Surah Ash-Shu'ara, Ayah 121-140 — Word by Word
الشعراء
The Poets
Explanations are simplified from tafsirs by Ibn Kathir, Mufti Muhammad Shafi, and Maulana Wahiduddin Khan. Spot an inaccuracy? Let us know.
inna fī dhālika laāyatan wamā kāna aktharuhum mu'minīna
Indeed in that is a sign, but most of them were not to be believers.
wa-inna rabbaka lahuwa l-ʿazīzu l-raḥīmu
And indeed, your Lord - He is the Exalted in Might, the Merciful.
kadhabat ʿādun l-mur'salīna
ʿAad denied the messengers
idh qāla lahum akhūhum hūdun alā tattaqūna
When their brother Hūd said to them, "Will you not fear Allāh?
innī lakum rasūlun amīnun
Indeed, I am to you a trustworthy messenger.
fa-ittaqū l-laha wa-aṭīʿūni
So fear Allāh and obey me.
wamā asalukum ʿalayhi min ajrin in ajriya illā ʿalā rabbi l-ʿālamīna
And I do not ask you for it any payment. My payment is only from the Lord of the worlds.
atabnūna bikulli rīʿin āyatan taʿbathūna
Do you construct on every elevation a sign, amusing yourselves,
watattakhidhūna maṣāniʿa laʿallakum takhludūna
And take for yourselves constructions [i.e., palaces and fortresses] that you might abide eternally?
wa-idhā baṭashtum baṭashtum jabbārīna
And when you strike, you strike as tyrants.
fa-ittaqū l-laha wa-aṭīʿūni
So fear Allāh and obey me.
wa-ittaqū alladhī amaddakum bimā taʿlamūna
And fear He who provided you with that which you know,
amaddakum bi-anʿāmin wabanīna
Provided you with grazing livestock and children
wajannātin waʿuyūnin
And gardens and springs.
innī akhāfu ʿalaykum ʿadhāba yawmin ʿaẓīmin
Indeed, I fear for you the punishment of a terrible day."
qālū sawāon ʿalaynā awaʿaẓta am lam takun mina l-wāʿiẓīna
They said, "It is all the same to us whether you advise or are not of the advisors.
in hādhā illā khuluqu l-awalīna
This is not but the custom of the former peoples,
wamā naḥnu bimuʿadhabīna
And we are not to be punished."
fakadhabūhu fa-ahlaknāhum inna fī dhālika laāyatan wamā kāna aktharuhum mu'minīna
And they denied him, so We destroyed them. Indeed in that is a sign, but most of them were not to be believers.
wa-inna rabbaka lahuwa l-ʿazīzu l-raḥīmu
And indeed, your Lord - He is the Exalted in Might, the Merciful.