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

1. يا بني آدم خذوا زينتكم عند كل مسجد وكلوا واشربوا ولا تسرفوا إنه لا يحب المسرفين

   31

   O Children of Adam! Put on your adornment on every occasion of prayer, and eat and drink, but do not waste; indeed, He does not like the wasteful.

   yā-banī ʾādama khudhū zīnatakum ʿinda kulli masjidin wa-kulū wa-shrabū wa-lā tusrifū ʾinnahū lā yuḥibbu l-musrifīna

2. قل من حرم زينة الله التي أخرج لعباده والطيبات من الرزق قل هي للذين آمنوا في الحياة الدنيا خالصة يوم القيامة كذلك نفصل الآيات لقوم يعلمون

   32

   Say, ‘Who has forbidden the adornment of Allah which He has brought forth for His servants, and the good things of [His] provision?’ Say, ‘These are for the faithful in the life of this world, and exclusively for them on the Day of Resurrection.’ Thus do We elaborate the signs for a people who have knowledge.

   qul man ḥarrama zīnata llāhi llatī ʾakhraja li-ʿibādihī wa-ṭ-ṭayyibāti mina r-rizqi qul hiya li-lladhīna ʾāmanū fī l-ḥayāti d-dunyā khāliṣatan yawma l-qiyāmati ka-dhālika nufaṣṣilu l-ʾāyāti li-qawmin yaʿlamūna

3. قل إنما حرم ربي الفواحش ما ظهر منها وما بطن والإثم والبغي بغير الحق وأن تشركوا بالله ما لم ينزل به سلطانا وأن تقولوا على الله ما لا تعلمون

   33

   Say, ‘My Lord has only forbidden indecencies, the outward among them and the inward ones, and sin and undue aggression, and that you should ascribe to Allah partners for which He has not sent down any authority, and that you should attribute to Allah what you do not know.’

   qul ʾinnamā ḥarrama rabbiya l-fawāḥisha mā ẓahara minhā wa-mā baṭana wa-l-ʾithma wa-l-baghya bi-ghayri l-ḥaqqi wa-ʾan tushrikū bi-llāhi mā lam yunazzil bihī sulṭānan wa-ʾan taqūlū ʿalā llāhi mā lā taʿlamūna

4. ولكل أمة أجل فإذا جاء أجلهم لا يستأخرون ساعة ولا يستقدمون

   34

   There is a [preordained] time for every nation: when their time comes, they shall not defer it by a single hour nor shall they advance it.

   wa-li-kulli ʾummatin ʾajalun fa-ʾidhā jāʾa ʾajaluhum lā yastaʾkhirūna sāʿatan wa-lā yastaqdimūna

5. يا بني آدم إما يأتينكم رسل منكم يقصون عليكم آياتي فمن اتقى وأصلح فلا خوف عليهم ولا هم يحزنون

   35

   O Children of Adam! If there come to you apostles from among yourselves, recounting to you My signs, then those who are Godwary and righteous will have no fear, nor will they grieve.

   yā-banī ʾādama ʾimmā yaʾtiyannakum rusulun minkum yaquṣṣūna ʿalaykum ʾāyātī fa-mani ttaqā wa-ʾaṣlaḥa fa-lā khawfun ʿalayhim wa-lā hum yaḥzanūna

6. والذين كذبوا بآياتنا واستكبروا عنها أولئك أصحاب النار هم فيها خالدون

   36

   But those who deny Our signs and are disdainful of them, they shall be the inmates of the Fire and they shall remain in it [forever].

   wa-lladhīna kadhdhabū bi-ʾāyātinā wa-stakbarū ʿanhā ʾulāʾika ʾaṣḥābu n-nāri hum fīhā khālidūna

7. فمن أظلم ممن افترى على الله كذبا أو كذب بآياته أولئك ينالهم نصيبهم من الكتاب حتى إذا جاءتهم رسلنا يتوفونهم قالوا أين ما كنتم تدعون من دون الله قالوا ضلوا عنا وشهدوا على أنفسهم أنهم كانوا كافرين

   37

   So who is a greater wrongdoer than him who fabricates a lie against Allah, or denies His signs? Their share, as decreed in the Book, shall reach them. When Our messengers come to take them away, they will say, ‘Where is that which you used to invoke besides Allah?’ They will say, ‘They have forsaken us,’ and they will testify against themselves that they were faithless.

   fa-man ʾaẓlamu mimmani ftarā ʿalā llāhi kadhiban ʾaw kadhdhaba bi-ʾāyātihī ʾulāʾika yanāluhum naṣībuhum mina l-kitābi ḥattā ʾidhā jāʾathum rusulunā yatawaffawnahum qālū ʾayna mā kuntum tadʿūna min dūni llāhi qālū ḍallū ʿannā wa-shahidū ʿalā ʾanfusihim ʾannahum kānū kāfirīna