Paradise

O CHILDREN of Israel! Remember those blessings of Mine with which I graced you, and fulfil your promise unto Me, [whereupon] I shall fulfil My promise unto you; and of Me, of Me stand in awe!

O children of Israel! Remember those blessings of Mine with which I graced you, and how I favoured you above all other people;

For, O children of Israel, because you had slain a human being and then cast the blame for this [crime] upon one another - although God will bring to light what you would conceals -

AND THEY should not think - they who niggardly cling to all that God has granted them out of His bounty that this is good for them: nay, it is bad for them. That to which they [so] niggardly cling will, on the Day of Resurrection, be hung about their necks: for unto God [alone] belongs the heritage of the heavens and of the earth; and God is aware of all that you do.

AND, INDEED, God accepted a [similar] solemn pledge from the children of Israel when We caused twelve of their leaders to be sent [to Canaan as spies]. And God said: "Behold, I shall be with you! If you are constant in prayer, and spend in charity, and believe in My apostles and aid them, and offer up unto God a goodly loan, I will surely efface your bad deeds and bring you into gardens through which running waters flow. But he from among you who, after this, denies the truth, will indeed have strayed from the right path!"

Because of this did We ordain unto the children of Israel that if anyone slays a human being unless it be [in punishment] for murder or for spreading corruption on earth - it shall be as though he had slain all mankind; whereas, if anyone saves a life, it shall be as though he had saved the lives of all mankind. And, indeed, there came unto them Our apostles with all evidence of the truth: yet, behold, notwithstanding all this, many of them go on committing all manner of excesses on earth.

INDEED, We accepted a solemn pledge from the children of Israel, and We sent apostles unto them; [but] every time an apostle came unto them with anything that was not to their liking, [they rebelled:] to some of them they gave the lie, while others they would slay,

THOSE of the children of Israel who were bent on denying the truth have [already] been cursed by the tongue of David and of Jesus, the son of Mary? this, because they rebelled [against God] and persisted in transgressing the bounds of what is right.

And, likewise, their belief in beings or powers that are supposed to have a share in God's divinity makes [even] the slaying of their children seem goodly to many of those who ascribe divinity to aught beside God, thus bringing them to ruin and confusing them in their faith." Yet, unless God had so willed, they would not be doing all this:124 stand, therefore, aloof from them and all their false imagery! 122 Lit., "their [God-]partners make". As pointed out by Razi, some early commentators were of the opinion that the expression shuraka'uhum (lit., "their associates") denotes here the "evil beings" or "forces" (shayatin) from among men and jinn referred to in verses 112, 121, 128 and 130 of this surah. It seems to me, however, that what is meant here - as in the preceding verse - is the belief in the existence of anything that could be "associated" with God; hence my rendering of the above phrase as "their belief in beings or powers that are supposed...", etc. 123 This is a reference to the custom prevalent among the pre-Islamic Arabs of burying alive some of their unwanted children, mainly girls, and also to the occasional offering of a boy-child in sacrifice to one or another of their idols (Zamakhshari). Apart from this historical reference, the above Qur'an-verse seems to point out, by implication, the psychological fact that an attribution of divinity to anyone or anything but God brings with it an ever-growing dependence on all kinds of imaginary powers which must be "propitiated" by formal and often absurd and cruel rites: and this, in turn, leads to the loss of all spiritual freedom and to moral self-destruction. 124 I.e., He allows them to behave as they do because He wants them to make use of their reason and of the free will with which He has endowed man.

Lost, indeed, are they who, in their weakminded ignorance, slay their children and declare as forbidden that which God has provided for them as sustenance, falsely ascribing [such prohibitions] to God: they have gone astray and have not found the right path.

so constituted that I cannot say anything about God but the truth. I have now come unto you with a clear evidence from your Sustainer: let, then, the children of Israel go with me!"

And We brought the children of Israel across the sea; and thereupon Pharaoh and his hosts pursued them with vehement insolence and tyranny, until [they were overwhelmed by the waters of the sea. And] when he was about to drown, [Pharaoh] exclaimed:110 "I have come to believe that there is no deity save Him in whom the children of Israel believe, and I am of those who surrender themselves unto Him!"

And [thus, too,] We vouchsafed revelation unto Moses, and made it a [source of] guidance for the children of Israel, [commanding them:] "Do not ascribe to any but Me the power to determine your fate,

And we made [this] known to the children of Israel through revelation:5 "Twice, indeed, will you spread corruption on earth and will indeed become grossly overbearing!

AND, INDEED, We gave unto Moses nine clear messages. Ask, then, the children of Israel [to tell thee what happened] when he came unto them, [and appealed to Pharaoh,121] and Pharaoh said unto him, "Verily, O Moses, I think that thou art full of sorcery!"

And after that We said unto the children of Israel: "Dwell now securely on earth - but [remember that] when the promise of the Last Day shall come to pass, We will bring you forth as [parts of] a motley crowd!"

Go, then; you two unto him and say, 'Behold, we are apostles sent by thy Sustainer: let, then, the children of Israel go with us, and cause them not to suffer [any longer]. We have now come unto thee with a message from thy Sustainer; and [know that His] peace shall be [only] on those who follow [His] guidance:

O children of Israel! [Thus] We saved you from your enemy, and [then] We made a covenant with you on the right-hand slope of Mount Sinai, and repeatedly sent down manna and quails unto you, [saying,]

Answered [Aaron]: "O my mother's son! Seize me not by my beard, nor by my head! Behold, I was afraid lest [on thy return] thou say, 'Thou hast caused a split among the children of Israel, and hast paid no heed to my bidding!"