سورة البَقَرَة
Surah Al-Baqarah 2:72
The Cow · Verse 72 of 286
وَإِذْ قَتَلْتُمْ نَفْسًا فَادَّارَأْتُمْ فِيهَا ۖ وَاللَّهُ مُخْرِجٌ مَا كُنْتُمْ تَكْتُمُونَ
Abdul Mannan Omar
And (recall also) when you had (nearly) killed a (great) man (- Jesus), then you differed among yourselves respecting it (- the crucifixion). And Allâh will bring to light that (- Jesus did not die on the cross) which you had been hiding.
Abdullah Yusuf Ali
Remember ye slew a man and fell into a dispute among yourselves as to the crime: But Allah was to bring forth what ye did hide.
Ahmed Ali
Remember when you killed a man and blamed each other for the deed, God brought to light what you concealed.
12 more translations
Ali Unal
And (remember also) when you had killed a living soul, and were accusing one another to deny the responsibility, but God would disclose what you were concealing.
Daryabadi
And recall what time ye slew a person, then quarrelled among yourselves respecting it, and Allah was to bring out that which ye were hiding.
Faridul Haque
And (remember) when you slew a man and were therefore accusing each other concerning it; and Allah wanted to expose what you were hiding.
Maulana Muhammad Ali
And when you (almost) killed a man, then you disagreed about it. And Allah was to bring forth that which you were going to hide.
Maulvi Sher Ali
And remember the time when you killed a person and differed among yourselves about it, and ALLAH, would bring to light what you were hiding.
Muhammad Asad
For, O children of Israel, because you had slain a human being and then cast the blame for this [crime] upon one another - although God will bring to light what you would conceals -
Muhammad Musin Khan
And (remember) when you killed a man and fell into dispute among yourselves as to the crime. But Allah brought forth that which you were hiding.
Muhammad Pickthall
And (remember) when ye slew a man and disagreed concerning it and Allah brought forth that which ye were hiding.
Muhammad Sarwar
When you murdered someone, each one of you tried to accuse others of being guilty. However, God made public what you were hiding.
Muhammed ali Shakir
And when you killed a man, then you disagreed with respect to that, and Allah was to bring forth that which you were going to hide.
Rashad Khalifa
You had killed a soul, then disputed among yourselves. GOD was to expose what you tried to conceal.
Shabbir Ahmed
Recall! A person was slain and you were casting blame on each other. So God brought forth what you were hiding.
Commentary 2:72 The Holy Qur’ân has not named the person to be slain. The generality of this account of the incident is an indication that it refers to some well-known…
وَإِذْ قَتَلْتُمْ نَفْسًا فَادَّارَأْتُمْ فِيهَا
2:72 The Holy Qur’ân has not named the person to be slain. The generality of this account of the incident is an indication that it refers to some well-known event in history. The incident in this verse most probably refers to Jesus and the efforts made by Jews of his time to kill him: Qatal-tum قَتَلْتُمْ meaning you killed. According to the Jewish tradition, they killed Jesus by putting him on the cross. However, Qatal-tum also means to seek, attempt, claim or to make up ones mind to kill (cf. 40:28; Tâj). There is a well-known Arabic idiom: Idza ma mâta maitun إذاما مات ميتٌ -“when a dead man dies”. Here the word “dead” in reality does not signify a dead man but one who is about to die (Lisân), similar to the expression dead man walking in reference to death row inmates before the execution in the English language. The expression Qatal-tum is used here because the Jews asserted that they had killed Jesus, son of Mary (4:157). It can also mean that a plan and or attempt was made to kill him. Thus the verse refers to the bringing forth of that which they were hiding. This was a case of giving life to the nearly dead as mentioned in the next verse: كَذَلِكَ يُحْيِي اللَّهُ الْمَوْتَىٰ, for Jesus, being unconscious, appeared to be dead to the onlookers. This inference becomes stronger when we compare the incidents narrated here with the same incidents as narrated in 4:157. In that verse, the word nafsan نفسً (the indefinite form of which is nakira نكِرَ), refers to an important personage (Sibwaih). In one explanation of this verse, a story was circulated that a murdered person was restored to life after Jews were commanded to strike his dead corpse with flesh of the sacrificed cow. This explanation has no basis in any book of Traditions or any other serious source. This story also lacks sense and is devoid of any moral teaching. It also contradicts the law laid down by Allâh as expounded in 21:95 and 23:99-100: that no dead person can come to life again.