Al-Qur'an Surah An-Nahl Verse 92

Mufti Taqi Usmani

Do not be like the woman who had broken her yarn into pieces after spinning it firmly, by taking your oaths as means of mischief between yourselves, merely because a group gets greater benefit than the other. In fact, Allah puts you to a test thereby and, of course, on the Day of Resurrection He will explain to you all those matters in which you disagreed.

Dr. Mustafa Khattab, the Clear Quran

Do not be like the woman who ˹foolishly˺ unravels her yarn after it is firmly spun, by taking your oaths as a means of deceiving one another in favour of a stronger group. Surely Allah tests you through this. And on the Day of Judgment He will certainly make your differences clear to you.

Ruwwad Translation Center

Do not be like the woman who unravels her yarn after spinning it firmly, by taking your oaths as a means of deceit between yourselves so that one party might gain advantage over the other. Allah only puts you to test thereby, and on the Day of Resurrection He will surely make clear to you all that over which you used to differ.

A. J. Arberry

And be not as a woman who breaks her thread, after it is firmly spun, into fibres, by taking your oaths as mere mutual deceit, one nation being more numerous than another nation. God only tries you thereby; and certainly He will make clear to you upon the Day of Resurrection that whereon you were at variance.

Abdul Haleem

Do not use your oaths to deceive each other- like a woman who unravels the thread she has firmly spun- just because one party may be more numerous than another. God tests you with this, and on the Day of the Resurrection He will make clear to you those things you differed about.

Abdul Majid Daryabadi

And be not like unto her who unravelleth her yarn into strands after its strength, holding your oaths a means of discord amongst you that a community may be more numerous than anot her community; Allah only proveth you there by; and He will surely manifest unto you on the Judgment Day that wherein ye have been differing.

Abdullah Yusuf Ali

And be not like a woman who breaks into untwisted strands the yarn which she has spun, after it has become strong. Nor take your oaths to practise deception between yourselves, lest one party should be more numerous than another; for Allah will test you by this; and on the Day of Judgment He will certainly make clear to you (the truth of) that wherein ye disagree.

Abul Ala Maududi

And do not become like the woman who, after having painstakingly spun her yarn, caused it to disintegrate into pieces. You resort to oaths as instruments of mutual deceit so that one people might take greater advantage than another although Allah puts you to the test through this. Surely on the Day of Resurrection He will make clear the Truth concerning the matters over which you differed.

Ahmed Ali

And do not be like her who untwists her yarn having spun it into durable thread. Do not use your oaths deceitfully because one party has ascendency over you. God surely tries you in this way: He will make it clear to you on the Day of Resurrection what you were differing about.

Ahmed Raza Khan

And do not be like the woman broke her thread into bits after she had manufactured it; you make your oaths a phoney excuse between yourselves lest one nation may not be more than the other; Allah just tries you with it; and He will surely clarify for you on the Day of Resurrection, the matters in which you differed.

Ali Quli Qarai

Do not be like her who would undo her yarn, breaking it up after [spinning it to] strength, by making your oaths a means of [mutual] deceit among yourselves, so that one community may become more affluent than another community. Indeed Allah tests you thereby, and He will surely clarify for you on the Day of Resurrection what you used to differ about.

Ali Ünal

And do not be like her who destroys her yarn that she herself made strong, betraying (thereby her own effort) – by making your oaths a means of deception among yourselves in order that you may be a community greater in numbers (in power and other worldly things) than another community. In this God is only testing you, and on the Day of Resurrection, He will certainly make clear to you all that on which you used to differ.

Amatul Rahman Omar

And be not like the woman who breaks her yarn after spinning it strong with hard labour into thread. You use your oaths to deceive one another (for fear) lest one nation should become more powerful than the other nation. Surely, Allâh tries you thereby and on the Day of Resurrection will make clear to you all the things about which you had been differing (from one another).

English Literal

And do no be like who unbound/broke/destroyed her yarn/spun thread (into) unraveling/fraying/untwisted strands of yarn from after (its) strength , you take your rights/oaths (as) deceit/blemishes between you, that (E) a nation be more grown/increased than a nation, but/truly God tests you with it, and to clarify/show/explain for you (on) the Resurrection Day what you were in it differing/disagreeing/disputing.

Faridul Haque

And do not be like the woman broke her thread into bits after she had manufactured it; you make your oaths a phoney excuse between yourselves lest one nation may not be more than the other; Allah just tries you with it; and He will surely clarify for you on the Day of Resurrection, the matters in which you differed.

Hamid S. Aziz

And be not like her who unravels her yarn, fraying it out after she hath spun it close, by taking your oaths for mutual intrigue, because one nation is more numerous than another; Allah only tries you therewith, but He will make manifest to you on the Day of Judgment that whereon you disagree.

Hilali & Khan

And be not like her who undoes the thread which she has spun after it has become strong, by taking your oaths a means of deception among yourselves, lest a nation may be more numerous than another nation. Allah only tests you by this [i.e. who obeys Allah and fulfills Allah's Covenant and who disobeys Allah and breaks Allah's Covenant]. And on the Day of Resurrection, He will certainly make clear to you that wherein you used to differ [i.e. a believer confesses and believes in the Oneness of Allah and in the Prophethood of Prophet Muhammad SAW which the disbeliever denies it and that was their difference amongst them in the life of this world].

Maulana Mohammad Ali

And fulfill the covenant of Allah, when you have made a covenant, and break not the oaths after making them fast, and you have indeed made Allah your surety. Surely Allah knows what you do.

Mohammad Habib Shakir

And be not like her who unravels her yarn, disintegrating it into pieces after she has spun it strongly. You make your oaths to be means of deceit between you because (one) nation is more numerous than (another) nation. Allah only tries you by this; and He will most certainly make clear to you on the resurrection day that about which you differed.

Mohammed Marmaduke William Pickthall

And be not like unto her who unravelleth the thread, after she hath made it strong, to thin filaments, making your oaths a deceit between you because of a nation being more numerous than (another) nation. Allah only trieth you thereby, and He verily will explain to you on the Day of Resurrection that wherein ye differed.

Muhammad Sarwar

Do not be like the lady behind the spinning wheel who has broken the yarn by pulling it with unnecessary force. You must not consider your oaths as means of deceit to benefit one party and incur loss upon the other. God tests your faith by your oaths. He will make clear to you who was right and who was wrong on the Day of Judgment.

Qaribullah & Darwish

Do not be like the woman who breaks her thread, after it is firmly spun into fibers, by taking your oaths as mere mutual deceit, one nation being more numerous than the other. Allah tries you with it. On the Day of Resurrection, He will clarify to you everything on which you were at variance.

Safi-ur-Rahman al-Mubarakpuri

And do not be like the one who undoes the thread which she has spun, after it has become strong, by taking your oaths as a means of deception among yourselves when one group is more numerous than another group. Allah only tests you by this, and on the Day of Resurrection, He will certainly clarify that which used to differ over.

Wahiduddin Khan

Do not, like the woman who unravels her yarn after its strands have been firmly spun, use your oaths as a means of deceiving one another, just because one community could become bigger than another. God is only testing you by means of this. On the Day of Resurrection He will make it clear to you what you differed about.

Talal Itani

And do not be like her who unravels her yarn, breaking it into pieces, after she has spun it strongly. Nor use your oaths as means of deception among you, because one community is more prosperous than another. God is testing you thereby. On the Day of Resurrection, He will make clear to you everything you had disputed about.

Tafsir jalalayn

And do not be like her who undoes, spoils, her yarn, that which she has spun, after having made it strong, [having] set and spun it, [breaking it up] into fibres (ankthan is a circumstantial qualifier, [ankth is] the plural of nikth, and means that which is undone [yunkathu]) -- this was an imbecile Meccan woman who used to spin all day and then undo it -- by making (tattakhidhna is a circumstantial qualifier referring to the person of [the verb] takn, `[do not] be like'), in other words, [what is meant is] `do not be like her by making', your oaths a [means of] deceit, (dakhal, is what enters [yadkhulu] into something but does not belong to it), in other words, as [a means of causing] mischief or as trickery, between you, by breaking these [oaths], so that one group may become more numerous than [another] group. They used to enter into an alliance with a given group, but if they encountered another more numerous and more powerful [group], they would renege on their alliance with the former and forge a [new] alliance with these [latter]. God only tries, tests, you thereby, in other words, by that which He enjoins, in the way of fulfilling the covenant, so that He may observe the obedient and the disobedient among you, or when [it is the case that] one group is more numerous [than another], that He may observe whether you fulfil [your obligation to them] or not; and certainly He will make clear to you on the Day of Resurrection that wherein you used to differ, during [the life of] this world, with regard to covenants and otherwise, by punishing he who reneged and rewarding he who was faithful [to his covenant].

Tafseer Ibn Kathir

وَلَا تَكُونُواْ كَالَّتِي نَقَضَتْ غَزْلَهَا مِن بَعْدِ قُوَّةٍ أَنكَاثًا



And do not be like the one who undoes the thread which she has spun, after it has become strong,

Abdullah bin Kathir and As-Suddi said;

"This was a foolish woman in Makkah. Every time she spun thread and made it strong, she would undo it again."

Mujahid, Qatadah and Ibn Zayd said;

"This is like the one who breaks a covenant after confirming it."

This view is more correct and more apparent, whether or not there was a woman in Makkah who undid her thread after spinning it.

The word Ankathan could be referring back to the word translated as "undoes", reinforcing the meaning,

or it could be the predicate of the verb "to be", meaning, do not be Ankathan, the plural of Nakth (breach, violation), from the word Nakith (perfidious).

Hence after this, Allah says;

تَتَّخِذُونَ أَيْمَانَكُمْ دَخَلً بَيْنَكُمْ

by taking your oaths as a means of deception among yourselves,

meaning for the purposes of cheating and tricking one another.

أَن تَكُونَ أُمَّةٌ هِيَ أَرْبَى مِنْ أُمَّةٍ

when one group is more numerous than another group.

meaning, you swear an oath with some people if they are more in number than you, so that they can trust you, but when you are able to betray them you do so.

Allah forbids that, by showing a case where treachery might be expected or excused, but He forbids it. If treachery is forbidden in such a case, then in cases where one is in a position of strength it is forbidden more emphatically.

Mujahid said;

"They used to enter into alliances and covenants, then find other parties who were more powerful and more numerous, so they would cancel the alliance with the first group and make an alliance with the second who were more powerful and more numerous. This is what they were forbidden to do."

Ad-Dahhak, Qatadah and Ibn Zayd said something similar.

إِنَّمَا يَبْلُوكُمُ اللّهُ بِهِ

Allah only tests you by this,

Sa`id bin Jubayr said;

"This means (you are tested) by the large numbers."

This was reported by Ibn Abi Hatim.

Ibn Jarir said;

"It means (you are being tested) by His command to you to adhere to your covenants."

وَلَيُبَيِّنَنَّ لَكُمْ يَوْمَ الْقِيَامَةِ مَا كُنتُمْ فِيهِ تَخْتَلِفُونَ



And on the Day of Resurrection, He will certainly clarify that which you differed over.

Everyone will be rewarded or punished in accordance with his deeds, good or evil