Surah Al-Baqarah (The Cow) in English

1. لا يؤاخذكم الله باللغو في أيمانكم ولكن يؤاخذكم بما كسبت قلوبكم والله غفور حليم

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   Allah will not take you to task for what is unconsidered in your oaths, but He will take you to task for what your hearts have incurred, and Allah is all-forgiving, all-forbearing.

   lā yuʾākhidhukumu llāhu bi-l-laghwi fī ʾaymānikum wa-lākin yuʾākhidhukum bi-mā kasabat qulūbukum wa-llāhu ghafūrun ḥalīmun

2. للذين يؤلون من نسائهم تربص أربعة أشهر فإن فاءوا فإن الله غفور رحيم

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   For those who forswear their wives shall be a waiting [period]of four months. And if they recant, Allah is indeed all-forgiving, all-merciful.

   li-lladhīna yuʾlūna min nisāʾihim tarabbuṣu ʾarbaʿati ʾashhurin fa-ʾin fāʾū fa-ʾinna llāha ghafūrun raḥīmun

3. وإن عزموا الطلاق فإن الله سميع عليم

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   But if they resolve on divorce, Allah is indeed all-hearing, all-knowing.

   wa-ʾin ʿazamū ṭ-ṭalāqa fa-ʾinna llāha samīʿun ʿalīmun

4. والمطلقات يتربصن بأنفسهن ثلاثة قروء ولا يحل لهن أن يكتمن ما خلق الله في أرحامهن إن كن يؤمن بالله واليوم الآخر وبعولتهن أحق بردهن في ذلك إن أرادوا إصلاحا ولهن مثل الذي عليهن بالمعروف وللرجال عليهن درجة والله عزيز حكيم

   228

   Divorced women shall wait by themselves for three periods of purity [after menses], and it is not lawful for them to conceal what Allah has created in their wombs if they believe in Allah and the Last Day; and their husbands have a greater right to restore them during this [duration], if they desire reconcilement. The wives have rights similar to the obligations upon them, in accordance with honourable norms; and men have a degree above them, and Allah is all-mighty and all-wise.

   wa-l-muṭallaqātu yatarabbaṣna bi-ʾanfusihinna thalāthata qurūʾin wa-lā yaḥillu lahunna ʾan yaktumna mā khalaqa llāhu fī ʾarḥāmihinna ʾin kunna yuʾminna bi-llāhi wa-l-yawmi l-ʾākhiri wa-buʿūlatuhunna ʾaḥaqqu bi-raddihinna fī dhālika ʾin ʾarādū ʾiṣlāḥan wa-lahunna mithlu lladhī ʿalayhinna bi-l-maʿrūfi wa-li-r-rijāli ʿalayhinna darajatun wa-llāhu ʿazīzun ḥakīmun-i

5. الطلاق مرتان فإمساك بمعروف أو تسريح بإحسان ولا يحل لكم أن تأخذوا مما آتيتموهن شيئا إلا أن يخافا ألا يقيما حدود الله فإن خفتم ألا يقيما حدود الله فلا جناح عليهما فيما افتدت به تلك حدود الله فلا تعتدوها ومن يتعد حدود الله فأولئك هم الظالمون

   229

   [Revocable] divorce may be only twice; then [let there be] either an honourable retention, or a kindly release. It is not lawful for you to take back anything from what you have given them, unless the couple fear that they may not maintain Allah’s bounds; so if you fear they would not maintain Allah’s bounds, there is no sin upon them in what she may give to secure her own release. These are Allah’s bounds, so do not transgress them, and whoever transgresses the bounds of Allah—it is they who are the wrongdoers.

   aṭ-ṭalāqu marratāni fa-ʾimsākun bi-maʿrūfin ʾaw tasrīḥun bi-ʾiḥsānin wa-lā yaḥillu lakum ʾan taʾkhudhū mimmā ʾātaytumūhunna shayʾan ʾillā ʾan yakhāfā ʾallā yuqīmā ḥudūda llāhi fa-ʾin khiftum ʾallā yuqīmā ḥudūda llāhi fa-lā junāḥa ʿalayhimā fī-mā ftadat bihī tilka ḥudūdu llāhi fa-lā taʿtadūhā wa-man yataʿadda ḥudūda llāhi fa-ʾulāʾika humu ẓ-ẓālimūna

6. فإن طلقها فلا تحل له من بعد حتى تنكح زوجا غيره فإن طلقها فلا جناح عليهما أن يتراجعا إن ظنا أن يقيما حدود الله وتلك حدود الله يبينها لقوم يعلمون

   230

   And if he divorces her, she will not be lawful for him thereafter until she marries a husband other than him, and if he divorces her, there is no sin upon them to remarry if they think that they can maintain Allah’s bounds. These are Allah’s bounds, which He clarifies for a people who have knowledge.

   fa-ʾin ṭallaqahā fa-lā taḥillu lahū min baʿdu ḥattā tankiḥa zawjan ghayrahū fa-ʾin ṭallaqahā fa-lā junāḥa ʿalayhimā ʾan yatarājaʿā ʾin ẓannā ʾan yuqīmā ḥudūda llāhi wa-tilka ḥudūdu llāhi yubayyinuhā li-qawmin yaʿlamūna