الأعراف
The Heights
Explanations are simplified from tafsirs by Ibn Kathir, Mufti Muhammad Shafi, and Maulana Wahiduddin Khan. Spot an inaccuracy? Let us know.
innakum latatūna l-rijāla shahwatan min dūni l-nisāi bal antum qawmun mus'rifūna
Indeed, you approach men with desire, instead of women. Rather, you are a transgressing people."
wamā kāna jawāba qawmihi illā an qālū akhrijūhum min qaryatikum innahum unāsun yataṭahharūna
But the answer of his people was only that they said, "Evict them from your city! Indeed, they are men who keep themselves pure."
fa-anjaynāhu wa-ahlahu illā im'ra-atahu kānat mina l-ghābirīna
So We saved him and his family, except for his wife; she was of those who remained [with the evildoers].
wa-amṭarnā ʿalayhim maṭaran fa-unẓur kayfa kāna ʿāqibatu l-muj'rimīna
And We rained upon them a rain [of stones]. Then see how was the end of the criminals.
wa-ilā madyana akhāhum shuʿayban qāla yāqawmi uʿ'budū l-laha mā lakum min ilāhin ghayruhu qad jāatkum bayyinatun min rabbikum fa-awfū l-kayla wal-mīzāna walā tabkhasū l-nāsa ashyāahum walā tuf'sidū fī l-arḍi baʿda iṣ'lāḥihā dhālikum khayrun lakum in kuntum mu'minīna
And to [the people of] Madyan [We sent] their brother Shuʿayb. He said, "O my people, worship Allāh; you have no deity other than Him. There has come to you clear evidence from your Lord. So fulfill the measure and weight and do not deprive people of their due and cause not corruption upon the earth after its reformation. That is better for you, if you should be believers.
walā taqʿudū bikulli ṣirāṭin tūʿidūna wataṣuddūna ʿan sabīli l-lahi man āmana bihi watabghūnahā ʿiwajan wa-udh'kurū idh kuntum qalīlan fakatharakum wa-unẓurū kayfa kāna ʿāqibatu l-muf'sidīna
And do not sit on every path, threatening and averting from the way of Allāh those who believe in Him, seeking to make it [seem] deviant. And remember when you were few and He increased you. And see how was the end of the corrupters.
wa-in kāna ṭāifatun minkum āmanū bi-alladhī ur'sil'tu bihi waṭāifatun lam yu'minū fa-iṣ'birū ḥattā yaḥkuma l-lahu baynanā wahuwa khayru l-ḥākimīna
And if there should be a group among you who has believed in that with which I have been sent and a group that has not believed, then be patient until Allāh judges between us. And He is the best of judges."
qāla l-mala-u alladhīna is'takbarū min qawmihi lanukh'rijannaka yāshuʿaybu wa-alladhīna āmanū maʿaka min qaryatinā aw lataʿūdunna fī millatinā qāla awalaw kunnā kārihīna
Said the eminent ones who were arrogant among his people, "We will surely evict you, O Shuʿayb, and those who have believed with you from our city, or you must return to our religion." He said, "Even if we were unwilling?
qadi if'taraynā ʿalā l-lahi kadhiban in ʿud'nā fī millatikum baʿda idh najjānā l-lahu min'hā wamā yakūnu lanā an naʿūda fīhā illā an yashāa l-lahu rabbunā wasiʿa rabbunā kulla shayin ʿil'man ʿalā l-lahi tawakkalnā rabbanā if'taḥ baynanā wabayna qawminā bil-ḥaqi wa-anta khayru l-fātiḥīna
We would have invented against Allāh a lie if we returned to your religion after Allāh had saved us from it. And it is not for us to return to it except that Allāh, our Lord, should will. Our Lord has encompassed all things in knowledge. Upon Allāh we have relied. Our Lord, decide between us and our people in truth, and You are the best of those who give decision."
waqāla l-mala-u alladhīna kafarū min qawmihi la-ini ittabaʿtum shuʿayban innakum idhan lakhāsirūna
Said the eminent ones who disbelieved among his people, "If you should follow Shuʿayb, indeed, you would then be losers."
fa-akhadhathumu l-rajfatu fa-aṣbaḥū fī dārihim jāthimīna
So the earthquake seized them, and they became within their home [corpses] fallen prone.
alladhīna kadhabū shuʿayban ka-an lam yaghnaw fīhā alladhīna kadhabū shuʿayban kānū humu l-khāsirīna
Those who denied Shuʿayb - it was as though they had never resided there. Those who denied Shuʿayb - it was they who were the losers.
fatawallā ʿanhum waqāla yāqawmi laqad ablaghtukum risālāti rabbī wanaṣaḥtu lakum fakayfa āsā ʿalā qawmin kāfirīna
And he [i.e., Shuʿayb] turned away from them and said, "O my people, I had certainly conveyed to you the messages of my Lord and advised you, so how could I grieve for a disbelieving people?"
wamā arsalnā fī qaryatin min nabiyyin illā akhadhnā ahlahā bil-basāi wal-ḍarāi laʿallahum yaḍḍarraʿūna
And We sent to no city a prophet [who was denied] except that We seized its people with poverty and hardship that they might humble themselves [to Allāh].
thumma baddalnā makāna l-sayi-ati l-ḥasanata ḥattā ʿafaw waqālū qad massa ābāanā l-ḍarāu wal-sarāu fa-akhadhnāhum baghtatan wahum lā yashʿurūna
Then We exchanged in place of the bad [condition], good, until they increased [and prospered] and said, "Our fathers [also] were touched with hardship and ease." So We seized them suddenly while they did not perceive.
walaw anna ahla l-qurā āmanū wa-ittaqaw lafataḥnā ʿalayhim barakātin mina l-samāi wal-arḍi walākin kadhabū fa-akhadhnāhum bimā kānū yaksibūna
And if only the people of the cities had believed and feared Allāh, We would have opened [i.e., bestowed] upon them blessings from the heaven and the earth; but they denied [the messengers], so We seized them for what they were earning.
afa-amina ahlu l-qurā an yatiyahum basunā bayātan wahum nāimūna
Then, did the people of the cities feel secure from Our punishment coming to them at night while they were asleep?
awa-amina ahlu l-qurā an yatiyahum basunā ḍuḥan wahum yalʿabūna
Or did the people of the cities feel secure from Our punishment coming to them in the morning while they were at play?
afa-aminū makra l-lahi falā yamanu makra l-lahi illā l-qawmu l-khāsirūna
Then, did they feel secure from the plan of Allāh? But no one feels secure from the plan of Allāh except the losing people.
awalam yahdi lilladhīna yarithūna l-arḍa min baʿdi ahlihā an law nashāu aṣabnāhum bidhunūbihim wanaṭbaʿu ʿalā qulūbihim fahum lā yasmaʿūna
Has it not become clear to those who inherited the earth after its [previous] people that if We willed, We could afflict them for their sins? But We seal over their hearts so they do not hear.