Surah Taa-Haa: Verse 61 - قال لهم موسى ويلكم لا... - English

Tafsir of Verse 61, Surah Taa-Haa

قَالَ لَهُم مُّوسَىٰ وَيْلَكُمْ لَا تَفْتَرُوا۟ عَلَى ٱللَّهِ كَذِبًا فَيُسْحِتَكُم بِعَذَابٍ ۖ وَقَدْ خَابَ مَنِ ٱفْتَرَىٰ

English Translation

Moses said to the magicians summoned by Pharaoh, "Woe to you! Do not invent a lie against Allah or He will exterminate you with a punishment; and he has failed who invents [such falsehood]."

English Transliteration

Qala lahum moosa waylakum la taftaroo AAala Allahi kathiban fayushitakum biAAathabin waqad khaba mani iftara

Tafsir of Verse 61

and Moses said to them, 'O beware! Forge not a lie against God, lest He destroy you with a chastisement. Whoso forges has ever failed.'

Moses said to him: Woe to you! Forge not ye a lie against Allah, lest He destroy you (at once) utterly by chastisement: the forger must suffer frustration!"

Sayyidna Miisa's I prophetic address to the magicians

Before the start of the contest Sayyidna Musa (علیہ السلام) addressed some words of friendly advice to the magicians to warn them of divine punishment if they persisted in denying God's miracles and other manifestations of His power. His actual words were:

وَيْلَكُمْ لَا تَفْتَرُ‌وا عَلَى اللَّـهِ كَذِبًا فَيُسْحِتَكُم بِعَذَابٍ وَقَدْ خَابَ مَنِ افْتَرَ‌ىٰ

Pity on you, do not fabricate a lie against Allah, lest He uproots you with a punishment. And loser is he who fabricates a lie - 20:61.

It was hardly to be expected that the magicians who had entered the field with all the might of the Pharaoh-behind them would pay any heed to Sayyidna Musa's (علیہ السلام) words of advice. However, the prophets and their followers possess a hidden power so that their plain and simple words penetrate the most unruly and perverse minds, and the address of Sayyidna Musa (علیہ السلام) caused discord and dissensions among the magicians, some of whom thought that these could not be the words of a magician but of a higher being and were therefore, against the contest. But others were adamant,

Verse 61 - Surah Taa-Haa: (قال لهم موسى ويلكم لا تفتروا على الله كذبا فيسحتكم بعذاب ۖ وقد خاب من افترى...) - English