Surah 2 Al-Baqara — Ayah 246
أَلَمْ تَرَ إِلَى ٱلْمَلَإِ مِنۢ بَنِىٓ إِسْرَٰٓءِيلَ مِنۢ بَعْدِ مُوسَىٰٓ إِذْ قَالُوا۟ لِنَبِىٍّۢ لَّهُمُ ٱبْعَثْ لَنَا مَلِكًۭا نُّقَٰتِلْ فِى سَبِيلِ ٱللَّهِ ۖ قَالَ هَلْ عَسَيْتُمْ إِن كُتِبَ عَلَيْكُمُ ٱلْقِتَالُ أَلَّا تُقَٰتِلُوا۟ ۖ قَالُوا۟ وَمَا لَنَآ أَلَّا نُقَٰتِلَ فِى سَبِيلِ ٱللَّهِ وَقَدْ أُخْرِجْنَا مِن دِيَٰرِنَا وَأَبْنَآئِنَا ۖ فَلَمَّا كُتِبَ عَلَيْهِمُ ٱلْقِتَالُ تَوَلَّوْا۟ إِلَّا قَلِيلًۭا مِّنْهُمْ ۗ وَٱللَّهُ عَلِيمٌۢ بِٱلظَّٰلِمِينَ
(නබියේ!) මූසාගෙන් පසුව ඉස්රායීල්වරුන්ගේ පරම්පරා දරුවන්ගෙන් වූ ප්රධානීන්ව ඔබ අවධානය නොකළෙහිද? ඔවුන් “අල්ලාහ්ගේ මාර්ගයෙහි අපි යුද්ධ කිරීමට අපට (ප්රධානත්වය දැරීමට) එක් රජෙකු යවනු (මැනව!)” යයි තමන්ගේ නබි වෙත පැවසූ අවස්ථාවේදී, ඔහු “යුද්ධ කළ යුතුය යයි ඔබට නියම කරනු ලැබුවහොත්, ඔබ යුද්ධ නොකර (ඈත් වී) සිටින්නෙහුද?”යි විමසුවේය. (එයට) ඔවුන් “අපගේ ජනතාවද, අපගේ නිවෙස්ද, අත්හැර අපිව පිටමං කරනු ලැබ සිටියදී (අපව පිටමං කළ) ඔවුන් සමග අල්ලාහ්ගේ මාර්ගයෙහි අපි යුද්ධ නොකර සිටීමට අපට කුමන (බාධාවක්ද)?”යි විමසූහ. නමුත් යුද්ධ කරන මෙන් නියෝග කරනු ලැබූ විට, ඔවුන්ගෙන් සමහරෙකු හැර, (අන් අය යුද්ධ නොකර) පසුබැස නැවතුනාහ. (මෙවැනි) අපරාධකරුවන්ව අල්ලාහ් හොඳින් දන්නේය.
alam tara ilā l-mala-i min banī is'rāīla min baʿdi mūsā idh qālū linabiyyin lahumu ib'ʿath lanā malikan nuqātil fī sabīli l-lahi qāla hal ʿasaytum in kutiba ʿalaykumu l-qitālu allā tuqātilū qālū wamā lanā allā nuqātila fī sabīli l-lahi waqad ukh'rij'nā min diyārinā wa-abnāinā falammā kutiba ʿalayhimu l-qitālu tawallaw illā qalīlan min'hum wal-lahu ʿalīmun bil-ẓālimīna
Word by word
- أَلَمْ alam Did not
- تَرَ tara you see
- إِلَى ilā [towards]
- ٱلْمَلَإِ l-mala-i the chiefs
- مِنۢ min of
- بَنِىٓ banī (the) Children
- إِسْرَٰٓءِيلَ is'rāīla (of) Israel
- مِنۢ min from
- بَعْدِ baʿdi after
- مُوسَىٰٓ mūsā Musa
- إِذْ idh when
- قَالُوا۟ qālū they said
- لِنَبِىٍّۢ linabiyyin to a Prophet
- لَّهُمُ lahumu of theirs
- ٱبْعَثْ ib'ʿath Appoint
- لَنَا lanā for us
- مَلِكًۭا malikan a king
- نُّقَـٰتِلْ nuqātil we may fight
- فِى fī in
- سَبِيلِ sabīli (the) way
- ٱللَّهِ ۖ l-lahi (of) Allah
- قَالَ qāla He said
- هَلْ hal Would
- عَسَيْتُمْ ʿasaytum you perhaps
- إِن in if
- كُتِبَ kutiba prescribed
- عَلَيْكُمُ ʿalaykumu upon you
- ٱلْقِتَالُ l-qitālu [the] fighting
- أَلَّا allā that not
- تُقَـٰتِلُوا۟ ۖ tuqātilū you fight
- قَالُوا۟ qālū They said
- وَمَا wamā And what
- لَنَآ lanā for us
- أَلَّا allā that not
- نُقَـٰتِلَ nuqātila we fight
- فِى fī in
- سَبِيلِ sabīli (the) way
- ٱللَّهِ l-lahi (of) Allah
- وَقَدْ waqad while surely
- أُخْرِجْنَا ukh'rij'nā we have been driven
- مِن min from
- دِيَـٰرِنَا diyārinā our homes
- وَأَبْنَآئِنَا ۖ wa-abnāinā and our children
- فَلَمَّا falammā Yet, when
- كُتِبَ kutiba was prescribed
- عَلَيْهِمُ ʿalayhimu upon them
- ٱلْقِتَالُ l-qitālu the fighting
- تَوَلَّوْا۟ tawallaw they turned away
- إِلَّا illā except
- قَلِيلًۭا qalīlan a few
- مِّنْهُمْ ۗ min'hum among them
- وَٱللَّهُ wal-lahu And Allah
- عَلِيمٌۢ ʿalīmun (is) All-Knowing
- بِٱلظَّـٰلِمِينَ bil-ẓālimīna of the wrongdoers
Tafsir · Ibn Kathir (Abridged)
The Story of the Jews Who sought a King to be appointed over Them
Mujahid said that the Prophet (mentioned in the Ayah 2:246 above) is Shamwil (Samuel). Wahb bin Munabbih said: The Children of Israel remained on the straight path for a period of time after Moses. They then innovated in the religion and some of them even worshipped the idols. Yet, there were always Prophets sent among them who would command them to work righteous deeds, refrain from doing evil and who would rule them according to the commands of the Torah. When they (Israelites) committed the evil that they committed, Allah caused their enemies to overwhelm them, and many fatalities fell among them as a consequence. Their enemies also captured a great number of them, and took over large areas of their land. Earlier, anyone who would fight the Israelites would lose, because they had the Torah and the Tabut, which they inherited generation after generation ever since the time of Moses, who spoke to Allah directly. Yet, the Israelites kept indulging in misguidance until some king took the Tabut from them during a battle. That king also took possession of the Torah, and only a few of the Israelites who memorized it remained. The prophethood halted among their various tribes and only a pregnant woman remained of the offspring of Lavi (Levi), in whom the prophethood still appeared. Her husband had been killed, so the Israelites kept her in a house so that Allah may give her a boy, who would be their Prophet. The woman also kept invoking Allah to grant her a boy. Allah heard her pleas and gave her a boy whom she called `Shamwil' meaning `Allah has heard my pleas.' Some people said that the boy's name was Sham`un (Simeon), which also has a similar meaning.As that boy grew, Allah raised him to be a righteous person. When he reached the age of prophethood, Allah revealed to him and commanded him to call (his people) to Him and to His Tawhid (Oneness). Shamwil called the Children of Israel (to Allah) and they asked him to appoint a king over them so that they could fight their enemies under his command. The kingship had also ended among them. Their Prophet said to them, "What if Allah appoints a king over you, would you fulfill your vow to fight under his command"
(They said, "Why should we not fight in Allah's way while we have been driven out of our homes and our children") meaning, `After our land had been confiscated and our children had been taken from us' Allah said:
(But when fighting was ordered for them, they turned away, all except a few of them. And Allah is All-Aware of the wrongdoers) meaning, only a few of them kept their promise, but the majority abandoned Jihad and Allah has full knowledge of them.