يَٰٓأَيُّهَا ٱلَّذِينَ ءَامَنُوا۟ لَا تَأْكُلُوا۟ ٱلرِّبَوٰٓا۟ أَضْعَٰفًا مُّضَٰعَفَةً
Yā ayyuha'lladhīna āmanū lā taʾkulu'r-ribā aḍʿāfan muḍāʿafatan wa'ttaqu'llāha laʿallakum tufliḥūn · Wa'ttaqu'n-nāra'llatī uʿiddat li'l-kāfirīn · Wa aṭīʿu'llāha wa'r-rasūla laʿallakum turḥamūn
"You who believe! Do not consume ribā, doubled and multiplied, and guard yourselves before God, that you may prosper. · Guard yourselves against the fire prepared for those who deny. · Obey God and the Messenger, that you may be shown mercy."
Ribā was treated in detail at 2/275-281 in al-Baqara — the sense of the root, the definition of the transaction, its difference from trade, the drawing of the limit. I rely on that treatment and do not repeat it here.
One. The length of the verse. In al-Baqara the subject runs for seven verses; here it is a single verse. And this is an instance of the principle recorded in the introduction to the sūra: Āl ʿImrān names what has been treated in al-Baqara in the form of a reminder.
The root ض-ع-ف: a fold, a multiple. Ḍiʿf — the multiple of a thing. And the construction is a noun and an adjective from the same root: aḍʿāfan muḍāʿafatan — "multiplied multiples". The same form of emphasis was in verse 14 as well: al-qanāṭīru'l-muqanṭara. Two occurrences, in a single sūra.
And there is a divergence over the function of the construction in the ruling, and it is not to be concealed:
| Reading | What aḍʿāfan muḍāʿafatan is |
|---|---|
| 1 | A restrictive qualification (iḥtirāzī) — the prohibition is only for the form that is multiplied over and over |
| 2 | A description of the actual state — it describes the common practice and does not narrow the ruling; al-Baqara 2/278-279 already sets the limit absolutely |
Both are transmitted; I do not impose a preference and I issue no legal ruling. This is the same limit recorded in al-Baqara.
And I record an observation about the word order: the three verses end with three separate sentences of consequence — tufliḥūn (130), li'l-kāfirīn (131), turḥamūn (132). And tufliḥūn will come once more in the last verse of the sūra (200).
وَأَطِيعُوا۟ ٱللَّهَ وَٱلرَّسُولَ — root ط-و-ع. And the same command occurs twice in the sūra: at 32 and at 132. And at verse 152 its breach will be recorded: wa ʿaṣaytum. Command, command, breach — this is a weave verifiable within the sūra and was recorded in the table in the introduction.