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.
Verse 163 of Surah Al-A’raf (7:163), a Meccan surah, is in juz 9, on page 171 of the mushaf. Read it in Arabic with its transliteration, translations and tafsir, and listen to it recited by 72 reciters.
Listen to verse 163 of Surah Al-A’raf
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Tafsir of verse 163
Al-Mukhtasar
Ask the Jews about how Allah punished some of the Israelites. Remind them of the story of the town which was near to the sea where they used to overstep the limits of Allah: fishing on the Sabbath after they had been forbidden from doing so. Allah tested them by making the fish come to them so that they could see them clearly on the surface of the sea on Saturday, and then making them disappear from view during the rest of the week. Allah gave them this trial because of their disobedience and wrongdoing. So eventually they decided to fish by setting up their nets thereby using a trick, so that the fish would fall into them on Saturday and they could take them and eat them on Sunday.
Ask them [O Prophet] about the town which was by the sea and how they broke the Sabbath63. The fish would come to them appearing on the surface of the water on Sabbath days, but when it was not Sabbath, they would not come. This is how We tested them for their rebelliousness.
Notes
[63] This is another act of violation some of them committed.
And ask them (O Muhammad صلى الله عليه وسلم) about the town that was by the sea; when they transgressed in the matter of the Sabbath (i.e. Saturday): when their fish came to them openly on the Sabbath day, and did not come to them on the day they had no Sabbath. Thus We made a trial of them, for they used to rebel against Allâh’s Command (disobey Allâh) [see the Qur’ân: V.4:154 and its footnote].
Ask them (O Muhammad) of the township that was by the sea, how they did break the Sabbath, how their big fish came unto them visibly upon their Sabbath day and on a day when they did not keep Sabbath came they not unto them. Thus did We try them for that they were evil-livers.
Ask them concerning the town standing close by the sea. Behold! they transgressed in the matter of the Sabbath. For on the day of their Sabbath their fish did come to them, openly holding up their heads, but on the day they had no Sabbath, they came not: thus did We make a trial of them, for they were given to transgression.
And ask them about the town which stood by the sea; when they exceeded the limits of the Sabbath, when their fish came to them on the day of their Sabbath, appearing on the surface of the water, and on the day on which they did not keep the Sabbath they did not come to them; thus did We try them because they transgressed.
And ask them concerning the town which was by the (Literally: present by the sea) sea, as they were aggressors on (i.e. They broke the Sabbath) the Sabbath, as their whales came to them on the day of their Sabbath with their heads up, (i.e. They were swimming shorewards) and on the day they did not keep Sabbath, they did not come up to them. Thus did We try them for they were acting immorally..
