or lest you say, "Verily, it was but our forefathers who, in times gone by, began to ascribe divinity to other beings beside God; and we were but their late offspring: wilt Thou, then, destroy us for the doings of those inventors of falsehoods?"
Asad Translation Note Number :
Malik Quran Translation
or lest you should say: "Our forefathers started the practice of shirk and we just followed, being their descendants. Will you then destroy us on account of following the sin committed by those wrongdoers?"
Yusuf Ali Quran Translation
Or lest ye should say: "Our fathers before us may have taken false gods but we are (their) descendants after them: wilt thou then destroy us because of the deeds of men who were futile?" 1148
Yusuf Ali Translation Note Number :
The latent faculties in man are enough to teach him the distinction between good and evil, to warn him of the dangers that beset his life. But to awaken and stimulate them, a personal appeal is made to each individual through the "still small voice" within him. This in its uncorrupted state acknowledges the truth and, as it were, swears its Covenant with Allah. There is, therefore, no excuse for any individual to say, either (1) that he was unmindful, or (2) that he should not be punished for the sins of his fathers, because his punishment (if any) comes from his personal responsibility and is for his own rejection of faith and the higher spiritual influences.
Mustafa Khattab Quran Translation
Nor say, ‘It was our forefathers who had associated others ˹with Allah in worship˺ and we, as their descendants, followed in their footsteps. Will you then destroy us for the falsehood they invented?’”
Mustafa Khattab Translation Note Number :
Piktal Quran Translation
Or lest ye should say: (It is) only (that) our fathers ascribed partners to Allah of old and we were (their) seed after them. Wilt Thou destroy us on account of that which those who follow falsehood did?
Quran Transliteration
Aw taqooloo innama ashraka abaona min qablu wakunnathurriyyatan min baAAdihim afatuhlikuna bima faAAala almubtiloona
