لَمْ يَكُنِ الَّذِينَ كَفَرُوا مِنْ أَهْلِ الْكِتَابِ وَالْمُشْرِكِينَ مُنْفَكِّينَ حَتَّىٰ تَأْتِيَهُمُ الْبَيِّنَةُ
IT IS NOT [conceivable] that such as are bent on denying the truth – [be they] from among the followers of earlier revelation or from among those who ascribe divinity to aught beside God – should ever be abandoned [by Him] ere there comes unto them the [full] evidence of the truth: (1)
رَسُولٌ مِنَ اللَّهِ يَتْلُو صُحُفًا مُطَهَّرَةً
an apostle from God, conveying [unto them] revelations blest with purity, (2)
فِيهَا كُتُبٌ قَيِّمَةٌ
wherein there are ordinances of ever-true soundness and clarity. (3)
وَمَا تَفَرَّقَ الَّذِينَ أُوتُوا الْكِتَابَ إِلَّا مِنْ بَعْدِ مَا جَاءَتْهُمُ الْبَيِّنَةُ
Now those who have been vouchsafed revelation aforetime did break up their unity [of faith] after such an evidence of the truth had come to them. (4)
وَمَا أُمِرُوا إِلَّا لِيَعْبُدُوا اللَّهَ مُخْلِصِينَ لَهُ الدِّينَ حُنَفَاءَ وَيُقِيمُوا الصَّلَاةَ وَيُؤْتُوا الزَّكَاةَ وَذَٰلِكَ دِينُ الْقَيِّمَةِ
And withal, they were not enjoined aught but that they should worship God, sincere in their faith in Him alone, turning away from all that is false; and that they should be constant in prayer; and that they should spend in charity: for this is a moral law endowed with ever-true soundness and clarity. (5)
إِنَّ الَّذِينَ كَفَرُوا مِنْ أَهْلِ الْكِتَابِ وَالْمُشْرِكِينَ فِي نَارِ جَهَنَّمَ خَالِدِينَ فِيهَا أُولَٰئِكَ هُمْ شَرُّ الْبَرِيَّةِ
Verily, those who [despite all evidence] are bent on denying the truth – [be they] from among the followers of earlier revelation or from among those who ascribe divinity to aught beside God – will find themselves in the fire of hell, therein to abide: they are the worst of all creatures. (6)
إِنَّ الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا وَعَمِلُوا الصَّالِحَاتِ أُولَٰئِكَ هُمْ خَيْرُ الْبَرِيَّةِ
[And,] verily, those who have attained to faith and do righteous deeds – it is they, they who are the best of all creatures. (7)
جَزَاؤُهُمْ عِنْدَ رَبِّهِمْ جَنَّاتُ عَدْنٍ تَجْرِي مِنْ تَحْتِهَا الْأَنْهَارُ خَالِدِينَ فِيهَا أَبَدًا رَضِيَ اللَّهُ عَنْهُمْ وَرَضُوا عَنْهُ ذَٰلِكَ لِمَنْ خَشِيَ رَبَّهُ
Their reward [awaits them] with God: gardens of perpetual bliss, through which running waters flow, therein to abide beyond the count of time; well-pleased is God with them, and well-pleased are they with Him: all this awaits him who of his Sustainer stands in awe! (8)
- Now those who have been vouchsafed revelation aforetime3 did break up their unity [of faith] after such an evidence of the truth had come to them.4
- 3 This definition is general, comprising the followers of all religious teachings revealed before the advent of the Prophet Muhammad (lbn Kathir), and not - as some commentators assume - only the Jews and the Christians. (See also notes 12 and 13 on 3:19.)
- 4 I.e., most of them strayed from the teachings of the prophets sent to them, all of whom had preached the same fundamental truths (see next verse and note 6 below).
- Nor did the People of the Book make schisms,6227 until after there came to them Clear Evidence.
- 6227 The responsibility of the People of the Book is greater than that of Pagans, because the People of the Book had been prepared for the standard and straight Religion by the revelations which they had already received. Yet, when the clear evidence came in Islam, they resisted it. And what is this standard and straight Religion, free of all ambiguity, and free of all casual rights and ceremonies? They are summed up in three eternal principles, as explained in the next verse and the next note.
-
Nor did the People of the Book make schisms, until after there came to them Clear Evidence.
— Abdullah Yusuf Ali -
Nor were the People of the Scripture divided until after the clear proof came unto them.
— Marmaduke Pickthall -
And those who were given the Book did not become divided except after clear evidence had come to them.
— M. Habib Shakir -
And the people of the Scripture (Jews and Christians) differed not until after there came to them clear evidence. (i.e. Prophet Muhammad (Peace be upon him) and whatever was revealed to him).
— Taqiuddin Hilali and M. Mohsin Khan -
And those who are vouchsafed the Book divided not save after there had come Unto them the evidence.
— Abdul-Majid Daryabadi -
Those to whom the Book was given did not divide themselves until the Clear Proof came to them.
— Hasan Qaribullah and Ahmed Darwish -
And the People of the Book divided not but after the Clear Evidence had come to them.
— Ayub Khan -
And those to whom the Book was given did not become divided until after clear evidence had come to them.
— Sher Ali -
Now those who have been vouchsafed revelation aforetime did break up their unity [of faith] after such an evidence of the truth had come to them.
— Muhammad Asad -
And they scattered not, those that were given the Book, excepting after the Clear Sign came to them.
— Arthur Arberry -
Nor did those to whom the Book had been given split up until after the Proof (of the Right Way) had come to them.{{6}}
— Abu'l Ala Maududi