Surah Ya-Sin 36:52
سُورَةُ يسٓ · Meccan · Verse 52 of 83
قَالُوا۟ يَٰوَيْلَنَا مَنۢ بَعَثَنَا مِن مَّرْقَدِنَا ۜ ۗ هَٰذَا مَا وَعَدَ ٱلرَّحْمَٰنُ وَصَدَقَ ٱلْمُرْسَلُونَ
Translation
They will say, ‘Alas for us! Who has resurrected us from our resting places?’ [They will be told], ‘This is what the Lord of Mercy promised, and the messengers told the truth.’
English translation: M.A.S. Abdel Haleem.
Meaning and reflection
'They will say: O woe to us! Who raised us from our sleeping-place? This is what the Most Merciful promised, and the messengers told the truth.' Ibn Ashur and al-Biqa'i stop at 'marqad', a bed, a place of sleep: death felt like a nap, and now they wake. And the stunning admission on waking, 'this is what ar-Rahman promised; the messengers were truthful', the very truth they mocked, acknowledged the instant it is too late to help. Ask yourself: everything the messengers said will one day be conceded by everyone, willingly or not. The only question is whether I say 'the messengers told the truth' now, while it can still shape my life, or then, as a cry of woe. Which timing am I choosing by how I'm living?
Grounded in classical tafsir: Ibn Ashur, al-Biqa'i, al-Saadi.
Topics that discuss this verse
Surah Ya-Sin 36:52 is discussed in 4 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 36:52 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.