وَٱلسَّارِقُ وَٱلسَّارِقَةُ فَٱقْطَعُوٓا۟ أَيْدِيَهُمَا جَزَآءًۢ بِمَا كَسَبَا نَكَٰلًا مِّنَ ٱللَّهِ
"As for the man and the woman who steal, cut off their hands as a recompense for what they have earned, an exemplary penalty from God. God is mighty, wise."
| Element | Note |
|---|---|
| al-Sāriq wa's-sāriqa | Man and woman are named separately — the ruling does not vary by sex |
| Jazāʾan bimā kasabā | Recompense — for the act earned |
| Nakālan mina'llāh | An exemplary penalty — root ن-ك-ل: to deter, to put in fetters |
| 39: Fa-man tāba … wa aṣlaḥa | Repentance + putting right |
And here too the sequence of 33-34 is repeated: ruling → repentance → ghafūrun raḥīm. Both verses of punishment carry the same structure, and this can be verified from the text.
On the conditions for applying this ruling there is a wide debate in classical law, and it is not concealed:
| Matter | What is transmitted |
|---|---|
| Yad | Where the hand is to be cut, and which hand, have been debated |
| The threshold | A minimum quantity of property has been stipulated for the penalty to be applied; the schools differ on the amount |
| Conditions | Conditions have been enumerated such as that the property was taken from a place of safekeeping (ḥirz), that there be no doubt about ownership, and that there be no state of necessity |
| Repentance | Whether verse 39 lifts the penalty has been debated |
No view is preferred in this commentary and no legal ruling is issued. That the application belongs to the courts, and is not left to individuals, is the common position.
But one observation about the word order can be recorded: the verse names the penalty nakāl (an exemplary penalty), not vengeance; and the verse that comes immediately after opens the door of repentance and putting right, while the verse after that (40) recalls to whom the ruling belongs: yuʿadhdhibu man yashāʾu wa yaghfiru li-man yashāʾ.
I record this as my own reading, and it is not binding: the three verses separate the one who issues the ruling from the one who applies it.