Surah Az-Zukhruf (The Ornaments of Gold) in English

1. وكذلك ما أرسلنا من قبلك في قرية من نذير إلا قال مترفوها إنا وجدنا آباءنا على أمة وإنا على آثارهم مقتدون

   23

   So it has been that We did not send any warner to a town before you, without its affluent ones saying, ‘We found our fathers following a creed and we are indeed following in their footsteps.’

   wa-ka-dhālika mā ʾarsalnā min qablika fī qaryatin min nadhīrin ʾillā qāla mutrafūhā ʾinnā wajadnā ʾābāʾanā ʿalā ʾummatin wa-ʾinnā ʿalā ʾāthārihim muqtadūna

2. قال أولو جئتكم بأهدى مما وجدتم عليه آباءكم قالوا إنا بما أرسلتم به كافرون

   24

   He would say, ‘What! Even if I bring you a better guidance than what you found your fathers following?!’ They would say, ‘We indeed disbelieve in what you are sent with.’

   qāla ʾa-wa-law jiʾtukum bi-ʾahdā mimmā wajadtum ʿalayhi ʾābāʾakum qālū ʾinnā bi-mā ʾursiltum bihī kāfirūna

3. فانتقمنا منهم فانظر كيف كان عاقبة المكذبين

   25

   Thereupon We took vengeance on them; so observe how was the fate of the deniers.

   fa-ntaqamnā minhum fa-nẓur kayfa kāna ʿāqibatu l-mukadhdhibīna

4. وإذ قال إبراهيم لأبيه وقومه إنني براء مما تعبدون

   26

   When Abraham said to his father and his people, ‘I repudiate what you worship,

   wa-ʾidh qāla ʾibrāhīmu li-ʾabīhi wa-qawmihī ʾinnanī barāʾun mimmā taʿbudūna

5. إلا الذي فطرني فإنه سيهدين

   27

   excepting Him who originated me; indeed He will guide me.’

   ʾillā lladhī faṭaranī fa-ʾinnahū sa-yahdīni

6. وجعلها كلمة باقية في عقبه لعلهم يرجعون

   28

   He made it a lasting word among his posterity so that they may come back [to the right path].

   wa-jaʿalahā kalimatan bāqiyatan fī ʿaqibihī laʿallahum yarjiʿūna

7. بل متعت هؤلاء وآباءهم حتى جاءهم الحق ورسول مبين

   29

   Indeed, I provided for these and their fathers until the truth and a manifest apostle came to them.

   bal mattaʿtu hāʾulāʾi wa-ʾābāʾahum ḥattā jāʾahumu l-ḥaqqu wa-rasūlun mubīnun

8. ولما جاءهم الحق قالوا هذا سحر وإنا به كافرون

   30

   But when the truth came to them, they said, ‘This is magic, and we indeed disbelieve in it.’

   wa-lammā jāʾahumu l-ḥaqqu qālū hādhā siḥrun wa-ʾinnā bihī kāfirūna

9. وقالوا لولا نزل هذا القرآن على رجل من القريتين عظيم

   31

   And they said, ‘Why was not this Quran sent down to some great man from the two cities?’

   wa-qālū law-lā nuzzila hādhā l-qurʾānu ʿalā rajulin mina l-qaryatayni ʿaẓīmin

10. أهم يقسمون رحمت ربك نحن قسمنا بينهم معيشتهم في الحياة الدنيا ورفعنا بعضهم فوق بعض درجات ليتخذ بعضهم بعضا سخريا ورحمت ربك خير مما يجمعون

    32

    Is it they who dispense the mercy of your Lord? It is We who have dispensed among them their livelihood in the present life, and raised some of them above others in rank, so that some may take others into service, and your Lord’s mercy is better than what they amass.

    ʾa-hum yaqsimūna raḥmata rabbika naḥnu qasamnā baynahum maʿīshatahum fī l-ḥayāti d-dunyā wa-rafaʿnā baʿḍahum fawqa baʿḍin darajātin li-yattakhidha baʿḍuhum baʿḍan sukhriyyan wa-raḥmatu rabbika khayrun mimmā yajmaʿūna

11. ولولا أن يكون الناس أمة واحدة لجعلنا لمن يكفر بالرحمن لبيوتهم سقفا من فضة ومعارج عليها يظهرون

    33

    Were it not [for the danger] that mankind would be one community, We would have made for those who defy the All-beneficent, silver roofs for their houses and [silver] stairways by which they ascend,

    wa-law-lā ʾan yakūna n-nāsu ʾummatan wāḥidatan la-jaʿalnā li-man yakfuru bi-r-raḥmāni li-buyūtihim suqufan min fiḍḍatin wa-maʿārija ʿalayhā yaẓharūna