Sam Gerrans - The Qur'an: A Complete Revelation

Then she pointed to him. They said: “How can we speak to one who is in the cradle a child?”

فَاَشَارَتْ اِلَيْهِ۠ قَالُوا كَيْفَ نُكَلِّمُ مَنْ كَانَ فِي الْمَهْدِ صَبِياًّ
Faasharat ilayhi qaloo kayfanukallimu man kana fee almahdi sabiyya
#wordmeaningroot
1fa-ashāratThen she pointedشور
2ilayhito him
3qālūThey saidقول
4kayfaHowكيف
5nukallimu(can) we speakكلم
6man(to one) who
7kānaisكون
8in
9l-mahdithe cradleمهد
10ṣabiyyana childصبو
  • Aisha Bewley

    She pointed towards him. They said, ‘How can a baby in the cradle speak?’

  • Progressive Muslims

    So she pointed to him. They said: "How can we talk to someone who is a child in a cradle"

  • Shabbir Ahmed

    Then she pointed to him. They said, "How can we talk to one who is in the cradle, a young boy?" (In the cradle, idiomatically means a young person. Mary and Joseph had stayed in Bethlehem for several years).

  • Sam Gerrans The Qur'an: A Complete Revelation

    Then she pointed to him. They said: “How can we speak to one who is in the cradle a child?”

  • The Monotheist Group The Quran: A Monotheist Translation

    So she pointed to him. They said: "How can we talk to someone who is a child in a cradle?"

  • Edip-Layth Quran: A Reformist Translation

    So she pointed to him. They said, "How can we talk to someone who is a child in a cradle?"

  • Rashad Khalifa The Final Testament

    She pointed to him. They said, "How can we talk with an infant in the crib?"

  • Mohamed Ahmed - Samira

    But she pointed towards him. "How can we talk to one, " they said, "who is only an infant in the cradle?"

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

    So she pointed to him. They said, "How can we speak to one who is in the cradle a child?"

  • Muhammad Asad

    Thereupon she pointed to him. They exclaimed: "How can we talk to one who is a little boy in the cradle?"

  • Marmaduke Pickthall

    Then she pointed to him. They said: How can we talk to one who is in the cradle, a young boy?

  • Abul A'la Maududi Tafhim commentary

    Thereupon Mary pointed to the child. They exclaimed: "How can we speak to one who is in the cradle, a mere child?"

  • Abdel Khalek Himmat Al- Muntakhab

    She simply pointed her finger at him -the babe- with an intimation, as it were, that they ask or speak to him. But they exclaimed: "How in Allah's Name can we discourse with a new born babe?"

  • Bijan Moeinian

    She pointed at the baby (meaning: Ask him. ) They said: "How can we talk to a new born baby?"

  • Al-Hilali & Khan

    Then she pointed to him. They said: "How can we talk to one who is a child in the cradle?"

  • Abdullah Yusuf Ali

    But she pointed to the babe. They said: "How can we talk to one who is a child in the cradle?"

  • Mustafa Khattab The Clear Quran

    So she pointed to the baby. They exclaimed, "How can we talk to someone who is an infant in the cradle?"

  • Taqi Usmani

    So, she pointed towards him (the baby). They said, "How shall we speak to someone who is still a child in the cradle?"

  • Abdul Haleem

    She pointed at him. They said, ‘How can we converse with an infant?’

  • Arthur John Arberry

    Mary pointed to the child then; but they said, 'How shall we speak to one who is still in the cradle, a little child?'

  • E. Henry Palmer

    And she pointed to him, and they said, 'How are we to speak with one who is in the cradle a child?'

  • Hamid S. Aziz

    "O sister of Aaron! Your father was not a bad man, nor was your mother a harlot!"

  • Mahmoud Ghali

    So she pointed to him. They said, "How shall we speak to one who is (still) in the cradle, a young boy?"

  • George Sale

    But she made signs unto the child to answer them; and they said, how shall we speak to him, who is an infant in the cradle?

  • Syed Vickar Ahamed

    Then, she pointed to the baby (Jesus). They said: "How can we talk to one who is (only) a child in the cradle?"

  • Amatul Rahman Omar

    Thereupon she pointed to him (- her son Jesus meaning thereby that he will answer them). They said, `How should we speak to one who was (till recently) a child in the cradle?'

  • Ali Quli Qarai

    Thereat she pointed to him. They said, ‘How can we speak to one who is yet a baby in the cradle?’