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

1. ولو أن أهل القرى آمنوا واتقوا لفتحنا عليهم بركات من السماء والأرض ولكن كذبوا فأخذناهم بما كانوا يكسبون

   96

   If the people of the towns had been faithful and Godwary, We would have opened to them blessings from the heaven and the earth. But they denied; so We seized them because of what they used to earn.

   wa-law ʾanna ʾahla l-qurā ʾāmanū wa-ttaqaw la-fataḥnā ʿalayhim barakātin mina s-samāʾi wa-l-ʾarḍi wa-lākin kadhdhabū fa-ʾakhadhnāhum bi-mā kānū yaksibūna

2. أفأمن أهل القرى أن يأتيهم بأسنا بياتا وهم نائمون

   97

   Do the people of the towns feel secure from Our punishment overtaking them at night while they are asleep?

   ʾa-fa-ʾamina ʾahlu l-qurā ʾan yaʾtiyahum baʾsunā bayātan wa-hum nāʾimūna

3. أوأمن أهل القرى أن يأتيهم بأسنا ضحى وهم يلعبون

   98

   Do the people of the towns feel secure from Our punishment overtaking them at midday while they are playing around?

   ʾawa ʾamina ʾahlu l-qurā ʾan yaʾtiyahum baʾsunā ḍuḥan wa-hum yalʿabūna

4. أفأمنوا مكر الله فلا يأمن مكر الله إلا القوم الخاسرون

   99

   Do they feel secure from Allah’s devising? No one feels secure from Allah’s devising except the people who are losers.

   ʾa-fa-ʾaminū makra llāhi fa-lā yaʾmanu makra llāhi ʾillā l-qawmu l-khāsirūna

5. أولم يهد للذين يرثون الأرض من بعد أهلها أن لو نشاء أصبناهم بذنوبهم ونطبع على قلوبهم فهم لا يسمعون

   100

   Does it not dawn upon those who inherited the earth after its [former] inhabitants that if We wish We will punish them for their sins, and set a seal on their hearts so they would not hear?

   ʾa-wa-lam yahdi li-lladhīna yarithūna l-ʾarḍa min baʿdi ʾahlihā ʾan law nashāʾu ʾaṣabnāhum bi-dhunūbihim wa-naṭbaʿu ʿalā qulūbihim fa-hum lā yasmaʿūna

6. تلك القرى نقص عليك من أنبائها ولقد جاءتهم رسلهم بالبينات فما كانوا ليؤمنوا بما كذبوا من قبل كذلك يطبع الله على قلوب الكافرين

   101

   These are the towns some of whose accounts We recount to you. Their apostles certainly brought them manifest proofs, but they were not the ones to believe in what they had denied earlier. Thus does Allah put a seal on the hearts of the faithless.

   tilka l-qurā naquṣṣu ʿalayka min ʾanbāʾihā wa-la-qad jāʾathum rusuluhum bi-l-bayyināti fa-mā kānū li-yuʾminū bi-mā kadhdhabū min qablu ka-dhālika yaṭbaʿu llāhu ʿalā qulūbi l-kāfirīna

7. وما وجدنا لأكثرهم من عهد وإن وجدنا أكثرهم لفاسقين

   102

   We did not find in most of them any [loyalty to] covenants. Indeed, We found most of them to be transgressors.

   wa-mā wajadnā li-ʾaktharihim min ʿahdin wa-ʾin wajadnā ʾaktharahum la-fāsiqīna

8. ثم بعثنا من بعدهم موسى بآياتنا إلى فرعون وملئه فظلموا بها فانظر كيف كان عاقبة المفسدين

   103

   Then after them We sent Moses with Our signs to Pharaoh and his elite, but they wronged them. So observe how was the fate of the agents of corruption!

   thumma baʿathnā min baʿdihim mūsā bi-ʾāyātinā ʾilā firʿawna wa-malaʾihī fa-ẓalamū bihā fa-nẓur kayfa kāna ʿāqibatu l-mufsidīna

9. وقال موسى يا فرعون إني رسول من رب العالمين

   104

   And Moses said, ‘O Pharaoh, I am indeed an apostle from the Lord of all the worlds.

   wa-qāla mūsā yā-firʿawnu ʾinnī rasūlun min rabbi l-ʿālamīna