Tafseer of Yaseen · Yaseen · 36:12
Indeed, it is We who bring the dead to life and record what they have put forth and what they left behind, and all things We have enumerated in a clear register.
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.
Exposition of the interpretation of His statement, the Exalted: innā naḥnu nuḥyī l-mawtā wa-naktubu mā qaddamū wa-āthārahum wa-kulla shayʾin aḥṣaynāhu fī imāmin mubīn (Verily, it is We who bring the dead to life, and We record what they have sent ahead and their traces, and everything We have enumerated in a clear register) (36:12).
Allah, exalted is His mention, says: innā naḥnu nuḥyī l-mawtā (Verily, it is We who bring the dead to life) among Our creatures, wa-naktubu mā qaddamū (and We record what they have sent ahead) in the worldly life of good and evil, of pious deeds and wicked deeds.
And in accordance with what we have said concerning this, the scholars of interpretation have spoken.
* Mention of those who said that:
Bishr related to us, saying: Yazīd related to us, saying: Saʿīd related to us, on the authority of Qatāda, concerning His statement innā naḥnu nuḥyī l-mawtā wa-naktubu mā qaddamū (Verily, it is We who bring the dead to life, and We record what they have sent ahead), namely of deeds.
Yūnus related to me, saying: Ibn Wahb informed us, saying: Ibn Zayd said concerning His statement wa-naktubu mā qaddamū (and We record what they have sent ahead); he said: what they have done.
Muḥammad ibn ʿAmr related to me, saying: Abū ʿĀṣim related to us, saying: ʿĪsā related to us; and al-Ḥārith related to me, saying: al-Ḥasan related to us, saying: Warqāʾ related to us — both on the authority of Ibn Abī Najīḥ, on the authority of Mujāhid, concerning His statement mā qaddamū (what they have sent ahead); he said: their deeds.
His statement wa-āthārahum (and their traces) means: and the traces of their footsteps with their feet. It has been mentioned that this verse was revealed concerning a people who wished to move closer to the mosque of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ, so that it would be easier for them.
* Mention of those who said that:
Naṣr ibn ʿAlī al-Jahḍamī related to us, saying: Abū Aḥmad al-Zubayrī related to us, saying: Isrāʾīl related to us, on the authority of Simāk, on the authority of ʿIkrima, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās, who said: the dwellings of the Anṣār lay far from the mosque, and they wished to move to the mosque; then was revealed wa-naktubu mā qaddamū wa-āthārahum (and We record what they have sent ahead and their traces), whereupon they said: we will stay in our place.
Ibn Wakīʿ related to us, saying: my father related to us, on the authority of Isrāʾīl, on the authority of Simāk, on the authority of ʿIkrima, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās, who said: the dwellings of the Anṣār lay far from the mosque, and they wished to move; he said: then was revealed wa-naktubu mā qaddamū wa-āthārahum (and We record what they have sent ahead and their traces), whereupon they stayed.
Ibn al-Muthannā related to us, saying: ʿAbd al-Ṣamad related to us, saying: Shuʿba related to us, saying: al-Jurayrī related to us, on the authority of Abī Naḍra, on the authority of Jābir, who said: the Banū Salima wished to move closer to the mosque; he said: then the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said to them: "O Banū Salima, stay in your dwellings, for your traces are being recorded."
Ibn ʿAbd al-Aʿlā related to us, saying: al-Muʿtamir related to us, saying: I heard Kahmas relating, on the authority of Abī Naḍra, on the authority of Jābir, who said: the Banū Salima wished to move to a place near the mosque; he said: the spots lay empty, and this reached the Prophet ﷺ, whereupon he said: "O Banū Salima, stay in your dwellings, for your traces are being recorded." He said: then they stayed and said: nothing could have made us happier than that we did not move.
Sulaymān ibn ʿUmar ibn Khālid al-Raqqī related to us, saying: Ibn al-Mubārak related to us, on the authority of Sufyān, on the authority of Ṭarīf, on the authority of Abī Naḍra, on the authority of Abī Saʿīd al-Khudrī, who said: the Banū Salima complained to the Prophet ﷺ about the distance of their dwellings; then was revealed innā naḥnu nuḥyī l-mawtā wa-naktubu mā qaddamū wa-āthārahum (Verily, it is We who bring the dead to life, and We record what they have sent ahead and their traces), whereupon he said: "Stay in your dwellings, your traces are being recorded."
Ibn Ḥumayd related to us, saying: Abū Numayla related to us, saying: al-Ḥusayn related to us, on the authority of Thābit, who said: I was walking with Anas and I was walking quickly; then he took my hand and we walked calmly. When we had finished the prayer, Anas said: I was walking with Zayd ibn Thābit and I was walking quickly, whereupon he said: O Anas, do you not know that the traces are being recorded?
Yaʿqūb related to me, saying: Ibn ʿUlayya related to us, on the authority of Yūnus, on the authority of al-Ḥasan, that the Banū Salima had dwellings that lay far from the mosque, and they intended to move closer to the mosque in order to attend the prayer with the Prophet ﷺ; then the Prophet ﷺ said to them: "Do you not count your traces as reward, O Banū Salima?" Then they stayed in their dwellings.
Ibn Ḥumayd related to us, saying: Ḥakkām related to us, on the authority of ʿAnbasa, on the authority of Muḥammad ibn ʿAbd al-Raḥmān, on the authority of al-Qāsim ibn Abī Bazza, on the authority of Mujāhid, concerning His statement mā qaddamū wa-āthārahum (what they have sent ahead and their traces); he said: their footsteps with their feet.
Muḥammad ibn ʿAmr related to me, saying: Abū ʿĀṣim related to us, saying: ʿĪsā related to us; and al-Ḥārith related to me, saying: al-Ḥasan related to us, saying: Warqāʾ related to us — both on the authority of Ibn Abī Najīḥ, on the authority of Mujāhid: wa-āthārahum (and their traces); he said: their footsteps.
Bishr related to us, saying: Yazīd related to us, saying: Saʿīd related to us, on the authority of Qatāda: wa-āthārahum (and their traces); he said: al-Ḥasan said: and their traces, that is, their footsteps. And Qatāda said: if anything of your affair were to be treated with neglect, O son of Adam, then the least neglected would be those of these traces which the winds efface.
His statement wa-kulla shayʾin aḥṣaynāhu fī imāmin mubīn (and everything We have enumerated in a clear register) means — Allah, exalted is His mention, says: and everything that has been or that will be, We have enumerated and set down in the Mother of the Book (umm al-kitāb), and that is the clear register (al-imām al-mubīn). And it has been said that it is called "clear" (mubīn) because it makes plain the reality of everything that is set down in it.
And in accordance with what we have said concerning this, the scholars of interpretation have spoken.
* Mention of those who said that:
Ibn Bashshār related to us, saying: ʿAbd al-Raḥmān related to us, saying: Sufyān related to us, on the authority of Manṣūr, on the authority of Mujāhid: fī imāmin mubīn (in a clear register); he said: in the Mother of the Book.
Bishr related to us, saying: Yazīd related to us, saying: Saʿīd related to us, on the authority of Qatāda, concerning His statement wa-kulla shayʾin aḥṣaynāhu fī imāmin mubīn (and everything We have enumerated in a clear register): everything is recorded with Allah in a book.
Yūnus related to me, saying: Ibn Wahb informed us, saying: Ibn Zayd said concerning His statement wa-kulla shayʾin aḥṣaynāhu fī imāmin mubīn (and everything We have enumerated in a clear register); he said: the Mother of the Book, which is with Allah and in which all things are, that is the clear register.
