Surah 43. Az-Zukhruf

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

'Imagine' how many prophets We sent to those 'destroyed' before!

  - Mustafa Khattab

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

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

But how many were the prophets We sent amongst the peoples of old? ⁴⁶⁰⁸

  - Abdullah Yusuf Ali

In spite of, or because of, man's obstinate and rebellious nature, Allah sent prophet after prophet to the peoples of old, but there was among them always a party that ridiculed them and treated Allah's Signs as naught.

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

But no prophet ever came to them without being mocked.

  - Mustafa Khattab

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

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

And never came there a prophet to them but they mocked him.

  - Abdullah Yusuf Ali

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

So We destroyed those who were far mightier than these 'Meccans'. The examples of 'their' predecessors have 'already' been related.¹

  - Mustafa Khattab

 For example, in the stories of the people of Noah, Lot, Shu’aib and other nations that were destroyed, found throughout the Quran.

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

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

So We destroyed (them) stronger in power than these and (thus) has passed on the Parable of the peoples of old. ⁴⁶⁰⁹

  - Abdullah Yusuf Ali

The result of rebellion was destruction. And the pagan Makkan generation contemporary with the Prophet are reminded that the peoples of old who were destroyed were, many of them, more powerful than they, and that they, in disobeying Allah's Law, were inviting the same fate for themselves. The events of the past have become examples for the present and the future.

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

If you ask them 'O Prophet' who created the heavens and the earth, they will certainly say, 'The Almighty, All-Knowing did.'

  - Mustafa Khattab

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

If thou wert to question them `Who created the heavens and the earth?' They would be sure to reply `They were created by (Him) the Exalted in Power Full of knowledge' ^{4610 4611}

  - Abdullah Yusuf Ali

Cf. xxix. 61 and n. 3493; and xxxi. 25 and n. 3613. This class of men acknowledge Allah's Power and Allah's Knowledge or Wisdom, but do not realise Allah's infinite Mercy and care for His creatures.

Note the beautiful rhetorical figure of speech here. The reply of the inconsistent men who do not follow Allah's Law is turned against themselves. When they acknowledge Allah's Power and Knowledge, their speech is interrupted, and the concomitant qualities of Allah's Mercy and care of His creatures, with pointed reference to the inconsistent ones themselves, is set out in eloquent terms, as completing what they themselves had said, and the right course of conduct is pointed out to them (verses 10-14).

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

'He is the One' Who has laid out the earth for you, and set in it pathways for you so that you may find your way.

  - Mustafa Khattab

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

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

(Yea the same that) has made for you the earth (like a carpet) spread out and has made for you roads (and channels) therein in order that ye may find guidance (on the way); ^{4612 4613}

  - Abdullah Yusuf Ali

See last note.

Cf. xx. 53 and n. 2576. Mihad, a carpet or bed spread out, implies not only freedom of movement but rest also. The 'roads and channels' carry out the idea of communications and include land routes, sea routes, and airways.

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 'He is the One' Who sends down rain from the sky in perfect measure, with which We give life to a lifeless land. And so will you be brought forth 'from the grave'.

  - Mustafa Khattab

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

That sends down (from time to time rain from the sky in due measure; and We raise to life therewith a land that is dead; even so will ye be raised (from the dead) ^{4614 4615}

  - Abdullah Yusuf Ali

In due measure: i.e., according to needs, as measured by local as well as universal considerations. This applies to normal rainfall: floods and droughts are abnormal conditions, and may be called unusual manifestations of His power, fulfilling some special purpose that we may or may not understand.

The clause 'And We raise...(from the dead)' is parenthetical. Cf. xxxv. 9, n. 3881. Note the transition from the third to the first person, to mark the Resurrection as a special act of Allah as distinguished from the ordinary processes of nature ordained by Allah.

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

And 'He is the One' Who created all 'things in' pairs,¹ and made for you ships and animals to ride

  - Mustafa Khattab

 For example, male and female, sweet and bitter, day and night, plains and mountains, heat and cold, light and darkness.

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

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

That has created pairs in all things and has made for you ships and cattle on which ye ride ^{4616 4617}

  - Abdullah Yusuf Ali

Cf. n. 2578 to xx. 53. Also see xxxvi. 36, n. 3981.

By analogy all means of transport, including horses, camels, ships, steamers, railways, aeroplanes, airships, etc. The domestication of animals as well as the invention of mechanical means of transport require a skill and ingenuity in man, which are referred to Allah as His gifts or endowments to man.

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

so that you may sit firmly on their backs, and remember your Lord's blessings once you are settled on them, saying, 'Glory be to the One Who has subjected these for us, for we could have never done so 'on our own'.

  - Mustafa Khattab

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

In order that ye may sit firm and square on their backs and when so seated ye may celebrate the (kind) favor of your Lord and say "Glory to Him Who has subjected these to Our (use) for We could never have accomplished this (by ourselves). ⁴⁶¹⁸

  - Abdullah Yusuf Ali

See last note. People of understanding attribute all good to its true and original source viz.: Allah.

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 surely to our Lord we will 'all' return.'

  - Mustafa Khattab

And lo! unto our Lord we are returning.

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

"And to Our Lord surely Must We turn back!" ⁴⁶¹⁹

  - Abdullah Yusuf Ali

Men of understanding, every time they take a journey on earth, are reminded of that more momentous journey which they are taking on the back of Time to Eternity. Have they tamed Time to their lawful use, or do they allow Time to run away with them wildly to where they know not? Their goal is Allah, and their thoughts are ever with Allah.

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

Still the pagans have made some of His creation out to be a part of Him.¹ Indeed, humankind is clearly ungrateful.

  - Mustafa Khattab

 See footnote for 37:149.

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

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

Yet they attribute to some of His servants a share with Him (in His godhead)! Truly is man a blasphemous ingrate avowed! ⁴⁶²⁰

  - Abdullah Yusuf Ali

As a contrast to the men of true understanding are the ungrateful blasphemous creatures, who offer a share to others besides Allah! They imagine sons and daughters to Allah, and forget the true lesson of the whole of Creation, which points to the Unity of Allah. This theme is further developed in the following Section.

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.