Sam Gerrans - The Qur'an: A Complete Revelation

And We had established them in that wherein We have not established you, and We gave them hearing and sight and hearts; but their hearing and sight and hearts availed them nothing when they rejected the proofs of God; and there surrounded them that whereat they mocked.

وَلَقَدْ مَكَّنَّاهُمْ ف۪يمَٓا اِنْ مَكَّنَّاكُمْ ف۪يهِ وَجَعَلْنَا لَهُمْ سَمْعاً وَاَبْصَاراً وَاَفْـِٔدَةًۘ فَمَٓا اَغْنٰى عَنْهُمْ سَمْعُهُمْ وَلَٓا اَبْصَارُهُمْ وَلَٓا اَفْـِٔدَتُهُمْ مِنْ شَيْءٍ اِذْ كَانُوا يَجْحَدُونَ بِاٰيَاتِ اللّٰهِ وَحَاقَ بِهِمْ مَا كَانُوا بِه۪ يَسْتَهْزِؤُ۫نَ۟
Walaqad makkannahum feema inmakkannakum feehi wajaAAalna lahum samAAan waabsaranwaaf-idatan fama aghna AAanhum samAAuhum walaabsaruhum wala af-idatuhum min shay-in ith kanooyajhadoona bi-ayati Allahi wahaqabihim ma kanoo bihi yastahzi-oon
#wordmeaningroot
1walaqadAnd certainly
2makkannāhumWe had established themمكن
3fīmāin what
4innot
5makkannākumWe have established youمكن
6fīhiin it
7wajaʿalnāand We madeجعل
8lahumfor them
9samʿanhearingسمع
10wa-abṣāranand visionبصر
11wa-afidatanand heartsفاد
12famāBut not
13aghnāavailedغني
14ʿanhumthem
15samʿuhumtheir hearingسمع
16walāand not
17abṣāruhumtheir visionبصر
18walāand not
19afidatuhumtheir heartsفاد
20minany
21shayinthingشيا
22idhwhen
23kānūthey wereكون
24yajḥadūnarejectingجحد
25biāyāti(the) Signsايي
26l-lahi(of) Allah
27waḥāqaand envelopedحيق
28bihimthem
29māwhat
30kānūthey used toكون
31bihi[at it]
32yastahziūnaridiculeهزا
  • Aisha Bewley

    We established them far more firmly than We have established you and gave them hearing, sight and hearts. But their hearing, sight and hearts were of no use to them at all when they renounced Allah’s Signs and what they mocked at engulfed them.

  • Progressive Muslims

    And We had established them in the same way as We established you, and provided them with the hearing, and the eyesight, and the heart. But their hearing, eyesight, and hearts did not help them at all. This is because they used to disregard God's revelations, and they were stricken by that which they used to mock!

  • Shabbir Ahmed

    And verily, We had established them in the land better than We ever established you, and We had given them keen faculties of hearing, sight and intellect. But of no avail to them were there hearing and sight and intellect when they went on knowingly rejecting Allah's Messages. And so, the very thing they used to mock at surrounded them. ('Fuad', plural 'Afidah', includes the faculties of intellect, reasoning, insight and feelings (45:23)).

  • Sam Gerrans The Qur'an: A Complete Revelation

    And We had established them in that wherein We have not established you, and We gave them hearing and sight and hearts; but their hearing and sight and hearts availed them nothing when they rejected the proofs of God; and there surrounded them that whereat they mocked.

  • The Monotheist Group The Quran: A Monotheist Translation

    And We had established them in the same way as We established you, and provided them with hearing, and eyesight, and hearts. But their hearing, eyesight, and hearts did not help them at all. This is because they used to disregard the revelations of God, and they will be surrounded by that which they used to mock.

  • Edip-Layth Quran: A Reformist Translation

    We had established them in the same way as We established you, and provided them with the hearing, and the eyesight, and the heart. But their hearing, eyesight, and hearts did not help them at all. This is because they used to disregard God's signs, and they were stricken by what they used to mock!

  • Rashad Khalifa The Final Testament

    We had established them in the same way as we established you, and provided them with hearing, eyes, and minds. But their hearing, eyes, and minds did not help them at all. This is because they decided to disregard GOD's revelations. Thus, the prophecies and warnings that they ridiculed have caused their doom.

  • Mohamed Ahmed - Samira

    We had strengthened them as We have not strengthened you, had given them ears and eyes and hearts; but nothing stood them in good stead, neither their ears nor eyes nor hearts, for they rejected the signs of God, and were seized by what they had mocked.

  • Sahih International (Umm Muhammad, Mary Kennedy, Amatullah Bantley)

    And We had certainly established them in such as We have not established you, and We made for them hearing and vision and hearts. But their hearing and vision and hearts availed them not from anything when they were rejecting the signs of Allah; and they were enveloped by what they used to ridicule.

  • Muhammad Asad

    And yet, We had established them securely in a manner in which We have never established you, and We had endowed them with hearing, and sight, and hearts: but neither their hearing, nor their sight, nor their hearts were of the least avail to them, seeing that they went on rejecting God’s messages; and they were overwhelmed by the very thing which they had been wont to deride.

  • Marmaduke Pickthall

    And verily We had empowered them with that wherewith We have not empowered you, and had assigned them ears and eyes and hearts; but their ears and eyes and hearts availed them naught since they denied the revelations of Allah; and what they used to mock befell them.

  • Abul A'la Maududi Tafhim commentary

    We had established them firmly in a manner We have not established you.* We had given them ears and eyes and hearts. But nothing availed them — neither their ears, nor their eyes, nor their hearts, for they denied the Signs of Allah.* Then what they had mocked at encompassed them.

  • Abdel Khalek Himmat Al- Muntakhab

    We had endowed them with power and ability, with diligence and capacities of action, with wealth and knowledge, with mental receiving Dower and talent, and with many qualities which total up to a much higher degree then those that are summed up in you' people. We conferred on them the power of hearing and seeing, faculties divine, and We conferred on them the seat of feeling, understanding and thought, and the seat of consciousness, intellect and volitions, but they' took a bad advantage of thesc divine qualities and misused them, Consequently neither their power of hearing nor that of seeing were of any advantage to them nor did they derive benefit of their intellect or of their volitions; They simply ignored Allah's revelations and signs, and by consequence they were beset on all sides by the same material and immaterial things they mocked at, owing to their inordinate self-esteem.

  • Bijan Moeinian

    I had given them much more than I have given you. But they closed their ears, eyes and hearts to the truth and denied the revelations of their Lord. Consequently, they got exactly the same punishment that they were mocking at.

  • Al-Hilali & Khan

    And indeed We had firmly established them with that wherewith We have not established you (O Quraish)! And We had assigned them the (faculties of) hearing (ears), seeing (eyes), and hearts; but their hearing (ears), seeing (eyes), and their hearts availed them nothing since they used to deny the Ayât (Allâh’s Prophets and their Prophethood, proofs, evidence, verses, signs, revelations) of Allâh, and they were completely encircled by that which they used to mock at!

  • Abdullah Yusuf Ali

    And We had firmly established them in a (prosperity and) power which We have not given to you (ye Quraish!) and We had endowed them with (faculties of) hearing, seeing, heart and intellect: but of no profit to them were their (faculties of) hearing, sight, and heart and intellect, when they went on rejecting the Signs of Allah; and they were (completely) encircled by that which they used to mock at!

  • Mustafa Khattab The Clear Quran

    Indeed, We had established them in a way We have not established you ˹Meccans˺. And We gave them hearing, sight, and intellect. But neither their hearing, sight, nor intellect were of any benefit to them whatsoever, since they persisted in denying Allah’s signs. And ˹so˺ they were overwhelmed by what they used to ridicule.

  • Taqi Usmani

    And indeed We had established them in a powerful position in which We did not establish you (O people of Makkah), and had given to them ears and eyes and hearts, but neither their ears benefited them in the least, nor their eyes, nor their hearts, as they used to reject Allah’s signs; and they were encircled by what they used to ridicule.

  • Abdul Haleem

    We had established them in a way we have not established you ; We gave them hearing, sight, and hearts, yet their hearing, sight, and hearts were of no use to them, since they denied God’s revelations. They were overwhelmed by the punishment they had mocked.

  • Arthur John Arberry

    And We had established them in that wherein We have not established you, and We appointed for them hearing, and sight, and hearts; and yet their hearing, their sight and their hearts availed them nothing, since they denied the signs of God, and they were encompassed by that they mocked at.

  • E. Henry Palmer

    We had established them in what we have established you, and we made for them hearing and eyesight and hearts; but neither their hearing nor their eyesight nor their hearts availed them aught, since they did gainsay the signs of God, and that encompassed them whereat they had mocked.

  • Hamid S. Aziz

    And certainly We had established (empowered, blessed) them in what We have not established (empowered, blessed) you (the Arabs) in, and We had given them (the faculties of) hearing and seeing and feeling, but neither their hearing, nor their seeing, nor their heart availed them aught, since they denied the revelations of Allah, and that which they mocked encompassed them.

  • Mahmoud Ghali

    And indeed We already established them in that wherein We have not established you; (Or: in case We have firmly established you, (you might be like them) and We made for them hearing, and beholdings, (i. e., eyesight (s) and heart-sights; yet in no way did their hearing, and their beholdings and their heart-sights avail them anything whatever, as they used to repudiate the signs of Allah; and whatever they used to mock at redounded on them.

  • George Sale

    We had established them in the like flourishing condition wherein We have established you, O men of Mecca; and We had given them ears, and eyes, and hearts: Yet neither their ears, nor their eyes, nor their hearts profited them at all, when they rejected the signs of God; but the vengeance which they mocked at, fell upon them.

  • Syed Vickar Ahamed

    And indeed, We had firmly established them (the ‘Ad people) in (prosperity and) power which We have not given to you (the People of Quraish!) and We had endowed them with (ability of) hearings (many sounds), seeing(s) (many visions and sights), hearts (many emotions), and intellect: But no use to them were their (abilities of) hearings, sights, hearts and intellect, when they kept rejecting the Signs of Allah; And they were completely surrounded by that which they used to laugh at (in contempt)!

  • Amatul Rahman Omar

    (Makkans!) We had given them power to do such things as We have not given you. We gave them hearing, eyes and hearts. But their hearing, their eyes and their hearts availed them not, since they persistently denied the signs of Allâh. And they were caught by that (punishment) which they held in very low estimation.

  • Ali Quli Qarai

    Certainly We had granted them power in respects that We have not granted you, and We had vested them with hearing and sight and hearts. But neither their hearing availed them nor did their sight, nor their hearts, in any way when they used to impugn the signs of Allah. So they were besieged by what they used to deride.