Sam Gerrans - The Qur'an: A Complete Revelation

And those who ignore warning say of those who heed warning: “Had it been good, they would not have preceded us to it.” And when they are not guided by it, then they will say: “This is an ancient falsehood.”

وَقَالَ الَّذ۪ينَ كَفَرُوا لِلَّذ۪ينَ اٰمَنُوا لَوْ كَانَ خَيْراً مَا سَبَقُونَٓا اِلَيْهِۜ وَاِذْ لَمْ يَهْتَدُوا بِه۪ فَسَيَقُولُونَ هٰذَٓا اِفْكٌ قَد۪يمٌ
Waqala allatheena kafaroolillatheena amanoo law kana khayran masabaqoona ilayhi wa-ith lam yahtadoo bihifasayaqooloona hatha ifkun qadeem
#wordmeaningroot
1waqālaAnd sayقول
2alladhīnathose who
3kafarūdisbelieveكفر
4lilladhīnaof those who
5āmanūbelieveامن
6lawIf
7kānait had beenكون
8khayrangoodخير
9not
10sabaqūnāthey (would) have preceded usسبق
11ilayhito it
12wa-idhAnd when
13lamnot
14yahtadūthey (are) guidedهدي
15bihiby it
16fasayaqūlūnathey sayقول
17hādhāThis
18if'kun(is) a lieافك
19qadīmunancientقدم
  • Aisha Bewley

    Those who are kafir say of those who have iman, ‘If there was any good in it, they would not have beaten us to it. ’ And since they have not been guided by it, they are bound to say, ‘This is an antiquated falsehood.’

  • Progressive Muslims

    And those who had rejected said regarding those who had believed: "If it were any good, they would not have beaten us to it. " And when they are not able to be guided by it, they will Say: "This is an old fabrication!"

  • Shabbir Ahmed

    And the deniers speak thus of the believers, "If this Message were any good, these people would not have accepted it before us. " But since they choose not to be guided by it, they say, "This has been a fabrication since ancient times."

  • Sam Gerrans The Qur'an: A Complete Revelation

    And those who ignore warning say of those who heed warning: “Had it been good, they would not have preceded us to it.” And when they are not guided by it, then they will say: “This is an ancient falsehood.”

  • The Monotheist Group The Quran: A Monotheist Translation

    And those who had rejected said regarding those who had believed: "If it were any good, they would not have beaten us to it." And when they are not able to be guided by it, they will say: "This is an old fabrication!"

  • Edip-Layth Quran: A Reformist Translation

    Those who had rejected said regarding those who had acknowledged: "If it were any good, they would not have beaten us to it." When they are not able to be guided by it, they will say, "This is an old fabrication!"

  • Rashad Khalifa The Final Testament

    Those who disbelieved said about those who believed, "If it were anything good, they would not have accepted it before us." Because they were not guided to it, they said, "This is an old fabrication!"

  • Mohamed Ahmed - Samira

    Those who deny say of those who believe: "Had there been any good in it they would not have preceded us in coming to it. " Since they have not taken guidance from it, they will say: "This is the same old lie."

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

    And those who disbelieve say of those who believe, "If it had been good, they would not have preceded us to it. " And when they are not guided by it, they will say, "This is an ancient falsehood."

  • Muhammad Asad

    But they who are bent on denying the truth speak thus of those who have attained to faith: "If this were any good, these would not have preceded us in accepting it!" And since they refuse to be guided by it, they will always say, “This is an ancient falsehood!”

  • Marmaduke Pickthall

    And those who disbelieve say of those who believe: If it had been (any) good, they would not have been before us in attaining it. And since they will not be guided by it, they say: This is an ancient lie;

  • Abul A'la Maududi Tafhim commentary

    The unbelievers say to the believers: If there was any good in this Book, others would not have beaten us to its acceptance."* But since they have not been guided to it, they will certainly say: "This is an old fabrication.”*

  • Abdel Khalek Himmat Al- Muntakhab

    And those who deny Allah speak of those who sincerely believed in Him, and say: "If it -the Quran- were good and has a quality in a sufficient degree, we would have been the first to take it as a matter of choice;" and so, since they respond to the Quran with careless disinterested spirit and disfavour, they will label it: "fables of old. "

  • Bijan Moeinian

    The disbelievers say to the believers: "If Qur’an was any good, they would not be at the forefront . ” As disbelievers are not guided by Qur’an, they refer to it as “a fabrication like the false ones before.”

  • Al-Hilali & Khan

    And those who disbelieve (the strong and wealthy) say of those who believe (the weak and poor): "Had it (Islâmic Monotheism to which Muhammad صلى الله عليه وسلم is inviting mankind) been a good thing, they (the weak and poor) would not have preceded us thereto!" And when they have not let themselves be guided by it (this Qur’ân), they say: "This is an ancient lie!"

  • Abdullah Yusuf Ali

    The Unbelievers say of those who believe: "If (this Message) were a good thing, (such men) would not have gone to it first, before us!" And seeing that they guide not themselves thereby, they will say, "this is an (old,) falsehood!"

  • Mustafa Khattab The Clear Quran

    The disbelievers say of the believers, "Had it been ˹something˺ good, they would not have beaten us to it." Now since they reject its guidance, they will say, “˹This is˺ an ancient fabrication!”

  • Taqi Usmani

    The disbelievers say about the believers, "Had it (Islamic faith) been a good thing, these (weak and poor) people would not have preceded us (in proceeding) towards it." Since they did not accept guidance through it (the Qur’ān), they will say, “This is a classical lie.”

  • Abdul Haleem

    Those who disbelieve say of the believers, ‘If there were any good in this Quran, they would not have believed in it before we did,’and, since they refuse to be guided by it, they say, ‘This is an ancient fabrication.’

  • Arthur John Arberry

    The unbelievers say, as regards the believers, 'If it had been aught good, they had not outstripped us to it. ' And since they are not guided by it, certainly they will say, 'This is an old calumny!'

  • E. Henry Palmer

    And those who misbelieve say of those who believe, 'If it had been good, they would not have been beforehand with us therein;' and when they are not guided thereby, then will they say, 'This is an old-fashioned lie. '

  • Hamid S. Aziz

    And those who disbelieve say concerning those who believe, "If it had been good, they would not have accepted it ahead of us. " And as they do not seek to be rightly directed thereby, they say, "It is an old lie".

  • Mahmoud Ghali

    And the ones who have disbelieved have said to the ones who have believed, "If it had been of any charity, (i. e. benefit) in no way would they have outstripped us to it." (i.e., received it before us) And as they have not been guided by it, then they will soon say, "This is an old falsehood."

  • George Sale

    But those who believe not, say of the true believers, if the doctrine of the Koran had been good, they had not embraced the same before us. And when they are not guided thereby, they say, this is an antiquated lie.

  • Syed Vickar Ahamed

    And the unbelievers say about those who believe: "If (this Message) were a good thing, (the believers) would not have gone to it first, before us!" And by seeing that they do not guide themselves, they will say: "This is an old lie!"

  • Amatul Rahman Omar

    And those who disbelieve say of those who believe, `If these (- the Qur'ânic doctrines) were any good they would not have taken precedence over us in believing in it. ' Since they themselves have received no guidance from it they say (out of malice), `It is an old lie.'

  • Ali Quli Qarai

    The faithless say about the faithful, ‘Had it been good, they would not have taken the lead over us toward it. ’ And since they could not find the way to it, they will say, ‘It is an ancient lie.’