۞ وَٱذْكُرْ And mention wa-udh'kur (the) brother akhā (of) Aad ʿādin when idh he warned andhara his people qawmahu in the Al-Ahqaf bil-aḥqāfi and had already passed away waqad and had already passed away khalati [the] warners l-nudhuru before him min before him bayni before him yadayhi and after him wamin and after him khalfihi That not allā you worship taʿbudū except illā Allah l-laha Indeed, I innī [I] fear akhāfu for you ʿalaykum a punishment ʿadhāba (of) a Day yawmin Great ʿaẓīmin
And mention, [O Muḥammad], the brother of ʿAad,1 when he warned his people in [the region of] al-Aḥqāf - and warners had already passed on before him and after him - [saying], "Do not worship except Allāh. Indeed, I fear for you the punishment of a terrible day."2
قَالُوٓا۟ They said qālū Have you come to us aji'tanā to turn us away litafikanā from ʿan our gods ālihatinā Then bring us fatinā what bimā you threaten us taʿidunā if in you are kunta of mina the truthful l-ṣādiqīna
They said, "Have you come to delude us away from our gods? Then bring us what you promise us, if you should be of the truthful."
قَالَ He said qāla Only innamā the knowledge l-ʿil'mu (is) with Allah ʿinda (is) with Allah l-lahi and I convey to you wa-uballighukum what mā I am sent ur'sil'tu with it bihi but walākinnī I see you arākum a people qawman ignorant tajhalūna
He said, "Knowledge [of its time] is only with Allāh, and I convey to you that with which I was sent; but I see you [to be] a people behaving ignorantly."
فَلَمَّا Then when falammā they saw it ra-awhu (as) a cloud ʿāriḍan approaching mus'taqbila their valleys awdiyatihim they said qālū This hādhā (is) a cloud ʿāriḍun bringing us rain mum'ṭirunā Nay bal it huwa (is) what mā you were asking it to be hastened is'taʿjaltum you were asking it to be hastened bihi a wind rīḥun in it fīhā (is) a punishment ʿadhābun painful alīmun
And when they saw it as a cloud approaching their valleys, they said, "This is a cloud bringing us rain!" Rather, it is that for which you were impatient:1 a wind, within it a painful punishment,
تُدَمِّرُ Destroying tudammiru every kulla thing shayin by (the) command bi-amri (of) its Lord rabbihā Then they became (such) fa-aṣbaḥū not lā is seen yurā except illā their dwellings masākinuhum Thus kadhālika We recompense najzī the people l-qawma [the] criminals l-muj'rimīna
Destroying everything by command of its Lord. And they became so that nothing was seen [of them] except their dwellings. Thus do We recompense the criminal people.
وَلَقَدْ And certainly walaqad We had established them makkannāhum in what fīmā not in We have established you makkannākum in it fīhi and We made wajaʿalnā for them lahum hearing samʿan and vision wa-abṣāran and hearts wa-afidatan But not famā availed aghnā them ʿanhum their hearing samʿuhum and not walā their vision abṣāruhum and not walā their hearts afidatuhum any min thing shayin when idh they were kānū rejecting yajḥadūna (the) Signs biāyāti (of) Allah l-lahi and enveloped waḥāqa them bihim what mā they used to kānū [at it] bihi ridicule yastahziūna
And We had certainly established them in such as We have not established you, and We made for them hearing and vision and hearts [i.e., intellect]. But their hearing and vision and hearts availed them not from anything [of the punishment] when they were [continually] rejecting the signs of Allāh; and they were enveloped by what they used to ridicule.
وَلَقَدْ And certainly walaqad We destroyed ahlaknā what mā surrounds you ḥawlakum of mina the towns l-qurā and We have diversified waṣarrafnā the Signs l-āyāti that they may laʿallahum return yarjiʿūna
And We have already destroyed what surrounds you of [those] cities, and We have diversified the signs [or verses] that perhaps they might return [from disbelief].
فَلَوْلَا Then why (did) not falawlā help them naṣarahumu those whom alladhīna they had taken ittakhadhū besides min besides dūni Allah l-lahi gods as a way of approach qur'bānan gods as a way of approach ālihatan Nay bal they were lost ḍallū from them ʿanhum And that wadhālika (was) their falsehood if'kuhum and what wamā they were kānū inventing yaftarūna
Then why did those they took besides Allāh as deities by which to approach [Him]1 not aid them? But they had strayed [i.e., departed] from them. And that was their falsehood and what they were inventing.