Al-Qur'an Surah As-Sajdah Verse 12

Mufti Taqi Usmani

And (you will wonder) if you see the sinners hanging their heads before their Lord (and saying,) “Our Lord, we have now seen and heard, so send us back, and we will do righteous deeds. Surely, (now) we are believers.”

Dr. Mustafa Khattab, the Clear Quran

If only you could see the wicked hanging their heads ˹in shame˺ before their Lord, ˹crying:˺ “Our Lord! We have now seen and heard, so send us back and we will do good. We truly have sure faith ˹now˺!”

Ruwwad Translation Center

If only you could see the wicked lowering their heads before their Lord, “Our Lord, we have now seen and heard. Send us back; we will do righteous deeds. Now we truly have faith.”

A. J. Arberry

Ah, if thou couldst see the guilty hanging their heads before their Lord! 'Our Lord, we have seen and heard; now return us, that we may do righteousness, for we have sure faith.'

Abdul Haleem

[Prophet], if only you could see the wrongdoers hang their heads before their Lord: ‘Our Lord, now that we have seen and heard, send us back and we shall do good. [Now] we are convinced.’

Abdul Majid Daryabadi

Couldst thou but see when the culprits shall hang their heads before their Lord, saying: our Lord! we have now seen and heard; so send us back; we shall work righteously, verily we are convinced.

Abdullah Yusuf Ali

If only thou couldst see when the guilty ones will bend low their heads before their Lord, (saying;) "Our Lord! We have seen and we have heard; Now then send us back (to the world); we will work righteousness; for we do indeed (now) believe."

Abul Ala Maududi

Would that you could see the guilty standing before their Lord with their heads downcast, (saying to Him): “Our Lord, we have now seen and heard, so send us back (to the world) that we might act righteously. For now we have come to have firm faith.”

Ahmed Ali

If only you could see when the sinners will stand before their Lord, heads hung low, (and say:) "O Lord, we have seen and heard. So send us back. We shall do the right, for we have come to believe with certainty."

Ahmed Raza Khan

And if you see when the guilty will hang their heads before their Lord; “Our Lord! We have seen and heard, therefore send us back in order that we do good deeds – we are now convinced!”

Ali Quli Qarai

Were you to see when the guilty hang their heads before their Lord [confessing], ‘Our Lord! We have seen and heard. Send us back so that we may act righteously. Indeed we are [now] convinced.’

Ali Ünal

If you could but see those disbelieving criminals when they hang their heads before their Lord (pleading): "Our Lord! Now we have seen and heard (the truth and are ready to be obedient). So return us (to the world): we will certainly do good, righteous deeds. Now we are certain (of the truth)."

Amatul Rahman Omar

Could you but see (their state) when the guilty will be (standing) before their Lord with their heads hanging down (and saying), `Our Lord! we have seen and we have heard. So send us back (to worldly life), we will act righteously, for (now) we are convinced (of the truth about the Hereafter).´

English Literal

And if you see/understand when the criminals/sinners (are) putting down their heads/tops at their Lord: "Our Lord, we saw/understood , and we heard/listened, so return us, we make/do correct/righteous deeds, that we are sure/certain."

Faridul Haque

And if you see when the guilty will hang their heads before their Lord; “Our Lord! We have seen and heard, therefore send us back in order that we do good deeds - we are now convinced!”

Hamid S. Aziz

Say: The angel of death who is given charge of you shall cause you to die, then to your Lord you shall be returned.

Hilali & Khan

And if you only could see when the Mujrimun (criminals, disbelievers, polytheists, sinners, etc.) shall hang their heads before their Lord (saying): "Our Lord! We have now seen and heard, so send us back (to the world), we will do righteous good deeds. Verily! We now believe with certainty."

Maulana Mohammad Ali

And they say: When we are lost in the earth, shall we then be in a new creation? Nay, they are disbelievers in the meeting with their Lord.

Mohammad Habib Shakir

And could you but see when the guilty shall hang down their heads before their Lord: Our Lord! we have seen and we have heard, therefore send us back, we will do good; surely (now) we are certain.

Mohammed Marmaduke William Pickthall

Couldst thou but see when the guilty hang their heads before their Lord, (and say): Our Lord! We have now seen and heard, so send us back; we will do right, now we are sure.

Muhammad Sarwar

Would that you could see (on the Day of Judgment) that criminals, with their heads hanging down before their Lord, saying, "Our Lord, we have seen and heard. Send us back to act righteously. Now we have strong faith".

Qaribullah & Darwish

Would that you could see the wrongdoers when they lower their heads before their Lord! They will say: 'Our Lord, we have now seen and heard. Send us back and we will do righteous deeds, we are certain'

Safi-ur-Rahman al-Mubarakpuri

And if you only could see when the criminals shall hang their heads before their Lord (saying): "Our Lord! We have now seen and heard, so send us back that we will do righteous good deeds. Verily, we now believe with certainty."

Wahiduddin Khan

If only you could see the evil-doers hanging their heads in shame before their Lord, "Our Lord, we have seen and we have heard, so send us back again and we will act rightly. For we do indeed now believe."

Talal Itani

If only you could see the guilty, bowing their heads before their Lord: “Our Lord, we have seen and we have heard, so send us back, and we will act righteously; we are now convinced.”

Tafsir jalalayn

And if could you but see the guilty, the disbelievers, hanging their heads [low] before their Lord, lowering them in shame, saying; `Our Lord! We have seen, the resurrection that we denied, and heard, from You the confirmation of [the truth of] the messengers concerning that in which we used to call them liars. So send us back, to the world, so that we may act righteously, therein, for indeed we are convinced', now. But none of this is of any use to them and they will not be sent back (the response to [the conditional clause beginning with] law, `if', is [an implicit] `you would see a terrible thing').

Tafseer Ibn Kathir

The Bad State in which the Idolators will be on the Day of Resurrection

Allah says;

وَلَوْ تَرَى إِذِ الْمُجْرِمُونَ نَاكِسُو رُوُوسِهِمْ عِندَ رَبِّهِمْ

And if you only could see when the criminals shall hang their heads before their Lord, (saying);

Allah tells us the state of the idolators on the Day of Resurrection and what they will say when they see the Resurrection and are standing before Allah -- may He be glorified -- humiliated and brought low, with their heads bowed, i.e., in shame.

They will say;

رَبَّنَا أَبْصَرْنَا وَسَمِعْنَا

Our Lord! We have now seen and heard,

meaning, `now we hear what You say and we will obey You.'

This is like the Ayah,

أَسْمِعْ بِهِمْ وَأَبْصِرْ يَوْمَ يَأْتُونَنَا

How clearly will they see and hear, the Day when they will appear before Us! (19;38)

And they will blame themselves when they enter the Fire, and will say;

لَوْ كُنَّا نَسْمَعُ أَوْ نَعْقِلُ مَا كُنَّا فِى أَصْحَـبِ السَّعِيرِ

"Had we but listened or used our intelligence, we would not have been among the dwellers of the blazing Fire!" (67;10)

Similarly, here they are described as saying;

رَبَّنَا أَبْصَرْنَا وَسَمِعْنَا فَارْجِعْنَا

Our Lord! We have now seen and heard, so send us back, (to the world),

نَعْمَلْ صَالِحًا إِنَّا مُوقِنُونَ



that we will do righteous good deeds. Verily, we now believe with certainty.

means, `now we are sure and we believe that Your promise is true and that the meeting with You is true.'

But the Lord, may He be exalted, knows that if He were to send them back to this world, they would behave as they did previously, and they would reject and disbelieve in the signs of Allah and would go against His Messengers, as He says;

وَلَوْ تَرَى إِذْ وُقِفُواْ عَلَى النَّارِ فَقَالُواْ يلَيْتَنَا نُرَدُّ وَلَا نُكَذِّبَ بِـَايَـتِ رَبِّنَا

If you could but see when they will be held over the (Hell) Fire! They will say;"Would that we were but sent back! Then we would not deny the Ayat of our Lord," (6;27)

And Allah says here