النحل
The Bee
Explanations are simplified from tafsirs by Ibn Kathir, Mufti Muhammad Shafi, and Maulana Wahiduddin Khan. Spot an inaccuracy? Let us know.
wa-alladhīna hājarū fī l-lahi min baʿdi mā ẓulimū lanubawwi-annahum fī l-dun'yā ḥasanatan wala-ajru l-ākhirati akbaru law kānū yaʿlamūna
And those who emigrated for [the cause of] Allāh after they had been wronged - We will surely settle them in this world in a good place; but the reward of the Hereafter is greater, if only they could know.
alladhīna ṣabarū waʿalā rabbihim yatawakkalūna
[They are] those who endured patiently and upon their Lord relied.
wamā arsalnā min qablika illā rijālan nūḥī ilayhim fasalū ahla l-dhik'ri in kuntum lā taʿlamūna
And We sent not before you except men to whom We revealed [Our message]. So ask the people of the message [i.e., former scriptures] if you do not know.
bil-bayināti wal-zuburi wa-anzalnā ilayka l-dhik'ra litubayyina lilnnāsi mā nuzzila ilayhim walaʿallahum yatafakkarūna
[We sent them] with clear proofs and written ordinances. And We revealed to you the message [i.e., the Qur’ān] that you may make clear to the people what was sent down to them and that they might give thought.
afa-amina alladhīna makarū l-sayiāti an yakhsifa l-lahu bihimu l-arḍa aw yatiyahumu l-ʿadhābu min ḥaythu lā yashʿurūna
Then, do those who have planned evil deeds feel secure that Allāh will not cause the earth to swallow them or that the punishment will not come upon them from where they do not perceive?
aw yakhudhahum fī taqallubihim famā hum bimuʿ'jizīna
Or that He would not seize them during their [usual] activity, and they could not cause failure [i.e., escape from Him]?
aw yakhudhahum ʿalā takhawwufin fa-inna rabbakum laraūfun raḥīmun
Or that He would not seize them gradually [in a state of dread]? But indeed, your Lord is Kind and Merciful.
awalam yaraw ilā mā khalaqa l-lahu min shayin yatafayya-u ẓilāluhu ʿani l-yamīni wal-shamāili sujjadan lillahi wahum dākhirūna
Have they not considered what things Allāh has created? Their shadows incline to the right and to the left, prostrating to Allāh, while they [i.e., those creations] are humble.
walillahi yasjudu mā fī l-samāwāti wamā fī l-arḍi min dābbatin wal-malāikatu wahum lā yastakbirūna
And to Allāh prostrates whatever is in the heavens and whatever is on the earth of creatures, and the angels [as well], and they are not arrogant.
yakhāfūna rabbahum min fawqihim wayafʿalūna mā yu'marūna
They fear their Lord above them, and they do what they are commanded.
waqāla l-lahu lā tattakhidhū ilāhayni ith'nayni innamā huwa ilāhun wāḥidun fa-iyyāya fa-ir'habūni
And Allāh has said, "Do not take for yourselves two deities. He [i.e., Allāh] is but one God, so fear only Me."
walahu mā fī l-samāwāti wal-arḍi walahu l-dīnu wāṣiban afaghayra l-lahi tattaqūna
And to Him belongs whatever is in the heavens and the earth, and to Him is [due] worship constantly. Then is it other than Allāh that you fear?
wamā bikum min niʿ'matin famina l-lahi thumma idhā massakumu l-ḍuru fa-ilayhi tajarūna
And whatever you have of favor - it is from Allāh. Then when adversity touches you, to Him you cry for help.
thumma idhā kashafa l-ḍura ʿankum idhā farīqun minkum birabbihim yush'rikūna
Then when He removes the adversity from you, at once a party of you associates others with their Lord
liyakfurū bimā ātaynāhum fatamattaʿū fasawfa taʿlamūna
So they will deny what We have given them. Then enjoy yourselves, for you are going to know.
wayajʿalūna limā lā yaʿlamūna naṣīban mimmā razaqnāhum tal-lahi latus'alunna ʿammā kuntum taftarūna
And they assign to what they do not know [i.e., false deities] a portion of that which We have provided them. By Allāh, you will surely be questioned about what you used to invent.
wayajʿalūna lillahi l-banāti sub'ḥānahu walahum mā yashtahūna
And they attribute to Allāh daughters - exalted is He - and for them is what they desire [i.e., sons].
wa-idhā bushira aḥaduhum bil-unthā ẓalla wajhuhu mus'waddan wahuwa kaẓīmun
And when one of them is informed of [the birth of] a female, his face becomes dark, and he suppresses grief.
yatawārā mina l-qawmi min sūi mā bushira bihi ayum'sikuhu ʿalā hūnin am yadussuhu fī l-turābi alā sāa mā yaḥkumūna
He hides himself from the people because of the ill of which he has been informed. Should he keep it in humiliation or bury it in the ground? Unquestionably, evil is what they decide.
lilladhīna lā yu'minūna bil-ākhirati mathalu l-sawi walillahi l-mathalu l-aʿlā wahuwa l-ʿazīzu l-ḥakīmu
For those who do not believe in the Hereafter is the description [i.e., an attribute] of evil; and for Allāh is the highest attribute. And He is Exalted in Might, the Wise.