Sura-46 [Al-Ahqaf Mecca 66]

The Quranic Text & Ali’s version:

وَقَالَ الَّذِينَ كَفَرُوا لِلَّذِينَ آمَنُوا لَوْ كَانَ خَيْرًا مَّا سَبَقُونَا إِلَيْهِ...

46:11. The Unbelievers say of those who believe:

"If (this Message) were a good thing, (such men) would not have gone to it first, before us!"

C4785. A great many of the early Muslims were in humble positions, and were despised by the Quraish leaders. 'If such men could see any good in Islam, they said, 'there could be no good in it: if there had been any good in it, we should have been the first to see it!'

The spiritually blind have such a good conceit of themselves!

...وَإِذْ لَمْ يَهْتَدُوا بِهِ فَسَيَقُولُونَ هَذَا إِفْكٌ قَدِيمٌ ﴿١١﴾

and seeing that they guide not themselves thereby, they will say,

"This is an (old), old falsehood!"

As they reject it, and as the Revelation is proved to have historic foundations, they can only call it "an old, old falsehood"!

Asad’s Version:

46:11 But they who are bent on denying the truth speak thus of those who have attained to faith: "If this [message] were any good, these [people] would not have preceded us in accepting it!" 15 And since they refuse to be guided by it, they will always say, "This 14 is [but] an ancient falsehood!"