Surah 43. Az-Zukhruf

But whether We do [or do not] take thee away [ere thy message prevails] - verily, We shall inflict Our retribution on them;

  - Mohammad Asad

We shall surely inflict retribution on them, whether We take you away from this world,

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

And if We take thee away, We surely shall take vengeance on them;

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

and whether We show thee [or do not show thee in this world] the fulfilment of what We have promised them - verily, We have full power over them!

  - Mohammad Asad

or let you see their end, which We have promised them: surely We have full power over them.

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

Or (if) We show thee that wherewith We threaten them; for lo! We have complete command of them.

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

So hold fast to all that has been revealed to thee: for, behold, thou art on a straight way;

  - Mohammad Asad

Therefore, hold fast to this Qur'an which is reveled to you, surely you are on the Right Way.

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

So hold thou fast to that which is inspired in thee. Lo! thou art on a right path.

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

and, verily, this [revelation] shall indeed become [a source of] eminence for thee and thy people:³⁶ but in time you all will be called to account [for what you have done with it].³⁷

  - Mohammad Asad

For the above rendering of dhikr as "[a source of] eminence", see first half of note [13] on 21:10 .

The meaning is that on the Day of Judgment all prophets will be asked, metaphorically, as to what response they received from their people (cf. 5:109 ), and those who professed to follow them will be called to account for the spiritual and social use they made - or did not make - of the revelation conveyed to them: and thus, the "eminence" promised to the followers of Muhammad will depend on their actual behaviour and not on their mere profession of faith.

In fact this Qur'an is a reminder for you and your people; and you shall soon be questioned about it.

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

And lo! it is in truth a Reminder for thee and for thy folk; and ye will be questioned.

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

Yet [above all else,] ask any of Our apostles whom We sent forth before thy time³⁸ whether We have ever allowed that deities other than the Most Gracious be worshipped!

  - Mohammad Asad

I.e.. "look into the earlier revelations and ask thyself".

Ask those of Our Rasools whom We sent before you if We ever appointed other gods to be worshipped besides the Compassionate Allah?

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

And ask those of Our messengers whom We sent before thee: Did We ever appoint gods to be worshipped beside the Beneficent?

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

THUS, INDEED,³⁹ have We sent Moses with Our messages unto Pharaoh and his great ones; and he said: "Behold, I am an apostle of the Sustainer of all the worlds!"

  - Mohammad Asad

I.e., in pursuance of the principle, referred to above, that it is not permissible to worship anyone or anything but God.

We sent Musa with Our signs to Fir'on and his chiefs. He said to them: "I am a Rasool of the Rabb of the worlds."

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

And verily We sent Moses with Our revelations unto Pharaoh and his chiefs, and he said: I am a messenger of the Lord of the Worlds.

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

But as soon as he came before them with Our [miraculous] signs,⁴⁰ lo! they derided them,

  - Mohammad Asad

See note [94] on the last sentence of 6:109 .

When he showed them Our signs, they laughed at those signs.

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

But when he brought them Our tokens, behold! they laughed at them.

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

although each sign that We showed them was weightier than the preceding one: and [each time] We took them to task through suffering, so that they might return [to Us].⁴¹

  - Mohammad Asad

The concept of "returning" to God implies that the instinctive ability to perceive His existence is inherent in human nature as such, and that man's "turning away" from God is only a consequence of spiritual degeneration, and not an original tendency or predisposition: cf. {7:172-173}. The "suffering" ('adhab) mentioned above relates to the plagues with which the recalcitrant Egyptians were struck (see 7:130 ff.).

Yet We showed them sign after sign each greater than the one preceding it and We afflicted them with the scourge, so that they might return to the Right Way.

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

And every token that We showed them was greater than its sister (token), and we grasped them with the torment, that haply they might turn again.

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

And [every time] they exclaimed: "O thou sorcerer! Pray for us to thy Sustainer on the strength of the covenant [of prophethood] which He has made with thee: for, verily, we shall now follow the right way!"

  - Mohammad Asad

Each time they were seized by a scourge, they requested Musa: "O magician! Pray to your Rabb for us by virtue of the covenant He has made with you; we shall surely accept your guidance."

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

And they said: O wizard; Entreat thy Lord for us by the pact that He hath made with thee. Lo! we verily will walk aright.

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

But whenever We removed the suffering from them, lo! they would break their word.

  - Mohammad Asad

But each time We lifted the scourge from them, they broke their pledge.

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

But when We eased them of the torment, behold! they broke their word.

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

And Pharaoh issued a call to his people, saying: "O my people! Does not the dominion over Egypt belong to me, since all these running waters flow at my feet?⁴² Can you not, then, see [that I am your lord supreme]?

  - Mohammad Asad

Lit., "beneath me", i.e., "at my command": a reference to the imposing irrigation system originating in the Nile and controlled by royal power.

One day Fir'on made a proclamation among his people: "O my people! Is not the kingdom of Egypt mine? Are not these rivers flowing beneath me? Can you not see?

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

And Pharaoh caused a proclamation to be made among his people saying: O my people! Is not mine the sovereignty of Egypt and these rivers flowing under me? Can ye not then discern?

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

Am I not better than this contemptible man who can hardly make his meaning clear?⁴³

  - Mohammad Asad

An allusion to the impediment in speech from which Moses suffered (cf. {20:27-28} and the corresponding note [17]), or perhaps to the contents of his message, which to Pharaoh appeared unconvincing.

Am I not better than this despicable wretch, who can hardly express himself clearly?

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

I am surely better than this fellow, who is despicable, and can hardly make (his meaning) plain!

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

"And then - why have no golden armlets been bestowed on him?⁴⁴ - or why have no angels come together with him?"

  - Mohammad Asad

In ancient Egypt, golden armless and necklaces were regarded as princely insignia (cf. Genesis xii, 42), or at least as evidence of high social dignity. This is apparently an echo of the pagan objection to Muhammad, mentioned in verse {31} above: "Why was not this Qur'an bestowed from on high on some great man of the two cities?" The same is the case with the subsequent reference to the "absence of angels".

If he is really a Rasool then Why have no gold bracelets been given to him, or angels sent down to accompany him?"

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

Why, then, have armlets of gold not been set upon him, or angels sent along with him?

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

Thus he incited his people to levity, and they obeyed him: for, behold, they were people depraved!

  - Mohammad Asad

Thus did he incite his people and they obeyed him; surely they were a nation of transgressors.

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

Thus he persuaded his people to make light (of Moses), and they obeyed him. Lo! they were a wanton folk.

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

But when they continued to challenge Us, We inflicted Our retribution on them, and drowned them all:

  - Mohammad Asad

At last when they provoked Us, We inflicted retribution on them and drowned them all,

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

So, when they angered Us, We punished them and drowned them every one.

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

and so We made them a thing of the past, and an example to those who would come after them.

  - Mohammad Asad

and made them a lesson and an example for the later generations.

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

And We made them a thing past, and an example for those after (them).

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

NOW WHENEVER [the nature of] the son of Mary is set forth as an example, [O Muhammad,] lo! thy people raise an outcry on this score,

  - Mohammad Asad

When Maryam's son Isa (Jesus) is quoted as an example, your people raise a clamor at it,

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

And when the son of Mary is quoted as an example, behold! the folk laugh out,

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

and say, "Which is better - our deities or he?"⁴⁵ [But] it is only in the spirit of dispute that they put this comparison before thee: yea, they are contentious folk!⁴⁶

  - Mohammad Asad

Objecting to the Qur'anic condemnation of their idolatrous worship of angels - whom they describe here as "our deities" - the pagan Quraysh pointed to the parallel Christian worship of Jesus as "the son of God", and even as "God incarnate", and argued more or less thus: "The Qur'an states that Jesus was purely human - and yet the Christians, whom the same Qur'an describes as 'followers of earlier revelation' (ahl al-kitab), consider him divine. Hence, are we not rather justified in our worshipping angels, who are certainly superior to a mere human being?" The fallacy inherent in this "argument" is disposed of in the sequence.

Since the Qur'an condemns explicitly, and in many places, the deification of Jesus by the Christians, this unwarranted deification cannot be used as an argument in favour of the pagan worship of angels and, thus, against the Qur'an: in the words of Zamakhshari, such an argument amounts to "applying a false analogy to a false proposition" (qiyas basil bi-batil).

and say: "Are Our gods better or is he?" They cite this to you merely to provoke you. They are but a quarrelsome people.

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

And say: Are our gods better, or is he? They raise not the objection save for argument. Nay! but they are a contentious folk.

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

[As for Jesus,] he was nothing but [a human being -] a servant [of Ours] whom We had graced [with prophethood], and whom We made an example for the children of Israel.

  - Mohammad Asad

He (Jesus) was no more than a mortal whom We favored and made an example to the children of Israel.

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

He is nothing but a slave on whom We bestowed favor, and We made him a pattern for the Children of Israel.

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

And had We so willed, [O you who worship angels,] We could indeed have made you into angels succeeding one another on earth!⁴⁷

  - Mohammad Asad

Implying not only that Jesus was not a supernatural being, but that the angels, too, are mere created beings finite in their existence - as indicated by the phrase "succeeding one another" - and, therefore, utterly removed from the status of divinity (Baydawi).

Had it been Our will, We could create angels from you to succeed you in the earth.

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

And had We willed We could have set among you angels to be viceroys in the earth.

  - Marmaduke Pickthall