AND LO! We made the Temple a goal to which people might repair again and again, and a sanctuary:* take then, the place whereon Abraham once stood as your place of prayer."* And thus did We command Abraham and Ishmael: "Purify My Temple for those who will walk around it,* and those who will abide near it in meditation, and those who will bow down and prostrate themselves [in prayer]."

"Are these deniers of the truth being [thus] requited for [aught but] what they were wont to do?"

And had they but believed and been conscious of Him, reward from God would indeed have brought them good-had they but known it!

Say: "Shall I tell you who, in the sight of God, deserves a yet worse retribution than these? They whom God has rejected and whom He has condemned, and whom He has turned into apes and swine because they worshipped the powers of evil:* these are yet worse in station, and farther astray from the right path [than the mockers]."*

[Remember the time] when you fled, paying no heed to anyone, while at your rear the Apostle was calling out to you - wherefore He requited you with woe in return for [the Apostle's] woe, so that you should not grieve [merely] over what had escaped you, nor over what had befallen you: for God is aware of all that you do.*

And for this their belief* God will reward them with gardens through which running waters flow, therein to abide: for such is the requital of the doers of good;

INDEED, well-pleased was God with the believers when they pledged their allegiance unto thee [O Muhammad] under that tree,* for He knew what was in their hearts; and so He bestowed inner peace upon them from on high, and rewarded them with [the glad tiding of] a victory soon to come*

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].

theirs shall be gardens of perpetual bliss - [gardens] through which running waters flow - wherein they will be adorned with bracelets of gold and will wear green garments of silk and brocade, [and] wherein upon couches they will recline:"* how excellent a recompense, and how goodly a place to rest!

These two contrary kinds of man* have become engrossed in contention about their Sus­tainer! But [thus it is:] as for those who are bent on denying the truth* garments of fire shall be cut out for them [in the life to come]; burning despair* will be poured over their heads,

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!

AND* [know that] women advanced in years, who no longer feel any sexual desire,* incur no sin if they discard their [outer] garments, provided they do not aim at a showy display of [their] charms. But [even so,] it is better for them to abstain [from this]: and God is all-hearing, all-knowing.

And behold, whenever I called unto them with a view to Thy granting them forgiveness, they put their fingers into their ears, and wrapped themselves up in their garments [of sin];* and grew obstinate, and became [yet more] arrogant in their false pride.

And thine inner self purify!*

Upon those [blest] will be garments of green silk and brocade; and they will be adorned with bracelets of silver.* And their Sustainer will them to drink of a drink most pure.*

And no human being can die save by God's leave, at a term pre-ordained. And if one desires the rewards of this world, We shall grant him thereof; and if one desires the rewards of the life to come, We shall grant him thereof; and We shall requite those who are grateful [to Us].

whereupon God granted them the rewards of this world, as well as the goodliest rewards of the life to come: for God loves the doers of good.

And thus does their Sustainer answer their prayer: "I shall not lose sight of the labour of any of you who labours [in My way], be it man or woman: each of you is an issue of the other.* Hence, as for those who forsake the domain of evil,* and are driven from their homelands, and suffer hurt in My cause, and fight [for it], and are slain - I shall most certainly efface their bad deeds, and shall most certainly bring them into gardens through which running waters flow, as a reward from God: for with God is the most beauteous of rewards."

If one desires the rewards of this world, [let him remember that] with God are the rewards of [both] this world and the life to come: and God is indeed all-hearing, all-seeing.

theirs shall be gardens of perpetual bliss - [gardens] through which running waters flow - wherein they will be adorned with bracelets of gold and will wear green garments of silk and brocade, [and] wherein upon couches they will recline:"* how excellent a recompense, and how goodly a place to rest!

For thus it is: all protective power belongs to God alone, the True One. He is the best to grant recompense, and the best to determine what is to be.*

Wealth and children are an 4dornment of this, world's life: but good deeds, the fruit whereof endures forever, are of far greater merit in thy Sustainer's sight, and a far better source of hope.*

And God endows those who avail themselves of [His] guidance with an ever-deeper consciousness of the right way;* and good deeds, the fruit whereof endures forever, are, in thy Sustainer's sight, of far greater merit [than any worldly goods], and yield far better returns.*

But those who had been granted true knowl­edge said: “Woe unto you! Merit in the sight of God* is by far the best for any who attains to faith and does what is right: but none save the patient in adversity can ever achieve this [blessing]."