Surah Al-Baqarah (The Cow) in English

1. كتب عليكم القتال وهو كره لكم وعسى أن تكرهوا شيئا وهو خير لكم وعسى أن تحبوا شيئا وهو شر لكم والله يعلم وأنتم لا تعلمون

   216

   Warfare has been prescribed for you, though it is repulsive to you. Yet it may be that you dislike something, which is good for you, and it may be that you love something, which is bad for you, and Allah knows and you do not know.

   kutiba ʿalaykumu l-qitālu wa-huwa kurhun lakum wa-ʿasā ʾan takrahū shayʾan wa-huwa khayrun lakum wa-ʿasā ʾan tuḥibbū shayʾan wa-huwa sharrun lakum wa-llāhu yaʿlamu wa-ʾantum lā taʿlamūna

2. يسألونك عن الشهر الحرام قتال فيه قل قتال فيه كبير وصد عن سبيل الله وكفر به والمسجد الحرام وإخراج أهله منه أكبر عند الله والفتنة أكبر من القتل ولا يزالون يقاتلونكم حتى يردوكم عن دينكم إن استطاعوا ومن يرتدد منكم عن دينه فيمت وهو كافر فأولئك حبطت أعمالهم في الدنيا والآخرة وأولئك أصحاب النار هم فيها خالدون

   217

   They ask you concerning warfare in the holy month. Say, ‘It is an outrageous thing to fight in it, but to keep [people] from Allah’s way, and to be unfaithful to Him, and [to keep people from] the Holy Mosque, and to expel its people from it are more outrageous with Allah. And persecution is graver than killing. They will not cease fighting you until they turn you away from your religion, if they can. And whoever of you turns away from his religion and dies faithless—they are the ones whose works have failed in this world and the Hereafter. They shall be the inmates of the Fire, and they shall remain in it [forever].

   yasʾalūnaka ʿani sh-shahri l-ḥarāmi qitālin fīhi qul qitālun fīhi kabīrun wa-ṣaddun ʿan sabīli llāhi wa-kufrun bihī wa-l-masjidi l-ḥarāmi wa-ʾikhrāju ʾahlihī minhu ʾakbaru ʿinda llāhi wa-l-fitnatu ʾakbaru mina l-qatli wa-lā yazālūna yuqātilūnakum ḥattā yaruddūkum ʿan dīnikum ʾini staṭāʿū wa-man yartadid minkum ʿan dīnihī fa-yamut wa-huwa kāfirun fa-ʾulāʾika ḥabiṭat ʾaʿmāluhum fī d-dunyā wa-l-ʾākhirati wa-ʾulāʾika ʾaṣḥābu n-nāri hum fīhā khālidūna

3. إن الذين آمنوا والذين هاجروا وجاهدوا في سبيل الله أولئك يرجون رحمت الله والله غفور رحيم

   218

   Indeed those who are faithful and those who have migrated and waged jihad in the way of Allah—it is they who expect Allah’s mercy, and Allah is all-forgiving, all-merciful.

   ʾinna lladhīna ʾāmanū wa-lladhīna hājarū wa-jāhadū fī sabīli llāhi ʾulāʾika yarjūna raḥmata llāhi wa-llāhu ghafūrun raḥīmun

4. يسألونك عن الخمر والميسر قل فيهما إثم كبير ومنافع للناس وإثمهما أكبر من نفعهما ويسألونك ماذا ينفقون قل العفو كذلك يبين الله لكم الآيات لعلكم تتفكرون

   219

   They ask you concerning wine and gambling. Say, ‘There is a great sin in both of them, and some profits for the people, but their sinfulness outweighs their profit.’ And they ask you as to what they should spend. Say, ‘All that is surplus.’ Thus does Allah clarify His signs for you so that you may reflect

   yasʾalūnaka ʿani l-khamri wa-l-maysiri qul fīhimā ʾithmun kabīrun wa-manāfiʿu li-n-nāsi wa-ʾithmuhumā ʾakbaru min nafʿihimā wa-yasʾalūnaka mādhā yunfiqūna quli l-ʿafwa ka-dhālika yubayyinu llāhu lakumu l-ʾāyāti laʿallakum tatafakkarūna