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سُورَةُ الزُّخۡرُفِ · 43:31
MeccanRevelation order ٦٣Juzʾ ٢٥Page ٤٩١

وَقَالُوا۟ لَوْلَا نُزِّلَ هَٰذَا ٱلْقُرْءَانُ عَلَىٰ رَجُلٍۢ مِّنَ ٱلْقَرْيَتَيْنِ عَظِيمٍ

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Saheeh International · EN

And they said, "Why was this Qur'an not sent down upon a great man from [one of] the two cities?"

IntroductionRevelationTafsirTransmissionDebate
Bio

Introduction

This is āyah 31 of Sūrat Az-Zukhruf (The Ornaments of Gold), the 63rd sūrah in the traditional order of revelation. It was revealed in the Meccan period and sits within Juzʾ 25. 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
63 of 114
Surah
Az-Zukhruf (43)

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

And (remember) when Ibrahim said to his father and his people: "Verily, I am innocent of what you worship, (26)"Except Him Who created me; and verily, He will guide me. (27)And he made it a word lasting among his offspring, that they may turn back (28)Nay, but I gave to these and their fathers to enjoy, till there came to them the truth, and a Messenger making things clear (29)And when the truth came to them, they said: "This is magic, and we disbelieve therein. (30)And they say: "Why is not this Qur'an sent down to some great man of the two towns? (31)Is it they who would portion out the mercy of your Lord? It is We Who portion out between them their livelihood in this world, and We raised some of them above others in ranks, so that some may employ others in their work. But the mercy of your Lord is better than what they amass (32)And were it not that mankind would have become of one co…
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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