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
We probed the heaven, and found it filled with stern guards and projectiles.
Translation Talal Itani, ClearQuran·Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International
Mohammed Marmaduke William Pickthall1875–1936 · published 1930
And (the Jinn who had listened to the Qur'ansaid): We had sought the heaven but had found it filled with strong warders and meteors
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
But we touched the heavens and found them filled with a mighty guard and shooting-stars
Sources
Translation Edward Henry Palmer, English translation of the Qur'an·Public domain — copyright term expired
And we formerlyattempted to pry into what was transacting in heaven; but we found the same filled with a strong guard of angels, and with flaming darts
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
Ne mësymë qiellin, por e gjetëm përplot me rojtarë të fuqishëm e me shigjeta flakëruese.
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
আর নিশ্চয়ই আমরা (ঊর্ধ্বজগতের সংবাদ জানতে চোরাই পথে) আসমানে পৌঁছাতে চেয়েছিলাম; কিন্তু দেখলাম, তা কঠোর প্রহরী ও উল্কাপিণ্ডে পরিপূর্ণ করে দেওয়া হয়েছে।
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
I mi smo nebo izvidjeli i utvrdili smo da je moćnih čuvara i plamtećih svjetlica puno;
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
I mi smo nebo izvidjeli i utvrdili smo da je moćnih čuvara i plamtećih svjetlica puno;
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 won'de min meemii kammu ngun, min tawi hingu hebbiniraa aynooɓe tiiɗuɓe e docote.
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
და (ასევე ჩვენ ვაღიარებთ), რომ ჩვენ შევეხეთ ცას (რათა, როგორც ჩვეულებრივ, ანგელოზების საუბრები მოგვესმინა), მაგრამ აღმოვაჩინეთ, რომ იგი სავსე იყო ძლევამოსილი მცველებით [ანგელოზებით] და (რომლებიც ისროდნენ) (მოგიზგიზე) ცეცხლოვან სხეულებს.
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
Und wir haben ja den Himmel abgetastet, fanden aber vor, dass er mit strengen Wächtern und Leuchtkörpern gefüllt worden ist.
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
Και επιζητούσαμε να φτάσουμε στον ουρανό· μα τον βρήκαμε γεμάτο με πολλούς αυστηρούς φρουρούς και μετεωρίτες.
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
तथा यह कि हमने आकाश को टटोला, तो उसे सख़्त पहरेदारों और उल्काओं से भरा हुआ पाया।
Translated by Azizul Haq Al-Omari
From QuranEnc.com, version 1.1.5
Italiano · Italian
E in verità abbiamo osservato il cielo e l’abbiamo trovato pieno di potenti guardie e meteoriti
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
8. „Ir mes stengėmės (pasiekti) dangų, tačiau radome jį pilną galingų apsaugininkų ir degančių liepsnų.“
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
И что мы коснулись неба и нашли его наполненным могучей стражей и пылающими светочами.
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
И ми смо на небу увидели и утврдили да је моћних чувара и пламтећих светлица пуно;
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
Nasi tulifanya bidii kufika kwenye mbingu, lakini tukazikuta zimejaa walinzi wenye nguvu na vimondo.
Issued by the Islamic Content Service Association in Languages
From QuranEnc.com, version 1.0.5
Svenska · Swedish
När vi undersökte himlen fann vi den fylld av stränga väktare och flammande eldklot.
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
Doğrusu biz (cinler) göğü yokladık, fakat onu güçlü bekçilerle, alev hüzmeleriyle (yıldızlarla) doldurulmuş bulduk.
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
اور ہم نے آسمان کو ٹٹول کر دیکھا تو اسے سخت چوکیداروں اور سخت شعلوں سے پر پایا.[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.
Easy-read (simplified)wa'annahu kaana rijaalun mina l-'insi ya'oodhoona birijaalin mina l-jinni fazaadoohum rahaqaa
DIN 31635waʾannahu kāna riǧālun mina l-ʾinsi yaʿūḏūna biriǧālin mina l-ǧinni fazādūhum rahaqan
The translators word this verse differently
Talal Itani2012 Some individual humans used to seek power through some individual jinn, but they only increased them in confusion.
Mohammed Marmaduke William Pickthall1930 And indeed (O Muhammad) individuals of humankind used to invoke the protection of individuals of the jinn, so that they increased them in revolt against Allah
Edward Henry Palmer1880 And there are persons amongst men who seek for refuge with persons amongst the ginn; but they increase them in their perverseness
John Medows Rodwell1861 There are indeed people among men, who have sought for refuge unto people among Djinn: but they only increased their folly
George Sale1734 And there are certain men who fly for refuge unto certain of the genii; but they increase their folly and transgression
Talal Itani2012 We used to take up positions to listen in; but whoever listens now finds a projectile in wait for him.
Mohammed Marmaduke William Pickthall1930 And we used to sit on places (high) therein to listen. But he who listeneth now findeth a flame in wait for him
Edward Henry Palmer1880 and we did sit in certain seats thereof to listen; but whoso of us listens now finds a shooting-star for him on guard
John Medows Rodwell1861 And we sat on some of the seats to listen, but whoever listeneth findeth an ambush ready for him of flaming darts
George Sale1734 And we sat on some of the seats thereof to hear the discourse of its inhabitants; but whoever listeneth now, findeth a flame laid in ambush for him, to guard the celestial confines
Talal Itani2012 We do not know whether ill is intended for those on earth, or if their Lord intends goodness for them.
Mohammed Marmaduke William Pickthall1930 And we know not whether harm is boded unto all who are in the earth, or whether their Lord intendeth guidance for them
Edward Henry Palmer1880 And, verily, we know not whether evil be meant for those who are in the earth, or if their Lord means right by them
John Medows Rodwell1861 And truly we know not whether evil be meant for them that are on earth, or whether their Lord meaneth guidance for them
George Sale1734 And we know not whether evil be hereby intended against those who are in the earth, or whether their Lord intendeth to direct them aright
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 —
0.69 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 Sale0.77
Mohammed Marmaduke William Pickthall · John Medows Rodwell0.76
Edward Henry Palmer · Mohammed Marmaduke William Pickthall0.75
Talal Itani · John Medows Rodwell0.73
Mohammed Marmaduke William Pickthall · George Sale0.71
Talal Itani · Edward Henry Palmer0.71
Edward Henry Palmer · George Sale0.71
John Medows Rodwell · George Sale0.68
Talal Itani · Mohammed Marmaduke William Pickthall0.67
Edward Henry Palmer · John Medows Rodwell0.45
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.