ٱلْأَعْرَاف : ١٦٣

  • وَسۡـَٔلۡهُمۡ And ask them
  • عَنِ about
  • ٱلۡقَرۡيَةِ the town
  • ٱلَّتِي which
  • كَانَتۡ was
  • حَاضِرَةَ situated
  • ٱلۡبَحۡرِ (by) the sea
  • إِذۡ when
  • يَعۡدُونَ they transgressed
  • فِي in
  • ٱلسَّبۡتِ the (matter of) Sabbath
  • إِذۡ when
  • تَأۡتِيهِمۡ came to them
  • حِيتَانُهُمۡ their fish
  • يَوۡمَ (on the) day
  • سَبۡتِهِمۡ (of) their Sabbath
  • شُرَّعٗا visibly
  • وَيَوۡمَ and (on the) day
  • لَا not
  • يَسۡبِتُونَ they had Sabbath
  • لَا (they did) not
  • تَأۡتِيهِمۡۚ come to them
  • كَذَٰلِكَ Thus
  • نَبۡلُوهُم We test them
  • بِمَا because
  • كَانُواْ they were
  • يَفۡسُقُونَ defiantly disobeying
And ask them about the town that was by the sea - when they transgressed in [the matter of] the sabbath - when their fish came to them openly on their sabbath day, and the day they had no sabbath they did not come to them. Thus did We give them trial because they were defiantly disobedient.
And question them, O Muhammad may peace and salutation be upon him, in rebuke, about the city that was by the sea, bordering the Red Sea (bahr al-qulzum), and this was Eilat, [about] what befell its inhabitants, how they would transgress, violate, the Sabbath, by fishing, which they had been commanded not to do on that [day]; how (idh is an adverbial qualifier of ya'doon, 'they [would] transgress') their fish would come to them on the day of their Sabbath floating at the surface, visible at the surface of the water; but on the day they did not observe the Sabbath, when they would not consecrate the Sabbath over the other days, they would not come to them, as a trial from God. Thus were We trying them for their wickedness. And when they went to fish, the city split into three: one third joined the fishing party, another prohibited them, while a third abstained from both fishing and prohibiting.