الأنعام
The Cattle
Explanations are simplified from tafsirs by Ibn Kathir, Mufti Muhammad Shafi, and Maulana Wahiduddin Khan. Spot an inaccuracy? Let us know.
walā takulū mimmā lam yudh'kari us'mu l-lahi ʿalayhi wa-innahu lafis'qun wa-inna l-shayāṭīna layūḥūna ilā awliyāihim liyujādilūkum wa-in aṭaʿtumūhum innakum lamush'rikūna
And do not eat of that upon which the name of Allāh has not been mentioned, for indeed, it is grave disobedience. And indeed do the devils inspire their allies [among men] to dispute with you. And if you were to obey them, indeed, you would be associators [of others with Him].
awaman kāna maytan fa-aḥyaynāhu wajaʿalnā lahu nūran yamshī bihi fī l-nāsi kaman mathaluhu fī l-ẓulumāti laysa bikhārijin min'hā kadhālika zuyyina lil'kāfirīna mā kānū yaʿmalūna
And is one who was dead and We gave him life and made for him light by which to walk among the people like one who is in darkness, never to emerge therefrom? Thus it has been made pleasing to the disbelievers that which they were doing.
wakadhālika jaʿalnā fī kulli qaryatin akābira muj'rimīhā liyamkurū fīhā wamā yamkurūna illā bi-anfusihim wamā yashʿurūna
And thus We have placed within every city the greatest of its criminals to conspire therein. But they conspire not except against themselves, and they perceive [it] not.
wa-idhā jāathum āyatun qālū lan nu'mina ḥattā nu'tā mith'la mā ūtiya rusulu l-lahi l-lahu aʿlamu ḥaythu yajʿalu risālatahu sayuṣību alladhīna ajramū ṣaghārun ʿinda l-lahi waʿadhābun shadīdun bimā kānū yamkurūna
And when a sign comes to them, they say, "Never will we believe until we are given like that which was given to the messengers of Allāh." Allāh is most knowing of where [i.e., with whom] He places His message. There will afflict those who committed crimes debasement before Allāh and severe punishment for what they used to conspire.
faman yuridi l-lahu an yahdiyahu yashraḥ ṣadrahu lil'is'lāmi waman yurid an yuḍillahu yajʿal ṣadrahu ḍayyiqan ḥarajan ka-annamā yaṣṣaʿʿadu fī l-samāi kadhālika yajʿalu l-lahu l-rij'sa ʿalā alladhīna lā yu'minūna
So whoever Allāh wants to guide - He expands his breast to [contain] Islām; and whoever He wants to send astray - He makes his breast tight and constricted as though he were climbing into the sky. Thus does Allāh place defilement upon those who do not believe.
wahādhā ṣirāṭu rabbika mus'taqīman qad faṣṣalnā l-āyāti liqawmin yadhakkarūna
And this is the path of your Lord, [leading] straight. We have detailed the verses for a people who remember.
lahum dāru l-salāmi ʿinda rabbihim wahuwa waliyyuhum bimā kānū yaʿmalūna
For them will be the Home of Peace [i.e., Paradise] with their Lord. And He will be their protecting friend because of what they used to do.
wayawma yaḥshuruhum jamīʿan yāmaʿshara l-jini qadi is'takthartum mina l-insi waqāla awliyāuhum mina l-insi rabbanā is'tamtaʿa baʿḍunā bibaʿḍin wabalaghnā ajalanā alladhī ajjalta lanā qāla l-nāru mathwākum khālidīna fīhā illā mā shāa l-lahu inna rabbaka ḥakīmun ʿalīmun
And [mention, O Muḥammad], the Day when He will gather them together [and say], "O company of jinn, you have [misled] many of mankind." And their allies among mankind will say, "Our Lord, some of us made use of others, and we have [now] reached our term which You appointed for us." He will say, "The Fire is your residence, wherein you will abide eternally, except for what Allāh wills. Indeed, your Lord is Wise and Knowing."
wakadhālika nuwallī baʿḍa l-ẓālimīna baʿḍan bimā kānū yaksibūna
And thus will We make some of the wrongdoers allies of others for what they used to earn.
yāmaʿshara l-jini wal-insi alam yatikum rusulun minkum yaquṣṣūna ʿalaykum āyātī wayundhirūnakum liqāa yawmikum hādhā qālū shahid'nā ʿalā anfusinā wagharrathumu l-ḥayatu l-dun'yā washahidū ʿalā anfusihim annahum kānū kāfirīna
"O company of jinn and mankind, did there not come to you messengers from among you, relating to you My verses and warning you of the meeting of this Day of yours?" They will say, "We bear witness against ourselves"; and the worldly life had deluded them, and they will bear witness against themselves that they were disbelievers.
dhālika an lam yakun rabbuka muh'lika l-qurā biẓul'min wa-ahluhā ghāfilūna
That is because your Lord would not destroy the cities for wrongdoing while their people were unaware.
walikullin darajātun mimmā ʿamilū wamā rabbuka bighāfilin ʿammā yaʿmalūna
And for all are degrees [i.e., positions resulting] from what they have done. And your Lord is not unaware of what they do.
warabbuka l-ghaniyu dhū l-raḥmati in yasha yudh'hib'kum wayastakhlif min baʿdikum mā yashāu kamā ansha-akum min dhurriyyati qawmin ākharīna
And your Lord is the Free of need, the possessor of mercy. If He wills, He can do away with you and give succession after you to whomever He wills, just as He produced you from the descendants of another people.
inna mā tūʿadūna laātin wamā antum bimuʿ'jizīna
Indeed, what you are promised is coming, and you will not cause failure [to Allāh].
qul yāqawmi iʿ'malū ʿalā makānatikum innī ʿāmilun fasawfa taʿlamūna man takūnu lahu ʿāqibatu l-dāri innahu lā yuf'liḥu l-ẓālimūna
Say, "O my people, work according to your position; [for] indeed, I am working. And you are going to know who will have succession in the home. Indeed, the wrongdoers will not succeed."
wajaʿalū lillahi mimmā dhara-a mina l-ḥarthi wal-anʿāmi naṣīban faqālū hādhā lillahi bizaʿmihim wahādhā lishurakāinā famā kāna lishurakāihim falā yaṣilu ilā l-lahi wamā kāna lillahi fahuwa yaṣilu ilā shurakāihim sāa mā yaḥkumūna
And they [i.e., the polytheists] assign to Allāh from that which He created of crops and livestock a share and say, "This is for Allāh," by their claim, "and this is for our 'partners' [associated with Him]." But what is for their "partners" does not reach Allāh, while what is for Allāh - this reaches their "partners." Evil is that which they rule.
wakadhālika zayyana likathīrin mina l-mush'rikīna qatla awlādihim shurakāuhum liyur'dūhum waliyalbisū ʿalayhim dīnahum walaw shāa l-lahu mā faʿalūhu fadharhum wamā yaftarūna
And likewise, to many of the polytheists their partners have made [to seem] pleasing the killing of their children in order to bring about their destruction and to cover them with confusion in their religion. And if Allāh had willed, they would not have done so. So leave them and that which they invent.
waqālū hādhihi anʿāmun waḥarthun ḥij'run lā yaṭʿamuhā illā man nashāu bizaʿmihim wa-anʿāmun ḥurrimat ẓuhūruhā wa-anʿāmun lā yadhkurūna is'ma l-lahi ʿalayhā if'tirāan ʿalayhi sayajzīhim bimā kānū yaftarūna
And they say, "These animals and crops are forbidden; no one may eat from them except whom we will," by their claim. And there are those [camels] whose backs are forbidden [by them] and those upon which the name of Allāh is not mentioned - [all of this] an invention of untruth about Him. He will punish them for what they were inventing.
waqālū mā fī buṭūni hādhihi l-anʿāmi khāliṣatun lidhukūrinā wamuḥarramun ʿalā azwājinā wa-in yakun maytatan fahum fīhi shurakāu sayajzīhim waṣfahum innahu ḥakīmun ʿalīmun
And they say, "What is in the bellies of these animals is exclusively for our males and forbidden to our females. But if it is [born] dead, then all of them have shares therein." He will punish them for their description. Indeed, He is Wise and Knowing.
qad khasira alladhīna qatalū awlādahum safahan bighayri ʿil'min waḥarramū mā razaqahumu l-lahu if'tirāan ʿalā l-lahi qad ḍallū wamā kānū muh'tadīna
They will have lost who killed their children in foolishness without knowledge and prohibited what Allāh had provided for them, inventing untruth about Allāh. They have gone astray and were not [rightly] guided.