ٱلْأَنْعَام : ١٠٩

  • وَأَقۡسَمُواْ And they swear
  • بِٱللَّهِ by Allah
  • جَهۡدَ strongest
  • أَيۡمَٰنِهِمۡ (of) their oaths
  • لَئِن that if
  • جَآءَتۡهُمۡ came to them
  • ءَايَةٞ a sign
  • لَّيُؤۡمِنُنَّ they would surely believe
  • بِهَاۚ in it
  • قُلۡ Say
  • إِنَّمَا Only
  • ٱلۡأٓيَٰتُ the signs
  • عِندَ (are) with
  • ٱللَّهِۖ Allah
  • وَمَا And what
  • يُشۡعِرُكُمۡ will make you perceive
  • أَنَّهَآ that [it]
  • إِذَا when
  • جَآءَتۡ it comes
  • لَا not
  • يُؤۡمِنُونَ they will believe
And they swear by Allāh their strongest oaths that if a sign came to them, they would surely believe in it. Say, "The signs are only with [i.e., from] Allāh." And what will make you perceive that even if it [i.e., a sign] came, they would not believe.
They, that is, the disbelievers of Mecca, have sworn by God the most earnest oaths that if there came to them a sign, of what they requested, they will believe in it. Say, to them: 'Signs are only with God', and He sends them down as [and when] He wills; I am but a warner. But what will make you realise?, how would you know if they have believed, if these [signs] did come [to them]? In other words, you would not know this; truly, when they come, they will not believe, because of what I already know (a variant reading [for laa yu'minoona, 'they will not believe'] has laa tu'minoona, 'you will not believe', making the address to the disbelievers; another [variant reading] has annahaa [instead of innahaa, 'that truly'] as meaning la'alla, 'that perhaps', or as governed by the preceding clause [la'in jaa'athum aayatun, 'if there came to them a sign').