Tafseer of The Pilgrimage · Al-Hajj · 22:66
And He is the one who gave you life; then He causes you to die and then will [again] give you life. Indeed, mankind is ungrateful.
Important: The Arabic source text is always authoritative. This translation is a study aid and has not been verified by scholars — do not use it as a basis for religious proof or for deriving rulings (ahkam). When in doubt, always consult the Arabic text and a qualified scholar.
Allah, exalted is His praise, says: Allah, Who has bestowed these favors upon you, is the One Who gave life to your bodies — a life that He brought about in you, while before that you were nothing. Then He causes you to die after your life and makes you perish when your appointed term has come. Thereafter He brings you back to life after your death at your resurrection before the coming of the Hour. إِنَّ الإنْسَانَ لَكَفُورٌ — that is to say: truly, the son of Adam is exceedingly ungrateful for the favors that Allah has shown him: His fair creation of him, His subjecting to him of what He has made serviceable on the earth, on the land and the sea, His refraining from destroying him by withholding the heaven from falling upon the earth — and this while he worships besides Him other gods and equals — and his failing to single Him out in worship and to sincerely ascribe oneness (tawḥīd) to Him.
His words لِكُلِّ أُمَّةٍ جَعَلْنَا مَنْسَكًا — that is to say: for every community of peoples that has passed away before you, We have appointed a familiar place (mansak) which they are accustomed to visit and a place which they habitually frequent for the worship of Me and the fulfillment of My obligations and a practice which they observe. The original meaning of mansak in Arabic usage is the familiar place that a man regularly visits and frequents for good or for evil. One says: "So-and-so has a mansak which he visits" — by which is meant a place that he seeks out and frequents for good or evil. The rites (manāsik) of the ḥajj are so named on account of the repeated visiting of the places where the ḥajj and ʿumra acts are performed. For this there are two variant pronunciations: mansik with a kasra under the sīn and a fatḥa on the mīm — the pronunciation of the people of the Ḥijāz — and mansak with a fatḥa on both the mīm and the sīn — the pronunciation of the tribe of Asad. Both variants have been used in the recitation.
