Al-Qur'an Surah Saba Verse 52

Mufti Taqi Usmani

And they will say, “We believe in Him.” And how can they grasp at it (the faith) from a place (so) far off,

Dr. Mustafa Khattab, the Clear Quran

They will ˹then˺ cry, “We do ˹now˺ believe in it ˹all˺.” But how could they ˹possibly˺ attain faith from a place so far-off ˹from the world˺,[[ When it is already too late. ]]

Ruwwad Translation Center

They will say, “Now we believe in it,” but how could they attain faith from such a distant place,

A. J. Arberry

and they say, 'We believe in it'; but how can they reach from a place far away,

Abdul Haleem

they will say, ‘Now we believe in it,’ but how can they reach it from such a distant place-

Abdul Majid Daryabadi

And then they will say: we believe therein. But whence can there be the attainment of faith from a place so afar.

Abdullah Yusuf Ali

And they will say, "We do believe (now) in the (Truth)"; but how could they receive (Faith) from a position (so far off,-

Abul Ala Maududi

They will then say: “We believe in it”; but whence can they attain it from so far-off a place?

Ahmed Ali

They will say: "We believe in it." How could they reach it from a place of no return?

Ahmed Raza Khan

And they will say, “We accept faith in it”; and how can they attain it from so far away? (After they have crossed the limit of life allotted to them.)

Ali Quli Qarai

They will say, ‘We believe in it [now]!’ But how can they attain it from a far-off place,

Ali Ünal

They say: "We have believed in it (the Qur’an)!" But how can they hope to attain to faith and salvation from a position so far away,

Amatul Rahman Omar

Then they will say, `We (now) believe in this (- Qur´ân). But how can the attainment (of faith) be possible from a position (of disbelief) so far off,

English Literal

And they said: "We believed with (in) it." And from where/how to them (is) the skirmish/clash ? From a far/distant place/position.

Faridul Haque

And they will say, “We accept faith in it”; and how can they attain it from so far away? (After they have crossed the limit of life allotted to them.)

Hamid S. Aziz

Could you but see when they are terrified with no escape and are seized upon from near at hand.

Hilali & Khan

And they will say (in the Hereafter): "We do believe (now);" but how could they receive (Faith and the acceptance of their repentance by Allah) from a place so far off (i.e. to return to the worldly life again).

Maulana Mohammad Ali

And couldst thou see when they become terrified, but (then) there will be no escape and they will be seized from a near place;

Mohammad Habib Shakir

And they shall say: We believe in it. And how shall the attaining (of faith) be possible to them from a distant place?

Mohammed Marmaduke William Pickthall

And say: We (now) believe therein. But how can they reach (faith) from afar off,

Muhammad Sarwar

and then they will say, "We have faith in the Quran." How can they have any faith when they are far away from this world.

Qaribullah & Darwish

and say: 'We believe in it' But how can they reach from a place that is distant,

Safi-ur-Rahman al-Mubarakpuri

And they will say: "We do believe (now);" but how could they receive (Tanawush) from a place so far off.

Wahiduddin Khan

then they will say, "We now believe in Him." But how will they attain to faith, having gone so far away from it?

Talal Itani

And they say, “We have believed in it.” But how can they attain it from a distant place?

Tafsir jalalayn

And they will say, `We believe in him [now]', in other words, [in] Muhammad (s) -- or [if read `We believe in it', then] in the Qur'n. But how can they attain [it] (read tanwush or tan'ush), that is, attain faith, from a place that is far away, from the place for [attaining] it -- as they are [now] in the Hereafter, and the [proper] place for [attaining] it was in this world --

Tafseer Ibn Kathir

وَقَالُوا امَنَّا بِهِ

And they will say;"We do believe (now);"

means, on the Day of Resurrection, they will say, `we believe in Allah and His angels, Books and Messengers.'

This is like the Ayah;

وَلَوْ تَرَى إِذِ الْمُجْرِمُونَ نَاكِسُواْ رُءُوسِهِمْ عِندَ رَبِّهِمْ رَبَّنَأ أَبْصَرْنَا وَسَمِعْنَا فَارْجِعْنَا نَعْمَلْ صَـلِحاً إِنَّا مُوقِنُونَ

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." (32;12)

Allah says;

وَأَنَّى لَهُمُ التَّنَاوُشُ مِن مَكَانٍ بَعِيدٍ



but how could they receive from a place so far off!

meaning, how could they attain faith now that they are so far removed from the place where it could be accepted from them, and they have entered the realm of the Hereafter which is the realm of reward and punishment, not the realm of trial and testing. If they had believed in this world, that would have been good for them, but now they have entered the Hereafter, there is no way that their faith can be accepted, just as there is no way a person can get a thing if he is far away from it.

Mujahid said;
وَأَنَّى لَهُمُ التَّنَاوُشُ
but how could they At-Tana'wush means,

How could they attain that?

Az-Zuhri said,

They will wish to attain faith when they have reached the Hereafter and are cut off from this world.

Al-Hasan Al-Basri said,

They will seek something when they have no way of attaining it, they will seek faith from a distant place