Generally Accepted Translations of the Meaning
Muhammad Asad
And they could only cry: “Oh, woe unto us! Verily, we were wrongdoers!”
M. M. Pickthall
They cried: Alas for us! we were wrong-doers
Yusuf Ali (Saudi Rev. 1985)
They said: "Ah! woe to us! We were indeed wrong-doers!"
The Clear Quran, Dr. Mustafa Khattab
They cried, “Woe to us! We have surely been wrongdoers.”
Safi Kaskas
They said, “Woe to us! we were truly wrongdoers.”
Wahiduddin Khan
They said, Woe to us! We were indeed wrongdoers
Shakir
They said: O woe to us! surely we were unjust
Dr. Laleh Bakhtiar
They said: O woe to us! Truly, we had been ones who are unjust!
T.B.Irving
They say: "Alas for us! We have been doing wrong."
Abdul Hye
They said: “Woe to us! Surely we were wrongdoers.”
The Study Quran
They said, “Oh, woe unto us! Truly we have been wrongdoers.
Talal Itani & AI (2024)
They cried out, “Alas to us! We were indeed wrongdoers.”
Talal Itani (2012)
They said, 'Woe to us; we were unfair.'
Dr. Kamal Omar
They said (to the angels of death): “Woe to us! Certainly, we have been Zalimun .
They replied: "Woe to us! Indeed we were wrongdoers."
Muhammad Mahmoud Ghali
They said, "O woe to us! Surely we have been unjust."
Muhammad Sarwar
They said, "Woe to us! We have been unjust"
Muhammad Taqi Usmani
They said, .Alas for us! We were wrongdoers indeed
Shabbir Ahmed
They said, "Ah! Woe to us! We did indeed wrong others and ourselves."
Dr. Munir Munshey
They said, "Misery to us! We surely were evil!"
Syed Vickar Ahamed
They said: "Oh! Woe unto us! (Misery to us)! Truly, we were wrongdoers!"
They said, "O woe to us! Indeed, we were wrongdoers."
[The Monotheist Group] (2011 Edition)
They said: "Woe to us, we have been wicked!"
Abdel Haleem
They said, ‘Woe to us! We were wrong!’
Abdul Majid Daryabadi
They said: woe unto us! verily we have been wrong-doers
Ahmed Ali
"Woe, alas," they said, "we were really sinful."
Aisha Bewley
They said, ´Alas for us! We were indeed wrongdoers!´
Ali Ünal
They could only cry: "Oh, woe to us! We were indeed wrongdoers!"
Ali Quli Qara'i
They said, ‘Woe to us! We have indeed been wrongdoers!’
Hamid S. Aziz
Said they, "O woe is us! Verily, we were wrong-doers."
Ali Bakhtiari Nejad
They said: “Woe to us, we were wrongdoers.”
A.L. Bilal Muhammad et al (2018)
They said, “Woe to us, we were indeed wrongdoers.
Musharraf Hussain
They said, “Suffering has come upon us; we were evildoers.”
Maududi
They said: "Woe to us; surely we were wrong-doers."
[The Monotheist Group] (2013 Edition)
They said: "Woe to us, we have been wicked!"
Mohammad Shafi
They said, "O woe to us! We were wicked."
Controversial or status undetermined works
Ahmed Raza Khan (Barelvi)
They said, Ah! Woe to us, no doubt, we were unjust.
They said, "Woe to us. We were really wicked."
Hasan Al-Fatih Qaribullah
They said: 'Alas for us we were harmdoers!
Maulana Muhammad Ali
They said: O woe to us! Surely we were unjust
Muhammad Ahmed & Samira
They said: "Oh our calam ity that we, we were unjust/oppressive."
Bijan Moeinian
Their response was: “Pity on us; we bear witness that we were unjust (to our own souls as well as to other people.)”
Faridul Haque
They cried, "Woe to us, we were indeed unjust!"
Sher Ali
They said, `Alas for us, we were indeed wrongdoers !
Dr. Mohammad Tahir-ul-Qadri
They said: ‘Woe to us! Surely, we were wrongdoers.
Amatul Rahman Omar
They said, `Woe to us! we were indeed wrong-doers.
Muhsin Khan & Muhammad al-Hilali
They cried: "Woe to us! Certainly! We have been Zalimoon (polytheists, wrong-doers and disbelievers in the Oneness of Allah, etc.)."
New, Partial, or In Progress Translations
Fode Drame
They said, “Woe unto us. We indeed were wrongdoers.”
Munir Mezyed
And they said: ‘Ah! Woe betide us! We were of those who have voluntarily and consciously abandoned the Full Knowledge of the Truth in favour of their own whims.
Sahib Mustaqim Bleher
They said: woe to us, we were wrongdoers.
Fadel Soliman, Bridges‘ Translation
They said, “Woe to us; indeed, we have been unjust.”
Linda “iLHam” Barto
They said, “Oh, woe to us! We were sinners indeed.”
Irving & Mohamed Hegab
They say: "Alas for us! We have been doing wrong."
Samy Mahdy
They said, “Woe to us; surely we were oppressors.”
Sayyid Qutb
They said: 'Woe betide us! We were indeed wrongdoers!'
Thomas Cleary
They said, "To our dismay, we were indeed wrongdoers!"
Ahmed Hulusi
They said, “Woe to us! We have indeed become wrongdoers!”
Sayyed Abbas Sadr-Ameli
They said: �Oh woe to us! Verily we were unjust�
There and then they exclaimed, thus: Woe betide us, we were indeed wrongful of actions
Mir Aneesuddin
Do not run away but return to the enjoyment in which you were (engulfed) and your dwellings, that you may be questioned.
The Wise Quran
They said, 'O woe to us! Indeed, We were wrongdoers.'