| | Sayyid Qutb rendition of Surah Women(an-Nisa`)
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| 4:1 | | Mankind, fear your Lord, who has created you from a single soul, and from it created its mate, and from the two of them spread abroad so many men and women. Fear God, in whose name you appeal to one another, and be mindful of your ties of kinship. Indeed, God is ever watching over you. |
| 4:2 | | Give the orphans their property. Do not substitute bad things of your own for their good things, and do not absorb their wealth into your own wealth. That is surely a great crime. |
| 4:3 | | If you fear that you may not deal fairly by the orphans, you may marry of other women as may be agreeable to you, two or three or four. But if you fear that you will not be able to maintain fairness between them, then marry only one, or those whom your right hands possess. That makes it more likely that you will not do injustice. |
| 4:4 | | Give women their dower as a free gift; but if they, of their own accord, choose to give up to you a part of it, then you may take it with pleasure. |
| 4:5 | | Do not give to the feeble-minded your wealth which God has assigned to you in trust. Make provisions for them and clothe them out of it and speak to them in a kindly way. |
| 4:6 | | Test the orphans [in your charge] until they reach a marriageable age; then, if you find them of sound judgement, hand over to them their property, and do not consume it by wasteful and hasty spending before they come of age. Let him who is rich abstain generously [from his ward's property], but he who is poor may partake of it in a fair manner. When you hand over to them their property, let there be witnesses on their behalf. God is sufficient as a reckoner. |
| 4:7 | | Men shall have a share in what parents and kinsfolk leave behind, and women shall have a share in what parents and kinsfolk leave behind; whether it be little or much. It is an apportioned share. |
| 4:8 | | When other kinsfolk, orphans and needy persons are present at the distribution of inheritance, give them something out of it, and speak to them in a kindly way. |
| 4:9 | | Let those who, if they themselves had to leave behind weak offspring, would feel fear on their account, be afraid (to wrong the orphans in their charge), let them fear God and speak in a just manner. |
| 4:10 | | Those who devour the property of orphans unjustly, only swallow fire into their bellies. They will be made to endure a blazing fire. |
| 4:11 | | God has this to enjoin on you with regard to your children: The male shall have a share equal to that of two females. If there are more than two women, they shall have two-thirds of what [their parents] leave behind; and if there is only one, she shall have one- half of it. As for the parents [of the deceased], each of them shall have one- sixth of what he leaves behind, in the event of his having a child; but if he leaves no children, and his parents be his heirs, then his mother shall have one-third; and if he has brothers and sisters, his mother shall have one-sixth after (deducting) any bequest he may have made, or any outstanding debt. With regard to your parents and your children, you do not know which of them is of more benefit to you. This is, therefore, an ordinance from God. God is All- Knowing, Wise. |
| 4:12 | | You shall inherit one-half of what your wives leave behind, provided that they have left no child; but if they have left a child, then you shall have one-quarter of what they leave behind, after [deducting] any bequest they may have made or any outstanding debt. And they (i.e. your widows) shall inherit one-quarter of what you leave behind, provided that you have left no child; but if you have left a child, then they shall have one-eighth of what you leave behind, after [deducting] any bequest you may have made or any outstanding debt. If a man or a woman has no heir in the direct line, but has a brother or a sister, then each of them shall inherit one-sixth; but if there be more, then they shall share in one-third, after [deducting] any bequest which may have been made or any outstanding debt, neither of which having been intended to harm [the heirs]. This is a commandment from God; and God is All- Knowing, Gracious. |
| 4:13 | | These are the bounds set by God. Whoever obeys God and His Messenger, him will He admit into gardens through which running waters flow, there to dwell forever. That is the supreme triumph. |
| 4:14 | | But whoever disobeys God and His Messenger, and transgresses His bounds, him will He commit to the fire, there to abide forever; and shameful torment awaits him. |
| 4:15 | | As for those of your women who are guilty of gross immoral conduct, call upon four from among you to bear witness against them. If they so testify, then confine the guilty women to their houses until death takes them or God opens another way for them. |
| 4:16 | | And the two from among you who are guilty of the same, punish them both. If they repent and mend their ways, then leave them alone. God is the One who accepts repentance, the Merciful. |
| 4:17 | | God will indeed accept the repentance of only those who do evil out of ignorance, and then repent shortly afterwards. It is they to whom God turns in His mercy. God is All-Knowing, Wise. |
| 4:18 | | Repentance shall not be accepted from those who indulge in their evil deeds and, when death comes to any of them, he says: “I now repentâ€; nor from those who die as non- believers. For those We have prepared grievous suffering. |
| 4:19 | | Believers, it is unlawful for you to inherit women against their will, or to bar them from remarrying so that you may make off with part of what you have given them, except when they are guilty of a flagrant indecency. Consort with them in a goodly manner. Even if you are averse to them, it may well be that you are averse to something in which God has placed much good. |
| 4:20 | | If you wish to take one wife in place of another and you have given the first one a large sum of money, do not take away anything of it. Would you take it away though that constitutes a gross injustice and a manifest sin? |
| 4:21 | | How can you take it away when each of you has been privy with the other, and they have received from you a most solemn pledge? |
| 4:22 | | Do not marry women whom your fathers have previously married, unless it be a thing of the past. Surely, that is an indecent, abominable and evil practice. |
| 4:23 | | Forbidden to you [in marriage] are your mothers, your daughters, your sisters, your aunts paternal and maternal, your brother's daughters and your sister's daughters, your mothers who have given suck to you, your suckling sisters, the mothers of your wives, your stepdaughters — who are your foster children — born to your wives with whom you have consummated your marriage; but if you have not consummated your marriage with them, you will incur no sin [by marrying their daughters], and the wives of your own begotten sons; and [you are forbidden] to have two sisters as your wives at one and the same time, unless it be a thing of the past. God is Much-Forgiving, Merciful. |
| 4:24 | | And [forbidden to you are] all married women, other than those whom your right hands possess. This is God's ordinance, binding upon you. Lawful to you are all women other than these, provided that, offering them of your own possessions, you seek to take them in wedlock, not in fornication. To those with whom you seek to enjoy marriage, you shall give the dowers due to them; but you will incur no sin if you agree among yourselves on any voluntary arrangement even after what has been stipulated by way of duty. God is indeed All- Knowing, Wise. |
| 4:25 | | Any of you who, owing to circumstances, is not in a position to marry a free believing woman may marry a believing maiden from among those whom your right hands possess. God knows all about your faith: you belong to one another. Marry them, then, with their people's consent and give them their dowers in an equitable manner, as chaste women who give themselves in honest wedlock, not in fornication, nor as women who have secret love companions. If after their marriage, they are guilty of gross immoral conduct, they shall be liable to half the penalty to which free women are liable. This provision applies to those of you who fear to stumble into sin. Yet it is better for you to be patient. God is Much- Forgiving, Merciful. |
| 4:26 | | God wants to make all this clear to you and to guide you in the [righteous] ways of life of those who have preceded you, and to turn to you in His mercy. God is All- Knowing, Wise. |
| 4:27 | | And God wants to turn to you in His mercy, while those who follow their lusts want you to go very far astray. |
| 4:28 | | God wants to lighten your burdens; for man has been created weak. |
| 4:29 | | Believers, do not devour each other's wealth illegally, unless it be through trade which you conduct by mutual consent. Do not kill yourselves, for God is merciful to you. |
| 4:30 | | Whoever does this with malicious intent and by way of willful wrongdoing, We shall make to suffer the Fire. That is very easy for God. |
| 4:31 | | If you avoid the most serious of what you are Forbidden, We will erase your bad deeds, and shall cause you to enter an abode of glory. (3 1 |
| 4:32 | | Do not covet the bounties God has bestowed more abundantly on some of you than on others. Men shall have a benefit of what they earn and women shall have a benefit of what they earn. Therefore, ask God to give you out of His bounty. God is a witness of everything. |
| 4:33 | | To everyone have We appointed heirs to property left by parents and relatives. As for those with whom you have made covenants give them their share. God is indeed witness to all things. |
| 4:34 | | Men shall take full care of women with the bounties with which God has favoured some of them more abundantly than others, and with what they may spend of their own wealth. The righteous women are devout, guarding the intimacy which God has ordained to be guarded. As for those women from whom you have reason to fear rebellion, admonish them [first]; then leave them alone in bed; then beat them. Then, if they pay you heed, do not seek any pretext to harm them. God is indeed Most High, Great. |
| 4:35 | | If you have reason to fear that a breach may occur between a (married) couple, appoint an arbiter from among his people and an arbiter from among her people. If they both want to set things aright, God will bring about their reconciliation. God is indeed All-Knowing, Aware of all things. |
| 4:36 | | Worship God alone and do not associate with Him any partners. Be kind to your parents and near of kin, to orphans, the needy, the neighbour who is related to you and the neighbour who is a stranger, the friend by your side, the wayfarer, and those whom your right hands possess. God does not love those who are arrogant and boastful; |
| 4:37 | | [nor] those who are niggardly and bid others to be niggardly, and conceal whatever God has bestowed on them of His bounty. We have prepared humiliating suffering for the unbelievers. |
| 4:38 | | And [God does not love] those who spend their wealth for the sake of ostentation, and do not believe in God and the Last Day. He who chooses Satan for a companion, an evil companion has he. |
| 4:39 | | What would they have to fear if they would only believe in God and the Last Day, and spend (for His sake) out of that with which He has provided them. Indeed God has full knowledge of them. |
| 4:40 | | Indeed God does not wrong anyone by as much as an atom's weight. And if there be a good deed, He will multiply it, and will bestow a great reward out of His grace. |
| 4:41 | | How will it be [on Judgement Day] when We shall bring a witness from every community, and call you as a witness against these people? |
| 4:42 | | Those who disbelieved and disobeyed God's Messenger will on that Day wish that the earth may swallow them. They shall be able to conceal nothing from God. |
| 4:43 | | Believers, do not attempt to pray when you are drunk, [but wait] until you know what you are saying; nor when you are in a state of ceremonial impurity, except if you are on your way, until you have bathed. But if you are ill, or travelling, or if one of you has come from the toilet, or if you have cohabited with a woman and can find no water, then have recourse to pure dust, passing therewith lightly over your faces and your hands. God is indeed Most Lenient, Much-Forgiving. |
| 4:44 | | Are you not aware of those who, having been granted a share of Divine revelations, now barter it away for error, and want you too to lose your way. |
| 4:45 | | But God knows best who are your enemies. God is sufficient for you as a patron, and God is sufficient to give succour. |
| 4:46 | | Among those of the Jewish faith there are some who take (revealed) words out of their context and say: “We have heard, but we disobey†and, “Hear; may you be bereft of hearing,†and, “Hearken to us.†Thus they distort the phrases with their tongues and imply that the true faith is false. Had they but said: “We have heard and we pay heed,†and “Hear us and have patience with us,†it would have been for their own good and more proper. God has rejected them for their disbelief. It is only a few of them that believe. |
| 4:47 | | O you who have been given revelations! Believe in what We have bestowed from on high confirming that which you already have, lest We obliterate faces and turn them backward, or We reject them as We rejected the Sabbath-breakers: for God's will is always done. |
| 4:48 | | God will never forgive that partners are associated with Him. He forgives any lesser sin to whomever He wills. He who associates partners with God indeed contrived an awesome sin. |
| 4:49 | | Are you aware of those who consider themselves pure? It is indeed God who causes whom He wills to grow in purity. None shall be wronged by as much as a hair's breadth. |
| 4:50 | | Behold how they fabricate lies against God. This is enough as an obvious sin [for anyone]. |
| 4:51 | | Are you not aware of those who, having been granted a share of Divine revelations, now believe in falsehood and arrogant deviation [from Divine faith], and they say to the unbelievers that they are better guided than the believers. |
| 4:52 | | These are the ones whom God has rejected; anyone whom God rejects shall find none to succour him. |
| 4:53 | | Have they, perchance, a share in (God's) dominion? If so, they would not give other people so much as [would fill] the groove of a date-stone. |
| 4:54 | | Do they, perchance, envy other people for what God has given them out of His bounty? We have indeed given revelation and wisdom to the House of Abraham, and We did bestow on them a mighty dominion. |
| 4:55 | | Some of them believe in him and some turn away from him. Sufficient scourge is the fire of Hell. |
| 4:56 | | Those who disbelieve in Our revelations We shall, in time, cause them to endure fire: every time their skins are burnt off, We shall replace them with new skins, so that they may taste suffering [in full]. God is indeed Almighty, Wise. |
| 4:57 | | but those who believe and do righteous deeds We shall admit into gardens through which running waters flow, where they shall abide beyond the count of time. There they shall have pure spouses, and We shall admit them into a cool, dense shade. |
| 4:58 | | God commands you to deliver whatever you have been entrusted with to their rightful owners, and whenever you judge between people, to judge with justice. Most excellent is what God exhorts you to do. God hears all and sees all. |
| 4:59 | | Believers, obey God and obey the Messenger and those from among you who have been entrusted with authority. If you are in dispute over anything, refer it to God and the Messenger, if you truly believe in God and the Last Day. This is the best [for you], and most suitable for final determination. |
| 4:60 | | Are you not aware of those who claim that they believe in what has been bestowed from on high upon you, as well as in what was bestowed from on high before you? They seek the judgement of false gods, although they are bidden to deny them. But Satan wants to lead them far astray. |
| 4:61 | | When it is said to them, “Come to that which God has bestowed from on high, and to the Messenger,†you see the hypocrites turn away from you with aversion. |
| 4:62 | | But how will it be when calamity befalls them [on the Day of Judgement] because of what their hands have done in this world? They would then come to you, swearing by God, “Our aim was but to do good, and to bring about harmony.†|
| 4:63 | | As for them — God knows all that is in their hearts. So leave them alone, and admonish them, and speak to them a word to reach their very souls. |
| 4:64 | | We have sent every messenger so that he should be obeyed by God's leave. If, when they have wronged themselves, they would but come to you and pray to God to forgive them, and the Messenger prayed for their forgiveness, they would surely find that God is the One who accepts repentance, Merciful. |
| 4:65 | | But no, by your Lord! They do not really believe unless they make you judge in all disputes between them, and then find in their hearts no bar to an acceptance of your decisions and give themselves up in total submission. |
| 4:66 | | Yet if We were to order them, “Lay down your lives,†or, “Forsake your homelands,†only a very few of them would do it; but if they would do what they are admonished to do, it would indeed be for their own good and apt to strengthen them greatly [in faith]. |
| 4:67 | | And We should indeed grant them, out of Our grace, a mighty reward, |
| 4:68 | | and indeed guide them along a straight path. |
| 4:69 | | All who obey God and the Messenger shall be among those upon whom God has bestowed His blessings: the prophets, and those who never deviate from the truth, and the martyrs and the righteous ones. How goodly a company are these! |
| 4:70 | | Such is God's bounty, and sufficient it is that God knows all. |
| 4:71 | | Believers, be fully prepared against danger, and go to war either in small groups or all together. |
| 4:72 | | There are indeed among you such as would lag behind, and then, if a calamity befalls you, say, “God has bestowed His favours upon me in that I was not present with them!†|
| 4:73 | | But if good fortune comes to you from God, he is sure to say —just as if there had never been any question of love between you and him — “Oh, would that I had been with them; I would surely have had a [share in a] mighty triumph.†|
| 4:74 | | Let them fight in God's cause — all who are willing to barter the life of this world for the life to come. To him who fights in God's cause, whether he be slain or be victorious, We shall grant a rich reward. |
| 4:75 | | And why should you not fight in the cause of God and the utterly helpless men, women and children who are crying, “Our Lord! Deliver us from this land whose people are oppressors, and send forth to us, out of Your grace, a protector, and send us one that will help us.†|
| 4:76 | | Those who believe fight in the cause of God, and those who reject the faith fight in the cause of evil. Fight, then, against the friends of Satan. Feeble indeed is the cunning of Satan. |
| 4:77 | | Are you not aware of those who have been told, “Hold back your hands [from fighting], and attend regularly to prayer, and pay your zakÄt [i.e. the purifying dues]â€? When, at length, the order for fighting was issued to them, some of them stood in awe of men as one should stand in awe of God — or in even greater awe — and said, “Our Lord! Why have You ordered us to fight? If only You had granted us a delay for a little while!†Say, “Brief is the enjoyment of this world, whereas the life to come is the best for all who are God-fearing. None of you shall be wronged by as much as a hair's breadth. |
| 4:78 | | Wherever you may be death will overtake you, even though you be in towers built up strong and high.†Yet, when a good thing happens to them, some [people] say, “This is from God,†whereas when evil befalls them, they say, “This is from you!†Say, “All is from God.†What is amiss with these people that they are in no wise near to grasping the truth of what they are told? |
| 4:79 | | Whatever good happens to you is from God; and whatever evil befalls you is from yourself. We have sent you as a Messenger to all mankind. Enough is God for a witness. |
| 4:80 | | He who obeys the Messenger obeys God thereby. As for those who turn away—We have not sent you to be their keeper. |
| 4:81 | | And they say, “We do obey you,†but when they leave you, some of them devise, in secret, something different from what you advocate. All the while God records what they thus devise in secret. Leave them, then, alone, and place your trust in God. Sufficient is God for a guardian. |
| 4:82 | | Will they not, then, try to understand the Qur'Än? Had it issued from any but God, they would surely have found in it many an inner contradiction! |
| 4:83 | | If any matter pertaining to peace or war comes to their knowledge, they make it known to all and sundry; whereas, if they would only refer it to the Messenger and to those from among them entrusted with authority, those of them who are engaged in obtaining intelligence would know it. Were it not for God's bounty to you, and His grace, all but a few of you would certainly have followed Satan. |
| 4:84 | | Fight, then, in God's cause, since you are responsible only for your own self, and encourage the believers. God may well curb the might of the unbelievers; for God is the strongest in might, and in the ability to deter. |
| 4:85 | | Whoever rallies to a good cause shall have a share in its [benefit], and whoever rallies to an evil cause shall have a share in its [burden]. God watches over everything. |
| 4:86 | | When a greeting is offered you, answer it with an even better greeting, or [at least] with its like. God keeps count of all things. |
| 4:87 | | God, save whom there is no deity, will surely gather you all together on the Day of Resurrection, which is sure to come, no doubt. Whose word could be truer than God's? |
| 4:88 | | How could you be divided into two groups concerning the hypocrites, when God Himself has cast them off because of their guilt? Do you seek to guide those whom God has let go astray? For him whom God lets go astray you can never find any way. |
| 4:89 | | They would love to see you disbelieve as they themselves disbelieve, so that you may be all alike. Do not, therefore, take them for your allies, until they migrate for God's cause. If they turn against you, then seize them and kill them wherever you may find them. Do not take any of them for your ally or supporter. |
| 4:90 | | Except in the case of those of them who have ties with people to whom you yourselves are bound by a covenant, or those who come to you because their hearts shrink from the thought of fighting you or fighting their own people. Had God so willed, He would have given them power over you, and they would have fought you. Therefore, if they leave you alone, and do not make war on you, and offer you peace, God has given you no way against them. |
| 4:91 | | You will find others who would like to be safe from you as well as to be safe from their own people. Whenever they are called back to sedition they plunge headlong into it. If they do not leave you alone, and do not offer you peace and do not stay their hands, seize them and kill them wherever you come upon them. Over these We have given you a clear authority. |
| 4:92 | | Never should a believer kill another believer, unless it be by mistake. He who kills a believer by mistake must free a believing soul from bondage and pay an indemnity to his family, unless they forego it by way of charity. If the victim belonged to a people who are at war with you, while he himself was a believer, then let his killer free a believing soul from bondage. If he (the victim) belonged to a people with whom you are bound by a covenant, then the penalty is an indemnity to be paid to his family and the freeing of a believing soul from bondage. He who cannot afford the wherewithal must fast for two consecutive months. This is the atonement ordained by God. God is All-Knowing, Wise. |
| 4:93 | | He who deliberately kills a believer his punishment is hell, therein to abide permanently. God will be angry with him, and will reject him, and will prepare for him a dreadful suffering |
| 4:94 | | Believers, when you go on an expedition to serve the cause of God, use your discernment and do not — out of a desire for the fleeting gains of this worldly life — say to one who offers you the greeting of peace: “You are not a believerâ€: for with God are abundant gains. Thus have you been in days gone by. But God has bestowed on you His grace. Therefore, use your discernment. Indeed God is always aware of what you do. |
| 4:95 | | Those of the believers who remain passive, other than the disabled, are not equal to those who strive hard in God's cause with their possessions and their lives. God has exalted those who strive hard with their possessions and their lives far above the ones who remain passive. To each God has promised the ultimate good, yet God has preferred those who strive hard over those who remain passive with a mighty reward: |
| 4:96 | | degrees of honour, forgiveness of sins and His grace. God is Much- Forgiving, Merciful. |
| 4:97 | | To those whom the angels gather in death while they are still wronging themselves, the angels will say: “What were you doing?†They will answer: “We were oppressed on earth.†(The angels) will say: “Was not God's earth so spacious that you might have migrated to settle elsewhere?†Such will have their abode in Hell, a certainly evil end. |
| 4:98 | | Excepted are the men, women, and children who, being truly helpless, can devise nothing and can find no way. |
| 4:99 | | These God may well pardon, then, for God is indeed most Lenient, Much-Forgiving. |
| 4:100 | | Anyone who migrates for God's cause will find on earth many places for refuge and great abundance. He who leaves his home, fleeing from evil unto God and His Messenger, and is then overtaken by death, his reward is reserved for him with God. God is Much-Forgiving, Merciful. |
| 4:101 | | When you go forth on earth, you will incur no sin by shortening your prayers, if you have reason to fear that the unbelievers may cause you affliction. Truly, the unbelievers are your sworn enemies. |
| 4:102 | | When you are with the believers and about to lead them in prayer, let one group of them stand up with you, holding on to their weapons. Then, after they have prostrated themselves, let them be behind you, while the other group, who have not yet prayed, shall come forward and pray with you, and let these be on their guard, holding on to their weapons. The unbelievers would love to see you oblivious of your weapons and your equipment, so that they might swoop on you with one assault. But it is no offence for you to lay down your arms [while you pray] if you are bothered by heavy rain, or suffering from illness; but you must always be on your guard. God has prepared humiliating suffering for the unbelievers. |
| 4:103 | | And when you have performed your prayers, remember God standing, sitting, and lying down. When you are again secure, observe your prayers [fully]. Indeed, prayer is a time- related duty, binding on all believers. |
| 4:104 | | Do not be faint of heart when you seek out the [enemy] host. If you happen to suffer pain, they also suffer pain as you do; while you hope to receive from God what they can never hope for. God is indeed All-Knowing, Wise. |
| 4:105 | | We have bestowed this book on you from on high, setting forth the truth, so that you may judge between people in accordance with what God has taught you. Hence, do not contend with those who betray their trust. |
| 4:106 | | Seek God's forgiveness, for God is indeed Much-Forgiving, Merciful. |
| 4:107 | | And do not argue on behalf of those who are false to their own selves. Indeed God does not love those who betray their trust and persist in sinful action. |
| 4:108 | | They conceal their doings from men, but they cannot conceal them from God; for He is present with them when, in the darkness of the night, they agree all manner of sayings which displease Him. God certainly encompasses [with His knowledge] whatever they do. |
| 4:109 | | You may well argue on their behalf in the life of this world, but who is there to argue on their behalf with God on the Day of Resurrection, or who will be their advocate? |
| 4:110 | | He who does evil or wrongs his own soul, and then prays to God to forgive him, shall find God Much-Forgiving, Merciful. |
| 4:111 | | For he who commits a sin, does so to his own hurt. God is indeed All-Knowing, Wise. |
| 4:112 | | But he who commits a fault or a sin and then throws the blame therefore on an innocent person, burdens himself with both falsehood and a flagrant sin. |
| 4:113 | | But for God's grace to you and His mercy, some of them would indeed endeavour to lead you astray. Yet none but themselves do they lead astray. Nor can they harm you in any way. It is God who has bestowed this book on you from on high and given you wisdom, and has taught you what you did not know. God's favour on you is great indeed. |
| 4:114 | | No good comes out of much of their secret talks; except for one who enjoins charity, or justice, or setting things right between people. To him who does this out of a longing for God's goodly acceptance We shall in time grant a rich reward. |
| 4:115 | | But as for him who, after guidance has been plainly conveyed to him, puts himself in contention with God's Messenger and follows a path other than that of the believers — him shall We leave to that which he himself has chosen, and shall cause him to endure hell. How evil a journey's end. |
| 4:116 | | For a certainty, God does not forgive that partners should be associated with Him, but He forgives any lesser sin to whomever He wills. He who associates partners with God has indeed gone far astray. |
| 4:117 | | In His stead, they invoke only lifeless symbols — thus invoking none but a rebellious Satan, |
| 4:118 | | whom God has rejected, for he had said: “Of Your servants I shall indeed take my due share, |
| 4:119 | | and shall certainly lead them astray, and fill them with vain desires; and I shall command them — and they will slit the ears of cattle [in idolatrous sacrifice]; and I shall command them — and they will corrupt God's creation.†But all who take Satan rather than God for their master do incur a manifest loss. |
| 4:120 | | He [i.e. Satan] holds out promises to them, and fills them with vain desires, but whatever Satan promises is meant only to deceive them. |
| 4:121 | | Such as these shall have Hell as their dwelling place. They shall find no way to escape from it. |
| 4:122 | | Yet those who believe and do righteous deeds We shall bring into gardens through which running waters flow, wherein they will abide beyond the count of time. This is, in truth, God's promise. Whose word could be truer than God's? |
| 4:123 | | It may not accord with your wishful thinking, nor with the wishful thinking of the people of earlier revelations. He who does evil shall be requited for it, and shall find none to protect him from God, and none to bring him support. |
| 4:124 | | But anyone, be it man or woman, who does good deeds and is a believer, shall enter paradise and shall not suffer the least injustice. |
| 4:125 | | Who could be of better faith than he who surrenders himself completely to God, does what is good, and follows the creed of Abraham, who turned away from all that is false? For God has taken Abraham for a friend. |
| 4:126 | | To God belongs all that is in the heavens and the earth; and indeed God encompasses everything. |
| 4:127 | | They ask you for rulings concerning women. Say, God [Himself] gives you His rulings concerning them, as well as what is conveyed to you through this Book about orphan women whom you deny what has been assigned to them, and you are disinclined to marry them; and concerning helpless children, and about your duty to treat orphans with fairness. Whatever good you may do, God knows it fully. |
| 4:128 | | If a woman has reason to fear ill- treatment or desertion by her husband, it shall not be wrong for the two of them if they should try to set things peacefully to rights between them; for peace is best. Avarice is ever-present in human souls. If you act with kindness and are God-fearing, surely God is aware of all that you do. |
| 4:129 | | In no way can you maintain equity between your wives, even though you may be keen to do so. Do not, then, be totally partial towards one to the exclusion of the other, leaving her, as it were, in a state of suspense. If you put things to rights and are God-fearing, God is indeed Much-Forgiving, Merciful. |
| 4:130 | | But if the two separate, God shall provide for each of them out of His abundance: God is indeed Munificent, Wise. |
| 4:131 | | To God belongs all that is in the heavens and all that is on earth. We have indeed enjoined those who were granted revelations before your time, as well as yourselves, to always be God- fearing. If you disbelieve, know that to God belongs all that is in the heavens and all that is on earth. God is Self-Sufficient, Praiseworthy. |
| 4:132 | | And to God belongs all that is in the heavens and all that is on earth. God is your All-Sufficient Guardian. |
| 4:133 | | If He so wills, He can take you, mankind, and replace you by others. This He surely has the power to do. |
| 4:134 | | If anyone desires the rewards of this world, let him remember that with God are the rewards of this world and those of the life to come. God is indeed All- Hearing, All- Seeing. |
| 4:135 | | Believers! Be ever steadfast in upholding equity, bearing witness to the truth for the sake of God, even though it be against yourselves, or your parents and kin. Whether the person concerned be rich or poor, God's claim takes precedence over [the claims of] either of them. Do not, then, follow your own desires, lest you swerve from justice. If you distort [the truth] or decline to do justice, then [know that] God is indeed aware of all that you do. |
| 4:136 | | Believers! Do believe in God and His Messenger, and in the Book which He has bestowed from on high upon His Messenger, and in the Book which He sent down in earlier times. Anyone who denies God, His angels, His revealed books, His messengers, and the Last Day has indeed gone far astray. |
| 4:137 | | Those who come to believe, then reject faith, and again come to believe, and again reject the faith, and thereafter grow hardened in their disbelief, God will not forgive them, nor will He guide them in anyway. |
| 4:138 | | Happily announce to the hypocrites that grievous suffering awaits them. |
| 4:139 | | They are those who take unbelievers for their allies in preference to believers. Is it honour they seek among them? Indeed all honour belongs to God. |
| 4:140 | | Already has He enjoined upon you in this Book that whenever you hear people deny the truth of God's revelations and mock at them, you shall avoid their company until they talk on some other theme; or else, you will indeed become like them. Indeed, God will gather both the hypocrites and the unbelievers together in hell. |
| 4:141 | | [Hypocrites are] those who wait and watch what happens to you: if triumph comes to you from God, they say: “Were we not on your side?†But if the unbelievers gain a success, they say [to them]: “Have we not earned your affection by defending you against those believers?†It is God who will judge between you all on the Day of Resurrection. Never will God allow the unbelievers a way [to win a complete triumph] over the believers. |
| 4:142 | | The hypocrites seek to deceive God, the while it is He who causes them to be deceived [by themselves]. When they rise to pray, they rise reluctantly, only to be seen by people, remembering God but seldom, |
| 4:143 | | wavering between this and that, [true] neither to these nor to those. For him whom God lets go astray you can never find any way. |
| 4:144 | | Believers! Do not take the unbelievers for your allies in preference to the believers. Do you want to place before God a manifest proof against yourselves? |
| 4:145 | | The hypocrites will be in the lowest depth of the fire, and you will find none who can give them support. |
| 4:146 | | Excepted shall be those who repent, live righteously, hold fast to God, and are more sincere in their faith in God. These shall be with the believers. God will in time grant a splendid reward for the believers. |
| 4:147 | | What can God gain by your punishment, if you are grateful and you believe? God is always responsive to gratitude, All- Knowing. |
| 4:148 | | God does not love evil to be spoken openly unless it be by someone who has been truly wronged. God hears all and knows all. |
| 4:149 | | Whether you do good openly or in private, or pardon others for evil (done against you), God indeed absolves sin and He is Powerful. |
| 4:150 | | Those who deny God and His messengers, and want to make a distinction between [belief in] God and [belief in] His messengers, and say: “We believe in some but we deny othersâ€, and want to pursue a path in- between |
| 4:151 | | those, in truth, are unbelievers. We have prepared for unbelievers humiliating suffering. |
| 4:152 | | As for those who believe in God and His messengers and make no distinction between any of them — to them He will give their reward. God is indeed Much- Forgiving, Merciful. |
| 4:153 | | The people of earlier revelations ask you to have a book sent down to them from heaven. They asked Moses for something even greater than that, when they said: “Make us see God with our own eyesâ€. The thunderbolt smote them for this their wrongdoing. After that, they took to worshipping the calf, even after clear evidence of the truth had come to them. Yet We pardoned them that, and We gave Moses clear authority. |
| 4:154 | | We raised Mount Sinai high above them in witness of their solemn pledge. And We said to them: “Enter the gate, prostrating yourselvesâ€; and We also told them: “Do not break the Sabbath-lawâ€; and We received from them a most solemn pledge. |
| 4:155 | | And so, [We punished them] for the breaking of their pledge, their disbelief in God's revelations, their killing of prophets against all right, and for their boast, “Our hearts are closed.†Indeed God sealed their hearts on account of their disbelief. As a result they have no faith except for a few of them. |
| 4:156 | | And for their disbelief and the monstrous calumny they utter against Mary, |
| 4:157 | | and their boast: “We have killed the Christ Jesus, son of Mary, God's Messenger.†They did not kill him, and neither did they crucify him, but it only seemed to them [as if it had been] so. Those who hold conflicting views about him are indeed confused, having no real knowledge about it, and following mere conjecture. For, of a certainty, they did not kill him. |
| 4:158 | | No! God raised him up to Himself. God is indeed Almighty, Wise. |
| 4:159 | | There is not one of the people of earlier revelations but will, at the moment of his death, believe in him, and on the Day of Resurrection he will bear witness to the truth against them. |
| 4:160 | | So, then, for the wrongdoing of the Jews did We forbid them some of the good things of life which had been formerly allowed to them; and, indeed for their turning away often from God's path, |
| 4:161 | | and for their taking usury although it had been forbidden to them, and their wrongful devouring of other people's property. We have prepared for the unbelievers among them grievous suffering. |
| 4:162 | | Yet those of them who are versed in knowledge, and the believers, do believe in what is bestowed upon you from on high and that which was bestowed from on high before you. These are the ones who attend to their prayers and spend in charity, and who believe in God and the Last Day. To these We shall give a great reward. |
| 4:163 | | We have sent revelations to you just as We did send revelations to Noah and the prophets after him; as We sent revelations to Abraham, Ishmael, Isaac, Jacob and their descendants, Jesus, Job, Jonah, Aaron and Solomon, and as We vouchsafed to David a Book of Divine wisdom, |
| 4:164 | | and as [We inspired other] messengers whom We have mentioned to you previously, as well as other messengers whom We have not mentioned to you. And God has spoken His word directly to Moses. |
| 4:165 | | [These] were messengers sent to bring good news and to give warning, so that people may have no argument against God once these messengers (had come). God is Almighty, Wise. |
| 4:166 | | However it be, God [Himself] bears witness to the truth of what He has bestowed from on high to you: with His knowledge He bestowed it from on high; and the angels also bear witness to that; although God is sufficient as a witness. |
| 4:167 | | Those who disbelieve and debar others from the way of God have indeed gone far astray. |
| 4:168 | | Those who disbelieve and persist in wrongdoing will find that God will never forgive them, nor will He guide them onto any road, |
| 4:169 | | except the road to hell, wherein they will abide beyond the count of time. That is indeed easy for God. |
| 4:170 | | Mankind, the messenger has now come to you with the truth from your Lord. Believe, then, for it is better for you. But if you disbelieve, know that to God belongs all that is in the heavens and all that is on earth. God is indeed All-Knowing, Wise. |
| 4:171 | | People of earlier revelations! Do not overstep the bounds [of truth] in your religious beliefs, and do not say about God anything but the truth. The Christ Jesus, son of Mary, was no more than a messenger from God and His Word which He gave to Mary and a soul from Him. So believe in God and His messengers and do not say, “[God is] a trinity!†Desist, for that will be better for you. God is only One God. Infinite He is in His Glory! [To imagine] that He may have a son! To Him belongs all that is in the heavens and all that is on earth. Sufficient is God as a guardian. |
| 4:172 | | Never did the Christ feel too proud to be God's servant, nor do the angels who are near to Him. Those who feel too proud to worship Him and glory in their arrogance will He gather all together before Himself; |
| 4:173 | | then, to those who believe and do good deeds, He will grant their reward in full, and will give them yet more out of His bounty; while those who feel too proud and glory in their arrogance He will cause to suffer a grievous punishment. They shall find none to protect them from God and none to bring them any help. |
| 4:174 | | Mankind, a clear proof has now come to you from your Lord, and We have sent down to you a glorious light. |
| 4:175 | | Those who believe in God and hold fast to Him, will He surely admit to His mercy and grace, and will guide them to Himself along a straight path. |
| 4:176 | | They will ask you for a verdict. Say, God Himself gives you His ruling concerning [inheritance from] a person who leaves no heir in the direct line. If a man dies childless and has a sister, she shall inherit one-half of what he has left, just as he shall inherit all her [property] if she dies childless. But if there are two sisters, they shall both together have two-thirds of whatever he has left; and if there are brothers and sisters, then the male shall have the equal of two females' share. God makes all this clear to you, lest you go astray; and God knows everything. |
