In the Name of Almighty Allah, the Merciful, the Compassionate
36 آية
بِسۡمِ ٱللَّهِ ٱلرَّحۡمَٰنِ ٱلرَّحِيمِ
Surah Al-Mutaffifin is the 83rd chapter of the Quran, containing 36 verses. Revealed in Makkah, it opens with a severe warning to those who defraud: who demand full measure when they buy from others, but give less than due when they measure or weigh for them. The surah describes the register of the wicked, Sijjeen, and the register of the righteous, Illiyyeen, portrays the bliss awaiting the righteous on couches in Paradise, and closes by recalling how the wicked used to mock the believers in this life, while on the Day of Judgement it will be the believers who look on and laugh. Below you can read the full Surah Al-Mutaffifin 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 stinters are those who diminish measure and weight, either taking full measure when they measure against people or giving too little when they weigh or measure for them. Their deed is called “stinting” because what they decrease is insignificant and mean. Ibn Abbas says that when the Prophet (peace be upon him) came to Medina and found its inhabitants the basest in dealing with the scales, Allah revealed this chapter after which they improved their measure. Allah Almighty threatens with destruction and humiliation those who give deficient weight and measure.
2. Then Allah Almighty explains in this verse and the following one who the stinters are. He says that they are those who, if people owe them money and they want to receive more than is their due, increase the weight and measure to their advantage and thus get more than they rightly deserve.
3. But when the goods are theirs, and they have to measure out or weigh for others, they decrease the weight or measure and thus give less than they rightfully owe.
4. Do they not think that they will be raised on Judgement Day to stand before Allah Almighty and account for their deeds and actions? For these abominable actions do not proceed from those who believe in Allah’s existence, and that Allah will assemble them on the Day of Judgement and call them to account for their deeds.
6. On that Day, people will be raised from their graves and will stand before their Lord, naked and barefoot, to account for their deeds. It is a very terrifying day when the unbelievers will await punishment.
7. Stop O stinters, and refrain from stinting. The fraudulent stinters will be punished for their deeds, and they will be confined to a deep, dark and narrow dungeon (“sijjin”: the word is derived from the Arabic word for dungeon, narrow and deep). It was also said that the meaning is as follows: the Book of their deeds will be kept in a deep place, an indication of disdain and humiliation.
9. The fate of those criminals is in a deep and narrow dungeon, an ineluctable fact which has been inscribed. Nothing can be increased nor decreased from it.
10. Woe, humiliation and severe punishment on that Day to those who denied the Day of Retribution and were heedless of the judgement and punishment on it,
12. No one can deny that day but those who transgress in their deeds and go beyond all bounds, who have substituted the lawful with the unlawful, who sin with words for they lie when they speak, violate their promises and are obscene when they quarrel.
13. This transgressing sinner is he who upon hearing the words of Allah recited to him, treats them as a lie and denies that they could be revealed by Allah, and claims that they are tales and myths of the ancient nations which Mohammad (peace be upon him) had learnt from others before him.
14. Their claim that the Quran contains only the tales of the ancient nations is not true. The holy Quran is truly the words of Allah to His messenger Mohammad (peace be upon him). But what prevented faith from entering their hearts is the veil which enveloped them as a result of the accumulation of their sins and their persistence in doing evil deeds. They became so used to committing sins that their hearts became blinded, and matters became confused for them. (Their hearts were so blinded by their sins that their feelings died.)
15. Allah Almighty reprimands those who do not believe but say that the Quran contains ancient tales, and those who claim that they will be close to Allah on Judgement Day. He says to them that the matter is not as they claim, for they will be dismissed from their Lord’s mercy and He will be invisible to their sights.
18. The destiny of the charitable will be in a lofty garden (Illiyin, a high place). It has also been said that the meaning is as follows: The book of deeds of the charitable is placed in the highest of places where the angels closest to Allah will witness it, as an honour and a glorification to them. The two explanations agree in that the charitable are highly esteemed and honoured by Allah on Judgement Day.
22. The charitable who obey their Lord and believe in the message He revealed to His messengers will be in permanent bliss and in gardens in which there are great favours on the Day of Resurrection.
(26) – [Tafsir not available in the source document for this verse; to be added.]
Surah Al-Mutaffifin: Verse 26
26. The vessels are sealed with musk, an indication of the high esteem of this wine, and to safeguard it from ordinariness. (In life, people sealed the wine vessels with mud.) To obtain this bliss, people have to race and compete to get closer to Allah, to win His approval and obey His commands.
27. That exquisite wine sealed with musk shall be mixed for the noble righteous with water that comes from the spring of Tasnim in the highest Heaven. (It was said that “Tasnim” is one of the purest drinks of the inhabitants of Paradise.)
28. Allah Almighty describes Tasnim. He says: “It is a spring from which those righteous who are closest to the Lord drink. They may mix it with the wine if they so wish.”
32. And when the criminals saw the believers they said: “Those are people who have gone astray for they forsook the faith of their fathers and followed Mohammad and his religion.”
33. Allah Almighty has not sent the unbelievers as keepers to watch over the believers, nor did He entrust them with judging the believers for their deeds. Therefore, they have no right to criticize their actions.
34. On Judgement Day, Allah Almighty honours the believers and will humiliate and degrade the criminal unbelievers. The believers themselves will then laugh at the unbelievers for the humiliation and punishment they will undergo.
36. They will see how the unbelievers receive the generous recompense which they deserve for their disbelief and crimes in life on earth.
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.