1. Alef, Lam, Mim, Sad. These letters are to be read separately. Only Allah knows what He means by them. According to Ibn Abbas they signify: It is I, Allah, who speak.

2. This Quran is a Book revealed to you, O Mohammad, by your Lord. Your heart need therefore feel no shame in communicating it and in passing it on to those to whom you have been ordered to transmit it. Arm yourself with patience in order to carry out your Lord’s commands and to bear the burden of prophecy which He has laid upon you. Be patient in the manner of resolute messengers, for Allah Almighty is at your side. He sent the Quran down to you so that by its means you could give warning to all human beings and serve as a reminder to those for whom Allah has ordained guidance and faith.

3. Mohammad, say to those whom you warn: “Follow that which has been sent down to you by your Lord, for He alone has the right to prescribe a religion for you, to specify your religious obligations, to pronounce lawful that which is useful to you and unlawful that which is harmful, for it is He Who knows what is useful or harmful to you. Do not take to yourselves masters, either among humans or among demons who whisper slyly in your ears, to whom you abandon yourselves and whom you obey by following paths which lead you astray and by adhering to heresies. Those indeed are rare who remember and who derive good lessons (or: you profit all too rarely from the advice you are given).

4. How many are the towns (or the countries) in which Allah Almighty has destroyed the inhabitants for having contradicted the Message which was brought to them by their Prophets, and for having denied them. Allah covered them with ignominy in this world and He will humiliate them in the next. Some of them were assailed and punished by Allah in the night, others in broad daylight when they were resting. In both cases it was at a moment of inadvertence or distraction. The wise man should therefore not let himself be deceived by life, nor believe himself to be sheltered from harm.

5. When they were afflicted with punishment there could be no other response for them but to recognize their sins and see that they had been evil in committing them. They confessed their faults and acknowledged that they had fully merited the punishment visited upon them and that Allah had not shown Himself to be unjust in His treatment of them.

6. Allah Almighty says that on the Day of Resurrection He will question all nations concerning their reaction to the message brought to them from Allah by their Prophets, and He will question the Prophets themselves concerning the Divine messages which they transmitted to their peoples and concerning the responses of the latter.

7. On that Day, Allah Almighty will relate to the Prophets, and to the peoples to whom they were sent, all that both parties have done. His recital will issue from a knowledge of their every act. Allah has at no moment and in no circumstances been absent. He heard what they said and saw what they did. He knows thoroughly both what they reveal and what they conceal.

8. On the Last Day, Allah Almighty weighs the actions of His creatures and evaluates with absolute justice and without wronging anyone. Those whose good deeds outweigh the bad (those whose good deeds are heavy in the scales) will be the fortunate, because they will escape punishment.

9. In contrast, those whose good deeds are light and whose bad deeds weigh heavy in the scales because of their unfaithfulness and the many sins they have committed, they will have lost their own souls, because they themselves deprived their souls of the happiness which would have been natural to them if they had not been corrupted. The believers are the happy ones, even though they did not all attain an equal degree of goodness. Those of them who die will be victorious, even if they undergo a punishment equivalent to their sins. The unbelievers will be the losers, though they will not all be situated on the same level of the abyss.

10. Allah granted mankind the boon of leveling the earth and making it stable for them, so that they could live there and establish themselves. He created well-anchored mountains so that men could establish themselves there and so that the earth would not tremble beneath their feet. He created rivers and permitted men to profit from the advantages they afforded. He provided winds and allowed men to profit from them. He granted men the means whereby they could make a living and provide for their needs. But despite all these favours which Allah granted them, very few men are grateful. Allah will judge them severely for having denied His generosity.

11. Allah Almighty draws the attention of the human race to the honourable character of their father Adam (peace be upon him), shows them the Devil’s hostility towards them, and reminds them that He fashioned Adam (peace be upon him) from clay and then breathed his Spirit into him. He says that He commanded the angels to bow down before Adam (peace be upon him) in order to honour and glorify him. Obedient to His commands they all did so, except for Lucifer who refused to prostrate himself and rebelled against the authority of his Lord.

12. Questioning Lucifer, Allah Almighty said to him: “What hinders you from bowing down as I have commanded you?” “I am worth more than Adam,” he replied to his Creator, “for You created me from fire, whereas Adam was created from clay.” In the eyes of Lucifer, fire is worth more than clay, and that is why he did not bow down before Adam, for he who is superior does not bow to his inferior.

13. Allah Almighty then ordered Lucifer to descend from Heaven to earth for having transgressed the commands of his Lord and for having disobeyed. For he should not have been proud. Allah therefore ordered him to leave paradise, covered with shame and ignominy, for having been unfaithful and seditious.

14. Seeking to rehabilitate himself, Lucifer asked his Lord to grant him the right to live until the Day of Resurrection, the Day when Allah will resuscitate all His creatures in order to judge them. In this way Lucifer intended to have time to seduce and mislead the sons of Adam.

15. Allah acceded to Lucifer’s request, for a wise reason issuing from His incontestable and irreversible will. Allah granted him a reprieve until the appointed time, the Day on which the trumpet will be sounded, as Allah says in another verse (see chapter 22 Al-Haj (The Pilgrimage), 38).

16. Once Lucifer had obtained Allah’s promise to allow him to live until the Day of Resurrection, he set himself to being obstinate and rebellious. He said to the Lord: “Just as you have cast me aside and caused my damnation, I, in my turn will seek to seduce the descendants of Adam. I will throw myself across their path in order to lead them astray from the way of Allah, the way of Truth and Salvation, attracting them to other paths so that they miscarry.”

17. “I shall attack them from the front (seeking to make them doubt the Day of Judgement) and from the back (making them covet the world here below). I shall attack them from the right (making the precepts of their religious ambiguous to them) and from the left (embellishing sin and making it attractive in their sight). I will seduce them, as much as I can, so that you will not find many, Lord, who obey you or who acknowledge your favours towards them.”

18. Allah Almighty then confirms that He curses Lucifer and ejects him from Heaven, and asserts that he is dishonoured and covered with ignominy, shunned and exiled. He says to him in a threatening tone: “All those sons of Adam who follow you, and you yourself, will be consigned to Hell, which I will fill with all of you.”

19. Allah Almighty says to Adam (peace be upon him): “You, Adam, together with your wife, live in paradise.” He allows them to eat of all the fruit, with the exception of one tree which He forbids them to approach, telling them that if they approach it and eat its fruit, they will do themselves harm. Seeing the favours granted by Allah to Adam and his wife, the devil was seized with envy and jealousy, and laboured to rob them of these favours and their beautiful robes, perfidiously whispering evil thoughts in their ears.

20. Lucifer exhorted them to transgress the commandment of their Lord. He incited them and made them long to taste the forbidden fruit, in order to rob them of their beautiful robes. He said to them: “Allah forbade you to eat of this tree in order to prevent you from becoming two angels or like those who live eternally in Paradise, becoming immortal there and enjoying forever the favours granted there.”

21. He swore in the name of Allah that he was giving them good advice in making them long for the fruit of the tree. He reaffirmed the truth of what he was assuring them with these oaths, for they doubted his sincerity, since Allah had already told them that the devil was their enemy.

22. And Lucifer continued to lead them into error, to tempt them to eat of that tree and to swear that he was giving them good advice, until he succeeded in leading them astray from the promptings of conscience and obedience to Allah, and they forgot Allah’s prohibition (as in another verse: “He forgot and We found him irresolute;” see chapter 20- Ta-Ha, 115). When they had tasted of the forbidden fruit, they unclothed themselves and each saw the other’s genitals, which beforehand had been covered. This drew their attention to that nudity which had hitherto been hidden. They were ashamed to see it revealed, and sought to conceal it. They set about covering their genitals with leaves from the garden of paradise.
Allah Almighty questioned Adam about his reasons for breaking the commandment and tasting of the forbidden tree. He reminded him of what He had previously said, that is, that the devil was the avowed enemy of Adam and his wife, and that He had plainly warned them against him. Adam (peace be upon him) excused himself, saying: “Glory be to You! I never thought that anybody could swear in Your name and yet lie.”

23. Adam (peace be upon him) and his wife answered, repenting and imploring Allah: “Lord, we have brought evil upon ourselves by obeying the devil and transgressing your commandments. And yet You did warn us. Unless You pardon us for having harmed ourselves, unless You grant us Your mercy by saving our souls, unless You guide us to the true path of righteousness and help us to shun evil, we are surely among the damned.” (Such were the words inspired in Adam by his Lord, in order to excuse himself in His eyes.)

24. Allah Almighty then ordered Adam (peace be upon him) and his wife to leave paradise and to go down to earth. He told them that the devil would be the enemy of Adam’s descendants and that they would have to be on guard against his hostility towards them and against the evil that he would slyly whisper in their ears; and that mankind would settle on earth, earn their living there, benefit from its goods, and live out a determined span of time.

25. Allah Almighty made the earth a haven so that Adam (peace be upon him) and his descendants could live there during this life here below. They live here, they die here, they are buried here, and they will be resurrected.

26. Allah grants His favours to His servants by giving them clothing (which serves to cover their nudity) and plumage (which ornaments them). Then He tells them that piety and fearing Allah are the best gains and clothing. The favours already enumerated, which consist in sending down clothing, represent a sign from Allah and a proof of His generosity and the benefits He grants to the children of Adam.
(Some believe that “the garment of piety” signifies the armour, cuirasses, etc., which were used for protection in battle.)

27. Allah Almighty warns believers against the devil and his cohorts, and reminds them that he was once the enemy of Adam (peace be upon him) and his wife when he schemed to have them ejected from paradise, a haven of joy and happiness, and exiled to earth, a place of sorrow. He covered them with shame and made them aware of their nudity which had been concealed from their eyes. Therefore the sons of Adam should not let themselves be deceived by the devil, nor let him draw them into wickedness by slyly inciting them to commit sin. For Lucifer sees men whereas they cannot see him. Devils are the allies and intimate friends and companions of the unfaithful who do not believe in Allah, these being liable to listen to the whispering of demons and to let themselves be misled by them. As for sincere believers, devils have no leverage over them.

28. When people abandon faith and commit sins, such as polytheism or parading around the oratory totally naked, they excuse themselves by saying that their fathers acted so and that therefore they are simply following in their footsteps and imitating them, that Allah has ordered them to act in this fashion and therefore approves of their behaviour and condones it.
Allah Almighty commands His Prophet Mohammad (peace be upon him) to retort by rejecting their impostures: “Allah does not order you to act thus. How then can you impute things to Him without proof?”

29. And Allah continues to address the Prophet (peace be upon him), commanding him to say to people: “My Lord prescribes righteousness and justice in all things. Be therefore just, and in every prayer invoke Him with veneration and a pure faith. Be sincere in worshipping Him. Just as Allah Almighty created man from nothing, so He is capable of resurrecting men on the Day of Judgement, of reviving them and then gathering them together and making them appear before Him in order to judge their actions.
Allah does not accept the deeds of His servants except under two conditions: If they are performed according to the true faith and accord with Allah’s precepts and if they are exclusively dedicated to the Lord, and untouched by polytheism of any kind.

30. Just as Allah Almighty created men and conceived them through His omnipotence, they will return to Him on the Day of Resurrection in two groups: some will have been guided by Allah Who sent them messengers. They have thus found the true path and turned towards Allah, have sincerely worshipped Him and have ascribed no associate to Him. Others have deserved to be led astray because they followed in the footsteps of the devil and abandoned their obedience to Allah. In obeying the demons who render sins and wickedness, attractive in their eyes, they gave them power over their actions and took them as allies instead of Allah, who ordains justice and good deeds, and prohibits sin and wickedness. They obeyed the orders of demons, while believing that they were following the true path.

31. In this verse, Allah Almighty refutes the polytheists who paraded round the sacred oratory completely naked, and who denied themselves the eating of fat while on pilgrimage. He orders them to cover their private parts when they walk around the oratory, and to clothe themselves whenever they pray. Then He declares it legal to eat and drink the good things of this earth, but not to excess (that is to say, within reasonable limits), for Allah does not approve of excess.
(The Prophet says: “Eat, drink, give alms, and clothe yourself without vanity. For Allah likes to see the effects of His favours upon His servants.” Reported by Ahmad, al-Nissa’i, and Ibn Majah.)

32. Allah refutes those who declare certain kinds of food or clothing illicit, without Allah’s having forbidden them. He says to His Prophet: “Who is it then who has forbidden these clothes and this good food which Allah has created for man’s use? These good foods and clothing belong to believers here on earth, even though unbelievers may also use them. These good things will be the right of believers in the other world, and unbelievers will in no way be allowed a share.
It is thus that Allah Almighty reveals His signs and explains them to those who are capable of reasoning and comprehending, so that they know that everything is under Allah’s control and that it is for Him alone to decide what is permitted and what is forbidden.

33. O Prophet, to those idolaters and others who have acted wickedly towards themselves and who have fabricated lies about Allah by claiming that He had forbidden to these worshippers certain kinds of food and clothing, say: “In His revelation to His Prophet, Allah has forbidden only the following:
1. Open or concealed wickedness (such as committing fornication or other sins).
2. Sin, that is to say: disobedience.
3. Iniquity or excess vis-a-vis others.
4. Allah Almighty forbids men to worship any being whatsoever apart from Him.
5. He also forbids them to fabricate lies about Him, and to say things about Him which they do not know (such as that He has a son, etc.).”

34. All nations have a fixed time and hour when Allah will make them disappear. When this time comes and the hour of punishment arrives, they will not be able to hasten or postpone it, not even by one hour.

35. Allah Almighty has told His servants that He would send them human messengers to recount His signs to them and to indicate His commands and what He has forbidden. Whoever has believed in Allah’s revelation and His messengers will be forearmed against what He has forbidden and will have amended his ways by carrying out Allah’s commandments and performing good deeds, and he will be safe on the Day of Resurrection. He need have no fear of what will happen on that day, nor will he have any regrets about his life here below nor what he has left behind here.

36. As for those who have denied the revelations made by Allah to one of His Prophets and who in their ignorance have rejected them, have refused to follow them and to act according to Allah’s edicts, they will be the eternal companions of Hellfire; they will not die and they will not live (they will be immortal there).

37. No one is more wicked than he who fabricates lies about Allah by imposing on others certain religious obligations which Allah has not ordained, or by declaring illicit things that Allah has not prohibited, or by attributing to the Divine religion precepts which Allah has not revealed through His messengers. No one is more wicked than he who denies Allah’s signs by casting doubt on them, exposing them to derision or arrogantly refusing to follow them. These calumniators who deny the Divine signs will have their share of the destiny and favours that Allah has determined for them (the fate imparted to them by the Book), in spite of their injustice and their fabrications. They will not be deprived of anything that Allah has decreed for them until their term expires. It is then that the angels of death will come to claim them. The angels will say to them: “Where then are the associates whom you took for divinities here below, whom you called ‘gods’ and worshipped instead of Allah? Invoke them now, so that they can save you from the torture and punishment that await you.” The damned souls will reply: “They have abandoned us and disappeared. We expect nothing from them, either good or evil.” Thus they will testify against themselves that they have been unbelievers in invoking associates, and they will admit it.

38. Those idolaters who fabricate lies about Allah are told: “Enter into the communities and nations of jinns and humans who resembled you and who had the same characteristics as you, who preceded you in impiety and, like you, treated Allah’s signs as lies. Each time that one of the these groups enters Hell, it curses its sister-group with which it shares the same religion and the same cult, for it went astray by joining together with her and following her into impiety and error. When they are all assembled together in Hell, the last nation (that is to say, the subordinates and inferiors) will complain about the dignitaries and their associates who have preceded them: “Behold, there are the people who led us astray and pushed us into disbelief and led us on the wrong path. O Lord, double their punishment, and multiply the tortures You inflict on them.”
And Allah answers them: “It is already done. In addition to the punishment that each of them has merited for having chosen the wrong path, We have inflicted on them a double punishment for leading others astray. You do not know what tortures they are undergoing.”

39. The people who have been followed retort to their inferiors: “You went astray just as much as we did. No person therefore has more right than anyone else to have his torture alleviated. Taste then the torture that you deserve, as merited by your disbelief, and the wickedness and evil you have perpetrated.” (These words come from Allah who thus reprimands them.)

40. Those who have rejected Allah’s signs through arrogance and tyranny, who have not followed Allah’s messengers because they were too proud to believe in what was communicated to them, to them the gates of Heaven will always remain closed, and neither deed nor invocation will be accepted from them. They will enter Paradise only when a thick rope can pass through a needle’s eye. Just as a rope cannot pass through a needle’s eye, so the unbelievers will never enter Paradise. This indeed is a just retribution on the part of Allah for the impiety of these criminals, whatever nation they may be from, at all times and in all places.

41. The furnace of Hell will be their bed and their blanket. It is thus that Allah repays those who act unjustly towards themselves and who lead others astray.

42. Those whose faith has touched their hearts, who have believed in the message brought to them by the Messengers of Allah and performed good deeds in all sincerity, they will have Paradise for their eternal home. To have faith and to perform good deeds are two things which are easy and accessible to all. For Allah Almighty only imposes duties on people according to their capacity and in accordance with their powers.

43. Allah expunges from the breasts of the inhabitants of Paradise all rancour, resentment, and envy. They will love each other mutually, and beneath them will flow rivers. Seeing the favours they enjoy, they will say: “Praise be to Allah who has guided us on the path to Paradise. If Allah had not led us along the path of righteousness, we would not have found it by ourselves. What Allah’s messengers announced to us was true.” And they will be told (by Allah Almighty or by the angels): “This paradise in which you find yourselves is granted to you by Allah by way of recompense, as a result of your faith and your good deeds.”

44. Once the inhabitants of Paradise have established themselves there and thanked Allah for the favours He has granted them, they will become aware of the damned and will see the torments and the weariness which afflict them. They will see people they knew down here on earth, who treated Allah’s signs as lies and spurned them, who mocked the believers and who cast doubt on everything the Prophets said about the rewards that Allah would grant to benevolent believers and the punishment that would be meted out to sinners who disbelieved. The dwellers in Paradise will say to them: “We have indeed found the happiness and the Paradise which our Lord promised us as a reward for our faith and our good deeds. And you, inhabitants of Hell, have you discovered any truth in Allah’s warnings about torments and punishment?” These will reply: “Alas, yes!” And when they have acknowledged their impiety, a herald will cry: “The curse of Allah is upon those who do themselves harm through disbelief and wickedness.”

45. And Allah Almighty defines what is meant by those who do evil to themselves: They are people who turn away from Allah’s path, prevent others from following the straight path prescribed by the Lord and preached in the prophecies, and who want the way of the Lord to be winding, so that nobody can follow it. They deny that they will meet with Allah on Judgement Day. Therefore, they are indifferent to the illicit ideas they hold and the wicked deeds they commit. For they do not expect to meet Allah or to be judged by Him.

46. Allah Almighty says that between the inhabitants of Paradise and Hell there rises a barrier which prevents the latter from having access to Paradise. It is this wall that Allah Almighty refers to elsewhere, saying: “Between one group and the other a wall was built, with a gate” (see chapter 57- Al-Hadid (Iron), 13). This is the rampart or battlements.
According to the commentators, on this rampart stand those people whose good deeds equal their wicked deeds, and who are therefore inhabitants of neither paradise nor hell, and who await Allah’s decision concerning their fate. Meanwhile they fervently hope that Allah will succour them with His grace, His generosity, and His mercy, and let them enter paradise. Those who stand upon the rampart recognize the inhabitants of paradise and those of hell by their characteristic traits as described by Allah (that is to say, the whiteness of the faces of those in paradise and the joy which lights up their countenances, in contrast to the blackness of those in hell, marred by shame). Those who stand upon the battlements greet the inhabitants of paradise, saying: “The peace of Allah be upon you.” Thus they address them to congratulate them on having been victorious on the Day of Judgement, at the same time hoping that Allah will permit them to join them.
(Allah’s words, “They have not yet entered, despite their ardour” are interpreted by other commentators to mean that those who stand upon the battlements salute the inhabitants of paradise after having been judged but before they actually enter into paradise. For the judgment of which they were the objects was so easy that they ardently look forward to entering paradise.)

47. Each time they turn their eyes in the direction of the inhabitants of hell, they cry: “Allah save us from being in such a place!” adding, “Lord, do not send us among the wicked.”

48. The people who stand upon the rampart recognize the chief unbelievers and the leaders of the idolaters by their features (that is to say, the blackness of their faces) and reprimand them, saying: “Neither your great numbers nor the wealth you accumulated nor your arrogance have been of any use to you. They have not saved you from Allah’s punishment. There you are, a prey to torture and a terrible fate.”

49. They reprimand them and draw their attention to the inhabitants of paradise whom they had mocked on earth, scoffing at the idea that they might be rewarded hereafter, and add: “Are these not the people whom you thought Allah would fail to reward? Do you not see what was told them at Allah’s command: “Enter into the peace of paradise without fearing the fate which has been reserved for you or regretting what you have left behind you on earth.’”

50. Allah Almighty evokes the opprobrium with which the inhabitants of hell are covered in their grave situation on the Day of Judgement, and how they beg the inhabitants of Paradise to give them a little water or some of the food provided by Allah. The companions in paradise reply: “Allah forbids them to unbelievers.”

51. The inhabitants of Paradise describe these unbelievers to whom Allah forbids food and water as those who treated their religion as ridiculous and futile, who allowed themselves to be seduced by the adornments and attractions of life on earth, and who gave themselves up to worldly pleasures, turning away from those actions prescribed by the Lord for obtaining grace on Judgement Day. Since they forgot their religion and the dictates of their Lord, denying and rejecting His signs, Allah now treats them as forgotten objects, not worth paying attention to. He forgets them, pays no heed to their supplications, and leaves them to suffer the torments of hellfire.

52. Allah Almighty says that He sent the Prophet Mohammad (peace be upon him) to the polytheists, revealed the Quran to him and explained it to him in order to indicate to men the knowledge and the good works needed to purify their souls and cleanse their hearts. He made this the source of their happiness in this world and the next, as a form of guidance and mercy for whoever believes in it so sincerely that he acts according to Allah’s edicts and avoids all that He forbids.

53. Those unbelievers who reject the faith do not believe in the Quran and are sceptical as to the truth of its pronouncements. Will these ungrateful people persist in hesitating until the Quran’s predictions are realized concerning the Resurrection and other mysteries? Are they waiting until Allah’s promises are realized concerning the victory and honour which will be accorded to the believers in this world and Paradise and joy in the hereafter, and His threats that He will cover unbelievers in opprobrium and contempt here below and inflict a terrible punishment on the Day of Judgment? (Could they simply be waiting for all this to actually happen?) The day when the predictions of the Quran are realized, when events confirm what the Book contains and men will be resurrected in order to be judged, these sceptics will be wrenched from their torpor, those who have forgotten the Quran in their lifetime. They will exclaim to themselves (or to each other): “The Messengers of the Lord did indeed bring us the Truth. However, we did not believe them. Will anybody now intercede with the Lord in our favour? If not, can we be returned by Allah to life on earth, so that we can renounce our former impiety and aberration from the path of righteousness, believe in one sole Allah without associate, and perform good deeds which please Him?”
Such people will have done evil to themselves and condemned themselves to enter hell and dwell there for eternity. In this grave situation, those they have worshipped instead of Allah will distance themselves (they will lose themselves far from the unbelievers). Indeed, they will not intercede for them, nor will they succour them or save them from the punishments inflicted upon them.

54. Allah Almighty says that He created everything in six days: the heavens and the earth and everything within and between, after which He ascended His throne in a manner worthy of His majesty, and set about governing all things as their absolute sovereign. He directed night to follow day and cover the universe, and day to follow night and fill the universe again with brightness. The day and the night alternate rapidly, and neither of them dominates over the other. The sky, the moon, and the stars are all subject to the laws of their Lord, and obey His orders and His will. To Him alone belongs the power to decree. He is the absolute master, the Lord of the Universe.
We cite here what al-Hafedh ibn Katheer says concerning Allah’s words, “He ascended His throne”: “In this connection we follow the example of those pious predecessors who have taken these words literally, without seeking to define the Lord or to assimilate Him to someone else or to deny His divine properties. From all appearances and from whatever presents itself to the spirit of those who make comparisons with Him, Allah is exempt. For Allah resembles nothing (and nothing is like Him).” The sheikh al-Boukhary, Naim bnu Hammad Al-Khouza’i, says: “It is impious to assimilate Allah to His creation or to deny the qualities which Allah attributes to Himself. Nothing can be compared with the qualities which Allah attributes to Himself or to His Prophet. Whoever considers as established what the clear signs and exact reports convey, and which is worthy of His greatness, whoever considers that Allah is exempt from the faults, he is following the path of salvation.

55. Allah Almighty recommends His servants to appeal to Him humbly and discreetly (that is to say, with submission and absolute faith in the uniqueness and the divinity of the Lord) and not ostentatiously or hypocritically. For when people appeal to Him, Allah does not wish them to transgress the prescribed limits (such as raising one’s voice too loudly or invoking Him in order to commit acts of insubordination or wickedness, or to request another person to intercede with Him in one’s favour, etc.).

56. Allah Almighty forbids His servants to damage the earth after He has made it good by creating order and the benefits which order entails, and by guiding human beings to make good use of it and profit by its riches and everything that He has put at man’s disposal.
Damage to the earth includes all that leads to the corruption of minds, beliefs, morality, the means of existence and everything that serves society, such as agriculture, commerce, and industry. Then Almighty Allah commands His servants to appeal to Him through fear of His terrible punishments, and in the hope of His generous rewards. The clemency of Allah is reserved for the benevolent who obey His commands and avoid committing acts that He has forbidden.

57. It is Allah Almighty who decrees all in connection with the creation and the universe. It is He who in His great mercy sends the winds as heralds of a storm, with clouds charged with water and heavily loaded with rain. Once the winds have raised the clouds, they push them, by the Lord’s command, towards arid land so that they can rain and pour down water upon it, thus making plants grow there and vegetation of all kinds. Just as Allah with rain and water causes vegetation and plants to spring forth from the dead land, so is He capable of raising the dead from their graves on the Day of Resurrection. Set these examples beside each other, and you will perceive their similarity and you will not find the Resurrection unlikely.

58. Certain kinds of terrain are good and fertile, others are bad as that which is not cultivated. Good soil easily produces good vegetation, whereas tainted soil yields only with difficulty (with meanness). There is an example which Almighty Allah gives to the generous believer and the mean unbeliever. It is thus that Allah gives examples to people and explains (explicates) the signs, counting on believers to thank their Lord for His guidance and His favours.

59. After evoking the story of Adam (peace be upon him), Allah Almighty undertakes a recital of the Prophets. He begins with Noah (peace be upon him), because he was the first Prophet after Adam sent by the Lord to the inhabitants of earth.
Noah (peace be upon him) had difficulties with his people because of their obstinacy. He found that they worshipped idols which they distinguished by name, such as Wadd, Siwa, Yaghouth, Yaouk, and Nasr, etc. So Allah sent Noah who commanded his people to worship a sole Allah without associate, and warned them against Allah’s punishment on the Day of Resurrection (the punishment of a terrible day).

60. The leaders and dignitaries of Noah’s people (the ruling council) said to him: “We consider you to be in the wrong when you tell us to abandon the worship of the idols our forefathers worshipped.”

61. Noah (peace be upon him) replied: “O my people, I am not in the wrong, and I am not straying from the path of truth and righteousness when I tell you to worship Allah alone and to abandon the worship of idols. I am, rather, a messenger from the Master of the Universe, the Lord and Master of all things.”

62. And Noah (peace be upon him), addressing his people, continued: “I take it upon myself to communicate the message addressed to you by the Lord, to call you to monotheism and the sincere worship of Allah. I take it upon myself to bring you sound advice and to lead you towards the truth. Allah Almighty has entrusted me with things of which you know nothing, for I have been sent to you on His behalf.”

63. Noah (peace be upon him) said to them: “Do you find it strange and do you doubt that Allah should make a revelation to a mere mortal (a man like yourselves) and that He should send him to you as a messenger so that he might summon you to worship Allah alone, without associate, and in order to warn you against His punishment and His torments if you persist in your disbelief, in the hope that the alarm he arouses in you might lead you to forearm yourselves against that which incites Allah to anger, that is to say, the fact of ascribing associates to him and causing damage on earth? By arming you with piety, Allah intends to prepare you for the clemency He accords to anyone who responds to His appeal.”

64. The most powerful among his people obstinately denied him, transgressed their Lord’s commandment, and carried their tyranny to extremes. Only a few among them had faith.
Allah Almighty then saved Noah (peace be upon him) and his companions in the ark and engulfed in the Flood all those who had denied him and treated as lies the signs and proofs which he had presented to them of the existence and the uniqueness of the Lord. Those whom Allah drowned in the Flood were a blind people incapable of seeing the good or finding it. So Allah granted His messenger victory over His enemies.

65. Just as Allah Almighty sent Noah (peace be upon him) to his people, so He sent Hud (peace be upon him) to the people of ‘Ad. He was one of them, he knew them and he knew their language and their way of thinking, so he could talk to them. The people of ‘Ad were particularly violent and robust. They lived in the region of Al-Ahqaf in the south of the Arabian peninsula. In their presumption, they were most violent in rejecting the message of Allah, so infatuated were they by their strength and their vigour. Hud (peace be upon him) appealed to them to worship Allah alone, and warned them against the wrath of Allah if they persisted in their polytheism and the insubordination which was provoking Allah’s anger, hoping that thereby they would be forewarned.

66. The most powerful men in the tribe said to Hud: “You are really awry and in the wrong if you are calling on us to abandon the worship of idols and start worshipping a single Allah instead. We are convinced that you are an impostor and that you are lying when you claim to have been sent to us by Allah as a messenger.”

67. He answered them: “I am not mad, and I have not strayed from the path of Righteousness and Truth. I do not speak absurdities, as you claim. I am, rather, the messenger of the Master of the Universe. I bring you righteousness and guidance on His behalf, the Creator of all. He is the Lord, the Creator, and the Master of all.”

68. “The mission I have undertaken is that of all the messengers who came before me, that is to say: to transmit Allah’s message to His creatures and to give them advice. I am sincere in thus counselling you, and I am transmitting to you in all sincerity the orders of my Lord.”

69. “Do you find it strange and do you deny that Allah should send you a messenger chosen from among mortal men (‘a man chosen from among yourselves’), and that He should through such a man appeal to you to worship a sole God, without associates, give you the alarm and warn you to fear Allah’s punishment if you persist in your impiety, ingratitude, and idolatry? No, do not let that surprise you. Rather, give thanks to Allah. For therein lies proof of His clemency. Remember the favours of Allah when He made you the descendants of Noah, after He had worked the destruction of those who contradicted and denied him.
“Allah gave proof of His generosity towards you when He endowed you with great physical advantages and made you taller and stronger than most men. Remember therefore Allah’s favours towards you, thank Him through your faith, through good deeds and piety, in the hope of escaping His wrath, and coming to please Him.”

70. They became more arrogant and tyrannical, and persisted in denying him even more strongly. They said to Hud: “Have you come here to tell us to worship one sole God and abandon the idols worshipped by our forefathers? That could never happen. If you are sincere and really are Allah’s messenger, then show us the punishment you threaten us with for having refused to believe in your Lord.”

71. Hud (peace be upon him) answered them: “Through words such as this you have brought upon yourselves Allah’s curse and His anger (‘opprobrium’). Would you argue with me about these statues that you and your forefathers took for idols and to whom you have given names, whereas in reality they can neither serve you nor harm you, and in whose favour you have no justification on the part of the Lord, and no proof whatsoever to justify your behaviour or confirm your claim that they can intercede with Allah on your behalf? Having pronounced these impious words, you may now expect His edict and His punishment. I will wait with you until His punishment strikes you down.”

72. When Allah chose to do so, He drove clouds towards the people of ‘Ad which brought their punishment, and He saved Hud (peace be upon him) and his faithful companions, through goodness and mercy on His part, and exterminated all the unbelievers. Not one of them escaped punishment or survived, for they did not believe in one sole and unique Allah.

73. The tribe of Thamoud lived in the Hijaz, in the towns of Saleh, between Tabouk and Medina. Allah sent to them Saleh (peace be upon him), who was one of theirs (‘their brother’). He told them everything that the earlier Prophets had said to their own people: worship Allah alone and do not ascribe any associates to Him. “On Allah’s behalf,” he said, “I have brought you proof that my message is true and that I am Allah’s messenger. You have asked me for some proof to confirm the truth of my prophecy and you have demanded that Allah bring forth a camel ten months pregnant from a rock that you yourselves have designated. I appealed to Allah Almighty and He accepted my plea and brought forth the camel, so that you yourselves saw this miracle occur. I have concluded pacts with you and accepted your promise to believe in Allah if He permitted me to satisfy your demand. Believe then in Allah, as you promised me. Let the camel graze on Allah’s earth and eat what He has provided for her. Do not let any harm come to her and do not touch her food. I warn you that if you hurt her Allah Almighty will afflict you with extremely severe punishments.” (The camel passed across the land, and drank for one day from the water of the well and then left it for the people of Thamoud.)

74. And Saleh said to them: “Remember the favours of Allah when He subjugated the people of ‘Ad to you and gave you this site on the earth, which allowed you to build palaces on the plains and to carve houses into the rocks. Thank Allah therefore for His favours and His benefits by treating Him as unique and worshipping Him alone, and do not commit evil on earth by acting as unbelievers and denigrators in a way which must displease Allah.”

75. The impious chiefs said in a mocking tone to the powerless who had faith in Allah’s revelation to Saleh: “Do you truly believe that Saleh is the messenger of Allah?” The powerless believers replied: “We believe in the message that Saleh has brought to us from our Lord.”

76. But the proud leaders replied to the powerless believers: “We, on the other hand, do not believe, and we deny what you people believe” (meaning: what Saleh had revealed on his Lord’s behalf).

77. Nine of the Thamoud leaders set about tempting their people and urging them to slit the camel’s throat and get rid of her. So they slit her throat, thus treating with contempt Saleh (peace be upon him) and his camel and his warnings in which he had announced the torments and the punishment of Allah. They persisted in rebelling and in arrogantly rejecting the Divine message which Saleh had transmitted to them (carried far away from their Lord by their impudence). They said to Saleh: “If you are telling the truth and you really are Allah’s messenger, then show us the punishment you have threatened us with.”

78. Saleh (peace be upon him) replied: “You have deserved Allah’s wrath. Revel in your lives for just three more days, and then Allah’s anger will descend upon you.” The criminals wanted to kill him, saying: “If what he says is true, let us kill him before we ourselves are punished. If he is lying, we will make him suffer the same fate as his camel.” They hatched plots to kill him and then tell his relatives that they had not been witness to his death, and swear an oath to that effect, so that they would not be considered responsible for his murder. When at night they were on their way to him, Allah cast stones upon them, killing them all, and this was before the rest of the people had been afflicted with their punishment.
On the fourth day, they prepared to be destroyed and stayed at home, not knowing what their punishment would be or when it would come. At sunrise, a cry arose in the sky and the earth began to shake. They gave up their souls and perished at that moment. In the morning, they all lay dead in their homes. Not one of them, either young or old, escaped this fate. Allah saved Saleh (peace be upon him) and his companions in the faith, through mercy and goodness on His part.

79. After his people had suffered Allah’s punishment and devastation, Shu’ayb (peace be upon him) turned from them and left their dwelling-place. He reprimanded them thus: “O my people, I brought you wise counsel and transmitted to you the message entrusted to me by Allah; I called upon you to worship Allah, but you persisted in your disbelief and arrogantly spurned my appeal. So Allah destroyed you. I cannot therefore weep over the fate of a nation of unbelievers who denied the uniqueness of Allah and rejected His messenger.”

80. Remember Lot, whom We sent to his people to summon them to worship Allah and to abandon the sins in which they wallowed, and which nobody before them had committed, so much did they go against their healthy instincts.

81. He said to them: “Instead of finding sensual pleasure with women, by way of which Allah has ensured procreation and the preservation of the species, you lust after men, seeking thereby only to slake your carnal passions and find morbid gratification. That is sheer perversion and moral blindness on your part. You go beyond accepted bounds for you do not put things in their natural place.”

82. The only response of Lot’s compatriots was to talk mockingly among themselves and ridicule Lot’s chastity and that of his companions: “Banish Lot and his followers from our city, for they are virtuous puritans who refuse to imitate us by committing sins and lusting after men.” The banishment of Lot (peace be upon him) and his companions took place through Allah’s will. For the Almighty destroyed and annihilated Lot’s people after he and his had left the city.

83. The only people who believed in Lot (peace be upon him) were the members of his family, except for his wife whom Allah destroyed along with the rest of his people. Allah ordered Lot to flee at night without telling his wife. She therefore stayed in the city and perished with the others.

84. Allah Almighty says that He caused a rain to fall upon the towns of the people of Lot which destroyed and annihilated them. He draws the attention of His messenger, the Prophet Mohammad (peace be upon him), to the fate reserved for those who dare to break the Lord’s commandments and deny His messengers.
Allah explains in another verse the nature of the rain in this episode: “We turned the city upside down, and rained slates of clay upon it, burning stones expressly destined by the Lord to strike down the wicked.” (See chapter 11- Hud (The Prophet Hud) ,82 and 83.)
And the Prophet (peace be upon him) said: “Kill those whom you find acting in the manner of the people of Lot, whether they commit the act or submit to it.” (Reported by Abu Daoud, Al-Tarmadhy, and Ibn Majah.)

85. Midian is a name which designates both a people and their village. The village is situated in the south of Jordan, near Aqaba. It also describes the people of the surrounding countryside who worshipped statues and committed sins, especially in cheating others in their weights and measures, and attacking and robbing passing travellers.
Allah sent Shu’ayb (peace be upon him) to them, to call upon them to worship Allah alone, to abandon polytheism, impiety, and the worship of statues, to cease committing injustice in the matter of weights and measures, and to stop terrifying and robbing travellers. Shu’ayb (peace be upon him) said to them: “O my people, worship Allah alone. You have no other God but Him. He has set forth for you arguments and proofs to demonstrate the truth of the message which His messenger has transmitted to you.” He then ordered them to be just towards others, to give everyone true weight and measure, not to cheat them by giving short weight, nor to undervalue the goods of others, and to stop terrifying travellers.
He told them that it would benefit them to obey Allah’s commandments, if they truly believed in the uniqueness of Allah Almighty and in the message transmitted to them by His Prophet.

86. Shu’ayb (peace be upon him) also forbade them to go out along the highways and intimidate people by threatening to kill them or hurt them unless they yielded up all the money or goods which they possessed. He also forbade them to harm the believers who followed him or to discourage those who came to hear his summons to the Lord, by terrorizing them and hurting them, or to accuse him personally of lying or spitefully leading people astray from the true path. He then reminded them that their numbers had formerly been small, and that Allah Almighty had caused them to multiply, and that they had been ignominious before Allah had given them fortifications, and all this so that they might derive a good lesson from it and cease to rage upon the earth. And Shu’ayb (peace be upon him) drew their attention to the fate reserved for those who destroyed: they would be covered with shame and would themselves be destroyed.

87. Shu’ayb (peace be upon him) continues to counsel his people, saying: “If there is disagreement between you, if there are some among you who believe in what I was sent to communicate and in the appeal I am making to you, and others who do not believe in the mission which Allah has charged me to accomplish amongst you, do not be hasty in condemning the believers but wait until Allah parts us and imposes a split between us. No one can differentiate between men better than He can, and He is the most equitable of judges. He will most certainly give the victory to those who fear him and forearm themselves, and He will bring ruin to the unbelievers, for such is His law. Let the sceptics draw a good lesson from the punishment inflicted on those detractors who came before them.”

88. The arrogant men among the people of Shu’ayb threatened that they would banish him from the city together with the believers who shared his faith, unless they agreed to renounce their true religion and return to the worship of statues and to polytheism. Shu’ayb (peace be upon him) said to them: “Do you order us to return to your cult, do you threaten to banish us from our homeland if we refuse to do what you command? Do you wish to force us into exile or else return to your cult, even if we detest both alternatives?”

89. And Shu’ayb (peace be upon him) continued: “If I and my companions in faith reverted to impiety, we would render ourselves guilty by fabricating a terrible lie about Allah Almighty. For we would have ascribed associates and equals to Allah. But it is not fitting for a believer and it is unworthy of him to revert to idolatry after Allah Almighty has saved him, unless Allah wishes. For if He wishes anything, He can put it into effect. The decrees of Allah are irrevocable and His edicts are incontestable. Allah is Omniscient, but He does not accept His servants reverting to disbelief.”
Shu’ayb (peace be upon him) then says to his people that he and his fellow believers have submitted themselves to Allah in all their dealings. Then he appeals to his Lord: “Lord, sever us from our people and separate us according to our differences. Accord us victory over them; You are the just one who injures nobody.”

90. The sceptics among the leaders of Shu’ayb’s people said to his companions: “If you take Shu’ayb’s side, if you follow his call and approve of his prophecy, if you share his beliefs and deny your statues and the religion and customs of your ancestors, you will be the losers.”

91. Allah Almighty says in another verse: “When Our command was given, We saved Shu’ayb as well as his fellow believers, through Our mercy. A cataclysm destroyed the wicked. In the morning they all lay dead in their homes.” (See chapter 11- Hud, 94.) A terrible earthquake was inflicted upon them, and in the morning they all lay prone in their homes, their faces to the ground.

92. Allah Almighty then describes the punishment inflicted upon the people of Shu’ayb: Those who had denied him were annihilated. No one survived. It was as if they had never inhabited their town. Those who had denied Shu’ayb lost their life in this world and the next. But those who had followed him were victorious and triumphant.

93. After his people had suffered Allah’s punishment and devastation, Shu’ayb (peace be upon him) turned from them and left their dwelling-place. He reprimanded them thus: “O my people, I brought you wise counsel and transmitted to you the message entrusted to me by Allah; I called upon you to worship Allah, but you persisted in your disbelief and arrogantly spurned my appeal. So Allah destroyed you. I cannot therefore weep over the fate of a nation of unbelievers who denied the uniqueness of Allah and rejected His messenger.”

94. Allah Almighty says that each time He sent a Prophet to a people to call upon them to worship Allah alone, without associate, and this people refused to accept the Prophet’s appeal, He tested them by afflicting them with sickness and suffering, and by weighing them down with misery and poverty, so that they might beg Him to save them from the sickness and poverty which had struck them down.

95. If they persist in their impiety and their arrogance, Allah Almighty tests them by granting them heath and well-being. For their poverty, their wretchedness, and their sickness, He thus substitutes prosperity and health, so that they might give thanks to Allah. They are blessed with many children, they grow wealthy, enjoy the pleasures of well-being and peace, and forget the favours Allah has granted them, saying: “For us, prosperity and wretchedness come and go, as they did for our forefathers. Such is life. Misery is not a punishment for sin, nor happiness a reward for virtue….” If they behave in this way, Allah will seize them unawares and will inflict punishments on them, without them realizing what is happening to them. For they are ignorant of the laws which Allah decrees for His creatures. They have not discovered them through their reason, and have not treated the messengers’ warnings as truth.

96. If the inhabitants of these cities had had faith in the Prophets’ messages, if they had believed, if they had followed the light brought to them by their Lord, and if they had forearmed themselves by performing good deeds and avoiding sin, the sky would have poured down rain upon them, by Allah’s permission, and the earth would have abounded with benefits. But they denied their messengers, so Allah punished them by destroying them for their sins and the illicit acts they had committed. (Certain commentators believe that the citizens here are the inhabitants of Makkah and the surrounding towns. The text has a more general application, however, and refers to all those cities once inhabited which were annihilated by the Lord.)

97. Are the inhabitants of the impious cities so sure that the suffering and punishment of Allah will not strike them by night while they are peacefully sleeping and do not expect to be struck by any misfortune?

98. Are the people of the unbelieving cities so sure that the punishment of Allah will not strike them in broad daylight while they are peacefully going about their business or amusing themselves, not expecting punishment to descend upon them?

99. Or do they think they are somehow protected against Allah’s retribution, His anger and His vengeance, against the fact that He leads them step by step and is capable of punishing and destroying them while they are asleep or distracted? The only people who believe that they are safe from Allah’s plans are those who have strayed so far from the true path that they have lost their souls by failing to realize where their well-being and happiness reside.

100. Is it not clear to those whom Allah causes to follow upon other peoples (having before their time destroyed others who acted as they do, committed the same crimes and transgressed their Lord’s commandments) that Allah is capable of inflicting the same fate on them, to punish them for their disbelief and their sins, and that He will seal their hearts until they are no longer capable of heeding a lesson or understanding advice?

101. Allah Almighty tells His Prophet Mohammad (peace be upon him) that He has recounted the history of these vanished cities whose inhabitants denied their messengers even though the latter had provided them with signs and proofs which confirmed the truth of their message. Those people, however, did not believe when the messengers provided them with well-grounded proofs of their message which the people themselves had demanded. For those who deny because of preconceived ideas and arrogance or by imitation are incapable of returning to the true path and believing in the Prophets they previously denied when they first received them. It is thus that Allah sets a seal on the hearts of denigrators and renders them inaccessible to faith.

102. Most of these nations did not respect the natural covenant made by the Creator with humans while they are still in their fathers’ loins, that is to say: that He, the Almighty, is their God and their Creator, and that they should believe in Him and worship Him. They have violated this pact, have turned their back on Him, and have associated other divinities with Allah, with neither proof nor argument. They were therefore wicked men who disobeyed Allah Almighty and violated the natural covenant.

103. After the Prophets whom He has described, Allah Almighty sent Moses (peace be upon him) on a mission to Pharaoh, King of Egypt, and charged him to reveal to the Egyptians the arguments, proofs, and miracles of his Lord. In their wickedness and arrogance they spurned him (or this could mean that they did evil to themselves and their people by denying the signs of Allah because of their arrogance and ingratitude), and they denied the messenger of their Lord. Consider, then, Mohammad, the fate of these deniers and spoilers: Allah drowned them all (Pharaoh and his soldiers), as Moses (peace be upon him)and his followers witnessed with their own eyes.

104. Moses (peace be upon him) said to Pharaoh: “Allah, my Lord and the Master of the Universe, has sent me to you. It is He who created everything in the universe.”

105. “It is my duty not to fabricate lies and impute them to Allah Almighty, to speak nothing but the good and the true, given all that I know about the glorious nature of the Lord. On behalf of your Lord I have brought you irrefutable proof of the truth of my message. Therefore, allow the people of Israel to leave Egypt, liberate them from the slavery you have imposed on them.”

106. Pharaoh replied to Moses: “I do not believe what you say, and I shall not do what you ask. If you possess proof in the form of an argument or a miracle, produce it so that it may be seen, if indeed you are telling the truth when you say that you have been sent to us by the Master of the Universe.”

107. Moses threw his staff upon the ground and it turned into a veritable serpent, which was definitely alive and moved about.

108. He took his hand from beneath his robe and it appeared to the spectators of an immaculate whiteness, without any blemish or sign of leprosy.

109. Repeating the words of Pharaoh in their hypocrisy and affectation, the leaders in his entourage cried: “Here indeed is surely an extraordinary magician,” that is to say, a sorcerer (as is indicated in another verse).

110. “He wants to overcome you by attracting the people to him, and seeks to oust you from your land. What should be done to prevent that from happening?”

111. After have considered the question from all sides, they said to Pharaoh: “Delay any decision concerning him. Hold him, and send messengers to every corner of your kingdom to seek out sorcerers.” There were many of these at that period.

112. “They will bring you everyone who is expert in matters of sorcery.”

113. The sorcerers presented themselves before Pharaoh and said to him: “Will we be rewarded if we are victorious over Moses and unmask his magic?”

114. To encourage them, Pharaoh replied that he would reward them generously, and would make them his companions and associates.

115. Once they were assured of Pharaoh’s promise that he would reward them generously, the magicians said to Moses: “Will you go first or shall we?”

116. Moses replied: “You go first.” Then they threw down the staffs and cords which they had with them. This done, they dazzled the eyes of the spectators, who thought that they were seeing the truth. In fact, it was just skill and a product of their imagination. The people took the sticks and serpents cast down by the sorcerers for real serpents and vipers that moved, and they were terrified. This was caused by the extraordinary magical trick executed by the sorcerers.

117. Allah then inspired Moses (peace be upon him) to throw down his staff. The staff turned into a serpent and began to swallow everything the magicians had thrown down when they created the illusion that it was all real, until it had swallowed everything up.

118. Truth asserted itself, and the tricks of the magicians were outmatched and their imposture unmasked. They realized then that Moses (peace be upon him) was telling the truth and that he was the bearer of a divine message, and not a magician.

119. The sorcerers realized that they were vanquished, that they could do nothing against Moses, and that they were not equal to resisting him. They felt humiliated in the face of the greatness of Allah’s messenger, Moses (peace be upon him). (Some interpret the phrase “they were vanquished” to refer to Pharaoh and his entourage who recognized their defeat in the presence of the crowd assembled on that solemn day. The two interpretations can be reconciled. For by summoning the magicians Pharaoh wished to overcome Moses. In this contest they therefore represent Pharaoh and the evil he embodied, and their defeat was also that of Pharaoh and his entourage.)

120. The magicians prostrated themselves before the Lord, their faces to the ground, as a sign of faith in Allah Almighty and to excuse themselves for the magic tricks which they had performed in order to contradict Allah’s signs.

121. They said: “We believe in the Lord of the Universe.” They realized that Moses was bringing them the Divine message, against which they were powerless. For if Moses had been doing magic tricks, he would not have beaten them.

122. “It is the Allah of Moses and Aaron who has made them triumph over us.”

123. Pharaoh realized what a profound effect this defeat of all his magicians had had upon his people, when the observed Moses’ staff and the magicians’ subsequent belief in Allah, the Lord of Moses and Aaron, and the proclamation of their faith in the presence of Pharaoh and the crowd when they bowed down before Allah, which meant that they disbelieved henceforth in the divinity of Pharaoh and would no longer worship him. He understood the consequences he ran the risk of suffering, and he wanted to expunge these bad effects from the people’s minds and distract them. He therefore began to threaten the magicians for having believed in the Allah of Moses and Aaron and in their prophecy before he had authorized them to do so. He accused them of complicity with Moses and Aaron and of having plotted with them beforehand to let Moses win, so that the victory had been decided in advance after consultations with them, in order to allow them to leave Egypt. He told them that they would see what punishment would befall them.

124. He then explained what punishment would be inflicted upon them: he would cut off one hand and one foot diagonally, that is to say: the right hand and the left foot, or the left hand and the right foot. Then he would crucify them on palm trunks until they died, so that they would serve as an example to others.

125. Replying to Pharaoh’s threats, the magicians said: “We are certain that we will return to Allah, our Lord. His tortures are more painful than yours, and the punishment that He will exact upon us for having practiced sorcery as you forced us to do in order to contradict the Truth sent by Allah is more terrible than yours. We will therefore patiently submit to your tortures in order to escape Allah’s punishment on the Day of Resurrection.”

126. “We have committed no sin or crime for which you can reproach us. The only thing that you can accuse us of is having believed in our Lord when we witnessed His signs.” And the magicians appealed to Allah Almighty: “Lord, strengthen our hearts in Your religion. Grant us the patience to bear the torture that Pharaoh will inflict on us, and let us die as believers who follow Your religion and Your Prophet and who submit to Your will.”

127. Pharaoh’s entourage discussed among themselves what he was likely to do to Moses and Aaron and their followers, whether he would allow them to cause havoc in the land, leading his subjects astray and calling upon them to worship Allah instead of Pharaoh and his gods. Pharaoh answered them that he would kill their sons and let their wives live, and that he would curb them all and humiliate them so that they would be unable to cause havoc in the land.

128. Having heard Pharaoh’s threats, the children of Israel feared his violence. Moses (peace be upon him) comforted them, saying: “Pray for Allah’s help to avert these threats. Have patience and do not be sad. The earth belongs to Allah Alone, the Master of all. He grants success to whomsoever He wishes. The advantage will always accrue to those who fear Allah and obey the laws that He has decreed to ensure the inheritance of the earth, who know how to unify their positions, to strengthen themselves in Allah and to hold fast to the truth, establish justice, demonstrate patience in the face of adversity, and implore Allah’s help in all calamities.”

129. The children of Israel replied to Moses: “They attacked us before you came. They have killed our sons. Now that you are among us, they continue to enslave us as they did before.” “Be patient,” Moses (peace be upon him) told them, “perhaps Allah will destroy these enemies and grant you to succeed them on earth, in order to see how you behave afterwards, and whether you will thank Him for His favours and generosity or become unbelievers; whether you act well on earth or wickedly, so that He can reward you here below and hereafter for what you have done.”

130. Allah Almighty afflicted Pharaoh and his people with years of drought during which crops and fruits dwindled and they were hungry, expecting them to remember the favours and the riches they had enjoyed and to realize that Allah was testing them through hunger and the lack of fruits and vegetables, so that they would believe in Him and realize how powerless Pharaoh and his gods were, compared with the greatness and Omnipotence of Allah Almighty. He crushed them with bad years so that they would cease being unjust towards the children of Israel and respond to Moses’ appeal. For calamities soften the hardest heart.

131. When fertility and prosperity returned to them, they said: “This is our due, so favoured are we compared to other people.” When, on the other hand, they suffered a year of drought, they attributed their bad fortune to Moses and his companions, saying: “It is because of them and what they have preached.”
And Allah Almighty replies to them that He alone knows the reason for their misfortune, that what they see as a bad omen comes from Allah and that their misfortune stems from their own wickedness and not from a person or because of a person. But most of them do not recognize the wisdom with which the Creator governs this universe, and they do not know the causes of good or evil.

132. These people said that they would not believe in Moses whatever signs, proofs, and arguments he might bring to confirm the truthfulness of his message. They believed that everything he did was mere sorcery.

133. To punish them for their crimes, Allah sent floods caused by rainstorms (‘the flood’), as well as locusts which devoured their crops and their trees. He sent pests (weevils whose larvae eat cereal grains), and a plague of frogs which invaded their houses and exasperated them, then blood which got into their food and drink (it is said that Allah afflicted them with hemorrhages caused by the many diseases they suffered from). These were clear signs of the truth of Moses’ message. He had already warned them that they would be struck by each of these calamities, thus giving irrefutable proof of his truthfulness. They persisted in their arrogance and refused to believe it because they were presumptuous and so deeply rooted in crime, although they believed in the truth of his message and the solid foundation of his words.

134. Each time they were struck by a calamity that Moses had announced to them, they came to him to implore him to beg the Lord, his Allah to save them from their affliction and rid them of their ills. They promised to believe in him and to allow the children of Israel to accompany him out of Egypt. Moses then prayed to Allah to rid them of their affliction, and Allah granted his prayer. But they soon went back on their word and returned to their disbelief and their prejudices. Once again they obstinately refused to let the children of Israel leave Egypt. Once again, Allah inflicted a new calamity upon them, and once again they sought Moses’ help.

135. When Allah answered Moses’ prayers and relieved them of the calamity that was afflicting them, they broke their promises to him.

136. After Allah had inflicted one sign after another on them, and after they had consistently broken their promises, Allah avenged Himself on them by engulfing them in the watery abyss which Moses had created by striking the water with his staff, so that it parted into two walls. Moses crossed safely with the children of Israel. Pharaoh and his soldiers approached in their turn and when they were halfway across, the waves engulfed them and they were all drowned. In this way Allah punished them for having denied and ignored His signs.

137. To the children of Israel (who had been oppressed by Pharaoh who acted despotically towards them and treated them unjustly), Allah now gave as legacy the eastern and western parts of the holy land, that is to say Palestine, blessed by the Lord who endowed it with fertility and multiple benefits. Thus was fulfilled the splendid and perfect word of the Lord. In this way he rewarded them for their patience, destroyed the buildings of Pharaoh and his people as well as the plantations which they had built, cultivated, and planted in terraces.

138. Having crossed the sea with Allah’s permission and assistance, Moses and his companions met a people who worshipped statues (it is said that they were in the form of cows). The cult of the statues attracted the ignorant among the children of Israel. They said to Moses: “Give us a deity like theirs.” Moses answered: “You people are ignorant of the greatness and the power of Allah (Glory be unto Him!) , and the fact that one must worship Him without ascribing to Him any associate or counterpart.”

139. And Moses added: “The practices of those people who worship statues are damned to perdition, for in this place will appear the true religion of the sole Allah. Their worship of a divinity other than Allah will be short-lived.”

140. Addressing his people, Moses continued: “Allah has honoured you and granted you His favours. He has preferred you over all other peoples and has revealed many miracles to you. How then can it be that you ask me to provide you with a deity other than Him, Allah of the heavens and earth? That could not be.”

141. “Do you remember, O children of Israel, the day when Allah Almighty, by sending Moses to you and strengthening him with signs, saved you from Pharaoh and his people who imposed severe hardships on you, mistreated you, and killed your sons and let your daughters live in order to make your punishment an example to all and humiliate you even further? That was indeed a severe test on the part of the Lord.”

142. Allah Almighty favoured the children of Israel by sending Moses to them and revealing to him the Torah, which contains their precepts and the details of their legislation. He specifies that He arranged a meeting with Moses after he had fasted and starved for thirty nights. When the assigned period was accomplished, Allah ordered him to fast for yet another ten nights, and he did so. When he desired to keep his appointed meeting with Allah, he designated his brother Aaron as his substitute among the people of Israel, and charged him to be just, to act well, and not follow the ways of those who wreak havoc on earth.

143. When Moses (peace be upon him) arrived at the meeting arranged by Allah to talk to him, and Allah Almighty addressed him from behind a curtain, he aspired to the double honour of seeing Allah, and said: “Lord, permit me to see you.” Allah Almighty answered him: “That is not possible. But behold that mountain. I will make myself manifest and show myself to it. If it remains firmly in place and does not crumble and fall to pieces, then you will be permitted to see me.” When Allah Almighty revealed Himself to the mountain, He pulverized it and levelled it, and Moses fainted, his face to the ground, so stunned was he by the sight. When he came to himself, he asked pardon of his Lord, repented of having demanded such a thing, and glorified Allah, considering Him pure of everything unworthy of Him, and declared himself to be the first in his time to believe in the Majesty and Omnipotence of the Lord.

144. Allah Almighty addresses Moses , saying: “O Moses, I have chosen you and preferred you above all other men of your time by addressing My words to you from behind a curtain rather than revealing My words through the intermediary of an angel, and by making you My messenger. Hold fast to the Torah which I have revealed to you, observe the precepts and laws it contains, and show yourself grateful for the favours which I have accorded to you and your people, by holding fast to the Torah and the divine law and acting according to its precepts.”

145. Allah Almighty says that He gave Moses (peace be upon him) tablets on which were inscribed all kinds of guidance and edification, as well as detailed commandments indicating what is legal and what is illicit (some believe that these tablets constituted the Torah). Allah enjoined him to hold steadfastly to them and to ensure that they were obeyed. He ordered him to command his people, the children of Israel, to obey the essential precepts, such as being sincere in carrying out the religion, and to prefer forgiveness to punishment. As for the wicked who break Allah’s commandments and disobey Him, they will rush to their doom and be lost. During their wanderings the children of Israel will see the dwellings of former wicked peoples, and how they were reduced to ruins, so they may derive salutary lessons from the sight.

146. I will turn from the true path the hearts of those who in their arrogance refuse to obey Me, who groundlessly consider themselves self-sufficient; if they see Allah’s signs, they do not believe them; if they see the path of righteousness, they distance themselves from it and refuse to adopt it as their path; but if they see the path of wickedness, they follow it. Allah Almighty will inflict His punishment on them for having denied and ignored His signs. So Allah will lead them astray and will not guide them to the path of salvation. Since they show themselves to be full of arrogant denial of the truth, Allah will punish them by covering them in opprobrium, sealing their hearts so that Truth no longer has access to them.

147. Those who deny Allah’s signs and the Books which He had revealed and which are the bearers of Truth and guidance, who do not believe in them, do not follow the true path, and deny the recompense of the Day of Judgement (that is, that good deeds will rewarded and evil punished), they will lose the merit of their works, which will evaporate and be in vain (‘they will crack’). For they will thus have acted in a way other than Allah’s and will be weary from doing what displeases the Lord. Their actions will have harmful consequences for them, and they will only be repaid for the wicked acts they have performed, for their disbelief and their insubordination. Allah wishes the retribution of the Day of Judgement to be a consequence of actions here below. Allah Almighty does not act unjustly towards any of His creatures.

148. After Moses had gone to his appointed meeting with his Lord, a Samirian traduced the children of Israel. He had come with them from Egypt and was not one of the children of Israel. The people from which he stemmed worshipped cows. So he made the worship of cows admirable in their eyes, and he fashioned a statue in the form of a calf, made of jewels which he had brought from Egypt (jewels which they had borrowed from the Copts and had subsequently brought with them out of Egypt). When the wind blew, it entered in the hollow interior of the statue and produced a sound like the mooing of cattle. The children of Israel were enchanted, and fell to worshipping this calf and circling around it.
Allah Almighty reprimands them for having treated this calf as a god, and considers their behaviour to be absurd, since they have taken for a god a calf which cannot speak to them, cannot guide them of the path to salvation, and can neither help nor harm them, and they have abandoned the worship of Allah, Creator of the heavens and the earth, who saved them from Pharaoh and his people. By acting thus, they have show themselves to be harmful towards themselves.

149. Then they regretted what they had done (they were pitifully deceived), realized their aberration, and contritely said: “If Allah does not take pity on us and absolve us of the injustice we have committed in treating this calf as a god, then we will be among the damned.”

150. Allah Almighty informed His Prophet of the conduct of his people, who had devoted themselves to worshipping a calf after his departure. He returned to them full of anger and consternation, and said to them: “How vile your behaviour was after I had left you in order to speak with my Lord! I had instructed you to worship Allah alone and ordered you to shun polytheism. Your duty was to follow my example and follow in the same path as mine. But you acted otherwise and took a statue which some of you worshipped. The others did not dissuade you. Do you wish to hasten the decree of our Lord, and was I gone too long a time for you to wait and keep your promise and obey my commands? And so you made it seem as if the appointed time had come without my having returned; you said to yourselves that I was dead and you went astray like the other peoples who have changed direction after the death of their Prophets.” (It is said that the Samirian had told them: “Here is your god and that of Moses. Moses is dead and will not return.”)
Moses threw down the tablets, seized his brother by the neck and roughly drew him close, fearing that he had failed to forbid the worshipping of the calf. Aaron said to him: “O my brother, son of my mother, do not mishandle me, do not grab me by the beard or by the hair — the people treated me as if I had no power and almost killed me when I tried to dissuade them. Do not wreak your revenge on me and do not cause my enemies to rejoice at my fate. Do not associate me with those who treated the calf as a god.”

151. When Moses had assured himself of Aaron’s innocence and of the fact that he had fully carried out his duties towards his people, he begged his Lord’s pardon for having been unkind and rough towards his brother, and he also begged forgiveness for his brother for having possibly failed to forbid his people the sin of worshipping the calf. He begged Allah to allow both of them to enter into His grace, which envelops everything, and to favour them with His generosity. For He is all-merciful towards His servants.

152. As for those who persisted in worshipping the calf, like the Samirian and those who followed him, they will be struck with Allah’s anger on the Day of Judgement, and they will be covered with opprobrium in this world. For through this terrible punishment Allah repays those who fabricate lies about Him and take to themselves a god other than Himself.

153. Those who do evil and then repent, ask His pardon, believe in Him and worship Him in all sincerity, Allah will forgive them the bad deed they have committed, for He is merciful and forgiving towards His servants.

154. When Aaron had apologized to his brother and Moses had begged Allah’s forgiveness for Aaron and himself, and his anger was calmed, Moses took up the tablets which in his anger he had thrown down, and found on them the laws, decrees, and prohibitions which allow those who fear and obey their Lord to gain Allah’s Mercy (or else: which bring guidance and mercy to those who fear their Lord).

155. Allah Almighty ordered Moses to come to Him accompanied by some of the children of Israel to ask His pardon for having worshipped the calf, and He appointed a meeting. Moses chose seventy men from among those who had not worshipped the calf and went with them to the appointed place. Once they had arrived there, Moses’ companions said to him: “O Moses, we will not fully believe you until we have seen Allah plainly with our own eyes. You have spoken to Him; arrange it so that we may see Him.” Lightning struck them and they perished, as is indicated in another verse. Moses began to weep and to beseech Allah, saying: “Lord, if You had wished, You could have destroyed them before they came to the meeting-place, as well as myself, so that on seeing them the children of Israel do not accuse me of killing them. Lord, do not make us perish for what the ignorant among us have done. The worship of the calf was but a means on Your part to lead us into error and a test by which You led astray those who had abandoned the true path, and you misled whomsoever You wished to. No one is capable of guiding those You have led astray. Forgive us, therefore, do not punish us for the crimes we have committed, and be merciful so that we may avoid committing the same sin. Your mercy is without equal.”

156. “Provide us with Your grace and clemency, grant us contentment and good health in this world, shower Your favours on us, and allow us to succeed in obeying you. Grant us a good reward in the Hereafter by allowing us to enter Paradise and win Your good will. We will return to You filled with remorse for our worship of the calf to which the improper among us succumbed, and for the fact that our wiser men failed to prohibit it or denounce it.”
And Allah Almighty replied to Moses: “I have decreed that my punishment should be specific and with it I strike whomsoever I wish among the impious and the seditious who have not repented. As for My mercy, it is infinite and encompasses everything. I shall reserve it, as I wish, for those who forearm themselves against disbelief and disobedience, and distribute the legally prescribed alms and also give voluntary alms. I shall grant it to those who have faith and who believe in all My signs which prove My uniqueness, as well as to My Prophets and their message.”

157. Allah Almighty continues to describe those whom He will shelter with His infinite grace: “It is those who follow Mohammad (peace be upon him), the illiterate Prophet, who can neither read nor write. He was described and announced by the Torah and the Apostles.” He commands them to perform good deeds and promulgate virtue, forbids them to act wickedly, permits them the good things which have been granted them and relieves them of heavy burdens, such as insisting on the execution of a truly repentant soul, or imposing capital punishment for a murder committed deliberately or accidentally without allowing the blood-price to be paid, or cutting off offending limbs, mutilating the penis, or making the sabbath illicit. Mohammad (peace be upon him) prescribes what is easy and preaches tolerance.
The Prophet Mohammad (peace be upon him) recommended to two princes whom he sent to preach Islam in Yemen: “Preach, and do not alienate people’s sympathy. Prescribe what is easy and not what is difficult. Obey each other mutually and do not fall into disaccord.” Allah Almighty has granted His favours and has made things easy for Mohammad (peace be upon him)’s people. The Messenger of Allah says: “Allah pardon my people for whatever errors they commit, by omission or under constraint.” Those among the people of Moses (peace be upon him) and of Jesus (peace be upon him) and all other people who believe in the messenger, the Prophet Mohammad (peace be upon him), strengthen him by supporting him and defending him against all those who are antagonistic towards him, who glorify and venerate him, support him verbally and physically, and follow the great light which accompanies his revelation, that is: the Quran, all these people will be the winners who will be granted divine mercy and succour.

158. O Mohammad, say to all human beings: “I am Allah’s messenger to all of you. It is Allah Almighty who sent me. He is the Creator and the Master of the heavens and the earth. He governs and decrees all with wisdom. He alone is to be worshipped. There is no other Allah but Him. He is the Creator of everything who can choose to destroy anything. Believe then, all you who are humans, in Allah, who brings to life and death, and in His messenger, the illiterate Prophet sent to all human beings. This Prophet believes in the uniqueness of the Lord and in His Word revealed to His Prophets to direct His creatures. Humans, take the way of the illiterate Prophet and follow in his footsteps, whatever he should do or not do, in the hope of earning your salvation in this world and the next.”

159. Among Moses’ people, there are a great many who direct others according to the truth which Moses (peace be upon him) has brought to them from Allah. They give proof of justice when they judge between men, not following their own bias and not unjustly appropriating the belongings of others.

160. Allah Almighty divided the people of Israel into twelve branches according to their descent from the twelve sons of Jacob, of which He made a people and a community. When the children of Israel were thirsty in the Sinai desert, Moses implored Allah to give them something to drink. Allah then inspired him: “Strike one of the stones in the desert with your staff.” He struck one and twelve springs gushed out, one for each of the twelve tribes, so that they could drink without any dispute or rivalry or pushing amongst them. Allah put clouds at their disposition so they would be shaded and preserved from the heat of the sun. He sent them manna and quail. So they set about eating the good things that Allah had sent them, and drinking the water. But they denied Allah’s generosity, broke His commandments, thus harming themselves and in no way harming Allah.

161. When Allah had established them in the city where they settled after their victory over the giants, Allah ordered them to thank Him and to enter by the gate (of the city), bowing down and saying “remission” (meaning, “Lord, grant us the remission of sins”), so that Allah could grant their wishes, absolve them of their sins, and increase the benefits of the virtuous among them.

162. But the wicked among them did not enter the gate submissively or bowing down according to the orders of their Lord, but they entered sliding on their behinds and substituting other words for those of the Lord, saying in an ironic tone “hinta” (wheat) instead of “hitta” (submission). So Allah sent down His wrath and His punishment upon the disobedient, because of their wickedness and their transgression of the orders of the Lord.

163. O Mohammad (peace be upon him), ask the Jews in your entourage about the story of their co-religionists who contravened the order of their Lord and were struck down by His anger for committing an injustice and having recourse to fraud in order to infringe the order of their Lord. Warn them about the dangers of undergoing a similar fate to that which struck down their co-religionists who lived in the city by the sea (the town of Ayla, now called Aqaba). The Jews there broke the Sabbath and contravened the precepts of the Lord, who forbade fishing on that day. On the very day that they venerated, the fish (‘their whales’) teemed in great numbers, but they refrained from fishing. On the other hand, when they violated the Sabbath and failed to respect its sacred character, the fishes disappeared. That was a test to which Allah subjected them. The transgressors spread their fishing nets to catch the fish and left them in the nets until the end of the Sabbath, when they came down to collect them. That was on their part a violation of the precept decreed by Allah, that is: to observe the sabbath day. By acting in this manner they committed fraud in order to conceal their intention of breaking the Sabbath. They committed wickedness by breaking the Divine commandment.

164. Allah Almighty says that the inhabitants of the city were divided into three groups:
– Some committed illicit acts and had recourse to fraud in order to fish.
– Others prohibited such practices to those who transgressed the bounds set by Allah, and distanced themselves from them.
– The rest of them remained silent, did nothing, and did not speak out against such practices. But they said to those who objected: “Why do you moralize about whom Allah, as you very well know, is going to destroy for having deserved His punishment and His fury? Prohibiting them from engaging in such practices is utterly futile.” Those who objected replied: “Allah commanded us to prescribe the good and prohibit the bad. We remind them of Allah’s precepts first of all out of obedience to the Lord (to rid ourselves of any responsibility in Allah’s sight), and secondly we hope that those who through their impudence transgress the bounds set by the Lord will reform themselves and return to the true path, and perhaps protect themselves against the sin they have committed.”

165. The wicked paid no heed to Allah’s command or to their brothers’ reminder. Allah therefore decreed their punishment and inflicted terrible torments on them because of their wickedness and disobedience. He saved those among them who had submitted to His decrees by prohibiting the evil.

166. When they persisted in their impudence, their sedition, and their subversion, Allah Almighty said: “Be humiliated and abject monkeys,” and so they became.

167. Tell them, O Prophet, how your Lord informed these people repeatedly and by way of their Prophets, that He intended to send against them, on the Day of Judgement, someone who would subject them to dire punishment on account of their iniquity and wickedness and the fact that they were committing evil on earth. Your Allah is prompt to punish nations of ill-doers and sinners, although He is merciful and lenient to those who are contrite and repentant, and who repair the evil they have caused before they are punished.

168. Allah Almighty says that he has split the children of Israel into schisms and communities (peoples) throughout the world, and that some of them were virtuous and forbade evil on earth, whereas others were not. He says He put them all to the test by exposing them alternately to prosperity and poverty, desire and fear, health and sickness, expecting that they would therefore return to Allah, obey His orders and win His grace, favour, and mercy.

169. A new generation succeeded to that which included some virtuous people and others who were less good. They learned the Torah and its precepts. However, they preferred the ephemeral pleasures of this earth to practicing and promulgating virtue. So they made money by abandoning themselves to fraudulent practices and taking bribes. They made their religion into a commercial business and gave proof of prejudice in their legislation and in their legal judgements. They asked for time to repent and promised to do so, but each time the occasion presented itself they seized it to defraud or infringe divine law (as was the case with those who broke the sabbath). They hoped that Allah would forgive them and would refrain from punishing them for their wicked deeds. Allah Almighty is infuriated at their lack of insight and their scepticism, and reprimands them for having forgotten that in the Scriptures He had commanded them to tell people the truth and not to dissimulate, and to say nothing but Truth about Allah. But they have fabricated lies, have obscured the status of Mohammad (peace be upon him) and his Book and the fact that he is Allah’s messenger, although all these things are mentioned in the Torah. Then Allah Almighty summons them to return to the good and tells them of his generous rewards. In this connection He says: “For those who fear Allah, the final dwelling-place where the graces and rewards of Allah abound is preferable to the ephemeral goods of this world which have been obtained through usury or fraudulent practices. Those who have substituted the life here below for the rewards of their Lord – when will they learn?”

170. Allah Almighty then praises those among them who hold fast to the Scriptures, act according to their precepts, and perform their prayers in the best possible manner. The Almighty reminds them that those who do good will not fail to receive their reward.

171. When Moses had instructed them as to the contents of the tablets revealed by the Lord so that they could observe the precepts they announced, they found them onerous and refused to acknowledge them until Allah Almighty raised a mountain which overshadowed them until they thought it would fall on them. Moses (peace be upon him) said to them: “Allah tells you: ‘If you do not accept the Torah with everything it contains, I will crush you beneath this mountain.’” They prostrated themselves on the ground, casting furtive looks at the mountain. Then he said to them: “Hold fast to the precepts of religion that we have given you. Keep the covenant made with Allah and accept its responsibilities. Remember the commands and prohibitions it contains, for that will give you protection and will make it desirable.”

172. And Allah Almighty indicates to His servants that He has established proofs of His existence, of His omnipotence, of His uniqueness, and of the fact that He is the creator of everything. He adds that He has established these proofs by spreading throughout the universe signs which lead to the true path, by way of the Scriptures and His messengers. Addressing the Prophet, Allah Almighty says: “O Mohammad, indicate to the people that Allah brought forth the children of Adam so that they could personally bear witness to the fact that Allah is their Lord and their Master and that there is no other Allah but Him, and that He created them and moulded them with a certain disposition. So on the Day of Resurrection they cannot claim to have been ignorant of this fact.
Ibn Abbas says: “Allah Almighty touched Adam’s loins and drew from them all the living breath from then until the Day of Resurrection. He concluded with the children of Adam the pact that they would always worship Him and associate no other being with Him, and He agreed to provide for their needs. He then returned the children of Adam to his loins. The last day will not take place until every soul has been born which made this pact with Allah on that day.”

173. Nor will they be able to say: “We have inherited polytheism from our forefathers who preceded us and whose example we followed without knowing that their polytheism was without foundation. Why should Allah make us pay for the errors committed by those of our ancestors who were unjust? We are innocent and no argument can be used against us.”

174. Through such extremely useful details We explain to human beings the signs and the proofs of the existence and uniqueness of Allah, so that they can use their reason to meditate upon them and understand them. Perhaps they will renounce their ignorance and their imitation of their ancestors, and find guidance in the precepts of the Prophet.

175. O Mohammad (peace be upon him), tell the Jews about the man whom We gratified with the arguments in favour of monotheism and to whom We explained the signs until he was an expert, but who then turned his back, put the precepts behind him, and became indifferent to the search for the true path. After he had voluntarily sloughed off and abandoned the proofs, Satan took control of him and was able to tempt him slyly, for he no longer had the light of intuition at his disposal, nor the guiding signs to protect him against Satan’s cunning temptations. He was among the lost.
It is said that this refers to one of the children of Israel whose every prayer was answered, who asked nothing of the Lord that was not granted. When Yoshe ben Noun (who had taken command of the children of Israel after Moses) wanted to fight against the giants who inhabited Palestine, this man denied his own people and began inciting the giants, saying: “If you do battle against the children of Israel, I will heap curses upon them and make them perish.”

176. If We had wanted to raise him to a superior rank through Our signs and by making him follow Our precepts, We could have done it by creating guidance for him and leading him to follow it whether he wished to or not, for that is not impossible for Us. But it goes against Our law. But that man depended on this world here below, for which he had a great liking. His only care was to enjoy material delights. He therefore threw himself on its pleasures and its gratifications and was like others seduced by it, incapable of seeing the benefits of the Hereafter.
This man is similar to a panting dog: He is constantly worried, and toils continually to collect the ephemeral goods and ornaments of this world. He resembles someone who is so exhausted that he is out of breath, even if what preoccupies him is mediocre and not worth struggling over. The more he gains, the more he covets worldly goods.
This quite strange example is of a people of renegades who reject Allah’s signs and refuse to submit, through ignorance and through imitation of their ancestors. They believed that faith in these signs would rob them of their glory and honour and deprive them of the delights they enjoyed. O Mohammad, tell this man’s story to the detractors among your people. Perhaps they will reflect on it and will see the signs with their intuition and not with the eye of passion, and will in the end arrive at faith.

177. These people represent the saddest trait and provide a most detestable example by not reflecting on the signs in order to derive salutary lessons or profit from them, as a way of finding the true path of happiness in this world and the next.

178. He whom Allah guides on the path of salvation by letting him make good use of his reason and his senses in accordance with intuition, and thanks to the precepts of religion is he who conducts himself well, thanks Allah for the favours He has granted him, and acquits himself of his duties towards Him. By contrast, he whom Allah misleads and deprives of His grace and who follows Satan by not grasping the divine signs and failing to thank the Lord for His favours, is a renegade who has lost his happiness in this world and the next.

179. We have created many humans and jinns to serve as food for Hell, because they deserve this fate through their evil deeds and fail to profit from any of the senses which Allah has endowed them with as a means of discovering the true path. They do not use their ears to listen to Allah, nor their hearts to know the truth, nor their eyes to see the light. They are like animals and stray cattle who use their senses only to feed and survive. They are even worse and more aberrant than animals. For the animal can respond to the call of the shepherd if it gets used to him, even if it does not understand anything he says, unlike human beings. Whereas animals do what they are destined to do, either naturally or in carrying out their tasks, wicked men have been created to worship a sole Allah, but they have proven sceptical and have ascribed associates to the Lord. They are therefore mired in indifference.

180. It is to Allah alone that all the words revert which describe the most beautiful values and the most perfect qualities. Invoke Him therefore under these names, either to praise Him or to beseech His aid and pardon, or anything else you need. Invoke Him, O believers, and shun those who use these words as a pretext for deviance by mispronouncing them or imposing false interpretations on them. Such people stray from the true path by deforming these names, by misinterpreting them, by ascribing associates to Allah, by rejecting Him, by adding some things and omitting others, or by denying the beautiful epithets associated with them. These sinners will consequently be repaid. They will see terrible punishments descend upon them in this world and the next. Therefore avoid deviations when naming Allah, or you will undergo the same punishment as them. (The Prophet said: “To Allah belong ninety-nine names. Whoever can list them will go to paradise.” (Reported by Al-Sheikhan, Al-Tirmadhiy, and Ibn Majah.)

181. Among the peoples We have created, there are some who respect the truth through the words they speak as well as through their deeds: they speak the truth and summon others to it (they guide others towards the True), and practice justice in their actions and in their judgement (they cultivate justice). (It is reported, citing the Prophet: “Such are my people. They adhere to the truth when they govern, when they judge, when they pronounce sentence, when they take and when they give.” Quoted by Ibn Jarir, citing Ibn Jurayj.)

182. As for those who disobey Allah’s signs and reject them, Allah will open the gates of prosperity and will grant them favours until they allow themselves to be deceived by what they possess and think they are sheltered. It is then that the rigour of Allah will come upon them by surprise and they will be punished with the fate that Allah has reserved for them, without realizing what is happening to them.

183. Allah will grant them a long life and will strengthen them in their aberration so that they become more and more infatuated and stubborn in their impudence. Then He will grip them in the grasp of an omnipotent master. He is all-powerful and His government is implacable.

184. The unbelievers and renegades among the tribe of Quraish denied Mohammad (peace be upon him) and his message, and did not reflect on what he had been since childhood, nor on the truthfulness of his appeal, nor on the signs which corroborated his message and proved the uniqueness of Allah Almighty and His capacity to revive all creation just as He had originally created it. If they had reflected on these things, they would have understood that their compatriot Mohammad (peace be upon him) was not mad but that he was, rather, sounding the alarm and bearing good news and advice, the messenger of his Lord. In fact, he was warning them against the punishment that would be inflicted on them in this world and the next if they did not respond favourably to his appeal.

185. Have those who deny him not meditated on the things that Allah created in the heavens and the earth so that they would understand them, derive a salutary lesson, believe in Allah and His messenger, and spurn associates and idols? Let them beware, for perhaps their time is almost up. Then they will perish in unbelief and be subjected to terrible punishments. If they do not draw a good lesson from what the Prophet Mohammad (peace be upon him) tells them, and if they do not understand what it is that he is warning them against, how can they be terrified or forewarned? And what language can be used after that of the Quran, if this has not led them to believe?

186. Allah Almighty made this Quran the greatest means of guidance for those who fear Allah. He armed His Prophet to whom He revealed His message with the most irrefutable arguments and the noblest character of all His messengers. Whoever loses the ability to believe in this Book is one of those whom Allah has led astray. But whoever is led astray by the Lord no longer has anyone who can guide him back to the true path. And Allah Almighty abandons these sinners to their impudence and leaves them perplexed and incapable of finding any escape.

187. The unbelievers among the people of Quraish questioned the Prophet as to the exact hour which would mark the end of the world, wanting thereby to suggest that it would never happen and denying its existence. They said: “When will the world drop anchor?” Allah Almighty ordered Mohammad (peace be upon him) to attribute this knowledge to the Lord and to say to his questioners: “Only Allah knows that. He alone will make it happen, and none other than Him knows when it will take place.” When the moment comes, it will be so terrible that it will weigh heavily on the inhabitants of the heavens and the earth. No creature will be sheltered from it. The Hour will take the human race by surprise, suddenly and without warning. These people question you about the Hour as if you insisted on knowing it, or as if you had studied it. Tell them therefore that only Allah knows the hour, but that most people do not realize this fact.

188. Allah Almighty commands His Prophet Mohammad (peace be upon him) to refer entirely to Allah and to tell people that he is ignorant of the mystery and only knows as much on the subject as Allah has revealed to him. He commands him to tell them that if he knew the future and when he would die he would have piled up goods and provisioned himself for the future; or if he knew that when he bought something he would make such-and-such a profit, he would have done so. If he knew the mystery, he would have avoided evil and forearmed himself against evil. And Allah Almighty orders His messenger to tell people that he is there to sound the alarm and announce paradise to the believers, and it is in that that his mission consists.

189. Allah Almighty draws the attention of His creatures to the fact that all human beings are created from a single soul (that is to say: Adam), that He drew from him his companion (Eve), and then the human race issued through reproduction. Allah Almighty says that He accorded each soul a companion of his own kind so that they could live in harmony and find peace in each other. For there is no greater intimacy than that between two spouses. After the man and woman had coupled, she became pregnant. At first, the pregnancy was easy and was hardly felt by the woman. Later, when it advanced and the woman grew heavier, the two spouses both invoked Allah, beseeching Him to give them a healthy child (fitted to accomplish good deeds like other human beings), and swore to keep their promise and to be grateful to Allah for His favours.

190. But when Allah had granted them a child healthy in both body and soul, they forgot their invocation, ascribed associates to Allah for what He alone had granted them, and made offerings to them as a sign of gratitude. Allah, Master of the Universe, is so far above any being people associate with Him. (Al Hassan Al-Basry considers that, given the context, Allah is speaking here not of Adam and Eve but of the idolaters sprung from their issue.)

191. Allah Almighty expresses His indignation at the practices of the idolaters who ascribe associates to Him and worship statues at the same time as Him. For these are creatures who are not in a free state and can neither be useful or harmful to themselves or others. Their worshippers fashion them with their own hands, so the statues are not capable of creating anything. Of necessity, therefore, people of good sense should not ascribe a powerless associate to Allah, the Creator, who is omnipotent and irresistible.

192. These statues and similar idols cannot help those who worship them, and cannot even defend themselves if someone attacks them or removes some of their offerings or garlands.

193. These statues do not hear and do no understand any of the invocations addressed to them. They do not grasp what is said to them. As the Prophet Abraham says, they do not care whether they are invoked or insulted.

194. And Allah insists on the fact that these idols worshipped by the polytheists and invoked aside from Allah are nothing but stones and creations like them, so that they can be neither helpful nor harmful to themselves. Addressing the worshippers of such idols, Allah Almighty says: “If you are sincere in claiming that they are capable of doing what you humans can do, that is to say being useful or harmful, ask them to grant your prayers, either directly, or by appealing to the Lord (glory be to the Almighty!) to grant what you have demanded of them. They will not grant the prayers of those who appeal to them, because they are mere stone, inanimate objects and powerless creations, and their worshippers have gone badly astray.

195. These idols have neither feet to walk with nor hands to strike and force, nor eyes to see, nor ears to hear. They cannot therefore have either a beneficial or a harmful effect. Tell them, O Mohammad, “Invoke your divinities and with their help try to harm me. Do not spare any effort in this attempt. All your traps will do me no harm.”

196. I put myself in Allah’s hands. It is He who takes care of me and supports me in this world and the next. He grants victory to each of His faithful servants. It is He who revealed the Quran (the Book) to me.

197. The statues that you invoke besides Allah cannot grant you victory if you request it, nor serve you in any way. They cannot even serve themselves if someone harms them.

198. If you beseech the statues worshipped by the idolaters to guide you towards what will allow you to attain your objectives and to be victorious, they will not hear your prayers. For they are mere stones which have eyes to look at but not to see. So they are incapable of assisting you in any way.

199. O Prophet, dissociate yourself from the ignorant, continue to seek for guidance, prescribe for people what is easy for them, and order for them all the good things that reason knows and seizes. When he had to choose between two things, the Prophet always chose the easier of the two. (It is reported that the Prophet questioned Gabriel concerning the meaning of this verse. And Gabriel answered him: “Allah orders you to pardon whoever has been unjust towards you, to give to whoever has taken from you, and to establish good relations with whoever has broken his ties with you.” Quoted by Ibn Jarir and Ibn abi Hatem.) It is also said that good treatment leads the seditious to desist.

200. If Satan provokes your anger in such a way that you do not dissociate yourself from the ignorant, to agree with them and gratify them, beware of Allah, and seek in Him a refuge against the temptations of Satan. For Allah understands what plots the ignorant are hatching against you, and He knows what is likely to save you from Satan’s temptations.

201. Allah says that when the virtuous and Allah-fearing among His servants are troubled by Satan’s whispers, which incite them to disobedience or sow dissention amongst them, they will remember that this is but the work of Satan, their enemy, and will also remember that Allah has warned them against Satan’s evil temptation. They will then repent and turn to Allah and seek protection with Him. They will then return to the true path and become whole again.

202. Those unbelievers, brothers of Satan, those detractors who do not fear Allah, are open to the temptations of devils, who aid in tempting and corrupting them, and lead them further astray. The unbelievers do not refrain from doing evil because they do not remember Allah when they feel inclined to do evil. Nor do they seek Allah’s help against Satan’s evil temptations and assaults.

203. The polytheists said to the Prophet: “Will you not make an effort to ask Allah to provide us with signs so that we may believe in them?” (It has been said that the meaning of this verse is as follows: If for a while you do not provide them with any Quranic verses, when revelation is not forthcoming, they say: “Why have you not invented a verse and composed it yourself?”) Allah commanded His Prophet to respond to them thus: “I ask Allah for nothing, but follow what He has commanded me, and submit to what He reveals to me. If He reveals a verse to me, I communicate it to you as He has ordered, and if He withholds it I do not initiate questions about it until He allows me to do so.” Mohammad (peace be upon him) should therefore advise them that the Quran is the greatest of miracles and the most lucid of signs.

204. After having emphasized that the Quran is a source of clearsightedness, guidance, and mercy for human beings, Allah Almighty commands that it should be listened to attentively when it is recited so that the greatest profit can be derived from it, in terms of guidance and as a sign of glorification and respect for the Book of Allah. Thus, if the Imam recites Quranic verses aloud during the prayer, the believers behind him should listen carefully and not recite with him.

205. Allah Almighty orders His servants to invoke Him often, morning and evening. He also commands His servants to hold religious services to Him at these two periods of the day (this was before the five prayers were prescribed on the night of the nocturnal journey). And Allah enjoins the faithful to remember Him in their souls with all their will and in fear, and to invoke Him in a restrained and secret way, not in a loud voice. For it is better to invoke Allah in a restrained voice and not ostentatiously, and never to forget humility and fear of His Omnipotence.

206. Allah Almighty indicates that the noble angels glorify their Lord night and day, do not fabricate lies, and do not show any pride. Believers should therefore follow their example.