Popular Translations
Muhammad Asad
Now if God were to take men [immediately] to task for all the evil that they do [on earth], He would not leave a single living creature upon its face. However, He grants them respite until a term set [by Him]: but when the end of their term approaches, they can neither delay it by a single moment, nor can they hasten it
Arthur John Arberry
If God should take men to task for their evildoing, He would not leave on the earth one creature that crawls; but He is deferring them to a term stated; and when their term is come they shall not put it back by a single hour nor put it forward
Yusuf Ali (Saudi Rev. 1985)
If Allah were to punish men for their wrong-doing, He would not leave, on the (earth), a single living creature: but He gives them respite for a stated Term: When their Term expires, they would not be able to delay (the punishment) for a single hour, just as they would not be able to anticipate it (for a single hour)
Arabic
وَلَوۡ یُؤَاخِذُ ٱللَّهُ ٱلنَّاسَ بِظُلۡمِهِم مَّا تَرَكَ عَلَیۡهَا مِن دَاۤبَّةࣲ وَلَـٰكِن یُؤَخِّرُهُمۡ إِلَىٰۤ أَجَلࣲ مُّسَمࣰّىۖ فَإِذَا جَاۤءَ أَجَلُهُمۡ لَا یَسۡتَءۡخِرُونَ سَاعَةࣰ وَلَا یَسۡتَقۡدِمُونَ ٦١
Transliteration (2021)
walaw yuākhidhu l-lahu l-nāsa biẓul'mihim mā taraka ʿalayhā min dābbatin walākin yu-akhiruhum ilā ajalin musamman fa-idhā jāa ajaluhum lā yastakhirūna sāʿatan walā yastaqdimūn