Sam Gerrans - The Qur'an: A Complete Revelation

And among them are some who listen to thee, but We have placed upon their hearts coverings lest they should understand it, and in their ears deafness; and if they see every proof, they will not believe in it. When they have come to thee, they argue against thee, those who ignore warning, saying: “This is only legends of the former peoples.”

وَمِنْهُمْ مَنْ يَسْتَمِعُ اِلَيْكَۚ وَجَعَلْنَا عَلٰى قُلُوبِهِمْ اَكِنَّةً اَنْ يَفْقَهُوهُ وَف۪ٓي اٰذَانِهِمْ وَقْراًۜ وَاِنْ يَرَوْا كُلَّ اٰيَةٍ لَا يُؤْمِنُوا بِهَاۜ حَتّٰٓى اِذَا جَٓاؤُ۫كَ يُجَادِلُونَكَ يَقُولُ الَّذ۪ينَ كَفَرُٓوا اِنْ هٰذَٓا اِلَّٓا اَسَاط۪يرُ الْاَوَّل۪ينَ
Waminhum man yastamiAAu ilayka wajaAAalnaAAala quloobihim akinnatan an yafqahoohu wafee athanihimwaqran wa-in yaraw kulla ayatin la yu/minoo bihahatta itha jaooka yujadiloonakayaqoolu allatheena kafaroo in hatha illa asateerual-awwaleen
#wordmeaningroot
1wamin'humAnd among them
2man(are those) who
3yastamiʿulistenسمع
4ilaykato you
5wajaʿalnābut We have placedجعل
6ʿalāover
7qulūbihimtheir heartsقلب
8akinnatancoveringsكنن
9anlest
10yafqahūhuthey understand itفقه
11wafīand in
12ādhānihimtheir earsاذن
13waqrandeafnessوقر
14wa-inAnd if
15yarawthey seeراي
16kullaeveryكلل
17āyatinsignايي
18not
19yu'minūwill they believeامن
20bihāin it
21ḥattāUntil
22idhāwhen
23jāūkathey come to youجيا
24yujādilūnakaand argue with youجدل
25yaqūlusayقول
26alladhīnathose who
27kafarūdisbelievedكفر
28inNot
29hādhā(is) this
30illābut
31asāṭīru(the) talesسطر
32l-awalīna(of) the former (people)اول
  • Aisha Bewley

    Some of them listen to you but We have placed covers on their hearts, preventing them from understanding it, and heaviness in their ears. Though they see every Sign, they still have no iman, so that when they come to you, disputing with you, those who are kafir say, ‘This is nothing but the myths of previous peoples!’

  • Progressive Muslims

    And from them are those who listen to you; and We have made covers over their hearts to prevent them from understanding it, and a deafness in their ears; and if they see every sign they will not believe; even when they come to you they argue, those who reject Say: "This is nothing but the tales from the past!"

  • Shabbir Ahmed

    Some of them pretend to listen to you, but Our Law has already veiled their hearts from understanding and caused deafness in their ears. Blind followers fail to believe even when they see all kinds of proofs. When they come to argue with you, they say about the Qur'an, "These are stories of the bygones."

  • Sam Gerrans The Qur'an: A Complete Revelation

    And among them are some who listen to thee, but We have placed upon their hearts coverings lest they should understand it, and in their ears deafness; and if they see every proof, they will not believe in it. When they have come to thee, they argue against thee, those who ignore warning, saying: “This is only legends of the former peoples.”

  • The Monotheist Group The Quran: A Monotheist Translation

    And from them are those who listen to you; and We have made covers over their hearts to prevent them from understanding it, and a deafness in their ears; and if they see every sign they will not believe; even when they come to you they argue, those who reject say: "This is nothing except fictional tales of old!"

  • Edip-Layth Quran: A Reformist Translation

    Among them are those who listen to you; and We have made covers over their hearts to prevent them from understanding it, and deafness in their ears; and if they see every sign they will not acknowledge; even when they come to you they argue, those who reject say, "This is nothing but the tales from the past!"

  • Rashad Khalifa The Final Testament

    Some of them listen to you, but we place veils on their hearts to prevent them from understanding, and deafness in their ears. Thus, no matter what kind of proof they see, they cannot believe. Thus, when they come to argue with you, the disbelievers say, "These are tales from the past."

  • Mohamed Ahmed - Samira

    There are some among them who listen to you; but We have put a covering on their hearts so that they fail to understand it, and a deafness appears in their ears. Even if they saw all the signs they would not believe in them; and even when they come to you to dispute with you, the unbelievers say: "This is nothing but fables of antiquity."

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

    And among them are those who listen to you, but We have placed over their hearts coverings, lest they understand it, and in their ears deafness. And if they should see every sign, they will not believe in it. Even when they come to you arguing with you, those who disbelieve say, "This is not but legends of the former peoples."

  • Muhammad Asad

    And there are among them such as listen to thee : but over their hearts We have laid veils which prevent them from grasping the truth, and into their ears, deafness. And were they to see every sign , they would still not believe in it-so much so that when they come unto thee to contend with thee, those who are bent on denying the truth say, "This is nothing but fables of ancient times!"

  • Marmaduke Pickthall

    Of them are some who listen unto thee, but We have placed upon their hearts veils, lest they should understand, and in their ears a deafness. If they saw every token they would not believe therein; to the point that, when they come unto thee to argue with thee, the disbelievers say: This is naught else than fables of the men of old.

  • Abul A'la Maududi Tafhim commentary

    And of them there are some who appear to pay heed to you, but upon their hearts We have laid coverings so they understand it not; and in their ears, heaviness (so they hear not). Even if they were to witness every sign, they would still not believe in it so much so that when they come to you, they dispute with you, those who disbelieve contend: 'This is nothing but fables of the ancient times.'

  • Abdel Khalek Himmat Al- Muntakhab

    And among them are some who listen to your discourse on practical divinity and to the Quran when you recite it, not to profit by it but to pick holes in it and be able to tell their evil minds. The fact is that We have closed their hearts’ ears and deafened their ears to reason. They just would not apprehend with their senses any revelation or any sign no matter how convincing to the mind they be. And when they come to you O Muhammad they do not humble themselves but in arrogance they are more ready to argue than to obey. Vested with infidelity, they interpret their thoughts in words: "This is nothing", they say, "but fables of old".

  • Bijan Moeinian

    Among them there are the ones who come to you pretending that they are listening; but I have already made them blind and deaf to the truth. As they cannot understand it, their only "natural" response will be: "These versus are nothing than mythological stories of the past."

  • Al-Hilali & Khan

    And of them there are some who listen to you; but We have set veils on their hearts, so they understand it not, and deafness in their ears; and even if they see every one of the Ayât (proofs, evidence, verses, lessons, signs, revelations, etc.) they will not believe therein; to the point that when they come to you to argue with you, the disbelievers say: "These are nothing but tales of the men of old."

  • Abdullah Yusuf Ali

    Of them there are some who (pretend to) listen to thee; but We have thrown veils on their hearts, So they understand it not, and deafness in their ears; if they saw every one of the signs, not they will believe in them; in so much that when they come to thee, they (but) dispute with thee; the Unbelievers say: "These are nothing but tales of the ancients."

  • Mustafa Khattab The Clear Quran

    There are some of them who ˹pretend to˺ listen to your recitation ˹of the Quran˺, but We have cast veils over their hearts—leaving them unable to comprehend it—and deafness in their ears. Even if they were to see every sign, they still would not believe in them. The disbelievers would ˹even˺ come to argue with you, saying, "This ˹Quran˺ is nothing but ancient fables!"

  • Taqi Usmani

    There are those among them who (apparently) listen to you, but We have put coverings on their hearts, so that they do not understand, and heaviness in their ears. If they were to see all the signs, they would still not believe in them, so much so that, when they come to quarrel with you, the disbelievers say (of the Qur’ān), "It is nothing but tales of the ancients."

  • Abdul Haleem

    Among them are some who listen to you, but we have placed covers over their hearts- so they do not understand the Quran- and deafness in their ears. Even if they saw every sign they would not believe in them. So, when they come to you, they argue with you: the disbelievers say, ‘These are nothing but ancient fables,’

  • Arthur John Arberry

    And some of them there are that listen to thee, and We lay veils upon their hearts lest they understand it, and in their ears heaviness; and if they see any sign whatever, they do not believe in it, so that when they come to thee they dispute with thee, the unbelievers saying, 'This is naught but the fairy-tales of the ancient ones. '

  • E. Henry Palmer

    And they are some who listen unto thee, but we have placed a veil upon their hearts lest they should understand it, and in their ears is dullness of hearing; and though they saw each sign they would not believe therein; until when they come to thee to wrangle with thee, the unbelievers say, 'These are but old folks' tales. '

  • Hamid S. Aziz

    And among them are some who listen unto you, but We have placed a veil upon their heart lest they should understand it, and in their ears is deafness; and though they saw each sign they would not believe therein, to the point that when they come to you to argue with you, the unbelievers say, "These are but old folks' tales. "

  • Mahmoud Ghali

    And among them are they who listen to you, and We set (Literally: make) upon their hearts lids, (so) they do not comprehend it, and in their ears obstruction; and in case they see every sign, they do not believe in it, until (the time) when they come to you, they dispute with you. The ones who have disbelieved say, "Decidedly this is nothing except the myths of the earliest (peoples)."

  • George Sale

    And among them are some who give ear to thee; but We have put veils on their hearts, that they should not understand, and deafness in their ears. And even if they see every Sign, they would not believe therein, so much so that when they come to thee, disputing with thee, those who disbelieve say, 'This is nothing but fables of the ancients.'

  • Syed Vickar Ahamed

    And among them there are some who (pretend) to listen to you; But We have thrown veils over their hearts, so they do not understand it, and deafness in their ears; And even if they saw any of the Signs, they will not believe in it; However, when they come to you, they will only dispute with you; The disbelievers say: "These are nothing but (fairy) tales from the ancient ones. "

  • Amatul Rahman Omar

    Some of these (disbelievers pretend to) listen to you but We have put veils over their hearts (due to their own hard-heartedness) that they do not understand and there is heaviness in their ears (to listen to the truth). Even if they see every sign (of Ours), they would not believe therein: (their hard-heartedness has reached) such an extent that when they come to you, they dispute with you. Those who disbelieve say, `This (Qur'ân) is nothing but fables of the ancients.'

  • Ali Quli Qarai

    There are some of them who prick up their ears at you, but We have cast veils on their hearts lest they should understand it, and a deafness into their ears; and though they should see every sign, they will not believe in it. When they come to you, to dispute with you, the faithless say, ‘These are nothing but myths of the ancients.’