Surah Al-Mā'idah (The Table Spread) in English

1. وإذا ناديتم إلى الصلاة اتخذوها هزوا ولعبا ذلك بأنهم قوم لا يعقلون

   58

   When you call to prayer, they take it in derision and play. That is because they are a people who do not exercise their reason.

   wa-ʾidhā nādaytum ʾilā ṣ-ṣalāti ttakhadhūhā huzuwan wa-laʿiban dhālika bi-ʾannahum qawmun lā yaʿqilūna

2. قل يا أهل الكتاب هل تنقمون منا إلا أن آمنا بالله وما أنزل إلينا وما أنزل من قبل وأن أكثركم فاسقون

   59

   Say, ‘O People of the Book! Are you vindictive toward us for any reason except that we have faith in Allah and in what has been sent down to us, and in what was sent down before, and that most of you are transgressors?’

   qul yā-ʾahla l-kitābi hal tanqimūna minnā ʾillā ʾan ʾāmannā bi-llāhi wa-mā ʾunzila ʾilaynā wa-mā ʾunzila min qablu wa-ʾanna ʾaktharakum fāsiqūna

3. قل هل أنبئكم بشر من ذلك مثوبة عند الله من لعنه الله وغضب عليه وجعل منهم القردة والخنازير وعبد الطاغوت أولئك شر مكانا وأضل عن سواء السبيل

   60

   Say, ‘Shall I inform you concerning something worse than that as a requital from Allah? Those whom Allah has cursed and with whom He is wrathful, and turned some of whom into apes and swine, and worshippers of fake deities! Such are in a worse situation and more astray from the right way.’

   qul hal ʾunabbiʾukum bi-sharrin min dhālika mathūbatan ʿinda llāhi man laʿanahu llāhu wa-ghaḍiba ʿalayhi wa-jaʿala minhumu l-qiradata wa-l-khanāzīra wa-ʿabada ṭ-ṭāghūta ʾulāʾika sharrun makānan wa-ʾaḍallu ʿan sawāʾi s-sabīli

4. وإذا جاءوكم قالوا آمنا وقد دخلوا بالكفر وهم قد خرجوا به والله أعلم بما كانوا يكتمون

   61

   When they come to you, they say, ‘We believe.’ Certainly, they enter with disbelief and leave with it, and Allah knows best as to what they have been concealing.

   wa-ʾidhā jāʾūkum qālū ʾāmannā wa-qad dakhalū bi-l-kufri wa-hum qad kharajū bihī wa-llāhu ʾaʿlamu bi-mā kānū yaktumūna

5. وترى كثيرا منهم يسارعون في الإثم والعدوان وأكلهم السحت لبئس ما كانوا يعملون

   62

   You see many of them actively engaged in sin and aggression, and consuming illicit gains. Surely, evil is what they have been doing.

   wa-tarā kathīran minhum yusāriʿūna fī l-ʾithmi wa-l-ʿudwāni wa-ʾaklihimu s-suḥta la-biʾsa mā kānū yaʿmalūna

6. لولا ينهاهم الربانيون والأحبار عن قولهم الإثم وأكلهم السحت لبئس ما كانوا يصنعون

   63

   Why do not the rabbis and the scribes forbid them from sinful speech and consuming illicit gains? Surely, evil is what they have been working.

   law-lā yanhāhumu r-rabbāniyyūna wa-l-ʾaḥbāru ʿan qawlihimu l-ʾithma wa-ʾaklihimu s-suḥta la-biʾsa mā kānū yaṣnaʿūna

7. وقالت اليهود يد الله مغلولة غلت أيديهم ولعنوا بما قالوا بل يداه مبسوطتان ينفق كيف يشاء وليزيدن كثيرا منهم ما أنزل إليك من ربك طغيانا وكفرا وألقينا بينهم العداوة والبغضاء إلى يوم القيامة كلما أوقدوا نارا للحرب أطفأها الله ويسعون في الأرض فسادا والله لا يحب المفسدين

   64

   The Jews say, ‘Allah’s hand is tied up.’ Tied up be their hands, and cursed be they for what they say! No, His hands are wide open: He bestows as He wishes. Surely many of them will be increased in rebellion and unfaith by what has been sent to you from your Lord, and We have cast enmity and hatred amongst them until the Day of Resurrection. Every time they ignite the flames of war, Allah puts them out. They seek to cause corruption on the earth, and Allah does not like the agents of corruption.

   wa-qālati l-yahūdu yadu llāhi maghlūlatun ghullat ʾaydīhim wa-luʿinū bi-mā qālū bal yadāhu mabsūṭatāni yunfiqu kayfa yashāʾu wa-la-yazīdanna kathīran minhum mā ʾunzila ʾilayka min rabbika ṭughyānan wa-kufran wa-ʾalqaynā baynahumu l-ʿadāwata wa-l-baghḍāʾa ʾilā yawmi l-qiyāmati kullamā ʾawqadū nāran li-l-ḥarbi ʾaṭfaʾahā llāhu wa-yasʿawna fī l-ʾarḍi fasādan wa-llāhu lā yuḥibbu l-mufsidīna