Al-Qur'an Surah Az-Zukhruf Verse 31

Mufti Taqi Usmani

They say, “Why was this Qur’ān not revealed on a great man from (either of) the two towns?”

Dr. Mustafa Khattab, the Clear Quran

And they exclaimed, “If only this Quran was revealed to a great man from ˹one of˺ the two cities!”[[ This refers to Mecca and Ṭâif, two cities in Arabia, around 100 km apart.]]

Ruwwad Translation Center

And they said, “Why was this Qur’an not sent down to a great man from one of the two towns?”

A. J. Arberry

They say, 'Why was this Koran not sent down upon some man of moment in the two cities?'

Abdul Haleem

and they said, ‘Why was this Quran not sent down to a distinguished man, from either of the two cities?’

Abdul Majid Daryabadi

And they say: wherefore hath not this Qur'an been revealed to a man of the two cities who was great.

Abdullah Yusuf Ali

Also, they say; "Why is not this Qur'an sent down to some leading man in either of the two (chief) cities?"

Abul Ala Maududi

They say: “Why was this Qur'an not sent down upon some great man from the two (main) cities?”

Ahmed Ali

They also said: "Why was this Qur'an not sent down to some great man of the two cities?"

Ahmed Raza Khan

And they said, “Why was the Qur’an not sent down upon some chieftain of these two great towns?” (The chiefs of Mecca and Taif).

Ali Quli Qarai

And they said, ‘Why was not this Quran sent down to some great man from the two cities?’

Ali Ünal

They also say: "If only this Qur’an had been sent down on a man of leading position of the two (chief) cities!"

Amatul Rahman Omar

Moreover they said, `Why has not this Qur´ân been revealed to some man of importance from (either of) the two townships (- Makkah or Tâ´if, the two centres of social and political life).´

English Literal

And they said: "If only this the Koran was descended on a great man from the two villages/urban cities."

Faridul Haque

And they said, “Why was the Qur’an not sent down upon some chieftain of these two great towns?” (The chiefs of Mecca and Taif).

Hamid S. Aziz

And they say, "Why was not this Quran revealed to a man of importance in the two towns?"

Hilali & Khan

And they say: "Why is not this Quran sent down to some great man of the two towns (Makkah and Ta'if)?"

Maulana Mohammad Ali

And when the Truth came to them they said: This is enchantment, and surely we are disbelievers in it.

Mohammad Habib Shakir

And they say: Why was not this Quran revealed to a man of importance in the two towns?

Mohammed Marmaduke William Pickthall

And they say: If only this Qur'an had been revealed to some great man of the two towns?

Muhammad Sarwar

Then they said, "Why this Quran had not been revealed to a man from either of the two great towns".

Qaribullah & Darwish

They also said: 'Why was this Koran not sent down to a great man from the two Villages'

Safi-ur-Rahman al-Mubarakpuri

And they say: "Why is not this Qur'an sent down to some great man of the two towns"

Wahiduddin Khan

They said, "Why was this Quran not sent down to one of the great men of the two cities?"

Talal Itani

They also said, “If only this Quran was sent down to a man of importance from the two cities.”

Tafsir jalalayn

And they said, `If only this Qur'n had been revealed to some great man from, the inhabitants of, the two towns!', in other words, from either of the two; such as al-Wald b. al-Mughra at Mecca or `Urwa b. Mas`d al-Thaqaf at T'if.

Tafseer Ibn Kathir

وَقَالُوا

And they say,

means, objecting to that which Allah has revealed to him,

لَوْلَا نُزِّلَ هَذَا الْقُرْانُ عَلَى رَجُلٍ مِّنَ الْقَرْيَتَيْنِ عَظِيمٍ



Why is not this Qur'an sent down to some great man of the two towns?

meaning, why was this Qur'an not revealed to some man who was great and prominent in their eyes, from the two towns, i.e., Makkah and At-Ta'if.

This was the view of Ibn Abbas, may Allah be pleased with him, Ikrimah, Muhammad bin Ka`b Al-Qurazi, Qatadah, As-Suddi and Ibn Zayd.

Several scholars of Tafsir stated that by this, the Quraysh meant Al-Walid bin Al-Mughirah and Urwah bin Mas`ud Ath-Thaqafi.

The apparent meaning is that what they meant was a great man from either of the two towns.

Allah responded to their rejection by saying