Surah Al-A'raf: The Perfect Prayer for Seeking Guidance and Blessings

Al Quran: Discover the beautiful words and profound meaning of surah Al-A'raf, and learn how to recite it with proper Arabic and its translation.

Surah Al-A'raf

Al-Araf is the 7th chapter of the Qur'an, with 206 verses. Regarding the timing and contextual background of the revelation, it is a "Meccan surah", which means it is believed to have been revealed in Mecca.This chapter takes its name from verses 46–47, in which the word A'araf appears.According to Abul A'la Maududi, the time of its disclosure is about the same as that of Al-An'am, i. e., the last year of the Islamic prophet Muhammad's residence at Makkah: the manner of its admonition clearly indicates that it belongs to the same period and both have the same historical background; however, it cannot be declared with assurance which of these two was uncovered before the other. The audience should keep in mind the introduction to Al-An'am.Although heading of the subject matter of this surah can be summarized as "Invitation to the Divine Message", some further elaboration is required to comprehend the underlying themes and their interconnection.The chapter refers to Adam and Eve, Noah, Lot, Hud, Saleh, Shuaib, Moses and Aaron. The significant issues, Divine laws and points of guidance in this surah are as followsThe chief subject of this Surah is an invitation to the Divine Message sent down to Muhammad. The Messenger had been admonishing the individuals of Makkah for 13 years. Yet there was no substantial impact on them, since they had deliberately ignored his message. And had become so adversarial that Allah was going to order Muhammad to disregard them and go to others. That is the reason they are being reproved to acknowledge the message and an admonition is given about the results of their off-base demeanor. Since Muhammad was going to get Allah's edict to relocate from Makkah, the finishing up part of this Surah addresses the People of the Book with whom he was going to come into contact at Al-Madinah. In the ayaat directed to the Jews, the outcomes of their deceptive mentality towards the prophets are likewise brought up clearly. As they proclaimed to put belief in Musa yet their practices were against his lessons. They were defying him as well as were in certainty worshipping falsehood.Towards the ending of the Surah, guidelines are given to Muhammad and his adherents to show tolerance and exercise patience in answer to the incitements of their rivals. Since the devotees were feeling the squeeze and stress, are encouraged to be cautious and not make any stride that may hurt their cause.Verses 7:80–84 deal with the story Lot who was sent to a city, that, according to the quranic narrative, was of the transgressors. Angels descend to protect Lot and his daughters, and the city is destroyed by a stone rain. Lot's wife perishes as well. Lot was sent to a group of people who had committed unprecedented levels of immorality. The men amongst them approached other men with desire instead of women; and thus they were transgressing the bounds of God. Upon hearing the accusation that Prophet Lot had leveled on them, his people gave no answer but this: they said, "Drive them out of your city: these are indeed men who want to be clean and pure!". In the end, Allah saved Prophet Lot and his family except his wife who was amongst the evildoers and Allah punished the people by sending a rain of stones down on them.The narrative focuses on the history of MosesThe incident of the Golden Calf as narrated in Q7:142 paints a positive light on Aaron. The Quran says that Aaron was entrusted the leadership of Israel while Moses was up on Mount Sinai for a period of forty days . Q19:50 adds that Aaron tried his best to stop the worship of the Golden Calf. Further parts of the story are to be found in Quran 7:150. The story ends in an earlier chapter, Quran 5:25.Verse 7:157 reveals that prophecies about the coming of Muhammad were present in the Jewish law and Gospel.This final verse, verse 206, requires a sajdah, or prostration.Folio from Walters manuscript W.552 with a text page containing an illuminated heading in gold ink for chapter 7

Al-Anfal

Al-An'am

Al-A'raf

ولو أننا نزلنا

تفسير :  alif lām mīm sād: god knows best what he means by these [letters].

تفسير : this is, a book that is revealed to you — addressing the prophet (s) — so let there be no inhibition, [no] constraint, in your breast because of it, to convey it — for fear that you might be called a liar — that you may warn thereby (li-tundhira, ‘that you may warn’, is semantically connected to unzila, ‘is revealed’, that is to say, ‘[it is revealed] for [the purposes of] warning’) and as a reminder for those who believe, in it.

Kitabun onzila ilayka fala yakun fee sadrika harajun minhu litunthira bihi wathikra lilmumineena

تفسير : say to them: follow what has been revealed to you from your lord, namely, the qur’ān, and do not follow, [do not] take, beside him, namely, god, in other words, other than him, any patrons, obeying them in disobedience of him, exalted be he. little do you remember (read tadhakkarūn or yadhakkarūn, ‘[little] are you or they admonished’; the original tā’ [of tatadhakkarūn] has been assimilated with the dhāl; a variant reading has tadhkurūn; the mā [of qalīlan mā, ‘little’] is extra, merely emphasising the ‘littleness’).

IttabiAAoo ma onzila ilaykum min rabbikum wala tattabiAAoo min doonihi awliyaa qaleelan ma tathakkaroona

تفسير : how many (kam is predicative and is the direct object [of the main verb, ahlaknāhā, ‘we have destroyed’]) a city, meaning its inhabitants, have we destroyed, have we willed its destruction! so our might, our chastisement, came upon it at night or while they slept at noon (qā’ilūn: al-qaylūla is a rest taken halfway during the day, even if it does not involve sleep), in other words, sometimes it came upon it at night, and sometimes it came during the day.

Wakam min qaryatin ahlaknaha fajaaha basuna bayatan aw hum qailoona

تفسير : and their only plea, their [only] words, when our might came upon them, was to say, ‘we were evildoers indeed’.

Fama kana daAAwahum ith jaahum basuna illa an qaloo inna kunna thalimeena

تفسير : then verily we shall question those to whom the message was sent, that is, [we shall question those] communities, about their response to the messengers, and to what extent they implemented that which was conveyed to them; and we shall question the messengers, about the conveying [of that message].

Falanasalanna allatheena orsila ilayhim walanasalanna almursaleena

تفسير : and we shall narrate to them with knowledge, we shall inform them, with [previous] knowledge, of what they did; for verily we were not absent, when the messengers were conveying [the message], nor [were we absent] during the time of bygone communities and what they did.

Falanaqussanna AAalayhim biAAilmin wama kunna ghaibeena

تفسير :  the weighing, of deeds or of the scrolls of these [deeds] shall be — in a balance that has a tongue and two palms [as scales], as reported in a hadīth — on that day, that is, on the day of the questioning mentioned, namely, the day of resurrection, the true [weighing], the fair [weighing] (al-haqq, ‘the true’, is an adjectival qualification of al-wazn, ‘the weighing’). as for those whose scales are heavy, with good deeds, they are the successful, the triumphant.

Waalwaznu yawmaithini alhaqqu faman thaqulat mawazeenuhu faolaika humu almuflihoona

تفسير : and as for those whose scales are light, because of evil deeds, those are the ones who have lost their souls, by causing them to travel towards the fire, because they mistreated, they [knowingly] denied, our signs.

Waman khaffat mawazeenuhu faolaika allatheena khasiroo anfusahum bima kanoo biayatina yathlimoona

تفسير : and we have given you power, o children of adam, in the earth, and have appointed for you therein livelihoods (ma‘āyish is the plural of ma‘īsha), that is, the means by which you [are able to] subsist; little (qalīlan mā: mā is to emphasise the ‘littleness’) thanks you show, for this.

Walaqad makkannakum fee alardi wajaAAalna lakum feeha maAAayisha qaleelan ma tashkuroona