البقرة
The Cow
Explanations are simplified from tafsirs by Ibn Kathir, Mufti Muhammad Shafi, and Maulana Wahiduddin Khan. Spot an inaccuracy? Let us know.
waāminū bimā anzaltu muṣaddiqan limā maʿakum walā takūnū awwala kāfirin bihi walā tashtarū biāyātī thamanan qalīlan wa-iyyāya fa-ittaqūni
And believe in what I have sent down confirming that which is [already] with you, and be not the first to disbelieve in it. And do not exchange My signs for a small price, and fear [only] Me.
walā talbisū l-ḥaqa bil-bāṭili wataktumū l-ḥaqa wa-antum taʿlamūna
And do not mix the truth with falsehood or conceal the truth while you know [it].
wa-aqīmū l-ṣalata waātū l-zakata wa-ir'kaʿū maʿa l-rākiʿīna
And establish prayer and give zakāh and bow with those who bow [in worship and obedience].
atamurūna l-nāsa bil-biri watansawna anfusakum wa-antum tatlūna l-kitāba afalā taʿqilūna
Do you order righteousness of the people and forget yourselves while you recite the Scripture? Then will you not reason?
wa-is'taʿīnū bil-ṣabri wal-ṣalati wa-innahā lakabīratun illā ʿalā l-khāshiʿīna
And seek help through patience and prayer; and indeed, it is difficult except for the humbly submissive [to Allāh]
alladhīna yaẓunnūna annahum mulāqū rabbihim wa-annahum ilayhi rājiʿūna
Who are certain that they will meet their Lord and that they will return to Him.
yābanī is'rāīla udh'kurū niʿ'matiya allatī anʿamtu ʿalaykum wa-annī faḍḍaltukum ʿalā l-ʿālamīna
O Children of Israel, remember My favor that I have bestowed upon you and that I preferred you over the worlds [i.e., peoples].
wa-ittaqū yawman lā tajzī nafsun ʿan nafsin shayan walā yuq'balu min'hā shafāʿatun walā yu'khadhu min'hā ʿadlun walā hum yunṣarūna
And fear a Day when no soul will suffice for another soul at all, nor will intercession be accepted from it, nor will compensation be taken from it, nor will they be aided.
wa-idh najjaynākum min āli fir'ʿawna yasūmūnakum sūa l-ʿadhābi yudhabbiḥūna abnāakum wayastaḥyūna nisāakum wafī dhālikum balāon min rabbikum ʿaẓīmun
And [recall] when We saved you [i.e., your forefathers] from the people of Pharaoh, who afflicted you with the worst torment, slaughtering your [newborn] sons and keeping your females alive. And in that was a great trial from your Lord.
wa-idh faraqnā bikumu l-baḥra fa-anjaynākum wa-aghraqnā āla fir'ʿawna wa-antum tanẓurūna
And [recall] when We parted the sea for you and saved you and drowned the people of Pharaoh while you were looking on.
wa-idh wāʿadnā mūsā arbaʿīna laylatan thumma ittakhadhtumu l-ʿij'la min baʿdihi wa-antum ẓālimūna
And [recall] when We made an appointment with Moses for forty nights. Then you took [for worship] the calf after him [i.e., his departure], while you were wrongdoers.
thumma ʿafawnā ʿankum min baʿdi dhālika laʿallakum tashkurūna
Then We forgave you after that so perhaps you would be grateful.
wa-idh ātaynā mūsā l-kitāba wal-fur'qāna laʿallakum tahtadūna
And [recall] when We gave Moses the Scripture and criterion that perhaps you would be guided.
wa-idh qāla mūsā liqawmihi yāqawmi innakum ẓalamtum anfusakum bi-ittikhādhikumu l-ʿij'la fatūbū ilā bāri-ikum fa-uq'tulū anfusakum dhālikum khayrun lakum ʿinda bāri-ikum fatāba ʿalaykum innahu huwa l-tawābu l-raḥīmu
And [recall] when Moses said to his people, "O my people, indeed you have wronged yourselves by your taking of the calf [for worship]. So repent to your Creator and kill yourselves [i.e., the guilty among you]. That is best for [all of] you in the sight of your Creator." Then He accepted your repentance; indeed, He is the Accepting of Repentance, the Merciful.
wa-idh qul'tum yāmūsā lan nu'mina laka ḥattā narā l-laha jahratan fa-akhadhatkumu l-ṣāʿiqatu wa-antum tanẓurūna
And [recall] when you said, "O Moses, we will never believe you until we see Allāh outright"; so the thunderbolt took you while you were looking on.
thumma baʿathnākum min baʿdi mawtikum laʿallakum tashkurūna
Then We revived you after your death that perhaps you would be grateful.
waẓallalnā ʿalaykumu l-ghamāma wa-anzalnā ʿalaykumu l-mana wal-salwā kulū min ṭayyibāti mā razaqnākum wamā ẓalamūnā walākin kānū anfusahum yaẓlimūna
And We shaded you with clouds and sent down to you manna and quails, [saying], "Eat from the good things with which We have provided you." And they wronged Us not - but they were [only] wronging themselves.
wa-idh qul'nā ud'khulū hādhihi l-qaryata fakulū min'hā ḥaythu shi'tum raghadan wa-ud'khulū l-bāba sujjadan waqūlū ḥiṭṭatun naghfir lakum khaṭāyākum wasanazīdu l-muḥ'sinīna
And [recall] when We said, "Enter this city [i.e., Jerusalem] and eat from it wherever you will in [ease and] abundance, and enter the gate bowing humbly and say, 'Relieve us of our burdens [i.e., sins].' We will [then] forgive your sins for you, and We will increase the doers of good [in goodness and reward]."
fabaddala alladhīna ẓalamū qawlan ghayra alladhī qīla lahum fa-anzalnā ʿalā alladhīna ẓalamū rij'zan mina l-samāi bimā kānū yafsuqūna
But those who wronged changed [those words] to a statement other than that which had been said to them, so We sent down upon those who wronged a punishment [i.e., plague] from the sky because they were defiantly disobeying.
wa-idhi is'tasqā mūsā liqawmihi faqul'nā iḍ'rib biʿaṣāka l-ḥajara fa-infajarat min'hu ith'natā ʿashrata ʿaynan qad ʿalima kullu unāsin mashrabahum kulū wa-ish'rabū min riz'qi l-lahi walā taʿthaw fī l-arḍi muf'sidīna
And [recall] when Moses prayed for water for his people, so We said, "Strike with your staff the stone." And there gushed forth from it twelve springs, and every people [i.e., tribe] knew its watering place. "Eat and drink from the provision of Allāh, and do not commit abuse on the earth, spreading corruption."