Sura 2, al-Baqara, Medina 87, [the first Sura or chapter after Hijra

The Quranic text and Ali’s translation

ذَلِكَ الْكِتَابُ لاَ رَيْبَ فِيهِ هُدًى لِّلْمُتَّقِينَ ﴿٢﴾

2. This is the Book; in it is guidance sure, without doubt, to those who fear God.

الَّذِينَ يُؤْمِنُونَ بِالْغَيْبِ وَيُقِيمُونَ الصَّلاةَ ...

3. Who believe in the Unseen, are steadfast in prayer,

... وَمِمَّا رَزَقْنَاهُمْ يُنفِقُونَ ﴿٣﴾

and spend out of what We have provided for them.

والَّذِينَ يُؤْمِنُونَ بِمَا أُنزِلَ إِلَيْكَ وَمَا أُنزِلَ مِن قَبْلِكَ...

4. And who believe in the Revelation sent to thee, and sent before thy time,

... وَبِالآخِرَةِ هُمْ يُوقِنُونَ ﴿٤﴾

and (in their hearts) have the assurance of the Hereafter.

أُوْلَـئِكَ عَلَى هُدًى مِّن رَّبِّهِمْ وَأُوْلَـئِكَ هُمُ الْمُفْلِحُونَ ﴿٥﴾

5. They are on (true) guidance, from their Lord, and it is these who will prosper.

Asad’s translation:

2:2 HIS DIVINE WRIT - let there be no doubt about it is [meant to be] a guidance for all the God- conscious

(2:3) who believe in [the existence of] that which is beyond the reach of human perception, and are constant in prayer, and spend on others out of what We provide for them as sustenance;

(2:4) and who believe in that which has been bestowed from on high upon thee, [O Prophet,] as well as in that which was bestowed before thy time: 5 for it is they who in their innermost are certain of the life to come!

2:5 It is they who follow the guidance [which comes] from their Sustainer; and it is they, they who shall attain to a happy state !

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Asad’s comments:

5 This is a reference to one of the fundamental doctrines of the Qur'an: the doctrine of the historical continuity of divine revelation. Life - so the Qur'an teaches us - is not a series of unconnected jumps but a continuous, organic process: and this law applies also to the life of the mind, of which man's religious experience (in its cumulative sense)is a part. Thus, the religion of the Qur'an can be properly understood only against the background of the great monotheistic faiths which preceded it, and which, according to Muslim belief, culminate and achieve their final formulation in the faith of Islam.