۞ Virtue does not consist in whether you face towards the East or the West; virtue means believing in God, the Last Day, the angels, the Book and the prophets; the virtuous are those who, despite their love for it, give away their wealth to their relatives and to orphans and the very poor, and to travellers and those who ask [for charity], and to set slaves free, and who attend to their prayers and pay the alms, and who keep their pledges when they make them, and show patience in hardship and adversity, and in times of distress. Such are the true believers; and such are the God-fearing. 177 O Believers, the law of retribution has been prescribed for you in cases of murder; if a free man commits a murder, the free man shall be punished for it and a slave for a slave: likewise if a woman is guilty of murder the same shall be accountable for it. But in case the injured brother is willing to show leniency to the murderer, the blood money should be decided in accordance with the common law and the murderer should pay it in a genuine way. This is an allowance and mercy from your Lord. Now there shall be a painful torment for anyone who transgresses the limits after this. O men of understanding. 178 In [this law of] retribution there is life for you, O people of understanding, so that perhaps you will be mindful of God. 179 It is ordained that when any one of you nears death, and he owns goods and chattels, he should bequeath them equitably to his parents and next of kin. This is binding on those who are upright and fear God. 180 And any one who changes the will, having heard it, shall be guilty and accountable; for God hears all and knows everything. 181 He who fears injustice or sin on the part of a testator and brings about a settlement among the parties incurs no guilt. Allah is the Forgiver and the Most Merciful. 182