| إِذْ جَاءَتْهُمُ الرُّسُلُ مِنْ بَيْنِ أَيْدِيهِمْ وَمِنْ خَلْفِهِمْ أَلَّا تَعْبُدُوا إِلَّا اللَّهَ ۖ قَالُوا لَوْ شَاءَ رَبُّنَا لَأَنْزَلَ مَلَائِكَةً فَإِنَّا بِمَا أُرْسِلْتُمْ بِهِ كَافِرُونَ |
| Asad | : | Lo! There came unto them [God's] apostles, speaking of what lay open before them and what was [still] beyond their ken,19 [and calling unto them,] "Worship none but God!" They answered: "If our Sustainer had willed [us to believe in what you say], He would have sent down angels [as His message-bearers].20 As it is, behold, we deny that there is any truth in what you [claim to] have been sent with!" |
| Malik | : | When their Rasools came to them from before and from behind, saying: "Worship none but Allah." They replied: "If our Rabb wanted to send us a message, He would certainly have sent down angels, so we categorically deny the message with which you are sent." |
| Mustafa Khattab | : | The messengers had come to them from all angles, ˹proclaiming,˺ “Worship none but Allah.” They responded, “Had our Lord willed, He could have easily sent down angels ˹instead˺. So we totally reject what you have been sent with.” |
| Pickthall | : | When their messengers came unto them from before them and behind them, saying: Worship none but Allah! they said: If our Lord had willed, He surely would have sent down angels (unto us), so lo! we are disbelievers in that wherewith ye have been sent. |
| Yusuf Ali | : | Behold the apostles came to them from before them and behind them (preaching): "Serve none but Allah." They said "If our Lord had so pleased He would certainly have sent down angels (to preach): now we reject your mission (altogether)." 4480 4481 |
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Lit.. "from between their hands and from behind them": i.e., reminding them of something that was known to them - namely, what happened to sinners like themselves who lived before their time - and warning them of what was bound to happen in the future to them, too, if they persisted in their denial of the truth (Al-Hasan al-Basri, as quoted by Zamakhshari). However, it is possible to understand the above phrase (which has been explained in note [247] on 2:255) in yet another, more direct way: God's message-bearers pointed out to those sinning communities something that should have been obvious to them (lit., "between their hands")- namely, their patently wrong attitude in their worldly, social concerns and moral concepts - as well as the unreasonableness of their denying something that was still beyond their ken (lit., "behind them"): namely, life after death and God's ultimate judgment. |
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"From before them and behind them": i.e., from every side. They were warned from every point of view. |
