النحل
The Bee
Explanations are simplified from tafsirs by Ibn Kathir, Mufti Muhammad Shafi, and Maulana Wahiduddin Khan. Spot an inaccuracy? Let us know.
amwātun ghayru aḥyāin wamā yashʿurūna ayyāna yub'ʿathūna
They are [in fact] dead, not alive, and they do not perceive when they will be resurrected.
ilāhukum ilāhun wāḥidun fa-alladhīna lā yu'minūna bil-ākhirati qulūbuhum munkiratun wahum mus'takbirūna
Your god is one God. But those who do not believe in the Hereafter - their hearts are disapproving, and they are arrogant.
lā jarama anna l-laha yaʿlamu mā yusirrūna wamā yuʿ'linūna innahu lā yuḥibbu l-mus'takbirīna
Assuredly, Allāh knows what they conceal and what they declare. Indeed, He does not like the arrogant.
wa-idhā qīla lahum mādhā anzala rabbukum qālū asāṭīru l-awalīna
And when it is said to them, "What has your Lord sent down?" they say, "Legends of the former peoples,"
liyaḥmilū awzārahum kāmilatan yawma l-qiyāmati wamin awzāri alladhīna yuḍillūnahum bighayri ʿil'min alā sāa mā yazirūna
That they may bear their own burdens [i.e., sins] in full on the Day of Resurrection and some of the burdens of those whom they misguide without [i.e., by lack of] knowledge. Unquestionably, evil is that which they bear.
qad makara alladhīna min qablihim fa-atā l-lahu bun'yānahum mina l-qawāʿidi fakharra ʿalayhimu l-saqfu min fawqihim wa-atāhumu l-ʿadhābu min ḥaythu lā yashʿurūna
Those before them had already plotted, but Allāh came at [i.e., uprooted] their building from the foundations, so the roof fell upon them from above them, and the punishment came to them from where they did not perceive.
thumma yawma l-qiyāmati yukh'zīhim wayaqūlu ayna shurakāiya alladhīna kuntum tushāqqūna fīhim qāla alladhīna ūtū l-ʿil'ma inna l-khiz'ya l-yawma wal-sūa ʿalā l-kāfirīna
Then on the Day of Resurrection He will disgrace them and say, "Where are My 'partners' for whom you used to oppose [the believers]?" Those who were given knowledge will say, "Indeed disgrace, this Day, and evil are upon the disbelievers" -
alladhīna tatawaffāhumu l-malāikatu ẓālimī anfusihim fa-alqawū l-salama mā kunnā naʿmalu min sūin balā inna l-laha ʿalīmun bimā kuntum taʿmalūna
The ones whom the angels take in death [while] wronging themselves, and [who] then offer submission, [saying], "We were not doing any evil." But, yes! Indeed, Allāh is Knowing of what you used to do.
fa-ud'khulū abwāba jahannama khālidīna fīhā falabi'sa mathwā l-mutakabirīna
So enter the gates of Hell to abide eternally therein, and how wretched is the residence of the arrogant.
waqīla lilladhīna ittaqaw mādhā anzala rabbukum qālū khayran lilladhīna aḥsanū fī hādhihi l-dun'yā ḥasanatun waladāru l-ākhirati khayrun walaniʿ'ma dāru l-mutaqīna
And it will be said to those who feared Allāh, "What did your Lord send down?" They will say, "[That which is] good." For those who do good in this world is good; and the home of the Hereafter is better. And how excellent is the home of the righteous -
jannātu ʿadnin yadkhulūnahā tajrī min taḥtihā l-anhāru lahum fīhā mā yashāūna kadhālika yajzī l-lahu l-mutaqīna
Gardens of perpetual residence, which they will enter, beneath which rivers flow. They will have therein whatever they wish. Thus does Allāh reward the righteous -
alladhīna tatawaffāhumu l-malāikatu ṭayyibīna yaqūlūna salāmun ʿalaykumu ud'khulū l-janata bimā kuntum taʿmalūna
The ones whom the angels take in death, [being] good and pure; [the angels] will say, "Peace be upon you. Enter Paradise for what you used to do."
hal yanẓurūna illā an tatiyahumu l-malāikatu aw yatiya amru rabbika kadhālika faʿala alladhīna min qablihim wamā ẓalamahumu l-lahu walākin kānū anfusahum yaẓlimūna
Do they [i.e., the disbelievers] await except that the angels should come to them or there comes the command of your Lord? Thus did those do before them. And Allāh wronged them not, but they had been wronging themselves.
fa-aṣābahum sayyiātu mā ʿamilū waḥāqa bihim mā kānū bihi yastahziūna
So they were struck by the evil consequences of what they did and were enveloped by what they used to ridicule.
waqāla alladhīna ashrakū law shāa l-lahu mā ʿabadnā min dūnihi min shayin naḥnu walā ābāunā walā ḥarramnā min dūnihi min shayin kadhālika faʿala alladhīna min qablihim fahal ʿalā l-rusuli illā l-balāghu l-mubīnu
And those who associate others with Allāh say, "If Allāh had willed, we would not have worshipped anything other than Him, neither we nor our fathers, nor would we have forbidden anything through other than Him." Thus did those do before them. So is there upon the messengers except [the duty of] clear notification?
walaqad baʿathnā fī kulli ummatin rasūlan ani uʿ'budū l-laha wa-ij'tanibū l-ṭāghūta famin'hum man hadā l-lahu wamin'hum man ḥaqqat ʿalayhi l-ḍalālatu fasīrū fī l-arḍi fa-unẓurū kayfa kāna ʿāqibatu l-mukadhibīna
And We certainly sent into every nation a messenger, [saying], "Worship Allāh and avoid ṭāghūt." And among them were those whom Allāh guided, and among them were those upon whom error was [deservedly] decreed. So proceed [i.e., travel] through the earth and observe how was the end of the deniers.
in taḥriṣ ʿalā hudāhum fa-inna l-laha lā yahdī man yuḍillu wamā lahum min nāṣirīna
[Even] if you should strive for their guidance, [O Muḥammad], indeed, Allāh does not guide those He sends astray, and they will have no helpers.
wa-aqsamū bil-lahi jahda aymānihim lā yabʿathu l-lahu man yamūtu balā waʿdan ʿalayhi ḥaqqan walākinna akthara l-nāsi lā yaʿlamūna
And they swear by Allāh their strongest oaths [that] Allāh will not resurrect one who dies. But yes - [it is] a true promise [binding] upon Him, but most of the people do not know.
liyubayyina lahumu alladhī yakhtalifūna fīhi waliyaʿlama alladhīna kafarū annahum kānū kādhibīna
[It is] so He will make clear to them [the truth of] that wherein they differ and so those who have disbelieved may know that they were liars.
innamā qawlunā lishayin idhā aradnāhu an naqūla lahu kun fayakūnu
Indeed, Our word to a thing when We intend it is but that We say to it, "Be," and it is.