يَا أَيُّهَا الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا أَوْفُوا بِالْعُقُودِ أُحِلَّتْ لَكُمْ بَهِيمَةُ الْأَنْعَامِ إِلَّا مَا يُتْلَى عَلَيْكُمْ غَيْرَ مُحِلِّي الصَّيْدِ وَأَنْتُمْ حُرُمٌ إِنَّ اللَّهَ يَحْكُمُ مَا يُرِيدُ ﴿۱﴾

﴾1﴿ Yaaa aiyuhal lazeena aamanoo awfoo bil'uqood; uhillat lakum baheematul an'aami illaa maa yutlaa 'alaikum ghaira muhillis saidi wa antum hurum; innal laaha yahkumu maa yureed

﴾1﴿ O believers, fulfill your covenants. The cattle (four-legged animals) have been made lawful for you, except what is recited to you (as forbidden). Do not consider hunting as lawful while you are in the state of ihram. Indeed, Allah decides whatever He wills.

Relevancy: Its relation to the previous surah is that in the previous surah, there was a rejection of the injustices of the Age of Ignorance concerning weak creatures; now, it rejects the injustices of the Age of Ignorance concerning what is lawful and unlawful.
Claim of this surah: It is a command to fulfill faith-based contracts in general, and specifically concerning what is lawful and unlawful, with a rejection of those who did not fulfill their contracts—namely the Jews and Christians. It is also a rejection of various forms of shirk: shirk in authority, shirk in knowledge, shirk in worship, and shirk in declaring things lawful and unlawful. And for understanding the Divine, sixteen of Allah’s beautiful names are mentioned.
Summary of the surah: In a summarized manner, this surah mentions “O you who believe” sixteen times—these are the faith-based contracts. There are seven commands, six prohibitions, and three informative statements. At the beginning and end of the surah are addresses concerning the believers, and in between is a detailed account of the evils of the People of the Book and an invitation to the Christians.
A detailed summary is as follows: The surah consists of three sections. The first section is up to verse 41, which itself contains two parts. The first part is up to verse 14, in which there are five addresses to the believers—these are the contracts, and in it is a rejection of shirk in declaring things lawful and unlawful.

[1] ‘Aqood’ (Contracts): These are all the rulings that, according to the requirements of faith, have been made obligatory in the Qur’an and Sunnah in general, and specifically regarding what is lawful and unlawful.
Since this surah was revealed at the time of the conquest of Mecca, when the polytheists’ customs of declaring things lawful and unlawful were widespread, it first refuted their actual shirk in making things lawful and unlawful.
The difference between ‘aqood’ (contracts) and ‘uhood’ (covenants) is that ‘aqood’ refers specifically to the people of faith, while ‘uhood’ is general and applies to anyone who accepts a heavenly book, whether a believer or a People of the Book who is a disbeliever.
(بَهِيمَةُ الْأَنْعَامِ) “The cattle”: The word ‘baheemah’ is derived from ‘bahem’ and refers to anything that has a tongue but cannot speak, and ‘an‘aam’ is from ‘ni‘mah’ and refers to grazing animals; both refer to the same creatures, i.e., four-legged animals.
(أُحِلَّتْ) “Made lawful”: In general, this word is used for making things permissible, but here it specifically refers to refuting the unlawful practices of the polytheists, who, for example, would prohibit certain animals like ‘bahirah’ and ‘saibah’ for themselves, as explained in ‘Mu‘allim at-Tanzil’.
(غَيْرَ مُحِلِّي الصَّيْدِ) “Not permitting hunting”: If ‘the cattle’ includes hunted animals, then the exception is connected (muttaṣil); if it does not include them, then the exception is separate (munqaṭi‘).
(إِنَّ اللَّهَ يَحْكُمُ مَا يُرِيدُ) “Indeed, Allah decides what He wills”: This is the general reason for what is made lawful and unlawful.
It also refutes the Mu‘tazilah, who claim that Allah is obligated to act in the best interest of His servants in legal rulings—this view is incorrect.