Popular Translations
Muhammad Asad
He answered: "I have gained insight into something which they were unable to see: and so I took hold of a handful of the Apostle's teachings and cast it away: for thus has my mind prompted me [to act]."
Arthur John Arberry
'I beheld what they beheld not,' he said, 'and I seized a handful of dust from the messenger's track, and cast it into the thing. So my soul prompted me.
Yusuf Ali (Saudi Rev. 1985)
He replied: "I saw what they saw not: so I took a handful (of dust) from the footprint of the Messenger, and threw it (into the calf): thus did my soul suggest to me."
Arabic
قَالَ بَصُرۡتُ بِمَا لَمۡ یَبۡصُرُوا۟ بِهِۦ فَقَبَضۡتُ قَبۡضَةࣰ مِّنۡ أَثَرِ ٱلرَّسُولِ فَنَبَذۡتُهَا وَكَذَ ٰلِكَ سَوَّلَتۡ لِی نَفۡسِی ٩٦
Transliteration (2021)
qāla baṣur'tu bimā lam yabṣurū bihi faqabaḍtu qabḍatan min athari l-rasūli fanabadhtuhā wakadhālika sawwalat lī nafs