AL BAYYINAH (The Clear Evidence)
In the Name of God,1 the Gracious, the Merciful 2
1 Those who reject among the people of Al-Kitab and among the polytheists, were not going to depart from their ways until there should come to them clear evidence,
2 A messenger from God, rehearsing scriptures kept pure and holy,
3 Wherein are laws right and straight.
4 Nor did the people of Al-Kitab make schisms, until after there came to them clear evidence.
5 And they have been commanded no more than this: to worship God, offering him sincere devotion, being true; to establish regular prayer; and to practise regular charity; and that is the religion right and straight.
6 Those who reject among the people of Al-Kitab and among the polytheists, will be in hell fire, to dwell in it. They are the worst of creatures.
7 Those who have faith and do righteous deeds, they are the best of creatures.
8 Their reward is with God. They will dwell in gardens of eternity forever, beneath which rivers flow. God will be well pleased with them, and they with him. All this is for such as fear their Lord.
- God, in Arabic allah, referring to the one true God, as opposed to an idol or “god.” It is the Arabic equivalent of elohim and eloah (Hebrew), alaha (Syriac), and theos (Greek), all of which accurately translate into English as “God.” This translation choice is consistent with respected English Quran translations including those of A. Yusuf Ali (original edition), S.H. Nasr (Study Quran), T.B. Irving, and T. Itani (Clear Quran).
↩︎ - the Gracious, the Merciful, the highlighting of God’s grace and mercy predates the Quran, coming down from the many hundreds of references in the Taurat, Zabur, and Injil. A few samples follow:
Taurat, Exodus 34:6 — …YAHWEH, a merciful and gracious God, slow to anger, and abundant in loving kindness and truth.
Zabur 145:8 — YAHWEH is gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and of great loving kindness.
Taurat, Joel 2:13 — Tear your heart, and not your garments, and turn to YAHWEH your God; for he is gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and abundant in loving kindness, and relents from sending calamity.
Taurat, Yunus 4:2 — …I knew that you are a gracious and merciful God, slow to anger, and abundant in loving kindness, and you relent of doing harm.”
Injil, 1 Timothy 1:2 — …Grace, mercy, and peace from God our Father and AL-MASIH ‘ISA our Lord.
Injil, Hebrews 4:16 — Let us therefore draw near with boldness to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace for help in time of need. ↩︎