Surah Al-anam in english

Verse 111

And if We had sent down the angels to them, and the dead had spoken with them, as they have requested, and We had gathered against them all things in droves (read qubulan, plural of qabīl, meaning ‘throng upon throng’, or read qibalan, meaning ‘before their very eyes’), and they were witness to your truthfulness, yet they would not have believed, as God already knows, unless God willed, that they believe and they did; but most of them are ignorant, of this.

Verse 112

And so We have appointed to every Prophet an enemy, just as We have appointed these your enemies (and this [‘adūwwan, ‘an enemy’, is substituted by [the following, shayātīn, ‘devils’]) devils, the rebels, of mankind and jinn who inspire, whisper, fine speech to each other, the falsehood that is disguised as such [fine speech], in delusion, that is, in order to delude them; yet, had your Lord willed, they would never have done it, that mutual inspiration. So leave them, let the disbelievers be, with what they fabricate, of disbelief and otherwise, of what has been adorned for them — this was [revealed] before the command to fight [them].

Verse 113

And that the hearts of those who do not believe in the Hereafter may incline to it (wa-li-tasghā is a supplement to [the above] ghurūran, ‘in delusion’), that is, [to] that fine [speech], and that they may be pleased with it, and that they may acquire, earn, what they are acquiring, of sins, and be punished for it.

Verse 114

The following was revealed when they asked the Prophet (s) to appoint an arbiter between him and themselves. Say: Shall I seek, demand, other than God as a judge, an arbiter between you and me, when it is He Who revealed to you the Book, the Qur’ān, clearly explained?, wherein truth is distinguished from falsehood. Those to whom We have given the Scripture, the Torah, the likes of ‘Abd Allāh b. Salām and his companions, know that it is revealed (read munzal or munazzal) from your Lord in truth; so do not be of the waverers, the doubters, regarding it: this is intended to affirm to the disbelievers that it is the truth.

Verse 115

Perfected is the word of your Lord, in the way of rulings and appointed terms, in truthfulness and justice (sidqan wa-‘adlan is for specification); none can change His words, either by contravening [His rulings] or evading [His appointed terms]. He is the Hearing, of what is said, the Knowing, of what is done.

Verse 116

If you obey most of those on earth, that is, the disbelievers, they will lead you astray from the way of God, [from] His religion; they follow only supposition, when they dispute with you concerning [the status of] carrion, saying: ‘What God has killed is more worthy of your consumption than what you kill yourselves!’; they are merely guessing, speaking falsehood in this [matter].

Verse 117

Your Lord knows best those who stray from His way and He knows well the rightly guided, and will requite both of them.

Verse 118

So eat from that over which God’s Name has been invoked, that is, [that which] has been sacrificed to His Name, if you believe in His signs.

Verse 119

What is wrong with you, that you do not eat from that over which God’s Name has been invoked, of sacrifices, when He has detailed (for both verbs, read the passive [fussila, ‘it has been detailed’, and hurrima, ‘[that which] has been forbidden’] or the active [fassala, ‘He has detailed’, and harrama, ‘[what] He has forbidden’]) for you what He has forbidden, in the verse: Forbidden to you is carrion … [Q. 5:3], except that to which you are compelled?, thereof, which is also lawful for you. The meaning is: there is nothing to prevent you from eating what has been mentioned, for He has explained to you what is forbidden for consumption, and that [over which God’s Name has been invoked] is not among these [forbidden things]. But truly many are led astray (read la-yadillūna, ‘[many] are led astray’, or la-yudillūna, ‘[many] lead [others] astray’), by their whims, by what their own selves fancy, in the way of permitting [the consumption of] carrion and otherwise, without any knowledge, with which to support their claims. Truly your Lord knows the transgressors, those who overstep [the bounds] of what is lawful into what is unlawful.

Verse 120

And forsake, leave, outward aspect of sin and its inward aspect, that is, what is overt of it and what is secret — it is said that ‘sin’ here means fornication, or, it is said, any act of disobedience; surely those who earn sin shall be requited, in the Hereafter, for what they used to perpetrate, [what] they used to earn.

Verse 121

And do not eat from that over which God’s Name has not been invoked, where it has died or been sacrificed to other than His Name — otherwise, what a Muslim sacrifices and does not invoke God’s Name over, whether intentionally or forgetfully, is lawful, as was stated by Ibn ‘Abbās, and this is the opinion of al-Shāfi‘ī — verily it, the eating thereof, is wickedness, a contravention of what is lawful. And truly the devils inspire, whisper [to], their friends, the disbelievers, to dispute with you, in deeming carrion lawful; and if you obey them, in this [matter], you are truly idolaters.

Verse 122

The following was revealed regarding Abū Jahl and others: Why, is he who was dead, through unbelief, and We gave him life, through guidance, and appointed for him a light by which to walk among people, distinguishing thereby the truth from falsehood — this [light] being faith — as him whose likeness (ka-man mathaluhu: mathal, ‘likeness’, is extra; in other words, [read] ka-man huwa, ‘as him who’) is in darkness whence he cannot emerge? — and this is the disbeliever — No! So, in the same way that faith has been adorned for believers, what the disbelievers have been doing, in the way of disbelief and acts of disobedience, has been adorned for them.

Verse 123

And thus, in the same way that We have made the wicked folk of Mecca its leaders, We have made in every city its sinners great ones, that they may plot therein, to impede the faith; but they plot only against themselves, because the evil consequences thereof will befall them, though they do not perceive, this.

Verse 124

And when a sign, of the truth of the Prophet (s), comes to them, the people of Mecca, they say, ‘We will not believe, in him, until we are given the like of what God’s messengers were given’, in the way of a message and inspiration to us, because we are wealthier and more senior in years. God, exalted be He, says: God knows best where to place His Message (read plural [risālātihi, ‘His Messages’] or singular [risālatahu, ‘His Message’]; hayth, ‘where’, constitutes the direct object because of the verb [ya‘lam, ‘He knows’] implicit in a‘lam, ‘the best knower’) that is to say, He knows the right place for it to be placed in, and He thus places it [there] — these people, however, are not worthy of it. Humiliation from God and a terrible chastisement shall smite those who have sinned, by saying this, for their plotting.

Verse 125

Whomever God desires to guide, He expands his breast to Islam, by casting into his heart a light which it [the heart] expands for and accepts, as reported in a hadīth; and whomever He, God, desires to send astray, He makes his breast narrow (read dayqan or dayyiqan), [unable] to accept it, and constricted, extremely tight (read harijan, ‘constricted’, as an adjective, or harajan as a verbal noun, by which it [the heart of the misguided one] is described hyperbolically) as if he were engaged in ascent (yassa‘‘ad, is also read as yassā‘ad: in both [forms] the original tā’ has been assimilated with the sād; a third [variant reading] has yas‘ad) to the heaven, when he is charged with [the obligations of] the faith, because of the hardship for him therein. So, like this making [of the breast narrow], God casts ignominy, chastisement, or [He casts] Satan, that is, He gives him authority, over those who do not believe.

Verse 126

And this, [path] that you follow, O Muhammad (s), is the path of your Lord, a straight one, with no crookedness therein (mustaqīman, ‘straight’, is in the accusative because it is a circumstantial qualifier emphasising the [previous] statement, and it is operated by the import of the demonstrative noun [hādhā, ‘this’]). We have detailed, We have elucidated, the signs for a people who remember (yadhdhakkarūn: the original tā’ has been assimilated with the dhāl), that is to say, [a people] who heed admonition — such [people] are singled out for mention because they are the ones to profit [from the signs].

Verse 127

Theirs will be the abode of peace, namely, Paradise, with their Lord, and He will be their Friend because of what they used to do.

Verse 128

And, mention, the day when He, God, shall gather them (yahshuruhum, may also read nahshuruhum, ‘We shall gather them’), that is, creatures, all together, and it will be said to them: ‘O assembly of jinn, you have garnered much of mankind’, by your misleading [them]. Then their friends, those who obeyed them, from among mankind will say, ‘Our Lord, we enjoyed one another, mankind enjoyed what the jinn adorned for them of passions, while the jinn [enjoyed] mankind’s obedience to them; but now we have arrived at the term which You have appointed for us’, that is, the Day of Resurrection — this [statement] expresses extreme regret on their part. He, exalted be He, will say, to them, by the tongues of the angels: ‘The Fire is your lodging, your abode, to abide therein’ — except what God wills, of those times when they will exit from it in order to drink boiling water, which is located outside it, as God, exalted be He, has said: Then they shall return to the Hell-fire [Q. 37:68]; according to Ibn ‘Abbās, this [proviso] pertains to those whom God knows will believe (mā, ‘what’, thus has the sense of man, ‘whom’). Surely your Lord is Wise, in His actions, Knowing, of His creatures.

Verse 129

So, just as We let the rebels from among mankind and jinn enjoy one another, We let some of the evildoers have power over others because of what they are wont to earn, of acts of disobedience.

Verse 130

‘O assembly of jinn and mankind, did not messengers come to you from among you, that is, from among both of your number — which holds true in the case of mankind [since messengers came from among them], or [by ‘messengers’ if the jinn are meant] those messengers among the jinn who are their warners, the ones who listen to the speech of the [human] messengers and convey it to their kind — to recount to you My signs and to warn you of the encounter of this Day of yours?’ They shall say, ‘We bear witness against ourselves’, that [all] this was conveyed to us. God, exalted be He, says: And the life of this world deluded them, and so they did not believe. And they bear witness against themselves that they were disbelievers.

Verse 131

That, sending of the messengers, is because (an, [phonetically] lightened, with the lām [of li-annahu] implied, thus [read as] li-annahu, ‘because’) your Lord would never destroy the towns through injustice, on their part, while their inhabitants were heedless, not having had any Messenger to make [things] clear to them.

Verse 132

All, of those who perform deeds, shall have degrees, of requital, according to what they have done, of good or evil. Your Lord is not heedless of what they do (ya‘malūna: may also be read ta‘malūna, ‘you do’).

Verse 133

Your Lord is Independent, of His creatures and their worship, the Lord of Mercy. If He will, He can remove you, O people of Mecca, by destroying you, and leave whom He will, of creatures, to succeed after you, just as He produced you from the seed of another folk, [whom] He removed; but He has spared you, as a mercy to you.

Verse 134

Truly, that which you are promised, of the Hour and chastisement, will surely come to pass, inevitably, and you cannot escape, [you cannot] elude Our chastisement.

Verse 135

Say, to them: ‘O my people, act according to your state, your circumstances; truly I am acting, according to my circumstances. And assuredly you will know whose (man: the relative particle introducing the object of the verb ‘you will know’) sequel shall be the abode, that is, [who shall have] the praiseworthy sequel in the abode of the Hereafter: will it be us or yourselves? Surely the evildoers, the disbelievers, will not prosper’, will not find happiness.

Verse 136

They, the disbelievers of Mecca, assign to God, of the tillage, the crops, and the cattle which He multiplied, He created, a portion, which they dispense to visitors and the needy, and to their associates belongs a portion, which they dispense to such keepers [of the tillage and cattle], saying, ‘This is for God’ — so they assert (read bi-za‘mihim or bi-zu‘mihim) — ‘and this is for our associates’: and if any of the portion of these [associates] fell into God’s portion, they used to restore it [to that of their associates], but when something of His portion fell into theirs, they would leave it there, saying, ‘God is Independent [and is not in need] of this’, as God, exalted be He, says: So that which is intended for their associates does not reach God, and that which is intended for God does reach their associates. Evil is that, provision of theirs, which they decree!

Verse 137

And thus, in the same way that what is mentioned was adorned for them, those associates of theirs, from among the jinn, have adorned for many of the idolaters the slaying of their children, by burying them alive (shurakā’uhum, ‘those associates of theirs’, is read in the nominative as the subject of the verb zayyana, ‘adorned’; an alternative reading has the passive [zuyyina, ‘it has been adorned’], with qatlu, ‘the slaying’, in the nominative [as the subject of this passive verb], awlādahum, ‘their children’, in the accusative on account of it [being the direct object of qatlu, ‘the slaying’], and shurakā’ihim in the genitive as an annexation to qatlu, so that the object in this case intervenes between the two elements of the annexation [qatlu awlādahum shurakā’ihim, ‘their associates killing the children’] — this is acceptable [syntactically] — and the annexation of qatlu to shurakā’ihim [in this latter reading] is on account of them [the associates] commanding [the idolaters to do] this), that they may destroy them and to confuse, to make obscure, their religion for them. Had God willed, they would not have done so; so leave them and that which they fabricate.

Verse 138

They say, ‘These cattle and tillage are sacrosanct, forbidden. No one is to eat of them except whom we will’, from among the retainers of the graven images and others — so they assert, in other words, they have no [convincing] argument for it — ‘and cattle whose backs have been forbidden, and cannot therefore be ridden, such as the camels [they call] Sā’ibas or Hāmīs, and cattle over which they do not invoke the Name of God’, when they slaughter them, invoking instead the names of their idols, ascribing such [rules] to God; forging lies against Him. He will assuredly requite them for what they used to fabricate, against Him.

Verse 139

And they say, ‘That which is within the bellies of these, forbidden, cattle, namely, the camels [they call] Sā’ibas or Bahīras, is reserved, permitted, for our males and forbidden to our spouses, that is, the women; but if it be dead (read maytatun or maytatan, and the verb as either feminine takun or masculine yakun, ‘if it be’) then they [all] may be partakers thereof’. He, God, will assuredly requite them for their describing, [this and] that as [either] permitted or forbidden, with the appropriate requital thereof. Surely He is Wise, in His actions, Knowing, of His creatures.

Verse 140

They are losers who slay (read qatalū or qattalū) their children, by burying them alive, in folly, out of ignorance, without knowledge, and have forbidden what God has provided them, of what has been mentioned, in calumny against God. Verily they have gone astray and are not guided.

Verse 141

And He it is Who produces, creates, gardens, orchards, trellised, extending along the ground, as in the case of watermelons, and untrellised, rising upwards on a stem, such as palm-trees; and, He produces, palm-trees, and crops diverse in flavour, [diverse] in the shape and savour of its fruit and seed, and olives, and pomegranates, alike, in [terms of their] leaf (mutashābihan, ‘alike’, is a circumstantial qualifier) and unlike, in [terms of their] savour. Eat of the fruit thereof when it ripens, before its maturity [passes], and pay the due thereof, the alms as appropriate, on the day of its harvest (read yawma hasādahu or yawma hasādihi), that is, one tenth or half of it, and do not be prodigal, by giving it all away, so that nothing remains for [the consumption of] your dependants. Truly, God does not love the prodigal, who overstep [the bounds of] that which He has delimited for them.

Verse 142

And, He produces, of the cattle some for burden, fit to bear loads, such as the large [mature] camels, and some for light support, not fit for these [load-bearing tasks], such as young camels or sheep (such [cattle] are called farsh because they are like ‘bedding [farsh] spread on the ground’, on account of their [physical] closeness to it); eat of that which God has provided you and do not follow the steps of Satan, his methods of forbidding [things] or deeming [them] lawful. Surely he is a manifest foe to you, one whose enmity is evident.

Verse 143

Eight pairs, types (thamāniyata azwājin substitutes for hamūlatan wa-farshan, ‘some for burdens and some for light support’): two of sheep, a male and a female; and of goats (read ma‘az or ma‘z) two. Say, O Muhammad (s) to those who on one occasion deem male cattle forbidden, and on another, the females thereof, and then ascribe such [rules] to God: ‘Is it the two males, of the sheep and goats, He has forbidden, you, or the two females, of these two [types], or that which the wombs of the two females contain, be they male or female? Inform Me with knowledge, of the details of such prohibitions, if you speak truly’, in this [matter], meaning: on what basis has the prohibition been made? If it is on the basis of maleness, then all males are forbidden; if on the basis of femaleness, then all females are so [forbidden]; if on what the womb may contain, then both genders are prohibited. So, on what basis are such specifications made? (the interrogative is meant as a repudiation).

Verse 144

And of the camels two and of the oxen two. Say: ‘Is it the two males He has forbidden or the two females? Or what the wombs of the two females contain? Or were you witnesses, present, when God charged you with this?, prohibition, such that you use it to support your claims? Nay! You speak lies in this [matter]. Then who, that is, none, does greater evil than he who invents a lie against God, in this matter, that he may lead mankind astray without any knowledge? Truly God does not guide evildoing folk’.

Verse 145

Say: ‘I do not find, in what is revealed to me, anything forbidden to him who eats thereof except it be (read yakūn or takūn) carrion (maytatan; or if read maytatun, then with the form yakūn, ‘it be’, preceding it) or blood poured forth, flowing, as opposed to [the case of] a liver or a spleen; or the flesh of swine — that indeed is an abomination, forbidden, or, except it be, a wicked thing that has been hallowed to other than God, that is to say, it has been slaughtered in the name of someone else. But whoever is constrained, to do any of what has been mentioned, and he consumes it, neither coveting nor transgressing, then surely your Lord is Forgiving, to him for what he has consumed, Merciful’, towards him. To these [prohibited things] the Sunna adds all beasts of prey with canine teeth and birds [of prey] with talons.

Verse 146

And to those of Jewry, that is, the Jews, We forbade every beast with hoof, that is, [every animal] which does not have divided toes, such as camels and ostriches; and of oxen and sheep We forbade them the fat of them, the thin fat lining the stomach and the fat of the kidneys, save what their backs carry, that is, what [fat] is attached to it, or, what is carried by, their entrails, their intestines (hawāyā is the plural of hāwiyā’ or hāwiya), or what is mingled with bone, thereof, which is the fat of the rump: these were lawful for them; that, prohibition, We requited them, with, for their insolence, on account of their wrongdoing, as already mentioned in sūrat al-Nisā’ [Q. 4:160]; verily We are truthful, in [recounting] Our tidings and Our appointed times.

Verse 147

So, if they deny you, with regard to what you have brought, then say, to them: ‘Your Lord has all-embracing mercy, for He does not hasten [to bring about] your punishment — herein is a gentle summoning of them to the faith; and His might, His chastisement, when it comes, will never be driven back from the sinning folk’.

Verse 148

The idolaters will say, ‘Had God willed, we would not have been idolaters, neither, we [nor], our fathers, nor would we have forbidden anything’, in other words, our idolatry and our forbidding [of things] are by His will, and so He must be satisfied with it. God, exalted be He, says: So, in the same way that these have lied, those who were before them gave the lie, to their prophets, until they tasted Our might, Our chastisement. Say: ‘Have you any knowledge, that God is satisfied with this, such that you can adduce for us?, that is, you have no such knowledge. You follow only supposition, in this [matter], merely guessing’, telling lies therein.

Verse 149

Say, if you have no definitive argument, then: ‘To God belongs the conclusive argument, the perfect [one], for had He willed, to guide you, He could have guided all of you’.

Verse 150

Say: ‘Come, bring forth, your witnesses, those who can testify that God has forbidden this’, which you have forbidden. Then if they testify, do not bear witness with them; and do not follow the whims of those who deny Our signs, those who do not believe in the Hereafter and ascribe equals to their Lord, associating others [with Him].

Verse 151

Say: ‘Come, I will recite that which your Lord has made a sacred duty for you: that (allā: [consisting of an-lā] an being explicative) you associate nothing with Him, that you be dutiful to parents, and that you do not slay your children, by burying them alive, because of poverty, destitution, that you may fear — We will provide for you and them — and that you do not draw near any acts of lewdness, grave sins, such as fornication, whether it be manifest or concealed, that is, [acts committed] overtly or in secret, and that you do not slay the life which God has made sacred, except rightfully, as in the case of retaliation, or [as] the prescribed punishment for apostasy, and the stoning of an adulterer. This, which is mentioned, is what He has charged you with, that perhaps you will understand, reflect.

Verse 152

And that you do not approach the property of the orphan save with that, approach, which is fairer, namely, the one wherein lie his best interests, until he is of age, when he is sexually mature. And give full measure and full weight, in justice, fairly, desisting from any fraud. We do not charge any soul beyond its capacity, what it can bear in such [matters], so that if one makes a mistake in a measure or weight, and God knows that his intention had been well-meaning, then he suffers no blame, as is stated in one hadīth. And if you speak, [to pass] a judgement or otherwise, then be just, by being truthful, even if he, the person receiving the statement or the one being accused in it, should be a kinsman. And fulfil God’s covenant. This is what He has charged you with, that perhaps you will remember (read tadhakkarūn or tadhkurūn), you will be admonished.

Verse 153

And that (read anna, with lām [of li-anna, ‘because’] being implied, or inna, as beginning a new sentence) this, that I have charged you with, is My straight path (mustaqīman, ‘straight’, is a circumstantial qualifier), so follow it; and do not follow other ways, paths opposed to it, lest it separate you (tafarraqa: one of the two letters tā’ [of the original tatafarraqa] has been omitted) make you incline, away from His way, His religion. This is what He has ordained for you, that perhaps you will be God-fearing’.

Verse 154

Then (thumma is for [describing events in a] sequence) We gave Moses the Scripture, the Torah, complete, in grace, for him who does good, by observing it, and a detailing, an explanation, of all things, needed for religion, and as a guidance and a mercy, that perhaps they, that is, the Children of Israel, might believe in the encounter with their Lord, through the Resurrection.

Verse 155

And this, Qur’ān, is a blessed Book which We have revealed; so follow it, O people of Mecca, by implementing what is in it, and be wary, of disbelief, that perhaps you might find mercy.

Verse 156

We have revealed it, lest you should say, ‘The Scripture was revealed only upon two parties — the Jews and the Christians — before us and we (in has been softened, its noun omitted, in other words [read as] innā) indeed have been unacquainted with their study’, their reading [of the scripture], not knowing any of it, since it is not in our own language.

Verse 157

Or lest you should say, ‘If the Scripture had been revealed to us, we would have surely been more rightly guided than they are’, because of the excellence of our minds. Now indeed a clear proof, a [clear] statement, has come to you from your Lord, and a guidance and a mercy, for him who follows it; and who, that is, none, does greater evil than he who denies God’s signs and turns away from them? We shall surely requite those who turn away from Our signs with dreadful, the most severe, chastisement for their aversion.

Verse 158

Are they waiting — the deniers are indeed waiting — for nothing less than that the angels should come to them (read ta’tīyahum or ya’tīyahum), to seize their souls, or that your Lord, that is, His command, meaning His chastisement, should come, or that one of your Lord’s signs should come?, that is, those portents of His that indicate [the arrival of] the Hour? On the day that one of your Lord’s signs comes — and this is the rising of the sun from the west, as reported in the hadīth of the two Sahīhs [of Bukhārī and Muslim] — it shall not benefit a soul to believe if it had not believed theretofore (lam takun āmanat min qabl is an adjectival qualification of nafs, ‘a soul’) or, a soul which had not [until then], earned in its belief some good, some [act of] obedience, that is to say, its repentance shall be of no benefit to it, as [stated] in the hadīth [corpus]. Say: ‘Wait, for one of these things, We too are waiting’, for it.

Verse 159

Those who have sundered their religion, by being at variance over it, accepting some [aspects] of it and rejecting others, and have become differing parties, sects with regard to such [matters] (a variant reading [for farraqū, ‘they have sundered’] has fāraqū, meaning that they have abandoned the religion to which they were enjoined, and they are the Jews and the Christians), you have no concern with them at all, in other words, do not be concerned with them. Their case will go to God — He will take charge of it — then He will inform them, in the Hereafter, of what they used to do, and requite them for it: this was abrogated by the ‘sword’ verse [Q. 9:5].

Verse 160

Whoever brings a good deed, that is, [the affirmation of] ‘there is no god but God’, shall receive tenfold the like of it, that is, the reward for ten good deeds, and whoever brings an evil deed shall only be requited the like of it, that is, its [appropriate] requital; and they shall not be wronged, nothing shall be diminished from their [just] requital.

Verse 161

Say: ‘As for me, my Lord has guided me to a straight path (ilā sirātin mustaqīm is substituted by [the following, dīnan qiyaman]) a right religion, an upright [one], the creed of Abraham, a hanīf; and he was not of the idolaters’.

Verse 162

Say: ‘My prayer and my rituals, my devotions, in the way of pilgrimage and otherwise, and my living, my life, and my dying, my death, are all for God, the Lord of the Worlds.

Verse 163

No associate has He, in these things. And to this, affirmation of the Oneness [of God], I have been commanded, and I am the first of those who submit’, from among this community.

Verse 164

Say: ‘Shall I seek any other than God for a lord, for a god, in other words, I shall not seek any other than Him, when He is the Lord, the Possessor, of all things?’ Every soul earns, of sin, only against itself; and no burdened, [no] sinful, soul shall bear the burden of another, soul. Then to your Lord shall you return, and He will inform you of that over which you differed.

Verse 165

And He it is Who has made you successors (khalā’if is the plural of khalīfa), in other words, [He has made you] to succeed one another therein, in the earth and has raised some of you above others in degrees, through wealth and status and otherwise, so that He may try you, that He may test you, in what He has given you, in order to manifest the obedient among you and the disobedient. Surely your Lord is swift in punishment, of those who disobey Him; and surely He is Forgiving, to believers, Merciful, to them.

Verse 1

Alif Lām Mīm Sād: God knows best what He means by these [letters].

Verse 2

This is, a Book that is revealed to you — addressing the Prophet (s) — so let there be no inhibition, [no] constraint, in your breast because of it, to convey it — for fear that you might be called a liar — that you may warn thereby (li-tundhira, ‘that you may warn’, is semantically connected to unzila, ‘is revealed’, that is to say, ‘[it is revealed] for [the purposes of] warning’) and as a reminder for those who believe, in it.

Verse 3

Say to them: Follow what has been revealed to you from your Lord, namely, the Qur’ān, and do not follow, [do not] take, beside Him, namely, God, in other words, other than Him, any patrons, obeying them in disobedience of Him, exalted be He. Little do you remember (read tadhakkarūn or yadhakkarūn, ‘[little] are you or they admonished’; the original tā’ [of tatadhakkarūn] has been assimilated with the dhāl; a variant reading has tadhkurūn; the mā [of qalīlan mā, ‘little’] is extra, merely emphasising the ‘littleness’).

Verse 4

How many (kam is predicative and is the direct object [of the main verb, ahlaknāhā, ‘We have destroyed’]) a city, meaning its inhabitants, have We destroyed, have We willed its destruction! So Our might, Our chastisement, came upon it at night or while they slept at noon (qā’ilūn: al-qaylūla is a rest taken halfway during the day, even if it does not involve sleep), in other words, sometimes it came upon it at night, and sometimes it came during the day.

Verse 5

And their only plea, their [only] words, when Our might came upon them, was to say, ‘We were evildoers indeed’.

Verse 6

Then verily We shall question those to whom the Message was sent, that is, [We shall question those] communities, about their response to the messengers, and to what extent they implemented that which was conveyed to them; and We shall question the messengers, about the conveying [of that Message].

Verse 7

And We shall narrate to them with knowledge, We shall inform them, with [previous] knowledge, of what they did; for verily We were not absent, when the messengers were conveying [the Message], nor [were We absent] during the time of bygone communities and what they did.

Verse 8

The weighing, of deeds or of the scrolls of these [deeds] shall be — in a balance that has a tongue and two palms [as scales], as reported in a hadīth — on that day, that is, on the day of the questioning mentioned, namely, the Day of Resurrection, the true [weighing], the fair [weighing] (al-haqq, ‘the true’, is an adjectival qualification of al-wazn, ‘the weighing’). As for those whose scales are heavy, with good deeds, they are the successful, the triumphant.

Verse 9

And as for those whose scales are light, because of evil deeds, those are the ones who have lost their souls, by causing them to travel towards the Fire, because they mistreated, they [knowingly] denied, Our signs.

Verse 10

And We have given you power, O Children of Adam, in the earth, and have appointed for you therein livelihoods (ma‘āyish is the plural of ma‘īsha), that is, the means by which you [are able to] subsist; little (qalīlan mā: mā is to emphasise the ‘littleness’) thanks you show, for this.

Verse 11

And We created you, that is, your father Adam, then shaped you, that is, We shaped him with you [deposited] in his back, then said to the angels: ‘Prostrate yourselves before Adam!’, a prostration that is a bow of salutation. So they fell prostrate, all save Iblīs, the father of the jinn, who was among the angels — he was not of those who make prostration.

Verse 12

He, exalted be He, said, ‘What prevented you from falling prostrate (allā is [made up of] an-lā, the lā being extra) when I commanded you?’ He [Iblīs] said, ‘I am better than him. You created me from fire, while him You created from clay’.

Verse 13

Said He, ‘Then go down from it, that is, from the Garden — it is also said, [go down] from the heavens — it is not, right, for you to show pride here, so go forth, out of it! Surely you are among the abased!’, the contemptible!

Verse 14

Said he, ‘Reprieve me, postpone my affair, until the day when they, people, are resurrected’.

Verse 15

Said He, ‘Lo! You are of those reprieved’ — in another verse, it is said, until the day of an appointed time [Q. 38:81], that is, [until] the time of the first blast [of the Trumpet].

Verse 16

Said he, ‘Now, because You have sent me astray (fa-bi-mā aghwaytanī means bi-ighwā’ik, ‘for Your sending me astray’: the bā’ is for oaths, and the response of the oath is [the following]) verily I shall sit in ambush for them, that is, for the Children of Adam, on Your straight path, that is, on the path that leads to You.

Verse 17

Then I shall come upon them from before them and from behind them and from their right and from their left, that is to say, from every side, and prevent them from following it [that path]. Ibn ‘Abbās said, ‘However, he cannot come upon them from above, lest he come between the servant and the mercy of God, exalted be He’. And You will not find most of them thankful’, believing.

Verse 18

Said He, ‘Go forth from it, degraded (read madh’ūman) disgraced or despised, and banished, removed from mercy. As for those of them, of people, who follow you (la-man, ‘as for those who’: the lām is for inceptiveness; or it is for introducing the oath, which is [the following]) I shall assuredly fill Hell with all of you’, that is, with you, through your seed, and with people — herein [in this address] those present have predominance over those absent (this [last] sentence [of the verse] expresses the sense of ‘the requital’ [suggested] in the conditional man, ‘who’: in other words, ‘whoever follows you, then I shall punish him’).

Verse 19

And, He said, ‘O Adam, dwell, you (anta: this is reiterated in order to emphasise the subject of the verb uskun, ‘dwell’, and to supplement to it [what follows]) and your wife, Eve (read Hawwā’), in the Garden, and eat from whence you will, but do not come near this tree, to eat of it — and this was wheat — lest you become evildoers’.

Verse 20

Then Satan, Iblīs, whispered to them that he might manifest, reveal, to them that which was hidden (wūriya: based on [the verbal form] fū‘ila and [derives] from [the infinitive] al-muwārā) to them of their shameful parts. And he said, ‘Your Lord prohibited you from this tree only, in aversion, lest you become angels (malakayn may also be read malikayn) or become immortals’, in other words, that is the necessary consequence of eating from it, as [is stated] in another verse: Shall I guide you to the Tree of Immortality and a kingdom that does not waste away? [Q. 20:120].

Verse 21

And he swore to both of them, that is, he swore to both of them by God, ‘Truly, I am a sincere adviser to you’, in this matter.

Verse 22

Thus did he lead them on, [thus] did he debase them in their status, by delusion, on his part; and when they tasted of the tree, that is, [when] they ate of it, their shameful parts were manifested to them, that is, the front [private part] of each was revealed to the other, as well as their behinds — each of these parts is called saw’a, ‘shameful’, because its exposure ‘shames’ (yasū’u) that person — and they began to piece together, they began to stick, onto themselves some of the leaves of the Garden, to cover themselves up therewith. And their Lord called them: ‘Did I not prohibit you from this tree, and say to you, “Verily Satan is a manifest enemy to you”?’, one whose enmity is evident? (the interrogative is meant as an affirmative).

Verse 23

They said, ‘Our Lord, we have wronged ourselves, by our act of disobedience, and if You do not forgive us and have mercy on us, we shall surely be among the lost’.

Verse 24

Said He, ‘Go down, that is, Adam and Eve, with all those you comprise of your seed, each of you, each seed, an enemy to the other, on account of the wrong each does to the another. There will be for you on earth an abode, a place of settlement, and enjoyment for a while’, [until] your terms [of life] are fulfilled.

Verse 25

Said He, ‘There, that is, [on] earth, you shall live, and there you shall die, and from there you shall be brought forth’, through the Resurrection (read active takhrujūn, ‘you shall come forth’, or passive tukhrajūn, ‘you shall be brought forth’).

Verse 26

O Children of Adam! We have sent down on you a garment, that is, We have created it for you, to conceal, to cover up, your shameful parts, and feathers, meaning all that one adorns oneself with of garments, and the garment of God-fearing, righteous deeds and virtuous traits (read as libāsa’l-taqwā, ‘the garment of God-fearing’, as a supplement to the preceding libāsan, ‘a garment’; or read as libāsu’l-tawqā as the subject, the predicate of which is the [following] sentence) that is best; that is one of God’s signs, the proofs of His power; perhaps they will remember, and believe (the address shifts from the second [to the third] person).

Verse 27

O Children of Adam! Let not Satan tempt you, lead you astray, that is, do not follow him, lest you fall into temptation, as he caused your parents to go forth from the Garden, by tempting them, stripping (yanzi‘u is a circumstantial qualifier) them of their garments to manifest to them their shameful parts. Surely he, Satan, sees you, he and his tribe, his army, from where you do not see them — because of their ethereal bodies or their being colourless. We have made the devils friends, helpers and companions, of those who do not believe.

Verse 28

And when they commit any indecency, such as idolatry, or circumambulating the [Sacred] House naked, saying, ‘We cannot perform the circumambulations wearing clothes in which we were disobedient to God’ — and so they forbade this [wearing of clothes] — they say, ‘We found our fathers practising it, and so we followed their example, and God has, also, enjoined it on us’. Say, to them: ‘God does not enjoin indecency. Do you say concerning God that which you do not know?’, that He has said? (the interrogative is meant as a repudiation).

Verse 29

Say: ‘My Lord enjoins justice, fairness. And set (wa-aqīmū is a supplement to the [syntactical] significance of bi’l-qist, ‘justice’, that is to say, [it is as if] He said, ‘Be just and set [your faces]’, or read [wa-aqīmū] with an implied fa-aqbilū, ‘so turn’ towards it) your faces, towards God, in every place of worship, performing your prostrations purely for Him, and call upon Him, worship Him, devoting your religion to Him, [free] of any idolatry. As He brought you into being, [as] He created you, when you were nothing, so you will return, that is, [so] He will bring you back to life on the Day of Resurrection.

Verse 30

A party, of you, He has guided, while another party has deserved to go astray — they have taken devils as patrons instead of God, that is, other than Him, and think that they are guided’.

Verse 31

O Children of Adam! Don your adornment, that which covers your nakedness, at every place of worship, at prayer and at the circumambulation, and eat and drink, what you want, but do not be excessive; He truly does not love those who are excessive.

Verse 32

Say, in disavowal of them, ‘Who has forbidden the adornment of God which He has brought forth for His servants, in the way of garments, and the good things, the delicious foods, of [God’s] sustenance?’ Say: ‘These, on the Day of Resurrection, shall be exclusively (read khālisatun meaning ‘exclusively theirs’, or khālisatan as a circumstantial qualifier) for those who believed during the life of this world, deservedly, even if others should share it with them. Thus We detail the signs, We explain them in such detail, for a people who know’, [who] reflect, for they are the ones to profit from these [signs].

Verse 33

Say: ‘My Lord forbids only indecencies, grave sins, such as fornication, such of them as are apparent and such as are hidden, that is, the overt ones and the secret ones, and sin, the act of disobedience, and wrongful insolence, against people, namely, oppression, and that you associate with God that for which He never revealed any warrant, any definitive proof for such association, and that you say concerning God that which you do not know’, in the way of forbidding what He has not forbidden and other things.

Verse 34

Every community has a term, a [finite] period of time. When their term comes they shall not delay it a single hour nor bring it forward.

Verse 35

O Children of Adam! If (immā: the nūn of the conditional particle in has been assimilated with the extra mā) there should come to you messengers from among you, narrating to you My signs, then whoever fears, associating others with God, and makes amends, in his actions — no fear shall befall them, neither shall they grieve, in the Hereafter.

Verse 36

And those who deny Our signs and scorn them, not believing in them — those shall be the inhabitants of the Fire, abiding therein.

Verse 37

And who — that is, none — does greater evil than he who invents a lie against God, by ascribing to Him a partner or a child, or denies His signs?, the Qur’ān. Those — their portion, their lot, of the Scripture, of what has been inscribed as theirs in the Preserved Tablet (al-lawh al-mahfūz), in the way of provision, term [of life] and other matters, shall reach them until, when Our messengers, the angels, come to them, to take their souls, they say, to them, in reprimand: ‘Where is that which you were calling upon, worshipping, beside God?’ They will say, ‘They have gone astray from us’, they are not present [before us], and so we cannot see them; and they will bear witness against themselves, upon death, that they were disbelievers.

Verse 38

He, exalted be He, will say, to them, on the Day of Resurrection: ‘Enter into the Fire among, the number of, communities of jinn and mankind who passed away before you’ (fī’l-nār, ‘into the Fire’, is semantically connected to udkhulū, ‘enter’). Every time a community enters, the Fire, it curses its sister-community, [the one] that came before it, because of its having gone astray on account of it, until, when they have all followed, caught up with, one another there, the last of them, those who were the followers, shall say to the first of them, those whom they revered and followed: ‘Our Lord, these led us astray; so give them a double chastisement of the Fire.’ He, exalted be He, will say, ‘For each, of you and them, will be a double, chastisement, but you do not know’ (read ta‘lamūn, or ya‘lamūn, ‘they [do not] know’), what will be for each party.

Verse 39

And the first of them shall say to the last of them, ‘You have no advantage over us, since you did not disbelieve because of us: you and we are equal [in this predicament]. God, exalted be He, says to them: So taste the chastisement for what you used to earn’.

Verse 40

Those who deny Our signs and scorn them, not believing in them, indeed the gates of heaven shall not be opened for them, when their spirits are carried up to it after death, for instead they are taken down into Sijjīn [cf. Q. 83:7f.] — in contrast to the believer, for whom the gates are opened, and his spirit is carried up into the seventh heaven, as is stated in one hadīth — nor shall they enter Paradise until the camel passes through the eye of the needle, which is impossible, and so is their entry [into Paradise]. So, with this requital, We requite those who are sinful, through disbelief.

Verse 41

Hell shall be their bed, and over them coverings, of fire (ghawāshin is the plural of ghāshiya and its nunation compensates for the omitted yā’). Thus do We requite the evildoers.

Verse 42

And those who believe and perform righteous deeds (wa’lladhīna āmanū wa-‘amilū’l-sālihāti is the subject) We do not charge any soul beyond its scope, its capacity for action (lā nukallifu nafsan illā wus‘ahā, ‘We do not charge any soul beyond its scope’, constitutes a parenthetical statement, intervening between it [the above subject] and its predicate, which is [the following]) those are the inhabitants of Paradise, abiding therein.

Verse 43

We shall strip away all rancour, [all] spite that existed between them in the world, that is in their breasts; and beneath them, beneath their palaces, flow rivers; and they will say, once they have settled in their dwellings: ‘Praise be to God, Who guided us to this, action, the reward of which is this [Paradise]; for we would surely never have been guided if God had not guided us (the response to the [conditional] law lā, ‘if … not’ is omitted, because it is indicated by the preceding [clause]). Verily the messengers of our Lord did bring the truth.’ And it is cried to them: (an is read softened, that is, [understand it as] annahu; alternatively, it is an explicative particle in all five places [here and the four to follow]) ‘This is your Paradise; you have inherited it for what you used to do’.

Verse 44

And the inhabitants of Paradise will call to the inhabitants of the Fire, either in affirmation or in reprimand: ‘We have found that which our Lord promised us, in the way of reward, to be true; have you found that, chastisement, which your Lord promised, you, to be true?’ They will say: ‘Yes!’ And then a crier, a caller, shall proclaim between them, between both parties, making them hear that: ‘God’s curse is on the evildoers,

Verse 45

who bar, people, from God’s way, [from] His religion, desiring it, that is, they seek the way that is, crooked, disbelieving in the Hereafter’.

Verse 46

And between them, that is, [between] the inhabitants of Paradise and those of the Fire, is a veil, a barrier, said to be the wall of the Heights, and on the Heights, which is, the wall of Paradise, are men, whose good deeds and evil deeds are equal, as [is stated] in the hadīth, who know each, of the inhabitants of Paradise and those of the Fire, by their mark — glowing faces in the case of the believers and blackened [ones] in the case of the disbelievers, for they are able to see them, their position being high — and they call to the inhabitants of Paradise: ‘Peace be upon you!’ God, exalted be He, says: They, that is, those men of the Heights, have not entered it, Paradise, although they aspire, to enter it. Al-Hasan [al-Basrī] said, ‘God causes them to have this aspiration only because He desires to be generous to them’. Al-Hākim reported that Hudhayfa [b. al-Yamān] said, ‘While they are in this situation, God appears to them and says “Get up and enter Paradise, for I have forgiven you”.’

Verse 47

And when their eyes, those of the men of the Heights, are turned towards, in the direction of, the inhabitants of the Fire, they shall say, ‘Our Lord, do not assign us, to the Fire, with the evildoing folk’.

Verse 48

And those of the Heights call to men, from among the inhabitants of the Fire, whom they know by their mark, [saying]: ‘Your masses, of property, or your multitude, and your haughtiness, that is, your disdaining of belief, have not availed you, [as protection against] the Fire. And they also say to them, pointing to those [formerly] oppressed Muslims:

Verse 49

Are these the ones of whom you swore that God would never grant them mercy?’: it has already been said to them, ‘Enter Paradise; no fear shall come upon you, nor shall you grieve’ (a variant reading [for udkhulū, ‘enter’ (imperative, second person plural)] has the passive udkhilū, ‘they have been admitted’, or dakhalū, ‘they entered’; the negation clause [‘no fear shall come upon you, nor shall you grieve’] is a circumstantial qualifier, in other words, [they enter Paradise] while this is being said to them).

Verse 50

And the inhabitants of the Fire call out to the inhabitants of Paradise [saying]: ‘Pour on us some water, or some of that, food, which God has provided you!’ They say: ‘God has forbidden, He has prohibited, both to the disbelievers,

Verse 51

those who took their religion for a diversion and a game, and whom the life of this world has deluded.’ Therefore today We have forgotten them, We have left them in the Fire, just as they forgot the encounter of this day of theirs, when they neglected to perform [good] deeds for it, and because they used to deny Our signs.

Verse 52

And indeed We have brought them, that is, the people of Mecca, a Book, the Qur’ān, which We have detailed, [which] We have made clear through tidings and the Promise [of reward] and the Threat [of punishment], with knowledge (‘alā ‘ilmin is a circumstantial qualifier, in other words, ‘knowing what has been detailed in it’), a guidance (hudan is [also] a circumstantial qualifier referring to the hā’ [the suffixed pronoun of fassālnā-hu, ‘which We have detailed’]) and a mercy for a people who believe, in it.

Verse 53

Are they waiting — they are not waiting — for anything but its fulfilment, the consequences of what is in it? On the day when its fulfilment comes, which will be [on] the Day of Resurrection, those who were forgetful of it before, [those who] neglected to believe in it, shall say, ‘Indeed, our Lord’s messengers came with the truth. Have we then any intercessors, that they may intercede for us, or shall we be returned, to the world, that we may act otherwise than we used to act?’, [and instead] affirm God’s Oneness and refrain from associating others with Him. It will then be said to them, ‘No!’ God, exalted be He, says: Verily they have lost their souls, for they have ended up in perdition, and that which they used to invent, in alleging [that God has] a partner, has failed, has abandoned, them.

Verse 54

Surely your Lord is God, Who created the heavens and the earth in six days, of the days of this world, that is to say, in the equivalent thereof, since there was no sun then. Had He willed He could have created them in an instant; but the reason for His not having done so is that He wanted to teach His creatures to be circumspect; then presided upon the Throne, a presiding befitting of Him (al-‘arsh, ‘throne’, in the [classical] language is the elevated seat on which a king sits). He cloaks (read yughshī or yughashshī) the night with the day, that is, He covers each one with the other: each following the other in swift pursuit — and the sun and the moon and the stars (if all of these are read in the accusative, then they constitute a supplement to al-samāwāt, ‘the heavens’, and if in the nominative, then they constitute the subject of the sentence, the predicate of which follows) have been made subservient, [have been] subdued, by His command, by His power. Verily, His is, all, creation and the command, in its entirety. Blessed, Magnified, be God, the Lord, the Master, of the Worlds!

Verse 55

Call upon your Lord humbly (tadarru‘an is a circumstantial qualifier), in subservience, and quietly, in secret. Truly, He loves not the aggressors, who are braggarts and loud-mouthed in [their] supplications.

Verse 56

And work not corruption in the land, through idolatry and acts of disobedience, after it has been set right, as a result of the sending forth of messengers [to it], and call upon Him in fear, of His punishment, and in hope, of His mercy — surely the mercy of God is near to the virtuous, the obedient (qarīb, ‘near’, as the predicate of [the feminine noun] rahma, ‘mercy’, is in the masculine because it [rahma] is annexed to Allāh, ‘God’).

Verse 57

He it is Who sends the winds, unfolding with His mercy, that is, dispersing before the rains (a variant reading [for nushuran, ‘unfolding’] has nushran; another reading has nashran as the verbal noun; and a third variant has bushran, meaning mubashshiran, ‘[with which] He is bearing good tidings [of His mercy]’; the singular of the first reading is nashūr, similar [in pattern] to rasūl, ‘messenger’; the singular of the last is bashīr) until, when they, the winds, bear heavy clouds, [clouds heavy] with rain, We lead it, that is, [We lead] the clouds (herein is a shift from the third [to the first] person), to a dead land, one devoid of any vegetation, in other words, [We lead it there] in order to revive it, and then We send down thereon, on that land, and bring forth thereby, by this water, fruits of every kind. Like that, bringing forth, We shall bring forth the dead, from their graves, through revivification, so that you might remember, and believe.

Verse 58

As for the good land, the one of rich soil, its vegetation comes forth, wholesomely, by permission of its Lord — this is a similitude of the believer who, when he hears an admonition, he [heeds it and] benefits from it. While as for the, one whose soil is, bad — the vegetation in, it comes forth only miserably, laboriously and with difficulty — this is the similitude of the disbeliever. Even, as We have made clear what has been mentioned, so We dispense, We make clear, the signs for a people who are thankful, to God and so believe.

Verse 59

Verily (laqad is the response to an oath that has been omitted) We sent Noah to his people, and he said, ‘O my people, worship God! You have no god other than Him (read ghayrihi as an adjective of ilāh, ‘god’, or ghayruhu as a substitution in its place [sc. instead of min ilāhin, ‘any god’). Truly, I fear for you, if you worship other than Him, the chastisement of an Awful Day’, that is, the Day of Resurrection.

Verse 60

The council, of the respected elders, of his people, said: ‘Truly We see you in manifest error’.

Verse 61

He said, ‘My people, there is no error in me (dalāla is more general than al-dalāl, ‘misguidance’, and so to deny it is more effective than to deny the latter), but I am a messenger from the Lord of the Worlds.

Verse 62

I convey to you (read ublighkum or uballighukum) the Messages of my Lord, and I am advising you, I desire good [for you], for I know from God what you know not.

Verse 63

Do you then, deny, marvel that a reminder, an admonition, from your Lord should come to you through, the tongue of, a man from among you, that he may warn you, of chastisement if you do not believe, and that you may fear, God, and that you might be shown mercy’, by it?

Verse 64

But they denied him, and so We delivered him and those with him, from drowning, in the Ark, [in] the ship, and We drowned those who denied Our signs, by means of the Flood. Truly they were a people blind, to the truth.

Verse 65

And, We sent, to, the earlier, ‘Ād their brother Hūd. He said, ‘O my people, worship God, affirm His Oneness! You have no god other than Him. Will you not fear?’, will you [not] fear Him, and so believe?

Verse 66

The council, those of his people who disbelieved, said: ‘We truly see you in folly, ignorance, and we truly deem you of the liars’, in your Message.

Verse 67

He said, ‘O my people, there is no folly in me, but I am a messenger from the Lord of the Worlds.

Verse 68

I convey to you the Messages of my Lord, and I am your truthful adviser, trustworthy in the Message [I convey].

Verse 69

Or do you marvel that a reminder from your Lord should come to you through, the tongue of, a man from among you, that he may warn you? And remember when He made you vicegerents, on earth, after the people of Noah, and increased your stature in extension, in strength and in height — (the tallest of them measured 100 feet, the shortest, 60). Remember then God’s bounties, His graces, so that you might prosper’, triumph.

Verse 70

They said, ‘Have you come to us that we should worship God alone, and forsake, abandon, what our fathers worshipped? Then bring upon us what you promised us, of chastisement, if you are of the truthful’, in what you say.

Verse 71

He said, ‘Already, terror, chastisement, and wrath from your Lord have fallen, [they] must be [sent down], on you. Do you dispute with me concerning names which you have named, that is, with which you, you and your fathers, have named idols that you worship, for which, that is, for the worship of which, God has not revealed any warrant?, any definitive argument or proof? Then await, the chastisement. Truly I shall be with you waiting’, for that, on account of your denial of me: thus a blighting wind was unleashed against them [cf. Q. 51:4].

Verse 72

So We delivered him, namely, Hūd, and those with him, from among the believers, by a mercy from Us, and We cut the root of those, people, who denied Our signs, that is, We extirpated them, and were not believers (wa-mā kānū mu’minīna is a supplement to kadhdhabū, ‘[those who] denied’).

Verse 73

And, We sent, to Thamūd (Thamūda, read without declining [the noun], as denoting the tribe [of Thamūd] itself) their brother Sālih. He said, ‘O my people, worship God! You have no god other than Him. Truly there has come to you a clear proof, an illustration, from your Lord, of my truthfulness, this is the she-camel of God, a sign for you (lakum āyatan is a circumstantial qualifier operated by the import of the demonstrative noun [hādhihi, ‘this’]), they had asked him to make it come out of a [specific] rock which they had designated. So leave her to feed throughout God’s earth, and do not touch her with harm, either by hamstringing or beating her, lest you be seized by a painful chastisement.

Verse 74

And remember how He made you vicegerents, on earth, after ‘Ād, and gave you habitations in the land, making castles in its plains, in which you lodge during summer, and hewing its mountains into houses, in which you lodge during winter (buyūtan, ‘houses’, is in the accusative because of the implied circumstantial qualifier). So remember God’s bounties and do not be degenerate in the earth, seeking corruption’.

Verse 75

Said the council of those of his people who waxed proud, [who] disdained belief in him, to those who were oppressed, to such of them as believed, that is, from among his people (li-man āmana minhum, ‘to such of them as believed’, is a substitution for the preceding clause [li’lladhīna istud‘ifū, ‘to those who were oppressed’], repeating the preposition [li-, ‘to’]): ‘Are you aware that Sālih has been sent, to you, from his Lord?’ They said, ‘Yes! Truly we believe in the Message with which he has been sent.’

Verse 76

Said the ones who were proud, ‘Truly we are disbelievers of that which you believe!’

Verse 77

The she-camel was given the water one day and then, another; but they soon tired of this: So they hamstrung the she-camel — Qudār hamstrung her by their command, killing her with a sword — and flouted the commandment of their Lord, and said, ‘O Sālih, bring upon us that which you promised us, in the way of chastisement for [our] killing it, if you are indeed a messenger’.

Verse 78

So the Trembling, a violent earthquake and a cry from the heaven, seized them, and they lay lifeless prostrate in their habitations, keeled over their knees, dead.

Verse 79

So he turned his back on them, Sālih left [them], and said, ‘O my people, I have conveyed to you the Message of my Lord and gave you sincere advice, but you do not love sincere advisers’.

Verse 80

And, mention, Lot (Lūtan is substituted by [the following, idh qāla]) when he said to his people, ‘Do you commit abomination, that is, [penetrating] the rears of men, such as no one in all the worlds ever committed before you, humans or jinn?

Verse 81

Do you (read a-innakum, pronouncing both hamzas, or by not pronouncing the second one, but in both cases inserting an alif between the two; a variant reading has innakum, ‘indeed you … ’) come lustfully to men instead of women? Nay, you are a wanton folk’, transgressing [the bounds], [going] from what is lawful to what is unlawful.

Verse 82

And the response of his people was only that they said, ‘Expel them, that is, Lūt and his followers, from your city. Surely they are folk who would be pure!’, from [the abomination of penetrating] the rears of men.

Verse 83

So We delivered him and his family, except his wife: she was of those who stayed behind, who remained in the chastisement.

Verse 84

And We rained upon them a rain, the stones of baked clay (hijārat al-sijjīl), and it destroyed them. So behold what was the end of the sinners!

Verse 85

And, We sent, to Midian their brother Shu‘ayb. He said, ‘O my people, worship God! You have no god other than Him. Verily there has come to you a clear proof, a miracle, from your Lord, to [prove] my truthfulness. So give full measure and weight and do not defraud, diminish [the value of], people’s goods, and do not work corruption in the earth, by way of unbelief and acts of disobedience, after it has been set right, through the sending of messengers [thereto]. That, mentioned, is better for you, if you are believers, [if you are] seekers of faith, so hasten to it.

Verse 86

And do not sit in every path, [every] route, threatening, terrifying people by seizing their garments, or by charging them excise [tax], and barring, driving away, from God’s way, [from] His religion, those who believe in Him — when you threaten to kill them — and desiring that it, seeking that the path, be crooked. And remember when you were but few, and then He multiplied you. And behold what was the end of the agents of corruption, before you, for denying their messengers, that is, [behold] how destruction was the conclusion of their affair.

Verse 87

And if there is a party of you who believe in that with which I have been sent, and a party who do not believe, in it, then be patient, wait, until God judges between us, and you, by delivering the affirmer [of this truth] and destroying the denier [of it]. He is the best of judges’, the fairest of them.

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Juz 8 | AL-ANAM 6:111 -> AL-ARAF 7:87

Surah 6 AL-ANAM

Surah 7 AL-ARAF

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