Surah Al-A'raf 7:163 — translation and meaning
الأعراف · Verse 163 / 206 · Page 171
ۙ ۚ وَاسْأَلْهُمْ عَنِ الْقَرْيَةِ الَّتِي كَانَتْ حَاضِرَةَ الْبَحْرِ إِذْ يَعْدُونَ فِي السَّبْتِ إِذْ تَأْتِيهِمْ حِيتَانُهُمْ يَوْمَ سَبْتِهِمْ شُرَّعًا وَيَوْمَ لَا يَسْبِتُونَ لَا تَأْتِيهِمْ كَذَلِكَ نَبْلُوهُم بِمَا كَانُوا يَفْسُقُونَ
Word by Word
Transliteration
Was'alhum 'anil qaryatil latee kaanat haadiratal bahri iz ya'doona fis Sabt iz taateehim heetaanuhum yawma Sabtihim shurra'anw wa yawma laa yasbitoona laa taateehim; kazaalika nabloohum bimaa kaanoo yafsuqoon
Translation
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 their sabbath day, and the day they had no sabbath they did not come to them. Thus did We give them trial because they were defiantly disobedient.
Verse interpretation (Tafsir)
Ask the Jews about how Allah punished some of the Israelites. Remind them of the story of the town which was near to the sea where they used to overstep the limits of Allah: fishing on the Sabbath after they had been forbidden from doing so. Allah tested them by making the fish come to them so that they could see them clearly on the surface of the sea on Saturday, and then making them disappear from view during the rest of the week. Allah gave them this trial because of their disobedience and wrongdoing. So eventually they decided to fish by setting up their nets thereby using a trick, so that the fish would fall into them on Saturday and they could take them and eat them on Sunday.
Source: Al-Mukhtasar Tafsir — Tafsir Center for Quranic Studies.
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