and not to expose their adornment
beyond what normally shows;
to draw their scarves over
their bosoms, and not to show
their adornment, except
to their husbands, their fathers,
their husbands’ fathers,
their sons, their stepsons,
brothers, brothers’ or sisters’ sons,
their women and their servants,
their male attendants freed of desire,°
and children who are oblivious
of women’s nakedness.
Tell them not to stamp their feet
to flaunt their hidden adornments.°
And believers, all: turn toward God,
repenting, that you might prosper.
32Marry those who are single
among you, and the righteous
among your male and female slaves;
if they are poor, God will enrich them
from His grace, for God
is Expansive, All Knowing.
33Let those without the means to marry
keep chaste until God
enriches them from His grace.
Give a written contract of freedom
to those of your slaves who seek this
if you see some good in them,
and give them some of the wealth
God has given you.
Don’t force your maids
into prostitution° if they want
to be chaste, just for the gain
of this worldly life.
If anyone does compel them,
God is Forgiving, Ever Merciful.
34We revealed to you clear signs,
and a parable of those who passed
before you—an admonition
for those who are mindful of God.
SECTION 5
35God is the Light°
of the heavens and of the earth;
His Light is a parable,
of a niche which holds a lamp,
the lamp enclosed in a glass,
the glass which glows like a gleaming star,
lit from an olive tree, blessed;
whose soil is neither East nor West;°
its very oil would shine forth
though untouched by fire:
Light upon Light.
God guides to His Light whom He will;
He strikes parables for humankind—
for God is Knower of all things.
36His Light abides in houses,
sanctified by God to be raised high,
where His Name is remembered.
There is He glorified, morning and evening,
37by men whom neither trade
nor profit can divert
from remembrance of God
or steadfastness in prayer,
and giving of charity;
whose sole fear is for the day
when hearts and vision
are upturned,°
38when God rewards their best deeds
giving ever more from His grace,
for God furnishes without measure
those whom He will.
39But behold the unbelievers—
their deeds are like a mirage
in the burning desert:
the parched man’s eyes see
water in the distance; approaching,
he finds nothing; beside him,
he finds God, before Whom
he must answer—and God
is Swift in Reckoning.
40Or, like darkness
on a fathomless sea,
wave upon wave, overcast by cloud:
darkness upon darkness;
if a man stretch out his hand,
he can scarce see it.
For one deprived of God’s Light
there is no light.
SECTION 6
41Do you not see that all praise God—
all in the heavens and earth,
like the birds with wings spread wide?
Each creature knows its prayer,
its mode of praise;
and God Knows all that they do.
42To God belongs dominion
of the heavens and the earth, and
to God is the final destination.
43Do you not see that God
drives the clouds, then gathers them
together, then amasses them
into heaps until you see
rain burst forth from their midst?
From these mountains
in the sky He sends down
hail, striking with it
whom He will, and averting it
from whom He will; the flash
of His lightning almost
blinds the eyes.
44God alternates night and day—
in all this is a lesson
for those with sight.
45God created every animal from water.
Some crawl on their bellies,
some walk on two legs, some on four.
God creates what He will—
God has Power over all things.
46We have revealed clear signs;
and God guides whom He will
to a straight path.
47They say, “We believe
in God and in the Prophet,
and we obey.” But afterward,
some of them turn away—
they are not believers.
48And when they are summoned
to God and His messenger
so He might judge between them,
some of them turn aside.
49But if they presume they are right,
they hurry to him, abject.
50Is there a disease in their hearts?
Or are they in doubt?
Or do they fear that God and
His messenger will be unjust to them?
No—they are the wrongdoers.
SECTION 7
51When believers are summoned
to God and His messenger
so he might judge between them,
their only response is,
“We hear and we obey”—
those are the ones who will flourish.
52Those who obey God
and His messenger, fear God
and are mindful of Him—
those are the ones who will triumph.
53They swear their solemn oaths
by God, promising that
if you commanded them,
they would march out.
Say, “Do not swear;
but offer due obedience.
God is Aware of all that you do.”
54Say, “Obey God, and obey
the messenger. But if you turn away,
know that he is liable
only for the duty placed on him,
and you for the duty placed on you.
If you obey him, you will be guided;
the messenger’s only task is
to convey the message clearly.”
55God has promised those of you
who believe and do good deeds
that He will make you inherit
the land, as He did with those
before you. And He will establish
the religion He has favored for them,
and replace their fear with security:
They shall worship me, and not
associate anything with me.
Those who deny after this
are the disobedient ones.
56Be steadfast, then, in prayer,
and give in charity,
and obey the messenger,
so you might be shown mercy.
57Do not think that
the unbelievers shall escape
God on earth; their home
is the fire—a wretched end.
SECTION 8
58You who believe, let your slaves
and those yet to reach puberty
ask your permission before they enter
at these three times:
before the dawn prayer,
when you undress at midday,
and after the evening prayer—
these are your three times of privacy.
At other times, there is no blame
upon you or upon them
if you move around one another freely.
In this way, God makes clear for you
His signs—God is Knowing, Wise.
59But when the children among you
reach puberty, let them also seek
permission, like others before them.
In this way, God makes clear for you
His signs—God is Knowing, Wise.
60There is no blame on elder women
beyond the age of childbearing,°
if they take off their outer robes,
without flaunting their adornments;
but if they refrain, that is better
for them—God is Hearing, Knowing.
61No blame will fall upon
the blind, the lame, the sick, nor
upon yourselves, if you eat
in your own houses, or the houses
of your fathers or the houses
of your mothers, or the houses of
your brothers or sisters, or of
your paternal uncles and aunts,
your maternal uncles and aunts,
or houses in your possession,°
or those of any friend.
No blame will fall upon you
whether you eat together
or separately. And when
you enter a house, greet one another
with a greeting as from God,
one that is blessed and gracious.
In this way, God makes clear to you
His signs, so you might understand.
SECTION 9
62Only those are believers who
believe in God and His messenger,
who, when they are gathered
with him for some common concern,
do not leave until they have asked
his permission. Those who do so
are the ones who believe in God
and His messenger.
And when they ask your permission
for some affair of theirs, grant it
to those whom you will among them,
and seek God’s forgiveness for them;
for God is Forgiving, Ever Merciful.
63Do not treat the messenger’s
calling of you as you do your
calling of one another;
God knows those among you
who slip away in stealth.
So let those who oppose
his command beware, else
some trial or painful torment
might befall them.
64To God indeed belongs all
that is in the heavens and on earth;
He knows your state, and
on the day they are brought back
to Him, He shall inform them
of all they have done—
for God is Knower of all things.
SURA 25
The Criterion (Al-Furqan)
Middle Meccan and numbering 77 verses, this sura takes its name from the initial verse. Relying on the second-person singular in several verses, it can be referring either to the Prophet Muhammad or more generally to all believers. The depiction of barzakh as two seas (v. 53) is among its prominent literary tropes.
In the Name of God, the All Merciful, Ever Merciful
SECTION 1
1Blessèd is He Who revealed
the criterion° of right and wrong
to His servant, to warn all peoples;
2He Who has dominion over
the heavens and the earth.
He has no child, nor any partner
who shares in His dominion.
He created all things, and
determined them in due proportion.
3Yet they have adopted other gods
besides Him—who create nothing
and are themselves created,
who can bring neither harm
nor profit to themselves,
and have no power over
death or life—or resurrection.
4The disbelievers say,
“This is just a lie he’s forged
with the help of others.” But it’s they
who promote injustice and falsehood.
5And they say,
“Mere tales of the ancients
which he has had put into writing;
they’re dictated to him
morning and evening.”
6Say, “He Who knows the mystery
of the heavens and earth revealed it—
He is Forgiving, Ever Merciful.”
7They say, “What kind of messenger
is this, who eats food and walks
around the markets?
Why hasn’t an angel been sent
to give warning with him?”
8Or “Why isn’t he given treasure
or a garden° from which to eat?”
The wrongdoers say,
“You merely follow a man
who’s bewitched.”
9See what similes they coin for you!
But they are astray
and cannot find the way.
SECTION 2
10Blessèd is He Who could give you
better things than these, if He willed—
gardens, beneath which rivers flow,
with palaces He could build for you.
11But they deny the hour,
and We have prepared
for those who deny it
a blazing fire—
12when it sees them, from far away,
they will hear its raging and roaring.
13And when they are cast into it,
constricted, and chained together,
they shall plead for death.
14They will be told,
“Don’t plead, this day, for one death—
plead, rather, for many deaths!”
15Say, “Is this better,
or the eternal garden,
promised to the righteous,
as both their reward and end?°
16“They shall have there
all that they desire,
abiding there forever—a promise
assured by your Lord.”
17When He gathers them
together, on the day,
with the other gods
they worshipped besides God,
He will ask,
“Was it you who led astray
these servants of Mine, or was it they
who strayed by themselves
from the true way?”
18They will say, “Glory be to You.
We should not have taken
protectors other than You.
But you granted them comforts,
and their fathers too, so they forgot
to remember You—and became
a lost people.”
19[God will reply,] “Your false gods
prove that what you say is lies—
so you cannot avert [your punishment]
nor find help. We shall make
those of you who do wrong
taste great torment.”
20We sent no messengers before you
who did not eat food
and walk through the markets.
We made some of you a test for others.
Can you show patience?°
For your Lord is All Seeing.”
SECTION 3
21As for those who don’t expect
to meet with Us—
they taunt, “Why aren’t angels
sent down to us?” or
“Why can’t we see our Lord?”
They are proud within their
