Ma'arif al-Qur'an · Tafsir · in English
Ya-Sin 36:75–79
36:75–76Page 445
لَا يَسۡتَطِيعُونَ نَصۡرَهُمۡ وَهُمۡ لَهُمۡ جُندٞ مُّحۡضَرُونَ ٧٥
They are not able to help them, and they [themselves] are for them soldiers in attendance.1
فَلَا يَحۡزُنكَ قَوۡلُهُمۡۘ إِنَّا نَعۡلَمُ مَا يُسِرُّونَ وَمَا يُعۡلِنُونَ ٧٦
So let not their speech grieve you. Indeed, We know what they conceal and what they declare.
In the last verse cited above (75), it was said: وَهُمْ لَهُمْ جُندٌ مُّحْضَرُونَ (rather they are an army brought forth for them). One sense of this verse is to take the word: جُندٌ (army) in the text to mean an opponent or adversary and take the verse to mean that the things they have made their objects of worship in the mortal world will turn against them on the Day of Judgment and also bear witness against them.
And according to a Tafsir reported from Hasan and Qatadah رحمۃ اللہ علیہما ، it means that these people had taken to idols as gods in the hope that they would help them. But, the reality on the ground proved to be that they were already incapable of helping them. As a result, the very people who used to worship them as their servants and soldiers are now guarding them to the extent that they would take their side and fight against anyone who opposes them (a1-Qurtubi). The translation given in the text (with brackets) is based on this interpretation.
36:77Page 445
أَوَلَمۡ يَرَ ٱلۡإِنسَٰنُ أَنَّا خَلَقۡنَٰهُ مِن نُّطۡفَةٖ فَإِذَا هُوَ خَصِيمٞ مُّبِينٞ ٧٧
Does man not consider that We created him from a [mere] sperm-drop - then at once1 he is a clear adversary?
Commentary
The last five verses of Surah Ya Sin were revealed in the background of a particular event. This event has been attributed to Ubayy Ibn Khalaf in some narrations, and to 'As ibn Wa'il in some others. And there is no improbability in that such an event came to pass with both of them. The first narration was reported by al-Baihaqi in Shu` abul-'Iman, and the other reported by Ibn Abi Haatim from Sayyidna Ibn ` Abbas ؓ says that 'As Ibn Wa'il picked up a bone from the sandy and pebble-strewn valley of Makkah and after breaking it with his hands rubbed it into a handful of bone meal and then said to the Holy Prophet ﷺ ، "Will Allah revive this bone you are seeing in my hands?" The Holy Prophet ﷺ said, "Yes, Allah Ta’ ala will put you to death, then bring you back to life and then He will put you in Hell." (Ibn Kathir)
The expression: خَصِيمٌ مُّبِينٌ (an open adversary) in verse 77 means that this man was created from a lowly drop, yet he has the audacity to challenge Allah, and refuse to accept His power.
36:78–79Page 445
وَضَرَبَ لَنَا مَثَلٗا وَنَسِيَ خَلۡقَهُۥۖ قَالَ مَن يُحۡيِ ٱلۡعِظَٰمَ وَهِيَ رَمِيمٞ ٧٨
And he presents for Us an example1 and forgets his [own] creation. He says, "Who will give life to bones while they are disintegrated?"
قُلۡ يُحۡيِيهَا ٱلَّذِيٓ أَنشَأَهَآ أَوَّلَ مَرَّةٖۖ وَهُوَ بِكُلِّ خَلۡقٍ عَلِيمٌ ٧٩
Say, "He will give them life who produced them the first time; and He is, of all creation, Knowing."
In verse 78, it was said: ضَرَبَ لَنَا مَثَلًا (And he has set up an argument about Us). Here, the expression refers to the event described above, that is, while smashing and rubbing the bone into bone meal, its revival was considered improbable. After that, it was said: وَنَسِيَ خَلْقَهُ (and forgot his own creation). It means while he was giving that example, he forgot the example of his own creation as to how he himself was created by infusing life in a lowly, impure and lifeless drop - a bland anatomy of his creation indeed. Had he not forgotten his real genetic origin, he would have never come up with such examples and would have never dared saying no to Divine power.
Text: through the Quran Foundation. The ayahs: Quran Foundation. Sources and licences