Surah Al-Baqarah (The Cow) in English

1. سل بني إسرائيل كم آتيناهم من آية بينة ومن يبدل نعمة الله من بعد ما جاءته فإن الله شديد العقاب

   211

   Ask the Children of Israel how many a manifest sign We had given them. Whoever changes Allah’s blessing after it has come to him, indeed Allah is severe in retribution.

   sal banī ʾisrāʾīla kam ʾātaynāhum min ʾāyatin bayyinatin wa-man yubaddil niʿmata llāhi min baʿdi mā jāʾathu fa-ʾinna llāha shadīdu l-ʿiqābi

2. زين للذين كفروا الحياة الدنيا ويسخرون من الذين آمنوا والذين اتقوا فوقهم يوم القيامة والله يرزق من يشاء بغير حساب

   212

   Worldly life has been glamorized for the faithless, and they ridicule the faithful. But those who are Godwary shall be above them on the Day of Resurrection, and Allah provides for whomever He wishes without any reckoning.

   zuyyina li-lladhīna kafarū l-ḥayātu d-dunyā wa-yaskharūna mina lladhīna ʾāmanū wa-lladhīna ttaqaw fawqahum yawma l-qiyāmati wa-llāhu yarzuqu man yashāʾu bi-ghayri ḥisābin

3. كان الناس أمة واحدة فبعث الله النبيين مبشرين ومنذرين وأنزل معهم الكتاب بالحق ليحكم بين الناس فيما اختلفوا فيه وما اختلف فيه إلا الذين أوتوه من بعد ما جاءتهم البينات بغيا بينهم فهدى الله الذين آمنوا لما اختلفوا فيه من الحق بإذنه والله يهدي من يشاء إلى صراط مستقيم

   213

   Mankind were a single community; then Allah sent the prophets as bearers of good news and warners, and He sent down with them the Book with the truth, that it may judge between the people concerning that about which they differed, and none differed in it except those who had been given it, after the manifest proofs had come to them, out of envy among themselves. Then Allah guided those who had faith to the truth of what they differed in, by His will, and Allah guides whomever He wishes to a straight path.

   kāna n-nāsu ʾummatan wāḥidatan fa-baʿatha llāhu n-nabiyyīna mubashshirīna wa-mundhirīna wa-ʾanzala maʿahumu l-kitāba bi-l-ḥaqqi li-yaḥkuma bayna n-nāsi fī-mā khtalafū fīhi wa-mā khtalafa fīhi ʾillā lladhīna ʾūtūhu min baʿdi mā jāʾathumu l-bayyinātu baghyan baynahum fa-hadā llāhu lladhīna ʾāmanū li-mā khtalafū fīhi mina l-ḥaqqi bi-ʾidhnihī wa-llāhu yahdī man yashāʾu ʾilā ṣirāṭin mustaqīmin

4. أم حسبتم أن تدخلوا الجنة ولما يأتكم مثل الذين خلوا من قبلكم مستهم البأساء والضراء وزلزلوا حتى يقول الرسول والذين آمنوا معه متى نصر الله ألا إن نصر الله قريب

   214

   Do you suppose that you will enter paradise though there has not yet come to you the like of [what befell] those who went before you? Stress and distress befell them and they were convulsed until the apostle and the faithful who were with him said, ‘When will Allah’s help [come]?’ Behold! Allah’s help is indeed near!

   ʾam ḥasibtum ʾan tadkhulū l-jannata wa-lammā yaʾtikum mathalu lladhīna khalaw min qablikum massathumu l-baʾsāʾu wa-ḍ-ḍarrāʾu wa-zulzilū ḥattā yaqūla r-rasūlu wa-lladhīna ʾāmanū maʿahū matā naṣru llāhi ʾa-lā ʾinna naṣra llāhi qarībun

5. يسألونك ماذا ينفقون قل ما أنفقتم من خير فللوالدين والأقربين واليتامى والمساكين وابن السبيل وما تفعلوا من خير فإن الله به عليم

   215

   They ask you as to what they should spend. Say, ‘Let whatever wealth you spend be for the parents, relatives, orphans, the needy, and the traveller.’ Allah indeed knows whatever good you do.

   yasʾalūnaka mādhā yunfiqūna qul mā ʾanfaqtum min khayrin fa-li-l-wālidayni wa-l-ʾaqrabīna wa-l-yatāmā wa-l-masākīni wa-bni s-sabīli wa-mā tafʿalū min khayrin fa-ʾinna llāha bihī ʿalīmun