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.
Talal Itani· published 2012
Do they not reflect upon what lies before them and behind them, of the heaven and the earth? If We will, We can make the earth cave in beneath them, or make pieces of the sky fall down on them. In that is a sign for every devout servant.
Translation Talal Itani, ClearQuran·Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International
Mohammed Marmaduke William Pickthall1875–1936 · published 1930
Have they not observed what is before them and what is behind them of the sky and the earth? If We will, We can make the earth swallow them, or cause obliteration from the sky to fall on them. Lo! herein surely is a portent for every slave who turneth (to Allah) repentant
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
Have they not looked at what is before them and what is behind them of the heaven and the earth? if we pleased we would cleave the earth open with them, or we would make to fall upon them a portion of the heaven; verily, in that is a sign to every repentant servant
Sources
Translation Edward Henry Palmer, English translation of the Qur'an·Public domain — copyright term expired
What! have they never contemplated that which is before them and behind them, the Heaven and the Earth? If such were our pleasure, we could sink them into that Earth, or cause a portion of that Heaven to fall upon them! herein truly is a sign for our every returning servant
Sources
Translation John Medows Rodwell, English translation of the Qur'an·Public domain — copyright term expired
Have they not therefore considered what is before them, and what is behind them, of the heaven and the earth? If We please, We will cause the earth to open and swallow them up, or will cause a piece of the heaven to fall upon them: Verily herein is a sign unto every servant, who turneth unto 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
A nuk e shohin ata Tokën që kanë përpara dhe qiellin që e kanë mbrapa?! Sikur të donim Ne, do të bënim që t'i gëlltiste toka ose do të hidhnim mbi ta copa nga qielli. Vërtet, në këtë ka shenjë për çdo rob që kthehet i penduar tek Allahu.
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
তারা কি তাদের সামনে ও তাদের পেছনে আসমান ও জমিনে যা কিছু আছে তার প্রতি লক্ষ্য করে না? আমি যদি ইচ্ছা করি তাহলে তাদেরকেসহ ভূমি ধসিয়ে দিতে পারি অথবা আসমান থেকে এক খণ্ড (শাস্তি) তাদের ওপর নিপতিত করতে পারি। নিশ্চয় এতে রয়েছে, আল্লাহ অভিমুখী প্রত্যেক বান্দার জন্য নিদর্শন।
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
Kako ne vide nebo i Zemlju, ono što je iznad njih i ono što je ispod njih!? Kad bismo htjeli, u zemlju bismo ih utjerali, ili komade neba na njih sručili. To je, zaista, pouka svakom robu koji je odan.
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
Kako ne vide nebo i Zemlju, ono što je iznad njih i ono što je ispod njih!? Kad bismo htjeli, u zemlju bismo ih utjerali, ili komade neba na njih sručili. To je, zaista, pouka svakom robu koji je odan.
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
E ɓee nji'aani ko woni yeeso maaɓe e ko woni ɓaawo maɓɓe immorde ka kammu e ka leydi? Si Min muuyiino, Min munnirayno ɓe leydi ndin, maa Min pukkina e maɓɓe taƴontine (lepte), immorde ka kammu. Wonii e ɗuum, Ma'ande, wonan'de kala jeyaaɗo duttotooɗo (e Joomi mum).
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
ნუთუ ისინი [რომელთაც არ სწამთ მარადიული სიცოცხლე] არ ხედავენ იმას, რაც მათ წინ არის და რაც მათ უკანაა, ან ცას [რომელიც მათ შემოეხვია] და მიწას [რომელზეც ცხოვრობენ]? თუ ვისურვებთ, და ვუბრძანებთ მიწას, რომ შთანთქოს ისინი, ან ჩამოვუგზავნით მათ ციდან ნატეხს. ჭეშმარიტად, ამაში სასწაულია ყოველი მონისთვის, [რომელიც] ალლაჰს მიმართავს მონანიებით.
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
Haben sie denn nicht das gesehen, was vom Himmel und von der Erde vor ihnen und was hinter ihnen ist? Wenn Wir wollen, lassen Wir die Erde mit ihnen versinken oder Stücke vom Himmel auf sie herabfallen. Wahrlich, darin ist ja ein Zeichen für jeden Diener, der sich (Allah) reuig zuwendet.
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
Δε βλέπουν ό,τι είναι μπροστά τους και ό,τι είναι πίσω τους από τους ουρανούς και τη γη; Αν θέλαμε, θα είχαμε κάνει τη γη να τους καταπιεί ή να έπεφταν πάνω τους κομμάτια από τον ουρανό. Πράγματι, υπάρχει σ' αυτό για κάθε δούλο που στρέφεται με μεταμέλεια προς τον Αλλάχ, ένα Σημάδι (ότι Αυτός που μπορεί να κάνει αυτό, μπορεί επίσης να σας αναστήσει μετά τον θάνατό σας).
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
क्या उन्होंने अपने आगे और पीछे आकाश और धरती को नहीं देखा? यदि हम चाहें तो उन्हें धरती में धँसा दें या उनपर आकाश के टुकड़े गिरा दें। निःसंदेह इसमें हर उस बंदे के लिए अवश्य एक निशानी है, जो अल्लाह की ओर लौटने वाला है।
Translated by Azizul Haq Al-Omari
From QuranEnc.com, version 1.1.5
Italiano · Italian
Non vedono ciò che hanno davanti e ciò che hanno dietro del cielo e della terra? Se volessimo, li faremmo sprofondare nel suolo o faremmo precipitare su di loro dei lembi dal cielo: in quello c’è in verità un segno per ogni servo fedele.
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
9. Argi jie nemato, kas yra priešais juos ir kas yra už jų, danguje ir žemėje? Jei Mes panorėsime, Mes paskandinsime žemę su jais, arba priversime dangaus gabalą užkristi ant jų. Iš tiesų, tame yra ženklas kiekvienam vergui, kuris atsigręžia į Allahą atgailoje (t. y. tas, kuris tiki Allaho Vienumą ir atlieka Jo paklusnumo veiksmus ir visada maldauja Jo Atleidimo).
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
Sila isaan gara waan dura isaaniifi waan duuba isaanii jiru samiifi dachii irraa hin ilaallee? Yoo feenes dachii isaaniin cichisiifna; yookiin cittuu samii irraa taate isaan irratti kuffifna. sana keessa gabricha gara Rabbiitti tawbaa deebi’u hundaaf mallattootu jira.
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
Неужели они не видят того, что перед ними и что позади них — на небесах и на земле? Если Мы пожелаем, то заставим землю поглотить их, или обрушим на них кусок неба. Воистину, в этом — знамение для каждого раба, обращающегося с покаянием.
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
Зар не виде небо и Земљу, оно што је испред њих и оно што је иза њих?! Кад бисмо хтели, у земљу бисмо их утерали или бисмо комаде неба на њих сручили. То је, заиста, знак сваком вернику Аллаху оданом.
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
Kwani hawaoni yaliyo mbele yao na yaliyo nyuma yao, ya mbingu na ardhi? Tungelipenda, tungeliwadidimiza ndani ya ardhi, au tungeliwateremshia juu yao vipande vya mbingu. Hakika katika haya zipo Ishara kwa kila mja aliyetubia.
Issued by the Islamic Content Service Association in Languages
From QuranEnc.com, version 1.0.5
Svenska · Swedish
Ser de inte himlen ovan dem och jorden under dem? Om vi velat hade vi låtit jorden sluka dem eller låtit delar av himlen störta ner över dem. I detta finns sannerligen tecken för alla de tjänare som återvänder till oss i ånger.
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
Onlar önlerindeki ve arkalarındaki göğe ve yeryüzüne bakmıyorlar mı? Dilersek onları yere batırır veya gökten üzerlerine parçalar düşürürüz. İşte bunda, (Rabbine) ihlasla yönelen her kul için bir ayet/delil vardır.
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
کیا پس وه اپنے آگے پیچھے آسمان وزمین کو دیکھ نہیں رہے ہیں[1] ؟ اگر ہم چاہیں تو انہیں زمین میں دھنسا دیں یا ان پر آسمان کے ٹکڑے گرادیں[2]، یقیناً اس میں پوری دلیل ہے ہر اس بندے کے لئے جو (دل سے) متوجہ ہو.
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 31635waqāla llaḏīna kafarū hal nadullukum ʿalā raǧulin yunabbiʾukum ʾiḏā muzziqtum kulla mumazzaqin ʾinnakum lafī ḫalqin ǧadīdin
The translators word this verse differently
Talal Itani2012 Those who disbelieved said, "Shall we point out to you a man, who will tell you that, once torn into shreds, you will be in a new creation?
Mohammed Marmaduke William Pickthall1930 Those who disbelieve say: Shall we show you a man who will tell you (that) when ye have become dispersed in dust with most complete dispersal still, even then, ye will be created anew
Edward Henry Palmer1880 And those who misbelieve say, 'Shall we guide you to a man who will inform you that when ye are torn all to pieces, then ye shall be a new creation
John Medows Rodwell1861 But the unbelievers say to those whom they fall in with, "Shall we shew you a man who will foretell you that when ye shall have been utterly torn and rent to pieces, ye shall be restored in a new form
George Sale1734 The unbelievers say to one another, shall we shew you a man who shall prophesy unto you, that when ye shall have been dispersed with a total dispersion, ye shall be raised a new creature
Easy-read (simplified)aftaraa 'alaa llaahi kadhiban am bihi jinnatun bali lladheena laa yu'minoona bil-'aakhirati fee l-'adhaabi wad-dalaali l-ba'eed
DIN 31635ʾaftarā ʿalā llāhi kaḏiban ʾam bihi ǧinnatun bali llaḏīna lā yuʾminūna bil-ʾāḫirati fī l-ʿaḏābi waḍ-ḍalāli l-baʿīdi
Talal Itani2012 Did he invent a lie about God, or is there madness in him?" Indeed, those who do not believe in the Hereafter are in torment, and far astray.
Mohammed Marmaduke William Pickthall1930 Hath he invented a lie concerning Allah, or is there in him a madness? Nay, but those who disbelieve in the Hereafter are in torment and far error
Edward Henry Palmer1880 he has forged against God a lie, or there is a ginn in him;' - nay, those who believe not in the hereafter are in the torment and in the remote error
John Medows Rodwell1861 He deviseth a lie about God, or there is a djinn in him," but they who believe not in the next life, shall incur the chastisement, and be lost in the mazes of estrangement from God
George Sale1734 He hath forged a lie concerning God, or rather he is distracted. But they who believe not in the life to come, shall fall into punishment and a wide error
Talal Itani2012 We bestowed upon David favor from Us: "O mountains, and birds: echo with him." And We softened iron for him.
Mohammed Marmaduke William Pickthall1930 And assuredly We gave David grace from Us, (saying): O ye hills and birds, echo his psalms of praise! And We made the iron supple unto him
Edward Henry Palmer1880 And we did give David grace from us, 'O ye mountains! echo (God's praises) with him, and ye birds!' and we softened for him iron
John Medows Rodwell1861 Of old bestowed we on David a gift, our special boon: - "Ye mountains and ye birds answer his songs of praise." And we made the iron soft for him
George Sale1734 We heretofore bestowed on David excellence from Us: And We said, O mountains, sing alternate praises with him; and We obliged the birds also to join therein. And We softened the iron for him
Talal Itani2012 "Make coats of armor, and measure the links well; and work righteousness. I am Observant of everything you do."
Mohammed Marmaduke William Pickthall1930 Saying: Make thou long coats of mail and measure the links (thereof). And do ye right. Lo! I am Seer of what ye do
Edward Henry Palmer1880 Make thou coats of mail and adapt the rings thereof, and do right; verily, I at what ye do do look
John Medows Rodwell1861 Make coats of mail, and arrange its plates; and work ye righteousness; for I behold your actions
George Sale1734 saying, make thereof complete coats of mail, and rightly dispose the small plates which compose the same: And work ye righteousness, O family of David; for I see 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 —
0.56 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
Mohammed Marmaduke William Pickthall · John Medows Rodwell0.63
Edward Henry Palmer · Mohammed Marmaduke William Pickthall0.61
Talal Itani · John Medows Rodwell0.59
Talal Itani · George Sale0.58
Talal Itani · Mohammed Marmaduke William Pickthall0.57
John Medows Rodwell · George Sale0.55
Edward Henry Palmer · John Medows Rodwell0.53
Mohammed Marmaduke William Pickthall · George Sale0.52
Talal Itani · Edward Henry Palmer0.51
Edward Henry Palmer · George Sale0.49
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.
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.