ٱلْبَقَرَة : ١٧٧

  • لَّيۡسَ It is not
  • ٱلۡبِرَّ [the] righteousness
  • أَن that
  • تُوَلُّواْ you turn
  • وُجُوهَكُمۡ your faces
  • قِبَلَ towards
  • ٱلۡمَشۡرِقِ the east
  • وَٱلۡمَغۡرِبِ and the west
  • وَلَٰكِنَّ [and] but
  • ٱلۡبِرَّ the righteous[ness]
  • مَنۡ (is he) who
  • ءَامَنَ believes
  • بِٱللَّهِ in Allah
  • وَٱلۡيَوۡمِ and the Day
  • ٱلۡأٓخِرِ [the] Last
  • وَٱلۡمَلَٰٓئِكَةِ and the Angels
  • وَٱلۡكِتَٰبِ and the Book
  • وَٱلنَّبِيِّـۧنَ and the Prophets
  • وَءَاتَى and gives
  • ٱلۡمَالَ the wealth
  • عَلَىٰ in
  • حُبِّهِۦ spite of his love (for it)
  • ذَوِي (to) those
  • ٱلۡقُرۡبَىٰ (of) the near relatives
  • وَٱلۡيَتَٰمَىٰ and the orphans
  • وَٱلۡمَسَٰكِينَ and the needy
  • وَٱبۡنَ and (of)
  • ٱلسَّبِيلِ the wayfarer
  • وَٱلسَّآئِلِينَ and those who ask
  • وَفِي and in
  • ٱلرِّقَابِ freeing the necks (slaves)
  • وَأَقَامَ and (who) establish
  • ٱلصَّلَوٰةَ the prayer
  • وَءَاتَى and give
  • ٱلزَّكَوٰةَ the zakah
  • وَٱلۡمُوفُونَ and those who fulfill
  • بِعَهۡدِهِمۡ their covenant
  • إِذَا when
  • عَٰهَدُواْۖ they make it
  • وَٱلصَّـٰبِرِينَ and those who are patient
  • فِي in
  • ٱلۡبَأۡسَآءِ [the] suffering
  • وَٱلضَّرَّآءِ and [the] hardship
  • وَحِينَ at (the) time
  • ٱلۡبَأۡسِۗ (of) [the] stress
  • أُوْلَٰٓئِكَ Those
  • ٱلَّذِينَ (are) the ones who
  • صَدَقُواْۖ are true
  • وَأُوْلَٰٓئِكَ and those
  • هُمُ [they]
  • ٱلۡمُتَّقُونَ (are) the righteous
Righteousness is not that you turn your faces toward the east or the west, but [true] righteousness is [in] one who believes in Allāh, the Last Day, the angels, the Book, and the prophets and gives wealth, in spite of love for it, to relatives, orphans, the needy, the traveler, those who ask [for help], and for freeing slaves; [and who] establishes prayer and gives zakāh; [those who] fulfill their promise when they promise; and [those who] are patient in poverty and hardship and during battle. Those are the ones who have been true, and it is those who are the righteous.
It is not piety, that you turn your faces, in prayer, to the East and to the West. This was revealed in response to the claim made by the Jews and the Christians to this effect. True piety, that is, the pious person (al-birr, is also read al-barr, in the sense of al-baarr ['the dutiful person']) is [that of] the one who believes in God and the Last Day and the angels and the Book, that is, the scriptures, and the prophets, and who gives of his substance, however, despite [it being], cherished, by him, to kinsmen and orphans and the needy and the traveller and beggars, and for, the setting free of, slaves, both the captive and the one to be manumitted by contract; and who observes prayer and pays the alms, that are obligatory, and what was [given] before [alms were made obligatory], in the way of charity; and those who fulfil their covenant when they have engaged in a covenant, with God or with others, those who endure with fortitude (al-saabireena is the accusative of laudation) misfortune (al-ba'saa' is abject poverty), hardship, illness, and peril, at the height of a battle in the way of God; these, described in the way mentioned, are the ones who are truthful, in their faith and in their claims to piety, and these are the ones who are fearful, of God.