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اَلْبَقَرَۃِ
The Cow

يٰبَنِيْٓ اِسْرَآءِيْلَ اذْكُرُوْا نِعْمَتِيَ الَّتِيْٓ اَنْعَمْتُ عَلَيْكُمْ وَ اَنِّيْ فَضَّلْتُكُمْ عَلَى الْعٰلَمِيْنَ۔ وَ اتَّقُوْا يَوْمًا لَّا تَجْزِيْ نَفْسٌ عَنْ نَّفْسٍ شَيْـًٔا وَّ لَا يُقْبَلُ مِنْهَا شَفَاعَةٌ وَّ لَا يُؤْخَذُ مِنْهَا عَدْلٌ وَّ لَا هُمْ يُنْصَرُوْنَ۔ وَ اِذْ نَجَّيْنٰكُمْ مِّنْ اٰلِ فِرْعَوْنَ يَسُوْمُوْنَكُمْ سُوْٓءَ الْعَذَابِ يُذَبِّحُوْنَ اَبْنَآءَكُمْ وَ يَسْتَحْيُوْنَ نِسَآءَكُمْ ؕ وَ فِيْ ذٰلِكُمْ بَلَآءٌ مِّنْ رَّبِّكُمْ عَظِيْمٌ۔ وَ اِذْ فَرَقْنَا بِكُمُ الْبَحْرَ فَاَنْجَيْنٰكُمْ وَ اَغْرَقْنَآ اٰلَ فِرْعَوْنَ وَ اَنْتُمْ تَنْظُرُوْنَ۔ وَ اِذْ وٰعَدْنَا مُوْسٰٓى اَرْبَعِيْنَ لَيْلَةً ثُمَّ اتَّخَذْتُمُ الْعِجْلَ مِنْ٘ بَعْدِهٖ وَ اَنْتُمْ ظٰلِمُوْنَ۔ ثُمَّ عَفَوْنَا عَنْكُمْ مِّنْ٘ بَعْدِ ذٰلِكَ لَعَلَّكُمْ تَشْكُرُوْنَ۔ وَ اِذْ اٰتَيْنَا مُوْسَى الْكِتٰبَ وَ الْفُرْقَانَ لَعَلَّكُمْ تَهْتَدُوْنَ۔ وَ اِذْ قَالَ مُوْسٰى لِقَوْمِهٖ يٰقَوْمِ اِنَّكُمْ ظَلَمْتُمْ اَنْفُسَكُمْ بِاتِّخَاذِكُمُ الْعِجْلَ فَتُوْبُوْٓا اِلٰى بَارِىِٕكُمْ فَاقْتُلُوْٓا اَنْفُسَكُمْ ؕ ذٰلِكُمْ خَيْرٌ لَّكُمْ عِنْدَ بَارِىِٕكُمْ ؕ فَتَابَ عَلَيْكُمْ ؕ اِنَّهُ هُوَ التَّوَّابُ الرَّحِيْمُ۔ وَ اِذْ قُلْتُمْ يٰمُوْسٰى لَنْ نُّؤْمِنَ لَكَ حَتّٰى نَرَى اللّٰهَ جَهْرَةً فَاَخَذَتْكُمُ الصّٰعِقَةُ وَ اَنْتُمْ تَنْظُرُوْنَ۔ ثُمَّ بَعَثْنٰكُمْ مِّنْ٘ بَعْدِ مَوْتِكُمْ لَعَلَّكُمْ تَشْكُرُوْنَ۔ وَ ظَلَّلْنَا عَلَيْكُمُ الْغَمَامَ وَ اَنْزَلْنَا عَلَيْكُمُ الْمَنَّ وَ السَّلْوٰى ؕ كُلُوْا مِنْ طَيِّبٰتِ مَا رَزَقْنٰكُمْ ؕ وَ مَا ظَلَمُوْنَا وَ لٰكِنْ كَانُوْٓا اَنْفُسَهُمْ يَظْلِمُوْنَ۔ وَ اِذْ قُلْنَا ادْخُلُوْا هٰذِهِ الْقَرْيَةَ فَكُلُوْا مِنْهَا حَيْثُ شِئْتُمْ رَغَدًا وَّ ادْخُلُوا الْبَابَ سُجَّدًا وَّ قُوْلُوْا حِطَّةٌ نَّغْفِرْ لَكُمْ خَطٰيٰكُمْ ؕ وَ سَنَزِيْدُ الْمُحْسِنِيْنَ۔ فَبَدَّلَ الَّذِيْنَ ظَلَمُوْا قَوْلًا غَيْرَ الَّذِيْ قِيْلَ لَهُمْ فَاَنْزَلْنَا عَلَى الَّذِيْنَ ظَلَمُوْا رِجْزًا مِّنَ السَّمَآءِ بِمَا كَانُوْا يَفْسُقُوْنَ۔

O Children of Israel, remember My favor which I have bestowed on you. I have preferred you over [the rest of] the Universe! Heed a day when no soul will compensate for any other soul in any way. Intercession will not be accepted from him, nor will any alternative be taken for it. They will not be supported.

When We rescued you from Pharaoh’s household, they had been subjecting you to the worst torment, slaying your sons and sparing your women. That meant such awful testing by your Lord! So We divided the sea for you and saved you, while We drowned Pharaoh’s household as you were looking on. When We appointed forty nights for Moses, you took the Calf after he [had left], and you became wrongdoers.

Then later on We still overlooked this for you, so that you might act grateful when We gave Moses the Book and the Standard so that you might be guided. When Moses told his folk: “My people, you have wronged yourselves in accepting the Calf, so turn towards your Maker in repentance and kill your own [guilty] selves; that will be better for you with your Maker. He will (then) relent towards you, since He is the Relenting, the Merciful.”

So you said: “Moses, we will never believe in you until we see God openly,” the Thunderbolt caught you while you were (all) looking on. Then We raised you up after you had died so that you might act grateful; We spread the clouds out to shade you, and sent down manna and quail for you: “Eat some of the good things which We have provided you with!” They did not harm Us, but it was themselves whom they harmed. 

So We said: “Enter this town and eat wherever you may wish in it at your leisure. Enter the gate [walking] on your knees and say: ‘Relieve us!’ We will forgive you your mistakes and give even more to those who kindly. Yet those who do wrong altered the Statement to something than what had been told them, so We sent a blight down from Heaven on those who did wrong since they had acted so immorally.

The Israelites were chosen by God. He selected them for a special task: they were to receive God’s scriptures and pass His commandments on to the rest of mankind. In relation to this office, they were granted many other blessings and facilities: victory over their enemies, forgiveness of their sins, special help in times of peril, divine provision for their physical needs, and so on. This misled later generations of Jews into thinking that they were God’s chosen people, and were assured of salvation in the next world. But such matters as salvation are not a hereditary right of any group. Successive generations are to be judged on their own merits. On the Day of Judgement people will be judged individually, according to their actions. To think that anything other than good deeds will avail one, is to underestimate the rigors of that Day.

True piety is to worship God alone, to believe in Him though one has not seen Him, to live in fear of Judgement Day, to subsist on the pure things of the earth, to prevent whomsoever one can from falling into sin. It is those who adopt this way of life who will be successful in the next world.

God bestowed special blessings upon the Israelites. They should have shown their gratitude by remaining obedient to Him, but they did quite the opposite. They were given possession of a great city and told to enter it—not in a vainglorious manner—but in humility and repentance; but instead they started rejoicing in their victory.