Surah Al-'A`rāf (The Heights) in English

1. قالا ربنا ظلمنا أنفسنا وإن لم تغفر لنا وترحمنا لنكونن من الخاسرين

   23

   They said, ‘Our Lord, we have wronged ourselves! If You do not forgive us and have mercy upon us, we will surely be among the losers.’

   qālā rabbanā ẓalamnā ʾanfusanā wa-ʾin lam taghfir lanā wa-tarḥamnā la-nakūnanna mina l-khāsirīna

2. قال اهبطوا بعضكم لبعض عدو ولكم في الأرض مستقر ومتاع إلى حين

   24

   He said, ‘Get down, being enemies of one another! On the earth shall be your abode and sustenance for a time.’

   qāla hbiṭū baʿḍukum li-baʿḍin ʿaduwwun wa-lakum fī l-ʾarḍi mustaqarrun wa-matāʿun ʾilā ḥīnin

3. قال فيها تحيون وفيها تموتون ومنها تخرجون

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   He said, ‘In it you will live, and in it you will die; and from it you will be raised [from the dead].’

   qāla fīhā taḥyawna wa-fīhā tamūtūna wa-minhā tukhrajūna

4. يا بني آدم قد أنزلنا عليكم لباسا يواري سوآتكم وريشا ولباس التقوى ذلك خير ذلك من آيات الله لعلهم يذكرون

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   ‘O Children of Adam! We have certainly sent down to you garments to cover your nakedness, and for adornment. Yet the garment of Godwariness—that is the best.’ That is [one] of Allah’s signs, so that they may take admonition.

   yā-banī ʾādama qad ʾanzalnā ʿalaykum libāsan yuwārī sawʾātikum wa-rīshan wa-libāsu t-taqwā dhālika khayrun dhālika min ʾāyāti llāhi laʿallahum yadhdhakkarūna

5. يا بني آدم لا يفتننكم الشيطان كما أخرج أبويكم من الجنة ينزع عنهما لباسهما ليريهما سوآتهما إنه يراكم هو وقبيله من حيث لا ترونهم إنا جعلنا الشياطين أولياء للذين لا يؤمنون

   27

   ‘O Children of Adam! Do not let Satan tempt you, like he expelled your parents from paradise, stripping them of their garments to expose to them their nakedness. Indeed he sees you—he and his hosts—whence you do not see them. We have indeed made the devils friends of those who have no faith.’

   yā-banī ʾādama lā yaftinannakumu sh-shayṭānu ka-mā ʾakhraja ʾabawaykum mina l-jannati yanziʿu ʿanhumā libāsahumā li-yuriyahumā sawʾātihimā ʾinnahū yarākum huwa wa-qabīluhū min ḥaythu lā tarawnahum ʾinnā jaʿalnā sh-shayāṭīna ʾawliyāʾa li-lladhīna lā yuʾminūna

6. وإذا فعلوا فاحشة قالوا وجدنا عليها آباءنا والله أمرنا بها قل إن الله لا يأمر بالفحشاء أتقولون على الله ما لا تعلمون

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   When they commit an indecency, they say, ‘We found our fathers practising it, and Allah has enjoined it upon us.’ Say, ‘Indeed Allah does not enjoin indecencies. Do you attribute to Allah what you do not know?’

   wa-ʾidhā faʿalū fāḥishatan qālū wajadnā ʿalayhā ʾābāʾanā wa-llāhu ʾamaranā bihā qul ʾinna llāha lā yaʾmuru bi-l-faḥshāʾi ʾa-taqūlūna ʿalā llāhi mā lā taʿlamūna

7. قل أمر ربي بالقسط وأقيموا وجوهكم عند كل مسجد وادعوه مخلصين له الدين كما بدأكم تعودون

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   Say, ‘My Lord has enjoined justice,’ and [He has enjoined,] ‘Set your heart [on Him] at every occasion of prayer, and invoke Him, putting your exclusive faith in Him. Even as He brought you forth in the beginning, so will you return.’

   qul ʾamara rabbī bi-l-qisṭi wa-ʾaqīmū wujūhakum ʿinda kulli masjidin wa-dʿūhu mukhliṣīna lahu d-dīna ka-mā badaʾakum taʿūdūna

8. فريقا هدى وفريقا حق عليهم الضلالة إنهم اتخذوا الشياطين أولياء من دون الله ويحسبون أنهم مهتدون

   30

   A part [of mankind] He has guided and a part has deserved [to be consigned to] error, for they took devils for guardians instead of Allah, and supposed they were guided.

   farīqan hadā wa-farīqan ḥaqqa ʿalayhimu ḍ-ḍalālatu ʾinnahumu ttakhadhū sh-shayāṭīna ʾawliyāʾa min dūni llāhi wa-yaḥsabūna ʾannahum muhtadūna