But Satan caused them both to stumble therein, and thus brought about the loss of their erstwhile state.* And so We said: "Down with you, [and be henceforth] enemies unto one another; and on earth you shall have your abode and your livelihood for a while !"*

True piety does not consist in turning your faces towards the east or the west* - but truly pious is he who believes in God, and the Last Day; and the angels, and revelation,* and the prophets; and spends his substance - however much he himself may cherish - it - upon his near of kin, and the orphans, and the needy, and the wayfarer,* and the beggars, and for the freeing of human beings from bondage;* and is constant in prayer, and renders the purifying dues; and [truly pious are] they who keep their promises whenever they promise, and are patient in misfortune and hardship and in time of peril: it is they that have proved themselves true, and it is they, they who are conscious of God.

O YOU who have attained to faith! Do not ask about matters which, if they were to be made manifest to you [in terms of law], might cause you hardship;* for, if you should ask about them while the Qur'an is being revealed, they might [indeed] be made manifest to you [as laws].* God has absolved [you from any obligation] in this respect: for God is much-forgiving, forbearing.*

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."

Said He: "Down with you,* [and be henceforth] enemies unto one another, having on earth your abode and livelihood for a while:

For, alas,* there has never yet been any community that attained to faith [in its entirety,] and thereupon benefited by its faith, except the people of Jonah.* When they came to believe, We removed from them the suffering of disgrace [which otherwise would have befallen them even] in the life of this world, and allowed them to enjoy their life during the time allotted to them.*

Oh, verily, they [who are bent on denying the truth of this divine writ] are enshrouding their hearts in order to hide from Him.* Oh, verily, [even] when they cover themselves with their garments [in order not to see or hear],* He knows all that they keep secret as well as all that they bring into the open - for, behold, He has full knowledge of what is in the hearts [of men].

For, presently it occurred to the nobleman and his household* _ [even] after they had seen all the signs [of Joseph's innocence] - that they might as well imprison him for a time.*

yielding its fruit at all times by its Sustainer's leave. And [thus it is that] God propounds parables unto men,' so that they might bethink themselves [of the truth].*

and you find beauty in them when you drive them home in the evenings and when you take them out to pasture in the mornings.

And God has given you [the ability to build] your houses as places of rest, and has endowed you with [the skill to make] dwellings out of the skins of animals* - easy for you to handle when you travel and when you camp -and [to make] furnishings and goods for temporary use of their [rough] wool and their soft, furry wool* and their hair.

If they but knew - they who are bent on deny­ing the truth - [that there will come] a time when they will not be able to ward off the fire from their faces, nor from their backs, and will not find any succour!

But [as for me,] I do not know whether, perchance, this [delay in God's judgment] is but a trial for you, and a [merciful] respite for a while.''*

He is nothing but a madman: so bear with him for a while."

But leave them alone, lost in their ignorance, until a [future] time.*

O YOU who have attained to faith!* At three times [of day], let [even] those whom you rightfully pos­sess,* as well as those from among you who have not yet attained to puberty,* ask leave of you [before intruding upon your privacy]: before the prayer of daybreak, and whenever you lay aside your garments in the middle of the day, and after the prayer of nightfall:* the three occasions on which your nakedness is likely to be bared.* Beyond these [occasions], neither you nor they will incur any sin if they move [freely] about you, attending to [the needs of] one another. In this way God makes clear unto you His mes­sages: for God is all-knowing, wise!

Indeed, he would well-nigh have led us astray from our deities, had we not been [so] steadfastly attached to them!" But in time, when they see the suffering [that awaits them], they will come to know who it was that went farthest astray from the path [of truth]!

who sees thee when thou standest [alone],*

And [one day] he entered the city at a time when [most of] its people were [resting in their houses,] unaware of what was going on [in the streets];* and there he encountered two men fighting with one another - one of his own people,* and the other of his enemies. And the one who belonged to his own people cried out to him for help against him who was of his enemies - whereupon Moses struck him down with his fist, and [thus] brought about his end. [But then] he said [to himself]: “This is of Satan's doing! Verily, he is an open foe, leading [man] astray!"*

EXTOL, then, God's limitless glory when you enter upon the evening hours, and when you rise at morn;

and [seeing that] unto Him is due all praise in the heavens and on earth, [glorify Him] in the afternoon as well, and when you enter upon the hour of noon.*

unless it be by an act of mercy from Us and a grant of life for a [further span of] time.

and [this time] they believed [in him]* and so We allowed them to enjoy their life during the time allotted to them?*

Hence, turn thou aside for a while from those [who deny the truth],

Hence, turn thou aside for a while from them,

How many a generation have We destroyed before their time [for this very sin]!* And [how] they called [unto Us] when it was too late to escape!*

and you will most certainly grasp its purport after a lapse of time!"

It is God [alone that has this power - He] who causes all human beings to die at the time of their [bodily] death, and [causes to be as dead], during their sleep, those that have not yet died:* thus, He withholds [from life] those upon whom He has decreed death, and lets the others go free for a term set [by Him]. In [all] this, behold, there are messages indeed for people who think!

or lest he should say, when he becomes aware of the suffering [that awaits him], “Would that I had a second chance [in life], so that I could be among the doers of good!"*

And in [the story of the tribe of] Thamud, too, when they were told, “You shall enjoy your life for [but] a little while,"*

And so, await in patience thy Sustainer's judgment, for thou art well within Our sight.* And extol thy Sustainer's limitless glory and praise whenever thou risest up,

the while you are [helplessly] looking on -

HAS THERE [not] been an endless span of time* before man [appeared - a time] when he was not yet a thing to be thought of ?*