قُل لَّآ أَجِدُ فِى مَآ أُوحِىَ إِلَىَّ مُحَرَّمًا عَلَىٰ طَاعِمٍۢ يَطْعَمُهُۥٓ إِلَّآ أَن يَكُونَ مَيْتَةً أَوْ دَمًۭا مَّسْفُوحًا أَوْ لَحْمَ خِنزِيرٍۢ فَإِنَّهُۥ رِجْسٌ أَوْ فِسْقًا أُهِلَّ لِغَيْرِ ٱللَّهِ بِهِۦ ۚ فَمَنِ ٱضْطُرَّ غَيْرَ بَاغٍۢ وَلَا عَادٍۢ فَإِنَّ رَبَّكَ غَفُورٌۭ رَّحِيمٌۭ
Say, ‘I do not find in what has been revealed to me that anyone be forbidden to eat anything except carrion or spilt blood, or the flesh of swine—for that is indeed unclean—or an impiety offered to other than Allah.’ But should someone be compelled, without being rebellious or aggressive, indeed your Lord is all-forgiving, all-merciful.
وَعَلَى ٱلَّذِينَ هَادُوا۟ حَرَّمْنَا كُلَّ ذِى ظُفُرٍۢ ۖ وَمِنَ ٱلْبَقَرِ وَٱلْغَنَمِ حَرَّمْنَا عَلَيْهِمْ شُحُومَهُمَآ إِلَّا مَا حَمَلَتْ ظُهُورُهُمَآ أَوِ ٱلْحَوَايَآ أَوْ مَا ٱخْتَلَطَ بِعَظْمٍۢ ۚ ذَٰلِكَ جَزَيْنَٰهُم بِبَغْيِهِمْ ۖ وَإِنَّا لَصَٰدِقُونَ
To the Jews We forbade every animal having an undivided hoof, and of oxen and sheep We forbade them their fat, except what is borne by their backs or the entrails, or what is attached to the bones. We requited them with that for their rebelliousness, and We indeed speak the truth.
فَإِن كَذَّبُوكَ فَقُل رَّبُّكُمْ ذُو رَحْمَةٍۢ وَٰسِعَةٍۢ وَلَا يُرَدُّ بَأْسُهُۥ عَنِ ٱلْقَوْمِ ٱلْمُجْرِمِينَ
But if they deny you, say, ‘Your Lord is dispenser of an all-embracing mercy, but His punishment will not be averted from the guilty lot.’
سَيَقُولُ ٱلَّذِينَ أَشْرَكُوا۟ لَوْ شَآءَ ٱللَّهُ مَآ أَشْرَكْنَا وَلَآ ءَابَآؤُنَا وَلَا حَرَّمْنَا مِن شَىْءٍۢ ۚ كَذَٰلِكَ كَذَّبَ ٱلَّذِينَ مِن قَبْلِهِمْ حَتَّىٰ ذَاقُوا۟ بَأْسَنَا ۗ قُلْ هَلْ عِندَكُم مِّنْ عِلْمٍۢ فَتُخْرِجُوهُ لَنَآ ۖ إِن تَتَّبِعُونَ إِلَّا ٱلظَّنَّ وَإِنْ أَنتُمْ إِلَّا تَخْرُصُونَ
The polytheists will say, ‘Had Allah wished we would not have ascribed any partner [to Him], nor our fathers, nor would we have forbidden anything.’ Those who were before them had denied likewise until they tasted Our punishment. Say, ‘Do you have any [revealed] knowledge that you can produce before us? You follow nothing but conjectures, and you do nothing but surmise.’
قُلْ فَلِلَّهِ ٱلْحُجَّةُ ٱلْبَٰلِغَةُ ۖ فَلَوْ شَآءَ لَهَدَىٰكُمْ أَجْمَعِينَ
Say, ‘To Allah belongs the conclusive argument. Had He wished, He would have surely guided you all.’
قُلْ هَلُمَّ شُهَدَآءَكُمُ ٱلَّذِينَ يَشْهَدُونَ أَنَّ ٱللَّهَ حَرَّمَ هَٰذَا ۖ فَإِن شَهِدُوا۟ فَلَا تَشْهَدْ مَعَهُمْ ۚ وَلَا تَتَّبِعْ أَهْوَآءَ ٱلَّذِينَ كَذَّبُوا۟ بِـَٔايَٰتِنَا وَٱلَّذِينَ لَا يُؤْمِنُونَ بِٱلْءَاخِرَةِ وَهُم بِرَبِّهِمْ يَعْدِلُونَ
Say, ‘Bring your witnesses who may testify that Allah has forbidden this.’ So if they testify, do not testify with them, and do not follow the desires of those who deny Our signs, and those who do not believe in the Hereafter and equate [others] with their Lord.
۞ قُلْ تَعَالَوْا۟ أَتْلُ مَا حَرَّمَ رَبُّكُمْ عَلَيْكُمْ ۖ أَلَّا تُشْرِكُوا۟ بِهِۦ شَيْـًۭٔا ۖ وَبِٱلْوَٰلِدَيْنِ إِحْسَٰنًۭا ۖ وَلَا تَقْتُلُوٓا۟ أَوْلَٰدَكُم مِّنْ إِمْلَٰقٍۢ ۖ نَّحْنُ نَرْزُقُكُمْ وَإِيَّاهُمْ ۖ وَلَا تَقْرَبُوا۟ ٱلْفَوَٰحِشَ مَا ظَهَرَ مِنْهَا وَمَا بَطَنَ ۖ وَلَا تَقْتُلُوا۟ ٱلنَّفْسَ ٱلَّتِى حَرَّمَ ٱللَّهُ إِلَّا بِٱلْحَقِّ ۚ ذَٰلِكُمْ وَصَّىٰكُم بِهِۦ لَعَلَّكُمْ تَعْقِلُونَ
Say, ‘Come, I will recount what your Lord has forbidden you. That you shall not ascribe any partners to Him, and you shall be good to the parents, you shall not kill your children due to penury—We will provide for you and for them—you shall not approach indecencies, the outward among them and the inward ones, and you shall not kill a soul [whose life] Allah has made inviolable, except with due cause. This is what He has enjoined upon you so that you may exercise your reason.
وَلَا تَقْرَبُوا۟ مَالَ ٱلْيَتِيمِ إِلَّا بِٱلَّتِى هِىَ أَحْسَنُ حَتَّىٰ يَبْلُغَ أَشُدَّهُۥ ۖ وَأَوْفُوا۟ ٱلْكَيْلَ وَٱلْمِيزَانَ بِٱلْقِسْطِ ۖ لَا نُكَلِّفُ نَفْسًا إِلَّا وُسْعَهَا ۖ وَإِذَا قُلْتُمْ فَٱعْدِلُوا۟ وَلَوْ كَانَ ذَا قُرْبَىٰ ۖ وَبِعَهْدِ ٱللَّهِ أَوْفُوا۟ ۚ ذَٰلِكُمْ وَصَّىٰكُم بِهِۦ لَعَلَّكُمْ تَذَكَّرُونَ
Do not approach the orphan’s property, except in the best [possible] manner, until he comes of age. And observe fully the measure and the balance with justice.’ We task no soul except according to its capacity. ‘And when you speak, be fair, even if it were a relative; and fulfill Allah’s covenant. This is what He enjoins upon you so that you may take admonition.’
وَأَنَّ هَٰذَا صِرَٰطِى مُسْتَقِيمًۭا فَٱتَّبِعُوهُ ۖ وَلَا تَتَّبِعُوا۟ ٱلسُّبُلَ فَتَفَرَّقَ بِكُمْ عَن سَبِيلِهِۦ ۚ ذَٰلِكُمْ وَصَّىٰكُم بِهِۦ لَعَلَّكُمْ تَتَّقُونَ
‘This indeed is my straight path, so follow it, and do not follow [other] ways, for they will separate you from His way. This is what He enjoins upon you so that you may be Godwary.’
ثُمَّ ءَاتَيْنَا مُوسَى ٱلْكِتَٰبَ تَمَامًا عَلَى ٱلَّذِىٓ أَحْسَنَ وَتَفْصِيلًۭا لِّكُلِّ شَىْءٍۢ وَهُدًۭى وَرَحْمَةًۭ لَّعَلَّهُم بِلِقَآءِ رَبِّهِمْ يُؤْمِنُونَ
Then We gave Moses the Book, completing [Our blessing] on him who is virtuous, and as an elaboration of all things, and as a guidance and mercy, so that they may believe in the encounter with their Lord.
English translation: Ali Quli Qarai
Sources present: Ṭabarsī, Majmaʿ al-Bayān [tabarsi_majma_al_bayan]; Ṭūsī, al-Tibyān [tusi_al_tibyan]; Baḥrānī, al-Burhān [bahrani_al_burhan]; al-Qummī [qummi]; Ṭabāṭabāʾī, al-Mīzān [tabatabai_al_mizan]; An Enlightening Commentary [enlightening_commentary]. All six present.
The passage corrects the pagans' invented food-law with the true list of what God forbade and what He forbade the Jews for their insolence (6:145–147), demolishes the determinist excuse "had God willed…" with the conclusive proof (6:148–150), and then recites the great covenant of commandments that is God's straight path, closing with the Book given to Moses (6:151–154).
1. The true forbidden foods (6:145). All read the verse as a rebuttal of the Arabs' arbitrary prohibitions, listing carrion, flowing blood, swine and the offering to other than God. [tabarsi_majma_al_bayan] and [tusi_al_tibyan] explain that "flowing" pardons the clinging blood and that the list is not exhaustive (the strangled and the fanged are forbidden elsewhere); [bahrani_al_burhan] supplies the detailed Imāmī fiqh (only swine forbidden by name in the Qurʾān; scaleless fish disliked, not forbidden; donkey-meat banned at Khaybar to spare the mounts).
2. What was forbidden to the Jews (6:146). All gloss "every animal with claws" and the forbidden fat. [tabarsi_majma_al_bayan] and [tusi_al_tibyan] give the views and the reason ("for their insolence" — slaying prophets, usury), while [bahrani_al_burhan] and [qummi] add ʿAlī b. Ibrāhīm's tradition that their kings withheld it from the poor.
3. The conclusive proof (6:148–149). All read the determinist excuse "had God willed" as conjecture, and a proof that God does not will unbelief. [tabarsi_majma_al_bayan] and [tusi_al_tibyan] build the kalām argument (the willing of constraint in 6:149 versus the willing of choice), refuting the Mujbira. [bahrani_al_burhan] supplies the narrations on al-ḥujja al-bāligha (God's interrogation of the servant; "we are the conclusive proof"), and [qummi] reads "had He willed He would have guided you all" as "set you on one matter."
4. The great commandments (6:151–153). All read these as the decisive verses (muḥkamāt) — monotheism, goodness to parents, not killing children, shunning indecencies, the sanctity of life, the orphan's wealth, full measure, just speech, God's covenant. [tabarsi_majma_al_bayan] cites Ibn ʿAbbās that they are "the mother of the Book," abrogated by nothing.
5. "This is My straight path" (6:153). [tabarsi_majma_al_bayan] and [tusi_al_tibyan] read it as the right religion to be followed against the divergent ways. [bahrani_al_burhan] and [qummi] uniquely read it through the Imams — the path is the Imam / the walāya of ʿAlī and the legatees, "we are the way," with the Prophetic "I asked God to make it ʿAlī's."
[bahrani_al_burhan] alone carries the long Mufaḍḍal/Ghadīr narration on the conclusive proof, the dietary-fiqh chains, and the dense walāya readings of 6:153; [qummi] uniquely reads "goodness to parents" as the Messenger and ʿAlī, and concentrates the muḥkam labeling. [tabatabai_al_mizan] frames the passage as the divine legislation answering man-made prohibition and dwells on the meaning of al-ḥujja al-bāligha; [enlightening_commentary] supplies the running prose on the ten commandments and the dietary law. The classical pair [tabarsi_majma_al_bayan] and [tusi_al_tibyan] carry the qirāʾāt, the kalām against the Mujbira, and the refutation of taqlīd. No source is silent for this passage.