الأعراف
The Heights
Explanations are simplified from tafsirs by Ibn Kathir, Mufti Muhammad Shafi, and Maulana Wahiduddin Khan. Spot an inaccuracy? Let us know.
wa-idh anjaynākum min āli fir'ʿawna yasūmūnakum sūa l-ʿadhābi yuqattilūna abnāakum wayastaḥyūna nisāakum wafī dhālikum balāon min rabbikum ʿaẓīmun
And [recall, O Children of Israel], when We saved you from the people of Pharaoh, [who were] afflicting you with the worst torment - killing your sons and keeping your women alive. And in that was a great trial from your Lord.
wawāʿadnā mūsā thalāthīna laylatan wa-atmamnāhā biʿashrin fatamma mīqātu rabbihi arbaʿīna laylatan waqāla mūsā li-akhīhi hārūna ukh'luf'nī fī qawmī wa-aṣliḥ walā tattabiʿ sabīla l-muf'sidīna
And We made an appointment with Moses for thirty nights and perfected them by [the addition of] ten; so the term of his Lord was completed as forty nights. And Moses said to his brother Aaron, "Take my place among my people, do right [by them], and do not follow the way of the corrupters."
walammā jāa mūsā limīqātinā wakallamahu rabbuhu qāla rabbi arinī anẓur ilayka qāla lan tarānī walākini unẓur ilā l-jabali fa-ini is'taqarra makānahu fasawfa tarānī falammā tajallā rabbuhu lil'jabali jaʿalahu dakkan wakharra mūsā ṣaʿiqan falammā afāqa qāla sub'ḥānaka tub'tu ilayka wa-anā awwalu l-mu'minīna
And when Moses arrived at Our appointed time and his Lord spoke to him, he said, "My Lord, show me [Yourself] that I may look at You." [Allāh] said, "You will not see Me, but look at the mountain; if it should remain in place, then you will see Me." But when his Lord appeared to the mountain, He rendered it level, and Moses fell unconscious. And when he awoke, he said, "Exalted are You! I have repented to You, and I am the first [among my people] of the believers."
qāla yāmūsā innī iṣ'ṭafaytuka ʿalā l-nāsi birisālātī wabikalāmī fakhudh mā ātaytuka wakun mina l-shākirīna
[Allāh] said, "O Moses, I have chosen you over the people with My messages and My words [to you]. So take what I have given you and be among the grateful."
wakatabnā lahu fī l-alwāḥi min kulli shayin mawʿiẓatan watafṣīlan likulli shayin fakhudh'hā biquwwatin wamur qawmaka yakhudhū bi-aḥsanihā sa-urīkum dāra l-fāsiqīna
And We wrote for him on the tablets [something] of all things - instruction and explanation for all things, [saying], "Take them with determination and order your people to take the best of it. I will show you the home of the defiantly disobedient."
sa-aṣrifu ʿan āyātiya alladhīna yatakabbarūna fī l-arḍi bighayri l-ḥaqi wa-in yaraw kulla āyatin lā yu'minū bihā wa-in yaraw sabīla l-rush'di lā yattakhidhūhu sabīlan wa-in yaraw sabīla l-ghayi yattakhidhūhu sabīlan dhālika bi-annahum kadhabū biāyātinā wakānū ʿanhā ghāfilīna
I will turn away from My signs those who are arrogant upon the earth without right; and if they should see every sign, they will not believe in it. And if they see the way of consciousness, they will not adopt it as a way; but if they see the way of error, they will adopt it as a way. That is because they have denied Our signs and they were heedless of them.
wa-alladhīna kadhabū biāyātinā waliqāi l-ākhirati ḥabiṭat aʿmāluhum hal yuj'zawna illā mā kānū yaʿmalūna
Those who denied Our signs and the meeting of the Hereafter - their deeds have become worthless. Are they recompensed except for what they used to do?
wa-ittakhadha qawmu mūsā min baʿdihi min ḥuliyyihim ʿij'lan jasadan lahu khuwārun alam yaraw annahu lā yukallimuhum walā yahdīhim sabīlan ittakhadhūhu wakānū ẓālimīna
And the people of Moses made, after [his departure], from their ornaments a calf - an image having a lowing sound. Did they not see that it could neither speak to them nor guide them to a way? They took it [for worship], and they were wrongdoers.
walammā suqiṭa fī aydīhim wara-aw annahum qad ḍallū qālū la-in lam yarḥamnā rabbunā wayaghfir lanā lanakūnanna mina l-khāsirīna
And when regret overcame them and they saw that they had gone astray, they said, "If our Lord does not have mercy upon us and forgive us, we will surely be among the losers."
walammā rajaʿa mūsā ilā qawmihi ghaḍbāna asifan qāla bi'samā khalaftumūnī min baʿdī aʿajil'tum amra rabbikum wa-alqā l-alwāḥa wa-akhadha birasi akhīhi yajurruhu ilayhi qāla ib'na umma inna l-qawma is'taḍʿafūnī wakādū yaqtulūnanī falā tush'mit biya l-aʿdāa walā tajʿalnī maʿa l-qawmi l-ẓālimīna
And when Moses returned to his people, angry and grieved, he said, "How wretched is that by which you have replaced me after [my departure]. Were you impatient over the matter of your Lord?" And he threw down the tablets and seized his brother by [the hair of] his head, pulling him toward him. [Aaron] said, "O son of my mother, indeed the people overpowered me and were about to kill me, so let not the enemies rejoice over me and do not place me among the wrongdoing people."
qāla rabbi igh'fir lī wali-akhī wa-adkhil'nā fī raḥmatika wa-anta arḥamu l-rāḥimīna
[Moses] said, "My Lord, forgive me and my brother and admit us into Your mercy, for You are the most merciful of the merciful."
inna alladhīna ittakhadhū l-ʿij'la sayanāluhum ghaḍabun min rabbihim wadhillatun fī l-ḥayati l-dun'yā wakadhālika najzī l-muf'tarīna
Indeed, those who took the calf [for worship] will obtain anger from their Lord and humiliation in the life of this world, and thus do We recompense the inventors [of falsehood].
wa-alladhīna ʿamilū l-sayiāti thumma tābū min baʿdihā waāmanū inna rabbaka min baʿdihā laghafūrun raḥīmun
But those who committed misdeeds and then repented after them and believed - indeed your Lord, thereafter, is Forgiving and Merciful.
walammā sakata ʿan mūsā l-ghaḍabu akhadha l-alwāḥa wafī nus'khatihā hudan waraḥmatun lilladhīna hum lirabbihim yarhabūna
And when the anger subsided in Moses, he took up the tablets; and in their inscription was guidance and mercy for those who are fearful of their Lord.
wa-ikh'tāra mūsā qawmahu sabʿīna rajulan limīqātinā falammā akhadhathumu l-rajfatu qāla rabbi law shi'ta ahlaktahum min qablu wa-iyyāya atuh'likunā bimā faʿala l-sufahāu minnā in hiya illā fit'natuka tuḍillu bihā man tashāu watahdī man tashāu anta waliyyunā fa-igh'fir lanā wa-ir'ḥamnā wa-anta khayru l-ghāfirīna
And Moses chose from his people seventy men for Our appointment. And when the earthquake seized them, he said, "My Lord, if You had willed, You could have destroyed them before and me [as well]. Would You destroy us for what the foolish among us have done? This is not but Your trial by which You send astray whom You will and guide whom You will. You are our Protector, so forgive us and have mercy upon us; and You are the best of forgivers.
wa-uk'tub lanā fī hādhihi l-dun'yā ḥasanatan wafī l-ākhirati innā hud'nā ilayka qāla ʿadhābī uṣību bihi man ashāu waraḥmatī wasiʿat kulla shayin fasa-aktubuhā lilladhīna yattaqūna wayu'tūna l-zakata wa-alladhīna hum biāyātinā yu'minūna
And decree for us in this world [that which is] good and [also] in the Hereafter; indeed, we have turned back to You." [Allāh] said, "My punishment - I afflict with it whom I will, but My mercy encompasses all things." So I will decree it [especially] for those who fear Me and give zakāh and those who believe in Our verses-
alladhīna yattabiʿūna l-rasūla l-nabiya l-umiya alladhī yajidūnahu maktūban ʿindahum fī l-tawrāti wal-injīli yamuruhum bil-maʿrūfi wayanhāhum ʿani l-munkari wayuḥillu lahumu l-ṭayibāti wayuḥarrimu ʿalayhimu l-khabāitha wayaḍaʿu ʿanhum iṣ'rahum wal-aghlāla allatī kānat ʿalayhim fa-alladhīna āmanū bihi waʿazzarūhu wanaṣarūhu wa-ittabaʿū l-nūra alladhī unzila maʿahu ulāika humu l-muf'liḥūna
Those who follow the Messenger, the unlettered prophet, whom they find written [i.e., described] in what they have of the Torah and the Gospel, who enjoins upon them what is right and prohibits them from what is wrong and makes lawful for them what is good and forbids them from what is evil and relieves them of their burden and the shackles which were upon them. So they who have believed in him, honored him, supported him and followed the light which was sent down with him - it is those who will be the successful.
qul yāayyuhā l-nāsu innī rasūlu l-lahi ilaykum jamīʿan alladhī lahu mul'ku l-samāwāti wal-arḍi lā ilāha illā huwa yuḥ'yī wayumītu faāminū bil-lahi warasūlihi l-nabiyi l-umiyi alladhī yu'minu bil-lahi wakalimātihi wa-ittabiʿūhu laʿallakum tahtadūna
Say, [O Muḥammad], "O mankind, indeed I am the Messenger of Allāh to you all, [from Him] to whom belongs the dominion of the heavens and the earth. There is no deity except Him; He gives life and causes death." So believe in Allāh and His Messenger, the unlettered prophet, who believes in Allāh and His words, and follow him that you may be guided.
wamin qawmi mūsā ummatun yahdūna bil-ḥaqi wabihi yaʿdilūna
And among the people of Moses is a community which guides by truth and by it establishes justice.
waqaṭṭaʿnāhumu ith'natay ʿashrata asbāṭan umaman wa-awḥaynā ilā mūsā idhi is'tasqāhu qawmuhu ani iḍ'rib biʿaṣāka l-ḥajara fa-inbajasat min'hu ith'natā ʿashrata ʿaynan qad ʿalima kullu unāsin mashrabahum waẓallalnā ʿalayhimu l-ghamāma wa-anzalnā ʿalayhimu l-mana wal-salwā kulū min ṭayyibāti mā razaqnākum wamā ẓalamūnā walākin kānū anfusahum yaẓlimūna
And We divided them into twelve descendant tribes [as distinct] nations. And We inspired to Moses when his people implored him for water, "Strike with your staff the stone," and there gushed forth from it twelve springs. Every people [i.e., tribe] knew its watering place. And We shaded them with clouds and sent down upon them manna and quails, [saying], "Eat from the good things with which We have provided you." And they wronged Us not, but they were [only] wronging themselves.