Al-Qur'an Surah Ibrahim Verse 9

Mufti Taqi Usmani

Has there not come to you the news of those before you, the people of NūH, ‘Ād and Thamūd and of those after them. No one knows them except Allah. Their prophets came to them with clear signs, but they put their hands into their mouths and said, “We reject what you are sent with, and indeed we are in confounding doubt about what you are calling us to believe.”

Dr. Mustafa Khattab, the Clear Quran

Have you not ˹already˺ received the stories of those who were before you: the people of Noah, ’Âd, Thamûd, and those after them? Only Allah knows how many they were. Their messengers came to them with clear proofs, but they put their hands over their mouths[[ This can mean that the disbelievers bit their own hands in rage, or they covered their own mouths mockingly, or that they put their hands over their messengers’ mouths to silence them.]] and said, “We totally reject what you have been sent with, and we are certainly in alarming doubt about what you are inviting us to.”

Ruwwad Translation Center

Have there not come to you the stories of those who came before you – the people of Noah, ‘Ād and Thamūd, and those who came after them? No one knows them except Allah. Their messengers came to them with clear proofs, but they shoved their hands into their mouths and said, “We disbelieve in what you are sent with, and we surely doubt what you are calling us to.”

A. J. Arberry

Has there not come to you the tidings of those who were before you -- the people of Noah, Ad, Thamood, and of those after them whom none knows but God? Their Messengers came to them with the clear signs; but they thrust their hands into their mouths, saying, 'We certainly disbelieve in the Message you have been sent with, and we are in doubt, concerning that you call us unto, disquieting.'

Abdul Haleem

Have you not heard about those who went before you, the people of Noah, Ad, Thamud, and those who lived after them, known only to God? Their messengers came to them with clear proof, but they tried to silence them, saying, ‘We do not believe the message with which you were sent. We have disturbing doubts about what you are asking us to do.’

Abdul Majid Daryabadi

Hath not the tidings come to you of those before you: the people of Nuh and the 'Aad and the Thamud and those after them! None knoweth them save Allah. There came unto them their apostles with the evidences, but they put their hands to their mouths, and said: verily we disbelieve in that where- with ye have been sent, and verily regarding that to which ye call Us We are in doubt disquieting.

Abdullah Yusuf Ali

Has not the story reached you, (O people!), of those who (went) before you? - of the people of Noah, and 'Ad, and Thamud? - And of those who (came) after them? None knows them but Allah. To them came messengers with Clear (Signs); but they put their hands up to their mouths, and said; "We do deny (the mission) on which ye have been sent, and we are really in suspicious (disquieting) doubt as to that to which ye invite us."

Abul Ala Maududi

Have the accounts of your predecessors not reached you: the people of Noah, the Ad, the Thamud, and those who came after them - they whose number is not known to any except Allah? Their Messengers came to them with Clear Signs, but they thrust their hands in their mouths, and said: "We do surely reject the Message you have brought, and we are in disquieting doubt about what you are summoning us to."

Ahmed Ali

Has not the news of those before you, the people of Noah and 'Ad and Thamud, and those who came after them, come to you? None knows (about) them except God. Their apostles came to them with clear proofs, but they tried to silence them and said: "We do not believe in what you have been sent with, and we are in doubt of what you call us to, about which we are in disquiet.'

Ahmed Raza Khan

Did not the tidings of those before you reach you? The people of Nooh, and the A’ad and the Thamud, and those after them? Only Allah knows them; their Noble Messengers came to them with clear proofs, they therefore raised their hands towards their own mouths, and said, “We disbelieve in what you have been sent with, and we are in a deeply intriguing doubt regarding the path you call us to.”

Ali Quli Qarai

Has there not come to you the account of those who were before you—the people of Noah, ‘Ad and Thamud, and those who were after them, whom no one knows [well] except Allah? Their apostles brought them manifest proofs, but they did not respond to them, and said, ‘We disbelieve in what you have been sent with. Indeed we have grave doubts concerning that to which you invite us.’

Ali Ünal

Has any account not reached you of the exemplary histories of those who lived before you – the people of Noah, and the ‘Ad and Thamud – and those who came after them? None save God has true knowledge about them. Their Messengers came to them with clear signs of the truth, but they thrust their hands into their mouths (in derision and anger, and frustrated by their inability to refute them), and said: "We certainly disbelieve in what you have been sent, and indeed we are in serious doubt about that to which you call us."

Amatul Rahman Omar

Has not the important news come to you of your predecessors, the people of Noah, (the tribes of) `Âd and Thamûd and those who came after them. None knows them (now) but Allâh. Their Messengers (of God) came to them with clear proofs, but they put their hands again and again on their mouths (showing great resentment and out of rage) saying, `We have already rejected that (revelation) you have been sent with and infact we are in disquieting doubt as to that (faith) you call us to.´

English Literal

Did not information/news (of) those from before you come to you, nation (of) Noah and Aad and Thamud and those from after them? No (one) knows them except God, their messengers came to them with the evidences, so they returned their hands in their mouths (they bit their fingers from anger), and they said: "We have disbelieved with what you were sent with it, and we are in (E) doubtful/suspicious doubt/suspicion from what you call us to it."

Faridul Haque

Did not the tidings of those before you reach you? The people of Nooh, and the A’ad and the Thamud, and those after them? Only Allah knows them; their Noble Messengers came to them with clear proofs, they therefore raised their hands towards their own mouths, and said, "We disbelieve in what you have been sent with, and we are in a deeply intriguing doubt regarding the path you call us to."

Hamid S. Aziz

Has not the history come to you of those who were before you, of the people of Noah, and A´ad, and Thamud, and those who came after them? None knows them save Allah. Their Messengers came unto them with manifest signs; but they thrust their hands into their mouths and said, "Verily, we disbelieve in that with which you are sent, and we are in grave doubt concerning that to which you call us!"

Hilali & Khan

Has not the news reached you, of those before you, the people of Nuh (Noah), and 'Ad, and Thamud? And those after them? None knows them but Allah. To them came their Messengers with clear proofs, but they put their hands in their mouths (biting them from anger) and said: "Verily, we disbelieve in that with which you have been sent, and we are really in grave doubt as to that to which you invite us (i.e. Islamic Monotheism)."

Maulana Mohammad Ali

And Moses said: If you are ungrateful, you and all those on earth, then Allah is surely Self-sufficient, Praised.

Mohammad Habib Shakir

Has not the account reached you of those before you, of the people of Nuh and Ad and Samood, and those after them? None knows them but Allah. Their apostles come to them with clear arguments, but they thrust their hands into their mouths and said: Surely we deny that with which you are sent, and most surely we are in serious doubt as to that to which you invite us.

Mohammed Marmaduke William Pickthall

Hath not the history of those before you reached you: the folk of Noah, and (the tribes of) A'ad and Thamud, and those after them? None save Allah knoweth them. Their messengers came unto them with clear proofs, but they thrust their hands into their mouths, and said: Lo! we disbelieve in that wherewith ye have been sent, and lo! we are in grave doubt concerning that to which ye call us.

Muhammad Sarwar

Have you (believers) ever heard the news about those who lived before you, like the people of Noah, Ad, Thamud, and those who lived after them? No one knows about them except God. Messengers were sent to them with miracles, but they put their hands to their mouths and said, "We do not believe in whatever you preach and we are also doubtful and uncertain about that to which you invite us."

Qaribullah & Darwish

Have you not heard what befell the nations that have gone before you? The nations of Noah, Aad, and Thamood, and those who came after? None knows them but Allah. Their Messengers came to them with clear signs, but they thrust their hands into their mouths and said: 'Without doubt we disbelieve the Message you have been sent with. That which you call us to is disquieting'

Safi-ur-Rahman al-Mubarakpuri

Has not the news reached you, of those before you, the people of Nuh, `Ad, and Thamud And those after them None knows them but Allah. To them came their Messengers with clear proofs, but they put their hands in their mouths and said: "Verily, we disbelieve in that with which you have been sent, and we are really in grave doubt as to that to which you invite us."

Wahiduddin Khan

Has not news come to you concerning those who preceded you, such as Noah's people, and the 'Ad and Thamud, as well as those who came after them? Only God knows who they were. The messengers came to them with clear signs, but they put their hands to their mouths saying, "We deny the message you have been sent with. We have grave doubts about what you are inviting us to do."

Talal Itani

Has not the story reached you, of those before you, the people of Noah, and Aad, and Thamood—and those after them? None knows them except God. Their messengers came to them with the clear proofs, but they tried to silence them, and said, “We reject what you are sent with, and we are in serious doubt regarding what you are calling us to.”

Tafsir jalalayn

Has there not come to you (an interrogative meant as an affirmative) the tidings, the news, of those who were before you -- the people of Noah, and `d -- the people of Hd -- and Thamd -- the people of Slih -- and those after them? None knows them save God. [This is] on account of their multitude. Their messengers brought them clear signs, with lucid arguments demonstrating their truthfulness; but they, that is, the communities, thrust their hands into their mouths, to bite on them, out of extreme spite, and said, `Lo! we disbelieve in that wherewith you have been sent, according to what you claim, and lo! we are in grave doubt concerning that to which you call us', [doubt] creating [great] uncertainty.

Tafseer Ibn Kathir

Earlier Nations disbelieved in Their Prophets

Allah says;

أَلَمْ يَأْتِكُمْ نَبَأُ الَّذِينَ مِن قَبْلِكُمْ قَوْمِ نُوحٍ وَعَادٍ وَثَمُودَ وَالَّذِينَ مِن بَعْدِهِمْ لَا يَعْلَمُهُمْ إِلاَّ اللّهُ

Has not the news reached you, of those before you, the people of Nuh, `Ad, and Thamud, and those after them! None knows them but Allah.

Allah narrated to this Ummah (followers of Muhammad) the stories of the people of Prophet Nuh, `Ad and Thamud, and other ancient nations that belied their Messengers. Only Allah knows the count of these nations,

جَاءتْهُمْ رُسُلُهُم بِالْبَيِّنَاتِ

To them came their Messengers with clear proofs,

they brought them evidences and plain, tremendous proofs and signs.

Ibn Ishaq reported that Amr bin Maymun said that Abdullah said about Allah's statement,
لَا يَعْلَمُهُمْ إِلااَّ اللّهُ
(None knows them but Allah),

"The genealogists utter lies."

This is why Urwah bin Az-Zubayr said,

"We did not find anyone who knows the forefathers of Ma`dd bin Adnan."
Meaning of, "They put Their Hands in Their Mouths"

Allah said next,

فَرَدُّواْ أَيْدِيَهُمْ فِي أَفْوَاهِهِمْ

but they put their hands in their mouths,

It is said that they pointed to the Messengers' mouths asking them to stop calling them to Allah, the Exalted and Most Honored.

It is also said that it means, they placed their hands on their mouths in denial of the Messengers.

It was also said that it means that they did not answer the call of the Messengers, or they were biting their hands in rage.

Mujahid, Muhammad bin Ka`b and Qatadah said that;

they belied the Messengers and refuted their call with their mouths.

I (Ibn Kathir) say that Mujahid's Tafsir is supported by the completion of the narrative,

وَقَالُواْ إِنَّا كَفَرْنَا بِمَا أُرْسِلْتُم بِهِ وَإِنَّا لَفِي شَكٍّ مِّمَّا تَدْعُونَنَا إِلَيْهِ مُرِيبٍ



and said;"Verily, we disbelieve in that with which you have been sent, and we are really in grave doubt as to that to which you invite us."

Al-Awfi reported that Ibn Abbas said,

"When they heard Allah's Word, they were amazed and placed their hands on their mouths,"

وَقَالُواْ إِنَّا كَفَرْنَا بِمَا أُرْسِلْتُم بِهِ

and said;"Verily, we disbelieve in that with which you have been sent."

They said, We do not believe what you brought us, and have strong doubt in its authenticity.