وَلَقَدْ أَرْسَلْنَا مُوسَىٰ بِـَٔايَٰتِنَا وَسُلْطَٰنٍۢ مُّبِينٍ
Certainly We sent Moses with Our signs and a manifest authority
إِلَىٰ فِرْعَوْنَ وَمَلَإِي۟هِۦ فَٱتَّبَعُوٓا۟ أَمْرَ فِرْعَوْنَ ۖ وَمَآ أَمْرُ فِرْعَوْنَ بِرَشِيدٍۢ
to Pharaoh and his elite, but they followed Pharaoh’s dictates, and Pharaoh’s dictates were not right-minded.
يَقْدُمُ قَوْمَهُۥ يَوْمَ ٱلْقِيَٰمَةِ فَأَوْرَدَهُمُ ٱلنَّارَ ۖ وَبِئْسَ ٱلْوِرْدُ ٱلْمَوْرُودُ
On the Day of Resurrection he will lead his people and conduct them into the Fire: an evil goal for the incoming!
وَأُتْبِعُوا۟ فِى هَٰذِهِۦ لَعْنَةًۭ وَيَوْمَ ٱلْقِيَٰمَةِ ۚ بِئْسَ ٱلرِّفْدُ ٱلْمَرْفُودُ
They are pursued by a curse in this [world], as well as on the Day of Resurrection; evil is the award conferred [upon them]!
ذَٰلِكَ مِنْ أَنۢبَآءِ ٱلْقُرَىٰ نَقُصُّهُۥ عَلَيْكَ ۖ مِنْهَا قَآئِمٌۭ وَحَصِيدٌۭ
These are from the accounts of the townships, which We recount to you. Of them, there are some that still stand, and some that have been mown down.
وَمَا ظَلَمْنَٰهُمْ وَلَٰكِن ظَلَمُوٓا۟ أَنفُسَهُمْ ۖ فَمَآ أَغْنَتْ عَنْهُمْ ءَالِهَتُهُمُ ٱلَّتِى يَدْعُونَ مِن دُونِ ٱللَّهِ مِن شَىْءٍۢ لَّمَّا جَآءَ أَمْرُ رَبِّكَ ۖ وَمَا زَادُوهُمْ غَيْرَ تَتْبِيبٍۢ
We did not wrong them, but they wronged themselves. When your Lord’s edict came, their gods whom they would invoke besides Allah were of no avail to them in any wise, and they did not increase them in anything but ruin.
وَكَذَٰلِكَ أَخْذُ رَبِّكَ إِذَآ أَخَذَ ٱلْقُرَىٰ وَهِىَ ظَٰلِمَةٌ ۚ إِنَّ أَخْذَهُۥٓ أَلِيمٌۭ شَدِيدٌ
Such is the seizing of your Lord when He seizes the townships that are wrongdoing. Indeed His seizing is painful and severe.
إِنَّ فِى ذَٰلِكَ لَءَايَةًۭ لِّمَنْ خَافَ عَذَابَ ٱلْءَاخِرَةِ ۚ ذَٰلِكَ يَوْمٌۭ مَّجْمُوعٌۭ لَّهُ ٱلنَّاسُ وَذَٰلِكَ يَوْمٌۭ مَّشْهُودٌۭ
There is indeed a sign in that for those who fear the punishment of the Hereafter. That is a day on which all mankind will be gathered, and it is a day witnessed [by all creatures].
وَمَا نُؤَخِّرُهُۥٓ إِلَّا لِأَجَلٍۢ مَّعْدُودٍۢ
And We do not defer it but for a determinate term.
يَوْمَ يَأْتِ لَا تَكَلَّمُ نَفْسٌ إِلَّا بِإِذْنِهِۦ ۚ فَمِنْهُمْ شَقِىٌّۭ وَسَعِيدٌۭ
The day it comes, no one shall speak except by His leave. [On that day,] some of them will be wretched and [some] felicitous.
فَأَمَّا ٱلَّذِينَ شَقُوا۟ فَفِى ٱلنَّارِ لَهُمْ فِيهَا زَفِيرٌۭ وَشَهِيقٌ
As for the wretched, they shall be in the Fire: their lot therein will be groaning and wailing.
خَٰلِدِينَ فِيهَا مَا دَامَتِ ٱلسَّمَٰوَٰتُ وَٱلْأَرْضُ إِلَّا مَا شَآءَ رَبُّكَ ۚ إِنَّ رَبَّكَ فَعَّالٌۭ لِّمَا يُرِيدُ
They shall remain in it for as long as the heavens and the earth endure—except what your Lord may wish; indeed your Lord does whatever He desires.
۞ وَأَمَّا ٱلَّذِينَ سُعِدُوا۟ فَفِى ٱلْجَنَّةِ خَٰلِدِينَ فِيهَا مَا دَامَتِ ٱلسَّمَٰوَٰتُ وَٱلْأَرْضُ إِلَّا مَا شَآءَ رَبُّكَ ۖ عَطَآءً غَيْرَ مَجْذُوذٍۢ
As for the felicitous, they will be in paradise. They will remain in it for as long as the heavens and the earth endure—except what your Lord may wish—an endless bounty.
فَلَا تَكُ فِى مِرْيَةٍۢ مِّمَّا يَعْبُدُ هَٰٓؤُلَآءِ ۚ مَا يَعْبُدُونَ إِلَّا كَمَا يَعْبُدُ ءَابَآؤُهُم مِّن قَبْلُ ۚ وَإِنَّا لَمُوَفُّوهُمْ نَصِيبَهُمْ غَيْرَ مَنقُوصٍۢ
So do not be in doubt about what these worship: they worship just as their fathers worshiped before, and We shall surely pay them their full share, undiminished.
وَلَقَدْ ءَاتَيْنَا مُوسَى ٱلْكِتَٰبَ فَٱخْتُلِفَ فِيهِ ۚ وَلَوْلَا كَلِمَةٌۭ سَبَقَتْ مِن رَّبِّكَ لَقُضِىَ بَيْنَهُمْ ۚ وَإِنَّهُمْ لَفِى شَكٍّۢ مِّنْهُ مُرِيبٍۢ
Certainly We gave Moses the Book, but differences arose about it, and were it not for a prior decree of your Lord, a decision would have been made between them; indeed they are in grave doubt concerning it.
وَإِنَّ كُلًّۭا لَّمَّا لَيُوَفِّيَنَّهُمْ رَبُّكَ أَعْمَٰلَهُمْ ۚ إِنَّهُۥ بِمَا يَعْمَلُونَ خَبِيرٌۭ
Your Lord will indeed recompense everyone fully for their works. Indeed, He is well aware of what they do.
فَٱسْتَقِمْ كَمَآ أُمِرْتَ وَمَن تَابَ مَعَكَ وَلَا تَطْغَوْا۟ ۚ إِنَّهُۥ بِمَا تَعْمَلُونَ بَصِيرٌۭ
So be steadfast, just as you have been commanded—[you] and whoever has turned [to Allah] with you—and do not overstep the bounds. Indeed, He watches what you do.
وَلَا تَرْكَنُوٓا۟ إِلَى ٱلَّذِينَ ظَلَمُوا۟ فَتَمَسَّكُمُ ٱلنَّارُ وَمَا لَكُم مِّن دُونِ ٱللَّهِ مِنْ أَوْلِيَآءَ ثُمَّ لَا تُنصَرُونَ
Do not incline toward the wrongdoers, lest the Fire should touch you, and you will not have any friend besides Allah; then you will not be helped.
وَأَقِمِ ٱلصَّلَوٰةَ طَرَفَىِ ٱلنَّهَارِ وَزُلَفًۭا مِّنَ ٱلَّيْلِ ۚ إِنَّ ٱلْحَسَنَٰتِ يُذْهِبْنَ ٱلسَّيِّـَٔاتِ ۚ ذَٰلِكَ ذِكْرَىٰ لِلذَّٰكِرِينَ
Maintain the prayer at the two ends of the day, and during the early hours of the night. Indeed good deeds efface misdeeds. That is an admonition for the mindful.
وَٱصْبِرْ فَإِنَّ ٱللَّهَ لَا يُضِيعُ أَجْرَ ٱلْمُحْسِنِينَ
And be patient; indeed Allah does not waste the reward of the virtuous.
فَلَوْلَا كَانَ مِنَ ٱلْقُرُونِ مِن قَبْلِكُمْ أُو۟لُوا۟ بَقِيَّةٍۢ يَنْهَوْنَ عَنِ ٱلْفَسَادِ فِى ٱلْأَرْضِ إِلَّا قَلِيلًۭا مِّمَّنْ أَنجَيْنَا مِنْهُمْ ۗ وَٱتَّبَعَ ٱلَّذِينَ ظَلَمُوا۟ مَآ أُتْرِفُوا۟ فِيهِ وَكَانُوا۟ مُجْرِمِينَ
Why were there not among the generations before you a remnant [of the wise] who might forbid corruption in the earth, except a few of those whom We delivered from among them? Those who were wrongdoers pursued that in which they had been granted affluence, and they were a guilty lot.
وَمَا كَانَ رَبُّكَ لِيُهْلِكَ ٱلْقُرَىٰ بِظُلْمٍۢ وَأَهْلُهَا مُصْلِحُونَ
Your Lord would never destroy the townships unjustly while their inhabitants were bringing about reform.
وَلَوْ شَآءَ رَبُّكَ لَجَعَلَ ٱلنَّاسَ أُمَّةًۭ وَٰحِدَةًۭ ۖ وَلَا يَزَالُونَ مُخْتَلِفِينَ
Had your Lord wished, He would have made mankind one community; but they continue to differ,
إِلَّا مَن رَّحِمَ رَبُّكَ ۚ وَلِذَٰلِكَ خَلَقَهُمْ ۗ وَتَمَّتْ كَلِمَةُ رَبِّكَ لَأَمْلَأَنَّ جَهَنَّمَ مِنَ ٱلْجِنَّةِ وَٱلنَّاسِ أَجْمَعِينَ
except those on whom your Lord has mercy—and that is why He created them—and the word of your Lord has been fulfilled: ‘I will surely fill hell with jinn and humans, all together!’
وَكُلًّۭا نَّقُصُّ عَلَيْكَ مِنْ أَنۢبَآءِ ٱلرُّسُلِ مَا نُثَبِّتُ بِهِۦ فُؤَادَكَ ۚ وَجَآءَكَ فِى هَٰذِهِ ٱلْحَقُّ وَمَوْعِظَةٌۭ وَذِكْرَىٰ لِلْمُؤْمِنِينَ
Whatever We relate to you of the accounts of the apostles are those by which We strengthen your heart, and there has come to you in this [surah] the truth and an advice and admonition for the faithful.
وَقُل لِّلَّذِينَ لَا يُؤْمِنُونَ ٱعْمَلُوا۟ عَلَىٰ مَكَانَتِكُمْ إِنَّا عَٰمِلُونَ
Say to those who do not have faith, ‘Act according to your ability; we too are acting.
وَٱنتَظِرُوٓا۟ إِنَّا مُنتَظِرُونَ
And wait! We too are waiting.’
وَلِلَّهِ غَيْبُ ٱلسَّمَٰوَٰتِ وَٱلْأَرْضِ وَإِلَيْهِ يُرْجَعُ ٱلْأَمْرُ كُلُّهُۥ فَٱعْبُدْهُ وَتَوَكَّلْ عَلَيْهِ ۚ وَمَا رَبُّكَ بِغَٰفِلٍ عَمَّا تَعْمَلُونَ
To Allah belongs the Unseen of the heavens and the earth, and to Him all matters are returned. So worship Him and trust in Him. Your Lord is not oblivious of what you do.
English translation: Ali Quli Qarai
The sūra's final movement condenses the story of Moses to a few verses, then draws a universal moral from the whole procession of destroyed nations, turns to the fate of the two parties in the Hereafter, and closes with a series of commands to the Prophet and his community. All six present sources treat this passage; here it is unusually rich because it contains three of the Qurʾān's celebrated cruxes — the "abiding … save what your Lord wills," the doubled lammā of v.111, and "so stand firm as you were commanded."
Moses and the ruined towns (96–103). All sources gloss sultān mubīn as a decisive proof; Ṭabarsī, Ṭūsī, and al-Mīzān note (with al-Zajjaj) that it is "God's proof on His earth," and al-Mīzān adds that Moses was uniquely given authority over Pharaoh's house. Ṭabarsī, Ṭūsī and al-Mīzān read the Fire as an "evil watering-place (wird)," a metaphor matching the rivers of Paradise. On "some standing and some mown down," Baḥrānī uniquely preserves al-Ṣādiq's play on the variant ḥaṣīd/ḥadīd — "there is no reaping except by iron." The Prophet's ḥadīth (in the Ṣaḥīḥs, cited by Ṭabarsī) that God "gives the wrongdoer respite, then does not let him go" anchors v.102.
The Day and the two parties (104–108). Al-Mīzān gives its most sustained philosophy here: the Day is one from which none is excepted, and "no soul speaks save by His leave" because the Resurrection is the realm where secrets are tried and the ordinary chosen speech — which can be true or false — is lifted; he harmonizes the seemingly contradictory verses on speaking and questioning (a task Ṭabarsī and Ṭūsī also perform, by distinguishing rebuke-questioning from learning-questioning and the Day's many stations). On shaqī/saʿīd, al-Mīzān mounts a long refutation of al-Rāzī's determinism, arguing that God's foreknowledge of a freely-chosen act necessitates it through that choice. On the great crux "so long as the heavens and the earth endure, save what your Lord wills," Ṭabarsī and Ṭūsī each list ten views on the exception, both favouring — in line with their irjāʾ — that the "wretched" include monotheist sinners taken out of the Fire (the Jahannamiyyūn). Baḥrānī supplies the supporting narrations: al-Ṣādiq's "Spring of Life (ʿayn al-ḥayawān)" tradition, and the mīthāq report that the istithnāʾ does not empty Paradise and the Fire. Qummī and Baḥrānī (via ʿAlī b. Ibrāhīm) uniquely give the barzakh reading — "the fire of this world before the Resurrection." Al-Mīzān resolves the crux differently, by his doctrine that the Hereafter has its own abiding heavens and earth (14:48; 39:74), and reads the exception as establishing God's absolute, unlapsing power.
Standing firm and not inclining (109–117). On "so stand firm (fastaqim)," all note the ḥadīth that this verse aged the Prophet ("Hūd and al-Wāqiʿa have whitened my hair" — Ibn ʿAbbās via Ṭabarsī; al-Mīzān). Al-Mīzān grounds istiqāma in the image of a man standing upright, and reads "do not transgress" as forbidding only excess, the sin of the perished nations. On "do not incline (lā tarkanū) toward those who do wrong," the Imāmī sources report that rukūn is "affection, counsel, and obedience" (Qummī, Baḥrānī), and Baḥrānī adds al-Ṣādiq's pointed gloss — the Shīʿī "who holds the doctrine of these tyrants." Al-Mīzān argues at length that the forbidden rukūn is basing the religion itself on the wrongdoers' wrong, narrower than the wilāya forbidden elsewhere. On "establish prayer at the two ends of the day," Baḥrānī cites Zurāra ← al-Bāqir fixing the five prayers, and all gather the "the good deeds drive away the evil deeds" traditions — pre-eminently the ʿAlī report that this is "the most hope-giving verse in the Book of God," the five prayers a flowing river; Baḥrānī also embeds the whole letter of the Commander of the Faithful to Muḥammad b. Abī Bakr.
The difference of mankind and the close (118–123). On "yet they continue to differ, save those on whom your Lord has mercy," al-Mīzān's essay distinguishes natural difference (willed, unblamed) from religious difference (insolent envy after knowledge), reading "for that He created them" as pointing to mercy. The Imāmī sources (Qummī via Abū al-Jārūd, Baḥrānī via al-Bāqir and Zayn al-ʿĀbidīn) give the sectarian taʾwīl — "those on whom your Lord has mercy" are "the House of Muhammad and their followers" — recorded here as the sources' reading, not endorsed. The sūra ends, as al-Mīzān observes, by replacing the recurring "your Lord" with the name Allāh at "to Him all matters return," before the final "worship Him and rely upon Him." Ṭabarsī and Ṭūsī close with Kaʿb al-Aḥbār's remark that "the seal of the Torah is the seal of Hūd."