وَإِذَا قِيلَ لَهُمۡ لَا تُفۡسِدُواْ فِي ٱلۡأَرۡضِ قَالُوٓاْ إِنَّمَا نَحۡنُ مُصۡلِحُونَ ١١
And when it is said to them, "Do not cause corruption on the earth," they say, "We are but reformers."
Translation: Saheeh International (English)
Word by word
Each word's meaning and sound
- وَإِذَاAnd whenwa-idhā
- قِيلَit is saidqīla
- لَهُمۡto themlahum
- لَا(Do) notlā
- تُفۡسِدُواْspread corruptiontuf'sidū
- فِيinfī
- ٱلۡأَرۡضِthe earthl-arḍi
- قَالُوٓاْthey sayqālū
- إِنَّمَاOnlyinnamā
- نَحۡنُwenaḥnu
- مُصۡلِحُونَ(are) reformersmuṣ'liḥūna
Tafsir
When they are told not to ruin things on earth – through their rejection of the truth, their disobedience and so on – they deny doing so, claiming that they only correct things and put them right.
Al-Mukhtasar in interpreting the Noble Quran