Sura 4
Women (Al-Nisa)
4:3See v. 127, where it is clear that “orphan girls” are the subject of this directive.
4:3The phrase “those you own” refers to concubines who, in addition to legal wives, were considered part of the household for seventh-century Arabs.
4:5The property of the orphans.
4:6Arabic wabtalu: literally, “and test.”
4:15This verse is often read in tandem with 22:2–3, where a different punishment is prescribed.
4:24The intended meaning is to alter mutual agreements between husband and wife after the obligatory bride gifts, as indicated earlier in 4:4.
4:25See v. 3.
4:29Arabic wa-la taqtulu anfusakum: literally, “do not kill your selves,” an expression that can be read as an injunction against both murder and suicide.
4:34Arabic min amwalihim: literally, “from their wealth.”
4:34The most controversial directive about women in the Quran, it advises use of force but also, in context, with restraint; hence the qualifier “harmless force.” The vast majority of exegetes agree that the force used should be very light, leaving no mark, and that its intent is merely to mark displeasure. Numerous sayings of the Prophet condemn the practice of beating women; Muhammad never even raised his voice to any of his wives.
4:46The exchange here amplifies the reference above in 2:104—see the note there. In both instances, some Medinan Jews opposed to the Prophet would twist these words, using them against him.
4:49There are also references to a date stone in vv. 53, 77, and 124.
4:75Arabic min ladunka: literally, “from Yourself.”
4:88Arabic wa-man yudlil Allah fa-lan tajida lahu sabil: literally, “for those whom God allows to stray you can never find a way.” But the repetition, on the heels of the question that precedes, sounds strained in English.
4:117See a parallel reference in 53:19–20.
4:125Arabic hanif. This refers to one who follows the primordial or natural religion of monotheism, considered to be the innate propensity of humankind. It is used of Abraham ten times, emphasizing his archetypal role as the founder of Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. The opposite of hanif in the Quran is the term mushrik, which means polytheist or idolater (literally, one who partners other entities with God). See Glossary, page 530.
4:128In other words, the wife would agree to a decrease of her maintenance allowance.
4:129Arabic kal-muʿallaqa: literally, “like one suspended.”
4:153The reference here is to recalcitrant Jews, who did not obey Moses (cf. Deuteronomy 1:26–36). See 2:55 for a similar exchange and word usage. Elsewhere it is Moses himself who implores, “Show yourself to me, so I may look upon you.” To this comes the reply, “Never shall you see me,” after which a mountain is crumbled (7:143).
4:154“Gate” here is a metaphor for the land of Israel.
4:155Arabic ghulf: literally, “wrapped, unable to be opened or penetrated.” See also 2:88: “Our hearts are closed,” with a similar lesson albeit using the stronger verb “curse”: “No—God curses them for their disbelief; and little do they believe.”
4:157This is the sole Quranic dictum that a likeness of Jesus was crucified, not Jesus in the flesh. Elsewhere, the Trinity (4:171 and 5:73) and the divinity of Jesus (5:16, 72, 116; and 9:31) are denied.
4:158The same action for raising Jesus is paralleled for Mount Sinai earlier in this sura (v. 154).
4:159Arabic qabla mawtihi: literally, “before his death,” reinforcing the notion that all Jews who reject Jesus’ prophecy and all Christians who affirm his divinity will accept Jesus as a prophet before they die.
4:166The parallelism is to Moses and to the revelation he received: both came directly from God, without mediation.
4:171The Arabic word ruh, meaning “spirit,” is also used to refer to the mediary of Mary’s conception in 2:87 as ruh al-quds. Many translators (Yusuf Ali, Pickthall, Abdel Haleem, Alan Jones, Syed Qutb) render it as “Holy Spirit” but the reference to the spirit in the form of a man (i.e., Jabril or Gabriel) is specified in 19:17: “Then We sent Our spirit, appearing to her in the perfect form of a man.” Here—as also in 2:87, 253; 5:110; and 16:2,102—the text translates the Arabic phrase ruh al-quds: literally, “the spirit of [God] the Holy.”
4:173Arabic fa-yuʿadhdhibuhumʿadhab alim: literally, “He will punish them with a painful punishment.”
4:175Note the parallelism and contrast with vv. 168–69.
4:176The discussion here harks back to vv. 11–12, when inheritance and the rules of its disbursement were first introduced. It grounds all the moral teachings of this sura in a final, concretized case.
Sura 5
The Table Spread (Al-Maʾida)
5:2Arabic wa-la al-hadya wa-la al-qalaʾid: literally, “nor of the offerings nor of the garlanded ones.”
5:2The Arabic al-bait al-haram clearly refers to the Kaʿba in Mecca, and the preceding elements relate to the rites of the Hajj, the annual pilgrimage.
5:2Here as elsewhere, when a noncanonical Beautiful Name is invoked in the Quran, it will usually be capitalized to indicate its source, with appropriate stress, parallel to other Beautiful Names in the canonical list of ninety-nine. See the introduction for further explanation.
5:3See v. 90, where divining arrows, as well as sacrifices at stone altars, are forbidden.
5:3Arabic “al-islam”: literally, “submission [to My will].” This is taken by most commentators to be the final revelation, revealed to the Prophet less than three months before his death in 632 CE. It is framed in a verse accenting obedience and forgiveness, each in tandem with the other.
5:5Those “given the book” are Jews and Christians.
5:11The Quraysh.
5:12I.e., if you spend money legitimately earned in the way of God.
5:22“They” here refers to the Canaanites, prior inhabitants of what became the Land of Israel.
5:30Arabic fa-qatalahu fa-asbaha min al-khasirin: literally, “then he killed him and became one of the lost.” But the repetition does not sit well in English.
5:32Arabic fasad fi al-ard: literally, “spreading corruption on earth.” This is a widely applicable moral imperative: to prevent broadscale physical violence or moral failure within the nascent Muslim community, concrete prohibitions and punishments are to be meted out. Their actual applicability has been, and continues to be, a matter of ongoing interpretation, with variant approaches and decrees.
5:41In the opinion of most Quranic commentators, this refers to an incident in which a Jewish woman and man had committed adultery and were brought to the Prophet for his ruling. The Prophet asked about precedents from the Torah but was given false information. It was up to the Prophet to decide: if he opted for lashing, the accused were told to take it; but if stoning, they were warned to beware.
5:44This is addressed to the rabbis and Jewish scholars.
5:50Here again, as in numerous other passages, “ignorance” is the translation of jahiliyya, the period preceding the advent of Islam.
5:69Since the Sabians were monotheists, the passage echoes a recurrent Quranic message of inclusiveness: all who believe and do good deeds will find salvation.
5:80Arabic labiʾsa ma qaddamat lahum anfusuhum: literally, “wicked is what their souls send forward for them” (to be added to their account on the day of judgment).
5:95This rectangular building, which Muslims believe was built by Abraham, is at the center of the mosque in Mecca, around which pilgrims circumambulate.
5:103There are Arabic terms for each of these domestic animals: bahira, saʾiba, wasila, and ham. All were deemed worthy of sacrifice, and efficacious, as part of Meccan idol worship prior to the coming of Islam.
5:104Arabic ma wajadna ʿalayhi abaʿana: literally, “what we found our forefathers doing.”
Sura 6
Cattle (Al-Anʿam)
6:2The two terms are presumed to be one’s earthly span of life as fixed by God and the moment of final reckoning.
6:8The “judgment” clearly refers to the day of judgment.
6:12Arabic katabaʿala nafsihi al-rahma: literally, “decreed for Himself the showing of mercy.”
6:27Arabic wa-nakun min al-muʾminin: literally, “and we would be among the believers.”
6:35Arabic wa-in kana kabura ʿalayka iʿraduhum: literally, “and if their turning away is hard on you,” clearly a rhetorical question, implying that nothing could change the disbelievers.
6:38The Arabic word umam (sing. umma) is usually “nation(s)” but here it’s best rendered as “communities” see the next note, regarding v. 42. See also umma in Glossary, page 533.
6:42Arabic umam: either “nations,” as here, or “communities” (v. 38).
6:44Arabic fatahna ʿalayhim abwab kull shay’: literally, “we opened for them the gates of everything.”
6:45Arabic fa-qutiʿa: literally, “was cut off.”
6:54The expression in Arabic, kataba ʿala nafsihi al-rahma (literally, “decreed for Himself the showing of mercy”), is identical to v. 12 above.
6:61The envoys clearly are angels.
6:73Arabic bi al-haqq: literally, “in truth.”
6:92“The mother of cities” is another name for Mecca.
6:112Arabic zukhrufa al-qawl ghurur: literally, “with adorned speech in deception.”
6:113Arabic wa-liyaqtarifu ma hum muqtarifun: literally, “and they commit the things they are committing.”
6:114Arabic fa-la takunanna min al-mumtarin: literally, “then do not be among those who doubt.”
6:125“Submission [to God’s will],” here as elsewhere, is the literal meaning of the Arabic word islam. See Glossary, page 531.
6:135Arabic iʿmalu ʿala makanatikum: literally, “act according to your place or station.”
6:157Arabic suʾ al-ʿadhab bima kanu yasdifun: literally, “We gave them a dread punishment for their turning away,” but the repetition seems heavy in English.
6:158Again, the repetition in Arabic—baʿd ayat rabbika (literally, “some signs of your Lord”)—seems excessive in English.
Sura 7
The Heights (Al-Aʿraf)
7:1On these disconnected letters, see muqattaʿat in Glossary, page 531.
7:8The “balance” refers to the divine scales of justice, which will weigh good deeds and bad deeds.
7:13It is from Eden that Satan was banished.
7:16Echoing Sura 1:7, “not astray,” this verse confirms the agency of Satan as the one who leads humankind astray.
7:20Both Satan and his son Khannas prefer “whispering” as a form of communication; see 114:4, where the “whisperer” is deemed to be Khannas.
7:29Arabic ʿaqimu wujuhakum ʿinda kull masjid: literally, “set your faces forward at each place of prayer.”
7:34The same Arabic word, ajal, is used for the fixed term of life for
