Al-Qur'an Surah Al-A'raf Verse 163

Mufti Taqi Usmani

Ask them about the town situated by the sea, when they used to transgress in the matter of Sabbath, when their fish came to them openly on the Sabbath, and did not come when they did not have Sabbath. In this way, We put them to a test, because they used to act sinfully.

Dr. Mustafa Khattab, the Clear Quran

Ask them ˹O Prophet˺ about ˹the people of˺ the town which was by the sea, who broke the Sabbath.[[ The people of Aylah, an ancient town by the Red Sea, were forbidden to catch fish on the Sabbath. However, on Saturdays fish were everywhere, whereas on weekdays no fish were seen. To get around the prohibition, some decided to lay their nets on Fridays and collect the fish caught in their nets on Sundays. Those opposed to this practice were divided into two groups: one group tried to convince the offenders to honour the Sabbath, but soon gave up when their advice was not taken seriously. The second group was persistent in giving advice to the Sabbath-breakers. Eventually, the Sabbath-breakers were punished whereas the other two groups were saved. ]] During the Sabbath, ˹abundant˺ fish would come to them clearly visible, but on other days the fish were never seen. In this way We tested them for their rebelliousness.

Ruwwad Translation Center

Ask them [O Prophet] about the town which was by the sea and how they broke the Sabbath. The fish would come to them appearing on the surface of the water on Sabbath days, but when it was not Sabbath, they would not come. This is how We tested them for their rebelliousness.

A. J. Arberry

And question them concerning the township which was bordering the sea, when they transgressed the Sabbath, when their fish came to them on the day of their Sabbath, swimming shorewards, but on the day they kept not Sabbath, they came not unto them. Even so We were trying them for their ungodliness.

Abdul Haleem

[Prophet], ask them about the town by the sea; how its people broke the Sabbath when their fish surfaced for them only on that day, never on weekdays- We tested them in this way: because of their disobedience-

Abdul Majid Daryabadi

And ask thou them concerning the town that was close on the sea, when they transgressed in the matter of the sabt, when their fish came unto them openly on their sabt day, while they came not on the day whereon they kept not We proved them for the sabt. Thus they were wont to transgress.

Abdullah Yusuf Ali

Ask them concerning the town standing close by the sea. Behold! they transgressed in the matter of the Sabbath. For on the day of their Sabbath their fish did come to them, openly holding up their heads, but on the day they had no Sabbath, they came not; thus did We make a trial of them, for they were given to transgression.

Abul Ala Maududi

And ask the people of Moses concerning the town situated along the sea how its people profaned the Sabbath when fish came to them breaking the water's surface on Sabbath days, and would not come to them on other than Sabbath-days. Thus did We try them because of their disobedience.

Ahmed Ali

Enquire of them about the town situated by the sea where, when they did not keep the Sabbath, the fish came up to the surface of the water for them; but on days other than the Sabbath the fish did not come. We tried them in this way, for they were disobedient.

Ahmed Raza Khan

And ask them (O dear Prophet Mohammed – peace and blessings be upon him) of the township that was by the sea; when they used to exceed in the matter of the Sabbath – when their fish used to come swimming atop the water in front of them on the day of Sabbath and not come on the days it was not Sabbath; this is how We used to test them, due to their disobedience.

Ali Quli Qarai

Ask them about the town that was situated on the seaside, when they violated the Sabbath, when their fish would come to them on the Sabbath day, visibly on the shore, but on days when they were not keeping Sabbath they would not come to them. Thus did We test them because of the transgressions they used to commit.

Ali Ünal

Ask them about the township that was by the sea: how its people were violating the Sabbath when their fish came swimming to them on the day of their Sabbath, but on the day they did not keep Sabbath, they did not come to them. Thus did We test try as they were transgressing (all bounds).

Amatul Rahman Omar

And ask them as to (what happened to the people of) the township (- Eila) which was on the seashore (of the Red Sea) when they profaned the Sabbath. On the day of their Sabbath their fish appeared to them in shoals upon shoals on the surface (of the water), but on the day when they did not observe the Sabbath (and fishing was open), it did not appear to them. Thus did We go on making a distinction between the good and the evil ones of them by means of their acts of disobedience.

English Literal

And ask/question them about the village/urban city that was present (near) the sea/ocean , when they transgress/violate in the Saturday/Sabbath, when the fishes/large fishes/whales comes to them raised high/clearly showing (on the) day of their Sabbath/Saturday, and (the) day they do not observe the Sabbath by resting and worshipping (it) does not come to them, as/like that We test them because (of) what they were debauching .

Faridul Haque

And ask them (O dear Prophet Mohammed - peace and blessings be upon him) of the township that was by the sea; when they used to exceed in the matter of the Sabbath - when their fish used to come swimming atop the water in front of them on the day of Sabbath and not come on the days it was not Sabbath; this is how We used to test them, due to their disobedience.

Hamid S. Aziz

Ask them, too, about the city which stood by the sea, how they broke the Sabbath; how on the Sabbath day the fish came straight up to them; but on the days when they kept not the Sabbath, they came not to them. Thus did We try them for the evil that they wrought.

Hilali & Khan

And ask them (O Muhammad SAW) about the town that was by the sea, when they transgressed in the matter of the Sabbath (i.e. Saturday): when their fish came to them openly on the Sabbath day, and did not come to them on the day they had no Sabbath. Thus We made a trial of them for they used to rebel (see the Quran: V. 4:154).

Maulana Mohammad Ali

But those who were unjust among them changed it for a word other than that which they were told, so We sent upon them a pestilence from heaven for their wrongdoing.

Mohammad Habib Shakir

And ask them about the town which stood by the sea; when they exceeded the limits of the Sabbath, when their fish came to them on the day of their Sabbath, appearing on the surface of the water, and on the day on which they did not keep the Sabbath they did not come to them; thus did We try them because they transgressed.

Mohammed Marmaduke William Pickthall

Ask them (O Muhammad) of the township that was by the sea, how they did break the Sabbath, how their big fish came unto them visibly upon their Sabbath day and on a day when they did not keep Sabbath came they not unto them. Thus did We try them for that they were evil-livers.

Muhammad Sarwar

(Muhammad), ask them about the (people of the) towns on the seashore. They had transgressed by catching fish on the Sabbath. Each Sabbath the fish came openly within their reach but not so on other days. Thus, We were testing them because of their evil deeds.

Qaribullah & Darwish

Ask them about the village that overlooked the sea and what befell (its people) when they broke the Sabbath. Each Sabbath, their fish came swimming towards the shore, but on other days they did not come to them. As such We tempted them (the people) because they had done wrong.

Safi-ur-Rahman al-Mubarakpuri

And ask them about the town that was by the sea; when they transgressed in the matter of the Sabbath: when their fish came to them openly on the Sabbath day, and did not come to them on the day they had no Sabbath. Thus We made a trial for them, for they used to rebel against Allah's command.

Wahiduddin Khan

Ask them about the town which was by the sea and what befell its people when they broke the Sabbath. On their Sabbath the fish came to them near the surface, but on week-days they never came near them -- thus We tried them because of their disobedience.

Talal Itani

Ask them about the town by the sea, when they violated the Sabbath. When they observed the Sabbath, their fish would come to them abundantly. But when they violated the Sabbath, their fish would not come to them. Thus We tried them because they disobeyed.

Tafsir jalalayn

And question them, O Muhammad (s), in rebuke, about the city that was by the sea, bordering the Red Sea (bahr al-qulzum), and this was Eilat, [about] what befell its inhabitants, how they would transgress, violate, the Sabbath, by fishing, which they had been commanded not to do on that [day]; how (idh is an adverbial qualifier of ya`dn, `they [would] transgress') their fish would come to them on the day of their Sabbath floating at the surface, visible at the surface of the water; but on the day they did not observe the Sabbath, when they would not consecrate the Sabbath over the other days, they would not come to them, as a trial from God. Thus were We trying them for their wickedness. And when they went to fish, the city split into three; one third joined the fishing party, another prohibited them, while a third abstained from both fishing and prohibiting.

Tafseer Ibn Kathir

The Jews transgress the Sanctity of the Sabbath

This Ayah explains Allah's statement,

وَلَقَدْ عَلِمْتُمُ الَّذِينَ اعْتَدَواْ مِنكُمْ فِى السَّبْتِ

And indeed you knew those among you who transgressed in the matter of the Sabbath... (2;65)

Allah says to His Prophet here,

واَسْأَلْهُمْ

And ask them,

ask the Jews who are with you, about the story of their fellow Jews who defied Allah's command, so that His punishment overtook them all of a sudden for their evil actions, transgression and defiance by way of deceit.

Also, warn the Jews (O Muhammad) against hiding your description that they find in their books, so that they do not suffer what their forefathers suffered.

The village mentioned here is Aylah, on the shore of the Qulzum (Red) Sea.

Muhammad bin Ishaq recorded from Dawud bin Al-Husayn from Ikrimah that Ibn Abbas commented on Allah's statement,

واَسْأَلْهُمْ عَنِ الْقَرْيَةِ الَّتِي كَانَتْ حَاضِرَةَ الْبَحْرِ

And ask them about the town that was by the sea...

"A village called Aylah between Madyan and At-Tur (which is in Sinai).

Ikrimah, Mujahid, Qatadah and As-Suddi said similarly.

Allah's statement,

إِذْ يَعْدُونَ فِي السَّبْتِ

when they transgressed in the matter of the Sabbath;

means, they transgressed in the Sabbath and defied Allah's command to them to keep it sanctified,

إِذْ تَأْتِيهِمْ حِيتَانُهُمْ يَوْمَ سَبْتِهِمْ شُرَّعاً

when their fish came to them openly on the Sabbath day,

According to Ad-Dahhak who reported it from Ibn Abbas that;

it used to be visible on top of the water.

وَيَوْمَ لَا يَسْبِتُونَ لَا تَأْتِيهِمْ كَذَلِكَ نَبْلُوهُم

and did not come to them on the day they had no Sabbath. Thus We made a trial of them,

Ibn Jarir said,

means, this is how We tested them by making the fish swim close to the surface of the water, on the day which they were prohibited to fish. The fish would be hidden from them on the day when they were allowed to fish,
كَذَلِكَ نَبْلُوهُم
(Thus We made a trial for them,) so that We test them,

بِمَا كَانُوا يَفْسُقُونَ



for they used to rebel against Allah's command.

by defying His obedience and rebelling against it.

Therefore, these were a people who used a trick to violate Allah's prohibitions, taking an action that seemed legal on the surface. However, in reality, this action was meant to transgress the prohibition.

Imam and scholar Abu Abdullah Ibn Battah reported that Abu Hurayrah said that the Messenger of Allah said,

لَاا تَرْتَكِبوُا مَا ارْتَكَبَتِ الْيَهُودُ فَتَسْتَحِلُّوا مَحَارِمَ اللهِ بِأَدْنَى الْحِيَل

Do not repeat what the Jews committed, and violate Allah's prohibitions using deceitful tricks.

This Hadith has a reasonable chain