7. [AL-Araf, Mecca ]

The Quranic Text & Ali’s Version:

وَلَقَدْ أَخَذْنَا آلَ فِرْعَونَ بِالسِّنِينَ وَنَقْصٍ مِّن الثَّمَرَاتِ...

7: 130. We punished the people of Pharaoh with years (of drought) and shortness of crops;

...لَعَلَّهُمْ يَذَّكَّرُونَ ﴿١٣٠﴾

that they might receive admonition.

فَإِذَا جَاءتْهُمُ الْحَسَنَةُ قَالُواْ لَنَا هَـذِهِ...

7: 131. But when good (times) came, they said, "This is due to us;"

...وَإِن تُصِبْهُمْ سَيِّئَةٌ يَطَّيَّرُواْ بِمُوسَى وَمَن مَّعَهُ...

when gripped by calamity, they ascribed it to evil omens connected with Moses and those with him!

...أَلا إِنَّمَا طَائِرُهُمْ عِندَ اللّهُ وَلَـكِنَّ أَكْثَرَهُمْ لاَ يَعْلَمُونَ ﴿١٣١﴾

Behold! in truth the omens of evil are theirs in Allah's sight, but most of them do not understand!

C1088. Their superstition ascribed the punishment of their own wickedness to some evil omen. They thought Moses and his people brought them ill-luck. They did not look within themselves to see the root of evil, and the cause of their punishment!

So it happens in all ages. People blame the righteous for something which they do, different from other men, instead of searching out their own lapses from rectitude, which are punished by Allah.

وَقَطَّعْنَاهُمْ فِي الأَرْضِ أُمَمًا...

7: 168. We broke them up into sections on this earth.

C1141. The dispersal of the Jews is a great fact in the world's history. Nor has their persecution ended yet, nor is it likely to end as far as we can foresee.

...مِّنْهُمُ الصَّالِحُونَ وَمِنْهُمْ دُونَ ذَلِكَ...

There are among them some that are the righteous, and some that are the opposite.

...وَبَلَوْنَاهُمْ بِالْحَسَنَاتِ وَالسَّيِّئَاتِ لَعَلَّهُمْ يَرْجِعُونَ ﴿١٦٨﴾

We have tried them with both prosperity and adversity: in order that they might turn (to us).

Others version:

7: 130

Pickthall And We straitened Pharaoh's folk with famine and the dearth of fruits, that peradventure they might heed.

Transliteration Wa laqad akhazna_ a_la fir'auna bis sinina wa naqsim minas samara_ti la'allahum yazzakkaru_n(a).

7: 131

Asad ……….and whenever affliction befell them, they would blame their evil fortune on Moses and those who followed him [note 95]. Oh, verily, their [evil] fortune had been decreed by God – but most of them knew it not.

Pickthall But whenever good befell them, they said : This is ours; and whenever evil smote them they ascribed it to the evil auspices of Moses and those with him. Surely their evil auspice was only with Allah. But most of them knew not.

Transliteration Fa iza_ ja_'athumul hasanatu qa_lu_ lana_ ha_zihi, wa in tusibhum sayyi'atuy yattayyaru_ bi mu_sa_ wa man ma'ah(u_), ala_ innama_ ta_'irahum 'indalla_hi wa la_kinna aksarahum la_ ya'lamu_n(a).

[[ Ruby’s note – A good searching person could find lessons in hardship and tests of life and their belief strengthens and life succeeds after the difficult time. However, a failed person looks at it from an arbitrary reason such as some kind ‘omen’ which has nothing to do with cause and consequences but happens because of some arbitrary way such as due to an astrological sign or from the flight of birds and fail to see the connection of the event with his/her past activities and thus fail to learn the lesson and fail to transform towards success. It is important that one take a serious note of the difficult time and learn the lesson move forward from there on.]]

[[ Asad’s note 95 – The phrase “tatayyara bihi” signifies “he attributed an evil omen to him”……IT is based on the pre-Islamic Arab custom of divining the future or establishing an omen from the flight of birds………………]]

7: 168

Asad And We dispersed them as [separate] communities all over the earth; some of them were righteous, and some of them less than that: and the latter We tried with blessings as well as with afflictions, so that they might mend their ways.

Pickthall And We have sundered them in the earth as (separate) nations. Some of them are righteous, and some far from that. And We have tried them with good things and evil things that haply they might return.

Transliteration Wa qatta'na_hum fil ardi umama_(n), minhumus sa_lihu_na wa minhum du_na za_lik(a), wa balauna_hum bil hasana_ti was sayyi'a_ti la'allahum yarji'u_n(a).