Surah 36. Yasin

So do not let their words grieve you 'O Prophet'. Indeed, We 'fully' know what they conceal and what they reveal.

  - Mustafa Khattab

Let not their speech then grieve thee. Verily We know what they hide as well as what they disclose. ⁴⁰²²

  - Abdullah Yusuf Ali

If men are so foolish as to reject Allah, let not the men of Allah grieve over it. They should do their duty, and leave the rest to Allah. Allah knows all the open and secret motives that sway the wicked, and His Plan must ultimately prevail, however much appearances may be against it at any given time.

Do people not see that We have created them from a sperm-drop, then- behold!- they openly challenge 'Us'?

  - Mustafa Khattab

Doth not man see that it is We Who created Him from sperm? Yet behold! He (stands forth) as an open adversary! ⁴⁰²³

  - Abdullah Yusuf Ali

Man's disobedience and folly are all the more surprising, seeing that-apart from Allah's greatness and mercy-man is himself such a puny creature, created out of something that is less than a drop in the vast ocean of Existence. Yet man has the hardihood to stand out and dispute with his Maker, and institute idle comparisons as in the next verse!

And they argue with Us- forgetting they were created- saying, 'Who will give life to decayed bones?'

  - Mustafa Khattab

And he makes comparisons for us and forgets his own (Origin and) Creation: He says "Who can give life to (dry) bones and decomposed ones (at that)?" ⁴⁰²⁴

  - Abdullah Yusuf Ali

That is, man thinks that Allah is like His creatures, who at best have very limited powers, or man draws idle parallels like that mentioned at the end of this verse. 'Who can give life to dry bones, and decomposed ones at that?' Man certainly cannot, and no power in nature can do that. But why compare the powers and capacities of Allah's creatures with the powers and capacities of the Creator? The first creation-out of nothing-is far more difficult for us to imagine than a second or subsequent process for which there is already a basis. And Allah has power over all things.

Say, 'O Prophet,' 'They will be revived by the One Who produced them the first time, for He has 'perfect' knowledge of every created being.

  - Mustafa Khattab

Say "He will give them life Who created them for the first time! For He is well-versed in every kind of creation! ⁴⁰²⁵

  - Abdullah Yusuf Ali

Allah's creative artistry is evident in every phase of nature, and it works every minute or second. The more man understands himself and the things within his reach, the more he realises this. How foolish, then, for any one to set imaginary limits to Allah's powers? There are more ways of creation than are dreamt of in man's imagination!

'He is the One' Who gives you fire from green trees, and- behold!- you kindle 'fire' from them.¹

  - Mustafa Khattab

 The verse refers to two types of Arabian trees, markh and ’afâr, which produce fire when their green branches are rubbed together.

"The same Who produces for you fire out of the green tree when behold! Ye kindle therewith (your own fires)! ⁴⁰²⁶

  - Abdullah Yusuf Ali

Even older and more primitive than the method of striking fire against steel and flint is the method of using twigs of trees for the purpose. In the E.B., 14th edition. ix. 262, will be found a picture of British Guiana boys making a fire by rotating a stick in a round hole in a piece of wood lying on the ground. The Arab method was to use a wooden instrument called the Zinad. It consisted of two pieces to be rubbed together. The upper one was called the 'Afar or Zand, and the lower the Markh. The markh is a twig from a kind of spreading tree, the Cynanchuin viminale, of which the branches are bare, without leaves or thorns. When they are tangled together, and a wind blows, they get ignited and strike fire (Lane's Arabic Lexicon). In modern Arabic Zand is by analogy applied to the flint pierce used for striking fire with steel.

Can the One Who created the heavens and the earth not 'easily' resurrect these 'deniers'?' Yes 'He can'! For He is the Master Creator, All-Knowing.

  - Mustafa Khattab

"Is not He Who created the heavens and the earth able to create the like thereof?" Yea indeed! for He is the Creator Supreme of skill and knowledge (infinite)! ⁴⁰²⁷

  - Abdullah Yusuf Ali

Cf. lxxix. 27. Which is the more difficult to create,-man, or the heavens and the earth, with all creatures? Allah created the heavens and the earth, with all creatures, and He can create worlds and worlds like these in infinity. To Him it is small matter to raise you up for the Hereafter.

All it takes, when He wills something 'to be', is simply to say to it: 'Be!' And it is!

  - Mustafa Khattab

Verily when He intends a thing His command is "Be" and it is! ⁴⁰²⁸

  - Abdullah Yusuf Ali

And His creation is not dependent on time, or instruments or means, or any conditions whatsoever. Existence waits on His Will, or Plan, or Intention. The moment He wills a thing, it becomes His Word or Command, and the thing forthwith comes into existence. Cf. ii. 117; xvi. 40, n. 2066; etc.

So glory be to the One in Whose Hands is the authority over all things, and to Whom 'alone' you will 'all' be returned.

  - Mustafa Khattab

So glory to Him in Whose hands is the dominion of all things; and to Him will ye be all brought back. ⁴⁰²⁹

  - Abdullah Yusuf Ali

All things were created by Allah; are maintained by Him; and will go back to Him. But the point of special interest to man is that man will also be brought back to Allah and is answerable to Him, and to Him alone. This Message is the core of Revelation; it explains the meaning of the Hereafter; and it fitly closes a Sura specially connected with the name (Ya-Sin) of the Holy Prophet.