About Surah Az-Zumar

Promising early believers elevated chambers in Paradise—a detail that earned it the alternative title Sūrat al-Ghuraf—this Makkan text arrived during an intense period of rejection. It offered explicit encouragement to migrate for Allah’s sake around the fifth year of Prophethood, shortly before some Companions left for Abyssinia.

Moving from the signs of creation in the upper and lower worlds, the verses build stark contrasts between sincere people of knowledge and the heedless through parables like the earth's water cycle. After invalidating claims that Allah has partners or sons, the text pivots from the horrors of the Last Hour to deliver a famous, universal invitation to repentance. It urges those who have wronged themselves never to despair of divine mercy.

The primary title Az-Zumar, meaning The Groups, points toward the Day of Judgment and the final gathering of souls. Humanity is driven toward Paradise and Hell in distinct divisions, leaving a definitive scene of absolute dominion where all praise and glory belong to Allah alone.

Surah 39 Juz 23 75 verses

Az-Zumar

The Troops Meccan

039

Surah Info Reflections Layers

بِسْمِ ٱللَّهِ ٱلرَّحْمَـٰنِ ٱلرَّحِيمِ

39:1

This Scripture is sent down from God the Mighty, the Wise.

M.A.S. Abdel Haleem

39:2

It is We who sent down the Scripture to you [Prophet] with the Truth, so worship God with your total devotion:

M.A.S. Abdel Haleem

39:3

true devotion is due to God alone. [As for] those who choose other protectors beside Him, saying, ‘We only worship them because they bring us nearer to God,’ God Himself will judge between them regarding their differences. God does not guide any ungrateful liar.

M.A.S. Abdel Haleem

39:4

God could have chosen any of His creation He willed for offspring, but He is far above this! He is the One, the Almighty.

M.A.S. Abdel Haleem

39:5

He created the heavens and earth for a true purpose; He wraps the night around the day and the day around the night; He has subjected the sun and moon to run their courses for an appointed time; He is truly the Mighty, the Forgiving.

M.A.S. Abdel Haleem

39:6

He created you all from a single being, from which He made its mate; He gave you four kinds of livestock in pairs; He creates you in your mothers’ wombs, in one stage after another, in threefold depths of darkness. Such is God, your Lord; He holds control, there is no god but Him. How can you turn away?

M.A.S. Abdel Haleem

39:7

If you are ungrateful, remember God has no need of you, yet He is not pleased by ingrati-tude in His servants; if you are grateful, He is pleased [to see] it in you. No soul will bear another’s burden. You will return to your Lord in the end and He will inform you of what you have done: He knows well what is in the depths of [your] hearts.

M.A.S. Abdel Haleem

39:8

When man suffers some affliction, he prays to his Lord and turns to Him, but once he has been granted a favour from God, he forgets the One he had been praying to and sets up rivals to God, to make others stray from His path. Say, ‘Enjoy your ingratitude for a little while: you will be one of the inhabitants of the Fire.’

M.A.S. Abdel Haleem

39:9

What about someone who worships devoutly during the night, bowing down, standing in prayer, ever mindful of the life to come, hoping for his Lord’s mercy? Say, ‘How can those who know be equal to those who do not know?’ Only those who have understanding will take heed.

M.A.S. Abdel Haleem