Ash-Shu'ara Verse 149

to carve homes in the mountains with great skill?

carving out houses in the mountains with great skill?

Will you still skilfully hew houses out of the mountains?

carving your fine houses from the mountains?

And hew ye out houses in the mountains skilfully! g

"And ye carve houses out of (rocky) mountains with great skill.

You hew dwellings in mountains and exult in that.

And dwellings hewed out of mountains ingeniously?

“And you carve out dwellings in the mountains, with skill?”

—while you skillfully hew out houses from the mountains?

"And that you will (continue to) skillfully hew dwellings out of mountains?

`And you hew out houses in the mountains with great skill and elated with your greatness.

And you actively/cleverly carve out from the mountains houses/homes

“And you carve out dwellings in the mountains, with skill?”

Though you hew out dwellings in the mountain skillfully

"And you carve houses out of mountains with great skill.

In gardens and fountains,

And you hew houses out of the mountains exultingly;

Though ye hew out dwellings in the mountain, being skilful?

carving comfortable houses out of the mountains?

Will you still hew your dwellings in the mountains?

"And you hew out in the mountains, houses with great skill."

hewing out houses in the mountains and taking pride in your skill?

And you skillfully carve houses in the mountains?

And you hew dwellings out of the mountains arrogantly (a variant reading [of farihna, `arrogant'] has frihn, `skilfully').

And you hew out in the mountains, houses with great skill.

Ibn Abbas and others said,

"With great skill."

According to another report from him;

"They were greedy and extravagant."

This was the view of Mujahid and another group.

There is no contradiction between the two views, because they built the houses which they carved in the mountains as a form of extravagant play, with no need for them as dwelling places. They were highly skilled in the arts of masonry and stone-carving, as is well known to anyone who has seen their structures.

So, Salih said to them;

فَاتَّقُوا اللَّهَ وَأَطِيعُونِ

And you skillfully carve the mountains into homes wherein you make abode