Surah 43. Az-Zukhruf

Or [do you think], perchance, that out of all His creation He has chosen for Himself daughters, and favoured you with sons?¹⁴

  - Mohammad Asad

It should be remembered that the people thus addressed were the pagan Arabs, who believed that some of their goddesses, as well as the angels, were "God's daughters". In view of the fact that those pre-Islamic Arabs regarded daughters as a mere liability and their birth as a disgrace, this verse is obviously ironical. (Cf. in this connection {16:57-59}.)

Would Allah choose daughters (pagan Arabs believed that angels were the daughters of Allah) for Himself out of what He Himself creates and gives you sons?

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

Has He taken 'angels as His' daughters from what He created, and favoured you 'O pagans' with sons?

  - Mustafa Khattab

Or chooseth He daughters of all that He hath created, and honoureth He you with sons?

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

What! Has He taken Daughters out of what He Himself creates and granted to you sons for choice? ⁴⁶²¹

  - Abdullah Yusuf Ali

To imagine goddesses (female gods) or mothers or daughters to Allah was particularly blasphemous in the mouths of people who held the female sex in contempt. Such were the pagan Arabs, and such (it is to be feared) are some of the moderns. They wince when a daughter is born to them and hanker after sons. With that mentality, how can they attribute daughters to Allah?

For [thus it is:] if any of them is given the glad tiding of [the birth of] what he so readily attributes to the Most Gracious,¹⁵ his face darkens, and he is filled with suppressed anger:

  - Mohammad Asad

Lit., "what he postulates as a likeness of [or "as likely for"] the Most Gracious": i.e., female offspring, which implies a natural "likeness" to its progenitor.

Yet when a new born-girl - the gender that they ascribe to the Compassionate - is announced to one of them, his face darkens and he is filled with grief.

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

Whenever one of them is given the good news of what they attribute to the Most Compassionate,¹ his face grows gloomy, as he suppresses his rage.

  - Mustafa Khattab

 i.e., the birth of a baby girl.

And if one of them hath tidings of that which he likeneth to the Beneficent One, his countenance becometh black and he is full of inward rage.

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

When news is brought to one of them of (the birth of) what he sets up as a likeness to (Allah) Most Gracious his face darkens and he is filled with inward grief! ⁴⁶²²

  - Abdullah Yusuf Ali

Cf. xvi. 57-59 and notes. With scathing irony it is pointed out that what they hate and are ashamed of for themselves they attribute to Allah!

"What! [Am I to have a daughter -] one who is to be reared [only] for the sake of ornament?"¹⁶ - and thereupon he finds himself torn by a vague inner conflict.¹⁷

  - Mohammad Asad

I.e., one who, from the viewpoint of the pre-Islamic Arabs, would have no function other than "embellishing" a man's life.

Lit., "he finds himself in an invisible (ghayr mubin) conflict" - i.e., an inner conflict which he does not quite admit to his consciousness: cf. 16:59 - "he debates within himself:] Shall he keep this child despite the contempt [which he feels for it] - or shall he bury it in the dust?" (See also, in particular, the corresponding note [66].)

Do they ascribe to Allah, the female gender who is brought up among trinkets and is unable to make herself clear in disputation?

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

'Do they attribute to Him' those who are brought up in fineries and are not commanding in disputes?

  - Mustafa Khattab

(Liken they then to Allah) that which is bred up in outward show, and in dispute cannot make itself plain?

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

Is then one brought up among trinkets and unable to give a clear account in a dispute (to be associated with Allah)? ⁴⁶²³

  - Abdullah Yusuf Ali

The softer sex is usually brought up among trinkets and ornaments, and, on account of the retiring modesty which for the sex is a virtue, is unable to stand up boldly in a fight and give clear indications of the will to win. Is that sort of quality to be associated with Allah?

And [yet] they claim that the angels - who in themselves are but beings created by the Most Gracious¹⁸ - are females: [but] did they witness their creation? This false claim of theirs¹⁹ will be recorded, and they will be called to account [for it on Judgment Day]!

  - Mohammad Asad

Or: "who are but worshippers [or "creatures"] ('ibad ) of the Most Gracious" - in either case stressing their having been created and, hence, not being divine.

Lit., "their testimony", i.e., regarding the "sex" of the angels, who are spiritual in nature (Razi) and, therefore, sexless.

They regard the angels, who are themselves servants of the Compassionate, as female divinities. Did they witness their creation? They should know that their testimony shall be noted down and they shall be called to account for it.

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

Still they have labelled the angels, who are servants of the Most Compassionate, as female. Did they witness their creation? Their statement will be recorded, and they will be questioned!

  - Mustafa Khattab

And they make the angels, who are the slaves of the Beneficent, females. Did they witness their creation? Their testimony will be recorded and they will be questioned.

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

And they make into females angels who themselves serve Allah. Did they witness their creation? Their evidence will be recorded and they will be called to account! ⁴⁶²⁴

  - Abdullah Yusuf Ali

Angels for grace and purity may be compared to the most graceful and the purest forms we know. But it is wrong to attribute sex to them. They are servants and messengers of Allah and so far from being rivals seeking worship, are always engaged in devotion and service. If any persons invent blasphemies about Allah, such blasphemies will form a big blot in their Book of Deeds, and they will be called to account for them.

Yet they say, "Had [not] the Most Gracious so willed, we would never have worshipped them!" [But] they cannot have any knowledge of [His having willed] such a thing: they do nothing but guess.²⁰

  - Mohammad Asad

I.e., they cannot have any "knowledge" of something that is devoid of all reality - because, far from having "willed" their sin, God had left it to their free will to make a moral choice between right and wrong. (See in this connection surah {6}, note [143].)

They say: "Had it been the will of the Compassionate, We should never have worshipped them." They have no knowledge about that; they are merely guessing.

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

And they argue, 'Had the Most Compassionate willed, we would have never worshipped them.' They have no knowledge 'in support' of this 'claim'. They do nothing but lie.

  - Mustafa Khattab

And they say: If the Beneficent One had (so) willed, we should not have worshipped them. They have no knowledge whatsoever of that. They do but guess.

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

("Ah!") they say "If it had been the will of (Allah) Most Gracious We should not have worshipped such (deities)!" of that they have no knowledge! They Do nothing but lie! ^{4625 4626}

  - Abdullah Yusuf Ali

Worsted in argument they resort to a dishonest sarcasm. 'We worship these deities: if Allah does not wish us to do so, why does He not prevent us?' In throwing the responsibility on Allah, they ignore the limited free-will on which their whole life is based. They are really playing with truth. They are arguing against their own knowledge. They have no authority in any scripture, and indeed they are so slippery that they hold fast to no scripture at all.

Cf. vi. 116.

Or have We, perchance, vouchsafed them, before this one, a revelation [to the contrary,] to which they are still holding fast?²¹

  - Mohammad Asad

I.e., a revelation which would allow man to worship other beings beside God, or to attribute "offspring" to Him: a rhetorical question implying its own negation.

Or have We given them a Book before this to which they hold authority for their angel-worshipping?

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

Or have We given them a Book 'for proof', before this 'Quran', to which they are holding firm?

  - Mustafa Khattab

Or have We given them any Scripture before (this Qur'an) so that they are holding fast thereto?

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

What! have We given them a Book before this to which they are holding fast?

  - Abdullah Yusuf Ali

Nay, but they say, "Behold, We found our forefathers agreed on what to believe - and, verily, it is in their footsteps that we find our guidance!"

  - Mohammad Asad

The only argument they have is to say: "We found our forefathers practicing this faith and we are walking in their footsteps."

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

In fact, they say, 'We found our forefathers following a 'particular' way, and we are following in their footsteps.'

  - Mustafa Khattab

Nay, for they say only: Lo! we found our fathers following a religion, and we are guided by their footprints.

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

Nay! they say: "We found Our fathers following a certain religion and We do guide ourselves by their footsteps." ⁴⁶²⁷

  - Abdullah Yusuf Ali

Then comes the argument about ancestral custom, which was repudiated by Abraham (see verses 26-28 below). Indeed a good reply to ancestral custom in the case of the Arabs was the example of Abraham, the True in Faith, for Abraham was the common ancestor of the Arabs and the Israelites.

And thus it is: whenever We sent, before thy time, a warner to any community, those of its people who had lost themselves entirely in the pursuit of pleasures²² would always say, "Behold, we found our forefathers agreed on what to believe - and, verily, it is but in their footsteps that we follow!"²³

  - Mohammad Asad

For this rendering of the term mutraf (derived from the verb tarafa), see note [147] on 11:116 .

Commenting on this passage, Razi says: "Had there been in the Qur'an nothing but these verses, they would have sufficed to show the falsity of the principle postulating [a Muslim's] blind, unquestioning adoption of [another person's] religious opinions (ibtal al -qawl bi't-taqlid ): for, God has made it clear [in these verses] that those deniers of the truth had not arrived at their convictions by way of reason, and neither on the clear authority of a revealed text, but solely by blindly adopting the opinions of their forebears and predecessors; and all this God has mentioned in terms of blame and sharp disparagement."

Even so, whenever We sent a Warner before you to forewarn a nation, its affluent people said: "We found our forefathers practicing this faith and surely we are going to follow their footsteps."

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

Similarly, whenever We sent a warner to a society before you 'O Prophet', its 'spoiled' elite would say, 'We found our forefathers following a 'particular' way, and we are walking in their footsteps.'

  - Mustafa Khattab

And even so We sent not a warner before thee (Muhammad) into any township but its luxurious ones said: Lo! we found our fathers following a religion, and we are following their footprints.

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

Just in the same way whenever We sent a Warner before thee to any people the wealthy ones among them said: "We found Our fathers following a certain religion and We will certainly follow in their footsteps." ⁴⁶²⁸

  - Abdullah Yusuf Ali

It is some privileged position, and not ancestral custom, which is really at the bottom of much falsehood and hypocrisy in the world. This has been again and again in religious history.

[Whereupon each prophet] would say,²⁴ "Why, even though I bring you a guidance better than that which you found your forefathers believing in?" - [to which] the others would reply, "Behold, we deny that there is any truth in [what you claim to be] your messages!"

  - Mohammad Asad

Whereas in some of the readings of the Qur'an the opening word of this verse is vocalized as an imperative, qul ("say"), the reading of Hafs ibn Sulayman al-Asadi - on which this translation is based - gives the pronounciation qala ("he said" or, since it is a repeated occurrence, "he would say").

Each Warner asked: "What if I bring you better guidance than that which your forefathers practiced?" But they replied: "Well! We reject the faith with which you have been sent."

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

Each 'warner' asked, 'Even if what I brought you is better guidance than what you found your forefathers practicing?' They replied, 'We totally reject whatever you have been sent with.'

  - Mustafa Khattab

(And the warner) said: What! Even though I bring you better guidance than that ye found your fathers following? They answered: Lo! in what ye bring we are disbelievers.

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

He said: "What! even if I brought you better guidance than that which ye found your fathers following?" They said: "For us We deny that ye (prophets) are sent (on a mission at all)." ⁴⁶²⁹

  - Abdullah Yusuf Ali

The Warner or messenger pointed out the merits and the truth of his teaching, and how superior it was to what they called their ancestral customs. But they denied his mission itself or the validity of any such mission. In other words they did not believe in inspiration or revelation, and went on in their evil ways, with the inevitable result that they brought themselves to destruction.

And so We inflicted Our retribution on them: and behold what happened in the end to those who gave the lie to the truth!

  - Mohammad Asad

Consequently, We inflicted Our retribution on them; then see what was the end of those who disbelieved?

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

So We inflicted punishment upon them. See then what was the fate of the deniers!

  - Mustafa Khattab

So We requited them. Then see the nature of the consequence for the rejecters!

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

So We exacted retribution from them: now see what was the end of those who rejected (Truth)!

  - Abdullah Yusuf Ali

AND WHEN Abraham spoke to his father and his people, [he had this very truth in mind:²⁵] "Verily, far be it from me to worship what you worship!

  - Mohammad Asad

Namely, the inadmissibility of blindly accepting the religious views s anctioned by mere ancestral tradition and thus prevalent in one's environment, and regarding them as valid even though they may conflict with one's reason and/or divine revelation. Abraham's search after truth is mentioned several times in the Qur'an, and particularly in 6:74 ff. and 21:51 ff.

Behold! Ibrahim said to his father and his people: "I renounce the gods you worship,

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

'Remember, O Prophet' when Abraham declared to his father and his people, 'I am totally free of whatever 'gods' you worship,

  - Mustafa Khattab

And when Abraham said unto his father and his folk: Lo! I am innocent of what ye worship

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

Behold! Abraham said to his father and his people: "I do indeed clear myself of what ye worship: ⁴⁶³⁰

  - Abdullah Yusuf Ali

The plea of ancestral ways is refuted by the example of Abraham, in two ways: (1) he gave up the ancestral cults followed by his father and people, and followed the true Way, even at some sacrifice to himself; and (2) he was an ancestor of the Arabs, and if the Arabs stood on ancestral ways, why should they not follow their good ancestor Abraham, rather than their bad ancestors who fell into evil? See n. 4627 above. The incident in Abraham's story referred to here will be found in xxi. 51-70.

None [do I worship] but Him who has brought me into being: and, behold, it is He who will guide me!"

  - Mohammad Asad

except Him Who created me, for He will surely guide me."

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

except the One Who originated me, and He will surely guide me.'

  - Mustafa Khattab

Save Him Who did create me, for He will surely guide me.

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

"(I worship) only Him Who made me and He will certainly guide me."

  - Abdullah Yusuf Ali

And he uttered this as a word destined to endure among those who would come after him, so that they might [always] return [to it].

  - Mohammad Asad

And he left this statement as an abiding precept among his descendants, so that they should turn to it.

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

And he left this enduring declaration among his descendants, so they may 'always' turn back 'to Allah'.¹

  - Mustafa Khattab

 See 2:130-132.

And he made It a word enduring among his seed, that haply they might return.

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

And he left it as a Word to endure among those who came after him that they may turn back (to Allah). ⁴⁶³¹

  - Abdullah Yusuf Ali

A Word: i.e., the Gospel of Unity, viz.: "I worship only Him who originated me", as in verse 27. This was his teaching, and this was his legacy to those who followed him. He hoped that they would keep it sacred, and uphold the standard of Unity. Cf. xxxvii. 108-1 1 1.

Now [as for those who did come after him,] I allowed them - as [I had allowed] their forebears - to enjoy their lives freely until the truth should come unto them through an apostle who would make all things clear:²⁶

  - Mohammad Asad

I.e., God did not impose on them any moral obligations before making the meaning of right and wrong clear to them through a revealed message. Primarily, this is an allusion to the pagan contemporaries of the Prophet, and to the prosperity which they had been allowed to enjoy for a long time (cf. 21:44 ); in its wider sense, however, this passage implies that God would never call people to task for any wrong they may have done so long as they have not been clearly shown how to discriminate between good and evil (cf. {6:131-132}).

But they started worshipping others, and rather than punishing I kept on providing them and their forefathers the comfort of this life, until there came to them the truth and a Rasool to expound it clearly.

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

In fact, I had allowed enjoyment for these 'Meccans' and their forefathers, until the truth came to them along with a messenger making things clear.

  - Mustafa Khattab

Nay, but I let these and their fathers enjoy life (only) till there should come unto them the Truth and a messenger making plain.

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

Yea I have given the good things of this life to these (men) and their fathers until the Truth has come to them and an Apostle making things clear. ⁴⁶³²

  - Abdullah Yusuf Ali

Note the first person singular, as showing Allah's personal solicitude and care for the descendants of Abraham in both branches. The context here refers to the prosperity enjoyed by Makkah and the Makkans until they rejected the truth of Islam when it was preached in their midst by a messenger whose Message was as clear as the light of the sun.

but now that the truth has come to them, they say, "All this is mere spellbinding eloquence²⁷ - and, behold, we deny that there is any truth in it!"

  - Mohammad Asad

See note [12] on 74:24 , where this connotation of sihr appears for the first time in the course of Qur'anic revelation.

But now when the truth has came to them, they say: "This is magic and we do not believe it."

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

'But' when the truth came to them, they said, 'This is magic, and we totally reject it.'

  - Mustafa Khattab

And now that the Truth hath come unto them they say: This is mere magic, and lo! we are disbelievers therein.

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

But when the Truth came to them they said: "This is sorcery and We do reject it." ⁴⁶³³

  - Abdullah Yusuf Ali

When the pagan Makkans could not understand the wonderful power and authority with which the holy Prophet preached, they called his God given influence sorcery!