Sam Gerrans - The Qur'an: A Complete Revelation

Oh, that there had but helped them those whom they had taken as gods, besides God, as a means of approach! Nay, they strayed from them; and that was their falsehood, and what they invented.

فَلَوْلَا نَصَرَهُمُ الَّذ۪ينَ اتَّخَذُوا مِنْ دُونِ اللّٰهِ قُرْبَاناً اٰلِهَةًۜ بَلْ ضَلُّوا عَنْهُمْۚ وَذٰلِكَ اِفْكُهُمْ وَمَا كَانُوا يَفْتَرُونَ
Falawla nasarahumu allatheenaittakhathoo min dooni Allahi qurbanan alihatanbal dalloo AAanhum wathalika ifkuhum wama kanooyaftaroon
#wordmeaningroot
1falawlāThen why (did) not
2naṣarahumuhelp themنصر
3alladhīnathose whom
4ittakhadhūthey had takenاخذ
5minbesides
6dūnibesidesدون
7l-lahiAllah
8qur'bānangods as a way of approachقرب
9ālihatangods as a way of approachاله
10balNay
11ḍallūthey were lostضلل
12ʿanhumfrom them
13wadhālikaAnd that
14if'kuhum(was) their falsehoodافك
15wamāand what
16kānūthey wereكون
17yaftarūnainventingفري
  • Aisha Bewley

    Why have those they took as gods besides Allah, to bring them near to Him, not come to their aid? No, in fact they have forsaken them! That was a fiction, something they invented.

  • Progressive Muslims

    Why then did the idols they set up to bring them closer to God fail to help them Instead, they abandoned them. Such was their lie, and what they fabricated.

  • Shabbir Ahmed

    Why did then no help come to them from those whom they idolized besides Allah, as a means of nearness (to Him)? Nay, their idols abandoned them, for that was their falsehood and fabrication.

  • Sam Gerrans The Qur'an: A Complete Revelation

    Oh, that there had but helped them those whom they had taken as gods, besides God, as a means of approach! Nay, they strayed from them; and that was their falsehood, and what they invented.

  • The Monotheist Group The Quran: A Monotheist Translation

    They were to be supported by those who had established offerings to gods instead of God. Alas, they abandoned them. Such was their lie, and what they fabricated.

  • Edip-Layth Quran: A Reformist Translation

    Why then did the idols they set up to bring them closer to God fail to help them? Instead, they abandoned them. Such was their lie, and what they fabricated.

  • Rashad Khalifa The Final Testament

    Why then did the idols they set up to bring them closer to GOD fail to help them? Instead, they abandoned them. Such were the false gods they idolized; such were the innovations they fabricated.

  • Mohamed Ahmed - Samira

    Why then did the gods they had taken apart from God as propitiators, not come to their aid? In fact they strayed away from them. It was all a lie what they had contrived!

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

    Then why did those they took besides Allah as deities by which to approach not aid them? But they had strayed from them. And that was their falsehood and what they were inventing.

  • Muhammad Asad

    But, then, did those whom they had chosen to worship as deities beside God, hoping that they would bring them nearer , help them ? Nay, they forsook them: for that was but an outcome of their self-delusion and all their false imagery.

  • Marmaduke Pickthall

    Then why did those whom they had chosen for gods as a way of approach (unto Allah) not help them? Nay, but they did fail them utterly. And (all) that was their lie, and what they used to invent.

  • Abul A'la Maududi Tafhim commentary

    So why did those whom they had set up as gods apart from Allah, hoping that they would bring them nearer to Him, not come to their aid?* Instead, they failed them. This was the end of the lie they had fabricated and the false beliefs they had invented.

  • Abdel Khalek Himmat Al- Muntakhab

    Did those whom they worshipped in accession to Allah afford them aid or! assistance Never. Contrarily, they could not find them, and it serves them right; they befooled the minds and the judgment of the people so as to cause what is false to be accepted as true.

  • Bijan Moeinian

    Why their idols did then abandoned them instead of helping them? That is because those gods were fake; invented by their imaginations.

  • Al-Hilali & Khan

    Then why did those whom they had taken for âlihah (gods) besides Allâh, as a way of approach (to Allâh) not help them? Nay, but they vanished completely from them (when there came the torment). And that was their lie, and their inventions which they had been inventing (before their destruction).

  • Abdullah Yusuf Ali

    Why then was no help forthcoming to them from those whom they worshipped as gods, besides Allah, as a means of access (to Allah)? Nay, they left them in the lurch: but that was their falsehood and their invention.

  • Mustafa Khattab The Clear Quran

    Why then were they not helped by those ˹idols˺ they took as gods besides Allah, hoping to get closer ˹to Him˺? Instead, they failed them. That is ˹the result of˺ their lies and their fabrications.

  • Taqi Usmani

    So, why is it that they were not helped by those whom they had taken as gods beside Allah in order to attain closeness (to Him)? Instead, they vanished from them. That was, in fact, their falsity and a thing they used to fabricate.

  • Abdul Haleem

    so why did their gods not help them, those they set up as gods besides God to bring them nearer to Him? No indeed! They failed them utterly: it was all a lie of their own making.

  • Arthur John Arberry

    Then why did those not help them that they had taken to themselves as mediators, gods apart from God? Not so; but they went astray from them, and that was their calumny, and what they had been forging.

  • E. Henry Palmer

    Why did not those help them, whom beside God they took for gods that could draw nigh to Him? Nay! they strayed away from them; for that was their lie and what they had forced.

  • Hamid S. Aziz

    Why did not then those help them whom they took for gods besides Allah to draw them nigh (to Him)? Nay! They were lost to them; and this was their lie and what they forged.

  • Mahmoud Ghali

    Then had the ones whom they had taken to themselves as near-stationed (mediators), gods, apart from Allah, vindicated them? No indeed, (but) they erred away from them, and that was their falsehood and what they used to fabricate.

  • George Sale

    Did those protect them, whom they took for gods, besides God, and imagined to be honoured with his familiarity? Nay; they withdrew from them: Yet this was their false opinion which seduced them, and the blasphemy which they had devised.

  • Syed Vickar Ahamed

    As for those whom they worshipped as gods, besides Allah, as a means to reach (to Allah) why then was no help coming to them (from false gods)? No! They (the false gods) left them helpless: But that was their falsehood and their invention.

  • Amatul Rahman Omar

    Why then, did not those beings whom they had taken up for gods apart from Allâh to bring (them) close (to Him) help them? Instead (of being any help to them) they were lost to them. Such was (the outcome of) their lie and (of) what they fabricated (that their gods were a means to bring them close to God).

  • Ali Quli Qarai

    So why did not those help them whom they had taken, besides Allah, as gods, as means of nearness ? Rather they forsook them; and that was their lie and what they used to fabricate.