Sam Gerrans - The Qur'an: A Complete Revelation

There had said it those before them; but there availed them not what they earned,

قَدْ قَالَهَا الَّذ۪ينَ مِنْ قَبْلِهِمْ فَمَٓا اَغْنٰى عَنْهُمْ مَا كَانُوا يَكْسِبُونَ
Qad qalaha allatheenamin qablihim fama aghna AAanhum ma kanooyaksiboon
#wordmeaningroot
1qadIndeed
2qālahāsaid itقول
3alladhīnathose
4minbefore them
5qablihimbefore themقبل
6famābut (did) not
7aghnāavailغني
8ʿanhumthem
9what
10kānūthey used toكون
11yaksibūnaearnكسب
  • Aisha Bewley

    Those who came before them also said that, but what they earned did not avail them.

  • Progressive Muslims

    Those before them have said the same thing, yet what they earned did not help them in the least.

  • Shabbir Ahmed

    The same was said by those who passed before them, but their earnings failed to make them truly rich! (28:78).

  • Sam Gerrans The Qur'an: A Complete Revelation

    There had said it those before them; but there availed them not what they earned,

  • The Monotheist Group The Quran: A Monotheist Translation

    Those before them have said the same thing, yet what they earned did not help them in the least.

  • Edip-Layth Quran: A Reformist Translation

    Those before them have said the same thing, yet what they earned did not help them in the least.

  • Rashad Khalifa The Final Testament

    Those before them have uttered the same thing, and their earnings did not help them in the least.

  • Mohamed Ahmed - Samira

    Those before them had also said so, and yet nothing of what they did availed them in the least.

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

    Those before them had already said it, but they were not availed by what they used to earn.

  • Muhammad Asad

    The same did say those who lived before their time; but of no avail to them was all that they had ever achieved:

  • Marmaduke Pickthall

    Those before them said it, yet (all) that they had earned availed them not;

  • Abul A'la Maududi Tafhim commentary

    Their predecessors also said the same, but their earnings proved of no avail to them,

  • Abdel Khalek Himmat Al- Muntakhab

    In a similar manner did those who preceded them reveal their true character but nothing they had done or left undone and nothing they had accomplished in their own irreverent way was of any advantage to them nor did it accomplish their purpose nor did it protect them from Allah's retributive punishment.

  • Bijan Moeinian

    The ones before them had similar conviction but their "earnings" was not of any help them in the least.

  • Al-Hilali & Khan

    Verily, those before them said it, yet (all) that they had earned availed them not.

  • Abdullah Yusuf Ali

    Thus did the (generations) before them say! But all that they did was of no profit to them.

  • Mustafa Khattab The Clear Quran

    The same had already been said by those ˹destroyed˺ before them, but their ˹worldly˺ gains were of no benefit to them.

  • Taqi Usmani

    The same was said by those before them, but what they used to earn was of no avail to them,

  • Abdul Haleem

    Those who lived before them said the same. What they did was of no use to them;

  • Arthur John Arberry

    So said those that were before them; but that they earned did not avail them,

  • E. Henry Palmer

    Those before them said it too, but that availed them not which they had earned,

  • Hamid S. Aziz

    Those before them did indeed say this, but what they earned availed them not.

  • Mahmoud Ghali

    The ones before them already said it, yet in no way did whatever they used to earn avail them.

  • George Sale

    Those who were before them, said the same: But that which they had gained, profited them not;

  • Syed Vickar Ahamed

    Verily, the (people) before them talked like this! But everything they did was of no use to them.

  • Amatul Rahman Omar

    Their predecessors had said the same thing, yet all their acquisitions were of no avail to them,

  • Ali Quli Qarai

    Those who were before them said that, but what they used to earn did not avail them.