অথবা বলতে শুরু কর যে, অংশীদারিত্বের প্রথা তো আমাদের বাপ-দাদারা উদ্ভাবন করেছিল আমাদের পূর্বেই। আর আমরা হলাম তাদের পশ্চাৎবর্তী সন্তান-সন্ততি। তাহলে কি সে কর্মের জন্য আমাদেরকে ধ্বংস করবেন, যা পথভ্রষ্টরা করেছে?
Or lest you should say: ”It was only our fathers afortime who took others as partners in worship along with Allâh, and we were (merely their) descendants after them; will You then destroy us because of the deeds of men who practised Al-Bâtil (i.e. polytheism and committing crimes and sins, invoking and worshipping others besides Allâh)?” (Tafsir At-Tabarî).
أَوْ تَقُولُواْ إِنَّمَا أَشْرَكَ آبَاؤُنَا مِن قَبْلُ وَكُنَّا ذُرِّيَّةً مِّن بَعْدِهِمْ أَفَتُهْلِكُنَا بِمَا فَعَلَ الْمُبْطِلُونَ
Aw taqooloo innama ashraka abaona min qablu wakunna thurriyyatan min baAAdihim afatuhlikuna bima faAAala almubtiloona
YUSUFALI: Or lest ye should say: “Our fathers before us may have taken false gods, but we are (their) descendants after them: wilt Thou then destroy us because of the deeds of men who were futile?”
PICKTHAL: Or lest ye should say: (It is) only (that) our fathers ascribed partners to Allah of old and we were (their) seed after them. Wilt Thou destroy us on account of that which those who follow falsehood did?
SHAKIR: Or you should say: Only our fathers associated others (with Allah) before, and we were an offspring after them: Wilt Thou then destroy us for what the vain doers did?
KHALIFA: Nor can you say, “It was our parents who practiced idolatry, and we simply followed in their footsteps. Will You punish us because of what others have innovated?”