Overall meaning : Allah Almighty instructs His Prophet, Muhammad, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, to relate to the Jews and others the true story of Adam’s two sons, how each of them made an offering to Him, and He accepted it from one, but not from the other. The one whose offering Allah did not accept was so envious of the one whose offering Allah accepted that the former threatened to kill the latter. The latter said to his jealous brother, ‘Allah only accepts the good deeds of the God-fearing and pious. Even if you stretch forth your hand towards me to kill me, I will never stretch out my hand towards you to kill you; for I fear Allah Almighty, the Lord of all the worlds. I want you to bear the sin of killing me together with your previous sins, and thus be among the dwellers of the Fire; such is the punishment of the wrongdoers.’
However, his evil soul prompted him to murder his brother; he murdered him and thus became one of the losers in this worldly life and in the life to come. He was grievously perplexed and did not know quite what to do with the body of his slain brother. Then Allah sent forth a raven which scratched a hole in the ground to show him how to cover the corpse of his brother. ‘Woe betide me!’ he said, reproaching himself, ‘How was it that I was unable to do as this raven has done and so bury my brother’s body?’ He felt deep remorse for killing his brother.
Because of such a crime, Almighty Allah asserts, He decreed for the Children of Israel that whoever kills a human being unjustly—except as punishment for murder or for spreading corruption in the land—will be regarded as having killed all mankind, and whoever saves a human life will be regarded as having saved all mankind. Allah’s messengers, He further states, brought the Children of Israel clear proofs and manifest signs, yet many among them after that continued to commit sins, do what Allah has forbidden and transgress His limits.