Surah Al-Anbiyaa · Ayah 87·Makkī

87

وَذَا إِذ أَن لَّن عَلَيْهِ فِى أَن لَّآ إِلَّآ أَنتَ إِنِّى مِنَ ﴿٨٧﴾

Translation

Saheeh International

And [mention] the man of the fish, when he went off in anger and thought that We would not decree [anything] upon him. And he called out within the darknesses, "There is no deity except You; exalted are You. Indeed, I have been of the wrongdoers."

Compare all 34 translations →

Tafsīr

No commentary indexed for this ayah yet.

Verse DNA · this āyah at a glance

Vocabulary and recitation are counted from the morphology and the Uthmani marks; commentary reports whether an authored tafsīr entry reaches this āyah. A structural read, not a judgement — a denser strip is not a weightier verse.

Vocabulary · 10 roots in 11 of 23 words

Rarest here: ن-و-ن used once in the whole Qurʾān

Recitation · 28 points across 6 rule families

  • Madd ṭabīʿī12
  • Lām shamsiyyah3
  • Ghunnah4
  • Ikhfāʾ6
  • Qalqalah2
  • Heavy rāʾ1

Commentary

No tafsīr entry reaches this āyah yet — the interpretive layer covers a pilot, not the whole Book.

Shape

23 words · 79 letters · āyah 87 of 112

once in the Qurʾān2–10×11–50×51–300×300+×

Similar verses by meaning

Ranked by semantic similarity over translation embeddings — a model’s proxy for meaning, not a claim about it, and not tafsīr. Verses may be kin in theme while differing entirely in wording.

  • إِن نَّقُولُ إِلَّا ٱعْتَرَىٰكَ بَعْضُ ءَالِهَتِنَا بِسُوٓءٍ قَالَ إِنِّىٓ أُشْهِدُ ٱللَّهَ وَٱشْهَدُوٓا۟ أَنِّى بَرِىٓءٌ مِّمَّا تُشْرِكُونَ

    We only say that some of our gods have possessed you with evil." He said, "Indeed, I call Allah to witness, and witness [yourselves] that I am free from whatever you associate…

  • فَقَالَ ٱلْمَلَؤُا۟ ٱلَّذِينَ كَفَرُوا۟ مِن قَوْمِهِۦ مَا هَٰذَآ إِلَّا بَشَرٌ مِّثْلُكُمْ يُرِيدُ أَن يَتَفَضَّلَ عَلَيْكُمْ وَلَوْ شَآءَ ٱللَّهُ لَأَنزَلَ مَلَٰٓئِكَةً مَّا سَمِعْنَا بِهَٰذَا فِىٓ ءَابَآئِنَا ٱلْأَوَّلِينَ

    But the eminent among those who disbelieved from his people said, "This is not but a man like yourselves who wishes to take precedence over you; and if Allah had willed [to send a…

  • قَالَ عَمَّا قَلِيلٍ لَّيُصْبِحُنَّ نَٰدِمِينَ

    [Allah] said, "After a little, they will surely become regretful."

  • قَالَ قَرِينُهُۥ رَبَّنَا مَآ أَطْغَيْتُهُۥ وَلَٰكِن كَانَ فِى ضَلَٰلٍۭ بَعِيدٍ

    His [devil] companion will say, "Our Lord, I did not make him transgress, but he [himself] was in extreme error."

  • قَالَ رَبِّ إِنِّى لَآ أَمْلِكُ إِلَّا نَفْسِى وَأَخِى فَٱفْرُقْ بَيْنَنَا وَبَيْنَ ٱلْقَوْمِ ٱلْفَٰسِقِينَ

    [Moses] said, "My Lord, indeed I do not possess except myself and my brother, so part us from the defiantly disobedient people."

  • فَأَتْبَعَ سَبَبًا

    So he followed a way

Verses built from the same roots

Ranked by shared vocabulary (idf-cosine over each verse’s root-set). Shared words are a fact about form — they do not by themselves mean two verses are about the same thing.

  • Al-Qalam 68:293 shared roots

    قَالُوا۟ سُبْحَٰنَ رَبِّنَآ إِنَّا كُنَّا ظَٰلِمِينَ

    س-ب-حظ-ل-مك-و-ن

  • Ash-Shu'araa 26:102 shared roots

    وَإِذْ نَادَىٰ رَبُّكَ مُوسَىٰٓ أَنِ ٱئْتِ ٱلْقَوْمَ ٱلظَّٰلِمِينَ

    ن-د-يظ-ل-م

  • An-Nisaa 4:1334 shared roots

    إِن يَشَأْ يُذْهِبْكُمْ أَيُّهَا ٱلنَّاسُ وَيَأْتِ بِـَٔاخَرِينَ وَكَانَ ٱللَّهُ عَلَىٰ ذَٰلِكَ قَدِيرًا

    ذ-ه-بق-د-رك-و-نأ-ل-ه

  • As-Saaffaat 37:1432 shared roots

    فَلَوْلَآ أَنَّهُۥ كَانَ مِنَ ٱلْمُسَبِّحِينَ

    س-ب-حك-و-ن

  • Al-Fath 48:63 shared roots

    وَيُعَذِّبَ ٱلْمُنَٰفِقِينَ وَٱلْمُنَٰفِقَٰتِ وَٱلْمُشْرِكِينَ وَٱلْمُشْرِكَٰتِ ٱلظَّآنِّينَ بِٱللَّهِ ظَنَّ ٱلسَّوْءِ عَلَيْهِمْ دَآئِرَةُ ٱلسَّوْءِ وَغَضِبَ ٱللَّهُ عَلَيْهِمْ وَلَعَنَهُمْ وَأَعَدَّ لَهُمْ جَهَنَّمَ وَسَآءَتْ مَصِيرًا

    غ-ض-بظ-ن-نأ-ل-ه

  • An-Noor 24:93 shared roots

    وَٱلْخَٰمِسَةَ أَنَّ غَضَبَ ٱللَّهِ عَلَيْهَآ إِن كَانَ مِنَ ٱلصَّٰدِقِينَ

    غ-ض-بك-و-نأ-ل-ه

Questions

Which verses are similar to Quran 21:87?

Verses close in meaning to Quran 21:87 include Quran 11:54 (Surah Hud), Quran 23:24 (Surah Al-Muminoon), Quran 23:40 (Surah Al-Muminoon), and Quran 50:27 (Surah Qaaf). For example, 11:54 reads: “We only say that some of our gods have possessed you with evil." He said, "Indeed, I call Allah to witness, and witness [yourselves] that I am free from whatever you associate…” These are ranked by comparing translations of every verse in the Qurʾān, so they are a measure of similar wording and theme — not a tafsīr ruling.

What does Quran 21:87 say?

In Saheeh International, Quran 21:87 (Surah Al-Anbiyaa, The Prophets) reads: “And [mention] the man of the fish, when he went off in anger and thought that We would not decree [anything] upon him. And he called out within the darknesses, "There is no deity except You; exalted are You. Indeed, I have been of the wrongdoers."”

Which surah is verse 21:87 in?

Quran 21:87 is āyah 87 of Surah Al-Anbiyaa (The Prophets), chapter 21 of the Qurʾān — a Meccan (Makkī) surah of 112 verses.

In how many languages can I read Quran 21:87?

Tartīl presents Quran 21:87 in the original Arabic alongside 34 translations, with audio recitation.