Al-Qur'an Surah Sad Verse 23

Mufti Taqi Usmani

This is my brother; he has ninety nine ewes, and I have a single ewe; still he said, ‘Give it into my charge.’ And he overpowered me in speech.”

Dr. Mustafa Khattab, the Clear Quran

This is my brother.[[ Brother in faith or business partner. ]] He has ninety-nine sheep while I have ˹only˺ one. ˹Still˺ he asked me to give it up to him, overwhelming me with ˹his˺ argument.”

Ruwwad Translation Center

This is my brother. He has ninety-nine ewes while I have only one. He said, ‘Give her into my charge,’ and he overpowered me in speech.”

A. J. Arberry

'Behold, this my brother has ninety-nine ewes, and I have one ewe. So he said, "Give her into my charge"; and he overcame me in the argument.'

Abdul Haleem

This is my brother. He had ninety-nine ewes and I just the one, and he said, “Let me take charge of her,” and overpowered me with his words.’

Abdul Majid Daryabadi

Verily this my brother hath nine and ninety ewes while I have one ewe; and he saith: entrust it to me, and he hath prevailed upon me in speech.

Abdullah Yusuf Ali

"This man is my brother; He has nine and ninety ewes, and I have (but) one; Yet he says, 'commit her to my care,' and is (moreover) harsh to me in speech."

Abul Ala Maududi

Behold, this is my brother; he has ninety-nine ewes and I have only one ewe.” And yet he said: “Give her into my charge,” and he got the better of me in argument.

Ahmed Ali

This man here is my brother. He has ninety and nine ewes while I have only one. He demands that I should give him my ewe, and wants to get the better of me in argument."

Ahmed Raza Khan

“This is my brother; he has ninety nine ewes and I have one ewe; and he now says ‘Give that one also to me’ – and he is very demanding in speech.”

Ali Quli Qarai

‘This brother of mine has ninety-nine ewes, while I have only a single ewe, and [yet] he says, ‘Commit it to my care,’ and he browbeats me in speech.’

Ali Ünal

(One of them explained the case): "This is my brother: He has ninety-nine ewes, and I have but one. Then he said, ‘Make it over to me,’ and he overpowered me in (force of) speech."

Amatul Rahman Omar

`(The case of the litigation is that,) this is my brother. He has ninety nine ewes while I have one ewe; still he says, "Make it over to me," and he has been prevailing by his arguments upon me.´

English Literal

That, this (is) my brother for him (are) nine and ninety ewes/female sheep, and for me (is) one ewe/female sheep. So he said: `Let me sponsor/maintain it.` And he overwhelmed me in the speech/conversation .

Faridul Haque

“This is my brother; he has ninety nine ewes and I have one ewe; and he now says ‘Give that one also to me’ - and he is very demanding in speech.”

Hamid S. Aziz

"Lo! This is my brother; he has ninety-nine ewes and I have but one; but he said, ´Give to me´, and he has prevailed against me in discourse."

Hilali & Khan

Verily, this my brother (in religion) has ninety nine ewes, while I have (only) one ewe, and he says: "Hand it over to me, and he overpowered me in speech."

Maulana Mohammad Ali

When they came upon David so he was afraid of them. They said: Fear not; two litigants, of whom one has wronged the other, so decide between us with justice, and act not unjustly, and guide us to the right way.

Mohammad Habib Shakir

Surely this is my brother; he has ninety-nine ewes and I have a single ewe; but he said: Make it over to me, and he has prevailed against me in discourse.

Mohammed Marmaduke William Pickthall

Lo! this my brother hath ninety and nine ewes while I had one ewe; and he said: Entrust it to me, and he conquered me in speech.

Muhammad Sarwar

One of them said, "This is my brother who has ninety-nine ewes when I have only one. He has demanded me to place that one in his custody; he had the stronger argument".

Qaribullah & Darwish

This, my brother has ninetynine ewes, but I have only one ewe (a female sheep). He said: "Give her into my keeping" and overcame me in the argument'

Safi-ur-Rahman al-Mubarakpuri

Verily, this my brother (in religion) has ninety-nine ewes, while I have (only) one ewe, and he says: "Hand it over to me, and he overpowered me in speech."

Wahiduddin Khan

"This brother of mine has ninety-nine ewes and I have only one. He said, "Let me have charge of it," and got the better of me with his words."

Talal Itani

“This brother of mine has ninety nine ewes, and I have one ewe, and he said, ‘Entrust it to me,’ and he pressured me with words.”

Tafsir jalalayn

`Behold, this brother of mine, in other words, my fellow co-religionist, has ninety-nine ewes -- here used to represent the women -- while I have a single ewe; yet he said, "Entrust it to me", in other words, make me in charge of it, and he overcame me in speech', in other words, in the argument; so the latter conceded charge of it to him.

Tafseer Ibn Kathir

إِنَّ هَذَا أَخِي لَهُ تِسْعٌ وَتِسْعُونَ نَعْجَةً وَلِيَ نَعْجَةٌ وَاحِدَةٌ فَقَالَ أَكْفِلْنِيهَا

They said;"Fear not! (We are) two litigants, one of us has wronged the other, therefore judge between us with truth, and treat us not with injustice, and guide us to the right way.

Verily, this my brother (in religion) has ninety-nine ewes, while I have (only) one ewe, and he says;"Hand it over to me,

وَعَزَّنِي فِي الْخِطَابِ



and he overpowered me in speech.

means, `he defeated me.