Surah Yaseen 36:67 — Meaning, Translation & Reflection

وَلَوْ نَشَآءُ لَمَسَخْنَٰهُمْ عَلَىٰ مَكَانَتِهِمْ فَمَا ٱسْتَطَٰعُوا۟ مُضِيًّۭا وَلَا يَرْجِعُونَ

English: If it had been Our will, We could have paralysed them where they stood, so that they could not move forward or backward.

Bengali: আমি ইচ্ছা করলে তাদেরকে স্ব স্ব স্থানে আকার বিকৃত করতে পারতাম, ফলে তারা আগেও চলতে পারত না এবং পেছনেও ফিরে যেতে পারত না।

Meaning & Reflection

'And if We willed, We could freeze them in their place, so they could neither go forward nor turn back.' al-Saadi and Ibn Ashur note the second withdrawal: not only sight but *mobility* is a sustained gift — the ability to move at all is held in place by His will, and could be locked in an instant. Ask yourself: I experience my capacity to act — to go, to change course, to escape — as simply mine. This verse pictures it suspended: fixed in place, unable to advance or retreat. So much of my sense of control rests on assuming I can always move. Recognising that even this is granted moment by moment, do I use my present freedom to move *toward* Him while the movement is still mine to make?

Grounded in classical tafsir: al-Saadi, Ibn Ashur, al-Biqa'i.

Reflect with the Five Lenses

Maani's framework for Tadabbur (heart-centred reflection) on Surah Yaseen 36:67:

• Wording. Look closely at the specific words and structure. Which word stands out, and why might Allah have chosen it here?
• Quranic Worlds. Place the verse in its context — what is happening around it, and what world does it open up?
• Personal Experience. Ask not just what this means, but what it means TO me and FOR me, right now in my life.
• Connections. How does this verse connect to other verses, to the Sunnah, or to themes across the Quran?
• General Lessons. What timeless lesson or action point can I carry away and live by?