Al-Qur'an Surah Al-An'am Verse 156

Mufti Taqi Usmani

(Had We not sent this book,) you would (have an excuse to) say, “The Book was sent down only upon two groups before us, (i.e. the Jews and the Christians) and we were unaware of what they read.”

Dr. Mustafa Khattab, the Clear Quran

You ˹pagans˺ can no longer say, “Scriptures were only revealed to two groups before us and we were unaware of their teachings.”

Ruwwad Translation Center

You [pagans] may no longer say, “Scriptures were only sent down to two groups before us, and we were unaware of their teachings.”

A. J. Arberry

lest you should say, 'The Book was sent down only upon two parties before us, and we have indeed been heedless of their study';

Abdul Haleem

lest you say, ‘Scriptures were only sent down to two communities before us: we were not aware of what they studied,’

Abdul Majid Daryabadi

Lest ye should say: the Book was only sent down to the two sects before us, and we in sooth were unaware of their readings.

Abdullah Yusuf Ali

Lest ye should say; "The Book was sent down to two Peoples before us, and for our part, we remained unacquainted with all that they learned by assiduous study;"

Abul Ala Maududi

(You may no longer) say now that the Book was revealed only to two groups of people before Us and that we had indeed been unaware of what they read.

Ahmed Ali

Lest you say: "The Book that was sent before was meant only for two groups; we were not aware of their teachings;"

Ahmed Raza Khan

For you (the disbelievers) may say, “The Book was sent down only to two groups (Jews and Christians) before us; and we were totally unaware of what they read and taught.”

Ali Quli Qarai

Lest you should say, ‘The Book was sent down only to two communities before us, and we were indeed unaware of their studies,’

Ali Ünal

(We have sent it down) lest you should say (as an excuse), "The Book was sent down only on the two groups of people before us and indeed we were unaware of what they were taught by it."

Amatul Rahman Omar

(We have revealed this blessed Book) lest you should say, `The Book has only been revealed to two communities (- the Jews and the Christians) before us, and (as for us) we remained unaware of what those (Books) read.´

English Literal

That you say: "But The Book was descended on two groups from before us, and that we were about their studies/readings ignoring/disregarding (E) ."

Faridul Haque

For you (the disbelievers) may say, “The Book was sent down only to two groups (Jews and Christians) before us; and we were totally unaware of what they read and taught.”

Hamid S. Aziz

Lest you say, "The Book (Scripture) was only sent down to two sects before us; verily, we care naught for (or are unaware of) what they read."

Hilali & Khan

Lest you (pagan Arabs) should say: "The Book was only sent down to two sects before us (the Jews and the Christians), and for our part, we were in fact unaware of what they studied."

Maulana Mohammad Ali

And this is a Book We have revealed, full of blessings; so follow it and keep your duty that mercy may be shown to you,

Mohammad Habib Shakir

Lest you say that the Book was only revealed to two parties before us and We were truly unaware of what they read.

Mohammed Marmaduke William Pickthall

Lest ye should say: The Scripture was revealed only to two sects before us, and we in sooth were unaware of what they read;

Muhammad Sarwar

and will not say that the Book was revealed only to two groups of people before you, or that you were ignorant of its knowledge,

Qaribullah & Darwish

lest you should say: 'The Book was sent down only to two parties before us; we are inattentive to their study'

Safi-ur-Rahman al-Mubarakpuri

Lest you should say: "The Book was sent down only to two sects before us, and for our part, we were in fact unaware of what they studied."

Wahiduddin Khan

and not say, "The Book was only sent down to the two groups before us and we were indeed unaware of their teachings,"

Talal Itani

Lest you say, “The Scripture was revealed to two parties before us, and we were unaware of their teachings.”

Tafsir jalalayn

We have revealed it, lest you should say, `The Scripture was revealed only upon two parties -- the Jews and the Christians -- before us and we (in has been softened, its noun omitted, in other words [read as] inn) indeed have been unacquainted with their study', their reading [of the scripture], not knowing any of it, since it is not in our own language.

Tafseer Ibn Kathir

The Qur'an is Allah's Proof Against His Creation

Allah says;

أَن تَقُولُواْ إِنَّمَا أُنزِلَ الْكِتَابُ عَلَى طَأيِفَتَيْنِ مِن قَبْلِنَا

Lest you should say;"The Book was sent down only to two sects before us,

Ibn Jarir commented on the Ayah,

"The Ayah means, this is a Book that We sent down, so that you do not say,
إِنَّمَا أُنزِلَ الْكِتَابُ عَلَى طَأيِفَتَيْنِ مِن قَبْلِنَا
("The Book was sent down only to two sects before us)." This way, you will have no excuse.

Allah said in another Ayah,

وَلَوْلا أَن تُصِيبَهُم مُّصِيبَةٌ بِمَا قَدَّمَتْ أَيْدِيهِمْ فَيَقُولُواْ رَبَّنَا لَوْلا أَرْسَلْتَ إِلَيْنَا رَسُولاً فَنَتِّبِعَ ءايَـتِكَ

Otherwise, they would have suffered a calamity because of what their hands sent forth, and said;"Our Lord! Why did You not send us a Messenger We would then have followed Your Ayat."" (28;47)

The Ayah,
عَلَى طَأيِفَتَيْنِ مِن قَبْلِنَا
(to two sects before us),

According to Ali bin Abi Talhah who narrated it from Ibn Abbas,

refers to the Jews and Christians,

Similar was reported from Mujahid, As-Suddi, Qatadah and several others.

Allah's statement,

وَإِن كُنَّا عَن دِرَاسَتِهِمْ لَغَافِلِينَ



"...and for our part, we were in fact unaware of what they studied."

meaning;`we did not understand what they said because the revelation was not in our tongue. We, indeed, were busy and unaware of their message,' so they said.

Allah said next