Al-Qur'an Surah Al-Anbya Verse 24

Mufti Taqi Usmani

Is it that they have adopted gods besides Him? Say, “Bring your proof.” Here is the (book carrying) advice for those with me, and the (books carrying) advice for those before me. Yet most of them do not know the truth, and therefore they are averse.

Dr. Mustafa Khattab, the Clear Quran

Or have they taken other gods besides Him? Say, ˹O Prophet,˺ “Show ˹me˺ your proof. Here is ˹the Quran,˺ the Reminder for those with me; along with ˹earlier Scriptures,˺ the Reminder for those before me.”[[ The Prophet (ﷺ) is ordered to challenge the pagans to produce logical and scriptural proofs for the existence of other gods beside Allah. The verses then argue that if there is more than one god, the different gods would have fought among themselves for domination, and the whole universe would have been ruined. The Quran, the Torah, and the Gospel are all in agreement that there is only One God. ]] But most of them do not know the truth, so they turn away.

Ruwwad Translation Center

Or have they taken other gods besides Him? Say, “Bring your proof. Here is the Book of those who are with me, and the Book of those who came before me.” Yet most of them do not know the truth, so they turn away.

A. J. Arberry

Or have they taken gods apart from Him? Say: 'Bring your proof! This is the Remembrance of him who is with me, and the Remembrance of those before me. Nay, but the most part of them know not the truth, so therefore they are turning away.

Abdul Haleem

Have they chosen to worship other gods instead of Him? Say, ‘Bring your proof. This is the Scripture for those who are with me and the Scripture for those who went before me.’ But most of them do not recognize the truth, so they pay no heed.

Abdul Majid Daryabadi

Have they taken gods beside Him? Say thou: forth with your proof This is an admonition unto those with me and an admonition unto those before me. But most of them knew not the truth, and so they are averters.

Abdullah Yusuf Ali

Or have they taken for worship (other) gods besides him? Say, "Bring your convincing proof; this is the Message of those with me and the Message of those before me." But most of them know not the Truth, and so turn away.

Abul Ala Maududi

Have they taken gods other than Him? Say, (O Muhammad): "Bring forth your proof! Here is the Book with admonition for those of my time and there are also scriptures with admonition for people before me." But most people do not know the Truth, and have, therefore, turned away from it.

Ahmed Ali

Have they taken gods besides God? Say: "Then bring your proof. Here is the Book of those who are with me, and the Book of those who have gone before me." But most men do not know the truth and turn away.

Ahmed Raza Khan

Or have they set up other Gods besides Allah? Say, “Bring your proof; this is the remembrance of those with me and those before me”; but in fact most of them do not know the Truth, so they turn away.

Ali Quli Qarai

Have they taken gods besides Him? Say, ‘Produce your evidence! This is a precept of those who are with me, and a precept of those [who went] before me.’ But most of them do not know the truth, and so they are disregardful.

Ali Ünal

What, have they adopted deities other than Him? Say (O Messenger): "If so, present your proof! But look, here is the Book those who are in my company follow, and there are the Books those who came before me followed: (what is stressed in all of them is that there is no deity other than Him.)" Whereas they have nothing to do with knowledge so that they might know the truth. This is why they turn away from it in aversion.

Amatul Rahman Omar

Or have they chosen (other) gods beside Him? Say, `Bring forth your clear proof (if there are other gods).´ This (Unity of God) is the message of those who are with Me and the message of those (who have gone) before Me. The only thing is that most of them have no knowledge of the truth and that is why they have turned away (from it).

English Literal

Or they took/received from other than Him gods, say: "Bring/give your proof/evidence that (is a) reminder/mention what (is) with me, and (a) reminder/mention what (is) before me, but most of them do not know the truth , so they are objecting/opposing .

Faridul Haque

Or have they set up other Gods besides Allah? Say, "Bring your proof; this is the remembrance of those with me and those before me"; but in fact most of them do not know the Truth, so they turn away.

Hamid S. Aziz

He can not be questioned concerning what He does, but They shall be questioned.

Hilali & Khan

Or have they taken for worship (other) aliha (gods) besides Him? Say: "Bring your proof:" This (the Quran) is the Reminder for those with me and the Reminder for those before me. But most of them know not the Truth, so they are averse.

Maulana Mohammad Ali

He cannot be questioned as to what He does, and they will be questioned.

Mohammad Habib Shakir

Or, have they taken gods besides Him? Say: Bring your proof; this is the reminder of those with me and the reminder of those before me. Nay! most of them do not know the truth, so they turn aside.

Mohammed Marmaduke William Pickthall

Or have they chosen other gods beside Him? say: Bring your proof (of their godhead). This is the Reminder of those with me and those before me, but most of them know not the Truth and so they are averse.

Muhammad Sarwar

Have they chosen other gods besides God? (Muhammad), ask them, "Show the proof (in support of such belief). This is (the Quran) which tells us about the (beliefs of the people) in my time and those who lived before me." Most of them do not know. Moreover, the truth is that they neglect (the question of belief altogether).

Qaribullah & Darwish

Have they taken gods, other than Him? Say: 'Bring us your proof! Here is the Remembrance of he who is with me and the Remembrance of those before me' But no, most of them do not know the truth, therefore they turn away.

Safi-ur-Rahman al-Mubarakpuri

Or have they taken for worship gods besides Him Say: "Bring your proof. This is the Reminder for those with me and the Reminder for those before me." But most of them know not the Truth, so they are averse.

Wahiduddin Khan

Have they taken other deities besides Him? Say to them, "Bring your proofs. This is the reminder of those who are with me and the reminder of those who were before me." But most of them do not know the truth, and so they turn away from it.

Talal Itani

Or have they taken, besides Him, other gods? Say, “Bring your proof. This is a message for those with me, and a message of those before me.” But most of them do not know the truth, so they turn away.

Tafsir jalalayn

Or have they chosen besides Him, exalted be He, other than Him, gods? (herein is an interrogative meant as a rebuke). Say; `Bring your proof, for this -- but such a thing is impossible. This is the Remembrance of those with me, namely, my community, and that [Remembrance] is the Qur'n, and the Remembrance of those before me, of communities, namely, the Torah and the Gospel and other Books of God, not a single one of which contains the statement that with God there exists another god, in the way that they claim -- exalted be He above such a thing. Nay, but most of them do not know the truth, the affirmation of God's Oneness, and so they are disregardful', of that discernment that leads to [knowledge of] it.

Tafseer Ibn Kathir

Allah says;

أَمِ اتَّخَذُوا مِن دُونِهِ الِهَةً قُلْ


Or have they taken for worship gods besides Him Say;(-- O Muhammad --)

هَاتُوا بُرْهَانَكُمْ

Bring your proof.

your evidence for what you are saying.

هَذَا ذِكْرُ مَن مَّعِيَ

This is the Reminder for those with me,

means, the Qur'an.

وَذِكْرُ مَن قَبْلِي

بَلْ أَكْثَرُهُمْ لَا يَعْلَمُونَ الْحَقَّ فَهُم مُّعْرِضُونَ



and the Reminder for those before me.

means, the previous Books, unlike what you claim.

Each Book was revealed to each Prophet who was sent with the message that there is no god except Allah, but you idolators do not recognize the truth, so you turn away from it.

Allah says;

وَمَا أَرْسَلْنَا مِن قَبْلِكَ مِن رَّسُولٍ إِلاَّ نُوحِي إِلَيْهِ أَنَّهُ لَا إِلَهَ إِلاَّ أَنَا فَاعْبُدُونِ