Al-Qur'an Surah Saba Verse 53

Mufti Taqi Usmani

while they had rejected it before, and used to make conjectures from a remote place?

Dr. Mustafa Khattab, the Clear Quran

while they had already rejected it before, guessing blindly from a place ˹equally˺ far-away ˹from the Hereafter˺?

Ruwwad Translation Center

while they disbelieved in it before, making far-fetched conjectures about the unseen?

A. J. Arberry

seeing they disbelieved in it before, guessing at the Unseen from a place far away?

Abdul Haleem

they denied it all in the past, and threw conjecture from a faroff place-

Abdul Majid Daryabadi

Whereas they disbelieved therein afore, and conjectured about the unseen from a place so afar.

Abdullah Yusuf Ali

Seeing that they did reject Faith (entirely) before, and that they (continually) cast (slanders) on the unseen from a position far off?

Abul Ala Maududi

They disbelieved in it before and indulged in conjectures from far away.

Ahmed Ali

They had surely denied it before and aimed without seeing from so far away.

Ahmed Raza Khan

For they had disbelieved in it before; and they hurl allegations without seeing, from far away.

Ali Quli Qarai

when they denied it in the past—shooting at something invisible from a far-off place—

Ali Ünal

(Seeing that) they certainly disbelieved in it before. They have been aiming at the Unseen (the Hereafter) from far away (with words all untrue and without any basis in true knowledge).

Amatul Rahman Omar

While they had indeed disbelieved in it before this, and they were shooting at the unknown (and making far fetched and useless conjectures about the failure of the Prophet and their own triumph) from a place far off.

English Literal

And they had disbelieved with (in) Him from before, and they throw/hurl with the unseen/hidden from a far/distant place/position.

Faridul Haque

For they had disbelieved in it before; and they hurl allegations without seeing, from far away.

Hamid S. Aziz

And they shall say, "We believe in it (now)." But how can they reach faith from a position so far away from it?

Hilali & Khan

Indeed they did disbelieve (in the Oneness of Allah, Islam, the Quran and Muhammad SAW) before (in this world), and they (used to) conjecture about the unseen [i.e. the Hereafter, Hell, Paradise, Resurrection and the Promise of Allah, etc. (by saying) all that is untrue], from a far place.

Maulana Mohammad Ali

And they will say: We believe in it. And how can they attain (to faith) from a distant place.

Mohammad Habib Shakir

And they disbelieved in it before, and they utter conjectures with regard to the unseen from a distant place.

Mohammed Marmaduke William Pickthall

When they disbelieved in it of yore. They aim at the unseen from afar off.

Muhammad Sarwar

They had rejected it in their worldly life and expressed disbelief at the unseen (Day of Judgment), considering it less than a remote possibility.

Qaribullah & Darwish

since they disbelieved in it before, guessing at the Unseen from a distant place?

Safi-ur-Rahman al-Mubarakpuri

Indeed they did disbelieve before (in this world), and they (used to) conjecture about the Unseen, from a far place.

Wahiduddin Khan

They had rejected it before, while they indulged in conjectures from far away.

Talal Itani

They have rejected it in the past, and made allegations from a far-off place.

Tafsir jalalayn

when they disbelieved in it before?, in this world. And they throw guesses at the Unseen from a far-off place, in other words, [they make guesses] about something the knowledge of which was hidden far away from them, as when they would say that the Prophet was a sorcerer, or a poet, or a soothsayer, or that the Qur'n was sorcery, poetry or soothsaying.

Tafseer Ibn Kathir

وَقَدْ كَفَرُوا بِهِ مِن قَبْلُ

Indeed they did disbelieve before,

means, how can they attain faith in the Hereafter when in this world they disbelieved in the truth and denied the Messengers?

وَيَقْذِفُونَ بِالْغَيْبِ مِن مَّكَانٍ بَعِيدٍ




and they (used to) conjecture about the Unseen from a far place.

Malik narrated from Zayd bin Aslam that he said;
وَيَقْذِفُونَ بِالْغَيْبِ
(and they (used to) conjecture about the Unseen),

means, "By guessing." as Allah says,
رَجْماً بِالْغَيْبِ
guessing at the Unseen. (18;22)

Sometimes they said he was a poet, sometimes they said he was a soothsayer, or a sorcerer, or a mad man, or other baseless comments. They denied the idea of resurrection and said;

إِن نَّظُنُّ إِلاَّ ظَنّاً وَمَا نَحْنُ بِمُسْتَيْقِنِينَ

we do not think it but as a conjecture, and we have no firm convincing belief. (45;32)

Qatadah and Mujahid said,

"Their belief that there would be no resurrection, no Paradise and no Hell was based on mere conjecture.