Al-Qur'an Surah Al-Anfal Verse 32

Mufti Taqi Usmani

And (recall) when they said, “O Allah, if this is indeed the truth (revealed) from You, then, rain down stones upon us from the heavens, or bring upon us a painful punishment.”

Dr. Mustafa Khattab, the Clear Quran

And ˹remember˺ when they prayed, “O Allah! If this is indeed the truth from You, then rain down stones upon us from the sky or overcome us with a painful punishment.”

Ruwwad Translation Center

And [remember] when they said, “O Allah, if this is indeed the truth from You, then rain down upon us stones from the heaven or bring upon us a painful punishment.”

A. J. Arberry

And when they said, 'O God, if this be indeed the truth from Thee, then rain down upon us stones out of heaven, or bring us a painful chastisement.'

Abdul Haleem

They also said, ‘God, if this really is the truth from You, then rain stones on us from the heavens, or send us some other painful punishment.’

Abdul Majid Daryabadi

And recall what time they said: O God! if this indeed be the truth from before Thee, then rain down stones upon us from heaven or bring on us a torment afflictive.

Abdullah Yusuf Ali

Remember how they said; "O Allah if this is indeed the Truth from Thee, rain down on us a shower of stones form the sky, or send us a grievous penalty."

Abul Ala Maududi

And also recall when they said: 'O Allah! If this indeed be the truth from You, then rain down stones upon us from heaven, or bring upon us a painful chastisement.'

Ahmed Ali

They had also said: "If this be the truth from you, O God, then rain down on us stones from the skies, or inflict a grievous punishment upon us."

Ahmed Raza Khan

And when they said, “O Allah! If this (the Qur’an) is really the truth from You, then shower upon us a rain of stones from the sky, or bring upon us some painful punishment.”

Ali Quli Qarai

And when they said, ‘O Allah, if this be the truth from You, rain down upon us stones from the sky, or bring us a painful punishment.’

Ali Ünal

And when they said (even this): "O God! If this is indeed the truth from You, then rain down upon us stones from the sky or bring upon us another painful punishment!"

Amatul Rahman Omar

And (recall the time) when they said, `O Allâh! if this (faith of Islam) indeed be the truth revealed by You, then rain down upon us stones from heaven, or bring down upon us (some other) grievous punishment.´

English Literal

And when they said: "Oh God if that was it, the truth from at you, so rain on us stones from the sky/space or come/bring to us with a painful torture."

Faridul Haque

And when they said, "O Allah! If this (the Qur’an) is really the truth from You, then shower upon us a rain of stones from the sky, or bring upon us some painful punishment."

Hamid S. Aziz

When they said, "O Allah! If this be indeed truth from Thee, then rain down upon us stones from heaven or bring us grievous doom!"

Hilali & Khan

And (remember) when they said: "O Allah! If this (the Quran) is indeed the truth (revealed) from You, then rain down stones on us from the sky or bring on us a painful torment."

Maulana Mohammad Ali

And when our messages are recited to them, they say: We have heard. If we wished, we could say the like of it; this is nothing but the stories of the ancients.

Mohammad Habib Shakir

And when they said: O Allah! if this is the truth from Thee, then rain upon us stones from heaven or inflict on us a painful punishment.

Mohammed Marmaduke William Pickthall

And when they said: O Allah! If this be indeed the truth from Thee, then rain down stones on us or bring on us some painful doom!

Muhammad Sarwar

They also say, "Lord, if this (Quran) is the Truth from you, shower down stones on us from the sky instead of rain or send us a painful punishment".

Qaribullah & Darwish

When they say: 'O Allah, if this is indeed the truth from You, rain down upon us stones from heaven or bring us a painful punishment.'

Safi-ur-Rahman al-Mubarakpuri

And (remember) when they said: "O Allah! If this (the Qur'an) is indeed the truth (revealed) from You, then rain down stones on us from the sky or bring on us a painful torment."

Wahiduddin Khan

They also said, "God, if this really is the truth from You, then rain down upon us stones from heaven, or send us some other painful punishment."

Talal Itani

And they said, “Our God, if this is the truth from You, then rain down on us stones from the sky, or visit us with a painful affliction.”

Tafsir jalalayn

And when they said, `O God! If this, that Muhammad (s) recites, be indeed the truth, revealed, from You, then rain down stones upon us from the heaven, or bring on us a painful chastisement', in return for [our] denial of it; this was said by al-Nadr and others, in mockery and in delusion that he had some insight and certainty about it [the Qur'n] being false.

Tafseer Ibn Kathir

And (remember) when they said;"O Allah! If this (the Qur'an) is indeed the truth (revealed) from You, then rain down stones on us from the sky or bring on us a painful torment."

This is indicative of the pagans' enormous ignorance, denial, stubbornness and transgression.

They should have said, "O Allah! If this is the truth from You, then guide us to it and help us follow it."

However, they brought Allah's judgment on themselves and asked for His punishment.

Allah said in other Ayat,

وَيَسْتَعْجِلُونَكَ بِالْعَذَابِ وَلَوْلَا أَجَلٌ مُّسَمًّى لَّجَأءَهُمُ الْعَذَابُ وَلَيَأْتِيَنَّهُمْ بَغْتَةً وَهُمْ لَا يَشْعُرُونَ

And they ask you to hasten on the torment (for them), and had it not been for a term appointed, the torment would certainly have come to them. And surely, it will come upon them suddenly while they perceive not! (29;53)

وَقَالُواْ رَبَّنَا عَجِّل لَّنَا قِطَّنَا قَبْلَ يَوْمِ الْحِسَابِ

They say;"Our Lord! Hasten to us Qittana (our record of good and bad deeds so that we may see it) before the Day of Reckoning!" (38;16)

and,

سَأَلَ سَأيِلٌ بِعَذَابٍ وَاقِعٍ

لِّلْكَـفِرِينَ لَيْسَ لَهُ دَافِعٌ

مِّنَ اللَّهِ ذِي الْمَعَارِجِ

A questioner asked concerning a torment about to befall. Upon the disbelievers, which none can avert. From Allah, the Lord of the ways of ascent. (70;1-3)

The ignorant ones in ancient times said similar things. The people of Shu`ayb said to him,

فَأَسْقِطْ عَلَيْنَا كِسَفاً مِّنَ السَّمَأءِ إِن كُنتَ مِنَ الصَّـدِقِينَ

"So cause a piece of the heaven to fall on us, if you are of the truthful!" (26;187)

while the pagans of Quraysh said,

اللَّهُمَّ إِن كَانَ هَـذَا هُوَ الْحَقَّ مِنْ عِندِكَ فَأَمْطِرْ عَلَيْنَا حِجَارَةً مِّنَ السَّمَاء أَوِ ايْتِنَا بِعَذَابٍ أَلِيمٍ


"O Allah! If this (the Qur'an) is indeed the truth (revealed) from You, then rain down stones on us from the sky or bring on us a painful torment."

Shu`bah said from Abdul-Hamid that Anas bin Malik said that;

it was Abu Jahl bin Hisham who uttered this statement,

اللَّهُمَّ إِن كَانَ هَـذَا هُوَ الْحَقَّ مِنْ عِندِكَ فَأَمْطِرْ عَلَيْنَا حِجَارَةً مِّنَ السَّمَاء أَوِ ايْتِنَا بِعَذَابٍ أَلِيمٍ


"O Allah! If this (the Qur'an) is indeed the truth (revealed) from You, then rain down stones on us from the sky or bring on us a painful torment."

So Allah revealed this Ayah,

وَمَا كَانَ اللّهُ لِيُعَذِّبَهُمْ وَأَنتَ فِيهِمْ وَمَا كَانَ اللّهُ مُعَذِّبَهُمْ وَهُمْ يَسْتَغْفِرُونَ

And Allah would not punish them while you are among them, nor will He punish them while they seek (Allah's) forgiveness.

Al-Bukhari recorded it.
The Presence of the Prophet, and the Idolators' asking For forgiveness, were the Shelters against receiving Allah's immediate Torment

Allah said,

وَمَا كَانَ اللّهُ لِيُعَذِّبَهُمْ وَأَنتَ فِيهِمْ وَمَا كَانَ اللّهُ مُعَذِّبَهُمْ وَهُمْ يَسْتَغْفِرُونَ