Al-Qur'an Surah Az-Zukhruf Verse 20

Mufti Taqi Usmani

They say, “Had the RaHmān so willed, we would not have worshipped them.” They have no knowledge of that. They do nothing but make conjectures.

Dr. Mustafa Khattab, the Clear Quran

And they argue, “Had the Most Compassionate willed, we would have never worshipped them.” They have no knowledge ˹in support˺ of this ˹claim˺. They do nothing but lie.

Ruwwad Translation Center

They say, “If the Most Compassionate had willed, we would not have worshiped them.” They have no knowledge of that; they do nothing but conjecture.

A. J. Arberry

They say, 'Had the All-merciful so willed, we would not have served them.' They have no knowledge of that; they are only conjecturing.

Abdul Haleem

They say, ‘If the Lord of Mercy had willed it, we would not have worshipped them,’ but they do not know that- they are only guessing-

Abdul Majid Daryabadi

And they say: had the Compassionate willed we should not have worshipped them. They have no knowledge thereof; they are only guessing.

Abdullah Yusuf Ali

("Ah!") they say, "If it had been the will of (Allah) Most Gracious, we should not have worshipped such (deities)!" Of that they have no knowledge! they do nothing but lie!

Abul Ala Maududi

They say: “Had the Merciful One so willed, we would never have worshipped these deities.” But they have no knowledge of the matter and are simply conjecturing.

Ahmed Ali

Yet they say: "If Ar-Rahman had so pleased we would not have worshipped them." They have no knowledge of it in the least. They only make up lies.

Ahmed Raza Khan

And they say, “If the Most Gracious had willed, we would not have worshipped them!” They do not know its truth at all; they only make guesses.

Ali Quli Qarai

They say, ‘Had the All-beneficent wished, we would not have worshipped them.’ They do not have any knowledge of that, and they do nothing but surmise.

Ali Ünal

They also say: "If the All-Merciful had so willed, we would not have worshipped them (our deities, including angels)." They have no knowledge whatever of that (the relationship of Divine Will and human will and actions). Indeed, they only judge and speak according to their own fancies and interests.

Amatul Rahman Omar

And they say, `If the Most Gracious (God) had (so) willed, we should never have worshipped them.´ They have no real knowledge whatsoever in that matter. They do nothing but make conjectures.

English Literal

And they said: "If the merciful willed/wanted we would not have worshipped them, none from knowledge with that (is) for them, that truly they are except lying/speculating.

Faridul Haque

And they say, “If the Most Gracious had willed, we would not have worshipped them!” They do not know its truth at all; they only make guesses.

Hamid S. Aziz

And they say, "If the Beneficent Allah had pleased, we should never have worshipped them." They have no knowledge of this; they only lie.

Hilali & Khan

And they said: "If it had been the Will of the Most Beneficent (Allah), we should not have worshipped them (false deities)." They have no knowledge whatsoever of that. They do nothing but lie!

Maulana Mohammad Ali

And they make the angels who are the servants of the Beneficent, females. Did they witness their creation? Their evidence will be recorded and they will be questioned.

Mohammad Habib Shakir

And they say: If the Beneficent Allah had pleased, we should never have worshipped them. They have no knowledge of this; they only lie.

Mohammed Marmaduke William Pickthall

And they say: If the Beneficent One had (so) willed, we should not have worshipped them. They have no knowledge whatsoever of that. They do but guess.

Muhammad Sarwar

The pagans say, "Had the Beneficent God wanted, we would not have worshipped them (idols)." Whatever they say is not based on knowledge. It is only a false conjecture.

Qaribullah & Darwish

They say: 'Had it been the will of the Merciful, we would never have worshipped them' Of this they have no knowledge, they are but guessing.

Safi-ur-Rahman al-Mubarakpuri

And they said: "If it had been the will of the Most Gracious, we should not have worshipped them." They have no knowledge whatsoever of that. They do nothing but lie!

Wahiduddin Khan

They say, "If the All Merciful had so willed, we would not have worshipped them." They have no knowledge of that. They are only conjecturing.

Talal Itani

And they say, “Had the Most Gracious willed, we would not have worshiped them.” But they have no knowledge of that; they are merely guessing.

Tafsir jalalayn

And they say, `Had the Compassionate One [so] willed, we would not have worshipped them', the angels; therefore our worship of them happens by His will and so He must be satisfied with it. God, exalted be He, says; They do not have any knowledge of that, which is said of His being satisfied with the worship of these [angels]; and they are only surmising, inventing lies in this [respect] and so punishment will befall them as a result thereof.

Tafseer Ibn Kathir

وَقَالُوا لَوْ شَاء الرَّحْمَنُ مَا عَبَدْنَاهُم

And they said;"If it had been the will of the Most Gracious, we should not have worshipped them."

means, (they said;) `if Allah had willed, He would have prevented us from worshipping these idols which are images of the angels who are the daughters of Allah; He knows about this and He approves of it.'

By saying this, they combined several types of error;

First;They attributed offspring to Allah -- exalted and sanctified be He far above that.

Second;They claimed that He chose daughters rather than sons, and they made the angels, who are the servants of the Most Gracious, female.

Third;They worshipped them with no proof, evidence or permission from Allah. This was based on mere opinion, whims and desires, imitation of their elders and forefathers, and pure ignorance. They used Allah's decree as an excuse, and this reasoning betrayed their ignorance.

Fourth;Allah denounced them for this in the strongest terms, for from the time He first sent Messengers and revealed Books, the command was to worship Him Alone with no partner or associate, and it was forbidden to worship anything other than Him.

Allah says;

وَلَقَدْ بَعَثْنَا فِى كُلِّ أُمَّةٍ رَّسُولاً أَنِ اعْبُدُواْ اللَّهَ وَاجْتَنِبُواْ الْطَّـغُوتَ فَمِنْهُم مَّنْ هَدَى اللَّهُ وَمِنْهُمْ مَّنْ حَقَّتْ عَلَيْهِ الضَّلَـلَةُ فَسِيرُواْ فِى الاٌّرْضِ فَانظُرُواْ كَيْفَ كَانَ عَـقِبَةُ الْمُكَذِّبِينَ

And verily, We have sent among every Ummah a Messenger (proclaiming);"Worship Allah, and avoid all false deities."

Then of them were some whom Allah guided and of them were some upon whom the straying was justified.

So travel through the land and see what was the end of those who denied. (16;36)

وَاسْيلْ مَنْ أَرْسَلْنَا مِن قَبْلِكَ مِن رُّسُلِنَأ أَجَعَلْنَا مِن دُونِ الرَّحْمَـنِ ءَالِهَةً يُعْبَدُونَ

And ask those of Our Messengers whom We sent before you;"Did We ever appoint gods to be worshipped besides the Most Gracious" (43;45)

And Allah says in this Ayah, after mentioning this argument of theirs;

مَّا لَهُم بِذَلِكَ مِنْ عِلْمٍ

They have no knowledge whatsoever of that.

meaning, of the truth of what they say and the arguments they put forward.

إِنْ هُمْ إِلاَّ يَخْرُصُونَ



They do nothing but lie!

means, they tell lies and fabricate untruths.

Mujahid said about
مَّا لَهُم بِذَلِكَ مِنْ عِلْمٍ إِنْ هُمْ إِلاَّا يَخْرُصُونَ
(They have no knowledge whatsoever of that. They do nothing but lie!),

"They do not appreciate the power of Allah.