Al-Qur'an Surah Al-Isra Verse 67

Mufti Taqi Usmani

you face a hardship at sea, vanished are those whom you used to invoke, except Him (Allah). Then, once He brings you safe to the land, you turn away (from Him); man is so ungrateful.

Dr. Mustafa Khattab, the Clear Quran

When you are touched with hardship at sea, you ˹totally˺ forget all ˹the gods˺ you ˹normally˺ invoke, except Him. But when He delivers you ˹safely˺ to shore, you turn away. Humankind is ever ungrateful.

Ruwwad Translation Center

When hardship strikes you at sea, you forget all those whom you invoke besides Him. Then when He brings you safe to the land, you turn away. Mankind is ever ungrateful.

A. J. Arberry

And when affliction visits you upon the sea, then there go astray those on whom you call except Him; and when He delivers you to land, you turn away; man is ever unthankful.

Abdul Haleem

When you get into distress at sea, those you pray to besides Him desert you, but when He brings you back safe to land you turn away: man is ever ungrateful.

Abdul Majid Daryabadi

And when there toucheth you a distress on the sea, those whom ye call upon fall away except Him alone, then when He delivereth you on the land ye turn away: and man is ever ungrateful.

Abdullah Yusuf Ali

When distress seizes you at sea, those that ye call upon - besides Himself - leave you in the lurch! but when He brings you back safe to land, ye turn away (from Him). Most ungrateful is man!

Abul Ala Maududi

When a calamity befalls you on the sea, all those whom you invoke forsake you except Him. But when He delivers you safely to the shore you turn away from Him, for man is indeed most thankless.

Ahmed Ali

When a calamity befalls you on the sea, all those you invoke fail you except Him. But when He brings you safely to the shore, you turn away, for man is most ungrateful.

Ahmed Raza Khan

And when calamity strikes you upon the sea, all those whom you worship are lost, except Him; then when He rescues you towards land, you turn away; and man is extremely ungrateful.

Ali Quli Qarai

When distress befalls you at sea, those whom you invoke besides Him are forsaken. But when He delivers you to land, you are disregardful [of Him]. Man is very ungrateful.

Ali Ünal

When distress afflicts you in the sea, all that you invoke (as powers to help you) fail you save Him only; yet when He brings you safe to land, you turn away from Him. Indeed human is ever ungrateful.

Amatul Rahman Omar

And when you encounter some distress on the sea, (at that time all) those (gods) whom you call upon are lost (to you), but not He. Yet when He brings you safe to the land, you turn away (from Him). Of course, such a person is very ungrateful.

English Literal

And if the harm touched you in the sea/ocean , whom you call (was) lost, except (only) Him, so when He saved/rescued you to the shore/land, you objected/turned away; and the human/mankind was/is (an insistent) disbeliever.

Faridul Haque

And when calamity strikes you upon the sea, all those whom you worship are lost, except Him; then when He rescues you towards land, you turn away; and man is extremely ungrateful.

Hamid S. Aziz

And when distress touches you in the sea, all those whom you call on fail you, except Him, but when He has brought you safe to shore, you turn away; for man is ever ungrateful.

Hilali & Khan

And when harm touches you upon the sea, those that you call upon besides Him vanish from you except Him (Allah Alone). But when He brings you safely to land, you turn away (from Him). And man is ever ungrateful.

Maulana Mohammad Ali

Your Lord is He who speeds the ships for you in the sea that you may seek of His grace. Surely He is ever Merciful to you.

Mohammad Habib Shakir

And when distress afflicts you in the sea, away go those whom you call on except He; but when He brings you safe to the land, you turn aside; and man is ever ungrateful.

Mohammed Marmaduke William Pickthall

And when harm toucheth you upon the sea, all unto whom ye cry (for succour) fail save Him (alone), but when He bringeth you safe to land, ye turn away, for man was ever thankless.

Muhammad Sarwar

If you are afflicted by hardships in the middle of the sea, it would be an error to call anyone other than Him for help. When God saves you from such difficulties, you turn away from Him. The human being has always been ungrateful.

Qaribullah & Darwish

When misfortune befalls you at sea, all except He of those to whom you supplicate forsake you; yet when He delivers you safely to the land, you turn away. The human is unthankful.

Safi-ur-Rahman al-Mubarakpuri

And when harm touches you upon the sea, those that you call upon vanish from you except Him. But when He brings you safe to land, you turn away. And man is ever ungrateful.

Wahiduddin Khan

When danger threatens you at sea, you call upon Him, and forget all others you are wont to invoke. But when He brings you safe to land, you turn away from Him. Man is ever ungrateful.

Talal Itani

When harm afflicts you at sea, those you pray to vanish, except for Him. But when He saves you to land, you turn away. The human being is ever thankless.

Tafsir jalalayn

And when distress, difficulty, befalls you at sea, [such as] fear of drowning, those whom you [are wont to] invoke are no longer present, [those whom] you [are wont to] worship of gods [are no longer present], and so you do not call on them -- except Him, exalted be He, for on Him alone you do call, because you are suffering a distress which only He can remove. But when He delivers you, from drowning and brings you, to land, you are rejective, of [God's] Oneness, for man is ever ungrateful, [ever] denying [God's] graces.

Tafseer Ibn Kathir

When Harm befalls Them, the Disbelievers do not remember anyone except Allah

Allah tells us that when harm befalls people, they call on Him, turning to Him and sincerely beseeching Him.

Hence Allah says;

وَإِذَا مَسَّكُمُ الْضُّرُّ فِي الْبَحْرِ ضَلَّ مَن تَدْعُونَ إِلاَّ إِيَّاهُ

And when harm touches you upon the sea, those that you call upon vanish from you except Him.

meaning, everything they worship besides Allah disappears from their hearts and minds.

Similar happened to Ikrimah bin Abi Jahl when he fled from the Messenger of Allah after the conquest of Makkah, and headed for Ethiopia. He set out across the sea to go to Ethiopia, but a stormy wind arose. The people said to one another;

"None can save you except Allah Alone."

Ikrimah said to himself,

"By Allah if none can benefit on the sea except Allah then no doubt none can benefit on land except Allah. `O Allah! I promise You that if You bring me safely out of this, I will go and put my hand in the hand of Muhammad and surely, I will find him full of pity, kindness and mercy."'

They came out of it safely and were delivered from the sea.

Then Ikrimah went to the Messenger of Allah, and declared his Islam, and he became a good Muslim, may Allah be pleased with him.

فَلَمَّا نَجَّاكُمْ إِلَى الْبَرِّ أَعْرَضْتُمْ

But when He brings you safe to land, you turn away.

means, you forget what you remembered of Divine Oneness (Tawhid) when you were on the sea, and you turn away from calling on Him Alone with no partner or associate.

وَكَانَ الاِنْسَانُ كَفُورًا



And man is ever ungrateful.

means, by nature he forgets and denies His blessings, except for those whom Allah protects