Generally Accepted Translations of the Meaning
Muhammad Asad
Said [the brothers]: "By God! Well do you know that we have not come to commit deeds of corruption in this land, and that we have not been thieving!"
M. M. Pickthall
They said: By Allah, well ye know we came not to do evil in the land, and are no thieves
Yusuf Ali (Saudi Rev. 1985)
(The brothers) said: "By Allah! well ye know that we came not to make mischief in the land, and we are no thieves!"
The Clear Quran, Dr. Mustafa Khattab
Joseph’s brothers replied, “By Allah! You know well that we did not come to cause trouble in the land, nor are we thieves.”
Safi Kaskas
[The brothers] said, “By God, you must know that we have not come to commit corrupt deeds in this land and that we have not been stealing.”
Wahiduddin Khan
They said, By God, you [ought to] know we have not come here to cause any trouble in the land. We are not thieves
Shakir
They said: By Allah! you know for certain that we have not come to make mischief in the land, and we are not thieves
Dr. Laleh Bakhtiar
They said: By God, certainly, you knew we drew not near making corruption in the region. And we had not been ones who are thieves.
T.B.Irving
They said: "By God, you [ought to] know we have not come here to cause any trouble in the land. We are not thieves!"
Abdul Hye
They said: “By Allah! Indeed you know that we came not to make mischief in the land, and we are not thieves!”
The Study Quran
They said, “By God, you certainly know that we came not to work corruption in the land, and we are not thieves.
Talal Itani & AI (2024)
They responded, “By God, you surely know that we didn’t come to cause disorder in the land, and we aren’t thieves.”
Talal Itani (2012)
They said, 'By God, you know we did not come to cause trouble in the land, and we are not thieves.'
Dr. Kamal Omar
(The brethren) said: “Allah be Witness! Indeed, you people knew that we have not come that we make mischief in the land, and we are not thieves.”
Joseph’s brothers said: "By Allah! You should know, by our behavior during our stay here, that we did not come here to make mischief in the land and we are no thieves."
Muhammad Mahmoud Ghali
They said, "By (The Arabic here is at-llahi, which is a stronger oath than the usual we-llahi) Allah, indeed you already know that in no way have we come to corrupt in the land and in no way are we thieves."
Muhammad Sarwar
Joseph's brothers said, "We swear by God, as you know, that we have not come to spread evil in the land and that we have not committed any theft."
Muhammad Taqi Usmani
They said, .We swear by Allah, you know, we did not come to make mischief in the land, nor have we ever been thieves
Shabbir Ahmed
They explained, "By God! Well you know that we did not come here to create mischief in the land, and we are no thieves."
Dr. Munir Munshey
They said, "By Allah, you know us. We have not come to make trouble in the land! We are not thieves!"
Syed Vickar Ahamed
(The brothers) said: "By Allah! Indeed you know well that we did not come to make mischief in the land, and we are not thieves!"
They said, "By Allah , you have certainly known that we did not come to cause corruption in the land, and we have not been thieves."
[The Monotheist Group] (2011 Edition)
They said: "By God, you know we did not come to cause corruption in the land, and we are no thieves!"
Abdel Haleem
They said, ‘By God! You must know that we did not come to make mischief in your land: we are no thieves.’
Abdul Majid Daryabadi
They said: by Allah! assuredly ye know that we came not to work corruption in the land, nor we have been thieves
Ahmed Ali
They said: "We swear by God. You know we did not come to commit any crime in the land, nor are we thieves."
Aisha Bewley
They said, ´By Allah, you know we did not come to corrupt the land and that we are not thieves.´
Ali Ünal
They (the brothers) said: "By God! Certainly you know well that we did not come to provoke disorder and corruption in this land, and we have never been thieves!"
Ali Quli Qara'i
They said, ‘By Allah! You certainly know that we did not come to make trouble in this country, and we are not thieves.’
Hamid S. Aziz
They said, "By Allah! You knew we came not to do evil in the land, and that we were not thieves."
Ali Bakhtiari Nejad
They said: “By God, you have certainly known that we did not come to commit corruption in the land, and we are not thieves.”
A.L. Bilal Muhammad et al (2018)
The brothers said, “By God, you know full well that we did not come to commit crimes in the land, and that we are not thieves.
Musharraf Hussain
“By Allah,” they said, “you know that we didn’t come to make trouble in the land, nor are we thieves.”
Maududi
They said: "By Allah, you certainly know that we did not come to act corruptly in this land, nor are we those who steal."
[The Monotheist Group] (2013 Edition)
They said: "By God, you know we have not come to cause corruption in the land, and we are not thieves!"
Mohammad Shafi
Joseph's brothers said, "By Allah! You know for certain that we have not come to make mischief in the land, and we are not thieves."
Controversial or status undetermined works
Ahmed Raza Khan (Barelvi)
They said. 'By God, you are well aware that we came not for creating mischief in the land, nor we are thieves.
They said, "By GOD, you know full well that we did not come here to commit evil, nor are we thieves."
Hasan Al-Fatih Qaribullah
'By Allah, ' they said, 'you know we did not come to do evil in this land. We are not thieves.
Maulana Muhammad Ali
They said: By Allah! You know for certain that we have not come to make mischief in the land, and we are not thieves
Muhammad Ahmed & Samira
They said: "By God, you had known we did not come to corrupt in the land/Earth and we were not stealing/robbing."
Bijan Moeinian
The brothers said: “You know very well, and we take God as our witness, that we have not come here to do mischief and that we are not thieves.”
Faridul Haque
They said, "By Allah, you know very well that we did not come here to cause turmoil in the land, and nor are we thieves!"
Sher Ali
They answered, `By ALLAH, you know well that we came not to make mischief in the land, and we are not thieves.
Dr. Mohammad Tahir-ul-Qadri
They said: ‘By Allah, indeed you know well we have not come (here to commit some crime) and create mischief in the land, nor are we thieves.
Amatul Rahman Omar
They replied, `By Allah, you know well that we did not come to commit mischief in this country, nor are we (professional) thieves.
Muhsin Khan & Muhammad al-Hilali
They said: "By Allah! Indeed you know that we came not to make mischief in the land, and we are no thieves!"
New, Partial, or In Progress Translations
Fode Drame
They said, “By Allah you do well know that we have not come to do corruption in the land and that we are not thieves.”
Munir Mezyed
They said: ‘By Allâh! Verily, you know well that we did not come to spread corruption in the land. We are not thieves!’
Sahib Mustaqim Bleher
They said: by Allah, you know that we did not come to cause corruption on earth and that we are not thieves.
Linda “iLHam” Barto
(The brothers) said, “Consider Allah! You know that we did not come to this land to cause trouble. We are not thieves.”
Fadel Soliman, Bridges‘ Translation
They said, “(We swear) by Allah, youpl have most surely known that we did not come to spread corruption in the land, and never have we been thieves.”
Irving & Mohamed Hegab
They said: "By Allah (God), you [ought to] know we have not come here to cause any trouble in the land. We are not thieves!"
Samy Mahdy
They said, “By Allah, you already know we did not come to spoil the earth, and we are not thieves.”
Sayyid Qutb
They said: 'By God, you know that we have not come to commit any evil deed in this land, and that we are no thieves.'
Ahmed Hulusi
(The brothers) said, “By Allah (i.e. a type of vow connoting astonishment)! You certainly know we have not come here to cause corruption... And we are not thieves.”
Sayyed Abbas Sadr-Ameli
They said: 'By Allah! You know well(that)we have not come to make mischief in the land, and we are not thieves'.
The brothers said: "By Allah! you people know that we did not come here to cause mischief or create discord, nor are we disposed to such conduct."
Mir Aneesuddin
They said, “By Allah, you know for certain that we have not come to cause corruption in the land and we are not thieves.”
The Wise Quran
They said, 'By God, surely, certainly you knew we came not to do evil in the land, and we are not thieves.'