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
It is not for a prophet to take prisoners before he has subdued the land. You desire the materials of this world, but God desires the Hereafter. God is Strong and Wise.
Translation Talal Itani, ClearQuran·Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International
Mohammed Marmaduke William Pickthall1875–1936 · published 1930
It is not for any prophet to have captives until he hath made slaughter in the land. Ye desire the lure of this world and Allah desireth (for you) the Hereafter, and Allah is Mighty, Wise
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
It has not been for any prophet to take captives until he hath slaughtered in the land! Ye wish to have the goods of this world, but God wishes for the next, for God is mighty, wise
Sources
Translation Edward Henry Palmer, English translation of the Qur'an·Public domain — copyright term expired
No prophet hath been enabled to take captives until he had made great slaughter in the earth. Ye desire the passingfruitions of this world, but God desireth the next life for you. And God is Mighty, Wise
Sources
Translation John Medows Rodwell, English translation of the Qur'an·Public domain — copyright term expired
It hath not been granted unto any prophet, that he should possess captives, until he had made a great slaughter of the infidels in the earth. Ye seek the accidental goods of this world, but God regardeth the life to come; and God is mighty and wise
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
Nuk i takon një pejgamberi të ketë robër derisa të fuqizohet në tokë. Ju dëshironi mirësitë e kësaj bote, por Allahu dëshiron (për ju) botën tjetër. Allahu është i Plotfuqishëm, i Urtë.
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
(আল্লাহর দীন নিশ্চিহ্ন করতে চাওয়া কাফিরদের সঙ্গে যুদ্ধরত অবস্থায়) কোনো নবীর জন্য উচিত নয় যে, (কাফিরদের ভেতর ভয় সৃষ্টি করতে) প্রচুর রক্ত প্রবাহিত করার আগেই তার কাছে (মুক্তিপণ গ্রহণ করার আশায় জীবিত) বন্দি থাকবে।(২৬) (হে মু’মিনগণ!) তোমরা দুনিয়ার সামগ্রী (মুক্তিপণ) কামনা করছ; আর আল্লাহ চান আখিরাত।(২৭) আর আল্লাহ পরাক্রমশালী, প্রজ্ঞাময়।
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
Nijednom vjerovjesniku nije dopušteno držati zarobljenike dok ne izvojuje pobjedu na zemlji; vi želite prolazna dobra ovoga svijeta, a Allah želi onaj svijet. – Allah je silan i mudar.
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
Nijednom vjerovjesniku nije dopušteno držati zarobljenike dok ne izvojuje pobjedu na zemlji; vi želite prolazna dobra ovoga svijeta, a Allah želi onaj svijet – Allah je silan i mudar.
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
Haananaa Annabiijo nde laatantoo mo dahaaɓe haa o ɗuɗɗina waraaɓe ka leydi. Hiɗon paala jawkoy aduna, Alla kam no faalanaa (on) laakara. Alla ko pooluɗo Ñeeñuɗo.
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
არ ყოფილა ისე, რომ რომელიმე მოციქულს ჰყოლოდა ტყვეები [ომში აეყვანა ტყვეები], სანამ დედამიწაზე სრულად არ დათრგუნავდა ურწმუნოებს[1]... თქვენ კი გსურთ ამქვეყნიური სარგებელი (ბადრის ბრძოლის ტყვეების გამოსასყიდის მიღებით), ხოლო ალლაჰს სურს თქვენთვის საიქიო. და ალლაჰი ძლევამოსილი, ბრძენია.
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
Es steht keinem Propheten zu, Gefangene zu haben, bis er (den Feind überall) im Land schwer niedergekämpft hat. Ihr wollt Glücksgüter des Diesseitigen, aber Allah will das Jenseits. Und Allah ist allmächtig und allweise.
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
[Ω, πιστοί, που προτείνατε στον Προφήτη να πάρει λύτρα από τους άπιστους εχθρούς που αιχμαλωτίσατε στη μάχη του Μπαντρ, παρόλο που ήσασταν λίγοι σε αριθμό], δεν αρμόζει σε κανέναν προφήτη (να σπεύσει) να αιχμαλωτίσει (τους άπιστους με σκοπό να πάρει λύτρα και τα κέρδη της εγκόσμιας ζωής) μέχρι να σκοτώσει πολλούς (από τους εχθρούς του ώστε να σταματήσει το κακό τους) στη γη. Επιθυμείτε τα κέρδη αυτού του κόσμου, αλλά ο Αλλάχ επιθυμεί (για σας) τη Μέλλουσα Ζωή. Πράγματι, ο Αλλάχ είναι ‘Αζείζ (Παντοδύναμος, Ανίκητος) και Χακείμ (Πάνσοφος).
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
किसी नबी के लिए उचित नहीं कि उसके पास बंदी हों, यहाँ तक कि वह धरती में (उनका) अच्छी तरह खून बहा ले। तुम संसार की सामग्री चाहते हो और अल्लाह आख़िरत (परलोक) चाहता है। और अल्लाह सबपर प्रभुत्वशाली, पूर्ण हिकमत वाला है।
Translated by Azizul Haq Al-Omari
From QuranEnc.com, version 1.1.5
Italiano · Italian
Non si addice a un Profeta avere dei prigionieri finché non esagera nell`uccidere. Voi desiderate le vanità terrene, e Allāh vuole l’Aldilà. E Allāh è Potente, Saggio.
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
67. Ne Pranašui turėti karo belaisvių (ir išlaisvinti juos už išpirką) iki tol, kol jis neįvykdė didelių žudynių (tarp savo priešų) žemėje. Jūs trokštate šio žemiškojo gyvenimo gėrių (t. y. išpirkos pinigų už belaisvių išlaisvinimą), tačiau Allahas trokšta (jums) Amžinybės. Ir Allahas yra Visa Galintis, Visa Išmanantis.
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
Не подобает пророку брать пленных, пока он не нанесёт на земле сокрушительное поражение. Вы жаждете тленных благ этого мира, тогда как Аллах желает [вам] Последней жизни. Аллах — могущественный, мудрый.
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
Ниједном веровеснику није било допуштено да држи заробљенике док не оствари победу на Земљи; ви желите пролазна добра овога света, а Аллах жели онај свет. Заиста је Аллах силан и мудар.
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
Haikuwa kwa Nabii yeyote kwamba awe na mateka, mpaka awe ameshinda sawasawa katika ardhi. Mnataka vitu vya dunia, na Mwenyezi Mungu anataka Akhera. Na Mwenyezi Mungu ni Mwenye nguvu, Mwenye hekima.
Issued by the Islamic Content Service Association in Languages
From QuranEnc.com, version 1.0.5
Svenska · Swedish
Det anstår inte en profet att ta krigsfångar förrän han krossat motståndet på slagfältet. Ni vill ha denna världens vinningar, men Gud vill ge er det kommande livet. Gud är allsmäktig, vis.
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
Yeryüzünde düşmanı tamamıyla sindirip hâkim duruma gelmedikçe, hiçbir peygambere esir almak yakışmaz. Siz geçici dünya menfaatini istiyorsunuz. Hâlbuki Allah ahireti (kazanmanızı) istiyor. Allah; mutlak güç sahibidir, hüküm ve hikmet sahibidir.
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
نبی کے ہاتھ میں قیدی نہیں چاہییں جب تک کہ ملک میں اچھی خونریزی کی جنگ نہ ہو جائے۔ تم تو دنیا کے مال چاہتے ہو اور اللہ کا اراده آخرت کا ہے[1] اور اللہ زور آور باحکمت ہے۔
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 O prophet! Rouse the believers to battle. If there are twenty steadfast among you, they will defeat two hundred; and if there are a hundred of you, they will defeat a thousand of those who disbelieve; because they are a people who do not understand.
Mohammed Marmaduke William Pickthall1930 O Prophet! Exhort the believers to fight. If there be of you twenty steadfast they shall overcome two hundred, and if there be of you a hundred (steadfast) they shall overcome a thousand of those who disbelieve, because they (the disbelievers) are a folk without intelligence
Edward Henry Palmer1880 O thou prophet! urge on the believers to fight. If there be of you twenty patient men, they shall conquer two hundred; if there be of you a hundred, they shall conquer a thousand of those who misbelieve, because they are a people who did not discern
John Medows Rodwell1861 O prophet! stir up the faithful to the fight. Twenty of you who stand firm shall vanquish two hundred: and if there be a hundred of you they shall vanquish a thousand of the infidels, for they are a people devoid of understanding
George Sale1734 O prophet, stir up the faithful to war: If twenty of you persevere with constancy, they shall overcome two hundred, and of there be one hundred of you, they shall overcome a thousand of those who believe not; because they are a people which do not understand
Talal Itani2012 God has now lightened your burden, knowing that there is weakness in you. If there are a hundred steadfast among you, they will defeat two hundred; and if there are a thousand of you, they will defeat two thousand by God's leave. God is with the steadfast.
Mohammed Marmaduke William Pickthall1930 Now hath Allah lightened your burden, for He knoweth that there is weakness in you. So if there be of you a steadfast hundred they shall overcome two hundred, and if there be of you a thousand (steadfast) they shall overcome two thousand by permission of Allah. Allah is with the steadfast
Edward Henry Palmer1880 Now has God made it light for you; He knows that there is a weakness amongst you: but if there be amongst you but a patient hundred, they will conquer two hundred; and if there be of you a thousand, they will conquer two thousand, by the permission of God,- for God is with the patient
John Medows Rodwell1861 Now hath God made your work easy, for he knoweth how weak ye are. If there be an hundred of you who endure resolutely, they shall vanquish two hundred; and if there be a thousand of you, they shall vanquish two thousand by God's permission; for God is with those who are resolute to endure
George Sale1734 Now hath God eased you, for He knew that ye were weak. If there be an hundred of you who persevere with constancy, they shall overcome two hundred; and if there be a thousand of you, they shall overcome two thousand, by the permission of God; for God is with those who persevere
DIN 31635lawlā kitābun mina llāhi sabaqa lamassakum fīmā ʾaḫaḏtum ʿaḏābun ʿaẓīmun
The translators word this verse differently
Talal Itani2012 Were it not for a predetermined decree from God, an awful punishment would have afflicted you for what you have taken.
Mohammed Marmaduke William Pickthall1930 Had it not been for an ordinance of Allah which had gone before, an awful doom had come upon you on account of what ye took
Edward Henry Palmer1880 Were it not for a book from God that had gone before, there would have touched you, for that which ye took, a mighty punishment
John Medows Rodwell1861 Had there not been a previous ordinance from God, a severe chastisement had befallen you, for the ransom which ye took
George Sale1734 Unless a revelation had been previously delivered from God, verily a severe punishment had been inflicted on you, for the ransom which ye took from the captives at Bedr
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 —
0.57 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 Sale0.72
Talal Itani · John Medows Rodwell0.66
Talal Itani · Edward Henry Palmer0.60
Talal Itani · Mohammed Marmaduke William Pickthall0.59
Mohammed Marmaduke William Pickthall · George Sale0.57
Edward Henry Palmer · George Sale0.55
Edward Henry Palmer · John Medows Rodwell0.53
John Medows Rodwell · George Sale0.50
Mohammed Marmaduke William Pickthall · John Medows Rodwell0.49
Edward Henry Palmer · Mohammed Marmaduke William Pickthall0.47
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.
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.