الشعراء
The Poets
Explanations are simplified from tafsirs by Ibn Kathir, Mufti Muhammad Shafi, and Maulana Wahiduddin Khan. Spot an inaccuracy? Let us know.
fafarartu minkum lammā khif'tukum fawahaba lī rabbī ḥuk'man wajaʿalanī mina l-mur'salīna
So I fled from you when I feared you. Then my Lord granted me judgement [i.e., wisdom and prophet hood] and appointed me [as one] of the messengers.
watil'ka niʿ'matun tamunnuhā ʿalayya an ʿabbadtta banī is'rāīla
And is this a favor of which you remind me - that you have enslaved the Children of Israel?"
qāla fir'ʿawnu wamā rabbu l-ʿālamīna
Said Pharaoh, "And what is the Lord of the worlds?"
qāla rabbu l-samāwāti wal-arḍi wamā baynahumā in kuntum mūqinīna
[Moses] said, "The Lord of the heavens and earth and that between them, if you should be convinced."
qāla liman ḥawlahu alā tastamiʿūna
[Pharaoh] said to those around him, "Do you not hear?"
qāla rabbukum warabbu ābāikumu l-awalīna
[Moses] said, "Your Lord and the Lord of your first forefathers."
qāla inna rasūlakumu alladhī ur'sila ilaykum lamajnūnun
[Pharaoh] said, "Indeed, your 'messenger' who has been sent to you is mad."
qāla rabbu l-mashriqi wal-maghribi wamā baynahumā in kuntum taʿqilūna
[Moses] said, "Lord of the east and the west and that between them, if you were to reason."
qāla la-ini ittakhadhta ilāhan ghayrī la-ajʿalannaka mina l-masjūnīna
[Pharaoh] said, "If you take a god other than me, I will surely place you among those imprisoned."
qāla awalaw ji'tuka bishayin mubīnin
[Moses] said, "Even if I brought you something [i.e., proof] manifest?"
qāla fati bihi in kunta mina l-ṣādiqīna
[Pharaoh] said, "Then bring it, if you should be of the truthful."
fa-alqā ʿaṣāhu fa-idhā hiya thuʿ'bānun mubīnun
So [Moses] threw his staff, and suddenly it was a serpent manifest.
wanazaʿa yadahu fa-idhā hiya bayḍāu lilnnāẓirīna
And he drew out his hand; thereupon it was white for the observers.
qāla lil'mala-i ḥawlahu inna hādhā lasāḥirun ʿalīmun
[Pharaoh] said to the eminent ones around him, "Indeed, this is a learned magician.
yurīdu an yukh'rijakum min arḍikum bisiḥ'rihi famādhā tamurūna
He wants to drive you out of your land by his magic, so what do you advise?"
qālū arjih wa-akhāhu wa-ib'ʿath fī l-madāini ḥāshirīna
They said, "Postpone [the matter of] him and his brother and send among the cities gatherers
yatūka bikulli saḥḥārin ʿalīmin
Who will bring you every learned, skilled magician."
fajumiʿa l-saḥaratu limīqāti yawmin maʿlūmin
So the magicians were assembled for the appointment of a well-known day.
waqīla lilnnāsi hal antum muj'tamiʿūna
And it was said to the people, "Will you congregate.
laʿallanā nattabiʿu l-saḥarata in kānū humu l-ghālibīna
That we might follow the magicians if they are the predominant?"