Surah 16 An-Nahl — Ayah 70
وَٱللَّهُ خَلَقَكُمْ ثُمَّ يَتَوَفَّىٰكُمْ ۚ وَمِنكُم مَّن يُرَدُّ إِلَىٰٓ أَرْذَلِ ٱلْعُمُرِ لِكَىْ لَا يَعْلَمَ بَعْدَ عِلْمٍۢ شَيْـًٔا ۚ إِنَّ ٱللَّهَ عَلِيمٌۭ قَدِيرٌۭ
இன்னும்; உங்களைப்படைத்தவன் அல்லாஹ் தான், பின்னர் அவனே உங்களை மரிக்கச் செயகிறான்; கல்வியறிவு பெற்றிருந்தும் (பின்) எதுவுமே அறியாதவர்களைப்போல் ஆகிவிடக் கூடிய மிகத் தளர்ந்த வயோதிகப் பருவம் வரையில் வாழ்ந்திருப்பவர்களும் உங்களில் உண்டு - நிச்சயமாக அல்லாஹ் நன்கறிந்தவனாகவும், பேராற்றல் உடையவனாகவும் இருக்கின்றான்.
wal-lahu khalaqakum thumma yatawaffākum waminkum man yuraddu ilā ardhali l-ʿumuri likay lā yaʿlama baʿda ʿil'min shayan inna l-laha ʿalīmun qadīrun
Word by word
- وَٱللَّهُ wal-lahu And Allah
- خَلَقَكُمْ khalaqakum created you
- ثُمَّ thumma then
- يَتَوَفَّىٰكُمْ ۚ yatawaffākum will cause you to die
- وَمِنكُم waminkum And among you
- مَّن man (is one) who
- يُرَدُّ yuraddu is sent back
- إِلَىٰٓ ilā to
- أَرْذَلِ ardhali the worst
- ٱلْعُمُرِ l-ʿumuri (of) the age
- لِكَىْ likay so that
- لَا lā not
- يَعْلَمَ yaʿlama he will know
- بَعْدَ baʿda after
- عِلْمٍۢ ʿil'min knowledge
- شَيْـًٔا ۚ shayan a thing
- إِنَّ inna Indeed
- ٱللَّهَ l-laha Allah
- عَلِيمٌۭ ʿalīmun (is) All-Knowing
- قَدِيرٌۭ qadīrun All-Powerful
Tafsir · Ibn Kathir (Abridged)
In Man there is a Lesson
Allah tells us that He is controlling the affairs of His servants. He is the One Who created them out of nothing, then He will cause them to die. But there are some of them that He allows to grow old, which is a physical weakness, as Allah says:
اللَّهُ الَّذِى خَلَقَكُمْ مِّن ضَعْفٍ ثُمَّ جَعَلَ مِن بَعْدِ ضَعْفٍ قُوَّةٍ
(Allah is He Who created you in (a state of) weakness, then gave you strength after weakness, then after strength gave (you) weakness) (30:54)
لِكَىْ لاَ يَعْلَمَ بَعْدَ عِلْمٍ شَيْئًا
(so that they know nothing after having known.) meaning, after he knew things, he will reach a stage where he knows nothing because of weakness of mind due to old age and senility. Thus Al-Bukhari, when commenting on this Ayah, reported a narration from Anas bin Malik that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ used to pray:
«أَعُوذُ بِكَ مِنَ الْبُخْلِ وَالْكَسَلِ وَالْهَرَمِ، وَأَرْذَلِ الْعُمُرِ وَعَذَابِ الْقَبْرِ، وَفِتْنَةِ الدَّجَّالِ وَفِتْنَةِ الْمَحْيَا وَالْمَمَات»
(I seek refuge with You from miserliness, laziness, old age, senility, the punishment of the grave, the Fitnah of the Dajjal and the trials of life and death.) Zuhayr bin Abi Sulma said, in his famous Mu`allaqah: "I became exhausted from the responsibilities of life. Whoever lives for eighty years, no wonder he is tired. I saw death hitting people like a crazed camel, and whoever it hit dies, but whoever is not hit lives until he grows old."