Al-Qur'an Surah Al-Qamar Verse 2

Mufti Taqi Usmani

When these people see a sign, they turn away and say, “(This is) a transient magic.”

Dr. Mustafa Khattab, the Clear Quran

Yet, whenever they see a sign, they turn away,[[ A miracle (usually referred to as a ‘sign’ in the Quran) can be defined as an extraordinary event manifesting divine intervention in human affairs. Every prophet was given miracles to prove he was commissioned by Allah. Moses (ﷺ) was given the miracle of the staff and many others. Jesus (ﷺ) gave life to the dead and healed the blind and the leper. And Muḥammad (ﷺ) received the Quran, a literary miracle, to challenge the masters of Arabic eloquence. The Prophet (ﷺ) performed some other miracles such as splitting the moon, multiplying food and water, and healing some of his companions.]] saying, “Same old magic!”

Ruwwad Translation Center

Whenever they see a sign, they turn away and say, “Same old magic!”

A. J. Arberry

Yet if they see a sign they turn away, and they say 'A continuous sorcery!'

Abdul Haleem

Whenever the disbelievers see a sign, they turn away and say, ‘Same old sorcery!’

Abdul Majid Daryabadi

And if they behold a sign, they turn away and say: "magic continous"

Abdullah Yusuf Ali

But if they see a Sign, they turn away, and say, "This is (but) transient magic."

Abul Ala Maududi

(Regardless of any Signs these people see), they turn away and say: “This is an ongoing sorcery.”

Ahmed Ali

But if they see a sign they turn away, and say: "This is the same old lie continuing,"

Ahmed Raza Khan

And when they see a sign, they turn away and say, “Just a customary magic!”

Ali Quli Qarai

If they see a sign, they turn away, and say, ‘An incessant magic!’

Ali Ünal

Whenever they see a miracle, they turn from it in aversion and say: "This is sorcery like many others, one after the other."

Amatul Rahman Omar

Yet, whenever these (disbelievers) see a sign they turn away (paying it no heed) and say, `(It is) an oft-repeated and tremendous illusion.´

English Literal

And if they see an evidence/sign they oppose/turn away , and they say: "Continuous magic/sorcery."

Faridul Haque

And when they see a sign, they turn away and say, “Just a customary magic!”

Hamid S. Aziz

And if they see a Sign they turn aside and say, "Transient magic."

Hilali & Khan

And if they see a sign, they turn away, and say: "This is continuous magic."

Maulana Mohammad Ali

Wonder you then at this announcement?

Mohammad Habib Shakir

And if they see a miracle they turn aside and say: Transient magic.

Mohammed Marmaduke William Pickthall

And if they behold a portent they turn away and say: Prolonged illusion.

Muhammad Sarwar

Whenever they see a miracle, they turn away from it and say, "This is just a powerful magic".

Qaribullah & Darwish

Yet if they see a sign (the unbelievers) turn their backs and say: 'This is but a continuation of sorcery'

Safi-ur-Rahman al-Mubarakpuri

And if they see an Ayah, they turn away and say: "This is magic, Mustamir."

Wahiduddin Khan

Yet, when they see a sign they [who deny the truth] turn their backs and say, "The same old sorcery!"

Talal Itani

Yet whenever they see a miracle, they turn away, and say, “Continuous magic.”

Tafsir jalalayn

And if they, the disbelievers among Quraysh, see a sign, a miracle of the Prophet (s), they turn away and say, this is; `A powerful sorcery!' (mustamirr, `powerful', derives from al-mirra, meaning `strength'; or it [mustamirr] means `incessant').

Tafseer Ibn Kathir

The Hour has drawn near, and the moon has been cleft asunder. And if they see a sign, they turn away and say;"This is magic, Mustamir."

This occurred before the Hijrah; the moon was split and they saw it in two parts."
The Narration of `Abdullah bin `Umar Al-Hafiz Abu Bakr

Al-Bayhaqi recorded that Abdullah bin Umar commented on Allah's statement;

اقْتَرَبَتِ السَّاعَةُ وَانشَقَّ الْقَمَرُ


The Hour has drawn near, and the moon has been cleft asunder.

"This occurred during the time of Allah's Messenger; the moon was split in two parts. A part of it was before the mount and a part on the other side.

The Prophet said,
اللْهُمَّ اشْهَد
O Allah! Be witness."

This is the narration that Muslim and At-Tirmidhi collected.

At-Tirmidhi said, "Hasan Sahih."
The Narration of `Abdullah bin Mas`ud

Imam Ahmad recorded that Ibn Mas`ud said,

"The moon was split in two parts during the time of Allah's Messenger, and they saw its two parts. Allah's Messenger said,
اشْهَدُوا
(Be witnesses."

Al-Bukhari and Muslim collected this Hadith.

Ibn Jarir recorded that Abdullah (Ibn Mas`ud) said,

"I saw the mountain between the two parts of the moon when it was split."

Imam Ahmad recorded that Abdullah said,

"The moon was split during the time of Allah's Messenger and I saw the mount between its two parts."
The Stubbornness of the idolators

Allah said,

وَإِن يَرَوْا ايَةً

And if they see an Ayah,

if they see proof, evidence and a sign,

يُعْرِضُوا

they turn away,

they do not believe in it. Rather, they turn away from it, abandoning it behind their backs,

وَيَقُولُوا سِحْرٌ مُّسْتَمِرٌّ

and say;"This is magic, Mustamir."

They say, `the sign that we saw was magic, which was cast on us.'
Mustamir, means, `will soon go away', according to Mujahid, Qatadah and several others.

The Quraysh said that the cleaving of the moon was false and will soon diminish and fade away