سورة الاٴنفَال
Surah Al-Anfâl 8:31
The Voluntary Gifts · Verse 31 of 75
وَإِذَا تُتْلَىٰ عَلَيْهِمْ آيَاتُنَا قَالُوا قَدْ سَمِعْنَا لَوْ نَشَاءُ لَقُلْنَا مِثْلَ هَٰذَا ۙ إِنْ هَٰذَا إِلَّا أَسَاطِيرُ الْأَوَّلِينَ
Abdul Mannan Omar
And when Our verses are recited to them they say, `We have already heard (them before). If we so wish, we could certainly compose the like of this. These are nothing but fables of the former peoples.´
Abdullah Yusuf Ali
When Our Signs are rehearsed to them, they say: "We have heard this (before): if we wished, we could say (words) like these: these are nothing but tales of the ancients.
Ahmed Ali
When Our messages were read out to them, they said: "We have heard. We could certainly compose (writings) like them if we choose. They are but only tales of long ago."
12 more translations
Ali Unal
When Our Revelations are recited to them, they say: "We have heard (the like of this before many times); if we wish, we can speak the like of this; this is nothing but fables of the ancients."
Daryabadi
And when Our revelations are rehearsed unto them, they say: we have heard; we could if we willed, surely say something the like thereof; naught is this but fables of the ancients.
Faridul Haque
And when Our verses are recited to them they say, "Yes, we have heard - if we wanted we could also say something like this - these are nothing but stories of former people!"
Maulana Muhammad Ali
And when our messages are recited to them, they say: We have heard. If we wished, we could say the like of it; this is nothing but the stories of the ancients.
Maulvi Sher Ali
And when OUR verses are recited to them, they say, `We have heard. If we wished we could certainly say the like of it. This is nothing but mere tales of the ancients'
Muhammad Asad
And whenever Our messages were conveyed to them, they would say, "We have heard [all this] before; if we wanted, we could certainly compose sayings like these [ourselves]: they are nothing but fables of ancient times!"
Muhammad Musin Khan
And when Our Verses (of the Qur'an) are recited to them, they say: "We have heard this (the Qur'an); if we wish we can say the like of this. This is nothing but the tales of the ancients."
Muhammad Pickthall
And when Our revelations are recited unto them they say: We have heard. If we wish we can speak the like of this. Lo! this is naught but fables of the men of old.
Muhammad Sarwar
When Our revelations are recited to them (the unbelievers), they say, "We have heard them. Had we wanted, we could also have composed such statements; they are no more than ancient legends."
Muhammed ali Shakir
And when Our communications are recited to them, they say: We have heard indeed; if we pleased we could say the like of it; this is nothing but the stories of the ancients.
Rashad Khalifa
When our revelations are recited to them, they say, "We have heard. If we wanted to, we could have said the same things. These are no more than tales from the past!"
Shabbir Ahmed
When Our messages are conveyed to them, they say, “We have heard. If we wish, we can speak like it. This is nothing but fables of the ancient.”
Commentary 8:31 Here the expression qulnâقُلنا means, “We could certainly compose”, and alludes to the often repeated but never fulfiled boasts of the opponents of Islam.
وَإِذَا تُتْلَىٰ عَلَيْهِمْ آيَاتُنَا قَالُوا قَدْ سَمِعْنَا لَوْ نَشَاءُ لَقُلْنَا مِثْلَ هَـٰذَا ۙ إِنْ هَـٰذَا إِلَّا أَسَاطِيرُ الْأَوَّلِينَ
8:31 Here the expression qulnâقُلنا means, “We could certainly compose”, and alludes to the often repeated but never fulfiled boasts of the opponents of Islam.