Making deeds seem fair (zayyana + ʿamal)
زَيَّنَّا لِكُلِّ أُمَّةٍ عَمَلَهُمْ
zayyannā li-kulli ummatin ʿamalahum — We have made every community's deed seem fair to them
Across ten verses the Qur'an pairs the verb zayyana (form II, 'make seem fair/adorn') with ʿamal ('deed'), while the one who does the adorning varies: 'We' (first person), the shayṭān, or an unnamed passive agent. Read together, the verses present the fair-seeming of deeds as a recurring condition of those who go astray, with the agent left unstated exactly where the deed itself is called evil.
The pairing of zayyana with ʿamal recurs in ten verses with a striking pattern in who performs the verb. In two verses the speaker is 'We': 'We have made every community's deed seem fair to them' (6:108) and 'We have made their deeds seem attractive to them' (27:4). In four verses the agent is the shayṭān: he 'made their deeds seem attractive' (8:48), 'made their deeds seem appealing to them' (16:63), 'made their deeds seem fair to them' (27:24), and 'adorned their deeds for them' (29:38). In four verses the verb is passive with no agent named: 'the badness of their deeds has been made attractive to them' (9:37), 'the badness of his deed has been made adorned' (35:8), 'was made fair to Pharaoh the evil of his deed' (40:37), and 'the evil of his deed has been made attractive' (47:14). The passive verses share a further feature: each names the deed as suʾ ('badness/evil') of the deed, whereas the active verses say only 'their deeds'. The consequences attached also vary: being turned away from the path (27:24, 29:38, 40:37), wandering in bewilderment (27:4), and return to the Lord who will inform them (6:108). The verses thus frame fair-seeming deeds as the condition of communities and individuals who go astray, with the agent stated as 'We' or the shayṭān, and suppressed precisely when the deed is labelled evil.
Where it occurs
- 6:108 First-person plural: 'We have made every community's deed seem fair to them', followed by return to their Lord and His informing them of their deeds.
- 8:48 The shayṭān makes their deeds seem attractive and claims to be their ally, then turns back and declares himself clear of them.
- 9:37 Passive with no agent: 'the badness of their deeds has been made attractive to them', after they make permitted what Allah has made forbidden.
- 16:63 The shayṭān made the deeds of communities before seem appealing, so he is their ally today, with painful punishment for them.
- 27:4 First-person plural: 'We have made their deeds seem attractive' to those who do not trust in the Later [life], so they wander in bewilderment.
- 27:24 Satan made the deeds of a people prostrating to the sun seem fair, turning them away from the path.
- 29:38 Satan adorned the deeds of ʿĀd and Thamūd, turning them from the path while they had been perceiving.
- 35:8 Passive: one for whom the badness of his deed has been made adorned sees it as good; contrasted with Allah's guiding and letting sink into error whom He wills.
- 40:37 Passive: the evil of Pharaoh's deed was made fair to him, and he was turned away from the path.
- 47:14 Passive: one for whom the evil of his deed has been made attractive and who follows his desires is contrasted with one upon a clear proof from his Lord.
All Qur'anic expressions