۞ Virtue is not that ye turn your faces toward the east and the west, but virtue is of him who believeth in Allah and the Last Day and the angels and the Book and the prophets, and giveth of his substance for love of Him unto kindred and orphans and the needy and the wayfarer and the beggars and for redeeming necks, and establisheth prayer and giveth the poor-rate and is of the performers of their covenant when they have covenanted, and is of the patient in adversity and affliction and in time of violence; these are they who are proven true, and these they are the God-fearing. 177 Believers, retaliation is decreed for you concerning the killed. A free (man) for a free (man), a slave for a slave, and a female for a female. He who is pardoned by his brother, let the ensuing be with kindness, and let the payment be with generosity. This is an alleviation from your Lord and mercy. He who transgresses thereafter shall have a painful punishment. 178 And there is life for you in (the law of) retaliation, O men of understanding, that you may guard yourselves. 179 It is ordained for you that when death approaches one of you, and he leaves behind wealth, he must bequeath it to parents and near relatives in accordance with tradition; this is a duty upon the pious. 180 Anyone who alters it once he has heard it shall be accountable for his crime. Surely, God is all hearing and all 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