Al-A'raf 7:32
The Heights · Juz 8 · Page 154
قُلۡ مَنۡ حَرَّمَ زِينَةَ ٱللَّهِ ٱلَّتِيٓ أَخۡرَجَ لِعِبَادِهِۦ وَٱلطَّيِّبَٰتِ مِنَ ٱلرِّزۡقِۚ قُلۡ هِيَ لِلَّذِينَ ءَامَنُواْ فِي ٱلۡحَيَوٰةِ ٱلدُّنۡيَا خَالِصَةٗ يَوۡمَ ٱلۡقِيَٰمَةِۗ كَذَٰلِكَ نُفَصِّلُ ٱلۡأٓيَٰتِ لِقَوۡمٖ يَعۡلَمُونَ ٣٢
Say, "Who has forbidden the adornment of [i.e., from] Allāh which He has produced for His servants and the good [lawful] things of provision?" Say, "They are for those who believed during the life of this world, exclusively [for them] on the Day of Resurrection." Thus do We detail the verses for a people who know.
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Tazkirul Quran
Brief · Short modern reflections on each passage.
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Commentary on 7:31–33
Some Arab tribes used to perform their circumambulation of the Ka‘bah completely bare-bodied, thinking that it brought them nearer to God. Similarly, during the pre-Islamic period (the days of ignorance) they used to abstain from certain things such as goat’s milk or meat, while starting out on Hajj, imagining that they were performing great and righteous deeds. This type of misguided action has been indulged in by people of every period. Such individuals do not include the requirements of religion in their everyday life; only on certain occasions, by paying special heed to certain irrelevant, pointless actions, they make a great show of conducting themselves according to the religion of God, and contend that by attending to trivialities, they are fulfilling God’s will to the maximum extent. God wants man to abstain from being a spendthrift; that is, he should not transgress the limits laid down by God. He should not hold permitted things as forbidden and vice versa. He should eschew shameful acts. He should abstain from whatever is evidently evil in the light of common sense. He should shun all excesses. Whenever Truth appears before him, he should accede to it, ignoring all else. He should fully cleanse himself of polytheism (ascribing partners to God). With no one should he have the sublime relationship, which is the actual right of the one and only God. It should not happen that he adopts the path of his choice and then attributes it to God without any reason; he should consistently remain a subject of God; as such he should not adopt any ways which are not proper for him as a servant of God. In the Hereafter, God’s bounties will be received as a reward; as such they will be given only to those subjects of God whom God decides to send to Paradise. Unlike these divine rewards, the bounties that are received in the world are available only for a limited period for the purposes of human trial. So one receives a share in them only in terms of his ‘test paper.’ The way to fulfill the requirements of this test is not to keep away from the worldly provisions that God has provided him for this purpose, but to use them within the limits specified for them. Man should respond to the blessing of God with gratitude and not by renunciation or a display of bravado.
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7:31
۞ يَٰبَنِيٓ ءَادَمَ خُذُواْ زِينَتَكُمۡ عِندَ كُلِّ مَسۡجِدٖ وَكُلُواْ وَٱشۡرَبُواْ وَلَا تُسۡرِفُوٓاْۚ إِنَّهُۥ لَا يُحِبُّ ٱلۡمُسۡرِفِينَ ٣١
O children of Adam, take your adornment [i.e., wear your clothing] at every masjid,1 and eat and drink, but be not excessive. Indeed, He likes not those who commit excess.
1 translator’s note
- Literally, "place of prostration," meaning any place that a Muslim prays upon the earth. The term may also refer specifically to a mosque. ↩
7:32
قُلۡ مَنۡ حَرَّمَ زِينَةَ ٱللَّهِ ٱلَّتِيٓ أَخۡرَجَ لِعِبَادِهِۦ وَٱلطَّيِّبَٰتِ مِنَ ٱلرِّزۡقِۚ قُلۡ هِيَ لِلَّذِينَ ءَامَنُواْ فِي ٱلۡحَيَوٰةِ ٱلدُّنۡيَا خَالِصَةٗ يَوۡمَ ٱلۡقِيَٰمَةِۗ كَذَٰلِكَ نُفَصِّلُ ٱلۡأٓيَٰتِ لِقَوۡمٖ يَعۡلَمُونَ ٣٢
Say, "Who has forbidden the adornment of [i.e., from] Allāh which He has produced for His servants and the good [lawful] things of provision?" Say, "They are for those who believed during the life of this world, exclusively [for them] on the Day of Resurrection." Thus do We detail the verses for a people who know.
7:33
قُلۡ إِنَّمَا حَرَّمَ رَبِّيَ ٱلۡفَوَٰحِشَ مَا ظَهَرَ مِنۡهَا وَمَا بَطَنَ وَٱلۡإِثۡمَ وَٱلۡبَغۡيَ بِغَيۡرِ ٱلۡحَقِّ وَأَن تُشۡرِكُواْ بِٱللَّهِ مَا لَمۡ يُنَزِّلۡ بِهِۦ سُلۡطَٰنٗا وَأَن تَقُولُواْ عَلَى ٱللَّهِ مَا لَا تَعۡلَمُونَ ٣٣
Say, "My Lord has only forbidden immoralities - what is apparent of them and what is concealed - and sin,1 and oppression without right, and that you associate with Allāh that for which He has not sent down authority, and that you say about Allāh that which you do not know."
1 translator’s note
- Any unlawful deed. ↩
7:34
وَلِكُلِّ أُمَّةٍ أَجَلٞۖ فَإِذَا جَآءَ أَجَلُهُمۡ لَا يَسۡتَأۡخِرُونَ سَاعَةٗ وَلَا يَسۡتَقۡدِمُونَ ٣٤
And for every nation is a [specified] term. So when their time has come, they will not remain behind an hour, nor will they precede [it].
7:35
يَٰبَنِيٓ ءَادَمَ إِمَّا يَأۡتِيَنَّكُمۡ رُسُلٞ مِّنكُمۡ يَقُصُّونَ عَلَيۡكُمۡ ءَايَٰتِي فَمَنِ ٱتَّقَىٰ وَأَصۡلَحَ فَلَا خَوۡفٌ عَلَيۡهِمۡ وَلَا هُمۡ يَحۡزَنُونَ ٣٥
O children of Adam, if there come to you messengers from among you relating to you My verses [i.e., scriptures and laws], then whoever fears Allāh and reforms - there will be no fear concerning them, nor will they grieve.
7:36
وَٱلَّذِينَ كَذَّبُواْ بِـَٔايَٰتِنَا وَٱسۡتَكۡبَرُواْ عَنۡهَآ أُوْلَٰٓئِكَ أَصۡحَٰبُ ٱلنَّارِۖ هُمۡ فِيهَا خَٰلِدُونَ ٣٦
But the ones who deny Our verses and are arrogant toward them - those are the companions of the Fire; they will abide therein eternally.
7:37
فَمَنۡ أَظۡلَمُ مِمَّنِ ٱفۡتَرَىٰ عَلَى ٱللَّهِ كَذِبًا أَوۡ كَذَّبَ بِـَٔايَٰتِهِۦٓۚ أُوْلَٰٓئِكَ يَنَالُهُمۡ نَصِيبُهُم مِّنَ ٱلۡكِتَٰبِۖ حَتَّىٰٓ إِذَا جَآءَتۡهُمۡ رُسُلُنَا يَتَوَفَّوۡنَهُمۡ قَالُوٓاْ أَيۡنَ مَا كُنتُمۡ تَدۡعُونَ مِن دُونِ ٱللَّهِۖ قَالُواْ ضَلُّواْ عَنَّا وَشَهِدُواْ عَلَىٰٓ أَنفُسِهِمۡ أَنَّهُمۡ كَانُواْ كَٰفِرِينَ ٣٧
And who is more unjust than one who invents about Allāh a lie or denies His verses? Those will attain their portion of the decree1 until, when Our messengers [i.e., angels] come to them to take them in death, they will say, "Where are those you used to invoke besides Allāh?" They will say, "They have departed from us," and will bear witness against themselves that they were disbelievers.
1 translator’s note
- What is decreed for them. ↩