In the Name of Almighty Allah, the Merciful, the Compassionate
8 آية
بِسۡمِ ٱللَّهِ ٱلرَّحۡمَٰنِ ٱلرَّحِيمِ
Surah Al-Bayyinah is the 98th chapter of the Quran, containing 8 verses. Revealed in Madinah, it describes how the disbelievers among the People of the Book and the polytheists would not desist from disbelief until the Clear Proof came to them: a Messenger reciting purified scriptures containing correct decrees. It affirms that division only arose among the People of the Book after this Clear Proof came to them, though they were commanded only to worship Allah sincerely, establish prayer and give charity, and closes declaring that the disbelievers among them are the worst of creatures, while those who believe and do righteous deeds are the best of creatures, with Gardens of Eternity as their eternal reward. Below you can read the full Surah Al-Bayyinah in Arabic with a clear English translation and a verse-by-verse tafsir (explanation of the meaning) from Aysar al-Tafaseer, with the option to jump to any specific verse.
1. The Jews, Christians (“people of the Book”) and polytheists, who did not believe in Allah, or in His message to Mohammad, and who denied Mohammad’s prophecy, would not abandon their disbelief nor the faith of their forefathers, nor would they abandon their neglect of the truth, until Allah Almighty had sent them clear evidence.
2. This evidence, which they waited for Allah to send them, was a messenger to them, bringing with him a pure Quran, uncorrupted by alteration or distortion and containing the Books of previous messengers that reveal the truth, such as the scriptures of Abraham, Moses and Jesus.
3. The evidence they awaited are the pure scriptures which contain clear laws, speaking the truth. (It is said that it is possible that what is meant by the Books mentioned in this verse, are the suras or chapters of the Quran and its verses, or the rules and canonical laws contained in them.)
4. The people of the Book disputed among themselves and divided into sects, until the followers of each sect began to falsify the beliefs of the others out of perversity and aggression before you came to them, O Mohammad, with your evidence. Thus if they deny your evidence, they have already denied the evidence of the messengers and prophets before you, and they disbelieved in Allah’s signs even after they became aware of the truth. So if this is the case of the people of the Book, how do you think the polytheists who are much more ignorant and rejecting than the former would behave?
5. The people of the Book became divided and disagreed among themselves out of perversity and aggression although they were not commanded to divide among themselves or to dispute, but were commanded to establish what was beneficial to their life and religion, to worship Allah, offering Him sincere devotion, secretly and openly, and to purify their deeds by devoting them to Him alone without associate, to follow the true religion of Abraham which was unadulterated by polytheism, and to perform prayers properly and pay the alms-tax on their wealth. That is the sincere religion that was mentioned in the true Books which are free from crookedness.
6. Those who disbelieved, among the people of the Book, and the polytheists, who tainted their souls by polytheism, sinning, evildoing, and denying the evident truth after they had known it, will be punished severely by their Lord in the fire of Hell for what they committed and for turning away from the call of their Messenger. Those are the worst of creatures because they denied the truth after coming to know it.
7. But those who believed in their Lord and were guided by Him, believed in His messengers and did righteous deeds, placed their money and their souls in the service of Allah, fighting His enemies, and giving money to charity, and who treated Allah’s creatures with kindness, those are the best of people, for they have made the finest use of the reason which Allah honoured them with. They followed the path of guidance and sustained virtue through their good deeds.
8. Allah Almighty will reward those who believed and did good deeds by admitting them to gardens beneath which rivers flow, where they will dwell forever. They have attained the satisfaction of Allah by adhering to the bounds of Allah’s laws, and they thus gained what was gratifying to them in this life and in the hereafter. That great reward is for those whose hearts are filled with the fear of Allah.
Tafsir by Dr. Assaad Homad (1917–2011), Syrian scholar and jurist, author of Aysar al-Tafaseer, an accessible interpretation of the Quran reviewed by Sheikh Muhammad Mutwally Al-Shaarawi and certified by the Ministries of Awqaf in Kuwait and Saudi Arabia. English translation by the Homad family. Read more about the author and this tafsir →
Source: This series of Tafsir books has been made available online by the family of Dr. Assaad Homad (may Allah have mercy on him). These volumes were entirely digitized to provide an accessible and easy format for todays digital age. Please keep Dr. Assaad and his family in your sincere prayers.
تم إتاحة هذه السلسلة من كتب التفسير عبر الإنترنت من قبل عائلة الدكتور أسعد حومد (رحمه الله). لقد قمنا برقمنة هذه المجلدات بالكامل لتوفير تنسيق يسهل الوصول إليه واستخدامه في عصرنا الرقمي الحالي. نرجو منكم ألا تنسوا الدكتور أسعد وعائلته من صالح دعائكم.