الأنعام
The Cattle
Explanations are simplified from tafsirs by Ibn Kathir, Mufti Muhammad Shafi, and Maulana Wahiduddin Khan. Spot an inaccuracy? Let us know.
badīʿu l-samāwāti wal-arḍi annā yakūnu lahu waladun walam takun lahu ṣāḥibatun wakhalaqa kulla shayin wahuwa bikulli shayin ʿalīmun
[He is] Originator of the heavens and the earth. How could He have a son when He does not have a companion [i.e., wife] and He created all things? And He is, of all things, Knowing.
dhālikumu l-lahu rabbukum lā ilāha illā huwa khāliqu kulli shayin fa-uʿ'budūhu wahuwa ʿalā kulli shayin wakīlun
That is Allāh, your Lord; there is no deity except Him, the Creator of all things, so worship Him. And He is Disposer of all things.
lā tud'rikuhu l-abṣāru wahuwa yud'riku l-abṣāra wahuwa l-laṭīfu l-khabīru
Vision perceives Him not, but He perceives [all] vision; and He is the Subtle, the Aware.
qad jāakum baṣāiru min rabbikum faman abṣara falinafsihi waman ʿamiya faʿalayhā wamā anā ʿalaykum biḥafīẓin
There has come to you enlightenment from your Lord. So whoever will see does so for [the benefit of] his soul, and whoever is blind [does harm] against it. And [say], "I am not a guardian over you."
wakadhālika nuṣarrifu l-āyāti waliyaqūlū darasta walinubayyinahu liqawmin yaʿlamūna
And thus do We diversify the verses so they [i.e., the disbelievers] will say, "You have studied," and so We may make it [i.e., the Qur’ān] clear for a people who know.
ittabiʿ mā ūḥiya ilayka min rabbika lā ilāha illā huwa wa-aʿriḍ ʿani l-mush'rikīna
Follow, [O Muḥammad], what has been revealed to you from your Lord - there is no deity except Him - and turn away from those who associate others with Allāh.
walaw shāa l-lahu mā ashrakū wamā jaʿalnāka ʿalayhim ḥafīẓan wamā anta ʿalayhim biwakīlin
But if Allāh had willed, they would not have associated. And We have not appointed you over them as a guardian, nor are you a manager over them.
walā tasubbū alladhīna yadʿūna min dūni l-lahi fayasubbū l-laha ʿadwan bighayri ʿil'min kadhālika zayyannā likulli ummatin ʿamalahum thumma ilā rabbihim marjiʿuhum fayunabbi-uhum bimā kānū yaʿmalūna
And do not insult those they invoke other than Allāh, lest they insult Allāh in enmity without knowledge. Thus We have made pleasing to every community their deeds. Then to their Lord is their return, and He will inform them about what they used to do.
wa-aqsamū bil-lahi jahda aymānihim la-in jāathum āyatun layu'minunna bihā qul innamā l-āyātu ʿinda l-lahi wamā yush'ʿirukum annahā idhā jāat lā yu'minūna
And they swear by Allāh their strongest oaths that if a sign came to them, they would surely believe in it. Say, "The signs are only with [i.e., from] Allāh." And what will make you perceive that even if it [i.e., a sign] came, they would not believe.
wanuqallibu afidatahum wa-abṣārahum kamā lam yu'minū bihi awwala marratin wanadharuhum fī ṭugh'yānihim yaʿmahūna
And We will turn away their hearts and their eyes just as they refused to believe in it [i.e., the revelation] the first time. And We will leave them in their transgression, wandering blindly.
walaw annanā nazzalnā ilayhimu l-malāikata wakallamahumu l-mawtā waḥasharnā ʿalayhim kulla shayin qubulan mā kānū liyu'minū illā an yashāa l-lahu walākinna aktharahum yajhalūna
And even if We had sent down to them the angels [with the message] and the dead spoke to them [of it] and We gathered together every [created] thing in front of them, they would not believe unless Allāh should will. But most of them, [of that], are ignorant.
wakadhālika jaʿalnā likulli nabiyyin ʿaduwwan shayāṭīna l-insi wal-jini yūḥī baʿḍuhum ilā baʿḍin zukh'rufa l-qawli ghurūran walaw shāa rabbuka mā faʿalūhu fadharhum wamā yaftarūna
And thus We have made for every prophet an enemy - devils from mankind and jinn, inspiring to one another decorative speech in delusion. But if your Lord had willed, they would not have done it, so leave them and that which they invent.
walitaṣghā ilayhi afidatu alladhīna lā yu'minūna bil-ākhirati waliyarḍawhu waliyaqtarifū mā hum muq'tarifūna
And [it is] so the hearts of those who disbelieve in the Hereafter will incline toward it [i.e., deceptive speech] and that they will be satisfied with it and that they will commit that which they are committing.
afaghayra l-lahi abtaghī ḥakaman wahuwa alladhī anzala ilaykumu l-kitāba mufaṣṣalan wa-alladhīna ātaynāhumu l-kitāba yaʿlamūna annahu munazzalun min rabbika bil-ḥaqi falā takūnanna mina l-mum'tarīna
[Say], "Then is it other than Allāh I should seek as judge while it is He who has revealed to you the Book [i.e., the Qur’ān] explained in detail?" And those to whom We [previously] gave the Scripture know that it is sent down from your Lord in truth, so never be among the doubters.
watammat kalimatu rabbika ṣid'qan waʿadlan lā mubaddila likalimātihi wahuwa l-samīʿu l-ʿalīmu
And the word of your Lord has been fulfilled in truth and in justice. None can alter His words, and He is the Hearing, the Knowing.
wa-in tuṭiʿ akthara man fī l-arḍi yuḍillūka ʿan sabīli l-lahi in yattabiʿūna illā l-ẓana wa-in hum illā yakhruṣūna
And if you obey most of those upon the earth, they will mislead you from the way of Allāh. They follow not except assumption, and they are not but misjudging.
inna rabbaka huwa aʿlamu man yaḍillu ʿan sabīlihi wahuwa aʿlamu bil-muh'tadīna
Indeed, your Lord is most knowing of who strays from His way, and He is most knowing of the [rightly] guided.
fakulū mimmā dhukira us'mu l-lahi ʿalayhi in kuntum biāyātihi mu'minīna
So eat of that [meat] upon which the name of Allāh has been mentioned, if you are believers in His verses [i.e., revealed law].
wamā lakum allā takulū mimmā dhukira us'mu l-lahi ʿalayhi waqad faṣṣala lakum mā ḥarrama ʿalaykum illā mā uḍ'ṭurir'tum ilayhi wa-inna kathīran layuḍillūna bi-ahwāihim bighayri ʿil'min inna rabbaka huwa aʿlamu bil-muʿ'tadīna
And why should you not eat of that upon which the name of Allāh has been mentioned while He has explained in detail to you what He has forbidden you, excepting that to which you are compelled. And indeed do many lead [others] astray through their [own] inclinations without knowledge. Indeed, your Lord - He is most knowing of the transgressors.
wadharū ẓāhira l-ith'mi wabāṭinahu inna alladhīna yaksibūna l-ith'ma sayuj'zawna bimā kānū yaqtarifūna
And leave [i.e., desist from] what is apparent of sin and what is concealed thereof. Indeed, those who earn [blame for] sin will be recompensed for that which they used to commit.