فَقَالَ ٱلْمَلَؤُا۟ ٱلَّذِينَ كَفَرُوا۟ مِن قَوْمِهِۦ مَا هَـٰذَآ إِلَّا بَشَرٌ مِّثْلُكُمْ يُرِيدُ أَن يَتَفَضَّلَ عَلَيْكُمْ وَلَوْ شَآءَ ٱللَّهُ لَأَنزَلَ مَلَـٰٓئِكَةً مَّا سَمِعْنَا بِهَـٰذَا فِىٓ ءَابَآئِنَا ٱلْأَوَّلِينَ
faqāla l-mala-u alladhīna kafarū min qawmihi mā hādhā illā basharun mith'lukum yurīdu an yatafaḍḍala ʿalaykum walaw shāa l-lahu la-anzala malāikatan mā samiʿ'nā bihādhā fī ābāinā l-awalīna
But the leading disbelievers among his people said, ‘He is merely a mortal like you, trying to gain some superiority over you. God would have sent down angels if He had wished; besides, we never heard of anything like this from our forefathers.
But the chiefs of his people who disbelieved said: "He is no more than a human being like you, he seeks to make himself superior to you. Had Allâh willed, He surely could have sent down angels. Never did we hear such a thing among our fathers of old.