Surah The Troops [Az-Zumar] in English

The [gradual] sending down of the Book is from Allah, the All-mighty, the All-wise.

Indeed We have sent down the Book to you with the truth; so worship Allah, putting exclusive faith in Him.

Indeed, only exclusive faith is worthy of Allah, and those who take other as awliya besides Him [claiming,] ‘We only worship them so that they may bring us near to Allah,’ Allah will judge between them concerning that about which they differ. Indeed Allah does not guide someone who is a liar and an ingrate.

Had Allah intended to take a son, He could have chosen from those He has created whatever He wished. Immaculate is He! He is Allah, the One, the All-paramount.

He created the heavens and the earth with consummate wisdom. He winds the night over the day, and winds the day over the night, and He has disposed the sun and the moon, each moving for a specified term. Indeed, He is the All-mighty, the All-forgiver!

He created you from a single soul, then made from it its mate, and He has sent down for you eight mates of the cattle. He creates you in the wombs of your mothers, creation after creation, in a threefold darkness. That is Allah, your Lord! To Him belongs all sovereignty. There is no god except Him. Then where are you being led away?

If you are ungrateful, Allah has indeed no need of you, though He does not approve ingratitude for His servants; and if you give thanks, He approves that for you. No bearer shall bear another’s burden; then your return will be to your Lord, whereat He will inform you concerning what you used to do. Indeed, He knows best what is in the breasts.

When distress befalls man, he supplicates his Lord, turning to Him penitently. Then, when He grants him a blessing from Himself, he forgets that for which he had supplicated Him earlier and sets up equals to Allah, that he may lead [people] astray from His way. Say, ‘Revel in your ingratitude for a while. Indeed you are among the inmates of the Fire.’

Is he who supplicates in the watches of the night, prostrating and standing, apprehensive of the Hereafter and expecting the mercy of his Lord...? Say, ‘Are those who know equal to those who do not know?’ Only those who possess intellect take admonition.

Say, ‘[Allah declares:] “O My servants who have faith! Be wary of your Lord. For those who do good in this world there will be a good [reward], and Allah’s earth is vast. Indeed the patient will be paid in full their reward without any reckoning.” ’

Say, ‘I have been commanded to worship Allah with exclusive faith in Him,

and I have been commanded to be the foremost of those who submit [to Him].’

Say, ‘Indeed, should I disobey my Lord, I fear the punishment of a tremendous day.’

Say, ‘I worship [only] Allah, putting my exclusive faith in Him.

You worship whatever you wish besides Him.’ Say, ‘The losers are those who ruin themselves and their families on the Day of Resurrection.’ Indeed, that is a manifest loss!

There will be canopies of fire above them, and [similar] canopies beneath them. With that Allah deters His servants. So, My servants, be wary of Me!

As for those who stay clear of the worship of fake deities and turn penitently to Allah, there is good news for them. So give good news to My servants

who listen to the word [of Allah] and follow the best [interpretation] of it. They are the ones whom Allah has guided, and it is they who possess intellect.

Can he against whom the word of punishment has become due…? Can you rescue someone who is in the Fire?

But as for those who are wary of their Lord, for them there will be lofty abodes with [other] lofty abodes built above them, with streams running beneath them—a promise of Allah. Allah does not break His promise.

Have you not seen that Allah sends down water from the sky, then He conducts it through the ground as springs. Then He brings forth with it crops of diverse hues. Then they wither and you see them turn yellow. Then He turns them into chaff. There is indeed a lesson in that for those who possess intellect.

Is someone whose breast Allah has opened to Islam so that he follows a light from His Lord…? So woe to those whose hearts have been hardened to the remembrance of Allah. They are in manifest error.

Allah has sent down the best of discourses, a scripture [composed] of similar motifs, whereat shiver the skins of those who fear their Lord, then their skins and hearts relax at Allah’s remembrance. That is Allah’s guidance, by which He guides whomever He wishes; and whomever Allah leads astray, has no guide.

What! Is someone who fends off with his face the terrible punishment [meted out to him] on the Day of Resurrection…? And the wrongdoers will be told, ‘Taste what you used to earn.’

Those who were before them impugned [the apostles], whereat the punishment overtook them whence they were not aware.

So Allah made them taste disgrace in the life of the world, and the punishment of the Hereafter will surely be greater, if they knew.

We have drawn for mankind in this Quran every [kind of] example, so that they may take admonition:

an Arabic Quran, without any deviousness, so that they may be Godwary.

Allah draws an example: a man jointly owned by several contending masters, and a man belonging entirely to one man: are the two equal in comparison? All praise belongs to Allah! But most of them do not know.

You will die, and they [too] will die.

Then on the Day of Resurrection you will contend before your Lord.

So who is a greater wrongdoer than him who attributes a falsehood to Allah, and denies the truth when it reaches him? Is not the [final] abode of the faithless in hell?

He who brings the truth and he who confirms it—it is they who are the Godwary.

They will have what they wish with their Lord—that is the reward of the virtuous—

that Allah may absolve them of the worst of what they did, and pay them their reward by the best of what they used to do.

Does not Allah suffice [to defend] His servant? They would frighten you of others than Him. Yet whomever Allah leads astray, has no guide,

and whomever Allah guides, there is no one who can lead him astray. Is not Allah an all-mighty avenger?

If you ask them, ‘Who created the heavens and the earth?’ they will surely say, ‘Allah.’ Say, ‘Have you considered what you invoke besides Allah? Should Allah desire some distress for me, can they remove the distress visited by Him? Or should He desire some mercy for me, can they withhold His mercy?’ Say, ‘Allah is sufficient for me. In Him let all the trusting put their trust.’

Say, ‘O my people! Act according to your ability. I too am acting. Soon you will know

who will be overtaken by a punishment that will disgrace him, and on whom a lasting punishment will descend.’

Indeed We have sent down the Book to you with the truth for [the deliverance of] mankind. So whoever is guided is guided for his own sake, and whoever goes astray, goes astray to his own detriment, and it is not your duty to watch over them.

Allah takes the souls at the time of their death, and those who have not died, in their sleep. Then He retains those for whom He has ordained death and releases the others until a specified time. There are indeed signs in that for a people who reflect.

Have they taken intercessors besides Allah? Say, ‘What! Even though they do not control anything, and cannot reason?!’

Say, ‘All intercession rests with Allah. To Him belongs the kingdom of the heavens and the earth; then you will be brought back to Him.’

When Allah is mentioned alone, [thereat] shrink away the hearts of those who do not believe in the Hereafter, but when others are mentioned besides Him, behold, they rejoice!

Say, ‘O Allah! Originator of the heavens and the earth, Knower of the sensible and the Unseen, You will judge between Your servants concerning that about which they used to differ.’

Even if the wrongdoers possessed all that is on the earth, and as much of it besides, they would offer it on the Day of Resurrection to redeem themselves with it from a terrible punishment, and there will appear to them from Allah what they had never reckoned.

The evils of what they had earned will appear to them, and they will be besieged by what they used to deride.

When distress befalls man, he supplicates Us. Then, when We grant him a blessing from Us, he says, ‘I was given it by virtue of [my] knowledge.’ Indeed, it is a test, but most of them do not know.

Those who were before them [also] said that, but what they used to earn did not avail them.

So the evils of what they had earned visited them, and as for the wrongdoers among these, the evils of what they earn shall be visited on them and they will not frustrate [Allah].

Do they not know that Allah expands the provision for whomever He wishes and tightens it [for whomever He wishes]? There are indeed signs in that for a people who have faith.

Say [that Allah declares,] ‘O My servants who have committed excesses against their own souls, do not despair of the mercy of Allah. Indeed Allah will forgive all sins. Indeed, He is the All-forgiving, the All-merciful.

Turn penitently to Him and submit to Him before the punishment overtakes you, whereupon you will not be helped.

Follow the best of what has been sent down to you from your Lord, before the punishment overtakes you suddenly while you are unaware.’

Lest anyone should say, ‘Alas for my negligence in the vicinage of Allah! Indeed I was among those who ridiculed.’

Or say, ‘Had Allah guided me I would have surely been among the Godwary!’

Or say, when he sights the punishment, ‘If only there were a second chance for me, I would be among the virtuous!’

[They will be told,] ‘Yes, My signs certainly came to you, but you denied them and acted arrogantly and you were among the faithless.’

On the Day of Resurrection you will see those who attributed lies to Allah with their faces blackened. Is not the [final] abode of the arrogant in hell?

Allah will deliver those who were Godwary with their salvation. No ill shall touch them, nor will they grieve.

Allah is creator of all things, and He watches over all things.

To Him belong the keys of the heavens and the earth, and those who disbelieve in the signs of Allah—it is they who are the losers.

Say, ‘Will you, then, bid me to worship other than Allah, O you ignorant ones?!’

Certainly it has been revealed to you and to those [who have been] before you: ‘If you ascribe a partner to Allah your works shall fail and you shall surely be among the losers.

No, worship Allah, and be among the grateful!’

They do not regard Allah with the regard due to Him, yet the entire earth will be in His fist on the Day of Resurrection, and the heavens, scrolled, in His right hand. Immaculate is He and exalted above [having] any partners that they ascribe [to Him].

And the Trumpet will be blown, and whoever is in the heavens will swoon and whoever is on the earth, except whomever Allah wishes. Then it will be blown a second time, behold, they will rise up, looking on!

The earth will glow with the light of her Lord, and the Book will be set up, and the prophets and the martyrs will be brought, and judgment will be made between them with justice, and they will not be wronged.

Every soul will be recompensed fully for what it has done, and He is best aware of what they do.

The faithless will be driven to hell in throngs. When they reach it and its gates are opened, its keepers will say to them, ‘Did there not come to you [any] apostles from among yourselves, reciting to you the signs of your Lord and warning you of the encounter of this day of yours?’ They will say, ‘Yes, but the word of punishment became due against the faithless.’

It will be said, ‘Enter the gates of hell to remain in it [forever]. Evil is the [ultimate] abode of the arrogant.’

Those who are wary of their Lord will be led to paradise in throngs. When they reach it and its gates are opened, its keepers will say to them, ‘Peace be to you! You are welcome! Enter it to remain [forever].’

They will say, ‘All praise belongs to Allah, who has fulfilled His promise to us and made us inheritors of the earth, that we may settle in paradise wherever we may wish!’ How excellent is the reward of the workers [of righteousness]!