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سُورَةُ الزُّمَرِ · 39:2
MeccanRevelation order ٥٩Juzʾ ٢٣Page ٤٥٨

إِنَّآ أَنزَلْنَآ إِلَيْكَ ٱلْكِتَٰبَ بِٱلْحَقِّ فَٱعْبُدِ ٱللَّهَ مُخْلِصًۭا لَّهُ ٱلدِّينَ

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Saheeh International · EN

Indeed, We have sent down to you the Book, [O Muhammad], in truth. So worship Allah, [being] sincere to Him in religion.

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Bio

Introduction

This is āyah 2 of Sūrat Az-Zumar (The Troops), the 59th sūrah in the traditional order of revelation. It was revealed in the Meccan period and sits within Juzʾ 23. Meccan verses tend to address faith, the oneness of God, and the hereafter.

This introduction is a starting point — the community and Bilal will enrich it over time.

Bio

Revelation & occasion

Asbāb al-Nuzūl
Period
Meccan
Order revealed
59 of 114
Surah
Az-Zumar (39)
Occasion of revelation · Al-Wahidi

Surely We have sent the Book down to thee with the truth, so worship God, purifying the religion for Him. “O MuḤammad, We sent this Qur'an down to you so that you may call the lost to the road of salva- tion, bring the deprived from the intrusion of deprivation to the comfort of union, bring the suffer- ing from the darkness of misfortune to the courtyard of prosperity, complete the noble character traits with this Qur'an, and arrange the Shariah in accordance with it. O MuḤammad, when a place does not have the light of your creed, all will be the darkness of associationism. When a place does not have the intimacy of your Shariah, all will be the intrusion of doubt. O MuḤammad, We have joined your exalted good fortune and your eminent messengerhood to the Endless. “So worship God, purifying the religion for Him. Now belong fully to Me, turning your secret core toward Me, your heart lifted up from all others, released from the bonds of yourself and your own controlling power.” With this command, the Messenger became so courteous that Gabriel came and said, “O MuḤammad! Have you chosen to be a prophet king, or a prophet servant?” He said, “O Lord, I want servanthood. I do not want kingship, for kingship is entirely turned over to You, and servanthood is entirely turned over to me. I have no refuge but Your gentleness and no shelter but Your exalted presence. If I were to choose kingship, I would stay with the king- ship and boast of my kingship. Rather, I choose servanthood so that I may be under Your kingship and boast of Your kingship.” This is why he said, “'I am the master of Adam's children without boasting': The boasting that I have is of the Friend, not of other than Him. When someone boasts, he boasts of something that is above him, not below him. In the two worlds, no one is above me except Him. If I were to boast of other than Him, I would have looked at other than Him and left aside the command, 'So worship God, purifying!' But there is no command to leave it aside, and no stipulation to look at other than Him. Hence there is no boasting in other than Him.” You name me “master,” but my master is the one You know. If You examine my heart, You will see Your remembrance in my breast.

Commentary

Tafsir

4 works

Hafiz Ibn Kathir

The Virtues of Surat Az-Zumar An-Nasa'i recorded that 'A'ishah, may Allah be pleased with her, said, "The Messenger of Allah ﷺ used to fast until we would say, 'He does not want to break fast,' and he would not fast until we would say, 'He does not want to fast.' And he ﷺ used to recite Bani Isra'il [Al-Isra'] and Az-Zumar every night." بِسْمِ اللَّهِ الرَّحْمَٰنِ الرَّحِيمِ In the Name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful. تَنْزِيلُ الْكِتَابِ مِنَ اللَّهِ الْعَزِيزِ الْحَكِيمِ - إِنَّا أَنْزَلْنَا إِلَيْكَ الْكِتَابَ بِالْحَقِّ فَاعْبُدِ اللَّهَ مُخْلِصًا لَهُ الدِّينَ - أَلَا لِلَّهِ الدِّينُ الْخَالِصُ ۚ وَالَّذِينَ اتَّخَذُوا مِنْ دُونِهِ أَوْلِيَاءَ مَا نَعْبُدُهُمْ إِلَّا لِيُقَرِّبُونَا إِلَى اللَّهِ زُلْفَىٰ إِنَّ اللَّهَ يَحْكُمُ بَيْنَهُمْ فِي مَا هُمْ فِيهِ يَخْتَلِفُونَ ۗ إِنَّ اللَّهَ لَا يَهْدِي مَنْ هُوَ كَاذِبٌ كَفَّارٌ - لَوْ أَرَادَ اللَّهُ أَنْ يَتَّخِذَ…
Provenance

Chains of transmission

Oral — isnād

  1. ~610–632 CERevelation & memorisation

    Received by the Prophet ﷺ and preserved by the ḥuffāẓ (memorisers) among the Companions.

  2. 1st century AHMutawātir transmissionawaiting curation

    Carried by mass-transmission through the generations of qurrāʾ.

  3. TodayLiving chainsawaiting curation

    Continuous ijāzah chains link reciters today back to the Prophet ﷺ.

Verified isnād chains for this āyah will be added by curators.

Written — the manuscript record

  1. ~650 CEʿUthmānic codicesawaiting curation

    The standardised muṣḥaf sent to the great cities (e.g. the Topkapı and Samarqand codices).

  2. 8th–10th c.Early Ḥijāzī & Kūfic foliosawaiting curation

    Surviving leaves in Birmingham, Sanaa, Paris (BnF) and beyond.

  3. Modern printModern printawaiting curation

    The 1924 Cairo edition → today: the standard printed muṣḥaf used worldwide.

A curated chain of manuscript images for this exact āyah — roughly one per century — is coming. Help us source and verify them.

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The text, its history and the classical commentary are laid out above. Share your own understanding, ask a question, or reason with others.

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Provenance

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