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Muhammad Asad   
[and] after having bound one another by an oath in God’s name, they said: “Indeed, we shall suddenly fall upon him and his household by night [and slay them all]; and then we shall boldly say to his next of kin, ‘We did not witness the destruction of his household - and, behold, we are indeed men of truth!’&rdquo
The Clear Quran, Dr. Mustafa Khattab   
They vowed, “Let us swear by Allah that we will take him and his family down by night. Then we will certainly say to his ˹closest˺ heirs, ‘We did not witness the murder of his family. We are definitely telling the truth.’”
Safi Kaskas   
They said to each other, "Let's take an oath by God that we will kill him and his family tonight. Then we will say to his protector, 'we did not witness the destruction of his family, and we are truthful.'"

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Source Arabic and Literal tools
Arabic   
قَالُوا تَقَاسَمُوا بِاللَّهِ لَنُبَيِّتَنَّهُ وَأَهْلَهُ ثُمَّ لَنَقُولَنَّ لِوَلِيِّهِ مَا شَهِدْنَا مَهْلِكَ أَهْلِهِ وَإِنَّا لَصَادِقُون
Transliteration (2021)   
qālū taqāsamū bil-lahi lanubayyitannahu wa-ahlahu thumma lanaqūlanna liwaliyyihi mā shahid'nā mahlika ahlihi wa-innā laṣādiqūn
Word for Word
Dr. Shehnaz Shaikh, Ms. Kauser Katri, and more
  
They said, "Swear to each other by Allah surely, we will attack him by night, and his family. Then we will surely say to his heir, "Not we witnessed (the) destruction (of) his family, and indeed, we (are) surely truthful."

Generally Accepted Translations of the Meaning
Muhammad Asad   
[and] after having bound one another by an oath in God’s name, they said: “Indeed, we shall suddenly fall upon him and his household by night [and slay them all]; and then we shall boldly say to his next of kin, ‘We did not witness the destruction of his household - and, behold, we are indeed men of truth!’&rdquo
M. M. Pickthall   
They said: Swear one to another by Allah that we verily will attack him and his household by night, and afterward we will surely say unto his friend: We witnessed not the destruction of his household. And lo! we are truthtellers
Yusuf Ali (Saudi Rev. 1985)   
They said: "Swear a mutual oath by Allah that we shall make a secret night attack on him and his people, and that we shall then say to his heir (when he seeks vengeance): 'We were not present at the slaughter of his people, and we are positively telling the truth.'"
The Clear Quran, Dr. Mustafa Khattab   
They vowed, “Let us swear by Allah that we will take him and his family down by night. Then we will certainly say to his ˹closest˺ heirs, ‘We did not witness the murder of his family. We are definitely telling the truth.’”
Safi Kaskas   
They said to each other, "Let's take an oath by God that we will kill him and his family tonight. Then we will say to his protector, 'we did not witness the destruction of his family, and we are truthful.'"
Wahiduddin Khan   
They said, Let us bind ourselves by an oath sworn in the name of God that we shall attack Salih and his family by night, and to his protector [who demands retribution], we shall say, We were not present when they were slain. We are telling the truth
Shakir   
They said: Swear to each other by Allah that we will certainly make a sudden attack on him and his family by night, then we will say to his heir: We did not witness the destruction of his family, and we are most surely truthful
Dr. Laleh Bakhtiar   
They said: Swear to one another by God: We will, certainly, attack him by night and his people. Again, we will, certainly, say to his protector: We bore not witness to the destruction of his people and, truly, we are ones who are sincere.
T.B.Irving   
They said: "Let´s all swear by God that we shall catch him and his family some night. Then we shall tell his next of kin: ´We did not witness the slaughter of his family. We are telling the truth!"´
Abdul Hye   
They said: “Swear one to another by Allah so that we shall surely make a night attack on him and his family, and afterwards we will surely say to his near relatives: we did not witness the destruction of his family, and surely! We are truthful.”
The Study Quran   
They said, “Swear by God to each other that we shall attack him and his family by night. Then we shall surely say to his heir that we were not present at the destruction of his family and that surely we are truthful.
Dr. Kamal Omar   
They said : " Swear one to another by Allah that we shall make a secret night attack on him and his household; afterwards we will surely say to his heir-attorney: ‘We witnessed not the slaying place of his household and verily, we are surely those who tell the truth.'
Farook Malik   
They said to one another: "Let us pledge on oath by Allah that we shall make a secret night attack on him and his family, then we shall tell his guardian that we were not even present at the time his family was killed, and that we are telling the truth."
Talal A. Itani (new translation)   
They said, 'Swear by God to one another that we will attack him and his family by night, and then tell his guardian, 'We did not witness the murder of his family, and we are being truthful.''
Muhammad Mahmoud Ghali   
They said, "Swear, one to another, by Allah that indeed we will definitely attack him and his family by night. Thereafter indeed we will definitely say to his patron, "In no way did we testify to the perishing of his family; and surely we are indeed sincere (men)."
Muhammad Sarwar   
They said, "Let us swear by God to do away with him and his family during the night then tell his guardian that we did not see how he and his family had been destroyed, and we shall be telling the truth."
Muhammad Taqi Usmani   
They said, .Let us swear a mutual oath by Allah that we shall attack him (SaliH) and his family at night, then will say to his heir, ‘We did not witness the destruction of his family, and we are really truthful.‘
Shabbir Ahmed   
They called a meeting and after swearing to one another in the name of Allah, said, "Indeed, we shall ambush him and his family by night, and afterward we shall boldly say to his tribe, We know nothing about their death. And, behold, we are men of truth.' "
Dr. Munir Munshey   
They said to each other, "Let us swear by Allah, and be bound by the oath that: We will definitely assault him at night and (taking advantage of the surprise) put him and his family to death. Later on, we will tell his supporters that we were not present when his family was slain, and we are telling the truth!"
Syed Vickar Ahamed   
(Among themselves) they said: "Make a common oath by Allah that we shall make a secret night-attack on him (Salih) and his household, and that we shall then tell his heirs (when they want to punish us): 'We were not there at the killing of his household, and verily, we are surely telling the truth'. "
Umm Muhammad (Sahih International)   
They said, "Take a mutual oath by Allah that we will kill him by night, he and his family. Then we will say to his executor, 'We did not witness the destruction of his family, and indeed, we are truthful.' "
[The Monotheist Group] (2011 Edition)   
They said: "Swear by God to one another that we will attack him and his family at night, and we will then say to his supporters: "We did not witness who murdered his family, and we are being truthful""
Abdel Haleem   
They said, ‘Swear by God: we shall attack this man and his household in the night, then say to his next of kin, “We did not witness the destruction of his household. We are telling the truth.”&rsquo
Abdul Majid Daryabadi   
They said: swear one to anot her by God that we shall surely fall upon him and his household by night and thereafter we shall surely say unto his heir; We witnessed not the destruction of his household, and verily we are truthtellers
Ahmed Ali   
They said: "Let us swear by God that we will attack Saleh and his family at night, and later tell his heirs: 'We did not see his family destroyed, and we speak the truth.'"
Aisha Bewley   
They said, ´Let us make an oath to one another by Allah that we will fall on him and his family in the night and then say to his protector, "We did not witness the destruction of his family and we are telling the truth."´
Ali Ünal   
They said, swearing in God’s Name: "We will certainly swoop on him and his family by night suddenly and kill them all. Then we will assuredly say to his heirs that we did not witness the destruction of his family (nor of Salih himself); indeed we speak the truth."
Ali Quli Qara'i   
They said, ‘[Let us] swear together by Allah that we will attack him and his family by night. Then we will surely tell his heir that we were not present at the murder of his family and we indeed speak the truth.’
Hamid S. Aziz   
Said they, "Swear to each other by Allah that we will surely fall on him and his people by night; then we will surely say unto his family, ´We witnessed not the destruction of his household; and we are truth tellers!´"
Ali Bakhtiari Nejad   
They said: (let us) swear by God that we shall attack (and kill) him and his family at night, then we shall say to his heirs (and friends) that we were not present at the killing of his family, and we are certainly truthful
A.L. Bilal Muhammad et al (2018)   
They said, “Swear a mutual promise by God that we will make a secret night attack on him and his people, and that we will then say to his heir when he seeks vengeance, ‘We were not present at the slaughter of his people, and we are indeed telling the truth.’
Musharraf Hussain   
They said, “Let us swear by Allah to attack him and his family by night, then tell his guardian that we were not witnesses to his family’s demise and that we are telling the truth.”
Maududi   
They said: "Swear to one another in the name of Allah that we shall make a sudden night swoop on Salih and his family and will then tell their heirs that we did not witness the destruction of his family. We are indeed truthful."
[The Monotheist Group] (2013 Edition)   
They said: "Swear by God to one another that we will attack him and his family at night, and we will then say to his supporters: 'We did not witness who murdered his family, and we are being truthful'
Mohammad Shafi   
They said, "Swear to one another by Allah that we shall surely attack him and his family by night. And then we shall say to his next of kin, `We were not witness to the destruction of his family, and we are of course telling the truth!'"

Controversial or status undetermined works
Ahmed Raza Khan (Barelvi)   
They said swearing by Allah among each other, 'we shall necessarily fall upon Saleh and his household by night, then we shall say to his heir, we were not present at the time of murder of the members of this family and undoubtedly, we are truthful'.
Rashad Khalifa   
They said, "Let us swear by GOD that we kill him and his people, then tell his tribe, `We know nothing about their death. We are truthful.' "
Hasan Al-Fatih Qaribullah   
They said: 'Let us swear by Allah to attack him and his family at night, then we will tell his guardian we were not witnesses of the destruction of his family; and surely we are truthful.
Maulana Muhammad Ali   
They said: Swear one to another by Allah that we shall attack him and his family by night, then we shall say to his heir: We witnessed not the destruction of his family, and we are surely truthful
Muhammad Ahmed - Samira   
They said: "Swear/make oath (to each other) by God: 'We will attack him suddenly at night (E) and his people/family , then we will say (E) to his guardian/ally , we did not witness his people's/family's death/destruction , and we are (E) truthful (E).' "
Bijan Moeinian   
They got together and said: “Let us kill Saleh and his followers and then deny the whole thing. However, we have to swear to God that this will remain a secret of ours.”
Faridul Haque   
Swearing by Allah they said to one another, “We will indeed attack him and his family at night, and then say to his heir, ‘We were not present at the time of slaying of this household, and indeed we are truthful.’ ”
Sher Ali   
They said, `Swear one to another by ALLAH that we will surely attack him and his family by night, and then we will say to his heir, `We witnessed not the destruction of his family, and most surely we are truthful.
Dr. Mohammad Tahir-ul-Qadri   
(These leaders) said: ‘Vow amongst yourselves by swearing in the Name of Allah that we will certainly launch a murder attack against Salih and his family at night, and will then tell their heirs that we were not present on the occasion of their murder. And surely, we are telling the truth.
Amatul Rahman Omar   
They said one to another, `Let us swear by Allah that we will surely make a raid on him (-Salih) and his family by night and then we will say to his claimant (- the next of kin, if he seeks vengeance) that we were not present at the time and place of the destruction of his family and most surely we speak the truth.
Muhsin Khan & Muhammad al-Hilali   
They said: "Swear one to another by Allah that we shall make a secret night attack on him and his household, and afterwards we will surely say to his near relatives: We witnessed not the destruction of his household, and verily! We are telling the truth."

Non-Muslim and/or Orientalist works
Arthur John Arberry   
they said, 'Swear you, one to another, by God, "We will attack him and his family by night, then we will tell his protector, We were not witnesses of the destruction of his family; and assuredly we are truthful men."
George Sale   
And they said unto one another, swear ye reciprocally by God, that we will fall upon Saleh and his family by night: And afterwards we will say unto him who hath right to avenge his blood, we were not so much as present at the destruction of his family; and we certainly speak the truth
Edward Henry Palmer   
Said they, 'Swear to each other by God, we will surely fall on him by night and on his people; then we will surely say unto his next of kin, " We witnessed not the destruction of his people, and we do surely tell the truth!"
John Medows Rodwell   
They said, "Swear ye to one another by God that we will surely fall on him and on his family by night: then will be say to the avenger of blood, we witnessed not the destruction of his family: and verily we speak the truth."
N J Dawood (2014)   
They said: ‘Let us swear in the name of God to kill him in the night, together with all his household. And we will say to his next of kin: "We did not witness his family‘s murder. It is the truth we are telling."‘

New, Partial, or In Progress Translations
Linda “iLHam” Barto   
They said, “Swear a mutual oath by Allah that we will assault him and his people at night. Then we will tell his heir, ‘We were not present at the killing of his people, and we are positively telling the truth.’”
Irving & Mohamed Hegab   
They said: "Let's all swear by Allah (God) that we shall catch him and his family some night. Then we shall tell his next of kin: 'We did not witness the slaughter of his family. We are telling the truth!"'
Sayyid Qutb   
They said: 'Let us swear a mutual oath by God that we shall suddenly kill him and his household by night; and then we shall boldly say to his next of kin, “We did not witness the destruction of his household; and we are indeed telling the truth.”
Ahmed Hulusi   
Swearing with the oath, “By Allah” they said, “Let us attack (and kill) him and his family in the night, and to his guardian, we shall say, ‘We are unaware of his and his family’s death; indeed, we are telling the truth.’”
Sayyed Abbas Sadr-Ameli   
They said: �Swear a mutual oath by Allah that surely we will make a sudden attack on him and his family by night, then we will tell his heir, we were not present at the slaughter of his household, and verily we are truthful�
Al-muntakhab fi tafsir al-Qur'an al-Karim   
They mutually agreed and resolved under oath (their kind of oath) to launch an attack upon him -Saleh- and his people by night to finish them off and rid the town of them and then declare their innocence to his next of kin and insist on their statement, thus: "We", they would say, "were never present at the scene of the massacre of his people and this is the truth"
Mir Aneesuddin   
They said, “Swear to each other by Allah that we will definitely attack him and his people by night, then we will definitely say to his heir: we did not witness the destruction of his people and we certainly speak the truth.”

Obsolete and/or older editions
Yusuf Ali (Orig. 1938)   
They said: "Swear a mutual oath by God that we shall make a secret night attack on him and his people, and that we shall then say to his heir (when he seeks vengeance): 'We were not present at the slaughter of his people, and we are positively telling the truth.'"
OLD Literal Word for Word   
They said, "Swear to each other by Allah surely, we will attack him by and his family. Then we will surely say to his heir, "Not we witnessed (the) destruction (of) his family, and indeed, we (are) surely truthful.