الإسراء
The Night Journey
Explanations are simplified from tafsirs by Ibn Kathir, Mufti Muhammad Shafi, and Maulana Wahiduddin Khan. Spot an inaccuracy? Let us know.
walaqad ṣarrafnā fī hādhā l-qur'āni liyadhakkarū wamā yazīduhum illā nufūran
And We have certainly diversified [the contents] in this Qur’ān that they [i.e., mankind] may be reminded, but it does not increase them [i.e., the disbelievers] except in aversion.
qul law kāna maʿahu ālihatun kamā yaqūlūna idhan la-ib'taghaw ilā dhī l-ʿarshi sabīlan
Say, [O Muḥammad], "If there had been with Him [other] gods, as they say, then they [each] would have sought to the Owner of the Throne a way."
sub'ḥānahu wataʿālā ʿammā yaqūlūna ʿuluwwan kabīran
Exalted is He and high above what they say by great sublimity.
tusabbiḥu lahu l-samāwātu l-sabʿu wal-arḍu waman fīhinna wa-in min shayin illā yusabbiḥu biḥamdihi walākin lā tafqahūna tasbīḥahum innahu kāna ḥalīman ghafūran
The seven heavens and the earth and whatever is in them exalt Him. And there is not a thing except that it exalts [Allāh] by His praise, but you do not understand their [way of] exalting. Indeed, He is ever Forbearing and Forgiving.
wa-idhā qarata l-qur'āna jaʿalnā baynaka wabayna alladhīna lā yu'minūna bil-ākhirati ḥijāban mastūran
And when you recite the Qur’ān, We put between you and those who do not believe in the Hereafter a concealed partition.
wajaʿalnā ʿalā qulūbihim akinnatan an yafqahūhu wafī ādhānihim waqran wa-idhā dhakarta rabbaka fī l-qur'āni waḥdahu wallaw ʿalā adbārihim nufūran
And We have placed over their hearts coverings, lest they understand it, and in their ears deafness. And when you mention your Lord alone in the Qur’ān, they turn back in aversion.
naḥnu aʿlamu bimā yastamiʿūna bihi idh yastamiʿūna ilayka wa-idh hum najwā idh yaqūlu l-ẓālimūna in tattabiʿūna illā rajulan masḥūran
We are most knowing of how they listen to it when they listen to you and [of] when they are in private conversation, when the wrongdoers say, "You follow not but a man affected by magic."
unẓur kayfa ḍarabū laka l-amthāla faḍallū falā yastaṭīʿūna sabīlan
Look how they strike for you comparisons; but they have strayed, so they cannot [find] a way.
waqālū a-idhā kunnā ʿiẓāman warufātan a-innā lamabʿūthūna khalqan jadīdan
And they say, "When we are bones and crumbled particles, will we [truly] be resurrected as a new creation?"
qul kūnū ḥijāratan aw ḥadīdan
Say, "Be you stones or iron
aw khalqan mimmā yakburu fī ṣudūrikum fasayaqūlūna man yuʿīdunā quli alladhī faṭarakum awwala marratin fasayun'ghiḍūna ilayka ruūsahum wayaqūlūna matā huwa qul ʿasā an yakūna qarīban
Or [any] creation of that which is great within your breasts." And they will say, "Who will restore us?" Say, "He who brought you forth the first time." Then they will nod their heads toward you and say, "When is that?" Say, "Perhaps it will be soon -
yawma yadʿūkum fatastajībūna biḥamdihi wataẓunnūna in labith'tum illā qalīlan
On the Day He will call you and you will respond with praise of Him and think that you had not remained [in the world] except for a little."
waqul liʿibādī yaqūlū allatī hiya aḥsanu inna l-shayṭāna yanzaghu baynahum inna l-shayṭāna kāna lil'insāni ʿaduwwan mubīnan
And tell My servants to say that which is best. Indeed, Satan induces [dissension] among them. Indeed Satan is ever, to mankind, a clear enemy.
rabbukum aʿlamu bikum in yasha yarḥamkum aw in yasha yuʿadhib'kum wamā arsalnāka ʿalayhim wakīlan
Your Lord is most knowing of you. If He wills, He will have mercy upon you; or if He wills, He will punish you. And We have not sent you, [O Muḥammad], over them as a manager.
warabbuka aʿlamu biman fī l-samāwāti wal-arḍi walaqad faḍḍalnā baʿḍa l-nabiyīna ʿalā baʿḍin waātaynā dāwūda zabūran
And your Lord is most knowing of whoever is in the heavens and the earth. And We have made some of the prophets exceed others [in various ways], and to David We gave the book [of Psalms].
quli id'ʿū alladhīna zaʿamtum min dūnihi falā yamlikūna kashfa l-ḍuri ʿankum walā taḥwīlan
Say, "Invoke those you have claimed [as gods] besides Him, for they do not possess the [ability for] removal of adversity from you or [for its] transfer [to someone else]."
ulāika alladhīna yadʿūna yabtaghūna ilā rabbihimu l-wasīlata ayyuhum aqrabu wayarjūna raḥmatahu wayakhāfūna ʿadhābahu inna ʿadhāba rabbika kāna maḥdhūran
Those whom they invoke seek means of access to their Lord, [striving as to] which of them would be nearest, and they hope for His mercy and fear His punishment. Indeed, the punishment of your Lord is ever feared.
wa-in min qaryatin illā naḥnu muh'likūhā qabla yawmi l-qiyāmati aw muʿadhibūhā ʿadhāban shadīdan kāna dhālika fī l-kitābi masṭūran
And there is no city but that We will destroy it before the Day of Resurrection or punish it with a severe punishment. That has ever been in the Register inscribed.
wamā manaʿanā an nur'sila bil-āyāti illā an kadhaba bihā l-awalūna waātaynā thamūda l-nāqata mub'ṣiratan faẓalamū bihā wamā nur'silu bil-āyāti illā takhwīfan
And nothing has prevented Us from sending signs [i.e., miracles] except that the former peoples denied them. And We gave Thamūd the she-camel as a visible sign, but they wronged her. And We send not the signs except as a warning.
wa-idh qul'nā laka inna rabbaka aḥāṭa bil-nāsi wamā jaʿalnā l-ru'yā allatī araynāka illā fit'natan lilnnāsi wal-shajarata l-malʿūnata fī l-qur'āni wanukhawwifuhum famā yazīduhum illā ṭugh'yānan kabīran
And [remember, O Muḥammad], when We told you, "Indeed, your Lord has encompassed the people." And We did not make the sight which We showed you except as a trial for the people, as was the accursed tree [mentioned] in the Qur’ān. And We threaten [i.e., warn] them, but it increases them not except in great transgression.