[That occurred] when the messengers had come to them before them and after them, [saying], "Worship not except Allāh." They said, "If our Lord had willed,1388 He would have sent down the angels, so indeed we, in that with which you have been sent, are disbelievers."
Verse 14 of Surah Fussilat (41:14), a Meccan surah, is in juz 24, on page 478 of the mushaf. Read it in Arabic with its transliteration, translations and tafsir, and listen to it recited by 74 reciters.
Listen to verse 14 of Surah Fussilat
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Tafsir of verse 14
Al-Mukhtasar
When their messengers came to them, each following the other in bringing one message, instructing them to worship none other than Allah alone. The disbelievers said, “If our Lord wished to send down angels as messengers to us, He would have sent them. Therefore, we reject whatever you have been sent with, because you are humans like we are.”
when the messengers came to them from the front and from behind [saying], “Worship none but Allah,” they said, “If our Lord had willed 7, He would have sent down angels; so we disbelieve in what you have been sent with.”
Notes
[7] To send us messengers.
When the Messengers came to them, from before them and behind them (saying): "Worship none but Allâh", they said: "If our Lord had so willed, He would surely have sent down the angels. So indeed we disbelieve in that with which you have been sent."
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.
Behold, the messengers 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)."
When their messengers came to them from before them and from behind them, saying, Serve nothing but Allah, they said: If our Lord had pleased He would certainly have sent down angels, so we are surely unbelievers in that with which you are sent.
As the Messengers came to them from before them (Literally: from between their hands) and from behind them, (saying), "Do not worship anyone except Allah ", they said, "If our Lord had (so) decided, indeed He would have sent down Angels; so surely we are disbelievers in what you have been sent with."
And mention, [O Muḥammad], the brother of ʿAad, when he warned his people in [the region of] al-Aḥqāf - and warners had already passed on before him and after him - [saying], "Do not worship except Allāh. Indeed, I fear for you the punishment of a terrible day."
Verses with similar wording
They share a sequence of words with this verse: useful for telling them apart when memorising.
Then I will come to them from before them and from behind them and on their right and on their left, and You will not find most of them grateful [to You]."
[Each warner] said, "Even if I brought you better guidance than that [religion] upon which you found your fathers?" They said, "Indeed we, in that with which you were sent, are disbelievers."
