وَٱضْرِبْ لَهُم مَّثَلَ ٱلْحَيَوٰةِ ٱلدُّنْيَا كَمَآءٍ أَنزَلْنَـٰهُ مِنَ ٱلسَّمَآءِ فَٱخْتَلَطَ بِهِۦ نَبَاتُ ٱلْأَرْضِ فَأَصْبَحَ هَشِيمًا تَذْرُوهُ ٱلرِّيَـٰحُ ۗ وَكَانَ ٱللَّهُ عَلَىٰ كُلِّ شَىْءٍ مُّقْتَدِرًا
Wa i d rib lahum mathala al h ay a ti a l dduny a kam a in anzaln a hu mina a l ssam a i fa i khtala t a bihi nab a tu alar d i faa s ba h a hasheeman ta th roohu a l rriy ah u wak a na All a hu AAal a kulli shayin muqtadir a n AND PROPOUND unto them the parable of the life of this world: [it is] like the water which We send down from the skies, and which is absorbed by the plants of the earth: but [in time] they turn into dry stubble which the winds blow freely about. And it is God [alone] who determines all things.
 - Mohammad Asad
O Prophet! Give them the similitude of the life of this world. It is like the vegetation of the earth that flourishes with the rain from the sky, but afterwards the same vegetation turns into dry stubble which is blown away by the winds. Allah is the One Who has power over everything.
 - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik
And give them a parable of this worldly life. 'It is' like the plants of the earth, thriving when sustained by the rain We send down from the sky. Then they 'soon' turn into chaff scattered by the wind. And Allah is fully capable of 'doing' all things.
 - Mustafa Khattab
And coin for them the similitude of the life of the world as water which We send down from the sky, and the vegetation of the earth mingleth with it and then becometh dry twigs that the winds scatter. Allah is Able to do all things.
 - Marmaduke Pickthall
Set forth to them the similitude of the life of this world: it is like the rain which We send down from the skies: the earth's vegetation absorbs it but soon it becomes dry stubble which the winds do scatter: it is (only) Allah Who prevails over all things. 2386
 - Abdullah Yusuf Ali