لَن تَنَالُوا۟ ٱلْبِرَّ حَتَّىٰ تُنفِقُوا۟ مِمَّا تُحِبُّونَ ۚ وَمَا تُنفِقُوا۟ مِن شَىْءٍۢ فَإِنَّ ٱللَّهَ بِهِۦ عَلِيمٌۭ
You will never attain piety until you spend out of what you hold dear, and whatever you may spend of anything, Allah indeed knows it.
۞ كُلُّ ٱلطَّعَامِ كَانَ حِلًّۭا لِّبَنِىٓ إِسْرَٰٓءِيلَ إِلَّا مَا حَرَّمَ إِسْرَٰٓءِيلُ عَلَىٰ نَفْسِهِۦ مِن قَبْلِ أَن تُنَزَّلَ ٱلتَّوْرَىٰةُ ۗ قُلْ فَأْتُوا۟ بِٱلتَّوْرَىٰةِ فَٱتْلُوهَآ إِن كُنتُمْ صَٰدِقِينَ
All food was lawful to the Children of Israel except what Israel had forbidden himself before the Torah was sent down. Say, ‘Bring the Torah, and read it, if you are truthful.’
فَمَنِ ٱفْتَرَىٰ عَلَى ٱللَّهِ ٱلْكَذِبَ مِنۢ بَعْدِ ذَٰلِكَ فَأُو۟لَٰٓئِكَ هُمُ ٱلظَّٰلِمُونَ
So whoever fabricates a lie against Allah after that—it is they who are the wrongdoers.
قُلْ صَدَقَ ٱللَّهُ ۗ فَٱتَّبِعُوا۟ مِلَّةَ إِبْرَٰهِيمَ حَنِيفًۭا وَمَا كَانَ مِنَ ٱلْمُشْرِكِينَ
Say, ‘Allah has spoken the truth; so follow the creed of Abraham, a Hanif, and he was not one of the polytheists.
إِنَّ أَوَّلَ بَيْتٍۢ وُضِعَ لِلنَّاسِ لَلَّذِى بِبَكَّةَ مُبَارَكًۭا وَهُدًۭى لِّلْعَٰلَمِينَ
Indeed the first house to be set up for mankind is the one at Bakkah, blessed and a guidance for all nations.
فِيهِ ءَايَٰتٌۢ بَيِّنَٰتٌۭ مَّقَامُ إِبْرَٰهِيمَ ۖ وَمَن دَخَلَهُۥ كَانَ ءَامِنًۭا ۗ وَلِلَّهِ عَلَى ٱلنَّاسِ حِجُّ ٱلْبَيْتِ مَنِ ٱسْتَطَاعَ إِلَيْهِ سَبِيلًۭا ۚ وَمَن كَفَرَ فَإِنَّ ٱللَّهَ غَنِىٌّ عَنِ ٱلْعَٰلَمِينَ
In it are manifest signs [and] Abraham’s Station, and whoever enters it shall be secure. And it is the duty of mankind toward Allah to make pilgrimage to the House—for those who can afford the journey to it—and should anyone renege [on his obligation], Allah is indeed without need of the creatures.
قُلْ يَٰٓأَهْلَ ٱلْكِتَٰبِ لِمَ تَكْفُرُونَ بِـَٔايَٰتِ ٱللَّهِ وَٱللَّهُ شَهِيدٌ عَلَىٰ مَا تَعْمَلُونَ
Say, ‘O People of the Book! Why do you deny the signs of Allah, while Allah is witness to what you do?’
قُلْ يَٰٓأَهْلَ ٱلْكِتَٰبِ لِمَ تَصُدُّونَ عَن سَبِيلِ ٱللَّهِ مَنْ ءَامَنَ تَبْغُونَهَا عِوَجًۭا وَأَنتُمْ شُهَدَآءُ ۗ وَمَا ٱللَّهُ بِغَٰفِلٍ عَمَّا تَعْمَلُونَ
Say, ‘O People of the Book! why do you bar the faithful from the way of Allah, seeking to make it crooked, while you are witnesses [to its truthfulness]? And Allah is not oblivious of what you do.’
يَٰٓأَيُّهَا ٱلَّذِينَ ءَامَنُوٓا۟ إِن تُطِيعُوا۟ فَرِيقًۭا مِّنَ ٱلَّذِينَ أُوتُوا۟ ٱلْكِتَٰبَ يَرُدُّوكُم بَعْدَ إِيمَٰنِكُمْ كَٰفِرِينَ
O you who have faith, if you obey a part of those who were given the Book, they will turn you back, after your faith, into faithless ones.
وَكَيْفَ تَكْفُرُونَ وَأَنتُمْ تُتْلَىٰ عَلَيْكُمْ ءَايَٰتُ ٱللَّهِ وَفِيكُمْ رَسُولُهُۥ ۗ وَمَن يَعْتَصِم بِٱللَّهِ فَقَدْ هُدِىَ إِلَىٰ صِرَٰطٍۢ مُّسْتَقِيمٍۢ
And how would you be faithless while the signs of Allah are recited to you and His Apostle is in your midst? Whoever takes recourse in Allah is certainly guided to a straight path.
يَٰٓأَيُّهَا ٱلَّذِينَ ءَامَنُوا۟ ٱتَّقُوا۟ ٱللَّهَ حَقَّ تُقَاتِهِۦ وَلَا تَمُوتُنَّ إِلَّا وَأَنتُم مُّسْلِمُونَ
O you who have faith! Be wary of Allah with the wariness due to Him and do not die except as Muslims.
وَٱعْتَصِمُوا۟ بِحَبْلِ ٱللَّهِ جَمِيعًۭا وَلَا تَفَرَّقُوا۟ ۚ وَٱذْكُرُوا۟ نِعْمَتَ ٱللَّهِ عَلَيْكُمْ إِذْ كُنتُمْ أَعْدَآءًۭ فَأَلَّفَ بَيْنَ قُلُوبِكُمْ فَأَصْبَحْتُم بِنِعْمَتِهِۦٓ إِخْوَٰنًۭا وَكُنتُمْ عَلَىٰ شَفَا حُفْرَةٍۢ مِّنَ ٱلنَّارِ فَأَنقَذَكُم مِّنْهَا ۗ كَذَٰلِكَ يُبَيِّنُ ٱللَّهُ لَكُمْ ءَايَٰتِهِۦ لَعَلَّكُمْ تَهْتَدُونَ
Hold fast, all together, to Allah’s cord, and do not be divided [into sects]. Remember Allah’s blessing upon you when you were enemies, then He brought your hearts together, so you became brothers with His blessing. And you were on the brink of a pit of Fire, whereat He saved you from it. Thus does Allah clarify His signs for you so that you may be guided.
وَلْتَكُن مِّنكُمْ أُمَّةٌۭ يَدْعُونَ إِلَى ٱلْخَيْرِ وَيَأْمُرُونَ بِٱلْمَعْرُوفِ وَيَنْهَوْنَ عَنِ ٱلْمُنكَرِ ۚ وَأُو۟لَٰٓئِكَ هُمُ ٱلْمُفْلِحُونَ
There has to be a nation among you summoning to the good, bidding what is right, and forbidding what is wrong. It is they who are the felicitous.
وَلَا تَكُونُوا۟ كَٱلَّذِينَ تَفَرَّقُوا۟ وَٱخْتَلَفُوا۟ مِنۢ بَعْدِ مَا جَآءَهُمُ ٱلْبَيِّنَٰتُ ۚ وَأُو۟لَٰٓئِكَ لَهُمْ عَذَابٌ عَظِيمٌۭ
Do not be like those who became divided [into sects] and differed after manifest signs had come to them. For such there will be a great punishment
يَوْمَ تَبْيَضُّ وُجُوهٌۭ وَتَسْوَدُّ وُجُوهٌۭ ۚ فَأَمَّا ٱلَّذِينَ ٱسْوَدَّتْ وُجُوهُهُمْ أَكَفَرْتُم بَعْدَ إِيمَٰنِكُمْ فَذُوقُوا۟ ٱلْعَذَابَ بِمَا كُنتُمْ تَكْفُرُونَ
on the day when [some] faces will turn white and [some] faces will turn black. As for those whose faces turn black [it will be said to them], ‘Did you disbelieve after your faith? So taste the punishment because of what you used to disbelieve.’
وَأَمَّا ٱلَّذِينَ ٱبْيَضَّتْ وُجُوهُهُمْ فَفِى رَحْمَةِ ٱللَّهِ هُمْ فِيهَا خَٰلِدُونَ
But as for those whose faces become white, they shall dwell in Allah’s mercy, and they will remain in it [forever].
تِلْكَ ءَايَٰتُ ٱللَّهِ نَتْلُوهَا عَلَيْكَ بِٱلْحَقِّ ۗ وَمَا ٱللَّهُ يُرِيدُ ظُلْمًۭا لِّلْعَٰلَمِينَ
These are the signs of Allah, which We recite to you in truth, and Allah does not desire any wrong for the creatures.
وَلِلَّهِ مَا فِى ٱلسَّمَٰوَٰتِ وَمَا فِى ٱلْأَرْضِ ۚ وَإِلَى ٱللَّهِ تُرْجَعُ ٱلْأُمُورُ
To Allah belongs whatever there is in the heavens and the earth, and to Allah all matters are returned.
English translation: Ali Quli Qarai
Sources: Ṭabarsī [tabarsi_majma_al_bayan]; Ṭūsī [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 joins the ethic of sacrificial spending (v.92), the Abrahamic food-law polemic against the Jews (vv.93–95), the sanctity and pilgrimage of the Kaʿba (vv.96–97), the warning against the People of the Book (vv.98–101), and the great commands to fear God as He should be feared, to hold fast to the rope of God undivided, and to be a community enjoining right (vv.102–109).
1. Sacrificial spending (v.92). All read "you will not attain righteousness until you spend of what you love" as spending the choicest, with the same body of Companion-traditions (Abū Ṭalḥa's orchard, etc.). [tabarsi_majma_al_bayan] [tusi_al_tibyan]
2. The Abrahamic food-law (vv.93–95). All agree the Israelites' food was lawful save what Jacob forbade himself (camel-flesh, for sciatica) before the Torah, refuting the Jews' claim; al-Qummī and al-Burhān give the ʿirq al-nasā occasion verbatim. [tabarsi_majma_al_bayan] [tusi_al_tibyan] [bahrani_al_burhan] [qummi]
3. The Kaʿba and ḥajj (vv.96–97). All read it as the first house, blessed; maqām Ibrāhīm among the clear signs; "whoever enters is safe" as the Sanctuary's asylum (the offender boycotted, not seized); and the ḥajj obligatory on the able, with istiṭāʿa = provision, mount, health and a clear road. [tabarsi_majma_al_bayan] [tusi_al_tibyan] [bahrani_al_burhan] al-Burhān adds the cosmology (the House as the first land created) and a large ḥajj-fiqh set. [bahrani_al_burhan]
4. The rope of God and the joined hearts (vv.102–103). All read "hold fast to the rope of God, undivided" and the joining of the Aws and Khazraj as the favour of unity; all cite the Thaqalayn material (the Book and the ʿitra). [tabarsi_majma_al_bayan] [tusi_al_tibyan] [bahrani_al_burhan]
5. The community enjoining good (vv.104–109). All read v.104 as the duty of al-amr bi-l-maʿrūf, v.105 as the ban on division, and vv.106–107 as the whitening/blackening of faces by faith and unbelief. [tabarsi_majma_al_bayan] [tusi_al_tibyan] [qummi]
1. "The rope of God" = ʿAlī and the Imams (v.103) — the strongest Imāmī point here. al-Burhān and al-Qummī read it as tawḥīd and wilāya / the Household, with the Prophet's deathbed sermon ("ʿAlī is the rope of God"), Zayn al-ʿĀbidīn's report, and al-Ṣādiq's "we are the rope." [bahrani_al_burhan] [qummi] Crucially, Ṭabarsī transmits the same al-Ṣādiq report (via Abān b. Taghlib, "we are the rope of God"), alongside "the rope = the Qurʾān / Islam" and the Thaqalayn ḥadīth — concluding "the best is to take it of all." [tabarsi_majma_al_bayan] [tusi_al_tibyan]
2. "Whoever enters [the House] is safe" (v.97). Beyond the legal asylum, al-Burhān reads it as safety through recognizing the Ahl al-Bayt ("whoever comes knowing the House is God's and knowing us… is safe in both worlds") and through pledging to the Qāʾim. [bahrani_al_burhan] The philologists give the asylum and the Hereafter-safety readings. [tabarsi_majma_al_bayan] [tusi_al_tibyan]
3. "Fear God as He should be feared" (v.102). al-Burhān and Ṭabarsī carry al-Ṣādiq's gloss ("obeyed not disobeyed…") and ʿAlī's "none acted on it but the Household," and the abrogation by "fear God as much as you can" (al-Bāqir, al-Ṣādiq); al-Kāẓim reads "die only as musallimūn" (submitting to the Imam). [bahrani_al_burhan] [tabarsi_majma_al_bayan] Ibn ʿAbbās/Ṭāwūs deny the abrogation. [tabarsi_majma_al_bayan] [tusi_al_tibyan]
4. The best community = the Imams (v.104). al-Qummī and al-Burhān (and Ṭabarsī, citing al-Ṣādiq) carry the reading "let there be of you aʾimma (Imams)." [qummi] [bahrani_al_burhan] [tabarsi_majma_al_bayan] The philologists otherwise debate whether enjoining good is a communal or individual duty. [tabarsi_majma_al_bayan] [tusi_al_tibyan]
5. The blackened faces (v.106). ʿAlī's reading "the people of innovation and caprice of this community" (the Khawārij) is carried by both philologists; the Imāmī sources tie the blackening to breaking the wilāya. [tabarsi_majma_al_bayan] [tusi_al_tibyan] [qummi]
The plain sense and the ḥajj-fiqh are broadly shared. The defining feature of this passage is the rope of God (v.103), the one place where the Imāmī reading is not confined to the narration-collections: Ṭabarsī himself transmits al-Ṣādiq's "we are the rope of God" (via Abān b. Taghlib) alongside "the rope = the Qurʾān / Islam," and all sources cite the Thaqalayn ḥadīth (the Book and the ʿitra that "will not part until the Pool") — so the wilāya-reading and the Qurʾān-reading sit side by side rather than in opposition, the narrative sources (al-Qummī, al-Burhān) merely foregrounding the former with the Prophet's deathbed sermon and Zayn al-ʿĀbidīn's pointing to ʿAlī. The same dynamic recurs at v.97 (safety through recognising the Ahl al-Bayt and pledging to the Qāʾim, layered onto the Sanctuary-asylum), v.102 (al-Ṣādiq's gloss and the abrogation, shared by Ṭabarsī and al-Burhān), and v.104 (the aʾimma reading, again cross-attested). The philologists supply the lexical and legal apparatus — the birr of sacrificial giving, the ʿirq al-nasā food-law, the conditions of istiṭāʿa, the farḍ-kifāya status of enjoining good, the abrogation debate — and al-Mīzān and the Enlightening Commentary the systematic and didactic frame (the unity of the community as the rope; the Kaʿba as guidance). The most strongly cross-attested Imāmī point is the rope-as-wilāya reading of v.103. A specialist should note that al-Burhān's very large Kaʿba/ḥajj and rope-of-God sets were rendered representatively, and the qirāʾāt/grammar of Ṭabarsī and Ṭūsī for sense; and that al-Qummī's surviving text for vv.96–109 is sparse, its narrations collected under al-Burhān.