Al-Qur'an Surah Ya-Sin Verse 68

Mufti Taqi Usmani

And whomsoever We give long life, we reverse him in creation. Then, do they have no sense?

Dr. Mustafa Khattab, the Clear Quran

And whoever We grant a long life, We reverse them in development.[[ Human beings are born weak, then they reach their prime, then they grow weak after a certain age. See {30:54}.]] Will they not then understand?

Ruwwad Translation Center

Whomsoever We give a long life, We cause his strength to decline. Do they not then understand?

A. J. Arberry

And to whomsoever We give long life, We bend him over in His constitution; what, do they not understand?

Abdul Haleem

If We extend anyone’s life, We reverse his development. Do they not use their reason?

Abdul Majid Daryabadi

And whomsoever We grant long life, We reverse him in creation. Reflect then they not?

Abdullah Yusuf Ali

If We grant long life to any, We cause him to be reversed in nature; Will they not then understand?

Abul Ala Maududi

Whomsoever We grant a long life, We reverse him in his constitution. Do they still not understand?

Ahmed Ali

Whoever reaches old age, We reverse in natural disposition. Do they not have sense (to see)?

Ahmed Raza Khan

And whomever We bring to an old age, We reverse him in creation; so do they not understand?

Ali Quli Qarai

And whomever We give a long life, We cause him to regress in creation. Then, will they not exercise their reason?

Ali Ünal

Whomever We cause to live long, We may also reverse him in nature (so that he returns to weakness after strength, to ignorance after knowledge, to forgetting after remembering). So will they not reason and take heed?

Amatul Rahman Omar

We reverse the mechanism of the person to whom We grant (extraordinary) long life by making the state of his constitution weak. Do they not (even then) make use of their understanding?

English Literal

And whom We grant him long life We reverse him (make him senile) in the creation, do they not reason/understand ?

Faridul Haque

And whomever We bring to an old age, We reverse him in creation; so do they not understand?

Hamid S. Aziz

And whomsoever We cause to live long, We reduce him to an abject state in constitution; do they not then understand?

Hilali & Khan

And he whom We grant long life, We reverse him in creation (weakness after strength). Will they not then understand?

Maulana Mohammad Ali

And if We pleased, We would transform them in their place, then they would not be able to go on, or turn back.

Mohammad Habib Shakir

And whomsoever We cause to live long, We reduce (him) to an abject state in constitution; do they not then understand?

Mohammed Marmaduke William Pickthall

He whom we bring unto old age, We reverse him in creation (making him go back to weakness after strength). Have ye then no sense?

Muhammad Sarwar

The physical growth of those whom We grant a long life will be reversed. Will you then not understand?

Qaribullah & Darwish

To whoever We give a long life We make him stoop. Do they not understand?

Safi-ur-Rahman al-Mubarakpuri

And he whom We grant long life -- We reverse him in creation. Will they not then understand

Wahiduddin Khan

If We extend anyone's life, We reverse his development. Can they not use their reason?

Talal Itani

Whomever We grant old age, We reverse his development. Do they not understand?

Tafsir jalalayn

And whomever We give long life, by prolonging his term [of life], We cause him to regress (nankushu; a variant reading has [2nd verbal form] nunakkishu, derived from al-tanks) in creation, that is, in terms of his physical form, so that after having enjoyed strength and youth, he becomes feeble and decrepit. Will they then not understand?, that One Who is able to effect such [a state] -- with which they are familiar -- is also able to resurrect, that they might then become believers? (a variant reading [for ya`qilna, `they understand'] has [the second person plural] ta`qilna, `you understand').

Tafseer Ibn Kathir

Allah tells us that the longer the son of Adam lives, the more he becomes weak after being strong, and incapable after being able and active.

Allah tells;

وَمَنْ نُعَمِّرْهُ نُنَكِّسْهُ فِي الْخَلْقِ

And he whom We grant long life -- We reverse him in creation.

This is like the Ayah;

اللَّهُ الَّذِى خَلَقَكُمْ مِّن ضَعْفٍ ثُمَّ جَعَلَ مِن بَعْدِ ضَعْفٍ قُوَّةٍ ثُمَّ جَعَلَ مِن بَعْدِ قُوَّةٍ ضَعْفاً وَشَيْبَةً يَخْلُقُ مَا يَشَأءُ وَهُوَ الْعَلِيمُ الْقَدِيرُ

Allah is He Who created you in (a state of) weakness, then gave you strength after weakness, then after strength gave weakness and gray hair. He creates what He wills. And it is He Who is the All-Knowing, the All-Powerful. (30;54)

And Allah says;

وَمِنكُمْ مَّن يُرَدُّ إِلَى أَرْذَلِ الْعُمُرِ لِكَيْلَ يَعْلَمَ مِن بَعْدِ عِلْمٍ شَيْياً

And among you there is he who is brought back to the miserable old age, so that he knows nothing after having known. (22;5)

The meaning here -- and Allah knows best -- is that Allah is telling us that this world is transient and will come to an end, it is not eternal and lasting.

Allah says;

أَفَلَ يَعْقِلُونَ



Will they not then understand!

meaning, will they not think about how they were created, then they become gray-haired, then they become old and senile, so that they may know that they were created for another world that is not transient and will not pass away, and from which there is no way out, which is the Hereafter.
Allah does not teach His Messenger Poetry

Allah says