Al-Qur'an Surah As-Saffat Verse 90

Mufti Taqi Usmani

So they went away from him, turning their backs.

Dr. Mustafa Khattab, the Clear Quran

So they turned their backs on him and went away.

Ruwwad Translation Center

So they went away from him and left.

A. J. Arberry

But they went away from him, turning their backs.

Abdul Haleem

so [his people] turned away from him and left.

Abdul Majid Daryabadi

So they departed from him turning their backs.

Abdullah Yusuf Ali

So they turned away from him, and departed.

Abul Ala Maududi

So turning their backs, they went away from him.

Ahmed Ali

But they turned their backs on him and went away.

Ahmed Raza Khan

And they turned their backs on him and went away. (The pagans thought he would transmit the disease).

Ali Quli Qarai

So they went away leaving him behind.

Ali Ünal

So they (the others) turned away from him and departed.

Amatul Rahman Omar

So those people turned their backs upon him and left him.

English Literal

So they turned away from him giving their backs.

Faridul Haque

And they turned their backs on him and went away. (The pagans thought he would transmit the disease).

Hamid S. Aziz

So they turned their backs and went away.

Hilali & Khan

So they turned away from him, and departed (for fear of the disease).

Maulana Mohammad Ali

And said: Surely I am sick (of your deities).

Mohammad Habib Shakir

So they went away from him, turning back.

Mohammed Marmaduke William Pickthall

And they turned their backs and went away from him.

Muhammad Sarwar

All the people turned away from him

Qaribullah & Darwish

But they turned their backs and went away from him.

Safi-ur-Rahman al-Mubarakpuri

So they turned away from him and departed.

Wahiduddin Khan

so they turned their backs on him and went off.

Talal Itani

But they turned their backs on him, and went away.

Tafsir jalalayn

So they went away, to their festival, leaving him behind.

Tafseer Ibn Kathir

So they turned away from him and departed.

Qatadah said,

"The Arabs say of one who thinks deeply that he is looking at the stars."

What Qatadah meant is that he looked at the heavens thinking of a way to distract his people. So he said,
إِنِّي سَقِيمٌ
(Verily, I am sick), meaning, weak.

Ibn Jarir narrated here a Hadith from Abu Hurayrah, may Allah be pleased with him, stating that the Messenger of Allah said;

لَمْ يَكْذِبْ إِبْرَاهِيمُ عَلَيْهِ الصَّلَةُ وَالسَّلَمُ غَيْرَ ثَلَثَ كَذَبَاتٍ

ثِنْتَيْنِ فِي ذَاتِ اللهِ تَعَالَى قَوْلُهُ

إِنِّى سَقِيمٌ
; وَقَوْلُهُ
بَلْ فَعَلَهُ كَبِيرُهُمْ هَـذَا

وَقَوْلُهُ فِي سَارَّةَ هِيَ أُخْتِي

Ibrahim (peace and blessings be upon him) did not lie except in three cases.

Two were for the sake of Allah;

one is when he said, Verily, I am sick;

and the second when he said, Nay, this one, the biggest of them (idols) did it.

and the third when he said concerning (his wife) Sarah, "She is my sister."

This Hadith is recorded in the books of the Sahih and Sunan with various chain of narrations.

But this is not the kind of real lie for which a person is to be condemned -- Allah forbid! One calls it a lie for lack of a better word, because it is abstruse speech used for a legitimate religious purpose, and it was said that what was meant by the words,
إِنِّي سَقِيم
(Verily, I am sick) was, `I am sick at heart of your worshipping idols instead of Allah.'

Al-Hasan Al-Basri said,

"The people of Ibrahim went out to their festival and they wanted to make him go out too. So he lay down on his back and said,
إِنِّي سَقِيمٌ
(Verily, I am sick), and he started looking at the sky. When they had gone out, he turned to their gods and broke them."

This was recorded by Ibn Abi Hatim. Allah said;

فَتَوَلَّوْا عَنْهُ مُدْبِرِينَ

So they turned away from him and departed