Popular Translations
Muhammad Asad
And there is, too, among men many a one who worships God on the border-line [of faith]: thus, if good befalls him, he is satisfied with Him; but if a trial assails him, he turns away utterly, losing [thereby both] this world and the life to come: [and] this, indeed, is a loss beyond compare
Arthur John Arberry
And among men there is such a one as serves God upon the very edge -- if good befalls him he is at rest in it, but if a trial befalls him he turns completely over; he loses this world and the world to come; that is indeed the manifest loss
Yusuf Ali (Saudi Rev. 1985)
There are among men some who serve Allah, as it were, on the verge: if good befalls them, they are, therewith, well content; but if a trial comes to them, they turn on their faces: they lose both this world and the Hereafter: that is loss for all to see
Arabic
وَمِنَ ٱلنَّاسِ مَن یَعۡبُدُ ٱللَّهَ عَلَىٰ حَرۡفࣲۖ فَإِنۡ أَصَابَهُۥ خَیۡرٌ ٱطۡمَأَنَّ بِهِۦۖ وَإِنۡ أَصَابَتۡهُ فِتۡنَةٌ ٱنقَلَبَ عَلَىٰ وَجۡهِهِۦ خَسِرَ ٱلدُّنۡیَا وَٱلۡءَاخِرَةَۚ ذَ ٰلِكَ هُوَ ٱلۡخُسۡرَانُ ٱلۡمُبِینُ ١١
Transliteration (2021)
wamina l-nāsi man yaʿbudu l-laha ʿalā ḥarfin fa-in aṣābahu khayrun iṭ'ma-anna bihi wa-in aṣābathu fit'natun inqalaba ʿalā wajhihi khasira l-dun'yā wal-ākhirata dhālika huwa l-khus'rānu l-mubīn