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Surah Az-Zumar (The Groups)

1. The revelation of this Book (the Qur'an) is from Allah, the All-Mighty, the All-Wise.

2. Verily, We have sent down the Book to you (O Muhammad ) in truth: So worship Allah (Alone) by doing religious deeds sincerely for Allah's sake only, (and not to show-off, and not to set up rivals with Him in worship).

3. Surely, the religion (i.e. the worship and the obedience) is for Allah only. And those who take Auliya' (protectors and helpers) besides Him (say): "We worship them only that they may bring us near to Allah." Verily, Allah will judge between them concerning that wherein they differ. Truly, Allah guides not him who is a liar, and a disbeliever.

4. Had Allah willed to take a son (or offspring or children), He could have chosen whom He pleased out of those whom He created. But glory be to Him! (He is above such things). He is Allah, the One, the Irresistible.

5. He has created the heavens and the earth with truth. He makes the night to go in the day and makes the day to go in the night. And He has subjected the sun and the moon. Each running (on a fixed course) for an appointed term. Verily, He is the All-Mighty, the Oft-Forgiving.

6. He created you (all) from a single person (Adam); then made from him his wife [Hawwa' (Eve)]. And He has sent down for you of cattle eight pairs (of the sheep, two, male and female; of the goats, two, male and female; of the oxen, two, male and female; and of the camels, two, male and female). He creates you in the wombs of your mothers, creation after creation in three veils of darkness, such is Allah your Lord. His is the kingdom, La ilaha illa Huwa (none has the right to be worshipped but He). How then are you turned away?

7. If you disbelieve, then verily, Allah is not in need of you, He likes not disbelief for His slaves. And if you are grateful (by being believers), He is pleased therewith for you. No bearer of burdens shall bear the burden of another. Then to your Lord is your return, so He will inform you what you used to do. Verily, He is the All-Knower of that which is in (men's) breasts.

8. And when some hurt touches man, he cries to his Lord (Allah Alone), turning to Him in repentance, but when He bestows a favour upon him from Himself, he forgets that for which he cried for before, and he sets up rivals to Allah, in order to mislead others from His Path. Say: "Take pleasure in your disbelief for a while: surely, you are (one) of the dwellers of the Fire!"

9. Is one who is obedient to Allah, prostrating himself or standing (in prayer) during the hours of the night, fearing the Hereafter and hoping for the Mercy of his Lord (like one who disbelieves)? Say: "Are those who know equal to those who know not?" It is only men of understanding who will remember (i.e. get a lesson from Allah's Signs and Verses).

10. Say (O Muhammad ): "O My slaves who believe (in the Oneness of Allah Islamic Monotheism), be afraid of your Lord (Allah) and keep your duty to Him. Good is (the reward) for those who do good in this world, and Allah's earth is spacious (so if you cannot worship Allah at a place, then go to another)! Only those who are patient shall receive their rewards in full, without reckoning."

11. Say (O Muhammad ): "Verily, I am commanded to worship Allah (Alone) by obeying Him and doing religious deeds sincerely for Allah's sake only and not to show off, and not to set up rivals with Him in worship;

12. "And I am commanded (this) in order that I may be the first of those who submit themselves to Allah (in Islam) as Muslims."

13. Say (O Muhammad ): "Verily, if I disobey my Lord, I am afraid of the torment of a great Day."

14. Say (O Muhammad ) "Allah Alone I worship by doing religious deeds sincerely for His sake only and not to show-off, and not to set up rivals with Him in worship."

15. So worship what you like besides Him. Say (O Muhammad ): "The losers are those who will lose themselves and their families on the Day of Resurrection. Verily, that will be a manifest loss!"

16. They shall have coverings of Fire, above them and covering (of Fire) beneath them; with this Allah does frighten His slaves: "O My slaves, therefore fear Me!"

17. Those who avoid At-Taghut (false deities) by not worshipping them and turn to Allah in repentance, for them are glad tidings; so announce the good news to My slaves,

18. Those who listen to the Word [good advice La ilaha ill-Allah (none has the right to be worshipped but Allah) and Islamic Monotheism, etc.] and follow the best thereof (i.e. worship Allah Alone, repent to Him and avoid Taghut, etc.) those are (the ones) whom Allah has guided and those are men of understanding (like Zaid bin 'Amr bin Nufail, Salman Al-Farisi and Abu Dhar Al-Ghifari). [Tafsir Al-Qurtubi, Vol. 12, P. 244]

19. Is, then one against whom the Word of punishment justified (equal to the one who avoids evil). Will you (O Muhammad ) rescue him who is in the Fire?

20. But those who fear Allah and keep their duty to their Lord (Allah), for them are built lofty rooms; one above another under which rivers flow (i.e. Paradise). (This is) the Promise of Allah: and Allah does not fail in (His) Promise.

21. See you not, that Allah sends down water (rain) from the sky, and causes it to penetrate the earth, (and then makes it to spring up) as water-springs and afterward thereby produces crops of different colours, and afterward they wither and you see them turn yellow, then He makes them dry and broken pieces. Verily, in this, is a Reminder for men of understanding.

22. Is he whose breast Allah has opened to Islam, so that he is in light from His Lord (as he who is non-Muslim)? So, woe to those whose hearts are hardened against remembrance of Allah! They are in plain error!

23. Allah has sent down the best statement, a Book (this Qur'an), its parts resembling each other in goodness and truth, oft-repeated. The skins of those who fear their Lord shiver from it (when they recite it or hear it). Then their skin and their heart soften to the remembrance of Allah. That is the guidance of Allah. He Guides therewith whom He pleases and whomever Allah sends astray, for him there is no guide.

24. Is he then, who will confront with his face the awful torment on the Day of Resurrection (as he who enters peacefully in Paradise)? And it will be said to the Zalimun (polytheists and wrong-doers, etc.): "Taste what you used to earn!"

25. Those before them belied, and so the torment came on them from directions they perceived not.

26. So Allah made them to taste the disgrace in the present life, but greater is the torment of the Hereafter if they only knew!

27. And indeed We have put forth for men, in this Qur'an every kind of similitude in order that they may remember.

28. An Arabic Qur'an, without any crookedness (therein) in order that they may avoid all evil which Allah has ordered them to avoid, fear Him and keep their duty to Him.

29. Allah puts forth a similitude: a (slave) man belonging to many partners (like those who worship others along with Allah) disputing with one another, and a (slave) man belonging entirely to one master, (like those who worship Allah Alone). Are those two equal in comparison? All the praises and thanks be to Allah! But most of them know not.

30. Verily, you (O Muhammad ) will die and verily, they (too) will die.

31. Then, on the Day of Resurrection, you will be disputing before your Lord.

32. Then, who does more wrong than one who utters a lie against Allah, and denies the truth [this Qur'an, the Prophet (Muhammad ), the Islamic Monotheism, the Resurrection and the reward or punishment according to good or evil deeds] when it comes to him! Is there not in Hell an abode for the disbelievers?

33. And he (Muhammad ) who has brought the truth (this Qur'an and Islamic Monotheism) and (those who) believed therein (i.e. the true believers of Islamic Monotheism), those are Al- Muttaqun (the pious and righteous persons - see V.2:2).

34. They shall have all that they will desire with their Lord. That is the reward of Muhsinun (good-doers - see V.2:112).

35. So that Allah may remit from them the evil of what they did and give them the reward, according to the best of what they used to do.

36. Is not Allah Sufficient for His slave? Yet they try to frighten you with those (whom they worship) besides Him! And whom Allah sends astray, for him there will be no guide.

37. And whomsoever Allah guides, for him there will be no misleader. Is not Allah All-Mighty, Possessor of Retribution?

38. And verily, if you ask them: "Who created the heavens and the earth?" Surely, they will say: "Allah (has created them)." Say: "Tell me then, the things that you invoke besides Allah, if Allah intended some harm for me, could they remove His harm, or if He (Allah) intended some mercy for me, could they withhold His Mercy?" Say : "Sufficient for me is Allah; in Him those who trust (i.e. believers) must put their trust."

39. Say: (O Muhammad ) "O My people! Work according to your way, I am working (according to my way). Then you will come to know,

40. "To whom comes a disgracing torment, and on whom descends an everlasting torment."

41. Verily, We have sent down to you (O Muhammad ) the Book (this Qur'an) for mankind in truth. So whosoever accepts the guidance, it is only for his ownself, and whosoever goes astray, he goes astray only for his (own) loss. And you (O Muhammad ) are not a Wakil (trustee or disposer of affairs, or keeper) over them.

42. It is Allah Who takes away the souls at the time of their death, and those that die not during their sleep. He keeps those (souls) for which He has ordained death and sends the rest for a term appointed. Verily, in this are signs for a people who think deeply.

43. Have they taken others as intercessors besides Allah? Say: "Even if they have power over nothing whatever and have no intelligence?"

44. Say: "To Allah belongs all intercession. His is the Sovereignty of the heavens and the earth, then to Him you shall be brought back."

45. And when Allah Alone is mentioned, the hearts of those who believe not in the Hereafter are filled with disgust (from the Oneness of Allah) and when those (whom they obey or worship) besides Him [like all false deities other than Allah, it may be a Messenger like 'Iesa (Jesus) - son of Maryam (Mary), 'Uzair (Ezra), an angel, a pious man, a jinn, or any other creature even idols, graves of religious people, saints, priests, monks, etc.] are mentioned, behold, they rejoice!

46. Say (O Muhammad ): "O Allah! Creator of the heavens and the earth! All-Knower of the Ghaib (unseen) and the seen. You will judge between your slaves about that wherein they used to differ."

47. And those who did wrong (the polytheists and disbelievers in the Oneness of Allah), if they had all that is in earth and therewith as much again, they verily, would offer it to ransom themselves therewith on the Day of Resurrection from the evil torment, and there will become apparent to them from Allah, what they had not been reckoning.

48. And the evils of that which they earned will become apparent to them, and they will be encircled by that which they used to mock at!

49. When harm touches man, he calls to Us (for help), then when We have (rescued him from that harm and) changed it into a favour from Us, he says: "Only because of knowledge (that I possess) I obtained it." Nay, it is only a trial, but most of them know not!

50. Verily, those before them said it, yet (all) that they had earned availed them not.

51. So, the evil results of that which they earned overtook them. And those who did wrong of these [people to whom you (Muhammad ) have been sent], will also be overtaken by the evil results (torment) for that which they earned, and they will never be able to escape.

52. Do they not know that Allah enlarges the provision for whom He wills, and straitens it (for whom He wills). Verily, in this are signs for the folk who believe!

53. Say: "O 'Ibadi (My slaves) who have transgressed against themselves (by committing evil deeds and sins)! Despair not of the Mercy of Allah, verily Allah forgives all sins. Truly, He is Oft-Forgiving, Most Merciful.

54. "And turn in repentance and in obedience with true Faith (Islamic Monotheism) to your Lord and submit to Him, (in Islam), before the torment comes upon you, then you will not be helped.

55. "And follow the best of that which is sent down to you from your Lord (i.e. this Qur'an, do what it orders you to do and keep away from what it forbids), before the torment comes on you suddenly while you perceive not!"

56. Lest a person should say: "Alas, my grief that I was undutiful to Allah (i.e. I have not done what Allah has ordered me to do), and I was indeed among those who mocked [at the truth! i.e. La ilaha ill-Allah (none has the right to be worshipped but Allah), the Qur'an, and Muhammad and at the faithful believers, etc.]

57. Or (lest) he should say: "If only Allah had guided me, I should indeed have been among the Muttaqun (pious and righteous persons - see V.2:2)."

58. Or (lest) he should say when he sees the torment: "If only I had another chance (to return to the world) then I should indeed be among the Muhsinun (good-doers - see V.2:112)."

59. Yes! Verily, there came to you My Ayat (proofs, evidences, verses, lessons, signs, revelations, etc.) and you denied them, and were proud and were among the disbelievers.

60. And on the Day of Resurrection you will see those who lied against Allah (i.e. attributed to Him sons, partners, etc.) their faces will be black. Is there not in Hell an abode for the arrogant ones?

61. And Allah will deliver those who are the Muttaqun (pious - see V.2:2) to their places of success (Paradise). Evil shall touch them not, nor shall they grieve.

62. Allah is the Creator of all things, and He is the Wakil (Trustee, Disposer of affairs, Guardian, etc.) over all things.

63. To Him belong the keys of the heavens and the earth. And those who disbelieve in the Ayat (proofs, evidences, verses, signs, revelations, etc.) of Allah, such are they who will be the losers.

64. Say (O Muhammad to the polytheists, etc.): "Do you order me to worship other than Allah O you fools ?"

65. And indeed it has been revealed to you (O Muhammad ), as it was to those (Allah's Messengers) before you: "If you join others in worship with Allah, (then) surely (all) your deeds will be in vain, and you will certainly be among the losers."

66. Nay! But worship Allah (Alone and none else), and be among the grateful.

67. They made not a just estimate of Allah such as is due to Him. And on the Day of Resurrection the whole of the earth will be grasped by His Hand and the heavens will be rolled up in His Right Hand. Glorified is He, and High is He above all that they associate as partners with Him!

68. And the Trumpet will be blown, and all who are in the heavens and all who are on the earth will swoon away, except him whom Allah will. Then it will blown a second time and behold, they will be standing, looking on (waiting).

69. And the earth will shine with the light of its Lord (Allah, when He will come to judge among men) and the Book will be placed (open) and the Prophets and the witnesses will be brought forward, and it will be judged between them with truth, and they will not be wronged.

70. And each person will be paid in full of what he did; and He is Best Aware of what they do.

71. And those who disbelieved will be driven to Hell in groups, till, when they reach it, the gates thereof will be opened (suddenly like a prison at the arrival of the prisoners). And its keepers will say, "Did not the Messengers come to you from yourselves, reciting to you the Verses of your Lord, and warning you of the Meeting of this Day of yours?" They will say: "Yes, but the Word of torment has been justified against the disbelievers!"

72. It will be said (to them): "Enter you the gates of Hell, to abide therein. And (indeed) what an evil abode of the arrogant!"

73.  And those who kept their duty to their Lord will be led to Paradise in groups, till, when they reach it, and its gates will be opened (before their arrival for their reception) and its keepers will say: Salamun 'Alaikum (peace be upon you)! You have done well, so enter here to abide therein."

74. And they will say: "All the praises and thanks be to Allah Who has fulfilled His Promise to us and has made us inherit (this) land. We can dwell in Paradise where we will; how excellent a reward for the (pious good) workers!"

75. And you will see the angels surrounding the Throne (of Allah) from all round, glorifying the praises of their Lord (Allah). And they (all the creatures) will be judged with truth, and it will be said. All the praises and thanks be to Allah, the Lord of the 'Alamin (mankind, jinns and all that exists)."