And when he came to the water [i.e., well] of Madyan, he found there a crowd of people watering [their flocks], and he found aside from them two women holding back [their flocks]. He said, "What is your circumstance?" They said, "We do not water until the shepherds dispatch [their flocks]; and our father is an old man."
Verse 23 of Surah Al-Qasas (28:23), a Meccan surah, is in juz 20, on page 388 of the mushaf. Read it in Arabic with its transliteration, translations and tafsir, and listen to it recited by 73 reciters.
Listen to verse 23 of Surah Al-Qasas
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Tafsir of verse 23
Al-Mukhtasar
When he reached the waterhole of Madyan he found a group of people watering their livestock. He also found two women a little distance away, stopping their livestock from the water until the rest of the people finished. Moses asked them: “Why is it that you do not water your livestock along with the rest of the people?” They said to him, “It is our habit that we arrive but do not water until the shepherds disperse, fearing mixing in with them. Our father is an aged man; he cannot water the livestock, so we are compelled to do it ourselves.”
When he arrived at the well of Midian, he found a crowd of people watering [their flocks] and found apart from them two women holding [their flocks] back. He said, “What is the matter with you?” They said, “We cannot water [them] until the shepherds take [their flocks] away, and our father is a very old man.”
And when he arrived at the water (a well) of Madyan (Midian) he found there a group of men watering (their flocks), and besides them he found two women who were keeping back (their flocks). He said: "What is the matter with you?" They said: "We cannot water (our flocks) until the shepherds take (their flocks). And our father is a very old man."
And when he came unto the water of Midian he found there a whole tribe of men, watering. And he found apart from them two women keeping back (their flocks). He said: What aileth you? The two said: We cannot give (our flocks) to drink till the shepherds return from the water; and our father is a very old man.
And when he arrived at the watering (place) in Madyan, he found there a group of men watering (their flocks), and besides them he found two women who were keeping back (their flocks). He said: "What is the matter with you?" They said: "We cannot water (our flocks) until the shepherds take back (their flocks): And our father is a very old man."
And when he came to the water of Madyan, he found on it a group of men watering, and he found besides them two women keeping back (their flocks). He said: What is the matter with you? They said: We cannot water until the shepherds take away (their sheep) from the water, and our father is a very old man.
And as soon as he was within reach of the water (s) of Madyan, he found there a whole company (Literally: a nation of mankind) of the citizens watering, and he found, apart from them, two women keeping away (their flocks). He said, "What is your concern?" The two said, "We cannot give (our flocks) to drink until the shepherds drive off; and our father is an aged (man), great (with years)."
