Surah Az-Zumar 39:1-9 - Quran Translation Commentary

3.Lo! pure religion (devotion) is for Allah alone.⁵ And those who choose guardians beside Him (saying): “We worship them only that they may bring us near to Allah,”⁶ verily, Allah will judge between them concerning that in which they differ.⁷ Verily, Allah does not guide him, who is a liar, an ingrate.⁸

4.If Allah had willed to choose a son, He would have chosen whom He please out of His creation. Immaculate⁹ is He! He is Allah, the One, the Irresistible.¹⁰

5.He has created the heavens and the earth with truth.¹¹ He makes night to succeed day and He makes day to succeed night, and He made the sun and the moon obedient, each running for an appointed term.¹² Lo ! He is the Mighty, the Forgiver.¹³

6.He created you from a single being, then from that being He created its mate.¹⁴ and He created for you eight kinds of cattle in pairs.¹⁵ He creates you in your mothers’ wombs creation after creation,¹⁶-¹⁷ in threefold darkness. Such is Allah, your Lord. His is the Soverignty. There is no god, but Him.¹⁸ How then are you turned away?¹⁹

7.If you render no thank (to Him), then Allah is independent of you. And He is not pleased with thanklessness for His slaves. And if you are thankful, He is pleased with that for you.²⁰ No burdened soul will bear another’s burden.²¹ Then to your Lord is your return, so He will tell you what you used to do. ²² Verily, He knows what is in the breasts (of men).²³

8.And when some harm touches man, he prays to his Lord turning towards Him;²⁴ then when He bestows on him His favour, he forgets that for which He had prayed before ²⁵ and sets up equals to Allah²⁶ in order to lead men away from His path.²⁷ Say (to such a person): “Enjoy your disbelief for a while, surely you are of the people of the Hell.”²⁸

9. Is he who worships devoutly during the hours of the night, prostrating himself and standing,²⁹ dreading the Hereafter, and hoping for the mercy of his Lord ³⁰ (like a person who does not ³¹)? Say:³² “Are those who know equal to those who do not know?³³ Only men of understanding receive admonition.”

Commentary

1.The revelation of this Book to the Prophet is from Allah only. No other person has anything to do with it, neither satan nor man. This is being revealed from the heavens and the Prophet is not its author. This is a very big claim of the Quran, which it has repeated off and on, so that people may not take it to be a common religious book like any other religious book. They should do well to fix it in their mind that this has descended down, revealed from the very presence of Allah, and on this account it has very distinctive character. And it is a fact that no other religious book, except Quran, prefers such a claim before the world with full certainty that its author is Allah, Ruler of the Universe.

2. Allah is Mighty (Aziz), so His plan is bound to be enforced, and His command is acted upon. And He is wise, therefore, His Book has also this wise character, which can very well be observed in this Book itself.

3.Revealed with truth means that it has brought the truth with it. Its teaching is absolute truth and there is no trace of falsehood in it, nor a single statement in it has been made aimlessly.

4. ‘Making religion pure for Him’, In this sentence the word religion has been used to connote devotion and humility, which is supported by the various Ayat of Quran in which it is mentioned that whenever polytheists are confronted with storm, etc., they invoke Allah, making religion pure for Him:

“And if a wave envelops them like awnings they invoke Allah, making their faith pure for Him only.” -(Luqman -32).

Here the meaning of the word ‘Deen’ (faith) used here can only be humility and devotion of the heart, and this is the reflection of the psychology of the polytheists when they face storm, etc. Therefore the meaning of the ayah is that you should worship Allah in such a way that your heart’s devotion, humility and attention should be purely for Allah alone. Not the kind of worship in which the attention and devotion of the heart is somewhere else or for somebody else. Allah accepts only that worship which is offered with the sincerity of heart, with humility and full devotion, purely for Him. In other words there should be no mixture of hypocrisy in that worship nor should there be any of its part for any being other than Allah.

It may be noted that in the dictionary the meaning of ‘Deen’ is given as obedience, but by merely depending on the dictionary the all pervading meaning of the terminologies of Quran cannot be explained. It is necessary that in connection with these words the Quranic usage should also be kept in view and the meaning be fixed according to the reference to context.

5. That is: Such worship which is free of all kinds of polytheism, and is specific for Allah alone. And He alone is worthy of it, and in the meaning and sense of ‘Deen’ (worship), as has been made clear in the above note, that state of humility which is created in the heart the sense of one’s being a slave of Allah is included.

6. The polytheists had made angels their guardians and protectors and they thought that if they worshipped them they would solve all their difficulties. They also thought that to gain nearness to Allah it is necessary to make angels their ‘waseela’, agents or means. And for making angels their agents they used to consider all that which was proper for Allah only proper for them also, e.g. they used to appeal to them, to pray for their needs, to invoke them in difficulties, etc., as all these things are included in worship. They used to explain it by saying that they worshipped angels because they wanted nearness of Allah., i.e. the worship of the angels is the means and ‘waseela’ of Allah’s nearness. In this ayah their deceiving explanation has been declared false and wrong. For nearness of Allah it is not necessary to worship any other being than Allah. By the direct and fully sincere worship of the one and only Allah a man can gain His nearness.

The explanation which the polytheists offer for worshipping angels, the same is offered by the grave-worshippers for their devotion to the saints and peers. They say that they offer them gifts and devotion (Nazr-o-niyaz) for the reason that through their ‘waseela’ (means) they reach God. If they had read these ayat of the Quran, they would not have fallen a prey to the deception of Satan.

7. That is: On the Day of Resurrection, Allah will deliver judgment and enforce it.

8. That is: Those who speak lies concerning Allah, and who conduct false religiosity in His name, and who after receiving His favours and gifts are grateful to others, are deprived of His guidance till they do not give up this wrong attitude of theirs.

9. The concept of Allah’s having sons and daughters is absolutely false. Even if it is presumed that He wanted to have a son, then he would have chosen someone from His own creation, but in that case also the son would have remained His subject and slave, all His created beings are His subjects and all are His slaves. He could not be a part of God, for there is no part of God and nothing departs from His person. None is like Him. Allah has not chosen any of His creation as His son, because it is against the Grand Divine character of God, and it reflects weakness. Allah is above all weaknesses and defects. His grandeur is much more above than the necessity of having a son for Himself.

10. If God has children, then His sovereignty and godhood would also have been divided but godhood is indivisible. He is alone, and His control over all is firm and strong, therefore, no creature can be free from His control. Then what does the concept of His having children mean?

11. For explanation please see Surah An’am, Note No.124, and Surah Yunus Note No.15.

12. For explanation, please see Surah Ra’d Note No.8.

13. He is Mighty, therefore, you should be afraid of disobeying Him, and He is Forgiving, therefore, you should pray for forgiveness for sins to Him.

And when some harm touches man, he prays to his Lord turning towards Him; then when He bestows on him His favour, he forgets that for which He had prayed before and sets up equals to Allah in order to lead men away from His path. Say (to such a person): “Enjoy your disbelief for a while, surely you are of the people of the Hell.”(AL-Quran)

14. In this ayat the word ‘thumma’ (then) signifies that you should then see the miracle of His might that from that one life He created its mate. For explanation please see Surah Nisa Note No.3 and Surah A’raf Note No.202.

15. Cattle means domestic animals like camel, cow, goat and sheep. Their pairs, male and female, totals to 8 kinds. For further explanation, please see Surah Nisa Note No.261.

For the creation of these animals, the word used here is ‘Anzalna’ (We sent down), which hints at the point that their creation was a blessing for mankind which was sent down from the heaven.

16. Three darknesses means three veils: abdomen, womb and the membrane with which the foetus is covered. It is a proof of the fact that man’s Creator knows open and hidden, shining and dark things, i.e. everything, and the work of His creation takes place in the darkness, too.

17. That is: In these three veils the foetus is caused to pass through various stages of creation, and its form goes on changing. Just now it was a lump of flesh, and at this moment it has taken the form of a man.

18. All this happening which has been mentioned just now is the handiwork of Allah. In this work none other has to do anything, and it is the proof of the fact that He is your Lord and He is also the Ruler of the whole universe. After this, where does the question of anybody else’s being god or deity arise ?

19. That is: Allah’s being One and Only God is a glaring fact, which you observe daily, then what is it that turns you away from this reality ? This hint points at Satan who deceives man and deviates him from the path of monotheism to the quagmire of polytheism.

20. Unthankfulness, in reality, is disbelief. A person who takes benefit of Allah’s favours and there does not generate in his heart a feeling of gratitude for that or he considers these favours or blessings as the gifts of some other being and offers presents and gifts to that being as nazro niyaz, then he is guilty of great ingratitude, which is out and out disbelief. By adopting the attitude of ingratitude, a man does not affect Allah in anyway, but he engenders the means of his own deprivation. Allah Himself is in no need of thanks or gratitude from His slaves, nor is Allah in any way benefited by their thanks, nor any harm comes to Him from their unthankfulness. This reality has been expressed in a ‘hadith-e-Qudsi’ in this way:

“Allah says: ‘O My slaves ! If all your past and future men and jinns become equal to the most God-fearing man, then there would be no addition to My kingdom. And O My slaves! If all your past and future men and jinns become equal to the most evil man, then there would be nothing wanting in My kingdom.” -(Muslim -Kitabul Bir).”

However, a person who adopts the attitude of thankfulness, he adopts the realistic attitude, and Allah likes such an attitude in His slaves. Therefore, there is Allah’s pleasure for those who are grateful.

21. That is: Everybody has to carry the burden of his own sins. No person will take the burden of other person’s sins on his own head. Therefore, every one should realize his own responsibility, and should not commit sin on being prompted by others.

22. On the Day of Resurrection, the entire record of every man’s good and bad acts, will be placed before his eyes.

23. Allah knows the condition of everybody’s heart, i.e. He knows what ideas are in their mind, and whether they have the feelings of gratitude or ingratitude for Allah, and feelings of faith or disbelief, love or hate for virtue.

24. That is: In difficulties and suffering, he invokes his Lord with heart-felt sincerity and prays to Him for relief.

25. When Allah relieves him of his difficulties and suffering, he forgets that he ever was in difficulties and to get relief he had prayed to his Lord. This is the example of his ingratitude.

26. Setting up equals to Allah means dealing with other beings as he would deal with Allah, for example, gifts and nazro niyaz, sacrifice and other rites of worship.

27. That is: He has himself strayed and is now misleading others to go astray.

28. The ultimate destination of such a person will be Hell.

According to this ayah, such a person who is indulging in open polytheism, idolatry and disbelief, and he is not prepared to adopt monotheism as his faith, he should be warned that he is bound to go to Hell, So that the divine message may be convincingly conveyed to him.

29. ‘Qanitun’ here means to be active in worshipping, and to be busy in the hours of night in worship and prayer is the high quality of faith. From this it has also become clear that for a man who offers much salat in the night it is good for his virtuous high-ranking. There is no limit to the number of ‘raka’t’. In Surah Furqan also this quality has been made prominent:

“And who spend their night (in worship of their Lord) prostrating themselves and standing.” -(Al-Furqan-64).

30. That is: In the Hereafter he fears to account for his acts before his Lord, and also hopes to receive His mercy. Therefore he neither lives in wishful thinking and empty hopes, nor is he a prey to disappointment, but he keeps himself in balance.

31. This sentence, according to the Arabic figure of speech, and style of writing is understood, and not expressed, therefore, it has been given here in brackets. The question is: out of the two slaves, one is afraid of Him and also hopes to receive His mercy, and leaving aside his comfort busies himself in offering salat in the night, and the other slave is negligent of Allah, he does not care for offering prayers to Him, and he is also unthankful to Him; then can the two be equal or alike to one another in the matter of their character and their ultimate fate? If not, then how can you, being unthankful to Him, be under the wrong Impression that through some agency or ‘waseela’ you can attain His nearness?

32. That is: Ask these deniers.

33. Here knowledge means recognition of Allah, consciousness about the purpose of life, awareness of divine commands, and comprehension about the reward and punishment of the Hereafter. A person who has this knowledge, and another who does not have this knowledge, how can the two be equal or alike in their attributes and their ends? This realistic and basic knowledge which determines the direction of a man’s life-attaining this is inevitable for everyone. Whoever, being careless of this knowledge whatever material knowledge they attain, live in the darknesses of ignorance, and are unaware of their adverse ends.