Generally Accepted Translations of the Meaning
Muhammad Asad
the like of [what happens] when Satan says unto man, “Deny the truth!” - but as soon as [man] has denied the truth, [Satan] says, “Behold, I am not responsible for thee: behold, I fear God, the Sustainer of all the worlds!”
M. M. Pickthall
(And the hypocrites are) on the likeness of the devil when he telleth man to disbelieve, then, when he disbelieveth saith: Lo! I am quit of thee. Lo! I fear Allah, the Lord of the Worlds
Yusuf Ali (Saudi Rev. 1985)
(Their allies deceived them), like the Evil One, when he says to man, "Deny Allah": but when (man) denies Allah, (the Evil One) says, "I am free of thee: I do fear Allah, the Lord of the Worlds!"
The Clear Quran, Dr. Mustafa Khattab
˹They are˺ like Satan when he lures someone to disbelieve. Then after they have done so, he will say ˹on Judgment Day˺, “I have absolutely nothing to do with you. I truly fear Allah—the Lord of all worlds.”
Safi Kaskas
They are like Satan who says to a human being, "Do not believe." But when he denies the truth, he says, "I disown you; I fear God, the Lord of the worlds."
Wahiduddin Khan
They are like Satan, who says to man, Deny the truth! but when man denied the truth, said, I disown you; I fear God, the Lord of the Universe
Shakir
Like the Shaitan when he says to man: Disbelieve, but when he disbelieves, he says: I am surely clear of you; surely I fear Allah, the Lord of the worlds
Dr. Laleh Bakhtiar
As the likeness of Satan when he said to the human being: Be Ungrateful! Then, when he was ungrateful, Satan said: I am free of thee. I fear God, the Lord of the worlds.
T.B.Irving
It is just as Satan does when he tells a man: "Disbelieve," and then once he does disbelieve, says: "I am innocent of you; I fear God, Lord of the Universe."
Abdul Hye
They are like Satan who says to human: “Disbelieve.” So when human disbelieves, Satan says: “I am free of you, I fear Allah, the Lord of the worlds!”
The Study Quran
like Satan when he says unto man, “Disbelieve!” Then when he disbelieves, he says, “Surely I am quit of you. Truly I fear God, Lord of the worlds.
Talal Itani & AI (2024)
Like Satan, when he lures a person into disbelief. Yet, when he disbelieves, he says, “I am innocent of you; I fear God, the Lord of the worlds.”
Talal Itani (2012)
Like the devil, when he says to the human being, 'Disbelieve.' But when he has disbelieved, he says, 'I am innocent of you; I fear God, the Lord of the Worlds.'
Dr. Kamal Omar
Like the example of Satan when he said to mankind: “Disbelieve (in Allah).” But when (a certain human being) did disbelieve, he (i.e., the Satan) said: “Certainly, I stand absolved of you. Indeed I fear Allah, (the) Nourisher-Sustainer to the worlds.'
Their parable is like the Satan who says to man disbelieve, but when man becomes a disbeliever, he says: "I have nothing to do with you; I fear Allah, the Lord of the worlds."
Muhammad Mahmoud Ghali
They are) as the likeness of Ash-Shaytan (The ever-vicious (one), i.e., the Devil) as he said to man, "Disbelieve." Then as soon as he disbelieved, he said, "Surely I am quit of you; Surely I fear Allah, The Lord of the worlds."
Muhammad Sarwar
They are like satan who said to people, "Reject the faith," but when the people rejected the faith he said, "I have nothing to do with you. I fear the Lord of the Universe"
Muhammad Taqi Usmani
The example (of the hypocrites) is like the ShaiTan when he says to a human being, .Become disbeliever. then once he disbelieves, he says, .I disown you; I fear Allah, the Lord of the worlds
Shabbir Ahmed
They (the hypocrites) are like Satan. He says unto man, "Deny the Truth!" But as soon as man has denied the Truth, it says, "Behold, I am not responsible for you. Verily, I fear Allah, Lord of the Worlds."
Dr. Munir Munshey
(The hypocrites are) like Shaitan! He suggests to man, "Refute the truth! (be ungrateful)!" But as soon as man denies the truth, (Shaitan) says, "I am absolved of your sins! Indeed, I fear Allah, the Lord of the universe."
Syed Vickar Ahamed
(Their friends deceive them), like the Satan, when he says to man, "Deny Allah," but when (man) denies Allah, (the Satan secretively) says, "I am free of you, I do fear Allah, the Lord of the Worlds (Rub-ul-'Ala'meen) !"
[The hypocrites are] like the example of Satan when he says to man, "Disbelieve." But when he disbelieves, he says, "Indeed, I am disassociated from you. Indeed, I fear Allah , Lord of the worlds."
[The Monotheist Group] (2011 Edition)
Like the example of the devil, when he says to the human being: "Disbelieve," then as soon as he disbelieves, he says: "I disown you. I fear God, the Lord of the worlds."
Abdel Haleem
Like Satan, who says to man, ‘Do not believe!’ but when man disbelieves, says, ‘I disown you; I fear God, the Lord of the Worlds,’
Abdul Majid Daryabadi
They are like the Satan, when he saith Unto man: 'disbelieve,' then, when he disbelieveth, saith: verily I am quit of thee, verily I fear Allah, the Lord of the Worlds
Ahmed Ali
(They are) like Satan who says to man: "Do not believe;" and when he becomes a disbeliever, he says: "I have nothing to do with you. I fear God, the Lord of all the worlds."
Aisha Bewley
They are like Shaytan when he says to a human being, ´Be kafir,´ and then when he becomes kafir, says, ´I wash my hands of you. Truly I fear Allah, the Lord of all the worlds.´
Ali Ünal
(The hypocrites have deceived them) just like Satan, when he says to human, "Disbelieve (in God)!" Then when he disbelieves, he says (to human): "Surely I am quit of you, for surely I fear God, the Lord of the worlds!"
Ali Quli Qara'i
[Or] like Satan, when he prompts man to renounce faith, then, when he renounces faith, he says, ‘Indeed I am absolved of you. Indeed I fear Allah, the Lord of all the worlds.’
Hamid S. Aziz
They are like the devil when he says to man, "Disbelieve." But when he disbelieves, he says, "I am surely free of you; surely I fear Allah, the Lord of the worlds."
Ali Bakhtiari Nejad
Same as Satan when he says to the human being: “Disbelieve.” Then when he disbelieves, he (Satan) says: “I am free of you (and have nothing to do with you), I fear (the punishment of) God, the Lord of humankind.”
A.L. Bilal Muhammad et al (2018)
Like Satan, when he says to the human being, “Deny God.” But once he denies God he says, “I disassociate myself from you. I fear God, the Guardian Evolver of all the systems of knowledge.
Musharraf Hussain
Another comparison of the hypocrites is Satan; he says to man, “Don’t believe,” and when he disbelieves, Satan says to him, “I disown you, I fear Allah, the Lord of the worlds.”
Maududi
Their parable is that of Satan when he says to man: "Disbelieve," but when he disbelieves, he says: "I am quit of you. Verily I fear Allah, the Lord of the Universe."
[The Monotheist Group] (2013 Edition)
Like the example of the devil, when he says to man: "Reject," then as soon as he rejects, he says: "I am innocent of you. I fear God, Lord of the worlds.
Mohammad Shafi
[The hypocrites are] like the Satan, when he tells man to suppress the Truth! But when man suppresses the Truth, he [Satan] says, "I do disassociate myself from you; I do fear Allah, the Lord of the Universe."
Controversial or status undetermined works
Ahmed Raza Khan (Barelvi)
Like Satan (devil) when he said to man, 'disbelieve', and then when he disbelieved, he said, 'I am quit of you, I fear Allah the Lord of the entire world'.
They are like the devil: he says to the human being, "Disbelieve," then as soon as he disbelieves, he says, "I disown you. I fear GOD, Lord of the universe."
Hasan Al-Fatih Qaribullah
Like satan when he said to the human, 'Disbelieve'; then as soon as he disbelieved, he said, 'Indeed, I am innocent of you, surely, I fear Allah, the Lord of all the Worlds.
Maulana Muhammad Ali
Like the devil when he says to man: Disbelieve. But when he disbelieves, he says: I am free of thee: surely I fear Allah, the Lord of the worlds
Muhammad Ahmed & Samira
As/like (the) example/proverb (of) the devil, when he said to the human/mankind: "Disbelieve." So when he (the human) disbelieved, he said: "I am innocent/renouncing from you, that I, I fear God, the creations all together's/(universes') Lord."
Bijan Moeinian
The disbelievers are like Satan who invites man to rebel against his Lord…
Faridul Haque
The example of the devil - when he said to man “Disbelieve”; so when he has rejected faith, he says, “I am unconcerned with you - indeed I fear Allah, the Lord of The Creation.”
Sher Ali
Or it is like that of Satan, when he says to man, `Disbelieve,' but when he disbelieves, he says, `I have nothing to do with thee, I fear ALLAH, the Lord of the worlds.
Dr. Mohammad Tahir-ul-Qadri
(The example of hypocrites) is like that of Satan when he says to man: ‘Become a disbeliever,’ but when he disbelieves, he (Satan) says: ‘I feel sick of you. Surely, I fear Allah, the Lord of all the worlds.
Amatul Rahman Omar
Again, (the case of the hypocrites is) like (that of) satan. Behold! he says to a human being, `Disbelieve!' But when he disbelieves, he says, `I have nothing to do with you. I fear Allah, the Lord of the worlds.
Muhsin Khan & Muhammad al-Hilali
(Their allies deceived them) like Shaitan (Satan), when he says to man: "Disbelieve in Allah." But when (man) disbelieves in Allah, Shaitan (Satan) says: "I am free of you, I fear Allah, the Lord of the Alameen (mankind, jinns and all that exists)!"
New, Partial, or In Progress Translations
Fode Drame
Similar to the fate of Satan who says to the human being, “Disbelieve” but when he has disbelieved he says, “I indeed disavow you for I indeed fear Allah, Lord of the worlds.”
Munir Mezyed
(Those who indulge in hypocrisy are) like the example of Satan when he says to the human being: "Abnegate (the Absolute Oneness of) Allâh." But when he abnegates, he says (to him): "Indeed, I disown you. I fear (the wrath of) Allâh, the Lord of all the beings".
Sahib Mustaqim Bleher
Like the devil when he says to man: reject (the truth), then when he rejects (it) he says: I am free of you, for I fear Allah the Lord of all worlds.
Linda “iLHam” Barto
They are like Satan when he says to a person, “Don’t believe!” When disbelief occurs, however, (Satan) says, “I am free of you. Truly, I do fear Allah the Lord of the Worlds.”
Fadel Soliman, Bridges‘ Translation
Like the example of Satan when he said to man, “Deny,” but when he had denied, he said, “I disown you; I fear Allah, Lord of all realms.”
Irving & Mohamed Hegab
It is just as Satan does when he tells a man: "Disbelieve," and then once he does disbelieve, says: "I am innocent of you; I fear Allah (God), Lord of the Universe."
Samy Mahdy
Like an example of Satan, when he said for the human, “Disbelieve.” And when he was disbelieved, he said, “I am innocent of you; I fear Allah, The Worlds' Lord.”
Ahmed Hulusi
(The exemplary state of the Jewish hypocrites is) like the exemplary state of Satan, who says to man, “Deny (cover the reality and delight in the lowest states of corporeality)!” But when (man) denies (his essential reality and becomes blocked in that state) he says, “Indeed, I am disassociated from you! I fear Allah, the Rabb of the worlds.”
Mir Aneesuddin
(They are) similar in likeness to the devil when he says to man, “Reject (the truth),” but when he rejects, he says, “I am free of you I am certainly afraid of Allah, the Fosterer of the worlds.”
In a like manner did AL-Shaytan (Satan) incite man to deny Allah, and when man did deny Allah and was confronted with the fatal consequences, there came AL-Shaytan in apparition and said to him: "I am innocent of your ills and I fear Allah, Creator of the worlds"
The Wise Quran
Like the similitude of the devil when he said to man, 'Disbelieve.' Then when he disbelieved, he said, 'Indeed, I am free of you. Indeed, I fear God, the Lord of the worlds.'