Ali Quli Qarai, The Qur’ān with a Phrase-by-Phrase English Translation (2005)
5. Sūrat al-Mā’idah 1
the All-beneficent, the All-merciful.
1 O you who have faith!
Keep your agreements.
You are permitted animals of grazing livestock,
except what is [now] announced to you,
disallowing game
while you are in pilgrim sanctity.2
Indeed Allah decrees whatever He desires.
2 O you who have faith!
Do not violate Allah’s sacraments,
neither the sacred month,3 nor the offering,4
nor the necklaces,
nor those bound 5 for the Sacred House
who seek their Lord’s grace
and [His] pleasure.
But when you emerge from pilgrim sanctity
you may hunt for game.
Ill feeling for a people should not lead you,
because they barred you
from [entering] the Sacred Mosque,
1 The sūrah takes its name from ‘the table’ (al-mā’idah) mentioned in verses 112–115, towards its end.
2 That is, while you are in a state of iḥrām, while performing ḥajj or ‘umrah.
3 That is, the month of Dhū al-Ḥijjah, during which the ḥajj is performed.
4 That is, the sheep, camel or cow brought for the sacrifice. The ‘necklaces’ mean the token objects hung around the neck of the sacrificial animal.
5 That is, the pilgrims heading for ḥajj or ‘umrah.
