Makkan, by agreement
The later years in Makkah
It is Makkan by agreement, as Ibn al-Jawzī and al-Qurṭubī both record. Muqātil excepted a single ayah, the forty-fifth. The traditional order places it sixty-third.
سُورَةُ الزُّخْرُفِ هِيَ مَكِّيَّةٌ بِإجْماعِهِمْ وَقالَ مُقاتِلٌ: هي مَكِّيَّةٌ، إلّا آيَةًسُورَةُ الزُّخْرُفِ مَكِّيَّةٌ بِإِجْمَاعٍThe same, in other works
- al-BaghawīMaʿālim al-tanzīlAhl al-Sunnah in creedShāfiʿī in fiqh→
Makkan.
سُورَةُ الزُّخْرُفِ مَكِّيَّةٌ
- al-Suyūṭīal-Durr al-manthūrAshʿarī in creedShāfiʿī in fiqh→
Ibn ʿAbbās: it came down in Makkah. Recorded by Ibn Mardawayh.
أخْرَجَ ابْنُ مَرْدُويَهْ عَنِ ابْنِ عَبّاسٍ قالَ: نَزَلَتْ بِمَكَّةَ سُورَةُ حم الزُّخْرُفِ
A report he gathers; its chain is not graded here.
- al-ShawkānīFatḥ al-qadīr→
Makkan, by agreement, citing al-Qurṭubī.
قالَ القُرْطُبِيُّ: هي مَكِّيَّةٌ بِالإجْماعِ
- al-RāzīMafātīḥ al-ghaybAshʿarī in creedShāfiʿī in fiqh→
Makkan.
وهِيَ تِسْعٌ وثَمانُونَ آيَةً مَكِّيَّةً
- Abū al-SuʿūdIrshād al-ʿaql al-salīmMāturīdī in creedḤanafī in fiqh→
Makkan; some except what he names.
سُورَةُ الزُّخْرُفِ مَكِّيَّةٌ وقِيلَ إلّا قَوْلَهُ واسْألْ مَن أرْسَلْنا وآياتُها تِسْعٌ وثَمانُونَ
Each line of English says what the Arabic beneath it says.
What was happening
The objection this surah answers is one of the most revealing the idolaters ever made. They did not say that the Qurʾan was false. They said it had come to the wrong person. “Why was this Qurʾan not sent down to a great man from one of the two towns?” — the two towns being Makkah and Ṭāʾif, and the great men, in the commentators’ reports, al-Walīd ibn al-Mughīrah of the one and ʿUrwah ibn Masʿūd of the other. Muḥammad ﷺ was an orphan of modest means. A message from the Lord of the worlds, they felt, should have gone to money.
“Is it they who portion out the mercy of your Lord?” the surah asks. It is We who have portioned out their livelihood among them in this life — and the mercy of your Lord is better than what they amass. Then the passage that gives the surah its name: silver roofs, silver stairways, doors, couches, and gold. All of that is nothing but the passing enjoyment of this life. Pharaoh is brought as the witness. His whole argument against Mūsā was this one: “Is not the kingdom of Egypt mine, and these rivers flowing beneath me? Am I not better than this man, who is contemptible and can hardly make himself clear? Why have bracelets of gold not been put upon him?”
The surah opens with the other inheritance Quraysh relied on: their fathers. “We found our fathers upon a way, and we are guided in their footsteps.” Against it stands the one forefather they were proudest of, Ibrāhīm, who told his father and his people: “I am free of what you worship — except Him who originated me.”
It also records an argument they thought they had won. When the Qurʾan said that what they worshipped besides Allah would be fuel for Hell, someone objected that the Christians worship ʿĪsā — so is he, too, in the Fire? Quraysh cried out in delight. The surah’s reply is that they were only being contentious: “He was nothing but a servant on whom We bestowed favour.” The Prophet ﷺ said of this: no people go astray after guidance except that they are given to disputation.
What came down about what
“Are our gods better, or is he?”
When the son of Maryam was put forward as an example, Quraysh raised a clamour, saying, “Are our gods better, or is he?” The Messenger of Allah ﷺ said: “No people have gone astray after being upon guidance but that they were given to argument.” Then he recited: “They put it to you only for argument’s sake. No — they are a contentious people.”
Abū Umāmah: al-Tirmidhī (3253), who graded it ḥasan ṣaḥīḥ; ḥasan according to al-Albānī.
ḤasanḤasan: accepted and acted upon, a degree below ṣaḥīḥ.
بيان المبادئ القرآنية الصحيحة، ونقض التصورات الجاهلية الزائفة.
To set out the true principles of the Qurʾan, and to demolish the false notions of the Age of Ignorance.
The surah’s aim, as al-Mukhtaṣar fī al-Tafsīr states it
- Following one’s fathers
- The daughters ascribed to Allah
- Who distributes Allah’s mercy
- The worthlessness of gold
- Pharaoh’s boast
- ʿĪsā, a servant of Allah
- Friends who become enemies
Its aims, as Ibn ʿĀshūr sets them out
أعظم ما اشتملت عليه هذه السورة من الأغراض:
التحدي بإعجاز القرآن لأنه آية صدق الرسول صلى الله عليه وسلم فيما جاء به والتنويه به عدة مرات وأنه أوحى الله به لتذكيرهم وتكرير تذكيرهم وإن أعرضوا كما أعرض من قبلهم عن رسلهم.
وإذ قد كان باعثهم على الطعن في القرآن تعلقهم بعبادة الأصنام التي نهاهم القرآن عنها كان من أهم أغراض السورة، التعجيب من حالهم إذ جمعوا بين الاعتراف بأن الله خالقهم والمنعم عليهم وخالق المخلوقات كلها وبين اتخاذهم آلهة يعبدونها شركاء لله، حتى
From its first ayah to its last
- 1–1414 ayat · 14% of the surahRead from ayah 1 →
The Book, and the favours they ride on
Ḥā Mīm. By the clear Book: We have made it an Arabic Qurʾan, that you may understand; and it is in the Mother of the Book, with Us, exalted and wise. If you ask them who created the heavens and the earth, they will say, “The Almighty, the All-Knowing created them.” He made for you ships and animals to ride, that you may settle on their backs and say: “Glory be to Him who has subjected this to us; we could not have done it ourselves. And to our Lord we shall return.”
- 15–2511 ayat · 15% of the surahRead from ayah 15 →
Daughters, and fathers
Yet they assign to Him a portion of His servants. Has He taken daughters from what He creates, and favoured you with sons — when, if one of them is given news of a daughter, his face darkens? They have made the angels, who are servants of the Most Merciful, into females. They say: “We found our fathers upon a way, and we follow in their footsteps.” So it was said by the affluent of every town to which a warner was sent.
- 26–3510 ayat · 13% of the surahRead from ayah 26 →
Who portions out mercy?
Ibrāhīm said to his father and his people: “I am free of what you worship, except Him who originated me.” They say: “Why was this Qurʾan not sent down to a great man from the two towns?” Is it they who distribute the mercy of your Lord? Were it not that mankind would become one community, We would have given those who disbelieve in the Most Merciful roofs of silver for their houses, and stairways, doors and couches — and ornaments of gold. All that is only the enjoyment of this life; and the Hereafter, with your Lord, is for the mindful.
- 36–4510 ayat · 11% of the surahRead from ayah 36 →
A companion from among the devils
Whoever is blind to the remembrance of the Most Merciful, We assign him a devil as his companion — until, when he comes to Us, he says: “If only there were between me and you the distance of the two easts.” So hold fast to what has been revealed to you: you are upon a straight path. It is a reminder for you and your people, and you will be questioned.
- 46–5611 ayat · 13% of the surahRead from ayah 46 →
Pharaoh’s boast
We sent Mūsā with Our signs to Pharaoh and his chiefs, and they laughed at them. Pharaoh proclaimed among his people: “Is not the kingdom of Egypt mine, and these rivers flowing beneath me? Am I not better than this contemptible man? Why have bracelets of gold not been cast upon him, or angels come with him?” He made fools of his people, and they obeyed him. When they angered Us, We took retribution and drowned them all.
- 57–6711 ayat · 13% of the surahRead from ayah 57 →
The son of Maryam
When the son of Maryam was cited as an example, your people cried out at it. He was only a servant whom We favoured, and made an example for the Children of Israel. And he is a sign of the Hour; so do not doubt it. ʿĪsā said: “Allah is my Lord and your Lord, so worship Him: this is a straight path.” But the factions differed among themselves. Close friends, that Day, will be enemies to one another — except the mindful.
- 68–8013 ayat · 11% of the surahRead from ayah 68 →
The two abodes
“My servants, there is no fear upon you today, nor shall you grieve. Enter the Garden, you and your spouses, in joy.” Dishes and cups of gold are passed among them; there is whatever souls desire and eyes delight in. The guilty are in the punishment of Hell, abiding: they call out, “O Mālik, let your Lord make an end of us.” He will say: “You will remain.”
- 81–899 ayat · 10% of the surahRead from ayah 81 →
The Lord of the Throne
Say: if the Most Merciful had a son, I would be the first to worship. Glory to the Lord of the heavens and the earth, Lord of the Throne, above what they describe. It is He who is God in the heaven and God on the earth. And his saying: “My Lord, these are a people who do not believe.” So turn from them and say, “Peace”; they will come to know.
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 99% of its ayat, and the rhyme turns 2 times. None of them comes where a 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
سُبْحَانَ الَّذِي سَخَّرَ لَنَا هَذَا وَمَا كُنَّا لَهُ مُقْرِنِينَ وَإِنَّا إِلَى رَبِّنَا لَمُنْقَلِبُونَ
When the Messenger of Allah ﷺ had settled on his camel to set out on a journey he would say “Allāhu akbar” three times, and then: “Glory be to Him who has subjected this to us; we could not have done it ourselves. And to our Lord we shall surely return.”“No people have gone astray after the guidance they were upon, except that they were given to disputation.” Then he recited: “They put it to you only for argument’s sake; rather, they are a contentious people.”ḤasanḤasan: accepted and acted upon, a degree below ṣaḥīḥ.
The name it is known by
From its thirty-fifth ayah. Zukhruf is gold, and anything gilded or adorned. It is also called Ḥā Mīm al-Zukhruf: the fourth of the seven Ḥā Mīm surahs.
Its place in the muṣḥaf
Ayat you will hear named
- 43:4In the Mother of the Book, with Us
- 43:13–14The supplication on mounting
- 43:22–23“We found our fathers upon a way”
- 43:31–32“A great man from the two towns”
- 43:33–35Roofs of silver, and ornaments of gold
- 43:36Whoever is blind to the remembrance of the Most Merciful
- 43:67Friends that Day will be enemies, except the mindful
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 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.