Al-Qur'an Surah Al-A'raf Verse 172

Mufti Taqi Usmani

(Recall) when your Lord brought forth their progeny from the loins of the children of ’Ādam, and made them testify about themselves (by asking them,) “Am I not your Lord?” They said, “Of course, You are. We testify.” (We did so) lest you should say on the Day of Judgment, “We were unaware of this,”

Dr. Mustafa Khattab, the Clear Quran

And ˹remember˺ when your Lord brought forth from the loins of the children of Adam their descendants and had them testify regarding themselves. ˹Allah asked,˺ “Am I not your Lord?” They replied, “Yes, You are! We testify.” ˹He cautioned,˺ “Now you have no right to say on Judgment Day, ‘We were not aware of this.’

Ruwwad Translation Center

And [remember] when your Lord brought forth from the loins of the children of Adam their offspring and made them testify about themselves [asking], “Am I not your Lord?” They said, “Yes indeed; We testify.” [We did so] lest you should say on the Day of Resurrection, “We were unaware of this,”

A. J. Arberry

And when thy Lord took from the Children of Adam, from their loins, their seed, and made them testify touching themselves, 'Am I not your Lord?' They said, 'Yes, we testify'-- lest you should say on the Day of Resurrection, 'As for us, we were heedless of this,'

Abdul Haleem

[Prophet], when your Lord took out the offspring from the loins of the Children of Adam and made them bear witness about themselves, He said, ‘Am I not your Lord?’ and they replied, ‘Yes, we bear witness.’ So you cannot say on the Day of Resurrection, ‘We were not aware of this,’

Abdul Majid Daryabadi

And recall what time thy Lord took from the children of Adam their posterity from their backs, and made them testify as to them selves saying: am I not your lord? They said: Yea! we testify. That was lest ye should say on the Day of Resurrection verily of this we have been unaware.

Abdullah Yusuf Ali

When thy Lord drew forth from the Children of Adam - from their loins - their descendants, and made them testify concerning themselves, (saying); "Am I not your Lord (who cherishes and sustains you)?"- They said; "Yea! We do testify!" (This), lest ye should say on the Day of Judgment; "Of this we were never mindful";

Abul Ala Maududi

And recall (O Prophet) when your Lord brought forth descendants from the loins of the sons of Adam, and made them witnesses against their ownselves. asking them: 'Am I not your Lord?' They said: 'Yes, we do testify.' We did so lest you claim on the Day of Resurrection: 'We were unaware of this.'

Ahmed Ali

When your Lord brings forth from their loins the offspring of the children of Adam, He makes them witnesses over themselves, (and asks): "Am I not your Lord?" 'Indeed,' they reply. 'We bear witness,' -- lest you should say on the Day of Resurrection: "We were not aware of this;"

Ahmed Raza Khan

And remember when your Lord brought forth the generations from the backs of the Descendants of Adam, and made them their own witness; “Am I not your Lord?”; they all said, “Yes surely You are, why not? We testify”; for you may say on the Day of Resurrection that, “We were unaware of this.”

Ali Quli Qarai

When your Lord took from the Children of Adam, from their loins, their descendants and made them bear witness over themselves, [He said to them,] ‘Am I not your Lord?’ They said, ‘Yes indeed! We bear witness.’ [This,] lest you should say on the Day of Resurrection, ‘Indeed we were unaware of this,’

Ali Ünal

And (remember, O Messenger,) when your Lord brought forth from the children of Adam, from their loins, their offspring, and made them bear witness against themselves (asking them:) "Am I not your Lord?" They said: "Yes, we do bear witness." (That covenant was taken) lest you should say on the Day of Resurrection, "We were indeed unaware of this (fact that you are our Lord)."

Amatul Rahman Omar

Behold! when your Lord brings forth from Adam´s children - from their loins, their offspring, and makes them bear witness to themselves when He says, `Am I not your Lord who sustains you?´ They say (in evidence which human nature itself bears), `Yes we bear witness (to it and acknowledge it).´ (Allâh does that) lest you should say on the Day of Resurrection, `Surely, we were unaware of this (that you are our Lord).´

English Literal

And when/if your Lord took/received from Adam`s sons and daughters from their backs their descendants, and He made them witness/testify on themselves. "Am I not your Lord (E)?" They said: "Yes/certainly, We witnessed/testified." That You say (on) the Resurrection Day: "That We were about this ignoring/disregarding ."

Faridul Haque

And remember when your Lord brought forth the generations from the backs of the Descendants of Adam, and made them their own witness; "Am I not your Lord?"; they all said, "Yes surely You are, why not? We testify"; for you may say on the Day of Resurrection that, "We were unaware of this."

Hamid S. Aziz

And when your Lord drew forth from the children of Adam, out of their loins, their seed (or descendants), and made them testify about themselves, "Am I not your Lord?" They said, "Yea! We do bear witness" - lest you should say on the Day of Resurrection, "Verily, of this we were unaware."

Hilali & Khan

And (remember) when your Lord brought forth from the Children of Adam, from their loins, their seed (or from Adam's loin his offspring) and made them testify as to themselves (saying): "Am I not your Lord?" They said: "Yes! We testify," lest you should say on the Day of Resurrection: "Verily, we have been unaware of this."

Maulana Mohammad Ali

And when We shook the mountain over them as if it were a covering, and they thought that it was going to fall down upon them: Hold on firmly that which We have given you, and be mindful of that which is in it, so that you may guard against evil.

Mohammad Habib Shakir

And when your Lord brought forth from the children of Adam, from their backs, their descendants, and made them bear witness against their own souls: Am I not your Lord? They said: Yes! we bear witness. Lest you should say on the day of resurrection: Surely we were heedless of this.

Mohammed Marmaduke William Pickthall

And (remember) when thy Lord brought forth from the Children of Adam, from their reins, their seed, and made them testify of themselves, (saying): Am I not your Lord? They said: Yea, verily. We testify. (That was) lest ye should say at the Day of Resurrection: Lo! of this we were unaware;

Muhammad Sarwar

When your Lord asked all the offspring of Adam (before their birth), "Am I not your Lord?" All of them testified and bore witness to their testimony that on the Day of Judgment they would not say, "We were not aware of this (fact),"

Qaribullah & Darwish

When your Lord brought forth descendants from the loins of Adam's children, and made them testify concerning themselves (He said): 'Am I not your Lord.' They replied: 'We bear witness (that You are)' Lest you should say on the Day of Resurrection: 'We had no knowledge of this'

Safi-ur-Rahman al-Mubarakpuri

And (remember) when your Lord brought forth from the Children of Adam, from their loins, their seed and made them testify as to themselves (saying): "Am I not your Lord" They said: "Yes! We testify," lest you should say on the Day of Resurrection: "Verily, we were unaware of this."

Wahiduddin Khan

When your Lord brought forth offspring from the loins of the Children of Adam and made them bear witness about themselves, He said, "Am I not your Lord?" They replied, "We bear witness that You are." This He did, lest you should say on the Day of Resurrection, "We had no knowledge of that."

Talal Itani

And when Your Lord summoned the descendants of Adam, and made them testify about themselves. “Am I not your Lord?” They said, “Yes, we testify.” Thus you cannot say on the Day of Resurrection, “We were unaware of this.”

Tafsir jalalayn

And, remember, when your Lord took from the Children of Adam, from their loins (min zuhrihim, is an inclusive substitution for the preceding [clause; min ban dama, `from the Children of Adam'], with the same preposition [min, `from']) their seed, by bringing forth one from the loins of the other, [all] from the loins of Adam, offspring after offspring, in the way that they multiply, [looking] like small ants at [the valley of] Na`mn on the Day of `Arafa [because of their multitude]. God set up proofs of His Lordship for them and endowed them with [the faculty of] reason, and made them testify against themselves, saying, `Am I not your Lord?' They said, `Yea, indeed, You are our Lord, we testify', to this, and this [taking of] testimony is, lest they should say (in both instances, read third person [yaql, `they say'] or second person [taql, `you say']) on the Day of Resurrection, `Truly, of this, Oneness of God, we were unaware', not knowing it!

Tafseer Ibn Kathir

The Covenant taken from the Descendants of Adam

Allah tells;

وَإِذْ أَخَذَ رَبُّكَ مِن بَنِي ادَمَ مِن ظُهُورِهِمْ ذُرِّيَّتَهُمْ

And (remember) when your Lord brought forth from the Children of Adam, from their loins, their seed,

Allah stated that He brought the descendants of Adam out of their fathers' loins, and they testified against themselves that Allah is their Lord and King and that there is no deity worthy of worship except Him. Allah created them on this Fitrah, or way, just as He said,

فَأَقِمْ وَجْهَكَ لِلدِّينِ حَنِيفاً فِطْرَةَ اللَّهِ الَّتِى فَطَرَ النَّاسَ عَلَيْهَا لَا تَبْدِيلَ لِخَلْقِ اللَّهِ

So set you (O Muhammad) your face truly towards the religion, Hanifan. Allah's Fitrah with which He has created mankind. No change let there be in Khalqillah. (30;30)

And it is recorded in the Two Sahihs from Abu Hurayrah who said that the Messenger of Allah said,

كُلُّ مَوْلُودٍ يُولَدُ عَلَى الْفِطْرَةِ فَأَبَوَاهُ يُهَوِّدَانِهِ وَيُنَصِّرَانِهِ وَيُمَجِّسَانِهِ كَمَا تُولَدُ بَهِيمَةً جَمْعَاءَ هَلْ تُحِسُّونَ فِيهَا مِنْ جَدْعَاء

Every child is born upon the Fitrah, it is only his parents who turn him into a Jew, a Christian or a Zoroastrian. Just as animals are born having full bodies, do you see any of them having a cutoff nose (when they are born).

Muslim recorded that Iyad bin Himar said that the Messenger of Allah said;

يَقُولُ اللهُ إِنِّي خَلَقْتُ عِبَادِي حُنَفَاءَ فَجَاءَتْهُمُ الشَّيَاطِينُ فَاجْتَالَتْهُمْ عَنْ دِينِهِمْ وَحَرَّمَتْ عَلَيْهِمْ مَا أَحْلَلْتُ لَهُم

Allah said, `I created My servants Hunafa (monotheists), but the devils came to them and deviated them from their religion, prohibiting what I allowed.

There are Hadiths that mention that Allah took Adam's offspring from his loins and divided them into those on the right and those on the left.

Imam Ahmad recorded that Anas bin Malik said that the Prophet said,

يُقَالُ لِلرَّجُلِ مِنْ أَهْلِ النَّارِ يَوْمَ الْقِيَامَةِ أَرَأَيْتَ لَوْ كَانَ لَكَ مَا عَلَى الاَْرْضِ مِنْ شَيْءٍ أَكُنْتَ مُفْتَدِيًا بِهِ

فَيَقُولُ نَعَمْ

فَيَقُولُ قَدْ أَرَدْتُ مِنْكَ أَهْوَنَ مِنْ ذَلِكَ قَدْ أَخَذْتُ عَلَيْكَ فِي ظَهْرِ ادَمَ أَنْ لَا تُشْرِكَ بِي شَيْيًا فَأَبَيْتَ إِلاَّ أَنْ تُشْرِكَ بِي

It will be said to a man from the people of the Fire on the Day of Resurrection, `If you owned all that is on the earth, would you pay it as ransom!'

He will reply, `Yes.'

Allah will say, `I ordered you with what is less than that, when you were still in Adam's loins, that is, associate none with Me (in worship). You insisted that you associate with Me (in worship).'

This was recorded in the Two Sahihs Commenting on this Ayah (7;172).

At-Tirmidhi recorded that Abu Hurayrah said that the Messenger of Allah said,

لَمَّا خَلَقَ اللهُ ادَمَ مَسَحَ ظَهْرَهُ فَسَقَطَ مِنْ ظَهْرِهِ كُلُّ نَسَمَةٍ هُوَ خَالِقُهَا مِنْ ذُرِّيَّتِهِ إِلَى يَوْمِ الْقِيَامَةِ وَجَعَلَ بَيْنَ عَيْنَي كَلِّ إِنْسَانٍ مِنْهُمْ وَبِيصًا مِنْ نُورٍ ثُمَّ عَرَضَهُمْ عَلَى ادَمَ فَقَالَ أَيْ رَبِّ مَنْ هوُلَاءِ

When Allah created Adam, He wiped Adam's back and every person that He will create from him until the Day of Resurrection fell out from his back. Allah placed a glimmering light between the eyes of each one of them. Allah showed them to Adam and Adam asked, `O Lord! Who are they!'

قَالَ هوُلَااءِ ذُرِّيَّتُكَ

Allah said, `These are your offspring.'

فَرَأَىَ رَجُلً مِنْهُمْ فَأَعْجَبَهُ وَبِيصُ مَا بَيْنَ عَيْنَيْهِ قَالَ أَيْ رَبِّ مَنْ هَذَا

Adam saw a man from among them whose light he liked. He asked, `O Lord! Who is this man!'

قَالَ هَذَا رَجُلٌ مِنْ اخِرِ الاْاُمَمِ مِنْ ذُرِّيَّتِكَ يُقَالُ لَهُ دَاوُدُ

Allah said, `This is a man from the latter generations of your offspring. His name is Dawud.'

قَالَ رَبِّ وَكَمْ جَعَلْتَ عُمْرَهُ




Adam said, `O Lord! How many years would he live!'

قَالَ سِتِّينَ سَنَةً

Allah said, `Sixty years.'

قَالَ أَيْ رَبِّ وَقَدْ وَهَبْتُ لَهُ مِنْ عُمْرِي أَرْبَعِينَ سَنَةً

Adam said, `O Lord! I have forfeited forty years from my life for him.'

فَلَمَّا انْقَضَى عُمْرُ ادَمَ جَاءَهُ مَلَكُ الْمَوْتِ قَالَ أَوَ لَمْ يَبْقَ مِنْ عُمْرِي أَرْبَعُونَ سَنَةً

When Adam's life came to an end, the angel of death came to him (to take his soul). Adam said, `I still have forty years from my life term, don't I!'

قَالَ أَوَ لَمْ تُعْطِهَا ابْنَكَ دَاوُدَ




He said, `Have you not given it to your son Dawud!'

قَالَ فَجَحَدَ ادَمُ فَجَحَدَتْ ذُرِّيَّتُهُ وَنَسِيَ ادَمُ فَنِسَيتْ ذُرِّيَّتُهُ وَخَطِىءَ ادَمُ فَخَطِيَتْ ذُرِّيَّتُه

So Adam denied that and his offspring followed suit (denying Allah's covenant), Adam forgot and his offspring forgot, Adam made a mistake and his offspring made mistakes.

At-Tirmidhi said, "This Hadith is Hasan Sahih, and it was reported from various chains of narration through Abu Hurayrah from the Prophet."

Al-Hakim also recorded it in his Mustadrak, and said; "Sahih according to the criteria of Muslim, and they did not record it."

These and similar Hadiths testify that Allah, the Exalted and Most Honored, brought forth Adam's offspring from his loins and separated between the inhabitants of Paradise and those of the Fire.

Allah then said,

وَأَشْهَدَهُمْ عَلَى أَنفُسِهِمْ أَلَسْتُ بِرَبِّكُمْ قَالُواْ بَلَى

شَهِدْنَا

and made them testify as to themselves (saying);"Am I not your Lord!" They said;"Yes! We testify,"

Therefore, Allah made them testify with themselves by circumstance and words. Testimony is sometimes given in words, such as,
قَالُواْ شَهِدْنَا عَلَى أَنفُسِنَا
(They will say;"We bear witness against ourselves"). (6;130)

At other times, testimony is given by the people themselves, such as Allah's statement,
مَا كَانَ لِلْمُشْرِكِينَ أَن يَعْمُرُواْ مَسَاجِدَ الله شَاهِدِينَ عَلَى أَنفُسِهِمْ بِالْكُفْرِ
(It is not for the Mushrikin, (polytheists) to maintain the mosques of Allah, while they testify against their own selves of disbelief). (9;17)

This Ayah means that their disbelief testifies against them, not that they actually testify against themselves here.

Another Ayah of this type is Allah's statement,
وَإِنَّهُ عَلَى ذَلِكَ لَشَهِيدٌ
(And to that he bears witness (by his deeds). (100;7)

The same is the case with asking, sometimes takes the form of words and sometimes a situation or circumstance. For instance, Allah said,
وَاتَاكُم مِّن كُلِّ مَا سَأَلْتُمُوهُ
(And He gave you of all that you asked for). (14;34)

Allah said here,

أَن تَقُولُواْ يَوْمَ الْقِيَامَةِ

lest you should say on the Day of Resurrection;

إِنَّا كُنَّا عَنْ هَذَا

we were of this (of Tawhid),

غَافِلِينَ