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Popular and/or Featured Works
Muhammad Asad   
Do they, perchance, wait for the angels to appear unto them, or for thy Sustainer [Himself] to appear, or for some of thy Sustainer's [final] portents to appear? [But] on the Day when thy Sustainer's [final] portents do appear, believing will be of no avail to any human being who did not believe before, or who, while believing, did no good works. Say: "Wait, [then, for the Last Day, O unbelievers:] behold, we [believers] are waiting, too!"
The Clear Quran, Dr. Mustafa Khattab   
Are they awaiting the coming of the angels, or your Lord ˹Himself˺, or some of your Lord’s ˹major˺ signs? On the Day your Lord’s signs arrive, belief will not benefit those who did not believe earlier or those who did no good through their faith. Say, “Keep waiting! We too are waiting.”
Safi Kaskas   
Are they waiting for the angels to appear to them, or for your Lord to appear or for some of your Lord's signs to appear? On the Day when your Lord's signs appear, believing will be of no help to any human being who did not believe before, or who, while believing, did not do good deeds. Say, "Wait. We are also waiting."

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Source Arabic and Literal tools
Arabic   
هَلۡ یَنظُرُونَ إِلَّاۤ أَن تَأۡتِیَهُمُ ٱلۡمَلَـٰۤىِٕكَةُ أَوۡ یَأۡتِیَ رَبُّكَ أَوۡ یَأۡتِیَ بَعۡضُ ءَایَـٰتِ رَبِّكَۗ یَوۡمَ یَأۡتِی بَعۡضُ ءَایَـٰتِ رَبِّكَ لَا یَنفَعُ نَفۡسًا إِیمَـٰنُهَا لَمۡ تَكُنۡ ءَامَنَتۡ مِن قَبۡلُ أَوۡ كَسَبَتۡ فِیۤ إِیمَـٰنِهَا خَیۡرࣰاۗ قُلِ ٱنتَظِرُوۤا۟ إِنَّا مُنتَظِرُونَ ۝١٥٨
Transliteration (2021)   
hal yanẓurūna illā an tatiyahumu l-malāikatu aw yatiya rabbuka aw yatiya baʿḍu āyāti rabbika yawma yatī baʿḍu āyāti rabbika lā yanfaʿu nafsan īmānuhā lam takun āmanat min qablu aw kasabat fī īmānihā khayran quli intaẓirū innā muntaẓirūn
Word for Word
Dr. Shehnaz Shaikh, Ms. Kauser Katri, and more
  
Are they waiting except that comes to them the Angels or comes your Lord or comes some (of) (the) Signs (of) your Lord? (The) Day (when) comes some (of) (the) Signs (of) your Lord, not will benefit a soul its faith, not (if) it had believed from before or earned through its faith any good. Say, "Wait. Indeed, we (are) those who wait."

Generally Accepted Translations of the Meaning
Muhammad Asad   
Do they, perchance, wait for the angels to appear unto them, or for thy Sustainer [Himself] to appear, or for some of thy Sustainer's [final] portents to appear? [But] on the Day when thy Sustainer's [final] portents do appear, believing will be of no avail to any human being who did not believe before, or who, while believing, did no good works. Say: "Wait, [then, for the Last Day, O unbelievers:] behold, we [believers] are waiting, too!"
M. M. Pickthall   
Wait they, indeed, for nothing less than that the angels should come unto them, or thy Lord should come, or there should come one of the portents from thy Lord? In the day when one of the portents from thy Lord cometh, its belief availeth naught a soul which theretofore believed not, nor in its belief earned good (by works). Say: Wait ye! Lo! We (too) are waiting
Yusuf Ali (Saudi Rev. 1985)   
Are they waiting to see if the angels come to them, or thy Lord (Himself), or certain of the signs of thy Lord! the day that certain of the signs of thy Lord do come, no good will it do to a soul to believe in them then if it believed not before nor earned righteousness through its faith. Say: "Wait ye: we too are waiting."
The Clear Quran, Dr. Mustafa Khattab   
Are they awaiting the coming of the angels, or your Lord ˹Himself˺, or some of your Lord’s ˹major˺ signs? On the Day your Lord’s signs arrive, belief will not benefit those who did not believe earlier or those who did no good through their faith. Say, “Keep waiting! We too are waiting.”
Safi Kaskas   
Are they waiting for the angels to appear to them, or for your Lord to appear or for some of your Lord's signs to appear? On the Day when your Lord's signs appear, believing will be of no help to any human being who did not believe before, or who, while believing, did not do good deeds. Say, "Wait. We are also waiting."
Wahiduddin Khan   
Are they waiting for the angels or your Lord to come down to them, or for some of your Lords signs to come? The day when some of the signs of your Lord shall come, it shall not profit any human being who did not believe before, or who did not do any good by his faith. Say to them, Wait then, we too are waiting
Shakir   
They do not wait aught but that the angels should come to them, or that your Lord should come, or that some of the signs of your Lord should come. On the day when some of the signs of your Lord shall come, its faith shall not profit a soul which did not believe before, or earn good through its faith. Say: Wait; we too are waiting
Dr. Laleh Bakhtiar   
Look they on only that the angels approach them? Or thy Lord approach them? Or some signs of thy Lord approach them? On a Day that approach some signs of thy Lord, belief will not profit a person if he believed not before, nor earned good because of his belief. Say: Wait awhile! We too are ones who are waiting awhile!
T.B.Irving   
Are they only waiting for angels to come to them or for your Lord to arrive, or for some of your Lord´s signs to come? On the day when some of your Lord´s signs arrive, belief in them will not benefit any person who has not believed in them already, nor earned some good through his [profession of] faith. SAY: "Wait; we too are waiting!"
Abdul Hye   
Are they waiting except that the angels should come to them, or your Lord should come, or some Verses of your Lord should come! The day when some Verses of your Lord do come, a soul will not benefit its belief if it had not believed before, or earned good through its faith. Say: “You wait! We (too) are waiting.”
The Study Quran   
Do they await aught but that the angels should come upon them, or that thy Lord should come, or one of the signs of thy Lord should come? On the day that one of the signs of thy Lord does come, believing will be of no avail to any soul that did not believe beforehand and did not earn some goodness in its belief. Say, “Wait! We, too, are waiting.
Talal Itani & AI (2024)   
Are they awaiting the descent of the angels, the arrival of your Lord Himself, or the manifestation of some of your Lord’s signs? On the day when some of these signs from your Lord do appear, faith won’t benefit any soul which didn’t believe before, or which didn’t earn any good by its faith. Say, “Wait; we, too, are waiting.”
Talal Itani (2012)   
Are they waiting for anything but for the angels to come to them, or for your Lord to arrive, or for some of your Lord's signs to come? On the Day when some of your Lord's signs come, no soul will benefit from its faith unless it had believed previously, or had earned goodness through its faith. Say, 'Wait, we too are waiting.'
Dr. Kamal Omar   
Do they await? (They await nothing) except that may come to them angels or comes your Nourisher-Sustainer, or there come some of the signs of your Nourisher-Sustainer. The Day there come some of the Signs of your Nourisher-Sustainer — shall not provide benefit to a Nafs her Faith if she does not become (one who) developed Faith before (this phenomenon), or she earned through her Faith (some) good (to her credit). Say: “Wait you! We are also (among) those who wait.”
M. Farook Malik   
Are they waiting for the angels or your Lord to come down to them or are they waiting to be given a certain sign of your Lord! On the Day when that certain sign of your Lord appears, the belief will not profit that soul which did not believe before, or who, while professing to believe did not do good deeds. Say to them: "Wait if you will; we too are waiting."
Muhammad Mahmoud Ghali   
Do they look for (nothing) except that the Angels should come up to them, or that your Lord should come up, or that some of the signs of your Lord should come up? On the Day some of the signs of your Lord come up, its belief will not profit a self that did not believe earlier or earned some charity, (i.e., benefits) in its belief. Say, "Wait! Surely we (too) are waiting."
Muhammad Sarwar   
Are they waiting until the angels or your Lord come to them or for some miracles to take place? On the day when some miracles of God will take place, the belief of any soul will be of no avail to it unless some good deeds have been done with it, or it has been formed before the coming of such a day. (Muhammad), tell them, "Wait and we, too, are waiting."
Muhammad Taqi Usmani   
They are waiting for nothing less than that the angels should come to them, or your Lord or some signs of your Lord should come. The day some signs of your Lord will come, the believing of a person shall be of no use to him who had never believed before, or had not earned some good through his faith. Say, .Wait. Of course, we are waiting
Shabbir Ahmed   
Are they waiting for angels, your Lord, or some physical miracles to come to them? On the Day one of such Signs comes, no person will benefit from declaring belief if he did not believe before. Or who, while believing, did not do good works. (Belief has to be based on Reason and it must lead you to a productive life). Say, "Keep on waiting (for miracles), we too are waiting (for the results of our efforts)"
Dr. Munir Munshey   
Now what are they waiting for? Do they expect the angels to come to them (with their death warrants)? Or for your Lord (Himself) to show up? Or any one of the (final and manifest) signs from your Lord to appear? (Professing) belief on the day any such signs appear will not benefit those who had not believed earlier, nor those who had failed to earn any good deeds with their belief. Say to them, "Go ahead and wait! We too shall wait with you!"
Syed Vickar Ahamed   
Are they waiting to see if angels come to them or your Lord (Himself), or certain of the Signs of your Lord! The day that certain of the Signs of your Lord do come, it will not do good to a soul to believe in them then, if it did not believe before nor earned righteousness through its Faith. Say: "You wait: We are also waiting."
Umm Muhammad (Sahih International)   
Do they [then] wait for anything except that the angels should come to them or your Lord should come or that there come some of the signs of your Lord? The Day that some of the signs of your Lord will come no soul will benefit from its faith as long as it had not believed before or had earned through its faith some good. Say, "Wait. Indeed, we [also] are waiting."
[The Monotheist Group] (2011 Edition)   
Do they wait until the Angels will come to them, or your Lord comes, or some signs from your Lord The day some signs come from your Lord, it will do no good for any soul to believe if it did not believe before, or it gained good through its belief. Say: "Wait, for we are waiting."
Abdel Haleem   
Are they waiting for the very angels to come to them, or your Lord Himself, or maybe some of His signs? But on the Day some of your Lord’s signs come, no soul will profit from faith if it had none before, or has not already earned some good through its faith. Say, ‘Wait if you wish: we too are waiting.’
Abdul Majid Daryabadi   
They await indeed that the angel should come unto them, or that thy Lord should come or that certain of the signs of thy Lord should come. On the Day whereon certain of the signs of thy Lord will come, belief will not profit any person who had not believed theretofore or had not earned any good by his belief. Say thou: so wait ye verily we also are waiting
Ahmed Ali   
What are the people waiting for? For the angels to come down, or your Lord to appear, or some signs from your Lord? The day when certain signs appear from your Lord, the embracing of faith shall not be of any avail to one who did not come to belief at first, or who did not perform good deeds by virtue of his faith. Tell them: "Wait on, we are waiting too (for the good and evil to become distinct)."
Aisha Bewley   
What are they waiting for but for the angels to come to them or for your Lord Himself to come, or for one of your Lord´s Signs to come? On the day that one of your Lord´s Signs does come, no iman which a self professes will be of any use to it if it did not have iman before and earn good in its iman. Say: ´Wait, then; We too are waiting.´
Ali Ünal   
Do they wait only for the angels to come to them (to take their souls or bring them a disaster), or for your Lord to judge them (and bring forth Hell for them), or for some clear signs of your Lord to appear (such as rocks pouring down on them, which they want you to show them, or signs signaling the final destruction of the world)? When some clears signs of your Lord appear, believing will be of no avail to anyone who did not believe before, or who has earned no good through his belief. Say (to them, O Messenger): "Wait on, we too are waiting!"
Ali Quli Qara'i   
Do they await anything but that the angels should come to them, or your Lord should come, or some of your Lord’s signs should come? The day when some of your Lord’s signs do come, faith shall not benefit any soul that had not believed beforehand and had not earned some goodness in its faith. Say, ‘Wait! We too are waiting!’
Hamid S. Aziz   
Do they wait, expecting that the angels should come for them, or that your Lord (Himself) should come, or that one of the Signs of your Lord should come? On the day when the Sign does come, its faith shall profit no soul which did not believe before, nor
Ali Bakhtiari Nejad   
Are they waiting for the angels to come to them or your Lord to come or some of your Lord's signs to come? The day when some of your Lord's signs come, a person will not benefit from its belief if it did not believe from before or if it did not earn any good by its belief. Say: “Wait, indeed we are waiting too.”
A.L. Bilal Muhammad et al (2018)   
Are they waiting to see if the angels will come to them, or your Lord Himself, or some of the signs of your Lord? The day that some of the signs of your Lord will come, no good will it do for one to believe in them then, if he believed not before, nor earned righteousness through his faith. Say, “Wait, we too are waiting.
Musharraf Hussain   
Is this what they are waiting for: that angels should come to them, or your Lord, or some signs of your Lord? On the day when some of your Lord’s signs come, there a person’s faith will be of no benefit unless it already believed, or had earned some good because of faith. Say: “Wait and see, for we too are waiting.
Maududi   
What! Do they wait either for the angels to appear before them or for your Lord to come unto them or for some clear signs of your Lord1 to appear before them? When some clear signs of your Lord will appear, believing will be of no avail to anyone who did not believe before, or who earned no good deeds through hi
[The Monotheist Group] (2013 Edition)   
Do they wait until the angels come to them, or your Lord comes, or certain signs come from your Lord? The day certain signs come from your Lord, it will do no good for any soul to believe if it did not believe before, or it gained good through its belief. Say: "Wait, for we are waiting."
Mohammad Shafi   
Are they waiting for nothing but that the angels should come to them or that your Lord should come, or that some of the signs of your Lord should come? The day when some of the signs of your Lord do come, one's belief then shall be of no benefit to anyone who had already not attained faith or earned good points through one's faith before! Say, "Just you wait! We too are waiting."

Controversial or status undetermined works
Ahmed Raza Khan (Barelvi)   
What they are waiting for, but for this that the angels should come to them, or that the torment of your Lord should come, or that a sign off your Lord will come? The day when that one sign of your Lord will come. Believing will not profit any soul that did not believe before or had not earned any good in its belief. Then say you. 'Wait, we also wait.'
Rashad Khalifa   
Are they waiting for the angels to come to them, or your Lord, or some physical manifestations of your Lord? The day this happens, no soul will benefit from believing if it did not believe before that, and did not reap the benefits of belief by leading a righteous life. Say, "Keep on waiting; we too are waiting."
Hasan Al-Fatih Qaribullah   
Are they waiting for the angels or your Lord to come to them, or for some of the signs of your Lord? On the Day when some of the signs of your Lord come, no soul will be benefited by its belief had it not believed before or earned good in its belief. Say: 'Wait, we are waiting.
Maulana Muhammad Ali   
They wait not aught but that the angels should come to them, or that thy Lord should come, or that some of the signs of thy Lord should come. On the day when some of the signs of thy Lord come, its faith will not profit a soul which believed not before, nor earned good through its faith. Say: Wait; we too are waiting
Muhammad Ahmed & Samira   
Do they wait except that the angels come to them , or your Lord comes, or some (of) your Lord's verses/evidences come? (On) a day/time some (of) your Lord's verses/evidences come, a self's belief does not benefit (it) if it was (had) not believed from before, or gained goodness in its belief, say: "Wait/watch , We are waiting/watching."
Bijan Moeinian   
What else do they expect? That the angels should come down before them or that your Lord Himself appear to them or another [and another and another] miracle? If such day comes, then no disbeliever's belief at that time [like Pharaoh's belief at the moment when he was being drowned] will benefit him. Your only response to these disbelievers should be: "Wait, if you will: We too will wait."
Faridul Haque   
What are they waiting for - except that the angels come to them, or the punishment from your Lord, or one of the signs of your Lord? On the day when the (foretold) sign of your Lord comes, not a single soul who had not earlier accepted faith nor earned any good from its faith, will benefit from accepting faith; say, “Wait - we too are waiting.”
Sher Ali   
They are but waiting that angels should come to them or that thy Lord should come or there should come some of the Signs of thy Lord. The day when some of the Signs of thy Lord shall come, it shall not profit a soul to believe, which had not believed before, nor earned any good by its faith. Say, `Wait ye, we too are waiting.
Dr. Mohammad Tahir-ul-Qadri   
They are just waiting for the angels (of torment) to reach them, or your Lord to come (Himself), or some (exclusive) signs of your Lord to come (perceptibly. Tell them:) ‘The Day when some signs of your Lord will come (in such an evident way, then accepting) the belief will not benefit someone who had not believed before, or did not earn any good (in the state of) having believed.’ Say: ‘Wait; we (too) are waiting.
Amatul Rahman Omar   
Do they await only that the angels should come to them (with wars), or that (complete destruction from) your Lord should come (upon them), or that some of the signs of your Lord should visit them (with earthly calamities). The day when some of the signs of your Lord shall come, no soul, that did not believe earlier or accomplished some good deeds through (his) belief, will ever benefit by his faith. Say, `Wait, we too are waiting.
Muhsin Khan & Muhammad al-Hilali   
Do they then wait for anything other than that the angels should come to them, or that your Lord should come, or that some of the Signs of your Lord should come (i.e. portents of the Hour e.g., arising of the sun from the west)! The day that some of the Signs of your Lord do come, no good will it do to a person to believe then, if he believed not before, nor earned good (by performing deeds of righteousness) through his Faith. Say: "Wait you! we (too) are waiting."

Non-Muslim and/or Orientalist works
Arthur John Arberry   
What, do they look for the angels to come to them, nothing less, or that thy Lord should come, or that one of thy Lord's signs should come? On the day that one of thy Lord's signs comes it shall not profit a soul to believe that never believed before, or earned some good in his belief. Say: 'Watch and wait; We too are waiting.
George Sale   
Do they wait for any other than that the angels should come unto them, to part their souls from their bodies; or that thy Lord should come to punish them; or that some of the signs of thy Lord should come to pass, shewing the day of judgement to be at hand? On the day whereon some of thy Lord's signs shall come to pass, its faith shall not profit a soul which believed not before, or wrought not good in its faith. Say, wait ye for this day; we surely do wait for it
Edward Henry Palmer   
What do they expect but that the angels should come for them, or that thy Lord should come, or that some signs of thy Lord should come? On the day when some signs do come, its faith shall profit no soul which did not believe before, unless it has earned some good by its faith. Say, 'Wait ye expectant, then we wait expectant too.
John Medows Rodwell   
What wait they for, but the coming of the angels to them, or the coming of thy Lord Himself, or that some of the sings of the Lord should come to pass? On the day when some of thy Lord's signs shall come to pass, its faith shall not profit a soul which believed not before, nor wrought good works in virtue of its faith. SAY: Wait ye. Verily, we will wait also
N J Dawood (2014)   
Are they waiting for the angels to come to them, or for your Lord to come, or for a sign of your Lord to come? On the day some sign of your Lord does come, faith shall not avail the soul that had no faith before or did not put its faith to good uses. Say: ‘Wait if you will; we too are waiting.‘

New, Partial, or In Progress Translations
Fode Drame   
Are they waiting for anything other than that the angels will come upon them or that your Lord will come or that some of the signs of your Lord will come? The day when some of the signs of your Lord will come, the belief of any soul will be of no use to it, if it had not believed before or had not earned any good in its belief. Say, “Wait. Indeed we are also waiting.”
Munir Mezyed   
Are they waiting for nothing less than that the Angels should come to them, or that your Lord Himself should come, or that some of the (miraculous) signs of your Lord should come? On the day that one of the (miraculous) signs of your Lord comes, no Human Person will be benefited by his belief had he not believed before or earned good in his belief. Say: “Wait! We too are waiting!”
Sahib Mustaqim Bleher   
Do they expect nothing but that the angels should come to them or your Lord should come or some of the signs of your Lord should come? The day some of the signs of your Lord will come, nobody´s belief will benefit anyone who has not believed before then or earned good within his belief. Say: wait, we are also waiting.
Linda “iLHam” Barto   
Are they waiting to see if angels, or the Lord, or certain signs of the Lord come to them? The day that certain signs do come, it won’t do any good for any soul to believe in them then if it didn’t believe before and did not earn goodness through faith. Say, “Wait; we are certainly waiting.”
Fadel Soliman, Bridges‘ Translation   
Are they waiting for anything but for the angels to come to them or for your Lord to come or for some of your Lord’s signs to come? On the day when some of your Lord’s signs come, no self will benefit from attaining faith unless it had attained faith previously or had earned goodness through its faith. Saysg, “Wait; indeed, we too are waiting.”
Irving & Mohamed Hegab   
Are they only waiting for angels to come to them or for your Lord to arrive, or for some of your Lord's signs (the Day of Judgement’s signs) to come? On the day when some of your Lord's signs arrive, belief in them will not benefit any person who has not believed in them already, nor earned some good through his [profession of] faith. SAY: "Wait; we too are waiting!"
Samy Mahdy   
Are they waiting except that the angels would come to them, or your Lord would come or that some of your Lord’s verses would come? A Day when some of your Lord’s verses would come, no soul would benefit from its faith as long as it had not believed before, or had earned within its faith a goodness. Say, "Wait, surely we are waiting."
Sayyid Qutb   
Are they waiting for the angels to come to them, or for your Lord [Himself], or certain of your Lord's signs to appear? On the day when certain of your Lord's signs do appear, believing will be of no avail to any human being who did not believe before, or who did not put its faith to good uses. Say: Wait if you will; we too are waiting.
Ahmed Hulusi   
Are they waiting for angels, or for their Rabb, or for the miracles of their Rabb to come to them in order to believe? The faith of he who had not believed before or whose faith did not benefit him (was not internalized) will be of no use when he sees the extraordinary signs of his Rabb! Say, “Wait, for we are also waiting.”
Sayyed Abbas Sadr-Ameli   
Do they await anything but that the angels should come to them, or your Lord should come, or some of your Lord's Signs should come ? On the day when some of the Signs of your Lord come, the faith (and repentance) will not benefit anyone who had not believed beforehand and had not earned goodness through his faith. Say: ' Wait ! we too are waiting '
Al-muntakhab fi tafsir al-Qur‘an al-Karim   
Do they purpose to wait until some fitting event presents itself and they distinctly perceive the angels or perceive Allah, your Creator, Himself by sight or. Some of His signs evincing both His Omnipotence and the truth of your mission! But when such overwhelming signs present themselves, no soul which did not surrender itself earlier to Allah's Authority nor accomplished a useful purpose in virtue of its faith, shall profit of its submission now. Say to them: "Await the justice prepared above in heaven's realm and we will await it also"
Mir Aneesuddin   
Do they wait for anything else than that the angels should come to them or your Fosterer should come or some signs of your Fosterer should come. The day some signs of your Fosterer come, the believing of a soul (anyone, after seeing the signs on that day) will not profit him who neither believed earlier nor earned good through his belief. Say, "(All of you) wait, we too are certainly waiting."

Obsolete and/or older editions
Yusuf Ali (Orig. 1938)   
Are they waiting to see if the angels come to them, or thy Lord (Himself), or certain of the signs of thy Lord! the day that certain of the signs of thy Lord do come, no good will it do to a soul to believe in them then if it believed not befor e nor earned righteousness through its faith. Say: "Wait ye: we too are waiting."
OLD Literal Word for Word   
Are they waiting except that comes to them the Angels or comes your Lord or comes some (of) (the) Signs (of) your Lord? (The) Day (when) comes some (of) (the) Signs (of) your Lord, not will benefit a soul its faith, (if) it had not believed before or earned through its faith any good. Say, "Wait. Indeed, we (are) those who wait.
OLD Transliteration   
Hal yanthuroona illa an ta/tiyahumu almala-ikatu aw ya/tiya rabbuka aw ya/tiya baAAdu ayati rabbika yawma ya/tee baAAdu ayati rabbika la yanfaAAu nafsan eemanuha lam takun amanat min qablu aw kasabat fee eemaniha khayran quli intathiroo inna muntathiroona