Sam Gerrans - The Qur'an: A Complete Revelation

And drawn nigh has the true promise; and then the eyes of those who ignore warning will stare: “Woe is us! We had been in heedlessness of this. The truth is, we were wrongdoers.”

وَاقْتَرَبَ الْوَعْدُ الْحَقُّ فَاِذَا هِيَ شَاخِصَةٌ اَبْصَارُ الَّذ۪ينَ كَفَرُواۜ يَا وَيْلَنَا قَدْ كُنَّا ف۪ي غَفْلَةٍ مِنْ هٰذَا بَلْ كُنَّا ظَالِم۪ينَ
Waqtaraba alwaAAdu alhaqqufa-itha hiya shakhisatun absaru allatheenakafaroo ya waylana qad kunna fee ghaflatinmin hatha bal kunna thalimeen
#wordmeaningroot
1wa-iq'tarabaAnd has approachedقرب
2l-waʿduthe promiseوعد
3l-ḥaqu[the] trueحقق
4fa-idhāthen behold
5hiya[it]
6shākhiṣatun(are) staringشخص
7abṣāru(the) eyesبصر
8alladhīna(of) those who
9kafarūdisbelievedكفر
10yāwaylanāO woe to us
11qadVerily
12kunnāwe had beenكون
13in
14ghaflatinheedlessnessغفل
15minof
16hādhāthis
17balnay
18kunnāwe wereكون
19ẓālimīnawrongdoersظلم
  • Aisha Bewley

    and the True Promise is very close, the eyes of those who were kafir will be transfixed: ‘Alas for us! We were unmindful of this! No, rather we were definitely wrongdoers. ’

  • Progressive Muslims

    And the promise of truth draws near. Then, when it is seen by the eyes of those who rejected: "Woe to us, we have been oblivious to this. Indeed, we were wicked!"

  • Shabbir Ahmed

    The time of the True Promise is coming closer. The eyes of the rejecters will stare in horror, "Oh, woe unto us! We lived in slumber. Nay, we were only hurting our 'Self'."

  • Sam Gerrans The Qur'an: A Complete Revelation

    And drawn nigh has the true promise; and then the eyes of those who ignore warning will stare: “Woe is us! We had been in heedlessness of this. The truth is, we were wrongdoers.”

  • The Monotheist Group The Quran: A Monotheist Translation

    Andthe promise of truth draws near. Then, when it is seen by the eyes of those who rejected: "Woe to us, we have been oblivious to this. Indeed, we were wicked!"

  • Edip-Layth Quran: A Reformist Translation

    The promise of truth draws near. Then, when it is seen by the eyes of those who rejected: "Woe to us, we have been oblivious to this. Indeed, we were wicked!"

  • Rashad Khalifa The Final Testament

    That is when the inevitable prophecy will come to pass, and the disbelievers will stare in horror: "Woe to us; we have been oblivious. Indeed, we have been wicked."

  • Mohamed Ahmed - Samira

    And the certain promise (of Doom) comes near. Then the eyes of unbelievers will be fixed in horror, (and they will cry:) "Ah, woe betide, we were indeed heedless of this, and were oppressors and unjust."

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

    And the true promise has approached; then suddenly the eyes of those who disbelieved will be staring , "O woe to us; we had been unmindful of this; rather, we were wrongdoers. "

  • Muhammad Asad

    the while the true promise draws close . But then, lo! the eyes of those who were bent on denying the truth will stare in horror, "Oh, woe unto us! We were indeed heedless of this ! - nay, we were doing evil!"

  • Marmaduke Pickthall

    And the True Promise draweth nigh; then behold them, staring wide (in terror), the eyes of those who disbelieve! (They say): Alas for us! We (lived) in forgetfulness of this. Ah, but we were wrong-doers!

  • Abul A'la Maududi Tafhim commentary

    and the time for the fulfilment of the true promise of Allah draws near,* whereupon the eyes of those who disbelieved will stare in fear, and they will say: "Woe to us, we were indeed heedless of this; nay, we were wrongdoers."*

  • Abdel Khalek Himmat Al- Muntakhab

    And the promised Event approaches, there and then shall the infidels' eyes be wide open gazing fixedly in horror and they express their thoughts in words, thus: "Woe betide us ", they shall say, "we were not only oblivious of this event but We were also wrongful of actions".

  • Bijan Moeinian

    Then it will be very close for the true promise of God (the Day of Resurrection) to take place. You will see the horrified eyes of the disbelievers while saying: "Pity on us! We never took this seriously; indeed we were so unjust to ourselves."

  • Al-Hilali & Khan

    And the true promise (Day of Resurrection) shall draw near (of fulfillment). Then (when mankind is resurrected from their graves), you shall see the eyes of the disbelievers fixedly staring in horror. (They will say): "Woe to us! We were indeed heedless of this - nay, but we were Zâlimûn (polytheists and wrong-doers)."

  • Abdullah Yusuf Ali

    Then will the true promise draw nigh (of fulfilment): then behold! the eyes of the Unbelievers will fixedly stare in horror: "Ah! Woe to us! we were indeed heedless of this; nay, we truly did wrong!"

  • Mustafa Khattab The Clear Quran

    ushering in the True Promise. Then—behold!—the disbelievers will stare ˹in horror, crying,˺ "Oh, woe to us! We have truly been heedless of this. In fact, we have been wrongdoers."

  • Taqi Usmani

    and the True Promise draws near, then it will so happen that the eyes of the disbelievers shall remain upraised (in terror, and they will say,) "Alas to us! We were in negligence about this; rather we were transgressors."

  • Abdul Haleem

    when the True Promise draws near, the disbelievers’ eyes will stare in terror, and they will say, ‘Woe to us! We were not aware of this at all. We were wrong.’

  • Arthur John Arberry

    and nigh has drawn the true promise, and behold, the eyes of the unbelievers staring: 'Alas for us! We were heedless of this; 'nay, we were evildoers. '

  • E. Henry Palmer

    And the true promise draws nigh, and lo! they are staring - the eyes of those who misbelieve! O, woe is us! we were heedless of this, nay, we were wrong-doers!

  • Hamid S. Aziz

    Until Yagug and Magug (Gog and Magog, Lawless tribes or Lawlessness itself) are let loose (through every barrier), and they hasten out of every mound (rock, nook and cranny).

  • Mahmoud Ghali

    And the True Promise has drawn near; so, only then, do the beholdings of the ones who disbelieved (keep) glazing (i. e., eyesights) over. "O woe to us! We were already in (a state of) heedlessness of this; no indeed, we were unjust."

  • George Sale

    and the certain promise shall draw near to be fulfilled: And behold, the eyes of the infidels shall be fixed with astonishment, and they shall say, alas for us! We were formerly regardless of this day; yea, we were wicked doers.

  • Syed Vickar Ahamed

    And the true Promise will draw near (to coming true): Then look! The eyes of the disbelievers will (only) constantly look on with fear: "Oh! Misery to us! Truly, we were careless of this; No, truly we did wrong!"

  • Amatul Rahman Omar

    And when the time (of the fulfillment) of the true promise (about the destruction of the forces of falsehood and materialism as represented by Gog and Magog) draws near, behold! the eyes of those who do not believe (in the triumph of truth), will be transfixed (and they will exclaim), `Ah, woe to us! we were really forgetful of this (day), nay, we were of course unjust. '

  • Ali Quli Qarai

    and the true promise draws near , behold, the faithless will look on with a fixed gaze: ‘Woe to us! We have certainly been oblivious of this! Rather we have been wrongdoers!’