Tafseer of The Winnowing Winds · Adh-Dhaariyat · 51:21
And in yourselves. Then will you not see?
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 words وَفِي أَنْفُسِكُمْ أَفَلا تُبْصِرُونَ ("And in your own selves; do you then not see?") (51:21). The scholars of interpretation (ahl al-taʾwīl) differed over its interpretation. Some of them said: its meaning is: and in the passage of excrement and urine within your own selves there is a lesson for you, and a proof for you concerning your Lord; do you then not see that in yourselves?
* Mention of who said that:
Aḥmad ibn ʿAbd al-Ṣamad al-Anṣārī related to us, saying: Abū Usāma related to us, on the authority of Ibn Jurayj, on the authority of Ibn al-Murtafiʿ, who said: I heard Ibn al-Zubayr say concerning وَفِي أَنْفُسِكُمْ أَفَلا تُبْصِرُونَ ("And in your own selves; do you then not see?"), he said: the passage of excrement and urine.
Ibn Ḥumayd related to us, saying: Mihrān related to us, on the authority of Sufyān, on the authority of Ibn Jurayj, on the authority of Muḥammad ibn al-Murtafiʿ, on the authority of ʿAbd Allāh ibn al-Zubayr: وَفِي أَنْفُسِكُمْ أَفَلا تُبْصِرُونَ ("And in your own selves; do you then not see?"), he said: the passage of excrement and urine.
And others said: No, its meaning is: and in Allah's — Blessed and Exalted — perfecting of the joints of your bodies and your limbs there is for you an indication that you were created to worship Him.
* Mention of who said that:
Yūnus related to me, saying: Ibn Wahb informed us, saying: Ibn Zayd said concerning His words وَفِي أَنْفُسِكُمْ أَفَلا تُبْصِرُونَ ("And in your own selves; do you then not see?"), and he recited the words of Allah, Blessed and Exalted: وَمِنْ آيَاتِهِ أَنْ خَلَقَكُمْ مِنْ تُرَابٍ ثُمَّ إِذَا أَنْتُمْ بَشَرٌ تَنْتَشِرُونَ ("And among His signs is that He created you from dust; and then, behold, you are human beings dispersing abroad"). He said: and in us are many signs: this hearing, the sight, the tongue, and the heart — no one knows what it is, black or red — and this speech with which one stammers, and this heart, what kind of thing is it really? It is only a piece of flesh within him, into which Allah placed the intellect. Does anyone perhaps know what that intellect is, what its attribute is, and how it is?
And the correct view concerning this is that one says: its meaning is: and in your own selves likewise there are, O people, signs and lessons that point you to the oneness of your Creator, and that there is no god for you besides Him, since nothing is able to create anything as He created you. أَفَلا تُبْصِرُونَ ("do you then not see?"), He says: do you then not look at that and reflect upon it, so that you may know the reality of the oneness of your Creator?
