←Prev   Ayah az-Zukhruf (Ornaments of Gold, Luxury, The Embellishment) 43:20   Next→ 

Popular and/or Featured Works
Muhammad Asad   
Yet they say, “Had [not] the Most Gracious so willed, we would never have worshipped them!” [But] they cannot have any knowledge of [His having willed] such a thing: they do nothing but guess
The Clear Quran, Dr. Mustafa Khattab   
And they argue, “Had the Most Compassionate willed, we would have never worshipped them.” They have no knowledge ˹in support˺ of this ˹claim˺. They do nothing but lie.
Safi Kaskas   
They say, "If the Merciful willed it, we would not have worshipped them." But they do not know that. They are merely guessing.

Listen: 
Did you notice?

 You can SEARCH IslamAwakened: 

Source Arabic and Literal tools
Arabic   
وَقَالُوا۟ لَوۡ شَاۤءَ ٱلرَّحۡمَـٰنُ مَا عَبَدۡنَـٰهُمۗ مَّا لَهُم بِذَ ٰلِكَ مِنۡ عِلۡمٍۖ إِنۡ هُمۡ إِلَّا یَخۡرُصُونَ ۝٢٠
Transliteration (2021)   
waqālū law shāa l-raḥmānu mā ʿabadnāhum mā lahum bidhālika min ʿil'min in hum illā yakhruṣūn
Word for Word
Dr. Shehnaz Shaikh, Ms. Kauser Katri, and more
  
And they say, "If had willed the Most Gracious, that we would not have worshipped them." Not they have about that any knowledge. Nothing they (do) but lie.

Generally Accepted Translations of the Meaning
Muhammad Asad   
Yet they say, “Had [not] the Most Gracious so willed, we would never have worshipped them!” [But] they cannot have any knowledge of [His having willed] such a thing: they do nothing but guess
M. M. Pickthall   
And they say: If the Beneficent One had (so) willed, we should not have worshipped them. They have no knowledge whatsoever of that. They do but guess
Yusuf Ali (Saudi Rev. 1985)   
("Ah!") they say, "If it had been the will of (Allah) Most Gracious, we should not have worshipped such (deities)!" Of that they have no knowledge! they do nothing but lie
The Clear Quran, Dr. Mustafa Khattab   
And they argue, “Had the Most Compassionate willed, we would have never worshipped them.” They have no knowledge ˹in support˺ of this ˹claim˺. They do nothing but lie.
Safi Kaskas   
They say, "If the Merciful willed it, we would not have worshipped them." But they do not know that. They are merely guessing.
Wahiduddin Khan   
They say, If the All Merciful had so willed, we would not have worshipped them. They have no knowledge of that. They are only conjecturing
Shakir   
And they say: If the Beneficent Allah had pleased, we should never have worshipped them. They have no knowledge of this; they only lie
Dr. Laleh Bakhtiar   
And they would say: If willed The Merciful, we would not have worshiped them. And they have no knowledge of that. They do nothing but guess.
T.B.Irving   
They say: "If the Mercy-giving had so wished, we would not have worshipped them." No matter what knowledge they may have about that, they are still merely guessing.
Abdul Hye   
And they say: “If it had been the Will of the beneficent (Allah), we would not have worshipped them (false deities).” They don’t have any knowledge of that. They don’thing but lie!
The Study Quran   
They say, “Had the Compassionate willed, we would not have worshipped them.” They have no knowledge thereof. They do naught but guess
Talal Itani & AI (2024)   
They assert, “If the Merciful had willed, we wouldn’t have worshiped them.” They don’t know this; they are only speculating.
Talal Itani (2012)   
And they say, 'Had the Most Gracious willed, we would not have worshiped them.' But they have no knowledge of that; they are merely guessing
Dr. Kamal Omar   
And they said. “If Ar-Rahman had desired we would not have worshipped them (i.e., the false gods)”. (There is) not for them, about this, (anything) of knowledge. They are not (on the Right Path), but they indulge in senseless thinhead of state
M. Farook Malik   
They say: "Had it been the will of the Compassionate, We should never have worshipped them." They have no knowledge about that; they are merely guessing
Muhammad Mahmoud Ghali   
And they have said, "If The All-Merciful had (so) decided, in no way would we have worshiped them." In no way do they have any knowledge of that; decidedly they are (doing nothing) except conjecturing
Muhammad Sarwar   
The pagans say, "Had the Beneficent God wanted, we would not have worshipped them (idols)." Whatever they say is not based on knowledge. It is only a false conjecture
Muhammad Taqi Usmani   
They say, .Had the RaHman so willed, we would not have worshipped them. They have no knowledge of that. They do nothing but make conjectures
Shabbir Ahmed   
Yet they say, "If it had been the Will of the Beneficent, we should not have worshiped them." But, of that, they have no knowledge. (That there is no room for fatalism in Divine Laws. Humans have been endowed with free will (6:149), (36:47). They only wander in the valley of conjecture
Dr. Munir Munshey   
They say, "We would not be worshipping the angels, unless the most Merciful, (Allah), had so desired." Little do they know anything about that! They merely indulge in conjectures
Syed Vickar Ahamed   
And they said: "If it was the Will of (Allah), Most Gracious (Rahman), we should not have worshipped such (petty gods)!" About that they have no knowledge! They do nothing but lie
Umm Muhammad (Sahih International)   
And they said, "If the Most Merciful had willed, we would not have worshipped them." They have of that no knowledge. They are not but falsifying
[The Monotheist Group] (2011 Edition)   
And they said: "If the Almighty willed, we would not have worshipped them." They have no knowledge of this; they only conjecture
Abdel Haleem   
They say, ‘If the Lord of Mercy had willed it, we would not have worshipped them,’ but they do not know that- they are only guessing
Abdul Majid Daryabadi   
And they say: had the Compassionate willed we should not have worshipped them. They have no knowledge thereof; they are only guessing
Ahmed Ali   
Yet they say: "If Ar-Rahman had so pleased we would not have worshipped them." They have no knowledge of it in the least. They only make up lies
Aisha Bewley   
They say, ´If the All-Merciful had so willed, we would not have worshipped them.´ They have no knowledge of that. They are only conjecturing.
Ali Ünal   
They also say: "If the All-Merciful had so willed, we would not have worshipped them (our deities, including angels)." They have no knowledge whatever of that (the relationship of Divine Will and human will and actions). Indeed, they only judge and speak according to their own fancies and interests
Ali Quli Qara'i   
They say, ‘Had the All-beneficent wished, we would not have worshipped them.’ They do not have any knowledge of that, and they do nothing but surmise
Hamid S. Aziz   
And they say, "If the Beneficent Allah had pleased, we should never have worshipped them." They have no knowledge of this; they only lie
Ali Bakhtiari Nejad   
And they said: “If the beneficent had wanted, we would not have served them.” They have no knowledge of that, they only guess.
A.L. Bilal Muhammad et al (2018)   
They say, “If it had been the will of God, the Merciful Benefactor, we would not have worshipped such deities.” They have no knowledge of that, they do nothing but lie
Musharraf Hussain   
They say, “If the Most Kind wanted, we wouldn’t have worshipped the idols.” They don’t understand what they are saying and guessing.
Maududi   
They say: "Had the Merciful One so willed, we would never have worshipped these deities." But they have no knowledge of the matter and are simply conjecturing
[The Monotheist Group] (2013 Edition)   
And they said: "If the Almighty had willed, we would not have worshipped them." They have no knowledge of this; they only conjecture
Mohammad Shafi   
And they say, "Had the Gracious One so willed, we should not have worshipped them (deities)!" They have no knowledge thereof. Indeed, they do nothing but lie

Controversial or status undetermined works
Ahmed Raza Khan (Barelvi)   
And they said, 'Had the Most Affectionate so willed, we would not have worshipped them? They know nothing about its reality, they are only guessing.
Rashad Khalifa   
They even said, "If the Most Gracious willed, we would not have worshiped them." They have no basis for such a claim; they only conjecture.
Hasan Al-Fatih Qaribullah   
They say: 'Had it been the will of the Merciful, we would never have worshipped them. ' Of this they have no knowledge, they are but guessing
Maulana Muhammad Ali   
And they say: If the Beneficent had pleased, we should not have worshipped them. They have no knowledge of this; they only lie
Muhammad Ahmed & Samira   
And they said: "If the merciful willed/wanted we would not have worshipped them, none from knowledge with that (is) for them, that truly they are except lying/speculating
Bijan Moeinian   
The disbelievers say: “If the Most Merciful (God) had not willed, we would have never been able to worship them (the angles)! These are baseless arguments. They do not know what they are talking about [otherwise every crime can be justified according to this argument.]
Faridul Haque   
And they say, “If the Most Gracious had willed, we would not have worshipped them!” They do not know its truth at all; they only make guesses
Sher Ali   
And they say, `If the Gracious God had so willed, we should not have worshiped them.' They have no knowledge whatsoever of that. They do nothing but conjecture
Dr. Mohammad Tahir-ul-Qadri   
And they say: ‘If the Most Kind (Lord) had intended, we would not have worshipped these (idols).’ They do not know anything about this (as well). They only tell lies out of fancy
Amatul Rahman Omar   
And they say, `If the Most Gracious (God) had (so) willed, we should never have worshipped them.' They have no real knowledge whatsoever in that matter. They do nothing but make conjectures
Muhsin Khan & Muhammad al-Hilali   
And they said: "If it had been the Will of the Most Beneficent (Allah), we should not have worshipped them (false deities)." They have no knowledge whatsoever of that. They do nothing but lie

Non-Muslim and/or Orientalist works
Arthur John Arberry   
They say, 'Had the All-merciful so willed, we would not have served them.' They have no knowledge of that; they are only conjecturing
George Sale   
And they say, if the Merciful had pleased, we had not worshipped them. They have no knowledge herein: They only utter a vain lie
Edward Henry Palmer   
and they say, 'Had the Merciful pleased we should never have worshipped them.' They have no knowledge of that, they only conjecture
John Medows Rodwell   
And they say: "Had the God of Mercy so willed it we should never have worshipped them." No knowledge have they in this: they only lie
N J Dawood (2014)   
They say: ‘Had it been the will of the Merciful, we should never have worshipped them.‘ Surely of this they have no knowledge: they are only lying

New, Partial, or In Progress Translations
Fode Drame   
And they said, “Had Ar-Rahman [The All-merciful] so pleased, we would have not worshipped them.” They have no knowledge about that. All they do is to invent lies.
Munir Mezyed   
They even said: "If the True Merciful (God) had willed, we would not have worshiped (& venerated) them." They have no knowledge whatever of that. They only try to impose a misleading belief.
Sahib Mustaqim Bleher   
And they say: if the Merciful pleased, we would not serve them besides Him. They have no knowledge of this, for they only guess.
Linda “iLHam” Barto   
They say, “If it had been the will of the Most Gracious, We would not have worshiped (goddesses).” They have no knowledge of that. They only lie.
Fadel Soliman, Bridges‘ Translation   
And they said, “Had the All-Merciful willed, we would not have worshiped them.” But they have no knowledge of that; they are merely conjecturing.
Irving & Mohamed Hegab   
They say: "If the Mercy-giving had so wished, we would not have worshipped them." No matter what knowledge they may have about that, they are still merely guessing.
Samy Mahdy   
And they said, “Had Al-Rahman (The Widely merciful) willed, we would not have worshiped them.” They have no knowledge of that; surely, they only, except they are guessing.
Ahmed Hulusi   
They said, “Had Rahman willed, we would not have served them”... They have no knowledge (evidence, certainty) of that... They only talk nonsense based on mere assumptions.
Mir Aneesuddin   
And they say, “If the Beneficent ( Allah ) had willed, we would not have worshipped them.” They do not have any knowledge about that, they do nothing but guess.
Al-muntakhab fi tafsir al-Qur‘an al-Karim   
And they allegedly say: "Had Allah, AL-Rahman, so willed we would never have worshipped -these corporate deities-. They are not acquainted with the truth nor do they have information or proof to support their allegation; they simply lic and indeed they lie in their teeth

Obsolete and/or older editions
Yusuf Ali (Orig. 1938)   
("Ah!") they say, "If it had been the will of (God) Most Gracious, we should not have worshipped such (deities)!" Of that they have no knowledge! they do nothing but lie
OLD Literal Word for Word   
And they say, "If had willed the Most Gracious, we would not have worshipped t Not they have about that any knowledge. Nothing they (do) but lie
OLD Transliteration   
Waqaloo law shaa alrrahmanu ma AAabadnahum ma lahum bithalika min AAilmin in hum illa yakhrusoona