Al-Qur'an Surah An-Naml Verse 49

Mufti Taqi Usmani

They said, “Let us swear a mutual oath by Allah that we shall attack him (SāliH) and his family at night, then will say to his heir, ‘We did not witness the destruction of his family, and we are really truthful.’”

Dr. Mustafa Khattab, the Clear Quran

They vowed, “Let us swear by Allah that we will take him and his family down by night. Then we will certainly say to his ˹closest˺ heirs, ‘We did not witness the murder of his family. We are definitely telling the truth.’”

Ruwwad Translation Center

They said, “Let us all swear by Allah that we will kill him and his family by night. Then we will tell his heir, ‘We did not witness the murder of his family, and we are indeed truthful.’”

A. J. Arberry

they said, 'Swear you, one to another, by God, "We will attack him and his family by night, then we will tell his protector, We were not witnesses of the destruction of his family; and assuredly we are truthful men."'

Abdul Haleem

They said, ‘Swear by God: we shall attack this man and his household in the night, then say to his next of kin, “We did not witness the destruction of his household. We are telling the truth.”’

Abdul Majid Daryabadi

They said: swear one to anot her by God that we shall surely fall upon him and his household by night and thereafter we shall surely say unto his heir; We witnessed not the destruction of his household, and verily we are truthtellers.

Abdullah Yusuf Ali

They said; "Swear a mutual oath by Allah that we shall make a secret night attack on him and his people, and that we shall then say to his heir (when he seeks vengeance); 'We were not present at the slaughter of his people, and we are positively telling the truth.'"

Abul Ala Maududi

They said: "Swear to one another in the name of Allah that we shall make a sudden night swoop on Salih and his family and will then tell their heirs that we did not witness the destruction of his family. We are indeed truthful."

Ahmed Ali

They said: "Let us swear by God that we will attack Saleh and his family at night, and later tell his heirs: 'We did not see his family destroyed, and we speak the truth.'"

Ahmed Raza Khan

Swearing by Allah they said to one another, “We will indeed attack him and his family at night, and then say to his heir, ‘We were not present at the time of slaying of this household, and indeed we are truthful.’”

Ali Quli Qarai

They said, ‘Swear by Allah that we will attack him and his family by night. Then we will tell his heir that we were not present at the murder of his family and that we speak the truth.’

Ali Ünal

They said, swearing in God’s Name: "We will certainly swoop on him and his family by night suddenly and kill them all. Then we will assuredly say to his heirs that we did not witness the destruction of his family (nor of Salih himself); indeed we speak the truth."

Amatul Rahman Omar

They said one to another, `Let us swear by Allâh that we will surely make a raid on him (-Sâlih) and his family by night and then we will say to his claimant (- the next of kin, if he seeks vengeance) that we were not present at the time and place of the destruction of his family and most surely we speak the truth.´

English Literal

They said: "Swear/make oath (to each other) by God: `We will attack him suddenly at night (E) and his people/family , then we will say (E) to his guardian/ally , we did not witness his people`s/family`s death/destruction , and we are (E) truthful (E).` "

Faridul Haque

Swearing by Allah they said to one another, “We will indeed attack him and his family at night, and then say to his heir, ‘We were not present at the time of slaying of this household, and indeed we are truthful.’ ”

Hamid S. Aziz

And there were in the city nine persons who despoiled the land and reformed not.

Hilali & Khan

They said: "Swear one to another by Allah that we shall make a secret night attack on him and his household, and afterwards we will surely say to his near relatives: 'We witnessed not the destruction of his household, and verily! We are telling the truth.'"

Maulana Mohammad Ali

They said: We augur evil of thee and those with thee. He said: Your evil augury is with Allah; nay, you are a people who are tried.

Mohammad Habib Shakir

They said: Swear to each other by Allah that we will certainly make a sudden attack on him and his family by night, then we will say to his heir: We did not witness the destruction of his family, and we are most surely truthful.

Mohammed Marmaduke William Pickthall

They said: Swear one to another by Allah that we verily will attack him and his household by night, and afterward we will surely say unto his friend: We witnessed not the destruction of his household. And lo! we are truthtellers.

Muhammad Sarwar

They said, "Let us swear by God to do away with him and his family during the night then tell his guardian that we did not see how he and his family had been destroyed, and we shall be telling the truth."

Qaribullah & Darwish

They said: 'Let us swear by Allah to attack him and his family at night, then we will tell his guardian we were not witnesses of the destruction of his family; and surely we are truthful'

Safi-ur-Rahman al-Mubarakpuri

They said: "Swear one to another by Allah that we shall make a secret night attack on him and his household, and thereafter we will surely say to his near relatives: `We witnessed not the destruction of his household, and verily, we are telling the truth."'

Wahiduddin Khan

They said, "Let us bind ourselves by an oath sworn in the name of God that we shall attack Salih and his family by night, and to his protector [who demands retribution], we shall say, "We were not present when they were slain. We are telling the truth."

Talal Itani

They said, “Swear by God to one another that we will attack him and his family by night, and then tell his guardian, 'We did not witness the murder of his family, and we are being truthful.'“

Tafsir jalalayn

They said, that is, some said to others, `Swear to one another by God that we will attack him by night (la- nubayyitannahu; or [read] la-tubayyitunnahu, `that you will attack him by night') together with his folk, that is, those who believed in him, in other words, [swear] that we will kill them at night; then we will surely say (la-naqlanna; or [read] la-taqlunna, `you surely will say') to his heir, the avenger of his blood, that we did not witness, we were not present at, the destruction of his folk (read muhlika or mahlika, meaning `the destroying of them' or `their death' [respectively]), and so we do not know who killed them, and [that] indeed we are being truthful'.

Tafseer Ibn Kathir

قَالُوا تَقَاسَمُوا بِاللَّهِ لَنُبَيِّتَنَّهُ وَأَهْلَهُ

They said;"Swear one to another by Allah that we shall make a secret night attack on him and his household..."

They took a mutual oath, pledging that during the night, whoever met the Allah's Prophet Salih, peace be upon him, he would assassinate him.

ثُمَّ لَنَقُولَنَّ لِوَلِيِّهِ مَا شَهِدْنَا مَهْلِكَ أَهْلِهِ وَإِنَّا لَصَادِقُونَ



and thereafter we will surely say to his near relatives;`We witnessed not the destruction of his household, and verily, we are telling the truth."'

But Allah planned against them and caused their plot to backfire.

Mujahid said,

"They took a mutual oath pledging to kill him, but before they could reach him, they and their people were all destroyed."

Abdur-Rahman bin Abi Hatim said;

"When they killed the she-camel, Salih said to them;

تَمَتَّعُواْ فِى دَارِكُمْ ثَلَـثَةَ أَيَّامٍ ذلِكَ وَعْدٌ غَيْرُ مَكْذُوبٍ

"Enjoy yourselves in your homes for three days. This is a promise (i.e., a threat) that will not be belied." (11;65)

They said;`Salih claims that he will finish with us in three days, but we will finish him and his family before the three days are over.'

Salih had a place of worship in a rocky tract in a valley, where he used to pray. So they set out to go to a cave there one night, and said, `When he comes to pray, we will kill him, then we will return. When we have finished him off, we will go to his family and finish them off too.'

Then Allah sent down a rock upon them from the mountains round about; they feared that it would crush them, so they ran into the cave and the rock covered the mouth of the cave while they were inside.

Their people did not know where they were or what had happened to them. So Allah punished some of them here, and some of them there, and He saved Salih and the people who were with him.

Then he recited;

وَمَكَرُوا مَكْرًا وَمَكَرْنَا مَكْرًا وَهُمْ لَا يَشْعُرُونَ