come to thee, SAY: Come,25 let us summon our sons and your sons, our wives
and your wives, and ourselves and yourselves. Then will we invoke and lay the
malison of God on those that lie!
This recital is very truth, and there is no god but God; and verily God is
the Mighty, the Wise.
But if they turn away, then verily God hath knowledge of the corrupt doers.
SAY: O people of the Book! come ye to a just judgment between us and you-That
we worship not aught but God, and that we join no other god with Him, and
that the one of us take not the other for lords,26 beside God. Then if they
turn their backs, SAY: Bear ye witness that we are Muslims.
O people of the Book! Why dispute about Abraham,27 when the Law and the
Evangel were not sent down till after him? Do ye not then understand?
Lo! ye are they who dispute about that in which ye have knowledge; 28 but why
dispute ye about that of which ye have no knowledge? God hath knowledge, but
ye know nothing.
Abraham was neither Jew nor Christian; but he was sound in the faith,29 a
Muslim; and not of those who add gods to God.
They among men, who are nearest of kin to Abraham, are surely those who
follow him, and this prophet Muhammad, and they who believe on him. And God
is the protector of the faithful.
A party among the people of the Book would fain mislead you: but they only
mislead themselves, and perceive it not.
O people of the Book! why disbelieve the signs of God, of which yourselves
have been witnesses?
O people of the Book! why clothe ye the truth with falsehood? Why wittingly
hide the truth?
Others of the people of the Book say: "Believe in what hath been sent down to
the believers, at daybreak, and deny it at its close"-Thus do they go back-
"And believe in those only who follow your Religion." SAY: True guidance is
guidance from God-that to others may be imparted the like of what hath been
imparted to you. Will they wrangle then with you in the presence of their
Lord? SAY: Plenteous gifts are in the hands of God: He imparteth them unto
whom He will, and God is Bounteous, Wise.
He will vouchsafe His mercy to whom He will, for God is of great
bounteousness.
Among the people of the Book are some, to one of whom if thou entrust a
thousand dinars, he will restore them to thee: And there is of them to whom
if thou entrust a dinar, he will not restore it to thee, unless thou be ever
instant with him.
This-because they say, "We are not bound to keep faith with the ignorant
(Pagan) folk, and they utter a lie against God, and know they do so:"
But whoso is true to his engagement, and feareth God,-verily God loveth those
that fear Him.
Verily they who barter their engagement with God, and their oaths, for some
paltry price-These! no portion for them in the world to come! and God will
not speak to them, and will not look on them, on the day of resurrection, and
will not assoil them! for them, a grievous chastisement!
And some truly are there among them who torture the Scriptures with their
tongues, in order that ye may suppose it to be from the Scripture, yet it is
not from the Scripture. And they say, "This is from God;" yet it is not from
God: and they utter a lie against God, and they know they do so.
It beseemeth not a man, that God should give him the Scriptures and the
Wisdom, and the gift of prophecy, and that then he should say to his
followers, "Be ye worshippers of me, as well as of God;" 30 but rather, "Be
ye perfect in things pertaining to God, since ye know the Scriptures, and
have studied deep."
God doth not command you to take the angels or the prophets as lords.31 What!
would he command you to become infidels after ye have been Muslims?
When God entered into covenant with the prophets,32 he said, "This is the
Book and the Wisdom which I give you. Hereafter shall a prophet came unto you
to confirm the Scriptures already with you. Ye shall surely believe on him,
and ye shall surely aid him. Are ye resolved?" said he, "and do ye accept the
covenant on these terms?" They said, "We are resolved;" "Be ye then the
witnesses," said he, "and I will be a witness as well as you.
And whoever turneth back after this, these are surely the perverse."
Other religion than that of God desire they? To him doth everything that is
in the Heavens and in the Earth submit, in willing or forced obedience! and
to Him do they return.
SAY: We believe in God, and in what hath been sent down to us, and what hath
been sent down to Abraham, and Ismael, and Isaac, and Jacob, and the tribes,
and in what was given to Moses, and Jesus, and the Prophets, from their Lord.
We make no difference between them. And to Him are we resigned (Muslims).
Whoso desireth any other religion than Islam, that religion shall never be
accepted from him, and in the next world he shall be among the lost.
How shall God guide a people who, after they had believed and bore witness
that the apostle was true, and after that clear proofs of his mission had
reached them, disbelieved? God guideth not the people who transgress.
These! their recompense, that the curse of God, and of angels, and of all
men, is on them!
Under it shall they abide for ever; their torment shall not be assuaged! nor
shall God even look upon them!-
Save those who after this repent and amend; for verily God is Gracious,
Merciful!
As for those who become infidels, after having believed, and then increase
their infidelity-their repentance shall never be accepted. These! they are
the erring ones.
As for those who are infidels, and die infidels, from no one of them shall as
much gold as the earth could contain be accepted, though he should offer it
in ransom. These! a grievous punishment awaiteth them; and they shall have
none to help them.
Ye shall never attain to goodness till ye give alms of that which ye love;
and whatever ye give, of a truth God knoweth it.
All food was allowed to the children of Israel, except what Jacob forbad
himself, ere the law was sent down; SAY: Bring ye then the law and read it,
if ye be men of truth.
And whoso after this inventeth the lie about God: These are evil doers.
SAY: God speaketh truth. Follow, therefore, the religion of Abraham, the
sound in faith, who was not one of those who joined other gods to God.
The first temple that was founded for mankind, was that in Becca,33-Blessed,
and a guidance to human beings.
In it are evident signs, even the standing-place34 of Abraham: and he who
entereth it is safe. And the pilgrimage to the temple, is a service due to
God from those who are able to journey thither.
And as to him who believeth not-verily God can afford to dispense with all
creatures!
SAY: O people of the Book! why disbelieve ye the signs of God? But God is
witness of your doings.
SAY: O people of the Book! why repel believers from the way of God? Ye fain
would make it crooked, and yet ye are its witnesses! But God is not
regardless of what ye do.
O believers! if ye obey some amongst those who have received the Scripture,
after your very Faith will they make you infidels!
But how can ye become infidels, when the signs of God are recited to you, and
his prophet is among you? Whoever holdeth fast by God, is already guided to a
straight path.
O ye believers! fear God as He deserveth to be feared! and die not till ye
have become Muslims.
And hold ye fast by the cord 35 of God, all of you, and break not loose from
it; and remember God's goodness towards you, how that when ye were enemies,
He united your hearts, and by his favour ye became brethren;
And when ye were on the brink of the pit of fire, he drew you back from it.
Thus God clearly sheweth you his signs that ye may be guided;
And that there may be among you a people who invite to the Good, and enjoin
the Just, and forbid the Wrong. These are they with whom it shall be well.
And be ye not like those who have formed divisions, and fallen to variance
after the clear proofs have come to them. These! a terrible chastisement doth
await them,
On THE DAY when faces shall turn white, and faces shall turn black! And as to
those whose faces shall have turned black ". . . .What! after your belief
have ye become infidels? Taste then the chastisement, for that ye have been
unbelievers."
And as to those whose faces shall have become white, they shall be within the
mercy of God: therein shall they abide for ever.
These are the signs of God: we recite them to thee in truth: And God willeth
not injustice to mankind.
Whatever is in the Heavens, and whatever is on the Earth, is God's. And to
God shall all things return.
Ye are the best folk that hath been raised up unto mankind. Ye enjoin the
Just, and ye forbid the Evil, and ye believe in God: And if the people of the
Book had believed, it had surely been better for them! Believers there are
among them, but most of them are perverse.
They will never inflict on you but a trifling damage; and if they do battle
with you, they shall turn their backs to you: then they shall not be
succoured.
Shame shall be stamped upon them36 wherever found, unless they ally them with
God and men! And the wrath of God will they incur, and poverty shall be
stamped upon them! This-for that they believed not in the signs of God, and
slew the prophets unjustly: This-because they rebelled, and became
transgressors.
Yet all are not alike: Among the people of the Book is an upright folk, who
recite the signs of God in the night-season, and adore:
They believe in God and in the latter day, and enjoin justice, and forbid
evil, and speed on in good works. These are of the righteous.
And of whatever good ye do, ye shall not be denied the meed. God knoweth
those who fear Him.
But as for the infidels, their wealth, and their children shall avail them
nothing against God. They shall be the inmates of the fire, to abide therein
eternally.
The alms which they bestow in this present life, are like a freezing wind,
which falleth upon and destroyeth the cornfields of a people who have been to
themselves unjust. God doeth them no injustice, but to themselves are they
unjust.
O ye who have believed! form not intimacies among others than yourselves.
They will not fail to corrupt you. They long for your ruin. Hatred hath
already shewn itself out of their mouths, but more grievous is what their
breasts conceal. The tokens thereof we have already made plain to you, if ye
will comprehend.
See now! ye love them, but they love not you. Ye believe the entire Book. And
when they meet you, they say, "We believe;" but when they are apart, they
bite their fingers' ends at you, out of wrath. SAY: "Die in your wrath!" God
truly knoweth the very recesses of your breasts.
If good befalleth you it grieveth them, and when ill lighteth on you, they
rejoice in it. But if ye be steadfast and fear God, their craft shall in no
way harm you. For God is round about their doings.
And remember when thou didst leave thy household at early morn, that thou
mightest prepare the faithful a camp for the war;37-God heard, knew it-
When two troops of you became full of anxious thoughts, and lost heart, and
when God became the protector of both! In God, then, let the faithful trust.
God had already succoured you at Bedr, when ye were the weaker! Fear God,
then, that ye may be thankful.
Then thou didst say to the faithful, "Is it not enough for you that your Lord
aideth you with three thousand angels sent down from on high?"
Aye: but ye if be steadfast and fear God, and the foe come upon you in hot
haste, your Lord will help you with five thousand angels in their
cognisances!38
This, as pure good tidings for you, did God appoint, that your hearts might
be assured-for only from God, the Mighty, the Wise, cometh the Victory-and
that He might cut off the uttermost part of those who believed not, or cast
them down so that they should be overthrown, defeated without resource.
It is none of thy concern whether He be turned unto them in kindness or
chastise them: for verily they are wrongful doers.
Whatever is in the Heavens and the Earth is God's! He forgiveth whom He will,
and whom He will, chastiseth: for God is Forgiving, Merciful.
O ye who believe! devour not usury, doubling it again and again! But fear
God, that ye may prosper.
And fear the fire which is prepared for them that believe not; and obey God
and the apostle, that ye may find mercy:
And vie in haste for pardon from your Lord, and a Paradise, vast as the
Heavens and the Earth, prepared for the God-fearing.
Who give alms, alike in prosperity and in success, and who master their
anger, and forgive others! God loveth the doers of good.
They who, after they have done a base deed or committed a wrong against their
own selves, remember God and implore forgiveness of their sins-and who will
forgive sins but God only?-and persevere not in what they have wittingly done
amiss.
As for these! Pardon from their Lord shall be their recompense, and gardens
'neath which the rivers flow; for ever shall they abide therein: And goodly
the reward of those who labour!
Already, before your time, have examples been made! Traverse the earth, then,
and see what hath been the end of those who treat prophets as liars.
This Koran is a manifest to man, and a guidance, and a warning to the God-
fearing!
And be not fainthearted, and be not sorrowful: For ye shall gain the upper
hand if ye be believers.39
If a wound hath befallen you, a wound like it hath already befallen others:
we alternate these days of successes and reverses among men, that God may
know those who have believed, and that He may take martyrs from among you,-
but God loveth not the wrongful doers-
And that God may test those who believe, and destroy the infidels.
Thought ye that ye should enter Paradise ere God had taken knowledge of those
among you who did valiantly, and of those who steadfastly endure?
Ye had desired death ere ye met it. But ye have now seen it-and ye have
beheld it-and fled from it!
Muhammad is no more than an apostle; other apostles have already passed away
before him: if he die, therefore,40 or be slain, will ye turn upon your
heels?41 But he who turneth on his heels shall not injure God at all: And God
will certainly reward the thankful!
No one can die except by God's permission, according to the Book that fixeth
the term of life.42 He who desireth the recompense of this world, we will
give him thereof; And he who desireth the recompense of the next life, we
will give him thereof! And we will certainly reward the thankful.
How many a prophet hath combated those who had with them many myriads! Yet
were they not daunted at what befel them on the path of God, nor were they
weakened, nor did they basely submit! God loveth those who endure with
steadfastness,
Nor said they more than this:43 "O our Lord! forgive us our sins and our
mistakes in this our work; and set our feet firm; and help us against the
unbelieving people." And God gave them the recompense of this world, and the
excellence of the recompense of the next. For God loveth the doers of what is
excellent.
O ye who have believed! if ye obey the infidels, they will cause you to turn
upon your heels,44 and ye will fall back into perdition:
But God is your liege lord, and He is the best of helpers.
We will cast a dread into hearts of the infidels because they have joined
gods with God without warranty sent down; their abode shall be the fire; and
wretched shall be the mansion of the evil doers.
Already had God made good to you His promise, when by His permission ye
destroyed your foes, until your courage failed you, and ye disputed about the
order,45 and disobeyed, after that the Prophet had brought you within view of
that for which ye longed.46
Some of you were for this world, and some for the next.47 Then, in order to
make trial of you, He turned you to flight from them,-yet hath He now
forgiven you; for all-bounteous is God to the faithful-
When ye came up the height48 and took no heed of any one, while the Prophet
in your rear was calling you to the fight! God hath rewarded you with trouble
upon trouble, that ye might learn not to be chagrined at your loss of booty,
or at what befel you! God is acquainted with your actions.
Then after the trouble God sent down security upon you. Slumber fell upon a
part of you: as to the other part-their own passions stirred them up to think
unjustly of God with thoughts of ignorance! They said-What gain we by this
affair? SAY: Verily the affair resteth wholly with God. They hid in their
minds what they did not speak out to thee, saying, "Were we to have gained
aught in this affair, none of us had been slain at this place." SAY: Had ye
remained in your homes, they who were decreed to be slain would have gone
forth to the places where they lie:-in order that God might make trial of
what was in your breasts, and might discover what was in your hearts, for God
knoweth the very secrets of the breast.
Of a truth it was Satan alone who caused those of you to fail in duty who
turned back on the day when the hosts met, for some of their doings! But now
hath God pardoned them; For God is Forgiving, Gracious.
O ye who believe! be not like the infidels, who said of their brethren when
they had travelled by land or had gone forth to war, "Had they kept with us,
they had not died, and had not been slain!" God purposed that this affair
should cause them heart sorrow! God maketh alive and killeth; and God
beholdeth your actions.
And if ye shall be slain or die on the path of God, then pardon from God and
mercy is better than all your amassings;
For if ye die or be slain, verily unto God shall ye be gathered.
Of the mercy of God thou hast spoken to them in gentle terms. Hadst thou been
severe and harsh-hearted, they would have broken away from thee. Therefore,
forgive and ask for pardon for them, and consult them in the affair of war,
and when thou art resolved, then put thou thy trust in God, for God loveth
those who trust in Him.
If God help you, none shall overcome you; but if He abandon you, who is he
that shall help you when He is gone? In God, then, let the faithful trust.
It is not the Prophet who will defraud you;49-But he who shall defraud, shall
come forth with his defraudings on the day of the resurrection: then shall
every soul be paid what it hath merited, and they shall not be treated with
injustice.
Shall he who hath followed the good pleasure of God be as he who hath brought
on himself wrath from God, and whose abode shall be Hell? and wretched the
journey thither!
There are varying grades with God: and God beholdeth what ye do.
Now hath God been gracious to the faithful, when he raised up among them an
apostle out of their own people, to rehearse unto them his signs, and to
cleanse them, and to give them knowledge of the Book and of Wisdom: for
before they were in manifest error.
When a reverse hath befallen you,50 the like of which ye had before
inflicted, say ye, "Whence is this?" SAY: It is from yourselves. For God hath
power over all things.
And that which befel you on the day when the armies met, was certainly by the
will of God, and that he might know the faithful, and that he might know the
hypocrites! And when the word was "Advance, fight on the path of God, or
drive back the foe,"-they said, "Had we known how to fight, we would have
followed you." Nearer were some of them on that day to unbelief, than to
faith:
They said with their lips what was not in their hearts! But God knew what
they concealed,
Who said of their brethren while themselves sat at home,
"Had they obeyed us, they had not been slain." SAY: Keep back death from
yourselves if ye speak truth.
And repute not those slain on God's path to be dead.51 Nay, alive with their
Lord, are they richly sustained;
Rejoicing in what God of his bounty hath vouchsafed them, filled with joy for
those who follow after them, but have not yet overtaken them, that on them
nor fear shall come, nor grief;
Filled with joy at the favours of God, and at his bounty: and that God
suffereth not the reward of the faithful to perish.
As to those who after the reverse52 which befel them, respond to God and the
Apostle-such of them as do good works and fear God, shall have a great
reward:
Who, when men said to them, "Now are the Meccans mustering against you;
therefore fear them!" it only increased their faith, and they said, "Our
sufficiency is God, and He is an excellent protector."
They returned, therefore, with the favour of God, enriched by Him, and
untouched by harm; and they followed what was well pleasing to God. And God
is of great Munificence.
Only would that Satan53 instil the fear of his adherents: Fear them not, but
fear me if ye are believers.
Let not those who vie in haste after infidelity grieve thee: Verily not one
whit shall they injure God! God will refuse them all part in the life to
come: a severe chastisement shall be their lot.
They truly who purchase infidelity at the price of their faith, shall not
injure God one whit! and a grievous chastisement shall be their lot.
Let not the infidels deem that the length of days we give them is good for
them! We only give them length of days that they may increase their sins! and
a shameful chastisement shall be their lot.
It is not in God to leave the faithful in the State in which they are, until
he sever the bad from the good:
Nor is God minded to lay open the secret things to you, but God chooseth whom
he will of his apostles to know them.54 Believe, therefore, in God and his
apostles: and if ye believe and fear God, a great reward awaiteth you.
And let not those who are niggard of what God hath vouchsafed them in his
bounty, think that this will be good for them-Nay, it will be bad for them-
That of which they have been niggard shall be their collar on the day of the
resurrection. God's, the heritage of the Heavens and of the Earth! And God is
well-informed of all ye do.
Now hath God heard the saying of those who said: "Aye, God is poor and we are
rich."55 We will surely write down their sayings, and their unjust slaughter
of the prophets; and and we will say, "Taste ye the torment of the burning.
This, for what your hands have sent before you; and because God will not
inflict a wrong upon his servants!"
To those who say, "Verily, God hath enjoined us that we are not to credit an
apostle until he present us a sacrifice which fire out of Heaven shall
devour,"
SAY: Already have apostles before me come to you with miracles, and with that
of which ye speak. Wherefore slew ye them? Tell me, if ye are men of truth.
And if they treat thee as a liar, then verily apostles have been treated as
liars before thee, though they came with clear proofs of their mission, and
with Scriptures, and with the light-giving Book.
Every soul shall taste of death: and ye shall only receive your recompenses
on the day of resurrection. And whoso shall scape the fire, and be brought
into Paradise, shall be happy. And the life of this world is but a cheating
fruition!
Ye shall assuredly be tried in your possessions and in yourselves. And many
hurtful things shall ye assuredly hear from those to whom the Scriptures were
given before you, and from those who join other gods with God. But if ye be
steadfast, and fear God this verily is needed in the affairs of life.
Moreover, when God entered into a convenant with those to whom the Scriptures
had been given, and said, "Ye shall surely make it known to mankind and not
hide it," they cast it behind their backs, and sold it for a sorry price! But
vile is that for which they have sold it.
Suppose not that they who rejoice in what they have brought to pass, and love
to be praised for what they have not done56-suppose not they shall escape the
chastisement. An afflictive chastisement doth await them,
For the Kingdom of the Heavens and the Earth is God's, and God hath power
over all things.
Verily, in the creation of the Heavens and of the Earth, and in the
succession of the night and of the day, are signs for men of understanding
heart;
Who standing, and sitting, and reclining, bear God in mind, and muse on the
creation of the Heavens and of the Earth. "O our Lord!" say they, "thou hast
not created this in vain. No. Glory be to Thee! Keep us, then, from the
torment of the fire.
O our Lord! surely thou wilt put him to shame whom thou shalt cause to enter
into the Fire, and the wrong-doers shall have none to help them.
O our Lord! we have indeed heard the voice of one that called. He called us
to the faith-’Believe on your Lord’-and we have believed.
O our Lord! forgive us then our sin, and hide away from us our evil deeds,
and cause us to die with the righteous.
O our Lord! and give us what thou hast promised us by thine apostles, and put
us not to shame on the day of the resurrection. Verily, Thou wilt not fail
thy promise."