Surah Az-Zukhruf English Translation & Transliteration

¹Ha Mim.

²By this Book, which sets forth what is right and true with clarity!

³We have made this Quran a message recited in Arabic so that you may understand and grasp it.

⁴And this Quran, which comes from the Mother of the Book/Our boundless knowledge with Us, is most exalted, and its every ruling is right.

⁵Are We now to stop warning you with the Quran just because you are an insolent people who overstep the limits?

⁶For We sent many prophets as messengers to the peoples of old as well.

⁷But those peoples mocked every prophet who came to them.

⁸So We destroyed those peoples who were stronger than these, and the example of those of old has already been given in the verses.

⁹Now if you ask them: —Who created the heavens and the earth? they will say: —Allah, possessed of supreme power and knowing all things, created them.

¹⁰Yes, He is Allah, who has made the earth a place for life and opened paths for you between the mountains, so that you may easily reach where you are going.

¹¹And it is He who sends down rain from the sky according to a set destiny/measure. Just as We give life with it to dead land, so too will you be raised after death.

¹²And it is He who created every kind of living thing in pairs, female and male, and brought into being for you ships and animals to ride,

¹³(13-14) so that, when you are settled on them and in control of them, you may remember your Lord's blessings with gratitude, saying: "How exalted is the glory of Allah, who has placed all this at our service; otherwise we would never have been able to do it. And there is no doubt that in the end we will stand before our Lord."

¹⁴(13-14) so that, when you are settled on them and in control of them, you may remember your Lord's blessings with gratitude, saying: "How exalted is the glory of Allah, who has placed all this at our service; otherwise we would never have been able to do it. And there is no doubt that in the end we will stand before our Lord."

¹⁵Yet despite this they regarded some of Allah's servants as if they were a part of Him. It is a fact that whoever does this is in clear ingratitude.

¹⁶Or has He taken daughters for Himself from among the servants He created, and set aside sons for you?

¹⁷Yet when one of them is given the news of a daughter—the very thing he deems fitting for the Most Merciful (ar-Rahman)—his face turns black and he chokes back his anger.

¹⁸"One who is good for nothing but living amid adornment?" he says, and keeps struggling with himself amid confused feelings.

¹⁹They also claim that the angels, who are servants of the Most Merciful, are female. Did they witness the creation of the angels? These claims of theirs will be recorded, and they will be called to account for them.

²⁰They even go so far as to say: "Had the Most Merciful willed, we would never have served them." They have no knowledge of this; they are only talking nonsense.

²¹Or did We give them a Book before this, and they are relying on it?

²²No, all they say is: —We found our forefathers following a traditional religion, and only by following in their footsteps can we find the right path.

²³Likewise, whenever We sent a warner to any town before you, its elite, spoiled by wealth, said just as these do: "We found our forefathers following a traditional religion, and of course we will follow in their footsteps."

²⁴When the messenger said: "What if I have brought you a religion more rightly guided than your forefathers'?" they disbelieved, saying: "We do not recognize what you have been sent with."

²⁵In the end We made them taste the bitter consequence of what they did. See, then, what the end of those who clung to lies in the face of the truth was!

²⁶Recall when Abraham said to his father and his people: —I have nothing to do with what you serve.

²⁷I serve only the One who created me. For it is He who will guide me to the right path.

²⁸Abraham left to future generations, as the most fundamental principle of faith, the principle "Serve none but Allah," so that they might turn to the truth.

²⁹Yet I let their forefathers enjoy My blessings until this Quran came to them, together with a messenger who conveyed it clearly.

³⁰But when this Quran came to them, they said: —This is magical speech; we do not believe in it.

³¹And they said: —Should this Quran not have been sent down to some great man of one of the two cities?

³²Is it for them to apportion your Lord's mercy? It is We who apportion their livelihood among them in the life of this world, and who have raised some above others in different fields and degrees, so that some may employ others. And your Lord's mercy to you is worth more than all that they amass.

³³Were it not for the risk that people, envying them, would become a single community of disbelief, We would have furnished with silver the stairways by which those who do not believe in the Most Merciful climb to the roofs of their houses,

³⁴and even the doors of their houses, and the couches on which they recline,

³⁵and We would have showered them with gold and jewels. But all this is nothing but the passing pleasures of this worldly life. And the Hereafter with your Lord is for the God-conscious (muttaqin), who guard themselves against sins.

³⁶Whoever approaches the Most Merciful's message full of warnings, the Quran, with indifference, Satan becomes his inseparable companion and comrade.

³⁷The devils turn them away from the right path, yet they still think they are rightly guided.

³⁸At last, when that person comes before Us with his companion, he says: —If only there were between you and me a distance as far as east from west! What an evil companion you were!

³⁹Allah will say: —Today your realizing the truth is of no use to you, for both of you wronged and did injustice to this Quran; now you will suffer this punishment together.

⁴⁰Now, can you make the deaf hear? Or guide the blind—that is, one who has gone utterly astray—to the right path?

⁴¹Whether We take your life before showing them the punishment We promised them—for sooner or later We will surely make them taste the bitter consequence of what they did—

⁴²or show you in your lifetime the punishment We promised them—in any case We have the power to punish them.

⁴³So hold fast to the Quran that is revealed to you! For through this Quran you are on the straight path.

⁴⁴This Quran is surely a source of honor and esteem for you and your people. Know that you will be questioned about this Quran.

⁴⁵Ask the communities to which We sent messengers before you: did We ever command that certain beings be placed between them and the Most Merciful, ascribed divinity, and served?

⁴⁶Indeed, We sent Moses with Our signs to Pharaoh and his inner circle, and he said to them: —I am a messenger of the Lord of the worlds.

⁴⁷When Moses showed them Our miracles/signs, they began to laugh mockingly at them.

⁴⁸We showed them miracles, each greater than the one before. And We seized them with Our punishment, so that perhaps they would turn back.

⁴⁹At every calamity they said: O sorcerer! For the sake of the covenant your Lord has made with you, pray to your Lord to lift this punishment from us. For from now on we will follow the way you show.

⁵⁰But when We lifted the punishment from them, they went back on their word.

⁵¹And Pharaoh called out to his people: O my people, am I not the sole ruler of this land of Egypt, and are not these rivers flowing beneath my feet mine? Do you not see even this?

⁵²—Or am I not better than this wretched man who can scarcely make himself understood?

⁵³—If that is so, why have gold necklaces not been put around his neck and gold bracelets on his arms? Or why are there no angels accompanying him?

⁵⁴With these words Pharaoh belittled his people and beguiled their minds. And since they were a people inclined to stray from the path, they obeyed him.

⁵⁵At last, when they provoked Our wrath, We gave them the punishment they deserved and drowned them all.

⁵⁶Thus We made them a bitter memory of the past and a lesson for generations to come.

⁵⁷When Jesus, son of Mary, is given as an example, your people at once begin to clamor,

⁵⁸and they say: —Are our gods better, or is he? They say this only to argue with you. They are, in fact, a quarrelsome and contentious people.

⁵⁹As for Jesus, he is a servant on whom We bestowed the blessing of prophethood and whom We made a model for the Children of Israel.

⁶⁰Had We willed, We could have brought forth from among you angels to succeed you on the earth.

⁶¹This Quran is surely certain knowledge of the Hour. So have no doubt about the Hour, and follow me! This is the straight path.

⁶²Never let Satan keep you from this path. For he is your clear enemy.

⁶³When Jesus came to his people with miracles/clear evidence, he said: —I have come to you with divine knowledge; my aim is to make clear to you the truth about some of the matters on which you differ. So guard yourselves against defying Allah and follow me!

⁶⁴For Allah is my Lord and your Lord. So serve Him alone. This is the straight path.

⁶⁵Yet various factions fell into disagreement about him. Woe to those who will suffer the punishment of a painful day!

⁶⁶Are they now waiting for the Hour, the end of this world, to come upon them suddenly, at a moment when they least expect it?

⁶⁷When that day comes, old friends will all become enemies to one another—except the God-conscious (muttaqin), who guard themselves against defying Allah; they will remain friends.

⁶⁸O My servants, today there is no fear or anxiety for you, and you will never grieve!

⁶⁹—These believed and trusted in Our verses and became Muslims unconditionally!

⁷⁰Enter Paradise, you and your spouses, in joy!

⁷¹There they will be served with dishes and cups of gold. There will be everything their souls desire and blessings that dazzle the eyes. And there you will remain forever!

⁷²This Paradise that has been given to you is a reward for what you have done!

⁷³There you will have fruit of every kind to eat.

⁷⁴Without any doubt, the guilty will abide in the punishment of Hell.

⁷⁵Moreover, their punishment will never be lightened, and they will have fallen into a whirlpool of deep despair.

⁷⁶It was not We who wronged them; rather, they wronged and harmed themselves.

⁷⁷(To the keeper of Hell) they will plead: O Malik, tell your Lord to finish us off! He will say: —There is no help for it; you will remain here.

⁷⁸Indeed, We had conveyed to you what is right and true. But most of you disliked the truth, the Quran.

⁷⁹Or have they made a decision (to destroy you and the religion you brought)? Then We too have decided to punish them.

⁸⁰Or do they think that We do not hear what passes in their minds and their secret conversations? No, Our messengers beside them are recording all their conversations.

⁸¹Say: —There is no question of the Most Merciful having a child. I am the first of those who acknowledge the truth that He is matchless and without partner, and who serve Him.

⁸²Allah, Lord of the heavens and the earth, Lord of the exalted Throne, is the most exalted of all and free of/far removed from their ugly attributions.

⁸³So leave them to themselves, to amuse themselves with the false talk they are immersed in until the day they are promised.

⁸⁴For He is the only God in the heaven and the only God on the earth. He does everything in its proper place and knows all things.

⁸⁵How exalted a source of blessing is Allah, to whom belongs dominion over the heavens, the earth, and all that is between them! He alone knows when the Hour, the end of this world, will strike. And in the end you will all be brought before Him.

⁸⁶Those they place between themselves and Allah and implore in prayer have no authority to intercede for anyone. Only those who bear witness to the truth, the Quran, know this.

⁸⁷If you ask them who created them, they will say without hesitation: "Allah." How, then, are they so deceived?

⁸⁸And Allah hears your complaint: "O my Lord, these are a people who will not believe."

⁸⁹So pay them no heed! Say "Peace be upon you!" and pass on. They will soon learn the truth anyway.