Surah Al-A'raf, Ayah 161-180 — Word by Word
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 qīla lahumu us'kunū hādhihi l-qaryata wakulū min'hā ḥaythu shi'tum waqūlū ḥiṭṭatun wa-ud'khulū l-bāba sujjadan naghfir lakum khaṭīātikum sanazīdu l-muḥ'sinīna
And [mention, O Muḥammad], when it was said to them, "Dwell in this city [i.e., Jerusalem] and eat from it wherever you will and say, 'Relieve us of our burdens [i.e., sins],' and enter the gate bowing humbly; We will [then] forgive you your sins. We will increase the doers of good [in goodness and reward]."
fabaddala alladhīna ẓalamū min'hum qawlan ghayra alladhī qīla lahum fa-arsalnā ʿalayhim rij'zan mina l-samāi bimā kānū yaẓlimūna
But those who wronged among them changed [the words] to a statement other than that which had been said to them. So We sent upon them a punishment from the sky for the wrong that they were doing.
wasalhum ʿani l-qaryati allatī kānat ḥāḍirata l-baḥri idh yaʿdūna fī l-sabti idh tatīhim ḥītānuhum yawma sabtihim shurraʿan wayawma lā yasbitūna lā tatīhim kadhālika nablūhum bimā kānū yafsuqūna
And ask them about the town that was by the sea - when they transgressed in [the matter of] the sabbath - when their fish came to them openly on their sabbath day, and the day they had no sabbath they did not come to them. Thus did We give them trial because they were defiantly disobedient.
wa-idh qālat ummatun min'hum lima taʿiẓūna qawman l-lahu muh'likuhum aw muʿadhibuhum ʿadhāban shadīdan qālū maʿdhiratan ilā rabbikum walaʿallahum yattaqūna
And when a community among them said, "Why do you advise [or warn] a people whom Allāh is [about] to destroy or to punish with a severe punishment?" they [the advisors] said, "To be absolved before your Lord and perhaps they may fear Him."
falammā nasū mā dhukkirū bihi anjaynā alladhīna yanhawna ʿani l-sūi wa-akhadhnā alladhīna ẓalamū biʿadhābin baīsin bimā kānū yafsuqūna
And when they [i.e., those advised] forgot that by which they had been reminded, We saved those who had forbidden evil and seized those who wronged, with a wretched punishment, because they were defiantly disobeying.
falammā ʿataw ʿan mā nuhū ʿanhu qul'nā lahum kūnū qiradatan khāsiīna
So when they were insolent about that which they had been forbidden, We said to them, "Be apes, despised."
wa-idh ta-adhana rabbuka layabʿathanna ʿalayhim ilā yawmi l-qiyāmati man yasūmuhum sūa l-ʿadhābi inna rabbaka lasarīʿu l-ʿiqābi wa-innahu laghafūrun raḥīmun
And [mention] when your Lord declared that He would surely [continue to] send upon them until the Day of Resurrection those who would afflict them with the worst torment. Indeed, your Lord is swift in penalty; but indeed, He is Forgiving and Merciful.
waqaṭṭaʿnāhum fī l-arḍi umaman min'humu l-ṣāliḥūna wamin'hum dūna dhālika wabalawnāhum bil-ḥasanāti wal-sayiāti laʿallahum yarjiʿūna
And We divided them throughout the earth into nations. Of them some were righteous, and of them some were otherwise. And We tested them with good [times] and bad that perhaps they would return [to obedience].
fakhalafa min baʿdihim khalfun warithū l-kitāba yakhudhūna ʿaraḍa hādhā l-adnā wayaqūlūna sayugh'faru lanā wa-in yatihim ʿaraḍun mith'luhu yakhudhūhu alam yu'khadh ʿalayhim mīthāqu l-kitābi an lā yaqūlū ʿalā l-lahi illā l-ḥaqa wadarasū mā fīhi wal-dāru l-ākhiratu khayrun lilladhīna yattaqūna afalā taʿqilūna
And there followed them successors who inherited the Scripture [while] taking the commodities of this lower life and saying, "It will be forgiven for us." And if an offer like it comes to them, they will [again] take it. Was not the covenant of the Scripture [i.e., the Torah] taken from them that they would not say about Allāh except the truth, and they studied what was in it? And the home of the Hereafter is better for those who fear Allāh, so will you not use reason?
wa-alladhīna yumassikūna bil-kitābi wa-aqāmū l-ṣalata innā lā nuḍīʿu ajra l-muṣ'liḥīna
But those who hold fast to the Book [i.e., the Qur’ān] and establish prayer - indeed, We will not allow to be lost the reward of the reformers.
wa-idh nataqnā l-jabala fawqahum ka-annahu ẓullatun waẓannū annahu wāqiʿun bihim khudhū mā ātaynākum biquwwatin wa-udh'kurū mā fīhi laʿallakum tattaqūna
And [mention] when We raised the mountain above them as if it was a dark cloud and they were certain that it would fall upon them, [and Allāh said], "Take what We have given you with determination and remember what is in it that you might fear Allāh."
wa-idh akhadha rabbuka min banī ādama min ẓuhūrihim dhurriyyatahum wa-ashhadahum ʿalā anfusihim alastu birabbikum qālū balā shahid'nā an taqūlū yawma l-qiyāmati innā kunnā ʿan hādhā ghāfilīna
And [mention] when your Lord took from the children of Adam - from their loins - their descendants and made them testify of themselves, [saying to them], "Am I not your Lord?" They said, "Yes, we have testified." [This] - lest you should say on the Day of Resurrection, "Indeed, we were of this unaware."
aw taqūlū innamā ashraka ābāunā min qablu wakunnā dhurriyyatan min baʿdihim afatuh'likunā bimā faʿala l-mub'ṭilūna
Or [lest] you say, "It was only that our fathers associated [others in worship] with Allāh before, and we were but descendants after them. Then would You destroy us for what the falsifiers have done?"
wakadhālika nufaṣṣilu l-āyāti walaʿallahum yarjiʿūna
And thus do We [explain in] detail the verses, and perhaps they will return.
wa-ut'lu ʿalayhim naba-a alladhī ātaynāhu āyātinā fa-insalakha min'hā fa-atbaʿahu l-shayṭānu fakāna mina l-ghāwīna
And recite to them, [O Muḥammad], the news of him to whom We gave [knowledge of] Our signs, but he detached himself from them; so Satan pursued him, and he became of the deviators.
walaw shi'nā larafaʿnāhu bihā walākinnahu akhlada ilā l-arḍi wa-ittabaʿa hawāhu famathaluhu kamathali l-kalbi in taḥmil ʿalayhi yalhath aw tatruk'hu yalhath dhālika mathalu l-qawmi alladhīna kadhabū biāyātinā fa-uq'ṣuṣi l-qaṣaṣa laʿallahum yatafakkarūna
And if We had willed, We could have elevated him thereby, but he adhered [instead] to the earth and followed his own desire. So his example is like that of the dog: if you chase him, he pants, or if you leave him, he [still] pants. That is the example of the people who denied Our signs. So relate the stories that perhaps they will give thought.
sāa mathalan l-qawmu alladhīna kadhabū biāyātinā wa-anfusahum kānū yaẓlimūna
How evil an example [is that of] the people who denied Our signs and used to wrong themselves.
man yahdi l-lahu fahuwa l-muh'tadī waman yuḍ'lil fa-ulāika humu l-khāsirūna
Whoever Allāh guides - he is the [rightly] guided; and whoever He sends astray - it is those who are the losers.
walaqad dharanā lijahannama kathīran mina l-jini wal-insi lahum qulūbun lā yafqahūna bihā walahum aʿyunun lā yub'ṣirūna bihā walahum ādhānun lā yasmaʿūna bihā ulāika kal-anʿāmi bal hum aḍallu ulāika humu l-ghāfilūna
And We have certainly created for Hell many of the jinn and mankind. They have hearts with which they do not understand, they have eyes with which they do not see, and they have ears with which they do not hear. Those are like livestock; rather, they are more astray. It is they who are the heedless.
walillahi l-asmāu l-ḥus'nā fa-id'ʿūhu bihā wadharū alladhīna yul'ḥidūna fī asmāihi sayuj'zawna mā kānū yaʿmalūna
And to Allāh belong the best names, so invoke Him by them. And leave [the company of] those who practice deviation concerning His names. They will be recompensed for what they have been doing.