Al-Qur'an Surah Al-Balad Verse 3

Mufti Taqi Usmani

and by the father and all those he begot,

Dr. Mustafa Khattab, the Clear Quran

and by every parent and ˹their˺ child!

Ruwwad Translation Center

and by every parent and offspring,

A. J. Arberry

by the begetter, and that he begot,

Abdul Haleem

[I swear] by parent and offspring,

Abdul Majid Daryabadi

And by the begetter and that which he begat,

Abdullah Yusuf Ali

And (the mystic ties of) parent and child;-

Abul Ala Maududi

and I swear by the parent and his offspring:

Ahmed Ali

And the parent and the offspring,

Ahmed Raza Khan

And by oath of your forefather Ibrahim, and by you – his illustrious son!

Ali Quli Qarai

[and] by the father and him whom he begot:

Ali Ünal

And by him (Abraham) who begets, and him (Muhammad) whom he begot;

Amatul Rahman Omar

And (I cite as witness your) father (- Abraham) and (his exalted) son (- Ismâîl).

English Literal

And a father and what he gave birth (to)/procreated.

Faridul Haque

And by oath of your forefather Ibrahim, and by you - his illustrious son!

Hamid S. Aziz

And the (mystic ties) of Parent and Child!

Hilali & Khan

And by the begetter (i.e. Adam) and that which he begot (i.e. his progeny);

Maulana Mohammad Ali

We have certainly created man to face difficulties.

Mohammad Habib Shakir

And the begetter and whom he begot.

Mohammed Marmaduke William Pickthall

And the begetter and that which he begat,

Muhammad Sarwar

or by the great father and his wonderful son (Abraham and Ishmael)

Qaribullah & Darwish

And by the giver of birth, and whom he fathered,

Safi-ur-Rahman al-Mubarakpuri

And by the begetter and that which he begot.

Wahiduddin Khan

and by parent and offspring,

Talal Itani

And by a father and what he fathered.

Tafsir jalalayn

And [by] the begetter, that is, Adam, and that which he begat, that is, his descendants (m, `that which', [actually] means man, `whom').

Tafseer Ibn Kathir

And by the begetter and that which he begot.

Mujahid, Abu Salih, Qatadah, Ad-Dahhak, Sufyan Ath-Thawri, Sa`id bin Jubayr, As-Suddi, Al-Hasan Al-Basri, Khusayf, Shurahbil bin Sa`d and others have said,

"Meaning, by the begetter, Adam, and that which he begot is his children."

This view that Mujahid and his companions have chosen is good and strong. This is supported by the fact that Allah swears by the Mother of the Towns, which are dwellings. Then after it He swears by the dwellers therein, who is Adam, the father of mankind, and his children.

Abu `Imran Al-Jawni said, "It refers to Ibrahim and his progeny."

Ibn Jarir recorded this statement as did Ibn Abi Hatim.

Ibn Jarir preferred the view that it is general and it refers to every father and his children. This meaning is also acceptable.

Allah then says,

لَقَدْ خَلَقْنَا الاِْنسَانَ فِي كَبَدٍ