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Word Analysis & Comparison
19. Surah • 29. Verse
Word Analysis
Rashad Khalifa
The Final Testament
She pointed to him. They said, "How can we talk with an infant in the crib?"
The Monotheist Group
The Quran: A Monotheist Translation
So she pointed to him. They said: "How can we talk to someone who is a child in a cradle?"
Edip-Layth
Quran: A Reformist Translation
So she pointed to him. They said, "How can we talk to someone who is a child in a cradle?"
Taqi Usmani
Holy Quran Translation
So, she pointed towards him (the baby). They said, "How shall we speak to someone who is still a child in the cradle?"
Marmaduke Pickthall
Holy Quran Translation
Then she pointed to him. They said: How can we talk to one who is in the cradle, a young boy?
Al-Hilali & Khan
Holy Quran Translation
Then she pointed to him. They said: "How can we talk to one who is a child in the cradle?[1]"
Mustafa Khattab
The Clear Quran
So she pointed to the baby. They exclaimed, "How can we talk to someone who is an infant in the cradle?"
Abul A'la Maududi
Tafhim commentary
Thereupon Mary pointed to the child. They exclaimed: "How can we speak to one who is in the cradle, a mere child?"[1]
1
People who misinterpret the Quran translate this verse as: How shall we talk with him, who is but a child of yesterday? They attribute these words to the elderly people of the Jews, who said years later, when Jesus was a grown up boy, that they could not have any useful dialogue with a mere kid. But the person who keeps the whole context in view, will realize that this interpretation is absurd and has been given merely to avoid the miracle. As a matter of fact, the dialogue took place when the people were condemning Mary who being unmarried, had brought forth a child, and not when the child had grown up into manhood. (Ayat 46 of Surah Aal-Imran) and (Ayat 110 of Surah Al-Maidah) also support the view that Prophet Jesus had uttered these words as a baby in the cradle and not when grown up. In the first verse, the angel while giving the good news of a son to Mary, says: He will speak to the people alike when in the cradle and when grown up. In the other verse, Allah Himself says to Prophet Jesus: You talked to the people even in the cradle as you talked when you were grown up.
Abdullah Yusuf Ali
Holy Quran Translation
But she pointed to the babe. They said: "How can we talk to one who is a child in the cradle?"
Abdul Haleem
Holy Quran Translation
She pointed at him. They said, ‘How can we converse with an infant?’
Aisha Bewley
Holy Quran Translation
She pointed towards him. They said, ‘How can a baby in the cradle speak?’
E. Henry Palmer
Holy Quran Translation
And she pointed to him, and they said, 'How are we to speak with one who is in the cradle a child?'
Hamid S. Aziz
Holy Quran Translation
"O sister of Aaron! Your father was not a bad man, nor was your mother a harlot!"
Mahmoud Ghali
Holy Quran Translation
So she pointed to him. They said, "How shall we speak to one who is (still) in the cradle, a young boy?"
Arthur John Arberry
Holy Quran Translation
Mary pointed to the child then; but they said, 'How shall we speak to one who is still in the cradle, a little child?'
Ali Quli Qarai
Holy Quran Translation
Thereat she pointed to him. They said, ‘How can we speak to one who is yet a baby in the cradle?’
Bijan Moeinian
Holy Quran Translation
She pointed at the baby (meaning: Ask him. ) They said: "How can we talk to a new born baby?"
Amatul Rahman Omar
Holy Quran Translation
Thereupon she pointed to him (- her son Jesus meaning thereby that he will answer them). They said, `How should we speak to one who was (till recently) a child in the cradle?'
George Sale
Holy Quran Translation
But she made signs unto the child to answer them; and they said, how shall we speak to him, who is an infant in the cradle?
Mohamed Ahmed - Samira
Holy Quran Translation
But she pointed towards him. "How can we talk to one, " they said, "who is only an infant in the cradle?"
Muhammad Asad
Holy Quran Translation
Thereupon she pointed to him. They exclaimed: "How can we talk to one who [as yet] is a little boy in the cradle?"
Shabbir Ahmed
Holy Quran Translation
Then she pointed to him. They said, "How can we talk to one who is in the cradle, a young boy?" (In the cradle, idiomatically means a young person. Mary and Joseph had stayed in Bethlehem for several years).
Abdel Khalek Himmat
Al- Muntakhab
She simply pointed her finger at him -the babe- with an intimation, as it were, that they ask or speak to him. But they exclaimed: "How in Allah's Name can we discourse with a new born babe?"
Progressive Muslims
Holy Quran Translation
So she pointed to him. They said: "How can we talk to someone who is a child in a cradle"
Sahih International
(Umm Muhammad, Mary Kennedy, Amatullah Bantley)
So she pointed to him. They said, "How can we speak to one who is in the cradle a child?"
Syed Vickar Ahamed
Holy Quran Translation
Then, she pointed to the baby (Jesus). They said: "How can we talk to one who is (only) a child in the cradle?"
Sam Gerrans
The Qur'an: A Complete Revelation
Then she pointed to him. They said: “How can we speak to one who is in the cradle a child?”