Marked words appear in this translation and in no other English translation of this verse. Common small words and older spellings are not marked. The marks show where the wording differs, not where the meaning does.
He has a succession; before him and behind him, protecting him by God's command. God does not change the condition of a people until they change what is within themselves. And if God wills any hardship for a people, there is no turning it back;, and apart from Him they have no protector.
Translation Talal Itani, ClearQuran·Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International
Mohammed Marmaduke William Pickthall1875–1936 · published 1930
For him are angels ranged before him and behind him, who guard him by Allah's command. Lo! Allah changeth not the condition of a folk until they (first) change that which is in their hearts; and if Allah willeth misfortune for a folk there is none that can repel it, nor have they a defender beside Him
Sources
Translation Pickthall, The Meaning of the Glorious Koran·Public domain — copyright term expired
Pickthall, The Meaning of the Glorious Koran·1930 translation, digital edition of unverified printing·None — public domain work
·Public domain — copyright term expired·retrieved 24 Aug 2026
Edward Henry Palmer1840–1882 · published 1880
Each of them has pursuers before him and behind him, to keep guard over him at the command of God; verily, God changes not what a people has until they change it for themselves. And when God wishes evil to a people there is no averting it, nor have they a protector beside Him
Sources
Translation Edward Henry Palmer, English translation of the Qur'an·Public domain — copyright term expired
Each hath a succession of Angels before him and behind him, who watch over him by God's behest. Verily, God will not change his gifts to men, till they change what is in themselves: and when God willeth evil unto men, there is none can turn it away, nor have they any protector beside Him
Sources
Translation John Medows Rodwell, English translation of the Qur'an·Public domain — copyright term expired
Each of them hath angels mutuallysucceeding each other, before him, and behind him; they watch him by the command of God. Verily God will not change his grace which is in men, until they change the disposition in their souls by sin. When God willeth evil on a people, there shall be none to avert it; neither shall they have any protector beside Him
Sources
Translation George Sale, English translation of the Qur'an·Public domain — copyright term expired
George Sale, English translation of the Qur'an·1734 translation, digital edition of unverified printing·None — public domain work
·Public domain — copyright term expired·retrieved 24 Aug 2026
Other languages (18)Shqip · Albanian
Ai (njeriu) para dhe pas tij ka (melekë) përcjellës që e mbrojnë me urdhrin e Allahut. Në të vërtetë, Allahu nuk e ndryshon gjendjen e një populli derisa ata të ndryshojnë atë që kanë në vetvete. E, nëse Allahu ia dëshiron të keqen një populli, ajo nuk mund të sprapset dhe ata nuk kanë mbrojtës përveç Tij.
Translated by the team of Rowwad Translation Center, in cooperation with the Rabwah Dawah Association, the Islamic Content Service Association in Languages, and the IslamHouse.com website.
From QuranEnc.com, version 1.0.5
বাংলা · Bengali
(তাঁর পক্ষ থেকে) মানুষের জন্য রয়েছে তার সামনে ও পেছনে, একের পর এক আগমনকারী প্রহরী (ফিরিশতা), যারা আল্লাহর আদেশে তাকে হিফাযত করে। নিশ্চয় আল্লাহ কোন জাতির অবস্থা ততক্ষণ পরিবর্তন করেন না; যতক্ষণ না তারা নিজেদের অবস্থা নিজেরা পরিবর্তন করে। আর আল্লাহ যখন কোন জাতির মন্দ (ধ্বংস) চান, তখন তাঁর ইচ্ছার প্রতিরোধ কেউ করতে পারে না এবং তাদের জন্য তিনি ছাড়া আর কোনো অভিভাবকও নেই।
Translated by the team of Rowwad Translation Center, in cooperation with the Dawah Association in Rabwah, the Islamic Content Service Association in Languages, and the IslamHouse.com website.
From QuranEnc.com, version 1.1.2
Bosanski · Bosnian
Uz svakog od vas su meleki, koji se smjenjuju ispred njega i iza njega – po Allahovu naređenju nad njim bdiju. Sigurno je da Allah neće izmijeniti stanje u kojem se nalazi određeni narod sve dok taj narod ne promijeni ono što je u njemu. A kad Allah htjedne nekom narodu zlo, niko to ne može spriječiti; bez Njega im nema zaštitnika.
Translated by the team of the Rowwad Translation Center, in cooperation with the Rabwah Dawah Association, the Islamic Content Service Association in Languages, and the IslamHouse.com website.
From QuranEnc.com, version 2.0.4
Hrvatski · Croatian
Uz svakog od vas su anđeli, koji se smjenjuju ispred njega i iza njega – po Allahovu naređenju nad njim bdiju. Sigurno je da Allah neće izmijeniti stanje u kojem se nalazi određeni narod sve dok taj narod ne promijeni ono što je u njemu. A kad Allah htjedne nekom narodu zlo, nitko to ne može spriječiti; bez Njega im nema zaštitnika.
Translated by the team of the Rowwad Translation Center, in cooperation with the Rabwah Dawah Association, the Islamic Content Service Association in Languages, and the IslamHouse.com website.
From QuranEnc.com, version 1.0.1
Fulfulde · Fulani
Hino woodani mo lomtondirooɓe yeeso makko e ɓaawo makko, heɓe ndeenira mo yamiroore Alla. Pellet Alla waylataa ko woni e yimɓe, haa ɓe mbayla ko woni kon e maɓɓe. Si Alla faandanike yimɓe bone, alaa yiltoowo mo. Alanaa ɓe gaanin makko giɗo-heftoowo.
Translated by the team of the Rowwad Translation Center, in cooperation with the Rabwah Dawah Association, the Islamic Content Service Association in Languages, and the IslamHouse.com website.
From QuranEnc.com, version 1.0.2
ქართული · Georgian
მას [ალლაჰს] ჰყავს (ანგელოზები), რომლებიც პირდაპირ მის [კაცის] წინ და უკან მიჰყვებიან და ალლაჰის ბრძანებით აღრიცხავენ მის (საქმეებს). ჭეშმარიტად, ალლაჰი არ ცვლის (მდგომარეობას), (რომელშიც ადამიანები იმყოფებიან) სანამ ისინი თვითონვე არ შეცვლიან იმას, რაც მათთანაა [მდგომარეობას, რომელშიც იმყოფებიან] (კარგისკენ, ან ცუდისკენ). და თუ ალლაჰმა მოისურვა რომელიმე ხალხისთვის უბედურება (სასჯელის სახით), მაშინ ვერაფერი შეძლებს მის მოგერიებას, და მათ მის გარდა არავითარი მფარველი არ ჰყავთ!
Translated by the team of the Rowwad Translation Center, in cooperation with the Rabwah Dawah Association, the Islamic Content Service Association in Languages, and the IslamHouse.com website.
From QuranEnc.com, version 1.0.7
Deutsch · German
Er hat aufeinanderfolgende (Engel), die diesen (, der sich verstecken möchte,) von vorne und von hinten behüten (und dies) mit Allahs Anordnung. Wahrlich, Allah ändert nicht den Zustand eines Volkes, bis sie selbst ihren eigenen Zustand ändern. Und wenn Allah einem Volk Schlechtes will, so kann es nicht zurückgewiesen werden. Und sie haben außer Ihm keinen Schutzherrn.
Translated by the team of the Rowwad Translation Center, in cooperation with the Rabwah Dawah Association, the Islamic Content Service Association in Languages, and the IslamHouse.com website.
From QuranEnc.com, version 1.0.15
Ελληνικά · Greek
(Ο Αλλάχ) έχει αυτούς (τους Αγγέλους) που έρχονται διαδοχικά (σε κάθε άτομο από την προσευχή Φατζρ μέχρι την ‘Ασρ και το αντίστροφο) για να τον φυλάξουν από μπροστά και πίσω του, με την εντολή του Αλλάχ (από τα πάντα εκτός από ό,τι του όρισε ο Αλλάχ, και για να καταγράψουν τις πράξεις του). Ο Αλλάχ δεν αλλάζει την κατάσταση κάποιων ανθρώπων (από καλή σε κακή), μέχρι οι ίδιοι να αλλάξουν τον εαυτό τους (με τις αμαρτίες και την αχαριστία). Και αν ο Αλλάχ θέλει να πέσει κάτι κακό (από τιμωρία) σε κάποιους ανθρώπους, τότε δε θα αποτραπεί με τίποτε, ούτε θα έχουν εκτός Αυτού κανέναν προστάτη.
Translated by the team of the Rowwad Translation Center, in cooperation with the Rabwah Dawah Association, the Islamic Content Service Association in Languages, and the IslamHouse.com website.
From QuranEnc.com, version 1.0.2
हिन्दी · Hindi
उसके लिए उसके आगे और उसके पीछे बारी-बारी आने वाले कई पहरेदार (फरिश्ते) हैं, जो अल्लाह के आदेश से उसकी रक्षा करते हैं। निःसंदेह अल्लाह किसी जाति की दशा नहीं बदलता, जब तक वे स्वयं अपनी दशा न बदल लें। तथा जब अल्लाह किसी जाति के साथ बुराई का निश्चय कर ले, तो उसे हटाने का कोई उपाय नहीं, और उसके अलावा उनका कोई सहायक नहीं।
Translated by Azizul Haq Al-Omari
From QuranEnc.com, version 1.1.5
Italiano · Italian
Lui ha custodi che lo scortano davanti e dietro a protezione dell’ordine di Allāh. In verità Allāh non cambia la sorte dei popoli finché loro non cambiano ciò che hanno nell’animo! E se Allāh vuole colpire un popolo con un male, niente lo potrà deviare, e non avranno all’infuori di Lui protettore.
Translated by the team of the Rowwad Translation Center, in cooperation with the Rabwah Dawah Association, the Islamic Content Service Association in Languages, and the IslamHouse.com website.
From QuranEnc.com, version 1.0.2
Lietuvių · Lithuanian
11. Jam (kiekvienam žmogui) yra angelai vienas po kito, prieš jį ir už jo. Jie saugo jį Allaho Paliepimu. Iš tiesų, Allahas nepakeis (geros) žmonių būklės tol, kol jie patys nepakeis savo (gerumo) būklės (atlikdami nuodėmes ir būdami nedėkingi ir nepaklusnūs Allahui). Tačiau kai Allahas nori žmonių bausmės, negali būti nieko, kas apgręžtų ją, ir jie neras be Jo jokių apsauginių.
Translated by the team of the Rowwad Translation Center, in cooperation with the Rabwah Dawah Association, the Islamic Content Service Association in Languages, and the IslamHouse.com website.
Translated by the team of the Rowwad Translation Center, in cooperation with the Rabwah Dawah Association, the Islamic Content Service Association in Languages, and the IslamHouse.com website.
From QuranEnc.com, version 1.0.0
Русский · Russian
У него есть сменяющие друг друга [ангелы-хранители] — спереди и сзади; они оберегают его по велению Аллаха. Воистину, Аллах не меняет того, что с людьми, пока они не изменят того, что в самих себе. А когда Аллах пожелает какому-либо народу зла, то это невозможно отвратить, и нет у них, помимо Него, покровителя.
Translated by the team of the Rowwad Translation Center, in cooperation with the Rabwah Dawah Association, the Islamic Content Service Association in Languages, and the IslamHouse.com website.
From QuranEnc.com, version 1.0.1
Српски · Serbian
И уз сваког од вас су анђели, који се смењују испред њега и иза њега - по Аллаховом наређењу надзиру над њим. Сигурно је да Аллах неће да измени стање у којем се налази одређени народ све док се тај народ не промени. А кад Аллах одреди неком народу нешто што је лоше, нико то не може да спречи; без Њега им нема заштитника.
Translated by the team of the Rowwad Translation Center, in cooperation with the Rabwah Dawah Association, the Islamic Content Service Association in Languages, and the IslamHouse.com website.
From QuranEnc.com, version 1.0.4
Kiswahili · Swahili
Kila mtu analo kundi la malaika mbele yake na nyuma yake linamlinda kwa amri ya Mwenyezi Mungu. Hakika Mwenyezi Mungu habadilishi yaliyoko kwa kaumu mpaka wabadilishe wao yaliyo katika nafsi zao. Na Mwenyezi Mungu anapowatakia kaumu ubaya, basi hakuna cha kuuzuia wala hawana mlinzi yeyote asiyekuwa Yeye.
Issued by the Islamic Content Service Association in Languages
From QuranEnc.com, version 1.0.5
Svenska · Swedish
Han har änglar som avlöser varandra framför och bakom [människan] och som vaktar henne på Guds befallning. Gud ändrar inte ett folks tillstånd förrän de själva förändrar det. Om Gud beslutar att straffa ett folk kan det inte avvisas, och de har ingen beskyddare utom honom.
Translated by the team of the Rowwad Translation Center, in cooperation with the Rabwah Dawah Association, the Islamic Content Service Association in Languages, and the IslamHouse.com website.
From QuranEnc.com, version 1.0.2
Türkçe · Turkish
İnsanı önünden ve ardından takip eden melekler vardır. Allah’ın emriyle onu koruyup gözetirler. Şüphesiz ki, bir kavim kendi durumunu değiştirmedikçe Allah onların durumunu değiştirmez. Allah, bir kavme kötülük diledi mi, artık o geri çevrilemez. Onlar için Allah’tan başka hiçbir yardımcı da yoktur.
Translated by the team of the Rowwad Translation Center, in cooperation with the Rabwah Dawah Association, the Islamic Content Service Association in Languages, and the IslamHouse.com website.
From QuranEnc.com, version 1.0.4
اردو · Urdu
اس کے پہرے دار[1] انسان کے آگے پیچھے مقرر ہیں، جو اللہ کے حکم سے اس کی نگہبانی کرتے ہیں۔ کسی قوم کی حالت اللہ تعالیٰ نہیں بدلتا جب تک کہ وه خود اسے نہ بدلیں جو ان کے دلوں میں ہے[2]۔ اللہ تعالیٰ جب کسی قوم کی سزا کا اراده کر لیتا ہے تو وه بدﻻ نہیں کرتا اور سوائے اس کے کوئی بھی ان کا کارساز نہیں.
Translated by Muhammad Ibrahim Junagarhi, developed under the supervision of the Rowwad Translation Center. The original translation is available for the purpose of expressing opinion, evaluation, and continuous development.
From QuranEnc.com, version 1.1.3
About these translations
5 cleared translations, newest first, by year of publication, so the modern English comes before the historical ones. That is an ordering by date, not a judgement. Each is shown complete — this platform never excerpts a translation — and each renders under its translator's name. No translation here is marked as the correct one.
Which translations appear here is set by copyright: they are the ones whose rights could be documented and cleared. The selection is not a judgement that these are the best.
About easy-read
Easy-read
Easy-read is a simplified pronunciation,
not authoritative — a rule-by-rule romanisation, not a reading.
Each verse ends in its pause form, as it is said when you stop there. Pauses inside a verse and other tajwid rules are not shown. It is derived from the Tanzil
Simple edition, while the Arabic above is the
Uthmani edition; both are cleared, but they are not the
same edition and their orthography differs.
Easy-read (simplified)sawaa'un minkum man asarra l-qawla waman jahara bihi waman huwa mustakhfin billayli wasaaribun bin-nahaar
DIN 31635sawāʾun minkum man ʾasarra l-qawla waman ǧahara bihi waman huwa mustaḫfin billayli wasāribun bin-nahāri
The translators word this verse differently
Talal Itani2012 It is the same; whether one of you conceals his speech, or declares it; whether he goes into hiding by night, or goes out by day.
Mohammed Marmaduke William Pickthall1930 Alike of you is he who hideth the saying and he who noiseth it abroad, he who lurketh in the night and he who goeth freely in the daytime
Edward Henry Palmer1880 Alike among you is he who keeps secret his speech and he who displays it; and he who hides by night and he who stalks abroad by day
John Medows Rodwell1861 Alike to Him is that person among you who concealeth his words, and he that telleth them abroad: he who hideth him in the night, and he who cometh forth in the day
George Sale1734 He among you who concealeth his words, and he who proclaimeth them in public; he also who seeketh to hide himself in the night, and he who goeth forth openly in the day, is equal in respect to the knowledge of God
Easy-read (simplified)wayusabbihu r-ra'du bihamdihi wal-malaa'ikatu min kheefatihi wayursilu s-sawaa'iqa fayuseebu bihaa man yashaa'u wahum yujaadiloona fee llaahi wahuwa shadeedu l-mihaal
DIN 31635wayusabbiḥu r-raʿdu biḥamdihi wal-malāʾikatu min ḫīfatihi wayursilu ṣ-ṣawāʿiqa fayuṣību bihā man yašāʾu wahum yuǧādilūna fī llāhi wahuwa šadīdu l-miḥāli
Talal Itani2012 The thunder praises His glory, and so do the angels, in awe of Him. And He sends the thunderbolts, striking with them whomever He wills. Yet they argue about God, while He is Tremendous in might.
Mohammed Marmaduke William Pickthall1930 The thunder hymneth His praise and (so do) the angels for awe of Him. He launcheth the thunderbolts and smiteth with them whom He will while they dispute (in doubt) concerning Allah, and He is mighty in wrath
Edward Henry Palmer1880 And the thunder celebrates His praise, and the angels too for fear of Him; and He sends the thunder-clap and overtakes therewith whom He will;- yet they wrangle about God! But He is strong in might
John Medows Rodwell1861 And the THUNDER uttereth his praise, and the Angels also, for awe of Him: and he sendeth his bolts and smiteth with them whom he will while they are wrangling about God! Mighty is he in prowess
George Sale1734 The thunder celebrateth his praise, and the angels also, for fear of Him. He sendeth his thunderbolts, and striketh therewith whom He pleaseth, while they dispute concerning God; for He is mighty in power
These figures count the words the translations share. They measure wording, not meaning, and they do not say which translation is right.
Derived measure: mean pairwise Jaccard distance over the
lowercased word sets of the 5 renderings above —
0.64 on a scale
where 0 means identical wording and 1 means no shared words. It is
computed, not judged.
The page says a verse is worded differently only above the cut below. The cut is a stated convention, not a property of the text, and it can be changed.
The cut
0.644
Share of measured verses above it
33%
Verses above it
2,079
Verses measured
6,236
Talal Itani · George Sale0.70
Edward Henry Palmer · Mohammed Marmaduke William Pickthall0.69
Talal Itani · Mohammed Marmaduke William Pickthall0.69
Talal Itani · John Medows Rodwell0.68
Mohammed Marmaduke William Pickthall · John Medows Rodwell0.68
Mohammed Marmaduke William Pickthall · George Sale0.66
Edward Henry Palmer · George Sale0.60
Edward Henry Palmer · John Medows Rodwell0.59
Talal Itani · Edward Henry Palmer0.57
John Medows Rodwell · George Sale0.51
One bar per pair of renderings, longest bar for the pair
sharing fewest words. Every pair is shown; none is singled out.
Method Wording differences — derived 13 September 2026
Method
Mean pairwise Jaccard distance over the lowercased word sets of the cleared translations of each verse. A verse is marked as worded differently when its score falls in the top third of the corpus — the cut set out in Analysis details.
As at
13 September 2026, 10:56 UTC
Gate
verify/divergence_gate.py re-derives and fails on drift
The platform does not say which is right, and does not
characterise what the difference means. The renderings are placed
together so the difference is visible; reading it is the reader's work.
Sources, editions and licences for everything above
ReceiptsSource fact
7 sources
stand behind this page. Each is listed once, in the order the page first
cites it, with the licence it was cleared under and what was actually read.
Nothing on this page rests on a source that is not here.
Source Tanzil Qur'an text (Uthmani) · Uthmani, Version 1.1
Hafs/Kufan verse numbering, 6236 ayahs. The bismillah is delivered as a separate `bismillah` attribute on ayah 1 and is NOT fused into the ayah text. 112 surahs carry one: every surah except al-Fatiha, where the bismillah is ayah 1:1 itself, and at-Tawba, which has none. Sourced from the XML output; the plain-text output of the same release DOES fuse it, which is defect D1.
CLEARED. Licence read verbatim from the block embedded in this very file. Ingested exactly as shipped: no normalisation, no stripping of marks, no Unicode recomposition.
Parsed structurally from the EPUB: an h3 names the surah, one p per verse with its number in its own span. An unnumbered p is the basmala and is not a verse, except in surah 1 where the basmala IS verse 1. 112 unnumbered paragraphs were found, which is 114 surahs less surah 1 and surah 9. Text is stored VERBATIM: NFC normalisation and XML entity unescaping only, because CC BY-ND forbids modification.
CLEARED on a licence read first-hand from the translator's own download page, not from an aggregator. Tanzil also hosts this translation, but under a blanket "non-commercial purposes only" term that directs the user to the translator or publisher for permission - a hosting disclaimer, not a grant - so the grant was taken from the licensor directly. The "God" edition was ingested; ClearQuran also publishes an "Allah" edition, differing in how the divine name is rendered, which is not ingested.
CLEARED ON THE WORK, WITH TWO RECORDED CAVEATS ON THIS COPY. (1) Rights basis is the expired copyright term, NOT the redistributing repository's licence. That repository dedicates its contents to the public domain under the Unlicense while also redistributing plainly in-copyright translations (Abdel Haleem, Saheeh International, The Study Quran), so it is dedicating rights it cannot hold and its blanket grant is not relied upon here. (2) The file declares its own upstream as tanzil.net, and Tanzil attaches a non-commercial condition to its TRANSLATION distributions, though not to its Qur'anic text. Since Pickthall's copyright has expired, nobody holds rights in these words and no licence is required from anyone; Tanzil's terms are a contract binding those who download from Tanzil, which we did not. The chain is nonetheless not spotless and Anwar may prefer a clean digitisation of the 1930 printing. NOT VERIFIED: that this digital text matches the 1930 first printing rather than a later revised edition. No page images were collated. Recorded as unverified rather than presented as established. SERVED TEXT DIFFERS FROM THE CITED FILE AT ONE VERSE, 37:97: the file reads "red-hotfire" (a glued token, also in Gutenberg #16955); the served row reads "red-hot fire", restored 2026-09-13 from Pickthall, The Meaning of the Glorious Koran (London: George Allen & Unwin, printed for Alfred A. Knopf; 1930), p. 460, XXXVII 97 - scan archive.org in.ernet.dli.2015.216140, PDF page 475; banked data/derivation-sources/pickthall-1930-dli-2015.216140-text.pdf (sha256 70e81146c97fa3a590243a82e04e349108546074787e2551a78c616202138870) on Anwar Malik's grant.
Hafs/Kufan verse numbering, 6236 verses, keyed to mushaf order. The
bismillah is not fused into ayah 1: 1:1 carries it and no other verse
does. Verified against content check C3 at ingest.
CLEARED ON THE WORK. Term expired by every measure. The digital edition's upstream is not stated by the redistributor and the printing is unverified. No statement of purpose is recorded for Palmer because none was sourced from his own preface in this pass; nothing is asserted on his behalf.
Hafs/Kufan verse numbering, 6236 verses, keyed to mushaf order. The
bismillah is not fused into ayah 1: 1:1 carries it and no other verse
does. Verified against content check C3 at ingest.
CLEARED ON THE WORK. Term expired by every measure. TWO edition caveats. (1) The upstream is not stated by the redistributor. (2) Rodwell's own edition PRESENTS THE SURAHS IN HIS OWN CHRONOLOGICAL ORDER, not the mushaf order — he says so in his preface. This digital text is keyed to mushaf order, so it derives from a restored-order printing (such as the Everyman edition) rather than from Rodwell's own arrangement. Which printing is not stated and has not been established.
Hafs/Kufan verse numbering, 6236 verses, keyed to mushaf order. The
bismillah is not fused into ayah 1: 1:1 carries it and no other verse
does. Verified against content check C3 at ingest.
CLEARED ON THE WORK. Term expired by every measure. The digital edition's upstream is NOT STATED by the redistributor, so the printing it represents is unverified; Sale's text was reprinted and re-edited many times between 1734 and 1900. Recorded as unverified rather than assumed to be the first edition.
Hafs/Kufan verse numbering, 6236 ayahs. The bismillah is delivered as a separate `bismillah` attribute on ayah 1 and is NOT fused into the ayah text. 112 surahs carry one: every surah except al-Fatiha, where the bismillah is ayah 1:1 itself, and at-Tawba, which has none. Sourced from the XML output; the plain-text output of the same release DOES fuse it, which is defect D1.
CLEARED. Parallel edition, held in ayah_text_variants. It sits alongside the Uthmani spine for search normalisation and is never used to correct it.