Al-Qur'an Surah Taha Verse 97

Mufti Taqi Usmani

He (Mūsā) said, “Then go away; it is destined for you that, throughout your life, you will say: ‘Do not touch me’. And, of course, you have another promise that will not be broken for you. And look at your god to which you stayed devoted. We will certainly burn it, then we will scatter it thoroughly in the sea.

Dr. Mustafa Khattab, the Clear Quran

Moses said, “Go away then! And for ˹the rest of your˺ life you will surely be crying, ‘Do not touch ˹me˺!’[[ Meaning, alienated in the dessert, away from the people. ]] Then you will certainly have a fate[[ lit., destined time.]] that you cannot escape. Now look at your god to which you have been devoted: we will burn it up, then scatter it in the sea completely.”

Ruwwad Translation Center

Moses said, “Begone then! Your [punishment] in this life will be to say, ‘Do not touch me,’ but there awaits you an appointed time for your reckoning that you cannot escape. Now look at your so-called god which you kept worshiping; We will surely burn it then scatter it in the sea.

A. J. Arberry

'Depart!' said Moses. 'It shall be thine all this life to cry "Untouchable!" And thereafter a tryst awaits thee thou canst not fail to keep Behold thy god, to whom all the day thou wast cleaving! We will surely burn it and scatter its ashes into the sea.

Abdul Haleem

Moses said, ‘Get away from here! Your lot in this life is to say, “Do not touch me,” but you have an appointment from which there is no escape. Look at your god which you have kept on worshipping- we shall grind it down and scatter it into the sea.

Abdul Majid Daryabadi

Musa said: begone thou! verily it shall be thine in life to say no contact; and verily thine is an appointment which thou shalt by no means fail. And look at thy god to which thou hast been assidauous; we shall surely burn it, and we shall scatter it into the sea a wide scattering.

Abdullah Yusuf Ali

(Moses) said; "Get thee gone! but thy (punishment) in this life will be that thou wilt say, 'touch me not'; and moreover (for a future penalty) thou hast a promise that will not fail; Now look at thy god, of whom thou hast become a devoted worshipper; We will certainly (melt) it in a blazing fire and scatter it broadcast in the sea!"

Abul Ala Maududi

Moses said: "Be gone, then. All your life you shall cry: 'Untouchable.' There awaits a term for your reckoning that you cannot fail to keep. Now look at your god that you devotedly adored: We shall burn it and scatter its remains in the sea.

Ahmed Ali

(Moses) said: "Go hence! All your life you are (cursed) to say: 'Do not touch me; and a threat hangs over you which you will not be able to escape. Look at your god to whom you are so attached: We shall verily burn it, and disperse its ashes into the sea.

Ahmed Raza Khan

Said Moosa, “Therefore go away, for in this life your punishment is that you exclaim ‘Do not touch!’* And indeed for you is a time appointed, which you cannot break; and look at your deity, in front of which you remained squatting the whole day; we swear we will surely burn it and, smashing it into bits, discharge it into the river.” (* He was cursed with a disease.)

Ali Quli Qarai

He said, ‘Begone! It shall be your [lot] throughout life to say, ‘‘Do not touch me!’’ Indeed, there is a tryst for you which you will not fail to keep! Now look at your god to whom you went on clinging. We will burn it down and then scatter it[s ashes] into the sea.

Ali Ünal

(Moses) said: "Be gone, then! (The sentence) upon you is that in this present life you say ‘Touch me not!’ (to warn people against proximity to you), and surely there is for you a promise (of punishment) that you cannot evade. Now look to this deity of yours to whose worship you have become devoted: we will most certainly burn it, and scatter whatever remains of it over the sea!

Amatul Rahman Omar

(Moses) said, `Begone then (if it is so). It shall be your punishment to proclaim (yourself) an untouchable throughout (your) life. Not only that there awaits yet another threat (of punishment of the Hereafter) for you from which you will have no escape. Now, look at the god to which you remained so ardently devoted (as a worshipper). We will destroy it utterly and then we will scatter it away into the sea.´

English Literal

He said: "So go/go away , so then for you in the life that you say: `No touch/desperate need .`And that for you (is) an appointment you will never/not break it, and look/see to your God whom you continue/remain on him devoting/dedicating , we will burn him (E), then we will uproot and disperse/destroy him (E) in the body of water uprooting and dispersing/destruction ."

Faridul Haque

Said Moosa, "Therefore go away, for in this life your punishment is that you exclaim ‘Do not touch!’* And indeed for you is a time appointed, which you cannot break; and look at your deity, in front of which you remained squatting the whole day; we swear we will surely burn it and, smashing it into bits, discharge it into the river." (* He was cursed with a disease.)

Hamid S. Aziz

Said he, "I beheld what they beheld not, and I grasped a handful of dust from the footprint of the messenger and cast it; for thus my soul induced me."

Hilali & Khan

Musa (Moses) said: "Then go away! And verily, your (punishment) in this life will be that you will say: "Touch me not (i.e. you will live alone exiled away from mankind); and verily (for a future torment), you have a promise that will not fail. And look at your ilah (god), to which you have been devoted. We will certainly burn it, and scatter its particles in the sea."

Maulana Mohammad Ali

He said: I perceived what they perceived not, so I took a handful from the footprints of the messenger then I cast it away. Thus did my soul embellish (it) to me.

Mohammad Habib Shakir

He said: Begone then, surely for you it will be in this life to say, Touch (me) not; and surely there is a threat for you, which shall not be made to fail to you, and look at your god to whose worship you kept (so long); we will certainly burn it, then we will certainly scatter it a (wide) scattering in the sea.

Mohammed Marmaduke William Pickthall

(Moses) said: Then go! and lo! in this life it is for thee to say: Touch me not! and lo! there is for thee a tryst thou canst not break. Now look upon thy god of which thou hast remained a votary. Verily we will burn it and will scatter its dust over the sea.

Muhammad Sarwar

Moses said, "Go away! Throughout your life you will not be able to let anyone touch you. This will be your punishment in this life. The time for your final punishment is inevitable. You will never be able to avoid it. Look at your god which you have been worshipping. We will burn it in the fire and scatter its ashes into the sea."

Qaribullah & Darwish

'Begone! Your lot in this life is to cry: "untouchable!' said he (Moses). 'An appointment awaits you that you cannot fail to keep. Look at your god which you clung to indeed we will burn it and scatter its ashes upon the sea'

Safi-ur-Rahman al-Mubarakpuri

Musa said: "Then go away! And verily, your (punishment) in this life will be that you will say: `Touch me not;' and verily, you have a promise that will not fail. And look at your god to which you have been devoted. We will certainly burn it, and scatter its particles in the sea."

Wahiduddin Khan

Moses said, "Begone! It shall be your lot to say throughout your life, "Do not touch me," and you will be faced with a fate from which there will be no escape. Now look at your deity to which you have become so devoted: we shall burn it up, and then scatter it into the sea.

Talal Itani

He said, “Begone! Your lot in this life is to say, ‘No contact.’ And you have an appointment that you will not miss. Now look at your god that you remained devoted to—we will burn it up, and then blow it away into the sea, as powder.”

Tafsir jalalayn

Said he, Moses to him, `Begone! It shall be yours [as your lot] throughout life, that is, for the duration of your life, to say, to whomever you may see, "Do not touch [me]!", that is, do not come near me -- he used to wander about [aimlessly] throughout the land, and whenever he touched a person, or a person touched him, both would succumb to a fever. And indeed there will be a tryst for you, for you to be chastised, which you will not fail to keep (read lan tukhlifahu, meaning `[a tryst] which you shall not miss'; or lan tukhlafahu, `for which you will not be forgotten', meaning; `nay you will be sent forth to [keep] it'). Now look at your god to whom you remained clinging! (zalta is actually zalilta, but the first lm has been omitted in order to soften it), that is to say, [you remained] by his [your god's] side, worshipping him. We will surely burn it, in fire, and then scatter [the ashes of] it into the waters, we will disperse it into the winds of the sea; and, after having slaughtered it, Moses did [exactly] that which he has mentioned.

Tafseer Ibn Kathir

قَالَ فَاذْهَبْ فَإِنَّ لَكَ فِي الْحَيَاةِ أَن تَقُولَ لَاا مِسَاسَ

(Musa) said;"Then go away! And verily, your (punishment) in this life will be that you will say;`Touch me not."'

This means, "Just as you took and touched what was not your right to take and touch of the messenger's foot print, such is your punishment in this life, that you will say, `Do not touch (me)."'

This means, "You will not touch the people and they will not touch you."

وَإِنَّ لَكَ مَوْعِدًا

and verily, you have a promise,

This means on the Day of Resurrection.

لَّنْ تُخْلَفَهُ

that will not fail.

you will have no way to escape it.

Qatadah said,
أَن تَقُولَ لَا مِسَاسَ
(that you will say;`Touch me not'),

"This is referring to a punishment for them and their remnants (i.e. those who have their disease) today still say `Do not touch."'

Concerning Allah's statement,

وَإِنَّ لَكَ مَوْعِدًا لَّنْ تُخْلَفَهُ

and verily, you have a promise that will not fail,

Al-Hasan, Qatadah and Abu Nahik said,

"You will not be absent from it."

وَانظُرْ إِلَى إِلَهِكَ

And look at your god,

that which you worshipped,

الَّذِي ظَلْتَ عَلَيْهِ عَاكِفًا

to which you have been devoted.

that which you established worship of, which was the calf.

لَّنُحَرِّقَنَّهُ ثُمَّ لَنَنسِفَنَّهُ فِي الْيَمِّ نَسْفًا



We will certainly burn it, and scatter its particles in the sea."

إِنَّمَا إِلَهُكُمُ اللَّهُ الَّذِي لَا إِلَهَ إِلاَّ هُوَ وَسِعَ كُلَّ شَيْءٍ عِلْمًا