Stories & Parables
القصص والأمثالAyahs containing memorable parables and lessons from Quranic stories.
19 ayahs
laqad kāna fī qaṣaṣihim ʿib'ratun li-ulī l-albābi mā kāna ḥadīthan yuf'tarā walākin taṣdīqa alladhī bayna yadayhi watafṣīla kulli shayin wahudan waraḥmatan liqawmin yu'minūna
There was certainly in their stories a lesson for those of understanding. Never was it [i.e., the Qur’ān] a narration invented, but a confirmation of what was before it and a detailed explanation of all things and guidance and mercy for a people who believe.
inna l-laha lā yastaḥyī an yaḍriba mathalan mā baʿūḍatan famā fawqahā fa-ammā alladhīna āmanū fayaʿlamūna annahu l-ḥaqu min rabbihim wa-ammā alladhīna kafarū fayaqūlūna mādhā arāda l-lahu bihādhā mathalan yuḍillu bihi kathīran wayahdī bihi kathīran wamā yuḍillu bihi illā l-fāsiqīna
Indeed, Allāh is not timid to present an example - that of a mosquito or what is smaller than it. And those who have believed know that it is the truth from their Lord. But as for those who disbelieve, they say, "What did Allāh intend by this as an example?" He misleads many thereby and guides many thereby. And He misleads not except the defiantly disobedient,
alam tara kayfa ḍaraba l-lahu mathalan kalimatan ṭayyibatan kashajaratin ṭayyibatin aṣluhā thābitun wafarʿuhā fī l-samāi
Have you not considered how Allāh presents an example, [making] a good word like a good tree, whose root is firmly fixed and its branches [high] in the sky?
tu'tī ukulahā kulla ḥīnin bi-idh'ni rabbihā wayaḍribu l-lahu l-amthāla lilnnāsi laʿallahum yatadhakkarūna
It produces its fruit all the time, by permission of its Lord. And Allāh presents examples for the people that perhaps they will be reminded.
wamathalu kalimatin khabīthatin kashajaratin khabīthatin uj'tuthat min fawqi l-arḍi mā lahā min qarārin
And the example of a bad word is like a bad tree, uprooted from the surface of the earth, not having any stability.
al-lahu nūru l-samāwāti wal-arḍi mathalu nūrihi kamish'katin fīhā miṣ'bāḥun l-miṣ'bāḥu fī zujājatin l-zujājatu ka-annahā kawkabun durriyyun yūqadu min shajaratin mubārakatin zaytūnatin lā sharqiyyatin walā gharbiyyatin yakādu zaytuhā yuḍīu walaw lam tamsashu nārun nūrun ʿalā nūrin yahdī l-lahu linūrihi man yashāu wayaḍribu l-lahu l-amthāla lilnnāsi wal-lahu bikulli shayin ʿalīmun
Allāh is the Light of the heavens and the earth. The example of His light is like a niche within which is a lamp; the lamp is within glass, the glass as if it were a pearly [white] star lit from [the oil of] a blessed olive tree, neither of the east nor of the west, whose oil would almost glow even if untouched by fire. Light upon light. Allāh guides to His light whom He wills. And Allāh presents examples for the people, and Allāh is Knowing of all things.
mathalu alladhīna yunfiqūna amwālahum fī sabīli l-lahi kamathali ḥabbatin anbatat sabʿa sanābila fī kulli sunbulatin mi-atu ḥabbatin wal-lahu yuḍāʿifu liman yashāu wal-lahu wāsiʿun ʿalīmun
The example of those who spend their wealth in the way of Allāh is like a seed [of grain] which grows seven spikes; in each spike is a hundred grains. And Allāh multiplies [His reward] for whom He wills. And Allāh is all-Encompassing and Knowing.
wamathalu alladhīna kafarū kamathali alladhī yanʿiqu bimā lā yasmaʿu illā duʿāan wanidāan ṣummun buk'mun ʿum'yun fahum lā yaʿqilūna
The example of those who disbelieve is like that of one who shouts at what hears nothing but calls and cries [i.e., cattle or sheep] - deaf, dumb and blind, so they do not understand.
innamā mathalu l-ḥayati l-dun'yā kamāin anzalnāhu mina l-samāi fa-ikh'talaṭa bihi nabātu l-arḍi mimmā yakulu l-nāsu wal-anʿāmu ḥattā idhā akhadhati l-arḍu zukh'rufahā wa-izzayyanat waẓanna ahluhā annahum qādirūna ʿalayhā atāhā amrunā laylan aw nahāran fajaʿalnāhā ḥaṣīdan ka-an lam taghna bil-amsi kadhālika nufaṣṣilu l-āyāti liqawmin yatafakkarūna
The example of [this] worldly life is but like rain which We have sent down from the sky that the plants of the earth absorb - [those] from which men and livestock eat - until, when the earth has taken on its adornment and is beautified and its people suppose that they have capability over it, there comes to it Our command by night or by day, and We make it as a harvest, as if it had not flourished yesterday. Thus do We explain in detail the signs for a people who give thought.
anzala mina l-samāi māan fasālat awdiyatun biqadarihā fa-iḥ'tamala l-saylu zabadan rābiyan wamimmā yūqidūna ʿalayhi fī l-nāri ib'tighāa ḥil'yatin aw matāʿin zabadun mith'luhu kadhālika yaḍribu l-lahu l-ḥaqa wal-bāṭila fa-ammā l-zabadu fayadhhabu jufāan wa-ammā mā yanfaʿu l-nāsa fayamkuthu fī l-arḍi kadhālika yaḍribu l-lahu l-amthāla
He sends down from the sky, rain, and valleys flow according to their capacity, and the torrent carries a rising foam. And from that [ore] which they heat in the fire, desiring adornments and utensils, is a foam like it. Thus Allāh presents [the example of] truth and falsehood. As for the foam, it vanishes, [being] cast off; but as for that which benefits the people, it remains on the earth. Thus does Allāh present examples.
mathalu alladhīna ittakhadhū min dūni l-lahi awliyāa kamathali l-ʿankabūti ittakhadhat baytan wa-inna awhana l-buyūti labaytu l-ʿankabūti law kānū yaʿlamūna
The example of those who take allies other than Allāh is like that of the spider who takes [i.e., constructs] a home. And indeed, the weakest of homes is the home of the spider, if they only knew.
ḍaraba l-lahu mathalan rajulan fīhi shurakāu mutashākisūna warajulan salaman lirajulin hal yastawiyāni mathalan l-ḥamdu lillahi bal aktharuhum lā yaʿlamūna
Allāh presents an example: a man [i.e., slave] owned by quarreling partners and another belonging exclusively to one man - are they equal in comparison? Praise be to Allāh! But most of them do not know.
mathalu l-janati allatī wuʿida l-mutaqūna fīhā anhārun min māin ghayri āsinin wa-anhārun min labanin lam yataghayyar ṭaʿmuhu wa-anhārun min khamrin ladhatin lilshāribīna wa-anhārun min ʿasalin muṣaffan walahum fīhā min kulli l-thamarāti wamaghfiratun min rabbihim kaman huwa khālidun fī l-nāri wasuqū māan ḥamīman faqaṭṭaʿa amʿāahum
Is the description of Paradise, which the righteous are promised, wherein are rivers of water unaltered, rivers of milk the taste of which never changes, rivers of wine delicious to those who drink, and rivers of purified honey, in which they will have from all [kinds of] fruits and forgiveness from their Lord... [Are its inhabitants] like those who abide eternally in the Fire and are given to drink scalding water that will sever their intestines?
law anzalnā hādhā l-qur'āna ʿalā jabalin lara-aytahu khāshiʿan mutaṣaddiʿan min khashyati l-lahi watil'ka l-amthālu naḍribuhā lilnnāsi laʿallahum yatafakkarūna
If We had sent down this Qur’ān upon a mountain, you would have seen it humbled and splitting from fear of Allāh. And these examples We present to the people that perhaps they will give thought.
mathalu alladhīna ḥummilū l-tawrāta thumma lam yaḥmilūhā kamathali l-ḥimāri yaḥmilu asfāran bi'sa mathalu l-qawmi alladhīna kadhabū biāyāti l-lahi wal-lahu lā yahdī l-qawma l-ẓālimīna
The example of those who were entrusted with the Torah and then did not take it on is like that of a donkey who carries volumes [of books]. Wretched is the example of the people who deny the signs of Allāh. And Allāh does not guide the wrongdoing people.
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.
wa-iḍ'rib lahum mathalan rajulayni jaʿalnā li-aḥadihimā jannatayni min aʿnābin waḥafafnāhumā binakhlin wajaʿalnā baynahumā zarʿan
And present to them an example of two men: We granted to one of them two gardens of grapevines, and We bordered them with palm trees and placed between them [fields of] crops.
kil'tā l-janatayni ātat ukulahā walam taẓlim min'hu shayan wafajjarnā khilālahumā naharan
Each of the two gardens produced its fruit and did not fall short thereof in anything. And We caused to gush forth within them a river.
wakāna lahu thamarun faqāla liṣāḥibihi wahuwa yuḥāwiruhu anā aktharu minka mālan wa-aʿazzu nafaran
And he had fruit, so he said to his companion while he was conversing with him, "I am greater than you in wealth and mightier in [numbers of] men."