مِنْ أَجْلِ ذَٰلِكَ كَتَبْنَا عَلَىٰ بَنِىٓ إِسْرَٰٓءِيلَ أَنَّهُۥ مَن قَتَلَ نَفْسًۢا بِغَيْرِ نَفْسٍ أَوْ فَسَادٍ فِى ٱلْأَرْضِ فَكَأَنَّمَا قَتَلَ ٱلنَّاسَ جَمِيعًا وَمَنْ أَحْيَاهَا فَكَأَنَّمَآ أَحْيَا ٱلنَّاسَ جَمِيعًا ۚ وَلَقَدْ جَآءَتْهُمْ رُسُلُنَا بِٱلْبَيِّنَـٰتِ ثُمَّ إِنَّ كَثِيرًا مِّنْهُم بَعْدَ ذَٰلِكَ فِى ٱلْأَرْضِ لَمُسْرِفُونَ
min ajli zaalika katabnaa 'alaa Banee Israaa'eela annahoo man qatala nnafsam bighairi nafsin aw fasaadin fil ardi faka annnamaa qatalan fil ardi faka annammaa qatalan naasa jamee'anw wa man ahyaahaa faka annamaaa ahyan naasa jamee'aa; wa laqad jaaa'at hum Rusulunaa bilbaiyinaati summa inna kaseeram minhum ba'da zaalika fil ardi lamusrifoon
Bunun için İsrailoğullarına şöyle yazdık: "Kim bir kimseyi bir kimseye veya yeryüzünde bozgunculuğa karşılık olmadan öldürürse, bütün insanları öldürmüş gibi olur. Kim de onu diriltirse (ölümden kurtarırsa) bütün insanları diriltmiş gibi olur". And olsun ki, onlara belgelerle peygamberlerimiz geldi, sonra buna rağmen, onların çoğu yeryüzünde taşkınlık edenler oldu.
Because of this, we decreed for the Children of Israel that whoever kills a soul — other than in retribution for a soul, or for corruption in the land — it is as if they had killed all of humanity, and whoever saves a soul, it is as if they had saved all of humanity. And our messengers came to them with clear proofs, yet even after that, many of them went to excess in the land.
The ruling is tied to what came just before it: one brother has buried another, and from that single grave a law is drawn that reaches the whole of humankind. Addressed to the Children of Israel, the formulation runs close to a passage in the Mishnah's tractate Sanhedrin, which reasons the same way from the creation of one man. Both texts refuse to let one life count as a fraction of anything.