Surah Ya-Sin 36:67
سُورَةُ يسٓ · Meccan · Verse 67 of 83
وَلَوْ نَشَآءُ لَمَسَخْنَٰهُمْ عَلَىٰ مَكَانَتِهِمْ فَمَا ٱسْتَطَٰعُوا۟ مُضِيًّۭا وَلَا يَرْجِعُونَ
Translation
If it had been Our will, We could have paralysed them where they stood, so that they could not move forward or backward.
English translation: M.A.S. Abdel Haleem.
Meaning and 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 on this verse
Open Surah Ya-Sin 36:67 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.