(4:153) The People of the Scripture ask you to bring down to them a book from the heaven. But they had asked of Moses [even] greater than that and said, “Show us Allah outright,” so the thunderbolt struck them for their wrongdoing. Then they took the calf [for worship] after clear evidences had come to them, and We pardoned that. And We gave Moses a clear authority.
Muhammad Taqi-ud-Din al-Hilali and Muhammad Muhsin Khan,
(4:153) The people of the Scripture (Jews) ask you to cause a book to descend upon them from heaven. Indeed they asked Musa (Moses) for even greater than that, when they said: “Show us Allah in public,” but they were struck with thunder clap and lightning for their wickedness. Then they worshipped the calf even after clear proofs, evidences, and signs had come to them. (Even) so We forgave them. And We gave Musa (Moses) a clear proof of authority.
Mohammed Marmaduke William Pickthall
(4:153) The people of the Scripture ask of thee that thou shouldst cause an (actual) Book to descend upon them from heaven. They asked a greater thing of Moses aforetime, for they said: Show us Allah plainly. The storm of lightning seized them for their wickedness. Then (even) after that) they chose the calf (for worship) after clear proofs (of Allah’s Sovereignty) had come unto them. And We forgave them that! And We bestowed on Moses evident authority.
Abdullah Yusuf Ali
(4:153) The people of the Book ask thee to cause a book to descend to them from heaven: Indeed they asked Moses for an even greater (miracle), for they said: “Show us Allah in public,” but they were dazed for their presumption, with thunder and lightning. Yet they worshipped the calf even after clear signs had come to them; even so we forgave them; and gave Moses manifest proofs of authority.
Mohammad Habib Shakir
(4:153) The followers of the Book ask you to bring down to them a book from heaven; so indeed they demanded of Musa a greater thing than that, for they said: Show us Allah manifestly; so the lightning overtook them on account of their injustice. Then they took the calf (for a god), after clear signs had come to them, but We pardoned this; and We gave to Musa clear authority.
Dr. Ghali
(4:153) The population of the Book (Or: Family of the Book, i.e; the Jews and Christians) ask you to (keep) (Moses) bringing down upon them a Book from the heaven; yet they already asked Musa far greater than that; So they said, “Show us Allah openly.” Then the stunning (thunderbolt) took them for their injustice. Thereafter they took to themselves the Calf, even after the supreme evidences came to them, yet We were clement (towards them) for that, and We brought M?s’a an evident all-binding authority.
Ali Unal
(4:153) The People of the Book ask you to cause a Book to be sent down on them from heaven. (O Messenger, let this not shock you, for) they asked an even greater thing than this of Moses, when they said, “Show God to us openly,” and the thunderbolt seized them for their wrong-doing. Then they adopted the (golden) calf as deity and this after the (miracles and other) clear proofs of the truth had come to them. Yet We (accepted their atonement and) pardoned them that; and We granted Moses (the Book and the Criterion, and thereby) a clear proof and authority.
Amatul Rahman Omar
(4:153) The people of the Scripture ask you to bring down upon them a Book from the heaven. They made a (more wicked and) greater demand than that from Moses, when they said, `Show us Allâh openly (face to face)
Literal
(4:153) The Book`s people ask/question you, that to descend on them a book from the sky/space, so they had asked Moses greater than that, so they said: “Show us God publicly/openly.” So the fire falling from the sky accompanied by thunderous noise punished/took them with their injustice/oppression, then they took the calf from after what came to them (from) the evidences, so We forgave/pardoned on that, and We gave Moses evident proof .
Ahmed Ali
(4:153) The people of the Book demand of you to bring for them a book from heaven. But of Moses they had asked a bigger thing, and demanded: “Show us God face to face.” They were struck by lightning then as punishment for their wickedness. Even then they made the calf, when clear signs had reached them. Still We forgave them and gave Moses clear authority.
A. J. Arberry
(4:153) The People of the Book will ask thee to bring down upon them a Book from heaven; and they asked Moses for greater than that, for they said, ‘Show us God openly.’ And the thunderbolt took them for their evildoing. Then they took to themselves the Calf, after the clear signs had come to them; yet We pardoned them that, and We bestowed upon Moses a clear authority.
Abdul Majid Daryabadi
(4:153) The people of the Book ask thee to bring down a Book to them from the heaven. But surely they asked Musa a thing greater than that; they said: shew us God manifestly; whencefore the thunderbolt overtook them for their wrong-doing. Then they took a calf after there had come unto them the evidences. Even so We pardoned that, and We gave Musa a manifest authority.
Maulana Mohammad Ali
(4:153)-
Muhammad Sarwar
(4:153) (Muhammad), the People of the Book ask you to make a Book descend to them from the heavens. However, they had asked Moses for things much harder to do than this, by saying, “Show us God in person.” Thunder and lightning struck them because of their unjust demands. Despite all the evidence that had come to them, they started to worship the calf, but We forgave them for their sins and gave Moses clear authority.
Hamid Abdul Aziz
(4:153) But then because they broke their covenant, and for their disbelief in Allah´s revelations, and for their killing the prophets undeservedly, and for their saying in defiance, “Our heart are uncircumcised, (Our heart are sufficient wrappings or forskins for Allah´s Words)” – nay, Allah hath stamped on them their disbelief, so that only a few believe –
Faridul Haque
(4:153) O dear Prophet (Mohammed – peace and blessings be upon him) the People given the Book(s) ask you, to cause a Book to be sent down on them from heaven – so they had asked something even greater from Moosa, for they said, “Show Allah to us, clearly” – so the thunder seized them on account of their sins
Talal Itani
(4:153) The People of the Scripture challenge you to bring down to them a book from the sky. They had asked Moses for something even greater. They said, Show us God plainly. The thunderbolt struck them for their wickedness. Then they took the calf for worship, even after the clear proofs had come to them. Yet We pardoned that, and We gave Moses a clear authority.
Ahmed Raza Khan
(4:153) O dear Prophet (Mohammed peace and blessings be upon him) the People given the Book(s) ask you, to cause a Book to be sent down on them from heaven so they had asked something even greater from Moosa, for they said, Show Allah to us, clearly so the thunder seized them on account of their sins; then they chose the calf (for worship) after clear signs had come to them, then We forgave this; and We bestowed Moosa with a clear dominance.
Wahiduddin Khan
(4:153) The People of the Book ask you to bring down for them a book from heaven. Of Moses they demanded a greater thing than that. They said to him: “Show us God face to face.” A thunderbolt struck them for their wickedness. After that, they took to worshipping the [golden] calf, after all evidence of the truth had come to them! Yet We pardoned even that and bestowed on Moses clear authority.
Safi-ur-Rahman al-Mubarakpuri
(4:153) The People of the Scripture (Jews) ask you to cause a book to descend upon them from heaven. Indeed, they asked Musa for even greater than that, when they said: “Show us Allah in public,” but they were struck with a bolt of lightning for their wickedness. Then they worshipped the calf even after Al-Bayyinat had come to them. (Even) so We forgave them. And We gave Musa a clear proof of authority.
Ali Quli Qarai
(4:153) The People of the Book ask you to bring down for them a Book from the sky. Certainly they asked Moses for [something] greater than that, for they said, Show us Allah visibly, whereat a thunderbolt seized them for their wrongdoing. Then they took up the Calf [for worship], after all the manifest proofs that had come to them. Yet We excused that, and We gave Moses a manifest authority.
Hasan al-Fatih Qaribullah and Ahmad Darwish
(4:153) The People of the Book ask you to bring down upon them a Book from heaven. Of Moses they asked greater than that, they said to him: ‘Show us Allah openly’ And a thunderbolt took them for their evil doing. Then they took to themselves the calf, after the clear proofs had come to them, yet We forgave that and We gave Moses clear authority.
That is translated surah An Nisa ayat 153 (QS 4: 153) in arabic and english text, may be useful.
Yasaluka ahlu alkitabi an tunazzila AAalayhim kitaban mina alssamai faqad saaloo moosa akbara min thalika faqaloo arina Allaha jahratan faakhathathumu alssaAAiqatu bithulmihim thumma ittakhathoo alAAijla min baAAdi ma jaathumu albayyinatu faAAafawna AAan thalika waatayna moosa sultanan mubeenan
