Word وَالۡکِتٰبِ - Quran Morphology

English - Hazrat Molavi Sher Ali ^ra

It is not righteousness that you turn your faces to the East or the West, but truly righteous is he who believes in Allah and the Last Day and the angels and the Book and the Prophets, and spends his money for love of Him, on the kindred and the orphans and the needy and the wayfarer and those who ask for charity, and for ransoming the captives; and who observes Prayer and pays the Zakat; and those who fulfil their promise when they have made one, and the patient in poverty and afflictions and the steadfast in time of war; it is these who have proved truthful and it is these who are the God-fearing.

اردو ترجمہ مرزا طاہر احمد خلیفة المسیح الرابعؒ

نیکی یہ نہیں کہ تم اپنے چہروں کو مشرق یا مغرب کی طرف پھیرو۔ بلکہ نیکی اسی کی ہے جو اللہ پر ایمان لائے اور یوم آخرت پر اور فرشتوں پر اور کتاب پر اور نبیوں پر اور مال دے اس کی محبت رکھتے ہوئے اقرباءکو اور یتیموں کو اور مسکینوں کو اور مسافروں کو اور سوال کرنے والوں کو نیز گردنوں کو آزاد کرانے کی خاطر۔ اور جو نماز قائم کرے اور زکوٰۃ دے اور وہ جو اپنے عہد کو پورا کرتے ہیں جب وہ عہد باندھتے ہیں اور تکلیفوں اور دکھوں کے دوران صبر کرنے والے ہیں اور جنگ کے دوران بھی۔ یہی وہ لوگ ہیں جنہوں نے صدق اختیار کیا اور یہی ہیں جو متّقی ہیں۔

French

La vertu ne consiste pas à ce que vous tourniez vos visages vers l’Est ou vers l’Ouest, mais est vraiment vertueux celui qui croit en Allāh et au Jour Dernier et aux anges et au Livre et aux Prophètes, et qui, pour l’amour d’Allāh, dépense de l’argent sur les proches parents et sur les orphelins et sur les nécessiteux et sur le voyageur et sur ceux qui demandent de l’aumône et pour rançonner les captifs ; et qui observe la Prière et paie la Zakāt ; et ceux qui tiennent leur promesse quand ils en ont fait une ; et ceux qui sont patients dans la pauvreté et les afflictions ; et ceux qui sont inébranlables en temps de guerre. Ce sont eux qui se sont montrés véridiques et ce sont eux qui craignent Allāh.

German

Nicht darin besteht Tugend, dass ihr euer Antlitz nach Osten oder nach Westen kehrt, sondern wahrhaft gerecht ist der, welcher an Allah glaubt und an den Jüngsten Tag und an die Engel und das Buch und die Propheten und aus Liebe zu Ihm Geld ausgibt für die Angehörigen und für die Waisen und Bedürftigen und für den Wanderer und die, die um eine milde Gabe bitten, und für (Loskauf der) Gefangenen, und der das Gebet verrichtet und die Zakât zahlt; sowie jene, die ihr Versprechen halten, wenn sie eins gegeben haben, und die in Armut und Krankheit und in Kriegszeit Standhaften; sie sind es, die sich als redlich bewährt haben, und sie sind die Gottesfürchtigen.

Chinese

你们面向东方和西方[b]都不是大的善功。完善的人是信仰安拉、末日、天使、经典和一切先知的, 他为了热爱安拉, 以财物 [c]周济亲戚、孤儿、贫民、旅客、乞丐、回赎奴隶; 他固守拜功, 完纳天课; [d]履行约言, 并特别在[e]穷困、疾病和战争期间保持坚定精神; [f]这些人才是说实话的, 这些人才是完善的敬畏者。[114]

Italian

La rettitudine non consiste nel volgere il viso verso l'oriente o verso l'occidente, ma è veramente giusto colui che crede in Allah e nell'Ultimo giorno, e negli angeli e nel libro e nei profeti, e dispensa per amore di Lui il suo denaro a favore dei suoi consanguinei, degli orfani e dei bisognosi e del viandante e di colui che chiede la carità e per il riscatto dei prigionieri; e che s'attiene alla preghiera e paga lo Zakàt. E coloro che mantengono una promessa dopo averla fatta, e i pazienti nella povertà e nell'afflizione e i risoluti in tempo di guerra. Sono questi coloro che hanno dato prova di essere veritieri e sono questi coloro che temono Dio.

Spanish

La piedad no consiste en que volváis vuestros rostros a Oriente o a Occidente, el verdaderamente justo es aquel que cree en Al-lah y en el Último Día, y en los ángeles y en el Libro y en los Profetas, y otorga su dinero por amor a Él a los parientes y a los huérfanos, al necesitado y al viajero, y a los que piden por caridad; y para el rescate de los cautivos; y quien cumple la Oración y paga el Zakat; y los que cumplen su promesa cuando la hacen, y el paciente en la pobreza y en la desgracia, y el constante y firme en tiempo de guerra; éstos son quienes se han mostrado veraces y quienes sienten temor de Dios.

اردو تفسیرِ صغیر

تمہارا مشرق اور مغرب کی طرف منہ پھیرنا کوئی بڑی نیکی نہیں ہے لیکن کامل[1] نیک وہ شخص ہے جو اللہ‘ روز آخرت‘ ملائکہ (الٰہی) کتاب اور سب نبیوں پر ایمان لایا اور اس (اللہ) کی محبت کی وجہ سے رشتہ داروں اور یتیموں اور مسکینوں اور مسافر کو اور سوالیوں کو نیز غلاموں (کی آزادی) کے لئے (اپنا) مال دیا اور نماز کو قائم رکھا اور زکٰوۃ کو ادا کیا اور اپنے عہد کو جب بھی (کوئی) عہد کر لیں پورا کرنے والے اور (خاص کر) تنگی اور بیماری میں اور جنگ کے وقت برداشت سے کام لینے والے (کامل نیک) یہی لوگ ہیں جو (اپنے قول) کے سچے نکلے اور یہی لوگ کامل متقی ہیں۔

English - Short Commentary Translation

[a]It is not righteousness that you turn your faces to the East or the West, but truly righteous is he who believes in Allah and the Last Day and the angels and the Book and the Prophets, and [b]spends his money out of love for Him,[202] on the kindred and the orphans and the needy and the wayfarer and those who ask for charity, and for ransoming the captives; and observes Prayer and pays the Zakat; and those [c]who fulfil their promise when they have made one, and the patient in [d]poverty[202A] and afflictions and the steadfast in time of war; [e]it is these who have proved truthful and it is these who are truly God-fearing.[203]

English - Five Volume Translation

[b]It is not righteousness that you turn your faces to the East or the West, but truly righteous is he who believes in Allah and the Last Day and the angels and the Book and the Prophets, and [c]spends his money for love of Him, on the kindred and the orphans and the needy and the wayfarer and those who ask for charity, and for ransoming the captives; and who observes Prayer and pays the Zakah; and those [d]who fulfil their promise when they have made one, and the patient in [e]poverty and afflictions and the steadfast in time of war; [f]it is these who have proved truthful and it is these who are the God-fearing.[184]

2:190.

76:9.

9:4; 13:21.

2:215; 6:43; 7:95.

49:16.

Important Words:

البر (righteousness) is derived from بر. They say بر والدہ i.e. he obeyed his father or he behaved kindly and lovingly towards him. بر الله means, he obeyed God. بر فی قوله means, he spoke truthfully. برت الصلوة means, the Prayer was accepted. بر(birr) therefore, means: (1) a gift or favour; (2) obedience; (3) righteousness; (4) truthfulness (Aqrab); also (5) extensive goodness or goodness of a high order (Mufradat). And بر (barr) is one who does good to others. It is also one of the attributive names of God (Aqrab).

ابن السبیل (wayfarer) literally means, son of the road. The word signifies: (1) one who travels much (Lane); (2) a traveller or wayfarer who is far away from home, i.e. one who is on a long journey (Mufradat); (3) simply one on journey; (4) one whose way has been cut short to him, i.e. one who is stranded on the way (Aqrab).

الرقاب (captives) is the plural of رقبة (a captive or a slave) which is derived from رقب. They say رقبه i.e. he waited for or looked for him; he watched or guarded him; he was on his guard against him; he put a rope round his neck. رقبة means: (1) neck; (2) the hinder part thereof; (3) a person or being possessing a neck; (4) a slave or bondman or captive or prisoner, particularly a slave or captive who has contracted with his owner or custodian for his freedom. Thus the expression فی الرقاب would mean, in the ransoming of slaves or captives, etc. (Aqrab, Mufradat & Lane).

الباساء (poverty) and الباس (war) are both derived from بؤس orبئس i.e. (1) he was or became strong and valiant in war or fight; (2) he was or became in a state of great want or poverty or distress. الباساء means: (1), distress; (2) poverty; (3) hardship; (4) misfortune; (5) calamity; and (6) war. And البأس means (1) might or strength in war or fight; (2) courage, valour and prowess; (3) war or fight; (4) fear; (5) punishment or torment; and (6) harm or injury, as in لاباس به i.e. there is no harm in it (Lane & Aqrab). See also below.

الضراء (afflictions) is derived from ضر meaning, he caused him a loss or an injury. الضراء means: (1) vicissitudes of time; (2) hardship; (3) loss of life or property; (4) afflictions; and (5) famine (Aqrab). الضراء is especially that evil or affliction which relates to one’s person, as disease, etc. whereas البأساء is that which relates to property, as poverty, etc. (Lane).

Commentary:

The verse points to an important principle relating to form and spirit. Every commandment must have an outward form as well as an underlying spirit. What, however, is really meant is the underlying spirit and not the outward form which mostly serves as an outer shell for preserving the inner kernel. To illustrate this principle, the verse refers to the commandment relating to the turning of faces to a particular direction while offering Prayers. The verse points out that Islam has not directed the Faithful to face in a particular direction during Prayers, because it considers such an act to be of any intrinsic virtue. The fixing of a special direction is merely meant to bring about uniformity, whereas what really counts is the purpose underlying it, which is perfection of faith and deeds. The Quran, accordingly, proceeds to give in a nutshell the Islamic teachings about these two subjects.

The literal translation of the clauses ولکن البر من آمن is, "but righteousness is one who believes" which is obviously incomplete. So some words must be understood here. According to Sibawaih, a great authority on Arabic syntax, the rules of the Arabic language sometimes permit the omitting of a word for the sake of brevity or for laying special stress or for affording greater elasticity in speech. In accordance with this rule, the clause would read: ولکن البر من آمن i.e. "but righteousness is the righteousness of one who believes." Instances of such omissions of words are not lacking in the Arabic language (Sibawaih, i. 109).

According to yet another rule of the Arabic language, a مصدر (infinitive noun) is sometimes used in place of an اسم فاعل(active participle) in order to convey an intensified sense. Thus the word بر (righteousness) in the verse would mean بر الکامل i.e. "perfectly righteous or very righteous," and the clause would be translated as "perfectly righteous or very righteous is he who believes in Allah…"

The pronoun in the expression حبه (love of Him) may refer either to the word "Allah" in the previous clause, and in that case, the clause آتی المال علی حبه would mean, "spends his money for love of God". Or it may refer to the word مال(money). In this case, the clause would mean, "spends his money notwithstanding his love for money". Lastly, it may also refer to the noun implied in the verb آتی i.e. the act of spending. In this case the clause would mean "spends his money for the love of spending it". All these meanings are correct and may be applied. Indeed, it is one of the inimitable beauties of the Quranic diction that it chooses words and constructions that go to convey a variety of meanings in the shortest of expressions.

The verse affords another example of this kind in the expression ابن السبیل (son of the road). As explained under Important Words, this expression gives no less than four meanings and all are equally applicable here. So spending on ابن السبیل would signify (1) spending money in order to encourage travelling, which is a means of increasing knowledge and extending social relations; (2) helping such travellers as are on long journeys and are far away from home; (3) helping all wayfarers; and (4) helping such wayfarers and travellers as become stranded on the way. This is indeed a wonderful example of the combination of brevity and comprehensiveness. The verse also throws some light on the Islamic teaching about slavery. Islam prescribes it as a sign of true faith and perfect righteousness that money be spent on emancipating slaves. Nay, even such as are made captives from among those who attack Muslims with a view to annihilating them, are to be shown mercy and granted freedom out of money supplied by Muslims. For the discussion of Islamic teachings about slavery see 24:34.

The word الصابرین (the patient) in this verse is in the accusative case, while, according to the common rules of Arabic grammar, it should be in the nominative case like the preceding word الموفون (those who fulfil). The change is not without purpose and has been made to put emphasis on the word. According to Abu ‘Ali, a well-known authority on Arabic syntax, when a sentence contains a number of nouns of praise or dispraise, it is considered idiomatic to vary their grammatical inflection (Muhit, part ii). This is done to intensify the meaning.

As pointed out in the beginning, this verse gives a gist of the teachings of Islam. It begins with the fundamental Islamic beliefs and doctrines which are the source and basis of all actions and on the rectitude of which depends the rectitude of' one’s actions. The most fundamental of these is belief in God Who is the central point of all faith. Second in importance is belief in the Last Day or the Day of Judgement, upon a real understanding of which depends the direction of man’s actions in this life. Then follows belief in angels who serve as a sort of intermediaries between God and His creation. Then there are Divine Scriptures embodying God’s revelation which point out the way to the attainment of His pleasure and the purification of man’s soul. Lastly are Prophets who are the recipients of God’s revelations, communicating to man the will of God and serving as models to be followed and imitated by him. These five objects of faith have been mentioned here in their natural order and not necessarily in order of importance.

After stating the fundamental objects of faith, the verse proceeds to mention some of the more important ordinances relating to man’s actions. Pride of place is given to charity which a man gives not as a duty imposed on him, but as prompted by love, solicitude and sympathy for his kinsmen and fellow beings or out of love for common humanity. Next come the commandments regarding Prayer and Zakah which help to establish a true connection between God and man on the one hand and regulate relations between man and man on the other. Finally are laid down the two bulwarks of character and morality, i.e. (1) the redemption of promises and pledges; and (2) the displaying of fortitude, patience and steadfastness in time of distress, the first-mentioned forming one of the bases of international morality and the latter the means of its perfection.

اردو ترجمہ مودودی

نیکی یہ نہیں ہے کہ تم نے اپنے چہرے مشرق کی طرف کر لیے یا مغرب کی طرف، بلکہ نیکی یہ ہے کہ آدمی اللہ کو اور یوم آخر اور ملائکہ کو اور اللہ کی نازل کی ہوئی کتاب اور اس کے پیغمبروں کو دل سے مانے اور اللہ کی محبت میں اپنا دل پسند مال رشتے داروں اور یتیموں پر، مسکینوں او رمسافروں پر، مدد کے لیے ہاتھ پھیلانے والوں پر اور غلامو ں کی رہائی پر خرچ کرے، نماز قائم کرے اور زکوٰۃ دے اور نیک وہ لوگ ہیں کہ جب عہد کریں تو اُسے وفا کریں، اور تنگی و مصیبت کے وقت میں اور حق و باطل کی جنگ میں صبر کریں یہ ہیں راستباز لوگ اور یہی لوگ متقی ہیں

English - Sahih

Righteousness is not that you turn your faces toward the east or the west, but [true] righteousness is [in] one who believes in Allah, the Last Day, the angels, the Book, and the prophets and gives wealth, in spite of love for it, to relatives, orphans, the needy, the traveler, those who ask [for help], and for freeing slaves; [and who] establishes prayer and gives zakah; [those who] fulfill their promise when they promise; and [those who] are patient in poverty and hardship and during battle. Those are the ones who have been true, and it is those who are the righteous.

اردو ترجمہ احمد علی

یہی نیکی نہیں کہ تم اپنے منہ مشرق اور مغرب کی طرف پھیرو بلکہ نیکی تو یہ ہے جو الله اور قیامت کے دن پر ایمان لائے اورفرشتوں اور کتابوں او رنبیوں پر اور ا سکی محبت میں رشتہ دارو ں اور یتیموں اور مسکینوں اور مسافروں اور سوال کرنے والوں کو اور گردنوں کے چھڑانے میں مال دے اور نماز پڑھے اور زکوةٰ دے اور جو اپنے عہدوں کو پورا کرنے والے ہیں جب وہ عہد کر لیں اورتنگدستی میں اور بیماری میں اور لڑائی کےوقت صبر کرنے والے ہیں یہی سچے لوگ ہیں اوریہی پرہیزگار ہیں

English - Talal Itani

It is not [the] righteousness that you turn your faces towards the east and the west, [and] but the righteous[ness] (is he) who believes in Allah and the Day [the] Last, and the Angels, and the Book, and the Prophets, and gives the wealth in spite of his love (for it) (to) those (of) the near relatives, and the orphans, and the needy, and (of) the wayfarer, and those who ask, and in freeing the necks (slaves) and (who) establish the prayer, and give the zakah, and those who fulfill their covenant when they make it; and those who are patient in [the] suffering and [the] hardship, and (the) time (of) [the] stress. Those (are) the ones who are true and those, [they] (are) the righteous.

Chinese Commentary ^*

Cross Refs:

b

2:190.

c

76:9.

d

9:4; 13:21.

e

2:215; 6:43; 7:95.

f

49:16.

114

本节经文提出了伊斯兰教教义的要旨。它开始说到伊斯兰教的基本信念和教义。这些信念和教义是一切行动的来源和基础, 而人的行动的正直取决于这种正直性--------信仰安拉、信仰末日、信仰天使、信仰经典和众先知。接着还提到了一些关于人类行动更为重要的法令。

اردہ تفصیرِ صغیر نوٹس ^*

1

وَلٰکِنَّ الْبِرَّ میں بِرٌّ مصدر ہے اور عربی قاعدہ کے مطابق اس کے معنے بَآرٌّ یعنی نیک ہونے کے بھی ہو سکتے ہیں اس لئے ہم نے وہی ترجمہ کیا ہے۔

English - Arberry

It is not piety, that you turn your faces to the East and to the West. True piety is this: to believe in God, and the Last Day, the angels, the Book, and the Prophets, to give of one's substance, however cherished, to kinsmen, and orphans, the needy, the traveller, beggars, and to ransom the slave, to perform the prayer, to pay the alms. And they who fulfil their covenant when they have engaged in a covenant, and endure with fortitude misfortune, hardship and peril, these are they who are true in their faith, these are the truly godfearing.

English - Maududi

It is no virtue. That you turn your faces towards the east or the west, but virtue is that one should sincerely believe in Allah and the Last Day and the Angels and the Book and the Prophets and, out of His love, spend of one's choice wealth for relatives and orphans, for the needy and the wayfarer, for beggars and for the ransom of slaves, and establish the Salat and pay the Zakat. And the virtuous are those who keep their pledges when they make them and show fortitude in hardships and adversity and in the struggle between the Truth and falsehood; such are the truthful people and such are the pious.

English - Ahmed Ali

Piety does not lie in turning your face to East or West: Piety lies in believing in God, the Last Day and the angels, the Scriptures and the prophets, and disbursing your wealth out of love for God among your kin and the orphans, the wayfarers and mendicants, freeing the slaves, observing your devotional obligations, and in paying the zakat and fulfilling a pledge you have given, and being patient in hardship, adversity, and times of peril. These are the men who affirm the truth, and they are those who follow the straight path.

English - Yusuf Ali

It is not righteousness that ye turn your faces Towards east or West; but it is righteousness- to believe in Allah and the Last Day, and the Angels, and the Book, and the Messengers; to spend of your substance, out of love for Him, for your kin, for orphans, for the needy, for the wayfarer, for those who ask, and for the ransom of slaves; to be steadfast in prayer, and practice regular charity; to fulfil the contracts which ye have made; and to be firm and patient, in pain (or suffering) and adversity, and throughout all periods of panic. Such are the people of truth, the Allah-fearing.

English - Five Volume Commentary ^*

Cross Refs:

b

2:190.

c

76:9.

d

9:4; 13:21.

e

2:215; 6:43; 7:95.

f

49:16.

184