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

1. فإذا جاءتهم الحسنة قالوا لنا هذه وإن تصبهم سيئة يطيروا بموسى ومن معه ألا إنما طائرهم عند الله ولكن أكثرهم لا يعلمون

   131

   But whenever any good came to them, they would say, ‘This is our due.’ And if any ill visited them, they took it for ill omens attending Moses and those who were with him. (Look! Indeed the cause of their ill omens is from Allah, but most of them do not know.)

   fa-ʾidhā jāʾathumu l-ḥasanatu qālū lanā hādhihī wa-ʾin tuṣibhum sayyiʾatun yaṭṭayyarū bi-mūsā wa-man maʿahū ʾa-lā ʾinnamā ṭāʾiruhum ʿinda llāhi wa-lākinna ʾaktharahum lā yaʿlamūna

2. وقالوا مهما تأتنا به من آية لتسحرنا بها فما نحن لك بمؤمنين

   132

   And they said, ‘Whatever sign you may bring us to bewitch us, we are not going to believe you.’

   wa-qālū mahmā taʾtinā bihī min ʾāyatin li-tasḥaranā bihā fa-mā naḥnu laka bi-muʾminīna

3. فأرسلنا عليهم الطوفان والجراد والقمل والضفادع والدم آيات مفصلات فاستكبروا وكانوا قوما مجرمين

   133

   So We sent against them a flood and locusts, lice, frogs and blood, as distinct signs. But they acted arrogantly, and they were a guilty lot.

   fa-ʾarsalnā ʿalayhimu ṭ-ṭūfāna wa-l-jarāda wa-l-qummala wa-ḍ-ḍafādiʿa wa-d-dama ʾāyātin mufaṣṣalātin fa-stakbarū wa-kānū qawman mujrimīna

4. ولما وقع عليهم الرجز قالوا يا موسى ادع لنا ربك بما عهد عندك لئن كشفت عنا الرجز لنؤمنن لك ولنرسلن معك بني إسرائيل

   134

   Whenever a plague fell upon them, they would say, ‘O Moses, invoke your Lord for us by the covenant He has made with you. If you remove the plague from us, we will certainly believe in you and let the Children of Israel go along with you.’

   wa-lammā waqaʿa ʿalayhimu r-rijzu qālū yā-mūsā dʿu lanā rabbaka bi-mā ʿahida ʿindaka la-ʾin kashafta ʿannā r-rijza la-nuʾminanna laka wa-la-nursilanna maʿaka banī ʾisrāʾīla

5. فلما كشفنا عنهم الرجز إلى أجل هم بالغوه إذا هم ينكثون

   135

   But when We had removed the plague from them until a term that they should have completed, behold, they broke their promise.

   fa-lammā kashafnā ʿanhumu r-rijza ʾilā ʾajalin hum bālighūhu ʾidhā hum yankuthūna

6. فانتقمنا منهم فأغرقناهم في اليم بأنهم كذبوا بآياتنا وكانوا عنها غافلين

   136

   So We took vengeance on them and drowned them in the sea, for they denied Our signs and were oblivious to them.

   fa-ntaqamnā minhum fa-ʾaghraqnāhum fī l-yammi bi-ʾannahum kadhdhabū bi-ʾāyātinā wa-kānū ʿanhā ghāfilīna

7. وأورثنا القوم الذين كانوا يستضعفون مشارق الأرض ومغاربها التي باركنا فيها وتمت كلمت ربك الحسنى على بني إسرائيل بما صبروا ودمرنا ما كان يصنع فرعون وقومه وما كانوا يعرشون

   137

   We made the people who were abased the heirs to the east and west of the land which We had blessed, and your Lord’s best word [of promise] was fulfilled for the Children of Israel because of their patience, and We destroyed what Pharaoh and his people had built and what they used to erect.

   wa-ʾawrathnā l-qawma lladhīna kānū yustaḍʿafūna mashāriqa l-ʾarḍi wa-maghāribahā llatī bāraknā fīhā wa-tammat kalimatu rabbika l-ḥusnā ʿalā banī ʾisrāʾīla bi-mā ṣabarū wa-dammarnā mā kāna yaṣnaʿu firʿawnu wa-qawmuhū wa-mā kānū yaʿrishūna