Surah Al-Baqarah (The Cow) in English

1. ألم تر إلى الملإ من بني إسرائيل من بعد موسى إذ قالوا لنبي لهم ابعث لنا ملكا نقاتل في سبيل الله قال هل عسيتم إن كتب عليكم القتال ألا تقاتلوا قالوا وما لنا ألا نقاتل في سبيل الله وقد أخرجنا من ديارنا وأبنائنا فلما كتب عليهم القتال تولوا إلا قليلا منهم والله عليم بالظالمين

   246

   Have you not regarded the elite of the Israelites after Moses, when they said to their prophet, ‘Appoint for us a king that we may fight in the way of Allah.’ He said, ‘May it not be that you will not fight if fighting were prescribed for you?’ They said, ‘Why should we not fight in the way of Allah, when we have been expelled from our homes and [separated from] our children?’ So when fighting was prescribed for them, they turned back except a few of them, and Allah knows well the wrongdoers.

   ʾa-lam tara ʾilā l-malaʾi min banī ʾisrāʾīla min baʿdi mūsā ʾidh qālū li-nabiyyin lahumu bʿath lanā malikan nuqātil fī sabīli llāhi qāla hal ʿasaytum ʾin kutiba ʿalaykumu l-qitālu ʾallā tuqātilū qālū wa-mā lanā ʾallā nuqātila fī sabīli llāhi wa-qad ʾukhrijnā min diyārinā wa-ʾabnāʾinā fa-lammā kutiba ʿalayhimu l-qitālu tawallaw ʾillā qalīlan minhum wa-llāhu ʿalīmun bi-ẓ-ẓālimīna

2. وقال لهم نبيهم إن الله قد بعث لكم طالوت ملكا قالوا أنى يكون له الملك علينا ونحن أحق بالملك منه ولم يؤت سعة من المال قال إن الله اصطفاه عليكم وزاده بسطة في العلم والجسم والله يؤتي ملكه من يشاء والله واسع عليم

   247

   Their prophet said to them, ‘Allah has appointed Saul as king for you.’ They said, ‘How can he have kingship over us, when we have a greater right to kingship than him, as he has not been given ample wealth?’ He said, ‘Indeed Allah has chosen him over you, and enhanced him vastly in knowledge and physique, and Allah gives His kingdom to whomever He wishes, and Allah is all-bounteous, all-knowing.’

   wa-qāla lahum nabiyyuhum ʾinna llāha qad baʿatha lakum ṭālūta malikan qālū ʾannā yakūnu lahu l-mulku ʿalaynā wa-naḥnu ʾaḥaqqu bi-l-mulki minhu wa-lam yuʾta saʿatan mina l-māli qāla ʾinna llāha ṣṭafāhu ʿalaykum wa-zādahū basṭatan fī l-ʿilmi wa-l-jismi wa-llāhu yuʾtī mulkahū man yashāʾu wa-llāhu wāsiʿun ʿalīmun

3. وقال لهم نبيهم إن آية ملكه أن يأتيكم التابوت فيه سكينة من ربكم وبقية مما ترك آل موسى وآل هارون تحمله الملائكة إن في ذلك لآية لكم إن كنتم مؤمنين

   248

   Their prophet said to them, ‘Indeed the sign of his kingship shall be that the Ark will come to you, bearing tranquillity from your Lord and the relics left behind by the House of Moses and the House of Aaron, borne by the angels. There is indeed a sign in that for you, should you be faithful.’

   wa-qāla lahum nabiyyuhum ʾinna ʾāyata mulkihī ʾan yaʾtiyakumu t-tābūtu fīhi sakīnatun min rabbikum wa-baqiyyatun mimmā taraka ʾālu mūsā wa-ʾālu hārūna taḥmiluhu l-malāʾikatu ʾinna fī dhālika la-ʾāyatan lakum ʾin kuntum muʾminīna