Surah Ash-Shu'ara English Translation & Transliteration

¹Ta Sin Mim.

²These are the verses of the Book that makes the truth clear.

³You will almost destroy yourself because they do not become believers.

⁴Had We willed, We would have sent down upon them from the sky such a miracle that they would all have had to bow before it and believe.

⁵Whenever a new message comes to them from the Most Merciful (ar-Rahman), the only thing they do is turn away from it.

⁶Thus they clung to lies in the face of this message/the Quran, but the news they made light of will soon befall them too.

⁷Do they, then, never look upon the earth with an eye to taking a lesson? We have caused plants of every beautiful kind to grow on it.

⁸In this too there is a lesson to be learned. Yet most of them still did not believe.

⁹Be that as it may, your Lord is still limitless in power and an infinite source of mercy.

¹⁰Recall when your Lord called out to Moses: "Go to that people of wrongdoers!"

¹¹To the people of Pharaoh... Ask them: Will they still not give up disbelief and wrongdoing?

¹²Moses said: "My Lord! I fear that they will take me for a liar.

¹³I also fear that my heart will be constricted and my tongue will falter; so give the duty of messengership to Aaron as well.

¹⁴Besides, I have committed an offense against them, so I also fear that they will kill me."

¹⁵Allah said: —By no means! Now go, both of you, with My signs. We are surely with you; We protect you and watch over you.

¹⁶Go to Pharaoh and say: "We are messengers sent by the Lord of all peoples.

¹⁷Send the Children of Israel with us."

¹⁸Pharaoh said: Did we not take you in among us as a little child and bring you up? And did you not live among us for years?

¹⁹In the end you did what you did, and turned out to be one of the ungrateful!

²⁰—Moses said: Yes, I did it, but at that time I was ignorant; I did not know what I was doing.

²¹Then I fled from you because I feared you; afterward my Lord gave me the ability to distinguish right from wrong and charged me with messengership.

²²As for this favor with which you reproach me, it was the result of your making the Children of Israel your slaves.

²³Pharaoh said: And what on earth is this "Lord of the worlds"?

²⁴Moses said: If you truly wish to know and accept it, He is the Lord/Owner of the heavens, the earth, and everything between them.

²⁵—Pharaoh said to those around him: Do you hear what this man is saying?

²⁶Moses said: He is your Lord and the Lord of all your forefathers who came and went before you.

²⁷Pharaoh said: This man who claims he has been sent to you is mad.

²⁸Moses said: If you can understand and grasp it, He is the Lord of the east, the west, and all that is between them.

²⁹Pharaoh said to Moses: If you take a god other than me, I swear I will leave you to languish in the dungeons!

³⁰Moses said: Even if I bring you a clear proof?

³¹Pharaoh said: Bring it, then, if you are telling the truth!

³²Thereupon Moses put his staff down on the ground, and what did they see? It had truly become a snake!

³³Moses put his hand inside his garment and drew it out—and behold! A whiteness that dazzled the eyes of the onlookers!

³⁴Pharaoh said to the chiefs around him: It is clear—this man is a sorcerer who knows his craft well!

³⁵He wants to drive you out of your land with his sorcery. So what do you advise?

³⁶The advisers said: Detain him and his brother, and meanwhile send your men to all the cities to gather the sorcerers.

³⁷Let them bring you every skilled sorcerer there is.

³⁸At last the skilled sorcerers were assembled at an appointed place on the appointed day and hour.

³⁹And the people were told: "What are you waiting for? Come, gather quickly!"

⁴⁰—Come, let us gather and support the sorcerers, so that they may be the ones who prevail.

⁴¹When the sorcerers came to Pharaoh, they said: If we prevail, there will be a reward for us, won't there?

⁴²—Pharaoh said: Yes, certainly, and you will hold a high position at my side.

⁴³Moses said to the sorcerers: Come on, show whatever skill you have!

⁴⁴The sorcerers threw down their ropes and staffs and said: "We swear by Pharaoh's might and honor that we will surely prevail!"

⁴⁵Then Moses too put his staff down, and behold! The staff was swallowing up their deceptive tools of sorcery.

⁴⁶Thereupon all the sorcerers fell down in prostration together and

⁴⁷—said: We believe in the Lord of the worlds,

⁴⁸the Lord of Moses and Aaron!

⁴⁹—Pharaoh said: So you believed in him before I gave you permission, did you? It is clear, then, that he is your great master who taught you sorcery. But you will soon see: I will cut off your hands and feet, along with all that you possess, and I will string you up and execute you on the trunks of palm trees.

⁵⁰The sorcerers said: It does not matter at all; we will return to our Lord in the end anyway.

⁵¹Since we are the first of the believers, we hope that our Lord will forgive us our sins.

⁵²And We revealed to Moses: "Set out with My servants by night, for you will surely be pursued by Pharaoh and his army."

⁵³Then Pharaoh sent men to the cities to gather soldiers, telling them:

⁵⁴—These are surely a small band, lowly and insignificant.

⁵⁵Yet they are full of rancor against us.

⁵⁶But we are a well-equipped and vigilant people.

⁵⁷So We drove them out of their vineyards, their gardens, and their springs,

⁵⁸their treasures and their positions of rank.

⁵⁹That is how it all happened. And We made the Children of Israel heirs to their wealth and property.

⁶⁰Pharaoh and his soldiers set out after them at sunrise.

⁶¹When the two sides came within sight of each other, Moses' companions said: Now we are caught!

⁶²Moses said: No, never! For my Lord is with me, and He will show me a way out.

⁶³At that moment We revealed to Moses: "Strike the sea with your staff." Then the sea burst open and split in two, so that each side was like a great mountain.

⁶⁴We drew the pursuers near to that place.

⁶⁵We saved Moses and all who were with him.

⁶⁶Then We drowned in the water those who came after them.

⁶⁷Surely there is a lesson to be learned in this, yet most people still did not believe.

⁶⁸Be that as it may, your Lord is still limitless in power and an infinite source of mercy.

⁶⁹Tell them also what Abraham went through!

⁷⁰Recall when he asked his father and his people: "What is it that you serve?"

⁷¹They said: We serve idols, and we will remain devoted to them in reverence.

⁷²—Abraham said: Do they hear you when you implore them in prayer?

⁷³Or do they bring you any benefit or harm?

⁷⁴—They said: No, but "We found our forefathers doing so."

⁷⁵—Abraham said: Have you ever really considered what the things you serve are,

⁷⁶—you and your forefathers before you?

⁷⁷Know that they are now my enemies; my only friend is the Lord of the worlds,

⁷⁸for it is He who created me, and it is He who will guide me to the right path;

⁷⁹it is He who feeds me and gives me drink,

⁸⁰and who will heal me when I fall ill;

⁸¹it is He who will cause me to die and then bring me to life again;

⁸²and it is He who, I hope, will forgive my sins on the day when accounts are settled.

⁸³My Lord, grant me the ability to judge rightly, and join me with the good!

⁸⁴And make me one who will be remembered among future generations as a paragon of truthfulness!

⁸⁵Make me one of the heirs of the gardens full of blessings!

⁸⁶And forgive my father, for he is not among those on Your right path.

⁸⁷And do not disgrace me on the day when everyone is raised to give account,

⁸⁸for on that day neither wealth and property nor children will be of any use,

⁸⁹except to one who comes to Allah with a heart cleansed of every impurity!

⁹⁰For on that day Paradise will be brought near for those who guarded themselves against evil and rebellion,

⁹¹and Hell will be laid open before the insolent.

⁹²And they will be told: "Tell us, where are those you served,

⁹³those you placed between yourselves and Allah? Can they help you now, or can they even save themselves?"

⁹⁴Then those they placed between themselves and Allah and served, along with the insolent ones they led astray, will be flung headlong into Hell,

⁹⁵together with Iblis and all his army.

⁹⁶There, blaming one another, they will say:

⁹⁷—By Allah, how astonishing! We were indeed in clear misguidance,

⁹⁸when we held you equal to the Lord of the worlds.

⁹⁹In fact, it was those guilty ones (our leaders) who led us astray.

¹⁰⁰Now we have neither any intercessor

¹⁰¹nor any devoted friend.

¹⁰²If only we were given one more chance, so that we might be among the believers who believe and trust!

¹⁰³Surely there is a lesson to be learned in this too. Yet most of them still did not believe.

¹⁰⁴Be that as it may, your Lord is still limitless in power and an infinite source of mercy.

¹⁰⁵The people of Noah, too, accused their messengers of lying.

¹⁰⁶Their brother Noah said to them: "Will you not guard yourselves against defying Allah?

¹⁰⁷Know that I am a trustworthy messenger sent to you.

¹⁰⁸So guard yourselves against defying Allah and obey me.

¹⁰⁹I ask of you no wage for this call. My reward rests only with the Lord of the worlds.

¹¹⁰So guard yourselves against defying Allah and obey me."

¹¹¹They said: Are we to believe in you, when the riffraff of society follow you?

¹¹²Noah said: I cannot know what they do, or with what intention.

¹¹³For their reckoning rests only with my Lord—if only you could grasp that!

¹¹⁴And I am not one to drive away those who believe.

¹¹⁵For I am only a clear warner.

¹¹⁶They said: O Noah, if you do not give up these claims of yours, you will certainly be stoned.

¹¹⁷Noah said: "My Lord, my people have at last rejected me as a liar.

¹¹⁸So now judge decisively between me and them, and save me and the believers who are with me."

¹¹⁹So We saved him and those with him in that laden ship.

¹²⁰And We left those who stayed behind to drown.

¹²¹Surely there is a lesson to be learned in this too. Yet most of them still did not believe.

¹²²Be that as it may, your Lord is still limitless in power and an infinite source of mercy.

¹²³The people of Ad, too, accused their messengers of lying.

¹²⁴Their brother Hud had said to them: Will you not guard yourselves against defying Allah?

¹²⁵I am a trustworthy messenger sent to you.

¹²⁶So guard yourselves against defying Allah and obey me.

¹²⁷I ask of you no wage for this call of mine. My reward rests only with the Lord of the worlds.

¹²⁸Do you build a monument on every hill and busy yourselves with vain pursuits?

¹²⁹Or do you put up grand and solid buildings in the hope of living forever?

¹³⁰Whenever you get the chance, will you always act like tyrants, with no regard for anyone's rights?

¹³¹So guard yourselves against defying Allah and obey me.

¹³²Guard yourselves against defying the One who offers you every blessing you could imagine,

¹³³such as children and flocks upon flocks of livestock,

¹³⁴and, what is more, vineyards, gardens, and springs.

¹³⁵Otherwise I fear that you will be struck by the punishment of a terrible day.

¹³⁶They said: It makes no difference to us whether you advise us or not.

¹³⁷For what you are saying is only what the people of old invented.

¹³⁸Nor are we going to be punished just because we paid no heed to your warnings.

¹³⁹So they rejected Hud as a liar, and We destroyed them. Surely there is a lesson to be learned in this too, yet most of them still did not believe.

¹⁴⁰Be that as it may, your Lord is still limitless in power and an infinite source of mercy.

¹⁴¹The people of Thamud, too, accused their messengers of lying.

¹⁴²Their brother Salih had said to them: Will you not guard yourselves against defying Allah?

¹⁴³I am a trustworthy messenger sent to you.

¹⁴⁴So guard yourselves against defying Allah and obey me.

¹⁴⁵For I ask of you no wage for this call. My reward rests only with the Lord of the worlds.

¹⁴⁶Did you think that you would always be left here in security like this,

¹⁴⁷amid vineyards and gardens, beside springs,

¹⁴⁸among crops and date groves heavy with ripe clusters?

¹⁴⁹Did you think you would live in insolent ease in these houses you skillfully carve out of the rocks?

¹⁵⁰So now guard yourselves against defying Allah and obey me.

¹⁵¹Do not yield to the demands of those who overstep the limits,

¹⁵²who do nothing to set things right in the land but constantly spread corruption.

¹⁵³—They said: Clearly you are thoroughly bewitched.

¹⁵⁴After all, you are only a human being like us. If you are telling the truth, then bring us a miracle!

¹⁵⁵—Salih said: Here is this she-camel; she has the right to drink on a set day, and you have yours on a set day.

¹⁵⁶Do not do her any harm, or the punishment of a terrible day will seize you.

¹⁵⁷Even so, they slaughtered her mercilessly, but in the end they regretted it.

¹⁵⁸For that punishment seized them. Surely there is a lesson to be learned in this event too, yet most of them still did not believe.

¹⁵⁹Be that as it may, your Lord is still limitless in power and an infinite source of mercy.

¹⁶⁰The people of Lot, too, accused their messengers of lying.

¹⁶¹Their brother Lot had said to them: Will you not guard yourselves against defying Allah?

¹⁶²I am a trustworthy messenger sent to you.

¹⁶³So guard yourselves against defying Allah and obey me.

¹⁶⁴I ask of you no wage for this call of mine. My reward rests only with the Lord of the worlds.

¹⁶⁵How can it be that, of all people, you approach men?

¹⁶⁶In doing so, you leave aside the spouses your Lord has created for you. You are a people who flagrantly transgress the limits.

¹⁶⁷—They said: O Lot, if you do not put an end to this, you will certainly be driven out of here.

¹⁶⁸—Lot said: I loathe what you do, and I condemn you strongly.

¹⁶⁹He said: My Lord, protect me and my family from the evil of what they do!

¹⁷⁰So We saved him and all his family,

¹⁷¹except for that old woman, who was among those who lagged behind and were lost.

¹⁷²Then We sank the others into the depths of the earth.

¹⁷³And We rained stones down upon them. How evil is the rain that falls on those who were warned yet paid no heed!

¹⁷⁴Surely there is a lesson to be learned in this too. Yet most of them still did not believe.

¹⁷⁵Be that as it may, your Lord is still limitless in power and an infinite source of mercy.

¹⁷⁶The people of Aykah, too, accused their messengers of lying.

¹⁷⁷Shu'ayb had said to them: Will you not guard yourselves against defying Allah?

¹⁷⁸I am a trustworthy messenger sent to you.

¹⁷⁹So guard yourselves against defying Allah and obey me.

¹⁸⁰I ask of you no wage for this call of mine. My reward rests only with the Lord of the worlds.

¹⁸¹Give full measure. Do not be among those who usurp others' rights by giving short weight.

¹⁸²And when you weigh, weigh with a true balance.

¹⁸³Do not run down people's goods and belongings by appraising them below their worth. And so do not destroy the peace and order of the land.

¹⁸⁴And guard yourselves against defying Allah, who created you and the generations before you.

¹⁸⁵They said: Clearly you are thoroughly bewitched.

¹⁸⁶After all, you are only a human being like us. We firmly believe that you are a liar.

¹⁸⁷If you are telling the truth, then make a piece of the sky fall on us, and let us see!

¹⁸⁸—Shu'ayb said: My Lord knows very well what you are doing.

¹⁸⁹So in the end they rejected him as a liar, and the punishment of a day overshadowed by dark clouds seized them. Truly, the day that punishment came was a terrible day.

¹⁹⁰Surely there is a lesson to be learned in this too, yet most of them still did not believe.

¹⁹¹Be that as it may, your Lord is still limitless in power and an infinite source of mercy.

¹⁹²There is no doubt that this Quran has been sent down by the Lord of the worlds.

¹⁹³It is the trustworthy Spirit (Gabriel) who has brought it down

¹⁹⁴right into your heart, so that you may be one of the warners,

¹⁹⁵and in clear Arabic at that.

¹⁹⁶The essence of this message is present in the earlier scriptures.

¹⁹⁷Is it not proof enough for them that the scholars of the Children of Israel know this?

¹⁹⁸Had We sent it down to someone who was not an Arab,

¹⁹⁹and had he recited this message to them, they would not have believed in it, saying they could not understand it.

²⁰⁰Thus this Quran has passed through the hearts of the guilty without having any effect on them.

²⁰¹They did not believe in this Quran until they saw the painful punishment.

²⁰²But that punishment comes upon them suddenly, at a moment when they least expect it.

²⁰³Then they will say: Will we not be given a little respite?

²⁰⁴Yet were they not the ones who used to ask that Our punishment come upon them suddenly?

²⁰⁵Just think: even if We let them enjoy a life of pleasure for years,

²⁰⁶and then the punishment they were promised came upon them,

²⁰⁷what use would those years of pleasure be to them?

²⁰⁸For We have never destroyed any land to which We had not sent warners,

²⁰⁹warners who remind them of the truths. For We would never do injustice to anyone by wronging them.

²¹⁰Nor is it the devils who have brought down this Quran.

²¹¹For it is not their business, nor are they capable of it.

²¹²For they are barred even from hearing the revelation.

²¹³Beware! Never implore any other god in prayer along with Allah, or you will be among those who are punished.

²¹⁴And first warn your nearest kin!

²¹⁵And take the believers who follow you under your protective wing!

²¹⁶If any of them oppose you, say to them: I dissociate myself from what you do.

²¹⁷And put your trust in Allah, who is limitless in power and an infinite source of mercy, and bind yourself to Him!

²¹⁸For He sees you when you rise to pray alone,

²¹⁹and also your bearing and movements as you pray with those who prostrate.

²²⁰For He is the One who hears everything and knows everything.

²²¹Shall I tell you upon whom the devils descend?

²²²They descend upon every slanderer and every sinner, wherever they may be.

²²³For such people lend their ears to the devils, and most of them are liars anyway.