CATTLE [AL-AN’AM]
Revealed at Mecca, [165 verses]
Al-An’âm “Cattle” takes its name from a word in v.
137, repeated in vv. 139, 140, where cattle are mentioned
in connection with superstitious practices condemned by
Al-Islâm.
With the possible exception of nine verses, which some
authorities e.g. Ibn Salâmah ascribe to the Madînah period, the
whole of this Sûrah belongs to the year before the Hijrah. It is
related, on the authority of Ibn ‘Abbâs, that it was revealed in
a single visitation. It is placed here on account of the subject,
vindication of the Divine Unity, which fitly follows on the
subjects of the previous Sûrahs. The note of certain triumph
is remarkable in the circumstances of its revelation, when the
Prophet, after thirteen years of effort, saw himself obliged to
flee from Mecca and seek help from strangers.
In the name of Allah, the Beneficent, the Merciful.
1. Praise be to Allah, Who has created the heavens and the
earth, and has made darkness and light. Yet those who
disbelieve ascribe rivals to their Lord.
2. He it is Who has created you from clay, and has decreed
a term for you. A term is fixed with Him. Yet still you
doubt!
3. He is Allah in the heavens and in the earth. He knows both
your secret and your utterance, and He knows what you earn.
4. Never came there to them a sign of the signs of Allah but they
did turn away from it.
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5. And they denied the truth when it came to them. But there
will come to them the tidings of that which they used to
ridicule.
6. See they not how many a generation We destroyed before
them, whom We had established in the earth more firmly
than We have established you, and We shed on them
abundant showers from the sky, and made the rivers flow
beneath them. Yet We destroyed them for their sins, and
created after them another generation.
7. Had we sent down to you [Muhammad] [actual] writing
upon parchment, so that they could feel it with their hands,
those who disbelieve would have said: This is nothing else
than mere magic.
8. They say: Why has not an angel been sent down to him? If
We sent down an angel, then the matter would be judged;
no further time would be allowed them [for reflection].
9. And had We appointed him an angel [Our messenger], We
assuredly had made him [as] a man [that he might speak to
men]; and [thus] obscured for them [the truth] they [now]
obscure.
10. Messengers [of Allah] have been ridiculed before you, but
that whereat they scoffed surrounded such of them as
did ridicule.
11. Say [to the disbelievers]: Travel in the land, and see the
nature of the consequence for the deniers!
12. Say: To whom belongs whatsoever is in the heavens and
the earth? Say: To Allah. He has prescribed for Himself
mercy, that He may bring you all together to a Day of
Resurrection whereof there is no doubt. Those who ruin
their own souls will not believe.
13. To Him belongs whatsoever rests in the night and the day.
He is the Hearer, the Knower.
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14. Say: Shall I take for a protector other than Allah, the
Originator of the heavens and the earth, who feeds and is
never fed? Say: I am ordered to be the first to surrender [to
Him]. And be not you [O Muhammad] of the polytheists.
15. Say: I fear, if I disobey my Lord, the retribution of a
Tremendous Day.
16. He from whom [such retribution] is averted on that day
[Allah] has in truth had mercy on him. That will be the
obvious triumph.
17. If Allah touches you with affliction, there is none that can
relieve therefrom save Him, and if He touches you with
good [there is none that can impair it]; for He is Able to
do all things.
18. He is the Omnipotent over His slaves, and He is the Wise,
the Knower.
19. Say [O Muhammad]: What thing is of most weight in
testimony? Say: Allah is Witness between you and me.
And this Qur’ân has been revealed to me, that I may
therewith warn you and whomsoever it may reach. Do
you truly bear witness that there are gods beside Allah?
Say: I bear no such witness. Say: He is only One God. Lo!
I am innocent of that which you associate [with Him].
20. Those to whom We gave the Scripture recognize [this
Revelation] as they recognize their sons. Those who will
lose themselves [in the Hereafter] will not believe.
21. Who does greater wrong than he who invents a lie against
Allah and denies His verses? Lo! the wrong-doers will not
be successful,
22. And on the day We gather them together We shall say
to those who associated others [with Allah]: Where are
[now] those partners of your make-believe?
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23. Then there will be no argument save that they will say: By
Allah, our Lord, we never were of those who associated.
24. See how they lie against themselves, and [how] the thing
which they invented has failed them!
25. Of them are some who listen to you, but We have placed
upon their hearts veils, lest they should understand, and
in their ears a deafness. If they saw every sign they would
not believe therein; to the point that, when they come to
you to argue with you, the disbelievers say: This is nothing
else than legends of the men of old.
26. And they forbid [men] from it and avoid it, and they ruin
none save themselves, though they perceive not.
27. If you could see when they are set before the Fire and say:
Oh, would that we might return! Then would we not deny
the signs of our Lord but we would be of the believers!
28. Nay, but that has become clear to them which before
they used to hide. And if they were sent back they would
return to that which they are forbidden. Lo! they are liars.
29. And they say: There is nothing save our life of the world,
and we shall not be resurrected [again].
30. If you could see when they are set before their Lord! He
will say: Is not this real? They will say: Yea, verily, by our
Lord! He will say: Taste now the doom for that you used
to disbelieve.
31. They indeed are losers who deny their meeting with Allah
until, when the Hour comes on them suddenly, they say:
Alas for us, that we neglected it! They bear upon their
back their burdens. Ah, evil is that which they bear!
32. And the life of the world is nothing save a pastime and
a play. Better far is the abode of the Hereafter for those
who fear Allah. Will you not then understand?
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33. We know well how their talk grieves you, though in truth
they deny not you [Muhammad] but wrong-doers deny
the verses of Allah.
34. Messengers indeed have been denied before you, and
they were patient under the denial and the persecution
till Our succour reached them. There is none to alter the
words [decisions] of Allah. Already there has reached
you [somewhat] of the tidings of the messengers [We
sent before].
35. And if their aversion is grievous to you, then, if you can,
seek a tunnel into the earth or a ladder to the sky that you
may bring to them a sign [to convince them all]! If Allah
willed, He could have brought them all together to the
guidance– So be not you among the ignorant.
36. Only those who hear will respond. As for the dead
[disbelievers], Allah will raise them up; then to Him they
will be returned.
37. They say: Why has no sign been sent down upon him
from his Lord? Say: Lo! Allah is Able to send down a sign.
But most of them know not.
38. There is not a creature in the earth, nor a flying creature
flying on two wings, but they are communities like you.
We have neglected nothing in the Book [of Our decrees].
Then to their Lord they will be gathered.
39. Those who deny our verses are deaf and dumb in darkness.
Whom Allah wills He sends astray, and whom He wills
He places on a straight path.
40. Say: Can you see yourselves, if the doom of Allah comes
upon you or the Hour comes upon you, calling upon
other than Allah? Do you then call [for help] to any other
than Allah? [Answer that] if you are truthful.
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41. Nay, but to Him Alone you call, and He removes that
because of which you call to Him, if He wills, and you
forget whatever you associate with Him.
42. We have sent already to nations that were before you, and
We seized them with poverty and adversity, in order that
they might humble themselves [to Us].
43. If only, when our doom came on them, they had been
humble themselves! But their hearts were hardened and
Satan made all that they used to do seem fair to them!
44. Then, when they forgot that whereof they had been
reminded, We opened to them the gates of all things till,
even as they were rejoicing in that which they were given,
We seized them unawares, and lo! they were dumbfounded.
45. So of the people who did wrong the last remnant was cut
off. Praise be to Allah, Lord of the Worlds!
46. Say: Have you imagined, if Allah should take away your
hearing and your sight and seal your hearts. Who is the
deity who could restore them to you save Allah? See how
We display the verses to them? Yet still they turn away.
47. Say: Can you see yourselves, if the doom of Allah comes
upon you unexpectedly or openly? Would any perish save
wrong-doing folk?
48. And We send not the messengers save as bearers of good
news and warners. Whoso believes and does right, there
shall no fear come upon them neither shall they grieve.
49. But as for those who deny Our verses, doom will afflict
them for that they used to disobey.
50. Say [O Muhammad, to the disbelievers]: I say not to you
[that] I possess the treasures of Allah, nor that I have
knowledge of the Unseen; and I say not to you: Lo! I am
an angel. I follow only that which is revealed to me. Say:
Are the blind man and the seer equal? Will you not then
take thought?
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51. Warn hereby those who fear [because they know] that
they will be gathered to their Lord, for whom there is
no protector nor intercessor beside Him, that they may
become righteous.
52. Repel not those who call upon their Lord at morning and
evening, seeking His countenance. You are not accountable
for them in anything, nor are they accountable for you in
anything, that you should turn them away and be of the
wrong-doers.
53. And even so do We try some of them by others, that they
say: Are these they whom Allah favours among us? Is not
Allah best aware of the thanksgivers?
54. And when those who believe in Our verses come to
you, say: Peace be to you! Your Lord has decreed upon
Himself mercy, that whoso of you does evil in ignorance
and repents afterward thereof and does right, [for him]
lo! Allah is Forgiving, Merciful.
55. Thus do We expound the verses that the way of the
criminals may be manifest.
56. Say: I am forbidden to worship those on whom you
invoke besides Allah. Say: I will not follow your desires,
for then should I go astray and I should not be of the
rightly guided.
57. Say: I am [relying] on clear proof from my Lord, while you
deny Him. I have not that for which you are impatient.
The decision is for Allah only. He tells the truth and He is
the Best of Deciders.
58. Say: If I had that for which you are impatient, then would
the matter [before this] have been decided between me
and you. Allah is best aware of the wrong-doers.
59. And with Him are the keys of the Unseen. None but He
knows them. And He knows what is in the land and the
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sea. Not a leaf falls but He knows it, not a grain amid
the darkness of the earth, nothing of wet or dry but [it is
noted] in a clear record.
60. He it is Who takes your souls at night and knows that
which you commit by day. Then He raises you again to
life therein, that the term appointed [for you] may be
accomplished. And afterward to Him is your return. Then
He will inform you about what you used to do.
61. He is the Omnipotent over His slaves. He sends guardians
over you until, when death comes to one of you, Our
messengers[1] receive him, and they neglect not.
62. Then they are returned to Allah, their Lord, the Just. Surely
His is the judgment. And He is the swiftest of reckoners.
63. Say: Who rescues you from the darkness of the land and
the sea? You call upon Him humbly and in secret, [saying]:
If He rescued us from this [fear] we truly will be of the
thankful.
64. Say: Allah rescues you from this and from all afflictions.
Yet “you associate others with Him”.
65. Say: He is able to send doom upon you from above you or
from beneath your feet, or to bewilder you with dissension
and make you taste the tyranny one of another. See how
We display the signs so that they may understand.
66. Your people [O Muhammad] have denied it, though it is
the Truth. Say: I am not put in charge of you.
67. For every announcement there is a term, and you will
come to know.
68. And when you see those who meddle with Our verses,
withdraw from them until they meddle with another
topic. And if the Satan causes you to forget, sit not, after
the remembrance, with the congregation of wrong-doers.
[1] i.e. angels. The same word rusul is used for angels and for prophets.
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69. Those who fear Allah are not accountable for them in
nothing, but the Reminder [must be given them] that
perhaps they [too] may fear Allah.
70. And forsake those who take their religion as amusement
and play, and whom the life of the world beguiles. Remind
[mankind] hereby lest a soul be destroyed by what it earns.
It has beside Allah no protecting ally nor intercessor,
and though it offers every compensation it will not be
accepted from it. Those are they who perish by their own
deserts. For them is drink of boiling water and a painful
doom, because they disbelieved.
71. Say: Shall we invoke, instead of Allah, to that which
neither profits us nor hurts us, and shall we turn back
after Allah has guided us, like one bewildered whom the
devils have enticed [to wander] in the earth confused,
while he has companions who invite him to the guidance
[saying]: Come to us? Say: Lo! the guidance of Allah is
the [only] Guidance, and we are ordered to submit to the
Lord of the Worlds,
72. And to establish prayer and fear Him, and He it is to
Whom you will be gathered.
73. He it is Who created the heavens and the earth in truth. In
that day when He says: Be! it is. His word is the horn, and
His will be the Sovereignty on the day when the Horn is
blown. Knower of the Unseen and the witnessed, He is
the Wise, the Acquainted.
74. [Remember] when Abraham said to his father Azar:
Take you idols for gods? Lo! I see you and your folk in
manifest error.
75. Thus did We show Abraham the kingdom of the heavens
and the earth that he might be of those possessing
certainty:
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76. When the night grew dark upon him he saw a star. He
said: This is my Lord. But when it set, he said: I like not
things that set,
77. And when he saw the moon uprising, he exclaimed: This is
my Lord. But when it set, he said: Unless my Lord guides
me, I surely shall become one of the folk who are astray.
78. And when he saw the sun uprising, he cried: This is
my Lord! This is greater! And when it set he exclaimed:
O my people! Lo! I am free from all that you associate
[with Him].
79. Lo! I have turned my face toward Him Who created the
heavens and the earth, as one by nature upright, and I am
not of the associators.
80. His people argued with him. He said: Dispute you with me
concerning Allah when He has guided me? I fear not at all
that which you associate with Him unless my Lord wills
something. My Lord includes all things in His knowledge:
Will you not then remember?
81. How should I fear what you associate, when you fear not
that you have associated with Allah that for which He
has sent down to you no authority? Which of the two
factions has more right to safety? [Answer me that] if you
have knowledge.
82. Those who believe and do not mix their belief by wrongdoing,
theirs is safety; and they are rightly guided.
83. That is Our argument. We gave it to Abraham against his
folk. We raise to degrees [of wisdom] whom We will. Lo!
your Lord is Wise, Knowing.
84. And We bestowed upon him Isaac and Jacob; each of them
We guided; and Noah did We guide before; and of his seed
[We guided] David and Solomon and Job and Joseph and
Moses and Aaron. Thus do We reward the good.
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85. And Zachariah and John and Jesus and Elias. Each one
[of them] was of the righteous.
86. And Ishmael and Elisha and Jonah and Lot. Each one of
them did We prefer over the worlds,
87. With some of their forefathers and their offspring and
their brothers; and We chose them and guided them to a
straight path:
88. Such is the guidance of Allah wherewith He guides whom
He wills of His bondmen. But if they had associated [for
worship] others with Him, [all] that they did would have
been vain.
89. Those are they to whom We gave the Scripture and
command and prophethood. But if these disbelieve
therein, then indeed We have entrusted it to a people who
are not disbelievers therein.
90. Those are they whom Allah has guided, so follow their
guidance. Say [O Muhammad, to mankind]: I ask of you
no fee for it. Lo! it is not but a Reminder for the worlds.
91. And they measure not the power of Allah its true measure
when they say: Allah has revealed nothing to a human
being. Say [to the Jews who speak thus]: Who revealed
the Scripture which Moses brought, a light and guidance
for mankind, which you have put on parchments which
you show, but you hide much [thereof], and by which you
were taught that which you knew not yourselves nor [did]
your fathers [know it]? Say: Allah. Then leave them in
their [empty] discourse, amusing themselves.
92. And this is a blessed Book which We have sent down,
confirming that which [was revealed] before it, that you
may warn the Mother of Villages [i.e. Mecca] and those
around her. Those who believe in the Hereafter believe
herein, and they are maintaining their prayer.
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93. Who is guilty of more wrong than he who forges a lie
against Allah, or says: it has been inspired to me, when
nothing has been inspired to him; and who says: I will
reveal the like of that which Allah has revealed? If you
could see, when the wrong-doers reach the pangs of
death and the angels stretch their hands out, saying:
Deliver up your souls. This day you are awarded doom
of degradation for that you spoke concerning Allah other
than the truth, and used to scorn His verses.
94. Now have you come to Us alone as We did create you
at the first, and you have left behind you all that We
bestowed upon you, and We see not with you those your
intercessors, of whom you claimed that they were among
you associates [of Allah]. Now is the bond between you
severed, and that which you presumed has failed you.
95. Lo! Allah [it is] who splits the grain and the date-stone [for
sprouting]. He brings forth the living from the dead, and
is the bringer-forth of the dead from the living. Such is
Allah. How then are you deluded?
96. He is the Cleaver of the Daybreak, and He has appointed
the night for stillness, and the sun and the moon for
reckoning. That is the measuring of the Mighty, the Wise.
97. And He it is Who has set for you the stars that you may
guide your course by them amid the darkness of the
land and the sea We have detailed Our signs for a people
who know.
98. And He it is Who has produced you from a single being,
and [has given you] a dwelling and a repository. We have
detailed Our signs for a people who understand.
99. He it is Who sends down water from the sky, and therewith
We bring forth buds of every kind; We bring forth the green
blade from, which we bring forth the thick-clustered grain;
and from the date-palm, from the pollen thereof, spring
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pendant bunches; and [We bring forth] gardens of grapes,
and the olive and the pomegranate, alike and unlike. Look
upon the fruit thereof, when they bear fruit, and upon its
ripening. Lo! herein verily are signs for a people who believe.
100. Yet they ascribe as partners to Him the jinn, although He
did create them, and impute falsely, without knowledge,
sons and daughters to Him. Glorified be He and High
Exalted above [all] what they describe.
101. The Originator of the heavens and the earth! How can
He have a child, when there is for Him no consort, when
He created all things and is Aware of all things?
102. Such is Allah, your Lord. There is no deity save Him, the
Creator of all things, so worship Him. And He is the
Disposer of all things.
103. Vision comprehends Him not, but He comprehends [all]
vision. He is the Subtle, the Acquainted.
104. Proofs have come to you from your Lord, so whoso sees,
it is for his own good, and whoso is blind is blind to his
own hurt. And I am not a keeper over you.
105. Thus do We display Our verses that they may say [to you,
Muhammad]: “You have studied,” and that We may make
it [i.e., the Qur’ân] clear for people who have knowledge.
106. Follow that which is revealed to you from your Lord;
there is no deity save Him; and turn away from those
who associate others with Allah.
107. Had Allah willed, they would not have associated. We
have not set you as a keeper over them, nor are you
responsible for them.
108. Revile not those to whom they invoke besides Allah lest
they wrongfully revile Allah through ignorance. Thus to
every nation We have made their deed seem fair. Then
to their Lord is their return, and He will tell them what
they used to do.
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109. And they swear a solemn oath by Allah that if there
come to them a sign they will believe therein. Say: Signs
are with Allah and [so is] that which tells you that if such
came to them they would not believe.
110. And We confound their hearts and their eyes. As they
believed not therein at the first, We let them wander
blindly on in their contumacy.
? . 111 And though We should send down the angels to them,
and the dead should speak to them, and We should gather
against them all things in array, they would not believe
unless Allah so willed. But most of them are ignorant.
112. Thus We have appointed to every Prophet an adversary–
devils of humankind and jinn who inspire in one
another plausible discourse through guile. If your Lord
willed, they would not do so; so leave them alone with
their devising;
113. That the hearts of those who believe not in the
Hereafter may incline thereto, and that they may take
pleasure therein, and that they may commit what they
are committing.
114. Shall I seek other than Allah for judge, when He it is
Who has sent down to you [this] Book, fully explained?
Those to whom We gave the Scripture [formerly] know
that it is sent down from your Lord in truth. So be not
you [O Muhammad] of the waverers.
115. Perfected is the Word of your Lord in truth and justice.
There is nothing that can change His words. He is the
Hearer, the Knower.
116. If you obey most of those on earth they would mislead
you far from Allah’s way. They follow nothing but an
assumption, and they do but guess.
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117. Lo! your Lord, He knows best who strays from His way;
and He knows best [who are] the rightly guided.
118. So eat of that over which the name of Allah has been
mentioned, if you are believers in His verses.
119. And How should you not eat of that over which the name
of Allah has been mentioned, when He has explained
to you that which is forbidden to you, unless you are
compelled thereto. But lo! many are led astray by their
own inclinations through ignorance. Lo! your Lord, He
is Best Aware of the transgressors.
120. Forsake the outwardness of sin and the inwardness
thereof. Lo! those who earn sin will be awarded that
which they have earned.
121. And eat not of that whereon Allah’s name has not been
mentioned, for lo! it is abomination. Lo! the devils do
inspire their allies to dispute with you. But if you obey
them, you will be in truth associators [of others with Him].
122. Is he who was dead and We gave him life, and set for
him a light wherein he walks among men, as him whose
similitude is in utter darkness whence he cannot emerge?
Thus is their conduct made fairseeming for the disbelievers.
123. And thus have We made in every city great ones of its
wicked ones, that they should plot therein. They do but
plot against themselves, though they perceive not.
124. And when a sign comes to them, they say: We will not
believe till we are given that which Allah’s messengers
are given. Allah knows best with whom to place His
message. Humiliation from Allah and heavy punishment
will smite the guilty for their evil plotting.
125. And whomsoever it is Allah’s will to guide, He expands
his breast to Islâm, and whomsoever it is His will to send
astray, He makes his breast close and narrow as if he
were climbing into the sky. Thus Allah lays ignominy
upon those who believe not.
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126. This is the path of your Lord, a straight path. We have
detailed the verses for a people who take heed.
127. For them is the abode of peace with their Lord. He be
their Protecting Friend because of what they used to do.
128. In the day when He will gather them together [He will
say]: O you assembly of the jinn! Many of humankind
did you seduce. And their adherents among humankind
will say: Our Lord! We enjoyed one another, but now we
have arrived at the appointed term which You appointed
for us. He will say: Fire is your home. Abide therein for
ever, save him whom Allah wills [to deliver]. Lo! your
Lord is Wise, Knowing.
129. Thus We let some of the wrong-doers have power over
others because of what they are used to earn.
130. O you assembly of the jinn and humankind! Came there
not to you messengers of your own who recounted to
you My verses and warned you of the meeting of this
your Day? They will say: We testify against ourselves.
And the life of the world beguiled them. And they testify
against themselves that they were disbelievers.
131. This is because your Lord destroys not the townships for
wrong-doing while their people are unconscious [of the
wrong they do].
132. And for all there will be ranks from what they did. Your
Lord is not unaware of what they do.
133. And Your Lord is the Free of need, the Lord of Mercy.
If He wills, He can remove you and can cause what He
wills to follow after you, even as He raised you from the
seed of other folk.
134. Lo! that which you are promised will surely come to pass,
and you cannot escape.
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135. Say [O Muhammad]: O my people! Work according to
your power. Lo! I too am working. Thus you will come
to know for which of us will be the happy sequel. Lo!
the wrong-doers will not be successful.
136. And they [polytheists] assign to Allah, of the crops and
cattle which He created, a share, and they say: “This is
Allah’s” - by their claim - “and this is for [His] partners
in regard to us.” Thus that which [they assign] to His
partners in them reaches not Allah and that which [they
assign] to Allah goes to their [so called] partners. Evil is
their ordinance.
137. Thus have their [so called] partners [of Allah] made
the killing of their children to seem fair to many of
the polytheists, that they may ruin them and make their
faith obscure for them. Had Allah willed [it otherwise],
they had not done so. So leave them alone with their
inventions.
138. And they say: Such cattle and crops are forbidden. Noone
is to eat of them save whom we will - by their claim -
cattle whose backs are forbidden, cattle over which they
mention not the name of Allah. [All that is] a lie against
Him. He will repay them for that which they invent.
139. And they say: That which is in the bellies of such cattle
is reserved for our males and is forbidden to our wives;
but if it be born dead, then they [all] may be partakers
thereof He will reward them for their attribution [of
such ordinances to Him].[1] Lo, He is Wise, Knowing.
140. They are losers who foolishly have killed their children
without knowledge,[2] and have forbidden that which
[1] vv. 139 and 140 refer to customs of the pagan Arabs.
[2] The reference is to the burial alive of female children who were
deemed superfluous.
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Allah bestowed upon them, inventing a lie against Allah.
They indeed have gone astray and are not guided.
141. He it is Who produces gardens trellised and untrellised,
and the date-palm, and crops of different flavour, and
the olive and the pomegranate, like and unlike. Eat of
the fruit thereof when it fruits, and pay the due [zakah]
thereof upon the harvest day, and be not prodigal. Lo!
Allah loves not the prodigals.
142. And of the cattle [He produces] some for burdens, some
for food. Eat of that which Allah has bestowed upon
you, and follow not the footsteps of the Satan, for lo! he
is an open foe to you.
143. Eight pairs: Of the sheep two, and of the goats two. Say:
Has He forbidden the two males or the two females,
or that which the wombs of the two females contain?
Inform me [the case] with knowledge, if you are
truthful.[1]
144. And of the camels two and of the oxen two. Say: Has He
forbidden the two males or the two females, or that which
the wombs of the two females contain; or were you by to
witness when Allah commanded you [all] this? Then who
does greater wrong than he who invents a lie concerning
Allah, that he may lead mankind astray without knowledge.
Lo! Allah guides not wrong-doing folk.
145. Say: I find not in that which is revealed to me anything
prohibited to an eater that he eats thereof, except it
be carrion, or blood poured forth, or swine flesh - for
that verily is impure - or impious [unlawful] which was
immolated to the name of other than Allah. But whoso
is compelled [thereto], neither craving nor transgressing,
[for him] lo! your Lord is Forgiving, Merciful.
[1] This and the following verses relate to superstitions of the pagan
Arabs with regard to cattle used for food.
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146. To those who are Jews We forbade every animal with
uncloven hoof. And of the oxen and the sheep We
forbade to them the fat thereof save that upon the backs
or the entrails, or that which is mixed with the bone.
That We recompensed them for their rebellion. And lo!
We verily are Truthful.
147. So if they give the lie to you [Muhammad], say: Your
Lord is a Lord of All-Encompassing Mercy, and His
wrath will never be withdrawn from the criminal folk.
148. They who associated [with Allah] will say: Had Allah
willed, we had not associated [with Him] neither had
our fathers, nor had we forbidden anything. Thus did
those who were before them give the lie [to Allah’s
messengers] till they tasted of Our Wrath. Say: Have
you any knowledge that you can adduce for us? Lo! you
follow nothing but an assumption. Lo! you do but guess.
149. Say - For Allah’s is the final argument - Had He willed He
could indeed have guided all of you.
150. Say: Come, bring your witnesses who can bear witness
that Allah forbade [all] this. And if they bear witness, do
not bear witness with them. Follow not the whims of
those who deny Our verses, those who believe not in the
Hereafter and deem [others] equal with their Lord.
151. Say: Come, I will recite to you that which your Lord has
prohibited to you: [He commands] that you not associate
anything with Him and that you do good to parents, and
that you kill not your children because of poverty - We
provide for you and for them - and that you draw not
near to immoralities whether open or concealed. And
that you kill not the soul which Allah has forbidden, save
in the course of justice. This He has commanded you, in
order that you may remember.
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152. And approach not the wealth of the orphan save with
that which is better; till he reaches maturity. Give full
measure and full weight, in justice. We task not any soul
beyond its scope. And if you give your word, do justice
thereto, even though it be [against] a kinsman; and fulfil
the covenant of Allah. This He commands you that
perhaps you may remember.
153. And [He commands you, saying]: This is My straight
path, so follow it. Follow not other ways, lest you be
parted from His way: This has He ordained for you, that
you may become righteous.
154. Again, We gave the Scripture to Moses, complete [Our
favour] for him who would do good, an explanation of
all things, a guidance and a mercy, that they might believe
in the meeting with their Lord.
155. And this [Qur’ân] is a blessed Book which We have
revealed. So follow it and fear Allah, that you may receive
mercy.
156. Lest you should say: The Scripture was revealed only to
two sects before us, but we were unaware of what they
studied;
157. Or lest you should say: If the Scripture had been
revealed to us, we surely had been better guided than
they are. Now has there come to you a clear proof
from your Lord, a guidance and a mercy; and who does
greater wrong than he who denies the verses of Allah,
and turns away from them? And We will recompense
those who turn away from Our verses an evil doom
because of their turning away.
158. Do they wait, indeed, for nothing less than that the angels
should come to them, or your Lord should come, or
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there should come one of the signs from your Lord? In
the day when one of the signs from your Lord comes, its
belief avails nothing a soul which theretofore believed
not, nor in its belief earned good [by deeds]. Say: Wait!
Lo! We [too] are waiting.
159. Lo! As for those who divide their religion and become
sects, no concern at all have you with them. Their affair
will go to Allah, Who then will inform them about what
they used to do.
160. Whoso brings a good deed will receive tenfold the like
thereof, while whoso brings an ill-deed will be awarded
but the like thereof; and they will not be wronged.
161. Say: Lo! As for me, my Lord has guided me to a straight
path, a right religion, the religion of Abraham, the
upright, who was not among those who associate others
with Allah.
162. Say: Lo! my prayer and, my sacrifice and my living and
my dying are for Allah, Lord of the Worlds.
163. He has no partner. This am I commanded, and I am first
[among you] of the Muslims.
164. Say: Shall I seek another than Allah for Lord, when He
is Lord of all things? Each soul earns only on its own
account, nor does any laden bear another’s load. Then
to your Lord is your return and He will inform you that
wherein you differed.
165. He it is Who has placed you as viceroys of the earth
and has exalted some of you in rank above others, that
He may try you by [the test of] that which He has given
you. Lo! Your Lord is swift in retribution, and lo! He is
Forgiving, Merciful.