Al-Qur'an Surah Al-Anbya Verse 8

Mufti Taqi Usmani

We did not make them such bodies as ate no food, nor were they immortal.

Dr. Mustafa Khattab, the Clear Quran

We did not give those messengers ˹supernatural˺ bodies that did not need food, nor were they immortal.

Ruwwad Translation Center

We did not give them bodies that needed no food, nor were they immortal.

A. J. Arberry

nor did We fashion them as bodies that ate not food, neither were they immortal;

Abdul Haleem

We did not give them bodies that ate no food, nor were they immortal.

Abdul Majid Daryabadi

And We made them not bodies not eating food; nor were they to be abiders.

Abdullah Yusuf Ali

Nor did We give them bodies that ate no food, nor were they exempt from death.

Abul Ala Maududi

We did not endow the Messengers with bodies that would need no food; nor were they immortals.

Ahmed Ali

We did not make their bodies immune to hunger, nor were they immortal.

Ahmed Raza Khan

And We did not create them without bodies so they would not eat food – nor that they abide on earth forever.

Ali Quli Qarai

We did not make them bodies that did not eat food, nor were they immortal.

Ali Ünal

Nor did We make them bodies not needing food so that they would not eat like others, nor were they immortals.

Amatul Rahman Omar

Nor did We give them such bodies as could go without food, neither were they people given unusually long lives (to enjoy).

English Literal

And We did not make/create them a body, they do not eat the food, and they were not immortal/eternal .

Faridul Haque

And We did not create them without bodies so they would not eat food - nor that they abide on earth forever.

Hamid S. Aziz

Nor did We send before them any but men whom We inspired? Ask you the people of the Scriptures if you do not know.

Hilali & Khan

And We did not create them (the Messengers, with) bodies that ate not food, nor were they immortals,

Maulana Mohammad Ali

And We sent not before thee any but men to whom We sent revelation; so ask the followers of the Reminder if you know not.

Mohammad Habib Shakir

And We did not make them bodies not eating the food, and they were not to abide (forever).

Mohammed Marmaduke William Pickthall

We gave them not bodies that would not eat food, nor were they immortals.

Muhammad Sarwar

We had not made them such bodies that would not eat any food nor were they immortal.

Qaribullah & Darwish

Nor did We make them bodies that ate no food, nor were they immortal.

Safi-ur-Rahman al-Mubarakpuri

And We did not place them in bodies that did not eat food, nor were they immortals.

Wahiduddin Khan

We did not give them bodies that needed no food, nor were they to live forever.

Talal Itani

We did not make them mere bodies that ate no food, nor were they immortal.

Tafsir jalalayn

And We did not make them, namely, the messengers, bodies that did not eat food, nay, they eat it; and they were not immortal, in this world.

Tafseer Ibn Kathir

وَمَا جَعَلْنَاهُمْ جَسَدًا لاَّ يَأْكُلُونَ الطَّعَامَ

And We did not place them in bodies that did not eat food...

meaning, rather they had bodies that ate food, as Allah says;

وَمَأ أَرْسَلْنَا قَبْلَكَ مِنَ الْمُرْسَلِينَ إِلاَّ إِنَّهُمْ لَيَأْكُلُونَ الطَّعَامَ وَيَمْشُونَ فِى الاٌّسْوَاقِ

And We never sent before you any of the Messengers but verily, they ate food and walked in the markets. (25;20)

meaning, they were human beings who ate and drank like all other people, and they went to the marketplaces to earn a living and engage in business; that did not affect them adversely or reduce their status in any way, as the idolators imagined.

مَا لِهَـذَا الرَّسُولِ يَأْكُلُ الطَّعَامَ وَيَمْشِى فِى الاٌّسْوَاقِ لَوْلا أُنزِلَ إِلَيْهِ مَلَكٌ فَيَكُونَ مَعَهُ نَذِير

اًأَوْ يُلْقَى إِلَيْهِ كَنْزٌ أَوْ تَكُونُ لَهُ جَنَّةٌ يَأْكُلُ مِنْهَا

And they say;"Why does this Messenger eat food, and walk about in the markets. Why is not an angel sent down to him to be a warner with him Or (why) has not a treasure been granted to him, or why has he not a garden whereof he may eat!" (25;7-8)

وَمَا كَانُوا خَالِدِينَ



nor were they immortals.

meaning, in this world; on the contrary, they lived, then they died.

وَمَا جَعَلْنَا لِبَشَرٍ مِّن قَبْلِكَ الْخُلْدَ

And We granted not to any human being immortality before you. (21;34)

But what distinguished them from others was that they received revelation from Allah, and the angels brought down to them from Allah His rulings concerning His creation, what He commanded and what He prohibited