Surah 43. Az-Zukhruf

Ha. Mim¹

  - Mohammad Asad

See Appendix II.

Ha M'im.

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

Ha. Mim.

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

CONSIDER this divine writ, clear in itself and clearly showing the truth:²

  - Mohammad Asad

Regarding this rendering of the term mubin, see note [2] on 12:1 .

By the Glorious Book.

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

By the Scripture which maketh plain,

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

behold, We have caused it to be a discourse in the Arabic tongue, so that you might encompass it with your reason.³

  - Mohammad Asad

See note [3] on 12:3 .

We have revealed this Qur'an in the Arabic language so that you may understand its meanings.

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

Lo! We have appointed it a Lecture in Arabic that haply ye may understand.

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

And, verily, [originating as it does] in the source, with Us, of all revelation,⁴ it is indeed sublime, full of wisdom.

  - Mohammad Asad

Cf. last clause of 13:39 - "with Him ('indahu) is the source (umm) of all revelation". The term umm (lit., "mother") has often the idiomatic connotation of "origin" or "source" (asl), and sometimes - as in 3:7 - of "essence". In the present context, only the former meaning is applicable. See also note [11] on the last verse of surah {85}.

Surely, it is a transcript of the Mother Book in Our keeping, which is sublime and full of wisdom.

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

And lo! in the Source of Decrees, which We possess, it is indeed sublime, decisive,

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

[O YOU who deny the truth!] Should We, perchance, withdraw this reminder from you altogether, seeing that you are people bent on wasting your own selves?⁵.

  - Mohammad Asad

For this rendering of the term musrif, see note [21] on the last sentence of 10:12 . The above rhetorical question answers itself, of course, in the negative - implying that God never ceases to "remind" the sinner through His revelations, and always accepts repentance.

Should We take this Reminder away from you and ignore you because you are a nation who has transgressed all limits?

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

Shall We utterly ignore you because ye are a wanton folk?

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

And how many a prophet did We send to people of olden times!

  - Mohammad Asad

And how many Prophets have We sent among the ancient peoples?

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

How many a Prophet did We send among the men of old!

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

But never yet came a prophet to them without their deriding him -

  - Mohammad Asad

Never did it happen that a Prophet came to his people and they did not mock at him.

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

And never came there unto them a Prophet but they used to mock him.

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

and so, [in the end,] We destroyed them [even though they were] of greater might than these:⁶ and the [very] image of those people of old became a thing of the past.

  - Mohammad Asad

I.e., than the people addressed in verse {5} above.

So We destroyed them, though they were stronger in power than these people, and provided an example in the case of prior people.

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

Then we destroyed men mightier than these in prowess; and the example of the men of old hath gone (before them).

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

Yet thus it is [with most people]: if⁷ thou ask them, "Who is it that has created the heavens and the earth?" - they will surely answer, "The Almighty, the All-Knowing has created them."

  - Mohammad Asad

See surah {30}, note [45].

If you ask them: "Who has created the heavens and the earth?" They will surely say: "They have been created by the All-Mighty, the All-Knowledgeable."

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

And if thou (Muhammad) ask them: Who created the heavens and the earth, they will surely answer: The Mighty, the Knower created them;

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

He it is who has made the earth a cradle for you, and has provided for you ways [of livelihood] thereon,⁸ so that you might follow the right path.

  - Mohammad Asad

Cf. 20:53 .

The One Who has made the earth a resting place for you and traced out routs upon it so that you may find your ways.

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

Who made the earth a resting place for you, and placed roads for you therein, that haply ye may find your way;

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

And He it is who sends down, again and again,⁹ waters from the sky in due measure: and [as] We raise therewith dead land to life, even thus will you be brought forth [from the dead].

  - Mohammad Asad

The grammatical form nazzala implies here recurrence: hence, "again and again".

The One Who sends down rain from the sky in due measure and thereby resurrects a dead land - that's how you shall be brought forth (raised to life again).

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

And who sendeth down water from the sky in (due) measure, and We revive a dead land therewith. Even so will ye be brought forth;

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

And He it is who has created all opposite.¹⁰ And He [it is who] has provided for you all those ships and animals whereon you ride,

  - Mohammad Asad

Lit., "all pairs". Some commentators regard the term azwaj as synonymous in this context with "kinds" (Baghawi, Zamakhshari, Baydawi, Ibn Kathir): i.e., they take the above phrase to mean no more than that God created all kinds of things, beings and phenomena. Others (e.g., Tabari) see in it a reference to the polarity evident in all creation. Ibn'Abbas (as quoted by Razi) says that it denotes the concept of opposites in general, like "sweet and sour, or white and black, or male and female"; to which Razi adds that everything in creation has its complement, "like high and low, right and left, front and back, past and future, being and attribute", etc., whereas God - and He alone - is unique, without anything that could be termed "opposite" or "similar" or "complementary". Hence, the above sentence is an echo of the statement that "there is nothing that could be compared with Him" ( 112:4 ).

The One Who has created all living things in pairs and made for you the ships and cattle on which you ride

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

He who created all the pairs, and appointed for you ships and cattle whereupon ye ride.

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

in order that you might gain mastery over them,¹¹ and that whenever you have mastered them, you might remember your Sustainer's blessings and say: "Limitless in His glory is He who has made [all] this subservient to our use - since [but for Him,] we would not have been able to attain to it.

  - Mohammad Asad

Lit., "over its backs" - i.e., according to all classical commentators, the "backs" of the above-mentioned animals and ships alike, the singular form of the pronoun ("its") relating to the collective entity comprised in the concept of "all whereon you ride" (ma tarkabun): in other words, "all that you use or may use by way of transport". As regards my rendering of li-tasta'u as "so that you might gain mastery", I should like to point out that the verb istawa (lit., "he established himself") has often the connotation adopted by me: see Jawhari, Raghib and Lisan al-'Arab, art. sawa; also Lane IV, 1478.

so that you may firmly sit on their backs, then as you mount, recall the goodness of your Rabb and say: "Glory be to Him Who has subjected these to Our use, otherwise We could not have brought them under our control,

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

That ye may mount upon their backs, and may remember your Lord's favor when ye mount thereon, and may say: Glorified be He Who hath subdued these unto us, and we were not capable (of subduing them);

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

Hence, verily, it is unto Him that we must always turn."

  - Mohammad Asad

and to our Rabb we shall all return."

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

And lo! unto our Lord we are returning.

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

AND YET,¹² they attribute to Him offspring from among some of the beings created by Him!¹³ Verily,most obviously bereft of all gratitude is man!

  - Mohammad Asad

I.e., despite the fact that most people readily admit that God has created all that exists (verse {9} above), some of them tend to forget His uniqueness.

Lit., "attribute to Him a part out of [some of] His creatures ('ibad)": cf. 6:100 and the corresponding notes. The noun juz' (lit., "part") evidently denotes here "a part of Himself", as implied in the concept of "offspring"; hence my rendering. If, on the other hand, juz' is understood in its literal sense, the above sentence could have (as Razi assumes) a more general meaning, namely, "they attribute a part of His divinity to some of the beings created by Him". However, in view of the sequence, which clearly refers to the blasphemous attribution of "offspring" to God, my rendering seems to be preferable.

Yet inspite of recognizing all this, they have made some of His servants to be a part of Him! Surely mankind is clearly ungrateful.

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

And they allot to Him a portion of His bondmen! Lo! man is verily a mere ingrate.

  - Marmaduke Pickthall