Who is it that will offer up unto God a goodly loan,* which He will amply repay, with manifold increase? For, God takes away, and He gives abundantly; and it is unto Him that you shall be brought back.

GOD - there is no deity save Him, the Ever-Living, the Self-Subsistent Fount of All Being. Neither slumber overtakes Him, nor sleep. His is all that is in the heavens and all that is on earth. Who is there that could intercede with Him, unless it be by His leave? He knows all that lies open before men and all that is hidden from them,* whereas they cannot attain to aught of His knowledge save that which He wills [them to attain]. His eternal power* overspreads the heavens and the earth, and their upholding wearies Him not. And he alone is truly exalted, tremendous.

If God succours you, none can ever overcome you; but if He should forsake you, who could succour you thereafter? In God, then, let the believers place their trust!

O you who have attained to faith! Kill no game while you are in the state of pilgrimage. And whoever of you kills it intentionally,* [shall make] amends in cattle equivalent to what he has killed - with two persons of probity giving their judgment thereon- to be brought as an offering to the Ka`bah;* or else he may atone for his sin by feeding the needy, or by the equivalent thereof in fasting:* [this,] in order that. he taste the full gravity of his deed, [while] God shall have effaced the past. But whoever does it again, God will inflict His retribution on him: for God is almighty, an avenger of evil.

O YOU who have attained to faith! Let there be witnesses to what you do when death approaches you and you are about to make bequests:* two persons of probity from among your own people, or -if the pangs of death come upon you while you are travelling far from home* -two other persons from [among people] other than your own. Take hold of the two after having prayed; and if you have any doubt in your mind, let each of them swear by God, "We shall not sell this [our word] for any price, even though it were [for the sake of] a near kinsman; and neither shall we conceal aught of what we have witnessed before God* -or else, may we indeed be counted among the sinful."

and do not touch the substance of an orphan - save to improve it-before he comes of age."* And [in all your dealings] give full measure and weight,* with equity: [however,] We do not burden any human being with more than he is well able to bear;* and when you voice an opinion, be just, even though it be [against] one near of kin.* And [always] observe your bond with God:* this has He enjoined upon you, so that you might keep it in mind.

And give his due to the near of kin,* as well as to the needy and the wayfarer,* but do not squander [thy substance] senselessly.*

[And he marched westwards] till, when he came to the setting of the sun,* it appeared to him that it was setting in a dark, turbid sea;* and nearby he found a people [given to every kind of wrongdoing]. We said: "O thou Two-Horned One! Thou mayest either cause [them] to suffer or treat them with kindness!"*

They said: "O thou Two-Horned One! Behold, Gog and Magog"* are spoiling this land. May we, then, pay unto thee a tribute on the understanding that thou wilt erect a barrier between us and them?"

AND [remember] Ishmael and Idris* and every one who [like them] has pledged himself [unto God]:* they all were among those who are patient in adver­sity,

AND [remember] him of the great fish* when he went off in wrath, thinking that We had no power over him!* But then heeded out in the deep darkness [of his distress]: “There is no deity save Thee! Limit­less art Thou in Thy glory! Verily, I have done wrong!"*

until We open before them a gate of [truly] severe suffering [in the life to come]: and then, lo! they will be broken in spirit.*

Hence, give his due to the near of kin, as well as to the needy and the wayfarer;* this is best for all who seek God's countenance: for it is they, they that shall attain to a happy state!

Say: “Who is there that could keep you away from God if it be His will to harm you, or if it be His will to show you mercy?" For, [do they not know that] besides God they can find none to protect them, and none to bring them succour?

AND NO BEARER of burdens shall be made to bear another's burden;* and if one weighed down by his load calls upon [another] to help him carry it, nothing thereof may be carried [by that other], even if it be one's near of kin.* Hence, thou canst [truly] warn only those who stand in awe of their Sustainer although He is beyond the reach of their perception,* and are constant in prayer, and [know that] whoever grows in purity, attains to purity but for the good of his own self, and [that] with God is all journeys' end.

[But] bear thou with patience whatever they may say, and remember Our servant David, him who was endowed with [so much] inner strength! He, verily, would always turn unto Us:

And call to mind Ishmael and Elisha,* and every one who [like them] has pledged himself [unto Us]: for, each of them was of the truly good!*

WHO IS IT that will offer up unto God a goodly loan, which He will amply repay* For, such [as do so] shall have a noble reward

Is it because he is possessed of worldly goods and children

and food that chokes, and grievous suffering*

of an orphan near of kin,

or of a needy [stranger] lying in the dust –