ٱلْمُؤْمِنُون : ٧١

  • وَلَوِ But if
  • ٱتَّبَعَ (had) followed
  • ٱلۡحَقُّ the truth
  • أَهۡوَآءَهُمۡ their desires
  • لَفَسَدَتِ surely (would) have been corrupted
  • ٱلسَّمَٰوَٰتُ the heavens
  • وَٱلۡأَرۡضُ and the earth
  • وَمَن and whoever
  • فِيهِنَّۚ (is) therein
  • بَلۡ Nay
  • أَتَيۡنَٰهُم We have brought them
  • بِذِكۡرِهِمۡ their reminder
  • فَهُمۡ but they
  • عَن from
  • ذِكۡرِهِم their reminder
  • مُّعۡرِضُونَ (are) turning away
But if the Truth [i.e., Allāh] had followed their inclinations, the heavens and the earth and whoever is in them would have been ruined. Rather, We have brought them their message,1 but they, from their message, are turning away.
Footnotes
1 - Or "reminder."
And if the truth, namely, Al-Qur'an, had followed their desires, and come to them with [mention of] what they fancied in the way of God having a partner and a child, may God be exalted above such [associations], indeed the skies and the earth and whoever is in them would have been corrupted, they [the skies and the earth] would have deviated from their observed order, because contradictions would ensue, as is usually the case, when there is more than one ruler. Nay, We have brought them their Remembrance, namely, Al-Qur'an, in which they are remembered and honoured, but they are disregardful of their [own] Remembrance.