Adam and the forbidden tree
35 And We said: O Adam! Dwell thou and thy wife in the Garden, and eat ye
freely (of the fruits) thereof
where ye will; but come not nigh this tree lest ye become wrong-doers.
36
But Satan caused them to deflect therefrom and expelled them from the (happy) state in which they were;
and We said: Fall down, one of
you a foe unto the other! There shall be for you on earth a habitation and provision for a time.
37
Then Adam received from his Lord words (of revelation), and He relented toward him. Lo!
He is the relenting, the Merciful.
38
We said: Go down, all of you, from hence; but verily there cometh unto you from Me a guidance; and whoso followeth My guidance,
there shall no fear come upon them neither shall they grieve.
We (Allah) said to Adam,
Live in the garden and eat all the fruits,
except the fruit from this tree. [1]
39
But they who disbelieve, and deny Our revelations, such are rightful
Peoples of the Fire. They will abide therein.
40
O Children of Israel! Remember My favour wherewith I favoured you, and fulfil your (part of the)
covenant, I shall fulfil My (part of the) covenant, and fear Me.
41
And believe in that which I reveal, confirming that which ye possess already (of the Scripture), and be not first to disbelieve
therein, and part not with My revelations for a trifling price, and keep your duty unto Me.
Whoever disbelieves and denies our revelations,
will live in the Fire.
42
Confound not truth with falsehood, nor knowingly conceal the truth.
43
Establish worship, pay the poor-due, and bow your heads with those who bow (in worship).
44
Enjoin ye righteousness upon mankind while ye yourselves forget (to practise it)? And ye are readers of the Scripture! Have ye then no
sense?
45
Seek help in patience and prayer; and truly it is hard save for the humble- minded,
46
Who know that they will have to meet their Lord, and that unto Him they are returning.
47
O Children of Israel! Remember My favour wherewith I favoured you and how I preferred you to (all) creatures.
Don't confuse truth with falsehood,
or knowingly hide the truth.
48
And guard yourselves against a day when no soul will in aught avail another, nor will intercession be
accepted from it, nor will compensation be received from it, nor will they be helped.
Prepare for the day when no one, including Allah,
will help anyone else.
A few of Allah's killings
49
And (remember) when We did deliver you from Pharaoh's folk, who were afflicting you with dreadful torment, slaying
your sons and sparing
your women: that was a tremendous trial from your Lord.
Remember when we saved you from the Pharaoh
50
And when We brought you through the sea and rescued you, and drowned
the folk of Pharaoh in your sight.
by drowning his army in the sea? [2]
51
And when We did appoint for Moses forty nights (of solitude), and then ye chose the calf, when he had gone from you, and were
wrong-doers.
And when Moses was on the mountain for forty nights, you cholse the calf?
52
Then, even after that, We pardoned you in order that ye might give thanks.
53
And when We gave unto Moses the Scripture and the criterion (of right and wrong), that ye might be led aright.
We forgave you, so you could thank us.
54
And when Moses said unto his people: O my people! Ye have wronged yourselves by your
choosing of the calf (for worship) so turn in penitence to your Creator, and kill
(the guilty) yourselves. That will be best for you with your Creator and He will
relent toward you. Lo! He is the Relenting, the Merciful.
Moses said, "Kill those who are guilty yourselves." [3]
That was best for you.
55
And when ye said: O Moses! We will not believe in thee till we see Allah plainly; and even while ye
gazed the lightning seized you.
You said you wouldn't believe until you saw Allah. And then you were struck by lightning.
56
Then We revived you after your extinction, that ye might give thanks.
After you died from the lightning strike, we revived you, so you could thank us.
57
And We caused the white cloud to overshadow you and sent down on you the manna and the quails, (saying): Eat of the good things
wherewith We have provided you - they wronged Us not, but they did wrong themselves.
58
And when We said: Go into this township and eat freely of that which is therein, and enter the gate prostrate, and say:
"Repentance." We will forgive you your sins and will increase (reward) for the right-doers.
We sent you manna and quails.
59
But those who did wrong changed the word which had been told them for another saying, and We sent
down upon the
evil-doers wrath from heaven for their evil-doing.
And we sent down wrath from heaven on those who changed the words in a saying. [4]
60
And when Moses asked for water for his people, We said: Smite with thy staff the rock. And there gushed
out therefrom twelve springs
(so that) each tribe knew their drinking-place. Eat and drink of that which Allah hath provided, and do not act corruptly, making
mischief in the earth.
When Moses asked for water, we said, "Smite the rock."
And water gushed out of twelve springs, one for each tribe. [5]
61
And when ye said: O Moses! We are weary of one kind of food; so call upon thy Lord for us
that He bring forth for us of that which the earth groweth - of its herbs and its
cucumbers and its corn and its lentils and its onions. He said: Would ye exchange that
which is higher for that which is lower? Go down to settled country, thus ye shall get
that which ye demand. And humiliation and wretchedness were stamped upon them and they
were visited with wrath from Allah. That was because they disbelieved in Allah's
revelations and slew the prophets wrongfully. That was for their disobedience and
transgression.
When the people complained about the food, Allah's wrath came down on them. [6]
Allah turned Sabbath breakers into apes
62
Lo! Those who believe (in that which is revealed unto thee, Muhammad), and
those who are Jews, and Christians, and Sabaeans - whoever believeth in
Allah and the Last Day and doeth right - surely their reward is with their Lord, and
there shall no fear come upon them neither shall they grieve.
63
And (remember, O Children of Israel) when We made a covenant with you and caused the mount to tower above you, (saying):
Hold fast that which We have given you, and remember that which is therein, that ye may ward off (evil).
64
Then, even after that, ye turned away, and if it had not been for the grace of Allah and His mercy ye had been among the losers.
Whoever believes in Allah on the last day and does right will be rewarded, whether they are Jews, Christians,
or Sabaeans. [7]
65
And ye know of those of you who broke the Sabbath, how We said unto
them: Be ye apes, despised and hated!
And when some of you broke the Sabbath, we turned them into apes, despised and hated!
66
And We made it an example to their own and to succeeding generations, and an admonition to the God-fearing.
We did that for an example to future generations.
67-74
67
And when Moses said unto his people: Lo! Allah commandeth you that ye sacrifice a cow, they said: Dost thou make game of us ? He answered:
Allah forbid that I should be among the foolish!
Moses said to his people,
Allah wants you to sacrifice a cow.
68
They said: Pray for us unto thy Lord that He make clear to us what (cow) she is. (Moses) answered: Lo! He saith, Verily she is a
cow neither with calf nor immature; (she is) between the two conditions; so do that which ye are commanded.
The people said, "Ask him what kind of cow we should sacrifice."
Moses said "The cow must neither be pregnant or immature, but somewhere between."
69
They said: Pray for us unto thy Lord that He make clear to us of what colour she is. (Moses) answered: Lo!
He saith: Verily she is a yellow cow. Bright is her colour, gladdening beholders.
They said, "And what color should she be?"
Moses said, "Bright yellow." [8]
70
They said: Pray for us unto thy Lord that He make clear to us what (cow) she is. Lo! cows are much alike to us; and Lo! if Allah wills,
we may be led aright.
71
(Moses) answered: Lo! He saith: Verily she is a cow unyoked; she plougheth not the soil nor watereth the tilth;
whole and without mark.
They said: Now thou bringest the truth. So they sacrificed her, though almost they did not.
The people said, "Ask God to be more specific. All cows look alike to us."
Moses said, "The cow must have never plowed and be unmarked."
The people said, "OK. We'll find one like that."
So they sacrificed a cow, though they almost didn't.
72
And (remember) when ye slew a man and disagreed concerning it and Allah
brought forth that which ye were hiding.
Remember when a man was murdered, but you disagreed about who did it?
73
And We said: Smite him with some of it. Thus Allah bringeth the dead to
life and showeth you His portents so that ye may understand.
74
Then, even after that, your hearts were hardened and became as rocks, or worse than rocks, for hardness. For indeed there are rocks from out
which rivers gush, and indeed there are rocks which split asunder so that water floweth from them. And indeed there
are rocks which fall down for the fear of Allah. Allah is not unaware of what ye do.
We said, "Smite the dead man with a piece of the dead cow that you sacrificed."
And the dead man came back to life and showed you who murdered him.
But even after you saw that miracle, your hearts were hardened and became rocks -- or even worse than rocks, they
were so hard.
There are good rocks and bad rocks. There are rocks that fall down from the fear of Allah.
Notes
- Come not nigh this tree (v.35)
Allah doesn't say which tree Adam is supposed to stay away from. The Genesis story
has a tale of two trees: the tree of knowledge and the tree of life.
- We brought you through the sea and rescued you, and drowned the folk of Pharaoh. (v.50)
See the story in DWB: God drowned the Egyptian army.
- Kill (the guilty) yourselves. (v.54)
See DWB: Who is on the Lord's side - Forcing friends and
family to kill each other.
- Those who did wrong changed the word (v.59)
No one knows what words of what saying Allah is talking about here. But whoever it was, Allah sent down his
wrath from heaven upon them.
- There gushed out therefrom twelve springs. (v.60)
As you read the Quran you'll notice that many of the Bible's stupidest stories are made even stupider in the Quran.
Take Exodus 17:1-6 for example. In the Bible, Moses strikes a
rock and water comes out for the Israelites to drink. In the Quran, the same thing happens but there are
twelve springs that come out of the rock, one for each tribe of Israel.
- We are weary of one kind of food; so ... they were visited with wrath from Allah. (v.61)
See DWB: While the flesh was still between their teeth,
the Lord smote them with a very great plague.
- Jews, and Christians, and Sabaeans - whoever believeth in
Allah and the Last Day and doeth right - surely their reward is with their Lord. (v.62)
So you must you believe in Allah, whatever was revealed to Muhammad, and the Last Day to avoid hell. Wouldn't that leave out
everyone but Muslims?
Will all Christians go to hell?
- Verily she is a yellow cow. (v.69)
The yellow cow story in the Quran is similar to the red cow story in the Bible (Numbers 19:1-10).
I'll leave it to you to decide which is sillier.
Some of the details, though, were left out of the Quran and are filled in with the Hadith.
Here's how it goes:
A man was murdered about the same time that the yellow cow was killed. Nobody knew who the murderer was. So Allah
told the people to smite the dead man with a piece of the dead cow. When they did that, the dead man came to life and
told everyone who had murdered him. (I hope I got that right.)
You can read all about it here.
35-48 
62-66