Al-Qur'an Surah Al-Hajj Verse 31

Mufti Taqi Usmani

standing upright for (the obedience of) Allah, not ascribing any partner to Him. Whoever ascribes a partner to Allah, it is as if he falls down from the sky, and either the birds snatch him, or the wind drives him away to a far off place.

Dr. Mustafa Khattab, the Clear Quran

Be upright ˹in devotion˺ to Allah, associating none with Him ˹in worship˺. For whoever associates ˹others˺ with Allah is like someone who has fallen from the sky and is either snatched away by birds or swept by the wind to a remote place.

Ruwwad Translation Center

Be exclusively devoted to Allah, associating no partners with Him. Whoever associates partners with Allah, it is as if he has fallen from the sky and has been snatched away by birds or swept away by the wind to a far off place.

A. J. Arberry

being men pure of faith unto God, not associating with Him anything; for whosoever associates with God anything, it is as though he has fallen from heaven and the birds snatch him away, or the wind sweeps him headlong into a place far away.

Abdul Haleem

Devote yourselves to God and assign Him no partners, for the person who does so is like someone who has been hurled down from the skies and snatched up by the birds or flung to a distant place by the wind.

Abdul Majid Daryabadi

Reclining unto Allah, not associating aught with Him. And whosoever associateth aught with Allah, it is as though he had fallen from the heaven and the birds had snatched him, or the wind had blown him to a place remote.

Abdullah Yusuf Ali

Being true in faith to Allah, and never assigning partners to Him; if anyone assigns partners to Allah, is as if he had fallen from heaven and been snatched up by birds, or the wind had swooped (like a bird on its prey) and thrown him into a far-distant place.

Abul Ala Maududi

Become exclusively devoted to Allah, ascribing Divinity to none other than Him. Whoso ascribes Divinity to aught beside Allah, it is as though he fell down from the sky whereafter either the birds will snatch him away, or the wind will sweep him to a distant place (causing him to be shattered to pieces).

Ahmed Ali

Turn uprightly to God without ascribing compeers to Him; for he who associates any one with God is like a thing that falls from the sky and is either snatched away by birds or carried far away by the wind.

Ahmed Raza Khan

Devoting yourself to Allah, not ascribing any partner to Him; and whoever ascribes partners to Allah is as if he has fallen from the sky and the birds snatch him or the wind blows him away to a far-off place.

Ali Quli Qarai

as persons having pure faith in Allah, not ascribing partners to Him. Whoever ascribes partners to Allah is as though he had fallen from a height, then [his corpse] is devoured by vultures, or [his remains are] blown away by the wind far and wide.

Ali Ünal

Being believers of pure faith in God, without associating any partners with Him. Whoever associates any partners with God, it is as if he fell down from heaven, and thereupon the wild birds of prey snatch him away, or the wind blows him away into a distant, abysmal ditch (causing him to be shattered into pieces).

Amatul Rahman Omar

Remaining upright (devoting yourselves in worship and obedience entirely) to Allâh, not associating anything with Him. Indeed, he who associates anything with Allâh falls, as it were, from on high, and either the birds snatch him away or the wind blows him off to some deep place very far away.

English Literal

Submitters/Unifiers of God to God not sharing/taking partners with Him, and who shares/makes partners with God, so as if/though he fell down from the sky/space, so the birds snatch him, or the wind/breeze falls/drops with him in a far and remote place/position.

Faridul Haque

Devoting yourself to Allah, not ascribing any partner to Him; and whoever ascribes partners to Allah is as if he has fallen from the sky and the birds snatch him or the wind blows him away to a far-off place.

Hamid S. Aziz

That do. And whoever magnifies the sacred things of Allah it is better for him with his Lord. Cattle are lawful for you, except that which has been recited to you. So shun the abomination of idols, and shun lying speech.

Hilali & Khan

Hunafa' Lillah (i.e. to worship none but Allah), not associating partners (in worship, etc.) unto Him and whoever assigns partners to Allah, it is as if he had fallen from the sky, and the birds had snatched him, or the wind had thrown him to a far off place.

Maulana Mohammad Ali

That (shall be so). And whoever respects the sacred ordinances of Allah, it is good for him with his Lord. And the cattle are made lawful for you, except that which is recited to you, so shun the filth of the idols and shun false words,

Mohammad Habib Shakir

Being upright for Allah, not associating aught with Him and whoever associates (others) with Allah, it is as though he had fallen from on high, then the birds snatch him away or the wind carries him off to a far-distant place.

Mohammed Marmaduke William Pickthall

Turning unto Allah (only), not ascribing partners unto Him; for whoso ascribeth partners unto Allah, it is as if he had fallen from the sky and the birds had snatched him or the wind had blown him to a far-off place.

Muhammad Sarwar

As the upright servants of God, do not consider anything equal to God. To consider things equal to God is like one falling from the sky who is snatched away by the birds or carried away by a strong wind to a far distant place.

Qaribullah & Darwish

being of pure faith to Allah, not associating anything with Him. He who associates others with Allah is like he who falls from heaven and is snatched away by the birds or carried by the wind to some faroff place.

Safi-ur-Rahman al-Mubarakpuri

Hunafa' Lillah, not associating partners unto Him; and whoever assigns partners to Allah, it is as if he had fallen from the sky, the birds caught him in midair, or the wind had thrown him to a far off place.

Wahiduddin Khan

Devote yourselves to God, not associating any partners with Him. Whoever associates anything with God is like one who falls from heaven and is snatched by the birds or carried away by the wind to a distant place.

Talal Itani

Being true to God, without associating anything with Him. Whoever associates anything with God—it is as though he has fallen from the sky, and is snatched by the birds, or is swept away by the wind to a distant abyss.

Tafsir jalalayn

being hanfs to God, [being] of those who have submitted [to God], inclining away from every religion except His religion, not ascribing partners to Him (this [clause] emphasises the preceding one, both [clauses] being circumstantial qualifiers referring to the [third person plural indicator] ww [of ijtanib, `avoid']). For whoever ascribes partners to God, it is as though he had fallen from the heaven and been snatched away by [vulture] birds, that is, [as though] they had seized him swiftly, or [as though] the wind had blown him, dropped him, into a far-off place, so that there is no hope of his being saved.

Tafseer Ibn Kathir

حُنَفَاء لِلَّهِ
Hunafa' Lillah,

means, sincerely submitting to Him Alone, shunning falsehood and seeking the truth.

Allah says;

غَيْرَ مُشْرِكِينَ بِهِ

not associating partners unto Him;

Then Allah gives a likeness of the idolator in his misguidance and being doomed and being far away from true guidance, and says;

وَمَن يُشْرِكْ بِاللَّهِ فَكَأَنَّمَا خَرَّ مِنَ السَّمَاء

and whoever assigns partners to Allah, it is as if he had fallen from the sky,

meaning,

فَتَخْطَفُهُ الطَّيْرُ

the birds caught him in midair,

أَوْ تَهْوِي بِهِ الرِّيحُ فِي مَكَانٍ سَحِيقٍ



or the wind had thrown him to a far off place.

means, remote and desolate, dangerous for anyone who lands there.

Hence it says in the Hadith of Al-Bara';

إِنَّ الْكَافِرَ إِذَا تَوَفَّتْهُ مَلَيِكَةُ الْمَوْتِ وَصَعِدُوا بِرُوحِهِ إِلَى السَّمَاءِ فَلَ تُفْتَحُ لَهُ أَبْوَابُ السَّمَاءِ بَلْ تُطْرَحُ رُوحُهُ طَرْحًا مِنْ هُنَاك

When the angels of death take the soul of the disbeliever in death, they take his soul up to the heaven, but the gates of heaven are not opened for him; on the contrary, his soul is thrown down from there.

Then he recited this Ayah.

The Hadith has already been quoted in our explanation of Surah Ibrahim.

Allah gives another parable of the idolators in Surah Al-An`am, where He says;

قُلْ أَنَدْعُواْ مِن دُونِ اللَّهِ مَا لَا يَنفَعُنَا وَلَا يَضُرُّنَا وَنُرَدُّ عَلَى أَعْقَـبِنَا بَعْدَ إِذْ هَدَانَا اللَّهُ كَالَّذِى اسْتَهْوَتْهُ الشَّيَـطِينُ فِى الاٌّرْضِ حَيْرَانَ لَهُ أَصْحَـبٌ يَدْعُونَهُ إِلَى الْهُدَى ايْتِنَا قُلْ إِنَّ هُدَى اللَّهِ هُوَ الْهُدَى

Say;

"Shall we invoke others besides Allah, that can do us neither good nor can harm us, and shall we turn back on our heels after Allah has guided us -- like one whom the Shayatin have made to go astray in the land in confusion, his companions calling him to guidance (saying);`Come to us."'

Say;"Verily, Allah's guidance is the only guidance." (6;71