Al-Qur'an Surah Al-Isra Verse 57

Mufti Taqi Usmani

Those whom they invoke, do themselves seek the means of access to their Lord as to which of them becomes the closest, and they hope for His Mercy and fear His punishment. The punishment of your Lord is really something to be feared.

Dr. Mustafa Khattab, the Clear Quran

˹Even˺ the closest ˹to Allah˺ of those invoked would be seeking a way to their Lord, hoping for His mercy, and fearing His punishment. Indeed, your Lord’s torment is fearsome.

Ruwwad Translation Center

Those whom they call upon seek means of nearness to their Lord, each trying to become closer, hoping for His Mercy and fearing His punishment. Indeed, the punishment of your Lord is fearsome.

A. J. Arberry

Those they call upon are themselves seeking the means to come to their Lord, which of them shall be nearer; they hope for His mercy, and fear His chastisement. Surely thy Lord's chastisement is a thing to beware of.

Abdul Haleem

Those [angels] they pray to are themselves seeking a way to their Lord, even those who are closest to Him. They hope for His mercy and fear His punishment. The punishment of your Lord is much to be feared:

Abdul Majid Daryabadi

Those whom they call upon themselves seek access to their Lord, striving which of them shall be the nearest; and they hope for His mercy and fear His torment; verily the torment of thy Lord is ever to be guarded against.

Abdullah Yusuf Ali

Those whom they call upon do desire (for themselves) means of access to their Lord, - even those who are nearest; they hope for His Mercy and fear His Wrath; for the Wrath of thy Lord is something to take heed of.

Abul Ala Maududi

Those whom they call upon are themselves seeking the means of access to their Lord, each trying to be nearer to Him. They crave for His Mercy and dread His chastisement. Surely your Lord's punishment is to be feared.

Ahmed Ali

Those they invoke themselves seek the way to their Lord, (striving) which one of them shall be nearest (to Him); and hope for His grace, and dread His punishment. Indeed, the punishment of your Lord is to be feared!

Ahmed Raza Khan

The devoted bondmen whom these disbelievers worship, themselves seek the means of proximity from their Lord, that who among them is the closest (to his Lord), and hope for His mercy and fear His punishment; indeed the punishment of your Lord is to be feared.

Ali Quli Qarai

They [themselves] are the ones who supplicate, seeking a recourse to their Lord, whoever is nearer [to Him], expecting His mercy and fearing His punishment.’ Indeed your Lord’s punishment is a thing to beware of.

Ali Ünal

Those whom they invoke themselves seek a means to approach their Lord, each trying to be nearer to Him, hoping for His mercy and fearing His punishment. The punishment of your Lord is surely to be feared and avoided.

Amatul Rahman Omar

Those whom they call upon (apart from Him, thinking them to be a means of gaining nearness to God,) themselves seek nearness to their Lord and solicit His favour (even) those of them who are nearest (to God are still competing to be closer to Him) and hope for His mercy and fear His punishment. As a matter of fact the punishment of your Lord is a thing to beware of.

English Literal

Those are those who call, they desire the means/way of approach to their Lord, which of them (is) nearer/closer, and they hope/expect His mercy, and they fear His torture, that your Lord`s torture was/is cautioned/warned/feared of.

Faridul Haque

The devoted bondmen whom these disbelievers worship, themselves seek the means of proximity from their Lord, that who among them is the closest (to his Lord), and hope for His mercy and fear His punishment; indeed the punishment of your Lord is to be feared.

Hamid S. Aziz

Those on whom they call, themselves seek for a means of approaching to their Lord, to see which of them is nearest: and they hope for His mercy and they fear His doom; verily, the doom of your Lord is to be shunned.

Hilali & Khan

Those whom they call upon [like 'Iesa (Jesus) - son of Maryam (Mary), 'Uzair (Ezra), angel, etc.] desire (for themselves) means of access to their Lord (Allah), as to which of them should be the nearest and they ['Iesa (Jesus), 'Uzair (Ezra), angels, etc.] hope for His Mercy and fear His Torment. Verily, the Torment of your Lord is something to be afraid of!

Maulana Mohammad Ali

Say: Call on those whom you assert besides Him; they have no power to remove distress from you nor to change.

Mohammad Habib Shakir

Those whom they call upon, themselves seek the means of access to their Lord-- whoever of them is nearest-- and they hope for His mercy and fear His chastisement; surely the chastisement of your Lord is a thing to be cautious of.

Mohammed Marmaduke William Pickthall

Those unto whom they cry seek the way of approach to their Lord, which of them shall be the nearest; they hope for His mercy and they fear His doom. Lo! the doom of thy Lord is to be shunned.

Muhammad Sarwar

Those whom they worship seek to find intercessors for themselves with God. (They try to find out which of the intercessors) are closer to God. They have hope for His mercy and fear of His punishment; the punishment of your Lord is awesome.

Qaribullah & Darwish

Those, they call upon are themselves seeking a means to come to their Lord, competing with each other to be nearer; they hope for His Mercy and fear His punishment. Indeed, the punishment of your Lord is the subject of caution.

Safi-ur-Rahman al-Mubarakpuri

Those whom they call upon, desire a means of access to their Lord, as to which of them should be the nearest; and they hope for His mercy and fear His torment. Verily, the torment of your Lord is (something) to be afraid of!

Wahiduddin Khan

Those whom they invoke are themselves seeking a way of approach to their Lord, vying with each other to be near Him. They hope for His mercy and fear His punishment. Surely, the punishment of your Lord is to be feared:

Talal Itani

Those they call upon are themselves seeking means of access to their Lord, vying to be nearer, and hoping for His mercy, and fearing His punishment. The punishment of your Lord is to be dreaded.

Tafsir jalalayn

Those whom they call, gods, [they themselves] seek a means to their Lord, [they seek] nearness, by way of obedience, which of them (ayyuhum substitutes for the [third person indicator] ww of [the verb] yabtaghna, `they seek') in other words, [even] he seeks it [this nearness] the one who, is nearer, to Him, so how [much more] is it [sought] in the case of others?; and they hope for His mercy and fear His chastisement, just like others, so how can you call them gods? Truly your Lord's chastisement is a thing to beware of.

Tafseer Ibn Kathir

أُولَـيِكَ الَّذِينَ يَدْعُونَ

Those whom they call upon, desire,

Al-Bukhari recorded from Sulayman bin Mahran Al-A`mash, from Ibrahim, from Abu Ma`mar, from Abdullah;

أُولَـيِكَ الَّذِينَ يَدْعُونَ يَبْتَغُونَ إِلَى رَبِّهِمُ الْوَسِيلَةَ

Those whom they call upon, desire a means of access to their Lord,

"Some of the Jinn used to be worshipped, then they became Muslims."

According to another report;

"Some humans used to worship some of the Jinn, then those Jinn became Muslim, but those humans adhered to their religion (of worshipping the Jinn)."

أَيُّهُمْ أَقْرَبُ

as to which of them should be the nearest;

وَيَرْجُونَ رَحْمَتَهُ وَيَخَافُونَ عَذَابَهُ

they hope for His mercy and fear His torment.

Worship cannot be complete or perfect unless it is accompanied by both fear and hope.

Fear stops one from doing things that are forbidden, and

hope makes one do more good deeds.

إِنَّ عَذَابَ رَبِّكَ كَانَ مَحْذُورًا



Verily, the torment of your Lord is (something) to be afraid of!

meaning, one should beware of it and be afraid lest it happen.

We seek refuge with Allah from that