←Prev   Ayah al-Anbiya` (The Prophets) 21:40   Next→ 

Popular and/or Featured Works
Muhammad Asad   
Nay, but [the Last Hour] will come upon them of a sudden, and will stupefy them: and they will be unable to avert it, and neither wilt they be allowed any respite
The Clear Quran, Dr. Mustafa Khattab   
In fact, the Hour will take them by surprise, leaving them stunned. So they will not be able to avert it, nor will it be delayed from them.
Safi Kaskas   
Rather, it will come to them unexpectedly and bewilder them, and they will not be able to repel it, nor will they be reprieved.

Listen: 
Did you notice?

 You can SEARCH IslamAwakened: 

Source Arabic and Literal tools
Arabic   
بَلۡ تَأۡتِیهِم بَغۡتَةࣰ فَتَبۡهَتُهُمۡ فَلَا یَسۡتَطِیعُونَ رَدَّهَا وَلَا هُمۡ یُنظَرُونَ ۝٤٠
Transliteration (2021)   
bal tatīhim baghtatan fatabhatuhum falā yastaṭīʿūna raddahā walā hum yunẓarūn
Word for Word
Dr. Shehnaz Shaikh, Ms. Kauser Katri, and more
  
Nay, it will come to them unexpectedly and bewilder them, then not they will be able to repel it, and not they will be given respite.

Generally Accepted Translations of the Meaning
Muhammad Asad   
Nay, but [the Last Hour] will come upon them of a sudden, and will stupefy them: and they will be unable to avert it, and neither wilt they be allowed any respite
M. M. Pickthall   
Nay, but it will come upon them unawares so that it will stupefy them, and they will be unable to repel it, neither will they be reprieved
Yusuf Ali (Saudi Rev. 1985)   
Nay, it may come to them all of a sudden and confound them: no power will they have then to avert it, nor will they (then) get respite
The Clear Quran, Dr. Mustafa Khattab   
In fact, the Hour will take them by surprise, leaving them stunned. So they will not be able to avert it, nor will it be delayed from them.
Safi Kaskas   
Rather, it will come to them unexpectedly and bewilder them, and they will not be able to repel it, nor will they be reprieved.
Wahiduddin Khan   
Indeed, it will come upon them suddenly and confound them; and they will not be able to ward it off, nor shall they be reprieved
Shakir   
Nay, it shall come on them all of a sudden and cause them to become confounded, so they shall not have the power to avert it, nor shall they be respited
Dr. Laleh Bakhtiar   
Nay! It will approach them suddenly. Then, it will dumfound them so they will not be able to come back nor will they be given respite.
T.B.Irving   
Rather it will come upon them suddenly and dumbfound them; they will not manage to cast it off nor will they be allowed to wait.
Abdul Hye   
Nay, it (the fire) will come to them all of a sudden and will perplex them, so they will neither be able to avert it nor they will get any respite.
The Study Quran   
Nay, but it will come upon them suddenly, and confound them. Then they will not be able to repel it, nor will they be granted respite
Talal Itani & AI (2024)   
It will come upon them suddenly, and they will become startled. They won’t be able to repel it nor will they be granted respite.
Talal Itani (2012)   
In fact, it will come upon them suddenly, and bewilder them. They will not be able to repel it, and they will not be reprieved
Dr. Kamal Omar   
Nay, (the Event) will come to them all of a sudden and it will perplex them, and they will have no power to avert it, and nor they would be sanctioned any respite
M. Farook Malik   
Nay, it will come to them all of a sudden and overpower them so abruptly that they shall neither be able to avert it nor shall they get any respite
Muhammad Mahmoud Ghali   
No indeed, it will come up to them suddenly; then it will dumbfound them, so they shall not be able to turn it back, and they will not be respited
Muhammad Sarwar   
The fire will suddenly strike and confound them. They will not be able to repel it, nor will they be given any respite
Muhammad Taqi Usmani   
Rather, it will come upon them suddenly and will baffle them. So they will not be able to turn it back, nor will they be given respite
Shabbir Ahmed   
Nay, but it will come upon them suddenly, that it will stun them. They will be unable to repel it, nor will they be given any more respite
Dr. Munir Munshey   
It will come upon them all of a sudden, and it will bewilder them. They will be unable to turn it away, and they shall have no respite (another chance)
Syed Vickar Ahamed   
No, it may come to them all of a sudden and imprison them: No power will they have then to turn it away, nor will they (then) get relief
Umm Muhammad (Sahih International)   
Rather, it will come to them unexpectedly and bewilder them, and they will not be able to repel it, nor will they be reprieved
[The Monotheist Group] (2011 Edition)   
No, it will come to them suddenly. And they will not be able to turn it away, nor will they be delayed
Abdel Haleem   
It will come upon them suddenly and stupefy them; they will be powerless to push it away; they will not be reprieved
Abdul Majid Daryabadi   
Aye! it would come upon them on a sudden and shall dumbfound them; they shall not be able to avert it, nor shall they be respited
Ahmed Ali   
It will come upon them unawares confounding them, and they will not be able to keep it back, nor will they be given respite
Aisha Bewley   
No, it will come upon them suddenly, confounding them, taking them completely by surprise, and they will not be able to ward it off. They will be granted no reprieve.
Ali Ünal   
But it will come upon them all of a sudden and dumbfound them. They will not be able to avert it, nor will they be given respite to escape it
Ali Quli Qara'i   
Rather it will overtake them suddenly, dumbfounding them. So neither will they be able to avert it, nor will they be granted any respite
Hamid S. Aziz   
Nay, it shall come on them unawares, and shall dumbfound them, and they shall not be able to repel it, nor shall they be reprieved
Ali Bakhtiari Nejad   
No, but it (punishment) comes to them suddenly and stuns them and they cannot repel it and they are not given any delays.
A.L. Bilal Muhammad et al (2018)   
No, it may come to them all of a sudden and as a shock to them. Then no power will they have to avert it, nor will they have respite
Musharraf Hussain   
It will come unexpectedly, taking them by surprise, they won’t be able to get away, nor get any relief.
Maududi   
That will suddenly come upon them and stupefy them. They shall not be able to ward it off, nor shall they be granted any respite
[The Monotheist Group] (2013 Edition)   
No,it will come to them suddenly. And they will not be able to turn it away, nor will they be delayed.
Mohammad Shafi   
But it (the time mentioned in Verse above) shall come on them all of a sudden and catch them unawares. And they shall not be able to avert it. And they shall not be given any respite

Controversial or status undetermined works
Ahmed Raza Khan (Barelvi)   
Rather it will come to them all of a sudden, then it will confound them, and they will not be able to avert it and nor they will be given respite.
Rashad Khalifa   
Indeed, it will come to them suddenly, and they will be utterly stunned. They can neither avoid it, nor can they receive any respite.
Hasan Al-Fatih Qaribullah   
It will overtake them suddenly, dumbfounding them. They shall be unable to ward it off, and they shall not be respited
Maulana Muhammad Ali   
Nay, it will come to them all of a sudden and confound them, so they will not have the power to avert it, nor will they be respited
Muhammad Ahmed & Samira   
But it comes to them suddenly/unexpectedly, so it amazes/surprises them, so they are not able (of) its return/returning it, and nor they be given time
Bijan Moeinian   
The catastrophe will take place all of a sudden. They will be so surprised that they cannot avoid it. The Event will not be postponed either
Faridul Haque   
In fact it will suddenly come upon them, therefore shocking them, and they will not be able to repel it nor will they be given respite
Sher Ali   
Nay, it will come upon them unawares so that it will utterly confound them; and they will not be able to repel it, nor will they be granted respite
Dr. Mohammad Tahir-ul-Qadri   
In fact, it (the Last Day) will come upon them all of a sudden and stun them. So neither will they have the power to avert it, nor will they be granted respite
Amatul Rahman Omar   
Nay it (- the punishment) shall come upon them unawares, so that it will confound them completely, and they will not be able to avert it and no respite shall be given them
Muhsin Khan & Muhammad al-Hilali   
Nay, it (the Fire or the Day of Resurrection) will come upon them all of a sudden and will perplex them, and they will have no power to avert it, nor will they get respite

Non-Muslim and/or Orientalist works
Arthur John Arberry   
Nay, but it shall come upon them suddenly, dumbfounding them, and they shall not be able to repel it, nor shall they be respited
George Sale   
But the day of vengeance shall come upon them suddenly, and shall strike them with astonishment: They shall not be able to avert it; neither shall they be respited
Edward Henry Palmer   
Nay, it shall come on them suddenly, and shall dumbfounder them, and they shall not be able to repel it, nor shall they be respited
John Medows Rodwell   
But it shall come on them suddenly and shall confound them; and they shall not be able to put it back, neither shall they be respited
N J Dawood (2014)   
Indeed, it will overtake them unawares and stupefy them. They shall have no power to ward it off, nor shall they be reprieved

New, Partial, or In Progress Translations
Fode Drame   
Nay it will come to them suddenly and will confound them and then they will not be able to push it back nor will they be looked at.
Munir Mezyed   
Nay! It will come upon them unexpectedly, and then it will leave them totally flabbergasted. Verily, they won’t have the power to avert it, neither will they be given any respite.
Sahib Mustaqim Bleher   
But it will reach them suddenly and startle them, so they cannot avert it nor will they be given time.
Fadel Soliman, Bridges‘ Translation   
Rather, it will come upon them suddenly and bewilder them, so they will not be able to repel it, nor will they be given respite.
Linda “iLHam” Barto   
It will come upon them suddenly and overwhelm them. They will have no power to avert it, and they will get no reprieve.
Irving & Mohamed Hegab   
Rather it will come upon them suddenly and dumbfound them; they will not manage to cast it off nor will they be allowed to wait.
Samy Mahdy   
Nay, but it comes unexpectedly to them, so it stuns them. So, they cannot repel it, nor shall they be respite.
Sayyid Qutb   
Indeed, it will come upon them of a sudden, and will stupefy them. They will be unable to avert it, nor will they be allowed any respite.
Thomas Cleary   
No, it will come upon them unawares, and confound them, so they cannot avert it, and no respite will they have.
Ahmed Hulusi   
Rather, it (the fulfillment of the promise through death, the disconnection caused by the loss of life in the body) will come to them suddenly and confound them! And they will neither have the power to ward it off nor will they be reprieved.
Sayyed Abbas Sadr-Ameli   
Nay, but it (the Fire) will come to them all of a sudden and make them confounded, so they will neither be able to repel it, nor will they be respited
Al-muntakhab fi tafsir al-Qur‘an al-Karim   
It shall surprise them. Pale and dumb, they shall stand confused and confounded unable to avert it nor shall they be granted respite
Mir Aneesuddin   
Had those who do not believe but known the time when they will not be able to stop the fire from their faces and from their backs and they will not be helped (they would not have asked you such a question).

Obsolete and/or older editions
Yusuf Ali (Orig. 1938)   
Nay, it may come to them all of a sudden and confound them: no power will they have then to avert it, nor will they (then) get respite
OLD Literal Word for Word   
Nay, it will come to them unexpectedly and bewilder them, then not they will be able to repel it, and not they will be given respite
OLD Transliteration   
Bal ta/teehim baghtatan fatabhatuhum fala yastateeAAoona raddaha wala hum yuntharoona