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Popular and/or Featured Works
Muhammad Asad   
[And as for you others,] return to your father and say: `O our father! Behold, thy son has stolen-but we [can] bear witness to no more than what has become known to us; and [although we gave you our pledge,] we could not guard against something that [lay hidden in the future and, hence,] was beyond the reach of our perception
The Clear Quran, Dr. Mustafa Khattab   
Return to your father and say, ‘O our father! Your son committed theft. We testify only to what we know. We could not guard against the unforeseen.
Safi Kaskas   
[As for you others,] return to your father and say, “Father, your son has stolen [the king’s cup]. We can tell you only what we saw. How could we guard against the unforeseen?

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Source Arabic and Literal tools
Arabic   
ٱرۡجِعُوۤا۟ إِلَىٰۤ أَبِیكُمۡ فَقُولُوا۟ یَـٰۤأَبَانَاۤ إِنَّ ٱبۡنَكَ سَرَقَ وَمَا شَهِدۡنَاۤ إِلَّا بِمَا عَلِمۡنَا وَمَا كُنَّا لِلۡغَیۡبِ حَـٰفِظِینَ ۝٨١
Transliteration (2021)   
ir'jiʿū ilā abīkum faqūlū yāabānā inna ib'naka saraqa wamā shahid'nā illā bimā ʿalim'nā wamā kunnā lil'ghaybi ḥāfiẓīn
Word for Word
Dr. Shehnaz Shaikh, Ms. Kauser Katri, and more
  
Return to your father and say, 'O our father! Indeed, your son has stolen, and not we testify except of what we knew. And not we were of the unseen guardians.

Generally Accepted Translations of the Meaning
Muhammad Asad   
[And as for you others,] return to your father and say: `O our father! Behold, thy son has stolen-but we [can] bear witness to no more than what has become known to us; and [although we gave you our pledge,] we could not guard against something that [lay hidden in the future and, hence,] was beyond the reach of our perception
M. M. Pickthall   
Return unto your father and say: O our father! Lo! thy son hath stolen. We testify only to that which we know; we are not guardians of the Unseen
Yusuf Ali (Saudi Rev. 1985)   
"Turn ye back to your father, and say, 'O our father! behold! thy son committed theft! we bear witness only to what we know, and we could not well guard against the unseen
The Clear Quran, Dr. Mustafa Khattab   
Return to your father and say, ‘O our father! Your son committed theft. We testify only to what we know. We could not guard against the unforeseen.
Safi Kaskas   
[As for you others,] return to your father and say, “Father, your son has stolen [the king’s cup]. We can tell you only what we saw. How could we guard against the unforeseen?
Wahiduddin Khan   
Return to your father and say, Father, your son has committed a theft. We testify only to what we know. How could we guard against the unforeseen
Shakir   
Go back to your father and say: O our father! surely your son committed theft, and we do not bear witness except to what we have known, and we could not keep watch over the unseen
Dr. Laleh Bakhtiar   
Return to your father and say: O our father! Truly, thy son stole and we bore witness only to what we knew. And we had not been ones who guard the unseen.
T.B.Irving   
Return to your father and say: ´Our father, your son has stolen something! Yet we testify only about what we know and are not guardians of the Unseen.
Abdul Hye   
Return to your father and say: “O our father! Surely, your son (Benjamin) has stolen. We don’t testify except according to what we know, and we could not be guardians of the unseen!
The Study Quran   
Return unto your father and say, ‘O father! Verily your son has committed theft. And we bore witness to that which we knew, but we are not keepers of the unseen
Talal Itani & AI (2024)   
“Go back to your father, and say, ‘O our father, your son committed theft, and we testify only to what we know, and we couldn’t guard against the unforeseen.’”
Talal Itani (2012)   
'Go back to your father, and say, 'Our father, your son has stolen. We testify only to what we know, and we could not have prevented the unforeseen.''
Dr. Kamal Omar   
Go back to your father and say, ‘O our father! Verily, your son has committed theft, and we did not directly see except what we came to know, and we are not protectors for what is unseen and hidden
M. Farook Malik   
Go back to your father and tell him, "father, your son committed theft. We did not see him stealing, we testify only to what we know. How could we guard against the unforeseen
Muhammad Mahmoud Ghali   
Return to your father and so say, 'O our father, surely your son stole; and in no way do we testify except to what we know; and in no way were we preservers of the Unseen
Muhammad Sarwar   
"Go to our father and tell him, 'Father, your son committed theft. We say only what we have seen and we have no control over the unseen
Muhammad Taqi Usmani   
Go back to your father and say, ‘Our father, your son has committed theft, and we do not testify except what we know, and we could not guard against the unseen
Shabbir Ahmed   
He told the rest of the nine brothers, "Return to your father and say, 'O Our father! Verily, your son has stolen. We know for sure, because we witnessed it. That was something beyond our knowledge and control
Dr. Munir Munshey   
"Go back to your father and tell him, "Oh father, your son committed a theft. We say only what we know, and we could not have foreseen the future! We could not protect him from the unseen."
Syed Vickar Ahamed   
"You return back to your father, and say, ‘O our father! Verily! Your son has stolen, and we only bear witness to (and say) what we know, and we could not protect against the unseen
Umm Muhammad (Sahih International)   
Return to your father and say, "O our father, indeed your son has stolen, and we did not testify except to what we knew. And we were not witnesses of the unseen
[The Monotheist Group] (2011 Edition)   
"Return to your father, and tell him: "Our father, your son has stolen, and we did not witness except what we learned, and we could not know the unseen!"
Abdel Haleem   
so go back to your father and say, “Your son stole. We can only tell you what we saw. How could we guard against the unforeseen
Abdul Majid Daryabadi   
Return unto your father, and say: our father! verily thy son hath stolen, and we testify not save according to that which we know; and of the unseen we could not be guards
Ahmed Ali   
So, go to your father and tell him: 'O father, your son has committed a theft. We bear witness to only what we know; we could not prevent the unknown
Aisha Bewley   
Return now to your father and say to him, "Your son stole, father. We can do no more than testify to what we know and we are not the guardians of the Unseen.
Ali Ünal   
"Return to your father, and say: ‘Our father! Your son stole. We do not testify (to anything) except what we know; and we are not keepers of the Unseen
Ali Quli Qara'i   
Go back to your father, and say, ‘‘Father! Your son has indeed committed theft, and we testified only to what we knew, and we could not have forestalled the unseen
Hamid S. Aziz   
"Return you to your father and say, ´O our father! Verily, your son has committed theft, and we bore testimony to naught but what we knew. We could not guard against the unseen (the unforeseen, the unknown or the hidden)"
Ali Bakhtiari Nejad   
return to your father and say: “Our father, indeed your son stole, and we only testified to what we knew, and we could not guard against the unseen,
A.L. Bilal Muhammad et al (2018)   
“Turn back to your father and say, ‘O our father, behold, your son committed theft. We bear witness only to what we know, and we cannot testify against the unknown
Musharraf Hussain   
Go back to your father and say, “Our father, your son has stolen.” They told him, “We are only testifying to what we know, and we could not be expected to protect against the unforeseen.
Maududi   
So go back to your father and tell him: "Father! Your son has certainly been guilty of stealing. We did not see him stealing but testify according to what we know, and obviously we had no power to keep watch over that what is altogether hidden from us
[The Monotheist Group] (2013 Edition)   
"Return to your father, and tell him: "Our father, your son has stolen, and we did not witness except what we learned, and we could not know the unseen!"
Mohammad Shafi   
"Go back to your father." They went back and said, "O our father! Your son did indeed commit theft, and we do not bear witness except to what we have known. And we could not keep watch over the unseen."

Controversial or status undetermined works
Ahmed Raza Khan (Barelvi)   
Return you all to your father, and say, 'O our father verily your son has committed theft, and we had become witnesses to this much what we had in our knowledge, and we were not guardians over the unseen.
Rashad Khalifa   
"Go back to your father and tell him... `Our father, your son has committed a theft. We know for sure, because this is what we have witnessed. This was an unexpected occurrence.
Hasan Al-Fatih Qaribullah   
Return, all of you to your father and say to him: 'Father, your son has committed a theft. We testify only to what we know. How could we guard against the unforeseen
Maulana Muhammad Ali   
Go back to your father and say: O our father, thy son committed theft. And we bear witness only what we know, and we could not keep watch over the unseen
Muhammad Ahmed & Samira   
Return to your father so say: 'You, our father, that your son stole/robbed, and we did not witness/testify except with what we knew, and we were not to the unseen observing/guarding .
Bijan Moeinian   
Go back to your father and explain how his son was caught red hand. Let him know that we guarded him against what we were able to see and that we could not have protected him against [the Satan’s temptation, his hidden theft, etc. which was happening in] the world of unseen
Faridul Haque   
"Return to your father and then submit, ‘O our father! Indeed your son has stolen; we were witness only to what we know and we were not guardians of the unseen.’
Sher Ali   
`Go back to your father and say, `O our father, thy son committed theft, and we have stated only what we know and we could not be guardians over the unseen
Dr. Mohammad Tahir-ul-Qadri   
Go you back to your father and say: O our father, your son has surely committed theft (and consequently he has been held). And we bore witness only to what we knew. And we were no guardians of the unseen
Amatul Rahman Omar   
`Return all of you to your father and say, "Our father! your son has committed the theft, and we say no more than what we know (and we did not witness him stealing), and we could not be guardians over what was unseen (by us)
Muhsin Khan & Muhammad al-Hilali   
"Return to your father and say, O our father! Verily, your son (Benjamin) has stolen, and we testify not except according to what we know, and we could not know the unseen

Non-Muslim and/or Orientalist works
Arthur John Arberry   
Return you all to your father, and say, "Father, thy son stole; we do not testify except that we know; we were no guardians of the Unseen
George Sale   
Return ye to your father, and say, O father, verily thy son hath committed theft; we bear witness of no more than what we know, and we could not guard against what we did not foresee
Edward Henry Palmer   
'Return ye to your father and say, "O our father! verily, thy son has committed theft, and we bore testimony to naught but what we knew; for of the unforeseen we were not keepers!"
John Medows Rodwell   
Return ye to your father and say, 'O our father! Verily, thy son hath stolen: we bear witness only of what we know: we could not guard against the unforeseen
N J Dawood (2014)   
He is the best of judges. Return to your father and say to him: Father, your son has stolen. We testify only to what we know: we could not guard against the unforeseen

New, Partial, or In Progress Translations
Fode Drame   
Go back to your father and say, ‘O our father! Your son has indeed committed theft and we bear witness to nothing except that which we know nor are we the guardians to the unknown’
Munir Mezyed   
Return to your father and say (to him): ‘O’ our father, your son (Benjamin) stole, we do not testify except that we know. We were not guardians over the unseen.
Sahib Mustaqim Bleher   
Go back to your father and say: oh our father, your son has stolen, and we only witness that which we know and we are not keepers of the unseen.
Linda “iLHam” Barto   
“Return to your father and say, ‘O our father, your son committed theft. We testify only to what we know, and we could not guard against the unseen.
Fadel Soliman, Bridges‘ Translation   
Go back to yourpl father and say, ‘Our father, your son has indeed stolen. And we did not testify (about the punishment of stealing) except according to what we have learned, and we could not have preserved (him) against what is hidden.’
Irving & Mohamed Hegab   
Return to your father and say: ´Our father, your son has stolen something! Yet we testify only about what we know and are not guardians of the Unseen.
Samy Mahdy   
“Return back to your father, so you say, ‘O our father, surely your son has stolen. And we did not witness except with what we know, and we were not keepers for the unseen.’”
Sayyid Qutb   
Go back to your father and say: 'Father, your son has stolen. We testify only to that which we know. We cannot guard against the unforeseen.
Ahmed Hulusi   
“Return to your father and say, ‘O our father... Indeed, your son has stolen... We only bear witness to what we have seen... We could not have guarded that which we couldn’t see.’”
Sayyed Abbas Sadr-Ameli   
Go back to your father and say: 'O' father! Verily your son has committed theft, and we did not bear witness except to what we knew, and we were not guardians of the Unseen'.
Al-muntakhab fi tafsir al-Qur‘an al-Karim   
"Go back to your father", he added, and say to him: your son -Benjamin- has committed a theft and we were associated with the event and we only relate what we saw with our own eyes; and when we bound ourselves by the vow, we did not indulge in prophecy to foretell future events or realize the unseen
Mir Aneesuddin   
Return to your father and say: O our father ! your son committed theft and we do not bear witness except regarding that which we know and we could not be protectors of the unseen.
The Wise Quran   
Return to your father and say, "O our father! Indeed, your son has committed theft, and we bore witness not except what we knew; and we were not guardians of the unseen.

Obsolete and/or older editions
Yusuf Ali (Orig. 1938)   
"Turn ye back to your father, and say, 'O our father! behold! thy son committed theft! we bear witness only to what we know, and we could not well guard against the unseen
OLD Literal Word for Word   
Return to your father and say, 'O our father! Indeed, your son has stolen, and not we testify except of what we knew. And not we were of the unseen guardians
OLD Transliteration   
IrjiAAoo ila abeekum faqooloo ya abana inna ibnaka saraqa wama shahidna illa bima AAalimna wama kunna lilghaybi hafitheena