الزمر
The Troops
Explanations are simplified from tafsirs by Ibn Kathir, Mufti Muhammad Shafi, and Maulana Wahiduddin Khan. Spot an inaccuracy? Let us know.
alam tara anna l-laha anzala mina l-samāi māan fasalakahu yanābīʿa fī l-arḍi thumma yukh'riju bihi zarʿan mukh'talifan alwānuhu thumma yahīju fatarāhu muṣ'farran thumma yajʿaluhu ḥuṭāman inna fī dhālika ladhik'rā li-ulī l-albābi
Do you not see that Allāh sends down rain from the sky and makes it flow as springs [and rivers] in the earth; then He produces thereby crops of varying colors; then they dry and you see them turned yellow; then He makes them [scattered] debris. Indeed in that is a reminder for those of understanding.
afaman sharaḥa l-lahu ṣadrahu lil'is'lāmi fahuwa ʿalā nūrin min rabbihi fawaylun lil'qāsiyati qulūbuhum min dhik'ri l-lahi ulāika fī ḍalālin mubīnin
So is one whose breast Allāh has expanded to [accept] Islām and he is upon [i.e., guided by] a light from his Lord [like one whose heart rejects it]? Then woe to those whose hearts are hardened against the remembrance of Allāh. Those are in manifest error.
al-lahu nazzala aḥsana l-ḥadīthi kitāban mutashābihan mathāniya taqshaʿirru min'hu julūdu alladhīna yakhshawna rabbahum thumma talīnu julūduhum waqulūbuhum ilā dhik'ri l-lahi dhālika hudā l-lahi yahdī bihi man yashāu waman yuḍ'lili l-lahu famā lahu min hādin
Allāh has sent down the best statement: a consistent Book wherein is reiteration. The skins shiver therefrom of those who fear their Lord; then their skins and their hearts relax at the remembrance [i.e., mention] of Allāh. That is the guidance of Allāh by which He guides whom He wills. And one whom Allāh sends astray - for him there is no guide.
afaman yattaqī biwajhihi sūa l-ʿadhābi yawma l-qiyāmati waqīla lilẓẓālimīna dhūqū mā kuntum taksibūna
Then is he who will shield with his face the worst of the punishment on the Day of Resurrection [like one secure from it]? And it will be said to the wrongdoers, "Taste what you used to earn."
kadhaba alladhīna min qablihim fa-atāhumu l-ʿadhābu min ḥaythu lā yashʿurūna
Those before them denied, and punishment came upon them from where they did not perceive.
fa-adhāqahumu l-lahu l-khiz'ya fī l-ḥayati l-dun'yā walaʿadhābu l-ākhirati akbaru law kānū yaʿlamūna
So Allāh made them taste disgrace in worldly life. But the punishment of the Hereafter is greater, if they only knew.
walaqad ḍarabnā lilnnāsi fī hādhā l-qur'āni min kulli mathalin laʿallahum yatadhakkarūna
And We have certainly presented for the people in this Qur’ān from every [kind of] example - that they might remember.
qur'ānan ʿarabiyyan ghayra dhī ʿiwajin laʿallahum yattaqūna
[It is] an Arabic Qur’ān, without any deviance that they might become righteous.
ḍaraba l-lahu mathalan rajulan fīhi shurakāu mutashākisūna warajulan salaman lirajulin hal yastawiyāni mathalan l-ḥamdu lillahi bal aktharuhum lā yaʿlamūna
Allāh presents an example: a man [i.e., slave] owned by quarreling partners and another belonging exclusively to one man - are they equal in comparison? Praise be to Allāh! But most of them do not know.
innaka mayyitun wa-innahum mayyitūna
Indeed, you are to die, and indeed, they are to die.
thumma innakum yawma l-qiyāmati ʿinda rabbikum takhtaṣimūna
Then indeed you, on the Day of Resurrection, before your Lord, will dispute.
faman aẓlamu mimman kadhaba ʿalā l-lahi wakadhaba bil-ṣid'qi idh jāahu alaysa fī jahannama mathwan lil'kāfirīna
So who is more unjust than one who lies about Allāh and denies the truth when it has come to him? Is there not in Hell a residence for the disbelievers?
wa-alladhī jāa bil-ṣid'qi waṣaddaqa bihi ulāika humu l-mutaqūna
And the one who has brought the truth [i.e., the Prophet (ﷺ)] and [they who] believed in it - those are the righteous.
lahum mā yashāūna ʿinda rabbihim dhālika jazāu l-muḥ'sinīna
They will have whatever they desire with their Lord. That is the reward of the doers of good -
liyukaffira l-lahu ʿanhum aswa-a alladhī ʿamilū wayajziyahum ajrahum bi-aḥsani alladhī kānū yaʿmalūna
That Allāh may remove from them the worst of what they did and reward them their due for the best of what they used to do.
alaysa l-lahu bikāfin ʿabdahu wayukhawwifūnaka bi-alladhīna min dūnihi waman yuḍ'lili l-lahu famā lahu min hādin
Is not Allāh sufficient for His Servant [i.e., Prophet Muḥammad (ﷺ)]? And [yet], they threaten you with those [they worship] other than Him. And whoever Allāh leaves astray - for him there is no guide.
waman yahdi l-lahu famā lahu min muḍillin alaysa l-lahu biʿazīzin dhī intiqāmin
And whoever Allāh guides - for him there is no misleader. Is not Allāh Exalted in Might and Owner of Retribution?
wala-in sa-altahum man khalaqa l-samāwāti wal-arḍa layaqūlunna l-lahu qul afara-aytum mā tadʿūna min dūni l-lahi in arādaniya l-lahu biḍurrin hal hunna kāshifātu ḍurrihi aw arādanī biraḥmatin hal hunna mum'sikātu raḥmatihi qul ḥasbiya l-lahu ʿalayhi yatawakkalu l-mutawakilūna
And if you asked them, "Who created the heavens and the earth?" they would surely say, "Allāh." Say, "Then have you considered what you invoke besides Allāh? If Allāh intended me harm, are they removers of His harm; or if He intended me mercy, are they withholders of His mercy?" Say, "Sufficient for me is Allāh; upon Him [alone] rely the [wise] reliers."
qul yāqawmi iʿ'malū ʿalā makānatikum innī ʿāmilun fasawfa taʿlamūna
Say, "O my people, work according to your position, [for] indeed, I am working; and you are going to know
man yatīhi ʿadhābun yukh'zīhi wayaḥillu ʿalayhi ʿadhābun muqīmun
To whom will come a torment disgracing him and on whom will descend an enduring punishment."