Surah Zukhruf

Surat az-Zukhruf is the 43rd surah of the Quran, it contains 89 ayat or verses

Surat az Zukhruf (Arabic: سورة الزخرف‎, "Ornaments of Gold, Luxury") is the 43rd chapter or surah, of the Quran, the central religious text of Islam. It contains 89 ayat, or verses.

Reward of reciting Surah Zukhruf:

1. The Messenger of Allah (s.a.w.s.) said: It is for one for whom would be said on the Day of Judgment: O servant! There is no fear for you on this day and you will not be aggrieved, enter the Paradise without giving any account.

2. Imam as Sadiq (a.s.) says: One who regularly recites Surah Ha Mim Zukhruf, Allah will keep him safe in his grave from the crawling creatures and the narrowness of the grave till he comes before Allah, the Exalted and the Mighty. Then this Surah will come and get him admitted to Paradise by the order of Allah, the Blessed and the High.

Surah az-Zukhruf (The Embellishment)

This Surah was revealed in Makkah and it has 89 ayaat. It is narrated from Imam Jafar as Sadiq (a.s.) that whoever recites this Surah will be saved from the vermin (e.g. insects, scorpions etc.) in the grave and will not undergo the squeezing (Fishar) in the grave.

Ornaments of Gold, or Surat Az-Zukhruf, is the 43rd surah of the Quran containing a total of 89 verses. Named after the golden ornaments recognized in verse 35 and again in verse 53, this surah dates back to the Second Meccan Period before the Prophet Muhammad’s migration to Medina. According to the Nöldeke Chronology of surahs, the Ornaments of Gold was the 61st surah revealed. The Standard Egyptian chronology, however, acknowledges this as the 63rd surah revealed. Regardless of the exact position in which this surah was revealed, it is clear that the surah was revealed during the Second Meccan Period, a time in which Muhammad and his followers were increasingly subject to opposition from the Quraysh tribe.

Consistent with all of the surahs of the Al-Quran (Kuran / Koran / Mushaf / Al-Qur'an), Ornaments of Gold begins with the basmala, or the standard verse ‘In the name of God, the Lord of Mercy, the Giver of Mercy.’

Ornaments of Gold is a surah (surat / sorah / sorat / sura) that acts as a reminder to believers that the goodness of God cannot be found within wealth and material power. The surah rejects the claim of disbelievers that prophets, leaders and worthy figures should be marked by their riches and thereby empowers them to refrain from temptations, indulgences and distractions. The surah warns disbelievers who succumb to the “mere enjoyments of this life” (43:17) of a terrible and tormented afterlife and it encourages believers to relish not in riches but in their faith and love of God. The surah also repeatedly addresses the fact that the angels are not God's daughters but his faithful servants (43:19). The possibility of Jesus being the literal son of God is also rejected within the surah (43:63-64).Haleem, M.A.S. Abdel. The Al-Qur'an (New York: Oxford University Press, 2005) 319.

The surah begins with a strong affirmation of the revelation. Verses 2-4 emphasize the Scripture as being “clear” and “truly exalted and authoritative.” These verses present a pronounced declaration of the truth and certainty of the revelation and also include the first of the two times that the word "Quran" is specifically used throughout the surah. The word ‘qur’an’ is only used 70 times throughout the entirety of the Quran. Quran is a verbal noun in Arabic meaning ‘to recite.’

Exaltation of God and divinity of the Quran:

The Ornaments of Gold ends with a flourish of praise and exaltations of God. “He who is God in heaven and God on Earth; He is the All Wise, the All Knowing” (43:84). This creates a parallel between the first and third sections of the surah as it also exalts God as “the Almighty, the All Knowing” (43:9), but also as it praises the words and knowledge of God as the ultimate truth.