Tafseer of Yaseen · Yaseen · 36:65
That Day, We will seal over their mouths, and their hands will speak to Us, and their feet will testify about what they used to earn.
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: Al-yawma nakhtimu ʿalā afwāhihim wa-tukallimunā aydīhim wa-tashhadu arjuluhum bimā kānū yaksibūn "This Day We seal their mouths, and their hands will speak to Us, and their feet will bear witness about what they used to earn" (36:65).
The Exalted, whose mention is exalted, means by His statement ( al-yawma nakhtimu ʿalā afwāhihim ) "This Day We seal their mouths": this Day We seal the mouths of the polytheists (mushrikīn), and that is on the Day of Resurrection. ( wa-tukallimunā aydīhim ) "and their hands will speak to Us" about what they committed in this world of acts of disobedience toward Allah. ( wa-tashhadu arjuluhum ) "and their feet will bear witness" — it has been said: that which speaks of their feet is the thigh-bone of the left leg. ( bimā kānū yaksibūn ) "about what they used to earn" in this world of sins.
The exegetes have also spoken with something like what we have said about this.
* Mention of who said that:
Yaʿqūb ibn Ibrāhīm related to me, he said: Ibn ʿUlayya related to us, he said: Yūnus ibn ʿUbayd related to us, on the authority of Ḥumayd ibn Hilāl, he said: Abū Burda said: Abū Mūsā said: the believer is summoned to the reckoning on the Day of Resurrection, and his Lord presents to him his deeds, in confidence between Him and him. Then he acknowledges it and says: "Yes, O Lord, I did this, I did that, I did that." He said: Then Allah forgives him his sins and covers him for them, so that no creature on earth sees anything of those sins, and his good deeds come forth, and he would wish that all people could see them. And the disbeliever and the hypocrite (munāfiq) are summoned to the reckoning, and his Lord presents to him his deeds, but he denies them and says: "O Lord, by Your might, this angel has written down against me what I did not do." Then the angel says to him: "Did you not do such-and-such on such-and-such a day in such-and-such a place?" And he says: "No, by Your might, O Lord, I did not do it." And when he does that, his mouth is sealed. Al-Ashʿarī said: I suppose the first thing that speaks of him is his right thigh. Then he recited: ( al-yawma nakhtimu ʿalā afwāhihim wa-tukallimunā aydīhim wa-tashhadu arjuluhum bimā kānū yaksibūn ) "This Day We seal their mouths, and their hands will speak to Us, and their feet will bear witness about what they used to earn."
Abū Kurayb related to us, he said: Yaḥyā related to me, on the authority of Abū Bakr ibn ʿAyyāsh, on the authority of al-Aʿmash, on the authority of al-Shaʿbī, he said: it is said to the man on the Day of Resurrection: "you did such-and-such," and he says: "I did not do it." Then his mouth is sealed and his limbs speak, and he says to his limbs: "may Allah remove you far away; it was only on account of you that I disputed."
Bishr related to us, he said: Yazīd related to us, he said: Saʿīd related to us, on the authority of Qatāda, concerning His statement ( al-yawma nakhtimu ʿalā afwāhihim ) "This Day We seal their mouths" ... the entire āyah, he said: there had been disputes and words, and this was the end of it: ( nakhtimu ʿalā afwāhihim ) "We seal their mouths."
Muḥammad ibn ʿAwf al-Ṭāʾī related to me, he said: Ibn al-Mubārak related to us, on the authority of Ibn ʿAyyāsh, on the authority of Ḍamḍam ibn Zurʿa, on the authority of Shurayḥ ibn ʿUbayd, on the authority of ʿUqba ibn ʿĀmir, that he heard the Prophet ﷺ say: "The first of the human being that speaks, on the Day that Allah seals the mouths, is the thigh-bone of his left leg."
