Al-Qur'an Surah Al-Isra Verse 5

Mufti Taqi Usmani

So, when came the time appointed for the first of the two, We dispatched against you some servants belonging to us having strong aggressive power, who combed through the houses; and it was a promise, bound to be fulfilled.

Dr. Mustafa Khattab, the Clear Quran

When the first of the two warnings would come to pass, We would send against you some of Our servants of great might, who would ravage your homes. This would be a warning fulfilled.

Ruwwad Translation Center

When the first of the two warnings came to pass, We sent against you some of Our slaves of great might, and they ravaged through the land; this warning was bound to be fulfilled.

A. J. Arberry

So, when the promise of the first of these came to pass, We sent against you servants of Ours, men of great might, and they went through the habitations, and it was a promise performed.

Abdul Haleem

When the first of these warnings was fulfilled, We sent against you servants of Ours with great force, and they ravaged your homes. That warning was fulfilled,

Abdul Majid Daryabadi

Then when the promise for the first of the two came, We raised against you bondmen of Ours endued with exceeding violence, so they entered the dwellings; and it was a promise fulfilled.

Abdullah Yusuf Ali

When the first of the warnings came to pass, We sent against you Our servants given to terrible warfare; They entered the very inmost parts of your homes; and it was a warning (completely) fulfilled.

Abul Ala Maududi

So, when the occasion for the first of the transgressions arrived, We raised against you some of Our creatures who were full of might, and they ran over the whole of your land. This was a promise that was bound to be fulfilled.

Ahmed Ali

So, when the time of the first prediction came, We sent against you Our creatures full of martial might, who ransacked your cities; and the prediction was fulfilled.

Ahmed Raza Khan

So when the first of those promises came, We sent upon you Our extremely militant bondmen – they therefore entered the cities pursuing you; and this was a promise that had to be fulfilled.

Ali Quli Qarai

So when the first occasion of the two [prophecies] came, We aroused against you Our servants possessing great might, and they ransacked [your] habitations, and the promise was bound to be fulfilled.

Ali Ünal

Hence, when the time of the first of the two came, We roused and sent against you some servants of Ours of great might (chosen by Us to punish you), and they ravaged the land, searching the innermost parts of your homes. That was a threat to be executed.

Amatul Rahman Omar

So when (in 588 B.C. the time for) the first of the two warnings came, We roused against you, (O Children of Israel! some of) Our servants possessed of great valour and might in warfare, and they penetrated into the innermost recesses of your country and habitations. Indeed, it was a warning (about the punishment) of Allâh bound to be carried out.

English Literal

So if their (B)`s first/beginning (of the two times) came, We sent on (to) you worshippers/slaves for Us of strong (severe) power/mighty, so they went through/corrupting/destroying in between and around the homes/houses , and (it) was a made/done promise.

Faridul Haque

So when the first of those promises came, We sent upon you Our extremely militant bondmen - they therefore entered the cities pursuing you; and this was a promise that had to be fulfilled.

Hamid S. Aziz

And when the first of the two came, We sent against you Our servants given to great violence. They entered the inner most parts of your homes; and it was a fulfiled warning.

Hilali & Khan

So, when the promise came for the first of the two, We sent against you slaves of Ours given to terrible warfare. They entered the very innermost parts of your homes. And it was a promise (completely) fulfilled.

Maulana Mohammad Ali

And We made known to the Children of Israel in the Book: Certainly you will make mischief in the land twice, and behave insolently with mighty arrogance.

Mohammad Habib Shakir

So when the promise for the first of the two came, We sent over you Our servants, of mighty prowess, so they went to and fro among the houses, and it was a promise to be accomplished.

Mohammed Marmaduke William Pickthall

So when the time for the first of the two came, We roused against you slaves of Ours of great might who ravaged (your) country, and it was a threat performed.

Muhammad Sarwar

(We told them) during your first uprising of evil We shall send to you

Qaribullah & Darwish

And when the promise of the first came, We sent against you Our worshipers, those of great might, and they went through the habitations, and the promise was accomplished.

Safi-ur-Rahman al-Mubarakpuri

So, when the promise came for the first of the two, We sent against you servants of Ours given to terrible warfare. They entered the very innermost parts of your homes. And it was a promise (completely) fulfilled.

Wahiduddin Khan

When the time of the first of these warnings came, We sent against you servants of Ours, of great might, who ravaged your homes. So the warning was fulfilled,

Talal Itani

When the first of the two promises came true, We sent against you servants of Ours, possessing great might, and they ransacked your homes. It was a promise fulfilled.

Tafsir jalalayn

So when the time for the first of the two [prophecies], the first of the two occasions for corruption, came, We roused against you servants of Ours of great might, men who are strong in war and assault, who ransacked, who came and went, seeking you out [through], [your] habitations, in the [very] midst of your homes, in order to slay you and take [others among] you captive, and it was a promise fulfilled. Their first act of corruption was their slaying of [the prophet] Zachariah. So Goliath and his army were roused against them, and they slew them and took their children captive and destroyed the Holy House [of Jerusalem].

Tafseer Ibn Kathir

فَإِذَا جَاء وَعْدُ أُولاهُمَا

So, when the promise came for the first of the two,

meaning the first of the two episodes of mischief.

بَعَثْنَا عَلَيْكُمْ عِبَادًا لَّنَا أُوْلِي بَأْسٍ شَدِيدٍ

We sent against you servants of Ours given to terrible warfare.

means, `We unleashed soldiers against you from among Our creatures who were given to terrible warfare,' i.e., they had great strength and weapons and power.

فَجَاسُواْ خِلَلَ الدِّيَارِ

They entered the very innermost parts of your homes.

meaning they took possession of your land and invaded the very innermost parts of your homes, going between and through your houses, coming and going freely with no fear of anyone.

وَكَانَ وَعْدًا مَّفْعُولاً



And it was a promise (completely) fulfilled.

The earlier and later commentators differed over the identity of these invaders.

Many Israiliyyat (reports from Jewish sources) were narrated about this, but I did not want to make this book too long by mentioning them, because some of them are fabricated, concocted by their heretics, and others may be true, but we have no need of them, praise be to Allah.

What Allah has told us in His Book (the Qur'an) is sufficient and we have no need of what is in the other books that came before. Neither Allah nor His Messenger required us to refer to them.

Allah told His Messenger that when (the Jews) committed transgression and aggression, Allah gave their enemies power over them to destroy their country and enter the innermost parts of their homes. Their humiliation and subjugation was a befitting punishment, and your Lord is never unfair or unjust to His servants. They had rebelled and killed many of the Prophets and scholars.

Ibn Jarir recorded that Yahya bin Sa`id said;"I heard Sa`id bin Al-Musayyib saying;

`Nebuchadnezzar conquered Ash-Sham (Greater Syria, including Palestine), destroying Jerusalem and killing them, then he came to Damascus and found blood boiling in a censer.

He asked them;What is this blood?

They said;We found our forefathers doing this.

Because of that blood, he killed seventy thousand of the believers and others, then the blood stopped boiling.

This report is Sahih from Sa`id bin Al-Musayyib, and this event is well-known, as he (Nebuchadnezzar) killed their nobles and scholars, and did not leave alive anyone who knew the Tawrah by heart. He took many prisoners from the sons of the Prophets and others, and did many other things that would take too long to mention here. If we had found anything that was correct or close enough, we could have written it and reported it here. And Allah knows best.

ثُمَّ رَدَدْنَا لَكُمُ الْكَرَّةَ عَلَيْهِمْ وَأَمْدَدْنَاكُم بِأَمْوَالٍ وَبَنِينَ وَجَعَلْنَاكُمْ أَكْثَرَ نَفِيرًا