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.
Say (OMuhammad): Who is Lord of the heavens and the earth? Say: Allah. Say: Take ye then (others) beside Him for protectors, which, even for themselves, have neither benefit nor hurt? Say: Is the blind man equal to the seer, or is darkness equal to light? Or assign they unto Allahpartners who created the like of His creation so that the creation (which they made and His creation) seemed alike to them? Say: Allah is the Creator of all things, and He is the One, the Almighty
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
Compare translations (4)Talal Itani· published 2012
Say, "Who is the Lord of the heavens and the earth?" Say, "God." Say, "Have you taken besides Him protectors, who have no power to profit or harm even themselves?" Say, "Are the blind and the seeing equal? Or are darkness and light equal? Or have they assigned to God associates, who created the likes of His creation, so that the creations seemed to them alike? Say, "God is the Creator of all things, and He is The One, the Irresistible."
Translation Talal Itani, ClearQuran·Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International
Say, 'Who is Lord of the heavens and the earth?' say, 'God;' say, 'Do ye take beside God patrons who cannot control profit or harm for themselves?' say, 'Shall the blind and the seeing be held equal? or shall the darkness and the light be held equal? or have they made associates with God who can create as He creates, so that the creation seem familiar to them?' say, 'God is the creator of everything, and He is the one, the dominant
Sources
Translation Edward Henry Palmer, English translation of the Qur'an·Public domain — copyright term expired
SAY: Who is Lord of the Heavens and of the Earth? SAY: God. SAY: Why then have ye taken beside Him protectors, who even for their own selves have no power for help or harm? SAY: What! shall the blind and the seeing be held equal? Shall the darkness and the light be held equal? Or have they given associates to God who have created as He hath created, so that their creation appear to them like His? SAY: God is the Creator of all things! He is the One! the Conquering
Sources
Translation John Medows Rodwell, English translation of the Qur'an·Public domain — copyright term expired
Say, who is the Lord of heaven and earth? Answer, God. Say, have ye therefore taken unto yourselves protectors beside Him, who are unable either to help, or to defend themselves from hurt? Say, shall the blind and the seeing be esteemed equal? Or shall darkness and light be accounted the same? Or have they attributedcompanions unto God who have created as He hath created, so that their creation bear any resemblance unto His? Say, God the creator of all things; he is the one, the victorious God
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
Thuaju: "Kush është Zoti i qiejve dhe i Tokës?" Përgjigju: "Allahu!" Thuaju: "E si mund të merrni mbrojtës përveç Tij, që nuk mund t'i sjellin vetes as dobi e as dëm?!" Thuaju: "A është njësoj i verbri me atë që sheh? Ose, a mund të barazohen errësirat me dritën, apo i kanë veshur Allahut ortakë, që kanë krijuar sikurse Ai e u është ngatërruar krijimi?!" Thuaju: "Allahu është Krijuesi i gjithçkaje dhe Ai është i Vetmi, Ngadhënjimtari i Pamposhtur."
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
(হে রাসূল! তুমি কাফিরদেরকে) বলো: ‘আসমানসমূহ ও জমিনের রব কে?’ বলো: ‘আল্লাহ’। তুমি বলো: ‘তোমরা কি তাঁকে ছাড়া এমন (অক্ষম) কিছুকে অভিভাবক হিসেবে গ্রহণ করেছ, যারা তাদের নিজেদের কোনো উপকার অথবা ক্ষতি করতে সক্ষম নয়?’ বলো: ‘অন্ধ (কাফির) ও দৃষ্টিমান (মু’মিন) ব্যক্তি কি সমান হতে পারে? নাকি অন্ধকার (কুফরি) ও আলো (ঈমান) সমান হতে পারে? নাকি তারা আল্লাহর জন্য এমন কতগুলো শরীক নির্ধারণ করেছে, যারা তাঁর সৃষ্টির তুল্য কিছু সৃষ্টি করেছে, ফলে তাদের নিকট (আল্লাহর ও তাদের শরীকদের) সৃষ্টির বিষয়টি এক রকম মনে হয়েছে?; (হে রাসূল! তুমি তাদেরকে) বলো: ‘আল্লাহ একাই সবকিছুর স্রষ্টা এবং তিনি এক, মহা প্রতাপশালী।’
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
Reci: "Ko je Gospodar nebesa i Zemlje?" – i odgovori: "Allah!" Reci: "Pa zašto ste onda umjesto Njega kao zaštitnike prihvatili one koji sami sebi ne mogu neku korist pribaviti niti od sebe kakvu štetu otkloniti?" Reci: "Zar su jednaki slijepac i onaj koji vidi, ili, zar su isto tmine i svjetlo, ili, možda misle da oni koje su Allahu u obožavanju pridruživali stvaraju kao što On stvara, pa im se stvaranje čini sličnim?!" Reci: "Allah je Stvoritelj svega i On je, Jedini, Potčinitelj svega."
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
Reci: "Tko je Gospodar nebesa i Zemlje?" i odgovori: "Allah!" "Reci: "Pa zašto ste onda umjesto Njega kao zaštitnike prihvatili one koji sami sebi ne mogu neku korist pribaviti niti od sebe kakvu štetu otkloniti?" Reci: "Zar su jednaki slijepac i onaj koji vidi, ili, zar su isto tmine i svjetlo, ili, možda misle da oni koje su Allahu u obožavanju pridruživali stvaraju kao što On stvara, pa im se stvaranje čini sličnim!" Reci: "Allah je Stvoritelj svega i On je, Jedini, Podčinitelj svega."
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
Maaku: "Ko hommbo jeyi kammuuji ɗiin e leydi ndin?" Maaku: "Ko Alla". Maaku: "E on njogiti gaanin makko, keediiɗi ɗi mbaawanaa ko'e majji nafa wanaa lorra?" Maaku: "Hara bumɗo e ji'iiwo no fota? Kaa hara niɓe ɗen fotay e ndaygu ngu? Kaa ɓe waɗan Alla kafidiiɓe tagirɓe wano tagoore makko nde, tagoore nde nanndari ɓe? Maaku: "Ko Alla woni takɗo kala huunde, ko Kaŋko woni bajjo, poolɗo".
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
თქვი (ო, შუამავალო): «ვინ არის ცათა და მიწის უფალი?» უთხარი მათ (მრავალღმერთიანებს): «ალლაჰი!» თქვი: «ნუთუ მის გარდა სხვა მფარველები აიყვანეთ, რომელთაც არ ძალუძთ არც სარგებლის მოტანა და არც ზიანის მიყენება თავიანთი თავისთვის?» თქვი: «განა ბრმა და თვალხილული ერთია? განა სიბნელე და სინათლე ერთია? ან იქნებ ალლაჰს მოზიარეები დაუდგინეს, რომელთაც შექმნეს ისევე, როგორც მან შექმნა, და მათთვის ქმნილება ერთმანეთს დაემსგავსა?» თქვი: «ალლაჰია ყოველივეს შემქმნელი. და იგია ერთადერთი, ყოვლისშემძლე».
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
Sag: „Wer ist der Herr der Himmel und der Erde?“ Sag: „Allah.“ Sag: „Nehmt ihr euch denn außer Ihm Schutzherren, die für sich selbst weder an Nutzen noch an Schaden verfügen?“ Sag: „Sind (etwa) der Blinde und der Sehende gleich? Oder sind etwa die Finsternisse und das Licht gleich? Oder haben sie Allah (solche) Teilhaber gegeben, die eine Schöpfung wie die Seinige schufen, so dass ihnen die Schöpfung ähnlich erscheint?“ Sag: „Allah ist der Schöpfer von allem, und Er ist der Eine, der Allbezwinger.“
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
Πες (ω, Προφήτη): «Ποιος είναι ο Κύριος των ουρανών και της γης;» Πες: «Ο Αλλάχ.» Πες: «Έχετε πάρει (για λατρεία) εκτός Αυτού κηδεμόνες (και προστάτες), οι οποίοι δεν έχουν καμία δύναμη να φέρουν όφελος στον εαυτό τους, ούτε να εμποδίζουν κάποιο κακό από τον εαυτό τους;» Πες: «Είναι ο τυφλός ίσος μ' αυτόν που βλέπει; Ή είναι τα σκοτάδια ίσα με το φως;» Ή αποδίδουν στον Αλλάχ εταίρους (στη δημιουργία), οι οποίοι δημιούργησαν παρόμοια με τη δική Του δημιουργία, και έτσι μπερδεύτηκαν με τα δημιουργήματα (αυτών και του Αλλάχ);» Πες: «Ο Αλλάχ είναι ο Δημιουργός των πάντων, και Αυτός είναι ο Αλ-Ουάχειντ (Ένας), ο Αλ-Καχάρ (Αυτός που νικά και υποτάσσει όποιον θέλει).»
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
उनसे पूछो : आकाशों तथा धरती का पालनहार कौन है? कह दो : अल्लाह। कहो : फिर क्या तुमने अल्लाह के सिवा उन्हें सहायक बना रखे हैं, जो अपने लिए न किसी लाभ का अधिकार रखते हैं और न किसी हानि का? उनसे कहो : क्या अंधा और देखने वाला बराबर होते हैं? या क्या अँधेरे और प्रकाश बराबर होते हैं?[8] या उन्होंने अल्लाह के लिए कुछ साझी बना लिए हैं, जिन्होंने उसके पैदा करने की तरह पैदा किया है, अतः पैदा करने का मामला उनपर उलझ गया है? आप कह दें : अल्लाह ही प्रत्येक चीज़ को पैदा करने वाला है[9] और वही अकेला, अत्यंत प्रभुत्वशाली है।
Translated by Azizul Haq Al-Omari
From QuranEnc.com, version 1.1.5
Italiano · Italian
Di’: «Chi è il Dio dei cieli e della terra?» Di’: «Allāh!» Di’: «Vi prendete all’infuori di Lui protettori che non possiedono per loro stessi né bene né male?» Di’: «Sono uguali il cieco e il vedente?» Oppure: «Sono uguali l’oscurità e la luce?» O che abbiano attribuito ad Allāh dei simili che hanno creato qualcosa simile al Suo creato, così che le due creazioni si sono confuse per loro?” Di’: «Allāh è il Creatore di ogni cosa, e Lui è l’Unico, il Dominatore.»
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
16. Sakyk (Muchammedai ﷺ ): „Kas yra dangų ir žemės Viešpats?“ Sakyk: „(Jis yra) Allahas.“ Sakyk: „Argi jūs prisiėmėte (garbinimui) Aulija (globėjais) kitus, nei Jis, tokius, kurie neturi galios nei sau duoti naudos, nei pakenkti?“ Sakyk: „ Argi aklas lygus tam, kuris mato? Arba tamsa lygi šviesai? O gal jie priskiria Allahui partnerius, kurie sukūrė panašią į Jo kūriniją, taip, kad kūrinija (kurią jie sukūrė ir Jo kūrinija) atrodė panaši jiems?“ Sakyk: „Allahas yra visa ko Kūrėjas. Ir Jis yra Vienas, Nenugalimas.“
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
Скажи: «Кто Господь небес и земли?» Скажи: «Аллах». Скажи: «Неужели вы взяли себе помимо Него покровителей, которые не властны причинить самим себе ни пользы, ни вреда?» Скажи: «Разве равны слепой и зрячий? Или разве равны мраки и свет? Или они приписали Аллаху сотоварищей, которые сотворили подобное Его творению, так что творение стало казаться им сходным?» Скажи: «Аллах — Творец всего сущего, и Он — Единый, Всепокоряющий».
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
Реци: „Ко је Господар небеса и Земље?“ - И одговори: „Аллах!“ Реци: „Па зашто сте онда уместо Њега као заштитнике прихватили оне који сами себи не могу неку корист да прибаве нити од себе какву штету да отклоне?“ Реци: „Зар су једнаки слепац и онај који види, или, зар су исто тмине и светло? Зар су Аллаху придружили божанства која стварају као што Он ствара, па им се стварање чини сличним?!“ Реци: „Аллах је Створитељ свега и Он је, Једини, Потчинитељ свега.“
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
Sema: Ni nani Mola Mlezi wa mbingu na ardhi? Sema: Mwenyezi Mungu. Sema: Basi je, mnawafanya wenginewe badala yake kuwa ni walinzi, nao hawajimilikii manufaa yoyote wala madhara? Sema: Je, kipofu na mwenye kuona huwa sawa? Au je, huwa sawa giza na mwangaza? Au wamemfanyia Mwenyezi Mungu washirika walioumba kama alivyoumba Yeye, na viumbe hivyo vikawachanganyikia? Sema: Mwenyezi Mungu ndiye Muumba wa kila kitu. Na Yeye ni Mmoja, Mwenye kushinda!
Issued by the Islamic Content Service Association in Languages
From QuranEnc.com, version 1.0.5
Svenska · Swedish
Säg: ”Vem är Herren över himlarna och jorden?” Säg: ”Det är Gud!” Säg: ”Har ni då valt gudomar i hans ställe som inte kan gynna sig själva eller avvärja någon skada?” Säg: ”Kan den blinde likställas med den seende, eller kan mörkret likställas med ljuset?” Påstår de kanske att det finns gudomar vid Guds sida som har skapat något som kan jämföras med hans skapelser, så att de tvivlar på vems skapelse det är? Säg: ”Gud är alltings Skapare, och han är den Ende, den Allhärskande.”
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
De ki: “Göklerin ve yerin Rabbi kimdir?” “Allah’tır” de. De ki: “O'nu bırakıp da kendilerine (bile) bir faydası ve zararı olmayan dostlar (mabutlar) mı edindiniz?” De ki: “Kör ile gören bir olur mu? Ya da karanlıklarla aydınlık bir olur mu? Yoksa Allah’a, O’nun yarattığı gibi yaratan ortaklar buldular da bu yaratma ile Allah’ın yaratması onlara göre birbirine mi benzedi?” De ki: “Her şeyin yaratıcısı Allah’tır. O, birdir, Kahhâr'dır/mutlak galiptir.''
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
آپ پوچھئے کہ آسمانوں اور زمین کا پروردگار کون ہے؟ کہہ دیجئے! اللہ[1] ۔ کہہ دیجئے! کیا تم پھر بھی اس کے سوا اوروں کو حمایتی بنا رہے ہو جو خود اپنی جان کے بھی بھلے برے کا اختیار نہیں رکھتے[2]۔ کہہ دیجئے کہ کیا اندھا اور بینا برابر ہو سکتا ہے؟ یا کیا اندھیریاں اور روشنی برابر ہو سکتی ہے[3]۔ کیا جنہیں یہ اللہ کے شریک ٹھہرا رہے ہیں انہوں نے بھی اللہ کی طرح مخلوق پیدا کی ہے کہ ان کی نظر میں پیدائش مشتبہ ہوگئی ہو، کہہ دیجئے کہ صرف اللہ ہی تمام چیزوں کا خالق ہے وه اکیلا ہے[4] اور زبردست غالب ہے.
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.
DIN 31635lahu daʿwatu l-ḥaqqi wallaḏīna yadʿūna min dūnihi lā yastaǧībūna lahum bišayʾin ʾillā kabāsiṭi kaffayhi ʾilā l-māʾi liyabluġa fāhu wamā huwa bibāliġihi wamā duʿāʾu l-kāfirīna ʾillā fī ḍalālin
The translators word this verse differently
Talal Itani2012 To Him belongs the call to truth. Those they call upon besides Him do not respond to them with anything-except as someone who stretches his hands towards water, so that it may reach his mouth, but it does not reach it. The prayers of the unbelievers are only in vain.
Mohammed Marmaduke William Pickthall1930 Unto Him is the real prayer. Those unto whom they pray beside Allah respond to them not at all, save as (is the response to) one who stretcheth forth his hands toward water (asking) that it may come unto his mouth, and it will never reach it. The prayer of disbelievers goeth (far) astray
Edward Henry Palmer1880 On Him is the call of truth, and those who call on others than Him shall not be answered at all, save as one who stretches out his hand to the water that it may reach his mouth, but it reaches it not! The call of the misbelievers is only in error
John Medows Rodwell1861 Prayer is His of right: but these deities to whom they pray beside Him give them no answer, otherwise than as he is answered who stretcheth forth his hands to the water that it may reach his mouth, when it cannot reach it! The prayer of the Infidels only wandereth, and is lost
George Sale1734 It is He who ought of right to be invoked; and the idols which they invoke besides Him, shall not hear them at all; otherwise than as he is heard, who stretcheth forth his hands to the water that it may ascend to his mouth, when it cannot ascend thither: The supplication of the unbelievers is utterly erroneous
DIN 31635walillāhi yasǧudu man fī s-samāwāti wal-ʾarḍi ṭawʿan wakarhan waẓilāluhum bil-ġuduwwi wal-ʾāṣāli
The translators word this verse differently
Talal Itani2012 To God prostrates everyone in the heavens and the earth, willingly or unwillingly, as do their shadows, in the morning and in the evening.
Mohammed Marmaduke William Pickthall1930 And unto Allah falleth prostrate whosoever is in the heavens and the earth, willingly or unwillingly, as do their shadows in the morning and the evening hours
Edward Henry Palmer1880 And God do those who are in the heavens and the earth adore, whether they will or no! as do their shadows also morn and eve
John Medows Rodwell1861 And unto God doth all in the Heavens and on the Earth bow down in worship, willingly or by constraint: their very shadows also morn and even
George Sale1734 Whatsoever is in heaven and on earth worshippeth God, voluntarily or of force; and their shadows also, morning and evening
Talal Itani2012 He sends down water from the sky, and riverbeds flow according to their capacity. The current carries swelling froth. And from what they heat in fire of ornaments or utensils comes a similar froth. Thus God exemplifies truth and falsehood. As for the froth, it is swept away, but what benefits the people remains in the ground. Thus God presents the analogies.
Mohammed Marmaduke William Pickthall1930 He sendeth down water from the sky, so that valleys flow according to their measure, and the flood beareth (on its surface) swelling foam - from that which they smelt in the fire in order to make ornaments and tools riseth a foam like unto it - thus Allah coineth (the similitude of) the true and the false. Then, as for the foam, it passeth away as scum upon the banks, while, as for that which is of use to mankind, it remaineth in the earth. Thus Allah coineth the similitudes
Edward Henry Palmer1880 He sends down from the sky water, and the water-courses flow according to their bulk, and the torrent bears along the floating scum: and from what they set fire to, craving ornaments or utensils, comes a scum like that;- thus does God hit the truth and the falsehood;- and as for the scum it is thrown off, and as for what profits man it stays on the earth. Thus does God strike out parables
John Medows Rodwell1861 He sendeth down the rain from Heaven: then flow the torrents in their due measure, and the flood beareth along a swelling foam. And from the metals which are molten in the fire for the sake of ornaments or utensils, a like scum ariseth. In this way doth God depict (set forth) truth and falsehood. As to the foam, it is quickly gone: and as to what is useful to man, it remaineth on the earth. Thus doth God set forth comparisons
George Sale1734 He causeth water to descend from heaven, and the brooks flow according to their respective measure, and the floods bear the floating froth: And from the metals which they melt in the fire, seeking to cast ornaments or vessels for use, there ariseth a scum like unto it: Thus God setteth forth truth and vanity. But the scum is thrown off, and that which is useful to mankind remaineth on the earth. Thus doth God put forth parables
Talal Itani2012 For those who respond to their Lord is the best. But as for those who do not respond to Him, even if they possessed everything on earth, and twice as much, they could not redeem themselves with it. Those will have the worst reckoning; and their home is Hell-a miserable destination.
Mohammed Marmaduke William Pickthall1930 For those who answered Allah's call is bliss; and for those who answered not His call, if they had all that is in the earth, and therewith the like thereof, they would proffer it as ransom. Such will have a woeful reckoning, and their habitation will be hell, a dire abode
Edward Henry Palmer1880 For those who respond to their Lord is good; but those who respond not to Him, had they all that is in the earth and the like thereof as well, they would give it for a ransom; these shall have an evil reckoning up! and their resort is hell,- an evil couch shall it be
John Medows Rodwell1861 To those who respond to their Lord shall be an excellent reward; but those who respond not to his call, had they all that the earth containeth twice over, they would surely give it for their ransom. Evil their reckoning! and Hell their home! And wretched the bed
George Sale1734 Unto those who obey their Lord, shall be given the most excellent reward: But those who obey Him not, although they were possessed of whatever is in the whole earth and as much more, they would give it all for their ransom. These will be brought to a terrible account: Their abode shall be hell; an unhappy couch shall it be
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 —
0.56 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
Edward Henry Palmer · George Sale0.65
Edward Henry Palmer · Mohammed Marmaduke William Pickthall0.63
Mohammed Marmaduke William Pickthall · George Sale0.60
Talal Itani · Edward Henry Palmer0.59
Talal Itani · George Sale0.57
Edward Henry Palmer · John Medows Rodwell0.55
Mohammed Marmaduke William Pickthall · John Medows Rodwell0.53
Talal Itani · Mohammed Marmaduke William Pickthall0.52
John Medows Rodwell · George Sale0.50
Talal Itani · John Medows Rodwell0.44
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.