Al-Mutaffifin المطففين
Those Who Give Short Measure
Al-Mutaffifin opens with a direct threat of woe to those who give short measure — who demand full measure when they receive from others but shortchange when they give, a specific and mundane form of dishonesty the surah treats as revealing something deeper: a refusal to reckon with being brought to account before the Lord of all worlds. It then contrasts two ledgers by name: Sijjin, where the record of the wicked is kept, and 'Illiyyun, where the record of the righteous is kept — the wicked described as those who called the Quran "tales of the ancients" and whose hearts became rusted over by what they earned, a veil separating them from their Lord on that Day. The surah closes by describing how, in the hereafter, the tables turn: the righteous, once mocked and winked at by disbelievers, will watch from thrones and ask whether the disbelievers have now been rewarded for what they used to do — the ridicule reversed.
وَيْلٌ لِّلْمُطَفِّفِينَ
Woe to those who give short measure,
ٱلَّذِينَ إِذَا ٱكْتَالُوا۟ عَلَى ٱلنَّاسِ يَسْتَوْفُونَ
who demand of other people full measure for themselves,
وَإِذَا كَالُوهُمْ أَو وَّزَنُوهُمْ يُخْسِرُونَ
but give less than they should when it is they who weigh or measure for others!
أَلَا يَظُنُّ أُو۟لَـٰٓئِكَ أَنَّهُم مَّبْعُوثُونَ
Do these people not realize that they will be raised up
لِيَوْمٍ عَظِيمٍ
on a mighty Day,
يَوْمَ يَقُومُ ٱلنَّاسُ لِرَبِّ ٱلْعَـٰلَمِينَ
a Day when everyone will stand before the Lord of the Worlds?
كَلَّآ إِنَّ كِتَـٰبَ ٱلْفُجَّارِ لَفِى سِجِّينٍ
No indeed! The list of the wicked is in Sijjin––
وَمَآ أَدْرَىٰكَ مَا سِجِّينٌ
what will explain to you what Sijjin is?––
كِتَـٰبٌ مَّرْقُومٌ
a clearly numbered list.
وَيْلٌ يَوْمَئِذٍ لِّلْمُكَذِّبِينَ
Woe on that day to the deniers,
ٱلَّذِينَ يُكَذِّبُونَ بِيَوْمِ ٱلدِّينِ
those who deny the Day of Judgement!
وَمَا يُكَذِّبُ بِهِۦٓ إِلَّا كُلُّ مُعْتَدٍ أَثِيمٍ
Only the evil aggressor denies it:
إِذَا تُتْلَىٰ عَلَيْهِ ءَايَـٰتُنَا قَالَ أَسَـٰطِيرُ ٱلْأَوَّلِينَ
when Our revelations are recited to him, he says, ‘Ancient fables!’
كَلَّا ۖ بَلْ ۜ رَانَ عَلَىٰ قُلُوبِهِم مَّا كَانُوا۟ يَكْسِبُونَ
No indeed! Their hearts are encrusted with what they have done.
كَلَّآ إِنَّهُمْ عَن رَّبِّهِمْ يَوْمَئِذٍ لَّمَحْجُوبُونَ
No indeed! On that Day they will be screened off from their Lord,
ثُمَّ إِنَّهُمْ لَصَالُوا۟ ٱلْجَحِيمِ
they will burn in Hell,
ثُمَّ يُقَالُ هَـٰذَا ٱلَّذِى كُنتُم بِهِۦ تُكَذِّبُونَ
and they will be told, ‘This is what you called a lie.’
كَلَّآ إِنَّ كِتَـٰبَ ٱلْأَبْرَارِ لَفِى عِلِّيِّينَ
No indeed! The list of the truly good is in 'Illiyyin––
وَمَآ أَدْرَىٰكَ مَا عِلِّيُّونَ
what will explain to you what 'Illiyyin is?––
كِتَـٰبٌ مَّرْقُومٌ
a clearly written list,
يَشْهَدُهُ ٱلْمُقَرَّبُونَ
witnessed by those brought near.
إِنَّ ٱلْأَبْرَارَ لَفِى نَعِيمٍ
The truly good will live in bliss,
عَلَى ٱلْأَرَآئِكِ يَنظُرُونَ
seated on couches, gazing around.
تَعْرِفُ فِى وُجُوهِهِمْ نَضْرَةَ ٱلنَّعِيمِ
You will recognize on their faces the radiance of bliss.
يُسْقَوْنَ مِن رَّحِيقٍ مَّخْتُومٍ
They will be served a sealed nectar,
خِتَـٰمُهُۥ مِسْكٌ ۚ وَفِى ذَٰلِكَ فَلْيَتَنَافَسِ ٱلْمُتَنَـٰفِسُونَ
its seal [perfumed with] a fragrant herb––let those who strive, strive for this––
وَمِزَاجُهُۥ مِن تَسْنِيمٍ
mixed with the water of Tasnim,
عَيْنًا يَشْرَبُ بِهَا ٱلْمُقَرَّبُونَ
a spring from which those brought near will drink.
إِنَّ ٱلَّذِينَ أَجْرَمُوا۟ كَانُوا۟ مِنَ ٱلَّذِينَ ءَامَنُوا۟ يَضْحَكُونَ
The wicked used to laugh at the believers––
وَإِذَا مَرُّوا۟ بِهِمْ يَتَغَامَزُونَ
they would wink at one another when the believers passed by them,
وَإِذَا ٱنقَلَبُوٓا۟ إِلَىٰٓ أَهْلِهِمُ ٱنقَلَبُوا۟ فَكِهِينَ
joke about them when they got back to their own people,
وَإِذَا رَأَوْهُمْ قَالُوٓا۟ إِنَّ هَـٰٓؤُلَآءِ لَضَآلُّونَ
and say, when they saw them, ‘These people are misguided,’
وَمَآ أُرْسِلُوا۟ عَلَيْهِمْ حَـٰفِظِينَ
though they were not sent to be their keepers-
فَٱلْيَوْمَ ٱلَّذِينَ ءَامَنُوا۟ مِنَ ٱلْكُفَّارِ يَضْحَكُونَ
so today the believers are laughing at the disbelievers
عَلَى ٱلْأَرَآئِكِ يَنظُرُونَ
as they sit on couches, gazing around.
هَلْ ثُوِّبَ ٱلْكُفَّارُ مَا كَانُوا۟ يَفْعَلُونَ
Have the disbelievers [not] been repaid for their deeds?
Arabic text and translation (M.A.S. Abdel Haleem) via the Quran.Foundation API.
Frequently asked
Thirty-six verses.
Meccan, revealed in Makkah — among the longer purely Meccan surahs.
"Those who give short measure" — referring to merchants who shortchange buyers while demanding full measure for themselves, condemned in the surah's opening verses.
The two ledgers Al-Mutaffifin names: Sijjin, where the wicked's deeds are recorded, and 'Illiyyun, where the righteous's deeds are recorded.