Surah Az-Zumar: Thematic English Translation (Mustafa Çevik)

This Quran has been sent down by Allah, every judgment of whom is absolutely right and whose knowledge and power are boundless, to make known the purpose of your creation and to invite you to live by the system of life that accords with that purpose. So follow the call, to purify yourselves of shirk and disbelief, and serve Allah alone.

The pure religion (system), purified of shirk and disbelief, is only the system of life whose limits Allah has set, the reason for your creation.

Those who ascribe sanctity to certain people and take them as friends say, “We turn to them and obey them so that they may bring us nearer to Allah.” Yet nearness to Allah is attained only by taking Him alone as God and living in keeping with His call. Allah does not lead liars and the ungrateful to His right path. In the end Allah will pass His judgment on the matters over which they are divided.

Just as Allah needs no one in creating and in ruling over what He creates, there is no question of His taking a child. Had Allah wished to take a child, He would have chosen whom He willed from among what He creates. He is certainly far above such attributions; His power and majesty are infinite. Allah will crush those who utter such slanders with His punishment. He is the One who lays down absolute rulings over His creation and rules it.

Allah wraps the night over the day and the day over the night, and makes the sun and the moon run their courses in their own orbits for an appointed time, bound to the laws of the order He has established. Allah has power to do what He wills; He is most compassionate and merciful toward the believers, and forgiving toward those who repent and turn to what is right.

Allah has created people, female and male, from the same essence, the same substance; and He has also created four pairs of animals, male and female, and placed them at your disposal.

Allah creates you in your mothers’ wombs, developing you stage by stage, in three layers of darkness. Such is Allah, your Lord; the right to establish the order of His creation, make its laws, and rule it belongs to Him alone, and there is no true god but Him.

Then what is the matter with you, that you ignore this truth and turn away from Allah?

O people! If you are ungrateful to your Lord and take other gods alongside Him, know well that Allah has no need of your service; but He does not want you to associate partners with Him and deserve punishment either. Allah is pleased only with those who give thanks for the blessings He has given and respond to His call. No sinner bears the sin of another; in the end your destination will be the presence of your Lord, and then you will be told what you did in your worldly life and given the recompense you deserve. Allah knows what you conceal in your hearts and what you reveal.

When misfortune befalls a human being, he at once turns to his Lord and prays for His help; then, when his Lord relieves him of his distress, he forgets how he had pleaded and implored Him before, and again takes other gods alongside Allah and associates partners with Him, and what is more, encourages others to do so.

Say to such people: “Amuse yourselves and pass the time a while longer with your shirk, your disbelief, and your ungrateful way of life; in the end you will enter the Fire you deserve.”

Can those who, night and day, stand in prayer and prostrate themselves, obeying and worshipping their Lord, hoping for His compassion and mercy, thinking of the Hereafter and living in concern for the reckoning, ever be the same as the ungrateful who turn their backs on Him?

Say: “Can those who know and those who do not know ever be the same?” Only those who use their reason rightly can grasp this truth.

O Prophet! Say to the believers: “O you who believe! Be conscious of your responsibilities toward your Lord, and obey His commands and prohibitions scrupulously. The finest rewards in the Hereafter await those who sincerely do their part in this in the world. And let those who, while striving to live the system of life that is Allah’s call, are oppressed and compelled to emigrate from their homeland know that Allah’s earth is wide; there are boundless rewards for those who bear hardships and difficulties in Allah’s way.”

O Prophet! Say: “I have been commanded to serve Allah with a faith purified of shirk and disbelief, and to lead those who believe in Allah’s call. If I am ungrateful to my Lord and rebel against Him, the punishment will seize me too on the Day of Reckoning.

I devote my religion to Allah alone, turn my face to Him, turn my back on shirk and disbelief, and obey and worship Allah.”

O you who associate partners with Allah! Take whomever you will as gods alongside Allah; by doing so you are bringing ruin on yourselves and on those who follow you, and dragging them into punishment. This is ruin with your eyes wide open. Such people will be surrounded by layers of fire above them and below them. With such a punishment does Allah warn His servants.

So, O people! Submit to Allah and come under His protection.

Those who believe in Allah’s call and strive to fulfill what it requires deserve the good news of Paradise. They listen to all that is said, but follow the best and most right of it. These are the ones who truly possess understanding and virtue.

You cannot save from the punishment of Hell one whose sentence has become final because he stubbornly turned away from the right path. Can such a person ever be the same as one who uses his reason and turns to Allah?

Those who obey Allah and consciously fulfill their responsibilities Allah will reward with mansions prepared for them in Gardens through which rivers flow. This is Allah’s promise, and Allah never goes back on His promise.

Do you never see and reflect that Allah forms springs on the earth with the rain He sends down from the sky, then with it grows plants and crops of many colors, and then turns them into yellow, bone-dry chaff? In all this there are lessons for those who use their reason.

Can one whose heart Allah has opened to Islam because he reflected on the reason for his creation and sought the right path, and who is thus illumined with a light from his Lord, ever be the same as one whose heart has turned to stone and who stubbornly persists in living in the swamp of shirk and disbelief? Such people are in plain error.

Allah has sent down the Quran as the finest and truest of words, a Book consistent within itself, which explains and sets out the truths in various ways and with repetition. The verses of the Quran make the hearts of those who carry a sense of responsibility toward their Lord, and wish to fulfill what it requires with love, shiver and tremble; and the hearts of those people find peace and tranquility as they reflect on Allah’s mercy, compassion, and tender care.

This Quran is a guide to the right path for those who wish to know the reason for their creation and live a life in keeping with it.

And those who persist in living the life granted them with their backs turned on the guidance of the Quran, Allah leaves in error, and there is no one else to show them the right path.

Can one who, on the Day of Reckoning, is in no position to protect himself from the punishment, bound hand and foot and writhing in helplessness, ever be the same as one who is secure and far from the punishment, whom his Lord will reward? On That Day those who rebelled against the call made through the Quran will be told, “Suffer the punishment you have deserved.”

Those before them too called the call the prophets made in Allah’s name a lie and rejected it. So the punishment came upon them at a moment they least expected, and thus Allah made them taste disgrace and ruin in their worldly life. And their punishment in the Hereafter will be more severe still; if only those being invited through the Quran could understand this.

In this Quran We have given people explanations through examples, so that they may reflect and turn to what is right. And We have sent it down as a Book in Arabic. There is no crookedness in it at all.

Allah also gives people this example: “Can the case of a man under the command of many partners who cannot get along with one another ever be the same as that of a man bound to one person alone?” The truth is that what befits a human being is to take Allah alone as Lord and God and obey Him alone; all thanks and praise belong to Allah; but most of those who associate partners with Allah do not wish to understand this.

O Prophet! One day you too will die, and those who associate partners with Allah will die too, and on the Day of Reckoning you will all be gathered in your Lord’s presence.

Who could be more ignorant and more unjust than those who do not believe that the Quran guides to the truth, and call it a lie? The place they deserve will be the fire of Hell.

For those who believe in the Prophet and the call he makes in Allah’s name, and take refuge in their Lord, there are countless and endless rewards in Paradise. There they will find the finest of everything they long for and wish. Allah will cover and forgive the sins they committed, and reward them, giving them the recompense for their efforts many times over.

Is Allah not enough for His servant? Of course He is; but those who are not conscious of this try to frighten you with others. Know well that Allah leaves in error those who, by acting thus, choose the path of wrongdoing. And there is no one who can bring to what is right one whom Allah leaves in error.

And there is no one who can lead astray one who enters the right path Allah shows. Without doubt no one can oppose Allah’s judgment; those who deny the truth will surely meet the punishment they deserve. Allah is the One who exacts retribution. If you ask them, “Who created the heavens and the earth?” they will say without hesitation, “Allah.” Say to them: “Then if Allah wished to bring me some hardship, could those you take as lords and gods, and whose help you hope for, remove that hardship from me? Or if Allah bestowed on me some favor from His mercy, could they stand in the way of His favor? No, they never could.” Say: “Allah is enough for me. Let those who wish to lean on and trust someone trust in Him alone and lean their backs on Him.”

Say: “O you who take no lesson from counsel and warnings! Do what befits you; do your worst; but know well that I too will go on calling people to what is right in Allah’s name. When the time comes, you will see and understand who did what is right, and who was disgraced both in this world and in the Hereafter and deserved the punishment.”

The truth is that We have sent this Quran to make known Our purpose in creating people and to invite them to live by the system of life and morality that accords with it. Whoever believes in what the Quran invites to, chooses to live it, and strives for it, has chosen what is in his own favor, for his own good. And whoever turns away from the Quran’s call, pays it no heed, and strays onto other paths, has made a choice against himself. You have no right to force a choice on them.

It is Allah alone who decides on the life and death of what He has created. By the laws He has set, He takes, when the time comes, the souls of those for whom the conditions have come about; and the souls of those for whom the conditions of death have not come about He takes into His keeping at night, in their sleep, and by day lets them live until their term is complete. Without doubt there are lessons in this for those who reflect.

It is Allah who creates the human being, endows him with so many blessings and keeps him alive, who alone will intercede in this world and the Hereafter, and who will raise him after death and call him to account. Say: “O you who associate partners with Allah! Though this is the certain truth, how can you hope for intercession from those who have no power to create anything and are themselves created?”

Say to them also: “The authority to intercede belongs wholly to Allah. Sovereignty over the heavens and the earth belongs to Him too. It is Allah alone who has the power to help, support, and show favor. In the end you will be gathered in His presence.”

Whenever Allah is spoken of in the presence of those who associate partners with Him as the one true God, the hearts of these people, who do not believe in the reckoning of the Hereafter and do not wish to believe, fill with deep distress, unease, and loathing; but when their own gods are spoken of alongside Allah, they at once grow cheerful and laugh together.

Say: “O Allah, who created the heavens and the earth and keeps them alive, who knows all that is hidden and open! It is You who will pass judgment on those who dispute Your lordship and godhood, and bring them face to face with what they deserve.”

Even if those who associate partners with Allah and deny the truth owned all that is on earth, and twice as much again, they would give it all as ransom to escape the punishment that will befall them on the Day of Resurrection and Reckoning. For on That Day the punishment they never thought of, never even wanted to think of, will be set before them.

The sins they committed in the world, covering up Allah’s lordship and godhood and mocking the Day of the Hereafter, will be laid bare, and the punishment of Hell will surround them on every side.

Whenever misfortune or hardship befalls a human being, he at once turns to Us for help and pleads; then, when We send him help from Our presence, relieve him of his distress, and bring him Our blessings, he begins this time to say that he gained these through his own knowledge and skill. Yet this is a test from Allah for him; but most people do not wish to understand this. Most of those who lived before them said the same, but what they gained was of no use to them. Because of their ingratitude, the penalty they deserved caught up with them. No one can save such people from Our hands; they do not wish to know and understand that Allah tests by giving provision in abundance to whom He wills and restricting it for whom He wills. There are lessons in this for the believers.

O Prophet! Say in Allah’s name: “O My servants who take no lesson from these warnings, who overstep the bounds as sinners and wrong yourselves! Do not despair of Allah’s mercy. Allah forgives the sins of those who repent of their sins, turn to Him, and respond to His call.”

So you too, repent before the punishment comes upon you, and live by the system of life that is your Lord’s call. Otherwise you will find no one to protect and save you from the punishment.

Before Allah’s punishment suddenly confronts you, heed the call made through the Quran sent down from your Lord and follow it, so that you will not then have to say on the Day of Resurrection, “Woe to me for not following my Lord’s call and wasting my worldly life,” or be among those who writhe in remorse when they meet the punishment, saying, “If only I were given another chance to return to the world, so that I might be among those who strive heart and soul to win my Lord’s good pleasure.”

Then Allah will say to such people: “No, it is far too late now. When My verses reached you plainly in your worldly lives, you called them lies, swaggered, grew arrogant, and turned your backs.”

On the Day of Resurrection you will see the faces of those who turned away from Allah’s verses turned pitch-black. The destination of these people, who associate partners with Allah and are ungrateful to Him, will of course be Hell.

But those who strive heart and soul to fulfill consciously their responsibilities toward Allah, Allah will protect, watch over, and bring to the salvation and happiness they deserve. In the Hereafter punishment will be far from them, and they will never grieve.

Allah is the sole Authority who creates everything, gives everyone the recompense they deserve, settles each in the place he is worthy of, and is absolutely sound in His judgment. Sovereignty over the heavens and the earth belongs to Him; their keys are with Him. As for those who reject Allah’s call, it is they who will lose and suffer ruin.

Say: “O you who have conditioned yourselves to cover up the truth! Do you want me to give up the right path and serve someone other than Allah?”

O Prophet! As to you, so too to the prophets who came to the peoples before you, Allah revealed: “Never be among those who associate partners with Allah by taking other gods alongside Him. If you associate partners with Him, what you did in the name of goodness and kindness will go to waste. What is more, you will be among the losers in this world and the Hereafter. So turn to Allah, obey Him, and be among those who give Him thanks.”

Those who associate partners with Allah have not understood and grasped Allah, His knowledge and His power, as He deserves. On the Day of Resurrection, when they see what Allah has made of the earth and how He has rolled up and folded the sky, and come face to face with the truth, they will groan in remorse for associating partners with Him, and will have understood far too late that His power suffices for everything and that the authority to rule belongs to Allah alone.

When the Trumpet is blown to signal the Last Hour, all that is on the earth and in the heavens, except those Allah wills, will fall down dead; then the Trumpet will be blown again as the signal of the resurrection, and all the dead will be raised, rise from their places, and be made to await judgment.

On that day the light of your Lord’s justice will illuminate the place of gathering; the books of account, in which everyone’s deeds in their worldly lives were recorded, will be set out; and the prophets and the other witnesses will be brought forward. So people will be judged justly, and no one will be wronged. Allah knows best for whom, and by what standard, everyone made the choices of their worldly lives.

Those who called the call to the truth a lie will be driven to Hell in groups on the Day of Resurrection. When they reach the opened gates of Hell, its keepers will say to them: “Did there not come to you messengers from among you, reciting to you your Lord’s verses, conveying His messages, and warning you that this dreadful day would come?” They will say: “Yes, they came.” But the judgment on those who rejected Allah’s call and called the truth a lie will long since have been passed. Then they will be told, “Come now, enter through the gates of the Hell you have deserved, to remain in it forever.” For those who insolently grew arrogant and gave themselves airs regarding the call made through Allah’s verses, Hell is a dreadful place of punishment.

But those who did their utmost to win their Lord’s good pleasure will be led to Paradise in groups, and when they arrive there the gates will be opened, and the keepers of Paradise will say to them: “Peace be upon you; happiness is yours; welcome; enter the Paradise where you will abide forever.”

And those who enter Paradise will say, “Praise be to our Lord, who has kept His promise to us and let us know that we may settle wherever we wish in Paradise. How excellent is the reward of those who follow Allah’s call and strive for it!”

On That Day you will see the angels gathered around the seat of Allah’s sovereignty, remembering their Lord’s greatness with praise and thanks; and on That Day, too, judgment will be passed among people with justice, and praise and thanks will be offered to Allah, the Lord of all the worlds.