Al-Qur'an Surah Ash-Shuraa Verse 34

Mufti Taqi Usmani

Or He may destroy them because of what they earned, and may overlook many (whom He may save at least in this world),

Dr. Mustafa Khattab, the Clear Quran

Or He can wreck the ships for what the people have committed—though He forgives much—

Ruwwad Translation Center

Or He can capsize them for what they committed, but He pardons much,

A. J. Arberry

Or He wrecks them for what they have earned; and He pardons much;

Abdul Haleem

or He could cause them to be wrecked on account of what their passengers have done- God pardons much-

Abdul Majid Daryabadi

Or He may destroy them because of that which they have earned, and He may pardon many of them.

Abdullah Yusuf Ali

Or He can cause them to perish because of the (evil) which (the men) have earned; but much doth He forgive.

Abul Ala Maududi

He may, while forgiving much of the sins of those that ride these ships, drown them on account of some of their misdeeds.

Ahmed Ali

Or He could wreck them for what they have done; yet there is much that He pardons.

Ahmed Raza Khan

Or He can ruin them due to peoples’ sins and He can forgive a great deal.

Ali Quli Qarai

Or He wrecks them because of what they have earned, and He excuses many [an offense].

Ali Ünal

Or He causes them (the ships) to sink because of what they (the travelers) have earned; and yet He overlooks many (of their wrongs).

Amatul Rahman Omar

Or He (if He so will) can also destroy (the occupants of) these ships making them too heavy because of the (sinful) deeds they have committed; while He has pardoned a great many (of their sins and could save them).

English Literal

Or He destroys/perishes them because (of) what they gathered/acquired , and He forgives/pardons on much .

Faridul Haque

Or He can ruin them due to peoples’ sins and He can forgive a great deal.

Hamid S. Aziz

Or He may make them perish for what they have earned, though He forgives much;

Hilali & Khan

Or He may destroy them (by drowning) because of that which their (people) have earned. And He pardons much.

Maulana Mohammad Ali

If He will, He stills the wind so that they lie motionless on its back. Surely there are signs in this for every patient, grateful one,

Mohammad Habib Shakir

Or He may make them founder for what they have earned, and (even then) pardon most;

Mohammed Marmaduke William Pickthall

Or He causeth them to perish on account of that which they have earned - And He forgiveth much -

Muhammad Sarwar

or He could have destroyed them as punishment for the human being's deeds. However, God pardons many sins.

Qaribullah & Darwish

Or, He wrecks them for what they have earned, but He pardons a lot.

Safi-ur-Rahman al-Mubarakpuri

Or He may destroy them because of that which their (people) have earned. And He pardons much.

Wahiduddin Khan

or He may cause them to founder because of people's misdeeds, He pardons many of them,

Talal Itani

Or He could wreck them, because of what they have earned. And yet He pardons much.

Tafsir jalalayn

Or He wrecks them (ybiqhunna, a supplement to yuskin, `He stills'), that is to say, [or] He sinks them, including their passengers, by sending violent winds [upon them], because of what they, that is, the passengers of these [ships], have earned, of sins. And He pardons much, of such [sin] and does not cause those who have sinned to drown.

Tafseer Ibn Kathir

أَوْ يُوبِقْهُنَّ بِمَا كَسَبُوا

Or He may destroy them because of that which their (people) have earned.

means, if He wills, He may destroy the ships and drown them, because of the sins of the people on board.

وَيَعْفُ عَن كَثِيرٍ



And He pardons much.

means, of their sins;

if He were to punish them for all of their sins, He would destroy everyone who sails on the sea.

Some of the scholars interpreted the Ayah
أَوْ يُوبِقْهُنَّ بِمَا كَسَبُوا
(Or He may destroy them because of that which their (people) have earned).

as meaning, if He willed, He could send the wind to blow fiercely so that it would take the ships and divert them from their courses, driving them to the right or the left, so that they would be lost and would not be able to follow their intended path.

This interpretation also includes the idea of their being destroyed.

This also fits the first meaning, which is that if Allah willed, He could cause the wind to cease, in which case the ships would stop moving, or He could make the wind fierce, in which case the ships would be lost and destroyed. But by His grace and mercy, He sends the wind according to their needs, just as He sends rain that is sufficient. If He sent too much rain, it would destroy their houses, and if He sent too little, their crops and fruits would not grow.

In the case of lands such as Egypt, He sends water from another land, because they do not need rain; if rain were to fall upon them, it would destroy their houses and cause walls to collapse.

وَيَعْلَمَ الَّذِينَ يُجَادِلُونَ فِي ايَاتِنَا مَا لَهُم مِّن مَّحِيصٍ