Surah 36. Yasin

Follow those who ask no reward of you, and themselves are rightly guided!

  - Mohammad Asad

Follow the ones who ask no reward of you and are rightly guided.

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

Follow those who ask no reward of you, and are 'rightly' guided.

  - Mustafa Khattab

Follow those who ask of you no fee, and who are rightly guided.

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

"Obey those who ask no reward of you (for themselves) and who have themselves received Guidance. ³⁹⁶⁷

  - Abdullah Yusuf Ali

Prophets do not seek their own advantage. They serve Allah and humanity. 'Their hope lies in the good pleasure of Allah, to Whose service they are devoted. Cf. x. 72; xii. 104; etc.

"[As for me,] why should I not worship Him who has brought me into being, and to whom you all will be brought back?

  - Mohammad Asad

It would not be justifiable on my part if I do not worship Him Who has created me and to Whom you shall be brought back.

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

And why should I not worship the One Who has originated me, and to Whom you will be returned.

  - Mustafa Khattab

For what cause should I not serve Him Who hath created me, and unto Whom ye will be brought back?

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

"It would not be reasonable in me if I did not serve Him Who created me and to Whom ye shall (all) be brought back. ³⁹⁶⁸

  - Abdullah Yusuf Ali

The argument throughout is that of intense personal conviction for the individual himself, coupled with an appeal to his people to follow that conviction and get the benefit of the spiritual satisfaction which he has himself achieved. He says in effect: 'how is it possible for me to do otherwise than to serve and adore my Maker? I shall return to Him, and so will you, and all this applies to you as much as to me.' Note how effective is the transition from the personal experience to the collective appeal.

Should I take to worshipping [other] deities beside Him? [But then,] if the Most Gracious should will that harm befall me, their intercession could not in the least avail me, nor could they save me:

  - Mohammad Asad

Should I take other gods besides Him? If the Compassionate (Allah) should intend to harm me, their intercession will avail me nothing, nor will they be able to save me.

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

How could I take besides Him other gods whose intercession would not be of any benefit to me, nor could they save me if the Most Compassionate intended to harm me?

  - Mustafa Khattab

Shall I take (other) gods in place of Him when, if the Beneficent should wish me any harm, their intercession will avail me naught, nor can they save?

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

"Shall I take (other) gods besides Him? If (Allah) Most Gracious should intend some adversity for me of no use whatever will be their intercession for me nor can they deliver me. ³⁹⁶⁹

  - Abdullah Yusuf Ali

The next plea is that for exclusive service to Allah. 'Suppose it were proper to worship other gods-Mammon, Self, or imaginary deities set up as idols,-yet of what benefit would that be? All power is in Allah. In His universal Plan, He may think fit to give me some sorrow or punishment: would these subordinate deities be able to help me or intercede for me with Him? Not at all. What use would they be? In fact I should obviously be going astray,-wandering from the true Path.'

and so, behold, I would have indeed, most obviously, lost myself in error!

  - Mohammad Asad

If I do so, I would indeed be in manifest error.

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

Indeed, I would then be clearly astray.

  - Mustafa Khattab

Then truly I should be in error manifest.

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

"I would indeed if I were to do so be in manifest Error.

  - Abdullah Yusuf Ali

"Verily, [O my people,] in the Sustainer of you all have I come to believe: listen, then, to me!"

  - Mohammad Asad

Surely I believe in your Rabb, so listen to me".

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

I do believe in your Lord, so listen to me.'

  - Mustafa Khattab

Lo! I have believed in your Lord, so hear me!

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

"For me I have faith in the Lord of you (all): listen then to me!" ³⁹⁷⁰

  - Abdullah Yusuf Ali

Again a transition from the assured personal conviction to the appeal to all to profit by the speaker's experience. 'I have found the fullest satisfaction for my soul in Allah. He is my God, but He is your God also. My experience can be yours also. Will you not follow my advice, and prove for yourselves that the Lord is indeed good?'

[And] he was told,¹⁵ "[Thou shalt] enter paradise!"-[whereupon] he exclaimed: "Would that my people knew

  - Mohammad Asad

I.e., by the apostles or, more probably (in view of the allegorical character of this story), by his own insight. The intervention of the man who "came running from the farthest end of the city" is evidently a parable of the truly believing minority in every religion, and of their desperate, mostly unavailing endeavours to convince their erring fellow-men that God-consciousness alone can save human life from futility.

Consequently they killed that man and it was said to him: "Enter paradise." He exclaimed: "Would that my people knew that what I know!

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

'But they killed him, then' he was told 'by the angels', 'Enter Paradise!' He said, 'If only my people knew

  - Mustafa Khattab

It was said (unto him): Enter Paradise. He said: Would that my people knew

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

It was said: "Enter thou the Garden." He said "Ah me! would that my People knew (what I know)! ³⁹⁷¹

  - Abdullah Yusuf Ali

This godly and righteous man entered into the Garden. Perhaps it is implied that he suffered martyrdom. But even then his thoughts were always with his People. He regretted their obstinacy and want of understanding, and wished even then that they might repent and obtain salvation, but they were obdurate and suffered for their sins as we learn from verses 28-29 below.

how my Sustainer has forgiven me [the sins of my past], and has placed me among the honoured ones!"

  - Mohammad Asad

How my Rabb has granted me forgiveness and included me among the honored ones."

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

of how my Lord has forgiven me, and made me one of the honourable.'

  - Mustafa Khattab

With what (munificence) my Lord hath pardoned me and made me of the honored ones!

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

"For that my Lord has granted me Forgiveness and has enrolled me among those held in honor!" ³⁹⁷²

  - Abdullah Yusuf Ali

This man was just a simple honest soul, but he heard and obeyed the call of the prophets and obtained his spiritual desire for himself and did best to obtain salvation for his people. For he loved his people and respected his ancestral traditions as far as they were good, but had no hesitation in accepting the new Light when it came to him. All his past was forgiven him and he was raised to dignity and honour in the Kingdom of Heaven.

And after that, no host out of heaven did We send down against his people, nor did We need to send down any:

  - Mohammad Asad

After that We did not send any army against his people from heaven, nor was it necessary to do so.

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

We did not send any soldiers from the heavens against his people after his death, nor did We need to.

  - Mustafa Khattab

We sent not down against his people after him a host from heaven, nor do We ever send.

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

And We sent not down against his People after Him any hosts from heaven nor was it needful for Us so to do.

  - Abdullah Yusuf Ali

nothing was [needed] but one single blast [of Our punishment] - and lo! they hecame as still and silent as ashes.

  - Mohammad Asad

It was nothing but a single blast and they all became extinct.

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

All it took was one 'mighty' blast, and they were extinguished at once.

  - Mustafa Khattab

It was but one Shout, and lo! they were extinct.

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

It was no more than a single mighty Blast and behold! they were (like ashes) quenched and silent. ^{3973 3974}

  - Abdullah Yusuf Ali

Allah's Justice or Punishment does not necessarily come with pomp and circumstance, nor have the forces of human evil or wickedness the power to require the exertion of mighty spiritual forces to subdue them. A single mighty Blast-either the rumbling of an earthquake, or a great and violent wind-was sufficient in this case. Cf. xi. 67 and n. 1561 (which describes the fate of the Thamud; also. n. 3463 to xxix. 40).

Cf. xxi. 15. They had made a great deal of noise in their time, but they were reduced to silence, like spent ashes.

OH, THE REGRETS that [most] human beings will have to bear!¹⁶ Never has an apostle come to them without their deriding him!

  - Mohammad Asad

Lit., "Oh, the regrets upon the bondmen" (al-'ibad) - since all human beings, good or bad, are God's "bondmen". This phrase alludes to the Day of Judgment - which is described in 19:39 as "the Day of Regrets" - as well as to the fact, repeatedly stressed in the Qur'an, that most human beings choose to remain deaf to the voice of truth, and thus condemn themselves to spiritual death.

Alas for My bondsmen! Whenever there came to them a Rasool they mocked at him.

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

Oh pity, such beings! No messenger ever came to them without being mocked.

  - Mustafa Khattab

Ah, the anguish for the bondmen! Never came there unto them a messenger but they did mock him!

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

Ah! alas for (My) servants! There comes not an apostle to them but they mock Him! ³⁹⁷⁵

  - Abdullah Yusuf Ali

Cf. vi. 10 and many other passages of similar import. Ignorant men mock at Allah's prophets, or any one who takes Religion seriously. But they do not reflect that such levity reacts on themselves. Their own lives are ruined and they cease to count. If they study history, they will see that countless generations were destroyed before them because they did not take Truth seriously and undermined the very basis of their individual and collective existence. The servants is here equivalent to "men". Allah regrets the folly of men, especially as He cherishes them as His own servants.

Are they not aware of how many a generation We have destroyed before their time, [and] that those [that have perished] will never return to them,¹⁷

  - Mohammad Asad

I.e., to the people now living. As in many other Qur'anic passages, the term qarn, which literally signifies a "generation" or "people living at the same period", has in this context the wider meaning of "society", or "civilization" in the historical connotation of these terms. Thus, the downfall and utter disappearance of past societies and civilizations is here linked to their spiritual frivolity and consequent moral failure. A further lesson to be drawn from this parable is the implied conclusion that the majority of people in every society, at all times (our own included), refuse to be guided by moral considerations, regarding them as opposed to their conventional mode of life and their pursuit of materialistic values - with the result that "never has an apostle come to them without their deriding him".

Do they not see how many generations We have destroyed before them who will never return to them?

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

Have the deniers not considered how many peoples We destroyed before them who never came back to life again?

  - Mustafa Khattab

Have they not seen how many generations We destroyed before them, which indeed return not unto them;

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

See they not how many generations before them We destroyed? Not to them will they return: ³⁹⁷⁶

  - Abdullah Yusuf Ali

Not to them will they retum. What do the two pronouns them and they refer to? Commentators and translators have construed them differently, and some of them evade the question. To my mind the best construction seems to be: the generations which we have destroyed before the people addressed ('do they not see?') will not be restored to the people addressed: generations (qurun) standing for the periods of prosperity and good fortune enjoyed by the ancestors. They have all been wiped out: they will never be restored, but all people will be brought before the Judgment-seat for giving an account of their deeds.

and [that] all of them, all together, will [in the end] before Us be arraigned?

  - Mohammad Asad

While each one of them will be brought before Us on the Day of Judgment.

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

Yet they will all be brought before Us.

  - Mustafa Khattab

But all, without exception, will be brought before Us.

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

But each one of them all will be brought before Us (for judgment).

  - Abdullah Yusuf Ali

And [yet,] they have a sign [of Our power to create and to resurrect] in the lifeless earth which We make alive, and out of which We bring forth grain, whereof they may eat;

  - Mohammad Asad

The dead land may serve as a sign for them; We give it life and produce from it grain for them, which they eat.

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

There is a sign for them in the dead earth: We give it life, producing grain from it for them to eat.

  - Mustafa Khattab

A token unto them is the dead earth. We revive it, and We bring forth from it grain so that they eat thereof;

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

A Sign for them is the earth that is dead; We do give it life and produce grain therefrom of which ye do eat. ³⁹⁷⁷

  - Abdullah Yusuf Ali

Lest any one should say, 'if they are destroyed, how can they be brought before the Judgment-seat' a symbol is pointed to. The earth is to all intents and purposes dead in the winter, but Allah revives it in the spring. Cf. ii. 164, xxx. 19, and many other passages to that effect.

and [how] We make gardens of date-palms and vines [grow] thereon, and cause springs to gush [forth] within it,

  - Mohammad Asad

We also produce from it gardens with date-palms and vines, and We cause springs to gush forth from it.

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

And We have placed in it gardens of palm trees and grapevines, and caused springs to gush forth in it,

  - Mustafa Khattab

And We have placed therein gardens of the date palm and grapes, and We have caused springs of water to gush forth therein.

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

And We produce therein orchards with date-palms and Vines and We cause springs to gush forth therein. ³⁹⁷⁸

  - Abdullah Yusuf Ali

Date-palms and vines stand as symbols for fruit-trees of all kinds, these being the characteristic fruits of Arabia. Grain was mentioned in the last verse; fruit is mentioned now. All that is necessary for food and the satisfaction of the choicest palate is produced from what looks like inert soil, fertilised by rain and springs. Here is wonderful evidence of the artistry and providence of Allah.

so that they may eat of the fruit thereof, though it was not their hands that made it. Will they not, then, be grateful?

  - Mohammad Asad

So that they may enjoy the fruits thereof. It was not their hands that made all this; should they not then give thanks?

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

so that they may eat from its fruit, which they had no hand in making. Will they not then give thanks?

  - Mustafa Khattab

That they may eat of the fruit thereof, and their hand made it not. Will they not, then, give thanks?

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

That they may enjoy the fruits of this (artistry): it was not their hands that made this: will they not then give thanks? ^{3979 3980}

  - Abdullah Yusuf Ali

Literally, eat (akala). Cf. vii. 19, n. 1004 and v. 69, n. 776. The same wide meaning of profit, satisfaction, and enjoyment may be attached to the word "eat" in verse 33 above.

Man may till the soil and sow the seed, but the productive forces of nature were not made by man's hands. They are the handiwork and artistry of Allah, and are evidence of Allah's providence for His creatures. See n. 3978 above.