God did confer
A great favour
On the Believers
When He sent among them
An Apostle from among
Themselves, rehearsing
Unto them the Signs
Of God, sanctifying them,
And instructing them
In Scripture and Wisdom,
While, before that,
They had been
In manifest error.
God will not leave
The Believers in the state
In which ye are now,
Until He separates
What is evil
From what is good.
Nor will He disclose
To you the secrets
Of the Unseen,
But He chooses
Of His Apostles
(For the purpose)
Whom He pleases.
So believe in God
And His Apostles:
And if ye believe
And do right,
Ye have a reward
Without measure.
They (also) said: "God took
Our promise not to believe
In an apostle unless
He showed us a sacrifice
Consumed by fire
(From heaven)." Say:
"There came to you
Apostles before me,
With Clear Signs
And even with what
Ye ask for: why then
Did ye slay them,
If ye speak the truth?"
"Our Lord! Grant us
What Thou didst promise
Unto us through Thine Apostles,
And save us from shame
On the Day of Judgment:
For Thou never breakest
Thy promise."
Those are limits
Set by God: those who
Obey God and His Apostle
Will be admitted to Gardens
With rivers flowing beneath,
To abide therein (for ever)
And that will be
The Supreme achievement.
But those who disobey
God and His Apostle
And transgress His limits
Will be admitted
To a Fire, to abide therein:
And they shall have
A humiliating punishment.
On that day
Those who reject Faith
And disobey the Apostle
Will wish that the earth
Were made one with them:
But never will they hide
A single fact from God!
O ye who believe!
Obey God, and obey the Apostle,
And those charged
With authority among you.
If ye differ in anything
Among yourselves, refer it
To God and His Apostle,
If ye do believe in God
And the Last Day:
That is best, and most suitable
For final determination.
We sent not an Apostle,
But to be obeyed, in accordance
With the Will of God.
If they had only,
When they were unjust
To themselves,
Come unto thee
And asked God's forgiveness,
And the Apostle had asked
Forgiveness for them,
They would have found
God indeed Oft-returning,
Most Merciful.
All who obey God
And the Apostle
Are in the company
Of those on whom
Is the Grace of God,—
Of the Prophets (who teach),
The Sincere (lovers of Truth),
The Witnesses (who testify),
And the Righteous (who do good):
Ah! what a beautiful Fellowship!
Whatever good, (O man!)
Happens to thee, is from God;
But whatever evil happens
To thee, is from thy (own) soul.
And We have sent thee
As an Apostle
To (instruct) mankind.
And enough is God
For a witness.
When there comes to them
Some matter touching
(Public) safety or fear,
They divulge it.
If they had only referred it
To the Apostle, or to those
Charged with authority
Among them, the proper
Investigators would have
Tested it from them (direct).
Were it not for the Grace
And Mercy of God unto you,
All but a few of you
Would have fallen
Into the clutches of Satan.
He who forsakes his home
In the cause of God,
Finds in the earth
Many a refuge,
Wide and spacious:
Should he die
As a refugee from home
For God and His Apostle,
His reward becomes due
And sure with God:
And God is Oft-forgiving,
Most Merciful.
If anyone contends with
The Apostle even after
Guidance has been plainly
Conveyed to him, and follows
A path other than that
Becoming to men of Faith,
We shall leave him
In the path he has chosen,
And land him in Hell,—
What an evil refuge!
O ye who believe!
Believe in God
And His Apostle,
And the scripture which He
Hath sent to His Apostle
And the scripture which He sent
To those before (him)
Any who denieth God,
His angels, His Books,
His Apostles, and the Day
Of Judgment, hath gone
Far, far astray.
Those who deny God
And His apostles, and (those
Who) wish to separate
God from His apostles,
Saying: "We believe in some
But reject others":
And (those who) wish
To take a course midway,—