Generally Accepted Translations of the Meaning
Muhammad Asad
OH, THE REGRETS that [most] human beings will have to bear! Never has an apostle come to them without their deriding him
M. M. Pickthall
Ah, the anguish for the bondmen! Never came there unto them a messenger but they did mock him
Yusuf Ali (Saudi Rev. 1985)
Ah! Alas for (My) Servants! There comes not a messenger to them but they mock him
The Clear Quran, Dr. Mustafa Khattab
Oh pity, such beings! No messenger ever came to them without being mocked.
Safi Kaskas
Alas for our servants. Whenever a messenger comes to them, they ridicule him.
Wahiduddin Khan
Alas for human beings! They ridicule every messenger that comes to them
Shakir
Alas for the servants! there comes not to them an messenger but they mock at him
Dr. Laleh Bakhtiar
O how regrettable of the servants! A Messenger approaches them not, but they had been ridiculing him.
T.B.Irving
What a pity it is with such worshippers! No messenger has ever come to them unless they made fun of him.
Abdul Hye
Alas for the mankind! Whenever a Messenger came to them, they used to mock at him.
The Study Quran
Alas for the servants! Never did a messenger come unto them, but that they mocked him
Talal Itani & AI (2024)
Alas for the beings! Whenever a messenger comes to them, they ridicule him.
Talal Itani (2012)
Alas for the servants. No messenger ever came to them, but they ridiculed him
Dr. Kamal Omar
O, alas for (My) Ibad ! There comes not unto them a Messenger but they used to mock at him
Alas for My bondsmen! Whenever there came to them a Messenger they mocked at him
Muhammad Mahmoud Ghali
Oh for the regrets of the bondmen! In no way does a Messenger come up to them except that they used to mock at him
Muhammad Sarwar
Woe to human beings! Whenever a Messenger came to them, they mocked him
Muhammad Taqi Usmani
Alas for the slaves (of Allah)! No messenger came to them, but they have been mocking at him
Shabbir Ahmed
Ah, the anguish for the servants, they have to bear! Never has a Messenger come to them, but they did mock him
Dr. Munir Munshey
What a pity! These human kinds! Their only response to the messengers _ whenever they came to them _ was to mock and make fun of them
Syed Vickar Ahamed
Ah! Sorrow on the part (My) servants! There has not come one messenger (of Allah) to them that they have not made fun of him
How regretful for the servants. There did not come to them any messenger except that they used to ridicule him
[The Monotheist Group] (2011 Edition)
What sorrow for the servants. For every time a messenger went to them, they would ridicule him
Abdel Haleem
Alas for human beings! Whenever a messenger comes to them they ridicule him
Abdul Majid Daryabadi
Ah the misery of the bondmen! there cometh not: Unto them an apostle but him they have been mocking
Ahmed Ali
Alas for men! No apostle ever came to them but they made fun of him
Aisha Bewley
Alas for My slaves! No Messenger comes to them without their mocking him.
Ali Ünal
Ah! Alas for the servants (of God who fail to serve Him)! Every time there has come to them a Messenger, they have but mocked him
Ali Quli Qara'i
How regrettable of the servants! There did not come to them any apostle but that they used to deride him
Hamid S. Aziz
Alas for the servants! There comes not to them a messenger but they mock at him
Ali Bakhtiari Nejad
Unfortunate for the servants (of Me), no messenger came to them unless they used to ridicule him.
A.L. Bilal Muhammad et al (2018)
Unfortunately for these slaves, there does not come a messenger to them that they did not mock
Musharraf Hussain
What a shame, whenever a messenger came to a community, they mocked him.
Maududi
Alas for My servants! Never does a Messenger come to them but they mock him
[The Monotheist Group] (2013 Edition)
What sorrow for the servants. For every time a messenger went to them, they would mock him
Mohammad Shafi
Alas for the subjects! Never does a Messenger come to them but they mock him
Controversial or status undetermined works
Ahmed Raza Khan (Barelvi)
(And it was said) Ah! Woes on those bondmen, when any Messenger comes to them, they merely mock at them.
How sorry is the people's condition! Every time a messenger went to them, they always ridiculed him.
Hasan Al-Fatih Qaribullah
Woe, for those (unbelieving) worshipers! They mocked every Messenger that came to them
Maulana Muhammad Ali
Alas for the servants! Never does a messenger come to them but they mock him
Muhammad Ahmed & Samira
Oh grief/sorrow on the slaves/servants , none from a messenger comes to them, except (that) they were with him mocking/making fun
Bijan Moeinian
What a pity. Every time a Prophet was sent to them, they made fun of him
Faridul Haque
And it was said, “Woe to those bondmen - whenever a Noble Messenger comes to them, they mock at him!”
Sher Ali
Alas for my servants ! there comes not a Messenger to them but they mock at him
Dr. Mohammad Tahir-ul-Qadri
Ah! Woe to (these) servants! Never did a Messenger come to them but they used to mock him
Amatul Rahman Omar
Alas for (My) servants! not a single Messenger comes to (reform) them but they treat him lightly
Muhsin Khan & Muhammad al-Hilali
Alas for mankind! There never came a Messenger to them but they used to mock at him
New, Partial, or In Progress Translations
Fode Drame
Oh! Sorrow unto the slaves. No messenger comes to them but that they mock at him.
Munir Mezyed
Woe betide the servants! Whenever a Messenger comes to them, they poke fun at him.
Sahib Mustaqim Bleher
What loss for My servants: never does a messenger reach them but they make fun of him.
Fadel Soliman, Bridges‘ Translation
Alas for the servants! No messenger comes to them but they ridicule him.
Linda “iLHam” Barto
Alas for the servants! A messenger never comes to them without their mocking him.
Irving & Mohamed Hegab
What a pity it is with such worshippers! No messenger has ever come to them unless they made fun of him.
Samy Mahdy
O Alas upon the slaves. They did not come to them as a messenger except that they were ridiculed by him.
Sayyid Qutb
Alas for mankind! Whenever a messenger comes to them, they level ridicule on him.
Thomas Cleary
Alas for the servants: whenever a Messenger comes to them, they mock him.
Ahmed Hulusi
What a loss for those servants! Whenever a Rasul came to them, they used to mock and ridicule his message.
Sayyed Abbas Sadr-Ameli
Alas for the servants! Never came there unto them a messenger but they used to mock him!
A great pity upon intellectual animate beings and servants! No Messenger do they receive as an envoy of Allah but they bombard him with foul epithets, mock him and laugh him to scorn
Mir Aneesuddin
(Let there be) regret on My servants, there does not come to them any messenger but they mock at him.
The Wise Quran
Alas for the servants! There comes to them no messenger but they mock at him.