Surah Ya-Sin 36:37
سُورَةُ يسٓ · Meccan · Verse 37 of 83
وَءَايَةٌۭ لَّهُمُ ٱلَّيْلُ نَسْلَخُ مِنْهُ ٱلنَّهَارَ فَإِذَا هُم مُّظْلِمُونَ
Translation
The night is also a sign for them: We strip the daylight from it, and- lo and behold!- they are in darkness.
English translation: M.A.S. Abdel Haleem.
Meaning and reflection
'And a sign for them is the night: We strip the day from it, and at once they are in darkness.' Ibn Ashur draws attention to the verb 'naslakhu', to peel or skin: the day is peeled off the night like a hide, and suddenly the light is gone. The imagery makes a daily event feel like the deliberate act it is. Ask yourself: the arrival of darkness each evening is so routine that I never read it as something being done to the world by a Doer. This verse re-enchants it, the day is withdrawn, peeled back, on purpose, every day. What else in my life have I flattened into 'that's just how it is', when it is actually a continuous act of the One who could as easily leave me in the dark?
Grounded in classical tafsir: Ibn Ashur, al-Biqa'i, al-Saadi.
Topics that discuss this verse
Surah Ya-Sin 36:37 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 36:37 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.