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Surah Yaseen (Yasin) Section 3 – God’s Bounties As Signs Of Guidance To Mankind

  • The earth quickened after it is dead

  • The alternation of day and night

  • Respite given to the disbelievers

  • The mighty control of the luminaries in the heavens

Surah Yaseen (Yasin) Verses 33 – 50

وَءَايَةٌ لَّهُمُ ٱلْأَرْضُ ٱلْمَيْتَةُ أَحْيَيْنَـٰهَا وَأَخْرَجْنَا مِنْهَا حَبًّا فَمِنْهُ يَأْكُلُونَ

And a sign unto them is the dead earth; We give life to it and bring We forth from it grain of which they eat. (36:33)1

وَجَعَلْنَا فِيهَا جَنَّـٰتٍ مِّن نَّخِيلٍ وَأَعْنَـٰبٍ وَفَجَّرْنَا فِيهَا مِنَ ٱلْعُيُونِ

And make We therein gardens of date-palms and grapevines, and cause We to flow therein springs, (36:34)

لِيَأْكُلُوا۟ مِن ثَمَرِهِۦ وَمَا عَمِلَتْهُ أَيْدِيهِمْ أَفَلَا يَشْكُرُونَ

That they may eat of its fruits, and made it not their hands; What! will they not then be grateful? (36:35)

سُبْحَـٰنَ ٱلَّذِى خَلَقَ ٱلْأَزْوَٰجَ كُلَّهَا مِمَّا تُنۢبِتُ ٱلْأَرْضُ وَمِنْ أَنفُسِهِمْ وَمِمَّا لَا يَعْلَمُونَ

Hallowed is He Who created pairs (of) all things, of what groweth the earth, of their selves and of what they know not. (36:36)2

وَءَايَةٌ لَّهُمُ ٱلَّيْلُ نَسْلَخُ مِنْهُ ٱلنَّهَارَ فَإِذَا هُم مُّظْلِمُونَ

And a sign unto them, is the night, We draw forth from it the day, and Io! they are in the dark, (36:37)

وَٱلشَّمْسُ تَجْرِى لِمُسْتَقَرٍّ لَّهَا ذَٰلِكَ تَقْدِيرُ ٱلْعَزِيزِ ٱلْعَلِيمِ

And the sun travelleth unto a resting-place3fixed for it; That4is the decree of the All- Mighty, the All-Knowing. (36:38)

وَٱلْقَمَرَ قَدَّرْنَـٰهُ مَنَازِلَ حَتَّىٰ عَادَ كَٱلْعُرْجُونِ ٱلْقَدِيمِ

And (as for) the moon. We have fixed for it stages till it returneth to be bent like an old palm branch. (36:39)

لَا ٱلشَّمْسُ يَنۢبَغِى لَهَآ أَن تُدْرِكَ ٱلْقَمَرَ وَلَا ٱلَّيْلُ سَابِقُ ٱلنَّهَارِ وَكُلٌّ فِى فَلَكٍ يَسْبَحُونَ

It is not (expedient) for the sun that it should overtake the moon, nor can the night outstrip the day; and each (of these luminaries) rotate on in (its peculiar) sphere. (36:40)

وَءَايَةٌ لَّهُمْ أَنَّا حَمَلْنَا ذُرِّيَّتَهُمْ فِى ٱلْفُلْكِ ٱلْمَشْحُونِ

And a sign unto them is that We bear their offspring in the laden Ark, (36:41)

وَخَلَقْنَا لَهُم مِّن مِّثْلِهِۦ مَا يَرْكَبُونَ

And that We have created for them (the other conveyances) like it, on which ride they. (36:42)

وَإِن نَّشَأْ نُغْرِقْهُمْ فَلَا صَرِيخَ لَهُمْ وَلَا هُمْ يُنقَذُونَ

And if We only will, We can drown them, then there shall not be any one to help them, nor shall they be rescued, (36:43)

إِلَّا رَحْمَةً مِّنَّا وَمَتَـٰعًا إِلَىٰ حِينٍ

Save (by) mercy from Us and as an enjoyment for yet awhile. (36:44)

وَإِذَا قِيلَ لَهُمُ ٱتَّقُوا۟ مَا بَيْنَ أَيْدِيكُمْ وَمَا خَلْفَكُمْ لَعَلَّكُمْ تُرْحَمُونَ

And when it is said unto them: “Guard ye (yourselves) against what is before you and what is behind you, that ye be treated with mercy.” (36:45)

وَمَا تَأْتِيهِم مِّنْ ءَايَةٍ مِّنْ ءَايَـٰتِ رَبِّهِمْ إِلَّا كَانُوا۟ عَنْهَا مُعْرِضِينَ

And there cometh not unto them any sign from the signs of their Lord but from it turn they away. (36:46)5

وَإِذَا قِيلَ لَهُمْ أَنفِقُوا۟ مِمَّا رَزَقَكُمُ ٱللَّهُ قَالَ ٱلَّذِينَ كَفَرُوا۟ لِلَّذِينَ ءَامَنُوٓا۟ أَنُطْعِمُ مَن لَّوْ يَشَآءُ ٱللَّهُ أَطْعَمَهُۥٓ إِنْ أَنتُمْ إِلَّا فِى ضَلَـٰلٍ مُّبِينٍ

And when it is said unto them: “Spend ye of what God hath provided you with the sustenance,” say those who disbelieve unto those who believe: “What! shall we feed him whom, if God willeth, He could feed? Ye are not but in a manifest error.” (36:47)

وَيَقُولُونَ مَتَىٰ هَـٰذَا ٱلْوَعْدُ إِن كُنتُمْ صَـٰدِقِينَ

And say they: “When will this promise6come to pass, if ye be truthful?” (36:48)

مَا يَنظُرُونَ إِلَّا صَيْحَةً وَٰحِدَةً تَأْخُذُهُمْ وَهُمْ يَخِصِّمُونَ

They wait not but for a single (terrible) cry which will seize them while they wrangle with one another. (36:49)7

فَلَا يَسْتَطِيعُونَ تَوْصِيَةً وَلَآ إِلَىٰٓ أَهْلِهِمْ يَرْجِعُونَ

Then shall they not be able to make a bequest, nor shall they be able to return unto their families. (36:50)

Commentary

Verse 33

Let those who disbelieve their resurrection after death for the Final Judgment, take the note of guidance from the earth which for all intents and purposes, seems to be dead in a season every year and get quickened again and becomes once more productive as it was before. it was before8.

Indicates here, a higher stage is made to develop from the lower one as a continuity of the movement. (A.P.).

Verse 34

Date palms and vines are mentioned as symbols of fruit trees of various kinds. It may be noted that the description of the blissful life in the Hereafter given in the Qur’an is figurative for the heavenly bliss is unimaginable here.

Verse 35

However, much man may prepare the soil and sow the seed or plant a tree but unless the forces of nature help him, which are God’s own and are effected only by His independent will, nothing could profit man, in getting any produce from the earth or to do anything else also in the world. Hence whatever grains or fruits man eats, are the products of God’s willed functions of the natural forces in the formulation of which energies and their working in perfect harmony with each other, there is no hand of anyone else besides Him. Should not man be grateful to God?

The famous quatrain of the world renowned classical Persian poet ‘Sa’di’ which can be aptly quoted here:

Persian:

1. Abr o baad o mah o kursheed o falak dar kaar and,

2. Ta to naani bakaf aari o baghaflat nakhori.

3. In hama bahre to sargashta o farmanbardaar,

4. Sharte insaaf nabaashad ke to farman nabari. (Sa’di)

1. “The cloud, the wind, the moon, the sun and the heavens are busy,

2. To see that thou get a loaf in thy hand and eat it not ignorantly,

3. “All these have been made to worry themselves and subservient for thy sake

4. Never would it be fair if thou proveth not thyself obedient to Him (the Beneficent Lord).

If the ‘Ma’ is taken in the negative sense, the particle ‘Wau’ will mean ‘while’ and if it is taken to mean that which - it will mean to say that which their hands work, then the ‘wau’ will mean a conjunctive - and the whole sentence will be read thus ‘That they may eat of its fruits, i.e., fruits of what their hands made.’ (A.P.).

Verse 36

The mystery of sex exists in all species of creation. The constitution of the material world and the various kinds of energies functioning in the universe, are working in pairs of opposite kinds. There is the factor of sex active in the human, animal and vegetable life and in the other forms of activity manifest and hidden, known to us like electricity (positive and negative) and also unknown to us. Scientific enquiry until recently could not reach the fact that even the atom consists of a positive charge called the proton surrounded by a negative charge called electron. The point to note here is that, it was a time when the Holy Qur’an was revealed, the world was yet in the dark about many things and factors which by a more correct application of common sense, could have been known viz. the roundness of the earth.

Europe even until about 800 years after the truth about the movements of the earth and the heavenly bodies, had been disclosed by the Holy Qur’an, believed the earth to be flat and persecuted Columbus when he by mere common-sense argued about his conception about the earth to be flat and persecuted Columbus when he by mere common-sense about his conception about the shape of the earth. The human race in the various parts of the earth, worshipped the stars and the elements like the wind, the fire, the earth and water as gods. The disclosure of such secrets of nature which we only know in these advanced days of ours, could never have been possible if God through His infinite grace had not revealed the knowledge through His chosen men to guide mankind.

Indicates that not only the living beings but also the plants exist in pairs which fact was not known to the people of the age as a universal proposition. It also points out the existence in pairs of kinds even beyond the animal and the plant realms. (A.P.).

Verse 38

Until the very recent past, the sun was supposed to be stationary and all the other planets revolving round it and since very recently it has been found out that the sun also along with the whole of its solar system, is moving towards some destination. This fact had been declared centuries ago by the Holy Qur’an. This verse clearly declares that the sun is travelling towards a fixed destination or an end, and none knows when it would cease to be or stop to function, and this is the decree of the Omnipotent Lord Who is ever Triumphant or Successful, Who is the All-Knowing.9 For the meaning of the word ‘Mustaqar’ as the abode or the resting place, refer to verses 2:36, 6:98, 7:24.

Verse 39

Reference is to the lunar mansions of the Zodiac, ‘Urjun’ the sickle-like appearance of the new moon.

Verse 40

Though the sun and moon move in the same Zodiac path, the laws of the movement of each have been so fixed that the one can never clash with the other.

Note what a beautiful and realistic technical term has been used to describe the movement of the heavenly bodies in the space as swimming in it.10 This same term is used in our modern days for the planes that fly in the space, using the word navigation.

Ali states that over and above this sun are suns and over and above this moon are moons. There is another statement of Ali - as narrated by ‘Majma al-Bahrayn’ under the word ‘Kawkab.’ He refers to these stars and says they contain cities which are populated with creatures who worship the Almighty and knowing not whether He has created any being like Adam. (A.P.).

Verse 41

Man’s own personal experience in his practical life is appealed to. Man is invited to reflect upon his travelling safely along with his cargo through the high seas fighting the violent winds and the mountain-like waves - as it was done in the case of Noah and the Ark11 - which has become a ‘sign for all peoples.’

Verse 42

It is unquestionably God’s gifted intelligence with which man has devised the seacraft and the aircraft to manage with the laws of gravity, otherwise it would have been nothing short of an impossibility to pass through the sea or the air.

Muhyiddin Ibn Arabi in his mystic interpretation of this verse interprets – ‘Like it’ as the Ark of Noah and says, that is the Ark belonging to Muhammad, i.e., hinting at the celebrated saying of the Holy Prophet: ‘Mathal Ahl-e-Bayti ka-mathal safeenat Nuh; man rakibaha naja, wa man takhallafa anha gharq wa hawa’. i.e., the similitude of my Ahlul-Bait is that of the Ark of Noah; he who got into it was saved and he who turned away from it, got drowned and lost. (A.P.).

Verse 45

Man had always been admonished to reflect upon his faulty past, know its consequences, beware of the future and guard himself against his sins recurring for, when one sincerely does this, God also turns merciful to him, He not only forgives the past but also grants strength to amend his life in the future.

Verse 47

When those who have been granted ample provision of wealth, influence or knowledge, are told to spend out of what God has blessed them with, for the benefit of their fellow beings, they laugh to scorn such appeals and indirectly blame God Himself for not having been merciful to provide the poor as He has done to the rich. Such people think that what God has provided them with, by His grace and mercy, was earned by them by their own personal merits. They forget that everything that is given to anyone in this life, is nothing but a trust and the recipient is only a trustee and all men in the various walks of life on earth, are on probation and trial.

Those who have been granted gifts in abundance have equally been bound with responsibility to discharge the trust and those given fewer provision, are in a way learning patience and forbearance and self-reliance - and know the true value of things which might have been exaggeratedly assessed by those who possess them. The arrogant rich ones even think and also say it out taunting, that the believers who spend their well-earned wealth in the way of God, have gone astray.

This is the general argument from the rich as an excuse for their failure in helping the needy. (A.P.).

Verse 48

The disbelievers not only reject the belief in the hereafter but also by way of taunting, question as to when the Day of Judgment would come? The answer to them is that it will come but never at your or anybody else’s fancy but when the Lord would will it.

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