Al-A'raf 7:145–202

And We inscribed for him in the Tablets, that is, the Tablets of the Torah — these were made from the Lote-tree of Paradise, or of chrysolite or emerald, and they were either seven or ten — about all things, one needs in religion, as an admonition and a detailing, an explanation, of all things (li-kulli shay’in substitutes for the previous genitive construction [min kulli shay’, ‘about all things’]). ‘Take it then (there is an implicit qulnā, ‘We said’, before this [fa-kudhhā, ‘take it then’]) firmly, seriously and earnestly, and enjoin your people to adhere to the fairest [precepts] in it. I shall show you the abode of the wicked, [of] Pharaoh and his followers, and that is Egypt, that you may take an example from them.

I shall turn away from My signs, the proofs of My power, in the way of creations and otherwise, those who behave arrogantly in the earth without right, by humiliating them so that they do not magnify themselves; and if they see every sign do not believe in it, and if they see the way, the path, of rectitude, the guidance that has come from God, do not adopt it as a way, to follow, and if they see the way of error, misguidance, adopt it as a way. That, turning [of them] away, is because they have denied Our signs and were heedless of them. A similar statement has been made above.

Those who deny Our signs and the encounter in the Hereafter, the Resurrection and so on. their works, the good deeds they performed in the world, such as the maintenance of kinship ties or voluntary almsgivings, have failed, are invalid, and will not be rewarded, since they are not binding [in this case]. Shall they, they shall not, be requited anything but, the requital [for], what they used to do?’, in the way of denial and acts of disobedience?

And the people of Moses, after him, that is, after he had departed for the communion [with God], made of their ornaments, which they had borrowed from Pharaoh’s folk on the pretext of a wedding celebration, and which remained in their possession, a calf, which the Samaritan had fashioned for them therefrom; a [mere] living body (jasadan is a substitution [for ‘ijlan, ‘a calf’]), of flesh and blood, which lowed, that is, [which] made audible sounds [like a cow]: it [the calf] was transformed in this way when the dust, which he [the Samaritan] had collected from [where] the hoof of Gabriel’s steed [had trodden], was placed in its mouth, for it has the effect of [giving] life to that in which it is placed (the second direct object of the verb ittakhadha, ‘[they] made’, has been omitted, but it would be ilāhan, ‘[as] a god’). Did they not see that it spoke not to them, nor guided them to any way?, so how can it be taken as a god? Yet they took it as such, a god, and were evildoers, for taking it so.

And when they became at a loss, that is, [when] they became remorseful for having worshipped it, and saw, [and] realised, that they had gone astray, thereby, and this was after Moses’s return [from the communion], they said, ‘Unless our Lord is merciful to us and forgives us (read both [verbs] either in the third person singular or in the second person singular), verily we shall be among the losers’.

And when Moses returned to his people, angry, because of them, and bitterly grieved, he said, to them: ‘Evil is that, that is, evil is the [manner of] succession, which you have followed in my place, after I had gone, this idolatry of yours. Would you hasten on the judgement of your Lord?’ And he cast down the Tablets, the Tablets of the Torah, angry for the sake of his Lord, and they were broken into pieces, and he seized his brother by the head, that is, by the hair, with his right hand, and [seized him] by the beard, with his left hand, dragging him toward him, in anger. He said, ‘O, son of my mother! (read either ibna ummi or ibna umma, by which he meant [the standard form of saying ‘my mother’] ummī: the mention of her is more affectionate [in appealing] to his heart), Truly the people judged me weak and they were close to killing me. Do not make my enemies gloat over my misfortune, to rejoice thereat, by your humiliating me, and do not count me among the folk who have done evil’, by worshipping the calf, in [your] reproach [of them].

He said, ‘My Lord, forgive me, what I have done to my brother, and my brother, he includes him in the supplication in order to reconcile him and to fend off any gloating over his misfortune, and admit us into Your mercy, for You are the Most Merciful of the merciful’.

God, exalted be He, says, ‘Surely those who chose the calf, as a god. wrath, chastisement, and abasement shall come upon them from their Lord in the life of this world: and so they were punished [for this deed] by the command to slay themselves, and abasement was stamped upon them until the Day of Resurrection. Even, as We have requited them, so We requite those who invent lies, against God by way of idolatry and otherwise.

But those who commit evil deeds and repent, desist from them, thereafter and believe, in God — indeed your Lord thereafter, that is, after repentance, is truly Forgiving, Merciful’, towards them.

And when Moses’s anger abated, subsided, he took the Tablets, which he had cast down, and in their copy, that is, [in] what was inscribed upon them — in other words, it was written that: there was guidance, from error, and mercy for all those who hold their Lord in awe, [who] have fear [of Him] (the lām [in li-rabbihim, ‘their Lord’] has been inserted into the direct object because it [the direct object] has preceded [the verb]).

And Moses chose of his people seventy men, from among those who had not worshipped the calf, by God’s command, for Our appointed time, that is, for the time at which We promised him that they should come and apologise for their comrades’ worship of the calf. He [Moses] then departed with them; but when the Trembling, a violent earthquake, seized them, Ibn ‘Abbās said, ‘[That earthquake was] because they did not separate themselves from their people when the latter took to worshipping the calf’; he [Ibn ‘Abbās] added, ‘These [people] were not the same ones who asked to see God and were struck by the thunderbolt [cf. Q. 2:55]’, he, Moses, said, ‘My Lord, had You willed You would have destroyed them long before, that is, before my departure with them, so that the Children of Israel might see this and not make [false] accusations against me, and me [with them]. Will You destroy us for what the foolish ones among us have done? (this interrogative is meant as a plea for compassion, in other words, ‘Do not punish us for the sins of others’). It, that is, the trial which the ignorant ones underwent, is but Your trial, Your test, whereby You send astray whom You will, to lead stray, and guide whom You will, to guide. You are our Protector, looking after our affairs, so forgive us and have mercy on us, for You are the Best of all who show forgiveness.

And prescribe for us, grant [us], in this world good and in the Hereafter, good. We have turned, repented, to You’. He, God, says: ‘My chastisement — I smite with it whom I will, to chastise, and My mercy embraces, subsumes, all things, in this world, and so I shall prescribe it, in the Hereafter, for those who are God-fearing and pay the alms, and those who believe in Our signs;

those who follow the Messenger, the uninstructed Prophet, Muhammad (s) whom they will find inscribed in their Torah and Gospel, in name and description, enjoining them to decency and forbidding them indecency, making lawful for them the good things, which were forbidden [to them] by their Law, and making unlawful for them the vile things, such as carrion and the like, and relieving them of their burden, their onus, and the shackles, the hardships, that they used to bear, such as [the requirement] to kill oneself as a repentance and the severing of that part that had come into contact with any impurity. Then those who believe in him, from among them, and honour, revere, him, and help him, and follow the light that has been revealed with him, namely, the Qur’ān, they are the ones who will prosper’.

Say, addressing the Prophet (s) here: ‘O mankind, I am the Messenger of God to you all, [the Messenger] of Him to Whom belongs the kingdom of the heavens and of the earth. There is no god but Him. He gives life and makes to die. Believe, then, in God and His Messenger, the uninstructed Prophet, who believes in God and His words, the Qur’ān, and follow him, so that you might be guided, led aright.

And among the people of Moses there is a community, a group, who guide, people, by the truth and act justly according to it, when passing judgements.

And We divided them, We separated the Children of Israel, into twelve (ithnatay ‘asharata is a circumstantial qualifier) tribes (asbātan substitutes for this [previous circumstantial qualifier]) communities (umaman substitutes for the preceding [asbātan, ‘tribes’). And We revealed to Moses, when his people asked him for water, in the wilderness, [saying]: ‘Strike the rock with your staff’, and he struck it, and there gushed forth, burst forth, from it twelve fountains, equal to the number of tribes, each people, [each] tribe among them, now knew their drinking-place. And We made the cloud overshadow them, in the wilderness, from the heat of the sun, and We sent down to them manna and quails — which are [respectively, a type of citrus] turunjabīn, and the quail and We said to them: ‘Eat of the good things We have provided for you.’ And they did not wrong Us, but they wronged themselves.

And, mention, when it was said to them, ‘Dwell in this city, the Holy House [of Jerusalem], and eat therein wherever you will, and say, ‘our concern is for [an], Exoneration,’ and enter the gate, that is, the gate of the city, prostrating, a prostration that is [actually] a bow. We shall forgive (read naghfir, or the passive tughfar) you your transgressions; We shall give more to those who are virtuous, through obedience, in terms of reward.

But the evildoers among them substituted a saying other than that which had been said to them, they said instead, ‘A grain inside a hair’ and entered [the gate] dragging themselves on their rears. So We sent down upon them terror, a chastisement, from the heaven for their evildoing.

And question them, O Muhammad (s), in rebuke, about the city that was by the sea, bordering the Red Sea (bahr al-qulzum), and this was Eilat, [about] what befell its inhabitants, how they would transgress, violate, the Sabbath, by fishing, which they had been commanded not to do on that [day]; how (idh is an adverbial qualifier of ya‘dūn, ‘they [would] transgress’) their fish would come to them on the day of their Sabbath floating at the surface, visible at the surface of the water; but on the day they did not observe the Sabbath, when they would not consecrate the Sabbath over the other days, they would not come to them, as a trial from God. Thus were We trying them for their wickedness. And when they went to fish, the city split into three: one third joined the fishing party, another prohibited them, while a third abstained from both fishing and prohibiting.

And when (wa-idh is a supplement to the preceding idh, ‘how’) a community among them, who neither fished nor prohibited it, said, to those who prohibited it: ‘Why do you preach [admonition] to a folk whom God is about to destroy or chastise with a severe chastisement?’ They said, our admonishing [them] is, ‘As an exculpation, by which we excuse ourselves, before your Lord, lest we are reproached for failing to prohibit [them] in any way; and so that they might be wary, of fishing’.

And when they forgot, when they overlooked, that whereof they had been reminded, [that for which they had been] admonished, and did not desist, We delivered those who forbade evil, and seized those who did wrong, through transgression, with a grievous, terrible, chastisement for their wickedness.

And when they disdained, to desist from, that which was prohibited to them, We said to them, ‘Be apes, despised!’, abased, and they became so: this is an explication of what preceded [with regard to the details of their ‘grievous chastisement’]. Ibn ‘Abbās said, ‘I do not know what befell the group that abstained’. ‘Ikrima said, ‘That group was not destroyed because they had been averse to what the others did and had said, ‘Why do you preach (admonition) …’ Al-Hākim reported [in a hadīth] that he [‘Ikrima] referred this opinion to Ibn ‘Abbās, who was delighted by it.

And when your Lord proclaimed, made it known, that He would send against them, that is, the Jews, to the Day of Resurrection, those who would inflict on them grievous torment, through humiliation and the exacting of the jizya-tax [from them]. Thus, God sent Solomon against them, and after him, Nebuchadnezzar, who slaughtered [some of] them and took [others among] them captive, and imposed the jizya-tax on them. They continued to pay this [tax] to the Magians up until the [time of the] sending of our Prophet (s), who [also] imposed it on them. Lo! verily your Lord is swift in requital, of those who disobey Him. And lo! verily He is Forgiving, to those who obey Him, Merciful, [in dealing] with them.

And We divided them, We separated them, into communities, sects, in the earth. Some of them are righteous, and some of them, people [who], are otherwise, disbelievers and wicked individuals. And We tried them with good things, with graces, and evil things, with misfortunes, so that they might revert, from their wickedness.

And there succeeded after them a generation who inherited the Scripture, the Torah, from their forefathers, choosing the transient things of this inferior [life], that is, the ephemeral aspects of this lowly thing that the world is, in the way of what is lawful and what is unlawful, and saying, ‘It will be forgiven us’, what we have done; and yet if similar transient things were to come to them, they would take them (wa-in ya’tihim ‘aradun mithluhu ya’khudhūhu: this sentence is a circumstantial qualifier), in other words, they hope for forgiveness whilst committing the same offence again and persisting in it: and in the Torah there is no [such] promise about forgiveness for persistence [in sin]. Has not the covenant of the Scripture (mīthāqu l-kitābi, the annexation functions in place of fī, ‘in’ [sc. ‘the covenant in the Scripture’]) been taken (a-lam yu’khadh, ‘has [it] not been taken’, is an interrogative meant as an affirmative) from them that they should not say about God anything but the truth? And they have studied (wa-darasū, is a supplement to yu’khadh, ‘has it [not] been taken?’), they have read, what is in it, so why do they impute lies to it [the Scripture] by ascribing to it [the idea of] forgiveness for persistence [in sin]? And the Abode of the Hereafter is better for those who are wary, of what is unlawful. Do they not understand? (ya‘qilūn, may also be read as ta‘qilūn, ‘[do] you [not] understand?’) that it is better and so prefer it to [the abode of] this world?

And those who adhere (read yumassikūn or yumsikūn) to the Scripture, from among them, and have established prayer, the likes of ‘Abd Allāh b. Salām and his companions, verily We shall not let the wages of reformers go to waste (innā lā nudī‘u ajra l-muslihīn: the sentence is the predicate of alladhīna, ‘those who’; also there is here the replacing of the [third person] pronominalisation [alladhīna, ‘those who’] with an overt noun [al-muslihīna, ‘reformers’], in other words, their wages).

And, mention, when We wrenched the mountain above them, We lifted it up [unearthing it] from its root, as if it were a canopy, and they thought, they were certain, that it was about to fall upon them, because of God’s threat to them that it would fall upon them if they refused to accept the rulings contained in the Torah, they had [initially] refused [to accept] them because of their being burdensome, but then accepted them, and We said to them: ‘Take firmly, seriously and earnestly, what We have given you, and remember what is in it, by acting in accordance with it, that you might be God-fearing’.

And, remember, when your Lord took from the Children of Adam, from their loins (min zuhūrihim, is an inclusive substitution for the preceding [clause: min banī Ādama, ‘from the Children of Adam’], with the same preposition [min, ‘from’]) their seed, by bringing forth one from the loins of the other, [all] from the loins of Adam, offspring after offspring, in the way that they multiply, [looking] like small ants at [the valley of] Na‘mān on the Day of ‘Arafa [because of their multitude]. God set up proofs of His Lordship for them and endowed them with [the faculty of] reason, and made them testify against themselves, saying, ‘Am I not your Lord?’ They said, ‘Yea, indeed, You are our Lord, we testify’, to this, and this [taking of] testimony is, lest they should say (in both instances, read third person [yaqūlū, ‘they say’] or second person [taqūlū, ‘you say’]) on the Day of Resurrection, ‘Truly, of this, Oneness of God, we were unaware’, not knowing it!

Or lest you should say, ‘It is merely that our fathers were idolaters before, that is, before our time, and we were descendants of theirs, and so we followed their example. Will You then destroy us, chastise us, for that which those who follow falsehood did?’, from among our forefathers, by [their] establishing idolatry? The meaning is: they cannot use such arguments when they have been made to testify before their very selves to God’s Oneness. To effect this reminder by the tongue of the bearer of the miracle [Muhammad (s)] equally serves [as a reminder] for every soul to remember this within itself.

Thus We detail the signs, We explain them even as We have explained the covenant, that they might reflect on them, and that they might revert, from their disbelief.

And recite, O Muhammad (s), to them, that is, the Jews, the tidings, the tale, of him to whom We gave Our signs, but he cast them off, emerging in his disbelief in the same way that a snake emerges from its [shed] skin, he rebelled in disbelief, this was Bal‘am b. Bā‘ūrā’, a scholar from among the Children of Israel, who had been given some knowledge [of the Scriptures], and who was asked [by them] to invoke God against Moses. And when he did, the invocation turned against him and his tongue fell out onto his chest, and Satan pursued him, catching up with him and so he became his comrade, and he became of the perverse.

And had We willed, We would have raised him up, to the ranks of the scholars, thereby, by facilitating his way to [good] deeds; but he was disposed to, at peace [in], the earth — that is, this world — and inclined to it, and followed his whims, by calling [others] to them, and so We abased him. Therefore his likeness, his description, is as the likeness of a dog: if you attack it, by driving it away or curbing it, it lolls its tongue out, and if you leave it, it lolls its tongue out, and no other animal is like it in this way (both conditional sentences constitute a circumstantial qualifier, that is to say, it has its tongue lolling out despicably in all circumstances. The purpose here is to point out the similarity [between the one who follows his whims and a dog] in terms of condition and vileness, judging by the [contextualising] fā’ [of fa-mathaluhu, ‘therefore his likeness’], which relates what comes after it to what came before it in the way of ‘inclining towards this world and following whims’, and judging by God’s saying: That, likeness, is the likeness of those people who deny Our signs. So recount the tale, to the Jews, that they might reflect, upon it and so believe.

Evil as an example are the people, evil is the example of the people, who denied Our signs, and were wont to wrong themselves, through denial.

He whom God guides, he is guided, and he whom He sends astray — truly they are the losers.

And We have indeed urged unto Hell many of the jinn and mankind, having hearts wherewith they do not understand, the truth, and having eyes wherewith they do not perceive, the proofs of God’s power with a perception that entails reflection, and having ears wherewith they do not hear, the signs or the admonitions, in a way so as to reflect and take heed. These, they are like cattle, in their failure to understand, perceive or listen — nay, rather they are further astray, than cattle, because [at least] they [cattle] seek what is beneficial to them and stay away from what is harmful to them: these individuals, on the other hand, are proceeding towards the Fire, out of [sheer] obstinacy. These — they are the heedless.

And to God belong the, ninety nine, Most Beautiful Names — mentioned in hadīth — (al-husnā is the feminine for al-ahsan) so invoke, name, Him by them, and leave those who blaspheme His Names (yulhidūn, ‘they blaspheme’, from [fourth form] alhada or [first form] lahada, meaning ‘those who incline away from the truth’), by deriving from them names for their gods, as in the case of al-Lāt, from Allāh (‘God’), al-‘Uzzā, from al-‘Azīz (‘Mighty’), and Manāt, from al-Mannān (‘Lord of Favours’). They will be requited, in the Hereafter, the requital, for what they did — this was [revealed] before the command to fight [them].

And of those whom We created there is a community who guide by the truth, and act justly therewith: this is the community of Muhammad (s), as stated in a hadīth.

And those who deny Our signs — the Qur’ān — from among the people of Mecca, We will draw them on by degrees, We will lead them on gradually, whence they do not know.

And I will respite them — assuredly My scheme is strong, powerful, and cannot be withstood.

Have they not considered, and so realised that, that there is no madness in their comrade, Muhammad (s)? He is but a clear warner, one whose warning is evident.

And have they not reflected upon the dominion, the kingdom (malakūt is mulk) of the heaven and of the earth, and, upon, what things God has created (min shay’in is an explication of the preceding mā, ‘what’), so that they are able to infer the power of their Creator and His Oneness, and, upon, that, [upon] the fact that, it may be that their term is already near, so that they might hasten to believe, lest they die as disbelievers and move towards the Fire? In what fact then after this, that is, the Qur’ān, will they believe?

Whomever God sends astray, he has no guide. And He leaves them (read in the imperfect indicative wa-yadharuhum or wa-nadharuhum, ‘and We leave them’, as the beginning of a new sentence; or [the same verbs] in the imperfect jussive [apocopated form] wa-yadharhum, or wa-nadharhum, as a supplement to what comes after fā’ [of fa-lā hādiya lahu, ‘so he has no guide’]) in their insolence to wander on blindly, hesitating, out of perplexity.

They, that is the people of Mecca, will question you about the Hour, the Resurrection, when it shall come to pass. Say, to them: ‘The knowledge of, when, it, shall be, is only with my Lord. He alone shall reveal it, manifest it, at its proper time (li-waqtihā: the lām here functions as fī, ‘at’). It weighs heavily, tremendously, in the heavens and the earth, upon their inhabitants, because of its awesomeness. It will not come on you save all of a sudden’. They will question you, as if you were preoccupied with, obsessed with inquiring about, it, such that you have come to acquire knowledge of it. Say: ‘Knowledge of it is only with God (innamā ‘ilmuhā ‘inda’Llāhi is for emphasis), but most people do not know’, that knowledge of it lies with God, exalted be He.

Say: ‘I have no power to bring benefit, to attract it to, myself, or hurt, to repel it, except as God wills. Had I knowledge of the Unseen — that which is hidden from me, I would have acquired much good, and adversity, in the way of impoverishment and otherwise, would not touch me, since I would take precautions against such [adversity] by avoiding what is harmful. I am but a warner, to disbelievers, of the Fire, and a bearer of good tidings, of Paradise, to a people who believe’.

He, that is, God, it is Who created you from a single soul, namely, Adam, and made, created, from him his spouse, Eve, that he might take rest in her, and become intimate with her. Then, when he covered her, when he had sexual intercourse with her, she bore a light burden, namely, the sperm-drop, and moved to and fro with it, that is, she came and went [easily] on account of its lightness; but when she became heavy, because of the child growing inside her, and they became anxious that it should be a dumb child, they cried to God their Lord, ‘If You give us one, a child, that is sound, unimpaired, we indeed shall be of the thankful’, to You for it.

But when He gave them a sound one, [a sound] child, they ascribed to Him associates (shurakā’a: a variant reading has shirkan, meaning sharīkan, ‘an associate’) in that which He had given them, by naming it ‘Abd al-Hārith, ‘servant of al-Hārith’, when it is not right to be a ‘servant’ (‘abd) of any one but ‘God’ [sc. ‘Abd Allāh], but this [namesake ‘Abd] is not an association [of another with God] in terms of servitude, for Adam was immune [from a sin such as associating others in worship with God]. Samura [b. Jundub] reported that the Prophet (s) said, ‘On one occasion when Eve gave birth — all the children she bore had failed to survive — Satan visited her and said [to her], “Name it [the child] ‘Abd al-Hārith, and it will live.” She named it so and it lived. This [affair] was the result of Satan’s inspiration and his doings’: reported by al-Hākim, who deemed it [the report] ‘sound’ (sahīh), and [also reported] by al-Tirmidhī, who considered it ‘fair-uncommon’ (hasan gharīb); but exalted is God above what they, the people of Mecca, associate, in the way of idols (this sentence is consequent, a supplement to [the one beginning with] khalaqakum, ‘He created you’, so that what comes between the two is a parenthetical statement).

Do they associate, with Him, in worship, those who cannot create anything, but are themselves created,

and who are not able to give them, that is, those who worship them, any help, nor can they help themselves?, by defending themselves against someone intending to damage them, by breaking them or otherwise (the interrogative is meant as a rebuke).

And if you call them, that is, the idols, to guidance, they will not follow you (read yatba‘ūkum or yattabi‘ūkum). It will be the same [response] for you, whether you call them, to it, or whether you are silent, [refraining] from calling them, they will not follow it, because they cannot hear.

Truly those on whom you call, [whom] you worship, besides God are servants, owned, like you; call them then and let them answer you, your call, if you are truthful, in [claiming] that they are gods: God then illustrates their utter incapacity and the superiority which their worshippers possess over them, saying:

Have they feet wherewith they walk or, indeed, have they hands (aydin is the plural of yad) wherewith they can grasp or, indeed, have they eyes wherewith they can see or, indeed, have they ears wherewith they give ear? (an interrogative of rejection), in other words, they have none of these things, which you have, so why do you worship them when you are more complete in being than they are? Say, to them, O Muhammad (s): ‘Call upon your associates, to destroy me; then scheme against me, and waste no time, [do not] give me any respite, for I am not concerned with you.

Truly my Protector, the One in charge of my affairs, is God Who reveals the Book, the Qur’ān, and He takes charge of the righteous, by protecting them.

And as for those on whom you call besides God, they have no power to help you, nor can they help themselves’, so why should I be concerned with them?

And if you call upon them, that is, the idols, to guidance, they do not hear; and you see them, that is, the idols, O Muhammad (s), staring at you, looking toward you, as a person looks, but they do not perceive.

Indulge [people] with forgiveness, [accepting] what issues spontaneously from people’s manners [of behaviour], and do not scrutinise them, and enjoin kindness, decency, and turn away from the ignorant, and do not counter their stupidity with the like.

And if (immā: the letter nūn of the conditional particle in, ‘if’, has been assimilated with the extra mā, ‘any’) any insinuation from Satan should provoke you, that is, if anything should turn you away from that which you have been commanded to do, then, seek refuge in God (fa’sta‘idh bi’Llāh is the response to the conditional clause, with the response to the command being omitted), and He will ward it off from you, He is Hearing, of what is said, Seeing, of what is done.

Truly the God-fearing, when a visitation from Satan touches them, befalls them (tayfun: a variant reading has tā’ifun), that is, [when] something [of the sort] overcomes them, they remember, God’s punishment and His reward, and then see clearly, [distinguishing] the truth from what is other than it, and so they return [to God].

And their brothers, that is, the brothers of devils from among the disbelievers, they, the devils, lead them further into error, and, they, do not stop short, [do not] desist from it, by seeing clearly, in the way that those who are God-fearing come to see clearly.