«Whatever āya We abrogate or cause to be forgotten, We bring one better than it or the like of it» (Q. 2:106) The occasion for this āya’s revelation is that the Jews and the polytheists impugned the abrogation of some of the āyāt of the Qurʾan. They said: had it been the speech of Allah it would not have been abrogated, since abrogation is not permissible in the speech of Allah, Blessed and Exalted. And this [is] from the extremity of their ignorance. Abrogation did occur in the Qurʾan, by transmission, by the text of the Qurʾan, and the intellect accepts it. Abrogation came in three modes: an āya whose recitation and whose ruling were abrogated, as in His words: ⟨Ten known nursings do prohibit,⟩ [1] this was an āya that was recited and whose ruling was in force; then its recitation was abrogated and its ruling was abrogated. And an āya whose recitation was abrogated and whose ruling remained, as in His words: ⟨The aged man and the aged woman, if they commit fornication, stone them both outright,⟩ this was an āya that was recited; its recitation was lifted and its ruling is in force. And an āya whose ruling was lifted and whose recitation remained [2] «It is prescribed for you, when death comes to one of you, if he leaves wealth»

«the bequest for the parents» (Q. 2:180) This is an āya that is recited to this day and whose ruling is abrogated. It was abrogated by the āya of inheritance, and the Prophet ﷺ made its abrogation clear by his words: ⟨There is no bequest to an heir⟩ [3] The āya is not abrogated by the hadith; rather the hadith makes clear that this āya is abrogated. For the āya has made clear that whatever Allah abrogates, He brings something better than it, and the speech of the created being is never better than the speech of the Creator. Except that revelation is of two kinds: something that is recited and something that is sent down upon the Prophet ﷺ and he then makes it clear to us. In any case, abrogation occurs in the Qurʾan by transmission [4] As for [abrogation] rationally: Allah, Blessed and Exalted, is the freely choosing Agent, disposing of existence as He wills

He puts a ruling into effect for a time; and if He wills, He brings it to an end and brings a new ruling. There is no objection against Him in this. So this āya was revealed. «Whatever āya We abrogate» [5] we remove its ruling, either together with its wording or its ruling alone «or cause it to be forgotten» we defer its recitation and do not remove its ruling, its recitation being lifted «We bring better than it» that is, one more beneficial to the servants than it, in ease or in the abundance of its reward «or the like of it» in obligation and in reward; and [this is] the conclusive proof «Do you not know that Allah has power over all things» (Q. 2:106) and abrogation and substitution are among [the things in His power] The interrogative is for affirmation. «Do you not know that to Allah belongs the dominion of the heavens and the earth» (Q. 2:107) He is the Owner who disposes as He wills. If they acknowledge that He is the One

the Overwhelming, the Doer of what He wills, they will not object to Him over the abrogation of some of the rulings. «And you have no, apart from Allah» other than Him «protector or helper» (Q. 2:107) who would ward off His chastisement from you if it came to you. Allah, Blessed and Exalted, set out in the last āya of what we read yesterday [6] the ruling on sorcery. The ruling on sorcery is that it is forbidden, a grave sin and unbelief, and it never goes together with faith, and no one practises it but an unbeliever. The proof that sorcery is unbelief is Allah’s denial, Blessed and Exalted, of sorcery of Sulaymān. He said: «And Sulaymān did not disbelieve» (Q. 2:102) meaning he did not practise sorcery. On this basis sorcery is unbelief. And the angels whom Allah sent down came to teach sorcery, to teach that it is evil so that they would avoid it. The exegetes bring a story about these two angels, Hārūt and Mārūt, and the story has no basis. Many of the exegetes have affirmed it, but they took it from the Isrāʾīliyyāt alone, and the Qurʾan gives it the lie. The story: they said that the angels reproached the children of Ādam for the multitude of their sins. So Allah, Blessed and Exalted, said: I created them and set in them an appetite that demands these acts of disobedience from them, and had I set this appetite in you, the like of what occurred from them would have occurred from you. They said: It is not possible for us that we should ever disobey You. This answer no angel could ever give. So Allah, Blessed and Exalted, said: Choose from among your righteous. So they chose Hārūt and Mārūt, and the two were among the most righteous of the angels. So Allah set in the two of them the appetite for food, for drink and for sexual intercourse, and sent them down to the earth, and commanded them to associate nothing with Allah, to kill no soul, not to commit fornication, to judge by nothing but what Allah had sent down, and not to drink wine. So the two came down and began to judge among the people by the truth. And when night came the two would invoke the Name and return to the Highest Assembly, and when morning broke they would return as well, and when night came they would recite the Name that Allah had taught them and they would ascend to heaven, until a woman fell into a dispute with her husband and the two of them stood before the two [angels]. When one of the two angels looked at her, she took hold of the whole of his heart, and he turned to his companion and said to him: Has the like of what has befallen me befallen you? He said to him: Yes. What is to be done? He said: We shall only try [to win] her. He said: Did not

[Do] you know that Allah is severe in punishment? He said: He is forgiving, merciful. The two of them solicited the woman, and she refused unless they would rule in her favour against her husband. So they ruled in her favour at once, that the right was with her. Then she said: You must drink some wine. So they drank. Each [time] she wanted a sin, one of them said: Allah is severe in punishment, and the other said: He is forgiving, merciful. The woman said that it did not suffice her that they rule in her favour against him, but rather that they kill him. So they killed him. Then they sought her again, and she said: You must prostrate yourselves to the idol. So they prostrated to it. Every single thing they had been forbidden came to pass from them. When night came the woman said: You must teach me the Greatest Name by which the two of you ascend to heaven. So they taught her, and she uttered the Name and flew up to heaven, and she was transformed; she is the star al-Zuhara [Venus] to this day — so they say — and as for the two of them, when night came they were unable to fly and to ascend to heaven, so they went to Idrīs, the prophet of that age. Allah revealed to him that the two of them were to choose between the punishment of this world and the punishment of the hereafter, and they chose the punishment of this world because it passes away. They were cast into a well, and they are being punished in that well to this day. This is the story of Hārūt and Mārūt, and it is a falsehood with no basis.

He mentioned envy [7], and envy is among the grave sins. He said ﷺ: ⟨Envy devours good deeds as fire devours firewood.⟩ [8] — because the envier detests the blessing of Allah, Blessed and Exalted, and attributes injustice to

the Creator, and shows enmity to the walī of Allah, and strives to render Allah’s power incapable and to stand in the way of the servants’ obedience to Him. The envious man does not become master. Man is constituted to hate subordination: you will not find any man who likes to be a follower of his like except for some cause, and when that cause ceases the subordination ceases. Even our Creator has conferred upon us such benefits and goods as require of us that we be obedient to Him, and whoever wants these goods to cease wants only to remove the very existence of obedience to Him, Blessed and Exalted. The envier harms none but himself; you will not find a wrongdoer more like one wronged than the envier. Each time he does something to the one he envies, the harm of it returns upon him, so he grows the more enraged, and he does more, and it returns upon him. You find him perpetually angered by his own act. His case is the case of one who takes a stone and wants to throw it at a man’s hand to break it, and the throw comes back and breaks his own hand; and he throws another stone and it comes back to his other hand; and he throws a third stone and it gouges out his eye; and he throws a fourth and it gouges out his other eye. Such is the act of the envier.

There was a king among the kings to whom a scholar used to come, and he was accepted with him, and he honoured him constantly. Each time he sat down he would say to him:

Do good to everyone who does good to you, and as for the wrongdoer, his own wrongdoing suffices him. [9] A man beside him envied him for his standing with this king, so he went to the king and said to him: This so-and-so whom you bring near talks about you; he says that your breath stinks. He said to him: How am I to know that he says this about [me]? He said: When he returns to you, observe what he does and you will find that he says your breath stinks. So he went out and invited the man to his house and fed him leeks and onions and garlic — these foods that have foul odours — and after that he said to him: Go to the king, he is summoning you. So he came and said to him: Do good to everyone who does good to you, and as for the wrongdoer, his own wrongdoing suffices him. He said to him: Come close to me — wanting to speak with him in confidence — and he pressed his garment to his mouth, and so he believed what had been said to him about him. The king grew angry, to the point that he wrote with his own hand, and he never wrote except for a reward; he wrote with his own hand to one of his agents: When the bearer of my letter comes to you, slaughter him and flay him and stuff his skin with straw and send it to me at once. When he had written it and sealed it he handed it to the scholar, and the envier intercepted him and said to him: Make me a gift of this letter; and he pleaded by every means until he gave him the letter. So he went to the agent and handed it to him, and

the agent read the letter and said: The king has ordered me to slaughter you and stuff your skin with straw and send it to him. He said: No, I am not the one the letter is about; go back to the king, I am not the one the letter is about. He said to him: I do not question the king’s order; I carry out his order and do not question it. So he slaughtered him and flayed him and stuffed his skin with straw and sent it to the king. When the king saw it and knew that it was the envier, he sent for the scholar. The scholar entered and said: Do good to everyone who does good to you, and as for the wrongdoer, his own wrongdoing suffices him. He said to him: Tell me, what is your story? Did you not say that my breath stinks? He said: I seek refuge with Allah — am I to say about the king what I do not know? He said to him: When I brought you close to me, you covered your mouth? He said to him: That so-and-so fed me food that had an odour, and I disliked that the king should smell a foul odour [from me]. The king said to him:

Do good to everyone who does good to you, and as for the wrongdoer, his own wrongdoing suffices him.

«Or do you want to ask your Messenger as Mūsā was asked» (Q. 2:108) «am» — rather, you want to ask the Messenger of Allah ﷺ. The occasion of this āya’s revelation was that the people of Mecca gathered and came to the Messenger ﷺ and said to him: If you want us to believe in you, then widen the lands of Mecca for us. Move these mountains so that we may find land to sow in; and make al-Ṣafā gold for us; and send to us Quṣayy b. Kilāb, our ancestor, that we may consult him about believing in you; and bring us the angels, that they may testify for you that you are a prophet. «Or do you want to ask your Messenger as Mūsā was asked» «before» the people of Mūsā said: «Show us Allah openly» (Q. 4:153) «And whoever exchanges belief for unbelief» takes it in its place, and that is by abandoning reflection on the clear signs and proposing others instead. Whoever looks at the clear signs and then goes on proposing others is forsaken. «has strayed from the right way» (Q. 2:108) This man is astray. Demanding signs avails nothing. Whoever Allah wills belief for sees the sign before he asks for it; and whoever

has seen these repeated signs and, despite that, keeps asking for signs is sentenced to wretchedness alone and to being forsaken.

«Many of the People of the Book wish they could turn you back into unbelievers after your belief, out of envy from within themselves» When ʿAmmār and Bilāl came back from the Prophet’s campaigns ﷺ, they would pass by a church and listen to the sermons, finding in them some reports that strengthened them in their belief in the Prophet ﷺ and in the Qurʾan. When the Jews saw that the two were listening to them, they set their hopes on the two apostatizing, and began calling them to their religion and pressing them into apostasy. ʿAmmār said to them: How does breaking a covenant stand with you? They said: Like this — it is like killing. He said: We have made a covenant with Muhammad ﷺ to follow him for the span of our lives, so we will never break his covenant. Then this āya was revealed: «Many of the People of the Book wish they could turn you back into unbelievers after your belief, out of envy from within themselves» Their malignant souls drove them to envy «after what had become clear to them» in the Torah «the truth» concerning the Prophet ﷺ. «So pardon»

«[pardon] them» that is, leave them be «and turn away» turn aside, and do not requite them «until Allah brings His command» concerning them, namely fighting «that Allah has power over all things» (Q. 2:109) This is abrogated by the sword verse. «And establish the prayer and give the alms» Whenever He makes the prayer obligatory He mentions the alms, because the prayer is the greatest of the acts of worship of the body and the alms the greatest of the acts of worship of property. «And whatever good you send ahead for yourselves» an act of obedience, such as kinship-giving or almsgiving «you will find it» you will find its reward «with Allah» Blessed and Exalted «Allah is Seeing of what you do» (Q. 2:110) so He will requite you for it.

ʿUmar b. al-Khaṭṭāb rode out in his time to al-Baqīʿ and greeted the people of al-Baqīʿ and said: ⟨News of what has come about after you: your properties have been divided, your houses lived in, your women married. This is what has come about after you.⟩ Then he heard a voice: But

what we sent ahead we found, and what we left behind we lost. [10] This is what verifies His words: «And whatever good you send ahead for yourselves, you will find it with Allah» (Q. 2:110) «And they said» — the Jews — «None will enter the Garden except one who was a Jew» the plural of hāʾid. Whoever

was a Jew — only he is the one who enters the Garden. This is what the Jews said — «or Christians» — and the Christians of Najrān said that the Garden will be entered by none except whoever was a Christian. This is their speech, when they disputed before the Messenger ﷺ. The Jews swore that none would enter it but the Jews, and the Christians swore that none would enter it but the Christians. He, Exalted, said: «That» — that utterance — «is their wishful thinking» — their false cravings — «Say: Bring your proof» — your argument for that — «if you are truthful» (Q. 2:111). «On the contrary» — others than you do enter the Garden — «whoever surrenders his face to Allah» — he submits to His command; He singled out the face because it is the noblest of the limbs, so the rest is all the more [included] — «while he is a doer of good» — affirming [Allah’s] oneness — «then he has his reward with his Lord» — the recompense of his deed is the Garden — «and no fear shall be upon them, nor shall they grieve» (Q. 2:112). And islām, īmān and iḥsān are the religion of the Chosen One ﷺ. A man came to the assembly of the Prophet ﷺ with no trace of travel upon him, his garments of an intense whiteness. He sat down before him ﷺ until his knees touched the knees of the Chosen One ﷺ. He said: ⟨Tell me about al-islām.⟩ The Messenger ﷺ said: ⟨The testimony that there is no deity but Allah and that I am the Messenger of Allah, the performance of the prayer, the giving of zakat, the fast of Ramadan, and the pilgrimage to the House for whoever can find a way to it.⟩ He said: ⟨You have spoken truly. Now tell me about al-īmān.⟩ He said: ⟨That you believe in Allah, His angels, His books and His messengers, and that you believe in the decree, its good and its evil.⟩ He said: ⟨You have spoken truly.⟩ He said:

We were amazed at him: he questions him and declares him truthful. He said: ⟨Tell me about iḥsān.⟩ He said: ⟨That you worship Allah as though you see Him, and if⟩

⟨you do not see Him, then He sees you.⟩ He said: ⟨You have spoken truly. And when will the Hour come?⟩ He said: ⟨The one asked about it is no more knowing of it than the one who asks, but I will tell you of its portents.⟩ That is, its signs: ⟨When the slave-woman gives birth to her mistress⟩ — when concubines become many, so that the slave-woman gives birth to her mistress; the slave-woman, when she bears a child by her master, her child becomes her master and her emancipator — ⟨and when you see the barefoot, the naked, the shepherds of sheep raising themselves high in building.⟩ ⟨He departed, and the Prophet ﷺ said, ‘Catch up with him.’ They sought him but found no trace of him. He said to them ﷺ, ‘Do you know who the questioner was?’ They said, ‘No.’ He said, ‘That was Jibrīl, who came to you to teach you your religion.’⟩ [11] Whoever enters Islam by saying: there is no deity but Allah, Muhammad is the Messenger of Allah — he has his reward with his Lord, and no fear shall be upon them, nor shall they grieve. Allah revealed to the Prophet ﷺ that on this day Diḥya al-Kalbī would come to him as a Muslim; and Diḥya had committed

foul acts, and the Companions detested him. When the time of his entry came, while the Prophet ﷺ was in a company of his Companions, Diḥya appeared. Al-Muṣṭafā ﷺ was averse to their confronting him with what was unseemly, and so turning his mind away from Islam, and he did not wish to command them to do anything. When Diḥya entered, he ﷺ took his cloak and spread it out and said to Diḥya: ⟨Sit here.⟩ He came and folded the cloak and kissed it and placed it over his heart and said: how noble this character is. Then he sat. He said: teach me Islam. The Messenger ﷺ said to him: ⟨Say: I testify that there is no deity but Allah and that Muhammad is the Messenger of Allah.⟩ He pronounced the two testimonies, al-shahādatān, and he began to weep bitterly. Al-Muṣṭafā ﷺ said to him: ⟨What makes you weep, after you were an unbeliever and Allah guided you to Islam?⟩ He said: I did something in the Jāhiliyya that I do not think Allah will forgive me. Al-Muṣṭafā asked him, and he answered, saying to him: I was among the Arabs who detest daughters, and Allah granted me seventy daughters, and I killed them to the last of them. I fear that Allah, Blessed and Exalted, will not forgive me this sin. The Prophet ﷺ paused, and Jibrīl descended and said to him: ⟨Tell him that Allah has forgiven him the sins of sixty years and the unbelief of sixty years. How should He not forgive him the killing of his daughters?⟩ This word cuts off what came before it. Whoever has been an unbeliever for hundreds of years or thousands of years, if he says this word he comes out of his sins as on the day his mother bore him. The Companions said: is this for Diḥya in particular, or for us in general? The Prophet ﷺ said: ⟨Rather, it is for you in general.⟩ And they rejoiced at that.

The Prophet ﷺ said: ⟨My Lord, You have forgiven Diḥya al-Kalbī the unbelief of sixty years and the sins of sixty years for a single word; so what of my community, who repeat it by night and⟩ by day ⟨while they affirm it in belief — how should You not⟩

⟨forgive them?⟩ [12]

«And the Jews said: the Christians stand on nothing» worth reckoning — and they disbelieved in ʿĪsā «and the Christians said: the Jews stand on nothing» worth reckoning — and they disbelieved in Mūsā «while they» the two parties «recite the Book» (Q. 2:113)

the revealed books. The Jews refused to affirm ʿĪsā, and they recited the Torah, in which the affirmation of ʿĪsā stands; and the Christians likewise. «Thus» as these said «said those who do not know» the idolaters among the Arabs and others «the like of their saying» they said of everyone who holds a religion that they stand upon nothing «So Allah will judge between them on the Day of Resurrection concerning that in which they used to differ» in the matter of religion «And who does greater wrong than one who bars the mosques of Allah, that His name be mentioned in them» (Q. 2:114) It was revealed when they turned the Prophet ﷺ away from the House in the year of al-Ḥudaybiya; or it was revealed about the Byzantines who laid waste the Holy House; or about the idolaters; or about all of them together. «And who does greater wrong»

No one does greater wrong «than one who bars the mosques of Allah, that His name be mentioned in them» by prayer and glorification «and strives for their ruin» by demolition or by disuse. Everyone who bars one of the mosques enters into this — that is, [bars] any worshipper or anyone making remembrance of Allah, Blessed and Exalted. «Those — it was not for them to enter them except in fear» that is, strike fear into them by jihad «They shall have disgrace in this world» humiliation through killing, captivity and the poll-tax «and in the Hereafter they shall have a great punishment» (Q. 2:114) which is the Fire «And to Allah belong the East and the West» The occasion of this āya’s revelation was the Jews’ objection to the abrogation of the qibla. The Messenger ﷺ had a qibla, and it was the true qibla, toward every direction: he would pray toward every direction — «so wherever you turn, there is the face of Allah» After that he was commanded to pray toward the Holy House, and that was abrogated, and he was commanded to pray toward the Kaʿba. The Jews objected to the turning of the qibla, so this āya was revealed: «And to Allah belong the East and the West» meaning that the directions all belong to Allah, Blessed and Exalted «wherever you turn» your faces in prayer, by His command «there» in that place «is the face of Allah» His qibla which He has approved «Allah is All-Encompassing» His bounty encompasses everything

«All-Knowing» (Q. 2:115) inasmuch as the qibla of the Christians is the east alone: «And mention in the Book Maryam, when she withdrew from her family to an eastern place» (Q. 19:16) Since the birthplace of ʿĪsā was an eastern place, they sanctified the east and said that prayer is not valid

except toward the east. As for the Jews, their qibla is the west: «And you were not on the western side» (Q. 28:44) because Mūsā’s colloquy [with Allah] took place in the direction of the west, so they chose the west as a qibla. The Muslims accepted the command of Allah, Blessed and Exalted, without inclining toward anything they wanted for themselves, and their qibla turned out to be the qibla of Ibrāhīm — and they are upon the religion of Ibrāhīm — and the birthplace of Muhammad ﷺ. What the two parties attempted, the Muslims obtained without intending it, and their aim was compliance with Allah’s command alone. «So wherever you turn, there is the face of Allah» (Q. 2:115) His qibla — this is the taʾwīl of those who interpret. [13] Or: «wherever you turn, there is the face of Allah» — His direction, His Essence. The Essence has no direction and no place, so wherever the servant turns, he is facing [it]. What the perfection of gnosis requires of the servant is therefore that he pray toward whatever direction he wishes. As for our praying toward a single direction, that is adab and compliance with the command of Allah, Blessed and Exalted, and a disciplining of the soul so that it may grow accustomed to singling out one direction of facing. If the servant, whenever he wants worship or supplication or remembrance, faces a single direction, this is better. The servant’s singling out of one direction outwardly acts upon the inward, until Allah grants him the singling out of the direction inwardly. The real qibla is the Exalted Essence. What is required of the servant is that his heart be turned toward this real qibla always and perpetually. Repeatedly facing the qibla may discipline the servant’s inward until he reaches the facing of the real qibla. Were it not for that, it would be hard for the gnostic to pray toward a determinate direction, since the directions are all one. A king once hosted some of the scholars, and they dined with him, and he asked

a question. He said: What is the meaning of the saying of the Prophet ﷺ: ⟨Do not prefer me over Yūnus b. Mattā⟩ [14] when the Prophet ﷺ is superior to all the prophets and the messengers? They said: This question — none can answer it but a single scholar. So they brought him, and he repeated the question. He said: Here is a poor man in debt, dunned for a thousand dīnārs which he does not have. I will not answer you this question unless you discharge this destitute man’s debt. He discharged the destitute man’s debt on the spot. He said to him: The meaning of ⟨Do not prefer me over Yūnus b. Mattā⟩ is that Allah has no place and no direction, and the Messenger ﷺ ascended to heaven and passed beyond the heavens and the Throne and the Footstool, and he was near to Allah, Blessed and Exalted, to the point that he says: ⟨I cannot number praise of You; You are as You have praised Yourself ⟩ [15] and Yūnus drowned in the sea and a fish swallowed him, and another fish swallowed him, in the depth of the sea, in the belly of the fish, and the fish in the belly of another fish. Muhammad is not nearer to Allah than Yūnus, who is in the depth of the sea, while he is above the layers [of the heavens]. This is the meaning of ⟨Do not prefer me over Yūnus b. Mattā⟩ [16] «Allah is All-Encompassing, All-Knowing» (Q. 2:115) The human being is the khalīfa of Allah, Blessed and Exalted, on His earth. The essence of the human being is khalīfa for the Essence of Allah, Blessed and Exalted, and the attributes of the human being are khalīfa for the attributes of Allah, Blessed and Exalted: power, will, knowledge, life, hearing, sight and speech. Every human being has attained a portion of these attributes, and they belong in reality to Allah alone. And the acts of the human being are khalīfa for the acts of Allah, Blessed and Exalted. So every human being is khalīfa for Allah over a portion of the world, be it small or great; all of us are lord of something, except that rabb is not applied to anything other than Allah unless it is put in a construct

to something: lord of the house, it was annexed, lord of the garment, lord of the book. Allah is the rabb in reality. And since the spirit has neither place nor direction, it became a vicegerent on behalf of Allah, Exalted. Allah has no place and no direction, and the spirit in the human being is likewise: it has no where and no how. For this reason none is a vicegerent on behalf of Allah except the human being. «And they said» the Jews and the Christians, and whoever claimed that the angels are Allah’s daughters «Allah has taken a son» He, Exalted, said: «Glory be to Him» declaring Him free of that «Rather, to Him belongs what is in the heavens and the earth» as possession, as creation, and as servants; and ownership is incompatible with begetting. A human being cannot own his own child; even in the shariʿa, whoever comes to own his child, [the child] is thereby freed. «all are devoutly obedient to Him» (Q. 2:116) [17] obedient, each in accordance with what is wanted of it «Originator of the heavens and the earth» He who brought them both into being on no prior model «And when He decrees» wills «a matter» its being brought into being «He only says to it: Be, and it is» (Q. 2:117) so it comes to be. This is a command that displays [His] power. «And those who do not know said» the unbelievers of Mecca, to the Prophet ﷺ. «Why does Allah not speak to us» [to tell us] that you are His Messenger «or a sign come to us» of the kind we have proposed «Thus» as these men said «said those before them» of the unbelievers of the past communities, to their prophets «the like of their saying» that is, obstinacy and the demand for signs «their hearts became alike» in unbelief and stubbornness In this there is consolation for the Prophet ﷺ. «We have made the signs clear to a people who are certain» (Q. 2:118) they know that they are signs and so they believe; so to propose a sign alongside them is obstinacy «We have sent you» O Muhammad «with the truth» with guidance «as a bearer of glad tidings» to whoever responds to it, of the Garden «and as a warner»

[warning] whoever does not respond to it, of the Fire «and you are not asked about the companions of the Blaze» (Q. 2:119) the people of the Fire, the unbelievers: what is the matter with them that they did not believe? Your charge is only the delivery [of the message]. «The Jews will never be pleased with you, nor the Christians, until you follow their creed»

The Jews and the Christians are not pleased with the Chosen One, nor with the Muslims, until they follow them in their religion. […]

«that Allah’s guidance» that is, Islam «is the guidance» and what is other than it is error «and if you were to follow their desires» those to which they call you, [put] hypothetically «after the knowledge that has come to you» the revelation from Allah «you would have from Allah no protector» to guard you «and no helper» (Q. 2:120) to defend you «Those to whom We have given the Book, who recite it as it should be recited»

they read it as it was sent down «those are the ones who believe in it» those believe in the Qurʾan «and whoever disbelieves in it»

that is, in the Book given [to him], by altering it «those are the losers» (Q. 2:121) because their destiny is the Fire, made everlasting for them «O Children of Israel, remember My favour which I bestowed upon you, and that I preferred you over the worlds» (Q. 2:122) the like of it has already occurred. al-Ḥaqq called the Children of Israel and reminded them of the favours He bestowed upon their forefathers, and reminded them of the preference He gave to their forefathers, so that they might remember, so that they might give thanks for that favour, and so believe and stand upright. The difference between the community of Muhammad ﷺ «the best community brought forth for mankind» (Q. 3:110), and the Children of Israel is this: as for the Children of Israel, Allah reminded them of His preference, and they grew proud and grew angry and so perished when they saw their preferment; whereas the community of Muhammad, «Say: in Allah’s bounty and in His mercy, in that let them rejoice» (Q. 10:58). When we remember the bounty of Allah, Blessed and Exalted, our hope in Him grows strong; and when they remembered their own preferment, they grew proud, and the like of what befell Iblīs befalls them. «And fear a Day on which [no soul] will give satisfaction» avail «a soul for another soul in anything, nor will any equivalent be accepted from it» a ransom «nor will any intercession benefit it, nor will they be helped» (Q. 2:123) […] and that is the Day of Resurrection. They were made to fear that Day, because when an affliction befalls a person in this world, some person may perhaps intervene with his standing and rescue him from that affliction; and if he does not find this, he may perhaps pay money and so be delivered from that affliction; and if he finds neither of these two, the great men may perhaps rise on his behalf and intercede for him, and the intercession benefits him; and if he finds none of this at all, nothing remains for him but fighting: he finds helpers from his clan and his loved ones who help him in the fighting. And Allah has negated all of these ways on the Day of Resurrection: «No soul will give satisfaction for another soul in anything, nor will any equivalent be accepted from it, nor will any intercession benefit it, nor will they be helped» (Q. 2:123) they will not find anyone to intercede for them such that his intercession would be accepted; they have no intercessor, «so we have no intercessors» (Q. 26:100), unlike the Muslims. «And» remember «when He tried» tested «Ibrāhīm» Ibrāhīm is a name

that is non-Arabic; in the ʿIbrān [Hebrew] tongue its meaning is merciful father [18] He tried him, «his Lord, with words» (Q. 2:124) that is, with commands and prohibitions with which He charged him,

It is said they are the rites of the hajj. And it is said: rinsing the mouth, snuffing water into the nose, the siwāk [tooth-stick], trimming the moustache, parting the hair — that was [a practice] in his religion — clipping the nails, plucking the armpit hair, shaving the pubic hair, istinjāʾ [cleansing after relieving oneself], and circumcision. He was the first to be circumcised, and he was eighty years old, [circumcised] with an adze. And it is said: thirty traits — ten in Sūrat Barāʾa: «those who repent, those who worship, those who praise» (Q. 9:112) and ten in Sūrat al-Muʾminūn: «The believers have succeeded» (Q. 23:1) up to «those are the inheritors» (Q. 23:10) and ten in Sūrat al-Aḥzāb: «the Muslim men and the Muslim women» (Q. 33:35) Those thirty traits are the ones with which his Lord tried Ibrāhīm. [19] «and he fulfilled them» — he discharged them in full — «He said» — [Allah] Exalted [said] to him — «I am making you a leader for mankind» an exemplar in religion. All the adherents of the religions say that they are upon the religion of Ibrāhīm. «He said: And of my progeny» — make my children leaders in religion as well — «He said: My covenant does not reach» [that is,] with the leadership «the wrongdoers» (Q. 2:124)

[that is,] the unbelievers. Ibrāhīm did not know that there were unbelievers among his progeny until this answer came. «And when We made the House» (Q. 2:125)

[that is,] the Kaʿba «a place of return for the people» a place of recourse to which they return — that is, to which they come back again and again from every side «and a place of security» that is, a place of safety for them from the wrongdoing and the raids that occur elsewhere. A man would meet his father’s killer in it and not provoke him. «And take» — O people — «from» «the station of Ibrāhīm» (Q. 2:125) it is the stone on which he stood at the building of the House

«a place of prayer» a place of prayer, in that you pray behind the Station the two rakʿas of the circumambulation [20] «And We charged Ibrāhīm and Ismāʿīl» We commanded them both «that» [that is,] in the sense of “that” «purify My House» of idols «for those who circumambulate and those who abide» (Q. 2:125)

those who reside in it «and those who bow, those who prostrate» (Q. 2:125) plurals of rākiʿ and sājid — that is, those who pray «And when Ibrāhīm said: My Lord, make this» [that is,] this place «a secure town» (Q. 2:126) — at that time it was open wasteland. Here he supplicated while the place was barren, and for that reason he said “a town.” And in Sūrat Ibrāhīm he said: «My Lord, make this town secure» (Q. 14:35) because the supplication in Sūrat Ibrāhīm took place when Mecca was already a settled town. And Allah answered his supplication and made it a sanctuary in which no human blood is shed, in which no one is wronged, whose game is not hunted, and whose herbage is not cut [21] that is, its grass is not cut «and provide its people with fruits» (Q. 2:126)

And He did so, by transporting al-Ṭāʾif from Syria to it; it was barren, with no crops in it and no water. «whoever of them believes in Allah» (Q. 2:126)

He asked for the imamate for his progeny, and they were refused: the wrongdoers were barred from the imamate. For this reason, in asking for provision, he said: «whoever of them believes in Allah» «and the Last Day» «He said» «and whoever disbelieves» — I provide for him likewise […] I give him enjoyment

«a little» — the term of his life — «then I shall compel him» — […] in the hereafter — «to the punishment of the Fire» — so he will find no […] from it — «and evil is the destination» (Q. 2:126). And remember: «And when Ibrāhīm was raising up the foundations» — the foundations and the walls — «from» (Q. 2:127)

«the House» — building it — «and Ismāʿīl» — building it with him. The two of them saying: «Our Lord, accept from us» — our building — «it is You who are the Hearing, the Knowing» (Q. 2:127). «Our Lord, and make us two submitters» — compliant — «to You, and» make «of our progeny» — our children — «a community» (Q. 2:128)

a group — «submissive to You» (Q. 2:128). He knew that some of his progeny were among the wrongdoers, and for this reason he asked Him that there be among them a submissive community. «And show us» — teach us — «our rites» — the ordinances of our religion, or our pilgrimage — «And turn to us [in forgiveness]; it is You who are the Accepter of repentance, the Merciful» (Q. 2:128). The House of Allah, Blessed and Exalted: Allah made it a place of resort for the people and a sanctuary. It is the Kaʿba, which is at Mecca, or at Bakka. Bakka is a dialectal form of Mecca; or else Bakka is only the spot on which the Kaʿba stands. The Kaʿba has been built ten times. The first building: the angels built it. The second: Ādam built it. And Shīth b. Ādam, the forefather of the Messenger ﷺ built it. And Ibrāhīm built it fourth, after the Flood, and his building is the one about which the āya came. And after Ibrāhīm the ʿAmāliqa built it, and Jurhum built it, and Quṣayy b. Kilāb built it, and Quraysh built it, and ʿAbd Allah b. al-Zubayr built it, and al-Ḥajjāj built it. Al-Ḥajjāj’s building is the one standing now [22]. The angels spoke ill of Ādam, and after that they sought repentance from Allah, Blessed and Exalted, and with them is al-Bayt al-Maʿmūr — it is the Kaʿba in heaven — which they circumambulate perpetually. So Allah commanded them to build for Ādam a house like this one, and they built the Kaʿba facing al-Bayt al-Maʿmūr. Were al-Bayt al-Maʿmūr to fall upon the earth, it would fall upon the Kaʿba itself. Ādam used to make the pilgrimage to the House. He made the pilgrimage forty

times, from India to Mecca [23]. They said to the Messenger: ⟨What did he ride?⟩ He said: ⟨What beast could carry Ādam?⟩ No beast is able to carry Ādam, not even the elephant. He used to walk on his two feet from the land of India to Mecca; he made the pilgrimage forty times. When the Flood of Nūḥ came, the angels raised the Kaʿba up to heaven, and they took the Black Stone and placed it as a deposit in Mount Abū Qubays beside the Kaʿba [24]. And when time had grown long, the age of Ibrāhīm came. Ibrāhīm was in the sawād of Iraq, in the districts of Kūfa, and he emigrated to Palestine, a part of Syria. And on the road of his emigration there was a toll-collector (makkās) to whom no man came having a beautiful woman with him but that he seized her from him. And with Ibrāhīm was his wife Sāra, the most beautiful of the women of the world; Yūsuf’s beauty was only on account of his resemblance to Sāra. So when he drew near to the toll-collector,

and in […] there was a law: whoever came with a beautiful woman and said that she was his wife, she was seized from him — a beautiful wife is fit for none but the king — and if he said that she was his sister, she was left to him. So when he drew near to the dīwān [the customs post], Ibrāhīm said to Sāra: There is no Muslim on the face of this earth but you and I; so you are, then, my sister. And besides, she was the daughter of his paternal uncle.

If they ask me, I shall say that you are my sister. This is one of his lies, for which he will offer his excuse on the Day of Resurrection — that he lied. Ibrāhīm was exceedingly jealous. He made a chest and put the woman inside the chest and locked it upon her. And when he came to the keeper of the toll, he said to him: What is in the chest? He said to him: Estimate whatever you wish of property — that alone — and I will give you […]. If you say that the chest is full of gold, I will give you a quarter of it in gold. This is the toll among them: a quarter of the property. The man said: No, not until I open the chest — that alone. So he opened it, and he found the most beautiful of the women of the worlds in the chest. He said: What is this woman to you? He said: She is my sister. So he took her and went with her to the king. He contravened

the law, because of the woman’s extreme beauty. And Ibrāhīm was jealous, as we have said. So Allah, Blessed and Exalted, lifted the veils from him, and Sāra was not absent from him from the moment they brought her into the palace and in the houses, and Ibrāhīm witnessed her in all her states. Al-Jalīl [the Majestic] preserved her, so that he should not doubt her. And when she was brought before the king, he stretched out his hand toward her and was struck down on the spot. He resolved on repentance and his reason returned to him, and he stretched out his hand toward her again and was struck down more severely than the first time. And when he recovered he said to her: Are you a sorceress? She said: No, I am the wife of al-Khalīl [the Friend of Allah], and al-Jalīl keeps me from you. He said: Mutilate her. So they made a hole in her ear and put something in it, and it became the finest thing, so that women have all done it down to this day of ours. And he presented her with a slave-woman — she was Hājar — and returned her to her husband. And she said to Ibrāhīm: Receive good news, for Allah has restrained the enemy and has provided me with a serving-girl to serve me [25]. O Ibrāhīm, I am barren, I have borne you no child, and I give you this slave-girl as a gift, that you may take her as a concubine

so that Allah may provide you with offspring through her. So he took her as a concubine, and she bore Ismāʿīl. Jealousy can lead to pregnancy: when the slave-girl gave birth, Sāra conceived and bore Isḥāq. Ismāʿīl — and he was older than Isḥāq — whenever the two of them went out to play, Ismāʿīl would strike Isḥāq, and he would weep and come to his mother. Sāra became angry at this. She said: This is a slave-girl I used to own, and now her son strikes my son every day. This I have no patience for. Take this slave-girl out of here; I will never live beside her. Ibrāhīm, upon him be peace, mounted, and seated Hājar and Ismāʿīl behind him, and travelled with them from al-Shām to the land of the Kaʿba, which was barren waste at that time. When he arrived he left the two of them there with a waterskin of water and a leather bag with dates in it, and he went away from them. The woman began calling after him: Ibrāhīm, Ibrāhīm — and Ibrāhīm only kept walking, until at last she said: Did Allah command you to this, Ibrāhīm? He said: Yes. She said: Then go where you wish; if it is Allah’s command, He will not let us go to waste. When they had stayed some days, the water they had ran out, and Ismāʿīl grew so thirsty that he was near to dying. Hājar went out, until she reached the hill of al-Ṣafā and climbed it, looking to see whether she might see water or a human being. She saw nothing. So she went to al-Marwa, then returned to al-Ṣafā, then went to al-Marwa — seven times. This is the origin of the saʿy [26] between the two hills. She returned to the child, now only awaiting death. Then Jibrīl came and struck with his foot, and the well of Zamzam gushed forth, and the water flowed until it became a sea. Jibrīl began holding the water back, saying: zam, zam — its meaning is: be still — until it went back to being a well. The Messenger ﷺ said: ⟨May Allah have mercy on the mother of⟩

⟨Ismāʿīl — had she left Zamzam, it would have been a flowing spring⟩ [27] This Zamzam — its depth none knows but Allah; inside it is a sea; its water is beneath the whole of Mecca. So the woman drank and the child drank. [28] There were hunters who dwelt in the open wastes and saw in them no traces of water. They looked at a bird circling around this woman. They said: Glory be to Allah — these birds are not seen except in a place where there is water, and where is water to be found in these barren wastes? So they came, and they found the well of Zamzam and Hājar and Ismāʿīl. They said to her: May we drink of your water? She said: Yes, but you have no right in it. So they drank. After that they asked to settle beside her, and they settled beside her; they were Jurhum, Arabs. So Ismāʿīl grew up an Arab. When a time had passed, Ibrāhīm asked Sāra’s permission to visit Hājar and Ismāʿīl his son. She said: Yes, on condition that you do not dismount from the camel. Ibrāhīm came, and found Ismāʿīl absent, and found a woman in the house. He said: Peace be upon you. Where is your husband? She said: I do not know where he has gone. He said: Are you well? She said: No, we are not well … He said: Do you have food? She said: We have nothing. My husband has gone out hunting; if he finds something, [well and good], and if not, then we are in the worst state — and how many are your questions. He said: When your husband comes, greet him from me and tell him to change the threshold of the door of his house. When he returned she told him: A man came here and asked me about many things, and he said: I tell you to change the threshold of the door. He said: That is my father Ibrāhīm. He has said that I am to divorce you: I divorce you, and you are divorced. When he had stayed a while, he again asked Sāra’s permission for the visit — and Hājar had died. She said to him: On condition that you do not dismount from

the camel. So he came again, and found Ismāʿīl gone out to hunt. When the second woman saw him she said: […] How handsome this man is. How closely he resembles my husband. By Allah, nothing distinguishes the two of them but grey hair. Dismount first. He said: I will not dismount; but how are you? She said: We are well, we need nothing, and my husband will come now. Wait. Dismount so that I may wash your feet. Ibrāhīm said: I will not dismount. So she brought a stone from the stone of the Maqām and placed it under Ibrāhīm’s foot and washed his right foot, then washed the other as well. For this reason the trace of Ibrāhīm’s foot has remained on the stone to this day of ours. When Ismāʿīl came he said: I smell the scent of Ibrāhīm in the house. She said: A man came here between whom and you there is no difference but grey hair. He greeted you, and said that you are to make the threshold of the door firm. He said: That is Ibrāhīm. He has commanded me to keep you and not to divorce you. Then Ibrāhīm returned by a command from Allah, Blessed and Exalted, and said: O Ismāʿīl, Allah has commanded me to build a house for Him here, and has commanded you to help me. He said: Yes, I will help you. So the two of them set about building the House [29] — Ibrāhīm speaking Hebrew and Ismāʿīl speaking Arabic

but each of the two understood from the other, and neither spoke the other’s language. When Ismāʿīl spoke, Ibrāhīm heard him and did not speak; and when Ibrāhīm spoke, Ismāʿīl heard him and did not speak. So the two of them built the Kaʿba — and it is this Kaʿba now standing in Mecca. It has many excellences; we shall come to [them] in Sūrat Āl ʿImrān: «In it are clear signs — the station of Ibrāhīm; and whoever enters it is secure» (Q. 3:97). ⟨Whoever performs the pilgrimage and does not speak obscenely and does not transgress returns from his sins as on the day his mother bore him.⟩ [30]

A man of the righteous made ready for the pilgrimage to the Sacred House of Allah, and he had a young child. The child said to him: Where to, my father? He said: I am going to the House of Allah. He said to him: The House of Allah is there? He said: Yes. He said: You must carry me with you. And he began to weep most bitterly, [insisting] that he must go to the House of Allah — he supposed the matter to be as it is with the state of human beings. He persisted in weeping until the people said: Carry him with you. So he carried him with him, until he came near the House; and when he said, This is the House of Allah, the boy died [31]. The righteous man lamented the death of his son: My son, the fruit of my heart. It was said to him: You wanted the House and you reached the House, and he wanted the Lord of the House — he met the Lord of the House and could not bear Him, and he died. When he heard only the House of Allah, he supposed that Allah was present there, and he longed for Him; and when he arrived, Allah made his hope come true, and he reached the Presence while he was weak, and the poor creature died. This is the true pilgrimage: whoever makes pilgrimage to the true Kaʿba, which is the Presence of Allah, Blessed and Exalted. For this reason Rābiʿa said, addressing al-Junayd: ⟨Junayd, do you circumambulate the House, or the Lord of the House?⟩ al-Junayd was a complete jurist. He said to her: ⟨I circumambulate the House.⟩ She said: ⟨Fie upon you. You come to the House of Allah with hard hearts. As for this: if your circumambulation is of the House alone, then it is nothing but stones and grass. But as for me, I circumambulate the Lord of the House.⟩

«Our Lord, and raise up among them» — the people of the House — «a messenger from among them» (Q. 2:129) — from their own selves. And Allah answered the supplication of Ibrāhīm […] ﷺ. For this reason he said ﷺ: ⟨I am the supplication of Ibrāhīm and the glad tidings of ʿĪsā.⟩ [32] «and giving glad tidings of a messenger who will come after me, whose name is Aḥmad» (Q. 61:6). That glad tiding is Muhammad ﷺ; and the supplication of Ibrāhīm: «and raise up among them a messenger from among them» (Q. 2:129) — and he is Muhammad ﷺ.

«reciting to them Your signs» — the Qurʾan — «and teaching them the Book and the wisdom» (Q. 2:129) — what it contains of the rulings

«and purifying them. You are the Mighty, the Wise» (Q. 2:129). al-ḥikma, wherever it is used without qualification in the Qurʾan — what is meant is the knowledge

the Qurʾan, the admonitions of the Qurʾan and the rulings of the Qurʾan. For this reason you know the magnitude of what Allah gave to the community of Muhammad ﷺ. Allah mentioned in the Qurʾan that this world is a slight enjoyment, and this slight thing which He mentioned to us — we cannot reach its limit. This world and what is in it: we are unable to reach its end, and it is slight. As for knowledge, He said: «and you have been given of knowledge only a little» (Q. 17:85). And this knowledge, which He likewise said is little, we cannot reach its limit — so what then of that which He said is much? He said: «and whoever is given wisdom has been given much good» (Q. 2:269). The little — we have not known its limit; and He gave us much beyond that: «and whoever is given wisdom has been given much good». It is related that when the scholars are gathered on the Day of Resurrection the Lord addresses them, as has been related: ⟨I placed My light in you; I did not place it in you and then punish you after that. Go forth — all of you are forgiven.⟩ [33] «And who turns away from the creed of Ibrāhīm» — no one turns away from the creed of Ibrāhīm and abandons it — «except one who makes a fool of his own soul» — he is ignorant of the matter of his own soul, that it is created by Allah and owes Him worship, and he holds it cheap and degrades it — «And We chose him in this world» — Ibrāhīm: We selected him in this world with messengerhood and [the station of] intimate friendship — «And he is» — Ibrāhīm — «in the hereafter among the righteous» (Q. 2:130) — those who have the highest degrees. And recall «when his Lord said to him: Submit» — submit to Allah and devote your religion purely to Him — «He said: I have submitted to the Lord of the worlds» (Q. 2:131). When Allah said to Ibrāhīm, “Submit,” he did not say, “Submit to whom?” He said: «I have submitted to the Lord of the worlds»

«And he enjoined it» — the creed — «Ibrāhīm, upon his sons, and Yaʿqūb». He said: «My sons, Allah has chosen for you the religion» — the religion of Islam — «so do not die except as Muslims» (Q. 2:132). He commanded them to hold firm to Islam. And when the Jews said to the Prophet ﷺ: Do you not know that Yaʿqūb, on the day he died, enjoined Judaism upon his sons? — this is the speech of the Jews, and it is a lie — there came down: «Or were you witnesses» — present — «when death came to Yaʿqūb, when he said to his sons: What will you worship after me?» — after my death — «They said: We shall worship your God and the God of your fathers, Ibrāhīm and Ismāʿīl and Isḥāq» — he reckoned Ismāʿīl [a father]. [34] — «One God» — the God of Ibrāhīm and Ismāʿīl and Isḥāq, all of them, is one God — «and to Him we are submitters» (Q. 2:133). «That» — the company — «is a community that has passed away» — gone before — «to it belongs what it earned» — of deeds, [that is,] recompense — «and to you» — the Jews — «belongs what you earned, and you will not be asked about what they used to do» (Q. 2:134). «And they said: Be Jews or Christians, and you will be guided» (Q. 2:135). The Jews said: whoever is a Jew is upon a straight path. And the Christians said: whoever is a Christian is upon a straight path. «Say: Rather»

we follow «the religion of Ibrāhīm, upright» inclining away from all the religions to the upright religion «and he was not one of the idolaters» (Q. 2:135) Allah never mentions Ibrāhīm in the Qurʾan without clearing him of idolatry. «Say» O Muslims «We believe in Allah and in what was sent down to us» of the Qurʾan «and what was sent down to Ibrāhīm» of the ten scriptures «and Ismāʿīl, Isḥāq, Yaʿqūb and the tribes» his sons «and what was given to Mūsā» of the Torah

«and ʿĪsā» — of the Gospel — «and what the prophets were given from their Lord. We make no distinction between any of them» (Q. 2:136) — so we believe

in some and disbelieve in some, as the Jews and the Christians do — «and to Him we are submitters» (Q. 2:136). «So if they believe» — that is, the Jews

and the Christians «in the like of what you believe in» that is, in what you have believed «then they are rightly guided» they have travelled the straight path

«And if they turn away» — from belief in him — «then they are only in dissension» — disagreement with you — «Allah will suffice you against them» (Q. 2:137)

Muhammad — their dissension — «And He is the All-Hearing» — of their words — «the All-Knowing» (Q. 2:137) — of their states. And He did suffice him against them, by the killing of Qurayẓa, the expulsion of al-Naḍīr, and the imposition of the jizya upon them. «The dye of Allah» — Allah dyed Ibrāhīm with His dye, the dye of Allah, and it is the fiṭra of Allah according to which He created mankind. He likened the fiṭra of Allah to dye because its trace remains upon the one who bears it forever: as the dye remains in the garment, so too faith. And [it is] a correspondence with what the Christians do. The Christians: when a child is born to them and reaches the seventh day, it must be washed with water they take from the baptismal font. [35] Whomever they have washed with the water of baptism, they say he has become a Christian and upon the religion of the Christians — as though it were a dye in their view. For this reason Allah, Blessed and Exalted, mentioned that He dyed Ibrāhīm with His dye, which is faith in Allah alone. The Messenger ﷺ said: ⟨Every child is born upon the fiṭra of Islam; it is his two parents who make him a Jew or a Christian or a Zoroastrian — just as the beast gives birth to a beast: do you find among them any with a slit ear?⟩ [36] Rather, it is you who slit them. So likewise Allah, Blessed and Exalted, took the covenant from the progeny of Ādam while Ādam did not exist and the progeny did not exist. He addressed a nonexistent in nonexistence, in nonexistence, and they answered Him: «Am I not your Lord? They said: Yes» (Q. 7:172). So this faith remained a fiṭra in the human being, so that when he is born and his two parents are Muslims he remains upon the fiṭra of faith; and when his two parents are Jews or Christians or Zoroastrians, they make him a Jew or a Christian or a Zoroastrian. And that is the dye of Allah, Blessed and Exalted. «And who» — no one — «is better than Allah in dye» (Q. 2:138) — Allah is better in dye than every dyer. The children of Ādam dye with colours; they dye

the white, and it becomes black; and they dye the white and it becomes red or blue. Every colour they are able to dye to, but they are unable to dye a black thing so that it becomes white — this the dyers cannot do. And Allah, Blessed and Exalted, takes the heart of the unbeliever, which is black, and dyes it, and it becomes white through faith; and He takes black hair and dyes it until it becomes white with grey. The dyers cannot manage this manner [of dyeing]. For this reason He said: no one is better than Allah in dye; rather He is the best of dyers in dye. [37] «and to Him we are worshippers» (Q. 2:138). The Jews said to the Muslims: We are the first People of the Book, and our qibla is older, and the prophets were not from the Arabs; had Muhammad been a prophet he would have been from among us. Prophethood occurs only among the Children of Israel, and no prophet has come as an Arab — this is what we have known. «Say»

to them — «Do you dispute with us» — you contend with us — «concerning Allah» — that He chose a prophet from the Arabs — «while He is our Lord and your Lord» (Q. 2:139)

so it is His to choose from among His servants whomever He wills — «and to us belong our deeds» — we are recompensed for them — «and to you belong your deeds» (Q. 2:139)

you are requited for them «and we are sincere to Him» (Q. 2:139) — we are devoted to Him in religion and in deed, so we have a better claim to being chosen than you do. «Or» — rather: «they say: Ibrāhīm and Ismāʿīl and Isḥāq and Yaʿqūb and the tribal descendants were Jews or Christians» — these men were not Jews and they were not Christians — «Say: Do you know better, or Allah?» (Q. 2:140). Allah knows better. Since Allah knows better, He said: «Ibrāhīm was neither a Jew nor a Christian» (Q. 3:67), because Judaism arose from the Torah and the Torah was sent down upon Mūsā, and Christianity arose from the Gospel and the Gospel was sent down upon ʿĪsā son of Maryam. For this reason Allah refuted them, as will come in Sūrat Āl ʿImrān: «The Torah and the Gospel were not sent down until after him» (Q. 3:65).

The asbāṭ of Ibrāhīm — ʿĪsā is included among them, and ʿĪsā, as you know, has no father. al-Ḥajjāj

b. Yūsuf was a tyrant and a reprobate, and he hated the ahl al-bayt [the Prophet’s household]. He heard of a scholar who said that al-Ḥasan and al-Husayn are of the progeny of Muhammad ﷺ, so he had him brought before him and said to him: You said that al-Ḥasan and al-Husayn are of the progeny of the Prophet ﷺ? He said to him: Yes. He said: You must bring me a proof from the Qurʾan, or else I will kill you. He said to him: Yes. He said to him: And I do not accept this proof: «Say: Come, let us call our sons and your sons, our women and your women, ourselves and yourselves» (Q. 3:61) — that when this āya was sent down the Prophet called for al-Ḥasan and al-Husayn; I do not accept this as a proof. He said to him: I bring you a proof more conclusive than that: Allah, Blessed and Exalted, mentioned the progeny of Ibrāhīm. He said:

«and Zakariyyāʾ and Yaḥyā and ʿĪsā and Ilyās» (Q. 6:85). Did He count ʿĪsā among the progeny of Ibrāhīm? He said to him: Yes. He said to him:

And who was ʿĪsā’s father? So then, progeny applies to the children of daughters. Were the children of daughters not part of the progeny, ʿĪsā would not have been of the progeny of Ibrāhīm. He said to him: You have spoken truly — and he rewarded him, giving him a great deal of money. [38] «And who does greater wrong than one who conceals a testimony he has from Allah? And Allah is not heedless of what you do» (Q. 2:140) a threat to them «That was a community which has passed away; it has what it earned and you have what you earned, and you will not be asked about what they used to do» (Q. 2:141) The like of it has already come. The forefathers, even if

they were righteous, and even if they attained what they attained, their deeds do not benefit their children. «and that man has nothing except what he strove for» (Q. 53:39). Yes — the righteousness of the fathers benefits the progeny if they follow their traces; but as for one who abandons the way of his righteous fathers, there is nothing between him and them. al-Rashīd returned one day from the hajj, the army around him and a veil over his face with which he screened himself, and Bahlūl met him — he is his brother, but majdhūb [seized by divine attraction]. He said: O Hārūn, O Hārūn, O Hārūn — three times. He was astonished at a man who called him by his name and did not say to him: O Commander of the Faithful. So he halted the army and said: Bring before me this man who calls me by my name. They brought him before him and he raised the veil from his face. He said to him: O Hārūn, it is you I mean. He said to him: Do you know me? He said to him: Yes, I know you. He said: Who am I? He said: You are the one about whom, if someone is wronged in the farthest West while you are in the farthest East, Allah will question you on the Day of Resurrection. He wept and said to him: How do you see my condition? What do you take me to be? He said to him: Look at it in the Book of Allah — «The righteous are in bliss, and the dissolute are in a blaze» (Q. 82:13–14) — and I think you are in the second clause. He said to him: Do you not know our kinship to the Messenger of Allah ﷺ? He said: «When the trumpet is blown, there will be no kinship between them on that day, nor will they ask after one another» (Q. 23:101). He said to him: Our deeds that we perform — we make the hajj, we do such and such. He said: «Allah accepts only from those who fear Him» (Q. 5:27). He said to him: The intercession of the Prophet ﷺ — we hope for it. He said: «On that day intercession will not benefit anyone except him to whom al-Raḥmān has given leave and with whose word He is pleased» (Q. 20:109). He said to him: Name your need to me and I will fulfil it for you. He laughed and said: Are you able to fulfil my need? He said: Yes, I am able. He said: You forgive me my sins and admit me into the Garden. He said: That I am not able to do; but I have been told that you carry many debts, and I am able to help you discharge your debt. He said: Your debts are more than my debts; […], and one who does not discharge a debt is like one who washes urine with urine only; I have no need of your wealth. He said to him: Why is it that we hate death? He said: Because you have ruined the hereafter and built up this world, so you hate to go out from what is built up and go back to the ruin. Had you built up the hereafter you would long for death. O Hārūn, you raised up the clay

and you laid low the religion; you raised up the plaster and laid low the text. If it was from your own wealth, you have been prodigal — «Allah does not love the prodigal» (Q. 7:31) — and if it was from other than your own wealth, you have been unjust — «Allah does not love the unjust» (Q. 3:57). He threatened him and said that he would kill him, because he had been discourteous with him. His ministers said to him: No, O Commander of the Faithful, do not kill him. So he laughed and said: I do not know which of you is the more mad — the one who kills a man whose appointed term has not come, or the one who intercedes for a man whose appointed term has come. Which of you two is the more mad? How great is the folly of all of you. And he went away from him. [39]

«That is a community that has passed away; it has what it earned and you have what you earned, and you will not be asked about what they used to do» (Q. 2:141)

Everything turns on righteous action and on devoting action sincerely to Allah, Blessed and Exalted. An action does not count unless one performs it sincerely for the face of Allah, Blessed and Exalted. If what prompts the action is the face of Allah, then this is a sincere action. And if a man, when he is alone by himself, does not pray, and when he is present among the congregation he prays, then this one is a murāʾī [one who acts for show]. And if he prays by himself a light prayer in people’s absence, and in the congregation he prays a fine prayer, then this prayer has no riyāʾ [ostentation] in it; rather it is the iḥsān [its being done well] in which the riyāʾ has remained. And among riyāʾ is the abandoning of an action for people’s sake: whoever abandons an action for people’s sake has practised riyāʾ, and whoever acts for people’s sake has associated [another with Allah]. There is no ikhlāṣ except when one acts for Allah and refrains for Allah. «The foolish among the people will say: What has turned them away from their qibla» — when the qibla of the Muslims was changed from Bayt al-Maqdis to the Kaʿba, the foolish will say these words:

What thing turned the Prophet ﷺ and the believers away from their qibla «which they were upon» — facing it, and that is Bayt al-Maqdis. «Say: To Allah belong the East and the West» — all the directions — so He commands facing whichever direction He wills; there is no objecting to Him. «He guides whom He wills» — [whose] guidance [He wills] — «to a straight path» (Q. 2:142) — the religion of

Islam; and you are of it. «And thus» — as We have guided you — «We have made you» — O community of Muhammad — «a middle community»

choice ones, upright — «that you may be witnesses against the people» — on the Day of Resurrection — «and that the Messenger may be a witness against you» (Q. 2:143) — that he conveyed [the message] to you. Allah, Blessed and Exalted, out of His bounty and His generosity and His favour upon us, made the community of Muhammad the best community brought forth for the people, as He said: «You were the best community brought forth for the people» (Q. 3:110). And He said in this āya: «And thus We have made you a middle community, that you may be witnesses against the people» (Q. 2:143). He made this last community the most excellent of the communities, so that they should be fit to bear witness on the Day of Resurrection. When Allah gathers all of creation, He questions the messengers and He questions the communities

«We shall certainly question those to whom [messengers] were sent, and We shall certainly question the messengers» (Q. 7:6). When the creatures are gathered — the first of them and the last of them, their humans and their jinn and their angels — on a single plain, the first to be brought to account is the Pen. It is asked: Did it convey to the Tablet what it was commanded to convey? It says: Yes. And the Tablet affirms that the Pen conveyed it to it. And it is said to the Tablet: Did you convey to Jibrīl such-and-such a Book, which He sent down to such-and-such a prophet? The Tablet says that it conveyed it to Jibrīl. Jibrīl, did you convey to Nūḥ? He says: Yes, I conveyed. Nūḥ, did you convey to your community? He says: Yes, I conveyed to my community, and they disbelieved. O community, did Nūḥ convey to you? They said: No. «No bringer of good tidings came to us, nor any warner» (Q. 5:19). Then the community of Muhammad ﷺ comes forward and they testify that the prophets conveyed their messages and that Nūḥ conveyed. So his people say: How do these bear witness against us when they came last? Allah says to the community of Muhammad: How do you bear witness for Nūḥ when you came generations after him? They say: You sent down the Qurʾan upon Muhammad as a Book that falsehood does not approach, neither from before it nor from behind it, and he conveyed to us His word, Exalted: «We sent Nūḥ to his people: Warn your people» (Q. 71:1). So the Real, Majestic is His Majesty, says: O Muhammad, is your community upright, fit to bear witness? He says: Yes, my community is upright and choice, fit to bear witness. [40] Then there stands

The proof belongs to the prophets against their communities. «And We did not appoint the qibla» — the direction — «which you were upon» first, and it is the Kaʿba. The Prophet ﷺ used to pray toward it; when he emigrated he faced Bayt al-Maqdis and prayed toward it for a year, or seventeen months; then he was turned back to the Kaʿba — «except that We might know» — a knowing of manifestation — «who follows the Messenger» and so holds him truthful «from him who turns back on his heels» — he returns to unbelief out of doubt in the religion. That is because many of the weak among the Muslims apostatised on account of the matter of the qibla. [41] «And it was» — the turning toward it — «indeed a weighty thing» — burdensome for the people — «except for those whom Allah guided» — among them — «And Allah would not let your faith go to waste» — the occasion for the sending down of this āya: when the qibla was turned toward the Kaʿba, the Muslims said: our brothers who died before the turning of the qibla — perhaps their prayers have been nullified. So Allah said: «And Allah would not let your faith go to waste» — that is, your prayer toward Bayt al-Maqdis. «Allah is to the people full of kindness, merciful» (Q. 2:143). Allah is full of kindness and merciful to the people in not letting their deeds go to waste. «We have indeed seen the turning of your face toward heaven» — the Prophet was looking out for the revelation so that he might be commanded to pray toward the qibla, because the Kaʿba is the qibla of Ibrāhīm and he follows the religion of Ibrāhīm. And this was also more likely to bring the Arabs to Islam. So he came to be watching for a revelation that would command him to turn toward the qibla. So Allah said that He sees the Prophet ﷺ looking out in search of the qibla. «So We shall surely turn you toward» — We shall indeed turn you — «a qibla that will please you» — that you love — «So turn your face toward the Sacred Mosque» — the Kaʿba — «and wherever you may be, turn your faces toward it. And those who were given the Book know that it» — that is, the turning toward the Kaʿba — «is the truth» — the established [truth] — «from their Lord» — because of what is in their books — «and Allah is not heedless of what they do» (Q. 2:144). «And if you brought those who were given the Book every sign» — as to your truthfulness — «they would not follow your qibla» — out of obstinacy — «and you are not a follower of their qibla» (Q. 2:145). This cuts off his hope for their embrace of Islam

and their hope for his returning to it. «Nor are some of them followers of the qibla of others» — the Jews [following] the qibla of the Christians, and the reverse. «And if you were to follow their desires» — which they call you to — «after the knowledge that has come to you» — the revelation — «you would then be» — if you were to follow them, hypothetically — «among the wrongdoers» (Q. 2:145). «Those to whom We gave the Book know him» — they know [him] deliberately — «as they know their sons» (Q. 2:146). Ibn Salām said: ⟨I knew him the moment I saw him, as I know my own son; and my knowledge of Muhammad is the stronger, because as for my son, I do not know whether his mother betrayed me or not.⟩ [42] He said: «they know their sons», and He did not say: their fathers. A man knows his father better than his son; but your knowledge of the son runs forward from the day of his birth — you know him down to this day of ours — whereas the father had a stretch of time before you existed which you do not know. For this reason He did not say: as they know their fathers, even though knowledge of the father is the stronger; rather: «they know their sons». «And a party of them conceal the truth» — the description of Muhammad — «while they know» (Q. 2:146) — this which you are upon. «The truth is from your Lord, so do not be among those who waver» (Q. 2:147) — the doubters. «And for each» — of the communities — «a direction» — a qibla — «to which he turns. So race to the good things» — hasten to acts of obedience — «Wherever you may be, Allah will bring you all together. Allah has power over everything» (Q. 2:148). The Qurʾan commands us to hurry, to race and to be quick; a man’s life calls for nothing but this.

He said: «Hasten to forgiveness» (Q. 3:133), and He said: «Race» (Q. 57:21), and He said here: «So race to the good things» (Q. 2:148). And the Prophet ﷺ said: ⟨Be quick with righteous deeds before you are kept occupied.⟩ [43] The business of religion needs quickness

and otherwise you will waste much of your time where you do not intend to. And quickness is to pray at the first of the time. ⟨The first of the time is Allah’s good pleasure, and the last of the time is His pardon, Blessed and Exalted.⟩ [44] «And from wherever you go out» — for a journey — «turn your face toward the Sacred Mosque. It is indeed the truth from your Lord, and Allah is not heedless of what you do» (Q. 2:149). «And from wherever you go out, turn your face toward the Sacred Mosque; and wherever you may be, turn your faces toward it» — he repeated it for emphasis — «so that there be not for the people» — the Jews and the polytheists — «against you any argument» (Q. 2:150) — a dispute

«except those of them who do wrong» — except the people of wrongdoing, for they dispute out of obstinacy — «so do not fear them» — do not be afraid of their disputing — «but fear Me» — by obeying My command — «and that I may complete My favour upon you, and that you may be guided» (Q. 2:150) — to the truth; a completing like its completing by Our sending [a messenger]. «As We sent among you a messenger» — as We completed your favour by sending the Messenger, so too We completed your favour by the turning toward the qibla — «from among you» — he is Muhammad ﷺ — «reciting to you Our signs» — the Qurʾan — «and purifying you» — he cleanses you of polytheism — «and teaching you the Book»

the Qurʾan — «and the wisdom» — what is in it of rulings — «and teaching you what you did not know» (Q. 2:151). «So remember Me» (Q. 2:152)

by prayer and by tasbīḥ [glorification] and the like of it, such as tahlīl [declaring Allah’s oneness] and taḥmīd [praising Allah] — «I will remember you» (Q. 2:152). In the hadith, from Allah: ⟨Whoever remembers Me in himself, I remember him in Myself; and whoever remembers Me in an assembly, I remember him in an assembly better than it.⟩ [45] «And be thankful to Me» (Q. 2:152)

My blessing, through obedience — «and do not be ungrateful to Me» (Q. 2:152). «O you who believe, seek help» — for the hereafter — «through patience» — in obedience and in affliction — «and prayer» — He singled it out for mention because of its recurrence and its greatness — «Allah is with the patient» (Q. 2:153)

with [His] help. «And do not say of those who are killed in the way of Allah: [they are] dead. Rather, [they are] alive» — their spirits are in the crops of green birds that roam in the Garden wherever they wish, on account of a hadith to that effect [46] — «but you do not perceive» (Q. 2:154) — you do not know what they are in. Martyrdom has its karāmāt [marks of divine favour]; the martyrs have been granted karāmāt that are not [given] to the prophets. The Messenger ﷺ said: ⟨Allah has given the martyr six qualities: that he be forgiven at the first drop of his blood; that he be guided to his station in the Garden at once; that Allah set upon his head a crown — a single ruby of it is better than the world and what is in it; that He wed him to seventy-two of the wide-eyed houris; that He grant him intercession for seventy of his kinsfolk; and that he not feel death except as you feel the sting of a bee.⟩ [47] «And We will certainly test you with something of fear» — of the enemy — «and hunger» — drought — «and loss of wealth» — through destruction — «and of lives and of fruits» (Q. 2:155) — through blights.

«And give good news to the patient» (Q. 2:155) — in affliction — with the Garden — «those who, when an affliction strikes them» — a trial — «say: We belong to Allah»

«and to Him we are returning» (Q. 2:156). They said this word. In the hadith: ⟨Whoever utters the formula of return at the time of affliction, Allah rewards him for it and replaces it for him with something better than it.⟩ [48] And in it: ⟨That the lamp of the Prophet ﷺ went out and he uttered the formula of return. ʿAʾisha said: This is only a lamp. He said: Everything that grieves the believer is an affliction.⟩ [49] «Those — upon them»

«blessings» — forgiveness — «from their Lord, and mercy» — a blessing — «and those are the rightly guided» (Q. 2:157). […]

Some of the Muslims had misgivings about going around between al-Ṣafā and al-Marwa, since the unbelievers used to go around between them for the worship of the idols. So He, Exalted, said: «al-Ṣafā and al-Marwa are» — two hills in Mecca — «among the rites of Allah» — among the signposts of His religion — «so whoever makes the pilgrimage to the House or performs the ʿumra» — he undertakes the hajj or the ʿumra — «there is no fault» — that is, no sin — «upon him in going around the two of them» — that he traverse between them seven times — «and whoever volunteers good» — more than that — «then Allah is thankful, knowing» (Q. 2:158). «Those who conceal» — this was sent down concerning the scholars of the Jews, who concealed the description of the Prophet ﷺ; they conceal — «what We have sent down of the clear proofs and the guidance» (Q. 2:159) — such as the verse of stoning and the characterization of Muhammad ﷺ.

«after We had made it clear to the people in the Book» — in the Torah — «those — Allah curses them» (Q. 2:159)

He removes them far from His mercy «and the cursers curse them» the angels and the believers [50] «except those who repent and make amends»

their deeds — «and they make clear» — what they concealed — «then those are the ones toward whom I relent» — I accept their repentance — «and I am the Ever-Relenting, the Merciful» (Q. 2:160). «Surely those who disbelieved and died while they were unbelievers — upon those is the curse of Allah and of the angels and of mankind, all together» (Q. 2:161) — they deserve that in this world and the hereafter — «abiding therein» — abiding in the curse, or abiding in the Fire, to which the curse points — «the punishment shall not be lightened for them» — [not for] the blink of an eye — «nor shall they be granted respite» (Q. 2:162) — they are not given time for repentance or for offering an excuse — «And your deity is one deity» — this was sent down concerning a people who asked the Messenger: ⟨Describe your Lord to us.⟩ He said: «And your deity is» — the one who deserves worship — «one deity» — there is no equal to Him in His essence, nor in His attributes — «There is no deity but He, the Entirely Merciful, the Especially Merciful» (Q. 2:163). They asked for a sign for that, and there came down: «Surely in the creation of the heavens and the earth» — and what

is in them of wonders — «and the alternation of the night and the day» — by going and coming, and increase and decrease — «and the ships» — the vessels — «that run in the sea» — and do not sink, though laden — «with what benefits people» — of trade and transport — «and what Allah has sent down from the sky of water, and has revived the earth with it» — with vegetation — «after its death» — after its dryness — «and has scattered» — He dispersed and spread — «in it of every creature» (Q. 2:164) — because they grow by the fertility

«and the directing of the winds» — turning them south and north, hot and cold — «and the clouds» — the cloud-cover — «subjected between the sky and the earth» — without any tie. These eight, all of them — «are signs» — pointing to His oneness, Exalted — «for a people who reason» (Q. 2:164). Whoever reflects on these signs knows that nothing is beyond the power of the one who made them, and that He is the One who deserves worship, and no other. «And among the people are those who take, apart from Allah» — other than Him — «equals» — idols — «they love them» — with veneration and submission — «as the love of Allah» — that is, as their love for Him — «and those who believe are stronger in love for Allah» — than their love for the equals — «and if you could see» — O Muhammad — «those who did wrong» — the unbelievers — «when they see» (Q. 2:165)

they see «the punishment» you would see a terrible thing «that the power» and you would also see that power and dominance «belongs to Allah altogether, and that Allah is severe in punishment» (Q. 2:165) «When those who were followed disown» the leaders «those who followed» they deny having led them astray «and they see the punishment, and the bonds between them are severed» the ties of connection between them «And those who followed say: If only we had a return» a return to this world «that we might disown them» those who were followed «as they have disowned us» today. This is for the expression of a wish. «Thus» as He showed them the severity of His punishment and some of them disowned others «Allah will show them their deeds» the evil ones «as regrets upon them, and they shall not come out of the Fire» (Q. 2:167) «O people, eat of what is in the earth, lawful and wholesome, and do not follow the footsteps of Satan» that is, his embellishing [of evil] «he is to you a manifest enemy» (Q. 2:168) manifest in enmity «He only commands you to evil» sin «and to indecency» what is foul in the law «and that you say about Allah what you do not know» (Q. 2:169) such as forbidding what He has not forbidden, and the like «And when it is said to them» that is, the unbelievers «Follow what Allah has sent down» of affirming [His] oneness and of declaring wholesome things lawful «they say: No, rather we follow what we came upon» we found «our forefathers upon» the worship of idols and the forbidding of the sawāʾib and the baḥāʾir The Exalted said: «a-» — do they follow them «even though their forefathers understood nothing» of the matter of religion «and were not rightly guided» «And the likeness of those who disbelieve» their description, and that of him who calls them to guidance «is as the likeness of one who shouts» who cries out «at what hears nothing but a call and a cry» (Q. 2:171)

one who hears nothing but a loud sound, and when you shout at him he does not hear «Deaf, dumb, blind — so they do not understand» (Q. 2:171) «O you who believe, eat of the wholesome things We have provided you» the lawful portions of what We have provided you «and give thanks to Allah» for what He has made lawful for you «if it is He whom you worship» (Q. 2:172) «He has only forbidden you carrion»

the eating of carrion — «and blood» — that which is poured forth — «and the flesh of swine, and what has been consecrated to other than Allah» — slaughtered in the name of another than Him — «but whoever is compelled» — whom necessity drives to eat something — «neither desiring it» — not going out in rebellion against the Muslims, on al-Shāfiʿī’s school; or «neither desiring it» means not making do with carrion while other food is to be had — «nor transgressing» — one who exceeds [the limit]

according to the school of al-Shāfiʿī «nor transgressing» nor overstepping the lawful and the forbidden «there is no sin upon him; Allah is Forgiving, Merciful» (Q. 2:173) «Those who conceal what Allah has sent down of the Book» which contains the description of Muhammad «and sell it for a paltry price» of this world «they eat nothing into their bellies but the Fire, and Allah will not speak to them on the Day of Resurrection» out of anger at them «nor will He purify them» cleanse them of the filth of sins «and they shall have a painful punishment» (Q. 2:174) «Those are they who have bought error at the price of guidance, and punishment at the price of forgiveness» which was prepared for them in the Hereafter had they not concealed «How enduring they are of the Fire» (Q. 2:175) how severe is their endurance of the Fire, in committing what makes it due «That is because Allah» by reason that Allah «sent down the Book» the Torah «with the truth; and those who differ about the Book» namely the Jews «are in schism» disagreement «far-reaching» (Q. 2:176) «Righteousness is not that you turn your faces» in your prayer «toward the East and the West» a refutation of the Jews and the Christians «but righteousness is he who believes in Allah, the Last Day, the angels and the Book» that is, the books «and the prophets; and gives wealth, despite his love of it» along with his love for it «to the near of kin» relatives «the orphans, the poor, the wayfarer» travellers «and those who ask» those who beg «and for the freeing of slaves» and in loosing necks: those under a contract of manumission «and establishes the prayer and gives the alms» the obligatory alms «and those who fulfil their covenant when they make a covenant» with Allah or with people «and those who are patient in»

«adversity» — severe poverty — «and hardship» — illness — «and at the time of fighting» — the time of fierce combat — «Those»

those described by what has been mentioned «are the ones who have been true» — in their faith — «and those are the godfearing» (Q. 2:177). He proceeds to the law. «O you who believe, retaliation is prescribed for you in the case of the slain» — in attribute and in act — «the free man for the free man»

and the free man is not killed for the slave — «and the slave for the slave, and the female for the female. But whoever is pardoned» — among the killers — «by his brother» — of the blood of his slain brother — «anything, then [there must be] pursuit» — so the pardoner must pursue the killer — «in a fitting manner» — by claiming the blood money from him without violence — «and payment» — and the killer must pay the blood money — «to him with kindness» — without delay — «That» — the ruling — «is an alleviation from your Lord» — retaliation or pardon: the one under obligation may choose between them, and that is

an alleviation from Allah, Blessed and Exalted — «and a mercy» — He made neither of the two binding, as He made retaliation binding upon the Jews and blood money upon the Christians — «but whoever transgresses after that» — by wronging the killer, as by killing him — «has a painful punishment» (Q. 2:178). «And in retaliation there is life for you» — a great preservation [of life] — «O people of understanding» (Q. 2:179) — because when a person knows that he

if he kills he is killed, he refrains from killing, and two souls are thereby kept alive. «So that you may be godfearing» (Q. 2:179) — you guard against qawad [retaliatory killing]. «It is prescribed for you, when death approaches one of you, if he leaves wealth, that he make a bequest to the parents and the near relatives in a fitting manner» (Q. 2:180)

with equity, by not exceeding a third — «as a duty upon those who are mindful [of Allah]» (Q. 2:180). This is abrogated by the verse of inheritance and by his saying ﷺ: ⟨No bequest to an heir.⟩ [51] «But whoever alters it» — the bequest — «after he has heard it» — come to know it — «its sin is only upon those who alter it. Allah is All-Hearing» — of the testator’s words — «All-Knowing» (Q. 2:181) — of the deed of the one to whom the bequest is entrusted.

«But whoever fears from a testator some deviation» — a swerving from the truth — «or sin» — in that he acted deliberately and so exceeded a third — «and sets things right between them» — between the testator and the legatee — «there is no sin upon him. Allah is Forgiving, Merciful» (Q. 2:182). «O you who have believed, fasting has been prescribed for you as it was prescribed for those before you» — of the [earlier] communities — «so that you may be mindful [of Allah]» (Q. 2:183). «[Fast] days numbered» — few, or fixed by a known number; and they are Ramadan. «So whoever among you is ill or on a journey» — a traveller on a journey of the shortening [kind] — «then a number [of days]» — he owes the number of what he did not fast — «of other days» — which he fasts in its place. «And upon those who are able for it» — that is, who are not able for it — «a ransom, the feeding of needy persons» — whoever is unable to fast pays the ransom: he gives for each day a single mudd only. «So whoever volunteers good» — by exceeding the measure mentioned — «then it» — the volunteering — «is better for him. And that you fast is better for you» — than breaking the fast and the ransom in the time of travel and illness — «if you know» (Q. 2:184) — that it is better for you, so do it. Those days are «the month of Ramadan, in which the Qurʾan was sent down as guidance for mankind and as clear proofs of the guidance and the criterion» — that is, it distinguishes between truth and falsehood — «so whoever is present» — attends — «of you for the month, let him fast it; and whoever is ill or on a»

«journey, then a number of other days» — the like of this has already come — «Allah desires ease for you and does not desire hardship for you; and that you complete the number, and that you magnify Allah for having guided you, and that you may be thankful» (Q. 2:185). «And when My servants ask you about Me, I am near» — the Prophet ﷺ was asked: ⟨Is Allah near, so that we may speak softly to Him, or far, so that we must call to Him aloud?⟩ He said: He is near. [52] «I answer the call of the caller when he calls Me. So let them respond to Me and let them believe in Me, that they may be rightly guided» (Q. 2:186). «It has been made lawful for you, on the night of the fast, intimacy» — this came down because of what obtained in the first period of Islam, the prohibition of intercourse at night in the time of Ramadan — «It has been made lawful for you, on the night of the fast, intimacy» — the approaching — «to your wives» — by intercourse — «they are a garment for you and you are a garment for them» — a figure for their embracing one another — «Allah knew that you were deceiving yourselves»

by intercourse on the night of the fast, as happened with ʿUmar [53] — this āya came down while the people had been doing it before ʿUmar and concealing it — «so He turned to you in forgiveness» — before your repentance — «and pardoned you. So now lie with them, and seek what Allah has prescribed for you» — what He has permitted of intercourse — that is, by your thanking Allah, so that you say: ⟨O Allah, keep Satan away from us and keep Satan away from⟩

⟨what You have provided us⟩ [54] and you say: ⟨By Allah’s Name.⟩ «And eat and drink until the white thread becomes distinct to you from the thread»

«black, of the dawn» — eat until the dawn breaks — «then complete the fast» — from dawn — […]

«And do not lie with them while you are secluded in the mosques» — by iʿtikāf — «Those» — the rulings — «are the limits of Allah»

«so do not approach them. Thus Allah makes clear His signs to the people, that they may fear [Him]» «And do not consume your wealth among yourselves wrongfully» unlawfully «and [do not] offer» cast «with it» that is, by way of litigation over it, or with wealth as a bribe «to the judges, that you may consume a portion of people’s wealth sinfully, while you know» (Q. 2:188) «They ask you about the new moons» (Q. 2:189) the plural of hilāl The new moons appear slender, then they increase until they are filled with light, then they return as they began, and they are not in a single state like the sun. «Say: They are appointed times» the plural of mīqāt «for the people» by them they know the times of their sowing and their trading, the waiting periods of their women, their fasting and their breaking of the fast «and the pilgrimage» and the season of the hajj «And it is not righteousness that you enter the houses from their backs» while in iḥrām, as they used to do in the Jāhiliyya «but righteousness is he who fears [Allah]» one who abandons opposing Allah «and enter the houses by their doors» in iḥrām as at other times «and fear Allah, that you may prosper» (Q. 2:189) When the Prophet ﷺ was turned away from the House, the Exalted said: «And fight in the way of Allah those who fight you» of the unbelievers «and do not transgress; Allah does not love the transgressors» (Q. 2:190) «And kill them wherever you come upon them» you find them [55] «and drive them out from where they drove you out» Mecca «And discord»

polytheism — «is worse than killing» — that is, than your killing of them in the Sacred Precinct — «And do not fight them at the Sacred Mosque until they fight you in it; but if they fight you» — in it — «then kill them» — in it — «Thus» — the killing and the expulsion — «is the recompense of the unbelievers» (Q. 2:191). «But if they cease» — from unbelief, and submit — «then Allah is forgiving, merciful» (Q. 2:192). «And fight them until there is no» — is not found — «sedition, and religion is» — worship — «for Allah; but if they cease» — from polytheism — «then there is no hostility except against the wrongdoers» (Q. 2:193). «The sacred month» — the inviolable one, set in counterpart — «for the sacred month» (Q. 2:194) — so just as they fought you in it, kill them in its like — «and the inviolable things» — plural of ḥurma, that which must be respected — «are [subject to] retaliation» — retaliation is taken in their like when they are violated — «So whoever commits aggression against you» — by fighting during the inviolable [month] — «then commit aggression against him in the like of what he committed against you, and fear Allah» — in exacting redress — «and know that Allah is with those who fear Him» (Q. 2:194). «And spend in the way of Allah» — obedience to Him in jihad — «and do not cast with your hands» — yourselves — «into destruction» — ruin — «and do good; Allah loves those who do good» (Q. 2:195). «And complete the hajj and the ʿumra for Allah» — perform them both with their due rights — «But if you are prevented» — you are barred from completing them — «then what is readily available of the sacrificial offering» — is incumbent upon you, and that is a sheep — «and do not shave your heads until the offering reaches» — the aforementioned [offering] — «its place of sacrifice. And whoever among you is sick or has an ailment of his head» — such as lice or a headache — «then a ransom of fasting» — three days — «or charity» — of three ṣāʿs — «or a sacrifice» (Q. 2:196)

with a sheep. [56] «And when you are secure, then whoever enjoys the» ʿumra «up to the pilgrimage, then whatever is readily available of sacrificial animals» — the sacrificial animal is incumbent upon him — «and whoever cannot find [one], then a fast of three days during the pilgrimage and seven when you have returned» — to your homeland — «and those are ten complete» — three during the pilgrimage and seven when you have returned — «those are ten complete». «That» — the ruling mentioned, the obligation of the sacrificial animal or of the fast upon the one performing tamattuʿ — «is for him whose family are not present at the Mosque» […] — the people of Mecca: the sacrificial animal is not incumbent upon them when they perform tamattuʿ — «And fear Allah, and know that Allah is severe in punishment» (Q. 2:196) «The pilgrimage is [in] months well known» — Shawwāl, Dhū al-Qaʿda, and ten nights of Dhū al-Ḥijja — «so whoever undertakes» — upon himself — «the pilgrimage therein» — by entering iḥrām — «then no sexual intercourse, no transgression, and no disputing during the pilgrimage. And whatever good you do» — such as charity — «Allah knows it» — and He will recompense you for it — «And take provision» — revealed concerning the people of Yemen — [take] what will carry you on your journey — «for the best provision» — the most excellent provision — «is God-fearing» — that by which one guards against […] — «and fear Me, O possessors of understanding» (Q. 2:197) «There is no blame upon you that you seek» — in your seeking — «a bounty» — provision — «from your Lord» — by trading during the pilgrimage — «And when you depart» — you press on — «from ʿArafāt, remember Allah» — after passing the night at Muzdalifa, with the talbiya, the tahlīl, and supplication — «at the Sacred Waymark» — which is a mountain at the far end of Muzdalifa called Quzaḥ, upon which the mosque now stands — «and remember Him as He has guided you, though you were before it» — before His guidance — «among those who went astray» (Q. 2:198) «Then depart» — O Quraysh — «from where the people depart» — they used to keep apart from the people and stand alone — «and seek Allah’s forgiveness» — for your sins — «Allah is forgiving and merciful» (Q. 2:199) «And when you have completed your rites» — the acts of worship of your pilgrimage, by stoning the Jamrat al-ʿAqaba, performing the circumambulation, and settling at Minā — «remember Allah» — with the takbīr and with praise — «as you remember your fathers» — as you used to mention your fathers in boasting

«or more intensely in remembrance» — than [your] remembrance of them — «And among the people there is he who says: Our Lord, give us in this world» — and he is given it therein

«and he has no portion in the Hereafter» share «And among them is he who says: Our Lord, give us good in this world» (Q. 2:200-201)

a blessing — «and in the hereafter good» — which is the Garden — «and protect us from the punishment of the Fire» — by not entering it — (Q. 2:201) «Those have a share» — reward — «of» — on account of — «what they have earned» — what they have done, of pilgrimage and supplication — «and Allah is swift in reckoning» (Q. 2:202) — He reckons with all creation in the measure of half a day of the days of this world, on the strength of a hadith to that effect. [57] O Allah, bless our master Muhammad.