This account of something that was beyond the reach of thy perception We [now] reveal unto thee:* for thou wert not with them when they drew lots as to which of them should be Mary's guardian,* and thou wert not with them when they contended [about it] with one another.
CONCERNING [the inheritance of] your children, God enjoins [this] upon you:* The male shall have the equal of two females' share; but if there are more than two females, they shall have two-thirds of what [their parents] leave behind; and if there is only one daughter, she shall have one-half thereof. And as for the parents [of the deceased], each of them shall have one-sixth of what he leaves behind, in the event of his having [left] a child; but if he has left no child and his parents are his [only] heirs, then his mother shall have one-third; and if he has brothers and sisters, then his mother shall have one-sixth after [the deduction of] any bequest he may have made, or any debt [he may have incurred]. As for your parents and your children - you know not which of them is more deserving of benefit from you: [therefore this] ordinance from God. Verily, God is all-knowing, wise.
Say: "What could most weightily bear witness to the truth?" Say: "God is witness between me and you; and this Qur'an has been revealed unto me so that on the strength thereof I might warn you and all whom it may reach." Could you in truth bear witness that there are other deities side by side with God? Say: "I bear no [such] witness!" Say: "He is the One God; and, behold, far be it from me to ascribe divinity, as, you do, to aught beside Him!"*
And why should I fear anything that you worship side by side with Him, seeing that you are not afraid of ascribing divinity to other powers beside God without His ever having bestowed upon you from on high any warrant therefor? [Tell me,] then, which of the two parties has a better right to feel secure -if you happen to know [the answer]?
Have they, then, never considered [God's] mighty dominion over the heavens and the earth, and all the things that God has created, and [asked themselves] whether, perchance, the end of their own term might already have drawn nigh? In what other tiding, then, will they, after this, believe?*
YET WHENEVER a surah [of this divine writ] is bestowed from on high, some of the deniers of the truth are prone to ask,* "Which of you has this [message] strengthened in his faith?" Now as for those who have attained to faith, it does strengthen them in their faith, and they rejoice in the glad tiding [which God has given them].*
And He it is who has created the heavens and the earth in six aeons; and [ever since He has willed to create life,] the throne of His almightiness has rested upon water.* [God reminds you of your dependence on Him] in order to test you [and thus to make manifest] which of you is best in conduct. For thus it is: if* thou sayest [unto men], "Behold, you shall be raised again after death!" - they who are bent on denying the truth are sure to answer, "This is clearly nothing but an enchanting delusion"*
Those [saintly beings] whom they invoke are themselves striving to obtain their Sustainer's favour - [even] those among them who are closest [to Him]* - hoping for His grace and dreading His chastisement: for, verily, thy Sustainer's chastisement is something to beware of!
Say: "Invoke God, or invoke the Most Gracious: by whichever name you invoke Him, [He is always the One-for] His are all the attributes of perfection.* And [pray unto Him; yet] be not too loud in thy prayer nor speak it in too low a voice, but follow a way in-between;
Behold, We have willed that all beauty on earth be a means by which We put men to a test,* [showing] which of them are best in conduct;
and then We awakened Christianity was no longer persecuted and had even become the official religion of the Roman Empire. The ancient coin (dating from the reign of Decius) with which the young man wanted to pay for his purchases immediately aroused curiosity; people began to question the stranger, and the story of the Men of the Cave and their miraculous sleep came to light. them:* [and We did all this] so that We might mark out [to the world]* which of the two points of view showed a better comprehension of the time-span during which they had remained in this state.*
and thereupon We shall, indeed, draw forth from every group [of sinners] the ones that had been most determined in their disdainful rebellion against the Most Gracious :*
AS IT IS, whenever Our messages are conveyed to them in all their clarity, those who are bent on denying the truth are wont to say unto those who have attained to faith: "Which of the two kinds of man* is in a stronger position and superior as a community?"*
Said [Pharaoh]: "Have you come to believe in him* ere I have given you permission? Verily, he must be your master who has taught you magic! But I shall most certainly cut off your hands and feet in great numbers, because of [your] perverseness, and I shall most certainly crucify you in great numbers on trunks of palm-trees:* and [I shall do this] so that you might come to know for certain as to which of us [two]* can inflict a more severe chastisement, and [which] is the more abiding!"
[Most of them are of this kind ] save those who have attained to faith, and do righteous deeds, and remember God unceasingly, and defend themselves [only] after having been wronged,* and [trust in God's promise that] those who are bent on wrongdoing will in time come to know how evil a turn their destinies are bound to take!*
[When Solomon learned that the Queen of Sheba was coming,]* he said [to his council]: O you nobles! Which of you can bring me her throne ere she and her followers come unto me in willing surrender to God?"*
Answered [Moses]: Thus shall it be between me and thee! Whichever of the two terms I fulfill, let there be no ill will against me. And God be witness to all that we say!"
Verily, with God alone rests the knowledge of when the Last Hour will come: and He [it is who] sends down rain; and He [alone] knows what is in the wombs:* whereas no one knows what he will reap tomorrow, and no one knows in what land he will die, Verily. God [alone] is all-knowing, all-aware.
And [thus] He displays His wonders before you: which, then, of God's wonders can you still deny?
These messages of God do We convey unto thee, setting forth the truth. In what other tiding, if not in God's messages, will they, then, believe?*
About which, then, of thy Sustainer's powers canst thou [still] remain in doubt?*
Which, then, of your Sustainer's powers can you disavow?*
Which, then, of your Sustainer's powers can you disavow?
Which, then, of your Sustainer's powers can you disavow?
Which, then, of your Sustainer's powers can you disavow?
Which, then, of your Sustainer's powers can you disavow?
Which, then, of your Sustainer's powers can you disavow?
Which, then, of your Sustainer's powers can you disavow?
Which, then, of your Sustainer's powers can you disavow?
Which, then, of your Sustainer's powers can you disavow?
Which, then, of your Sustainer's powers can you disavow?
Which, then, of your Sustainer's powers can you disavow?
which, then, of your Sustainer's powers can you disavow?
Which, then, of your Sustainer's powers can you disavow?
Which, then, of your Sustainer's powers can you disavow?
Which, then, of your Sustainer's powers can you disavow?
which, then, of your Sustainer's powers can you disavow?
Which, then, of your Sustainer's powers can you disavow?
Which, then, of your Sustainer's powers can you disavow?
Which, then, of your Sustainer s powers can you disavow?
Which, then, of your Sustainer's powers can you disavow?
Which, then, of your Sustainer's powers can you disavow?
which, then, of your Sustainer's powers can you disavow?
Which, then, of your Sustainer's powers can you disavow?
which, then, of your Sustainer's powers can you disavow?
Which, then, of your Sustainer's powers can you disavow?
Which, then, of your Sustainer's powers can you disavow?
Which, then, of your Sustainer's powers can you disavow?
Which, then, of your Sustainer's powers can you disavow?
which, then, of your Sustainer's powers can you disavow?
Which, then, of your Sustainer's powers can you disavow?
Which, then, of your Sustainer's powers can you disavow?
He who has created death as well as life,* so that He might put you to a test [and thus show] which of you is best in conduct, and [make you realize that] He alone is almighty, truly forgiving.
which of you was bereft of reason.
Ask them which of them is able to vouch for this!
For what day has the term [of all this] been set?
In what other tiding, then, will they, after this, believe?
[Does man ever consider] out of what substance [God] creates him?
for what crime she had been slain,*
having put thee together in whatever form He willed [thee to have]?
