Al-Qur'an Surah Al-Baqarah Verse 80

Mufti Taqi Usmani

They say, “The fire shall not touch us for more than a few days.” Say, “Have you taken a pledge from Allah, and Allah will not go against His promise? Or, do you say about Allah what you do not know?”

Dr. Mustafa Khattab, the Clear Quran

˹Some of˺ the Jews claim, “The Fire will not touch us except for a number of days.” Say, ˹O Prophet,˺ “Have you taken a pledge from Allah—for Allah never breaks His word—or are you ˹just˺ saying about Allah what you do not know?”

Ruwwad Translation Center

And they say, “The Fire will never touch us except for a few days.” Say, “Have you taken a covenant from Allah; for Allah will never break His covenant, or are you saying about Allah what you do not know?”

A. J. Arberry

And they say, 'The Fire shall not touch us save a number of days.' Say: 'Have you taken with God a covenant? God will not fail in His covenant; or say you things against God of which you know nothing?

Abdul Haleem

They say, ‘The Fire will only touch us for a few days.’ Say to them, ‘Have you received a promise from God- for God never breaks His promise- or are you saying things about Him of which you have no real knowledge?’

Abdul Majid Daryabadi

And they say: Fire shall touch us not save for a few numbered days. Say thou: have ye taken a covenant with Allah, so that Allah shall not fail His covenant? or fabricate ye against Allah that which ye know not

Abdullah Yusuf Ali

And they say; "The Fire shall not touch us but for a few numbered days;" Say; "Have ye taken a promise from Allah, for He never breaks His promise? or is it that ye say of Allah what ye do not know?"

Abul Ala Maududi

They also say, "The fire of Hell is not going to touch us, and even if it does at all, it will be only for a few days". Say, "Have you obtained a promise from Allah which He would not break? Or, do you attribute to Allah things you do not know? Why will not the fire of Hell touch you?

Ahmed Ali

Yet they say: "The Fire will not touch us for more than a few days." Say.. "Have you so received a promise from God?" "Then surely God will not withdraw His pledge. Or do you impute things to God of which you have no knowledge at all?"

Ahmed Raza Khan

And they said, “The fire will not touch us except for a certain number of days”; say, “Have you taken a covenant from Allah – then Allah will certainly not break His covenant – or do you say something concerning Allah what you do not know?”

Ali Quli Qarai

And they say, ‘The Fire shall not touch us except for a number of days.’ Say, ‘Have you taken a promise from Allah? If so, Allah will never break His promise. Do you ascribe to Allah what you do not know?’

Ali Ünal

They say (despite all that): "The Fire will not touch us at all except for a certain number of days." Say, then, (to them): "Have you made a covenant with God and received a promise from Him? If so, God will never break His covenant. Or do you say things against God that you do not know?"

Amatul Rahman Omar

(Inspite of their evil doings) they say, `The Fire (of punishment) shall not touch us except for a few days.´ Say, `Have you taken a promise (for unconditional salvation) from Allâh?´ (If you have,) then Allâh will never go back upon His promise. But (is it not a fact that) you attribute to Allâh things you do not know?´

English Literal

And they said: "The fire will never touch us except counted/numbered days/times." Say: "Did you take at God a promise/contract , so God will not break His promise/contract , or are you saying on God what you do not know?"

Faridul Haque

And they said, "The fire will not touch us except for a certain number of days"; say, "Have you taken a covenant from Allah - then Allah will certainly not break His covenant - or do you say something concerning Allah what you do not know?"

Hamid S. Aziz

And then they say, "Hell fire shall not touch us save for a few number of days." Say, "Have you taken a covenant with Allah?" but Allah breaks not His covenant. Or do you say of Allah that which you do not know?

Hilali & Khan

And they (Jews) say, "The Fire (i.e. Hell-fire on the Day of Resurrection) shall not touch us but for a few numbered days." Say (O Muhammad Peace be upon him to them): "Have you taken a covenant from Allah, so that Allah will not break His Covenant? Or is it that you say of Allah what you know not?"

Maulana Mohammad Ali

And they say: Fire will not touch us but for a few days. Say: Have you received a promise from Allah? Then Allah will not fail to perform ffis promise. Or do you speak against Allah what you know not?

Mohammad Habib Shakir

And they say: Fire shall not touch us but for a few days. Say: Have you received a promise from Allah, then Allah will not fail to perform His promise, or do you speak against Allah what you do not know?

Mohammed Marmaduke William Pickthall

And they say: The Fire (of punishment) will not touch us save for a certain number of days. Say: Have ye received a covenant from Allah - truly Allah will not break His covenant - or tell ye concerning Allah that which ye know not?

Muhammad Sarwar

They have said, "Hell fire will never harm us except for just a few days." (Muhammad), ask them, "Have you made such agreements with God Who never breaks any of His agreements or you just ascribe to Him that which you do not know?

Qaribullah & Darwish

They say: 'The Fire will never touch us except for a number of days' Say: 'Did Allah make you such a promise for Allah never breaks His promise or do you say about Allah what you do not know'

Safi-ur-Rahman al-Mubarakpuri

And they (Jews) say, "The Fire shall not touch us but for a few numbered days." Say (O Muhammad to them): "Have you taken a covenant from Allah, so that Allah will not break His covenant Or is it that you say of Allah what you know not"

Wahiduddin Khan

They say, "The Fire is not going to touch us, and [even if it does], it will only be for a few days!" Say [to them], "Have you received a promise from God, for God never breaks His promise, or do you attribute something to God which you do not know?"

Talal Itani

And they say, “The Fire will not touch us except for a number of days.” Say, “Have you received a promise from God—God never breaks His promise—or are you saying about God what you do not know?”

Tafsir jalalayn

And they say, when the Prophet promised them the Fire, `the Fire shall not touch us, that is, afflict us, save a number of days', only a short time of forty days; the same length of time their forefathers worshipped the calf, after which time it [the Fire] will cease. Say, to them Muhammad (s); `Have you taken with God a covenant?, a pledge from Him to this? God will not fail in His covenant, in this matter, or -- nay -- say you against God what you do not know? (a'ttakhadhtum; the conjunctive hamza has been omitted on account of the interrogative hamza sufficing).

Tafseer Ibn Kathir

The Jews hope They will only remain in the Fire for a Few Days

Allah says;

وَقَالُواْ لَن تَمَسَّنَا النَّارُ إِلاَّ أَيَّاماً مَّعْدُودَةً قُلْ أَتَّخَذْتُمْ عِندَ اللّهِ عَهْدًا فَلَن يُخْلِفَ اللّهُ عَهْدَهُ أَمْ تَقُولُونَ عَلَى اللّهِ مَا لَا تَعْلَمُونَ



And they (Jews) say, "The Fire shall not touch us but for a few numbered days."

Say (O Muhammad to them);"Have you taken a covenant from Allah, so that Allah will not break His covenant! Or is it that you say of Allah what you know not!"

Allah mentioned the claim of the Jews, that the Fire will only touch them for a few days, and then they will be saved from it. Allah refuted this claim by saying,
قُلْ أَتَّخَذْتُمْ عِندَ اللّهِ عَهْدًا
(Say (O Muhammad to them);"Have you taken a covenant from Allah').

Hence, the Ayah proclaims, `if you had a promise from Allah for that, then Allah will never break His promise. However, such promise never existed. Rather, what you say, about Allah, you have no knowledge of and you thus utter a lie about Him.'

Al-Awfi said that Ibn Abbas said about the Ayah,
وَقَالُواْ لَن تَمَسَّنَا النَّارُ إِلاَّ أَيَّاماً مَّعْدُودَةً
(And they (Jews) say, "The Fire shall not touch us but for a few numbered days").

"The Jews said, `The Fire will only touch us for forty days."'

Others added that this was the period during which the Jews worshipped the calf.

Also, Al-Hafiz Abu Bakr bin Marduwyah reported Abu Hurayrah saying,

When Khyber was conquered, a roasted poisoned sheep was presented to the Prophet as a gift (by the Jews). The Messenger of Allah ordered, `Assemble before me all the Jews who were here.'

The Jews were summoned and the Prophet said (to them),

مَنْ أَبُوكُم

`Who is your father?'

They replied, `So-and-so.'

كَذَبْتُمْ بَلْ أَبُوكُمْ فُلَن

He said, `You have lied; your father is so-and-so.'

They said, `You have uttered the truth.'

هَلْ أَنْتُمْ صَادِقِيَّ عَنْ شَيءٍ إِنْ سَأَلْتُكُمْ عَنْه

He said, `Will you now tell me the truth, if I ask you about something?'

They replied, `Yes, O Abul-Qasim; and if we should tell a lie, you will know our lie as you have about our fathers.'

On that he asked,

مَنْ أَهْلُ النَّارِ


`Who are the people of the (Hell) Fire?'

They said, `We shall remain in the (Hell) Fire for a short period, and after that you will replace us in it.'

اخْسَيُوا وَاللهِ لَا نَخْلُفُكُمْ فِيهَا أَبَدًا

The Prophet said, `May you be cursed and humiliated in it! By Allah, we shall never replace you in it.'

Then he asked,

هَلْ أَنْتُمْ صَادِقِيَّ عَنْ شَيءٍ إِنْ سَأَلْتُكُمْ عَنْهُ



`Will you tell me the truth if I ask you a question?'

They said, `Yes, O Abul-Qasim.'

He asked,

هَلْ جَعَلْتُمْ فِي هذِهِ الشَّاةِ سُمًّا



`Have you poisoned this sheep?'

They said, `Yes.'

He asked,

فَمَا حَمَلَكُم عَلى ذلِك



`What made you do so?'

They said, `We wanted to know if you were a liar, in which case we would get rid of you, and if you were a Prophet then the poison would not harm you.'

Imam Ahmad, Al-Bukhari and An-Nasa'i recorded similarly