الأحقاف
The Wind-Curved Sandhills
Explanations are simplified from tafsirs by Ibn Kathir, Mufti Muhammad Shafi, and Maulana Wahiduddin Khan. Spot an inaccuracy? Let us know.
wa-udh'kur akhā ʿādin idh andhara qawmahu bil-aḥqāfi waqad khalati l-nudhuru min bayni yadayhi wamin khalfihi allā taʿbudū illā l-laha innī akhāfu ʿalaykum ʿadhāba yawmin ʿaẓīmin
And mention, [O Muḥammad], the brother of ʿAad, when he warned his people in [the region of] al-Aḥqāf - and warners had already passed on before him and after him - [saying], "Do not worship except Allāh. Indeed, I fear for you the punishment of a terrible day."
qālū aji'tanā litafikanā ʿan ālihatinā fatinā bimā taʿidunā in kunta mina l-ṣādiqīna
They said, "Have you come to delude us away from our gods? Then bring us what you promise us, if you should be of the truthful."
qāla innamā l-ʿil'mu ʿinda l-lahi wa-uballighukum mā ur'sil'tu bihi walākinnī arākum qawman tajhalūna
He said, "Knowledge [of its time] is only with Allāh, and I convey to you that with which I was sent; but I see you [to be] a people behaving ignorantly."
falammā ra-awhu ʿāriḍan mus'taqbila awdiyatihim qālū hādhā ʿāriḍun mum'ṭirunā bal huwa mā is'taʿjaltum bihi rīḥun fīhā ʿadhābun alīmun
And when they saw it as a cloud approaching their valleys, they said, "This is a cloud bringing us rain!" Rather, it is that for which you were impatient: a wind, within it a painful punishment,
tudammiru kulla shayin bi-amri rabbihā fa-aṣbaḥū lā yurā illā masākinuhum kadhālika najzī l-qawma l-muj'rimīna
Destroying everything by command of its Lord. And they became so that nothing was seen [of them] except their dwellings. Thus do We recompense the criminal people.
walaqad makkannāhum fīmā in makkannākum fīhi wajaʿalnā lahum samʿan wa-abṣāran wa-afidatan famā aghnā ʿanhum samʿuhum walā abṣāruhum walā afidatuhum min shayin idh kānū yajḥadūna biāyāti l-lahi waḥāqa bihim mā kānū bihi yastahziūna
And We had certainly established them in such as We have not established you, and We made for them hearing and vision and hearts [i.e., intellect]. But their hearing and vision and hearts availed them not from anything [of the punishment] when they were [continually] rejecting the signs of Allāh; and they were enveloped by what they used to ridicule.
walaqad ahlaknā mā ḥawlakum mina l-qurā waṣarrafnā l-āyāti laʿallahum yarjiʿūna
And We have already destroyed what surrounds you of [those] cities, and We have diversified the signs [or verses] that perhaps they might return [from disbelief].
falawlā naṣarahumu alladhīna ittakhadhū min dūni l-lahi qur'bānan ālihatan bal ḍallū ʿanhum wadhālika if'kuhum wamā kānū yaftarūna
Then why did those they took besides Allāh as deities by which to approach [Him] not aid them? But they had strayed [i.e., departed] from them. And that was their falsehood and what they were inventing.
wa-idh ṣarafnā ilayka nafaran mina l-jini yastamiʿūna l-qur'āna falammā ḥaḍarūhu qālū anṣitū falammā quḍiya wallaw ilā qawmihim mundhirīna
And [mention, O Muḥammad], when We directed to you a few of the jinn, listening to the Qur’ān. And when they attended it, they said, "Listen attentively." And when it was concluded, they went back to their people as warners.
qālū yāqawmanā innā samiʿ'nā kitāban unzila min baʿdi mūsā muṣaddiqan limā bayna yadayhi yahdī ilā l-ḥaqi wa-ilā ṭarīqin mus'taqīmin
They said, "O our people, indeed we have heard a [recited] Book revealed after Moses confirming what was before it which guides to the truth and to a straight path.
yāqawmanā ajībū dāʿiya l-lahi waāminū bihi yaghfir lakum min dhunūbikum wayujir'kum min ʿadhābin alīmin
O our people, respond to the Caller [i.e., Messenger] of Allāh and believe in him; He [i.e., Allāh] will forgive for you your sins and protect you from a painful punishment.
waman lā yujib dāʿiya l-lahi falaysa bimuʿ'jizin fī l-arḍi walaysa lahu min dūnihi awliyāu ulāika fī ḍalālin mubīnin
But he who does not respond to the Caller of Allāh will not cause failure [to Him] upon earth, and he will not have besides Him any protectors. Those are in manifest error."
awalam yaraw anna l-laha alladhī khalaqa l-samāwāti wal-arḍa walam yaʿya bikhalqihinna biqādirin ʿalā an yuḥ'yiya l-mawtā balā innahu ʿalā kulli shayin qadīrun
Do they not see that Allāh, who created the heavens and earth and did not fail in their creation, is able to give life to the dead? Yes. Indeed, He is over all things competent.
wayawma yuʿ'raḍu alladhīna kafarū ʿalā l-nāri alaysa hādhā bil-ḥaqi qālū balā warabbinā qāla fadhūqū l-ʿadhāba bimā kuntum takfurūna
And the Day those who disbelieved are exposed to the Fire [it will be said], "Is this not the truth?" They will say, "Yes, by our Lord." He will say, "Then taste the punishment for what you used to deny."
fa-iṣ'bir kamā ṣabara ulū l-ʿazmi mina l-rusuli walā tastaʿjil lahum ka-annahum yawma yarawna mā yūʿadūna lam yalbathū illā sāʿatan min nahārin balāghun fahal yuh'laku illā l-qawmu l-fāsiqūna
So be patient, [O Muḥammad], as were those of determination among the messengers and do not be impatient for them. It will be - on the Day they see that which they are promised - as though they had not remained [in the world] except an hour of a day. [This is] notification. And will [any] be destroyed except the defiantly disobedient people?