Surah Az-Zukhruf, Ayah 41-60 — Word by Word
الزخرف
The Ornaments of Gold
Explanations are simplified from tafsirs by Ibn Kathir, Mufti Muhammad Shafi, and Maulana Wahiduddin Khan. Spot an inaccuracy? Let us know.
fa-immā nadhhabanna bika fa-innā min'hum muntaqimūna
And whether [or not] We take you away [in death], indeed, We will take retribution upon them.
aw nuriyannaka alladhī waʿadnāhum fa-innā ʿalayhim muq'tadirūna
Or whether [or not] We show you that which We have promised them, indeed, We are Perfect in Ability.
fa-is'tamsik bi-alladhī ūḥiya ilayka innaka ʿalā ṣirāṭin mus'taqīmin
So adhere to that which is revealed to you. Indeed, you are on a straight path.
wa-innahu ladhik'run laka waliqawmika wasawfa tus'alūna
And indeed, it is a remembrance for you and your people, and you [all] are going to be questioned.
wasal man arsalnā min qablika min rusulinā ajaʿalnā min dūni l-raḥmāni ālihatan yuʿ'badūna
And ask those We sent before you of Our messengers; have We made besides the Most Merciful deities to be worshipped?
walaqad arsalnā mūsā biāyātinā ilā fir'ʿawna wamala-ihi faqāla innī rasūlu rabbi l-ʿālamīna
And certainly did We send Moses with Our signs to Pharaoh and his establishment, and he said, "Indeed, I am the messenger of the Lord of the worlds."
falammā jāahum biāyātinā idhā hum min'hā yaḍḥakūna
But when he brought them Our signs, at once they laughed at them.
wamā nurīhim min āyatin illā hiya akbaru min ukh'tihā wa-akhadhnāhum bil-ʿadhābi laʿallahum yarjiʿūna
And We showed them not a sign except that it was greater than its sister, and We seized them with affliction that perhaps they might return [to faith].
waqālū yāayyuha l-sāḥiru ud'ʿu lanā rabbaka bimā ʿahida ʿindaka innanā lamuh'tadūna
And they said [to Moses], "O magician, invoke for us your Lord by what He has promised you. Indeed, we will be guided."
falammā kashafnā ʿanhumu l-ʿadhāba idhā hum yankuthūna
But when We removed from them the affliction, at once they broke their word.
wanādā fir'ʿawnu fī qawmihi qāla yāqawmi alaysa lī mul'ku miṣ'ra wahādhihi l-anhāru tajrī min taḥtī afalā tub'ṣirūna
And Pharaoh called out among his people; he said, "O my people, does not the kingdom of Egypt belong to me, and these rivers flowing beneath me; then do you not see?
am anā khayrun min hādhā alladhī huwa mahīnun walā yakādu yubīnu
Or am I [not] better than this one [i.e., Moses] who is insignificant and hardly makes himself clear?
falawlā ul'qiya ʿalayhi aswiratun min dhahabin aw jāa maʿahu l-malāikatu muq'tarinīna
Then why have there not been placed upon him bracelets of gold or come with him the angels in conjunction?"
fa-is'takhaffa qawmahu fa-aṭāʿūhu innahum kānū qawman fāsiqīna
So he bluffed his people, and they obeyed him. Indeed, they were [themselves] a people defiantly disobedient [of Allāh].
falammā āsafūnā intaqamnā min'hum fa-aghraqnāhum ajmaʿīna
And when they angered Us, We took retribution from them and drowned them all.
fajaʿalnāhum salafan wamathalan lil'ākhirīna
And We made them a precedent and an example for the later peoples.
walammā ḍuriba ub'nu maryama mathalan idhā qawmuka min'hu yaṣiddūna
And when the son of Mary was presented as an example, immediately your people laughed aloud.
waqālū aālihatunā khayrun am huwa mā ḍarabūhu laka illā jadalan bal hum qawmun khaṣimūna
And they said, "Are our gods better, or is he?" They did not present it [i.e., the comparison] except for [mere] argument. But, [in fact], they are a people prone to dispute.
in huwa illā ʿabdun anʿamnā ʿalayhi wajaʿalnāhu mathalan libanī is'rāīla
He [i.e., Jesus] was not but a servant upon whom We bestowed favor, and We made him an example for the Children of Israel.
walaw nashāu lajaʿalnā minkum malāikatan fī l-arḍi yakhlufūna
And if We willed, We could have made [instead] of you angels succeeding [one another] on the earth.