البقرة
The Cow
Explanations are simplified from tafsirs by Ibn Kathir, Mufti Muhammad Shafi, and Maulana Wahiduddin Khan. Spot an inaccuracy? Let us know.
yāayyuhā l-nāsu uʿ'budū rabbakumu alladhī khalaqakum wa-alladhīna min qablikum laʿallakum tattaqūna
O mankind, worship your Lord, who created you and those before you, that you may become righteous -
alladhī jaʿala lakumu l-arḍa firāshan wal-samāa bināan wa-anzala mina l-samāi māan fa-akhraja bihi mina l-thamarāti riz'qan lakum falā tajʿalū lillahi andādan wa-antum taʿlamūna
[He] who made for you the earth a bed [spread out] and the sky a ceiling and sent down from the sky, rain and brought forth thereby fruits as provision for you. So do not attribute to Allāh equals while you know [that there is nothing similar to Him].
wa-in kuntum fī raybin mimmā nazzalnā ʿalā ʿabdinā fatū bisūratin min mith'lihi wa-id'ʿū shuhadāakum min dūni l-lahi in kuntum ṣādiqīna
And if you are in doubt about what We have sent down [i.e., the Qur’ān] upon Our Servant [i.e., Prophet Muḥammad (ﷺ)], then produce a sūrah the like thereof and call upon your witnesses [i.e., supporters] other than Allāh, if you should be truthful.
fa-in lam tafʿalū walan tafʿalū fa-ittaqū l-nāra allatī waqūduhā l-nāsu wal-ḥijāratu uʿiddat lil'kāfirīna
But if you do not - and you will never be able to - then fear the Fire, whose fuel is people and stones, prepared for the disbelievers.
wabashiri alladhīna āmanū waʿamilū l-ṣāliḥāti anna lahum jannātin tajrī min taḥtihā l-anhāru kullamā ruziqū min'hā min thamaratin riz'qan qālū hādhā alladhī ruziq'nā min qablu wa-utū bihi mutashābihan walahum fīhā azwājun muṭahharatun wahum fīhā khālidūna
And give good tidings to those who believe and do righteous deeds that they will have gardens [in Paradise] beneath which rivers flow. Whenever they are provided with a provision of fruit therefrom, they will say, "This is what we were provided with before." And it is given to them in likeness. And they will have therein purified spouses, and they will abide therein eternally.
inna l-laha lā yastaḥyī an yaḍriba mathalan mā baʿūḍatan famā fawqahā fa-ammā alladhīna āmanū fayaʿlamūna annahu l-ḥaqu min rabbihim wa-ammā alladhīna kafarū fayaqūlūna mādhā arāda l-lahu bihādhā mathalan yuḍillu bihi kathīran wayahdī bihi kathīran wamā yuḍillu bihi illā l-fāsiqīna
Indeed, Allāh is not timid to present an example - that of a mosquito or what is smaller than it. And those who have believed know that it is the truth from their Lord. But as for those who disbelieve, they say, "What did Allāh intend by this as an example?" He misleads many thereby and guides many thereby. And He misleads not except the defiantly disobedient,
alladhīna yanquḍūna ʿahda l-lahi min baʿdi mīthāqihi wayaqṭaʿūna mā amara l-lahu bihi an yūṣala wayuf'sidūna fī l-arḍi ulāika humu l-khāsirūna
Who break the covenant of Allāh after contracting it and sever that which Allāh has ordered to be joined and cause corruption on earth. It is those who are the losers.
kayfa takfurūna bil-lahi wakuntum amwātan fa-aḥyākum thumma yumītukum thumma yuḥ'yīkum thumma ilayhi tur'jaʿūna
How can you disbelieve in Allāh when you were lifeless and He brought you to life; then He will cause you to die, then He will bring you [back] to life, and then to Him you will be returned.
huwa alladhī khalaqa lakum mā fī l-arḍi jamīʿan thumma is'tawā ilā l-samāi fasawwāhunna sabʿa samāwātin wahuwa bikulli shayin ʿalīmun
It is He who created for you all of that which is on the earth. Then He directed Himself to the heaven, [His being above all creation], and made them seven heavens, and He is Knowing of all things.
wa-idh qāla rabbuka lil'malāikati innī jāʿilun fī l-arḍi khalīfatan qālū atajʿalu fīhā man yuf'sidu fīhā wayasfiku l-dimāa wanaḥnu nusabbiḥu biḥamdika wanuqaddisu laka qāla innī aʿlamu mā lā taʿlamūna
And [mention, O Muḥammad], when your Lord said to the angels, "Indeed, I will make upon the earth a successive authority." They said, "Will You place upon it one who causes corruption therein and sheds blood, while we exalt You with praise and declare Your perfection?" He [Allāh] said, "Indeed, I know that which you do not know."
waʿallama ādama l-asmāa kullahā thumma ʿaraḍahum ʿalā l-malāikati faqāla anbiūnī bi-asmāi hāulāi in kuntum ṣādiqīna
And He taught Adam the names - all of them. Then He showed them to the angels and said, "Inform Me of the names of these, if you are truthful."
qālū sub'ḥānaka lā ʿil'ma lanā illā mā ʿallamtanā innaka anta l-ʿalīmu l-ḥakīmu
They said, "Exalted are You; we have no knowledge except what You have taught us. Indeed, it is You who is the Knowing, the Wise."
qāla yāādamu anbi'hum bi-asmāihim falammā anba-ahum bi-asmāihim qāla alam aqul lakum innī aʿlamu ghayba l-samāwāti wal-arḍi wa-aʿlamu mā tub'dūna wamā kuntum taktumūna
He said, "O Adam, inform them of their names." And when he had informed them of their names, He said, "Did I not tell you that I know the unseen [aspects] of the heavens and the earth? And I know what you reveal and what you have concealed."
wa-idh qul'nā lil'malāikati us'judū liādama fasajadū illā ib'līsa abā wa-is'takbara wakāna mina l-kāfirīna
And [mention] when We said to the angels, "Prostrate before Adam"; so they prostrated, except for Iblees. He refused and was arrogant and became of the disbelievers.
waqul'nā yāādamu us'kun anta wazawjuka l-janata wakulā min'hā raghadan ḥaythu shi'tumā walā taqrabā hādhihi l-shajarata fatakūnā mina l-ẓālimīna
And We said, "O Adam, dwell, you and your wife, in Paradise and eat therefrom in [ease and] abundance from wherever you will. But do not approach this tree, lest you be among the wrongdoers."
fa-azallahumā l-shayṭānu ʿanhā fa-akhrajahumā mimmā kānā fīhi waqul'nā ih'biṭū baʿḍukum libaʿḍin ʿaduwwun walakum fī l-arḍi mus'taqarrun wamatāʿun ilā ḥīnin
But Satan caused them to slip out of it and removed them from that [condition] in which they had been. And We said, "Go down, [all of you], as enemies to one another, and you will have upon the earth a place of settlement and provision for a time."
fatalaqqā ādamu min rabbihi kalimātin fatāba ʿalayhi innahu huwa l-tawābu l-raḥīmu
Then Adam received from his Lord [some] words, and He accepted his repentance. Indeed, it is He who is the Accepting of Repentance, the Merciful.
qul'nā ih'biṭū min'hā jamīʿan fa-immā yatiyannakum minnī hudan faman tabiʿa hudāya falā khawfun ʿalayhim walā hum yaḥzanūna
We said, "Go down from it, all of you. And when guidance comes to you from Me, whoever follows My guidance - there will be no fear concerning them, nor will they grieve.
wa-alladhīna kafarū wakadhabū biāyātinā ulāika aṣḥābu l-nāri hum fīhā khālidūna
And those who disbelieve and deny Our signs - those will be companions of the Fire; they will abide therein eternally."
yābanī is'rāīla udh'kurū niʿ'matiya allatī anʿamtu ʿalaykum wa-awfū biʿahdī ūfi biʿahdikum wa-iyyāya fa-ir'habūni
O Children of Israel, remember My favor which I have bestowed upon you and fulfill My covenant [upon you] that I will fulfill your covenant [from Me], and be afraid of [only] Me.