۞ And rehearse thou unto them with truth the tale of the two sons of Adam, when the twain offered an offering, and it was accepted from one of them, and was not accepted from the other; he said: surely I will slay thee. Said the other: Allah accepteth only from the God-fearing. 27 If you raise your hand to kill me, I will not raise mine to kill you. I fear God, the Lord of the Universe, 28 Lo! I would rather thou shouldst bear the punishment of the sin against me and thine own sin and become one of the owners of the fire. That is the reward of evil-doers. 29 Then his soul made the slaying of his brother agreeable to him, so he slew him, and he became of the losers. 30 Then God sent a raven which scratched the ground in order to show him how to hide the nakedness of his brother. "Alas, the woe," said he, "that I could not be even like the raven and hide the nakedness of my brother," and was filled with remorse. 31 For this reason, We made it a law for the children of Israel that the killing of a person for reasons other than legal retaliation or for stopping corruption in the land is as great a sin as murdering all of mankind. However, to save a life would be as great a virtue as to save all of mankind. Our Messengers had come to them with clear authoritative evidence but many of them (Israelites) thereafter started doing wrong in the land. 32 The punishment of those who wage war against Allah and His apostle and strive to make mischief in the land is only this, that they should be murdered or crucified or their hands and their feet should be cut off on opposite sides or they should be imprisoned; this shall be as a disgrace for them in this world, and in the hereafter they shall have a grievous chastisement, 33 Except for those who repent before they fall into your power: in that case, know that Allah is Oft-forgiving, Most Merciful. 34