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←Prev   Ayah adh-Dhariyat (The Winnowing Winds, The Scatterers) 51:17   Next→ 

Popular and/or Featured Works
Muhammad Asad   
they would lie asleep during but a small part of the night
Muhammad Mahmoud Ghali   
They used to slumber (only) little of the night
Safi Kaskas   
They used to sleep a little at night,

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Source Arabic and Literal tools
Arabic   
كَانُوا۟ قَلِیلࣰا مِّنَ ٱلَّیۡلِ مَا یَهۡجَعُونَ ۝١٧
Transliteration (2021)   
kānū qalīlan mina al-layli mā yahjaʿūn
Word for Word
Dr. Shehnaz Shaikh, Ms. Kauser Katri, and more   
They used to little of the night [what] sleep.

Generally Accepted Translations of the Meaning
Muhammad Asad   
they would lie asleep during but a small part of the night
M. M. Pickthall   
They used to sleep but little of the night
Yusuf Ali (Saudi Rev. 1985)   
They were in the habit of sleeping but little by night
The Clear Quran, Dr. Mustafa Khattab   
they used to sleep only little in the night,
Safi Kaskas   
They used to sleep a little at night,
Wahiduddin Khan   
sleeping little in the night-time
Shakir   
They used to sleep but little in the night
Dr. Laleh Bakhtiar   
They had been slumbering little during the night.
T.B.Irving   
they used to slumber only a portion of the night
Abdul Hye   
They used to sleep but little by the night,
The Study Quran   
Little of the night did they slumber
Talal Itani & AI (2024)   
They hardly slept during the night.
Talal Itani (2012)   
They used to sleep a little at night
Dr. Kamal Omar   
They are — a small period out of the night which they pass in rest and sleep
M. Farook Malik   
They used to sleep but little in the night time
Muhammad Mahmoud Ghali   
They used to slumber (only) little of the night
Muhammad Sarwar   
They slept very little during the nigh
Muhammad Taqi Usmani   
They used to sleep little in the night
Shabbir Ahmed   
And rarely did they fall asleep at night without reflection. ('Haju' = Fall asleep instantly like an exhausted horse)
Dr. Munir Munshey   
They did not sleep much at night, but only a part of the time
Syed Vickar Ahamed   
They were in the habit of sleeping but little by night
Umm Muhammad (Sahih International)   
They used to sleep but little of the night
[The Monotheist Group] (2017 Edition)   
They used to rarely sleep the whole night.
Abdel Haleem   
sleeping only little at night
Abdul Majid Daryabadi   
Little of the night they were wont to slumber
Ahmed Ali   
They slept little in the night
Aisha Bewley   
The part of the night they spent asleep was small
Ali Ünal   
They used to sleep but little by night (almost never missing the Tahajjud Prayer)
Ali Quli Qara'i   
They used to sleep a little during the night
Hamid S. Aziz   
They used to sleep but little in the night
Ali Bakhtiari Nejad   
They used to sleep a little of the night,
A.L. Bilal Muhammad et al (2018)   
They were in the habit of sleeping only a little at night
Musharraf Hussain   
they slept little at night,
Maududi   
they used to sleep but little by night
[The Monotheist Group] (2013 Edition)   
They used to rarely sleep the whole night.
Mohammad Shafi   
They slept but little at nigh

Controversial or status undetermined works
Ahmed Raza Khan (Barelvi)   
They used to sleep little by night.
Rashad Khalifa   
Rarely did they sleep the whole night.
Hasan Al-Fatih Qaribullah   
They slept but a little at night
Maulana Muhammad Ali   
The used to sleep but little at night
Muhammad Ahmed & Samira   
They were little from the night what they (spend in) sleep
Bijan Moeinian   
They cut their sleeping at night short to worship their Lord
Faridul Haque   
They used to sleep only a little during the night
Sher Ali   
They slept but a little of the night
Dr. Mohammad Tahir-ul-Qadri   
They used to sleep at night only for a short while
Amatul Rahman Omar   
They were in the habit of sleeping but a little by night (for their being occupied in God's worship)
Muhsin Khan & Muhammad al-Hilali   
They used to sleep but little by night (invoking their Lord (Allah) and praying, with fear and hope)

Non-Muslim and/or Orientalist works
Arthur John Arberry   
Little of the night would they slumber
George Sale   
They slept but a small part of the night
Edward Henry Palmer   
But little of the night they slept
John Medows Rodwell   
But little of the night was it that they slept
N J Dawood (2014)   
sleeping but little in the night-time

New, Partial, or In Progress Translations
Fode Drame   
They used to sleep but little in the night.
Munir Mezyed   
They used to sleep but a little of the night,
Sahib Mustaqim Bleher   
They slept little at night.
Linda “iLHam” Barto   
They had a habit of sleeping only a little at night.
Fadel Soliman, Bridges‘ Translation   
they used to lie down but little of the night,
Irving & Mohamed Hegab   
they used to slumber only a portion of the night
Samy Mahdy   
They were, a little from the night, resting.
Ahmed Hulusi   
They would sleep in a small portion of the night.
Mir Aneesuddin   
It was (only) a small (part) of the night (during) which they used to sleep,
Al-muntakhab fi tafsir al-Qur‘an al-Karim   
They hardly missed a night but apportioned part of it, be it little or much, to divine worship at the expense of their sleep
The Wise Quran   
They used to sleep little of the night;

Obsolete and/or older editions
Yusuf Ali (Orig. 1938)   
They were in the habit of sleeping but little by night
OLD Literal Word for Word   
They used to little of the night [what] sleep
OLD Transliteration   
Kanoo qaleelan mina allayli ma yahjaAAoona