Surah 39: Az-Zumar
The Holy Qur’an with English Translation and Commentary (Five Volume Commentary)
[a]In the name of Allah, the Gracious, the Merciful.[3439]
[3439] Commentary:
See 1:1.
[a] See 1:1.
[b]The revelation of this Book is from Allah, the Mighty, the Wise.[3439A]
[3439A] Commentary:
The principal theme of this Surah, as of its five predecessors, is Divine revelation with a pointed reference to the revelation of the Holy Qur’an. See also Introduction to the Surah.
[b] 32:3; 36:6; 40:3; 41:3; 46:3.
[c]Surely, it is We Who have revealed the Book to thee with truth; so worship Allah, being sincere to Him in obedience.[3440]
[3440] Commentary:
After having briefly referred to the subject of revelation in the Holy Qur’an in the previous two verses, the Surah proceeds, in the present verse, to deal with the supreme need and purpose of all revealed Books and Divine Prophets, namely, the establishment of God’s Unity in the world. The greatest impediment in the way of the achievement of this most noble object (the verse goes on to say) is that man is prone to worship false gods, the idols of his own imagination, such as saints and holy men; wealth, power and passion; inherited beliefs and customs, etc. always pretending to believe that these can help him to understand and realise the Divine Being. All this the Holy Qur’an dubs as mere lie and self-deception.
[c] 5:49; 6:106.
Hearken, it is to Allah alone that sincere obedience is due. And those who take for protectors others beside Him say, ‘We serve them only that they may bring us near to Allah in station.’ Surely, [d]Allah will judge between them concerning that wherein they differ. Surely, Allah guides not him who is an ungrateful liar.
[d] 4:142; 22:70; 32:26.
[a]If Allah had desired to take to Himself a son, He could have chosen whom He pleased out of what He creates. Holy is He! He is Allah, the One, the Most Supreme.[3440A]
[3440A] Commentary:
The most prevalent and perhaps the most hideous form of idolatry which has done the greatest injury to man’s religious instinct and his spiritual development and which has, therefore, quite rightly been condemned and denounced unsparingly and repeatedly in the Holy Qur’an is the dogma of Jesus’ being the only son of God. It is this most blasphemous of all Christian dogmas which the present verse seeks to controvert; the argument advanced being that as God is the sole Creator of all things and He is قھار i.e. Most Supreme, He does not stand in need of a son. The argument is continued in the next verse.
[a] 2:117; 10:69; 17:112; 18:5; 19:89-93.
[b]He created the heavens and the earth in accordance with the requirements of wisdom. He makes the night to cover the day, and He makes the day to cover the night; [c]and He has pressed the sun and the moon into service; each pursues its course until an appointed time. Hearken, it is He alone Who is the Mighty, the Great Forgiver.[3441]
[3441] Commentary:
This verse adduces as a further argument the creation of heavens and earth and the existence of perfect design and order in the universe in support of the belief that there is One Intelligent Designing Mind behind all existence. See also 36:41.
[b] 6:74; 14:20; 16:4; 29:45.
[c] 7:55; 13:3; 29:62; 31:30; 35:14.
[d]He created you from a single being; then from that He made its mate; and He has sent down for you of the cattle eight pairs. He creates you in the wombs of your mothers, creation after creation, in threefold darkness. This is Allah, your Lord. His is the kingdom. There is no God but He. Whither then are you being turned away?[3442]
[3442] Commentary:
The word أنزل (has sent down) which is transitive from نزل has different significations when used with regard to different things. When used in connection with the Word of God, it means أوحی i.e. He revealed. And when used about things of constant daily use, it means أعطی i.e. he gave or bestowed. The word has been used in the latter sense in the present verse and in vv. 7:27 and 57:26.
Special reference in the words "eight pairs of cattle" is to the pairs of goat, sheep, camel and the ox mentioned in 6:144-145, perhaps because they are animals of daily use for man. The expression "the threefold darkness," may refer to the three stages of development of the human child, viz. نطفة (sperm drop), علقة (clot) and مضغة (lump of flesh) or to the other three forms which are described in the following three verses:
(1) He is created from a gushing fluid which issues forth from between the loins and the breast-bones (86:7-8).
(2) He it is Who fashions you in the wombs as He wills (3:7).
(3) Verily, God has brought you forth from the inside of your mothers (16:79).
Or the words, "the threefold darkness" may refer to the three critical periods of pregnancy, when a little carelessness may cause miscarriage, i.e. (a) from the second to the third month of pregnancy; (b) from the third to the fifth month and (c) the beginning of the eighth month.
[d] 4:2; 7:190; 16:73; 30:22.
If you are ungrateful, surely Allah is Self-Sufficient, being independent of you. And He is not pleased with ungratefulness in His servants. But if you are grateful, He likes it in you. [a]And no bearer of burden shall bear the burden of another. Then to your Lord is your return; and He will inform you of what you have been doing. Surely, He knows full well all that is hidden in the breasts.[3443]
[3443] Commentary:
شکر as explained elsewhere (14:8) denotes the proper use of Divine favours in a manner intended by God. کفر is the misuse of those favours. It is the proper or improper use of God-given powers, faculties, and of Divine favours, blessings and opportunities which is called شکر (thankfulness) or کفر (ingratitude) in the Holy Qur’an.
[a] 6:165; 35:19; 53:39.
[b]And when an affliction befalls a man, he calls upon his Lord, turning penitently to Him. Then, when He confers upon him a favour from Himself, he forgets what he used to pray for before, and begins to assign rivals to Allah, that he may lead people astray from His way. Say, ‘Benefit from thy disbelief a little; while thou art surely of the inmates of the Fire.’
[b] 11:10-11; 17:68; 30:34; 39:50.
Is he who prays devoutly to God in the hours of the night, prostrating himself and standing in prayer and fears the Hereafter and hopes for the mercy of his Lord, like him who is disobedient? Say, [c]‘Are those who know equal to those who know not?’ Verily, only those endowed with understanding will take heed.[3444]
[3444] Commentary:
The verse refers to two classes of men—believers who are described as obedient men endowed with knowledge and understanding; and disbelievers who are their opposites.
[c] 40:59.
Say, ‘O ye My servants who believe, fear your Lord. [a]There is good for those who do good in this life. And Allah’s earth is spacious. Verily, [b]the steadfast will have their reward without measure.’[3445]
[3445] Commentary:
This verse warns believers that they will be made to pass through trials and tribulations and will have to leave even their hearths and homes for the sake of God. It is when they have successfully met the ordeal that they will find God’s earth wide and spacious for them and will have their reward from God without measure. The reference in the verse seems to be to the Holy Prophet’s Hijrah to Medina. It is in Medina that Islam found a congenial soil for expansion and consolidation and it is there that Muslims were given possession of God’s spacious earth.
[a] 16:31.
[b] 3:58; 11:112; 16:97.
[c]Say, ‘Verily I am commanded to worship Allah, being sincere to Him in religion.
[c] 13:37; 18:111; 72:21.