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5. Al-Maidah - The Table Spread
| 1 | O YOU WHO believe, fulfil your obligations. Made lawful (as food) for you are animals except those mentioned (here); but unlawful during Pilgrimage is game. God ordains whatsoever He wills. |
| 2 | O you who believe, do not violate the (sanctity of) offerings to God, nor the rites of the holy month, nor sacrificial cattle with garlands (that are brought to the Ka'bah), nor of the people who flock to the Holy House seeking the bounties of their Lord, and His pleasure. Hunt when you have laid aside the robe of the pilgrim. And do not let your hatred of a people who had barred you from the Holy Mosque lead you to aggression. But help one another in goodness and piety, and do not assist in crime and rebellion, and fear God. Surely God is severe in punishment. |
| 3 | Forbidden you is carrion and blood, and the flesh of the swine, and whatsoever has been killed in the name of some other than God, and whatever has been strangled, or killed by a blow or a fall, or by goring, or that which has been mauled by wild beasts unless slaughtered while still alive; and that which has been slaughtered at altars is forbidden, and also dividing the meat by casting lots with arrows. All this is sinful. Today the unbelievers have lost every hope of (despoiling) your creed; so do not fear them, fear Me. Today I have perfected your system of belief and bestowed My favours upon you in full, and have chosen submission (al-Islam) as the creed for you. If one of you is driven by hunger (to eat the forbidden) without the evil intent of sinning, then God is forgiving and kind. |
| 4 | They ask you what is lawful for them. Say: "All things are lawful for you that are clean, and what the trained hunting animals take for you as you have trained then, in the light of God's teachings, but read over them the name of God, and fear (straying from the path of) God, for God is swift in the reckoning." |
| 5 | On this day all things that are clean have been made lawful for you; and made lawful for you is the food of the people of the Book, as your food is made lawful for them. And lawful are the chaste Muslim women, and the women of the people of the Book who are chaste, (for marriage) and not fornication or liaison, if you give them their dowries. Useless shall be rendered the acts of those who turn back on their faith, and they will be among the losers in the life to come. |
| 6 | O believers, when you stand up for the service of prayer wash your faces and hands up to elbows, and also wipe your heads, and wash your feet up to the ankles. If you are in a state of seminal pollution, then bathe and purify yourself well. But in case you are ill or are travelling, or you have satisfied the call of nature, or have slept with a woman, and you cannot find water, then take wholesome dust and pass it over your face and your hands, for God does not wish to impose any hardship on you. He wishes to purify you, and grace you with His favours in full so that you may be grateful. |
| 7 | Remember the favours He bestowed on you, and the covenant He cemented with you, when you said: "We have heard and obey." Have fear of God, for He knows the secrets of your heart. |
| 8 | O you who believe, stand up as witnesses for God in all fairness, and do not let the hatred of a people deviate you from justice. Be just: This is closest to piety; and beware of God. Surely God is aware of all you do. |
| 9 | God has made a promise of forgiveness and the highest reward to those who believe and perform good deeds. |
| 10 | But those who disbelieve and deny Our revelations are the people of Hell. |
| 11 | O believers, remember the favours God bestowed on you when a people raised their hands against you and He restrained their hands. So fear God; and the faithful should place their trust in God. |
| 12 | God covenanted the people of Israel and raised twelve leaders among them, and said: "I shall verily be with you. If you fulfil your devotional obligations, pay the zakat and believe in My apostles and support them, and give a goodly loan to God, I shall certainly absolve you of your evil, and admit you to gardens with streams of running water. But whosoever among you denies after this, will have wandered away from the right path." |
| 13 | When they dishonoured their pledge We condemned them, and hardened their hearts. So they distort the words of the Scripture out of context, and have forgotten some of what they were warned against. You will always hear of treachery on their part except that of a few. But forbear and forgive them, for God loves those who do good. |
| 14 | We had taken the pledge of those also who call themselves Christians. But they too forgot to take advantage of the warning they were given. So We have caused enmity and hatred among them to last till the Day of Resurrection, when God will inform them of what they were doing. |
| 15 | O people of the Book, Our Apostle has come to you, announcing many things of the Scriptures that you have suppressed, passing over some others. To you has come light and a clear Book from God |
| 16 | Through which God will lead those who follow His pleasure to the path of peace, and guide them out of darkness into light by His will, and to the path that is straight. |
| 17 | Verily they are unbelievers who say: "The Messiah, son of Mary, is God." You ask them: "Who could prevail against God if He had chosen to destroy the Messiah, son of Mary, and his mother, and the rest of mankind?" For God's is the kingdom of the heavens and the earth and whatsoever lies between them. He creates what He please, for God has the power over all things. |
| 18 | Say the Jews and the Christians: "We are sons of God and beloved of Him." Say: "Why does He punish you then for your sins? No: You are only mortals, of His creation." He can punish whom He please and pardon whom He will, for God's is the kingdom of the heavens and the earth and all that lies between them, and everything will go back to Him. |
| 19 | O you people of the Book, Our Apostle has come to you when apostles had ceased to come long ago, lest you said: "There did not come to us any messenger of good news or of warnings." So now there has reached you a bearer of good tidings and of warnings; for God has the power over all things. |
| 20 | Remember when Moses said to his people: "O my people, remember the favours that God bestowed on you when He appointed apostles from among you, and made you kings and gave you what had never been given to any one in the world. |
| 21 | Enter then, my people, the Holy Land that God has ordained for you, and do not turn back, or you will suffer." |
| 22 | They said: "O Moses, in that land live a people who are formidable; we shall never go there until they leave. We shall enter when they go away." |
| 23 | Then two of the men who feared (God), and to whom God was gracious, said to them: "Charge and rush the gate. If you enter, you will surely be victorious. And place your trust in God if you truly believe." |
| 24 | They said: "O Moses, we shall never, never enter so long as they are there. Go you and your Lord to fight them; we stay here." |
| 25 | Said (Moses): "O Lord, I have control over none but myself and my brother; so distinguish between us and these, the wicked people." |
| 26 | (And God) said: "Then verily this land is forbidden them for forty years, and they shall wander perplexed over the earth. So do not grieve for these, the wicked people." |
| 27 | Narrate to them exactly the tale of the two sons of Adam. When each of them offered a sacrifice (to God), that of one was accepted, and that of the other was not. Said (the one): "I will murder you," and the other replied: "God only accepts from those who are upright and preserve themselves from evil. |
| 28 | If you raise your hand to kill me, I will raise not mine to kill you, for I fear God, the Lord of all the worlds; |
| 29 | I would rather you suffered the punishment for sinning against me, and for your own sin, and became an inmate of Hell. And that is the requital for the unjust." |
| 30 | Then the other was induced by his passion to murder his brother, and he killed him, and became one of the damned. |
| 31 | Then God sent a raven which scratched the ground in order to show him how to hide the nakedness of his brother. "Alas, the woe," said he, "that I could not be even like the raven and hide the nakedness of my brother," and was filled with remorse. |
| 32 | That is why We decreed for the children of Israel that whosoever kills a human being, except (as punishment) for murder or for spreading corruption in the land, it shall be like killing all humanity; and whosoever saves a life, saves the entire human race. Our apostles brought clear proofs to them; but even after that most of them committed excesses in the land. |
| 33 | The punishment for those who wage war against God and His Prophet, and perpetrate disorders in the land, is to kill or hang them, or have a hand on one side and a foot on the other cut off, or banish them from the land. Such is their disgrace in the world, and in the Hereafter their doom shall be dreadful. |
| 34 | But those who repent before they are subdued should know that God is forgiving and kind. |
| 35 | O you who believe, follow the path shown to you by God, and seek the way of proximity to Him, and struggle in His way: you may have success. |
| 36 | As for unbelievers, if they possess the riches of the whole earth, and two times more, and offer it as ransom for release from the torments of the Day of Resurrection, it will not be accepted from them, and their punishment will surely be painful. |
| 37 | They would like to escape from the Fire, but will never succeed, and their suffering will be constant |
| 38 | As for the thief, whether man or woman, cut his hand as punishment from God for what he had done; and God is all mighty and all wise. |
| 39 | But those who repent after a crime and reform, shall be forgiven by God, for God is forgiving and kind. |
| 40 | Do you not know that God's is the kingdom of the heavens and the earth? He punishes whom He will, and pardons whom He please, for God has the power over all things. |
| 41 | Be not grieved, O Apostle, by those who hasten to outrace others in denial, and say with their tongues: "We believe," but do not believe in their hearts. And those of the Jews who listen to tell lies, and spy on behalf of others who do not come to you, and who distort the words (of the Torah) out of context, and say: "If you are given (what we say is true) accept it; but if you are not given it, beware." You cannot intercede with God for him whom God would not show the way. These are the people whose hearts God does not wish to purify. For them is ignominy in this world and punishment untold in the next -- |
| 42 | Eavesdropping for telling lies, earning through unlawful means! So, if they come to you, judge between them or decline. And if you decline, they can do you no harm; but if you judge, you should do so with justice, for God loves those who are just. |
| 43 | But why should they make you a judge when the Torah is with them which contains the Law of God? Even then they turn away. They are those who will never believe. |
| 44 | We sent down the Torah which contains guidance and light, in accordance with which the prophets who were obedient (to God) gave instructions to the Jews, as did the rabbis and priests, for they were the custodians and witnesses of God's writ. So, therefore, do not fear men, fear Me, and barter not My messages away for a paltry gain. Those who do not judge by God's revelations are infidels indeed. |
| 45 | And there (in the Torah) We had ordained for them a life for a life, and an eye for an eye, and a nose for a nose, and an ear for an ear, and a tooth for a tooth, and for wounds retribution, though he who forgoes it out of charity, atones for his sins. And those who do not judge by God's revelations are unjust. |
| 46 | Later, in the train (of the prophets), We sent Jesus, son of Mary, confirming the Torah which had been (Sent down) before him, and gave him the Gospel containing guidance and light, which corroborated the earlier Torah, a guidance and warning for those who preserve themselves from evil and follow the straight path. |
| 47 | Let the people of the Gospel judge by what has been revealed in it by God. And those who do not judge in accordance with what God has revealed are transgressors. |
| 48 | And to you We have revealed the Book containing the truth, confirming the earlier revelations, and preserving them (from change and corruption). So judge between them by what has been revealed by God, and do not follow their whims, side-stepping the truth that has reached you. To each of you We have given a law and a way and a pattern of life. If God had pleased He could surely have made you one people (professing one faith). But He wished to try and test you by that which He gave you. So try to excel in good deeds. To Him will you all return in the end, when He will tell you of what you were at variance. |
| 49 | Judge between them in the light of what has been revealed by God, and do not follow their whims, and beware of them lest they lead you away from the guidance sent down to you by God. If they turn away, then know that God is sure to punish them for some of their sins; and many of them are transgressors. |
| 50 | Do they seek a judgement of the days of pagan ignorance? But who could be a better judge than God for those who are firm in their faith? |
| 51 | O believers, do not hold Jews and Christians as your allies. They are allies of one another; and anyone who makes them his friends is surely one of them; and God does not guide the unjust. |
| 52 | You will notice that those whose hearts are afflicted with sickness (of doubt) only hasten to join them and say: "We fear lest misfortune should surround us." It may well be that God may soon send (you) success, or other command of His. Then will they be repentant of what they had concealed in their hearts. |
| 53 | Then the believers will say: "Are these the people who had sworn by God on solemn oath and said: "We are surely with you?" Wasted have been all their deeds, and losers they remain. |
| 54 | O believers, any one of you who turns back on his faith (should remember) that God could verily bring (in your place) another people whom He would love as they would love Him, gentle with believers, unbending with infidels, who would strive in the way of God, unafraid of blame by any slanderer. Such is the favour of God which He bestows on whomsoever He will. God is infinite and all-knowing. |
| 55 | Your only friends are God and His Messenger, and those who believe and are steadfast in devotion, who pay the zakat and bow in homage (before God). |
| 56 | And those who take God and His Prophet and the faithful as their friends are indeed men of God, who will surely be victorious. |
| 57 | O believers, do not make friends with those who mock and make a sport of your faith, who were given the Book before you, and with unbelievers; and fear God if you truly believe; |
| 58 | (Nor make friends with) those who, when you call (the faithful) to prayer, make mock of it and jest, because they do not understand. |
| 59 | Say to them: "O people of the Book, what reason have you for disliking us other than that we believe in God and what has been sent down to us, and was sent down before, and because most of you are disobedient?" |
| 60 | Say: "Shall I inform you who will receive the worst chastisement from God? They who were condemned by God, and on whom fell His wrath, and those who were turned to apes and swine, and those who worship the powers of evil. They are in the worse gradation, and farthest away from the right path." |
| 61 | When they come to you they say: "We believe;" but unbelieving they came and unbelieving go; and God is aware of what they conceal in their hearts. |
| 62 | You will see among them many who rush into sin and wickedness, and devour unlawful gain. How evil are the things they do! |
| 63 | Why do not their rabbis and priests prohibit them from talking of sinful things and from devouring unlawful gain? Evil are the acts they commit! |
| 64 | The Jews say: "Bound are the hands of God." Tied be their own hands, and damned may they be for saying what they say! In fact, both His hands are open wide: He spends of His bounty in any way He please. But what your Lord has revealed to you will only increase their rebellion and unbelief. So We have caused enmity and hatred among them (which will last) till the Day of Resurrection. As often as they ignite the fires of war they are extinguished by God. Yet they rush around to spread corruption in the land; but God does not love those who are corrupt. |
| 65 | If the people of the Book had believed and feared, We would surely have absolved them of their sins, and admitted them to gardens of delight. |
| 66 | And if they had followed the teachings of the Torah and the Gospel, and what has been sent down to them by their Lord, they would surely have enjoyed (blessings) from the heavens above and the earth below their feet. |
| 67 | Some among them are moderate, but evil is what most of them do! O Prophet, announce what has reached you from your Lord, for if you do not, you will not have delivered His message. God will preserve you from (the mischief of) men; for God does not guide those who do not believe. |
| 68 | Say to them: "O people of the Book, you have no ground (for argument) until you follow the Torah and the Gospel and what has been revealed to you by your Lord." But what has been revealed to you by your Lord will surely increase rebellion and unbelief in many; so do not grieve for those who do not believe. |
| 69 | All those who believe, and the Jews and the Sabians and the Christians, in fact any one who believes in God and the Last Day, and performs good deeds, will have nothing to fear or regret. |
| 70 | We had taken a solemn pledge from the children of Israel, and sent messengers to them; but whenever an apostle came to them bringing what did not suit their mood, they called one imposter, another they slew, |
| 71 | And imagined that no trials would befall them; and they turned deaf and blind (to the truth). But God still turned to them; yet many of them turned blind and deaf again; but God sees everything they do. |
| 72 | They are surely infidels who say: "God is the Christ, son of Mary." But the Christ had only said: "O children of Israel, worship God who is my Lord and your Lord." Whosoever associates a compeer with God, will have Paradise denied to him by God, and his abode shall be Hell; and the sinners will have none to help them. |
| 73 | Disbelievers are they surely who say: "God is the third of the trinity;" but there is no god other than God the one. And if they do not desist from saying what they say, then indeed those among them who persist in disbelief will suffer painful punishment. |
| 74 | Why do they not turn to God and ask His forgiveness? God is forgiving and kind. |
| 75 | The Christ, son of Mary, was but an apostle, and many apostles had (come and) gone before him; and his mother was a woman of truth. They both ate the (same) food (as men). Behold, how We show men clear signs, and behold, how they wander astray! |
| 76 | Tell them: "Leaving God aside, will you worship something that has no power over your loss or gain?" But God is all-hearing and all-knowing. |
| 77 | Tell them: "O people of the Book, do not overstep the bounds of truth in your beliefs, and follow not the wishes of a people who had erred before, and led many others astray, and wandered away from the right path." |
| 78 | Cursed were disbelievers among the children of Israel by David and Jesus, son of Mary, because they rebelled and transgressed the bounds. |
| 79 | They did not restrain one another from the wicked things they used to do; and vile were the things that they were doing! |
| 80 | You can see among them many allying themselves with the infidels. Vile it was what they sent ahead of them, so that God's indignation came upon them; and torment will they suffer an eternity. |
| 81 | If they had believed in God and the Prophet and what had been revealed to him, they would never have held them as allies; and many among them are transgressors. |
| 82 | You will find the Jews and idolaters most excessive in hatred of those who believe; and the closest in love to the faithful are the people who say: "We are the followers of Christ," because there are priests and monks among them, and they are not arrogant. |
| 83 | For when they listen to what has been revealed to this Apostle, you can see their eyes brim over with tears at the truth which they recognise, and say: "O Lord, we believe; put us down among those who bear witness (to the truth). |
| 84 | And why should we not believe in God and what has come down to us of the truth? And we hope to be admitted by our Lord among those who are upright and do good?" |
| 85 | God will reward them for saying so with gardens where streams flow by, where they will live for ever. This is the recompense of those who do good. |
| 86 | But those who disbelieve and deny Our revelations are residents of Hell. |
| 87 | O believers, do not forbid the good things God has made lawful for you; and do not transgress. God does not love transgressors. |
| 88 | Eat what is lawful and good of the provisions God has bestowed on you, and fear God in whom you believe. |
| 89 | God does not punish you but for what you swear in earnest. The expiation (for breaking an oath) is feeding ten persons who are poor, with food that you give your own families, or clothing them, or freeing a slave. But he who cannot do so should fast for three days. This is the expiation for an oath when you have sworn it. So abide by your oaths. Thus God makes His commandments clear to you: You may perhaps be grateful. |
| 90 | O believers, this wine and gambling, these idols, and these arrows you use for divination, are all acts of Satan; so keep away from them. You may haply prosper. |
| 91 | Satan only wishes to create among you enmity and hatred through wine and gambling, and to divert you from the remembrance of God and prayer. Will you therefore not desist? |
| 92 | Obey God and the Prophet, and beware. If you turn away, remember, that the duty of Our Apostle is to give you a clear warning. |
| 93 | Those who believe and perform good deeds will not be held guilty for what they have eaten (in the past) if they fear God and believe, and do good things and are conscious (of God) and believe, and still fear and do good, for God loves those who do good. |
| 94 | O you who believe, God will surely try you with the game that you take with your hands or your lances, in order to know who fear Him unseen. Whosoever transgress after this will suffer grievous punishment. |
| 95 | O you who believe, do not kill game when you are on pilgrimage. And anyone among you who does so on purpose should offer livestock of equivalent value, determined by two honourable persons among you, (as atonement), to be brought to the Ka'bah as an offering; or else expiate by giving food to the poor, or its equivalent in fasting, so that he may realise the gravity of his deed. God has forgiven what has happened in the past; but any one who does so again will be punished by God. And God is severe in requital. |
| 96 | Lawful is all game of the water for you, and eating of it as food, so that you and the travellers may benefit by it. But unlawful is game of the jungle when you are on pilgrimage. Fear God before whom you have to gather in the end. |
| 97 | God has made the Ka'bah, the Sacred House, a means of support for mankind, as also the holy month, the sacrificial offerings, and consecrated cattle, so that you may understand that known to God is all that is in the heavens and the earth, and God has knowledge of everything. |
| 98 | Know that the punishment of God is severe, but that God is also forgiving and kind. |
| 99 | It is for the Prophet to convey the message: God knows what you reveal and what you hide. |
| 100 | Tell them: "The unclean and the pure are not equal, even though the abundance of the unclean may be pleasing to you." So fear God, O men of wisdom; you may haply find success. |
| 101 | O believers, do not ask about things which, if made known to you, may vex you. But if you ask about them when the Qur'an is being revealed they will be unfolded to you. God has overlooked (your failings) in this (respect), for God is forgiving and forbearing. |
| 102 | Such things were asked by a people before you, but they disbelieved them afterwards. |
| 103 | God has not sanctioned Baheerah or Sa'ibah, Waseelah or Ham. The unbelievers fabricate lies of God, for many of them are devoid of sense. |
| 104 | When you say to them: "Come to what God has revealed, and the Prophet," they say: "Sufficient to us is the faith that our fathers had followed," even though their fathers had no knowledge or guidance. |
| 105 | O you who believe, on you rests (the responsibility) for your own selves. If you follow the right path those who have gone astray will not be able to do you harm. To God have all of you to return, when He will tell you what you were doing. |
| 106 | O you who believe, let two honest men among you be witness when you dictate your last will and testament as (the hour of) death draws near; and if death approaches while you are on a journey, two men other than yours. Detain them after the service of prayer, and if you doubt their word make them swear by God that: "We shall not take a bribe even though it be offered by a near relative, nor hide the testimony of God, for then we shall surely be sinful." |
| 107 | If it transpires they have concealed the truth, two of those who are immediately concerned should take their place and swear by God: "Our testimony is truer than theirs. We have stated no more (than the truth), or else we shall be unjust" |
| 108 | It is thus likely that men will bear witness rightly, or else fear that their oaths may be disproved by oaths given after them. So fear God, and do not forget that God does not guide the iniquitous. |
| 109 | The day God will gather the apostles and ask: "What answer was made to you?" They will say: "We know not. You alone know the secrets unknown." |
| 110 | And when God will say: "O Jesus, son of Mary, remember the favours I bestowed on you and your mother, and reinforced you with divine grace that you spoke to men when in the cradle, and when in the prime of life; when I taught you the law and the judgement and the Torah and the Gospel; when you formed the state of your people's destiny out of mire and you breathed (a new spirit) into it, and they rose by My leave; when you healed the blind by My leave, and the leper; when you put life into the dead by My will; and when I held back the children of Israel from you when you brought to them My signs, and the disbelievers among them said: "Surely these are nothing but pure magic." |
| 111 | And when I inspired the disciples (through Jesus) to believe in Me and My apostle, they said: "We believe, and You bear witness that we submit" |
| 112 | When the disciples said: "O Jesus, son of Mary, could your Lord send down for us a table laid with food?" he said: "Fear God, if indeed you believe." |
| 113 | They said: "We should like to eat of it to reassure our hearts and to know that it's the truth you have told us, and that we should be witness to it." |
| 114 | Said Jesus, son of Mary. "O God, our Lord, send down a table well laid out with food from the skies so that this day may be a day of feast for the earlier among us and the later, and a token from You. Give us our (daily) bread, for You are the best of all givers of food." |
| 115 | And said God: "I shall send it down to you; but if any of you disbelieve after this, I shall inflict such punishment on him as I never shall inflict on any other creature." |
| 116 | And when God will ask: "O Jesus, son of Mary, did you say to mankind: 'Worship me and my mother as two deities apart from God?' (Jesus) will answer: "Halleluja. Could I say what I knew I had no right (to say)? Had I said it You would surely have known, for You know what is in my heart though I know not what You have. You alone know the secrets unknown. |
| 117 | I said nought to them but what You commanded me: Worship God, my Lord and your Lord. And so long as I dwelt with them I was witness over their actions. And after my life had been done, You were their keeper; and You are a witness over all things. |
| 118 | If You punish them, indeed they are Your creatures; if You pardon them, indeed You are mighty and wise." |
| 119 | God will say: 'This is the day when the truthful shall profit by their truthfulness. For them will be gardens with streams running by, where they will for ever abide." God will accept them, and they will be gratified in (obeying) Him. This will surely be happiness supreme. |
| 120 | To God belongs all that is in the heavens and the earth, and His the power over everything. |