ٱلْمَائِدَة : ٣٨

  • وَٱلسَّارِقُ And (for) the male thief
  • وَٱلسَّارِقَةُ and the female thief
  • فَٱقۡطَعُوٓاْ [then] cut off
  • أَيۡدِيَهُمَا their hands
  • جَزَآءَۢ (as) a recompense
  • بِمَا for what
  • كَسَبَا they earned
  • نَكَٰلٗا (as) an exemplary (punishment)
  • مِّنَ from
  • ٱللَّهِۗ Allah
  • وَٱللَّهُ And Allah
  • عَزِيزٌ (is) All-Mighty
  • حَكِيمٞ All-Wise
[As for] the thief, the male and the female, amputate their hands in recompense for what they earned [i.e., committed] as a deterrent [punishment] from Allāh. And Allāh is Exalted in Might and Wise.
And the thieving male and the thieving female (the definite article in both [nouns] relates to the subject [sc. wa'lladhee saraqa wa'llatee saraqat, 'And the male who thieves and the female who thieves']; because this [clause] resembles a conditional statement [sc. 'if he thieves, if she thieves' etc.] the faa' has been included in the predicate [fa'qta'oo, 'then cut off']) cut off their hands, that is, the right hand of each of the two from the wristbone; it is explained in the Sunna that the amputation applies to [the stealing of] a quarter of a dinar and upwards, and if the person were to re-offend, the left foot should then be amputated from the ankle, and then [on subsequent re-offending] the left hand [is amputated], followed by the right foot, after which discretionary punishment is applied; as a requital (jazaa'an is in the accusative because it is a verbal noun) for what they have earned, and an exemplary punishment, for both of them, from God; God is Mighty, His way will prevail, Wise, in His creation.