البقرة
The Cow
Explanations are simplified from tafsirs by Ibn Kathir, Mufti Muhammad Shafi, and Maulana Wahiduddin Khan. Spot an inaccuracy? Let us know.
wa-idh qul'tum yāmūsā lan naṣbira ʿalā ṭaʿāmin wāḥidin fa-ud'ʿu lanā rabbaka yukh'rij lanā mimmā tunbitu l-arḍu min baqlihā waqithāihā wafūmihā waʿadasihā wabaṣalihā qāla atastabdilūna alladhī huwa adnā bi-alladhī huwa khayrun ih'biṭū miṣ'ran fa-inna lakum mā sa-altum waḍuribat ʿalayhimu l-dhilatu wal-maskanatu wabāū bighaḍabin mina l-lahi dhālika bi-annahum kānū yakfurūna biāyāti l-lahi wayaqtulūna l-nabiyīna bighayri l-ḥaqi dhālika bimā ʿaṣaw wakānū yaʿtadūna
And [recall] when you said, "O Moses, we can never endure one [kind of] food. So call upon your Lord to bring forth for us from the earth its green herbs and its cucumbers and its garlic and its lentils and its onions." [Moses] said, "Would you exchange what is better for what is less? Go into [any] settlement and indeed, you will have what you have asked." And they were covered with humiliation and poverty and returned with anger from Allāh [upon them]. That was because they [repeatedly] disbelieved in the signs of Allāh and killed the prophets without right. That was because they disobeyed and were [habitually] transgressing.
inna alladhīna āmanū wa-alladhīna hādū wal-naṣārā wal-ṣābiīna man āmana bil-lahi wal-yawmi l-ākhiri waʿamila ṣāliḥan falahum ajruhum ʿinda rabbihim walā khawfun ʿalayhim walā hum yaḥzanūna
Indeed, those who believed and those who were Jews or Christians or Sabeans [before Prophet Muḥammad (ﷺ)] - those [among them] who believed in Allāh and the Last Day and did righteousness - will have their reward with their Lord, and no fear will there be concerning them, nor will they grieve.
wa-idh akhadhnā mīthāqakum warafaʿnā fawqakumu l-ṭūra khudhū mā ātaynākum biquwwatin wa-udh'kurū mā fīhi laʿallakum tattaqūna
And [recall] when We took your covenant, [O Children of Israel, to abide by the Torah] and We raised over you the mount, [saying], "Take what We have given you with determination and remember what is in it that perhaps you may become righteous."
thumma tawallaytum min baʿdi dhālika falawlā faḍlu l-lahi ʿalaykum waraḥmatuhu lakuntum mina l-khāsirīna
Then you turned away after that. And if not for the favor of Allāh upon you and His mercy, you would have been among the losers.
walaqad ʿalim'tumu alladhīna iʿ'tadaw minkum fī l-sabti faqul'nā lahum kūnū qiradatan khāsiīna
And you had already known about those who transgressed among you concerning the sabbath, and We said to them, "Be apes, despised."
fajaʿalnāhā nakālan limā bayna yadayhā wamā khalfahā wamawʿiẓatan lil'muttaqīna
And We made it a deterrent punishment for those who were present and those who succeeded [them] and a lesson for those who fear Allāh.
wa-idh qāla mūsā liqawmihi inna l-laha yamurukum an tadhbaḥū baqaratan qālū atattakhidhunā huzuwan qāla aʿūdhu bil-lahi an akūna mina l-jāhilīna
And [recall] when Moses said to his people, "Indeed, Allāh commands you to slaughter a cow." They said, "Do you take us in ridicule?" He said, "I seek refuge in Allāh from being among the ignorant."
qālū ud'ʿu lanā rabbaka yubayyin lanā mā hiya qāla innahu yaqūlu innahā baqaratun lā fāriḍun walā bik'run ʿawānun bayna dhālika fa-if'ʿalū mā tu'marūna
They said, "Call upon your Lord to make clear to us what it is." [Moses] said, "[Allāh] says, 'It is a cow which is neither old nor virgin, but median between that,' so do what you are commanded."
qālū ud'ʿu lanā rabbaka yubayyin lanā mā lawnuhā qāla innahu yaqūlu innahā baqaratun ṣafrāu fāqiʿun lawnuhā tasurru l-nāẓirīna
They said, "Call upon your Lord to show us what is her color." He said, "He says, 'It is a yellow cow, bright in color - pleasing to the observers.'"
qālū ud'ʿu lanā rabbaka yubayyin lanā mā hiya inna l-baqara tashābaha ʿalaynā wa-innā in shāa l-lahu lamuh'tadūna
They said, "Call upon your Lord to make clear to us what it is. Indeed, [all] cows look alike to us. And indeed we, if Allāh wills, will be guided."
qāla innahu yaqūlu innahā baqaratun lā dhalūlun tuthīru l-arḍa walā tasqī l-ḥartha musallamatun lā shiyata fīhā qālū l-āna ji'ta bil-ḥaqi fadhabaḥūhā wamā kādū yafʿalūna
He said, "He says, 'It is a cow neither trained to plow the earth nor to irrigate the field, one free from fault with no spot upon her.'" They said, "Now you have come with the truth." So they slaughtered her, but they could hardly do it.
wa-idh qataltum nafsan fa-iddāratum fīhā wal-lahu mukh'rijun mā kuntum taktumūna
And [recall] when you slew a man and disputed over it, but Allāh was to bring out that which you were concealing.
faqul'nā iḍ'ribūhu bibaʿḍihā kadhālika yuḥ'yī l-lahu l-mawtā wayurīkum āyātihi laʿallakum taʿqilūna
So We said, "Strike him [i.e., the slain man] with part of it." Thus does Allāh bring the dead to life, and He shows you His signs that you might reason.
thumma qasat qulūbukum min baʿdi dhālika fahiya kal-ḥijārati aw ashaddu qaswatan wa-inna mina l-ḥijārati lamā yatafajjaru min'hu l-anhāru wa-inna min'hā lamā yashaqqaqu fayakhruju min'hu l-māu wa-inna min'hā lamā yahbiṭu min khashyati l-lahi wamā l-lahu bighāfilin ʿammā taʿmalūna
Then your hearts became hardened after that, being like stones or even harder. For indeed, there are stones from which rivers burst forth, and there are some of them that split open and water comes out, and there are some of them that fall down for fear of Allāh. And Allāh is not unaware of what you do.
afataṭmaʿūna an yu'minū lakum waqad kāna farīqun min'hum yasmaʿūna kalāma l-lahi thumma yuḥarrifūnahu min baʿdi mā ʿaqalūhu wahum yaʿlamūna
Do you covet [the hope, O believers], that they would believe for you while a party of them used to hear the words of Allāh and then distort it [i.e., the Torah] after they had understood it while they were knowing?
wa-idhā laqū alladhīna āmanū qālū āmannā wa-idhā khalā baʿḍuhum ilā baʿḍin qālū atuḥaddithūnahum bimā fataḥa l-lahu ʿalaykum liyuḥājjūkum bihi ʿinda rabbikum afalā taʿqilūna
And when they meet those who believe, they say, "We have believed"; but when they are alone with one another, they say, "Do you talk to them about what Allāh has revealed to you so they can argue with you about it before your Lord?" Then will you not reason?
awalā yaʿlamūna anna l-laha yaʿlamu mā yusirrūna wamā yuʿ'linūna
But do they not know that Allāh knows what they conceal and what they declare?
wamin'hum ummiyyūna lā yaʿlamūna l-kitāba illā amāniyya wa-in hum illā yaẓunnūna
And among them are unlettered ones who do not know the Scripture except [indulgement in] wishful thinking, but they are only assuming.
fawaylun lilladhīna yaktubūna l-kitāba bi-aydīhim thumma yaqūlūna hādhā min ʿindi l-lahi liyashtarū bihi thamanan qalīlan fawaylun lahum mimmā katabat aydīhim wawaylun lahum mimmā yaksibūna
So woe to those who write the "scripture" with their own hands, then say, "This is from Allāh," in order to exchange it for a small price. Woe to them for what their hands have written and woe to them for what they earn.
waqālū lan tamassanā l-nāru illā ayyāman maʿdūdatan qul attakhadhtum ʿinda l-lahi ʿahdan falan yukh'lifa l-lahu ʿahdahu am taqūlūna ʿalā l-lahi mā lā taʿlamūna
And they say, "Never will the Fire touch us, except for [a few] numbered days." Say, "Have you taken a covenant with Allāh? For Allāh will never break His covenant. Or do you say about Allāh that which you do not know?"