سورة الإسرَاء

Surah Al-Isrâ’ 17:4

The Night-Journey · Verse 4 of 111

وَقَضَيْنَا إِلَىٰ بَنِي إِسْرَائِيلَ فِي الْكِتَابِ لَتُفْسِدُنَّ فِي الْأَرْضِ مَرَّتَيْنِ وَلَتَعْلُنَّ عُلُوًّا كَبِيرًا

Abdul Mannan Omar

And in the Scripture We have conveyed to the Children of Israel with certainty (saying), `Twice you shall create disorder in the land and shall surely become exceedingly overbearing and arrogant.´

Abdullah Yusuf Ali

And We gave (Clear) Warning to the Children of Israel in the Book, that twice would they do mischief on the earth and be elated with mighty arrogance (and twice would they be punished)!

Ahmed Ali

We announced to the children of Israel in the Book: "You will surely create disorder twice in the land, and become exceedingly arrogant."

12 more translations

Ali Unal

We decreed in the Book for the Children of Israel (as a consequence of their ingratitude and disobedience to the Book): "You will most certainly cause corruption and disorder in the land twice, and (elated with extreme arrogance) you will act with great insolence."

Daryabadi

And We decreed unto the Children of Isra´il in the Book; ye will surely cause corruption in the land twice, l and ye will surely rise to a great height.

Faridul Haque

And We decreed for the Descendants of Israel in the Book that, "You will indeed create great turmoil in the earth twice, and you will surely become very proud."

Maulana Muhammad Ali

And We made known to the Children of Israel in the Book: Certainly you will make mischief in the land twice, and behave insolently with mighty arrogance.

Maulvi Sher Ali

And WE had clearly conveyed to the Children of Israel in the Book: `You will surely do great mischief in the land twice, and you will surely become excessively overbearing.'

Muhammad Asad

And we made [this] known to the children of Israel through revelation "Twice, indeed, will you spread corruption on earth and will indeed become grossly overbearing!

Muhammad Musin Khan

And We decreed for the Children of Israel in the Scripture, that indeed you would do mischief on the earth twice and you will become tyrants and extremely arrogant!

Muhammad Pickthall

And We decreed for the Children of Israel in the Scripture: Ye verily will work corruption in the earth twice, and ye will become great tyrants.

Muhammad Sarwar

We made it known to the Israelites through the Torah that they would twice commit evil in the land with great transgression and rebellion.

Muhammed ali Shakir

And We had made known to the children of Israel in the Book: Most certainly you will make mischief in the land twice, and most certainly you will behave insolently with great insolence.

Rashad Khalifa

We addressed the Children of Israel in the scripture: "You will commit gross evil on earth, twice. You are destined to fall into great heights of arrogance.

Shabbir Ahmed

We had informed the Children of Israel in the scripture, "Surely, you will work corruption on the earth twice, and show great arrogance and tyranny.”

Commentary 17:4 Qadzainâ قَضَيْنَا means, “we decreed, decided, or judged”. It is derived from qadzâ قَضَئ, meaning to issue a decree or to determine (cf. 17:23). The…

17:4 Qadzainâ قَضَيْنَا means, “we decreed, decided, or judged”. It is derived from qadzâ قَضَئ, meaning to issue a decree or to determine (cf. 17:23). The judgment or decree mentioned here and in the following verses (17:5-8) refers to the prophecies and their fulfilment already mentioned in the Jewish Scriptures (e.g. Lu. 26.14-39; Du. 28.15-68; 30.15; Mtt 23.38; Lk 21.24; as well as to the prophecies of Isaiah and Jeremiah). Jerusalem was destroyed by Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon in 588 B.C. and then again in 70 A.D. by Roman forces under the Emperor Titus.

In 588 B.C. Nebuchadnezzar took King Zedekiah as prisoner, his sons were slain and he was carried to Babylon bound in fetters. The Jewish chief priests and other leaders were put to death, and Jews were carried off in captivity. The conquest of Jerusalem resulted in the disappearance of the greater part of the Hebrew nation and the so-called “ten lost tribes”. In 70 A.D., the Temple of Solomon was burned down by Titus.

By alluding to these two episodes of Jewish history (verses 4-7), the Holy Qur’ân warns the Muslims that they could suffer a similar fate. The first such punishment overtook the Muslim nation when the Mongols destroyed Baghdad, a great seat of learning and power, and massacred the people of that city in 1258 A.D. The second great punishment of the Muslims came at the hands of the Christians in Spain, when the great achievements of their fading empire were undone after the Reconquista in 1491. Verse 8 contains a message of hope not only for the Jews, but also for the Muslims.