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Popular and/or Featured Works
Muhammad Asad   
Say: “Whether you flee from [natural] death or from being slain [in battle], flight will not profit you - for, however you fare, you are not [allowed] to enjoy life for more than a little while!”
The Clear Quran, Dr. Mustafa Khattab   
Say, ˹O Prophet,˺ “Fleeing will not benefit you if you ˹try to˺ escape a natural or violent death. ˹If it is not your time,˺ you will only be allowed enjoyment for a little while.”
Safi Kaskas   
Say, "Fleeing will not benefit you. If you should flee from death or killing, you will be permitted to enjoy life for only a short while."

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Source Arabic and Literal tools
Arabic   
قُل لَّن یَنفَعَكُمُ ٱلۡفِرَارُ إِن فَرَرۡتُم مِّنَ ٱلۡمَوۡتِ أَوِ ٱلۡقَتۡلِ وَإِذࣰا لَّا تُمَتَّعُونَ إِلَّا قَلِیلࣰا ۝١٦
Transliteration (2021)   
qul lan yanfaʿakumu l-firāru in farartum mina l-mawti awi l-qatli wa-idhan lā tumattaʿūna illā qalīla
Word for Word
Dr. Shehnaz Shaikh, Ms. Kauser Katri, and more
  
Say, "Never will benefit you the fleeing, if you flee from death or killing, and then not you will be allowed to enjoy except a little."

Generally Accepted Translations of the Meaning
Muhammad Asad   
Say: “Whether you flee from [natural] death or from being slain [in battle], flight will not profit you - for, however you fare, you are not [allowed] to enjoy life for more than a little while!”
M. M. Pickthall   
Say: Flight will not avail you if ye flee from death or killing, and then ye dwell in comfort but a little while
Yusuf Ali (Saudi Rev. 1985)   
Say: "Running away will not profit you if ye are running away from death or slaughter; and even if (ye do escape), no more than a brief (respite) will ye be allowed to enjoy!"
The Clear Quran, Dr. Mustafa Khattab   
Say, ˹O Prophet,˺ “Fleeing will not benefit you if you ˹try to˺ escape a natural or violent death. ˹If it is not your time,˺ you will only be allowed enjoyment for a little while.”
Safi Kaskas   
Say, "Fleeing will not benefit you. If you should flee from death or killing, you will be permitted to enjoy life for only a short while."
Wahiduddin Khan   
Say, Flight shall not avail you: if you manage to escape from death or killing, you will enjoy life only for a short while.[31]
Shakir   
Say: Flight shall not do you any good if you fly from death or slaughter, and in that case you will not be allowed to enjoy yourselves but a little
Dr. Laleh Bakhtiar   
Say: Running away will never profit you that you ran away from death or killing, then, you will be given enjoyment but for a little.
T.B.Irving   
SAY: "Fleeing will never help you: if you should flee from death or slaughter, then you will still enjoy (life) only briefly."
Abdul Hye   
Say (O Muhammad to these hypocrites who ask your permission to run away from you): “Flight (run away) will not avail you if you flee from death or killing, and you will enjoy a little (while in this world)!”
The Study Quran   
Say, “Fleeing will not benefit you if you flee from death or killing, for you will not be granted enjoyment, save a little.
Talal Itani & AI (2024)   
Say, “Fleeing won’t benefit you, if you flee from death or killing. Even then, you would be indulged only a little.”
Talal Itani (2012)   
Say, 'Flight will not benefit you, if you flee from death or killing, even then you will be given only brief enjoyment.'
Dr. Kamal Omar   
Say: “Flight (from battle-ground) will not benefit you if you fled (out of fear of impending) death or killing, and then you will not enjoy except a little period (that you may stay in this world).”
M. Farook Malik   
Tell them: "Running away will not do you any good, and if you are running away from death or being killed, you would enjoy this life only for a little while."
Muhammad Mahmoud Ghali   
Say, "Flight will never profit you, in case you flee from death or killing; and lo, you will not be given enjoyment except for a little (time)
Muhammad Sarwar   
(Muhammad), tell them, "Running away will never be of any benefit to you even if you run away from death or being killed. Still you would not be able to enjoy yourselves except for a short while."
Muhammad Taqi Usmani   
Say, .Flight will never be of any use to you, if you flee from death or killing, and even then you will not be left to enjoy (life) but for a little while
Shabbir Ahmed   
Say, "Flight will not avail you if you flee from death or being killed. You are not to enjoy life but for a little while."
Dr. Munir Munshey   
Tell them, "You may attempt to run away from death and slaying. But such a flight will not do you much good. After that you will not be able to enjoy except for just a short while."
Syed Vickar Ahamed   
Say: "Running away will not help you, if you are running away from death or slaughter; And even then (if you do run away), you may be allowed to enjoy no longer than a short time!"
Umm Muhammad (Sahih International)   
Say, [O Muhammad], "Never will fleeing benefit you if you should flee from death or killing; and then [if you did], you would not be given enjoyment [of life] except for a little."
[The Monotheist Group] (2011 Edition)   
Say: "It will not benefit you to flee away from death or from being killed, for you will only have the enjoyment for a short while."
Abdel Haleem   
[Prophet], say, ‘Running away will not benefit you. If you manage to escape death or slaughter, you will only be permitted to enjoy [life] for a short while.’
Abdul Majid Daryabadi   
Say thou: flight shall not profit you if ye flee from death or slaughter, and lo! ye will not enjoy life except for a little
Ahmed Ali   
Say: "Of no gain will be your running away if you run from death or being killed, even then you will enjoy the good things of life but only for a while."
Aisha Bewley   
Say: ´Flight will not benefit you if you try to run away from death or being killed. Then you will only enjoy a short respite.´
Ali Ünal   
Say: "Flight will be of no avail to you if you flee from death or being killed (in battle). However you fare, you are not allowed to enjoy life more than a little while (only until your appointed time)."
Ali Quli Qara'i   
Say, ‘Flight will not avail you should you flee from death or from being killed, and then you will be let to enjoy only for a little while.’
Hamid S. Aziz   
Say, "Flight shall not avail you if you flee from death or slaughter, and then you dwell in comfort but a little."
Ali Bakhtiari Nejad   
Say: “Escape will never benefit you if you escape from death or killing (being killed), and even then you only enjoy for a little while.”
A.L. Bilal Muhammad et al (2018)   
Say, “Running away will not profit you if you are running away from death or slaughter, and even if you do escape, no more than brief respite will you be allowed to enjoy.
Musharraf Hussain   
Say: “Fleeing will not benefit you, if you run away from death or fighting you will have limited enjoyment in life.”
Maududi   
(O Prophet), tell them: "If you run away from death or slaying, this flight will not avail you. You will have little time after that to enjoy (the pleasures of life)."
[The Monotheist Group] (2013 Edition)   
Say: "It will not benefit you to flee away from death or from being killed, for you will only have the enjoyment for a short while."
Mohammad Shafi   
Say, "Fleeing will profit you not, if you flee from death, natural or violent. And even then, (when, with Allah's will, you are given respite from death for the time being,) you will not be allowed to enjoy life on this earth but a little

Controversial or status undetermined works
Ahmed Raza Khan (Barelvi)   
Say you, 'Flight will never profit you, if you flee from death or slaying, and even then you shall not be allowed to enjoy the world but a little'.
Rashad Khalifa   
Say, "If you flee, you can never flee from death or from being killed. No matter what happens, you only live a short while longer."
Hasan Al-Fatih Qaribullah   
Say: 'Flight will not avail you, if you flee from death or slaughter, you would enjoy (this world) only for a little (time).
Maulana Muhammad Ali   
Say: Who is it that can protect you from Allah, if He intends harm for you or He intends to show you mercy? And they will not find for themselves a guardian or a helper besides Allah
Muhammad Ahmed & Samira   
Say: "The escape/flight will never/not benefit you if you escaped/fled from the death/lifelessness or the killing/fighting , and then you do not be living long/enjoying except a little."
Bijan Moeinian   
Say to them: “You can never fly from death. Your attempt to flee will buy you only a short period of time to enjoy.”
Faridul Haque   
Proclaim, “Fleeing will never benefit you if you flee from death or killing, and even then you will not be given the usage of this world except a little.”
Sher Ali   
Say, `Flight shall not avail you if you flee from death or slaughter; and even then you will not be allowed to enjoy yourselves but a little.
Dr. Mohammad Tahir-ul-Qadri   
Say: ‘Escape will not benefit you at all. If you seek to flee (fearing) death or slaughter, you will gain little (from life) except a brief respite.
Amatul Rahman Omar   
Say, `It would be of no avail to you if you flee from death or the battlefield and in case you do, you will not (be allowed to) enjoy yourselves but for a short while
Muhsin Khan & Muhammad al-Hilali   
Say (O Muhammad SAW to these hypocrites who ask your permission to run away from you): "Flight will not avail you if you flee from death or killing, and then you will enjoy no more than a little while!"

Non-Muslim and/or Orientalist works
Arthur John Arberry   
Say: 'Flight will not profit you, if you flee from death or slaying; you will be given enjoyment of days then but little.
George Sale   
Say, flight shall not profit you, if ye fly from death or from slaughter: And if it would, yet shall ye not enjoy this world but a little
Edward Henry Palmer   
Say, 'Flight shall avail you naught; if ye fly from death or slaughter, even then ye shall be granted enjoyment only for a little!
John Medows Rodwell   
SAY: Flight shall not profit you; if ye have fled the death or the slaughter, yet even then, but a little while shall ye enjoy your good things
N J Dawood (2014)   
Say: ‘Nothing will your flight avail you. If you escaped from death or slaughter you would enjoy this world only for a little while.‘

New, Partial, or In Progress Translations
Fode Drame   
Say, “Fleeing will not benefit you, if you flee from the death or from the killing and even then you will not be allowed to enjoy except a little while.”
Munir Mezyed   
Say: “Fleeing will never ever avail you. However, if it happens that you flee from death or slaughter, then you will be given enjoyment only for a little while".
Sahib Mustaqim Bleher   
Say: fleeing will not benefit you when you flee from death or fighting and then only enjoy it a little.
Linda “iLHam” Barto   
Say, “Running away will not profit you if you are running away from death or killing. Even so, you would only be allowed a brief time to enjoy.”
Fadel Soliman, Bridges‘ Translation   
Saysg, “Flight will not benefit youpl if you flee from death or killing; even then you will be given no enjoyment but a little.”
Irving & Mohamed Hegab   
SAY: "Fleeing will never help you: if you should flee from death or slaughter, then you will still enjoy (life) only briefly."
Samy Mahdy   
Say, “The fleeing will not benefit you, if you flee from the death or the killing, and then you will not be enjoying except, a little.”
Sayyid Qutb   
Say: 'Flight will benefit you nothing. If you flee from natural death or from being slain, you will only be left to enjoy life for a little while.'
Ahmed Hulusi   
Say, “If you are trying to flee from death or from being killed, your fleeing will be of no benefit to you... Even if you were to escape, your gain will be near to nothing (as the life of the earthly life is so very short)!”
Sayyed Abbas Sadr-Ameli   
Say: 'Flight will never avail you if you flee from death or slaying, and in that case you will not be allowed to enjoy yourselves but a little'
Al-muntakhab fi tafsir al-Qur‘an al-Karim   
Say to them O Muhammad: "Neither defection nor desertion shall avail you if you should flee the enemy to escape death or massacre if your hereafter is meant to be planted in the now. Life is too short and its enjoyment is short-lived."
Mir Aneesuddin   
“Your running away will never benefit you if you are running away from death or murder, and in that case you are not allowed to enjoy but a little,” (because ultimately you have to die).

Obsolete and/or older editions
Yusuf Ali (Orig. 1938)   
Say: "Running away will not profit you if ye are running away from death or slaughter; and even if (ye do escape), no more than a brief (respite) will ye be allowed to enjoy!"
OLD Literal Word for Word   
Say, "Never will benefit you the fleeing, if you flee from death or killing, and then not you will be allowed to enjoy except a little.
OLD Transliteration   
Qul lan yanfaAAakumu alfiraru in farartum mina almawti awi alqatli wa-ithan la tumattaAAoona illa qaleelan