الأنعام
The Cattle
Explanations are simplified from tafsirs by Ibn Kathir, Mufti Muhammad Shafi, and Maulana Wahiduddin Khan. Spot an inaccuracy? Let us know.
wahuwa l-qāhiru fawqa ʿibādihi wayur'silu ʿalaykum ḥafaẓatan ḥattā idhā jāa aḥadakumu l-mawtu tawaffathu rusulunā wahum lā yufarriṭūna
And He is the subjugator over His servants, and He sends over you guardian-angels until, when death comes to one of you, Our messengers [i.e., angels of death] take him, and they do not fail [in their duties].
thumma ruddū ilā l-lahi mawlāhumu l-ḥaqi alā lahu l-ḥuk'mu wahuwa asraʿu l-ḥāsibīna
Then they [i.e., His servants] are returned to Allāh, their true Lord. Unquestionably, His is the judgement, and He is the swiftest of accountants.
qul man yunajjīkum min ẓulumāti l-bari wal-baḥri tadʿūnahu taḍarruʿan wakhuf'yatan la-in anjānā min hādhihi lanakūnanna mina l-shākirīna
Say, "Who rescues you from the darknesses of the land and sea [when] you call upon Him imploring [aloud] and privately, 'If He should save us from this [crisis], we will surely be among the thankful.'"
quli l-lahu yunajjīkum min'hā wamin kulli karbin thumma antum tush'rikūna
Say, "It is Allāh who saves you from it and from every distress; then you [still] associate others with Him."
qul huwa l-qādiru ʿalā an yabʿatha ʿalaykum ʿadhāban min fawqikum aw min taḥti arjulikum aw yalbisakum shiyaʿan wayudhīqa baʿḍakum basa baʿḍin unẓur kayfa nuṣarrifu l-āyāti laʿallahum yafqahūna
Say, "He is the [one] Able to send upon you affliction from above you or from beneath your feet or to confuse you [so you become] sects and make you taste the violence of one another." Look how We diversify the signs that they might understand.
wakadhaba bihi qawmuka wahuwa l-ḥaqu qul lastu ʿalaykum biwakīlin
But your people have denied it while it is the truth. Say, "I am not over you a manager [i.e., authority]."
likulli naba-in mus'taqarrun wasawfa taʿlamūna
For every news [i.e., happening] is a finality; and you are going to know.
wa-idhā ra-ayta alladhīna yakhūḍūna fī āyātinā fa-aʿriḍ ʿanhum ḥattā yakhūḍū fī ḥadīthin ghayrihi wa-immā yunsiyannaka l-shayṭānu falā taqʿud baʿda l-dhik'rā maʿa l-qawmi l-ẓālimīna
And when you see those who engage in [offensive] discourse concerning Our verses, then turn away from them until they enter into another conversation. And if Satan should cause you to forget, then do not remain after the reminder with the wrongdoing people.
wamā ʿalā alladhīna yattaqūna min ḥisābihim min shayin walākin dhik'rā laʿallahum yattaqūna
And those who fear Allāh are not held accountable for them [i.e., the disbelievers] at all, but [only for] a reminder - that perhaps they will fear Him.
wadhari alladhīna ittakhadhū dīnahum laʿiban walahwan wagharrathumu l-ḥayatu l-dun'yā wadhakkir bihi an tub'sala nafsun bimā kasabat laysa lahā min dūni l-lahi waliyyun walā shafīʿun wa-in taʿdil kulla ʿadlin lā yu'khadh min'hā ulāika alladhīna ub'silū bimā kasabū lahum sharābun min ḥamīmin waʿadhābun alīmun bimā kānū yakfurūna
And leave those who take their religion as amusement and diversion and whom the worldly life has deluded. But remind with it [i.e., the Qur’ān], lest a soul be given up to destruction for what it earned; it will have other than Allāh no protector and no intercessor. And if it should offer every compensation, it would not be taken from it [i.e., that soul]. Those are the ones who are given to destruction for what they have earned. For them will be a drink of scalding water and a painful punishment because they used to disbelieve.
qul anadʿū min dūni l-lahi mā lā yanfaʿunā walā yaḍurrunā wanuraddu ʿalā aʿqābinā baʿda idh hadānā l-lahu ka-alladhī is'tahwathu l-shayāṭīnu fī l-arḍi ḥayrāna lahu aṣḥābun yadʿūnahu ilā l-hudā i'tinā qul inna hudā l-lahi huwa l-hudā wa-umir'nā linus'lima lirabbi l-ʿālamīna
Say, "Shall we invoke instead of Allāh that which neither benefits us nor harms us and be turned back on our heels after Allāh has guided us? [We would then be] like one whom the devils enticed [to wander] upon the earth confused, [while] he has companions inviting him to guidance, [calling], 'Come to us.'" Say, "Indeed, the guidance of Allāh is the [only] guidance; and we have been commanded to submit to the Lord of the worlds.
wa-an aqīmū l-ṣalata wa-ittaqūhu wahuwa alladhī ilayhi tuḥ'sharūna
And to establish prayer and fear Him." And it is He to whom you will be gathered.
wahuwa alladhī khalaqa l-samāwāti wal-arḍa bil-ḥaqi wayawma yaqūlu kun fayakūnu qawluhu l-ḥaqu walahu l-mul'ku yawma yunfakhu fī l-ṣūri ʿālimu l-ghaybi wal-shahādati wahuwa l-ḥakīmu l-khabīru
And it is He who created the heavens and earth in truth. And the day [i.e., whenever] He says, "Be," and it is, His word is the truth. And His is the dominion [on] the Day the Horn is blown. [He is] Knower of the unseen and the witnessed; and He is the Wise, the Aware.
wa-idh qāla ib'rāhīmu li-abīhi āzara atattakhidhu aṣnāman ālihatan innī arāka waqawmaka fī ḍalālin mubīnin
And [mention, O Muḥammad], when Abraham said to his father Āzar, "Do you take idols as deities? Indeed, I see you and your people to be in manifest error."
wakadhālika nurī ib'rāhīma malakūta l-samāwāti wal-arḍi waliyakūna mina l-mūqinīna
And thus did We show Abraham the realm of the heavens and the earth that he would be among the certain [in faith].
falammā janna ʿalayhi al-laylu raā kawkaban qāla hādhā rabbī falammā afala qāla lā uḥibbu l-āfilīna
So when the night covered him [with darkness], he saw a star. He said, "This is my lord." But when it set, he said, "I like not those that set [i.e., disappear]."
falammā raā l-qamara bāzighan qāla hādhā rabbī falammā afala qāla la-in lam yahdinī rabbī la-akūnanna mina l-qawmi l-ḍālīna
And when he saw the moon rising, he said, "This is my lord." But when it set, he said, "Unless my Lord guides me, I will surely be among the people gone astray."
falammā raā l-shamsa bāzighatan qāla hādhā rabbī hādhā akbaru falammā afalat qāla yāqawmi innī barīon mimmā tush'rikūna
And when he saw the sun rising, he said, "This is my lord; this is greater." But when it set, he said, "O my people, indeed I am free from what you associate with Allāh.
innī wajjahtu wajhiya lilladhī faṭara l-samāwāti wal-arḍa ḥanīfan wamā anā mina l-mush'rikīna
Indeed, I have turned my face [i.e., self] toward He who created the heavens and the earth, inclining toward truth, and I am not of those who associate others with Allāh."
waḥājjahu qawmuhu qāla atuḥājjūnnī fī l-lahi waqad hadāni walā akhāfu mā tush'rikūna bihi illā an yashāa rabbī shayan wasiʿa rabbī kulla shayin ʿil'man afalā tatadhakkarūna
And his people argued with him. He said, "Do you argue with me concerning Allāh while He has guided me? And I fear not what you associate with Him [and will not be harmed] unless my Lord should will something. My Lord encompasses all things in knowledge; then will you not remember?