یٰۤاَیُّهَا O you النَّاسُ mankind اعْبُدُوْا worship رَبَّكُمُ your Lord الَّذِیْ the One Who خَلَقَكُمْ created you وَ الَّذِیْنَ and those [who] مِنْ from قَبْلِكُمْ before you لَعَلَّكُمْ so that you may تَتَّقُوْنَ ۙ become righteous الَّذِیْ The One Who جَعَلَ made لَكُمُ for you الْاَرْضَ the earth فِرَاشًا a resting place وَّ السَّمَآءَ and the sky بِنَآءً ۪ a canopy وَّ اَنْزَلَ and sent down مِنَ from السَّمَآءِ the sky مَآءً water فَاَخْرَجَ then brought forth بِهٖ therewith مِنَ [of] الثَّمَرٰتِ the fruits رِزْقًا (as) provision لَّكُمْ ۚ for you فَلَا So (do) not تَجْعَلُوْا set up لِلّٰهِ to Allah اَنْدَادًا rivals وَّ اَنْتُمْ while you تَعْلَمُوْنَ [you] know وَ اِنْ And if كُنْتُمْ you are فِیْ in رَیْبٍ doubt مِّمَّا about what نَزَّلْنَا We have revealed عَلٰی to عَبْدِنَا Our slave فَاْتُوْا then produce بِسُوْرَةٍ a chapter مِّنْ [of] مِّثْلِهٖ ۪ like it وَ ادْعُوْا and call شُهَدَآءَكُمْ your witnesses مِّنْ from دُوْنِ other than اللّٰهِ Allah اِنْ if كُنْتُمْ you are صٰدِقِیْنَ truthful فَاِنْ But if لَّمْ not تَفْعَلُوْا you do وَ لَنْ and never تَفْعَلُوْا will you do فَاتَّقُوا then fear النَّارَ the Fire الَّتِیْ whose وَ قُوْدُهَا [its] fuel النَّاسُ (is) [the] men وَ الْحِجَارَةُ ۖۚ and [the] stones اُعِدَّتْ prepared لِلْكٰفِرِیْنَ for the disbelievers 2. Al-Baqarah Page 5 وَ بَشِّرِ And give good news الَّذِیْنَ (to) those who اٰمَنُوْا believe وَ عَمِلُوا and do الصّٰلِحٰتِ [the] righteous deeds اَنَّ that لَهُمْ for them جَنّٰتٍ (will be) Gardens تَجْرِیْ flow مِنْ [from] تَحْتِهَا under them الْاَنْهٰرُ ؕ the rivers كُلَّمَا Every time رُزِقُوْا they are provided مِنْهَا therefrom مِنْ of ثَمَرَةٍ fruit رِّزْقًا ۙ (as) provision قَالُوْا they (will) say هٰذَا This (is) الَّذِیْ the one which رُزِقْنَا we were provided مِنْ from قَبْلُ ۙ before وَ اُتُوْا And they will be given بِهٖ therefrom مُتَشَابِهًا ؕ (things) in resemblance وَ لَهُمْ And for them فِیْهَاۤ therein اَزْوَاجٌ spouses مُّطَهَّرَةٌ ۙۗ purified وَّ هُمْ and they فِیْهَا therein خٰلِدُوْنَ (will) abide forever اِنَّ Indeed اللّٰهَ Allah لَا (is) not یَسْتَحْیٖۤ ashamed اَنْ to یَّضْرِبَ set forth مَثَلًا an example مَّا (like) even بَعُوْضَةً (of) a mosquito فَمَا and (even) something فَوْقَهَا ؕ above it فَاَمَّا Then as for الَّذِیْنَ those who اٰمَنُوْا believed فَیَعْلَمُوْنَ [thus] they will know اَنَّهُ that it الْحَقُّ (is) the truth مِنْ from رَّبِّهِمْ ۚ their Lord وَ اَمَّا And as for الَّذِیْنَ those who كَفَرُوْا disbelieved فَیَقُوْلُوْنَ [thus] they will say مَا ذَاۤ what اَرَادَ (did) intend اللّٰهُ Allah بِهٰذَا by this مَثَلًا ۘ example یُضِلُّ He lets go astray بِهٖ by it كَثِیْرًا ۙ many وَّ یَهْدِیْ and He guides بِهٖ by it كَثِیْرًا ؕ many وَ مَا And not یُضِلُّ He lets go astray بِهٖۤ by it اِلَّا except الْفٰسِقِیْنَ ۙ the defiantly disobedient الَّذِیْنَ Those who یَنْقُضُوْنَ break عَهْدَ (the) Covenant اللّٰهِ (of) Allah مِنْۢ from بَعْدِ after مِیْثَاقِهٖ ۪ its ratification وَ یَقْطَعُوْنَ and [they] cut مَاۤ what اَمَرَ has ordered اللّٰهُ Allah بِهٖۤ it اَنْ to یُّوْصَلَ be joined وَ یُفْسِدُوْنَ and [they] spread corruption فِی in الْاَرْضِ ؕ the earth اُولٰٓىِٕكَ Those هُمُ they الْخٰسِرُوْنَ (are) the losers كَیْفَ How تَكْفُرُوْنَ (can) you disbelieve بِاللّٰهِ in Allah وَ كُنْتُمْ While you were اَمْوَاتًا dead فَاَحْیَاكُمْ ۚ then He gave you life ثُمَّ then یُمِیْتُكُمْ He will cause you to die ثُمَّ then یُحْیِیْكُمْ He will give you life ثُمَّ then اِلَیْهِ to Him تُرْجَعُوْنَ you will be returned هُوَ He الَّذِیْ (is) the One Who خَلَقَ created لَكُمْ for you مَّا what فِی (is) in الْاَرْضِ the earth جَمِیْعًا ۗ all ثُمَّ Moreover اسْتَوٰۤی He turned اِلَی to السَّمَآءِ the heaven فَسَوّٰىهُنَّ and fashioned them سَبْعَ seven سَمٰوٰتٍ ؕ heavens وَ هُوَ And He بِكُلِّ of every شَیْءٍ thing عَلِیْمٌ ۠ (is) All-Knowing
(2:21) O mankind,21 serve your Lord Who has created you as well as those before you; do so that you are saved.22
(2:22) It is He Who has made the earth a resting-place for you, and the sky a canopy, and sent down water from above wherewith He brought forth fruits for your sustenance. Do not, then, set up rivals23 to Allah when you know (the Truth).
(2:23) If you are in any doubt whether it is We Who have revealed this Book to Our servant, then produce just a surah like it, and call all your supporters and seek in it the support of all others save Allah. Accomplish this if you are truthful.24
(2:24) But if you fail to do this – and you will most certainly fail – then have fear of the Fire whose fuel is men and stones25 and which has been prepared for those who deny the Truth.
(2:25) (O Prophet), announce glad tidings to those who believe in this Book and do righteous deeds (in accordance with its teachings), that for them are gardens beneath which rivers flow. Their fruits will have such resemblance to those of the earth that whenever they will be provided with those fruits they will say: “It was this which was granted to us on earth before.”26 For them there shall be pure spouses,27 and there they shall abide forever.
(2:26) Behold! Allah is not ashamed to propound the parable of a gnat, or even of something more lowly.28 On hearing these parables the believers know that it is the truth from their Lord, while those bent on denying the Truth say: “What does Allah mean by these parables?” Thus He causes many to go astray just as He directs many to the Right Way.29 And He thereby causes to go astray only the transgressors,30
(2:27) who break the covenant of Allah after its firm binding,31 and cut asunder what Allah has commanded to be joined,32 and spread mischief on earth.33 They are the utter losers.
(2:28) How can you be ungrateful to Allah Who bestowed life upon you when you were lifeless, then He will cause you to die and will again bring you back to life so that you will be returned to Him.
(2:29) It is He Who created for you all that is on earth and then turned above and fashioned it into seven heavens.34 He knows all things.35
21. Even though the message of the Qur'an is addressed to all, benefiting from it depends on ones willingness and on God's succour in relation to that willingness. This is why the Qur'an first explained which kind of people can and which kind of people cannot benefit from the Qur'an. As this has been explained in the foregoing verses, the quintessence of the message to which the Qur'an invites all mankind is now put forth.
22. So that you are saved from false beliefs and unrighteous conduct in this life, and from the punishment of God in the Next.
23. That is, when man recognizes that all those things were done by none but God, then worship, devotion and service must be exclusively for Him. For who besides the Creator can legitimately claim these things from man?
Not to set up others as rivals to Allah means not to make anyone other than God the object of worship, service and obedience that one owes to God alone. Later on we shall see, in some detail, how the Qur'an itself specifies the forms of worship and service which we owe exclusively to God, and wherein associating anyone else amounts to shirk (associating others with God in His divinity). This, the Qur'an seeks to eradicate.
24. Before this, in Makka, opponents had often been challenged to produce anything of comparable merit if they believed the Qur'an to be the work of a human being. In Madina the same challenge was reiterated. (For similar challenges made elsewhere in the Qur'an, see (10: 38); (11: 13); (17: 88) and (52: 33)
25. This suggests, in a subtle manner, that in the Next Life not only will the unbelievers become the fuel of hell-fire, but that the same fate will befall the idol-stones they worshipped and before which they had prostrated themselves. They will then know, for sure, how far their idols had any share in godhead.
26. The fruits of Paradise will not be so exotic in appearance as to be unfamiliar to people. They will resemble the fruits to which human beings are accustomed in this world, though infinitely excelling them in delicacy of taste. In appearance they may resemble, say mangoes, pomegranates and oranges, and the people of Paradise will be able to identify them as such. In taste, however, there will be no comparison between the terrestrial and heavenly fruits.
27. The Qur'anic text has the Arabic word azwaj which means 'spouses' or 'couples', and embraces both husband and wife. The husband is the zawj of his wife, and vice versa. In the Next World, however, this relationship of spouses will be qualified by purity. If a man has been virtuous in this world while his wife has not, their relationship in the Next World will be sundered and the man will receive another spouse who will be pure and virtuous. On the other hand, if a virtuous woman has had an evil husband she will be tied in companionship with a virtuous man. Where husband and wife have both been virtuous their relationship will become everlasting.
28. Here an objection is indirectly refuted. At several places in the Qur'an, spiders, flies, gnats and so on are mentioned in order to elucidate certain points. Opponents objected to this on the grounds that such objects were too lowly to find a place in the Book of God. They indicated that had the Qur'an indeed been a revelation from God it would not have mentioned such trivial objects.
29. Those who do not wish to understand things and are not motivated by the urge to seek the truth become enmeshed in superficial questions relating to the Book of God, draw altogether erroneous conclusions when they encounter references to apparently insignificant things such as gnats, and are thereby thrown further and further away from the Truth. Those who seek the Truth and possess true perception, on the other hand, penetrate through these superficialities and perceive the gems of wisdom that they embody. This appreciation makes their hearts attest that such wisdom could have no other source than God Himself.
30. Fasiq means transgressor, disobedient. See also (n 33 below )
31. The injunctions or ordinances issued by a sovereign to his servants and subjects are termed 'ahd in Arabic since compliance with them becomes obligatory for the latter. 'Ahd has been used here in this sense. The 'ahd referred to signifies God's eternal command that all human beings are obliged to render their service, obedience and worship to Him alone. 'After its binding' refers to the promise made by mankind to remain faithful to the injunctions of God at the time of Adam's creation. (For details see( verse 7: 172)
32. That is, the transgressors strike their blows at those very relationships upon which the individual and collective well-being of mankind depends, and which God wants maintained on a sound basis. This small sentence is of great import as it embraces the whole of human morality and social life, and extends from relationships between individuals to those between nations. 'To cut asunder what Allah has commanded should he joined' does not merely signify the disruption of relationships between man and man; it forbids the establishment of all forms of human relationship except the right and permissible ones. For wrong and prohibited bonds between people have the same consequences as the disruption of the bonds of human relationship as such
33. In these three sentences the nature of transgression and the attitude of transgressors is fully defined. To debase the relationship between man and God, and between man and man necessarily leads to 'mischief'. Those who spread this 'mischief' on earth are transgressors.
34. It is difficult to explain precisely what is meant by the 'seven heavens'. In all ages man has tried, with the help of observation and speculation, to conceptualize the 'heavens', i.e. that which lies beyond and above the earth. As we well know, the concepts that have thus developed have constantly changed. Hence it would be improper to tie the meaning of these words of the Qur'an to any one of these numerous concepts. What might be broadly inferred from this statement is that either God has divided the universe beyond the earth into seven distinct spheres, or that this earth is located in that part of the universe which consists of seven different spheres.
35. In this sentence attention is drawn to two important facts. First, man is warned against disbelief and rebellion against God, for God knows all that man does and none of his actions are hidden from Him. Second, it is suggested to man that if he turns away from the All-Knowing God, from the One Who is the source of all knowledge, this can only leave him grouping in the darkness of ignorance and error. When there is no source of truth knowledge except God, and when that very light which alone can illuminate man's life can be obtained from none else but Him, what good can come out of deviation from the Truth?