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.
wa-idhā jāūkum qālū āmannā waqad dakhalū bil-kuf'ri wahum qad kharajū bihi wal-lahu aʿlamu bimā kānū yaktumūna
And when they come to you, they say, "We believe." But they have entered with disbelief [in their hearts], and they have certainly left with it. And Allāh is most knowing of what they were concealing.
watarā kathīran min'hum yusāriʿūna fī l-ith'mi wal-ʿud'wāni wa-aklihimu l-suḥ'ta labi'sa mā kānū yaʿmalūna
And you see many of them hastening into sin and aggression and the devouring of [what is] unlawful. How wretched is what they have been doing.
lawlā yanhāhumu l-rabāniyūna wal-aḥbāru ʿan qawlihimu l-ith'ma wa-aklihimu l-suḥ'ta labi'sa mā kānū yaṣnaʿūna
Why do the rabbis and religious scholars not forbid them from saying what is sinful and devouring what is unlawful? How wretched is what they have been practicing.
waqālati l-yahūdu yadu l-lahi maghlūlatun ghullat aydīhim waluʿinū bimā qālū bal yadāhu mabsūṭatāni yunfiqu kayfa yashāu walayazīdanna kathīran min'hum mā unzila ilayka min rabbika ṭugh'yānan wakuf'ran wa-alqaynā baynahumu l-ʿadāwata wal-baghḍāa ilā yawmi l-qiyāmati kullamā awqadū nāran lil'ḥarbi aṭfa-ahā l-lahu wayasʿawna fī l-arḍi fasādan wal-lahu lā yuḥibbu l-muf'sidīna
And the Jews say, "The hand of Allāh is chained." Chained are their hands, and cursed are they for what they say. Rather, both His hands are extended; He spends however He wills. And that which has been revealed to you from your Lord will surely increase many of them in transgression and disbelief. And We have cast among them animosity and hatred until the Day of Resurrection. Every time they kindled the fire of war [against you], Allāh extinguished it. And they strive throughout the land [causing] corruption, and Allāh does not like corrupters.
walaw anna ahla l-kitābi āmanū wa-ittaqaw lakaffarnā ʿanhum sayyiātihim wala-adkhalnāhum jannāti l-naʿīmi
And if only the People of the Scripture had believed and feared Allāh, We would have removed from them their misdeeds and admitted them to Gardens of Pleasure.
walaw annahum aqāmū l-tawrāta wal-injīla wamā unzila ilayhim min rabbihim la-akalū min fawqihim wamin taḥti arjulihim min'hum ummatun muq'taṣidatun wakathīrun min'hum sāa mā yaʿmalūna
And if only they had upheld [the law of] the Torah, the Gospel, and what has been revealed to them from their Lord [i.e., the Qur’ān], they would have consumed [provision] from above them and from beneath their feet. Among them are a moderate [i.e., acceptable] community, but many of them - evil is that which they do.
yāayyuhā l-rasūlu balligh mā unzila ilayka min rabbika wa-in lam tafʿal famā ballaghta risālatahu wal-lahu yaʿṣimuka mina l-nāsi inna l-laha lā yahdī l-qawma l-kāfirīna
O Messenger, announce that which has been revealed to you from your Lord, and if you do not, then you have not conveyed His message. And Allāh will protect you from the people. Indeed, Allāh does not guide the disbelieving people.
qul yāahla l-kitābi lastum ʿalā shayin ḥattā tuqīmū l-tawrāta wal-injīla wamā unzila ilaykum min rabbikum walayazīdanna kathīran min'hum mā unzila ilayka min rabbika ṭugh'yānan wakuf'ran falā tasa ʿalā l-qawmi l-kāfirīna
Say, "O People of the Scripture, you are [standing] on nothing until you uphold [the law of] the Torah, the Gospel, and what has been revealed to you from your Lord [i.e., the Qur’ān]." And that which has been revealed to you from your Lord will surely increase many of them in transgression and disbelief. So do not grieve over the disbelieving people.
inna alladhīna āmanū wa-alladhīna hādū wal-ṣābiūna wal-naṣārā man āmana bil-lahi wal-yawmi l-ākhiri waʿamila ṣāliḥan falā khawfun ʿalayhim walā hum yaḥzanūna
Indeed, those who have believed [in Prophet Muḥammad (ﷺ)] and those [before him (ﷺ)] who were Jews or Sabeans or Christians - those [among them] who believed in Allāh and the Last Day and did righteousness - no fear will there be concerning them, nor will they grieve.
laqad akhadhnā mīthāqa banī is'rāīla wa-arsalnā ilayhim rusulan kullamā jāahum rasūlun bimā lā tahwā anfusuhum farīqan kadhabū wafarīqan yaqtulūna
We had already taken the covenant of the Children of Israel and had sent to them messengers. Whenever there came to them a messenger with what their souls did not desire, a party [of messengers] they denied, and another party they killed.
waḥasibū allā takūna fit'natun faʿamū waṣammū thumma tāba l-lahu ʿalayhim thumma ʿamū waṣammū kathīrun min'hum wal-lahu baṣīrun bimā yaʿmalūna
And they thought there would be no [resulting] punishment, so they became blind and deaf. Then Allāh turned to them in forgiveness; then [again] many of them became blind and deaf. And Allāh is Seeing of what they do.
laqad kafara alladhīna qālū inna l-laha huwa l-masīḥu ub'nu maryama waqāla l-masīḥu yābanī is'rāīla uʿ'budū l-laha rabbī warabbakum innahu man yush'rik bil-lahi faqad ḥarrama l-lahu ʿalayhi l-janata wamawāhu l-nāru wamā lilẓẓālimīna min anṣārin
They have certainly disbelieved who say, "Allāh is the Messiah, the son of Mary" while the Messiah has said, "O Children of Israel, worship Allāh, my Lord and your Lord." Indeed, he who associates others with Allāh - Allāh has forbidden him Paradise, and his refuge is the Fire. And there are not for the wrongdoers any helpers.
laqad kafara alladhīna qālū inna l-laha thālithu thalāthatin wamā min ilāhin illā ilāhun wāḥidun wa-in lam yantahū ʿammā yaqūlūna layamassanna alladhīna kafarū min'hum ʿadhābun alīmun
They have certainly disbelieved who say, "Allāh is the third of three." And there is no god except one God. And if they do not desist from what they are saying, there will surely afflict the disbelievers among them a painful punishment.
afalā yatūbūna ilā l-lahi wayastaghfirūnahu wal-lahu ghafūrun raḥīmun
So will they not repent to Allāh and seek His forgiveness? And Allāh is Forgiving and Merciful.
mā l-masīḥu ub'nu maryama illā rasūlun qad khalat min qablihi l-rusulu wa-ummuhu ṣiddīqatun kānā yakulāni l-ṭaʿāma unẓur kayfa nubayyinu lahumu l-āyāti thumma unẓur annā yu'fakūna
The Messiah, son of Mary, was not but a messenger; [other] messengers have passed on before him. And his mother was a supporter of truth. They both used to eat food. Look how We make clear to them the signs; then look how they are deluded.
qul ataʿbudūna min dūni l-lahi mā lā yamliku lakum ḍarran walā nafʿan wal-lahu huwa l-samīʿu l-ʿalīmu
Say, "Do you worship besides Allāh that which holds for you no [power of] harm or benefit while it is Allāh who is the Hearing, the Knowing?"
qul yāahla l-kitābi lā taghlū fī dīnikum ghayra l-ḥaqi walā tattabiʿū ahwāa qawmin qad ḍallū min qablu wa-aḍallū kathīran waḍallū ʿan sawāi l-sabīli
Say, "O People of the Scripture, do not exceed limits in your religion beyond the truth and do not follow the inclinations of a people who had gone astray before and misled many and have strayed from the soundness of the way."
luʿina alladhīna kafarū min banī is'rāīla ʿalā lisāni dāwūda waʿīsā ib'ni maryama dhālika bimā ʿaṣaw wakānū yaʿtadūna
Cursed were those who disbelieved among the Children of Israel by the tongue of David and of Jesus, the son of Mary. That was because they disobeyed and [habitually] transgressed.
kānū lā yatanāhawna ʿan munkarin faʿalūhu labi'sa mā kānū yafʿalūna
They used not to prevent one another from wrongdoing that they did. How wretched was that which they were doing.
tarā kathīran min'hum yatawallawna alladhīna kafarū labi'sa mā qaddamat lahum anfusuhum an sakhiṭa l-lahu ʿalayhim wafī l-ʿadhābi hum khālidūna
You see many of them becoming allies of those who disbelieved [i.e., the polytheists]. How wretched is that which they have put forth for themselves in that Allāh has become angry with them, and in the punishment they will abide eternally.