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.
when their apostles came to them from before them and from behind them (saying), "Serve ye none but God."' They said, 'If our Lord pleased He would send down angels; so we in what ye are sent with disbelieve
Sources
Translation Edward Henry Palmer, English translation of the Qur'an·Public domain — copyright term expired
Compare translations (4)Talal Itani· published 2012
Their messengers came to them, from before them and from behind them, saying, "Do not worship anyone but God." They said, "Had our Lord willed, He would have sent down angels; Therefore, we reject what you are sent with."
Translation Talal Itani, ClearQuran·Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International
Mohammed Marmaduke William Pickthall1875–1936 · published 1930
When their messengers came unto them from before them and behind them, saying: Worship none but Allah! they said: If our Lord had willed, He surely would have sent down angels (unto us), so lo! we are disbelievers in that wherewith ye have been sent
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
John Medows Rodwell1808–1900 · published 1861
When the apostles came to them on every side, saying, "Worship none but God," they said, "Had our Lord been pleased to send down, He had surely sent down angels; and in sooth, your message we do not believe
Sources
Translation John Medows Rodwell, English translation of the Qur'an·Public domain — copyright term expired
When the apostles came unto them before them and behind them, saying, worship God alone; they answered, if our Lord had been pleased to send messengers, He had surely sent angels: And we believe not the message with which ye are sent
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
kur atyre u erdhën të dërguarit njëri pas tjetrit, duke thënë: "Mos adhuroni askënd tjetër përveç Allahut!", ata thanë: "Sikur të kishte dashur Zoti ynë, do të kishte dërguar melekë. Ne nuk besojmë në atë me të cilën jeni dërguar."
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
যখন তাদের অগ্র ও পশ্চাৎ থেকে (ধারাবাহিকভাবে) রাসূলগণ তাদের কাছে দাওয়াত নিয়ে এলো যে, ‘তোমরা আল্লাহ ছাড়া কারো ইবাদাত করো না।’ তখন তারা বলেছিল: ‘যদি আমাদের রব ইচ্ছা করতেন, তাহলে অবশ্যই (রাসূল হিসাবে) ফিরিশতা নাযিল করতেন। অতএব, তোমাদেরকে যা দিয়ে পাঠানো হয়েছে, নিশ্চয় আমরা তা অস্বীকার করলাম।
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
kad su im sa svih strana poslanici njihovi dolazili i govorili: “Ne obožavajte nikoga osim Allaha!”, a oni odgovarali: “Da je Gospodar naš htio, On bi meleke poslao! Doista, mi ne vjerujemo u ono što je po vama poslano!”
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
kad su im sa svih strana poslanici njihovi dolazili i govorili: “Ne obožavajte nikoga osim Allaha!” a oni odgovarali: “Da je Gospodar naš htio, On bi anđele poslao! Doista, mi ne vjerujemo u ono što je po vama poslano!”
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
nde Nulaaɓe ɓren ardirannooɓe, ye'eso maɓɓe e ɓaawo maɓɓe, won'de: "Wata on ndewu dey, si wonaa Allah", ɓe mb'i: "Si Joomi amen haajuno, ko Malaa'ika O jippinaynoo. Awa minen, ko min yedduɓe ko nulaɗon mum kon".
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
როდესაც მათთან ['ადთან და სამუდთან] მოვიდნენ შუამავლები, წინაც და უკანაც [ყოველი მხრიდან], მათ უთხრეს: «არ ეთაყვანოთ არავის, გარდა ალლაჰისა». მათ თქვეს: «ჩვენს უფალს რომ ენება, ის ნამდვილად გამოგვიგზავნიდა ზეციდან ანგელოზებს, და ჩვენ არ გვწამს იმის, რითაც შენ (უბრალო კაცი) ხარ გამოგზავნილი».
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
als die Gesandten von vorn und von hinten zu ihnen kamen (und sagten:): ‚Ihr sollt keinem dienen, außer Allah (allein)!‘ Sie sagten: ‚Wenn unser Herr gewollt hätte, hätte Er fürwahr Engel herabgesandt. So verleugnen wir das, womit ihr gesandt worden seid.‘“
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
Όταν οι Αγγελιαφόροι ήρθαν σ' αυτούς (στη φυλή ‘Αντ και τη φυλή Θαμούντ) από μπροστά τους και από πίσω τους (λέγοντας) ότι: «Μη λατρεύετε κανέναν άλλον εκτός από τον Αλλάχ.», είπαν (οι άπιστοι): «Αν ήθελε ο Κύριός μας, θα έστελνε Αγγέλους (ως Αγγελιαφόρους). Πράγματι, δεν πιστεύουμε σ' αυτό με το οποίο έχετε σταλεί.»
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
जब उनके पास रसूल उनके आगे से तथा उनके पीछे से आए[5] (और कहा) कि अल्लाह के सिवा किसी की इबादत न करो। तो उन्होंने कहा : यदि हमारा पालनहार चाहता, तो किसी फ़रिश्ते को उतार देता।[6] अतः जिस बात के साथ तुम भेजे गए हो, हम उसका इनकार करते हैं।
Translated by Azizul Haq Al-Omari
From QuranEnc.com, version 1.1.5
Italiano · Italian
che – quando vennero loro i Messaggeri, nel presente e nel passato, invitandoli a non adorare altri che Allāh – dissero: «Se il nostro Dio avesse voluto, avrebbe inviato degli angeli: non crediamo in ciò con cui siete inviati».
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
14. Kai Pasiuntiniai atėjo pas juos, prieš juos ir už jų (sakydami): „Negarbinkite nieko kito, tik Allahą“ jie sakė: „Jei mūsų Viešpats būtų to norėjęs, Jis tikrai būtų nuleidęs angelus. Taigi tikrai mes netikime tuo, su kuo jūs buvote siųsti.“
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
Когда к ним приходили посланники со всех сторон [один за другим], [говоря]: «Не поклоняйтесь никому, кроме Аллаха», они говорили: «Если бы наш Господь пожелал, Он непременно ниспослал бы ангелов. Воистину, мы отвергаем то, с чем вы были посланы!»
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
Кад су им, са свих страна, њихови посланици долазили говорећи: „Не обожавајте никога осим Аллаха!“ А они су одговарали: „Да је наш Господар хтео, Он би послао анђеле! Заиста ми не верујемо у оно што је послато по вама!“
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
Walipowajia Mitume mbele yao na nyuma yao wakawaambia: Msimuabudu ila Mwenyezi Mungu! Wakasema: Angelitaka Mola wetu Mlezi, bila ya shaka angeliwateremsha Malaika. Basi sisi hakika tunayakataa hayo mliyotumwa nayo.
Issued by the Islamic Content Service Association in Languages
From QuranEnc.com, version 1.0.5
Svenska · Swedish
När sändebud kom till dem, det ena efter det andra, [med kallet:] ”Dyrka ingen annan än Gud”, svarade de: ”Om vår Herre verkligen hade velat [skicka sändebud] hade han förvisso sänt änglar. Därför vägrar vi tro på det ni [påstår er ha] sänts med!”
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
Hani onlara rasûlleri önlerinden ve arkalarından gelip: “Allah’tan başkasına ibadet etmeyin” dediklerinde onlar: “Eğer Rabbimiz dileseydi elbette melekler indirirdi. Bu sebepten muhakkak biz sizinle gönderilenlere kâfir olanlarız” dediler.
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
ان کے پاس جب ان کے آگے پیچھے سے پیغمبر آئے کہ تم اللہ کے سوا کسی کی عبادت نہ کرو تو انہوں نے جواب دیا کہ اگر ہمارا پروردگار چاہتا تو فرشتوں کو بھیجتا۔ ہم تو تمہاری رسالت کے بالکل منکر ہیں.[1]
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 So He completed them as seven universes in two days, and He assigned to each universe its laws. And We decorated the lower universe with lamps, and for protection. That is the design of the Almighty, the All-Knowing.
Mohammed Marmaduke William Pickthall1930 Then He ordained them seven heavens in two Days and inspired in each heaven its mandate; and We decked the nether heaven with lamps, and rendered it inviolable. That is the measuring of the Mighty, the Knower
Edward Henry Palmer1880 And He decreed them seven heavens in two days, and inspired every heaven with its bidding: and we adorned the lower heaven with lamps and guardian angels; that is the decree of the mighty, the knowing One
John Medows Rodwell1861 And He made them seven heavens in two days, and in each heaven made known its office: And we furnished the lower heaven with lights and guardian angels. This, the disposition of the Almighty, the All-knowing
George Sale1734 And He formed them into seven heavens, in two days; and revealed unto every heaven its office. And We adorned the lower heaven with lights, and placed therein a guard of angels. This is the disposition of the mighty, the wise God
DIN 31635faʾin ʾaʿraḍū faqul ʾanḏartukum ṣāʿiqatan miṯla ṣāʿiqati ʿādin waṯamūda
Talal Itani2012 But if they turn away, say, "I have warned you of a thunderbolt, like the thunderbolt of Aad and Thamood."
Mohammed Marmaduke William Pickthall1930 But if they turn away, then say: I warn you of a thunderbolt like the thunderbolt (which fell of old upon the tribes) of A'ad and Thamud
Edward Henry Palmer1880 But if they turn aside, then say, 'I have warned you of a thunder-clap like the thunder-clap of 'Ad and Thamud
John Medows Rodwell1861 If they turn away, then SAY: I warn you of a tempest, like the tempest of Ad and Themoud
George Sale1734 If the Meccans withdraw from these instructions, say, I denounce unto you a sudden destruction, like the destruction of Ad and Thamud
Easy-read (simplified)fa'ammaa 'aadun fastakbaroo fee l-'ardi bighayri l-haqqi waqaaloo man ashaddu minnaa quwwatan awalam yaraw anna llaaha lladhee khalaqahum huwa ashaddu minhum quwwatan wakaanoo bi'aayaatinaa yajhadoon
DIN 31635faʾammā ʿādun fastakbarū fī l-ʾarḍi biġayri l-ḥaqqi waqālū man ʾašaddu minnā quwwatan ʾawalam yaraw ʾanna llāha llaḏī ḫalaqahum huwa ʾašaddu minhum quwwatan wakānū biʾāyātinā yaǧḥadūna
Talal Itani2012 As for Aad, they turned arrogant on earth, and opposed justice, and said, "Who is more powerful than us?" Have they not considered that God, who created them, is more powerful than they? And they went on denying Our revelations.
Mohammed Marmaduke William Pickthall1930 As for A'ad, they were arrogant in the land without right, and they said: Who is mightier than us in power? Could they not see that Allah Who created them, He was mightier than them in power? And they denied Our revelations
Edward Henry Palmer1880 And as for 'Ad, they were big with pride in the land, without right, and said, 'Who is stronger than us in might?' Did they not see that God who created them He was stronger than they in might? But they did gainsay our signs
John Medows Rodwell1861 As to Ad, they bore them proudly and unjustly in the land, and said, "Who more mighty than we in prowess?" Saw they not that God their creator was mightier than they in prowess? And they rejected our signs
George Sale1734 As to the tribe of Ad, they behaved insolently in the earth, without reason, and said, who is more mighty than we in strength? Did they not see that God, who had created them, was more mighty than they in strength? And they knowingly rejected our signs
Talal Itani2012 So We unleashed upon them a screaming wind, for a few miserable days, to make them taste the punishment of shame in this life; but the punishment of the Hereafter is more shameful; and they will not be saved.
Mohammed Marmaduke William Pickthall1930 Therefor We let loose on them a raging wind in evil days, that We might make them taste the torment of disgrace in the life of the world. And verily the doom of the Hereafter will be more shameful, and they will not be helped
Edward Henry Palmer1880 And we sent upon them a cold blast in unfortunate days, that we might make them taste the torment of disgrace in the life of this world;- but the torment of the hereafter is more disgraceful, and they shall not be helped
John Medows Rodwell1861 Therefore on ill-omened days did we send against them an impetuous blast that we might make them taste the chastisement of shame in this world: - but more shameful shall be the chastisement of the life to come; and they shall not be protected
George Sale1734 Wherefore We sent against them a piercing wind, on days of ill luck, that We might make them taste the punishment of shame in this world: But the punishment of the life to come will be more shameful; and they shall not be protected therefrom
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 —
0.55 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 Rodwell0.62
Talal Itani · John Medows Rodwell0.61
Talal Itani · George Sale0.58
Mohammed Marmaduke William Pickthall · George Sale0.57
Edward Henry Palmer · George Sale0.56
Edward Henry Palmer · John Medows Rodwell0.56
Edward Henry Palmer · Mohammed Marmaduke William Pickthall0.51
Talal Itani · Mohammed Marmaduke William Pickthall0.50
Talal Itani · Edward Henry Palmer0.49
John Medows Rodwell · George Sale0.47
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.