Surah An-Nisa >> Currently viewing Surah An-Nisa Ayat 159 (4:159)

Surah An-Nisa Ayat 159 in Arabic Text

وَإِن مِّنۡ أَهۡلِ ٱلۡكِتَٰبِ إِلَّا لَيُؤۡمِنَنَّ بِهِۦ قَبۡلَ مَوۡتِهِۦۖ وَيَوۡمَ ٱلۡقِيَٰمَةِ يَكُونُ عَلَيۡهِمۡ شَهِيدٗا
Wa im min Ahlil Kitaabi illaa layu’minanna bihee qabla mawtihee wa Yawmal Qiyaamati yakoonu ‘alaihim shaheedaa

English Translation

Here you can read various translations of verse 159

Sahih International
And there is none from the People of the Scripture but that he will surely believe in Jesus before his death. And on the Day of Resurrection he will be against them a witness.

Yusuf Ali
And there is none of the People of the Book but must believe in him before his death; and on the Day of Judgment he will be a witness against them;-

Abul Ala Maududi
There are none among the People of the Book but will believe in him before his death, and he will be a witness against them on the Day of Resurrection.

Muhsin Khan
And there is none of the people of the Scripture (Jews and Christians), but must believe in him [‘Iesa (Jesus), son of Maryam (Mary), as only a Messenger of Allah and a human being], before his [‘Iesa (Jesus) or a Jew’s or a Christian’s] death (at the time of the appearance of the angel of death). And on the Day of Resurrection, he [‘Iesa (Jesus)] will be a witness against them.

Pickthall
There is not one of the People of the Scripture but will believe in him before his death, and on the Day of Resurrection he will be a witness against them –

Dr. Ghali
And decidedly there is not one of the population of the Book (Or: Family of the Book, i.e., the Jews and Christians) but will indeed definitely believe in him before his death, and on the Day of the Resurrection he will be a witness against them.

Abdul Haleem
There is not one of the People of the Book who will not believe in [Jesus] before his death, and on the Day of Resurrection he will be a witness against them.)

Muhammad Junagarhi
اہل کتاب میں ایک بھی ایسا نہ بچے گا جو حضرت عیسیٰ (علیہ السلام) کی موت سے پہلے ان پر ایمان نہ ﻻچکے اور قیامت کے دن آپ ان پر گواه ہوں گے

Quran 4 Verse 159 Explanation

For those looking for commentary to help with the understanding of Surah An-Nisa ayat 159, we’ve provided two Tafseer works below. The first is the tafseer of Abul Ala Maududi, the second is of Ibn Kathir.

Ala-Maududi

(4:159) There are none among the People of the Book but will believe in him before his death,[196] and he will be a witness against them on the Day of Resurrection.[197]


196. The death mentioned here could refer either to the death of Jesus or to the death of each and every person among ‘the People of the Book’. The text lends itself to both meanings. We have adopted the first in our translation. If we accept the alternative meaning, the verse would mean: “There is no one among the People of the Book who, before his death, will not believe in Jesus.’ The expression, ‘People of the Book’ here refers to the Jews and possibly even to the Christians. In the light of this latter meaning, the purpose of the verse would be to affirm that at the time when the physical death of Jesus takes place, all the living ‘People of the Book’ would have come to believe in him (i.e. in his prophethood). Alternatively, the verse would mean that the prophethood of Jesus will become manifest to every person among the People of the Book just before he dies so that they will believe in him, but at a time when believing would be of no avail. Both these views have been supported by several Companions, Successors and outstanding scholars of Qur’anic exegesis. The truth of the matter is best known to God alone.

197. This means that on the Day of Judgement Jesus will stand in the court of the Almighty and testify to the treatment meted out to him and to the message he brought. For the nature of this testimony see (Surah Al-Maidah, ayat 109).

Ibn-Kathir

The tafsir of Surah Nisa verse 159 by Ibn Kathir is unavailable here.
Please refer to Surah Nisa ayat 155 which provides the complete commentary from verse 155 through 159.

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surah al-anam ayat 159
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