inwardly hostile to the Muslims. The incidents of the battle of Uhud, the causes of the misfortune experienced in it, and how triumph can be obtained are the points discussed from section thirteen to the eighteenth. The nineteenth speaks of the carpings of the People of the Book, while the twentieth deals with the ultimate triumph of the faithful.
The importance of the connection of this with the preceding chapter may be judged from the fact that, taken together, they are termed zahrawan (meaning the two bright and shining ones). The two, in fact, may be treated as a single chapter, as each supplements and explains the other. The 2nd chapter opens with a controversy with the Jews, and deals at length with their contentions, referring only briefly to the Christians. The 3rd chapter opens with a controversy with the Christians, and deals at length with their contentions, referring only briefly to the Jews. Again, the second chapter deals particularly with the necessity of fighting against an enemy who was bent upon the extirpation of Islam, while the third deals with the events of one of the battles which the enemy waged with a view to wipe out Islam by destroying its stronghold in Madinah.
The whole of this chapter was revealed at Madinah and it is generally supposed to be the second or the third in order in the Madinah revelation (Itq). The latter portion, from sec. 13 almost to the end, distinctly relates the incidents of the battle of Uhud, and therefore the third year of the Hijrah may be fixed as the date of its revelation. The first portion, especially that dealing with the birth and ministry of Jesus, is said by some to have been revealed on the occasion of the visit of a deputation of the Najran Christians which took place in the tenth year of the Hijrah, but there is no evidence for it. The whole chapter belongs to the third year of the Hijrah, with the possible exception of v. 61 which speaks of Mubahalah, and may have been revealed on the occasion of the visit of the Najran deputation.
SECTION 1: Rule of Interpretation
In the name of Allah, the Beneficent, the Merciful.
1 I, Allah, am the best Knower,
2 Allah, (there is) no god but He, the Ever-living, the Self-subsisting, by Whom all subsist.
3 He has revealed to thee the Book with truth, verifying that which is before it, and He revealed the Torah and the Gospel
4 Aforetime, a guidance for the people, and He sent the Discrimination. Those who disbelieve in the messages of Allah — for them is a severe chastisement. And Allah is Mighty, the Lord of retribution.
5 Surely nothing in the earth or in the heaven is hidden from Allah.
6 He it is Who shapes you in the wombs as He pleases. There is no god but He, the Mighty, the Wise.
7 He it is Who has revealed the Book to thee; some of its verses are decisive — they are the basis of the Book — and others are allegorical. Then those in whose hearts is perversity follow the part of it which is allegorical, seeking to mislead, and seeking to give it (their own) interpretation. And none knows its interpretation save Allah, and those firmly rooted in knowledge. They say: We believe in it, it is all from our Lord. And none mind except men of understanding.
8 Our Lord, make not our hearts to deviate after Thou hast guided us and grant us mercy from Thee; surely Thou art the most liberal Giver.
9 Our Lord, surely Thou art the Gatherer of men on a day about which there is no doubt. Surely Allah will not fail in (His) promise.
SECTION 2: Unity the Basis of all Religions
10 Those who disbelieve, neither their wealth nor their children will avail them aught against Allah. And they will be fuel for fire—
11 As was the case of the people of Pharaoh, and those before them! They rejected Our messages, so Allah destroyed them on account of their sins. And Allah is Severe in requiting (evil).
12 Say to those who disbelieve: You shall be vanquished, and driven together to hell; and evil is the resting-place.
13 Indeed there was a sign for you in the two hosts (which) met together in encounter — one party fighting in the way of Allah and the other disbelieving, whom they saw twice as many as themselves with the sight of the eye. And Allah strengthens with His aid whom He pleases. There is a lesson in this for those who have eyes.
14 Fair-seeming to men is made the love of desires, of women and sons and hoarded treasures of gold and silver and well-bred horses and cattle and tilth. This is the provision of the life of this world. And Allah — with Him is the good goal (of life).
15 Say: Shall I tell you of what is better than these? For those who guard against evil are Gardens with their Lord, in which rivers flow, to abide in them, and pure companions and Allah’s goodly pleasure. And Allah is Seer of the servants.
16 Those who say: Our Lord, we believe, so forgive our sins and save us from the chastisement of the fire.
17 The patient and the truthful, and the obedient, and those who spend and those who ask Divine protection in the morning times.
18 Allah bears witness that there is no god but He, and (so do) the angels and those possessed of knowledge, maintaining justice. There is no god but He, the Mighty, the Wise.
19 Surely the (true) religion with Allah is Islam. And those who were given the Book differed only after knowledge had come to them, out of envy among themselves. And whoever disbelieves in the messages of Allah — Allah indeed is Quick at reckoning.
20 But if they dispute with thee say: I submit myself entirely to Allah and (so does) he who follows me. And say to those who have been given the Book and the Unlearned (people): Do you submit yourselves? If they submit, then indeed they follow the right way; and if they turn back, thy duty is only to deliver the message. And Allah is Seer of the servants.
SECTION 3: The Kingdom is Granted to Another People
21 Those who disbelieve in the messages of Allah and would slay the prophets unjustly and slay those among men who enjoin justice, announce to them a painful chastisement.
22 Those are they whose works will be of no avail in this world and the Hereafter, and they will have no helpers.
23 Hast thou not seen those who are given a portion of the Book? They are invited to the Book of Allah that it may decide between them, then a party of them turn back and they withdraw.
24 This is because they say: The Fire shall not touch us but for a few days; and that which they forge deceives them regarding their religion.
25 Then how will it be when We gather them together on a day about which there is no doubt. And every soul shall be fully paid what it has earned, and they shall not be wronged?
26 Say: O Allah, Owner of the Kingdom, Thou givest the kingdom to whom Thou pleasest, and takest away the kingdom from whom Thou pleasest, and Thou exaltest whom Thou pleasest and abasest whom Thou pleasest. In Thine hand is the good. Surely, Thou art Possessor of power over all things.
27 Thou makest the night to pass into the day and Thou makest the day to pass into the night; and Thou bringest forth the living from the dead and Thou bringest forth the dead from the living; and Thou givest sustenance to whom Thou pleasest without measure.
28 Let not the believers take the disbelievers for friends rather than believers. And whoever does this
