الفرقان
The Criterion
Explanations are simplified from tafsirs by Ibn Kathir, Mufti Muhammad Shafi, and Maulana Wahiduddin Khan. Spot an inaccuracy? Let us know.
wa-idhā ra-awka in yattakhidhūnaka illā huzuwan ahādhā alladhī baʿatha l-lahu rasūlan
And when they see you, [O Muḥammad], they take you not except in ridicule, [saying], "Is this the one whom Allāh has sent as a messenger?
in kāda layuḍillunā ʿan ālihatinā lawlā an ṣabarnā ʿalayhā wasawfa yaʿlamūna ḥīna yarawna l-ʿadhāba man aḍallu sabīlan
He almost would have misled us from our gods had we not been steadfast in [worship of] them." But they are going to know, when they see the punishment, who is farthest astray in [his] way.
ara-ayta mani ittakhadha ilāhahu hawāhu afa-anta takūnu ʿalayhi wakīlan
Have you seen the one who takes as his god his own desire? Then would you be responsible for him?
am taḥsabu anna aktharahum yasmaʿūna aw yaʿqilūna in hum illā kal-anʿāmi bal hum aḍallu sabīlan
Or do you think that most of them hear or reason? They are not except like livestock. Rather, they are [even] more astray in [their] way.
alam tara ilā rabbika kayfa madda l-ẓila walaw shāa lajaʿalahu sākinan thumma jaʿalnā l-shamsa ʿalayhi dalīlan
Have you not considered your Lord - how He extends the shadow, and if He willed, He could have made it stationary? Then We made the sun for it an indication.
thumma qabaḍnāhu ilaynā qabḍan yasīran
Then We [retract and] hold it with Us for a brief grasp.
wahuwa alladhī jaʿala lakumu al-layla libāsan wal-nawma subātan wajaʿala l-nahāra nushūran
And it is He who has made the night for you as clothing and sleep [a means for] rest and has made the day a resurrection.
wahuwa alladhī arsala l-riyāḥa bush'ran bayna yaday raḥmatihi wa-anzalnā mina l-samāi māan ṭahūran
And it is He who sends the winds as good tidings before His mercy [i.e., rainfall], and We send down from the sky pure water
linuḥ'yiya bihi baldatan maytan wanus'qiyahu mimmā khalaqnā anʿāman wa-anāsiyya kathīran
That We may bring to life thereby a dead land and give it as drink to those We created of numerous livestock and men.
walaqad ṣarrafnāhu baynahum liyadhakkarū fa-abā aktharu l-nāsi illā kufūran
And We have certainly distributed it among them that they might be reminded, but most of the people refuse except disbelief.
walaw shi'nā labaʿathnā fī kulli qaryatin nadhīran
And if We had willed, We could have sent into every city a warner.
falā tuṭiʿi l-kāfirīna wajāhid'hum bihi jihādan kabīran
So do not obey the disbelievers, and strive against them with it [i.e., the Qur’ān] a great striving.
wahuwa alladhī maraja l-baḥrayni hādhā ʿadhbun furātun wahādhā mil'ḥun ujājun wajaʿala baynahumā barzakhan waḥij'ran maḥjūran
And it is He who has released [simultaneously] the two seas [i.e., bodies of water], one fresh and sweet and one salty and bitter, and He placed between them a barrier and prohibiting partition.
wahuwa alladhī khalaqa mina l-māi basharan fajaʿalahu nasaban waṣih'ran wakāna rabbuka qadīran
And it is He who has created from water [i.e., semen] a human being and made him [a relative by] lineage and marriage. And ever is your Lord competent [concerning creation].
wayaʿbudūna min dūni l-lahi mā lā yanfaʿuhum walā yaḍurruhum wakāna l-kāfiru ʿalā rabbihi ẓahīran
But they worship rather than Allāh that which does not benefit them or harm them, and the disbeliever is ever, against his Lord, an assistant [to Satan].
wamā arsalnāka illā mubashiran wanadhīran
And We have not sent you, [O Muḥammad], except as a bringer of good tidings and a warner.
qul mā asalukum ʿalayhi min ajrin illā man shāa an yattakhidha ilā rabbihi sabīlan
Say, "I do not ask of you for it any payment - only that whoever wills might take to his Lord a way."
watawakkal ʿalā l-ḥayi alladhī lā yamūtu wasabbiḥ biḥamdihi wakafā bihi bidhunūbi ʿibādihi khabīran
And rely upon the Ever-Living who does not die, and exalt [Allāh] with His praise. And sufficient is He to be, with the sins of His servants, [fully] Aware -
alladhī khalaqa l-samāwāti wal-arḍa wamā baynahumā fī sittati ayyāmin thumma is'tawā ʿalā l-ʿarshi l-raḥmānu fasal bihi khabīran
He who created the heavens and the earth and what is between them in six days and then established Himself above the Throne - the Most Merciful, so ask about Him one well informed [i.e., the Prophet (ﷺ)].
wa-idhā qīla lahumu us'judū lilrraḥmāni qālū wamā l-raḥmānu anasjudu limā tamurunā wazādahum nufūran
And when it is said to them, "Prostrate to the Most Merciful," they say, "And what is the Most Merciful? Should we prostrate to that which you order us?" And it increases them in aversion.