Makkan, by the majority
The later years in Makkah, as the believers were being told that Allah’s earth is wide
It is Makkan in the saying of Ibn ʿAbbās, al-Ḥasan, Mujāhid, ʿIkrimah, Qatādah and Jābir ibn Zayd. A report from Ibn ʿAbbās excepts two ayat as Madinan (39:23 and 39:53), and Muqātil a third (39:10). The traditional order places it fifty-ninth, immediately before the seven Ḥā Mīm surahs.
رَوى العَوْفِيُّ وابْنُ أبِي طَلْحَةَ عَنِ ابْنِ عَبّاسٍ أنَّها مَكِّيَّةٌ، وبِهِ قالَ الحَسَنُ، ومُجاهِدٌ، وعِكْرِمَةُ، وقَتادَةُ، وجابِرُ بْنُ زَيْدٍ. ورُوِيَ عَنِ ابْنِ عَبّاسٍ أنَّهُ قالَ: فِيها آَيَتانِ نَزَلَتا بِالمَدِينَةِتَفْسِيرُ سُورَةِ الزُّمَرِ وَهِيَ مَكِّيَّةٌThe same, in other works
- al-BaghawīMaʿālim al-tanzīlAhl al-Sunnah in creedShāfiʿī in fiqh→
Makkan.
سُورَةُ الزُّمَرِ مَكِّيَّةٌ
- al-Suyūṭīal-Durr al-manthūrAshʿarī in creedShāfiʿī in fiqh→
Ibn ʿAbbās: it came down in Makkah. Recorded by Ibn al-Ḍurays, Ibn Mardawayh and al-Bayhaqī.
أخْرَجَ ابْنُ الضُّرَيْسِ، وابْنُ مَرْدُويَهْ والبَيْهَقِيُّ في الدَّلائِلِ عَنِ ابْنِ عَبّاسٍ قالَ: أُنْزِلَتْ سُورَةُ الزُّمَرِ بِمَكَّةَ
A report he gathers; its chain is not graded here.
- al-ShawkānīFatḥ al-qadīr→
Makkan, in the saying of al-Ḥasan, ʿIkrimah and Jābir ibn Zayd.
تَفْسِيرُ سُورَةِ الزُّمَرِ وهِيَ مَكِّيَّةٌ في قَوْلِ الحَسَنِ وعِكْرِمَةَ وجابِرِ بْنِ زَيْدٍ
- al-RāzīMafātīḥ al-ghaybAshʿarī in creedShāfiʿī in fiqh→
Makkan.
سَبْعُونَ وخَمْسُ آياتٍ، مَكِّيَّةٌ
- Abū al-SuʿūdIrshād al-ʿaql al-salīmMāturīdī in creedḤanafī in fiqh→
Makkan, with the exception he names.
سُورَةُ الزُّمَرِ مَكِّيَّةٌ، إلّا قَوْلَهُ: ﴿قُلْ يا عِبادِيَ﴾ . . . الآيَةَ. وآياتُها خَمْسٌ وسَبْعُونَ آيَةً
Each line of English says what the Arabic beneath it says.
What was happening
The idolaters of Makkah had an answer when they were asked why they worshipped images. The surah quotes it: “We worship them only so that they may bring us nearer to Allah.” They did not deny Him. They approached Him through others. The whole of al-Zumar is addressed to that position, and its first command is its summary: “Worship Allah, making the religion sincerely His. Is it not to Allah that sincere religion is due?”
The word that returns throughout is mukhliṣ — sincere, unmixed. The Prophet ﷺ is told to say that he has been commanded to worship Allah with sincere devotion, and to be the first of those who submit. A parable makes the difference concrete: a man owned by several masters who quarrel over him, and a man who belongs wholly to one. “Are the two equal in comparison?”
It was sent to believers under pressure, and it speaks to them of leaving: “Say: O My servants who believe, be mindful of your Lord. For those who do good in this world there is good, and Allah’s earth is wide. The patient will be given their reward without measure.” Many of the commentators take this as pointing to the emigration.
Then comes the ayah of hope. Ibn ʿAbbās relates that some of the idolaters, who had killed much and committed much fornication, came to the Prophet ﷺ and said: what you say and call to is good — if only you could tell us that there is an expiation for what we have done. And there came down: “Say: O My servants who have transgressed against themselves, do not despair of the mercy of Allah. Allah forgives all sins.”
The surah closes on the Day. The earth is wholly in His grip and the heavens are rolled up in His right hand. The Trumpet sounds twice. The earth shines with the light of its Lord. And two processions move off, each to gates that open as it arrives.
What came down about what
“If only you told us there is an expiation”
“Some people of the idolaters had killed, and killed much, and had fornicated, and done so much. They came to Muḥammad ﷺ and said: ‘What you say and call to is good, if only you would tell us that there is an expiation for what we have done.’ So there came down: ‘Those who do not call upon another god with Allah…’ and there came down: ‘Say: O My servants who have transgressed against themselves, do not despair of the mercy of Allah.’”
Ibn ʿAbbās: al-Bukhārī (4810) and Muslim (122).
Ṣaḥīḥ
“They have not esteemed Allah as He deserves”
A rabbi came to the Messenger of Allah ﷺ and said: “Muḥammad, we find that Allah will place the heavens on a finger, the earths on a finger, the trees on a finger, the water and the soil on a finger, and the rest of creation on a finger, and say: ‘I am the King.’” The Prophet ﷺ laughed until his molars showed, in confirmation of the rabbi’s words, and then recited: “They have not esteemed Allah with the esteem due to Him, when the whole earth will be in His grip on the Day of Resurrection.”
ʿAbd Allāh ibn Masʿūd: al-Bukhārī (4811) and Muslim (2786).
Ṣaḥīḥ
الدعوة للتوحيد والإخلاص، ونبذ الشرك، وعاقبة كلٍّ في الآخرة.
The call to tawḥīd and sincerity, the rejection of shirk — and the end of each in the Hereafter.
The surah’s aim, as al-Mukhtaṣar fī al-Tafsīr states it
- Sincerity of religion
- “Only to bring us nearer”
- Those who know and those who do not
- The best of discourse
- Hope in Allah’s mercy
- The earth in His grip
- The throngs
Its aims, as Ibn ʿĀshūr sets them out
ابتدئت هذه السورة بما هو كالمقدمة للمقصود، وذلك بالتنويه بشأن القرآن تنويها تكرر في ستة مواضع من هذه السورة لأن القرآن جامع لأغراضها. وأغراضها كثيرة تحوم حول إثبات تفرد الله تعالى بالإلهية وإبطال الشرك فيها. وإبطال تعلللات المشركين لإشراكهم وأكاذيبهم. ونفي ضرب من ضروب الإشراك وهو زعمهم أن لله ولدا.
والاستدلال على وحدانية الله في الإلهية بدلائل تفرده بإيجاد العوالم العلوية والسفلية، وبتدبير نظامها وما تحتوي عليه مما لا ينكر المشركون انفراده به.
From its first ayah to its last
- 1–77 ayat · 13% of the surahRead from ayah 1 →
Sincere religion
The sending down of the Book is from Allah, the Almighty, the Wise. So worship Allah, making the religion sincerely His. Those who take protectors besides Him say, “We worship them only that they may bring us nearer to Allah.” He created the heavens and the earth in truth; He wraps the night over the day and the day over the night. He created you from a single soul, in the wombs of your mothers, creation after creation, in three darknesses. If you disbelieve, Allah has no need of you; and He is not pleased with ingratitude in His servants.
- 8–2013 ayat · 17% of the surahRead from ayah 8 →
Those who know, and those who do not
When harm touches man he calls upon his Lord; when He grants him a favour he forgets. Is one who is devoutly obedient through the hours of the night, prostrating and standing, fearing the Hereafter and hoping for his Lord’s mercy, like one who is not? Say: are those who know equal to those who do not know? (39:9) Allah’s earth is wide; the patient will be paid their reward without count. Give good news to My servants who listen to what is said and follow the best of it. For them are chambers, above them chambers built high.
- 21–3515 ayat · 18% of the surahRead from ayah 21 →
The best of discourse
Allah has sent down the best of discourse: a Book consistent, oft-repeated, at which the skins of those who fear their Lord shiver, and then their skins and their hearts soften to the remembrance of Allah. A man who belongs to quarrelling partners, and a man wholly given to one: are they equal? You will die, and they will die; then, on the Day of Resurrection, you will dispute before your Lord. Whoever brings the truth, and whoever confirms it — those are the mindful.
- 36–5217 ayat · 24% of the surahRead from ayah 36 →
Is Allah not enough for His servant?
Is Allah not sufficient for His servant? Yet they would frighten you with those besides Him. If you ask them who created the heavens and the earth, they will say, “Allah.” Say: sufficient for me is Allah. It is Allah who takes the souls at the time of their death, and those that have not died, in their sleep. When Allah alone is mentioned, the hearts of those who do not believe in the Hereafter shrink; when others are mentioned, they rejoice.
- 53–619 ayat · 10% of the surahRead from ayah 53 →
The ayah of hope
Say: O My servants who have transgressed against themselves, do not despair of the mercy of Allah. Allah forgives all sins; He is the Forgiving, the Merciful. And turn to your Lord and submit to Him before the punishment comes — lest a soul should say, “Alas for me, for what I neglected in my duty to Allah,” or say, when it sees the punishment, “If only I had another chance.”
- 62–709 ayat · 9% of the surahRead from ayah 62 →
The earth in His grip
Allah is the Creator of all things. Say: is it other than Allah that you bid me worship, you ignorant ones? It has been revealed to you and to those before you: if you associate others, your work will come to nothing. They have not esteemed Allah as He deserves — the whole earth will be in His grip on the Day of Resurrection, and the heavens rolled up in His right hand. The Trumpet is blown, and all swoon; then it is blown again, and they stand, looking on. The earth shines with the light of its Lord, the record is set down, and the prophets and the witnesses are brought.
- 71–755 ayat · 8% of the surahRead from ayah 71 →
The throngs
Those who disbelieved are driven to Hell in throngs; when they reach it its gates are opened, and its keepers say: “Did messengers not come to you?” Those who were mindful of their Lord are led to the Garden in throngs; when they reach it, and its gates are opened, its keepers say: “Peace be upon you; you have done well, so enter it, to abide.” And you will see the angels surrounding the Throne, glorifying their Lord with praise. And it will be said: “Praise be to Allah, Lord of the worlds.”
The division into passages is a reading aid, written for this page; it is not part of the muṣḥaf. Each passage is drawn as long as its words are.
The sound each ayah closes on
Read aloud, every ayah closes on a sound — its fāṣilah — and the closes answer one another for a stretch, then turn. Each sound this surah closes on is a line of the staff below, and the surah is the gold line stepping along them, an ayah at a time: where it steps to another line, the rhyme turns. The dotted lines are where its passages begin.
Its commonest close carries 76% of its ayat, and the rhyme turns 23 times. 4 of those turns come just where a new passage begins, as this page divides the surah.
Move along the staff to see what each ayah closes on.
Computed from the text, each ayah as it is said when the reciter stops on it: the last vowel falls away, tanwīn on alif is said as a long ā, and tāʾ marbūṭah as h. Closes the ear hears as one rhyme share a line — -ūn, -īn and -īm; -ān and -ām — and an ayah that is only the opening letters closes on the name of its last letter.
From the Prophet ﷺ and his Companions
“The Prophet ﷺ would not sleep until he had recited Banī Isrāʾīl and al-Zumar.”The names it is known by
From its closing scene, where the word comes twice: the disbelievers driven to Hell in throngs, and the mindful led to the Garden in throngs.
A name recorded by Ibn al-Jawzī and al-Qurṭubī, from its twentieth ayah: “for them are lofty chambers, above them chambers built high.”
Its place in the muṣḥaf
Ayat you will hear named
- 39:3“Only that they may bring us nearer to Allah”
- 39:9Are those who know equal to those who do not?
- 39:10The patient, rewarded without count
- 39:23The best of discourse
- 39:42Allah takes the souls at death, and in sleep
- 39:53Do not despair of the mercy of Allah
- 39:67The whole earth in His grip
- 39:73“Peace be upon you; enter, to abide”
Where this comes from
The figures at the head of the page are counted from the text. The Arabic quotations are taken letter for letter from the copies of the classical works held on this site, and each links to the passage it stands in. The rest was written for Mishkāt from the works below. It is an introduction, not a tafsir: where it matters, read the scholars themselves.
Works quoted on this page
- تفسير البغويMaʿālim al-tanzīlal-Ḥusayn al-Baghawī (d. 516 AH)
- تفسير ابن الجوزيZād al-masīrAbū al-Faraj ibn al-Jawzī (d. 597 AH)
- تفسير القرطبيal-Jāmiʿ li-aḥkām al-QurʾānShams al-Dīn al-Qurṭubī (d. 671 AH)
- تفسير ابن كثيرTafsīr al-Qurʾān al-ʿaẓīmIsmāʿīl ibn Kathīr (d. 774 AH)
- الدر المنثورal-Durr al-manthūrJalāl al-Dīn al-Suyūṭī (d. 911 AH)
- فتح القدير للشوكانيFatḥ al-qadīrMuḥammad al-Shawkānī (d. 1250 AH)
- تفسير الرازيMafātīḥ al-ghaybFakhr al-Dīn al-Rāzī (d. 606 AH)
- تفسير أبي السعودIrshād al-ʿaql al-salīmAbū al-Suʿūd al-ʿImādī (d. 982 AH)
- التحرير والتنويرal-Taḥrīr wa-l-tanwīrMuḥammad al-Ṭāhir ibn ʿĀshūr (d. 1393 AH)
- المختصر في التفسيرal-Mukhtaṣar fī al-tafsīrMarkaz Tafsīr, a committee of scholars
Beside each scholar quoted stand his creed and his school of fiqh, so that he can be read with discernment. The site’s library holds other commentaries as well; the introductions do not draw on them.
al-Qurṭubī is quoted on these pages only for what he transmits: who said a surah is Makkan or Madinan, and what it has been called. On the attributes of Allah his commentary interprets, in places, in the way of the Ashʿarīs rather than the way of the Salaf, and nothing of that is taken from him here.
al-Rāzī and Abū al-Suʿūd are quoted on these pages only for where a surah came down, and Ibn ʿĀshūr only for the aims of the surah. Nothing on the attributes of Allah is taken from them, and no report comes by way of them. Ibn ʿĀshūr’s statement of the aims is not in the site’s copy of his book: it is read from the Shamela typing as OpenITI holds it, with reports and al-Zamakhsharī’s words left out, and it links to its page there.
Every hadith here says where it is recorded and how it is graded. What is in al-Bukhārī or Muslim is marked ṣaḥīḥ. Outside the two, the grading followed is al-Albānī’s; where none of his was found, the scholar who graded it is named. A report known to be weak or fabricated is not given here at all. A report that is ḥasan, or a Companion’s own saying, or related by the commentators without a graded chain, says so beside it. In the account of what was happening, a small sign after a sentence says the same of the report that sentence tells, and a question mark stands where a date or a figure is not certain, or beside a grading — underlined — that has something to say about its own source: rest on it, or touch it, and it gives the reason. What is drawn from the sīrah — the campaigns, the dates, who was present — is history as its scholars transmit it, and is not graded here.
Also drawn on
- Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī and Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim; Jāmiʿ al-Tirmidhī
The order of revelation is the one printed at the head of each surah in the Egyptian muṣḥaf, which rests on lists transmitted from Ibn ʿAbbās and Jābir ibn Zayd. It places a surah by where it began. Many surahs came down in parts, over years, and the scholars treat the list as a guide, not a certainty.