2.168 – People! Eat from what is permitted (and) good on the earth

This verse begins an extended passage primarily concerned with law. Many of the verbs, like “eat,” now appear in the form of commands. Between this verse and verse 245, the Quran stipulates dietary rules (vv. 168–73), retaliation (vv. 178–79), bequests (vv. 180–82, 240–42), fasting (vv. 183–87), pilgrimage (vv. 189, 196–203), fighting and killing (vv. 190–94, 216–18, 244), and marriage and divorce (vv. 221, 226–37).

These laws use the language of “permitted” (ḥalāl) and “prescribed” (kutib, lit. “written”).