Al-Qur'an Surah An-Nisa Verse 46

Mufti Taqi Usmani

Among the Jews there are some who distort the words against their contexts, and say, “We hear and disobey,” and “Hear. May you not be made to hear,” and “Rā‘inā”, twisting their tongues and maligning the Faith.If they had said, “We hear and obey,” and “Hear,” and “Look after us,” it would have been better for them, and more proper, but Allah has cast His curse on them due to their disbelief. So, they do not believe except a few.

Dr. Mustafa Khattab, the Clear Quran

Some Jews take words out of context and say, “We listen and we disobey,” “Hear! May you never hear,” and “Râ’ina!” [Herd us!]—playing with words and discrediting the faith. Had they said ˹courteously˺, “We hear and obey,” “Listen to us,” and “Unẓurna,” [Tend to us!] it would have been better for them and more proper. Allah has condemned them for their disbelief, so they do not believe except for a few.

Ruwwad Translation Center

Among the Jews are those who distort the words taking them out of the context, and say, “We hear and disobey,” and “Hear! May you never hear,” and “Rā‘ina” [hearken to us] – twisting their tongues and insulting the religion. If they had said, “We hear and obey,” and “Hear,” and “Wait for us,” it would have been better for them and more proper. But Allah has cursed them for their disbelief, so only a few of them will believe.

A. J. Arberry

Some of the Jews pervert words from their meanings saying, 'We have heard and we disobey' and 'Hear, and be thou not given to hear' and 'Observe us,' twisting with their tongues and traducing religion. If they had said, 'We have heard and obey' and 'Hear' and 'Regard us,' it would have been better for them, and more upright; but God has cursed them for their unbelief so they believe not except a few.

Abdul Haleem

Some Jews distort the meaning of [revealed] words: they say, ‘We hear and disobey,’ and ‘Listen,’ [adding the insult] ‘May you not hear,’ and ‘Raina [Look at us],’ twisting it abusively with their tongues so as to disparage religion. If they had said, ‘We hear and obey,’ ‘Listen,’ and ‘Unzurna [Look at us],’ that would have been better and more proper for them. But God has spurned them for their defiance; they believe very little.

Abdul Majid Daryabadi

Of those who are Judaised, are they who pervert Words from their meanings and say: We hear and we disobey, and: hear thou without being made to hear, and RA'INA, twisting their tongues and scoffing at the faith! And had they said: we hear and obey, and: hear thou, and: UNZURNA, it had surely been better for them and more upright. But Allah hath cursed them for their infidelity, wherefore they shall not believe, save a few.

Abdullah Yusuf Ali

Of the Jews there are those who displace words from their (right) places, and say; "We hear and we disobey"; and "Hear what is not Heard"; and "Ra'ina"; with a twist of their tongues and a slander to Faith. If only they had said; "What hear and we obey"; and "Do hear"; and "Do look at us"; it would have been better for them, and more proper; but Allah hath cursed them for their Unbelief; and but few of them will believe.

Abul Ala Maududi

Among those who have become Jews there are some who alter the words from their context, and make a malicious play with their tongues and seek to revile the true faith. They say: 'We have heard and we disobey' (sami'na wa 'asayna), 'Do hear us, may you turn dumb' (isma' ghayr musma') and 'Hearken to us' (ra'ina). It would indeed have been better for them and more upright if they had said: 'We have heard and we obey' (sami'na wa ata'na) and: 'Do listen to us, and look at us (with kindness)' (wa isma' wa unzurna). But Allah has cursed them because of their disbelief. Scarcely do they believe.

Ahmed Ali

Some among the Jews distort the words out of context and say (in place of the right words): "We have heard and do not obey;" and, "hear without hearing," and "listen to us," twisting their tongues and reviling the faith. But if they had said: "We have heard and obey," and, "hear and regard us," it would have been better for them and more appropriate. But God has disgraced them for their lack of belief; and so only a few of them believe.

Ahmed Raza Khan

Some of the Jews interchange the words from their places and say, “We hear and disobey” – and they say “Hear- may you not be able to hear” – and they say “Raena (Be considerate towards us)” distorting it with their tongues and in order to slander religion; had they said, “We hear and we obey” and “Kindly listen to us, O dear Prophet,” and “Look mercifully upon us, O dear Prophet”, it would have been much better for them and more just – but Allah has cursed them for their disbelief; so they do not believe except a little.

Ali Quli Qarai

Among the Jews are those who pervert words from their meanings and say, ‘We hear and disobey’ and ‘Hear without listening!’ and ‘Ra’ina,’ twisting their tongues and reviling the faith. But had they said, ‘We hear and obey’ and ‘Listen’ and ‘Unzurna,’ it would have been better for them and more upright. But Allah has cursed them for their faithlessness, so they will not believe except a few.

Ali Ünal

Among those who have become Jews (Judaized) are some who alter the words from their context to distort their meanings, and say: "We have heard and we disobey," and, "Do hear us, may you turn dumb," (while pretending to say: "Will you hearken to us, O respected one!"), and "Listen to us! May you become deaf, O shepherd!" (while pretending to say: "Attend to us!") – thus making a malicious play with their tongues and seeking to revile the (True) Religion. Had they but said, "We have heard and we obey," and "Listen to us," and "Favor us with your attention!", it would indeed have been for their own good, and more upright. But God has excluded them from His mercy because of their (willful, persistent) unbelief, and, but for a few, scarcely do they believe.

Amatul Rahman Omar

(These enemies of yours are) of those who are judaised. They tear the words from their context and say, `We hear and we disobey,´ and (say), `Lend us an ear, O you to whom no one would lend an ear!´ and (say,) `Râ`inâ´, giving a slight twist to their tongues (while pronouncing the word and thereby) slandering the true meanings (and thus making a play with the word) and seeking to injure the Faith. It would have been better and more upright on their part to have said, `We hear and we obey;´ and `Lend us an ear;´ and `Unzurnâ´ (we beg your attention)´. Allâh has disapproved of them because of their disbelief so that they will not believe, excepting a few (of them).

English Literal

From those who repented/guided/Jews, they alter the words/expressions from its places, and they say: "We heard/listened and we disobeyed." And hear/listen not making others hear, and: "Observe us ."Distortion with their tongues/languages and defaming in the religion, and if that they said: "We heard/listened and we obeyed and hear/listen and give us time/delay us ." (It) would have been best for them and more just/direct, and but God cursed them, with their disbelief, so they do not believe, except (for a) few. (NOTE: IN HEBREW MEANS `OUR EVIL ONE`),

Faridul Haque

Some of the Jews interchange the words from their places and say, “We hear and disobey” - and they say “Hear- may you not be able to hear” - and they say “Raena (Be considerate towards us)” distorting it with their tongues and in order to slander religion; had they said, “We hear and we obey” and “Kindly listen to us, O dear Prophet,” and “Look mercifully upon us, O dear Prophet”, it would have been much better for them and more just - but Allah has cursed them for their disbelief; so they do not believe except a little.

Hamid S. Aziz

Verily, Allah pardons not associating anything with Him, but He pardons anything short of that, to whomsoever He pleases; but associating anything with Allah is to devise a mighty sin indeed.

Hilali & Khan

Among those who are Jews, there are some who displace words from (their) right places and say: "We hear your word (O Muhammad SAW) and disobey," and "Hear and let you (O Muhammad SAW) hear nothing." And Ra'ina with a twist of their tongues and as a mockery of the religion (Islam). And if only they had said: "We hear and obey", and "Do make us understand," it would have been better for them, and more proper, but Allah has cursed them for their disbelief, so they believe not except a few.

Maulana Mohammad Ali

And Allah best knows your enemies. And Allah is sufficient as a Friend and Allah is sufficient as a Helper.

Mohammad Habib Shakir

Of those who are Jews (there are those who) alter words from their places and say: We have heard and we disobey and: Hear, may you not be made to hear! and: Raina, distorting (the word) with their tongues and taunting about religion; and if they had said (instead): We have heard and we obey, and hearken, and unzurna it would have been better for them and more upright; but Allah has cursed them on account of their unbelief, so they do not believe but a little.

Mohammed Marmaduke William Pickthall

Some of those who are Jews change words from their context and say: "We hear and disobey; hear thou as one who heareth not" and "Listen to us!" distorting with their tongues and slandering religion. If they had said: "We hear and we obey: hear thou, and look at us" it had been better for them, and more upright. But Allah hath cursed them for their disbelief, so they believe not, save a few.

Muhammad Sarwar

Some Jews take certain words out of context and by twisting their tongues to make a jest out of the true religion, say, "We heard and (in our hearts) disobeyed. (Muhammad) ra`ina (be kind to us) but they intend thereby (the meaning in their own language): "Listen! May God turn you deaf." They should have said, "We heard and obeyed. (Muhammad) listen and consider our question." This would have been better for them and more righteous. God has condemned them for their disbelief, thus, no one, except a few among them, will have faith.

Qaribullah & Darwish

Some Jews tampered with the words (altering) their places saying: 'We have heard and we disobey' and 'Hear, without hearing' and 'Observe us (Ra'ina, in Hebrew means evil) ', twisting with their tongues traducing religion. But if they had said: 'We have heard and obey' and 'Hear' and 'Regard us' it would have been better for them, and more upright; but Allah has cursed them for their disbelief, so they do not believe, except a few.

Safi-ur-Rahman al-Mubarakpuri

Among those who are Jews, there are some who displace words from (their) right places and say: "We hear your word and disobey," and "Hear and let you hear nothing." And Ra`ina with a twist of their tongues and as a mockery of the religion. And if only they had said: "We hear and obey", and "Do make us understand," it would have been better for them, and more proper; but Allah has cursed them for their disbelief, so they believe not except a few.

Wahiduddin Khan

Some Jews take words out of their context and say, "We have heard, but we disobey," or "Hear without listening." And they say "Look at us," twisting the phrase with their tongues so as to disparage religion. But if they had said, "We hear and we obey," and "Listen to us and look at us with favour," that would have been better and more proper for them. God has rejected them for their defiance so that they shall not believe, except a few of them.

Talal Itani

Among the Jews are some who take words out of context, and say, “We hear and we disobey”, and “Hear without listening”, and “Observe us,” twisting with their tongues and slandering the religion. Had they said, “We hear and we obey”, and “Listen”, and “Give us your attention,” it would have been better for them, and more upright. But God has cursed them for their disbelief; they do not believe except a little.

Tafsir jalalayn

Some, group, from among the Jews distort, alter, the words, that God revealed in the Torah pertaining to the descriptions of Muhammad (s), from their contexts, those [contexts] in which they were placed, and they say, to the Prophet (s), when he commands them something, `We have heard, your words, and we disobey, your command; and hear as one who does not hear' (wa'sma` ghayr musma`in is a circumstantial qualifier, functioning as an invocation, in other words, `And may you not hear!') and, they say to him, `Mind us' (r`in), [a term] with which it had been forbidden to address him, being a curse word in their language; twisting, distorting, with their tongues and slandering, defaming, religion, Islam. If they had said, `We have heard and obey', instead of `And we disobey', and, only, `Hear', and `Consider us,' (unzur ilayn) instead of r`in, it would have been better for them, than what they said, and more upright, more just than that, but God has cursed them, removing them from His mercy, for their unbelief, so they believe not except a few, among them, such as `Abd Allh b. Salm and his companions.

Tafseer Ibn Kathir

مِّنَ الَّذِينَ هَادُواْ يُحَرِّفُونَ الْكَلِمَ عَن مَّوَاضِعِهِ

Among those who are Jews, there are some who displace words from (their) right places,

meaning, they intentionally and falsely alter the meanings of the Words of Allah and explain them in a different manner than what Allah meant.

وَيَقُولُونَ سَمِعْنَا وَعَصَيْنَا

And say;"We hear your word and disobey,

Mujahid and Ibn Zayd explained,

saying, "We hear what you say, O Muhammad, but we do not obey you in it."

This is the implied meaning of the Ayah, and it demonstrates the Jews' disbelief, stubbornness and disregard for Allah's Book after they understood it, all the while aware of the sin and punishment that this behavior will earn for them.

Allah's statement,

وَاسْمَعْ غَيْرَ مُسْمَعٍ

And "Hear and let you hear nothing."

Ad-Dahhak reported from Ibn Abbas,

means, hear our words, may you never hear anything.

This is the Jews' way of mocking and jesting, may Allah's curse descend on them.

وَرَاعِنَا لَيًّا بِأَلْسِنَتِهِمْ وَطَعْنًا فِي الدِّينِ

And Ra`ina, with a twist of their tongues and as a mockery of the religion.

meaning, they pretend to say, `Hear us,' when they say, Ra`ina (an insult in Hebrew, but in Arabic it means `Listen to us.').' Yet, their true aim is to curse the Prophet.

We mentioned this subject when we explained Allah's statement,
يَا أَيُّهَا الَّذِينَ امَنُواْ لَا تَقُولُواْ رَاعِنَا وَقُولُواْ انظُرْنَا
(O you who believe! Say not Ra`ina but say Unzurna (make us understand)). (2;104)

Therefore, Allah said about them, while they pretend to say other than what they truly mean,
لَيًّا بِأَلْسِنَتِهِمْ وَطَعْنًا فِي الدِّينِ
(With a twist of their tongues and as a mockery of the religion) because of their cursing the Prophet.

Allah then said,

وَلَوْ أَنَّهُمْ قَالُواْ سَمِعْنَا وَأَطَعْنَا وَاسْمَعْ وَانظُرْنَا لَكَانَ خَيْرًا لَّهُمْ وَأَقْوَمَ وَلَكِن لَّعَنَهُمُ اللّهُ بِكُفْرِهِمْ فَلَ يُوْمِنُونَ إِلاَّ قَلِيلً



And if only they had said;"We hear and obey", and "Do make us understand," it would have been better for them, and more proper; but Allah has cursed them for their disbelief, so they believe not except a few.

meaning, their hearts are cast away from the path of righteousness and therefore, no beneficial part of faith enters it.

Earlier, when we explained,
فَقَلِيلً مَّا يُوْمِنُونَ
(so little is that which they believe) (2;88) which means they do not have beneficial faith