The Quran

Preface

إِنَّما جَزاءُ الَّذينَ يُحارِبونَ اللَّهَ وَرَسولَهُ وَيَسعَونَ فِي الأَرضِ فَسادًا أَن يُقَتَّلوا أَو يُصَلَّبوا أَو تُقَطَّعَ أَيديهِم وَأَرجُلُهُم مِن خِلافٍ أَو يُنفَوا مِنَ الأَرضِ ۚ ذٰلِكَ لَهُم خِزيٌ فِي الدُّنيا ۖ وَلَهُم فِي الآخِرَةِ عَذابٌ عَظيمٌ

Yusuf Ali

The punishment of those who wage war against God and His Messenger, and strive with might and main for mischief through the land¹ is: execution, or crucifixion, or the cutting off of hands and feet from opposite sides,² or exile from the land: that is their disgrace in this world, and a heavy punishment is theirs in the Hereafter;

For the double crime of treason against the State, combined with treason against God, as shown by overt crimes, four alternative punishments are mentioned, any one of which is to be applied according to circumstances, viz., execution (cutting off of the head), crucifixion, maiming, or exile. These were features of the Criminal Law then and for centuries afterwards, except that tortures such as “hanging, drawing, and quartering” in English Law, and piercing of eyes and leaving the unfortunate victim exposed to a tropical sun, which was practised in Arabia, and all such tortures were abolished. In any case sincere repentance before it was too late was recognised as a round for mercy.
Understood to mean the right hand and the left foot.