←Prev   Ayah al-Anfal (The Spoils of War) 8:31   Next→ 

Popular and/or Featured Works
Muhammad Asad   
And whenever Our messages were conveyed to them, they would say, "We have heard [all this] before; if we wanted, we could certainly compose sayings like these [ourselves]: they are nothing but fables of ancient times!"
The Clear Quran, Dr. Mustafa Khattab   
Whenever Our revelations are recited to them, they challenge ˹you˺, “We have already heard ˹the recitation˺. If we wanted, we could have easily produced something similar. This ˹Quran˺ is nothing but ancient fables!”
Safi Kaskas   
Whenever Our messages were conveyed to them, they would say, “We have heard this before, and if we want, we can say things like this- these are nothing but ancient tales.”

Listen: 
Did you notice?

 You can SEARCH IslamAwakened: 

Source Arabic and Literal tools
Arabic   
وَإِذَا تُتۡلَىٰ عَلَیۡهِمۡ ءَایَـٰتُنَا قَالُوا۟ قَدۡ سَمِعۡنَا لَوۡ نَشَاۤءُ لَقُلۡنَا مِثۡلَ هَـٰذَاۤ إِنۡ هَـٰذَاۤ إِلَّاۤ أَسَـٰطِیرُ ٱلۡأَوَّلِینَ ۝٣١
Transliteration (2021)   
wa-idhā tut'lā ʿalayhim āyātunā qālū qad samiʿ'nā law nashāu laqul'nā mith'la hādhā in hādhā illā asāṭīru l-awalīn
Word for Word
Dr. Shehnaz Shaikh, Ms. Kauser Katri, and more
  
And when are recited to them Our Verses they say, "Verily we have heard. if we wish surely, we could say like this. Not is this but tales (of) the former (people)."

Generally Accepted Translations of the Meaning
Muhammad Asad   
And whenever Our messages were conveyed to them, they would say, "We have heard [all this] before; if we wanted, we could certainly compose sayings like these [ourselves]: they are nothing but fables of ancient times!"
M. M. Pickthall   
And when Our revelations are recited unto them they say: We have heard. If we wish we can speak the like of this. Lo! this is naught but fables of the men of old
Yusuf Ali (Saudi Rev. 1985)   
When Our Signs are rehearsed to them, they say: "We have heard this (before): if we wished, we could say (words) like these: these are nothing but tales of the ancients."
The Clear Quran, Dr. Mustafa Khattab   
Whenever Our revelations are recited to them, they challenge ˹you˺, “We have already heard ˹the recitation˺. If we wanted, we could have easily produced something similar. This ˹Quran˺ is nothing but ancient fables!”
Safi Kaskas   
Whenever Our messages were conveyed to them, they would say, “We have heard this before, and if we want, we can say things like this- these are nothing but ancient tales.”
Wahiduddin Khan   
Whenever Our revelations are recited to them, they say, We have heard them. If we wished, we could produce the like. They are nothing but the fables of the ancients
Shakir   
And when Our communications are recited to them, they say: We have heard indeed; if we pleased we could say the like of it; this is nothing but the stories of the ancients
Dr. Laleh Bakhtiar   
And when Our signs are recounted to them, they said: We heard this. If we will, we would say the like of this. Truly, this is only fables of ancient ones.
T.B.Irving   
Whenever Our verses are recited to them. they say: "We have heard (it) already; if we wished to, we´d say the same as this. These are only legends by primitive people!"
Abdul Hye   
And when Our Verses (of the Qur’an) are recited to them, they say: “We have heard. If we wished we could say like this. These are nothing but the tales of the ancient people.”
The Study Quran   
And when Our signs are recited unto them they say, “We have heard already. Had we willed, we could have said the like of this. This is naught but fables of those of old.
Talal Itani & AI (2024)   
When Our revelations are recited to them, they say, “We’ve heard. If we wanted, we could say the same; these are nothing but myths of the ancients.”
Talal Itani (2012)   
And when Our revelations are recited to them, they say, 'We have heard. Had we wanted, we could have said the like of this; these are nothing but myths of the ancients.'
Dr. Kamal Omar   
And when Our Ayaat are reproduced before them, they said: “Surely, we have heard: if we wish, surely, we (would have) said similar to this. This is nothing except writings in straight lines belonging to those who went before.”
M. Farook Malik   
Whenever Our revelations are recited to them they say: "Well, we have heard this. If we wanted we could fabricate the like. These are nothing but the tales of the ancients."
Muhammad Mahmoud Ghali   
And when Our signs are recited to them, they said, "We have already heard; if we decided, we would indeed say the like of this; decidedly this is nothing except the myths of the earliest (people)."
Muhammad Sarwar   
When Our revelations are recited to them (the unbelievers), they say, "We have heard them. Had we wanted, we could also have composed such statements; they are no more than ancient legends."
Muhammad Taqi Usmani   
When Our verses are recited to them, they say, .We have heard; if we wish, we can compose a discourse like this. It is nothing but the tales of the ancient people
Shabbir Ahmed   
When Our Messages are conveyed to them, they say, "We have heard. If we wish, we can speak like it. This is nothing but fables of the ancient."
Dr. Munir Munshey   
When Our verses are read to them, they say, "Yes, we have heard that! We too can say things like that, if we want. These are nothing more than tales of people gone by."
Syed Vickar Ahamed   
When Our verses are read to them, they say: "We have heard this (before): If we wanted, we could say (words) like these: These are nothing but old stories."
Umm Muhammad (Sahih International)   
And when Our verses are recited to them, they say, "We have heard. If we willed, we could say [something] like this. This is not but legends of the former peoples."
[The Monotheist Group] (2011 Edition)   
And if Our revelations are recited to them, they Say: "We have listened, and if we wish, we could have said the same thing. This is nothing but tales of the ancients!"
Abdel Haleem   
Whenever Our Revelation is recited to them they say, ‘We have heard all this before- we could say something like this if we wanted- this is nothing but ancient fables.’
Abdul Majid Daryabadi   
And when Our revelations are rehearsed unto them, they say: we have heard; we could if we willed, surely say something the like thereof; naught is this but fables of the ancients
Ahmed Ali   
When Our messages were read out to them, they said: "We have heard. We could certainly compose (writings) like them if we choose. They are but only tales of long ago."
Aisha Bewley   
When Our Signs are recited to them, they say, ´We have already heard all this. If we wanted, we could say the same thing. This is nothing but the myths of previous peoples.´
Ali Ünal   
When Our Revelations are recited to them, they say: "We have heard (the like of this before many times); if we wish, we can speak the like of this; this is nothing but fables of the ancients."
Ali Quli Qara'i   
When Our signs are recited to them, they say, ‘We have heard already. If we want, we [too] can say like this. These are nothing but myths of the ancients.’
Hamid S. Aziz   
But when Our verses were recited to them they said, "We have already heard. If We pleased We could speak like this; verily, this is nothing but tales of ancient folk."
Ali Bakhtiari Nejad   
And when Our signs are read to them, they say: “We have certainly heard, if we want, we will say similar to this, this is nothing but stories of the earlier ones.”
A.L. Bilal Muhammad et al (2018)   
When Our signs are rehearsed to them they say, “We have heard this before. If we wished, we could say words like these. These are nothing but tales of the ancient.
Musharraf Hussain   
When Our verses are recited to them, they say, “We’ve heard it all before. If we wanted, we could have said something similar. These are just legends of old.”
Maududi   
And when Our verses are recited to them, they say: ´We have heard. We could, if we willed, compose the like of it. They, are nothing but fables of the ancient times.´
[The Monotheist Group] (2013 Edition)   
And if Our revelations are recited to them, they say: "We have listened, and if we wish, we could have said the same thing. This is nothing except fictional tales of old!"
Mohammad Shafi   
And when Our Verses/signs are recited to them, they say, "We have heard. We certainly could, if we pleased, say things like that. These are nothing but fables of the ancients."

Controversial or status undetermined works
Ahmed Raza Khan (Barelvi)   
And when Our verses are recited to them, then they say, 'yes, we have heard', if we wished, we could certainly utter the like of this. It is not, but the stories of the ancients.
Rashad Khalifa   
When our revelations are recited to them, they say, "We have heard. If we wanted to, we could have said the same things. These are no more than tales from the past!"
Hasan Al-Fatih Qaribullah   
Whenever Our verses are recited to them, they say: 'We have heard them, if we wished, we could speak its like. They are but tales of the ancients.
Maulana Muhammad Ali   
And when our messages are recited to them, they say: We have heard. If we wished, we could say the like of it; this is nothing but the stories of the ancients
Muhammad Ahmed & Samira   
And when Our evidences/verses are read/recited on them, they said: "We had heard/listened, and if we want/will we would have said similar/equal (to) that, that that (is) except the firsts'/beginners' myths/baseless stories ."
Bijan Moeinian   
When you were reciting My Revelations to them, they responded: “We have heard these [nonsense] before. We can fabricate such things too; after all, they are nothing but the ancient myths.”
Faridul Haque   
And when Our verses are recited to them they say, "Yes, we have heard - if we wanted we could also say something like this - these are nothing but stories of former people!"
Sher Ali   
And when OUR verses are recited to them, they say, `We have heard. If we wished we could certainly say the like of it. This is nothing but mere tales of the ancients
Dr. Mohammad Tahir-ul-Qadri   
And when Our Revelations are recited to them, they say: ‘Of course, we have heard. If we desire, we can also compose Verses analogous to that (Word). These are (nothing) but the (imaginary) tales of the ancients.
Amatul Rahman Omar   
And when Our verses are recited to them they say, `We have already heard (them before). If we so wish, we could certainly compose the like of this. These are nothing but fables of the former peoples.
Muhsin Khan & Muhammad al-Hilali   
And when Our Verses (of the Quran) are recited to them, they say: "We have heard this (the Quran); if we wish we can say the like of this. This is nothing but the tales of the ancients."

Non-Muslim and/or Orientalist works
Arthur John Arberry   
And When Our signs were being recited to them, they said, 'We have already heard; if we wished, we could say the like of this; this is naught but the fairy-tales of the ancients.
George Sale   
And when Our verses are recited to them, they say, 'We have heard. If we wished we could certainly say the like of it. This is nothing but mere tales of the ancients
Edward Henry Palmer   
But when our verses were rehearsed to them they said, 'We have already heard.- If we pleased we could speak like this; verily, this is nothing but tales of those of yore.
John Medows Rodwell   
And oft as our signs were rehearsed to them, they said, "Now have we heard: if we pleased we could certainly utter its like! Yes, it is mere tales of the ancients."
N J Dawood (2014)   
Whenever Our revelations are recited to them, they say: ‘We have heard them. If we wished, we could say the like. They are but fables of the ancients.‘

New, Partial, or In Progress Translations
Fode Drame   
And whenever Our signs are rehearsed unto them, they say, “We have indeed heard and had we pleased, we could say the like of this. This is nothing but the fables on the ancients.”
Munir Mezyed   
And when the Qur’ānic Verses are recited to them, they say: "Well, we have heard this (Qur’ān). If we wished, we could definitely say the like of it. This is nothing but mere legends of the ancients."
Sahib Mustaqim Bleher   
And when Our signs are recited to them, they say we have heard; if we wanted we could say something similar for these are only stories of old.
Linda “iLHam” Barto   
Whenever Our signs are recited to them, they say, “We’ve already heard this! If we wanted, we could say things like this. They are nothing but old tales.”
Fadel Soliman, Bridges‘ Translation   
And when Our signs are read to them, they say, “We have surely heard. Had we willed, we could have said the like of this; this is nothing but legends of the ancients.”
Irving & Mohamed Hegab   
Whenever Our verses are recited to them. they say: "We have heard (it) already; if we wished to, we'd say the same as this. These are only legends by primitive people!"
Samy Mahdy   
And when our verses are recited upon them, they said, “We already have heard. And if we willed; we could have said the like of this; surely this is nothing except the former’s legends.”
Sayyid Qutb   
Whenever Our revelations are recited to them, they would say: 'We have heard them. If we wanted, we could certainly compose the like of this. This is nothing but fables of the ancients.'
Ahmed Hulusi   
When Our signs are recited to them, they say, “Indeed we have heard... If we willed we could have said something like this... This is none other than legends from the past!”
Sayyed Abbas Sadr-Ameli   
And when Our signs are recited to them, they say: � We have heard. If we like, we (too) can say the like of this (Qur�?n) . This is naught but the tales of the ancients �
Al-muntakhab fi tafsir al-Qur‘an al-Karim   
When Our revelations are recited to them. They insolently say: "We have heard, and the like of this we heard before, and if we will we could discourse the like thereof. This is nothing but fables of old"
Mir Aneesuddin   
And when Our signs are read to them they say, "We have heard, if we will, we (too) can speak (on topic) like this, these are nothing but stories of the ancient."
The Wise Quran   
And when Our verses were recited to them they said, 'Verily, we have heard. Had we willed, surely we would have said the like of this; this is not except legends of the former people.'

Obsolete and/or older editions
Yusuf Ali (Orig. 1938)   
When Our Signs are rehearsed to them, they say: "We have heard this (before): if we wished, we could say (words) like these: these are nothing but tales of the ancients."
OLD Literal Word for Word   
And when are recited to them Our Verses they say, "Verily we have heard. if we wish surely, we could say like this. This is not but tales (of) the former (people).
OLD Transliteration   
Wa-itha tutla AAalayhim ayatuna qaloo qad samiAAna law nashao laqulna mithla hatha in hatha illa asateeru al-awwaleena