۞ It is not Al-Birr (piety, righteousness, and each and every act of obedience to Allah, etc.) that you turn your faces towards east and (or) west (in prayers); but Al-Birr is (the quality of) the one who believes in Allah, the Last Day, the Angels, the Book, the Prophets and gives his wealth, in spite of love for it, to the kinsfolk, to the orphans, and to Al-Masakin (the poor), and to the wayfarer, and to those who ask, and to set slaves free, performs As-Salat (Iqamat-as-Salat), and gives the Zakat, and who fulfill their covenant when they make it, and who are As-Sabirin (the patient ones, etc.) in extreme poverty and ailment (disease) and at the time of fighting (during the battles). Such are the people of the truth and they are Al-Muttaqun (pious - see V. 2:2). 177 O you who believe! retaliation is prescribed for you in the matter of the slain, the free for the free, and the slave for the slave, and the female for the female, but if any remission is made to any one by his (aggrieved) brother, then prosecution (for the bloodwit) should be made according to usage, and payment should be made to him in a good manner; this is an alleviation from your Lord and a mercy; so whoever exceeds the limit after this he shall have a painful chastisement. 178 There is security of life for you in the law of retribution. It is expected that you will refrain from breaking this law. 179 If one of you facing death can leave a legacy, he should bequeath it to his parents and relatives, according to the law. This is the duty of the pious. 180 Then whosoever altereth it after he hath heard it, the sin thereof shall be only on those who shall alter it; verily Allah is Hearing, Knowing. 181 He who suspects wrong or partiality on the part of the testator and brings about a settlement, does not incure any guilt, for God is verily forgiving and merciful. 182