يَٰٓأَيُّهَا ٱلَّذِينَ ءَامَنُوٓا۟ إِنَّمَا ٱلْخَمْرُ وَٱلْمَيْسِرُ وَٱلْأَنصَابُ وَٱلْأَزْلَٰمُ رِجْسٌ مِّنْ عَمَلِ ٱلشَّيْطَٰنِ فَٱجْتَنِبُوهُ
"O you who believe! Wine, gambling, standing stones and divining arrows are only a filth, of Satan's making. Keep away from it, that you may prosper."
| Word | Root | Sense |
|---|---|---|
| al-Khamr | خ-م-ر | To cover — khimār (a covering) is from the same root; what covers the mind |
| al-Maysir | ي-س-ر | Ease — gain without labour |
| al-Anṣāb | ن-ص-ب | Standing stones |
| al-Azlām | ز-ل-م | Divining arrows — they had occurred at verse 3 of the sūra as well |
I record this as an observation about the language: the roots of the first two words name the very attraction of what is forbidden — the one covers, the other makes easy. The names record not the outcome but the appeal.
فَٱجْتَنِبُوهُ — ijtināb (ج-ن-ب): janb — the side. The verb means "not to take a thing to one's side, to pass by its edge". The lexicographers find this wider than "do not do it": to stay clear of contact.
إِنَّمَا يُرِيدُ ٱلشَّيْطَٰنُ أَن يُوقِعَ بَيْنَكُمُ ٱلْعَدَٰوَةَ وَٱلْبَغْضَآءَ فِى ٱلْخَمْرِ وَٱلْمَيْسِرِ وَيَصُدَّكُمْ عَن ذِكْرِ ٱللَّهِ وَعَنِ ٱلصَّلَوٰةِ (91)
| Direction | What is broken |
|---|---|
| Horizontal | al-ʿAdāwata wa'l-baghḍāʾ baynakum — the bond between people |
| Vertical | Yaṣuddakum ʿan dhikri'llāh wa ʿani'ṣ-ṣalāt — the bond with God |
The phrase al-ʿadāwata wa'l-baghḍāʾ occurs for the third time in this sūra (5/14, 5/64, 5/91). In the first two of division falling between communities, in the third of division that would fall among the believers themselves. This repetition can be verified from the text.
فَهَلْ أَنتُم مُّنتَهُونَ — and the command ends in the form of a question: "will you not then desist?"
I record this as my own reading, and it is not binding: the sentence is not an imperative pattern but a pattern that waits for a decision to come from the one addressed. And the word muntahūn is from the same root as lā yatanāhawn at 5/79 (ن-ه-ي) — there, those who do not restrain one another; here, those who desist themselves.
5/93 — لَيْسَ عَلَى ٱلَّذِينَ ءَامَنُوا۟ وَعَمِلُوا۟ ٱلصَّٰلِحَٰتِ جُنَاحٌ فِيمَا طَعِمُوٓا۟ إِذَا مَا ٱتَّقَوا۟ وَّءَامَنُوا۟ وَعَمِلُوا۟ ٱلصَّٰلِحَٰتِ ثُمَّ ٱتَّقَوا۟ وَّءَامَنُوا۟ ثُمَّ ٱتَّقَوا۟ وَّأَحْسَنُوا۟
In the verse ittiqāʾ is repeated three times, and after each repetition the word that follows changes:
I record this as my own reading, and its ground is the sequence: the three steps rise by narrowing, and at the last step doing well (iḥsān) is what remains. And the verse ends with wa'llāhu yuḥibbu'l-muḥsinīn.
The exegetes differ on which stations this threefold structure answers to; no preference is adopted. But it is widely recorded that the particle thumma here conveys not an order in time but an order of degree.