tilka ḥudūdu llāhi and its changing follow-up
تِلْكَ حُدُودُ ٱللَّهِ
tilka ḥudūdu llāhi — Those are the limits of Allah
In the six verses given, the demonstrative clause tilka ḥudūdu llāhi closes a block of rulings and is immediately followed by a clause that varies: a prohibition, a statement of consequence, or a statement of clarification. The fixed frame marks the preceding rulings as 'limits' and the changing slot directs the hearer's response to them.
The frame consists of the demonstrative tilka (feminine singular, pointing back at what precedes) plus the nominative plural ḥudūdu llāhi, 'the limits of Allah'. In each of the six verses it stands at or near the end of a sequence of rulings: the fasting and devotional-stay regulations (2:187), the divorce rulings (2:229, 2:230), the rulings that precede the frame (4:13), the expiation rulings (58:4), and the divorce-timing regulations (65:1). The frame performs the same act each time: it gathers the preceding material under the label 'the limits of Allah'. What varies is the clause attached to it. In (2:187) it is followed by fa-lā taqrabūhā, 'so do not approach them', a prohibition framed as distance-keeping. In (2:229) it is fa-lā taʿdūhā, 'so do not overstep them', followed by a consequence clause: whoever oversteps the limits of Allah is among the wrongdoers. In (2:230) the follow-up is yubayyinuhā li-qawmin yaʿlamūna, 'He makes them clear for a people who know' – a statement of clarification rather than command. In (4:13) the frame is followed by a conditional of reward: whoever obeys Allah and His messenger will be admitted into gardens. In (58:4) it is wa-li-l-kāfirīna ʿadhābun alīm, 'and for the deniers is a painful punishment'. In (65:1) it is wa-man yataʿadda ḥudūda llāhi fa-qad ẓalama nafsahu, 'whoever oversteps the limits of Allah has indeed wronged his own self'. The frame thus fixes the status of the rulings while the slot alternates between prohibition, consequence, clarification and reward.
Where it occurs
- 2:187 Closes the fasting and devotional-stay rulings; followed by the prohibition 'so do not approach them' and by the statement that Allah makes His signs clear so that people may be ever-cautious.
- 2:229 Closes the divorce rulings; followed by 'so do not overstep them' and the consequence that whoever oversteps the limits of Allah is among the wrongdoers.
- 2:230 Closes the remarriage ruling; followed by 'He makes them clear for a people who know', prefixed by wa-.
- 4:13 Opens the verse, pointing back to the rulings that precede it; followed by the conditional of reward for whoever obeys Allah and His messenger.
- 58:4 Closes the expiation rulings; followed by 'and for the deniers is a painful punishment', prefixed by wa-.
- 65:1 Closes the divorce-timing rulings; followed by the consequence that whoever oversteps the limits of Allah has wronged his own self.
All Qur'anic expressions