But when He saves them, at once they commit injustice519 upon the earth without right. O mankind, your injustice is only against yourselves, [being merely] the enjoyment of worldly life. Then to Us is your return, and We will inform you of what you used to do.
Notes
[519] By oppression and disobedience or by invoking others besides Allāh.
Verse 23 of Surah Yunus (10:23), a Meccan surah, is in juz 11, on page 211 of the mushaf. Read it in Arabic with its transliteration, translations and tafsir, and listen to it recited by 74 reciters.
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Tafsir of verse 23
Al-Mukhtasar
But when He answers their prayer, and saves them from their distress, they cause corruption in the earth, disbelieving and committing wrongdoing and sins. Wake up and realise O People! The evil consequences of your sins and transgression only falls upon yourselves and does not hurt Allah in any way. They enjoy it in the life of this world which is passing, and then they return to Allah on the day of Judgement, and He will inform them of the wrongdoing they used to do, and repay them for it.
However, when He saves them, they start transgressing in the land unjustly25. O people, your transgression is against your own souls. Take your little enjoyment in this life; then to Us is your return, and We will inform you of what you used to do.
Notes
[25] By disbelief, associating false deities with Allah and committing sins.
But when He delivers them, behold! they rebel (disobey Allâh) in the earth wrongfully. O mankind! Your rebellion (disobedience to Allâh) is only against your ownselves, - a brief enjoyment of this worldly life, then (in the end) unto Us is your return, and We shall inform you of that which you used to do.
Yet when He hath delivered them, behold! they rebel in the earth wrongfully. O mankind! Your rebellion is only against yourselves. (Ye have) enjoyment of the life of the world; then unto Us is your return and We shall proclaim unto you what ye used to do.
But when he delivereth them, behold! they transgress insolently through the earth in defiance of right! O mankind! your insolence is against your own souls,- an enjoyment of the life of the present: in the end, to Us is your return, and We shall show you the truth of all that ye did.
But when He delivers them, lo! they are unjustly rebellious in the earth. O men! your rebellion is against your own souls-- provision (only) of this world's life-- then to Us shall be your return, so We will inform you of what you did.
Yet as soon as He has delivered them, only then do they (transgress) inequitably in the earth untruthfully. (Literally: with other than the truth) O you mankind, surely your inequity is only against yourselves. The enjoyment is of the present life; (Literally: the lowly life, i.e., the life of this world) thereafter to Us will be your return, then We will fully inform you of whatever you were doing..
Then is he whom We have promised a good promise which he will meet [i.e., obtain] like he for whom We provided enjoyment of worldly life [but] then he is, on the Day of Resurrection, among those presented [for punishment in Hell]?
As for ʿAad, they were arrogant upon the earth without right and said, "Who is greater than us in strength?" Did they not consider that Allāh who created them was greater than them in strength? But they were rejecting Our signs.
