verse 141 below,
stresses the fundamental Islamic tenet of individual responsibility, and denies the Jewish
idea of their being "the chosen people" by virtue of their descent, as well as - by
implication - the Christian doctrine of an "original sin" with which all human beings
are supposedly, burdened because of Adam's fall from grace.
110 The expression hanif is derived from the verb hanafa, which literally means "he inclined
[towards a right state or tendency]" (cf. Lane II, 658). Already in pre-Islamic times,
this term had a definitely monotheistic connotation, and was used to describe a man who
turned away from sin and worldliness and from all dubious beliefs, especially idol-worship;
and tahannuf denoted the ardent devotions, mainly consisting of long vigils and prayers,
of the unitarian God-seekers of pre-Islamic times. Many instances of this use of the terms
hanif and tahannuf occur in the verses of pre-Islamic poets, e.g., Umayyah ibn Abi's -
Salt and Juan al-'Awd (cf. Lisan al-'Arab, art. hanafa).
111 Lit., "the grandchildren" (al-asbat, sing. sibt) - a term used in the Qur'an to describe,
in the first instance, Abraham's, Isaac's and Jacob's immediate descendants, and, consequently,
the twelve tribes which evolved from this ancestry.
112 Le., "we regard them all as true prophets of God".
2:137
And if [others] come to believe in the way you believe, they will indeed find themselves on the right path; and if they turn away, it is but they who will be deeply in the wrong, and God will protect thee from them: for He alone is all-hearing, all-knowing.
2:138
[Say: "Our life takes its] hue from God! And who could give a better hue [to life] than God, if we but truly worship Him?"
2:139
Say [to the Jews and the Christians]: "Do you argue with us about God?113 But He is our Sustainer as well as your Sustainer - and unto us shall be accounted our deeds, and unto you, your deeds; and it is unto Him alone that we devote ourselves.
2:140
"Do you claim that Abraham and Ishmael and Isaac and Jacob and their descendants were 'Jews' or 'Christians'?"114 Say: "Do you know more than God does? And who could be more wicked than he who suppresses a testimony given to him by God?115 Yet God is not unmindful of what you do. 113 I.e., about God's will regarding the succession of prophethood and man's ultimate salvation.
The Jews believe that prophethood was a privilege granted to the children of Israel alone,
while the Christians maintain that Jesus - who, too, descended from the children of Israel -
was God's final manifestation on earth; and each of these two denominations claims that
salvation is reserved to its followers alone (see 2:111 and 135). The Qur'an refutes these
ideas by stressing, in the next sentence, that God is the Lord of all mankind, and that
every individual will be judged on the basis of his own beliefs and his own behaviour alone.
114 Regarding the term asbat (rendered here as well as in verse 136 as "descendants"), see
note I li above. In the above words the Qur'an alludes to the fact that the concept of
"Jewry" came into being many centuries after the time of the Patriarchs, and even long
after the time of Moses, while the concepts of "Christianity" and "Christians" were
unknown in Jesus' time and represent later developments.
115 A reference to the Biblical prediction of the coming of the Prophet Muhammad
(see note 33 on verse 42 of this surah), which effectively contradicts the Judaeo-Christian
claim that all true prophets, after the Patriarchs, belonged to the children of Israel.
2:141
"Now those people have passed away; unto them shall be accounted what they have earned, and unto you, what you have earned; and you will not be judged on the strength of what they did."
2:142
THE WEAK-MINDED among people will say, "What has turned them away from the direction of prayer which they have hitherto observed?"116 Say: "God's is the east and the west; He guides whom He wills onto a straight way."117
2:143
And thus have We willed you to be a community of the middle way,118 so that [with your lives] you might bear witness to the truth before all mankind, and that the Apostle might bear witness to it before you.119
And it is only to the end that We might make a clear distinction between those who follow the Apostle and those who turn about on their heels that We have appointed [for this community] the direction of prayer which thou [O Prophet] hast formerly observed: for this was indeed a hard test for all but those whom God has guided aright.120 But God will surely not lose sight of your faith - for, behold, God is most compassionate towards man, a dispenser of grace. 116 Before his call to prophethood, and during the early Meccan period of his ministry, the
Prophet - and his community with him - used to turn in prayer towards the Ka'bah. This
was not prompted by any specific revelation, but was obviously due to the fact that the
Ka'bah - although it had in the meantime been filled with various idols to which the
pre-Islamic Arabs paid homage - was always regarded as the first temple ever dedicated
to the One God (cf. 3:96). Since he was aware of the sanctity of Jerusalem - the other
holy centre of the unitarian faith - the Prophet prayed, as a rule, before the southern
wall of the Ka'bah, towards the north, so as to face both the Ka'bah and Jerusalem. After
the exodus to Medina he continued to pray northwards, with only Jerusalem as his qiblah
(direction of prayer). About sixteen months after his arrival at Medina, however, he
received a revelation (verses 142-150 of this surah) which definitively established the
Ka'bah as the qiblah of the followers of the Qur'an. This "abandonment" of Jerusalem
obviously displeased the Jews of Medina, who must have felt gratified when they saw the
Muslims praying towards their holy city; and it is to them that the opening sentence of
this passage refers. If one considers the matter from the historical point of view, there
had never been any change in the divine commandments relating to the qiblah: there had
simply been no ordinance whatever in this respect before verses 142-150 were revealed.
Their logical connection with the preceding passages, which deal, in the main, with
Abraham and his creed, lies in the fact that it was Abraham who erected the earliest
structure of the temple which later came to be known as the Ka'bah.
117 Or: "He guides onto a straight way him that wills [to be guided]".
118 Lit., "middlemost community" - i.e., a community that keeps an equitable balance between
extremes and is realistic in its appreciation of man's nature and possibilities, rejecting
both licentiousness and exaggerated asceticism. In tune with its oft-repeated call to
moderation in every aspect of life, the Qur'an exhorts the believers not to place too great
an emphasis on the physical and material aspects of their lives, but postulates, at the
same time, that man's urges and desires relating to this "life of the flesh" are God-willed
and, therefore, legitimate. On further analysis, the expression "a community of the middle
way" might be said to summarize, as it were, the Islamic attitude towards the problem of
man's existence as such: a denial of the view that there is an inherent conflict between
the spirit and the flesh, and a bold affirmation of the natural, God-willed unity in this
twofold aspect of human life. This balanced attitude, peculiar to Islam, flows directly
from the concept of God's oneness and, hence, of the unity of purpose underlying all
His creation: and thus, the mention of the "community of the middle way" at this place is
a fitting introduction to the theme of the Ka'bah, a symbol of God's oneness.
119 I.e., "that your way of life be an example to all mankind, just as the Apostle is an
example to you".
120 I.e., "whom He has given understanding" (Razi). The "hard test" (kabirah) consisted in the
fact that ever since their exodus to Medina the Muslims had become accustomed to praying
towards Jerusalem - associated in their minds with the teachings of most of the earlier
prophets mentioned in the Qur'an - and were now called upon to turn in their prayers towards
the Ka'bah, which at that time (in the second year after the hijrah) was still used by
the pagan Quraysh as a shrine dedicated to the worship of their numerous idols. As against
this, the Qur'an states that true believers would not find it difficult to adopt the Ka'bah
once again as their qiblah: they would instinctively realize the divine wisdom underlying
this commandment which established Abraham's Temple as a symbol of God's oneness and a
focal point of the ideological unity of Islam. (See also note 116 above.)
2:144
We have seen thee [O Prophet] often turn thy face towards heaven [for guidance]: and now We shall indeed make thee turn in prayer in a direction which will fulfil thy desire. Turn, then, thy face towards the Inviolable House of Worship; and wherever you all may be, turn your faces towards it [in prayer].
And, verily, those who have been vouchsafed revelation aforetime know well that this [commandment] comes in truth from their Sustainer; and God is not unaware of what they do.
2:145
And yet, even if thou wert to place all evidence121 before those who have been vouchsafed earlier revelation, they would not follow thy direction of prayer; and neither mayest thou follow their direction of prayer, nor even do they follow one another's direction. And if thou shouldst follow their errant views after all the knowledge that has come unto thee thou wouldst surely be among the evildoers.
2:146
They unto whom We have vouchsafed revelation aforetime know it as they know their own children: but, behold, some of them knowingly suppress the truth - (2:147) the truth from thy Sustainer!122 Be not, then, among the doubters: (2:148) for, every community faces a direction of its own, of which He is the focal point.123 Vie, therefore, with one another in doing good works. Wherever you may be, God will gather you all unto Himself: for, verily, God has the power to will anything.
2:149
Thus, from wherever thou mayest come forth, turn thy face [in prayer] towards the Inviolable House of Worship - for, behold, this [commandment] comes in truth from thy Sustainer; and God is not unaware of what you do. (2:150) Hence, from wherever thou mayest come forth, turn thy face [in prayer] towards the Inviolable House of Worship; and wherever you all may be, turn your faces towards it, so that people should have no argument against you unless they are bent upon wrongdoing.124 And hold not them in awe, but stand in awe of Me, and [obey Me,] so that I might bestow upon you the full measure of My blessings, and that you might follow the right path. 121 Lit., "every sign (ayah)", i.e., of its being a revealed commandment.
122 This refers, in the first instance, to the fact that the Ka'bah was Abraham's qiblah, as
well as to the Biblical prophecies relating to Ishmael as the progenitor of a "great nation"
(Genesis xxi, 13 and 18) from whom a prophet "like unto Moses" would one day arise: for
it was through Ishamel's descendant, the Arabian Prophet, that the commandment relating to
the qiblah was revealed. (Regarding the still more explicit predictions of the future advent
of the Prophet Muhammad, forthcoming from the canonical Gospels, see 61:6 and the
corresponding note.)
123 Lit., "everyone has a direction...", etc. Almost all of the classical commentators, from
the Companions of the Prophet downwards, interpret this as a reference to the various religious
communities and their different modes of "turning towards God" in worship. Ibn Kathir, in
his commentary on this verse, stresses its inner resemblance to the phrase occurring in 5:48:
"unto every one of you have We appointed a [different] law and way of life". The statement
that "every community faces a direction of its own" in its endeavour to express its submission
to God implies, firstly, that at various times and in various circumstances man's desire to
approach God in prayer has taken different forms (e.g., Abraham's choice of the Ka'bah as
his qiblah. the Jewish concentration on Jerusalem, the eastward orientation of the early
Christian churches, and the Qur'anic commandment relating to the Ka'bah); and, secondly,
that the direction of prayer however important its symbolic significance may be - does not
represent the essence of faith as such: for, as the Qur'an says, "true piety does not consist
in turning your faces towards the east or the west" (2:177), and, "God's is the east and
the west" (2:115 and 142). Consequently, the revelation which established the Ka'bah as
the qiblah of the Muslims should not be a matter of contention for people of other faiths,
nor a cause of their disbelief in the truth of the Qur'anic revelation as such (Manor 11, 21 f.).
124 Lit., "except such among them as are bent upon wrongdoing" (regarding the intent implied
in the use of the past tense in expressions like alladhrna zalama or alladhrna kafaru, see
note 6 on verse 6 of this surah). The Qur'an stresses repeatedly that the Muslims are true
followers of Abraham. This claim, however, might have been open to objection so long as
they prayed in a direction other than Abraham's qiblah, the Ka'bah. The establishment of
the latter as the qiblah of the followers of the Qur'an would invalidate any such argument
and would leave it only to "those who are bent upon wrongdoing" (in this case, distorting
the truth) to challenge the message of the Qur'an on these grounds.
2:151
Even as We have sent unto you an apostle from among yourselves to convey unto you Our messages, and to cause you to grow in purity, and to impart unto you revelation and wisdom, and to teach you that which you knew not: (2:152) so remember Me, and I shall remember you; and be grateful unto Me, and deny Me not.
2:153
O YOU who have attained to faith! Seek aid in steadfast patience and prayer: for, behold, God is with those who are patient in adversity.
2:154
And say not of those who are slain in God's cause, "They are dead": nay, they are alive, but you perceive it not.
2:155
And most certainly shall We try you by means125 of danger, and hunger, and loss of worldly goods, of lives and of [labour's] fruits. But give glad tidings unto those who are patient in adversity - (2:156) who, when calamity befalls them, say, "Verily, unto God do we belong and, verily, unto Him we shall return." (2:157) It is they upon whom their Sustainer's blessings and grace are bestowed, and it is they, they who are on the right path! 125 Lit., "with something".
2:158
[Hence,] behold, As-Safa and Al-Marwah are among the symbols set up by God;126 and thus, no wrong does he who, having come to the Temple on pilgrimage or on a pious visit, strides to and fro between these two:127 for, if one does more good than he is bound to do - behold, God is responsive to gratitude, all-knowing.128
2:159
BEHOLD, as for those who suppress aught of the evidence of the truth and of the guidance which We have bestowed from on high, after We have made it clear unto mankind through the divine writ - these it is whom God will reject, and whom all who can judge will reject.129 (2:160) Excepted, however, shall be they that repent, and put themselves to rights, and make known the truth: and it is they whose repentance I shall accept - for I alone am the Acceptor of Repentance, the Dispenser of Grace. 126 Lit., "God's symbols". The space between the two low outcrops of rock called As-Safa and
Al-Marwah, situated in Mecca in the immediate vicinity of the Ka'bah, is said to have
been the scene of Hagar's suffering when Abraham, following God's command, abandoned her
and their infant son Ishmael in the desert (see note 102 above). Distraught with thirst
and fearing for the life of her child, Hagar ran to and fro between the two rocks and
fervently prayed to God for succour: and, finally, her reliance on God and her patience
were rewarded by the discovery of a spring-existing to this day and known as the Well of
Zamzam - which saved the two from death through thirst. It was in remembrance of Hagar's
extreme trial, and of her trust in God, that As-Safa and Al-Marwah had come to be regarded,
even in pre-Islamic times, as symbols of faith and patience in adversity: and this explains
their mention in the context of the passages which deal with the virtues of patience and
trust in God (Razi).
127 It is in commemoration of Hagar's running in distress between As-Safa and Al-Marwah
that the Mecca pilgrims are expected to walk, at a fast pace, seven times between these
two hillocks. Because of the fact that in pre-Islamic times certain idols had been standing
there, some of the early Muslims were reluctant to perform a rite which seemed to them to
be associated with recent idolatry (Razi, on the authority of Ibn 'Abbas). The above verse
served to reassure them on this score by pointing out that this symbolic act of remembrance
was much older than the idolatry practiced by the pagan Quraysh.
128 From the phrase "if one does more good than he is bound to do", read in conjunction with
no wrong does he who..." (or, more literally, "there shall be no blame upon him who..."),
some of the great Islamic scholars - e.g., Imam Abu Hanifah - conclude that the walking to
and fro between As-Safa and Al-Marwah is not one of the obligatory rites of pilgrimage but
rather a supererogatory act of piety (see Zamakhshari and Razi). Most scholars, however,
hold the view that it is an integral part of the pilgrimage.
129 Lit., "whom all who reject will reject" - i.e., all righteous persons who are able to
judge moral issues. God's rejection (la'nah) denotes "exclusion from His grace" (Manor II, 50).
In classical Arabic usage, the primary meaning of la'nah is equivalent to ib'ad
("estrangement" or "banishment"); in the terminology of the Qur'an, it signifies "rejection
from all that is good" (Lisan al-'Arab). According to Ibn 'Abbas and several outstanding
scholars of the next generation, the divine writ mentioned here is the Bible; thus, the
above verse refers to the Jews and the Christians.
2:161
Behold, as for those who are bent on denying the truth and die as deniers of the truth - their due is rejection by God, and by the angels, and by all [righteous] men. (2:162) In this state shall they abide; [and] neither will their suffering, be lightened, nor will they be granted respite.
2:163
AND YOUR GOD is the One God: there is no deity save Him, the Most Gracious, the Dispenser of Grace. (2:164) Verily, in the creation of the heavens and of the earth, and the succession of night and day: and in the ships that speed through the sea with what is useful to man: and in the waters which God sends down from the sky, giving life thereby to the earth after it had been lifeless, and causing all manner of living creatures to multiply thereon: and in the change of the winds, and the clouds that run their appointed courses between sky and earth: [in all this] there are messages indeed for people who use their reason.130
2:165
And yet there are people who choose to believe in beings that allegedly rival God,131 loving them as [only] God should be loved: whereas those who have attained to faith love God more than all else. If they who are bent on evildoing could but see - as see they will when they are made to suffer132 [on Resurrection Day] - that all might belongs to God alone, and that God is severe in [meting out] punishment!
2:166
[On that Day] it will come to pass that those who had been [falsely] adored133 shall disown their followers, and the latter shall see the suffering [that awaits them], with all their hopes134 cut to pieces! (2:167) And then those followers shall say: "Would that we had a second chance [in life],135 so that we could disown them as they have disowned us!"
Thus will God show them their works [in a manner that will cause them] bitter regrets; but they will not come out of the fire.136 130 This passage is one of the many in which the Qur'an appeals to "those who use their reason"
to observe the daily wonders of nature, including the evidence of man's own ingenuity
("the ships that speed through the sea"), as so many indications of a conscious, creative
Power pervading the universe.
131 Lit., "there are among the people such as take [to worshipping] compeers beside God".
Regarding the term andad, see note 13 on verse 22 of this surah.
132 Lit., "when they see the suffering" (or "chastisement").
133 Lit., "followed" - i.e., as saints or alleged "divine personalities".
134 Asbab (sing. sabab) denotes, in its primary meaning, "ties" or "attachments", and in a
tropical sense, "means [towards any end]" (cf. Lisan al-'Arab, and Lane IV, 1285). In
the above context, asbab obviously refers to means of salvation, and may thus be rendered
as "hopes".
135 Lit., "Would that there were a return for us".
136 Sc., back to the life of this world, with a second chance before them (Manar 11, 81).
2:168
O MANKIND! Partake of what is lawful and good on earth, and follow not Satan's footsteps: for, verily, he is your open foe, (2:169) and bids you only to do evil, and to commit deeds of abomination, and to attribute unto God something of which you have no knowledge.137
2:170
But when they are told, "Follow what God has bestowed from on high," some answer, "Nay, we shall follow [only] that which we found our forefathers believing in and doing." Why, even if their forefathers did not use their reason at all, and were devoid of all guidance?
2:171
And so, the parable of those who are bent on denying the truth is that of the beast which hears the shepherd's cry, and hears in it nothing but the sound of a voice and a call.138 Deaf are they, and dumb, and blind: for they do not use their reason. 137 This refers to an arbitrary attribution to God of commandments or prohibitions in excess
of what has been clearly ordained by Him (Zamakhshari). Some of the commentators (e.g.,
Muhammad 'Abduh in Manar 11, 89 f.) include within this expression the innumerable supposedly
"legal" injunctions which, without being clearly warranted by the wording of the Qur'an or
an authentic Tradition, have been obtained by individual Muslim scholars through subjective
methods of deduction and then put forward as "God's ordinances". The connection between this
passage and the preceding ones is obvious. In verses 165-167 the Qur'an speaks of those
"who choose to believe in beings that supposedly rival God": and this implies also a false
attribution, to those beings, of a right to issue quasi-religious ordinances of their own,
as well as an attribution of religious validity to customs sanctioned by nothing but ancient
usage (see next verse).
138 This is a very free rendering of the elliptic sentence which, literally, reads thus: "The
parable of those who are bent on denying the truth is as that of him who cries unto what
hears nothing but a cry and a call." The verb na'qa is mostly used to describe the
inarticulate cry with which the shepherd drives his flock.
2:172
O you who have attained to faith! Partake of the good things which We have provided for you as sustenance, and render thanks unto God, if it is [truly] Him that you worship.
2:173
He has forbidden to you only carrion, and blood, and the flesh of swine, and that over which any name other than God's has been invoked;139 but if one is driven by necessity - neither coveting it nor exceeding his immediate need - no sin shall be upon him: for, behold, God is much-forgiving, a dispenser of grace.
2:174
VERILY, as for those who suppress aught of the revelation140 which God has bestowed from on high, and barter it away for a trifling gain - they but fill their bellies with fire. And God will not speak unto them on the Day of Resurrection, nor will He cleanse them [of their sins]; and grievous suffering awaits them.(2:175) It is they who take error in exchange for guidance, and suffering in exchange for forgiveness: yet how little do they seem to fear the fire! 139 I.e., all that has been dedicated or offered in sacrifice to an idol or a saint or a person
considered to be "divine". For a more comprehensive enumeration of the forbidden kinds of
flesh, see 5:3.
140 This term is used here in its generic sense, comprising both the Qur'an and the earlier
revelations.
2:176
Thus it is: since it is God who bestows141 the divine writ from on high, setting forth the truth, all those who set their own views against the divine writ142 are, verily, most deeply in the wrong.
2:177
True piety does not consist in turning your faces towards the east or the west143 - but truly pious is he who believes in God, and the Last Day; and the angels, and revelation,144 and the prophets; and spends his substance - however much he himself may cherish it - upon his near of kin, and the orphans, and the needy, and the wayfarer,145 and the beggars, and for the freeing of human beings from bondage;146 and is constant in prayer, and renders the purifying dues; and [truly pious are] they who keep their promises whenever they promise, and are patient in misfortune and hardship and in time of peril: it is they that have proved themselves true, and it is they, they who are conscious of God. 141 Lit., "has been bestowing". Since the form nazzala implies gradualness and continuity
in the process of revelation, it can best be rendered by the use of the present tense.
142 Lit., "who hold discordant views about the divine writ"- i.e., either suppressing or
rejecting parts of it, or denying its divine origin altogether (Razi).
143 Thus, the Qur'an stresses the principle that mere compliance with outward forms does
not fulfil the requirements of piety. The reference to the turning of one's face in
prayer in this or that direction flows from the passages which dealt, a short while ago,
with the question of the qiblah.
144 In this context, the term "revelation" (al-kitab) carries, according to most of the
commentators, a generic significance: it refers to the fact of divine revelation as such.
As regards belief in angels, it is postulated here because it is through these spiritual
beings or force's (belonging to the realm of al-ghayb, i.e., the reality which is beyond
the reach of human perception) that God reveals His will to the prophets and, thus, to
mankind at large.
145 The expression ibn as-sabil (lit., "son of the road") denotes any person who is far from
his home, and especially one who, because of this circumstance, does not have sufficient
means of livelihood at his disposal (cf. Lane IV, 1302). In its wider sense it describes a
person who, for any reason whatsoever, is unable to return home either temporarily or
permanently: for instance, a political exile or refugee.
146 Ar-raqabah (of which ar-riqab is the plural) denotes, literally, "the neck", and signifies
also the whole of a human person. Metonymically, the expression fi'r-riqab denotes "in
the cause of freeing human beings from bondage", and applies to both the ransoming of
captives and the freeing of slaves. By including this kind of expenditure within the
essential acts of piety, the Qur'an implies that the freeing of people from bondage - and,
thus, the abolition of slavery - is one of the social objectives of Islam. At the time of
the revelation of the Qur'an, slavery was an established institution throughout the world,
and its sudden abolition would have been economically impossible. In order to obviate this
difficulty, and at the same time to bring about an eventual abolition of all slavery, the
Qur'an ordains in 8:67 that henceforth only captives taken in a just war (jihad) may be
kept as slaves. But even with regard to persons enslaved in this or - before the revelation
of 8:67 - in any other way, the Qur'an stresses the great merit inherent in the freeing of
slaves, and stipulates it as a means of atonement for various transgressions (see, e.g.,
4:92, 5:89, 58:3). In addition, the Prophet emphatically stated on many occasions that,
in the sight of God, the unconditional freeing of a human being from bondage is among the
most praiseworthy acts which a Muslim could perform. (For a critical discussion and analysis
of all the authentic Traditions bearing on this problem, see Nayl al-Awtar VI, 199 ff.)
2:178
O YOU who have attained to faith! Just retribution is ordained for you in cases of killing: the free for the free, and the slave for the slave, and the woman for the woman.147 And if something [of his guilt] is remitted to a guilty person by his brother,148 this [remission] shall be adhered to with fairness, and restitution to his fellow-man shall be made in a goodly manner.149
This is an alleviation from your Sustainer, and an act of His grace. And for him who, none the less, 150 wilfully transgresses the bounds of what is right, there is grievous suffering in store: (2:179) for, in [the law of] just retribution, O you who are endowed with insight, there is life for you, so that you might remain conscious of God!151 147 After having pointed out that true piety does not consist in mere adherence to outward
forms and rites, - the Qur'an opens, as it were, a new chapter relating to the problem of
man's behaviour. Just as piety cannot become effective without righteous action, individual
righteousness cannot become really effective in the social sense unless there is agreement
within the community as to the social rights and obligations of its members: in other words,
as to the practical laws which should govern the behaviour of the individual within the
society and the society's attitude towards the individual and his actions. This is the
innermost reason why legislation plays so great a role within the ideology of Islam, and
why the Qur'an consistently intertwines its moral and spiritual exhortation with ordinances
relating to practical aspects of social life. Now one of the main problems facing any society
is the safeguarding of the lives and the individual security of its members: and so it is
understandable that laws relating to homicide and its punishment are dealt with prominently
at this place. (It should be borne in mind that "The Cow" was the first surah revealed in
Medina, that is, at the time when the Muslim community had just become established as an
independent social entity.)
As for the term qisas occurring at the beginning of the above passage, it must be pointed out
that - according to all the classical commentators - it is almost synonymous with musawah,
i.e., "making a thing equal [to another thing]": in this instance, making the punishment
equal (or appropriate) to the crime - a meaning which is best rendered as "just retribution"
and not (as has been often, and erroneously, done) as "retaliation". Seeing that the Qur'an
speaks here of "cases of killing" (fi'l-qatla, lit., "in the matter of the killed") in
general, and taking into account that this expression covers all possible cases of homicide -
premeditated murder, murder under extreme provocation, culpable homicide, accidental manslaughter,
and so forth - it is obvious that the taking of a life for a life (implied in the term
"retaliation") would not in every case correspond to the demands of equity. (This has been
made clear, for instance, in 4:92, where legal restitution for unintentional homicide is
dealt with.) Read in conjunction with the term "just retribution" which introduces this passage,
it is clear that the stipulation "the free for the free, the slave for the slave, the woman
for the woman" cannot - and has not been intended to - be taken in its literal, restrictive
sense: for this would preclude its application to many cases of homicide, e.g., the killing
of a free man by a slave, or of a woman by a man, or vice-versa. Thus, the above stipulation
must be regarded as an example of the elliptical mode of expression (ijaz) so frequently employed
in the Qur'an, and can have but one meaning, namely: "if a free man has committed the crime,
the free man must be punished; if a slave has commited the crime...", etc.- in other words,
whatever the status of the guilty person, he or she (and he or she alone) is to be punished
in a manner appropriate to the crime.
148 Lit., "and he to whom [something] is remitted by his brother". There is no linguistic
justification whatever for attributing - as some of the commentators have done - the pronoun
"his" to the victim and, thus, for assuming that the expression "brother" stands for the
victim's "family" or "blood relations". The pronoun "his" refers, unquestionably, to the
guilty person; and since there is no reason for assuming that by "his brother" a real brother
is meant, we cannot escape the conclusion that it denotes here "his brother in faith" of
"his fellow-man" - in either of which terms the whole community is included. Thus, the
expression "if something is remitted to a guilty person by his brother" (i.e., by the community
or its legal organs) may refer either to the establishment of mitigating circumstances in a
case of murder, or to the finding that the case under trial falls within the categories of
culpable homicide or manslaughter - in which cases no capital punishment is to be exacted
and restitution is to be made by the payment of an indemnity called diyyah (see 4:92) to
the relatives of the victim. In consonance with the oft-recurring Qur'anic exhortation to
forgiveness and forbearance, the "remission" mentioned above may also (and especially in
cases of accidental manslaughter) relate to a partial or even total waiving of any claim
to indemnification.
149 Lit., "and restitution to him in a goodly manner", it being understood that the pronoun
in ilayhi ("to him") refers to the "brother in faith" or "fellow-man" mentioned earlier in
this sentence. The word ada (here translated as "restitution") denotes an act of acquitting
oneself of a duty or a debt (cf. Lane I, 38), and stands here for the act of legal reparation
imposed on the guilty person. This reparation or restitution is to be made "in a goodly manner" -
by taking into account the situation of the accused and, on the latter's part, by acquitting
himself of his obligation willingly and sincerely (cf. Manar II, 129).
150 Lit., "after this" - i.e., after the meaning of what constitutes "just retribution" (qisas)
has been made clear in the above ordinance (Razi).
151 I.e., "there is a safeguard for you, as a community, so that you might be able to live
in security, as God wants you to live". Thus, the objective of qisds is the protection of
the society, and not "revenge".
2:180
IT IS ordained for you, when death approaches any of you and he is leaving behind much wealth, to make bequests in favour of his parents and [other] near of kin in accordance with what is fair:152 this is binding on all who are conscious of God. (2:181) And if anyone alters such a provision after having come to know it, the sin of acting thus shall fall only upon those who have altered it.153 Verily, God is all-hearing, all-knowing.
2:182
If, however, one has reason to fear that the testator has committed a mistake or a [deliberate] wrong, and thereupon brings about a settlement between the heirs,154 he will incur no sin [thereby]. Verily, God is much-forgiving, a dispenser of grace.
2:183
O YOU who have attained to faith! Fasting is ordained for you as it was ordained for those before you, so that you might remain conscious of God: (2:184) [fasting] during a certain number of days.155 But whoever of you is ill, or on a journey, [shall fast instead for the same] number of other days; and [in such cases] it is incumbent upon those who can afford it to make sacrifice by feeding a needy person.156
And whoever does more good than he is bound to do157 does good unto himself thereby; for to fast is to do good unto yourselves - if you but knew it. 152 The word khayr occurring in this sentence denotes "much wealth" and not simply "property":
and this explains the injunction that one who leaves much wealth behind should make bequests
to particularly deserving members of his family in addition to - and preceding the
distribution of - the legally - fixed shares mentioned in 4:11-12. This interpretation of
khayr is supported by sayings of 'A'ishah and 'Ali ibn Abi Talib, both of them referring to
this particular verse (cf. Zamakhshari and Baydawi).
153 Lit., "and as for him who alters it" - i.e., after the testator's death - "after having
heard it, the sin thereof is only upon those who alter it": that is, not on anyone who may
have unwittingly benefited by this alteration. It is to be noted that the verb sami'a
(lit., "he heard") has also the connotation of "he came to know".
154 Lit., "between them" - i.e., a settlement overriding the testamentary provisions which, by
common consent of the parties concerned, are considered unjust.
155 I.e., during the twenty-nine or thirty days of Ramadan, the ninth month of the Islamic lunar
calendar (see next verse). It consists of a total abstention from food, drink and sexual
intercourse from dawn until sunset. As the Qur'an points out, fasting has been widely practiced
at all times of man's religious history. The extreme rigour and the long duration of the Islamic
fast - which is incumbent on every healthy adult, man or woman - fulfils, in addition to the
general aim of spiritual purification, a threefold purpose: (1) to commemorate the beginning of
the Qur'anic revelation, which took place in the month of Ramadan about thirteen years before
the Prophet's exodus to Medina; (2) to provide an exacting exercise of self-discipline; and
(3) to make everyone realize, through his or her own experience, how it feels to be hungry and
thirsty, and thus to gain a true appreciation of the needs of the poor.
156 This phrase has been subject to a number of conflicting and sometimes highly laboured
interpretations. My rendering is based on the primary meaning of alladhina yutiqunahu
("those who are capable of it" or "are able to do it" or "can afford it"), with the pronoun
hu relating to the act of "feeding a needy person".
157 Some commentators are of the opinion that this refers to a voluntary feeding of more
than one needy person, or to feeding the needy for more than the number of days required
by the above ordinance. Since, however, the remaining part of the sentence speaks of the
benefits of fasting as such, it is more probable that "doing more good than one is bound
to do" refers, in this context, to supererogatory fasting (such as the Prophet sometimes
undertook) apart from the obligatory one during the month of Ramadan.
2:185
It was the month of Ramadan in which the Qur'an was [first] bestowed from on high as a guidance unto man and a self-evident proof of that guidance, and as the standard by which to discern the true from the false. Hence, whoever of you lives to see158 this month shall fast throughout it; but he that is ill, or on a journey, [shall fast instead for the same] number of other days. God wills that you shall have ease, and does not will you to suffer hardship; but [He desires] that you complete the number [of days required], and that you extol God for His having guided you aright, and that you render your thanks [unto Him].
2:186
AND IF My servants ask thee about Me - behold, I am near; I respond to the call of him who calls, whenever he calls unto Me: let them, then, respond unto Me, and believe in Me, so that they might follow the right way.
2:187
IT IS lawful for you to go in unto your wives during the night preceding the [day's] fast: they are as a garment for you, and you are as a garment for them. God is aware that you would have deprived yourselves of this right,159 and so He has turned unto you in His mercy and removed this hardship from you. Now, then, you may lie with them skin to skin, and avail yourselves of that which God has ordained for you,160 and eat and drink until you can discern the white streak of dawn against the blackness of night,161 and then resume fasting until nightfall; but do not lie with them skin to skin when you are about to abide in meditation in houses of worship.162
These are the bounds set by God: do not, then, offend against them - [for] it is thus that God makes clear His messages unto mankind, so that they might remain conscious of Him. 158 Lit., "witnesses" or "is present in".
159 Lit., "deceived" of "defrauded yourselves [in this respect]": an allusion to the idea
prevalent among the early Muslims, before the revelation of this verse, that during the
period of fasting all sexual intercourse should be avoided, even at night-time, when
eating and drinking are allowed (Razi). The above verse removed this misconception.
160 Lit., "and seek that which God has ordained for you": an obvious stress on the God-willed
nature of sexual life.
161 Lit., "the white line of dawn from the black line [of night]". According to all Arab
philologists, the "black line" (al-khayt al'-aswad) signifies "the blackness of night"
(Lane II, 831); and the expression al-khaytan ("the two lines" or "streaks") denotes
"day and night" (Lisan al-'Arab).
162 It was the practice of the Prophet to spend several days and nights during Ramadan -
and occasionally also at other times - in the mosque, devoting himself to prayer and
meditation to the exclusion of all worldly activities; and since he advised his followers
as well to do this from time to time, seclusion in a mosque for the sake of meditation,
called i'tikaf, has become a recognized though optional - mode of devotion among Muslims,
especially during the last ten days of Ramadan.
2:188
AND DEVOUR NOT one another's possessions wrongfully, and neither employ legal artifices163 with a view to devouring sinfully, and knowingly, anything that by right belongs to others.164
2:189
THEY WILL ASK thee about the new moons. Say: "They indicate the periods for [various doings of] mankind, including the pilgrimage."165
However, piety does not consist in your entering houses from the rear, [as it were,] but truly pious is he who is conscious of God.166 Hence, enter houses through their doors, and remain conscious of God, so that you might attain to a happy state. 163 Lit., "and do not throw it to the judges" - i.e., with a view to being decided by them
contrary to what is right (Zamakhshari, Baydawi).
164 Lit., "a part of [other] people's possessions".
165 The reference, at this stage, to lunar months arises from the fact that the observance of
several of the religious obligations instituted by Islam - like the fast of Ramadan, or the
pilgrimage to Mecca (which is dealt with in verses 196-203)- is based on the lunar calendar,
in which the months rotate through the seasons of the solar year. This fixation on the lunar
calendar results in a continuous variation of the seasonal circumstances in which those
religious observances are performed (e.g., the length of the fasting-period between dawn and
sunset, heat or cold at the time of the fast or the pilgrimage), and thus in a corresponding,
periodical increase or decrease of the hardship involved. In addition to this, reckoning by
lunar months has a bearing on the tide and ebb of the oceans, as well as on human physiology
(e.g., a woman's monthly courses - a subject dealt with later on in this surah).
166 I.e., true piety does not consist in approaching questions of faith through a "back door",
as it were - that is,'through mere observance of the forms and periods set for the performance
of various religious duties (cf. 2:177). However important these forms and time-limits may
be in themselves, they do not fulfil their real purpose unless every act is approached through
its spiritual "front door", that is, through God-consciousness. Since, metonymically, the
word bab ("door") signifies "a means of access to, or of attainment of, a thing" (see Lane I,
272), the metaphor of "entering a house through its door" is often used in classical Arabic
to denote a proper approach to a problem (Razi).
2:190
AND FIGHT in God's cause against those who wage war against you, but do not commit aggression - for, verily, God does not love aggressors.167 (2:191) And slay them wherever you may come upon them, and drive them away from wherever they drove you away - for oppression is even worse than killing.168 And fight not against them near the Inviolable House of Worship unless they fight against you there first;169 but if they fight against you, slay them: such shall be the recompense of those who deny the truth.
2:192
But if they desist - behold, God is much-forgiving, a dispenser of grace.
2:193
Hence, fight against them until there is no more oppression and all worship is devoted to God alone;170 but if they desist, then all hostility shall cease, save against those who [wilfully] do wrong. 167 This and the following verses lay down unequivocally that only self-defence (in the widest
sense of the word) makes war permissible for Muslims. Most of the commentators agree in that
the expression la ta'tadu signifies, in this context, "do not commit aggression"; while by
al-mu'tadin "those who commit aggression" are meant. The defensive character of a fight
"in God's cause" - that is, in the cause of the ethical principles ordained by God - is,
moreover, self-evident in the reference to "those who wage war against you", and has been
still further clarified in 22:39 - "permission [to fight] is given to those against whom war
is being wrongfully waged" - which, according to all available Traditions, constitutes the
earliest (and therefore fundamental) Qur'anic reference to the question of jihad, or
holy war (see Tabari and Ibn Kathir in their commentaries on 22:39). That this early,
fundamental principle of self-defence as the only possible justification of war has been
maintained throughout the Qur'an is evident from 60:8, as well as from the concluding
sentence of 4:91, both of which belong to a later period than the above verse.
168 In view of the preceding ordinance, the injunction "slay them wherever you may come upon
them" is valid only within the context of hostilities already in progress (Razi), on the
understanding that "those who wage war against you" are the aggressors or oppressors (a
war of liberation being a war "in God's cause"). The translation, in this context, of
fitnah as "oppression" is justified by the application of this term to any affliction which
may cause man to go astray and to lose his faith in spiritual values (cf. Lisan al-'Arab).
169 This reference to warfare in the vicinity of Mecca is due to the fact that at the time
of the revelation of this verse the Holy City was still in the possession of the pagan Quraysh,
who were hostile to the Muslims. However - as is always the case with historical references
in the Qur'an - the above injunction has a general import, and is valid for all times
and circumstances.
170 Lit., "and religion belongs to God [alone]" - i.e., until God can be worshipped without
fear of persecution, and none is compelled to bow down in awe before another human being.
(See also 22:40.) The term din is in this context more suitably translated as "worship"
inasmuch as it comprises here both the doctrinal and the moral aspects of religion: that
is to say, man's faith as well as the obligations arising from that faith.
2:194
Fight during the sacred months if you are attacked:171 for a violation of sanctity is [subject to the law of] just retribution. Thus, if anyone commits aggression against you, attack him just as he has attacked you - but remain conscious of God, and know that God is with those who are conscious of Him.172
2:195
And spend [freely] in God's cause, and let not your own hands throw you into destruction;173 and persevere in doing good: behold, God loves the doers of good. 171 This is a free rendering of the phrase "the sacred month for the sacred month", which
is interpreted by all commentators in the sense given above. The "sacred months" during which,
according to ancient Arab custom, all fighting was deemed utterly wrong, were the first,
seventh, eleventh and twelfth months of the lunar calendar.
172 Thus, although the believers are enjoined to fight back whenever they are attacked,
the concluding words of the above verse make it clear that they must, when fighting,
abstain from all atrocities, including the killing of non-combatants.
173 I.e., "you might bring about your own destruction by withholding your personal and
material contribution to this common effort".
2:196
AND PERFORM the pilgrimage and the pious visit [to Mecca]174 in honour of God; and if you are held back, give instead whatever offering you can easily afford. And do not shave your heads until the offering has been sacrificed;175 but he from among you who is ill or suffers from an ailment of the head shall redeem himself by fasting, or alms, or [any other] act of worship. And if you are hale and secure,176 then he who takes advantage of a pious visit before the [time of] pilgrimage shall give whatever offering he can easily afford;177 whereas he who cannot afford it shall fast for three days during the pilgrimage and for seven days after your return: that is, ten full [days]. All this relates to him who does not live near the Inviolable House of Worship.178
And remain conscious of God, and know that God is severe in retribution.179 174 The Mecca pilgrimage (hajj) takes place once a year, in the month of Dhu'l-Hijjah,
whereas a pious visit ('umrah) may be performed at any time. In both hajj and 'umrah,
the pilgrims are required to walk seven times around the Ka'bah and seven times between
As-Safa and Al-Marwah (see notes 127 and 128 above); in the course of the hajj, they
must, in addition, attend the gathering on the plain of 'Arafat on the 9th of Dhu'l-Hijjah
(see note 182 below) irrespective of whether they are performing a full hajj or only an
'umrah, the pilgrims must refrain from cutting or even trimming the hair on their heads
from the time they enter the state of pilgrimage (ihram) until the end of the pilgrimage,
respectively the pious visit. As mentioned in the sequence, persons who are ill or suffer
from an ailment which necessitates the cutting or shaving of one's hair are exempted from
this prohibition.
175 Lit., "until the offering has reached its destination" - i.e., in time or in place;
according to Razi, the time of sacrifice is meant here, namely, the conclusion of the
pilgrimage, when those who participate in the hajj are expected - provided they can afford
it - to sacrifice a sheep, a goat, or the like; and to distribute most of its flesh in
charity.
176 The expression idha amantum (lit., "when you are safe") refers here to safety both from
external dangers (e.g., war) and from illness, and is, therefore, best rendered as "hale
and secure" - the implication being that the person concerned is in a position, and intends,
to participate in the pilgrimage.
177 This relates to an interruption, for the sake of personal comfort, of the state of
pilgrimage (ihram) during the time intervening between the completion of an 'umrah and
the performance of the hajj (cf. Manar 11, 222). The pilgrim who takes advantage of this
facility is obliged to sacrifice an animal (see note 175 above) at the termination of the
pilgrimage or, alternatively, to fast for ten days.
178 Lit., "whose people are not present at the Inviolable House of Worship" - i.e., do not
permanently reside there: for, obviously, the inhabitants of Mecca cannot remain permanently
in the state of ihram.
179 This refers not merely to a possible violation of the sanctity of the pilgrimage but also,
in a more general way, to all deliberate violations of God's ordinances.
2:197
The pilgrimage shall take place in the months appointed for it.180 And whoever undertakes the pilgrimage in those [months] shall, while on pilgrimage, abstain from lewd speech, from all wicked conduct, and from quarrelling; and whatever good you may do, God is aware of it.
And make provision for yourselves - but, verily, the best of all provisions is God-consciousness: remain, then, conscious of Me, O you who are endowed with insight! (2:198) [However,] you will be committing no sin if [during the pilgrimage] you seek to obtain any bounty from your Sustainer.181
And when you surge downward in multitudes from 'Arafat, 182 remember God at the holy place, and remember Him as the One who guided you after you had indeed been lost on your way;183 (2:199) and surge onward together with the multitude of all the other people who surge onward,184 and ask God to forgive you your sins: for, verily, God is much-forgiving, a dispenser of grace. 180 Lit., "in the well-known months". Since the hajj culminates in one particular month
(namely, Dhu'l-Hijjah), the plural apparently refers to its annual recurrence. It should,
however, be noted that some commentators understand it as referring to the last three
months of the lunar year.
181 I.e., by trading while in the state of ihram. Muhammad 'Abduh points out (in Manar II, 231)
that the endeavour "to obtain any bounty from your Sustainer" implies God-consciousness and,
therefore, constitutes a kind of worship-provided, of course, that this endeavour does not
conflict with any other, more prominent religious requirement.
182 The gathering of all pilgrims on the plain of 'Arafat, east of Mecca, takes place on the
9th of Dhu'l-Hijjah and constitutes the climax of the pilgrimage. The pilgrims are required
to remain until sunset on that plain, below the hillock known as Jabal ar-Rahmah ("the Mount
of Grace") - a symbolic act meant to bring to mind that ultimate gathering on Resurrection Day,
when every soul will await God's judgment. Immediately after sunset, the multitudes of pilgrims
move back in the direction of Mecca, stopping overnight at a place called Muzdalifah, the
"holy place" referred to in the next clause of this sentence.
183 Lit., "and remember Him as He has guided you, although before that you had indeed been among
those who go astray".
184 Lit., "surge onward in multitudes whence the people surge onward in multitudes": thus the
pilgrims are called upon to submerge their individualities, at that supreme moment of the
pilgrimage, in the consciousness of belonging to a community of people who are all equal
before God, with no barrier of race or class or social status separating one person from
another.
2:200
And when you have performed your acts of worship, [continue to] bear God in mind as you would bear your own fathers in mind - nay, with a yet keener remembrance!185 For there are people who [merely] pray, "O our Sustainer! Give us in this world" - and such shall not partake in the blessings of the life to come. (2:201) But there are among them such as pray, "O our Sustainer! Grant us good in this world and good in the life to come, and keep us safe from suffering through the fire": (2:202) it is these that shall have their portion [of happiness] in return for what they have earned. And God is swift in reckoning.
2:203
And bear God in mind during the appointed days;186 but he who hurries away within two days shall incur no sin, and he who tarries longer shall incur no sin, provided that he is conscious of God. Hence, remain conscious of God, and know that unto Him you shall be gathered.
2:204
NOW THERE IS a kind of man187 whose views on the life of this world may please thee greatly, and [the more so as] he cites God as witness to what is in his heart and is, moreover, exceedingly skillful in argument.188 (2:205) But whenever he prevails, he goes about the earth spreading corruption and destroying [man's] tilth and progeny:189 and God does not love corruption. (2:206) And whenever he is told, "Be conscious of God," his false pride drives him into sin: wherefore hell will be his allotted portion - and how vile a resting-place! 185 Most of the commentators see in this passage a reference to the custom of the pre-Islamic
Arabs to extol, on the occasion of various gatherings, the greatness and the supposed virtues
of their ancestors. Some of the earliest Islamic scholars, however - e.g., Ad-Dahhak, Ar-Rabi
and Abu Muslim - are of the opinion that what is meant here are actual fathers (or, by
implication, both parents), whom a child usually considers to be the embodiment of all that
is good and powerful (see Razi's commentary on this verse).
186 These are the days following the "Festival of Sacrifices" ('id al-adha'), which takes place
on the 10th of Dhu'l-Hijjah. The pilgrims are obliged to spend at least two of these days in
the valley of Mina, about half-way between 'Arafat and Mecca.
187 Lit., "among the people there is he" (or "such as"). Since there is no valid reason to
suppose, as some commentators do, that this refers to a particular person - a contemporary
of the Prophet - the most reliable authorities hold that the above passage has a general
meaning (cf. Razi). As the context shows, it is a further elaboration of the allusion, made
in 2:200-201, to two contrasting attitudes: the attitude of people whose only real concern
is the life of this world, and that of people who are mindful of the hereafter as well as,
or even more than, their present life.
188 Lit., "the most contentious of adversaries in a dispute". According to Az-Zajjaj (quoted
by Razi), this signifies a person who is always able to defeat his opponent in a controversy
by the use of extremely adroit and often misleading arguments. It is obvious that this passage
refers to people who hold plausible and even admirable views regarding a possible improvement
of human society and of man's lot on earth, but at the same time refuse to be guided by what
they regard as "esoteric" considerations - like belief in a life after death - and justify
their exclusive preoccupation with the affairs of this world by seemingly sound arguments
and a stress on their own ethical objectives ("they cite God as witness to what is in their
hearts"). There is an inescapable affinity between the mental attitude described in the above
passage and the one spoken of in 2:8-12.
189 Lit., "he hastens about the earth [or "strives on earth"] to spread corruption therein and
to destroy tilth and progeny". Most of the commentators see in this sentence an indication of
a conscious intent on the part of the person thus described; but it is also possible that the
particle li in li-yufsida (generally taken to mean "in order that he might spread corruption")
plays in this context the role of what the grammarians call a lam al-dqibah, "the [letter] lam
used to denote a consequence"- i.e., regardless of the existence or non-existence of a conscious
intent. (By rendering the sentence the way I do it, both possibilities are left open.) As regards
the expression harth (rendered by me as "tilth"), its primary significance is "gain" or
"acquisition" through labour; and thus it often signifies "worldly goods" (see Lane II, 542),
and especially the crops obtained by tilling land, as well as the tilled land itself. If
harth is understood in this context as "tilth", it would apply, metaphorically, to human endeavours
in general, and to social endeavours in particular. However, some commentators - basing their
opinion on the Qur'anic sentence, "your wives are your tilth" (2:223)- maintain that harth
stands here for "wives" (cf. Razi, and the philologist Al-Azhari, as quoted in Manar II, 248):
in which case the "destruction of tilth and progeny" would be synonymous with an upsetting
of family life and, consequently, of the entire social fabric. According to either of these
two interpretations, the passage has the following meaning: As soon as the mental attitude
described above is generally accepted and made the basis of social behaviour, it unavoidably
results in widespread moral decay and, consequently, social disintegration.
2:207
But there is [also] a kind of man who would willingly sell his own self in order to please God:190 and God is most compassionate towards His servants.
2:208
O you who have attained to faith! Surrender yourselves wholly unto God,191 and follow not Satan's footsteps, for, verily, he is your open foe. (2:209) And if you should stumble after all evidence of the truth has come unto you, then know that, verily, God is almighty, wise.
2:210
Are these people192 waiting, perchance, for God to reveal Himself unto them in the shadows of the clouds, together with the angels - although [by then] all will have been decided, and unto God all things will have been brought back?193 190 Lit., "there is such as would sell his own self out of a desire for God's pleasure": i.e.,
would give up all his personal interests if compliance with God's will were to demand it.
191 Lit., "enter wholly into self-surrender". Since self-surrender to God is the basis of all
true belief, some of the greatest commentators (e.g., Zamakhshari, Razi) hold that the
address, "O you who have attained to faith" cannot refer here to Muslims - a designation
which, throughout the Qur'an, literally means "those who have surrendered themselves to God" -
but must relate to people who have not yet achieved such complete self-surrender: that is,
to the Jews and the Christians, who do believe in most of the earlier revelations but do
not regard the message of the Qur'an as true. This interpretation would seem to be borne
out by the subsequent passages.
192 Lit., "they"- obviously referring to the people addressed in the preceding two verses.
193 I.e., it will be too late for repentance. All commentators agree in that the "decision"
relates to the unequivocal manifestation of God's will on the Day of Judgment, which is
alluded to in the words, "when unto God all things will have been brought back". Since,
in the next verse, the children of Israel are addressed, it is possible that this
rhetorical question is connected with their refusal, in the time of Moses, to believe
in the divine message unless they "see God face to face" (cf. 2:55).
2:211
Ask the children of Israel how many a clear message We have given them! And if one alters God's blessed message194 after it has reached him - verily, God is severe in retribution!
2:212
Unto those who are bent on denying the truth the life of this world [alone] seems goodly;195 hence, they scoff at those who have attained to faith: but they who are conscious of God shall be above them on Resurrection Day. And God grants sustenance unto whom He wills, beyond all reckoning.196
2:213
ALL MANKIND were once one single community; [then they began to differ - ] whereupon God raised up the prophets as heralds of glad tidings and as warners, and through them bestowed revelation from on high, setting forth the truth, so that it might decide between people with regard to all on which they had come to hold divergent views.197 Yet none other than the selfsame people who had been granted this [revelation] began, out of mutual jealousy, to disagree about its meaning after all evidence of the truth had come unto them. But God guided the believers unto the truth about which, by His leave, they had disagreed: for God guides onto a straight way him that wills [to be guided].198 194 Lit., "God's blessing".
195 Lit., "has been made beauteous".
196 I.e., He cannot be called to account for the way in which He distributes worldly benefits,
sometimes granting them to the morally deserving and sometimes to sinners.
197 By using the expression ummah wahidah ("one single community") to describe the original
state of mankind, the Qur'an does not propound, as might appear at first glance, the
idea of a mythical "golden age" obtaining at the dawn of man's history. What is alluded
to in this verse is no more than the relative homogeneity of instinctive perceptions and
inclinations characteristic of man's primitive mentality and the primitive social order
in which he lived in those early days. Since that homogeneity was based on a lack of
intellectual and emotional differentiation rather than on a conscious agreement among
the members of human society, it was bound to disintegrate in the measure of man's
subsequent development. As his thought-life became more and more complex, his emotional
capacity and his individual needs, too, became more differentiated, conflicts of views
and interests came to the fore, and mankind ceased to be "one single community" as regards
their outlook on life and their moral valuations: and it was at this stage that divine
guidance became necessary. (It is to be borne in mind that the term al-kitab refers here -
as in many other places in the Qur'an - not to any particular scripture but to divine
revelation as such.) This interpretation of the above Qur'anic passage is supported by
the fact that the famous Companion 'Abd Allah ibn Mas'ud used to read it thus: "All
mankind were once one single community, and then they began to differ (fakhtalafu)-
whereupon God raised up ...... etc. Although the word fakhtalafu interpolated here by
Ibn Mas'ud does not appear in the generally-accepted text of the Qur'an, almost all of
the authorities are of the opinion that it is implied in the context.
198 Or: "God guides whomever He wills onto a straight way." As is made clear in the second
part of verse 253 of this surah, man's proneness to intellectual dissension is not an
accident of history but an integral, God-willed aspect of human nature as such: and it
is this natural circumstance to which the words "by His leave" allude. For an explanation
of the phrase "out of mutual jealousy", see 23:53 and the corresponding note 30.
2:214
[But] do you think that you could enter paradise without having suffered like those [believers] who passed away before you?199 Misfortune and hardship befell them, and so shaken were they that the apostle, and the believers with him, would exclaim, "When will God's succour come?"200 Oh, verily, God's succour is [always] near!
2:215
THEY WILL ASK thee as to what they should spend on others. Say: "Whatever of your wealth you spend shall [first] be for your parents, and for the near of kin, and the orphans, and the needy, and the wayfarer; and whatever good you do, verily, God has full knowledge thereof."
2:216
FIGHTING is ordained for you, even though it be hateful to you; but it may well be that you hate a thing the while it is good for you, and it may well be that you love a thing the while it is bad for you: and God knows, whereas you do not know.201 199 Lit., "while yet there has not come to you the like of [what has come to] those who
passed away before you". This passage connects with the words, "God guides onto a straight
way him that wills [to be guided]", which occur at the end of the preceding verse. The
meaning is that intellectual cognition of the truth cannot, by itself, be a means of
attaining to ultimate bliss: it must be complemented by readiness to sacrifice and
spiritual purification through suffering.
200 The preceding reference to "those who passed away before you" makes it obvious that the
term "the apostle" is used here in a generic sense, applying to all the apostles (Manar II, 301).
201 Insofar as it relates to fighting, this verse must be read in conjunction with 2:190-193
and 22:39: but it expresses, in addition, a general truth applicable to many situations.
2:217
They will ask thee about fighting in the sacred month.202 Say: "Fighting in it is an awesome thing; but turning men away from the path of God and denying Him, and [turning them away from] the Inviolable House of Worship and expelling its people therefrom - [all this] is yet more awesome in the sight of God, since oppression is more awesome than killing."
[Your enemies] will not cease to fight against you till they have turned you away from your faith, if they can. But if any of you should turn away from his faith and die as a denier of the truth - these it is whose works will go for nought in this world and in the life to come; and these it is who are destined for the fire, therein to abide.
2:218
Verily, they who have attained to faith, and they who have forsaken the domain of evil203 and are striving hard in God's cause - these it is who may look forward to God's grace: for God is much-forgiving, a dispenser of grace. 202 For an explanation of the "sacred months", see note 171 above.
203 The expression alladhina hajaru (lit., "those who have forsaken their homelands") denotes,
primarily, the early Meccan Muslims who migrated at the Prophet's bidding to Medina - which
was then called Yathrib - in order to be able to live in freedom and in accordance with the
dictates of Islam. After the conquest of Mecca by the Muslims in the year 8 H., this exodus
(hijrah) from Mecca to Medina ceased to be a religious obligation. Ever since the earliest days
of Islam, however, the term hijrah has had a spiritual connotation as well-namely, a "forsaking
of the domain of evil" and turning towards God: and since this spiritual connotation applies
both to the historical muhajirun ("emigrants") of early Islam and to all believers of later
times who forsake all that is sinful and "migrate unto God", I am using this expression frequently.
2:219
THEY WILL ASK thee about intoxicants and games of chance. Say: "In both there is great evil204 as well as some benefit for man; but the evil which they cause is greater than the benefit which they bring."205
And they will ask thee as to what they should spend [in God's cause]. Say: "Whatever you can spare." In this way God makes clear unto you His messages, so that you might reflect (2:220) on this world and on the life to come.
And they will ask thee about [how to deal with] orphans. Say: "To improve their condition is best." And if you share their life, [remember that] they are your brethren:206 for God distinguishes between him who spoils things and him who improves. And had God so willed, He would indeed have imposed on you hardships which you would not have been able to bear:207 [but,] behold, God is almighty, wise!
2:221
AND DO NOT many women who ascribe divinity to aught beside God ere they attain to [true] belief: for any believing bondwoman [of God]208 is certainly better than a woman who ascribes divinity to aught beside God, even though she please you greatly. And do not give your women in marriage to men who ascribe divinity to aught beside God ere they attain to [true] belief: for any believing bondman [of God] is certainly better than a man who ascribes divinity to aught beside God, even though he please you greatly. [Such as] these invite unto the fire, whereas God invites unto paradise, and unto [the achievement of] forgiveness by His leave; and He makes clear His messages unto mankind, so that they might bear them in mind.
2:222
AND THEY will ask thee about [woman's] monthly courses. Say: "It is a vulnerable condition. Keep, therefore, aloof from women during their monthly courses, and do not draw near unto them until they are cleansed; and when they are cleansed, go in unto them as God has bidden you to do."209
Verily, God loves those who turn unto Him in repentance210 and He loves those who keep themselves pure. 204 Lit., "sin", or anything that is conducive to sinning. As some of the classical commentators
(e.g., Razi) point out, the term ithm is used in this verse as the antithesis of manafi'
("benefits"); it can, therefore, be suitably rendered as "evil".
205 Lit., "their evil is greater than their benefit". For a clear-cut prohibition of intoxicants
and games of chance, see 5:90-91 and the corresponding notes.
206 The implication is that if one shares the life of an orphan in his charge, one is
permitted to benefit by such an association - for instance, through a business partnership -
provided this does not damage the orphan's interests in any way.
207 I.e., "by putting you under an obligation to care for the orphans, and at the same time
prohibiting you from sharing their life" (see preceding note).
208 Although the majority of the commentators attribute to the term amah, occurring in this context,
its usual connotation of "slave-girl", some of them are of the opinion that it stands here
for "God's bondwoman". Thus, Zamakhshari explains the words amah mu'minah (lit., "a believing
bondwoman") as denoting "any believing woman, whether she be free or slave; and this applies
to [the expression] 'believing bondman as well: for all human beings are God's bondmen
and bondwoman". My rendering of the above passage is based on this eminently plausible
interpretation.
209 This is one of the many references in the Qur'an to the positive, God-ordained nature of sexuality.
210 I.e., if they have transgressed against the above restriction.
2:223
Your wives are your tilth; go, then, unto your tilth as you may desire, but first provide something for your souls,211 and remain conscious of God, and know that you are destined to meet Him. And give glad tidings unto those who believe.
2:224
AND DO NOT allow your oaths in the name of God to become an obstacle to virtue and God-consciousness and the promotion of peace between men:212 for God is all-hearing, all-knowing. (2:225) God will not take you to task for oaths which you may have uttered without thought, but will take you to task [only] for what your hearts have conceived [in earnest]: for God is much-forgiving, forbearing.
2:226
Those who take an oath that they will not approach their wives shall have four months of grace; and if they go back [on their oath]213 - behold, God is much-forgiving, a dispenseer of grace. (2:227) But if they are resolved on divorce - behold, God is all-hearing, all-knowing. 211 In other words, a spiritual relationship between man and woman is postulated as the
indispensable basis of sexual relations.
212 Lit., "do not make God, because of your oaths...", etc. As can be seen from verse 226, this
injunction refers primarily to oaths relating to divorce but is, nevertheless, general in
its import. Thus, there are several authentic Traditions to the effect that the Prophet
Muhammad said: "If anyone takes a solemn oath [that he would do or refrain from doing
such-and-such a thing], and thereupon realizes that something else would be a more righteous
course, then let him do that which is more righteous, and let him break his oath and then
atone for it" (Bukhari and Muslim; and other variants of the same Tradition in other
compilations). As regards the method of atonement, see 5:89.
213 I.e., during this period of grace.
2:228
And the divorced women shall undergo, without remarrying,214 a waiting-period of three monthly courses: for it is not lawful for them to conceal what God may have created in their wombs,215 if they believe in God and the Last Day. And during this period their husbands are fully entitled to take them back, if they desire reconciliation; but, in accordance with justice, the rights of the wives [with regard to their husbands] are equal to the [husbands'] rights with regard to them, although men have precedence over them [in this respect].216 And God is almighty, wise. 214 Lit., "by themselves".
215 The primary purpose of this waiting-period is the ascertainment of possible pregnancy, and
thus of the parentage of the as yet unborn child. In addition, the couple are to be given
an opportunity to reconsider their decision and possibly to resume the marriage. See also
65:1 and the corresponding note 2.
216 A divorced wife has the right to refuse a resumption of marital relations even if the
husband expresses, before the expiry of the waiting-period, his willingness to have the
provisional divorce rescinded; but since it is the husband who is responsible for the
maintenance of the family, the first option to rescind a provisional divorce rests with him.
2:229
A divorce may be [revoked] twice, whereupon the marriage must either be resumed in fairness or dissolved in a goodly manner.217
And it is not lawful for you to take back anything of what you have ever given to your wives unless both [partners] have cause to fear that they may not be able to keep within the bounds set by God: hence, if you have cause to fear that the two may not be able to keep within the bounds set by God, there shall be no sin upon either of them for what the wife may give up [to her husband] in order to free herself.218
These are the bounds set by God; do not, then, transgress them: for they who transgress the bounds set by God - it is they, they who are evildoers! 217 Lit., "whereupon either retention in fairness or release in a goodly manner". In other
words, a third pronouncement of divorce makes it final and irrevocable.
218 All authorities agree in that this verse relates to the unconditional right on the part
of the wife to obtain a divorce from her husband; such a dissolution of marriage at the wife's
instance is called khul'. There exist a number of highly-authenticated Traditions to the effect
that the wife of Thabit ibn Qays, Jamilah, came to the Prophet and demanded a divorce from her
husband on the ground that, in spite of his irreproachable character and behaviour, she
"disliked him as she would dislike falling into unbelief after having accepted Islam". Thereupon
the Prophet ordained that she should return to Thabit the garden which he has given her as
her dower (mahr) at the time of their wedding, and decreed that the marriage should be dissolved.
(Several variants of this Tradition have been recorded by Bukhari, Nasa'i, Tirmidhi, Ibn Majah
and Bayhaqi, on the authority of Ibn 'Abbas.) Similar Traditions, handed down on the authority
of 'A'ishah and relating to a woman called Hubaybah bint Sahl, are to be found in the Muwaya'
of Imam Malik, in the Musnad of Imam Ahmad, and in the compilations of Nasa'i and Abu Da'ud
(in one variant, the latter gives the woman's name as Hafsah bint Sahl). In accordance with
these Traditions, Islamic Law stipulates that whenever a marriage is dissolved at the wife's
instance without any offence on the part of the husband against his marital obligations, the
wife is the contract-breaking party and must, therefore, return the dower which she received
from him at the time of concluding the marriage: and in this event "there shall be no sin upon
either of them" if the husband takes back the dower which the wife gives up of her own free
will. An exhaustive discussion of all these Traditions and their legal implications is found
in Nayl al-Awtar VII, pp. 34-41. For a summary of the relevant views of the various schools of
Islamic jurisprudence, see Biddyat al-Mujtahid 11, pp. 54-57.
2:230
And if he divorces her [finally], she shall thereafter not be lawful unto him unless she first takes another man for husband; then, if the latter divorces her, there shall be no sin upon either of the two if they return to one another - provided that both of them think that they will be able to keep within the bounds set by God: for these are the bounds of God which He makes clear unto people of [innate] knowledge.
2:231
And so, when you divorce women and they are about to reach the end of their waiting-term, then either retain them in a fair manner or let them go in a fair manner. But do not retain them against their will in order to hurt [them]: for he who does so sins indeed against himself.
And do not take [these] messages of God in a frivolous spirit; and remember the blessings with which God has graced you, and all the revelation and the wisdom which He has bestowed on you from on high in order to admonish you thereby; and remain conscious of God, and know that God has full knowledge of everything.
2:232
And when you divorce women, and they have come to the end of their waiting-term, hinder them not from marrying other men if they have agreed with each other in a fair manner. This is an admonition unto every one of you who believes in God and the Last Day; it is the most virtuous [way] for you, and the cleanest. And God knows, whereas you do not know.
2:233
And the [divorced] mothers may nurse their children for two whole years, if they wish to complete the period of nursing; and it is incumbent upon him who has begotten the child to provide in a fair manner for their sustenance and clothing. No human being shall be burdened with more than he is well able to bear: neither shall a mother be made to suffer because of her child, nor, because of his child, he who has begotten it. And the same duty rests upon the [father's] heir.
And if both [parents] decide, by mutual consent and counsel, upon separation [of mother and child],219 they will incur no sin [thereby]; and if you decide to entrust your children to foster-mothers, you will incur no sin provided you ensure, in a fair manner, the safety of the child which you are handing over.220 But remain conscious of God, and know that God sees all that you do.
2:234
And if any of you die and leave wives behind, they shall undergo, without remarrying,221 a waiting period of four months and ten days; whereupon, when they have reached the end of their waiting-term, there shall be no sin222 in whatever they may do with their persons in a lawful manner. And God is aware of all that you do. 219 Most of the commentators understand the word fisal as being synonymous with "weaning"
(i.e., before the end of the maximum period of two years). Abu Muslim, however, is of the
opinion that it stands here for "separation" - i.e., of the child from its mother (Razi).
It appears to me that this is the better of the two interpretations inasmuch as it provides
a solution for cases in which both parents agree that, for some reason or other, it would
not be fair to burden the divorced mother with the upbringing of the child despite the
father's obligation to support them materially, while, on the other hand. it would not be
feasible for the father to undertake this duty single-handed.
220 Lit., "provided you make safe [or "provided you surrender"] in a fair manner that which you
are handing over". While it cannot be denied that the verb sallamahu can mean "he surrendered
it" as well as "he made it safe", it seems to me that the latter meaning (which is the primary
one) is preferable in this context since it implies the necessity of assuring the child's
future safety and well-being. (The commentators who take the verb sallamtum in the sense
of "you surrender" interpret the phrase idha sallamtum ma ataytum bi'l-ma'ruf as meaning
"provided you hand over the agreed-upon [wages to the foster-mothers] in a fair manner" -
which, to my mind, unduly limits the purport of the above injunction.)
221 Lit., "by themselves".
222 Lit., "you will incur no sin'". Since, obviously, the whole community is addressed here
(Zamakhshari), the rendering "there shall be no sin" would seem appropriate.
2:235
But you will incur no sin if you give a hint of [an intended] marriage-offer to [any of] these women, or if you conceive such an intention without making it obvious: [for] God knows that you intend to ask them in marriage.223 Do not, however, plight your troth with them in secret, but speak only in a decent manner; and do not proceed with tying the marriage-knot ere the ordained [term of waiting] has come to its end. And know that God knows what is in your minds, and therefore remain conscious of Him; and know, too, that God is much-forgiving, forbearing.
2:236
You will incur no sin if you divorce women while you have not yet touched them nor settled a dower upon them;224 but [even in such a case] make provision for them - the affluent according to his means, and the straitened according to his means - a provision in an equitable manner: this is a duty upon all who would do good.225 223 Lit., "if you conceal [such an intention] within yourselves: [for] God knows that you will
mention [it] to them". In classical Arabic usage, the expression dhakaraha ("he mentioned
[it] to her") is often idiomatically synonymous with "he demanded her in marriage" (see
Lane III, 969). The above passage relates to a marriage-offer - or to an intention of making
such an offer - to a newly-widowed or divorced woman before the expiry of the prescribed
waiting-term.
224 The term faridah denotes the dower (often also called mahr) which must be agreed upon by
bridegroom and bride before the conclusion of the marriage-tie. While the amount of this
dower is left to the discretion of the two contracting parties (and may even consist of no
more than a token gift), its stipulation is an essential part of an Islamic marriage contract.
For exceptions from this rule, see 33:50 and the corresponding note 58.
225 Lit., "upon the doers of good" - i.e., all who are determined to act in accordance with God's will.
2:237
And if you divorce them before having touched them, but after having settled a dower upon them, then [give them] half of what you have settled - unless it be that they forgo their claim or he in whose hand is the marriage-tie226 forgoes his claim [to half of the dower]: and to forgo what is due to you is more in accord with God-consciousness. And forget not [that you are to act with] grace towards one another: verily, God sees all that you do.
2:238
BE EVER mindful of prayers, and of praying in the most excellent way;227 and stand before God in devout obedience. (2:239) But if you are in danger, [pray] walking or riding;228 and when you are again secure, bear God in mind - since it is He who taught you what you did not previously know. 226 According to some of the most prominent Companions of the Prophet (e.g., 'Ali) and their
immediate successors (e.g., Said ibn al-Musayyab and Said ibn Jubayr), this term denotes
the husband (cf. Tabari, Zamakhshari, Baghawi, Razi and Ibn Kathir).
227 Lit., "the midmost [or "the most excellent"] prayer". It is generally assumed that this
refers to the mid-afternoon ('asr) prayer, although some authorities believe that it denotes
the prayer at dawn (fajr). Muhammad 'Abduh, however, advances the view that it may mean
"the noblest kind of prayer - that is, a prayer from the fullness of the heart, with the
whole mind turned towards God, inspired by awe of Him, and reflecting upon His word"
(Manor II, 438). - In accordance with the system prevailing throughout the Qur'an, any
lengthy section dealing with social laws is almost invariably followed by a call to
God-consciousness: and since God-consciousness comes most fully to its own in prayer,
this and the next verse are interpolated here between injunctions relating to marital
life and divorce.
228 This relates to any dangerous situation - for instance, in war - where remaining for any
length of time at one place would only increase the peril: in such an event, the obligatory
prayers may be offered in any way that is feasible, even without consideration of the qiblah.
2:240
AND IF any of you die and leave wives behind, they bequeath thereby to their widows [the right to] one year's maintenance without their being obliged to leave [the dead husband's home].229 If, however, they leave [of their own accord], there shall be no sin in whatever they may do with themselves in a lawful manner.230 And God is almighty, wise.
2:241
And the divorced women, too, shall have [a right to] maintenance in a goodly manner:231 this is a duty for all who are conscious of God. 229 Lit., "[it is] a bequest to their wives [of] one year's maintenance without being dislodged".
(As regards the justification of the rendering adopted by me, see Manor II, 446 ff.). The
question of a widow's residence in her dead husband's house arises, of course, only in the
event that it has not been bequeathed to her outright under the provisions stipulated in 4:12.
230 For instance, by remarrying - in which case they forgo their claim to additional maintenance
during the remainder of the year. Regarding the phrase "there shall be no sin", see note 222 above.
231 This obviously relates to women who are divorced without any legal fault on their part. The
amount of alimony - payable unless and until they remarry - has been left unspecified since
it must depend on the husband's financial circumstances and on the social conditions of the time.
2:242
In this way God makes clear unto you His messages, so that you might [learn to] use your reason.
2:243
ART THOU NOT aware of those who forsook their homelands in their thousands for fear of death whereupon God said unto them, "Die," and later brought them back to life?232
Behold, God is indeed limitless in His bounty unto man - but most people are ungrateful.
2:244
Fight, then, in God's cause,233 and know that God is all-hearing, all-knowing.
2:245
Who is it that will offer up unto God a goodly loan,234 which He will amply repay, with manifold increase? For, God takes away, and He gives abundantly; and it is unto Him that you shall be brought back.
2:246
Art thou not aware of those elders of the children of Israel, after the time of Moses, how they said unto a prophet of theirs,235 "Raise up a king for us, [and] we shall fight in God's cause"? Said he: "Would you, perchance, refrain from fighting if fighting is ordained for you?"
They answered: "And why should we not fight in God's cause when we and our children have been driven from our homelands?"236 Yet, when fighting was ordained for them, they did turn back, save for a few of them; but God had full knowledge of the evildoers. 232 After the conclusion of the injunctions relating to marital life, the Qur'an returns here to
the problem of warfare in a just cause by alluding to people who - obviously under a hostile
attack -"forsook their homelands for fear of death". Now, neither the Qur'an nor any authentic
Tradition offers any indication as to who the people referred to in this verse may have been.
The "historical" explanations given by some of the commentators are most contradictory; they
seem to have been derived from Talmudic stories current at the time, and cannot be used in
this context with any justification. We must, therefore, assume (as Muhammad 'Abduh does in
Manar II, 455 ff.) that the above allusion is parabolically connected with the subsequent call
to the faithful to be ready to lay down their lives in God's cause: an illustration of the fact
that fear of physical death leads to the moral death of nations and communities, just as their
regeneration (or "coming back to life") depends on their regaining their moral status through
overcoming the fear of death. This is undoubtedly the purport of the elliptic story of Samuel,
Saul and David told in verses 246-251.
233 I.e., in a just war in self-defence against oppression or unprovoked aggression (cf. 2:190-194).
234 I.e., by sacrificing one's life in, or devoting it to, His cause.
235 The prophet referred to here is Samuel (cf. Old Testament, I Samuel viii ff.).
236 Obviously a reference to the many invasions of their homelands by their perennial enemies,
the Philistines, Amorites, Amalekites and other Semitic and non-Semitic tribes living in and -
around Palestine; and, by implication, a reminder to believers of all times that "fighting
in God's cause" (as defined in the Qur'an) is an act of faith.
2:247
And their prophet said unto those elders:237 "Behold, now God has raised up Saul to be your king." They said: "How can he have dominion over us when we have a better claim to dominion than he, and he has not [even] been endowed with abundant wealth?"
[The prophet] replied: "Behold, God has exalted him above you, and endowed him abundantly with knowledge and bodily perfection. And God bestows His dominion238 upon whom He wills: for God is infinite, all-knowing."
2:248
And their prophet said unto them: "Behold, it shall be a sign of his [rightful] dominion that you will be granted a heart239 endowed by your Sustainer with inner peace and with all that is enduring in the angel-borne heritage left behind by the House of Moses and the House of Aaron.240 Herein, behold, there shall indeed be a sign for you if you are [truly] believers." 237 Lit., "to them" - but the next sentence shows that the elders were thus addressed by Samuel.
238 An allusion to the Qur'anic doctrine that all dominion and all that may be "owned" by man
belongs to God alone, and that man holds it only in trust from Him.
239 Lit., "that there will come to you the heart". The word tabut - here rendered as "heart" -
has been conventionally interpreted as denoting the Ark of the Covenant mentioned in the Old
Testament, which is said to have been a highly-ornamented chest or box. The explanations
offered by most of the commentators who adopt the latter meaning are very contradictory, and
seem to be based on Talmudic legends woven around that "ark". However, several authorities
of the highest standing attribute to tabut the meaning of "bosom" or "heart" as well: thus,
Baydawi in one of the alternatives offered in his commentary on this verse, as well as
Zamakhshari in his Asas (though not in the Kashshaf ), Ibn al-Athir in the Nihdyah, Raghib,
and Taj al-'Arus (the latter four in the article tabata ); see also Lane I, 321, and IV, 1394
(art. sakfnah). If we take this to be the meaning of tabut in the above context, it would
be an allusion to the Israelites' coming change of heart (a change already indicated, in
general terms, in verse 243 above). In view of the subsequent mention of the "inner peace"
in the tabut, its rendering as "heart" is definitely more appropriate than "ark".
240 Lit., "and the remainder of that which the House (al) of Moses and the House of Aaron
left behind. borne by the angels". The expression "borne by the angels" or "angel-borne"
is an allusion to the God-inspired nature of the spiritual heritage left by those two
prophets; while the "remainder" (baqiyyah) denotes that which is "lasting" or "enduring"
in that heritage.
2:249
And when Saul set out with his forces, he said: "Behold, God will now try you by a river: he who shall drink of it will not belong to me, whereas he who shall refrain from tasting it - he, indeed, will belong to me; but forgiven shall be he241 who shall scoop up but a single handful." However, save for a few of them, they all drank [their fill] of it.
And as soon as he and those who had kept faith with him had crossed the river, the others said: "No strength have we today [to stand up] against Goliath and his forces!"
[Yet] those who knew with certainty that they were destined to meet God, replied: "How often has a small host overcome a great host by God's leave! For God is with those who are patient in adversity."
2:250
And when they came face to face with Goliath and his forces, they prayed: "O our Sustainer! Shower us with patience in adversity, and make firm our steps, and succour us against the people who deny the truth!"
2:251
And thereupon, by God's leave, they routed them. And David slew Goliath; and God bestowed upon him dominion, and wisdom, and imparted to him the knowledge of whatever He willed. And if God had not enabled people to defend themselves against one another,242 corruption would surely overwhelm the earth: but God is limitless in His bounty unto all the worlds.
2:252
THESE are God's messages: We convey them unto thee, [O Prophet,] setting forth the truth - for, verily, thou art among those who have been entrusted with a message. (2:253) Some of these apostles have We endowed more highly than others: among them were such as were spoken to by God [Himself], and some He has raised yet higher.'243 And We vouchsafed unto Jesus, the son of Mary, all evidence of the truth, and strengthened him with holy inspiration.244
And if God had so willed, they who succeeded those [apostles] would not have contended with one another after all evidence of the truth had come to them; but [as it was,] they did take to divergent views, and some of them attained to faith, while some of them came to deny the truth. Yet if God had so willed, they would not have contended with one another: but God does whatever He wills.245 241 Lit., "excepting him". The symbolic implication is that faith - and, thus, belief in the
justice of one's cause - has no value unless it is accompanied by heightened self-discipline
and disregard of one's material interests.
242 Lit., "were it not that God repels some people by means of others": an elliptic reference
to God's enabling people to defend themselves against aggression or oppression. Exactly
the same phrase occurs in 22:40, which deals with fighting in self-defence.
243 This appears to be an allusion to Muhammad inasmuch as he was the Last Prophet and the
bearer of a universal message applicable to all people and to all times. By "such as were
spoken to by God" Moses is meant (see the last sentence of 4: 164).
244 The mention, in this context, of Jesus by name is intended to stress the fact of his
having been a prophet, and to refute the claims of those who deify him. For an explanation
of the term ruh al-qudus (rendered by me as "holy inspiration"), see note 71 on verse
87 of this surah.
245 Once again - as in verse 213 above - the Qur'an alludes to the inevitability of dissension
among human beings: in other words, it is the will of God that their way to the truth should
be marked by conflicts and trial by error.
2:254
O YOU who have attained to faith! Spend [in Our way] out of what We have granted you as sustenance ere there come a Day246 when there will be no bargaining, and no friendship, and no intercession. And they who deny the truth - it is they who are evildoers! 246 Le., the Day of Judgment. With this exhortation the Qur'an returns to the subject of verse 245:
"Who is it that will offer up unto God a goodly loan?" We may, therefore, infer that the
"spending in God's way" relates here to every kind of sacrifice in God's cause, and not merely
to the spending of one's possessions.
2:255
GOD - there is no deity save Him, the Ever-Living, the Self-Subsistent Fount of All Being. Neither slumber overtakes Him, nor sleep. His is all that is in the heavens and all that is on earth. Who is there that could intercede with Him, unless it be by His leave?
He knows all that lies open before men and all that is hidden from them,247 whereas they cannot attain to aught of His knowledge save that which He wills [them to attain].
His eternal power248 overspreads the heavens and the earth, and their upholding wearies Him not. And he alone is truly exalted, tremendous.
2:256
THERE SHALL BE no coercion in matters of faith.249 Distinct has now become the right way from [the way of] error: hence, he who rejects the powers of evil250 and believes in God has indeed taken hold of a support most unfailing, which shall never give way: for God is all-hearing, all-knowing. 247 Lit., "that which is between their hands and that which is behind them". The commentators
give most conflicting interpretations to this phrase. Thus, for instance, Mujahid and 'Ata'
assume that "that which is between their hands" means "that which has happened to them in
this world", while "that which is behind them" is an allusion to "that which will happen to
them in the next world"; Ad-Dahhak and Al-Kalbi, on the other hand, assume the exact opposite
and say that "that which is between their hands" refers to the next world, "because they
are going towards it", while "that which is behind them" means this world, "because they
are leaving it behind" (Razi). Another explanation is "that which took place before them
and that which will take place after them" (Zamakhshari). It would seem, however, that in
all these interpretations the obvious meaning of the idiomatic expression ma bayna yadayhi
("that which lies open between one's hands") is lost sight of: namely, that which is evident
or known, or perceivable; similarly, ma khalfahu means that which is beyond one's ken or
perception. Since the whole tenor of the above Qur'an-verse relates to God's omnipotence
and omniscience, the translation given by me seems to be the most appropriate.
248 Lit., "His seat [of power]". Some of the commentators (e.g., Zamakhshari) interpret this
as "His sovereignty" or "His dominion", while others take it to mean "His knowledge"
(see Muhammad 'Abduh in Manar III, 33); Razi inclines to the view that this word denotes
God's majesty and indescribable eternal glory.
249 The term din denotes both the contents of and the compliance with a morally binding law;
consequently, it signifies "religion" in the widest sense of this term, extending over
all that pertains to its doctrinal contents and their practical implications, as well as
to man's attitude towards the object of his worship, thus comprising also the concept of
"faith". The rendering of din as "religion", "faith","religious law" or "moral law"
(see note 3 on 109:6) depends on the context in which this term is used. - On the strength
of the above categorical prohibition of coercion (ikrah) in anything that pertains to faith
or religion, all Islamic jurists (fuqaha), without any exception, hold that forcible
conversion is under all circumstances null and void, and that any attempt at coercing
a non-believer to accept the faith of Islam is a grievous sin: a verdict which disposes
of the widespread fallacy that Islam places before the unbelievers the alternative of
"conversion or the sword".
250 At-taghut denotes, primarily, anything that is worshipped instead of God and, thus, all
that may turn man away from God and lead him to evil. It has both a singular and a
plural significance (Razi) and is, therefore, best rendered as "the powers of evil".
2:257
God is near unto those who have faith, taking them out of deep darkness into the light - whereas near unto those who are bent on denying the truth are the powers of evil that take them out of the light into darkness deep: it is they who are destined for the fire, therein to abide.
2:258
ART THOU NOT aware of that [king] who argued with Abraham about his Sustainer, [simply] because God had granted him kingship? Lo! Abraham said: "My Sustainer is He who grants life and deals death." [The king] replied: "I [too] grant life and deal death!"
Said Abraham: "Verily, God causes the sun to rise in the east; cause it, then, to rise in the west!" Thereupon he who was bent on denying the truth remained dumbfounded: for God does not guide people who [deliberately] do wrong.[251]
2:259
Or [art thou, O man, of the same mind] as he[252] who passed by a town deserted by its people, with its roofs caved in, [and] said, "How could God bring all this back to life after its death?"[253]
Thereupon God caused him to be dead for a hundred years; whereafter He brought him back to life [and] said: "How long hast thou remained thus?" He answered: "I have remained thus a day, or part of a day."
Said [God]: "Nay, but thou hast remained thus for a hundred years! But look at thy food and thy drink - untouched is it by the passing of years - and look at thine ass![254] And [We did all this so that We might make thee a symbol unto men. And look at the bones [of animals and men] - how We put them together and then clothe them with flesh!"[255]
And when [all this] became clear to him, he said: "I know [now] that God has the power to will anything!" 251 According to Muhammad 'Abduh, the wrong (zulm) referred to here consists in "one's
deliberately turning away from the light [of guidance] provided by God" (Manor III, 47).
252 Lit., "Or like him". The words interpolated by me between brackets are based on Zamakhshari's
interpretation of this passage, which connects with the opening of the preceding verse.
253 The story told in this verse is obviously a parable meant to illustrate God's power to bring
the dead back to life: and, thus, it is significantly placed between Abraham's words in verse
258, "My Sustainer is He who grants life and deals death", and his subsequent request, in
verse 260, to be shown how God resurrects the dead. The speculations of some of the earlier
commentators as to the "identity" of the man and the town mentioned in this story are without
any substance, and may have been influenced by Talmudic legends.
254 Sc., "and observe that it is alive": thus pointing out that God has the power to grant
life indefinitely, as well as to resurrect the dead.
255 The Qur'an frequently points to the ever-recurring miracle of birth, preceded by the gradual
evolution of the embryo in its mother's womb, as a visible sign of God's power to create -
and therefore also to re-create life.
2:260
And, lo, Abraham said: "O my Sustainer! Show me how Thou givest life unto the dead!"
Said He: "Hast thou, then, no faith?" (Abraham) answered: "Yea, but [let me see it] so that my heart may be set fully at rest."
Said He: "Take, then, four birds and teach them to obey thee;[256] then place them separately on every hill [around thee]; then summon them: they will come flying to thee. And know that God is almighty, wise."[257] 256 Lit., "make them incline towards thee" (Zamakhshari; see also Lane IV, 1744).
257 My rendering of the above parable is based on the primary meaning of the imperative
surhunna ilayka ("make them incline towards thee", i.e., "teach them to obey thee"). The
moral of this story has been pointed out convincingly by the famous commentator Abu Muslim
(as quoted by Razi): "If man is able - as he undoubtedly is - to train birds in such a
way as to make them obey his call, then it is obvious that God, whose will all things obey,
can call life into being by simply decreeing, 'Be!'"
2:261
THE PARABLE of those who spend their possessions for the sake of God is that of a grain out of which grow seven ears, in every ear a hundred grains: for God grants manifold increase unto whom He wills; and God is infinite, all-knowing.
2:262
They who spend their possessions for the sake of God and do not thereafter mar[258] their spending by stressing their own benevolence and hurting [the feelings of the needy] shall have their reward with their Sustainer, and no fear need they have, and neither shall they grieve. (2:263) A kind word and the veiling of another's want[259] is better than a charitable deed followed by hurt; and God is self-sufficient, forbearing. 258 Lit., "do not follow up".
259 For the rendering of maghfarah (lit.; "forgiveness") in this context as "veiling another's
want" I am indebted to Baghawi's explanation of this verse.
2:264
O you who have attained to faith! Do not deprive your charitable deeds of all worth by stressing your own benevolence and hurting [the feelings of the needy], as does he who spends his wealth only to be seen and praised by men, and believes not in God and the Last Day: for his parable is that of a smooth rock with [a little] earth upon it - and then a rainstorm smites it and leaves it hard and bare. Such as these shall have no gain whatever from all their [good] works: for God does not guide people who refuse to acknowledge the truth.
2:265
And the parable of those who spend their possessions out of a longing to please God, and out of their own inner certainty, is that of a garden on high, fertile ground: a rainstorm smites it, and thereupon it brings forth its fruit twofold; and if no rainstorm smites it, soft rain [falls upon it]. And God sees all that you do.
2:266
Would any of you like to have a garden of date-palms and vines, through which running waters flow, and have all manner of fruit therein - and then be overtaken by old age, with only weak children to [look after] him - and then [see] it smitten by a fiery whirlwind and utterly scorched? In this way God makes clear His messages unto you, so that you might take thought.
2:267
O you who have attained to faith! Spend on others out of the good things which you may have acquired, and out of that which We bring forth for you from the earth; and choose not for your spending the bad things which you yourselves would not accept without averting your eyes in disdain. And know that God is self-sufficient, ever to be praised.
2:268
Satan threatens you with the prospect of poverty and bids you to be niggardly, whereas God promises you His forgiveness and bounty; and God is infinite, all-knowing, (2:269) granting wisdom unto whom He wills: and whoever is granted wisdom has indeed been granted wealth abundant. But none bears this in mind save those who are endowed with insight.
2:270
For, whatever you may spend on others, or whatever you may vow [to spend], verily, God knows it; and those who do wrong [by withholding charity] shall have none to succour them.
2:271
If you do deeds of charity openly, it is well; but if you bestow it upon the needy in secret, it will be even better for you, and it will atone for some of your bad deeds. And God is aware of all that you do.
2:272
It is not for thee [O Prophet] to make people follow the right path,[260] since it is God [alone] who guides whom He wills.
And whatever good you may spend on others is for your own good, provided that you spend only out of a longing for God's countenance: for, whatever good you may spend will be repaid unto you in full, and you shall not be wronged. 260 Lit., "their guidance is not upon thee" - i.e., "thou art responsible only for conveying
God's message to them, and not for their reaction to it": the people referred to being the
needy spoken of in the preceding verses. It appears that in the early days after his
migration to Medina, the Prophet - faced by the great poverty prevalent among his own
community - advised his Companions that "charity should be bestowed only on the followers
of Islam" - a view that was immediately corrected by the revelation of the above verse
(a number of Traditions to this effect are quoted by Tabari, Razi and Ibn Kathir, as well
as in Manar III, 82 f.). According to several other Traditions (recorded, among others,
by Nasa'i and Abu Da'ud and quoted by all the classical commentators), the Prophet thereupon
explicitly enjoined upon his followers to disburse charities upon all who needed them,
irrespective of the faith of the person concerned. Consequently, there is full agreement
among all the commentators that the above verse of the Qur'an - although expressed in the
singular and, on the face of it, addressed to the Prophet - lays down an injunction binding
upon all Muslims. Razi, in particular, draws from it the additional conclusion that charity -
or the threat to withhold it - must never become a means of attracting unbelievers to
Islam: for, in order to be valid, faith must be an outcome of inner conviction and free
choice. This is in consonance with verse 256 of this surah: "There shall be no coercion
in matters of faith."
2:273
[And give] unto [such of] the needy who, being wholly wrapped up in God's cause, are unable to go about the earth [in search of livelihood].[261] He who is unaware [of their condition] might think that they are wealthy, because they abstain [from begging]; [but] thou canst recognize them by their special mark: they do not beg of men with importunity. And whatever good you may spend [on them], verily, God knows it all.
2:274
Those who spend their possessions [for the sake of God] by night and by day, secretly and openly, shall have their reward with their Sustainer; and no fear need they have, and neither shall they grieve.
2:275
THOSE who gorge themselves on usury[262] behave but as he might behave whom Satan has confounded with his touch; for they say, "Buying and selling is but a kind of[263] usury" - the while God has made buying and selling lawful and usury unlawful. Hence, whoever becomes aware of his Sustainer's admonition,[264] and thereupon desists [from usury], may keep his past gains, and it will be for God to judge him; but as for those who return to it - they are destined for the fire, therein to abide! 261 I.e., those who have devoted themselves entirely to working in the cause of the Faith - be
it by spreading, elucidating or defending it physically or intellectually - or to any of
the selfless pursuits extolled in God's message, such as search for knowledge, work for
the betterment of man's lot, and so forth; and, finally, those who, having suffered personal
or material hurt in such pursuits, are henceforth unable to fend for themselves.
262 For a discussion of the concept of riba ("usury"), see note 35 on 30: 39, where this term
occurs for the first time in the chronological order of revelation. The passage dealing
with the prohibition of riba, which follows here, is believed to have been among the last
revelations received by the Prophet. The subject of usury connects logically with the
preceding long passage on the subject of charity because the former is morally the exact
opposite of the latter: true charity consists in giving without an expectation of material
gain, whereas usury is based on an expectation of gain without any corresponding effort
on the part of the lender.
263 Lit., "like".
264 Lit., "he to whom an admonition has come from his Sustainer".
2:276
God deprives usurious gains of all blessing, whereas He blesses charitable deeds with manifold increase.[265] And God does not love anyone who is stubbornly ingrate and persists in sinful ways.
2:277
Verily, those who have attained to faith and do good works, and are constant in prayer, and dispense charity - they shall have their reward with their Sustainer, and no fear need they have, and neither shall they grieve.
2:278
O you who have attained to faith! Remain conscious of God. and give up all outstanding gains from usury, if you are [truly] believers;[266] (2:279) for if you do it not, then know that you are at war with God and His Apostle. But if you repent, then you shall be entitled to [the return of] your principal:[267] you will do no wrong, and neither will you be wronged. (2:280) If, however, [the debtor] is in straitened circumstances, [grant him] a delay until a time of ease; and it would be for your own good - if you but knew it - to remit [the debt entirely] by way of charity.
2:281
And be conscious of the Day on which you shall be brought back unto God, whereupon every human being shall be repaid in full for what he has earned, and none shall be wronged.[268] 265 Lit., "whereas He causes [the merit of] charitable deeds to increase with interest (yurbi)".
266 This refers not merely to the believers at the time when the prohibition of usury was
proclaimed, but also to people of later times who may come to believe in the Qur'anic
message.
267 I.e., without interest.
268 According to the uncontested evidence of Ibn 'Abbas, the above verse was the last
revelation granted to the Prophet, who died shortly afterwards (Bukhari: see also
Fath al-Bari VIII. 164 f.).
2:282
O YOU who have attained to faith! Whenever you give or take credit[269] for a stated term, set it down in writing. And let a scribe write it down equitably between you; and no scribe shall refuse to write as God has taught him:[270] thus shall he write. And let him who contracts the debt dictate; and let him be conscious of God, his Sustainer, and not weaken anything of his undertaking.[271] And if he who contracts the debt is weak of mind or body, or, is not able to dictate himself,[272] then let him who watches over his interests dictate equitably. And call upon two of your men to act as witnesses; and if two men are not available, then a man and two women from among such as are acceptable to you as witnesses, so that if one of them should make a mistake, the other could remind her.[273] And the witnesses must not refuse [to give evidence] whenever they are called upon.
And be not loath to write down every contractual provision,[274] be it small or great, together with the time at which it falls due; this is more equitable in the sight of God, more reliable as evidence, and more likely to prevent you from having doubts [later]. If, however, [the transaction] concerns ready merchandise which you transfer directly unto one another, you will incur no sin if you do not write it down.
And have witnesses whenever you trade with one another, but neither scribe nor witness must suffer harm;[275] for if you do [them harm], behold, it will be sinful conduct on your part. And remain conscious of God, since it is God who teaches you [herewith] - and God has full knowledge of everything. 269 The above phrase embraces any transaction on the basis of credit, be it an outright
loan or a commercial deal. It relates (as the grammatical form tadayantum shows) to both
the giver and taker of credit, and has been rendered accordingly.
270 I.e., in accordance with the laws promulgated in the Qur'an.
271 Lit., "and do not diminish anything thereof". Thus, the formulation of the undertaking
is left to the weaker party, i.e., to the one who contracts the debt.
272 E.g., because he is physically handicapped, or does not fully understand the business
terminology used in such contracts, or is not acquainted with the language in which the
contract is to be written. The definition "weak of mind or body" (lit.. "lacking in
understanding or weak") applies to minors as well as to very old persons who are no longer
in full possession of their mental faculties.
273 The stipulation that two women may be substituted for one male witness does not imply
any reflection on woman's moral or intellectual capabilities: it is obviously due to the
fact that, as a rule, women are less familiar with business procedures than men and,
therefore, more liable to commit mistakes in this respect (see 'Abduh in Manar 111, 124 f.).
274 Lit., "to write it down" - i.e., all rights and obligations arising from the contract.
275 E.g., by being held responsible for the eventual consequences of the contract as such,
or for the non-fulfilment of any of its provisions by either of the contracting parties.
2:283
And if you are on a journey and cannot find a scribe, pledges [may be taken] in hand: but if you trust one another, then let him who is trusted fulfil his trust, and let him be conscious of God, his Sustainer. And do not conceal what you have witnessed[276] - for, verily, he who conceals it is sinful at heart; and God has full knowledge of all that you do.
2:284
Unto God belongs all that is in the heavens and all that is on earth. And whether you bring into the open what is in your minds or conceal it, God will call you to account for it; and then He will forgive whom He wills, and will chastise whom He wills: for God has the power to will anything.
2:285
THE APOSTLE, and the believers with him, believe in what has been bestowed upon him from on high by his Sustainer: they all believe in God, and His angels, and His revelations, and His apostles, making no distinction between any of His apostles;[277] and they say: "We have heard, and we pay heed. Grant us Thy forgiveness, O our Sustainer, for with Thee is all journeys' end! 276 Lit., "do not conceal testimony". This relates not only to those who have witnessed a
business transaction, but also to a debtor who has been given a loan on trust - without
a written agreement and without witnesses - and subsequently denies all knowledge of
his indebtedness.
277 Lit., "we make no distinction between any of His apostles": these words are put, as
it were, in the mouths of the believers. Inasmuch as all the apostles were true bearers
of God's messages, there is no distinction between them, albeit some of them have been
"endowed more highly than others" (see verse 253).
2:286
"God does not burden any human being with more than he is well able to bear: in his favour shall be whatever good he does, and against him whatever evil he does. "O our Sustainer! Take us not to task if we forget or unwittingly do wrong!
"O our Sustainer! Lay not upon us a burden such as Thou didst lay upon those who lived before us![278] O our Sustainer! Make us not bear burdens which we have no strength to bear!
"And efface Thou our sins, and grant us forgiveness, and bestow Thy mercy upon us! Thou art our Lord Supreme: succour us, then, against people who deny the truth!" 278 A reference to the heavy burden of rituals imposed by the Law of Moses upon the children
of Israel, as well as the world-renunciation recommended by Jesus to his followers.