سورة Az-Zumar ( The Groups )

The revelation of the Book is from Allah, the Most Honourable, the Wise.

We have indeed divinely revealed the Book to you (O dear Prophet Mohammed – peace and blessings be upon him) with the truth, therefore worship Allah, as His sincere bondman.

Pay heed! Worship is for Allah only; and those who have taken others as their supporters beside Him say; “We worship* them only so that they get us closer to Allah”; Allah will surely judge between them regarding the matter in which they dispute; indeed Allah does not guide one who is a big liar, extremely ungrateful. (*The pagans regarded their idols as smaller Gods and worshipped them. So did the Christians. This does not apply to Muslims who only respect their elders, and ask for their blessings.)

Were Allah to create a son* for Himself, He would have chosen any one from His creation! Purity is to Him! He is Allah, the One, the All Dominant. (*Which is impossible.)

It is He Who created the heavens and the earth with the truth; He envelops the night over day and envelops the day over night, and He has subjected the sun and the moon; each one runs for its appointed term; pay heed! He only is the Most Honourable, the Oft Forgiving.

It is He Who created you from a single being, and then from the same being created its spouse, and sent down for you eight pairs of animals; He creates you in your mothers’ wombs, from one sort to another, in a triple darkness; such is Allah, your Lord – for Him only is the kingship; there is no God except Him; so where are you being turned away?

If you become ungrateful, then (know that) indeed Allah is Independent of you; and He does not like the ungratefulness of His bondmen; and if you give thanks, He is pleased with it for you; and no burdened soul will bear another soul’s burden; you have then to return towards your Lord – He will therefore inform you of what you used to do; undoubtedly, He knows what lies within the hearts.

And when some hardship strikes man, he prays to his Lord, inclined only towards Him – then when Allah grants him a favour from Himself, he forgets why he had prayed to Him earlier, and sets up equals to Allah in order to mislead from Allah’s way; proclaim, “Revel in your disbelief for some days; you are indeed of the people of the fire.”

Will he, whose night hours pass in obedience while prostrating and standing, fearing the Hereafter and hoping for the mercy of his Lord, ever be equal to the disobedient? Proclaim, “Are the knowledgeable and the ignorant equal?” It is only the men of intellect who heed advice.

Proclaim (O dear Prophet Mohammed – peace and blessings be upon him), “O my slaves who have accepted faith! Fear your Lord; for those who do good deeds in this world is goodness (in return); and Allah’s earth is spacious; it is the steadfast who will be paid their full reward, without account.”

Say, “I am commanded that I must worship Allah as His sincere bondman.” (And so must you too.)

“And I am commanded that I be the first to submit.”

Say, “Were I to disobey my Lord, I too would fear the punishment of the great Day (of Resurrection).”

Proclaim, “I worship only Allah, as His sincere bondman.”

“Therefore you can worship what you want besides Him!” Say, “The worst losers are those who will lose themselves and their household on the Day of Resurrection; pay heed! This is the plain loss!”

Above them are mountains of fire and beneath them are mountains of fire; Allah scares His bondmen with this; “O My bondmen! Fear Me!”

And those who stayed away from the worship of idols, and inclined towards Allah – for them are glad tidings; therefore give glad tidings to My bondmen. –

Those who heed attentively and follow the best from it; it is these whom Allah has guided, and it is these who have intelligence.

So will the one upon whom the Word of punishment has proved true, ever be equal to those who are forgiven? So will you guide and save the one who deserves the fire? (Because the hearts of some disbelievers are sealed).

But for those who fear their Lord, are the high chambers with more high chambers built above them – rivers flowing beneath them; a promise of Allah; Allah does not renege on His promise.

Did you not see that it is Allah Who sent down water from the sky, and then with it made springs in the earth, and then with it produces crops of various colours, and then it dries up and you see it has become yellow, and He then fragments them into small pieces; indeed in this is a reminder for people of intellect.

So will he whose bosom Allah has opened up for Islam – he is therefore upon a light from his Lord – ever be equal to one who is stone hearted? Therefore ruin is for those whose hearts are hardened towards the remembrance of Allah; they are in open error.

Allah has sent down the best of Books (the Holy Qur’an), which is consistent throughout, the one with paired statements; the hairs on the skins of those who fear their Lord, stand on end with it; then their skins and their hearts soften, inclined towards the remembrance of Allah; this is the guidance of Allah, He may guide whomever He wills with it; and whomever Allah sends astray, there is no guide for him.

So will he who will not have a shield except his own face against the wretched punishment on the Day of Resurrection, ever be equal to one who is forgiven? And it will be said to the unjust, “Taste what you have earned!”

Those before them had denied, therefore the punishment came to them from a place they did not know.

So Allah made them taste humiliation in the life of this world; and indeed the punishment of the Hereafter is the greatest; if only they knew!

And We have indeed illustrated examples of all kinds in this Qur’an, so that they may ponder.

The Qur’an in Arabic, having no deviation at all, so that they may be pious.

Allah illustrates an example – “A man having several wicked masters as partners, and another man belonging wholly to just one master; are the two equal in comparison?” All praise is to Allah; in fact, most among them do not know.

Indeed you (O dear Prophet Mohammed – peace and blessings be upon him) will taste death, and they (the disbelievers) too will die.

Then you will dispute before your Lord on the Day of Resurrection.

So who is more unjust than one who fabricates a lie against Allah, and denies the truth when it comes to him? Is not the destination of disbelievers in hell?

And those who brought this truth and those who testify for it – these are the pious.

For them is whatever they wish, before their Lord; this is the reward of the virtuous.

So that Allah may relieve them of their worst deeds, and reward them for the best deeds they had done.

Is not Allah Sufficient for His slave? And they threaten you with others beside Him! And whomever Allah sends astray – there is no guide for him.

And no one can mislead whomever Allah guides; is not Allah the Most Honourable, the Avenger?

And if you ask them, “Who has created the heavens and the earth?”, they will surely say, “Allah”; say, “What is your opinion regarding those whom you worship other than Allah – if Allah wills to cause me some hardship, so will they avert the hardship sent by Him? Or if He wills to have mercy upon me, so will they restrain His mercy?” Proclaim, “Allah is Sufficient for me; the people who trust must rely only upon Him.”

Proclaim, “O my people! Keep on with your works in your positions, I am doing mine; so you will soon come to know.” –

“To whom will come a punishment that will disgrace, and upon whom descends the punishment that never ends.”

We have indeed sent down this Book to you with the truth, in order to guide mankind; so whoever attains guidance has attained it is for his own good, and whoever strays, has strayed for his own harm; and you are not at all responsible for them.

It is Allah Who gives death* to living beings at the time of their demise, and to those who do not die, during their sleep; so He restrains the soul on which the decree of death has been passed, and leaves the other till the appointed term; indeed in this are signs for people who reflect. (*Death is of 2 types – passing to the next world, and sleeping.)

What! Have they chosen intercessors against Allah? Proclaim, “What! Even if they do not own anything nor have any intelligence?”

Proclaim, “To Allah only* belongs all the intercession! For Him only is the kingship of the heavens and the earth; and then it is towards you have to return.” (*Allah does not intercede – He gives the permission to intercede with Him, to whomever He wills.)

And when Allah the One God is mentioned, the hearts of those who do not believe in the Hereafter get constricted; and when others (false deities) besides Him are mentioned, they rejoice!

Invoke (O dear Prophet Mohammed – peace and blessings be upon him), “O Allah! The Creator of the heavens and the earth, the All Knowing of all the hidden and the open, You will judge between Your bondmen, regarding the matters in which they differed.”

And if the unjust owned all that is in the earth, and another one in addition to it, they would surely give it in exchange for freedom from the wretched punishment on the Day of Resurrection; and a matter which they had never imagined, appeared to them from their Lord.

And the evils they earned appeared to them, and the thing they used to mock at descended upon them.

So when some hardship reaches man, he prays to Us; then later when We bestow a favour upon him, he says, “I obtained this only because of some knowledge”; in fact it is a test, but most of them do not have any knowledge.

Those before them also said the same, so their earnings did not benefit them at all.

Therefore the evils of their earnings befell them; and those who are unjust among them – soon the evils of the earnings will befall them, and they cannot escape.

Do they not know that Allah eases the sustenance for whomever He wills, and restricts it? Indeed in this are signs for the People who Believe.

Proclaim (O dear Prophet Mohammed – peace and blessings be upon him), “O my* slaves, who have wronged themselves, do not lose hope in Allah’s mercy; indeed Allah forgives all sins; indeed He only is the Oft Forgiving, the Most Merciful.” (All Muslims are truly the slaves of Prophet Mohammed – peace and blessings be upon him.)

“And incline towards your Lord and submit to Him, before the punishment comes you and then you may not be helped.”

“And follow this, the best among all, which has been sent down towards you from your Lord, before the punishment comes suddenly upon you whilst you are unaware.”

So that no soul may say, “Alas! The failures that I committed regarding Allah – and indeed I used to mock!”

Or (so that no soul) may say, “If Allah had shown me the right path, I would then be among the pious!”

Or (so that no soul) may say when it beholds the punishment, “If only I may be sent back, so that I may do good deeds!”

It will be said to him, “Surely yes, why not?* My signs did come to you, so you denied them and you were haughty and you were a disbeliever.” (They will be mocked at.)

And you will see on the Day of Resurrection the fabricators of lies against Allah, with their faces blackened; is not the destination of the haughty in hell?

And Allah will rescue the pious, to their place of salvation; neither will the punishment touch them, nor shall they grieve.

Allah is Creator of all things; and He only is the Controller of all things.

For Him only are the keys of the heavens and the earth; and those who denied the signs of Allah – it is they who are the losers.

Say (O dear Prophet Mohammed – peace and blessings be upon him) “So do you instruct me to worship (deities) other than Allah? You ignorant fools!”

And it was indeed revealed to you and to those before you; that, “O listener! If you ascribe a partner to Allah, all your deeds will go to waste and you will surely be a loser.”

But rather worship only Allah, and be among the thankful!

And they did not realise the importance of Allah as was His right; and on the Day of Resurrection, He will compress the lands and the heavens will be rolled up by His power; Purity and Supremacy are to Him, from all what they ascribe as partners.

And the Trumpet will be blown, so everyone in the heavens and everyone in the earth will fall unconscious, except whomever* Allah wills; it will then be blown again, thereupon they will get up staring! (*Prophet Moosa and / or some angels).

And the earth will shine bright by the light of its Lord, and the Book will be established, and the Prophets and this Noble Prophet and the witnesses upon them from this nation will be brought, and it will be judged between them with the truth, and they will not be wronged.

And every soul will be repaid for its deeds in full, and He knows very well what they used to do.

And the disbelievers will be herded towards hell in groups; to the extent that when they reach it, its gates will be opened, and its guards will say to them, “Did not the Noble Messengers come to you from amongst you, who used to recite to you the verses of your Lord and warn you of confronting this Day?” They will say, “Yes indeed, why not?” But the Word of punishment proved true upon the disbelievers.

It will be said, “Enter the gates of hell to remain in it forever”; so what a wretched destination for the haughty!

And the mounts of those who feared their Lord will be led towards Paradise, in groups; to the extent that when they reach it, its gates will be opened and its guards will say to them, “Peace be upon you! You have done well! Therefore enter Paradise, to abide in it forever.”

And they will say, “All praise is to Allah, Who has made His promise to us come true, and has bequeathed us this land, to stay in Paradise wherever we wish!” So what an excellent reward for the performers!

And you will see the angels gathered around the Throne, saying the Purity of their Lord, with praise; and a true judgement will be delivered between the people, and it will be said, “All praise is to Allah, the Lord Of The Creation!”