Surah Ya-Sin 36:15
سُورَةُ يسٓ · Meccan · Verse 15 of 83
قَالُوا۟ مَآ أَنتُمْ إِلَّا بَشَرٌۭ مِّثْلُنَا وَمَآ أَنزَلَ ٱلرَّحْمَٰنُ مِن شَىْءٍ إِنْ أَنتُمْ إِلَّا تَكْذِبُونَ
Translation
but they answered, ‘You are only men like ourselves. The Lord of Mercy has sent nothing; you are just lying.'
English translation: M.A.S. Abdel Haleem.
Meaning and reflection
The townspeople answered: 'You are only men like us; the Most Merciful has revealed nothing; you are only lying.' This is one of history's oldest objections, a messenger cannot be true because he is human like us, as if truth had to arrive dressed as something superhuman. al-Biqa'i and Ibn Ashur note the demand for an other-worldly sign is often a mask over an unwilling heart. Ask yourself: I do a version of this when I dismiss guidance because of the ordinary person who brought it, 'who are they to tell me?' The messenger's humanity was never the real obstacle; the unwillingness was. Am I judging a truth by the plainness of its messenger, to avoid having to answer the truth itself?
Grounded in classical tafsir: Ibn Ashur, al-Biqa'i, al-Saadi.
Topics that discuss this verse
Surah Ya-Sin 36:15 is discussed in 5 study guides on Maani. Each guide gathers the key verses, Arabic words and lessons of one Quranic topic.
Reflect on this verse
Open Surah Ya-Sin 36:15 in Maani to reflect on it through the Five Lenses: its wording, its context, what it means for you, its connections across the Quran and its lessons, grounded in classical tafsir.