36. Ya-Sin (Yasin)

This sūrah, which consists of 83 verses, was revealed in the mid-Makkan period. Ya-Sin, Ya Sin or Yaseen takes its name from the first verse, the shortest in the Qur’ān, and which, according to some, implicitly means a human being. It deals, using diverse arguments, with three of the pillars of faith, namely the Divine Oneness, afterlife, and Prophethood. God’s Messenger, upon him be peace and blessings, declared that this sūrah is the heart of the Qur’ān (at-Tirmidhī, “Thawāb al-Qur’ān,” 7) because it stirs up “dead” hearts to awaken them to life. He also advised its recitation over one who is at one’s death-bed.

In the Name of God, the All-Merciful, the All-Compassionate.

1. Yā. Sīn.

2. By the Wise Qur’an,

3. You are indeed one of the Messengers (commissioned to convey God’s Message),

4. Upon a straight path.

5. (This is) the Book which is being sent down by the All-Glorious with irresistible might, the All-Compassionate,

6. So that you may warn a people whose (near) forefathers were not warned, and who are, therefore, heedless (of the truth and falsehood).

7. The word (of God’s judgment) has assuredly proved true against most of them (humankind, from the very first day),1 for they do not believe.

8. We have surely put chains around the necks (of the unbelievers among your people), right up to their chins, so that their heads are forced up.2

9. And We have set a barrier before them and a barrier behind them, and (thus) We have covered them (from all sides), so that they cannot see.3

10. So, it is alike to them whether you warn them or do not warn them; (although it is your mission to warn them, and you do it without any neglect) they will not believe.4

11. You can (profitably) warn only him who (is unprejudiced and) follows the Message and feels awe of the All-Merciful, though unseen (beyond their perception). To him, then, give the glad tiding of forgiveness and an honorable, generous provision.

12. Surely it is We Who will bring the dead to life; and We record what they send ahead (to the Hereafter) and what they leave behind (of good and evil). Everything, We have written down and kept in a Manifest Record.5

13. Set out to them, by way of a parable, the (story of the) people of that township, when the Messengers came there:6

14. When We first sent them two (Messengers) and they denied them, We reinforced them with a third, and they said: “Surely we are Messengers sent to you (with God’s Message).”

15. They said: “You are but mortals like us. The All-Merciful has never sent down anything (by way of Book, as you claim). You are only telling lies.”

16. (The Messengers) said: “Our Lord knows that we certainly are Messengers sent to you.

17. “And what rests with us is but to convey (God’s Message) fully and clearly (we do not compel faith).”

18. They said: “We augur ill of you. If you do not desist, we will most certainly stone you, and a painful punishment will most certainly afflict you at our hands.”

19. (The Messengers) said: “What you describe as augury lies with you. What? (Do you consider it an ill augury) to be reminded (of the truth) and admonished? No, indeed! Rather, you are a people committing excesses and wasteful of your God-given faculties.”

20. A man came running from the farthest end of the city7 and said: “O my people! Follow those who have been sent (to you as Messengers of God).

21. “Follow those who ask of you no wage (for their service), and are themselves rightly guided.

22. And what reason do I have that I should not worship Him Who originated me with a nature particular to me, and to Whom you all (as well as I) are being brought back (to give an account of our lives)?

23. “Shall I take, apart from Him, deities whose intercession (that you claim they can make on our behalf) will not avail me anything, if the All-Merciful should will a harm for me, nor can they bring deliverance?

24. “I would indeed, if I were to do so, be in obvious error.

25. “But surely, I have believed in (the Lord Who is, in fact,) the Lord of you all, so listen to me (heedfully)!”

26. (But they killed him, and this word of welcome) was said to him: “Enter Paradise!”8 He said: “Would that my people knew,

27. “That my Lord has forgiven me and made me one of those honored (with particular favors)!” 

28. We did not send down upon his people after him any hosts (of angels) from heaven (to destroy them): it is not Our way to send down such.

29. It was but a single blast only, and see! They were extinguished.9

30. Ah! Alas for the servants (of God who fail to serve Him)! Every time there has come to them a Messenger, they have but mocked him.

31. Have they not considered how many a generation We have destroyed before them; they never return to them (nor to their life of the world).

32. Instead, every generation, all without exception, will be arraigned before us (for judgment).10

33. A clear sign for them (of God’s Oneness and Lordship) is the dead earth: We revive it and bring forth from it grain, and (following the necessary preparatory processes) they eat of it.

34. And We have set therein gardens of palms and vines, and We have caused springs to gush forth in it,

35. So that they may eat of the fruit of all (that He produces) – and they did not make it with their own hands. Will they not, then, give thanks?

36. All-Glorified is He (in that He is absolutely exalted above having any peer or partner), Who has created the pairs all together out of what the earth produces, as well as out of themselves, and out of what they do not know.11

37. A(nother) clear sign for them is the night: We withdraw the day from it, and see, they are plunged in darkness.

38. And the sun runs the course appointed for it for a term to its resting-place, for the stability of it(s system).12 This is the measured determining of the All-Glorious with irresistible might (to Whose omnipotent ordering the whole universe is submitted), the All-Knowing.

39. And for the moon, We have determined mansions till it returns like an old shriveled palm-leaf.

40. It is not for the sun to overtake the moon, nor does the night outstrip the day. All (the celestial bodies and systems) float in an orbit (determined for each).

41. A(nother) sign for them is that We bear their generations on the ship laden (with them and their cargo, and yet sustained in the water, without sinking).

42. And We have created for them the like of it (for land travel) on which they ride.13

43. If We will, We cause them to drown, and there is no help for them (against Our will), nor can they be saved (from drowning),

44. Unless by a mercy from Us and (Our allowing them) to enjoy life for some time more until a term (determined).14

45. When they are told: “Beware of and guard against what lies before you and what lies behind you (of unforgivable sins and punishment they will bring in the world or the Hereafter, and brought about in the past when committed by former peoples), so that you may be shown mercy (a good, virtuous life in the world and eternal happiness in the Hereafter).”

46. Yet there does not come to them a clear sign from among the signs of their Lord (a Revelation from among His Revelations), but they turn away from it (being averse to the admonition given therein).

47. And when they are told: “Spend (for the needy) out of what God has provided for you,” those who disbelieve say to those who believe, “Shall we then feed those whom God would feed if He willed? You are but in obvious error.”

48. And they say (intending mockery): “So, when is this promise (of Resurrection and Judgment), if you are truthful?”

49. They should await only a single blast that will seize them unawares even as they are disputing (heedlessly among themselves about their worldly concerns).15

50. Then they will not be able even to make a bequest (so suddenly will the blast seize them), nor return to their families.

51. And the Trumpet will be blown, and see, out of the graves they rush forth to their Lord.

52. They will cry: “Woe to us! Who has raised us from our place of sleep?16 (We have come to know that) this is what the All-Merciful promised, and that the Messengers spoke the truth!”

53. It is but one single blast, and see, they will all have been (raised and) arraigned together before Us (for judgment).

54. On that Day, no soul will be wronged in the least, and you will not be recompensed for anything but what you used to do.

55. Surely the companions of Paradise will on that Day be in happy occupations enjoying the blessings (of Paradise that God will grant them abundantly out of His grace, in return for their good deeds).

56. They and their spouses are in pleasant shade (safe from any troubling weather), reclining on thrones.

57. They will have therein the fruit (of their good deeds in the world), and they will have whatever they call for.17

58. “Peace!” is the word (of welcome for them and of safety from any trouble) from the Lord All-Compassionate (toward His believing servants).

59. “And you, O disbelieving criminals! Get you apart this Day!

60. “Did I not make a covenant with you, O children of Adam, that you should not worship Satan— Indeed, he is a manifest enemy to you—

61. “And that you should worship Me alone? This is a straight path (for you to follow).

62. “Yet he has assuredly caused great multitudes of you to go astray. Should you not reason and take heed?

63. “This is Hell, with which you were threatened (repeatedly18).

64. “Enter it this Day to roast because you persistently disbelieved.”

65.  That Day, We will set a seal upon their mouths, and their hands will speak to Us, and their feet will bear witness to what they earned (in the world).19

66. If We had so willed, We could certainly have blotted out their eyes, and they would rush around for the right path. How then would they be able to see their way?20

67. If We had so willed, We could have fixed them in their places (immobilized where they are), unable to go forward or turn back.

68. Whomever We cause to live long, We may also reverse him in nature (so that he returns to weakness after strength, to ignorance after knowledge, to forgetting after remembering). So will they not reason and take heed?

69. We have not taught him (the Messenger) poetry; further, it is not seemly for him.21 This is but a Reminder (teaching and admonishing), a Qur’ān recited and conveyed (from God), clear in itself and clearly showing the truth.

70. So that the Messenger may warn with it those who are (truly) alive (and so can reason, and see, and hear the truth), and that the word (of Divine judgment after evidence and admonition) may be completed against the unbelievers.

71. Have they not considered how (as signs of Our Lordship), out of what Our Hands have originated and fashioned, We have created for them cattle, and so they are their owners?

72. We have subdued them to them, so that among them (they find) their mounts and from them they obtain food.

73. And they have many other benefits in them and (diverse) things to drink. Will they not then give thanks?

74. Yet they have taken deities for worship apart from God, (expecting) that they may receive help (from them).

75. They (the false deities) are unable to help them; rather, they (the worshippers) are a (supportive) host for them (the false deities, and all will be arraigned for punishment on the Day of Judgment).22

76. So do not let their (slanderous) words (against God and you) grieve you (O Messenger). Surely We know whatever they keep concealed (of speech or deeds) and whatever they disclose.

77. Has man not considered that We have created him from (so slight a beginning as) a drop of (seminal) fluid? Yet, he turns into an open, fierce adversary (selfishly disputing against the truth).

78. And he coins a comparison for Us, having forgotten his own origin and creation, saying, “Who will give life to these bones when they have rotted away?”

79. Say: “He Who produced them in the first instance will give them life. He has full knowledge of every (form and mode and possibility of) creation (and of everything He has created, He knows every detail in every dimension of time and space).”23

80. He Who has made for you fire from the green tree, and see, you kindle fire with it.24

81. Is not He Who has created the heavens and the earth able to create (from rotten bones) the like of them (whose bones have rotted under the ground)?25 Surely He is; He is the Supreme Creator, the All-Knowing.

82. When He wills a thing to be, He but says to it “Be!” and (in the selfsame instant,) it is.

83. So, All-Glorified is He in Whose Hand is the absolute dominion of all things,26 and to Him you are being brought back.


The Qur'an with Annotated Interpretation in Modern English

The Qur’an with Annotated Interpretation in Modern English

1. For an explanation, see 32: 13, note 9.

2. This is an allegory that alludes to people being purposefully prejudiced and too haughty to believe. It also signifies that they never think about their selves, their being, or their physical composition, that which would enable them to come to recognize God’s signs in them and believe.

3. The comparison here symbolizes the condition in which stubborn unbelievers finds themselves. As they are too arrogant to reflect on their existence in an unprejudiced way; so, too, they fail to observe the universe around them in any way that is beneficial. They are, as if in veils of darkness, blind to their environment which is full of signs pointing to God’s Existence and Oneness. Their blindness comes from arrogance and the fact that their hearts are so dead that they have lost the ability to believe. So, even if they study “nature” and are specialists in many sciences, this information increases them only in ignorance about God and the ultimate truth on which the universe is based.

4. Whether people believe or not, Messengers are charged with communicating God’s Message with all its proofs. This is so that, in order that he who was to perish should perish by a clear evidence (of his deserving perishing because he followed falsehood), and he who survived might survive by a clear evidence (of his deserving survival because of his devotion to the truth) (8: 42), and so that people may have no excuse before God in the Hereafter. The Messengers did not only communicate it verbally; they also practiced it fully in their lives and embodied it. That is, they proved its truth practically or with their very lives.

God informs the Messenger, upon him be peace and blessings, beforehand that some will not believe in order to console him and to inform him that he should concentrate primarily on those who are not prejudiced, whose hearts are not dead, and who, therefore, are not spiritually blind nor deaf.

5. On the meaning of the Manifest Record and the difference between writing down and keeping people’s deeds in it, and recording these during their lifetimes, see 6: 59, note 13; 13: 39, note 13; 17: 14, note 10.

6. Although there are different views about which land this is and who the Messengers sent to them were, the Qur’ān and the Hadith are silent in this respect. So, what is of importance is the instruction the Qur’ān gives by this exemplary event. It is not possible to accept the speculations that the land or city was Antioch and the Messengers were the disciples sent by Jesus, upon him be peace. Verse 29 informs us that the city was consequently destroyed with a blast, as the lands of many ancient peoples who rejected the Messengers were, whereas it has not been historically established that Antioch suffered such destruction after Jesus, upon him be peace. Even though some commentators have viewed the destruction mentioned metaphorically, the style and wording of the verses is similar to those the Qur’ān uses for the destruction of many ancient peoples.

7. These same words are used of the man who informed the Prophet Moses, upon be peace, of the plans to seize him (28: 20). As suggested by verse 28: 20, this man belonged to the palace and kept his faith secret. So, the man who came to the aid of the Messengers may well have been one who belonged to the leading group, one who had already believed in the Messengers and kept his faith secret until then.

8. Many among the commentators hold that the Paradise mentioned here is the Paradise where God will admit His believing, righteous servants in the Hereafter. So the verse informs us that this valiant man, who gave full support to the Messengers and was consequently martyred, will be admitted to Paradise, where he will be specially favored. However, it may well be that by Paradise the verse also refers to his Paradise-like place in the Intermediate World (Barzakh).

9. Although some verses (3: 124–125; 8: 9; 33: 9) state that God Almighty sent hosts of angels and invisible hosts from the heaven, they came for positive, important purposes, namely, to encourage and reinforce the believers in their struggle against the disbelieving, unjust peoples, and to acclaim their victory. God does not send hosts to destroy wicked, criminal people; rather He destroys them with a catastrophe. The three angels He sent before the destruction of the people of the Prophet Lot, upon him be peace, were not “a host” and had other purposes, like giving Abraham the glad tiding of the birth of Isaac, upon them both be peace. Lot’s people were destroyed with a blast and a rain of stones, even though God employed these angels in that task, as it is His way to employ angels in every event in the universe.

10. The last two verses decisively reject any doctrine or assertion, such as reincarnation, that claims sinful people will continue to return to the world in new, different bodies until they have purified their souls. Instead of returning, the verses explicitly state that they will be brought before God to be judged. The verses also reject the Shi‘ite doctrine of raj‘ah, which asserts that some oppressive people – especially those who oppressed the members of the Messenger’s household – and their victims will be returned to the world before the end of time so that the latter can take vengeance on their oppressors.

11. Everything animate or inanimate has a pair; we can see opposition and complementarity in all created things and beings, whether in physical, chemical, moral, or psychological qualities. Recent discoveries of complementarity and opposition among sub-atomic particles may be an instance of the kind of pairs that we do not see directly; there will be many other instances of “pairing” of which we remain ignorant.

12. The original of this statement is comprised of  four words. The phrase translated as “the course appointed for it for a term to its resting-place for the stability of it(s system)” is, li-mustaqarrin lahā. Mustaqarr means course or orbit, stability, and the place and time of stability; the preposition li indicates both reason or aim (“for”), the course of a movement (“in or along”), and destination (“to” or “towards”). So the phrase li-mustaqarrin lahā points out four facts concerning the sun or its system: it moves for a certain (appointed) term, along a course appointed for it, to its resting-place, for the sake of the stability of the system. We understand from the statement in its context that the sun is not motionless and has a vital function in the universal order.

In recent decades, solar astronomers have been able to observe that the sun is not, in fact, motionless. It quivers and shakes and continually rings like a well-hit gong. These vibrations of the sun reveal vital information about the sun’s deep interior, its hidden layers, and this information affects calculations of the age of the universe. Also, knowing exactly how the sun spins internally is important in testing Einstein’s theory of general relativity. Like so many other significant findings in astronomy, this discovery about the sun was totally unexpected. Having discovered the quivering and ringing sun, some astronomers have commented that it is as if the sun were a symphony orchestra, with all the instruments being played simultaneously. All the vibrations combine at times to produce a net oscillation on the solar surface that is thousands of times stronger than any individual vibration (Bartusiac, M., 61–68).

Commenting on this Qur’ānic verse several decades before this totally unexpected discovery in astronomy, Said Nursi wrote in Muhakemat (“Reasonings”), 68–69:

As the word tacrī (“runs”) points to a style, the phrase li-mustaqarrin lahā (“the course appointed for it for a term to its resting-place for the stability of it(s system)” demonstrates a reality. The sun, like a vessel built of gold, travels and floats in the ocean of the heavens comprised of ether and defined in a hadīth as a stretched and tightened wave. Although it quivers and shakes in its course or orbit, since people see it moving, the Qur’ān uses the word travel or float. However, since the origin of the force of gravity is movement, the sun moves and quivers in its orbit. Through this vibration, which is the wheel of its figurative movement, its satellites are attracted to it and preserved from falling and scattering. When a tree quivers, its fruit fall. But when the sun quivers and shakes, its fruit – its satellites – are preserved from falling.

Again, wisdom requires that the sun should move and travel on its mobile throne – its course or orbit – accompanied by its soldiers – its satellites. For the Divine Power has made everything moving and condemned nothing to absolute rest or motionlessness. Divine Mercy allows nothing to be condemned to inertia that is the cousin of death. So, the sun is free; it can travel provided it obeys the laws of God and does not disturb the freedom of others. So, it may actually be traveling; or its traveling may also be figurative. However, what is important according to the Qur’ān is the universal (or solar system’s) order, the wheel of which is the sun and its movement. Through the sun, the stability and orderliness of the system are ensured.

13. Many of the commentators have understood that what is meant by “the ship laden” in verse 41 is the Prophet Noah’s Ark. Although this meaning may be included in the verse, when considered together with this verse (42) and similar ones such as 40: 80 and 43: 12, we can conclude that it also mentions the ships as means of transportation on the sea and other means and animals of transport both on the sea and on the earth. 

14. The term is either the end of life (pre-)determined for each person by God, or the respite granted to the wrongdoers so that they may give up their way and accept the true guidance.

15. This verse draws attention to the fact that the unbelievers, especially those who are wealthy among them, are usually engaged in disputes over worldly matters in utter heedlessness of God’s admonitions. This causes many calamities, such as wars and social convulsions, to afflict them in the world, and the Last Hour will also come upon them when they are involved in such disputes.

16. This statement reveals two facts concerning life in the grave. One is that, compared with the dread of the Resurrection and the Place of the Supreme Gathering and the punishment in Hell, the suffering in the grave will be like a sleep tormented by nightmares. The other is: ‘Ali, the Fourth Caliph, may God be pleased with him, says that the life of the world is sleep, and people wake up when they die. So, from the perspective of the truths of faith and the truths concerning creation and life, the worldly life is like dream. When people die, their seeing and perception will be much keener (50: 22). Compared with the eternal life in the other world, life in the grave is like a dream during sleep. All truths will be manifested in all their clarity in the Hereafter.

17. The original of the statement, enjoying the blessings (of Paradise that God will grant them abundantly out of His grace, in return for their good deeds) in verse 55 above is fākihūn, literally meaning “enjoying the fruits.” A similar meaning is given in this verse, where the word fākihāh (literally, fruit) is mentioned. This shows one of the miraculous aspects of the Qur’ān’s style. That is, verse 54 has mentioned that people will be recompensed for what they do in the world. As is known, fruit denotes the ultimate result of a tree’s life or, metaphorically, the result of an effort. So, verses 55 and 57 signify that people’s deeds in the world are sown in the field of the Hereafter like seeds. Each good seed will grow into a tree with many fruits, by God’s grace, according to its worth, varying from person to person, according to the degree of its righteousness and the sincerity with which it is done. The blessings of Paradise will be those “fruits.” But, out of pure grace, God will grant the people dwelling here much more than they deserve, so they will have whatever they desire and call for.    

18. The Qur’ān repeatedly threatens us with Hell and warns against it. God made the first warning when Satan refused to prostrate before Adam, upon him be peace, after Adam’s creation, and he was allowed to try to seduce humankind until the end of time: My servants – you shall have no authority over any of them, unless it be such as follow you being rebellious against God, as you are). And for all such (rebellious people), Hell is the promised place (15: 42–44).

The Qur’ān makes many similar reiterations. It is the Book of not only law, prayer, wisdom, worship, and servanthood to God, but also of commands, invitations, invocations, reflection, glad tidings, and warnings. It is a holy book containing books for all of our spiritual needs: a heavenly book that, like a sacred library, contains numerous booklets from which all the saints, eminently truthful people, all purified and discerning scholars, and those well-versed in knowledge of God have derived their own specific ways, and which illuminate each way and answer their followers’ needs. It is because of this and the fact that all the teachings of the Qur’ān need reiteration to explain and establish them in people’s mind and hearts that the Qur’ān has many reiterated statements. However, in most cases, they are of the kind that explain truths from various perspectives and in different styles according to different conditions, times, cases, and audience. The Qur’ān calls this style tasrīf.

19. This verse has two meanings or two aspects to its meaning. One is that since the Hereafter will be the abode where everything will be alive (29: 64; 25: 12, note 4), the body parts of people will act as a witness in favor or against them. Second, the beliefs and deeds of everyone are reflected in their parts of the body, and people of special insight can even discern their imprints in this world.

20. This verse means that God has equipped humankind with the ability and necessary organs to see the truth. But the disbelieving people have lost this ability and made these organs functionless, and so it is as if they are blind and cannot find the right path.

21. In addition to the Qur’ān’s judgment about poets (and poetry) in 26: 224–227, and the relevant explanations in notes 42 and 43, we can add here what follows concerning why poetry is not seemly for God’s Messenger, upon him be peace and blessings, as explained by Said Nursi:

Since the wise Qur’ān encompasses infinite brilliant and exalted truths, it is free from, and superior to, the fancies of much poetry. The Qur’ān of miraculous expression is not in strict verse because, despite its perfect order and arrangement, it expounds the Book of the Universe’s beauty and order in its well-ordered styles; therefore, its freedom from (poetic) constraints allows each verse to connect with other verses in an encompassing context. Such connections give the meaning of its different verses a relationship to one another.

Thus, there are thousands of Qur’āns within the Qur’ān, each being adopted by a different path or school in Islam. For example, Sūrat al-Ikhlās contains a treasury of knowledge of Divine Unity provided by 36 ways of reading Sūrat al-Ikhlas (see 112, note 4). This is comparable to the way each star, apparently at random, extends (as if from a center) a line of connection to every other star in the surrounding area. More clearly, these verses are interrelated to one another in the same way that all cells and organs in a body are interrelated with one another. Such a network indicates the hidden relation between all creatures. This is the same relationship as that found among the verses of the Qur’ān. So it cannot design itself according to the human system of poetry. Reflect on the perfect order in apparent disorder, and learn something. Understand one meaning of: We have not taught him poetry; further, it is not seemly for him.

Understand also from the meaning of it is not seemly for him that poetry tends to adorn insignificant and dull facts with grandiose images and fancies to make them attractive. But the Qur’ānic truths are so great and elevated, so brilliant and splendid, that even the greatest and most brilliant poetic images appear dull and insignificant (The Words, “The 13th Word,” 156–157).

22. Polytheists take many deities hoping that those so-called gods may help them with their worldly affairs. Among them are idols, devils, some invisible forces such as “good” or “evil” spirits, angels, some powerful or saintly peoples, and Prophets, etc. However, they neither think nor understand that it is they, themselves, who raise them to the position of divinity and serve them as a host. They and their idols carved out of stone or wood, devils, and all the cruel tyrants or powerful persons who are rebellious against God will be brought up for punishment on the Day of Judgment.

23. That is, God has innumerable ways of creating, so He can create and re-create in any way He wills. Moreover, He has full knowledge of everything He has created. He never forgets anything. So, can He Who created in the first instance out of nothing, when there was nothing to copy from which He would be able to draw knowledge – can He not re-create?

24. This verse has a very subtle meaning. It explains how God can give life to a rotten bone, and suggests that God produces unexpected things from their opposites, or from the things from which it seems to us impossible that opposites could be produced. According to the classical commentators, what is meant by the green tree mentioned here – a fresh tree in which there is still water – are the trees of Markh and ‘Afār, which grow in the Arabian desert and from which people kindle fire. The verse, according to some contemporary commentators, also refers to petroleum. As is known, petroleum is formed from rotten plants, which were once green. In the past, people in countries such as Azerbaijan used the petroleum that flowed on the earth without knowing that it was petroleum. It is possible that there may have been a relationship between this and fire-worship. It is also a fact that Saudi Arabia, which was once rich in greenery, is now a country rich in petroleum.  In short, God creates as He wills things from their opposites.

25. That is, He creates every human being from so simple a matter as a drop of seminal fluid. He also creates many things from almost nothing. It is also He Who has created the heavens and the earth, the creation of which is something greater than the creation of humanity (40: 57). So He can create or recreate the like of human beings from rotten bones. God’s Messenger, upon him be peace and blessings, said that an essential matter in the human body does not rot. God will re-create a human being from this matter.

26. The original of “the absolute dominion of all things” is malakūt. As the real existence and origin of a word lies in its invisible meaning, while the word composed of letters serves merely to represent it, so, too, the existence of every thing and every event in the universe lies in its immaterial essence, which is pure and unrestricted by matter. This essential existence has degrees of manifestation. One of the pure, immaterial realms where a manifestation of certain degree takes place is called the Realm of the Pure Sovereignty (Malakūt). While God acts in the material, visible world from behind the veil of causality (on the reason why He does so, see 18: 22, note 13), He acts in the Realm of Pure Sovereignty without any veils. So, His saying or ordering in this realm is identical with His creating, which is immediate. This act of creation generally takes place in, or is transferred into, the material world in a gradual process. However, it is also so swift in this world that we feel as if it happened in a single moment.

In order to be able to grasp God’s creation or making of everything with a single command, we can consider the operating system of computers and “verbal” writing with computers. The operating system of computers consists in commands and the words made by pressing on keys are manifested on the screen. Like this, God’s creation or making consists in commands or, in other words, the Divine Speech operates like the Power, or the Power operates through the Speech. (God knows best.)

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