Ayah

Word by Word
أَفَمَنۡ
Then is (one) who
أَسَّسَ
founded
بُنۡيَٰنَهُۥ
his building
عَلَىٰ
on
تَقۡوَىٰ
righteousness
مِنَ
from
ٱللَّهِ
Allah
وَرِضۡوَٰنٍ
and (His) pleasure
خَيۡرٌ
better
أَم
or
مَّنۡ
(one) who
أَسَّسَ
founded
بُنۡيَٰنَهُۥ
his building
عَلَىٰ
on
شَفَا
edge
جُرُفٍ
(of) a cliff
هَارٖ
(about to) collapse
فَٱنۡهَارَ
so it collapsed
بِهِۦ
with him
فِي
in
نَارِ
(the) Fire
جَهَنَّمَۗ
(of) Hell
وَٱللَّهُ
And Allah
لَا
(does) not
يَهۡدِي
guide
ٱلۡقَوۡمَ
the wrongdoing people
ٱلظَّـٰلِمِينَ
the wrongdoing people
أَفَمَنۡ
Then is (one) who
أَسَّسَ
founded
بُنۡيَٰنَهُۥ
his building
عَلَىٰ
on
تَقۡوَىٰ
righteousness
مِنَ
from
ٱللَّهِ
Allah
وَرِضۡوَٰنٍ
and (His) pleasure
خَيۡرٌ
better
أَم
or
مَّنۡ
(one) who
أَسَّسَ
founded
بُنۡيَٰنَهُۥ
his building
عَلَىٰ
on
شَفَا
edge
جُرُفٍ
(of) a cliff
هَارٖ
(about to) collapse
فَٱنۡهَارَ
so it collapsed
بِهِۦ
with him
فِي
in
نَارِ
(the) Fire
جَهَنَّمَۗ
(of) Hell
وَٱللَّهُ
And Allah
لَا
(does) not
يَهۡدِي
guide
ٱلۡقَوۡمَ
the wrongdoing people
ٱلظَّـٰلِمِينَ
the wrongdoing people

Translation

Which then is best? - he that layeth his foundation on piety to Allah and His good pleasure? - or he that layeth his foundation on an undermined sand-cliff ready to crumble to pieces? and it doth crumble to pieces with him, into the fire of Hell. And Allah guideth not people that do wrong.

Tafsir

Is he who founded his building upon fear of God and, in hope of, beatitude, from Him, better, or he who founded his building upon the brink, the edge, of a bank, an overhang, that is crumbling, about to collapse (read juruf or jurf) so that it toppled with him, so that it collapsed [taking] with it the one who built it, into the fire of Hell?: [this is] an excellent similitude for building upon that which constitutes the opposite of fear of God and [for] what it leads to; the interrogative is meant as an affirmative: in other words, the former is the better, which is the likeness of the [building of the] mosque of Qubaa', while the latter is the likeness of the mosque of 'harm' (masjid al-diraar). And God guides not the evildoing folk.

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