الأنعام
The Cattle
Explanations are simplified from tafsirs by Ibn Kathir, Mufti Muhammad Shafi, and Maulana Wahiduddin Khan. Spot an inaccuracy? Let us know.
bal iyyāhu tadʿūna fayakshifu mā tadʿūna ilayhi in shāa watansawna mā tush'rikūna
No, it is Him [alone] you would invoke, and He would remove that for which you invoked Him if He willed, and you would forget what you associate [with Him].
walaqad arsalnā ilā umamin min qablika fa-akhadhnāhum bil-basāi wal-ḍarāi laʿallahum yataḍarraʿūna
And We have already sent [messengers] to nations before you, [O Muḥammad]; then We seized them with poverty and hardship that perhaps they might humble themselves [to Us].
falawlā idh jāahum basunā taḍarraʿū walākin qasat qulūbuhum wazayyana lahumu l-shayṭānu mā kānū yaʿmalūna
Then why, when Our punishment came to them, did they not humble themselves? But their hearts became hardened, and Satan made attractive to them that which they were doing.
falammā nasū mā dhukkirū bihi fataḥnā ʿalayhim abwāba kulli shayin ḥattā idhā fariḥū bimā ūtū akhadhnāhum baghtatan fa-idhā hum mub'lisūna
So when they forgot that by which they had been reminded, We opened to them the doors of every [good] thing until, when they rejoiced in that which they were given, We seized them suddenly, and they were [then] in despair.
faquṭiʿa dābiru l-qawmi alladhīna ẓalamū wal-ḥamdu lillahi rabbi l-ʿālamīna
So the people that committed wrong were eliminated. And praise to Allāh, Lord of the worlds.
qul ara-aytum in akhadha l-lahu samʿakum wa-abṣārakum wakhatama ʿalā qulūbikum man ilāhun ghayru l-lahi yatīkum bihi unẓur kayfa nuṣarrifu l-āyāti thumma hum yaṣdifūna
Say, "Have you considered: if Allāh should take away your hearing and your sight and set a seal upon your hearts, which deity other than Allāh could bring them [back] to you?" Look how We diversify the verses; then they [still] turn away.
qul ara-aytakum in atākum ʿadhābu l-lahi baghtatan aw jahratan hal yuh'laku illā l-qawmu l-ẓālimūna
Say, "Have you considered: if the punishment of Allāh should come to you unexpectedly or manifestly, will any be destroyed but the wrongdoing people?"
wamā nur'silu l-mur'salīna illā mubashirīna wamundhirīna faman āmana wa-aṣlaḥa falā khawfun ʿalayhim walā hum yaḥzanūna
And We send not the messengers except as bringers of good tidings and warners. So whoever believes and reforms - there will be no fear concerning them, nor will they grieve.
wa-alladhīna kadhabū biāyātinā yamassuhumu l-ʿadhābu bimā kānū yafsuqūna
But those who deny Our verses - the punishment will touch them for their defiant disobedience.
qul lā aqūlu lakum ʿindī khazāinu l-lahi walā aʿlamu l-ghayba walā aqūlu lakum innī malakun in attabiʿu illā mā yūḥā ilayya qul hal yastawī l-aʿmā wal-baṣīru afalā tatafakkarūna
Say, [O Muḥammad], "I do not tell you that I have the depositories [containing the provision] of Allāh or that I know the unseen, nor do I tell you that I am an angel. I only follow what is revealed to me." Say, "Is the blind equivalent to the seeing? Then will you not give thought?"
wa-andhir bihi alladhīna yakhāfūna an yuḥ'sharū ilā rabbihim laysa lahum min dūnihi waliyyun walā shafīʿun laʿallahum yattaqūna
And warn by it [i.e., the Qur’ān] those who fear that they will be gathered before their Lord - for them besides Him will be no protector and no intercessor - that they might become righteous.
walā taṭrudi alladhīna yadʿūna rabbahum bil-ghadati wal-ʿashiyi yurīdūna wajhahu mā ʿalayka min ḥisābihim min shayin wamā min ḥisābika ʿalayhim min shayin fataṭrudahum fatakūna mina l-ẓālimīna
And do not send away those who call upon their Lord morning and afternoon, seeking His face [i.e., favor]. Not upon you is anything of their account and not upon them is anything of your account. So were you to send them away, you would [then] be of the wrongdoers.
wakadhālika fatannā baʿḍahum bibaʿḍin liyaqūlū ahāulāi manna l-lahu ʿalayhim min bayninā alaysa l-lahu bi-aʿlama bil-shākirīna
And thus We have tried some of them through others that they [i.e., the disbelievers] might say, "Is it these whom Allāh has favored among us?" Is not Allāh most knowing of those who are grateful?
wa-idhā jāaka alladhīna yu'minūna biāyātinā faqul salāmun ʿalaykum kataba rabbukum ʿalā nafsihi l-raḥmata annahu man ʿamila minkum sūan bijahālatin thumma tāba min baʿdihi wa-aṣlaḥa fa-annahu ghafūrun raḥīmun
And when those come to you who believe in Our verses, say, "Peace be upon you. Your Lord has decreed upon Himself mercy: that any of you who does wrong out of ignorance and then repents after that and corrects himself - indeed, He is Forgiving and Merciful."
wakadhālika nufaṣṣilu l-āyāti walitastabīna sabīlu l-muj'rimīna
And thus do We detail the verses, and [thus] the way of the criminals will become evident.
qul innī nuhītu an aʿbuda alladhīna tadʿūna min dūni l-lahi qul lā attabiʿu ahwāakum qad ḍalaltu idhan wamā anā mina l-muh'tadīna
Say, "Indeed, I have been forbidden to worship those you invoke besides Allāh." Say, "I will not follow your desires, for I would then have gone astray, and I would not be of the [rightly] guided."
qul innī ʿalā bayyinatin min rabbī wakadhabtum bihi mā ʿindī mā tastaʿjilūna bihi ini l-ḥuk'mu illā lillahi yaquṣṣu l-ḥaqa wahuwa khayru l-fāṣilīna
Say, "Indeed, I am on clear evidence from my Lord, and you have denied it. I do not have that for which you are impatient. The decision is only for Allāh. He relates the truth, and He is the best of deciders."
qul law anna ʿindī mā tastaʿjilūna bihi laquḍiya l-amru baynī wabaynakum wal-lahu aʿlamu bil-ẓālimīna
Say, "If I had that for which you are impatient, the matter would have been decided between me and you, but Allāh is most knowing of the wrongdoers."
waʿindahu mafātiḥu l-ghaybi lā yaʿlamuhā illā huwa wayaʿlamu mā fī l-bari wal-baḥri wamā tasquṭu min waraqatin illā yaʿlamuhā walā ḥabbatin fī ẓulumāti l-arḍi walā raṭbin walā yābisin illā fī kitābin mubīnin
And with Him are the keys of the unseen; none knows them except Him. And He knows what is on the land and in the sea. Not a leaf falls but that He knows it. And no grain is there within the darknesses of the earth and no moist or dry [thing] but that it is [written] in a clear record.
wahuwa alladhī yatawaffākum bi-al-layli wayaʿlamu mā jaraḥtum bil-nahāri thumma yabʿathukum fīhi liyuq'ḍā ajalun musamman thumma ilayhi marjiʿukum thumma yunabbi-ukum bimā kuntum taʿmalūna
And it is He who takes your souls by night and knows what you have committed by day. Then He revives you therein [i.e., by day] that a specified term may be fulfilled. Then to Him will be your return; then He will inform you about what you used to do.