83:1
وَیْلٌ لِّلْمُطَفِّفِیْنَ
Woe to those who give less [than due],
Surah 83 of 114 · Makkah · Juz 30
Surah Al-Mutaffifin
The Defrauding
المطففين36 ayahs
Revealed in Makkah
Translation: Saheeh International
About Surah Al-Mutaffifin
Al-Mutaffifin are those who skim, the traders who take full measure when buying and shave it when selling. It is counted among the Makkan surahs, though some place it right at the end of that period. What makes it striking is where it starts. The very first line is not about God or the Hereafter but about a market cheat, and only at 83:4 does it ask whether such people do not realise they will be raised for a tremendous Day. Small dishonesty is treated as the visible edge of disbelief in the reckoning.
Two registers are then set against each other. The record of the wicked is in sijjin and the record of the righteous in illiyyun, each named, each followed by the question of what it is, each answered as an inscribed book (83:7 to 83:9 and 83:18 to 83:21). Between them comes one of the sharpest lines in the Quran about how denial happens: it is not argument but residue, a stain their own earnings have laid over their hearts (83:14), and on that Day they will be screened off from their Lord (83:15). The reward passage is unusually sensory, with sealed wine whose last trace is musk, mixed from a spring called Tasnim (83:25 to 83:28). The surah ends with a reversal. Those who used to laugh at the believers and wink at each other as they passed are the ones being looked at now (83:29 to 83:35).
بِسْمِ اللّٰهِ الرَّحْمٰنِ الرَّحِیْمِ
83:2
الَّذِیْنَ اِذَا اكْتَالُوْا عَلَی النَّاسِ یَسْتَوْفُوْنَ ۟ؗۖ
Who, when they take a measure from people, take in full.
83:3
وَاِذَا كَالُوْهُمْ اَوْ وَّزَنُوْهُمْ یُخْسِرُوْنَ ۟ؕ
But if they give by measure or by weight to them, they cause loss.
83:4
اَلَا یَظُنُّ اُولٰٓىِٕكَ اَنَّهُمْ مَّبْعُوْثُوْنَ
Do they not think that they will be resurrected
83:5
لِیَوْمٍ عَظِیْمٍ
For a tremendous Day -
83:6
یَّوْمَ یَقُوْمُ النَّاسُ لِرَبِّ الْعٰلَمِیْنَ ۟ؕ
The Day when mankind will stand before the Lord of the worlds?
83:7
كَلَّاۤ اِنَّ كِتٰبَ الْفُجَّارِ لَفِیْ سِجِّیْنٍ ۟ؕ
No! Indeed, the record of the wicked is in sijjeen.
83:8
وَمَاۤ اَدْرٰىكَ مَا سِجِّیْنٌ ۟ؕ
And what can make you know what is sijjeen?
83:9
كِتٰبٌ مَّرْقُوْمٌ ۟ؕ
It is [their destination recorded in] a register inscribed.
83:10
وَیْلٌ یَّوْمَىِٕذٍ لِّلْمُكَذِّبِیْنَ
Woe, that Day, to the deniers,
83:11
الَّذِیْنَ یُكَذِّبُوْنَ بِیَوْمِ الدِّیْنِ ۟ؕ
Who deny the Day of Recompense.
83:12
وَمَا یُكَذِّبُ بِهٖۤ اِلَّا كُلُّ مُعْتَدٍ اَثِیْمٍ
And none deny it except every sinful transgressor.
83:13
اِذَا تُتْلٰی عَلَیْهِ اٰیٰتُنَا قَالَ اَسَاطِیْرُ الْاَوَّلِیْنَ ۟ؕ
When Our verses are recited to him, he says, "Legends of the former peoples."
83:14
كَلَّا بَلْ ٚ رَانَ عَلٰی قُلُوْبِهِمْ مَّا كَانُوْا یَكْسِبُوْنَ
No! Rather, the stain has covered their hearts of that which they were earning.
83:15
كَلَّاۤ اِنَّهُمْ عَنْ رَّبِّهِمْ یَوْمَىِٕذٍ لَّمَحْجُوْبُوْنَ ۟ؕ
No! Indeed, from their Lord, that Day, they will be partitioned.
83:16
ثُمَّ اِنَّهُمْ لَصَالُوا الْجَحِیْمِ ۟ؕ
Then indeed, they will [enter and] burn in Hellfire.
83:17
ثُمَّ یُقَالُ هٰذَا الَّذِیْ كُنْتُمْ بِهٖ تُكَذِّبُوْنَ ۟ؕ
Then it will be said [to them], "This is what you used to deny."
83:18
كَلَّاۤ اِنَّ كِتٰبَ الْاَبْرَارِ لَفِیْ عِلِّیِّیْنَ ۟ؕ
No! Indeed, the record of the righteous is in ʿilliyyūn.
83:19
وَمَاۤ اَدْرٰىكَ مَا عِلِّیُّوْنَ ۟ؕ
And what can make you know what is ʿilliyyūn?
83:20
كِتٰبٌ مَّرْقُوْمٌ
It is [their destination recorded in] a register inscribed
83:21
یَّشْهَدُهُ الْمُقَرَّبُوْنَ ۟ؕ
Which is witnessed by those brought near [to Allāh].
83:22
اِنَّ الْاَبْرَارَ لَفِیْ نَعِیْمٍ
Indeed, the righteous will be in pleasure
83:23
عَلَی الْاَرَآىِٕكِ یَنْظُرُوْنَ
On adorned couches, observing.
83:24
تَعْرِفُ فِیْ وُجُوْهِهِمْ نَضْرَةَ النَّعِیْمِ
You will recognize in their faces the radiance of pleasure.
83:25
یُسْقَوْنَ مِنْ رَّحِیْقٍ مَّخْتُوْمٍ
They will be given to drink [pure] wine [which was] sealed.
83:26
خِتٰمُهٗ مِسْكٌ ؕ وَفِیْ ذٰلِكَ فَلْیَتَنَافَسِ الْمُتَنَافِسُوْنَ ۟ؕ
The last of it is musk. So for this let the competitors compete.
83:27
وَمِزَاجُهٗ مِنْ تَسْنِیْمٍ
And its mixture is of Tasneem,
83:28
عَیْنًا یَّشْرَبُ بِهَا الْمُقَرَّبُوْنَ ۟ؕ
A spring from which those near [to Allāh] drink.
83:29
اِنَّ الَّذِیْنَ اَجْرَمُوْا كَانُوْا مِنَ الَّذِیْنَ اٰمَنُوْا یَضْحَكُوْنَ ۟ؗۖ
Indeed, those who committed crimes used to laugh at those who believed.
83:30
وَاِذَا مَرُّوْا بِهِمْ یَتَغَامَزُوْنَ ۟ؗۖ
And when they passed by them, they would exchange derisive glances.
83:31
وَاِذَا انْقَلَبُوْۤا اِلٰۤی اَهْلِهِمُ انْقَلَبُوْا فَكِهِیْنَ ۟ؗۖ
And when they returned to their people, they would return jesting.
83:32
وَاِذَا رَاَوْهُمْ قَالُوْۤا اِنَّ هٰۤؤُلَآءِ لَضَآلُّوْنَ
And when they saw them, they would say, "Indeed, those are truly lost."
83:33
وَمَاۤ اُرْسِلُوْا عَلَیْهِمْ حٰفِظِیْنَ ۟ؕ
But they had not been sent as guardians over them.
83:34
فَالْیَوْمَ الَّذِیْنَ اٰمَنُوْا مِنَ الْكُفَّارِ یَضْحَكُوْنَ
So Today those who believed are laughing at the disbelievers,
83:35
عَلَی الْاَرَآىِٕكِ ۙ یَنْظُرُوْنَ ۟ؕ
On adorned couches, observing.
83:36
هَلْ ثُوِّبَ الْكُفَّارُ مَا كَانُوْا یَفْعَلُوْنَ
Have the disbelievers [not] been rewarded [this Day] for what they used to do?
Surah Al-Mutaffifin in the Quran, with the Arabic in IndoPak Nastaleeq, 36 ayahs, translation, word by word meaning and recitation. Recite it offline on your phone with the free Android app.