وَلَقَدْ ءَاتَيْنَا مُوسَى ٱلْكِتَٰبَ مِنۢ بَعْدِ مَآ أَهْلَكْنَا ٱلْقُرُونَ ٱلْأُولَىٰ بَصَآئِرَ لِلنَّاسِ وَهُدًۭى وَرَحْمَةًۭ لَّعَلَّهُمْ يَتَذَكَّرُونَ
Certainly We gave Moses the Book, after We had destroyed the former generations, as [a set of] eye-openers, guidance and mercy for mankind, so that they may take admonition.
وَمَا كُنتَ بِجَانِبِ ٱلْغَرْبِىِّ إِذْ قَضَيْنَآ إِلَىٰ مُوسَى ٱلْأَمْرَ وَمَا كُنتَ مِنَ ٱلشَّٰهِدِينَ
You were not on the western side when We revealed the commandments to Moses, nor were you among the witnesses.
وَلَٰكِنَّآ أَنشَأْنَا قُرُونًۭا فَتَطَاوَلَ عَلَيْهِمُ ٱلْعُمُرُ ۚ وَمَا كُنتَ ثَاوِيًۭا فِىٓ أَهْلِ مَدْيَنَ تَتْلُوا۟ عَلَيْهِمْ ءَايَٰتِنَا وَلَٰكِنَّا كُنَّا مُرْسِلِينَ
But We brought forth other generations and time took its toll on them. You did not dwell among the people of Midian reciting to them Our signs, but it is We who are the senders [of the apostles].
وَمَا كُنتَ بِجَانِبِ ٱلطُّورِ إِذْ نَادَيْنَا وَلَٰكِن رَّحْمَةًۭ مِّن رَّبِّكَ لِتُنذِرَ قَوْمًۭا مَّآ أَتَىٰهُم مِّن نَّذِيرٍۢ مِّن قَبْلِكَ لَعَلَّهُمْ يَتَذَكَّرُونَ
And you were not on the side of the Mount when We called out [to Moses], but [We have sent you as] a mercy from your Lord that you may warn a people to whom there did not come any warner before you, so that they may take admonition.
وَلَوْلَآ أَن تُصِيبَهُم مُّصِيبَةٌۢ بِمَا قَدَّمَتْ أَيْدِيهِمْ فَيَقُولُوا۟ رَبَّنَا لَوْلَآ أَرْسَلْتَ إِلَيْنَا رَسُولًۭا فَنَتَّبِعَ ءَايَٰتِكَ وَنَكُونَ مِنَ ٱلْمُؤْمِنِينَ
And lest—if an affliction were to befall them because of what their hands have sent ahead —they should say, ‘Our Lord! Why did You not send us an apostle so that we might have followed Your signs and been among the faithful?’
فَلَمَّا جَآءَهُمُ ٱلْحَقُّ مِنْ عِندِنَا قَالُوا۟ لَوْلَآ أُوتِىَ مِثْلَ مَآ أُوتِىَ مُوسَىٰٓ ۚ أَوَلَمْ يَكْفُرُوا۟ بِمَآ أُوتِىَ مُوسَىٰ مِن قَبْلُ ۖ قَالُوا۟ سِحْرَانِ تَظَٰهَرَا وَقَالُوٓا۟ إِنَّا بِكُلٍّۢ كَٰفِرُونَ
But when there came to them the truth from Us, they said, ‘Why has he not been given the like of what Moses was given?’ Did they not disbelieve what Moses was given before, and said, ‘Two magicians abetting each other,’ and said, ‘Indeed we disbelieve both of them’?
قُلْ فَأْتُوا۟ بِكِتَٰبٍۢ مِّنْ عِندِ ٱللَّهِ هُوَ أَهْدَىٰ مِنْهُمَآ أَتَّبِعْهُ إِن كُنتُمْ صَٰدِقِينَ
Say, ‘If you are truthful, bring some Book from Allah better in guidance than the two on them so that I may follow it.’
فَإِن لَّمْ يَسْتَجِيبُوا۟ لَكَ فَٱعْلَمْ أَنَّمَا يَتَّبِعُونَ أَهْوَآءَهُمْ ۚ وَمَنْ أَضَلُّ مِمَّنِ ٱتَّبَعَ هَوَىٰهُ بِغَيْرِ هُدًۭى مِّنَ ٱللَّهِ ۚ إِنَّ ٱللَّهَ لَا يَهْدِى ٱلْقَوْمَ ٱلظَّٰلِمِينَ
Then if they do not respond to you[r] [summons], know that they only follow their desires, and who is more astray than him who follows his desires without any guidance from Allah? Indeed Allah does not guide the wrongdoing lot.
۞ وَلَقَدْ وَصَّلْنَا لَهُمُ ٱلْقَوْلَ لَعَلَّهُمْ يَتَذَكَّرُونَ
Certainly We have carried on this discourse for them so that they may take admonition.
ٱلَّذِينَ ءَاتَيْنَٰهُمُ ٱلْكِتَٰبَ مِن قَبْلِهِۦ هُم بِهِۦ يُؤْمِنُونَ
Those to whom We gave the Book before it are the ones who believe in it,
وَإِذَا يُتْلَىٰ عَلَيْهِمْ قَالُوٓا۟ ءَامَنَّا بِهِۦٓ إِنَّهُ ٱلْحَقُّ مِن رَّبِّنَآ إِنَّا كُنَّا مِن قَبْلِهِۦ مُسْلِمِينَ
and when it is recited to them, they say, ‘We believe in it. It is indeed the truth from our Lord. Indeed we were Muslims [even] before it [came].’
أُو۟لَٰٓئِكَ يُؤْتَوْنَ أَجْرَهُم مَّرَّتَيْنِ بِمَا صَبَرُوا۟ وَيَدْرَءُونَ بِٱلْحَسَنَةِ ٱلسَّيِّئَةَ وَمِمَّا رَزَقْنَٰهُمْ يُنفِقُونَ
Those will be given their reward two times for their patience. They repel evil [conduct] with good, and spend out of what We have provided them,
وَإِذَا سَمِعُوا۟ ٱللَّغْوَ أَعْرَضُوا۟ عَنْهُ وَقَالُوا۟ لَنَآ أَعْمَٰلُنَا وَلَكُمْ أَعْمَٰلُكُمْ سَلَٰمٌ عَلَيْكُمْ لَا نَبْتَغِى ٱلْجَٰهِلِينَ
and when they hear vain talk, they avoid it and say, ‘Our deeds belong to us, and your deeds belong to you. Peace be to you. We do not court the ignorant.’
إِنَّكَ لَا تَهْدِى مَنْ أَحْبَبْتَ وَلَٰكِنَّ ٱللَّهَ يَهْدِى مَن يَشَآءُ ۚ وَهُوَ أَعْلَمُ بِٱلْمُهْتَدِينَ
You cannot guide whomever you wish, but [it is] Allah [who] guides whomever He wishes, and He knows best those who are guided.
وَقَالُوٓا۟ إِن نَّتَّبِعِ ٱلْهُدَىٰ مَعَكَ نُتَخَطَّفْ مِنْ أَرْضِنَآ ۚ أَوَلَمْ نُمَكِّن لَّهُمْ حَرَمًا ءَامِنًۭا يُجْبَىٰٓ إِلَيْهِ ثَمَرَٰتُ كُلِّ شَىْءٍۢ رِّزْقًۭا مِّن لَّدُنَّا وَلَٰكِنَّ أَكْثَرَهُمْ لَا يَعْلَمُونَ
They say, ‘If we follow the guidance with you, we will be forced out of our territory.’ Did We not establish a secure sanctuary for them where fruits of all kinds are brought as a provision from Us? But most of them do not know.
وَكَمْ أَهْلَكْنَا مِن قَرْيَةٍۭ بَطِرَتْ مَعِيشَتَهَا ۖ فَتِلْكَ مَسَٰكِنُهُمْ لَمْ تُسْكَن مِّنۢ بَعْدِهِمْ إِلَّا قَلِيلًۭا ۖ وَكُنَّا نَحْنُ ٱلْوَٰرِثِينَ
How many a town We have destroyed that exulted in its lifestyle! There lie their dwellings, uninhabited after them except by a few, and We were the [sole] inheritors.
وَمَا كَانَ رَبُّكَ مُهْلِكَ ٱلْقُرَىٰ حَتَّىٰ يَبْعَثَ فِىٓ أُمِّهَا رَسُولًۭا يَتْلُوا۟ عَلَيْهِمْ ءَايَٰتِنَا ۚ وَمَا كُنَّا مُهْلِكِى ٱلْقُرَىٰٓ إِلَّا وَأَهْلُهَا ظَٰلِمُونَ
Your Lord would not destroy the towns until He had raised an apostle in their mother city to recite to them Our signs. We would never destroy the towns except when their people were wrongdoers.
وَمَآ أُوتِيتُم مِّن شَىْءٍۢ فَمَتَٰعُ ٱلْحَيَوٰةِ ٱلدُّنْيَا وَزِينَتُهَا ۚ وَمَا عِندَ ٱللَّهِ خَيْرٌۭ وَأَبْقَىٰٓ ۚ أَفَلَا تَعْقِلُونَ
Whatever things you have been given are only the wares of the life of this world and its glitter, and what is with Allah is better and more lasting. Will you not exercise your reason?
English translation: Ali Quli Qarai
Triangulated from: enlightening_commentary, tabatabai_al_mizan, tabarsi_majma_al_bayan, tusi_al_tibyan, bahrani_al_burhan, qummi (all six present).
Here the sūra pivots from the Moses narrative to the Prophet Muḥammad's own situation: the story just told is itself a proof of his prophethood, since he witnessed none of it. al-Mīzān reads the whole passage as a real dispute — Meccan polytheists consulting some People of the Book about the Prophet, who confirm him from their own scriptures, provoking the taunt that Qurʾan and Torah alike are "magic."
The argument from the unseen (vv.43–50). After giving Moses the Torah as "insights, guidance and mercy," God stresses that Muḥammad "was not on the western side," "not dwelling in Midian," "not on the side of the Mount" — so his knowledge can only be revelation. al-Ṭabarsī and al-Ṭūsī both extract from v.47 a proof of the theological obligation of luṭf (God's grace of sending warners). When the polytheists demand "the like of what Moses was given," all sources note God's counter: Moses' signs were also rejected as "two magics supporting each other" (glossed variously as Moses-and-Muḥammad, Moses-and-Aaron per Qummī, or Torah-and-Qurʾan). al-Baḥrānī and Qummī add the distinctive taʾwīl that v.50's condemnation of "one who follows his desire without guidance" means one who "takes his religion by his own opinion, without an imam of guidance."
The believing People of the Book (vv.51–55). All sources praise those who "believe in it" and "are given their reward twice." The Sunni-classical layer (al-Ṭabarsī, al-Ṭūsī) names ʿAbdullāh b. Salām and others; the Imāmī layer (Qummī, al-Baḥrānī) reads it esoterically — "We conveyed the Word" = "imam after imam," the "double reward" and "patience" applied to the Imams and their Shīʿa ("we were patient over what we know; they over what they do not"), and "repelling evil with good" as taqiyya versus disclosure. al-Mīzān keeps to the plain reading (reward for faith-upon-faith; repelling harm by courteous forbearance).
"You cannot guide whom you love" and the Abū Ṭālib question (v.56). This verse generates the passage's most charged exchange, which the runbook requires be reported as attributed. The Sunni asbāb tradition (which al-Mīzān and the Arabic sources all cite) places its occasion at Abū Ṭālib's deathbed. But al-Ṭabarsī flatly rejects this — the Prophet cannot will what God does not — and states the Ahl al-Bayt consensus that Abū Ṭālib died a Muslim; al-Ṭūsī concurs ("the Imāmiyya are agreed, with decisive proofs"). al-Baḥrānī devotes a vast dossier to it: ʿAlī's oath ("my father tormented in the Fire, and I the divider of the Fire?!"), the ḥisāb al-jummal reading of "sixty-three" as "One God, Generous," Abū Ṭālib's poetry, and Ibn Ṭāwūs's chronological refutation (the late-Medinan sūra cannot concern a man who died early at Mecca). Theologically all agree the verse itself teaches that guidance-of-the-heart belongs to God alone; the Prophet's office is only to show the way.
The excuse of the "snatched land" (vv.57–60). Finally the Meccans plead they would be "snatched from our land" if they followed the guidance. al-Mīzān lays out God's threefold reply with unusual clarity: they already dwell in a secure sanctuary; security guarantees nothing anyway, for "how many a town We destroyed"; and what they cling to is merely "the enjoyment of this world," whereas "what is with God is better and more lasting." Qummī and al-Baḥrānī anchor the occasion in Quraysh's refusal of the Hijra — and, reading ahead to v.61, identify "the one to whom We promised a fair promise" with ʿAlī and Ḥamza, setting up the contrast with Qārūn that opens the next passage.