Surah Ash-Shu'ara, Ayah 181-200 — 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.
awfū l-kayla walā takūnū mina l-mukh'sirīna
Give full measure and do not be of those who cause loss.
wazinū bil-qis'ṭāsi l-mus'taqīmi
And weigh with an even [i.e., honest] balance.
walā tabkhasū l-nāsa ashyāahum walā taʿthaw fī l-arḍi muf'sidīna
And do not deprive people of their due and do not commit abuse on earth, spreading corruption.
wa-ittaqū alladhī khalaqakum wal-jibilata l-awalīna
And fear He who created you and the former creation."
qālū innamā anta mina l-musaḥarīna
They said, "You are only of those affected by magic.
wamā anta illā basharun mith'lunā wa-in naẓunnuka lamina l-kādhibīna
You are but a man like ourselves, and indeed, we think you are among the liars.
fa-asqiṭ ʿalaynā kisafan mina l-samāi in kunta mina l-ṣādiqīna
So cause to fall upon us fragments of the sky, if you should be of the truthful."
qāla rabbī aʿlamu bimā taʿmalūna
He said, "My Lord is most knowing of what you do."
fakadhabūhu fa-akhadhahum ʿadhābu yawmi l-ẓulati innahu kāna ʿadhāba yawmin ʿaẓīmin
And they denied him, so the punishment of the day of the black cloud seized them. Indeed, it was the punishment of a terrible day.
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.
wa-innahu latanzīlu rabbi l-ʿālamīna
And indeed, it [i.e., the Qur’ān] is the revelation of the Lord of the worlds.
nazala bihi l-rūḥu l-amīnu
The Trustworthy Spirit [i.e., Gabriel] has brought it down
ʿalā qalbika litakūna mina l-mundhirīna
Upon your heart, [O Muḥammad] - that you may be of the warners -
bilisānin ʿarabiyyin mubīnin
In a clear Arabic language.
wa-innahu lafī zuburi l-awalīna
And indeed, it is [mentioned] in the scriptures of former peoples.
awalam yakun lahum āyatan an yaʿlamahu ʿulamāu banī is'rāīla
And has it not been a sign to them that it is recognized by the scholars of the Children of Israel?
walaw nazzalnāhu ʿalā baʿḍi l-aʿjamīna
And even if We had revealed it to one among the foreigners
faqara-ahu ʿalayhim mā kānū bihi mu'minīna
And he had recited it to them [perfectly], they would [still] not have been believers in it.
kadhālika salaknāhu fī qulūbi l-muj'rimīna
Thus have We inserted it [i.e., disbelief] into the hearts of the criminals.