Transliteration:( Innaa ja'alnaahu Quraanan 'Arabiyyal la'allakum ta'qiloon )
"We have sent it (Qur'an) in Arabic [2] that you may understand [3]"
It should be remembered that besides the Holy Qur'an, no other heavenly book was revealed in Arabic. This is because, other than the Holy Prophet ﷺ, no prophet from the lineage of Ismail (peace be upon him) appeared in the Arabian region. All the previous scriptures were revealed in Hebrew, which today is largely extinct in its original prophetic form.
In contrast, Arabic has remained alive and has even become an international language—entirely due to the everlasting impact of the Holy Qur'an. This leads us to the understanding that Arabic is superior to all other languages, for it was chosen by Allah as the medium for His final revelation.
Moreover, Arabic’s importance goes beyond this world. According to Islamic belief:
The questions in the grave will be asked in Arabic.
The Day of Judgment will involve reckoning in Arabic.
The language of Paradise will be Arabic.
And Arabic was the language of our beloved Prophet ﷺ.
Thus, Arabic is recognized as a spiritual language, while other languages serve temporal, worldly purposes.
"That you may understand" highlights the initial audience of the revelation—the people of Arabia. Through their language and outreach, the rest of humanity would come to understand the message of the Qur'an.
This verse essentially places the Arabs in the position of teachers, while the broader world becomes their students. Their mastery of Arabic and their closeness to the Prophet ﷺ made them the first carriers of divine knowledge, entrusted to spread it beyond their borders.
Hence, this verse honors both the linguistic status of Arabic and the noble role of the Arabs in sharing divine guidance with all of humankind.
The tafsir of Surah Zukhruf verse 3 by Ibn Kathir is unavailable here.
Please refer to Surah Zukhruf ayat 1 which provides the complete commentary from verse 1 through 8.
(43:3) verily We have made it an Arabic Qur’an that you may understand.[1]
1. The object of taking an oath by the Quran is to impress this fact: We are the Author of this Book and not Muhammad (peace be upon him), and the attribute of the Quran chosen for the oath is that it is a lucid Scripture. To swear by the Quran itself with this attribute in order to impress that the Quran is divine Word by itself implies this: O people, this is an open Book before you. Read it intelligently. Its clear and un-ambiguous themes, its language and literary style, its teaching which distinguishes the truth from falsehood, all are testifying to the fact that none but the Lord of the Universe could be its Author. Then the sentence: “Indeed, We made it a Quran in Arabic that you might understand” has two meanings:
(1) It is not in any foreign tongue but in your own language; therefore, you can have no difficulty in assessing its value and worth. Had it been in a non-Arabic language, you could have offered the excuse that you could not determine its being divine, or otherwise, for you did not understand it. But you cannot offer this excuse about this Arabic Quran. Its each word is clear to you, its each passage and discourse, both in language and in theme, is plain for you. Now you may see it for yourself whether this could be the word of Muhammad (peace be upon him) or of some other Arab.
(2) We have sent this Book in Arabic because We are addressing the Arabs, who can only understand an Arabic Quran. The person who disregards this expressly rational ground for sending down the Quran in Arabic and regards it as the word of Muhammad (peace be upon him) instead of divine Word only because Muhammad’s mother tongue is also Arabic, commits a grave injustice. To understand this second meaning, please see (Surah HaMim As-Sajdah, Ayat 44) and its E.N.
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