Surah Ya-Sin 36:49
سُورَةُ يسٓ · Meccan · Verse 49 of 83
مَا يَنظُرُونَ إِلَّا صَيْحَةًۭ وَٰحِدَةًۭ تَأْخُذُهُمْ وَهُمْ يَخِصِّمُونَ
Translation
But all they are waiting for is a single blast that will overtake them while they are still arguing with each other.
English translation: M.A.S. Abdel Haleem.
Meaning and reflection
'They await only a single shout that will seize them while they are disputing.' al-Biqa'i and Ibn Ashur note the devastating detail: it comes upon them mid-argument, while they are still bickering over whether it is even real. The end does not wait for them to finish their debate. Ask yourself: how much of my life is spent in disputes and deliberations I assume I'll get to conclude, the argument I'll win later, the decision I'll finalize someday, the reckoning I'll get around to? This verse pictures the interruption arriving precisely in the middle of the noise. If it seized me right now, mid-sentence, what unfinished dispute would I be caught inside, and would it have been worth the time?
Grounded in classical tafsir: al-Biqa'i, Ibn Ashur, al-Saadi.
Topics that discuss this verse
Surah Ya-Sin 36:49 is discussed in 2 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 36:49 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.