Tafseer of Yaseen · Yaseen · 36:68
And he to whom We grant long life We reverse in creation; so will they not understand?
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 explanation of the meaning of His statement, the Exalted: وَمَنْ نُعَمِّرْهُ نُنَكِّسْهُ فِي الْخَلْقِ أَفَلا يَعْقِلُونَ (68) — "And to whomever We grant a long life, We cause him to decline in his creation; will they then not understand?" (36:68).
The Exalted says ( وَمَنْ نُعَمِّرْهُ ) — and to whomever We prolong the lifespan ( نُنَكِّسْهُ فِي الْخَلْقِ ) — We bring him back to a state resembling his state in his childhood, through old age and advanced age. That is the decline (al-nuks) in creation: he becomes such that he knows nothing anymore, after the knowledge he used to possess.
And in accordance with what we have said about this, the exegetes have spoken.
* The mention of 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 ( وَمَنْ نُعَمِّرْهُ نُنَكِّسْهُ فِي الْخَلْقِ ), he says: to whomever We prolong the lifespan, We cause him to decline in creation, so that after knowledge he knows nothing anymore — by that he means old age (al-haram).
The Qurʾān reciters differed in the recitation of His statement ( نُنَكِّسْهُ ). Most of the reciters of Medina and Basra and some of the Kūfans recited it as (نَنْكِسْهُ), with a fatḥa on the first nūn and a sukūn on the second. And most of the reciters of Kūfa recited it as ( نُنَكِّسْهُ ), with a ḍamma on the first nūn, a fatḥa on the second, and a doubling (tashdīd) of the kāf.
And the correct judgment concerning this is that they are two well-known recitations among the reciters of the cities; with whichever of them the reciter recites, he has acted correctly. Except that the one which most of the Kūfan reciters maintain is more pleasing to me, because the decline brought about by Allah in creation is, after all, state after state, and one thing after another — and that supports the doubled reading (tashdīd).
Likewise they differed in the recitation of His statement ( أَفَلا يَعْقِلُونَ ). The reciters of Medina recited it as (أَفَلا تَعْقِلُونَ), with a tāʾ, in the form of an address. And the reciters of Kūfa recited it with a yāʾ, in the form of a statement. The recitation of it with a yāʾ corresponds more closely to the apparent form of the revelation, because it is an argument of Allah against the polytheists (mushrikīn) concerning whom He said: وَلَوْ نَشَاءُ لَطَمَسْنَا عَلَى أَعْيُنِهِمْ . Rendering it as a statement, in the manner in which His statement لَطَمَسْنَا عَلَى أَعْيُنِهِمْ is rendered, is more pleasing to me — though the other reading is not rejected either.
And the Exalted means by His statement ( أَفَلا يَعْقِلُونَ ): do these polytheists (mushrikīn) then not understand Allah's power over everything He wills, through what they perceive with their own eyes of His disposing of His creation according to what He wills and chooses — from small to great, and from decline after greatness in old age?
