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

1. قال الملأ الذين استكبروا من قومه لنخرجنك يا شعيب والذين آمنوا معك من قريتنا أو لتعودن في ملتنا قال أولو كنا كارهين

   88

   The elite of his people who were arrogant said, ‘O Shu'ayb, we will surely expel you and the faithful who are with you from our town, or else you shall revert to our creed.’ He said, ‘What! Even if we should be unwilling?!

   qāla l-malaʾu lladhīna stakbarū min qawmihī la-nukhrijannaka yā-shuʿaybu wa-lladhīna ʾāmanū maʿaka min qaryatinā ʾaw la-taʿūdunna fī millatinā qāla ʾa-wa-law kunnā kārihīna

2. قد افترينا على الله كذبا إن عدنا في ملتكم بعد إذ نجانا الله منها وما يكون لنا أن نعود فيها إلا أن يشاء الله ربنا وسع ربنا كل شيء علما على الله توكلنا ربنا افتح بيننا وبين قومنا بالحق وأنت خير الفاتحين

   89

   We would be fabricating a lie against Allah should we revert to your creed after Allah had delivered us from it. It does not behoove us to return to it, unless Allah, our Lord, should wish so. Our Lord embraces all things in [His] knowledge. In Allah we have put our trust.’ ‘Our Lord! Judge justly between us and our people, and You are the best of judges!’

   qadi ftaraynā ʿalā llāhi kadhiban ʾin ʿudnā fī millatikum baʿda ʾidh najjānā llāhu minhā wa-mā yakūnu lanā ʾan naʿūda fīhā ʾillā ʾan yashāʾa llāhu rabbunā wasiʿa rabbunā kulla shayʾin ʿilman ʿalā llāhi tawakkalnā rabbanā ftaḥ baynanā wa-bayna qawminā bi-l-ḥaqqi wa-ʾanta khayru l-fātiḥīna

3. وقال الملأ الذين كفروا من قومه لئن اتبعتم شعيبا إنكم إذا لخاسرون

   90

   The elite of his people who were faithless said, ‘If you follow Shu'ayb, you will indeed be losers.’

   wa-qāla l-malaʾu lladhīna kafarū min qawmihī la-ʾini ttabaʿtum shuʿayban ʾinnakum ʾidhan la-khāsirūna

4. فأخذتهم الرجفة فأصبحوا في دارهم جاثمين

   91

   So the earthquake seized them, and they lay lifeless prostrate in their homes.

   fa-ʾakhadhathumu r-rajfatu fa-ʾaṣbaḥū fī dārihim jāthimīna

5. الذين كذبوا شعيبا كأن لم يغنوا فيها الذين كذبوا شعيبا كانوا هم الخاسرين

   92

   Those who impugned Shu'ayb became as if they had never lived there. Those who impugned Shu‘ayb were themselves the losers.

   alladhīna kadhdhabū shuʿayban ka-ʾan lam yaghnaw fīhā lladhīna kadhdhabū shuʿayban kānū humu l-khāsirīna

6. فتولى عنهم وقال يا قوم لقد أبلغتكم رسالات ربي ونصحت لكم فكيف آسى على قوم كافرين

   93

   So he abandoned them [to their fate] and said, ‘O my people! Certainly, I communicated to you the messages of my Lord, and I was your well-wisher. So how should I grieve for a faithless lot?’

   fa-tawallā ʿanhum wa-qāla yā-qawmi la-qad ʾablaghtukum risālāti rabbī wa-naṣaḥtu lakum fa-kayfa ʾāsā ʿalā qawmin kāfirīna

7. وما أرسلنا في قرية من نبي إلا أخذنا أهلها بالبأساء والضراء لعلهم يضرعون

   94

   We did not send a prophet to any town without visiting its people with stress and distress so that they might entreat [for Allah’s forgiveness].

   wa-mā ʾarsalnā fī qaryatin min nabiyyin ʾillā ʾakhadhnā ʾahlahā bi-l-baʾsāʾi wa-ḍ-ḍarrāʾi laʿallahum yaḍḍarraʿūna

8. ثم بدلنا مكان السيئة الحسنة حتى عفوا وقالوا قد مس آباءنا الضراء والسراء فأخذناهم بغتة وهم لا يشعرون

   95

   Then We changed the ill [conditions] to good until they multiplied [in numbers] and said, ‘Adversity and ease befell our fathers [too].’ Then We seized them suddenly while they were unaware.

   thumma baddalnā makāna s-sayyiʾati l-ḥasanata ḥattā ʿafaw wa-qālū qad massa ʾābāʾanā ḍ-ḍarrāʾu wa-s-sarrāʾu fa-ʾakhadhnāhum baghtatan wa-hum lā yashʿurūna