Sam Gerrans - The Qur'an: A Complete Revelation

And when Our proofs are recited to them, they say: “We have heard; if we wished we could speak the like of this; this is only legends of the former peoples.”

وَاِذَا تُتْلٰى عَلَيْهِمْ اٰيَاتُنَا قَالُوا قَدْ سَمِعْنَا لَوْ نَشَٓاءُ لَقُلْنَا مِثْلَ هٰذَٓاۙ اِنْ هٰذَٓا اِلَّٓا اَسَاط۪يرُ الْاَوَّل۪ينَ
Wa-itha tutla AAalayhim ayatunaqaloo qad samiAAna law nashao laqulnamithla hatha in hatha illa asateerual-awwaleen
#wordmeaningroot
1wa-idhāAnd when
2tut'lāare recitedتلو
3ʿalayhimto them
4āyātunāOur Versesايي
5qālūthey sayقول
6qadVerily
7samiʿ'nāwe have heardسمع
8lawif
9nashāuwe wishشيا
10laqul'nāsurely, we could sayقول
11mith'lalikeمثل
12hādhāthis
13inNot
14hādhāis this
15illābut
16asāṭīrutalesسطر
17l-awalīna(of) the former (people)اول
  • Aisha Bewley

    When Our Signs are recited to them, they say, ‘We have already heard all this. If we wanted, we could say the same thing. This is nothing but the myths of previous peoples.’

  • Progressive Muslims

    And if Our revelations are recited to them, they Say: "We have listened, and if we wish, we could have said the same thing. This is nothing but tales of the ancients!"

  • Shabbir Ahmed

    When Our Messages are conveyed to them, they say, "We have heard. If we wish, we can speak like it. This is nothing but fables of the ancient."

  • Sam Gerrans The Qur'an: A Complete Revelation

    And when Our proofs are recited to them, they say: “We have heard; if we wished we could speak the like of this; this is only legends of the former peoples.”

  • The Monotheist Group The Quran: A Monotheist Translation

    And if Our revelations are recited to them, they say: "We have listened, and if we wish, we could have said the same thing. This is nothing except fictional tales of old!"

  • Edip-Layth Quran: A Reformist Translation

    When Our signs are recited to them, they say, "We have listened, and if we wish, we could have said the same thing. This is nothing but tales of the ancients!"

  • Rashad Khalifa The Final Testament

    When our revelations are recited to them, they say, "We have heard. If we wanted to, we could have said the same things. These are no more than tales from the past!"

  • Mohamed Ahmed - Samira

    When Our messages were read out to them, they said: "We have heard. We could certainly compose (writings) like them if we choose. They are but only tales of long ago."

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

    And when Our verses are recited to them, they say, "We have heard. If we willed, we could say like this. This is not but legends of the former peoples."

  • Muhammad Asad

    And whenever Our messages were conveyed to them, they would say, "We have heard before; if we wanted, we could certainly compose sayings like these : they are nothing but fables of ancient times!"

  • Marmaduke Pickthall

    And when Our revelations are recited unto them they say: We have heard. If we wish we can speak the like of this. Lo! this is naught but fables of the men of old.

  • Abul A'la Maududi Tafhim commentary

    And when Our verses are recited to them, they say: 'We have heard. We could, if we willed, compose the like of it. They, are nothing but fables of the ancient times.'

  • Abdel Khalek Himmat Al- Muntakhab

    When Our revelations are recited to them. They insolently say: "We have heard, and the like of this we heard before, and if we will we could discourse the like thereof. This is nothing but fables of old".

  • Bijan Moeinian

    When you were reciting My Revelations to them, they responded: "We have heard these before. We can fabricate such things too; after all, they are nothing but the ancient myths."

  • Al-Hilali & Khan

    And when Our Verses (of the Qur’ân) are recited to them, they say: "We have heard (the Qur’ân); if we wish we can say the like of this. This is nothing but the tales of the ancients."

  • Abdullah Yusuf Ali

    When Our Signs are rehearsed to them, they say: "We have heard this (before): if we wished, we could say (words) like these: these are nothing but tales of the ancients."

  • Mustafa Khattab The Clear Quran

    Whenever Our revelations are recited to them, they challenge ˹you˺, "We have already heard ˹the recitation˺. If we wanted, we could have easily produced something similar. This ˹Quran˺ is nothing but ancient fables!"

  • Taqi Usmani

    When Our verses are recited to them, they say, "We have heard; if we wish, we can compose a discourse like this. It is nothing but the tales of the ancient people."

  • Abdul Haleem

    Whenever Our Revelation is recited to them they say, ‘We have heard all this before- we could say something like this if we wanted- this is nothing but ancient fables.’

  • Arthur John Arberry

    And When Our signs were being recited to them, they said, 'We have already heard; if we wished, we could say the like of this; this is naught but the fairy-tales of the ancients. '

  • E. Henry Palmer

    But when our verses were rehearsed to them they said, 'We have already heard. - If we pleased we could speak like this; verily, this is nothing but tales of those of yore.'

  • Hamid S. Aziz

    But when Our verses were recited to them they said, "We have already heard. If We pleased We could speak like this; verily, this is nothing but tales of ancient folk."

  • Mahmoud Ghali

    And when Our signs are recited to them, they said, "We have already heard; if we decided, we would indeed say the like of this; decidedly this is nothing except the myths of the earliest (people). "

  • George Sale

    And when Our verses are recited to them, they say, 'We have heard. If we wished we could certainly say the like of it. This is nothing but mere tales of the ancients'

  • Syed Vickar Ahamed

    When Our verses are read to them, they say: "We have heard this (before): If we wanted, we could say (words) like these: These are nothing but old stories. "

  • Amatul Rahman Omar

    And when Our verses are recited to them they say, `We have already heard (them before). If we so wish, we could certainly compose the like of this. These are nothing but fables of the former peoples.'

  • Ali Quli Qarai

    When Our signs are recited to them, they say, ‘We have heard already. If we want, we can say like this. These are nothing but myths of the ancients.’