←Prev   Ayah Maryam (Mary) 19:29   Next→ 

Popular and/or Featured Works
Muhammad Asad   
Thereupon she pointed to him. They exclaimed: "How can we talk to one who [as yet] is a little boy in the cradle?"
The Clear Quran, Dr. Mustafa Khattab   
So she pointed to the baby. They exclaimed, “How can we talk to someone who is an infant in the cradle?”
Safi Kaskas   
She pointed to him. They said, "How can we speak to a child in the cradle?"

Listen: 
Did you notice?

 You can SEARCH IslamAwakened: 

Source Arabic and Literal tools
Arabic   
فَأَشَارَتۡ إِلَیۡهِۖ قَالُوا۟ كَیۡفَ نُكَلِّمُ مَن كَانَ فِی ٱلۡمَهۡدِ صَبِیࣰّا ۝٢٩
Transliteration (2021)   
fa-ashārat ilayhi qālū kayfa nukallimu man kāna fī l-mahdi ṣabiyya
Word for Word
Dr. Shehnaz Shaikh, Ms. Kauser Katri, and more
  
Then she pointed to him. They said, "How (can) we speak (to one) who is in the cradle, a child?"

Generally Accepted Translations of the Meaning
Muhammad Asad   
Thereupon she pointed to him. They exclaimed: "How can we talk to one who [as yet] is a little boy in the cradle?"
M. M. Pickthall   
Then she pointed to him. They said: How can we talk to one who is in the cradle, a young boy
Yusuf Ali (Saudi Rev. 1985)   
But she pointed to the babe. They said: "How can we talk to one who is a child in the cradle?"
The Clear Quran, Dr. Mustafa Khattab   
So she pointed to the baby. They exclaimed, “How can we talk to someone who is an infant in the cradle?”
Safi Kaskas   
She pointed to him. They said, "How can we speak to a child in the cradle?"
Wahiduddin Khan   
She pointed to the child. They said, How shall we talk to someone who is a child in the cradle
Shakir   
But she pointed to him. They said: How should we speak to one who was a child in the cradle
Dr. Laleh Bakhtiar   
Then, she pointed to him. They said: How speak we to one who had been in the cradle, a lad?
T.B.Irving   
She pointed to him. They said: "How shall we talk to someone who is a child in the cradle?"
Abdul Hye   
Then she pointed to him (baby). They said: “How can we talk to one who is a child in the cradle?”
The Study Quran   
Then she pointed to him. They said, “How shall we speak to one who is yet a child in the cradle?
Talal Itani & AI (2024)   
So she pointed to him. They asked, “How can we speak to a baby in the cradle?”
Talal Itani (2012)   
So she pointed to him. They said, 'How can we speak to an infant in the crib?'
Dr. Kamal Omar   
Then she pointed to him. People said: “How we would talk to that who is a baby in the lap?”
M. Farook Malik   
In response she merely pointed towards the baby. They said: "How can we talk to a babe in the cradle?"
Muhammad Mahmoud Ghali   
So she pointed to him. They said, "How shall we speak to one who is (still) in the cradle, a young boy?"
Muhammad Sarwar   
She pointed to the baby (and referred them to him for their answer). They said, "How can we talk to a baby in the cradle?"
Muhammad 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?
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)
Dr. Munir Munshey   
She pointed towards the infant. They said, "How can we converse with an infant lying in a crib?"
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?"
Umm Muhammad (Sahih International)   
So she pointed to him. They said, "How can we speak to one who is in the cradle a child?"
[The Monotheist Group] (2011 Edition)   
So she pointed to him. They said: "How can we talk to someone who is a child in a cradle"
Abdel Haleem   
She pointed at him. They said, ‘How can we converse with an infant?’
Abdul Majid Daryabadi   
Then she Pointed to him. They said: how shall we speak to one who is in the cradle, a child
Ahmed Ali   
But she pointed towards him. "How can we talk to one," they said, "who is only an infant in the cradle?"
Aisha Bewley   
She pointed towards him. They said, ´How can a baby in the cradle speak?´
Ali Ünal   
Mary pointed to him (the infant, signifying that they should ask him). They cried: "How can we talk to one in the cradle, an infant boy?"
Ali Quli Qara'i   
Thereat she pointed to him. They said, ‘How can we speak to one who is yet a baby in the cradle?’
Hamid S. Aziz   
Then she pointed to him, and they said, "How are we to speak with one who is a baby in the cradle?"
Ali Bakhtiari Nejad   
Then she pointed to him. They said: “How can we talk to any child who is in the cradle?”
A.L. Bilal Muhammad et al (2018)   
But she pointed to the baby and they said, “How can we talk to one who is a baby in the cradle?
Musharraf Hussain   
She pointed to him. They replied, “How can we speak to an infant in a cradle?”
Maududi   
Thereupon Mary pointed to the child. They exclaimed: "How can we speak to one who is in the cradle, a mere child?"
[The Monotheist Group] (2013 Edition)   
So she pointed to him. They said: "How can we talk to someone who is a child in a cradle?
Mohammad Shafi   
But she pointed to him. They said, "How could we speak to a mere child in cradle?"

Controversial or status undetermined works
Ahmed Raza Khan (Barelvi)   
Then Maryam pointed towards the child. They said, how could we talk to him who is a baby in the cradle'.
Rashad Khalifa   
She pointed to him. They said, "How can we talk with an infant in the crib?"
Hasan Al-Fatih Qaribullah   
So she pointed to him (Prophet Jesus). But they replied: 'How can we speak with a baby in the cradle?
Maulana Muhammad Ali   
But she pointed to him. They said: How should we speak to one who is a child in the cradle
Muhammad Ahmed & Samira   
So she pointed/indicated to him, they said: "How (do) we converse/speak (to) whom was in the crib/cradle a boy/child/infant?"
Bijan Moeinian   
She pointed at the baby (meaning: Ask him.) They said: “How can we talk to a new born baby?”
Faridul Haque   
Thereupon she pointed towards the child; they said, "How can we speak to an infant who is in the cradle?"
Sher Ali   
Thereupon she pointed to him. They said, `How can we talk to one who is a child in the cradle?
Dr. Mohammad Tahir-ul-Qadri   
On this Maryam (Mary) pointed to (the baby). They said: ‘How can we talk to him who is (yet) an infant 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?
Muhsin Khan & Muhammad al-Hilali   
Then she pointed to him. They said: "How can we talk to one who is a child in the cradle?"

Non-Muslim and/or Orientalist works
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?
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
Edward Henry Palmer   
And she pointed to him, and they said, 'How are we to speak with one who is in the cradle a child?
John Medows Rodwell   
And she made a sign to them, pointing towards the babe. They said, "How shall we speak with him who is in the cradle, an infant?"
N J Dawood (2014)   
She made a sign to them, pointing to the child. But they replied: ‘How can we speak with a babe in the cradle?‘

New, Partial, or In Progress Translations
Fode Drame   
Thereupon she pointed to him. They said, “How can we speak to one who is as yet a baby in the cradle?”
Munir Mezyed   
Then she pointed (her finger) at him. They said: ‘How can we speak with a baby in the cradle?’
Sahib Mustaqim Bleher   
Then she pointed to him. They said: how can we talk to someone who is a child in a cradle?
Linda “iLHam” Barto   
She pointed to (the baby) [as if to say, “Ask him”]. They said, “How can we talk with an infant from the cradle?”
Fadel Soliman, Bridges‘ Translation   
So she pointed to him. They said, “How can we speak to an infant in the cradle?”
Irving & Mohamed Hegab   
She pointed to him. They said: "How shall we talk to someone who is a child in the cradle?"
Samy Mahdy   
So, she pointed to him. They said, “How can we talk to whoever was in the cradle, a boy (infant)?”
Sayyid Qutb   
But she pointed to the child. They said: 'How can we talk to a babe in the cradle?'
Ahmed Hulusi   
As Mary had vowed fast she only pointed to the child (suggesting they should ask him)... They said, “How can we talk to a baby in a cradle!”
Sayyed Abbas Sadr-Ameli   
Then Mary pointed to him. They said: 'How shall we speak to one who is (yet) a child in the cradle?'
Al-muntakhab fi tafsir al-Qur‘an al-Karim   
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?"
Mir Aneesuddin   
So she pointed towards him (Isa, for the explanation). They said, "How can we talk to one who is a child in the cradle?”

Obsolete and/or older editions
Yusuf Ali (Orig. 1938)   
But she pointed to the babe. They said: "How can we talk to one who is a child in the cradle?"
OLD Literal Word for Word   
Then she pointed to him. They said, "How (can) we speak (to one) who is in the cradle, a child?
OLD Transliteration   
Faasharat ilayhi qaloo kayfa nukallimu man kana fee almahdi sabiyyan