Al-Qur'an Surah Hud Verse 27

Mufti Taqi Usmani

So the chiefs of his people who disbelieved replied, “We are not seeing that you are anything more than a man like us, and we are not seeing that any people have followed you except those who are the meanest among us, and we have not seen in you people any superiority over us; rather, we believe that you are liars.”

Dr. Mustafa Khattab, the Clear Quran

The disbelieving chiefs of his people said, “We see you only as a human being like ourselves, and we see that no one follows you except the lowliest among us, who do so ˹hastily˺ without thinking.[[ Typically, the poor and the helpless are the first to believe in prophets, taking them as saviours, whereas the rich and powerful are hesitant to believe, perceiving the new faith as a threat to their influence. ]] We do not see anything that makes ˹all of˺ you any better than us. In fact, we think you are liars.”

Ruwwad Translation Center

But the chiefs of his people who disbelieved said, “We only see you a human being like ourselves, and we do not see those who follow you except the lowest among us apparently. We do not see you superior to us, rather, we think that you are liars.”

A. J. Arberry

Said the Council of the unbelievers of his people, 'We see thee not other than a mortal like ourselves, and we see no? any following thee but the vilest of us, inconsiderately. We do not see you have over us any superiority; no, rather we think you are liars.'

Abdul Haleem

But the prominent disbelievers among his people said, ‘We can see that you are nothing but a mortal like ourselves, and it is clear to see that only the vilest among us follow you. We cannot see how you are any better than we are. In fact, we think you are a liar.’

Abdul Majid Daryabadi

The chiefs of those who disbelieved among his people said: we behold thee except as a human being like us, and we behold not any follow thee except the meanest of us, by an immature opinion; nor We behold in you any exellency over us; nay! we deem you liars.

Abdullah Yusuf Ali

But the chiefs of the Unbelievers among his people said; "We see (in) thee nothing but a man like ourselves; Nor do we see that any follow thee but the meanest among us, in judgment immature; Nor do we see in you (all) any merit above us; in fact we think ye are liars!"

Abul Ala Maududi

The notables among Noah's own people, who had refused to follow him, responded: 'We merely consider you a human being like ourselves. Nor do we find among those who follow you except the lowliest of our folk, the men who follow you without any proper reason. We see nothing in you to suggest that you are any better than us. Rather, we believe you to be liars.'

Ahmed Ali

The leaders of the people who were unbelievers, replied: "We see that you are but a man like us, and see that none among us follows you but the meanest and immature of judgement, and do not see any excellence in you above us. In fact, we think you are a liar."

Ahmed Raza Khan

The chiefs of his people, who were disbelievers, said, “We see that you are just a mortal like us, and we do not see anyone following you except the most lowly among us, without insight; and we do not find any merit in you above us – in fact, we consider you liars.”

Ali Quli Qarai

But the elite of the faithless from among his people said, ‘We do not see you to be anything but a human being like ourselves, and we do not see anyone following you except those who are simpleminded riffraff from our midst. Nor do we see that you have any merit over us. Indeed, we consider you to be liars.’

Ali Ünal

The leading ones who disbelieved from among his people said: "We do not see you but as a mortal like ourselves, and we do not see that any follow you save those who are but the lowliest of us, without an opinion worthy of consideration; and we do not see you (and your followers) having any superiority over us; rather, we take the view that you are liars."

Amatul Rahman Omar

Thereupon the chiefs of his people who had disbelieved said, `We find you but a human being like ourselves, and we find none have followed you except those who are the meanest of us, having only superficial views. And we find you (and your followers) possessing no superiority over us. Rather we take you all to be liars.´

English Literal

So the nobles/groups/assembly those who disbelieved from his nation said: "We do not see you except (as) a human similar/equal/alike to us, and we do not see you (that) followed you except those who are our lowest/most despised, the opinion/belief (is) apparent, and we do not see for you on us from grace/favour/blessing, but we suspect you (are) liars/deniers/falsifiers."

Faridul Haque

The chiefs of his people, who were disbelievers, said, "We see that you are just a mortal like us, and we do not see anyone following you except the most lowly among us, without insight; and we do not find any merit in you above us - in fact, we consider you liars."

Hamid S. Aziz

That you should not worship any save Allah. Verily, I fear for you the torment of the grievous Day."

Hilali & Khan

The chiefs of the disbelievers among his people said: "We see you but a man like ourselves, nor do we see any follow you but the meanest among us and they (too) followed you without thinking. And we do not see in you any merit above us, in fact we think you are liars."

Maulana Mohammad Ali

To serve none but Allah. Verily I fear for you the chastisement of a painful day.

Mohammad Habib Shakir

But the chiefs of those who disbelieved from among his people said: We do not consider you but a mortal like ourselves, and we do not see any have followed you but those who are the meanest of us at first thought and we do not see in you any excellence over us; nay, we deem you liars.

Mohammed Marmaduke William Pickthall

The chieftains of his folk, who disbelieved, said: We see thee but a mortal like us, and we see not that any follow thee save the most abject among us, without reflection. We behold in you no merit above us - nay, we deem you liars.

Muhammad Sarwar

The disbelievers among his people said, "We do not believe that you are any better than the rest of us; we see that only the worthless hasty ones, the lowliest among us follow you. Thus, we do not think that you are superior to us, rather you are all liars."

Qaribullah & Darwish

The unbelieving Council of his nation said: 'We do not see you other than a human like ourselves. We see your followers are none but the lowliest amongst us, and their opinion is not to be considered. We do not see you superior to us, rather, we consider you liars'

Safi-ur-Rahman al-Mubarakpuri

The chiefs who disbelieved among his people said: "We see you but a man like ourselves, nor do we see any follow you but the meanest among us and they (too) followed you without thinking. And we do not see in you any merit above us, in fact we think you are liars."

Wahiduddin Khan

The leaders of his people, who refused to acknowledge the truth, said, "We regard you only as a human being like ourselves. We do not see that anyone follows you but the lowliest of us, those of immature judgement. We see no superior merit in you; in fact we believe you are a liar."

Talal Itani

The notables who disbelieved among his people said, “We see in you nothing but a man like us, and we see that only the worst among us have followed you, those of immature judgment. And we see that you have no advantage over us. In fact, we think you are liars.”

Tafsir jalalayn

The council, the respected elders, of his people who disbelieved, said; `We see you but a mortal like us, and you have no merit over us, and we see not that any follow you save the vilest among us, the riffraff among us, such as the weavers and the shoemakers, [through] rash opinion (bdiya'l-ra'ya; read with hamza or without [in both cases]), in other words, impulsively, without thinking you over (it [bdiya'l-ra'ya] is in the accusative because it is an adverbial clause, that is to say; at the time that their opinion first came into being). We do not see that you have any merit over us, for which you would deserve our following you; nay, we deem you liars', with regard to your claim to [be bringing] a Message; they [the disbelievers] included his folk with him in their address [to him].

Tafseer Ibn Kathir

فَقَالَ الْمَلُ الَّذِينَ كَفَرُواْ مِن قِوْمِهِ

The chiefs who disbelieved among his people said;

The word `chiefs' (Al-Mala'u) here means the leaders and the heads of the disbelievers.

They said,

مَا نَرَاكَ إِلاَّ بَشَرًا مِّثْلَنَا

We see you but a man like ourselves,

This means, "You are not an angel. You are only a human being, so how can revelation come to you over us. We do not see anyone following you except the lowliest people among us, like the merchants, weavers and similar people. No people of nobility, or rulers among us follow you. These people who follow you are not known for their intelligence, wit, or sharp thinking. Rather, you merely invited them (to this Islam) and they responded to your call and followed you (ignorantly)."

This is the meaning of their statement,

وَمَا نَرَاكَ اتَّبَعَكَ إِلاَّ الَّذِينَ هُمْ أَرَاذِلُنَا بَادِيَ الرَّأْيِ

nor do we see any follow you but the meanest among us and they (too) followed you without thinking.

The statement, "without thinking,"

means that they merely followed the first thing that came to their minds.

Concerning the statement,

وَمَا نَرَى لَكُمْ عَلَيْنَا مِن فَضْلٍ

And we do not see in you any merit above us,

In this they are saying, "We do not see that you (and your followers) have any virtuous status above us in your physical appearance, your character, your provisions, or your condition, since you accepted this (new) religion of yours."

بَلْ نَظُنُّكُمْ كَاذِبِينَ



in fact we think you are liars.

This means, "We think you are lying about that which you are claiming for yourselves of righteousness, piety, worship and happiness in the abode of the Hereafter when you arrive there."

This was the response of the disbelievers to Nuh and his followers. This is a proof of their ignorance and their deficiency in knowledge and intelligence. For verily, the truth is not to be rejected because of the lowly status of those who follow it. Verily, the truth is correct in itself, regardless of whether its followers are of low status, or nobility.

Actually, the reality concerning which there is no doubt, is that the followers of the truth are the noble ones, even though they may be poor. On the other hand, those who reject the truth are the lowly wretches, even though they may be wealthy. Thus, we see that usually the weakest of people are the ones who follow the truth, while the nobility and high-class people usually are opposed to the truth.

This is as Allah says,

وَكَذَلِكَ مَأ أَرْسَلْنَا مِن قَبْلِكَ فِى قَرْيَةٍ مِّن نَّذِيرٍ إِلاَّ قَالَ مُتْرَفُوهَأ إِنَّا وَجَدْنَأ ءَابَأءَنَا عَلَى أُمَّةٍ وَإِنَّا عَلَى ءَاثَـرِهِم مُّقْتَدُونَ

And similarly, We sent not a warner before you to any town (people) but the luxurious ones among them said;"We found our fathers following a certain way and religion, and we will indeed follow their footsteps." (43;23)

When Heraclius, the emperor of Rome, asked Abu Sufyan Sakhr bin Harb about the qualities of the Prophet, he said to him, "Are his followers the noble people, or the weak?"

Abu Sufyan said, "They are the weakest of them."

Then Heraclius said, "They (weak ones) are the followers of the Messengers."

Concerning their statement,
بَادِيَ الرَّأْيِ
(without thinking),

In reality this is not objectionable, or something derogatory, because the truth when it is made clear, does not leave room for second-guessing, or excessive thinking. Rather, it is mandatory that it should be followed and this is the condition of every pious, intelligent person. No one continues doubtfully pondering the truth (after it is made clear) except one who is ignorant and excessively critical. The Messengers - Allah's peace and blessings be upon them all - only delivered what was obvious and clear.

Concerning Allah's statement,
وَمَا نَرَى لَكُمْ عَلَيْنَا مِن فَضْلٍ
(And we do not see in you any merit above us),

They did not see this (the virtue of accepting Islam) because they were blind from the truth. They could not see, nor could they hear. Rather, they were wavering in their skepticism. They were wandering blindly in the darkness of their ignorance. They, in reality, were the slanderers and liars, lowly and despicable. Therefore, in the Hereafter they will be the greatest losers