How to read in Arab-Latin: Yā ayyuhan-nāsu innā khalaqnākum min żakariw wa unṡā wa ja’alnākum syu’ụbaw wa qabā`ila lita’ārafụ, inna akramakum ‘indallāhi atqākum, innallāha ‘alīmun khabīr
Translation: O mankind, indeed We have created you from male and female and made you peoples and tribes that you may know one another. Indeed, the most noble of you in the sight of Allah is the most righteous1 of you. Indeed, Allah is Knowing and Aware. O mankind, indeed We have created you from male and female and made you peoples and tribes that you may know one another. Indeed, the most noble of you in the sight of Allah is the most righteous1 of you. Indeed, Allah is Knowing and Aware.
— Saheeh International
Quran 49: 13 Tafsir Al-Muyassar / Ministry of Religion of Saudi Arabia.
O, mankind! Verily I created you from one man, your father Adam, and one woman, namely your mother Eve, so your lineage is one, so do not some of you insult the other half’s lineage. And then We made you many tribes and nations that spread so that some of you know some of the other, not to feel superior to each other because that high position is only obtained by piety. Indeed the most noble of you in the sight of Allah is the most pious of you; indeed Allah is All-Knowing all your conditions, All-Knowing your strengths and weaknesses, nothing of it unnoticed from Him.
Quran 49: 13 Tafsir Al-Madinah Al-Munawwarah—Markaz Ta’dzhim al-Qur’an under Prof. Dr. Imad Zuhair Hafidz, professor at the faculty of the Qur’an at the Islamic University of Madinah.
يٰٓأَيُّهَا النَّاسُ إِنَّا خَلَقْنٰكُم مِّن ذَكَرٍ وَأُنثَىٰ (O mankind, indeed We created you from a man and a woman.)
The two of them are Adam and Eve, who become the unifying father and mother; so there is no reason to boast about lineage and lineage because everyone is the same.
وَجَعَلْنٰكُمْ شُعُوبًا وَقَبَآئِلَ (and made you nations and tribes.)
The meaning (الشعب) is a large group of people consisting of several tribes, such as the Mudhar and Rabi’ah. Meanwhile (القبيلة) are smaller than that like the tribe of Bani Bakr from the Mudhar nation, and Bani Tamim from the Rabi’ah nation. Another opinion says the meaning (الشعب) is a tribe of people other than Arabic. Meanwhile (القبيلة) is a tribe of Arab people.
لِتَعَارَفُوٓا۟ (so that you get to know each other)
That is, to know one another that he is from this tribe—Not to boast about bloodlines.
إِنَّ أَكْرَمَكُمْ عِندَ اللهِ أَتْقَىٰكُمْ (Indeed, the most noble among you with Allah is the most devout among you.)
That is, the difference between you is only because of piety. So don’t be proud of each other with your lineage/nasab(نسب).
FOOTNOTES
- Literally, “he who has the most taqwā,” i.e., consciousness and fear of Allah, piety and righteousness. [return]