Sam Gerrans - The Qur'an: A Complete Revelation

“And that: ‘We touched the heaven, but found it filled with strong guards and flames.’

وَاَنَّا لَمَسْنَا السَّمَٓاءَ فَوَجَدْنَاهَا مُلِئَتْ حَرَساً شَد۪يداً وَشُهُباًۙ
Waanna lamasna assamaafawajadnaha muli-at harasan shadeedanwashuhuba
#wordmeaningroot
1wa-annāAnd that we
2lamasnāsought to touchلمس
3l-samāathe heavenسمو
4fawajadnāhābut we found itوجد
5muli-atfilled (with)ملا
6ḥarasanguardsحرس
7shadīdansevereشدد
8washuhubanand flaming firesشهب
  • Aisha Bewley

    We tried, as usual, to travel to heaven in search of news but found it filled with fierce guards and meteors.

  • Progressive Muslims

    "And we touched the heaven, but found it full of powerful guards and projectiles. "

  • Shabbir Ahmed

    "And we tried to feel the heaven but found it well attended by mighty guards and flames. " (The shining Knowledge in the Qur'an dismisses all conjecture of the astrologers, fortune-tellers, and other claimants of occult sciences).

  • Sam Gerrans The Qur'an: A Complete Revelation

    “And that: ‘We touched the heaven, but found it filled with strong guards and flames.’

  • The Monotheist Group The Quran: A Monotheist Translation

    "And we touched the heavens, but found it full of powerful guards and projectiles."

  • Edip-Layth Quran: A Reformist Translation

    "We touched the heavens, but found it full of powerful guards and projectiles."

  • Rashad Khalifa The Final Testament

    " 'We touched the heaven and found it filled with formidable guards and projectiles.

  • Mohamed Ahmed - Samira

    We sought to pry into the secrets of the heavens, but found it full of fierce guards and shooting flames.

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

    And we have sought the heaven but found it filled with powerful guards and burning flames.

  • Muhammad Asad

    "'And that we reached out towards heaven: but we found it filled with mighty guards and flames,

  • Marmaduke Pickthall

    And (the Jinn who had listened to the Qur'an said): We had sought the heaven but had found it filled with strong warders and meteors.

  • Abul A'la Maududi Tafhim commentary

    and that "we tried to pry (the secrets of) the heaven, but we found it full of terrible guards and shooting meteors";

  • Abdel Khalek Himmat Al- Muntakhab

    "We touched the lower heaven but we found it filled with stern guards and fiery celestial bodies".

  • Bijan Moeinian

    "We ventured into inter galactic travels but found the space full of dangerous meteors. "

  • Al-Hilali & Khan

    ‘And we have sought to reach the heaven; but found it filled with stern guards and flaming fires.

  • Abdullah Yusuf Ali

    'And we pried into the secrets of heaven; but we found it filled with stern guards and flaming fires.

  • Mustafa Khattab The Clear Quran

    ˹Earlier˺ we tried to reach heaven ˹for news˺, only to find it filled with stern guards and shooting stars.

  • Taqi Usmani

    and that we sought (to reach) the sky, but we found it filled with stern guards and flames,

  • Abdul Haleem

    We tried to reach heaven, but discovered it to be full of stern guards and shooting stars––

  • Arthur John Arberry

    And we stretched towards heaven, but we found it filled with terrible guards and meteors.

  • E. Henry Palmer

    "'But we touched the heavens and found them filled with a mighty guard and shooting-stars;

  • Hamid S. Aziz

    "And we sought to reach heaven, but we found it filled with strong guards and flaming fires (or meteors).

  • Mahmoud Ghali

    And that we contacted the heaven, yet we found it filled with very strict guards and flaming (meteors).

  • George Sale

    And we formerly attempted to pry into what was transacting in heaven; but we found the same filled with a strong guard of angels, and with flaming darts:

  • Syed Vickar Ahamed

    " ‘And we have wanted to reach the (secrets of) heavens; But we found it filled with strong (and unfailing) guards and flaming fires (and shooting stars).

  • Amatul Rahman Omar

    "And we (- the non-Arab Jews, the jinn who had listened to the Qur'ân, as diviners and astrologers) had primarily sought to probe the secrets of space above but we found it teeming with strong guards and shooting stars (a phenomenon which generally occurs before the advent of a divine Reformer).

  • Ali Quli Qarai

    Indeed We made for the heaven and found it full of mighty sentries and flames.