سورة الزخرف، الآية ٢٠
وَقَالُوا۟ لَوْ شَآءَ ٱلرَّحْمَٰنُ مَا عَبَدْنَٰهُم مَّا لَهُم بِذَٰلِكَ مِنْ عِلْمٍ إِنْ هُمْ إِلَّا يَخْرُصُونَ ٢٠
waqālū law shāa l-raḥmānu mā ʿabadnāhum mā lahum bidhālika min ʿil'min in hum illā yakhruṣūna
And they said, "If the Most Merciful had willed, we would not have worshipped them." They have of that no knowledge. They are not but misjudging.
Verse 20 of Surah Az-Zukhruf (43:20), a Meccan surah, is in juz 25, on page 490 of the mushaf. Read it in Arabic with its transliteration, translations and tafsir, and listen to it recited by 74 reciters.
80 recitations by 74 reciters: pick one and it plays in the player.
And they say, using divine decree as evidence, “If Allah willed that we did not worship the angels, we would not have worshipped them. So because He willed for it to happen, it proves He was happy with it.” They make this statement out of ignorance; they are only lying.
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.
And they said: "If it had been the Will of the Most Gracious (Allâh), we should not have worshipped them (false deities)." They have no knowledge whatsoever of that. They do nothing but lie!
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.
("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!
And they say: If the Beneficent Allah had pleased, we should never have worshipped them. They have no knowledge of this; they only lie.
And they have said, "If The All-Merciful had (so) decided, in no way would we have worshiped them." In no way do they have any knowledge of that; decidedly they are (doing nothing) except conjecturing.
وَلَقَدْ بَعَثْنَا فِى كُلِّ أُمَّةٍ رَّسُولًا أَنِ ٱعْبُدُوا۟ ٱللَّهَ وَٱجْتَنِبُوا۟ ٱلطَّٰغُوتَ فَمِنْهُم مَّنْ هَدَى ٱللَّهُ وَمِنْهُم مَّنْ حَقَّتْ عَلَيْهِ ٱلضَّلَٰلَةُ فَسِيرُوا۟ فِى ٱلْأَرْضِ فَٱنظُرُوا۟ كَيْفَ كَانَ عَٰقِبَةُ ٱلْمُكَذِّبِينَ
And We certainly sent into every nation a messenger, [saying], "Worship Allāh and avoid ṭāghūt." And among them were those whom Allāh guided, and among them were those upon whom error was [deservedly] decreed. So proceed [i.e., travel] through the earth and observe how was the end of the deniers.
وَسْـَٔلْ مَنْ أَرْسَلْنَا مِن قَبْلِكَ مِن رُّسُلِنَآ أَجَعَلْنَا مِن دُونِ ٱلرَّحْمَٰنِ ءَالِهَةً يُعْبَدُونَ
And ask those We sent before you of Our messengers; have We made besides the Most Merciful deities to be worshipped?
They share a sequence of words with this verse: useful for telling them apart when memorising.
وَقَالُوا۟ مَا هِىَ إِلَّا حَيَاتُنَا ٱلدُّنْيَا نَمُوتُ وَنَحْيَا وَمَا يُهْلِكُنَآ إِلَّا ٱلدَّهْرُ وَمَا لَهُم بِذَٰلِكَ مِنْ عِلْمٍ إِنْ هُمْ إِلَّا يَظُنُّونَ
And they say, "There is not but our worldly life; we die and live, and nothing destroys us except time." And they have of that no knowledge; they are only assuming.
