2. Al-Baqara

Alif lām mīm God knows best what He means by these letters.

That meaning this Book which Muhammad (s) recites in it there is no doubt no uncertainty that it is from God the negation lĀ rayba fĪhi is the predicate of dhĀlika; the use of the demonstrative here is intended to glorify the Book. A guidance hudĀ is a second predicate meaning that it the Book ‘guides’ for the God-fearing namely those that tend towards piety by adhering to commands and avoiding things prohibited thereby guarding themselves from the Fire;

who believe in that is who accept the truth of the Unseen what is hidden from them of the Resurrection Paradise and the Fire; and maintain the prayer that is to say who perform it giving it its proper due; and of what We have provided them that is of what we have bestowed upon them expend in obedience to God;

and who believe in what has been revealed to you namely the Qur’ān; and what was revealed before you that is the Torah the Gospel and other scriptures; and of the Hereafter they are certain that is they know it is real.

Those as described in the way mentioned are upon guidance from their Lord those are the ones that will prosper that is who will succeed in entering Paradise and be saved from the Fire.

As for the disbelievers the likes of Abū Jahl Abū Lahab and such; alike it is for them whether you have warned them or have not warned them they do not believe as God knows very well so do not hope that they will believe read a-andhartahum pronouncing both hamzas or by not pronouncing the second making it an alif instead and inserting an alif between the one not pronounced and the other one or leaving this insertion; al-indhār ‘warning’ is to give knowledge of something and simultaneously instil an element of fear.

God has set a seal on their hearts impressing on them and making certain that no good enters them; and on their hearing in which He has deposited something so that they cannot profit from the truth they hear; and on their eyes is a covering that is a veil so that they do not see the truth; and for them there will be a mighty chastisement that is intense and everlasting.

The following was revealed concerning the hypocrites and some people there are who say ‘We believe in God and the Last Day’ that is in the Day of Resurrection because it is the very last day; but they are not believers the plural import of man in man yaqūl ‘who says’ is taken into account here as expressed by a pronoun hum that expresses this plural meaning.

They would deceive God and the believers by manifesting the opposite of the unbelief they hide so that they can avoid His rulings in this world; and only themselves they deceive yukhādi‘ūn for the evil consequences of their deception will rebound upon them as they are disgraced in this world when God makes known to His Prophet what they are hiding and they will be punished in the Hereafter; and they are not aware and they do not know that they are actually deceiving themselves mukhāda‘a although a third verbal form from khāda‘a actually denotes a one-way action such as when one says ‘āqabtu al-lissa ‘I punished the thief’ using the third verbal form ‘āqaba; the mention of ‘God’ in this statement is for rhetorical effect; a variant reading for wa-mā yukhādi‘ūna has wa-mā yakhda‘ūna.