Surah Ya-Sin 36:38
سُورَةُ يسٓ · Meccan · Verse 38 of 83
وَٱلشَّمْسُ تَجْرِى لِمُسْتَقَرٍّۢ لَّهَا ۚ ذَٰلِكَ تَقْدِيرُ ٱلْعَزِيزِ ٱلْعَلِيمِ
Translation
The sun, too, runs its determined course laid down for it by the Almighty, the All Knowing.
English translation: M.A.S. Abdel Haleem.
Meaning and reflection
'And the sun runs on to a resting-place appointed for it, that is the decree of the Almighty, the All-Knowing.' Ibn Ashur and al-Saadi note that even the sun, the grandest thing our ancestors could see, is described as running toward a fixed limit set for it, not free, not endless, but under command and heading to an appointed end. Ask yourself: if the sun itself is on a course it did not choose, toward a stopping-point it cannot postpone, what does that say about my illusion of limitless autonomy? The mightiest body in my sky is a servant with a deadline. Am I living as the exception to that order, or as one more thing running its measured course toward a resting-place already named?
Grounded in classical tafsir: Ibn Ashur, al-Saadi, al-Biqa'i.
Topics that discuss this verse
Surah Ya-Sin 36:38 is discussed in 7 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 36:38 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.