Tafseer of Yaseen · Yaseen · 36:42
And We created for them from the likes of it that which they ride.
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.
And His saying (وَخَلَقْنَا لَهُمْ مِنْ مِثْلِهِ مَا يَرْكَبُونَ) (And We have created for them of the like thereof that which they ride): the Exalted, whose mention is blessed, says: And We have created for these polytheists who deny you, O Muḥammad, as a favor from Us to them, of the like of that ship in which We carried, of the descendants of Ādam, those whom We carried in it — that which they ride of vessels.
Then the exegetes differed concerning what is meant by His saying (مَا يَرْكَبُونَ) (that which they ride). Some of them said: it is the ships.
Mention of those who said that:
Al-Faḍl ibn al-Ṣabbāḥ related to us, saying: Muḥammad ibn Fuḍayl related to us, from ʿAṭāʾ, from Saʿīd ibn Jubayr, from Ibn ʿAbbās, who said: Do you know what (وَخَلَقْنَا لَهُمْ مِنْ مِثْلِهِ مَا يَرْكَبُونَ) (And We have created for them of the like thereof that which they ride) means? We said: No. He said: They are the ships that were made after the ship of Nūḥ in the likeness thereof.
Ibn Bashshār related to us, saying: ʿAbd al-Raḥmān related to us, saying: Yaḥyā related to us, saying: Sufyān related to us, from al-Suddī, from Abū Mālik, concerning His saying (وَخَلَقْنَا لَهُمْ مِنْ مِثْلِهِ مَا يَرْكَبُونَ) (And We have created for them of the like thereof that which they ride), he said: The small ships.
He said: Ibn Bashshār related to us, saying: Yaḥyā related to us, saying: Sufyān related to us, from al-Suddī, from Abū Mālik, concerning His saying (وَخَلَقْنَا لَهُمْ مِنْ مِثْلِهِ مَا يَرْكَبُونَ) (And We have created for them of the like thereof that which they ride), he said: The small ships. Do you not see that He said (وَإِنْ نَشَأْ نُغْرِقْهُمْ فَلا صَرِيخَ لَهُمْ) (And if We will, We drown them, and there is no rescuer for them)?
Ibn al-Muthannā related to us, saying: Muḥammad ibn Jaʿfar related to us, saying: Shuʿba related to us, from Manṣūr ibn Zādhān, from al-Ḥasan, concerning this verse (وَخَلَقْنَا لَهُمْ مِنْ مِثْلِهِ مَا يَرْكَبُونَ) (And We have created for them of the like thereof that which they ride), he said: The small ships.
Ḥātim ibn Bakr al-Ḍabbī related to us, saying: ʿUthmān ibn ʿUmar related to us, from Shuʿba, from Ismāʿīl, from Abū Ṣāliḥ: (وَخَلَقْنَا لَهُمْ مِنْ مِثْلِهِ مَا يَرْكَبُونَ) (And We have created for them of the like thereof that which they ride), he said: The small ships.
It was related to me from al-Ḥusayn, he said: I heard Abū Muʿādh say: ʿUbayd related to us, saying: I heard al-Ḍaḥḥāk say concerning His saying (وَخَلَقْنَا لَهُمْ مِنْ مِثْلِهِ مَا يَرْكَبُونَ) (And We have created for them of the like thereof that which they ride): He means the ships that were made after that — that is, after the ship of Nūḥ.
Bishr related to us, saying: Yazīd related to us, saying: Saʿīd related to us, from Qatāda: (وَخَلَقْنَا لَهُمْ مِنْ مِثْلِهِ مَا يَرْكَبُونَ) (And We have created for them of the like thereof that which they ride), he said: They are the ships from which people derive benefit.
Yūnus related to me, saying: Ibn Wahb informed us, saying: Ibn Zayd said concerning His saying (وَخَلَقْنَا لَهُمْ مِنْ مِثْلِهِ مَا يَرْكَبُونَ) (And We have created for them of the like thereof that which they ride), he said: And those are these ships.
Yūnus related to me, saying: Muḥammad ibn ʿUbayd related to us, from Ismāʿīl ibn Abī Khālid, from Abū Ṣāliḥ, concerning His saying (وَخَلَقْنَا لَهُمْ مِنْ مِثْلِهِ مَا يَرْكَبُونَ) (And We have created for them of the like thereof that which they ride), he said: Yes, of the like of a ship.
And others said: No, by it the camels are meant.
Mention of those who said that:
Muḥammad ibn Saʿd related to me, saying: my father related to us, saying: my uncle related to me, saying: my father related to me, from his father, from Ibn ʿAbbās, concerning His saying (وَخَلَقْنَا لَهُمْ مِنْ مِثْلِهِ مَا يَرْكَبُونَ) (And We have created for them of the like thereof that which they ride): He means the camels. Allah created them as you see, and they are the ships of the land; one loads upon them and rides them.
Naṣr ibn ʿAlī related to us, saying: Ghundar related to us, from ʿUthmān ibn Ghiyāth, from ʿIkrima: (وَخَلَقْنَا لَهُمْ مِنْ مِثْلِهِ مَا يَرْكَبُونَ) (And We have created for them of the like thereof that which they ride), he said: The camels.
Ibn Bashshār related to us, saying: ʿAbd al-Raḥmān related to us, saying: Sufyān related to us, from al-Suddī, he said: ʿAbd Allāh ibn Shaddād said: (وَخَلَقْنَا لَهُمْ مِنْ مِثْلِهِ مَا يَرْكَبُونَ) (And We have created for them of the like thereof that which they ride) — they are the camels.
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 from Ibn Abī Najīḥ, from Mujāhid, concerning His saying (وَخَلَقْنَا لَهُمْ مِنْ مِثْلِهِ مَا يَرْكَبُونَ) (And We have created for them of the like thereof that which they ride), he said: Of the livestock.
Bishr related to us, saying: Yazīd related to us, saying: Saʿīd related to us, from Qatāda, he said: Al-Ḥasan said: They are the camels.
And the more fitting of the two statements as to its interpretation is the statement of the one who said: by it the ships are meant. That is because of the proof in His saying (وَإِنْ نَشَأْ نُغْرِقْهُمْ فَلا صَرِيخَ لَهُمْ) (And if We will, We drown them, and there is no rescuer for them) that it is so. For it is known that drowning occurs only in the water, and there is no drowning on the land.
