Surah Az-Zukhruf – Hassan Saleh

Az-Zukhruf (Ornaments of Gold) is the 43rd surah of the Quran. A Meccan surah of 89 verses in the twenty-fifth juz, it is counted 63rd in the traditional order of revelation, after Ash-Shura. The fourth of the Ha-Mim surahs, it criticises blind imitation of ancestors and the worship of wealth, recalls Abraham, Moses and Jesus, and contrasts the fate of the pious and the guilty.

Name

The name comes from verse 35: were it not that all people would become a single community of disbelief, God would have given the houses of those who deny the Most Merciful roofs of silver, stairways, doors, couches "and ornaments of gold (zukhruf)"; yet all this is only the enjoyment of worldly life, while the Hereafter belongs to the God-fearing.

Themes

• The Book and the signs (43:1–14). The Quran is an Arabic recitation, preserved in "the Mother of the Book" (43:4). Riding animals and ships are signs of God's favour, and verses 13 and 14 teach the words to say when mounting them: "Glory be to Him who has subjected this to us..." According to Sahih Muslim, the Prophet recited them when setting out on a journey.
• Imitation of ancestors (43:15–30). The idolaters claim the angels are God's daughters and justify themselves: "We found our fathers following a way, and we are guided by their footsteps" (43:22). Abraham, by contrast, disowned what his father and people worshipped and left this declaration as "a lasting word among his descendants" (43:26–28).
• Wealth and worth (43:31–45). The Meccans asked why the Quran had not been revealed to "a great man of the two cities" (43:31), Mecca and Ta'if according to the commentators. God replies that He apportions livelihood among people, and that His mercy is better than anything they amass (43:32).
• Moses and Jesus (43:46–65). Pharaoh boasts: "Is not the kingdom of Egypt mine, with these rivers flowing beneath me?" (43:51), and his people obey him. Jesus is "only a servant whom We favoured" (43:59), and verse 61, "he is a sign of the Hour", is understood by many commentators as referring to his return before the end of time.
• The Hereafter (43:66–89). On that Day close friends become enemies, except the God-fearing (43:67); the righteous are told "O My servants, no fear shall be upon you" (43:68). The guilty call out: "O Malik, let your Lord put an end to us!" (43:77); al-Bukhari reports that the Prophet recited this verse from the pulpit.

The surah ends by telling the Prophet to turn away from the deniers and say "Peace" (43:89). The Ha-Mim series continues with Ad-Dukhan, and Jesus' story is told in more detail in Maryam.