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.
The ignorant among the people will say, "What has turned them away from the direction of prayer they oncefollowed?" Say, "To God belong the East and the West. He guides whom He wills to a straight path."
Translation Talal Itani, ClearQuran·Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International
Compare translations (4)Mohammed Marmaduke William Pickthall1875–1936 · published 1930
The foolish of the people will say: What hath turned them from the qiblah which they formerly observed? Say: Unto Allah belong the East and the West. He guideth whom He will unto a straight path
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
The fools among men will say, 'What has turned them from their qiblah, on which they were agreed?' Say, 'God's is the east and the west, He guides whom He will unto the right path
Sources
Translation Edward Henry Palmer, English translation of the Qur'an·Public domain — copyright term expired
The foolish ones will say, "What hath turned them from the kebla which they used?" SAY: The East and the West are God's. He guideth whom he will into the right path
Sources
Translation John Medows Rodwell, English translation of the Qur'an·Public domain — copyright term expired
The foolish men will say, what hath turned them from their Keblah, towards which they formerly prayed? Say, unto God belongeth the east and the west: He directeth whom he pleaseth into the right way
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
Njerëzit mendjelehtë do të thonë: "Çfarë i largoi ata prej kiblës nga e cila drejtoheshin?!" Thuaju: "Të Allahut janë lindja e perëndimi. Ai udhëzon kë të dojë në rrugën e drejtë."
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
অচিরেই মানুষের মধ্য হতে কিছু মূর্খ- নির্বোধরা (২) বলবে: কীসে তাদেরকে তাদের কিবলা (বায়তুল মাকদাস) থেকে ফিরিয়ে দিলো, যে কিবলার তারা এ যাবত অনুসরণ করে আসছিল? (হে মুহাম্মদ,) বলো: ‘পূর্ব ও পশ্চিমের মালিক আল্লাহ-ই। তিনি যাকে ইচ্ছা তাকে সরল-সঠিক পথের হিদায়াত দান করেন।’
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
Reći će neki ljudi kratke pameti: "Šta ih je odvratilo od kible njihove, prema kojoj su se okretali?" Reci: "Allahu pripadaju i istok i zapad; On upućuje na Pravi put onoga koga On hoće."
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
Reći će neki ljudi kratke pameti: "Što ih je odvratilo od kible njihove, prema kojoj su se okretali?" Reci: "Allahu pripadaju i istok i zapad; On upućuje na Pravi put onoga koga On hoće."
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
Maa ɓeen Yimɓe ɗaayɓe mbi': " hol ko woppani ɓe huccitirde maɓɓe nde ɓe ngonndoo ndee , wi' ɓe : "Ko Alla woodani (jeyi) fuɗnaange e hiirnaange, himo Feewna mo o muuyaa fa'de laawol pooctingo
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
უგუნურები ადამიანთაგან იტყვიან (დამცინავად): «რამ მოაბრუნა ისინი [მორწმუნეები] იმ ყიბლიდან, რომელზეც ისინი იყვნენ» უთხარი (მათ) (ო, მოციქულო): «ალლაჰს ეკუთვნის აღმოსავლეთიც და დასავლეთიც; ის მიუძღვის სწორი გზისკენ ინებებს ვისაც!»
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
Die Toren unter den Menschen werden sagen: „Was hat sie von der Gebetsrichtung, die sie (bisher) einhielten, abgebracht?“ Sag: „Allah gehört der Osten und der Westen. Er leitet, wen Er will, auf einen geraden Weg.“
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
Οι ανόητοι ανάμεσα στους ανθρώπους θα πουν: «Τι τους έκανε να στραφούν μακριά από την Κίμπλα τους (κατεύθυνση της προσευχής προς την Ιερουσαλήμ), προς την οποία στρέφονταν (και τώρα στρέφονται προς τη Μάκκα);» Πες, «Στον Αλλάχ ανήκει η Ανατολή και η Δύση. Καθοδηγεί όποιον θέλει στον ίσιο δρόμο.»
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
शीघ्र ही मूर्ख लोग कहेंगे कि उन्हें उनके उस क़िबले[71] से, जिस पर वे थे किस चीज़ ने फेर दिया? (ऐ नबी!) कह दीजिए कि पूर्व और पश्चिम अल्लाह ही के हैं। वह जिसे चाहता है, सीधी राह पर लगा देता है।
Translated by Azizul Haq Al-Omari
From QuranEnc.com, version 1.1.5
Italiano · Italian
Diranno gli stolti tra la gente: “Perché hanno cambiato la precedente direzione della preghiera?” Di’: “L’Oriente e l’Occidente sono di Allāh! Guida chi vuole alla retta via”.
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
142. Kvailiai iš žmonių tarpo (pagonys, veidmainiai ir judėjai) sakys: „Kas nusuko juos (musulmonus) nuo jų Kiblos [maldos krypties (į Jėruzalės pusę)], į kurią jie gręždavosi maldoje?“ Sakyk (Muchammedai ﷺ): „Allahui priklauso rytai ir vakarai. Jis išveda į Teisingą Kelią tuos, kuriuos nori.“
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 1.0.8
Afaan Oromoo · Oromo
Namoota irraa warri gowwaan "Sila qiblaa irratti tahan (Beytal-Maqdis) irraa maaltu isaan garagalche?" jedhu. "Bahaafi Dhiitis kan Rabbiiti. Inni nama fedhe gara karaa sirrii qajeelcha" jedhi. [51]
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
Глупцы среди людей скажут: «Что отвратило их от их киблы, к которой они были обращены?» Скажи: «Аллаху принадлежит восток и запад. Он наставляет, кого пожелает, на прямой путь».
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
Рећи ће неки људи кратке памети: „Шта их је одвратило од њиховог правца током молитве, према којем су се окретали?“ Реци: „Аллаху припадају и исток и запад; Он упућује на Прави пут онога кога Он хоће.“
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
Wapumbavu miongoni mwa watu watasema: ‘Ni nini kilichowageuza kutoka kibla chao walichokuwa wakikielekea?’ Sema: ‘Mashariki na Magharibi ni ya Mwenyezi Mungu; Yeye humwongoa amtakaye kwenye njia iliyonyooka.’
Issued by the Islamic Content Service Association in Languages
From QuranEnc.com, version 1.0.5
Svenska · Swedish
De enfaldiga bland människorna kommer att säga: ”Vad fick dem att vända sig bort från den böneriktning som de tidigare haft?” Säg: ”Öst och väst tillhör Gud. Han vägleder den han vill till en rak väg.”
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
İnsanlardan bazı akılsızlar şöyle diyeceklerdir: "Onları şimdiye kadar yöneldikleri kıblelerinden çeviren nedir?" De ki: "Doğu da, batı da Allah'ındır. O, dilediğini doğru yola iletir."
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
عنقریب نادان لوگ کہیں گے کہ جس قبلہ پر یہ تھے اس سے انہیں کس چیز نے ہٹایا؟ آپ کہہ دیجیئے کہ مشرق ومغرب کا مالک اللہ تعالیٰ ہی ہے[1] وه جسے چاہے سیدھی راه کی ہدایت کردے۔
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.
Talal Itani2012 Or do you say that Abraham, Ishmael, Isaac, Jacob, and the Patriarchs were Jews or Christians? Say, "Do you know better, or God?" And who does greater wrong than he who conceals a testimony he has from God? God is not unaware of what you do.
Mohammed Marmaduke William Pickthall1930 Or say ye that Abraham, and Ishmael, and Isaac, and Jacob, and the tribes were Jews or Christians? Say: Do ye know best, or doth Allah? And who is more unjust than he who hideth a testimony which he hath received from Allah? Allah is not unaware of what ye do
Edward Henry Palmer1880 Do ye say that Abraham, and Ishmael, and Isaac, and Jacob, and the Tribes were Jews or Christians? Say, 'Are ye more knowing than God? Who is more unjust than one who conceals a testimony that he has from God?' But God is not careless of what ye do
John Medows Rodwell1861 Will ye say, "Verily Abraham, and Ismael, and Isaac, and Jacob, and the tribes, were Jews or Christians?" SAY: Who knoweth best, ye, or God? And who is more in fault than he who concealeth the witness which he hath from God? But God is not regardless of what ye do
George Sale1734 Will ye say, truly Abraham, and Ismael, and Isaac, and Jacob, and the tribes were Jews or Christians? Say, are ye wiser, or God? And who is more unjust than he who hideth the testimony which he hath received from God? But God is not regardless of that which ye do
Easy-read (simplified)tilka ummatun qad khalat lahaa maa kasabat walakum maa kasabtum walaa tus'aloona 'ammaa kaanoo ya'maloon
DIN 31635tilka ʾummatun qad ḫalat lahā mā kasabat walakum mā kasabtum walā tusʾalūna ʿammā kānū yaʿmalūna
Talal Itani2012 That was a community that has passed. To them is what they have earned, and to you is what you have earned. And you will not be questioned about what they used to do.
Mohammed Marmaduke William Pickthall1930 Those are a people who have passed away; theirs is that which they earned and yours that which ye earn. And ye will not be asked of what they used to do
Edward Henry Palmer1880 That is a nation that has passed away; theirs is what they gained, and yours shall be what ye have gained; ye shall not be questioned as to that which they have done
John Medows Rodwell1861 That people have now passed away: they have the reward of their deeds, and for you is the meed of yours; but of their doings ye shall not be questioned
George Sale1734 That people are passed away, they have what they have gained, and ye shall have what ye gain, nor shall ye be questioned concerning that which they have done
Talal Itani2012 Thus We made you a moderate community, that you may be witnesses to humanity, and that the Messenger may be a witness to you. We only established the direction of prayer, which you once followed, that We may distinguish those who follow the Messenger from those who turn on their heels. It is indeed difficult, except for those whom God has guided. But God would never let your faith go to waste. God is Kind towards the people, Merciful.
Mohammed Marmaduke William Pickthall1930 Thus We have appointed you a middle nation, that ye may be witnesses against mankind, and that the messenger may be a witness against you. And We appointed the qiblah which ye formerly observed only that We might know him who followeth the messenger, from him who turneth on his heels. In truth it was a hard (test) save for those whom Allah guided. But it was not Allah's purpose that your faith should be in vain, for Allah is Full of Pity, Merciful toward mankind
Edward Henry Palmer1880 Thus have we made you a middle nation, to be witnesses against men, and that the Apostle may be a witness against you. We have not appointed the qiblah on which thou wert agreed, save that we might know who follows the Apostle from him who turns upon his heels although it is a great thing save to those whom God doth guide. But God will not waste your faith, for verily, God with men is kind and merciful
John Medows Rodwell1861 Thus have we made you a central people, that ye may be witnesses in regard to mankind, and that the apostle may be a witness in regard to you. We appointed the kebla which thou formerly hadst, only that we might know him who followeth the apostle, from him who turneth on his heels: The change is a difficulty, but not to those whom God hath guided. But God will not let your faith be fruitless; for unto man is God Merciful, Gracious
George Sale1734 Thus have we placed you, O Arabians, an intermediate nation, that ye may be witnesses against the rest of mankind, and that the Apostle may be a witness against you. We appointed the Keblah towards which thou didst formerly pray, only that we might know him who followeth the Apostle, from him who turneth back on his heel; though this change seem a great matter, unless unto those whom God hath directed. But God will not render your faith of none effect; for God is gracious and merciful unto man
Talal Itani2012 We have seen your face turned towards the heaven. So We will turn you towards a direction that will satisfy you. So turn your face towards the Sacred Mosque. And wherever you may be, turn your faces towards it. Those who were given the Book know that it is the Truth from their Lord; and God is not unaware of what they do.
Mohammed Marmaduke William Pickthall1930 We have seen the turning of thy face to heaven (for guidance, O Muhammad). And now verily We shall make thee turn (in prayer) toward a qiblah which is dear to thee. So turn thy face toward the Inviolable Place of Worship, and ye (O Muslims), wheresoever ye may be, turn your faces (when ye pray) toward it. Lo! Those who have received the Scripture know that (this revelation) is the Truth from their Lord. And Allah is not unaware of what they do
Edward Henry Palmer1880 We see thee often turn about thy face in the heavens, but we will surely turn thee to a qiblah thou shalt like. Turn then thy face towards the Sacred Mosque; wherever ye be, turn your faces towards it; for verily, those who have the Book know that it is the truth from their Lord;- God is not careless of that which ye do
John Medows Rodwell1861 We have seen thee turning thy face towards every part of Heaven; but we will have thee turn to a kebla which shall please thee. Turn then thy face towards the sacred Mosque, and wherever ye be, turn your faces towards that part. They, verily, to whom "the Book" hath been given, know this to be the truth from their Lord: and God is not regardless of what ye do
George Sale1734 We have seen thee turn about thy face towards heaven with uncertainty, but we will cause thee to turn thy self towards a Keblah that will please thee. Turn therefore thy face towards the holy temple of Mecca; and wherever ye be, turn your faces towards that place. They to whom the scripture hath been given, know this to be truth from their Lord. God is not regardless of that which ye do
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 —
0.59 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
Talal Itani · John Medows Rodwell0.67
Talal Itani · Edward Henry Palmer0.64
Edward Henry Palmer · John Medows Rodwell0.62
Edward Henry Palmer · Mohammed Marmaduke William Pickthall0.62
Edward Henry Palmer · George Sale0.60
Mohammed Marmaduke William Pickthall · George Sale0.55
Talal Itani · Mohammed Marmaduke William Pickthall0.53
John Medows Rodwell · George Sale0.51
Mohammed Marmaduke William Pickthall · John Medows Rodwell0.49
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.