The word(s) "were" appears 426 time(s) in 380 verse(s) in Quran in Abdullah Yusuf Ali translation.

(161) Moses said: "That was what we were seeking after:" So they went back on their footsteps, following (the path they had come).

(162) So they both proceeded: until, when they were in the boat, he scuttled it. Said Moses: "Hast thou scuttled it in order to drown those in it? Truly a strange thing hast thou done!"

(163) He answered: "Did I not tell thee that thou canst have no patience with me?"

(164) He answered: "Did I not tell thee that thou canst have no patience with me?"

(165) He answered: "This is the parting between me and thee: now will I tell thee the interpretation of (those things) over which thou wast unable to hold patience.

(166) "As for the youth, his parents were people of Faith, and we feared that he would grieve them by obstinate rebellion and ingratitude (to Allah and man).

(167) "As for the wall, it belonged to two youths, orphans, in the Town; there was, beneath it, a buried treasure, to which they were entitled: their father had been a righteous man: So thy Lord desired that they should attain their age of full strength and get out their treasure - a mercy (and favour) from thy Lord. I did it not of my own accord. Such is the interpretation of (those things) over which thou wast unable to hold patience."

(168) (He left them) as they were: We completely understood what was before him.

(169) Thus were they made powerless to scale it or to dig through it.

(170) "Those whose efforts have been wasted in this life, while they thought that they were acquiring good by their works?"