156 Preface أَن تَقولوا إِنَّما أُنزِلَ الكِتابُ عَلىٰ طائِفَتَينِ مِن قَبلِنا وَإِن كُنّا عَن دِراسَتِهِم لَغافِلينَYusuf AliLest ye should say: “The Book was sent down to two Peoples before us, and for our part, we remained unacquainted1 with all that they learned by assiduous study:"Because the diligent studies of the earlier People of the Book were in languages foreign to the new People of Islam, or because they were meant for circumstances different from those of the new world after Islam.