Surah Al-Qaşaş (The Stories) in English

1. قال إنما أوتيته على علم عندي أولم يعلم أن الله قد أهلك من قبله من القرون من هو أشد منه قوة وأكثر جمعا ولا يسأل عن ذنوبهم المجرمون

   78

   He said, ‘I have indeed been given [all] this because of the knowledge that I have.’ Did he not know that Allah had already destroyed before him some of the generations who were more powerful than him and greater in amassing [wealth]? The guilty will not be questioned about their sins.

   qāla ʾinnamā ʾūtītuhū ʿalā ʿilmin ʿindī ʾa-wa-lam yaʿlam ʾanna llāha qad ʾahlaka min qablihī mina l-qurūni man huwa ʾashaddu minhu quwwatan wa-ʾaktharu jamʿan wa-lā yusʾalu ʿan dhunūbihimu l-mujrimūna

2. فخرج على قومه في زينته قال الذين يريدون الحياة الدنيا يا ليت لنا مثل ما أوتي قارون إنه لذو حظ عظيم

   79

   So he emerged before his people in his finery. Those who desired the life of the world said, ‘We wish we had like what Korah has been given! Indeed he is greatly fortunate.’

   fa-kharaja ʿalā qawmihī fī zīnatihī qāla lladhīna yurīdūna l-ḥayāta d-dunyā yā-layta lanā mithla mā ʾūtiya qārūnu ʾinnahū la-dhū ḥaẓẓin ʿaẓīmin

3. وقال الذين أوتوا العلم ويلكم ثواب الله خير لمن آمن وعمل صالحا ولا يلقاها إلا الصابرون

   80

   Those who were given knowledge said [to them], ‘Woe to you! Allah’s reward is better for someone who has faith and acts righteously, and no one will receive it except the patient.’

   wa-qāla lladhīna ʾūtū l-ʿilma waylakum thawābu llāhi khayrun li-man ʾāmana wa-ʿamila ṣāliḥan wa-lā yulaqqāhā ʾillā ṣ-ṣābirūna

4. فخسفنا به وبداره الأرض فما كان له من فئة ينصرونه من دون الله وما كان من المنتصرين

   81

   So We caused the earth to swallow him and his house, and he had no party that might protect him from Allah, nor could he rescue himself.

   fa-khasafnā bihī wa-bi-dārihi l-ʾarḍa fa-mā kāna lahū min fiʾatin yanṣurūnahū min dūni llāhi wa-mā kāna mina l-muntaṣirīna

5. وأصبح الذين تمنوا مكانه بالأمس يقولون ويكأن الله يبسط الرزق لمن يشاء من عباده ويقدر لولا أن من الله علينا لخسف بنا ويكأنه لا يفلح الكافرون

   82

   By dawn those who longed to be in his place the day before were saying, ‘Don’t you see that Allah expands the provision for whomever He wishes of His servants, and tightens it? Had Allah not shown us favour, He might have made the earth swallow us too. Don’t you see that the faithless do not prosper?’

   wa-ʾaṣbaḥa lladhīna tamannaw makānahū bi-l-ʾamsi yaqūlūna way-ka-ʾanna llāha yabsuṭu r-rizqa li-man yashāʾu min ʿibādihī wa-yaqdiru law-lā ʾan manna llāhu ʿalaynā la-khasafa binā way-ka-ʾannahū lā yufliḥu l-kāfirūna

6. تلك الدار الآخرة نجعلها للذين لا يريدون علوا في الأرض ولا فسادا والعاقبة للمتقين

   83

   This is the abode of the Hereafter, which We shall grant to those who do not desire to domineer in the earth nor to cause corruption, and the outcome will be in favour of the Godwary.

   tilka d-dāru l-ʾākhiratu najʿaluhā li-lladhīna lā yurīdūna ʿuluwwan fī l-ʾarḍi wa-lā fasādan wa-l-ʿāqibatu li-l-muttaqīna

7. من جاء بالحسنة فله خير منها ومن جاء بالسيئة فلا يجزى الذين عملوا السيئات إلا ما كانوا يعملون

   84

   Whoever brings virtue shall receive [a reward] better than it, but whoever brings vice—those who commit misdeeds shall not be requited except for what they used to do.

   man jāʾa bi-l-ḥasanati fa-lahū khayrun minhā wa-man jāʾa bi-s-sayyiʾati fa-lā yujzā lladhīna ʿamilū s-sayyiʾāti ʾillā mā kānū yaʿmalūna