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سُورَةُ الزُّمَرِ · 39:16
MeccanRevelation order ٥٩Juzʾ ٢٣Page ٤٦٠

لَهُم مِّن فَوْقِهِمْ ظُلَلٌۭ مِّنَ ٱلنَّارِ وَمِن تَحْتِهِمْ ظُلَلٌۭ ۚ ذَٰلِكَ يُخَوِّفُ ٱللَّهُ بِهِۦ عِبَادَهُۥ ۚ يَٰعِبَادِ فَٱتَّقُونِ

١٦
Saheeh International · EN

They will have canopies of fire above them and below them, canopies. By that Allah threatens His servants. O My servants, then fear Me.

IntroductionRevelationTafsirTransmissionDebate
Bio

Introduction

This is āyah 16 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)

No specific occasion of revelation (Asbāb al-Nuzūl) is recorded for this āyah in al-Wāḥidī's collection. Many verses were revealed without a single triggering event.

Commentary

Tafsir

4 works

Hafiz Ibn Kathir

Say: "Verily, if I disobey my Lord, I am afraid of the torment of a great Day. (13)Say: "Allah Alone I worship by doing religious deeds sincerely for His sake only. (14)"So, worship what you like besides Him." Say: "The losers are those who will lose themselves and their families on the Day of Resurrection. Verily, that will be a manifest loss! (15)They shall have coverings of Fire, above them and covering (of Fire) beneath them. With this Allah frightens His servants: "O My servants, therefore have Taqwa of Me! (16) Creating Fear of the Punishment of Allah Allah says, say O Muhammad, even though you are the Messenger of Allah: إِنِّي أَخَافُ إِنْ عَصَيْتُ رَبِّي عَذَابَ يَوْمٍ عَظِيمٍ (Verily, if I disobey my Lord, I am afraid of the torment of a great Day.) meaning the Day of Resurrection. This is a conditional sentence, and if what is referred to here applies to the Prophet ﷺ, it …
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.

The wall

And now — what do you think?

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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