Surah 36. Ya-Sin

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Verses [Section]: 1-12[1], 13-32 [2], 33-50 [3], 51-67 [4], 68-83 [5]

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Quran Text of Verse 68-83وَ مَنْAnd (he) whomنُّعَمِّرْهُWe grant him long lifeنُنَكِّسْهُWe reverse himفِیinالْخَلْقِ ؕthe creationاَفَلَاThen will notیَعْقِلُوْنَ they use intellect وَ مَاAnd notعَلَّمْنٰهُWe taught himالشِّعْرَ[the] poetryوَ مَاand notیَنْۢبَغِیْit is befittingلَهٗ ؕfor himاِنْNotهُوَitاِلَّا(is) exceptذِكْرٌa Reminderوَّ قُرْاٰنٌand a Quranمُّبِیْنٌۙclear لِّیُنْذِرَTo warnمَنْ(him) whoكَانَisحَیًّاaliveوَّ یَحِقَّand may be proved trueالْقَوْلُthe Wordعَلَیagainstالْكٰفِرِیْنَ the disbelievers 36. Ya-Sin Page 445اَوَ لَمْDo notیَرَوْاthey seeاَنَّاthat Weخَلَقْنَا[We] createdلَهُمْfor themمِّمَّاfrom whatعَمِلَتْhave madeاَیْدِیْنَاۤOur handsاَنْعَامًاcattleفَهُمْthen theyلَهَا[for them]مٰلِكُوْنَ (are the) owners وَ ذَلَّلْنٰهَاAnd We have tamed themلَهُمْfor themفَمِنْهَاso some of themرَكُوْبُهُمْthey ride themوَ مِنْهَاand some of themیَاْكُلُوْنَ they eat وَ لَهُمْAnd for themفِیْهَاthereinمَنَافِعُ(are) benefitsوَ مَشَارِبُ ؕand drinksاَفَلَاso (will) notیَشْكُرُوْنَ they give thanks وَ اتَّخَذُوْاBut they have takenمِنْbesidesدُوْنِbesidesاللّٰهِAllahاٰلِهَةًgodsلَّعَلَّهُمْthat they mayیُنْصَرُوْنَؕbe helped لَاNotیَسْتَطِیْعُوْنَthey are ableنَصْرَهُمْ ۙto help themوَ هُمْbut theyلَهُمْfor themجُنْدٌ(are) host(s)مُّحْضَرُوْنَ (who will) be brought فَلَاSo (let) notیَحْزُنْكَgrieve youقَوْلُهُمْ ۘtheir speechاِنَّاIndeed Weنَعْلَمُ[We] knowمَاwhatیُسِرُّوْنَthey concealوَ مَاand whatیُعْلِنُوْنَ they declare اَوَ لَمْDoes notیَرَseeالْاِنْسَانُ[the] manاَنَّاthat Weخَلَقْنٰهُ[We] created himمِنْfromنُّطْفَةٍa sperm-dropفَاِذَاThen behold!هُوَHeخَصِیْمٌ(is) an opponentمُّبِیْنٌ clear وَ ضَرَبَAnd he sets forthلَنَاfor Usمَثَلًاan exampleوَّ نَسِیَand forgetsخَلْقَهٗ ؕhis (own) creationقَالَHe saysمَنْWhoیُّحْیِwill give lifeالْعِظَامَ(to) the bonesوَ هِیَwhile theyرَمِیْمٌ (are) decomposed قُلْSayیُحْیِیْهَاHe will give them lifeالَّذِیْۤWhoاَنْشَاَهَاۤproduced themاَوَّلَ(the) firstمَرَّةٍ ؕtimeوَ هُوَand Heبِكُلِّ(is) of everyخَلْقٍcreationعَلِیْمُۙAll-Knower لَّذِیْThe One Whoجَعَلَmadeلَكُمْfor youمِّنَfromالشَّجَرِthe treeالْاَخْضَرِ[the] greenنَارًاfireفَاِذَاۤand behold!اَنْتُمْYouمِّنْهُfrom itتُوْقِدُوْنَ ignite اَوَ لَیْسَIs it notالَّذِیْ(He) Whoخَلَقَcreatedالسَّمٰوٰتِthe heavensوَ الْاَرْضَand the earthبِقٰدِرٍAbleعَلٰۤیtoاَنْ[that]یَّخْلُقَcreateمِثْلَهُمْ ؔؕ(the) like of themبَلٰی ۗYes indeed!وَ هُوَand Heالْخَلّٰقُ(is) the Supreme Creatorالْعَلِیْمُ the All-Knower اِنَّمَاۤOnlyاَمْرُهٗۤHis CommandاِذَاۤwhenاَرَادَHe intendsشَیْـًٔاa thingاَنْthatیَّقُوْلَHe saysلَهٗto itكُنْBeفَیَكُوْنُ and it is فَسُبْحٰنَSo glorified beالَّذِیْ(He) Whoبِیَدِهٖin Whose handمَلَكُوْتُis (the) dominionكُلِّ(of) allشَیْءٍthingsوَّ اِلَیْهِand to Himتُرْجَعُوْنَ۠you will be returned

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Translation of Verse 68-83

(36:68) Whomsoever We grant a long life, We reverse him in his constitution.⁵⁷ Do they still not understand?

(36:69) We did not teach him (to wit, the Messenger) poetry and it does not behove him.⁵⁸ This is none but an Admonition, and a Clear Book

(36:70) that he may warn him who is alive⁵⁹ and establish an argument against those that deny the Truth.

(36:71) Do they not see Our handiwork:⁶⁰ We created for them cattle which they own?

(36:72) We have subjected the cattle to them so that some of them they ride and eat the flesh of others.

(36:73) They derive a variety of benefits and drinks from them. Will they, then, not give thanks?⁶¹

(36:74) They set up deities apart from Allah, hoping that they will receive help from them.

(36:75) Those deities can render them no help. Yet these devotees act as though they were an army in waiting for them.⁶²

(36:76) Let not their words grieve you. Surely We know all things about them, what they conceal and what they reveal.⁶³

(36:77) Does⁶⁴ man not see that We created him of a sperm drop, and lo! he is flagrantly contentious?⁶⁵

(36:78) He strikes for Us⁶⁶ a similitude and forgot his own creation.⁶⁷ He says: “Who will quicken the bones when they have decayed?”

(36:79) Say: “He Who first brought them into being will quicken them; He knows well about every kind of creation;

(36:80) He Who created from a green tree a fire for you, a fire to light your stoves with.”⁶⁸

(36:81) Has He Who created the heavens and the earth no power to create the likes of them? Yes, indeed, He is the Superb Creator.

(36:82) Whenever He wills a thing, He just commands it “Be” and it is.

(36:83) Holy is He Who has full control over everything, and to Him you shall all be recalled.

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Commentary

57. What is emphasized here is that in old age one is reverted to the state of one’s infancy. The elderly suffers from the same weaknesses, infirmities and dependencies that marked their infant lives. Others help them to rise and put them to bed and feed them. They even lose control over themselves in such ordinary matters as answering the call of nature.

Furthermore, they engage in foolish prattle causing people to burst into.

laughter. In short, in old age they revert to the same stage of weakness through which they had passed in their infancy.

58. This constitutes the Qur’anic rejoinder to the unbelievers’ dismissal of the Prophet's statements about monotheism, the Hereafter, Life-after-Death, Paradise and Hell, as sheer poetry. For them, these statements were as worthless as flights of fancy which one notes in poetry.

(For further details see Towards Understanding the Qur'an, Surah al-Shu‘ara’ 26: nn. 142-145, Vol. VII, pp. 126-129.)

59. He “who is alive” refers to him who thinks and understands, unlike a piece of stone. Such people who are devoid of understanding and feeling, are truly pieces of stone. No matter how reasonably a distinction is made between truth and falsehood before them, and no matter how sincerely a person tenders sincere advice to them, they are unmoved.

For they neither hear, nor understand. Nor do they budge an inch from their position.

60. The word handiwork has been used here with regard to God in a figurative sense. This usage does not necessarily mean that God has a body and that, like human beings, He works with His hands. Recourse has been made to this word to emphasize that God Himself created all these things; that no one had any part in God’s act of creation.

61. Ingratitude consists in crediting someone other than the True ‘Benefactor as the source of the bounty that one has received, or giving thanks for it to anyone other than Him, or expecting or seeking it from anyone other than Him. In like manner, using God’s bounty in ways that do not please Him also amounts to ingratitude. Therefore, a polytheist, unbeliever, hypocrite or transgressor cannot be regarded as God’s grateful servant merely because he verbally thanks God. The Makkan unbelievers did not deny that God had created their cattle. They also did not contend that any of their idols had a role in creating them. Yet they thanked their gods for the bounties conferred upon them by God, offering them sacrifices and invoking them for the bestowal of further bounties. This, therefore, made their verbal expression of gratitude to God meaningless. They were, therefore, branded as thankless.

62. That is, those idols were dependent on their devotees for their existence, security and other needs. If not for the hordes of these devotees, they could not have survived for a day. These devotees served them as though they were an army in waiting for them who set up and decorated their shrines. They carried out propaganda campaigns to exalt them and to turn people into their zealous supporters. They went about quarrelling and fighting on their behalf. It is thanks to a combination of these factors that the Godhead of these deities flourished. Had these factors not been there none would even care to utter their names. They are altogether unlike the One True God Whose sovereign control over the universe is not contingent on people’s acknowledgement of Him as their Lord.

63. This is addressed to the Prophet (peace be on him). It has been said that “We know all things about them, what they conceal and what they reveal”. This alludes to the storm of false propaganda and the campaign of slander and calumny against the Prophet (peace be on him) mounted by the Quraysh chiefs. They admitted in their private councils that their charges against the Prophet (peace be on him) were baseless. Yet they dubbed him as a madman, a poet, a soothsayer and a magician in order to prejudice people’s minds against him. All the while, however, they knew in their heart of hearts that they had fabricated false charges in order to discredit him. God, therefore, asks the Prophet (peace be on him) not to lose heart on account of their slanderous campaign. Those who oppose the truth and cling to falsehood will be disgraced both in this life and in the Next.

64. This represents the Qur’anic response to the query posed by the unbelievers mentioned in verse 48 above. The unbelievers often asked: when will the Last Day come? Their true purpose in asking this question was not to find out the actual date of the Last Day’s arrival. — Rather, their intent was to depict the occurrence of Resurrection as not only impossible but also evidently irrational. Hence, arguments are put forward in response to the unbelievers’ query to confirm that the Hereafter is certainly possible. _ .

The traditions narrated by ‘Abd Allah ibn ‘Abbas, Qatadah and Sa‘id ibn Jubayr inform us that a Makkan chief once brought the bone of a _dead man from a graveyard. He broke that bone into pieces and then scattered them into the air before the Prophet (peace be on him) and asked: “O Muhammad, you say that the dead will be raised to life after death. Now, who will bring this disintegrated bone back to life?” The verse in question was instantly revealed in response to this query. (Ibn Kathir, Tafsir, comments on verse 77).

65. A drop of semen, which simply contained the basic germ of life, was of little significance as such. It is, however, God Who made it grow and then endowed it with life. Thanks to God’s will it began to move about and derive nourishment, and was also granted myriad faculties - of consciousness and reason, of understanding and argumentation, of speech and effective articulation — faculties which had not been conferred on any other living species. All this carried man to such heights of vanity as to make him bold enough to argue even with God.

66. The unbelievers mistakenly consider God to be helpless, somewhat like the creatures which He created. As man himself cannot resurrect the dead, he suffers from the illusion that God too does not have the power to do so.

67. The unbelievers forget that God caused their birth out of a lifeless drop of semen and then let them grow into a speaking, thinking creature.

Disregarding all this, man indulges in specious argumentation before God.

68. This either means that God has granted such characteristics to green trees that man is able to use them as fuel. Or else it is an allusion to the two well-known trees called markh and ufar (trees whose wood easily ignites). Arabs used to strike the green branches of these trees against one another and this produced sparks. In olden times, Arab Bedouins employed this means to kindle fire, and maybe they continue to do so even today.