In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful.
A summary of the Tafsir of al-Tabari.
Abridged by Dr. ‘Aqil ibn Salim al-Shamr.
Surah Yasin.
In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful.
“Did I not charge you, O ye sons of Adam, that ye worship not the devil - Lo! he is your open foe! -” (36:60)
Indeed, he is a clear enemy to you.
And that you should worship Me; this is the straight path.
Did I not enjoin upon you, O people, in the worldly life, not to worship Satan, lest you obey him in disobedience to Allah?
Indeed, Satan is an enemy to you, and he has made his enmity toward you manifest.
And did I not command you to worship Me alone, to the exclusion of all other deities and rivals?
For the sincerity of My worship and the disobedience of Satan is the straight path.
“Yet he hath led astray of you a great multitude. Had ye then no sense?” (36:62)
And indeed, Satan has led astray a great multitude of you from His obedience.
Did you not then possess reason, O polytheists?
That it is not fitting for you to obey your enemy and the enemy of Allah.
“This is hell which ye were promised (if ye followed him).” (36:63)
“Burn therein this day for that ye disbelieved.” (36:64)
This is Hell, which you were promised in the worldly life for your disbelief in Allah.
Burn in it today, and endure it.
Because you used to deny it in the worldly life and treat it as a lie.
“This day We seal up their mouths, and their hands speak out to Us and their feet bear witness as to what they used to earn.” (36:65)
“This day We seal up their mouths, and their hands speak out to Us and their feet bear witness as to what they used to earn.” (36:65)
Today, We shall set a seal upon the mouths of the polytheists.
Their hands will speak to Us of what they committed in the worldly life of disobedience to Allah.
And their feet will bear witness to what they used to earn in the worldly life of sins.
And if We willed, We could have blinded them, depriving them of guidance.
So they would not be able to see the way.
So they would hasten to the path.
But in what direction would they be able to proceed?
For We have blinded their eyes, so how could they be guided to the truth?
“And had We willed, We verily could have fixed them in their place, making them powerless to go forward or turn back.” (36:67)
And if We willed, We could have paralyzed these polytheists in their places.
So they would not be able to move forward, nor would they be able to return.
And he whom We grant long life, We reverse his development.
We return him to a state like his childhood, in terms of frailty and old age.
So he becomes knowing nothing after the knowledge he once possessed.
Do these polytheists not use their reason to grasp Allah’s power over whatever He wills?
By witnessing what they observe of His disposal of His creation as He wills and pleases, from infancy to old age.
We have not taught Muhammad poetry, nor is it fitting for him to be a poet.
Muhammad is but a reminder to you, O people, by which Allah reminds you through sending him to you.
And this which Muhammad has brought to you is a Qur'an, making it clear to whoever contemplates it with intellect and heart that it is a revelation from Allah.
Muhammad is but a reminder to you, to warn those among you, O people, who are alive of heart.
Who understands what is said to him, and the punishment is justified against those who disbelieve in Allah and turn away from following it.
“And have subdued them unto them, so that some of them they have for riding, some for food?” (36:72)
Do these polytheists not see that We have created for them, from what Our hands have fashioned, that which We have created?
Livestock: camels, cattle, and sheep.
They are subject to them, to use as they wish, through their dominance and control over them.
We have made these livestock subservient to them; some they ride, such as camels, for their travels.
And some of them they eat.
And they have other benefits in these livestock, in their wool, their fur, and their hair.
And drinks, for they consume their milk.
Will they not then be grateful for this blessing of Mine by obeying Me and singling Me out in divinity and worship?
Yet these polytheists have taken deities other than Allah, whom they worship.
Hoping that they might help them against the punishment and torment of Allah.
These deities cannot help them against Allah if He intends any harm for them.
These polytheists are like an army brought forth for their deities in the worldly life.
They become angry on their behalf and fight in their defense.
Yet they (the idols) can neither bring them any good nor ward off any evil from them.
They are merely idols.
“So let not their speech grieve thee (O Muhammad). Lo! We know what they conceal and what proclaim.” (36:76)
So do not let the words of these polytheists grieve you, O Muhammad, when they say you are a poet.
We know that what drives them to say that is envy.
For they know that what you have brought them is not poetry.
We know what they conceal of their knowledge of the truth of what you call them to.
And what they declare of their denial of it with their tongues openly.
Does this human being, who says such things, not see?
“And he hath coined for Us a similitude, and hath forgotten the fact of his creation, saying: Who will revive these bones when they have rotted away?” (36:78)
That We created him from a drop of fluid, then fashioned him into a complete human being.
Yet he becomes an open adversary to his Lord.
It is clear to anyone who hears his argument that he is disputing with his Lord who created him.
And he presents us with a comparison, saying:
“And he hath coined for Us a similitude, and hath forgotten the fact of his creation, saying: Who will revive these bones when they have rotted away?” (36:78)
He makes us like one who is unable to bring such creation back to life.
And he forgets how We created him in the first place.
He should know that He who created him from a drop of fluid until he became a complete human being.
Is not incapable of restoring decayed bones to the form they were in before they perished.
Say, O Muhammad, to this polytheist:
He who brought them into existence the first time, when they were nothing, will give them life.
And He is, of all creation, fully knowing.
How He causes death, how He gives life, and how He originates.
He who produces for you fire from the green tree, with which you kindle fire.
So you use this tree to light your fires.
Nothing is impossible for Him to do if He wills it.
And He is not incapable of reviving bones that have decayed.
“Is not He Who created the heavens and the earth Able to create the like of them? Aye, that He is! for He is the All-Wise Creator,” (36:81)
“Is not He Who created the heavens and the earth Able to create the like of them? Aye, that He is! for He is the All-Wise Creator,” (36:81)
Is He who created the heavens and the earth not able to create the likes of them?
For the creation of the likes of them from decayed bones is not greater than the creation of the heavens and the earth.
Rather, He is fully capable of creating the likes of them.
And He is the Creator of all that He wills.
The Doer of all that He intends.
The All-Knowing of everything He has created and will create.
“But His command, when He intendeth a thing, is only that He saith unto it: Be! and it is.” (36:82)
“Therefor Glory be to Him in Whose hand is the dominion over all things! Unto Him ye will be brought back.” (36:83)
“But His command, when He intendeth a thing, is only that He saith unto it: Be! and it is.” (36:82)
So exalted is He in whose hand is the dominion of all things and their treasures.
And to Him you will be returned and brought after your death.