المائدة
The Table Spread
Explanations are simplified from tafsirs by Ibn Kathir, Mufti Muhammad Shafi, and Maulana Wahiduddin Khan. Spot an inaccuracy? Let us know.
yāayyuhā alladhīna āmanū lā tasalū ʿan ashyāa in tub'da lakum tasu'kum wa-in tasalū ʿanhā ḥīna yunazzalu l-qur'ānu tub'da lakum ʿafā l-lahu ʿanhā wal-lahu ghafūrun ḥalīmun
O you who have believed, do not ask about things which, if they are shown to you, will distress you. But if you ask about them while the Qur’ān is being revealed, they will be shown to you. Allāh has pardoned it [i.e., that which is past]; and Allāh is Forgiving and Forbearing.
qad sa-alahā qawmun min qablikum thumma aṣbaḥū bihā kāfirīna
A people asked such [questions] before you; then they became thereby disbelievers.
mā jaʿala l-lahu min baḥīratin walā sāibatin walā waṣīlatin walā ḥāmin walākinna alladhīna kafarū yaftarūna ʿalā l-lahi l-kadhiba wa-aktharuhum lā yaʿqilūna
Allāh has not appointed [such innovations as] baḥīrah or sā’ibah or waṣīlah or ḥām. But those who disbelieve invent falsehood about Allāh, and most of them do not reason.
wa-idhā qīla lahum taʿālaw ilā mā anzala l-lahu wa-ilā l-rasūli qālū ḥasbunā mā wajadnā ʿalayhi ābāanā awalaw kāna ābāuhum lā yaʿlamūna shayan walā yahtadūna
And when it is said to them, "Come to what Allāh has revealed and to the Messenger," they say, "Sufficient for us is that upon which we found our fathers." Even though their fathers knew nothing, nor were they guided?
yāayyuhā alladhīna āmanū ʿalaykum anfusakum lā yaḍurrukum man ḍalla idhā ih'tadaytum ilā l-lahi marjiʿukum jamīʿan fayunabbi-ukum bimā kuntum taʿmalūna
O you who have believed, upon you is [responsibility for] yourselves. Those who have gone astray will not harm you when you have been guided. To Allāh is your return all together; then He will inform you of what you used to do.
yāayyuhā alladhīna āmanū shahādatu baynikum idhā ḥaḍara aḥadakumu l-mawtu ḥīna l-waṣiyati ith'nāni dhawā ʿadlin minkum aw ākharāni min ghayrikum in antum ḍarabtum fī l-arḍi fa-aṣābatkum muṣībatu l-mawti taḥbisūnahumā min baʿdi l-ṣalati fayuq'simāni bil-lahi ini ir'tabtum lā nashtarī bihi thamanan walaw kāna dhā qur'bā walā naktumu shahādata l-lahi innā idhan lamina l-āthimīna
O you who have believed, testimony [should be taken] among you when death approaches one of you at the time of bequest - [that of] two just men from among you or two others from outside if you are traveling through the land and the disaster of death should strike you. Detain them after the prayer and let them both swear by Allāh if you doubt [their testimony, saying], "We will not exchange it [i.e., our oath] for a price [i.e., worldly gain], even if he should be a near relative, and we will not withhold the testimony of [i.e., ordained by] Allāh. Indeed, we would then be of the sinful."
fa-in ʿuthira ʿalā annahumā is'taḥaqqā ith'man faākharāni yaqūmāni maqāmahumā mina alladhīna is'taḥaqqa ʿalayhimu l-awlayāni fayuq'simāni bil-lahi lashahādatunā aḥaqqu min shahādatihimā wamā iʿ'tadaynā innā idhan lamina l-ẓālimīna
But if it is found that those two were guilty of sin [i.e., perjury], let two others stand in their place [who are] foremost [in claim] from those who have a lawful right. And let them swear by Allāh, "Our testimony is truer than their testimony, and we have not transgressed. Indeed, we would then be of the wrongdoers."
dhālika adnā an yatū bil-shahādati ʿalā wajhihā aw yakhāfū an turadda aymānun baʿda aymānihim wa-ittaqū l-laha wa-is'maʿū wal-lahu lā yahdī l-qawma l-fāsiqīna
That is more likely that they will give testimony according to its [true] objective, or [at least] they would fear that [other] oaths might be taken after their oaths. And fear Allāh and listen [i.e., obey Him]; and Allāh does not guide the defiantly disobedient people.
yawma yajmaʿu l-lahu l-rusula fayaqūlu mādhā ujib'tum qālū lā ʿil'ma lanā innaka anta ʿallāmu l-ghuyūbi
[Be warned of] the Day when Allāh will assemble the messengers and say, "What was the response you received?" They will say, "We have no knowledge. Indeed, it is You who is Knower of the unseen" -
idh qāla l-lahu yāʿīsā ib'na maryama udh'kur niʿ'matī ʿalayka waʿalā wālidatika idh ayyadttuka birūḥi l-qudusi tukallimu l-nāsa fī l-mahdi wakahlan wa-idh ʿallamtuka l-kitāba wal-ḥik'mata wal-tawrāta wal-injīla wa-idh takhluqu mina l-ṭīni kahayati l-ṭayri bi-idh'nī fatanfukhu fīhā fatakūnu ṭayran bi-idh'nī watub'ri-u l-akmaha wal-abraṣa bi-idh'nī wa-idh tukh'riju l-mawtā bi-idh'nī wa-idh kafaftu banī is'rāīla ʿanka idh ji'tahum bil-bayināti faqāla alladhīna kafarū min'hum in hādhā illā siḥ'run mubīnun
[The Day] when Allāh will say, "O Jesus, Son of Mary, remember My favor upon you and upon your mother when I supported you with the Pure Spirit [i.e., the angel Gabriel] and you spoke to the people in the cradle and in maturity; and [remember] when I taught you writing and wisdom and the Torah and the Gospel; and when you designed from clay [what was] like the form of a bird with My permission, then you breathed into it, and it became a bird with My permission; and you healed the blind [from birth] and the leper with My permission; and when you brought forth the dead with My permission; and when I restrained the Children of Israel from [killing] you when you came to them with clear proofs and those who disbelieved among them said, "This is not but obvious magic."
wa-idh awḥaytu ilā l-ḥawāriyīna an āminū bī wabirasūlī qālū āmannā wa-ish'had bi-annanā mus'limūna
And [remember] when I inspired to the disciples, "Believe in Me and in My messenger [i.e., Jesus]." They said, "We have believed, so bear witness that indeed we are Muslims [in submission to Allāh]."
idh qāla l-ḥawāriyūna yāʿīsā ib'na maryama hal yastaṭīʿu rabbuka an yunazzila ʿalaynā māidatan mina l-samāi qāla ittaqū l-laha in kuntum mu'minīna
[And remember] when the disciples said, "O Jesus, Son of Mary, can your Lord send down to us a table [spread with food] from the heaven?" [Jesus] said, "Fear Allāh, if you should be believers."
qālū nurīdu an nakula min'hā wataṭma-inna qulūbunā wanaʿlama an qad ṣadaqtanā wanakūna ʿalayhā mina l-shāhidīna
They said, "We wish to eat from it and let our hearts be reassured and know that you have been truthful to us and be among its witnesses."
qāla ʿīsā ub'nu maryama l-lahuma rabbanā anzil ʿalaynā māidatan mina l-samāi takūnu lanā ʿīdan li-awwalinā waākhirinā waāyatan minka wa-ur'zuq'nā wa-anta khayru l-rāziqīna
Said Jesus, the son of Mary, "O Allāh, our Lord, send down to us a table [spread with food] from the heaven to be for us a festival for the first of us and the last of us and a sign from You. And provide for us, and You are the best of providers."
qāla l-lahu innī munazziluhā ʿalaykum faman yakfur baʿdu minkum fa-innī uʿadhibuhu ʿadhāban lā uʿadhibuhu aḥadan mina l-ʿālamīna
Allāh said, "Indeed, I will send it down to you, but whoever disbelieves afterwards from among you - then indeed will I punish him with a punishment by which I have not punished anyone among the worlds."
wa-idh qāla l-lahu yāʿīsā ib'na maryama a-anta qul'ta lilnnāsi ittakhidhūnī wa-ummiya ilāhayni min dūni l-lahi qāla sub'ḥānaka mā yakūnu lī an aqūla mā laysa lī biḥaqqin in kuntu qul'tuhu faqad ʿalim'tahu taʿlamu mā fī nafsī walā aʿlamu mā fī nafsika innaka anta ʿallāmu l-ghuyūbi
And [beware the Day] when Allāh will say, "O Jesus, Son of Mary, did you say to the people, 'Take me and my mother as deities besides Allāh?'" He will say, "Exalted are You! It was not for me to say that to which I have no right. If I had said it, You would have known it. You know what is within myself, and I do not know what is within Yourself. Indeed, it is You who is Knower of the unseen.
mā qul'tu lahum illā mā amartanī bihi ani uʿ'budū l-laha rabbī warabbakum wakuntu ʿalayhim shahīdan mā dum'tu fīhim falammā tawaffaytanī kunta anta l-raqība ʿalayhim wa-anta ʿalā kulli shayin shahīdun
I said not to them except what You commanded me - to worship Allāh, my Lord and your Lord. And I was a witness over them as long as I was among them; but when You took me up, You were the Observer over them, and You are, over all things, Witness.
in tuʿadhib'hum fa-innahum ʿibāduka wa-in taghfir lahum fa-innaka anta l-ʿazīzu l-ḥakīmu
If You should punish them - indeed they are Your servants; but if You forgive them - indeed it is You who is the Exalted in Might, the Wise."
qāla l-lahu hādhā yawmu yanfaʿu l-ṣādiqīna ṣid'quhum lahum jannātun tajrī min taḥtihā l-anhāru khālidīna fīhā abadan raḍiya l-lahu ʿanhum waraḍū ʿanhu dhālika l-fawzu l-ʿaẓīmu
Allāh will say, "This is the Day when the truthful will benefit from their truthfulness." For them are gardens [in Paradise] beneath which rivers flow, wherein they will abide forever, Allāh being pleased with them, and they with Him. That is the great attainment.
lillahi mul'ku l-samāwāti wal-arḍi wamā fīhinna wahuwa ʿalā kulli shayin qadīrun
To Allāh belongs the dominion of the heavens and the earth and whatever is within them. And He is over all things competent.