141 The [hypocrites] wait to see what happens to you and, if God brings you success, they say, ‘Were we not on your side?’ but if the disbelievers have some success, they say to them, ‘Did we not have the upper hand over you, and [yet] protect you from the believers?’ God will judge between you all on the Day of Resurrection, and He will give the disbelievers no means of overcoming the believers.
142 The hypocrites try to deceive God, but it is He who causes them to be deceived. When they stand up to pray, they do so sluggishly, showing off in front of people, and remember God only a little, 143 wavering all the time between this and that, belonging neither to one side nor the other. If God leaves someone to stray, you [Prophet] will never find a way for him. 144 You who believe, do not take the disbelievers as allies and protectors instead of the believers: do you want to offer God clear proof against you? 145 The hypocrites will be in the lowest depths of Hell, and you will find no one to help them. 146 Not so those who repent, mend their ways, hold fast to God, and devote their religion entirely to Him: these will be joined with the believers, and God will give the believers a mighty reward. 147 Why should God make you suffer torment if you are thankful and believe in Him? God always rewards gratitude and He knows everything. 148 God does not like bad words to be made public unless someone has been wronged: He is all hearing and all knowing. 149 If you do good, openly or in secret, or if you pardon something bad, [a] then God is most forgiving and powerful.
150 As for those who ignore God and His messengers and want to make a distinction between them, saying, ‘We believe in some but not in others,’ seeking a middle way, 151 they are really disbelievers: We have prepared a humiliating punishment for those who disbelieve. 152 But God will give [due] rewards to those who believe in Him and His messengers and make no distinction between any of them. God is most forgiving and merciful.
153 The People of the Book demand that you [Prophet] make a book physically come down to them from heaven, but they demanded even more than that of Moses when they said, ‘Show us God face to face,’ and were struck by the thunderbolt for their presumption. Even after clear revelations had come down to them, they took the calf as an object of worship, yet We pardoned this, and gave Moses clear authority; 154 We made the mountain tower high above them at their pledge; We said to them, ‘Enter the gate [b] humbly,’ and, ‘Do not break the Sabbath,’ and took a solemn pledge from them. 155 And so for breaking their pledge, for rejecting God’s revelations, for unjustly killing their prophets, for saying ‘Our minds are closed’ [c] – No! God has sealed them in their disbelief, so they believe only a little– 156 and because they disbelieved and uttered a terrible slander against Mary, 157 and said, ‘We have killed the Messiah, Jesus, son of Mary, the Messenger of God.’ (They did not kill him, nor did they crucify him, though it was made to appear like that to them; those that disagreed about him are full of doubt, with no knowledge to follow, only supposition: they certainly did not kill him– 158 God raised him up to Himself. God is almighty and wise. 159 There is not one of the People of the Book who will not believe in [Jesus] before his death, and on the Day of Resurrection he will be a witness against them.) 160 For the wrongdoings done by the Jews, We forbade them certain good things that had been permitted to them before: for having frequently debarred others from God’s path; 161 for taking usury when they had been forbidden to do so; and for wrongfully devouring other people’s property. For those of them that reject the truth we have prepared an agonizing torment. 162 But those of them who are well grounded in knowledge and have faith do believe in what has been revealed to you [Muhammad], and in what was revealed before you– those who perform the prayers, pay the prescribed alms, and believe in God and the Last Day– to them We shall give a great reward.
Jesus was a Messenger
163 We have sent revelation to you [Prophet] as We did to Noah and the prophets after him, to Abraham, Ishmael, Isaac, Jacob, and the Tribes, to Jesus, Job, Jonah, Aaron, and Solomon– to David We gave the book [of Psalms]– 164 to other messengers We have already mentioned to you, and also to some We have not. To Moses God spoke directly. 165 They were messengers bearing good news and warning, so that mankind would have no excuse before God, once the messengers had been sent: God is almighty and all wise. 166 But God Himself bears witness to what He has sent down to you– He sent it down with His full knowledge– the angels too bear witness, though God is sufficient witness. 167 Those who have disbelieved and barred others from God’s path have gone far astray; 168 God will not forgive those who have disbelieved and do evil, nor will He guide them to any path 169 except that of Hell, where they will remain for ever– this is easy for God.
170 The Messenger has come to you [people] with the truth from your Lord, so believe– that is best for you– for even if you disbelieve, all that is in the heavens and the earth still belongs to God, and He is all knowing and all wise. 171 People of the Book, do not go to excess in your religion, and do not say anything about God except the truth: the Messiah, Jesus, son of Mary, was nothing more than a messenger of God, His word, directed to Mary, a spirit from Him. So believe in God and His messengers and do not speak of a ‘Trinity’– stop [this], that is better for you– God is only one God, He is far above having a son, everything in the heavens and earth belongs to Him and He is the best one to trust. 172 The Messiah would never disdain to be a servant of God, nor would the angels who are close to Him. He will gather before Him all those who disdain His worship and are arrogant: 173 to those who believe and do good works He will give due rewards and more of His bounty; to those who are disdainful and arrogant He will give an agonizing torment, and they will find no one besides God to protect or help them.
174 People, convincing proof has come to you from your Lord and We have sent a clear light down to you. 175 God will admit those who believe in Him and hold fast to Him into His mercy and favor; He will guide them towards Him on a straight path.
176 They ask you [Prophet] for a ruling. Say, ‘God gives you a ruling [d] about inheritance from someone who dies childless with no surviving parents. If a man leaves a sister, she is entitled to half of the inheritance; if she has no child her brother is her sole heir; if there are two sisters, they are entitled to two-thirds of the inheritance between them, but if there are surviving brothers and sisters, the male is entitled to twice the share of the female. God makes this clear to you so that you do not make mistakes: He has full knowledge of everything.’
Footnotes
a. Razi suggests that this means: if the hypocrites repent, the believers should not taunt them for what they did in the past.
b. The gate of the town mentioned in 2: 58; 7: 161.
c. Literally ‘our hearts are covered’, or ‘encased’. Cf. 2: 88.
d. See also verse 12.
The Qur'an (Oxford World's Classics)
The Qur'an / a new translation by M. A. S. Abdel Haleem, copyright © 2004 Oxford World's Classics (Oxford University Press). Used by permission. All rights reserved.