2. Al-Baqara

As also We have sent (this [verbal clause ka-mā arsalnā, ‘as We have sent’] is semantically connected to wa-li-utimma [of the previous verse], that is to say, ‘[Also We have sent] by way of perfection’); as it [My grace] has been perfected by Our sending, among you, of yourselves, Muhammad (s), a messenger, to recite Our verses, the Qur’ān, to you and to purify you, to cleanse you from idolatry, and to teach you the Book, the Qur’ān, and wisdom, the rulings therein, and to teach you what you knew not.

So remember Me, through prayer, glorification and the like, I will remember you: this is said to mean, ‘I will reward you’; in a hadīth about God [that He says]: ‘whoever remembers Me in himself, I will remember him in Myself, and whoever remembers Me in an assembly, I will remember him in an Assembly more excellent than his’; and be thankful to Me, for My grace, by being obedient, and be not ungrateful towards Me, through disobedience.

O you who believe, seek help, regarding the Hereafter, through patience, in obedience and afflictions, and prayer (He singles it out for mention on account of its frequency and its greatness); surely God is with the patient, helping them.

And say not of those slain in God’s way, that, ‘They are dead’; rather they are living, their spirits are, according to a hadīth, contained in green birds that take wing freely wherever they wish in Paradise; but you are not aware, [but you] do not know their condition.

Surely We will try you with something of fear, of an enemy, and hunger, by way of drought, and diminution of goods, as a result of destruction, and lives, as a result of slaughter, death and disease, and fruits, by way of crop damage: that is to say, We will try you to see if you practise patience or not; yet give good tidings, of Paradise, to the patient, during calamities;

those who, when they are struck by an affliction, a calamity, say, ‘Surely we belong to God, we are His possession and servants, with whom He does as He pleases; and to Him we will return’, in the Hereafter, whereupon He will requite us: in one hadīth [it is said that], ‘whoever pronounces the istirjā‘ [sc. the formula ‘surely we belong to God and to Him we will return’] when an affliction befalls him, God will reward him and compensate him with what is better’. Similarly, it is said that on one occasion when his lamp blew out, the Prophet (s) uttered the istirjā‘, whereupon ‘Ā’isha said to him, saying: ‘But, it is just a lamp’, to which he replied, ‘Whatever bothers a believer is an affliction [of sorts]’: this is reported by Abū Dāwūd in his [section on] mursal reports.

Upon those rest blessings, forgiveness, and mercy, grace, from their Lord, and those — they are the truly guided, to rectitude.

Truly Safā and Marwa, two mountains near Mecca, are among the waymarks (sha‘ā’ir, plural of sha‘īra) of God, the [ritual] ceremonies of His religion, so whoever makes the Pilgrimage to the House, or the Visitation, that is, whoever prepares to perform the Pilgrimage [hajj] or the Visitation [‘umra]: the original sense of both terms [hajja and i‘tamara] is ‘to aim for’ and ‘to visit’, respectively; he would not be at fault, [it would not be] a sin, if he circumambulates them (the original tā’ [of yatatawwafa, ‘circumambulate’] has been assimilated with the tā’), by pacing quickly (sa‘y) between them seven times: this was revealed when the Muslims were averse to this [circumambulation], because the pagan Arabs used to circumambulate them, and there was an idol atop each mountain which they used to stroke. It is reported from Ibn ‘Abbās that this pacing [between the two] is not obligatory, based on the fact that when no sin can be incurred, the context implies free choice. Al-Shāfi‘ī and others, however, considered it to be a pillar [of the Pilgrimage rituals]. The Prophet made clear its obligatory aspect when he said that, ‘God has prescribed for you the pacing [sa‘y]’, as reported by al-Bayhaqī and others; and he [the Prophet] also said, ‘Begin with what God has begun’, meaning, al-Safā, as reported by Muslim; and whoever volunteers (tatawwa‘a: a variant reading is yattawa‘, the ta’ here being assimilated) good, that is, any good deed such as circumambulation or other, that is not obligatory on him; God is Grateful, for such a deed and rewards that person for it, Knowing, it.

The following was revealed concerning the Jews: Those who conceal, from people, the clear proofs and the guidance that We have revealed, such as the ‘stoning’ verse and the description of Muhammad (s), after We have shown them clearly in the Scripture, the Torah — they shall be cursed by God, that is, He will move them far away from His mercy, and by the cursers, the angels, believers, or by every single thing, when they supplicate that they be cursed.