wa-idhā tut'lā ʿalayhim āyātunā qālū qad samiʿ'nā law nashāu laqul'nā mith'la hādhā in hādhā illā asāṭīru l-awalīna
Translation
And when Our verses are recited to them, they say, "We have heard. If we willed, we could say [something] like this. This is not but legends of the former peoples."
Verse 31 of Surah Al-Anfal (8:31), a Medinan surah, is in juz 9, on page 180 of the mushaf. Read it in Arabic with its transliteration, translations and tafsir, and listen to it recited by 72 reciters.
Listen to verse 31 of Surah Al-Anfal
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Tafsir of verse 31
Al-Mukhtasar
If Allah’s words are recited to them, they say – stubborn against the truth, considering themselves above it, and disbelieving – that they have heard something similar before, and that if they wanted to say something similar to the Qur’ān they could, saying that the Qur’ān is just the fables of earlier peoples.
When Our verses are recited to them, they say, “We have heard. If we wished, we could say something like this. This is nothing but ancient fables.”
And when Our Verses (of the Qur’ân) are recited to them, they say: "We have heard (the Qur’ân); if we wish we can say the like of this. This is nothing but the tales of the ancients."
And when Our revelations are recited unto them they say: We have heard. If we wish we can speak the like of this. Lo! this is naught but fables of the men of old.
When Our Signs are rehearsed to them, they say: "We have heard this (before): if we wished, we could say (words) like these: these are nothing but tales of the ancients."
And when Our communications are recited to them, they say: We have heard indeed; if we pleased we could say the like of it; this is nothing but the stories of the ancients.
And when Our signs are recited to them, they said, "We have already heard; if we decided, we would indeed say the like of this; decidedly this is nothing except the myths of the earliest (people)."
[It will be said to them], "And you have certainly come to Us alone [i.e., individually] as We created you the first time, and you have left whatever We bestowed upon you behind you. And We do not see with you your 'intercessors' which you claimed that they were among you associates [of Allāh]. It has [all] been severed between you, and lost from you is what you used to claim."
But why should Allāh not punish them while they obstruct [people] from al-Masjid al-Ḥarām and they were not [fit to be] its guardians? Its [true] guardians are not but the righteous, but most of them do not know.
Verses with similar wording
They share a sequence of words with this verse: useful for telling them apart when memorising.
And among them are those who listen to you, but We have placed over their hearts coverings, lest they understand it, and in their ears deafness. And if they should see every sign, they will not believe in it. Even when they come to you arguing with you, those who disbelieve say, "This is not but legends of the former peoples."
