Surah As-Saffat

Ta'awwudh · Seeking Refuge

أَعُوذُ بِاللَّهِ مِنَ الشَّيْطَانِ الرَّجِيمِ

A'udhu billahi min ash-shaytani ar-rajim. I seek refuge in Allah from Satan, the accursed.

The Name · Bismillah

بِسْمِ اللَّهِ الرَّحْمَٰنِ الرَّحِيمِ

Bismillahi ar-Rahmani ar-Rahim. In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful.

أَعُوذُ بِاللَّهِ مِنَ الشَّيْطَانِ الرَّجِيمِ

✦

بِسْمِ اللَّهِ الرَّحْمَٰنِ الرَّحِيمِ

The Surah · Verses 114 to 182

﴿١١٤﴾ وَلَقَدْ مَنَنَّا عَلَىٰ مُوسَىٰ وَهَٰرُونَ

Wa laqad mananna ala Musa wa Harun

And We conferred favor upon Musa and Harun.

﴿١١٥﴾ وَنَجَّيْنَٰهُمَا وَقَوْمَهُمَا مِنَ ٱلْكَرْبِ ٱلْعَظِيمِ

Wa najjainahuma wa qawmahuma minal karbil 'azim

And We delivered them and their people from the great distress.

﴿١١٦﴾ وَنَصَرْنَٰهُمْ فَكَانُوا۟ هُمُ ٱلْغَٰلِبِينَ

Wa nasarnahum fakanu humul ghalibin

And We helped them, so they were the ones who prevailed.

﴿١١٧﴾ وَءَاتَيْنَٰهُمَا ٱلْكِتَٰبَ ٱلْمُسْتَبِينَ

Wa atainahumal Kitabal mustabin

And We gave them both the clear Book.

﴿١١٨﴾ وَهَدَيْنَٰهُمَا ٱلصِّرَٰطَ ٱلْمُسْتَقِيمَ

Wa hadainahumus Siratal Mustaqim

And We guided them to the straight path.

﴿١١٩﴾ وَتَرَكْنَا عَلَيْهِمَا فِى ٱلْءَاخِرِينَ

Wa tarakna 'alaihima fil akhirin

And We left for them, among those who came later,

﴿١٢٠﴾ سَلَٰمٌ عَلَىٰ مُوسَىٰ وَهَٰرُونَ

Salamun 'ala Musa wa Harun

peace upon Musa and Harun.

﴿١٢١﴾ إِنَّا كَذَٰلِكَ نَجْزِى ٱلْمُحْسِنِينَ

Inna kazalika najzil muhsinin

That is how We reward those who do good.

﴿١٢٢﴾ إِنَّهُمَا مِنْ عِبَادِنَا ٱلْمُؤْمِنِينَ

Innahuma min 'ibadinal mu'minin

They were both among Our believing servants.

﴿١٢٣﴾ وَإِنَّ إِلْيَاسَ لَمِنَ ٱلْمُرْسَلِينَ

Wa inna Ilyasa laminal mursalin

And Ilyas was among the messengers,

﴿١٢٤﴾ إِذْ قَالَ لِقَوْمِهِۦٓ أَلَا تَتَّقُونَ

Iz qala liqawmihi ala tattaqun

when he said to his people, "Will you not be mindful of Allah?

﴿١٢٥﴾ أَتَدْعُونَ بَعْلًۭا وَتَذَرُونَ أَحْسَنَ ٱلْخَٰلِقِينَ

Atad'una Ba'lanw wa tazaruna ahsanal khaliqin

Do you call upon Ba'l and leave the best of creators,

﴿١٢٦﴾ ٱللَّهَ رَبَّكُمْ وَرَبَّ ءَابَآئِكُمُ ٱلْأَوَّلِينَ

Allaha Rabbakum wa Rabba aba'ikumul awwalin

Allah, your Lord and the Lord of your first fathers?"

﴿١٢٧﴾ فَكَذَّبُوهُ فَإِنَّهُمْ لَمُحْضَرُونَ

Fakazzabuhu fa inna hum lamuhdarun

They denied him, so they will be brought forward,

﴿١٢٨﴾ إِلَّا عِبَادَ ٱللَّهِ ٱلْمُخْلَصِينَ

Illa 'ibadal lahil mukhlasin

except the servants of Allah chosen for sincerity.

﴿١٢٩﴾ وَتَرَكْنَا عَلَيْهِ فِى ٱلْءَاخِرِينَ

Wa tarakna 'alaihi fil akhirin

And We left for him, among those who came later,

﴿١٣٠﴾ سَلَٰمٌ عَلَىٰٓ إِلْ يَاسِينَ

Salamun 'ala Ilyasin

peace upon the house of Ilyas.

﴿١٣١﴾ إِنَّا كَذَٰلِكَ نَجْزِى ٱلْمُحْسِنِينَ

Inna kazalika najzil muhsinin

That is how We reward those who do good.

﴿١٣٢﴾ إِنَّهُۥ مِنْ عِبَادِنَا ٱلْمُؤْمِنِينَ

Innahu min 'ibadinal mu'minin

He was among Our believing servants.

﴿١٣٣﴾ وَإِنَّ لُوطًۭا لَّمِنَ ٱلْمُرْسَلِينَ

Wa inna Lutal laminal mursalin

And Lut was among the messengers,

﴿١٣٤﴾ إِذْ نَجَّيْنَٰهُ وَأَهْلَهُۥٓ أَجْمَعِينَ

Iz najjainahu wa ahlahu ajma'in

when We delivered him and his household, all of them,

﴿١٣٥﴾ إِلَّا عَجُوزًۭا فِى ٱلْغَٰبِرِينَ

Illa 'ajuzan fil ghabirin

except an old woman among those who stayed behind.

﴿١٣٦﴾ ثُمَّ دَمَّرْنَا ٱلْءَاخَرِينَ

Summa dammarnal akharin

Then We destroyed the others.

﴿١٣٧﴾ وَإِنَّكُمْ لَتَمُرُّونَ عَلَيْهِم مُّصْبِحِينَ

Wa innakum latamurruna 'alaihim musbihin

You pass by them in the morning

﴿١٣٨﴾ وَبِٱلَّيْلِ ۗ أَفَلَا تَعْقِلُونَ

Wa billail; afala ta'qilun

and at night. Will you not reason?

﴿١٣٩﴾ وَإِنَّ يُونُسَ لَمِنَ ٱلْمُرْسَلِينَ

Wa inna Yunusa laminal mursalin

And Yunus was among the messengers,

﴿١٤٠﴾ إِذْ أَبَقَ إِلَى ٱلْفُلْكِ ٱلْمَشْحُونِ

Iz abaqa ilal fulkil mash hun

when he ran to the loaded ship,

﴿١٤١﴾ فَسَاهَمَ فَكَانَ مِنَ ٱلْمُدْحَضِينَ

Fasahama fakana minal mudhadin

and drew lots and was among those cast out.

﴿١٤٢﴾ فَٱلْتَقَمَهُ ٱلْحُوتُ وَهُوَ مُلِيمٌۭ

Faltaqamahul hutu wa huwa mulim

The fish swallowed him while he was blameworthy.

﴿١٤٣﴾ فَلَوْلَآ أَنَّهُۥ كَانَ مِنَ ٱلْمُسَبِّحِينَ

Falaw la annahu kana minal musabbihin

Had he not been among those who glorify Allah,

﴿١٤٤﴾ لَلَبِثَ فِى بَطْنِهِۦٓ إِلَىٰ يَوْمِ يُبْعَثُونَ

Lalabisa fi batnihi ila Yawmi yub'asun

he would have remained in its belly until the Day they are raised.

﴿١٤٥﴾ ۞ فَنَبَذْنَٰهُ بِٱلْعَرَآءِ وَهُوَ سَقِيمٌۭ

Fanabaznahu bil'ara'i wa huwa saqim

So We cast him onto the open shore while he was unwell,

﴿١٤٦﴾ وَأَنۢبَتْنَا عَلَيْهِ شَجَرَةًۭ مِّن يَقْطِينٍۢ

Wa ambatna 'alaihi shajaratam mai yaqtin

and We caused a gourd plant to grow over him.

﴿١٤٧﴾ وَأَرْسَلْنَٰهُ إِلَىٰ مِا۟ئَةِ أَلْفٍ أَوْ يَزِيدُونَ

Wa arsalnahu ila mi'ati alfin aw yazidun

And We sent him to a hundred thousand or more.

﴿١٤٨﴾ فَـَٔامَنُوا۟ فَمَتَّعْنَٰهُمْ إِلَىٰ حِينٍۢ

Fa amanu famatta' nahum ila hin

They believed, so We gave them enjoyment for a time.

﴿١٤٩﴾ فَٱسْتَفْتِهِمْ أَلِرَبِّكَ ٱلْبَنَاتُ وَلَهُمُ ٱلْبَنُونَ

Fastaftihim ali Rabbikal banatu wa lahumul banun

So ask them: does your Lord have daughters while they have sons?

﴿١٥٠﴾ أَمْ خَلَقْنَا ٱلْمَلَٰٓئِكَةَ إِنَٰثًۭا وَهُمْ شَٰهِدُونَ

Am khalaqnal mala'i kata inasanw wa hm shahidun

Or did We create the angels female while they were watching?

﴿١٥١﴾ أَلَآ إِنَّهُم مِّنْ إِفْكِهِمْ لَيَقُولُونَ

Ala innahum min ifkihim la yaqulun

It is from their own lie that they say,

﴿١٥٢﴾ وَلَدَ ٱللَّهُ وَإِنَّهُمْ لَكَٰذِبُونَ

Waladal lahu wa innhum lakazibun

"Allah has begotten." They are liars.

﴿١٥٣﴾ أَصْطَفَى ٱلْبَنَاتِ عَلَى ٱلْبَنِينَ

Astafal banati 'alal banin

Has He chosen daughters over sons?

﴿١٥٤﴾ مَا لَكُمْ كَيْفَ تَحْكُمُونَ

Ma lakum kaifa tahkumun

What is wrong with you? How do you judge?

﴿١٥٥﴾ أَفَلَا تَذَكَّرُونَ

Afala tazakkarun

Will you not remember?

﴿١٥٦﴾ أَمْ لَكُمْ سُلْطَٰنٌۭ مُّبِينٌۭ

Am lakum sultanum mubin

Or do you have a clear authority?

﴿١٥٧﴾ فَأْتُوا۟ بِكِتَٰبِكُمْ إِن كُنتُمْ صَٰدِقِينَ

Fatu bi Kitabikum in kuntum sadiqin

Then bring your book, if you are truthful.

﴿١٥٨﴾ وَجَعَلُوا۟ بَيْنَهُۥ وَبَيْنَ ٱلْجِنَّةِ نَسَبًۭا ۚ وَلَقَدْ عَلِمَتِ ٱلْجِنَّةُ إِنَّهُمْ لَمُحْضَرُونَ

Wa ja'alu bainahu wa bainal jinnati nasaba; wa laqad 'alimatil jinnatu innahum lamuhdarun

They invented a kinship between Him and the jinn, and the jinn know well that they will be brought forward.

﴿١٥٩﴾ سُبْحَٰنَ ٱللَّهِ عَمَّا يَصِفُونَ

Subhanal lahi 'amma yasifun

Glory to Allah above what they describe,

﴿١٦٠﴾ إِلَّا عِبَادَ ٱللَّهِ ٱلْمُخْلَصِينَ

Illa 'ibadal lahil mukhlasin

except the servants of Allah chosen for sincerity.

﴿١٦١﴾ فَإِنَّكُمْ وَمَا تَعْبُدُونَ

Fa innakum wa ma ta'ubdun

You and what you worship

﴿١٦٢﴾ مَآ أَنتُمْ عَلَيْهِ بِفَٰتِنِينَ

Ma antum 'alaihi befatinin

cannot turn anyone against Him,

﴿١٦٣﴾ إِلَّا مَنْ هُوَ صَالِ ٱلْجَحِيمِ

Illa man huwa salil jahim

except the one who is to burn in the blaze.

﴿١٦٤﴾ وَمَا مِنَّآ إِلَّا لَهُۥ مَقَامٌۭ مَّعْلُومٌۭ

Wa ma minnasa illa lahu maqamum ma'lum

There is not one of us without a known station.

﴿١٦٥﴾ وَإِنَّا لَنَحْنُ ٱلصَّآفُّونَ

Wa inna llanah nus saffun

We are the ones ranged in ranks.

﴿١٦٦﴾ وَإِنَّا لَنَحْنُ ٱلْمُسَبِّحُونَ

Wa inna lanah nul musabbihun

We are the ones who glorify.

﴿١٦٧﴾ وَإِن كَانُوا۟ لَيَقُولُونَ

Wa in kanu la yaqulun

They used to say,

﴿١٦٨﴾ لَوْ أَنَّ عِندَنَا ذِكْرًۭا مِّنَ ٱلْأَوَّلِينَ

Law anna 'indana zikram minal awwalin

"If we had a reminder from those before us,

﴿١٦٩﴾ لَكُنَّا عِبَادَ ٱللَّهِ ٱلْمُخْلَصِينَ

Lakunna 'ibadal lahil mukhlasin

we would have been the servants of Allah chosen for sincerity."

﴿١٧٠﴾ فَكَفَرُوا۟ بِهِۦ ۖ فَسَوْفَ يَعْلَمُونَ

Fakafaru bihi fasawfa ya'lamun

Then they disbelieved in it. They will come to know.

﴿١٧١﴾ وَلَقَدْ سَبَقَتْ كَلِمَتُنَا لِعِبَادِنَا ٱلْمُرْسَلِينَ

Wa laqad sabaqat Kalimatuna li'ibadinal mursa lin

Our word has already gone forth to Our servants, the messengers,

﴿١٧٢﴾ إِنَّهُمْ لَهُمُ ٱلْمَنصُورُونَ

Inna hum lahumul mansurun

that they are the ones given victory,

﴿١٧٣﴾ وَإِنَّ جُندَنَا لَهُمُ ٱلْغَٰلِبُونَ

Wa inna jundana lahumul ghalibun

and that Our forces are the ones who prevail.

﴿١٧٤﴾ فَتَوَلَّ عَنْهُمْ حَتَّىٰ حِينٍۢ

Fatawalla 'anhum hatta hin

So turn from them for a time,

﴿١٧٥﴾ وَأَبْصِرْهُمْ فَسَوْفَ يُبْصِرُونَ

Wa absirhum fasawfa yubsirun

and watch them. They will see.

﴿١٧٦﴾ أَفَبِعَذَابِنَا يَسْتَعْجِلُونَ

Afabi'azabina yasta'jilun

Do they seek to hasten Our punishment?

﴿١٧٧﴾ فَإِذَا نَزَلَ بِسَاحَتِهِمْ فَسَآءَ صَبَاحُ ٱلْمُنذَرِينَ

Fa iza nazala bisahatihim fasa'a sabahul munzarin

When it descends in their courtyard, evil is the morning of those who were warned.

﴿١٧٨﴾ وَتَوَلَّ عَنْهُمْ حَتَّىٰ حِينٍۢ

Wa tawalla 'anhum hatta hin

So turn from them for a time,

﴿١٧٩﴾ وَأَبْصِرْ فَسَوْفَ يُبْصِرُونَ

Wa absir fasawfa yubsirun

and watch. They will see.

﴿١٨٠﴾ سُبْحَٰنَ رَبِّكَ رَبِّ ٱلْعِزَّةِ عَمَّا يَصِفُونَ

Subhana Rabbika Rabbil 'izzati 'amma yasifun

Glory to your Lord, the Lord of might, above what they describe.

﴿١٨١﴾ وَسَلَٰمٌ عَلَى ٱلْمُرْسَلِينَ

Wa salamun 'alalmursalin

Peace upon the messengers.

﴿١٨٢﴾ وَٱلْحَمْدُ لِلَّهِ رَبِّ ٱلْعَٰلَمِينَ

Walhamdu lillahi Rabbil 'alamin

And praise belongs to Allah, Lord of the worlds.

The Tafsir · The Breakdown

What This Part Means

Overview

Four More Names, Then the Closing.

Part Two ran the pattern twice. Part Three runs it four more times and then stops using it. Musa and Harun, Ilyas, Lut, Yunus. Each is named, each is delivered, and over the first three the same seal falls: that is how We reward those who do good. Then the seal stops. Yunus gets no peace clause and no repetition, and the reason is written into his account. After the roll call ends, the surah turns and finishes the argument it opened with in Part One, dismantling what the Quraysh said about Allah having daughters and about the angels. It closes on three verses that answer the surah's own title. Glory to your Lord, peace upon the messengers, and praise belongs to Allah.

Verses 114 to 132

The Ones Who Prevailed, and the One Who Named the Idol.

Verse 116 is a plain sentence with a long shadow. We helped them, so they were the ones who prevailed. Musa and Harun were, for most of the account the reader knows, two men against a state. Verse 116 is written from the end of the story, not the middle. That is the standing instruction in this whole section. Judge the outcome by where the account closes, not by where you currently stand inside it. Verse 117 and verse 118 name what they were actually given: the clear Book and the straight path. Note the order. The Book first, then guidance on it.

Then Ilyas, in verse 123. His confrontation is more specific than the others. He does not argue against idols in general. He names the one they had, in verse 125. Do you call upon Ba'l and leave the best of creators. Naming it is the work. A man will defend his idol as long as it stays unnamed and abstract.

Verse 126 completes the sentence Ilyas started, and it is the whole tawhid argument compressed: Allah, your Lord and the Lord of your first fathers. He takes the ancestral appeal they were about to make and puts it on his own side of the ledger. Verse 128 carves out the exception that recurs through this entire section: except the servants of Allah chosen for sincerity, al-mukhlasin. The word is passive. They did not make themselves sincere. They were made so.

Verses 133 to 148

Ruins on the Road, and the Man Who Ran.

Lut takes four verses, and then verse 137 and verse 138 turn on the listener. You pass by them in the morning and at night. Will you not reason? The address assumes the audience physically travels past the wreckage of a people who were destroyed, twice a day, and has stopped seeing it. That is the more useful warning. Not that ruin is unknown, but that it becomes scenery.

Then Yunus, and the surah handles him differently from everyone before him. Verse 140 says he ran. Verse 142 says the fish swallowed him while he was blameworthy, muleem. This is a prophet, and the text does not soften it. Verse 143 and verse 144 name the exact thing that got him out. Had he not been among those who glorify Allah, he would have remained in its belly until the Day they are raised. Not his rank. Not his record. The tasbih he had built before the dark, and kept up inside it. A man's practice in ordinary conditions is the only thing available to him in a crisis, because a crisis creates nothing new.

Verse 145 puts him on the shore unwell, and verse 146 grows a plant over him, which is care at a scale nobody would think to ask for. Verse 147 and verse 148 close it: he is sent back to a hundred thousand or more, and they believe. The man who ran is the only messenger in this surah whose people accept the message. Notice that the sequence never gives him the peace clause the others receive. The account itself is the mercy.

Verses 149 to 182

Ask Them, Then Turn Away.

Verse 149 begins the cross-examination. So ask them: does your Lord have daughters while they have sons? The argument is not built on scripture, because they had none. It is built on their own inconsistency. They assigned to Allah the category they themselves considered lesser. Verse 150 tightens it. Or did We create the angels female while they were watching? Every claim they made about the unseen was made by men who were not there.

Verse 156 and verse 157 give the standard the surah demands of any claim about Allah. Or do you have a clear authority? Then bring your book, if you are truthful. Text, or nothing. Verse 158 exposes the last of it, a claimed kinship between Allah and the jinn, and then verse 159 answers all of it in three words of Arabic. Subhan Allah, above what they describe.

Verses 164 through 166 are the answer to the oath the surah opened with in Part One. There is not one of us without a known station. We are the ones ranged in ranks. We are the ones who glorify. Ibn Kathir records, on the authority of Ibn Abbas, that this is the speech of the angels themselves. The beings the Quraysh were busy assigning daughters to describe their own condition: assigned, ranked, and occupied with glorifying Him.

Then verse 167 through verse 170 catches the excuse men make in advance. If we had a reminder from those before us, we would have been the servants of Allah chosen for sincerity. The reminder came. Then they disbelieved in it. The man who says he would act if he only had the information is describing a version of himself that does not exist.

Verse 171 through verse 173 states the outcome as already settled. Our word has already gone forth. They are the ones given victory. Our forces are the ones who prevail. Verse 174 is what follows from that: so turn from them for a time. The command after being told you have already won is not to argue harder. It is to withdraw and get to work. The surah closes in verse 180, verse 181, and verse 182 with the three sentences that answer its own title. Glory to your Lord, the Lord of might, above what they describe. Peace upon the messengers. And praise belongs to Allah, Lord of the worlds.

Structural Summary

Verses One Hundred Fourteen to One Hundred Eighty-Two. Turn From Them for a Time.

Four more messengers, the same seal over the first three, and a deliberate break in the pattern at Yunus. Then the surah turns on the claims made about Allah and about the angels, demands a text and receives none, and lets the angels describe their own station in their own words. It ends by telling the one addressed to withdraw, watch, and leave the outcome where it already stands, then closes with glory, peace, and praise.

The Practice · Daily Integration

Verses One Hundred Fourteen to One Hundred Eighty-Two. Turn From Them for a Time.

Verse 143. Name one act of remembrance you keep when nothing is wrong. That is the one that will be available to you when something is.

Verse 125. Name the thing you have been calling on out loud, in ordinary words. Naming it is most of the work.

Verse 174. Take one argument you have been losing energy to and withdraw from it this week without announcing it.

آمِين

Prepared with discipline · Ameen

Verse-By-Verse · Test Yourself

The Quiz

Two questions per verse. Translation and a key Arabic word. Walk through it slow. The goal is comprehension, not speed.

Verse 1161 / 10

The Verse

What does verse 116 say about Musa, Harun and their people?