القصص
The Stories
Explanations are simplified from tafsirs by Ibn Kathir, Mufti Muhammad Shafi, and Maulana Wahiduddin Khan. Spot an inaccuracy? Let us know.
wajaʿalnāhum a-immatan yadʿūna ilā l-nāri wayawma l-qiyāmati lā yunṣarūna
And We made them leaders inviting to the Fire, and on the Day of Resurrection they will not be helped.
wa-atbaʿnāhum fī hādhihi l-dun'yā laʿnatan wayawma l-qiyāmati hum mina l-maqbūḥīna
And We caused to overtake them in this world a curse, and on the Day of Resurrection they will be of the despised.
walaqad ātaynā mūsā l-kitāba min baʿdi mā ahlaknā l-qurūna l-ūlā baṣāira lilnnāsi wahudan waraḥmatan laʿallahum yatadhakkarūna
And We gave Moses the Scripture, after We had destroyed the former generations, as enlightenment for the people and guidance and mercy that they might be reminded.
wamā kunta bijānibi l-gharbiyi idh qaḍaynā ilā mūsā l-amra wamā kunta mina l-shāhidīna
And you, [O Muḥammad], were not on the western side [of the mount] when We revealed to Moses the command, and you were not among the witnesses [to that].
walākinnā anshanā qurūnan fataṭāwala ʿalayhimu l-ʿumuru wamā kunta thāwiyan fī ahli madyana tatlū ʿalayhim āyātinā walākinnā kunnā mur'silīna
But We produced [many] generations [after Moses], and prolonged was their duration. And you were not a resident among the people of Madyan, reciting to them Our verses, but We were senders [of this message].
wamā kunta bijānibi l-ṭūri idh nādaynā walākin raḥmatan min rabbika litundhira qawman mā atāhum min nadhīrin min qablika laʿallahum yatadhakkarūna
And you were not at the side of the mount when We called [Moses] but [were sent] as a mercy from your Lord to warn a people to whom no warner had come before you that they might be reminded.
walawlā an tuṣībahum muṣībatun bimā qaddamat aydīhim fayaqūlū rabbanā lawlā arsalta ilaynā rasūlan fanattabiʿa āyātika wanakūna mina l-mu'minīna
And if not that a disaster should strike them for what their hands put forth [of sins] and they would say, "Our Lord, why did You not send us a messenger so we could have followed Your verses and been among the believers?"...
falammā jāahumu l-ḥaqu min ʿindinā qālū lawlā ūtiya mith'la mā ūtiya mūsā awalam yakfurū bimā ūtiya mūsā min qablu qālū siḥ'rāni taẓāharā waqālū innā bikullin kāfirūna
But when the truth came to them from Us, they said, "Why was he not given like that which was given to Moses?" Did they not disbelieve in that which was given to Moses before? They said, "[They are but] two works of magic supporting each other, and indeed we are, in both, disbelievers."
qul fatū bikitābin min ʿindi l-lahi huwa ahdā min'humā attabiʿ'hu in kuntum ṣādiqīna
Say, "Then bring a scripture from Allāh which is more guiding than either of them that I may follow it, if you should be truthful."
fa-in lam yastajībū laka fa-iʿ'lam annamā yattabiʿūna ahwāahum waman aḍallu mimmani ittabaʿa hawāhu bighayri hudan mina l-lahi inna l-laha lā yahdī l-qawma l-ẓālimīna
But if they do not respond to you - then know that they only follow their [own] desires. And who is more astray than one who follows his desire without guidance from Allāh? Indeed, Allāh does not guide the wrongdoing people.
walaqad waṣṣalnā lahumu l-qawla laʿallahum yatadhakkarūna
And We have [repeatedly] conveyed to them the word [i.e., the Qur’ān] that they might be reminded.
alladhīna ātaynāhumu l-kitāba min qablihi hum bihi yu'minūna
Those to whom We gave the Scripture before it - they are believers in it.
wa-idhā yut'lā ʿalayhim qālū āmannā bihi innahu l-ḥaqu min rabbinā innā kunnā min qablihi mus'limīna
And when it is recited to them, they say, "We have believed in it; indeed, it is the truth from our Lord. Indeed we were, [even] before it, Muslims [i.e., submitting to Allāh]."
ulāika yu'tawna ajrahum marratayni bimā ṣabarū wayadraūna bil-ḥasanati l-sayi-ata wamimmā razaqnāhum yunfiqūna
Those will be given their reward twice for what they patiently endured and [because] they avert evil through good, and from what We have provided them they spend.
wa-idhā samiʿū l-laghwa aʿraḍū ʿanhu waqālū lanā aʿmālunā walakum aʿmālukum salāmun ʿalaykum lā nabtaghī l-jāhilīna
And when they hear ill speech, they turn away from it and say, "For us are our deeds, and for you are your deeds. Peace will be upon you; we seek not the ignorant."
innaka lā tahdī man aḥbabta walākinna l-laha yahdī man yashāu wahuwa aʿlamu bil-muh'tadīna
Indeed, [O Muḥammad], you do not guide whom you like, but Allāh guides whom He wills. And He is most knowing of the [rightly] guided.
waqālū in nattabiʿi l-hudā maʿaka nutakhaṭṭaf min arḍinā awalam numakkin lahum ḥaraman āminan yuj'bā ilayhi thamarātu kulli shayin riz'qan min ladunnā walākinna aktharahum lā yaʿlamūna
And they [i.e., the Quraysh] say, "If we were to follow the guidance with you, we would be swept from our land." Have We not established for them a safe sanctuary to which are brought the fruits of all things as provision from Us? But most of them do not know.
wakam ahlaknā min qaryatin baṭirat maʿīshatahā fatil'ka masākinuhum lam tus'kan min baʿdihim illā qalīlan wakunnā naḥnu l-wārithīna
And how many a city have We destroyed that was insolent in its [way of] living, and those are their dwellings which have not been inhabited after them except briefly. And it is We who were the inheritors.
wamā kāna rabbuka muh'lika l-qurā ḥattā yabʿatha fī ummihā rasūlan yatlū ʿalayhim āyātinā wamā kunnā muh'likī l-qurā illā wa-ahluhā ẓālimūna
And never would your Lord have destroyed the cities until He had sent to their mother [i.e., principal city] a messenger reciting to them Our verses. And We would not destroy the cities except while their people were wrongdoers.
wamā ūtītum min shayin famatāʿu l-ḥayati l-dun'yā wazīnatuhā wamā ʿinda l-lahi khayrun wa-abqā afalā taʿqilūna
And whatever thing you [people] have been given - it is [only for] the enjoyment of worldly life and its adornment. And what is with Allāh is better and more lasting; so will you not use reason?