البقرة
The Cow
Explanations are simplified from tafsirs by Ibn Kathir, Mufti Muhammad Shafi, and Maulana Wahiduddin Khan. Spot an inaccuracy? Let us know.
alladhīna ātaynāhumu l-kitāba yatlūnahu ḥaqqa tilāwatihi ulāika yu'minūna bihi waman yakfur bihi fa-ulāika humu l-khāsirūna
Those to whom We have given the Book recite it with its true recital. They [are the ones who] believe in it. And whoever disbelieves in it - it is they who are the losers.
yābanī is'rāīla udh'kurū niʿ'matiya allatī anʿamtu ʿalaykum wa-annī faḍḍaltukum ʿalā l-ʿālamīna
O Children of Israel, remember My favor which I have bestowed upon you and that I preferred you over the worlds.
wa-ittaqū yawman lā tajzī nafsun ʿan nafsin shayan walā yuq'balu min'hā ʿadlun walā tanfaʿuhā shafāʿatun walā hum yunṣarūna
And fear a Day when no soul will suffice for another soul at all, and no compensation will be accepted from it, nor will any intercession benefit it, nor will they be aided.
wa-idhi ib'talā ib'rāhīma rabbuhu bikalimātin fa-atammahunna qāla innī jāʿiluka lilnnāsi imāman qāla wamin dhurriyyatī qāla lā yanālu ʿahdī l-ẓālimīna
And [mention, O Muḥammad], when Abraham was tried by his Lord with words [i.e., commands] and he fulfilled them. [Allāh] said, "Indeed, I will make you a leader for the people." [Abraham] said, "And of my descendants?" [Allāh] said, "My covenant does not include the wrongdoers."
wa-idh jaʿalnā l-bayta mathābatan lilnnāsi wa-amnan wa-ittakhidhū min maqāmi ib'rāhīma muṣallan waʿahid'nā ilā ib'rāhīma wa-is'māʿīla an ṭahhirā baytiya lilṭṭāifīna wal-ʿākifīna wal-rukaʿi l-sujūdi
And [mention] when We made the House [i.e., the Kaʿbah] a place of return for the people and [a place of] security. And take, [O believers], from the standing place of Abraham a place of prayer. And We charged Abraham and Ishmael, [saying], "Purify My House for those who perform ṭawāf and those who are staying [there] for worship and those who bow and prostrate [in prayer]."
wa-idh qāla ib'rāhīmu rabbi ij'ʿal hādhā baladan āminan wa-ur'zuq ahlahu mina l-thamarāti man āmana min'hum bil-lahi wal-yawmi l-ākhiri qāla waman kafara fa-umattiʿuhu qalīlan thumma aḍṭarruhu ilā ʿadhābi l-nāri wabi'sa l-maṣīru
And [mention] when Abraham said, "My Lord, make this a secure city and provide its people with fruits - whoever of them believes in Allāh and the Last Day." [Allāh] said, "And whoever disbelieves - I will grant him enjoyment for a little; then I will force him to the punishment of the Fire, and wretched is the destination."
wa-idh yarfaʿu ib'rāhīmu l-qawāʿida mina l-bayti wa-is'māʿīlu rabbanā taqabbal minnā innaka anta l-samīʿu l-ʿalīmu
And [mention] when Abraham was raising the foundations of the House and [with him] Ishmael, [saying], "Our Lord, accept [this] from us. Indeed, You are the Hearing, the Knowing.
rabbanā wa-ij'ʿalnā mus'limayni laka wamin dhurriyyatinā ummatan mus'limatan laka wa-arinā manāsikanā watub ʿalaynā innaka anta l-tawābu l-raḥīmu
Our Lord, and make us Muslims [in submission] to You and from our descendants a Muslim nation [in submission] to You. And show us our rites [of worship] and accept our repentance. Indeed, You are the Accepting of Repentance, the Merciful.
rabbanā wa-ib'ʿath fīhim rasūlan min'hum yatlū ʿalayhim āyātika wayuʿallimuhumu l-kitāba wal-ḥik'mata wayuzakkīhim innaka anta l-ʿazīzu l-ḥakīmu
Our Lord, and send among them a messenger from themselves who will recite to them Your verses and teach them the Book and wisdom and purify them. Indeed, You are the Exalted in Might, the Wise."
waman yarghabu ʿan millati ib'rāhīma illā man safiha nafsahu walaqadi iṣ'ṭafaynāhu fī l-dun'yā wa-innahu fī l-ākhirati lamina l-ṣāliḥīna
And who would be averse to the religion of Abraham except one who makes a fool of himself. And We had chosen him in this world, and indeed he, in the Hereafter, will be among the righteous.
idh qāla lahu rabbuhu aslim qāla aslamtu lirabbi l-ʿālamīna
When his Lord said to him, "Submit," he said, "I have submitted [in Islām] to the Lord of the worlds."
wawaṣṣā bihā ib'rāhīmu banīhi wayaʿqūbu yābaniyya inna l-laha iṣ'ṭafā lakumu l-dīna falā tamūtunna illā wa-antum mus'limūna
And Abraham instructed his sons [to do the same] and [so did] Jacob, [saying], "O my sons, indeed Allāh has chosen for you this religion, so do not die except while you are Muslims."
am kuntum shuhadāa idh ḥaḍara yaʿqūba l-mawtu idh qāla libanīhi mā taʿbudūna min baʿdī qālū naʿbudu ilāhaka wa-ilāha ābāika ib'rāhīma wa-is'māʿīla wa-is'ḥāqa ilāhan wāḥidan wanaḥnu lahu mus'limūna
Or were you witnesses when death approached Jacob, when he said to his sons, "What will you worship after me?" They said, "We will worship your God and the God of your fathers, Abraham and Ishmael and Isaac - one God. And we are Muslims [in submission] to Him."
til'ka ummatun qad khalat lahā mā kasabat walakum mā kasabtum walā tus'alūna ʿammā kānū yaʿmalūna
That was a nation which has passed on. It will have [the consequence of] what it earned, and you will have what you have earned. And you will not be asked about what they used to do.
waqālū kūnū hūdan aw naṣārā tahtadū qul bal millata ib'rāhīma ḥanīfan wamā kāna mina l-mush'rikīna
They say, "Be Jews or Christians [so] you will be guided." Say, "Rather, [we follow] the religion of Abraham, inclining toward truth, and he was not of the polytheists."
qūlū āmannā bil-lahi wamā unzila ilaynā wamā unzila ilā ib'rāhīma wa-is'māʿīla wa-is'ḥāqa wayaʿqūba wal-asbāṭi wamā ūtiya mūsā waʿīsā wamā ūtiya l-nabiyūna min rabbihim lā nufarriqu bayna aḥadin min'hum wanaḥnu lahu mus'limūna
Say, [O believers], "We have believed in Allāh and what has been revealed to us and what has been revealed to Abraham and Ishmael and Isaac and Jacob and the Descendants [al-Asbāṭ] and what was given to Moses and Jesus and what was given to the prophets from their Lord. We make no distinction between any of them, and we are Muslims [in submission] to Him."
fa-in āmanū bimith'li mā āmantum bihi faqadi ih'tadaw wa-in tawallaw fa-innamā hum fī shiqāqin fasayakfīkahumu l-lahu wahuwa l-samīʿu l-ʿalīmu
So if they believe in the same as you believe in, then they have been [rightly] guided; but if they turn away, they are only in dissension, and Allāh will be sufficient for you against them. And He is the Hearing, the Knowing.
ṣib'ghata l-lahi waman aḥsanu mina l-lahi ṣib'ghatan wanaḥnu lahu ʿābidūna
[And say, "Ours is] the religion of Allāh. And who is better than Allāh in [ordaining] religion? And we are worshippers of Him."
qul atuḥājjūnanā fī l-lahi wahuwa rabbunā warabbukum walanā aʿmālunā walakum aʿmālukum wanaḥnu lahu mukh'liṣūna
Say, [O Muḥammad], "Do you argue with us about Allāh while He is our Lord and your Lord? For us are our deeds, and for you are your deeds. And we are sincere [in deed and intention] to Him."
am taqūlūna inna ib'rāhīma wa-is'māʿīla wa-is'ḥāqa wayaʿqūba wal-asbāṭa kānū hūdan aw naṣārā qul a-antum aʿlamu ami l-lahu waman aẓlamu mimman katama shahādatan ʿindahu mina l-lahi wamā l-lahu bighāfilin ʿammā taʿmalūna
Or do you say that Abraham and Ishmael and Isaac and Jacob and the Descendants were Jews or Christians? Say, "Are you more knowing or is Allāh?" And who is more unjust than one who conceals a testimony he has from Allāh? And Allāh is not unaware of what you do.