قُلْ كُونُوا۟ حِجَارَةً أَوْ حَدِيدًا
Easy-read (simplified)qul koonoo hijaaratan aw hadeedaa
DIN 31635qul kūnū ḥiǧāratan ʾaw ḥadīdan
EditionTanzil Qur'an text (Uthmani) ·Creative Commons Attribution 3.0
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, "Even if you become rocks or iron.
Talal Itani, ClearQuran ·ClearQuran, "God" edition, EPUB·Talal Itani / ClearQuran.com ·Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International·retrieved 7 Sep 2026
Translation by Talal Itani, ClearQuran.com https://clearquran.com
Say: Be ye stones or iron
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
Say, 'Be ye stones, or iron
Translation Edward Henry Palmer, English translation of the Qur'an·Public domain — copyright term expired
Edward Henry Palmer, English translation of the Qur'an ·1880 translation, digital edition of unverified printing·None — public domain work ·Public domain — copyright term expired·retrieved 24 Aug 2026
SAY: "Yes, though ye were stones, or iron
Translation John Medows Rodwell, English translation of the Qur'an·Public domain — copyright term expired
John Medows Rodwell, English translation of the Qur'an ·1861 translation, digital edition of unverified printing·None — public domain work ·Public domain — copyright term expired·retrieved 24 Aug 2026
Answer, be ye stones, or iron
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
Thuaju: "Po, edhe sikur të bëheshit gurë a hekur,
(হে রাসূল! তুমি তাদেরকে) বলো: ‘তোমরা পাথর হয়ে যাও কিংবা লোহা’,
Reci: “Hoćete, i da ste kamenje ili gvožđe,
Reci: “Hoćete, i da ste kamenje ili željezo,
Maaku: [yo Nulaaɗo] «ngonee kaaƴe maa jamɗe»
უთხარი [ო, შუამავალო]: «ქვადაც რომ იქცეთ ან რკინად,
Sag: „Seid (doch) Steine oder Eisen
Πες: «Ακόμα και αν γίνετε πέτρα ή σίδερο,
आप कह दें कि तुम पत्थर या लोहा हो जाओ।
Di’: «Siate pure pietre o ferro,
50. Sakyk (Muchammedai ﷺ): „Būkite jūs akmenimis ar geležimi.“
(Yaa Muhammad!) jedhiin: “ (yoo dandeessan) Dhagaa yookiin sibiila ta’aa.
Скажи: «Будь вы хоть камнями, хоть железом,
Реци: “Хоћете, и да сте камење или гвожђе,
Sema: Kuweni hata mawe au chuma.
Säg: ”[Ja, om ni så] vore stenar eller järn,
De ki: İster taş olun, ister demir!
جواب دیجیئے کہ تم پتھر بن جاؤ یا لوہا.[1]
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.
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.
shown so it's never read alone
ٱنظُرْ كَيْفَ ضَرَبُوا۟ لَكَ ٱلْأَمْثَالَ فَضَلُّوا۟ فَلَا يَسْتَطِيعُونَ سَبِيلًا
Easy-read (simplified)unzur kayfa daraboo laka l-'amthaala fadalloo falaa yastatee'oona sabeelaa
DIN 31635unẓur kayfa ḍarabū laka l-ʾamṯāla faḍallū falā yastaṭīʿūna sabīlan
The translators word this verse differently
Note what they compared you to. They are lost, and unable to find a way.
See what similitudes they coin for thee, and thus are all astray, and cannot find a road
Behold, how they strike out for you parables, and err, and cannot find the way
See what likenesses they strike out for thee! But they are in error, neither can they find the path
Behold! What epithets they bestow on thee. But they are deceived; neither can they find any just occasion to reproach thee
وَقَالُوٓا۟ أَءِذَا كُنَّا عِظَٰمًا وَرُفَٰتًا أَءِنَّا لَمَبْعُوثُونَ خَلْقًا جَدِيدًا
Easy-read (simplified)waqaaloo a'idhaa kunnaa 'izaaman warufaatan a'innaa lamab'oothoona khalqan jadeedaa
DIN 31635waqālū ʾaʾiḏā kunnā ʿiẓāman warufātan ʾaʾinnā lamabʿūṯūna ḫalqan ǧadīdan
And they say, "When we have become bones and fragments, shall we really be resurrected as a new creation?"
And they say: When we are bones and fragments, shall we forsooth, be raised up as a new creation
They say, 'What! when we have become bones and rubbish are we to be raised up a new creature
They also say, "After we shall have become bones and dust, shall we in sooth be raised a new creation
They also say, after we shall have become bones and dust, shall we surely be raised a new creature
17:50 — the verse above
أَوْ خَلْقًا مِّمَّا يَكْبُرُ فِى صُدُورِكُمْ فَسَيَقُولُونَ مَن يُعِيدُنَا قُلِ ٱلَّذِى فَطَرَكُمْ أَوَّلَ مَرَّةٍ فَسَيُنْغِضُونَ إِلَيْكَ رُءُوسَهُمْ وَيَقُولُونَ مَتَىٰ هُوَ قُلْ عَسَىٰٓ أَن يَكُونَ قَرِيبًا
Easy-read (simplified)aw khalqan mimmaa yakburu fee sudoorikum fasayaqooloona man yu'eedunaa quli lladhee fatarakum awwala marratin fasayunghidoona ilayka ru'oosahum wayaqooloona mataa huwa qul 'asaa an yakoona qareebaa
DIN 31635ʾaw ḫalqan mimmā yakburu fī ṣudūrikum fasayaqūlūna man yuʿīdunā quli llaḏī faṭarakum ʾawwala marratin fasayunġiḍūna ʾilayka ruʾūsahum wayaqūlūna matā huwa qul ʿasā ʾan yakūna qarīban
Or some substance, which, in your minds, is even harder." Then they will say, "Who will restore us?" Say, "The One who originated you the first time." Then they will nod their heads at you, and say, "When will it be?" Say, "Perhaps it will be soon."
Or some created thing that is yet greater in your thoughts! Then they will say: Who shall bring us back (to life). Say: He Who created you at the first. Then will they shake their heads at thee, and say: When will it be? Say: It will perhaps be soon
or a creature, the greatest your breasts can conceive -!' Then they shall say, 'Who is to restore us?' Say, 'He who originated you at first;' and they will wag their heads and say, 'When will that be?' Say, 'It may, perhaps, be nigh
or any other creature, to your seeming, yet harder to be raised." But they will say, "Who shall bring us back?" SAY: "He who created you at first." And they will wag their heads at thee, and say, "When shall this be?" SAY: "Haply it is nigh
or some creature more improbable in your opinions to be raised to life. But they will say, who shall restore us to life? Answer, He who created you the first time: And they will wag their heads at thee, saying, when shall this be? Answer, peradventure it is nigh
يَوْمَ يَدْعُوكُمْ فَتَسْتَجِيبُونَ بِحَمْدِهِۦ وَتَظُنُّونَ إِن لَّبِثْتُمْ إِلَّا قَلِيلًا
Easy-read (simplified)yawma yad'ookum fatastajeeboona bihamdihi watazunnoona in labithtum illaa qaleelaa
DIN 31635yawma yadʿūkum fatastaǧībūna biḥamdihi wataẓunnūna ʾin labiṯtum ʾillā qalīlan
On the Day when He calls you, you will respond with His praise, and you will realize that you stayed only a little.
A day when He will call you and ye will answer with His praise, and ye will think that ye have tarried but a little while
The day when He shall call on you and ye shall answer with praise to Him, and they will think that they have tarried but a little
On that day shall God call you forth, and ye shall answer by praising Him; and ye shall seem to have tarried but a little while
On that day shall God call you forth from your sepulchres, and ye shall obey, with celebration of his praise; and ye shall think that ye tarried but a little while
EditionTanzil Qur'an text (Uthmani) ·Uthmani, Version 1.1·Tanzil Project ·Creative Commons Attribution 3.0·retrieved 24 Aug 2026
قُلْ كُونُوا حِجَارَةً أَوْ حَدِيدًا
EditionTanzil Qur'an text (Simple) ·Simple, Version 1.1·Tanzil Project ·Creative Commons Attribution 3.0·retrieved 24 Aug 2026
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SourceTanzil Qur'an text (Simple) ·Simple, Version 1.1·Tanzil Project ·Creative Commons Attribution 3.0·retrieved 24 Aug 2026
SourceTanzil Qur'an text (Simple) ·Simple, Version 1.1·Tanzil Project ·Creative Commons Attribution 3.0·retrieved 24 Aug 2026
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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.
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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.
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.
CLEARED. Parallel edition, held in ayah_text_variants. It sits alongside the Uthmani spine for search normalisation and is never used to correct it.
Qur'anic text from the Tanzil Project. Copyright (C) 2007-2026 Tanzil Project License: Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Source: tanzil.net · Updates: tanzil.net/updates/ https://tanzil.net/updates/