Tafseer of Yaseen · Yaseen · 36:19
They said, "Your omen is with yourselves. Is it because you were reminded? Rather, you are a transgressing people."
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.
The discourse on the explanation of His statement, the Exalted: Qālū ṭāʾirukum maʿakum aʾin dhukkirtum bal antum qawmun musrifūn "They said: 'Your evil omen is with you. Is it because you are admonished? Nay, you are a people who exceed all bounds'" (36:19).
The Exalted, whose mention is exalted, says: the messengers said to the inhabitants of the city: ( ṭāʾirukum maʿakum aʾin dhukkirtum ) "Your evil omen is with you. Is it because you are admonished?" — by this they mean: your deeds, your sustenance, and your share of good and evil are with you; all of that is bound to your necks; and that is not because of any evil omen from us. If evil befalls you, it is in that which is written against you and which has been decreed for you by Allah.
With something like what we have said about this, the exegetes have also spoken.
* Mention of who said that:
Bishr related to us, saying: Yazīd related to us, saying: Saʿīd related to us, on the authority of Qatāda: ( qālū ṭāʾirukum maʿakum ) "They said: 'Your evil omen is with you'" — that is to say: your deeds are with you.
Ibn Ḥumayd related to us, saying: Salama related to us, on the authority of Ibn Isḥāq, according to what reached him on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās, and on the authority of Kaʿb and on the authority of Wahb ibn Munabbih: the messengers said to them ( ṭāʾirukum maʿakum ) "Your evil omen is with you" — that is to say: your deeds are with you.
And concerning His statement ( aʾin dhukkirtum ) "Is it because you are admonished?" the reading differs. The generality of the reciters of the cities read it ( aʾin dhukkirtum ) with a kasra on the alif of "in" and a fatḥa on the interrogative alif: in the meaning "if we admonish you, then your evil omen is with you." Then upon "in," which is a conditional particle, an interrogative alif has been placed, according to the statement of some of the grammarians of Basra; and according to the statement of some of the Kufans, a repetition is intended therein, as though it were said: "your evil omen is with you if you are admonished, then your evil omen is with you," whereby the answer is omitted because the wording sufficiently indicates it. The proponent of this statement rejected only the first statement, because the interrogative alif has come between the apodosis and the condition, so that it cannot be a condition for that which precedes the interrogative particle. And concerning Abū Razīn it is reported that he read it ( aʾin dhukkirtum ) in the meaning: "is it because you are admonished that your evil omen is with you?" And concerning some of its reciters it is reported that he read it ( qālū ṭāʾirukum maʿakum ayna dhukkirtum ) in the meaning: "wherever you are admonished," with lightening (takhfīf) of the kāf in "dhukirtum."
And the reading which we permit no other than it is the reading upon which the reciters of the cities are agreed: namely, the placing of the interrogative alif upon the conditional particle, and the doubling (tashdīd) of the kāf according to the meaning which we have mentioned concerning the reciters of it — because of the consensus of the authoritative proof of the reciters concerning it.
With something like what we have said about this, the exegetes have also spoken.
* Mention of who said that:
Bishr related to us, saying: Yazīd related to us, saying: Saʿīd related to us, on the authority of Qatāda: ( aʾin dhukkirtum ) "Is it because you are admonished?" — that is to say: if we remind you of Allah, do you then see an evil omen in us? ( bal antum qawmun musrifūn ) "Nay, you are a people who exceed all bounds."
And His statement ( bal antum qawmun musrifūn ) "Nay, you are a people who exceed all bounds" — He says: they said to them: there is no evil omen in us against you, but you are a people who are disobedient to Allah and who commit sins; transgressions and sins have gained the upper hand over you.
