forbidden to you,
unless driven by need?
But many lead people astray
by indulging their desires
without knowledge—
God knows best
those who transgress.
120Avoid sin, open or secret;
those who reap sin shall be rewarded
for all that they wrought.
121Avoid eating animals over which
God’s name has not been invoked,
for that is willful disobedience.
Yet the demons are always inciting
their disciples to dispute with you;
but if you should heed them,
you too will be polytheists.
SECTION 15
122Can a dead person, to whom
We gave life—and a light by which
to walk among people—be compared
to someone mired in darkness,
unable to emerge from its depth?
This is how the unbelievers’ deeds
seem fair in their own eyes.
123In this way, We placed in every city
prominent criminals, to contrive
their plots there; yet they merely plot
against themselves—unwittingly.
124When any sign comes to them
they say, “We’ll never believe
until we’re given a sign like those
given to the messengers of God.”
God knows best where to place
His message. Those who do wrong
shall face humiliation before God,
and severe torment for their plotting.
125God opens the hearts of those
He would guide—to submit to Him,°
and He tightens and constricts
the hearts of those He would let stray,
as though they were climbing toward
the sky. This is how God mires
the disbelievers in their own squalor.
126This is the path of your Lord,
made straight—We have explained
the signs to people who take heed.
127They shall have a home of peace
with their Lord; in view of their deeds,
He shall be their Protector.
128On the day He gathers them all,
saying, “Assembly of jinn, you led
many humans astray,” their allies
among humankind will say,
“Our Lord, some of us profited
from others, and now we reach
your appointed term for us.”
He will say, “The fire is your home
forever—unless God wills otherwise.”
Your Lord is All Wise, All Knowing.
129And so We make the wrongdoers
friends of one another, for the deeds
they reaped together.
SECTION 16
130“All you jinn and humankind!
Did messengers not come to you,
from among you, reciting My signs,
and warning you of the meeting
with God on this day of yours?”
They will reply,
“We bear witness against ourselves.”
The life of this world deluded them,
and they do bear witness
against themselves—
that they were disbelievers.
131So [messengers were sent], for
your Lord would not destroy towns
unjustly, while their people
were unaware of the truth.
132All people are ranked
by their deeds;
your Lord is not unaware
of what they do.
133Your Lord is Self-Sufficient,
Full of Mercy; if He wished,
He could displace you with
whichever successors He would—
just as He raised you
from the offspring of another people.
134All that has been promised you
shall come—you shall not escape.
135Say, “My people, go on
behaving as you are,° as will I.
Soon, you shall know whose end
is best in the home of the hereafter;
the wrongdoers shall not prosper.”
136They assign to God a share
of the crops and cattle He created,
claiming, “This is for God,
and this is for our idols.”
But their idols’ share does not
reach God, while God’s share does
reach their idols. How iniquitous
is their judgment!
137Likewise, their idols
made the polytheists think that
killing their children was fine—
to ruin them, and to confuse them
in their religion.
Had God wished, they would not
have done this. So leave them—
with their fabrications.
138And they claim,
“These cattle and crops are forbidden;
only those we allow may eat them.”
There are some cattle that they
don’t allow to be yoked,
and others that they slaughter
without invoking the name of God—
imputing such invented rules to Him.
Soon He shall requite them
for their inventions.
139They say, “The newborn
from these cattle is only for our men
and forbidden to our women.
But if it is stillborn,
they may share in it.”
Soon shall God requite them
for their imputations.
He is All Wise, All Knowing.
140The losers will be those
who kill their children in folly,
without knowledge, and forbid
the food God has provided,
inventing lies about God—
they are astray, without guidance.
SECTION 17
141It is He Who brings out gardens,
trellised and untrellised, the date palm,
crops that are various in taste, the olive,
and the pomegranate, alike yet diverse.
Eat of their fruit when they bear fruit,
and give what is due on harvest day,
but do not be wasteful, for God
dislikes those who are wasteful.
142Some cattle are for burden,
others for meat. Eat of what
God has provided for you, and do not
follow in the footsteps of Satan,
for he is your avowed enemy.
143God gave you eight animals
in pairs: two sheep and two goats.
Say, “Has He forbidden
the two males or the two females
or the young in the wombs
of the two females?
Inform me—from your knowledge—
if you are speaking the truth.”
144And two camels and two cows.
Say, “Has He forbidden
the two males or the two females
or the young in the wombs
of the two females?
Were you witnesses when God
commanded you to do this?
Who does more wrong than someone
who invents lies about God,
to lead people astray,
without knowledge?
God does not guide
a people who do wrong.”
SECTION 18
145Say, “In the revelation to me
I do not find any food forbidden
except carrion, flowing blood
or the flesh of swine—for it is foul—
or animals over which a name other
than God’s was profanely invoked.
But if someone is compelled
by hunger, without intending to sin
or transgress—God is Forgiving,
Ever Merciful.
146And for the Jews, We forbade
every animal with claws, the fat
of cows and sheep except what is
on their backs or in their entrails
or attached to bones.
This is how We requited them
for their defiance—
and We speak only the truth.
147If they deny you, say,
“The mercy of your Lord is wide,
but His wrath cannot be turned back
from wicked people.”
148Those who ascribe partners to God
will say, “If God had wished it,
we would not have ascribed partners,
nor forbidden anything.”
Likewise, those before them denied
until they tasted Our wrath.
Say, “What knowledge can you
produce for us? You follow
nothing but conjecture
and do nothing but speculate.”
149Say, “The conclusive argument
is God’s—had He wished,
He would have guided all of you.”
150Say, “Bring out your witnesses
who testify that God forbade this.”
And if they testify,
don’t testify with them,
and don’t follow the desires of those
who deny Our signs, and those
who don’t believe in the hereafter,
for they set up equals with their Lord.
SECTION 19
151Say, “Come, I will recite to you
what your Lord has forbidden you:
don’t associate anything with him,
be kind to parents, and
don’t kill your children out of want;
We shall provide for you and them.
And stay clear of indecency,
either open or concealed;
and do not take life
—that God has made sacred—
except with just cause.
This is what He enjoins you to—
that you might use reason.
152“Stay clear of an orphan’s property
except with the best intentions,
until they reach maturity;
give full measure and weight, justly
—We do not burden any soul
beyond its capacity—
and when you speak, be fair,
even if it is with a relative,
and fulfill God’s covenant.
This is what He enjoins you to—
that you might take heed.
153“And this is My path, straight, so
follow it and don’t follow other ways
for they will cleave you from His way.
This is what He enjoins you to—
that you might be mindful of Him.”
154We gave Moses the Book,
perfecting Our favor to those
who do good, explaining all things—
a guide and a mercy—that they might
believe in the meeting with their Lord.
SECTION 20
155This also is a blessèd Book
that We have revealed, so follow it,
and be mindful of God,
that you might be shown mercy—
156in case you say,
“The Book was revealed only
to two communities before us,
and we were unaware
of what they studied.”
157Or in case you say,
“If only the Book had been revealed
to us, we should have been
better guided than them.”
But now there has come to you
clear proof, guidance, and mercy
from your Lord.
Who does more wrong than someone
who denies the signs of God, and
turns away from them?
We shall requite those who
turn away from Our signs
with a dreadful punishment.°
158Are they waiting to see
if the angels come to them,
or your Lord Himself,
or some of His signs?
The day such signs° come,
it shall not help any soul
to have faith in them
if it had no faith before,
nor reaped any good
by its faith. Say, “Wait—
we too are waiting.”
159As for those who divide
their religion into sects—
have nothing to do with them;
their case is with God, and He will
inform them of what they’ve done.
160Whoever does a good deed
shall reap its reward ten times;
and whoever does a bad deed,
shall reap the reward for it alone;
and they shall not be wronged.
161Say, “My Lord has guided me
to a straight path, an upright religion,
the creed of Abraham, pure in faith,
who was not a polytheist.”
162Say, “My prayer, my sacrifice,
my life and my death, are all for God,
Lord of the universe.
163“He has no partner—
this is what I am commanded to,
and I am the first
to submit my will to Him.”
164Say, “Shall I seek as Lord
something other than God, when He
is Lord of all things?”
Each soul reaps the reward
only of its own deeds; and no soul
shall bear the burden of another.
Then, you shall return to your Lord
and He shall inform you of the things
over which you differed.
165He Who made you
regents on the earth, and
He raised some of you above others
in rank, that He might test you
through what He has given you.
Your Lord is Swift in Retribution,
yet He is Forgiving, Ever Merciful.

SURA 7
The Heights (Al-Aʿraf)
Also late Meccan, this sura of 206 verses was revealed before the preceding sura but the Heights, mentioned in v. 46, is likely included after the sura called “Cattle” since it develops similar topics about God’s Oneness and the need for human obedience to divine messengers. The history of earlier prophets, from Noah to Hud, Salih, Lot, and Shuʿayb, anticipates the long section on Moses (vv. 103–71). There is a central reference to the Beautiful Names (v. 180) that underscores the enduring human need to remember God and seek refuge from Satan, as also to seek repentance and forgiveness.
In the Name of God, the All Merciful, Ever Merciful
SECTION 1
1Alif. Lam. Mim. Sad.°
2A Book is revealed to you, Prophet
—don’t let it disquiet your heart—
that you might use to warn
and remind the believers.
3People, follow what is revealed
to you from your Lord, and
follow no protector but Him—
how little you pay heed!
4See how many towns We destroyed,
Our wrath falling upon them
by night or while they slept at noon!
5Their only cry, when Our wrath
fell upon them, was
“Yes, we did wrong.”
6We shall question those
to whom Our message was sent—
and