36. Surah Ya Sin (O Thou Human Being)

Mecca 41

The Quranic Text & Ali’s Version:

أَوَلَمْ يَرَ الْإِنسَانُ أَنَّا خَلَقْنَاهُ مِن نُّطْفَةٍ...   

36: 77.  Doth not man see that it is We Who created Him from sperm?

C4023. Man's disobedience and folly are all the more surprising, seeing that-apart from Allah's greatness and mercy-man is himself such a puny creature, created out of something that is less than a drop in the vast ocean of Existence. Yet man has the hardihood to stand out and dispute with his Maker, and institute idle comparisons as in the next verse!

... فَإِذَا هُوَ خَصِيمٌ مُّبِينٌ ﴿٧٧﴾

Yet behold! he (stands forth) as an open adversary!

وَضَرَبَ لَنَا مَثَلًا وَنَسِيَ خَلْقَهُ...   

36: 78.  And he makes comparisons for us, and forgets his own (Origin and) Creation:

C4024. That is, man thinks that Allah is like His creatures, who at best have very limited powers, or man draws idle parallels like that mentioned at the end of this verse. 'Who can give life to dry bones, and decomposed ones at that?'

Man certainly cannot, and no power in nature can do that. But why compare the powers and capacities of Allah's creatures with the powers and capacities of the Creator?

The first creation-out of nothing-is far more difficult for us to imagine than a second or subsequent process for which there is already a basis. And Allah has power over all things.

... قَالَ مَنْ يُحْيِي الْعِظَامَ وَهِيَ رَمِيمٌ ﴿٧٨﴾

he says, "Who can give life to (dry) bones and decomposed ones (at that)?"

Asad’s Version:

36:77 IS MAN, then, not aware that it is We who create him out of a [mere] drop of sperm - whereupon, lo! he shows himself endowed with the power to think and to argue? 45

(36:78) And [now] he [argues about Us, and] thinks of Us in terms of comparison," and is oblivious of how he himself was created! [And so] he says, "Who could give life to bones that have crumbled to dust?"