English Translation and Commentary of the Holy Quran (2010)

by Maulana Muhammad Ali

Chapter 7: Al-Araf — The Elevated Places (Revealed at Makkah: 24 sections, 206 verses)

Section 10 (Verses 7:73–7:84): Salih and Lot

Translation:

وَ اِلٰی ثَمُوۡدَ اَخَاہُمۡ صٰلِحًا ۘ قَالَ یٰقَوۡمِ اعۡبُدُوا اللّٰہَ مَا لَکُمۡ مِّنۡ اِلٰہٍ غَیۡرُہٗ ؕ قَدۡ جَآءَتۡکُمۡ بَیِّنَۃٌ مِّنۡ رَّبِّکُمۡ ؕ ہٰذِہٖ نَاقَۃُ اللّٰہِ لَکُمۡ اٰیَۃً فَذَرُوۡہَا تَاۡکُلۡ فِیۡۤ اَرۡضِ اللّٰہِ وَ لَا تَمَسُّوۡہَا بِسُوۡٓءٍ فَیَاۡخُذَکُمۡ عَذَابٌ اَلِیۡمٌ ﴿۷۳﴾

7:73 And to Thamūd (We sent) their brother Sālih.1 He said: My people, serve Allah, you have no god other than Him. Clear proof has indeed come to you from your Lord. This is Allah’s she-camel — a sign for you — so leave her alone to pasture in Allah’s earth, and do her no harm or a painful punishment will afflict you.2

وَ اذۡکُرُوۡۤا اِذۡ جَعَلَکُمۡ خُلَفَآءَ مِنۡۢ بَعۡدِ عَادٍ وَّ بَوَّاَکُمۡ فِی الۡاَرۡضِ تَتَّخِذُوۡنَ مِنۡ سُہُوۡلِہَا قُصُوۡرًا وَّ تَنۡحِتُوۡنَ الۡجِبَالَ بُیُوۡتًا ۚ فَاذۡکُرُوۡۤا اٰلَآءَ اللّٰہِ وَ لَا تَعۡثَوۡا فِی الۡاَرۡضِ مُفۡسِدِیۡنَ ﴿۷۴﴾

7:74 And remember when He made you successors after Ād and settled you in the land — you make mansions on its plains and carve out houses in the mountains. So remember Allah’s bounties and do not act corruptly in the land, making mischief.

قَالَ الۡمَلَاُ الَّذِیۡنَ اسۡتَکۡبَرُوۡا مِنۡ قَوۡمِہٖ لِلَّذِیۡنَ اسۡتُضۡعِفُوۡا لِمَنۡ اٰمَنَ مِنۡہُمۡ اَتَعۡلَمُوۡنَ اَنَّ صٰلِحًا مُّرۡسَلٌ مِّنۡ رَّبِّہٖ ؕ قَالُوۡۤا اِنَّا بِمَاۤ اُرۡسِلَ بِہٖ مُؤۡمِنُوۡنَ ﴿۷۵﴾

7:75 The arrogant chiefs of his people said to those who were weak, to those who believed from among them: Do you know that Sālih is one sent by his Lord? They said: Surely we are believers in that with which he has been sent.

قَالَ الَّذِیۡنَ اسۡتَکۡبَرُوۡۤا اِنَّا بِالَّذِیۡۤ اٰمَنۡتُمۡ بِہٖ کٰفِرُوۡنَ ﴿۷۶﴾

7:76 Those who were arrogant said: Surely we are disbelievers in what you believe.

فَعَقَرُوا النَّاقَۃَ وَ عَتَوۡا عَنۡ اَمۡرِ رَبِّہِمۡ وَ قَالُوۡا یٰصٰلِحُ ائۡتِنَا بِمَا تَعِدُنَاۤ اِنۡ کُنۡتَ مِنَ الۡمُرۡسَلِیۡنَ ﴿۷۷﴾

7:77 Then they hamstrung the she-camel and revolted against their Lord’s commandment, and said: Sālih, bring us what you threaten us with, if you are one of the messengers.

فَاَخَذَتۡہُمُ الرَّجۡفَۃُ فَاَصۡبَحُوۡا فِیۡ دَارِہِمۡ جٰثِمِیۡنَ ﴿۷۸﴾

7:78 So the earthquake seized them, and they were motionless bodies in their abodes.

فَتَوَلّٰی عَنۡہُمۡ وَ قَالَ یٰقَوۡمِ لَقَدۡ اَبۡلَغۡتُکُمۡ رِسَالَۃَ رَبِّیۡ وَ نَصَحۡتُ لَکُمۡ وَ لٰکِنۡ لَّا تُحِبُّوۡنَ النّٰصِحِیۡنَ ﴿۷۹﴾

7:79 So he turned away from them and said: My people, indeed I delivered to you the message of my Lord and gave you good advice, but you do not love good advisers.3

وَ لُوۡطًا اِذۡ قَالَ لِقَوۡمِہٖۤ اَتَاۡتُوۡنَ الۡفَاحِشَۃَ مَا سَبَقَکُمۡ بِہَا مِنۡ اَحَدٍ مِّنَ الۡعٰلَمِیۡنَ ﴿۸۰﴾

7:80 And (We sent) Lot,4 when he said to his people: Do you commit foul deeds which no one in the world did before you?

اِنَّکُمۡ لَتَاۡتُوۡنَ الرِّجَالَ شَہۡوَۃً مِّنۡ دُوۡنِ النِّسَآءِ ؕ بَلۡ اَنۡتُمۡ قَوۡمٌ مُّسۡرِفُوۡنَ ﴿۸۱﴾

7:81 Surely you come to males with lust instead of females. Indeed, you are a people exceeding bounds.

وَ مَا کَانَ جَوَابَ قَوۡمِہٖۤ اِلَّاۤ اَنۡ قَالُوۡۤا اَخۡرِجُوۡہُمۡ مِّنۡ قَرۡیَتِکُمۡ ۚ اِنَّہُمۡ اُنَاسٌ یَّتَطَہَّرُوۡنَ ﴿۸۲﴾

7:82 And the answer of his people was only that they said: Turn them out of your town; surely they are a people who aspire to purity!

فَاَنۡجَیۡنٰہُ وَ اَہۡلَہٗۤ اِلَّا امۡرَاَتَہٗ ۫ۖ کَانَتۡ مِنَ الۡغٰبِرِیۡنَ ﴿۸۳﴾

7:83 So We delivered him and his followers, except his wife — she was among those who remained behind.

وَ اَمۡطَرۡنَا عَلَیۡہِمۡ مَّطَرًا ؕ فَانۡظُرۡ کَیۡفَ کَانَ عَاقِبَۃُ الۡمُجۡرِمِیۡنَ ﴿٪۸۴﴾

7:84 And We rained upon them a rain.5 See, then, what was the end of the guilty!

Commentary:

  1. Ād and Thamūd, though two nearly related tribes, were separated both as regards time and place. Thamūd is known after a grandson of Aram, the grandson of Noah. Historical traces of it are met with in Ptolemy. The tribe flouri­shed more than two hundred years after Ād, and occupied the territory known as al-Ḥijr (15:80), and the plain known by the name of Wādi-l-Qurā, which forms the southern boundary of Syria and the northern one of Arabia. Sālih was a des­cendant in the sixth generation after Thamūd. ↩
  2. It is called Allah’s she-camel because it was given as a sign from Allah. It was an ordinary she-camel, which was given as a sign to a people. Their slaying of it was a sign that they would neither accept the truth, nor cease persecu­ting Sālih and his followers. ↩
  3. This evidently refers to the survivors from the great disaster. ↩
  4. Lot is one of those prophets who have been maligned in the Bible. He was considered a righteous servant by Abraham (Genesis, 18:23), but a little further on in the same book we are told that Lot was guilty of incestuous inter­course with his daughters. The record there has evidently been manipulated. ↩
  5. The punishment which overtook the people of Lot is frequently called rain, while in 11:82 and 15:74 stones are said to have been rained down upon them. See also 54:34. It was a volcanic eruption combined with an earthquake. ↩

Top