Al-Qur'an Surah Taha Verse 87

Mufti Taqi Usmani

They said, “We did not break our promise to you of our own accord, but we were burdened with loads from the ornaments of the people;so we threw them, and thus did Sāmiriyy cast.”

Dr. Mustafa Khattab, the Clear Quran

They argued, “We did not break our promise to you of our own free will, but we were made to carry the burden of the people’s ˹golden˺ jewellery,[[ The jewellery they borrowed from their Egyptian neighbours before they fled Egypt. ]] then we threw it ˹into the fire˺, and so did the Sâmiri.”

Ruwwad Translation Center

They said, “We did not break our promise to you out of our own free will, but we were made to carry loads of the people’s jewelry, so we threw them [into the fire], and so did the Sāmiri throw.”

A. J. Arberry

'We have not failed in our tryst with thee,' they said, 'of our volition; but we were loaded with fardels, even the ornaments of the people, and we cast them, as the Samaritan also threw them, into the fire.'

Abdul Haleem

They said, ‘We did not break our word to you deliberately. We were burdened with the weight of people’s jewellery, so we threw it [into the fire], and the Samiri did the same,’

Abdul Majid Daryabadi

They said: we failed not to keep thy appointment of our own authority, but we were laden with burthens of the people's ornaments; then we threw them, and Thus Samiri cast down.

Abdullah Yusuf Ali

They said; "We broke not the promise to thee, as far as lay in our power; but we were made to carry the weight of the ornaments of the (whole) people, and we threw them (into the fire), and that was what the Samiri suggested.

Abul Ala Maududi

They answered: "We did not break our promise with you out of our own volition; but we were laden with the load of people's ornaments, and we simply threw them down(into the fire), and the Samiri also threw down something,

Ahmed Ali

They said: "We did not break our promise to you of our own will, but we were made to carry the loads of ornaments belonging to the people, which we threw (into the fire), and so did Sameri.

Ahmed Raza Khan

They said, “We did not renege on our promise to you on our own will, but we were made to carry the burdens of ornaments of the people, so we cast them – and similarly did Samri cast.”

Ali Quli Qarai

They said, ‘We did not fail our tryst with you of our own accord, but we were laden with the weight of those people’s ornaments, and we cast them [into the fire] and so did the Samiri.’

Ali Ünal

They said: "We did not break our promise to you of our own accord (with intent), but we were loaded with (sinful) loads of ornaments of the people (of Egypt), and we threw them (to get rid of them), in the same way as the Samiri threw (them, into a fire)."

Amatul Rahman Omar

They said, `We have not willfully failed to keep (our) promise with you but (the thing is that) we were laden with loads of the jewelry of the (Egyptian) people and we threw them away (into the fire). That was what the Sâmîri suggested.´

English Literal

They said: "We did not break your appointment with our free will, and but we were burdened/made to carry 219weights/burdens from the nation`s decoration/beauty so we threw/hurled it, so as/like that Elsamerey/Samerey threw/threw away."

Faridul Haque

They said, "We did not renege on our promise to you on our own will, but we were made to carry the burdens of ornaments of the people, so we cast them - and similarly did Samri cast."

Hamid S. Aziz

And Moses returned to his people, wrathful, grieving! Said he, "O my people! Did not your Lord make you a goodly promise? Has the time seemed too long for you, or do you desire that wrath should descend on you from your Lord, and so you have broken your promise to me?"

Hilali & Khan

They said: "We broke not the promise to you, of our own will, but we were made to carry the weight of the ornaments of the [Fir'aun's (Pharaoh)] people, then we cast them (into the fire), and that was what As-Samiri suggested."

Maulana Mohammad Ali

So Moses returned to his people angry, sorrowing. He said: O my people, did not your Lord promise you a goodly promise? Did the promised time, then seem long to you, or did you wish that displeasure from your Lord should come upon you, so that you broke (your) promise to me?

Mohammad Habib Shakir

They said: We did not break (our) promise to you of our own accord, but we were made to bear the burdens of the ornaments of the people, then we made a casting of them, and thus did the Samiri suggest.

Mohammed Marmaduke William Pickthall

They said: We broke not tryst with thee of our own will, but we were laden with burdens of ornaments of the folk, then cast them (in the fire), for thus As-Samiri proposed.

Muhammad Sarwar

They replied, "We did not go against our promise with you out of our own accord. We were forced to carry people's ornaments. We threw them away and so did the Samiri.

Qaribullah & Darwish

They replied: 'We have not failed in our promise to you through our choosing. We were laden with fardels, even the ornaments of the nation, and threw them just as the Samaritan had thrown them (into the fire),

Safi-ur-Rahman al-Mubarakpuri

They said: "We broke not the promise to you, of our own will, but we were made to carry the weight of the ornaments of the people, then we cast them, and that was what As-Samiri suggested."

Wahiduddin Khan

They answered, "We did not break our promise to you of our own accord, but we had to carry loads of the people's ornaments and so we threw them [into the fire] for that was what the Samiri suggested,"

Talal Itani

They said, “We did not break our promise to you by our choice, but we were made to carry loads of the people’s ornaments, and we cast them in. That was what the Samarian suggested.”

Tafsir jalalayn

They said, `We did not break our tryst with you of our own accord (read the mm with any of the three vowellings, meaning `by our own power' or `of our own will'), but we were laden with (read hamaln, `we carried', or hummiln, `we were made to carry') the burdens, the weight, of the people's ornaments, of the trinkets of Pharaoh's folk -- which the Children of Israel had borrowed from them on the pretext of [using them for] a wedding, but which had remained with them -- and we cast them, we threw them into the fire at the command of the Samaritan, and so, just as We cast, did the Samaritan cast, what he had on him of their trinkets together with the dust that he took from the track left by the hoof of Gabriel's steed, as follows;

Tafseer Ibn Kathir

قَالُوا

They said;

The Children of Israel said in reply to Musa's blame and rebuke,

مَا أَخْلَفْنَا مَوْعِدَكَ بِمَلْكِنَا

We broke not our promise to you of our own will,

Meaning by our power and our choice.

وَلَكِنَّا حُمِّلْنَا أَوْزَارًا مِّن زِينَةِ الْقَوْمِ فَقَذَفْنَاهَا

but we were made to carry the weight of the ornaments of the people, then we cast them,

Then, they began making lame excuses and they told him how they got rid of that which they were carrying of Coptic jewelry that they had borrowed from them (the Egyptian Copts) when they left Egypt. Therefore they cast it, meaning that they threw it away. Thus, it became a calf that made a moaning sound that would gradually rise in pitch. This calf was an ordeal, a hindrance and test.

This is why Allah said,

فَكَذَلِكَ أَلْقَى السَّامِرِيُّ