Surah 36. Yasin

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

  - Mustafa Khattab

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.

Yet they will all be brought before Us.

  - Mustafa Khattab

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

  - Abdullah Yusuf Ali

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

  - Mustafa Khattab

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

  - Mustafa Khattab

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.

Glory be to the One Who created all 'things in' pairs- 'be it' what the earth produces, their genders, or what they do not know!

  - Mustafa Khattab

Glory to Allah Who created in pairs all things that the earth produces as well as their own (human) kind and (other) things of which they have no knowledge. ³⁹⁸¹

  - Abdullah Yusuf Ali

The mystery of sex runs through all creation,-in man, in animal life, in vegetable life, and possibly in other things of which we have no knowledge. Then there are pairs of opposite forces in nature, e.g., positive and negative electricity, etc. The atom itself consists of a positively charged nucleus or proton, surrounded by negatively charged electrons. The constitution of matter itself is thus referred to pairs of opposite energies.

There is also a sign for them in the night: We strip from it daylight, then- behold!- they are in darkness.

  - Mustafa Khattab

And a Sign for them is the Night: We withdraw therefrom the Day and behold they are plunged in darkness; ³⁹⁸²

  - Abdullah Yusuf Ali

"Withdrawing the Day from the Night" is a striking phrase and very apt. The Day or the Light is the positive thing. The Night or Darkness is merely negative. We cannot withdraw the negative. But if we withdraw the real thing, the positive, which filled the void, nothing is left but the void. The whole of this section deals with Signs or Symbols,-things in the physical world around us, from which we can learn the deepest spiritual truths if we earnestly apply ourselves to them.

The sun travels for its fixed term. That is the design of the Almighty, All-Knowing.

  - Mustafa Khattab

And the Sun runs his course for a period determined for him: that is the decree of (Him) the exalted in Might the All-Knowing. ³⁹⁸³

  - Abdullah Yusuf Ali

Mustaqarr may mean: (1) a limit of time, a period determined, as in vi. 67, or (2) a place of rest or quiescence; or (3) a dwelling place, as in ii. 36. I think the first meaning is best applicable here; but some Commentators take the second meaning. In that case the simile would be that of the sun running a race while he is visible to us, and taking a rest during the night to prepare himself to renew his race the following day. His stay with the antipodes appears to us as his period of rest.

As for the moon, We have ordained 'precise' phases for it, until it ends up like an old, curved palm stalk.

  - Mustafa Khattab

And the Moon We have measured for her mansions (to traverse) till she returns like the old (and withered) lower part of date-stalk. ^{3984 3985}

  - Abdullah Yusuf Ali

The lunar stations are the 28 divisons of the Zodiac, which are supposed to mark the daily course of the moon in the heavens from the time of the new moon to the time when the moon fades away in her "inter-lunar swoon", an expressive phrase coined by the poet Shelley.

'Urjun: a raceme of dates or of a date-palm; or the base or lower part of the raceme. When it becomes old, it becomes yellow, dry, and withered, and curves up like a sickle. Hence the comparison with the sickle-like appearance of the new moon. The moon runs through all her phases, increasing and decreasing, until she disappears, and then reappears as a little thin curve.

It is not for the sun to catch up with the moon,¹ nor does the night outrun the day. Each is travelling in an orbit of their own.

  - Mustafa Khattab

 The moon completes a cycle every month (waxing and waning), while the sun takes a whole year to complete its cycle (resulting in the spring, summer, fall, and winter seasons).

It is not permitted to the Sun to catch up the Moon nor can the Night outstrip the Day: each (just) swims along in (its own) orbit (according to Law). ^{3986 3987}

  - Abdullah Yusuf Ali

Though the sun and the moon both traverse the belt of the Zodiac, and their motions are different, they never catch up each other. When the sun and the moon are on the same side and on a line with the earth there is a solar eclipse, and when on opposite side in a line, there is a lunar eclipse, but there is no clash. Their Laws are fixed by Allah, and form the subject of study in astronomy. Similarly Night and Day follow each other, but being opposites cannot coincide, a fit emblem of the opposition of Good and Evil, Truth and Falsehood: see also n. 3982 above.

Cf. xxi. 33, and n. 2695. How beautifully the rounded courses of the planets and heavenly bodies are described, "swimming" through space, with perfectly smooth motion! As Shakespeare expresses it, each "in his motion like an angel sings, Still quiring to the young-eyed cherubims!"

Another sign for them is that We carried their ancestors 'with Noah' in the fully loaded Ark,

  - Mustafa Khattab

And a Sign for them is that We bore their race (through the flood) in the loaded Ark; ³⁹⁸⁸

  - Abdullah Yusuf Ali

Besides the beauty of the Night, with the stars and the planets "swimming" in their rounded courses according to perfect Law, suggesting both symmetry and harmony, there are other Signs touching closely the life of man himself, projected through Time, in the past history of his race and in his own personal experience. The past history of his race takes us to the story of the Flood, which is symbolical of Allah's justice and mercy. Noah's Ark was a "Sign to all People": xxix. 15. Man's own personal experience is appealed to in every ship afloat: see next note.

and created for them similar things to ride in.

  - Mustafa Khattab

And We have created for them similar (vessels) on which they ride. ³⁹⁸⁹

  - Abdullah Yusuf Ali

The stately ships sailing through the seas, heavier than air, yet carrying man and his goods safely and smoothly across the waters, are another Sign for man. Ships are not mentioned, but (vessels) like the Ark: they would cover all kinds of sea-craft, but also the modern aircraft, which "swims" through air instead of through water.

If We willed, We could drown them: then no one would respond to their cries, nor would they be rescued-

  - Mustafa Khattab

If it were Our Will We could drown them; then would there be no helper (to hear their cry) nor could they be delivered. ³⁹⁹⁰

  - Abdullah Yusuf Ali

Were it not that Allah gives man the intelligence and ingenuity to construct and manage sea-craft and air-craft, the natural laws of gravity would lead to the destruction of any who attempted to pass through sea or air. It is the gift (mercy) of Allah that saves him.

except by mercy from Us, allowing them enjoyment for a 'little' while.

  - Mustafa Khattab

Except by way of Mercy from Us and by way of (worldly) convenience (to serve them) for a time. ³⁹⁹¹

  - Abdullah Yusuf Ali

Cf. xvi. 80. Allah has given man all these wonderful things in nature and utilities produced by the skill and intelligence which Allah has given to man. Had it not been for these gifts, man's life would have been precarious on sea or land or in the air. It is only Allah's Mercy that saves man from destruction for man's own follies, and that saving or the enjoyment of these utilities and conveniences he should not consider as eternal: they are only given for a time, in this life of probation.

'Still they turn away' when it is said to them, 'Beware of what is ahead of you 'in the Hereafter' and what is behind you 'of destroyed nations' so you may be shown mercy.'

  - Mustafa Khattab

When they are told "Fear ye that which is before you and that which will be after you in order that ye may receive Mercy" (they turn back). ³⁹⁹²

  - Abdullah Yusuf Ali

Man should consider and beware of the consequences of his past, and guard against the consequences in his future. The present is only a fleeting moment poised between the past and the future, and gone even while it is being mentioned or thought about. Man should review his whole life and prepare for the Hereafter. If he does so, Allah is Merciful: He will forgive, and give strength for a better and higher life in the future. But this kind of teaching does not suit those steeped in this ephemeral life. They are bored, and turn away from it, to their own loss.