Sam Gerrans - The Qur'an: A Complete Revelation

And ask thou them about the town that was by the sea, when they transgressed the Sabbath, when their fish came to them openly on the day of their Sabbath. But on the day they had no Sabbath, they came not to them. Thus did We try them, because they were perfidious.

وَسْـَٔلْهُمْ عَنِ الْقَرْيَةِ الَّت۪ي كَانَتْ حَاضِرَةَ الْبَحْرِۢ اِذْ يَعْدُونَ فِي السَّبْتِ اِذْ تَأْت۪يهِمْ ح۪يتَانُهُمْ يَوْمَ سَبْتِهِمْ شُرَّعاً وَيَوْمَ لَا يَسْبِتُونَۙ لَا تَأْت۪يهِمْۚ كَذٰلِكَ نَبْلُوهُمْ بِمَا كَانُوا يَفْسُقُونَ
Was-alhum AAani alqaryati allatee kanathadirata albahri ith yaAAdoona fee assabtiith ta/teehim heetanuhum yawma sabtihimshurraAAan wayawma la yasbitoona la ta/teehim kathalikanabloohum bima kanoo yafsuqoon
#wordmeaningroot
1wasalhumAnd ask themسال
2ʿaniabout
3l-qaryatithe townقري
4allatīwhich
5kānatwasكون
6ḥāḍiratasituatedحضر
7l-baḥri(by) the seaبحر
8idhwhen
9yaʿdūnathey transgressedعدو
10in
11l-sabtithe (matter of) Sabbathسبت
12idhwhen
13tatīhimcame to themاتي
14ḥītānuhumtheir fishحوت
15yawma(on the) dayيوم
16sabtihim(of) their Sabbathسبت
17shurraʿanvisiblyشرع
18wayawmaand (on the) dayيوم
19not
20yasbitūnathey had Sabbathسبت
21(they did) not
22tatīhimcome to themاتي
23kadhālikaThus
24nablūhumWe test themبلو
25bimābecause
26kānūthey wereكون
27yafsuqūnadefiantly disobeyingفسق
  • Aisha Bewley

    Ask them about the town which was by the sea when they broke the Sabbath – when their fish came to them near the surface on their Sabbath day but did not come on the days which were not their Sabbath. In this way We put them to the test because they were deviators.

  • Progressive Muslims

    And ask them about the town which was by the sea, after they had transgressed the Sabbath; their fish would come to them openly on the day of their Sabbath, and when they are not in Sabbath, they do not come to them! It is such that We afflicted them for what they corrupted.

  • Shabbir Ahmed

    Ask the Israelites about the township (Elat) that was located by the sea, and they had violated the Sabbath. The big fish used to come on the surface in abundance on their day of Sabbath, feeling secure, and did not come up on other days. (But the community failed to persevere, and broke the Sabbath to get a good catch). Thus We tested them to see for themselves how they drift away from discipline.

  • Sam Gerrans The Qur'an: A Complete Revelation

    And ask thou them about the town that was by the sea, when they transgressed the Sabbath, when their fish came to them openly on the day of their Sabbath. But on the day they had no Sabbath, they came not to them. Thus did We try them, because they were perfidious.

  • The Monotheist Group The Quran: A Monotheist Translation

    And ask them about the town which was by the sea, after they had transgressed the Sabbath; their fish would come to them openly on the day of their Sabbath, and when they are not in Sabbath, they do not come to them! It is such that We afflicted them for what wickedness they were in.

  • Edip-Layth Quran: A Reformist Translation

    Ask them about the town which was by the sea, after they had transgressed the Sabbath; their fish would come to them openly on the day of their Sabbath, and when they were not in Sabbath, they would not come to them! It is such that We afflicted them for what they corrupted.

  • Rashad Khalifa The Final Testament

    Remind them of the community by the sea, who desecrated the Sabbath. When they observed the Sabbath, the fish came to them abundantly. And when they violated the Sabbath, the fish did not come. We thus afflicted them, as a consequence of their transgression.

  • Mohamed Ahmed - Samira

    Enquire of them about the town situated by the sea where, when they did not keep the Sabbath, the fish came up to the surface of the water for them; but on days other than the Sabbath the fish did not come. We tried them in this way, for they were disobedient.

  • Sahih International (Umm Muhammad, Mary Kennedy, Amatullah Bantley)

    And ask them about the town that was by the sea - when they transgressed in the sabbath - when their fish came to them openly on their sabbath day, and the day they had no sabbath they did not come to them. Thus did We give them trial because they were defiantly disobedient.

  • Muhammad Asad

    And ask them about that town which stood by the sea: how its people would profane the Sabbath whenever their fish came to them, breaking the water's surface, on a day on which they ought to have kept Sabbath -because they would not come to them on other than Sabbath-days! Thus did We try them by means of their iniquitous doings.

  • Marmaduke Pickthall

    Ask them (O Muhammad) of the township that was by the sea, how they did break the Sabbath, how their big fish came unto them visibly upon their Sabbath day and on a day when they did not keep Sabbath came they not unto them. Thus did We try them for that they were evil-livers.

  • Abul A'la Maududi Tafhim commentary

    And ask the people of Moses concerning the town situated along the sea* how its people profaned the Sabbath when fish came to them breaking the water's surface on Sabbath days,* and would not come to them on other than Sabbath-days. Thus did We try them because of their disobedience.*

  • Abdel Khalek Himmat Al- Muntakhab

    Ask them about the town which stood by the see-front* where their minds and souls impelled them to transgress Allah's commandment and break the Sabbath ordained by Allah to be set apart for rest and worship. The fish were made to come to the surface on the Sabbath day, and to dive deep on other days; a means of trial to test their prevalent inclination. As was expected, being wicked, they yielded to temptation

  • Bijan Moeinian

    Ask them about their disobedience , concerning the law that prohibited them to work on Saturdays (punishable by death (Exodus 12-16). ) I tried the inhabitants of one of their sea-ports by bringing schools of fish close to shore on Saturdays and none during the week days. What a trial the wrongdoers had to go thru

  • Al-Hilali & Khan

    And ask them (O Muhammad صلى الله عليه وسلم) about the town that was by the sea; when they transgressed in the matter of the Sabbath (i.e. Saturday): when their fish came to them openly on the Sabbath day, and did not come to them on the day they had no Sabbath. Thus We made a trial of them, for they used to rebel against Allâh’s Command (disobey Allâh) .

  • Abdullah Yusuf Ali

    Ask them concerning the town standing close by the sea. Behold! they transgressed in the matter of the Sabbath. For on the day of their Sabbath their fish did come to them, openly holding up their heads, but on the day they had no Sabbath, they came not: thus did We make a trial of them, for they were given to transgression.

  • Mustafa Khattab The Clear Quran

    Ask them ˹O Prophet˺ about ˹the people of˺ the town which was by the sea, who broke the Sabbath. During the Sabbath, ˹abundant˺ fish would come to them clearly visible, but on other days the fish were never seen. In this way We tested them for their rebelliousness.

  • Taqi Usmani

    Ask them about the town situated by the sea, when they used to transgress in the matter of Sabbath, when their fish came to them openly on the Sabbath, and did not come when they did not have Sabbath. In this way, We put them to a test, because they used to act sinfully.

  • Abdul Haleem

    , ask them about the town by the sea; how its people broke the Sabbath when their fish surfaced for them only on that day, never on weekdays- We tested them in this way: because of their disobedience-

  • Arthur John Arberry

    And question them concerning the township which was bordering the sea, when they transgressed the Sabbath, when their fish came to them on the day of their Sabbath, swimming shorewards, but on the day they kept not Sabbath, they came not unto them. Even so We were trying them for their ungodliness.

  • E. Henry Palmer

    Ask them too about the city which stood by the sea, when they transgressed upon the Sabbath; when their fish came to them on the Sabbath day sailing straight up to them; but on the days when they kept not the Sabbath, they came not to them, thus did we try them for the abominations that they wrought.

  • Hamid S. Aziz

    Ask them, too, about the city which stood by the sea, how they broke the Sabbath; how on the Sabbath day the fish came straight up to them; but on the days when they kept not the Sabbath, they came not to them. Thus did We try them for the evil that they wrought.

  • Mahmoud Ghali

    And ask them concerning the town which was by the (Literally: present by the sea) sea, as they were aggressors on (i. e. They broke the Sabbath) the Sabbath, as their whales came to them on the day of their Sabbath with their heads up, (i.e. They were swimming shorewards) and on the day they did not keep Sabbath, they did not come up to them. Thus did We try them for they were acting immorally..

  • George Sale

    And ask them concerning the town which stood by the sea. When they profaned the Sabbath; when their fish came to them on their Sabbath day appearing on the surface of the water, but on the day when they did not keep the Sabbath, they came not to them. Thus did We try them because they were rebellious.

  • Syed Vickar Ahamed

    Ask them about the town standing close to the sea. Look! They transgressed about the Sabbath. Because on the day of their Sabbath their fish did come to them, openly holding up their heads; But on the day they had no Sabbath, they did not come: Thus did We make a trial for them, because they were used to transgression.

  • Amatul Rahman Omar

    And ask them as to (what happened to the people of) the township (- Eila) which was on the seashore (of the Red Sea) when they profaned the Sabbath. On the day of their Sabbath their fish appeared to them in shoals upon shoals on the surface (of the water), but on the day when they did not observe the Sabbath (and fishing was open), it did not appear to them. Thus did We go on making a distinction between the good and the evil ones of them by means of their acts of disobedience.

  • Ali Quli Qarai

    Ask them about the town that was situated on the seaside, when they violated the Sabbath, when their fish would come to them on the Sabbath day, visibly on the shore, but on days when they were not keeping Sabbath they would not come to them. Thus did We test them because of the transgressions they used to commit.