Study the Quran

Tafsir

Scholarly commentary explaining a verse — its context, its meaning and how the scholars have understood it.

Al-Anbya 21:35

Word by word

كُلُّ نَفْسٍ ذَآئِقَةُ ٱلْمَوْتِ ۗ وَنَبْلُوكُم بِٱلشَّرِّ وَٱلْخَيْرِ فِتْنَةً ۖ وَإِلَيْنَا تُرْجَعُونَ

Every soul will taste death. And We test you with evil and with good as trial; and to Us you will be returned.

Ibn Kathir (Abridged) English Ma'arif al-Qur'an English Tafsir Muyassar Arabic Tafsir Ibn Kathir Arabic All sources

Ibn Kathir (Abridged)

Hafiz Ibn Kathir

No One has been granted Immortality in this Worldوَمَا جَعَلْنَا لِبَشَرٍ مِّن قَبْلِكَ(And We granted not to any human being immortality before you;) means, O Muhammad.الْخُلْدَ(immortality) means, in this world. On the contrary,كُلُّ مَنْ عَلَيْهَا فَانٍ - وَيَبْقَى وَجْهُ رَبِّكَ ذُو الْجَلْـلِ وَالإِكْرَامِ (Whatsoever is on it (the earth) will perish. And the Face of your Lord full of majesty and honor will remain forever.) 55:26-27.أَفَإِيْن مِّتَّ(then if you die) means, O Muhammad,فَهُمُ الْخَـلِدُونَ(would they live forever) means, they hope that they will live forever after you, but that will not happen; everything will pass away. So Allah says:كُلُّ نَفْسٍ ذَآئِقَةُ الْمَوْتِ(Everyone is going to taste death,)وَنَبْلُوكُم بِالشَّرِّ وَالْخَيْرِ فِتْنَةً(and We shall test you with evil and with good by way of trial.

) Meaning, "We shall test you, sometimes with difficulties and sometimes with ease, to see who will give thanks and who will be ungrateful, who will have patience and who will despair." `Ali bin Abi Talhah reported from Ibn `Abbas:وَنَبْلُوكُم(and We shall test you) means, We will test you,بِالشَّرِّ وَالْخَيْرِ فِتْنَةً(with evil and with good by way of trial.) means, with difficulties and with times of prosperity, with health and sickness, with richness and poverty, with lawful and unlawful, obedience and sin, with guidance and misguidance.وَإِلَيْنَا تُرْجَعُونَ(And to Us you will be returned.) means, and We will requite you according to your deeds.

Ma'arif al-Qur'an

Mufti Muhammad Shafi

What is death?

Allah has said كُلُّ نَفْسٍ ذَائِقَةُ الْمَوْتِ 'Every soul has to taste death'. Here the word soul refers to the living things of the earth, who must all face death, but does not include the angels. There is a difference of opinion about whether the angels will also die or not on the Day of Judgment. Some say that every living thing will die, though momentarily, irrespective of whether they are of the earth or the skies. But others maintain that angels and hurs and ghilman of Paradise are excluded from this general rule. (Only God knows best) (Ruh ul-Ma` ani) Majority of the scholars believe that death is the departure of soul from the mortal human frame, while soul itself is a subtle ethereal living thing which is made of light and resides in human body just as fragrance resides in the rose. Ibn al-Qayyim has convincingly proved this point in his book.

(Ruh ul-Ma` ani)The term ذَائِقَةُ الْمَوْتِ means that every individual will feel the pain of death - 21:35, because considering the manner in which body and soul are conjoined together their separation should obviously entail some pain. There are some saintly persons who regard death as a deliverance from the trials and tribulations of the worldly life and a means of bringing them closer to their Supreme love, that is Allah. This pleasure does not negate the agony of death, because where the reward is high, a little pain is easily tolerated.

Worldly comforts and discomforts are a testوَنَبْلُوكُم بِالشَّرِّ‌ وَالْخَيْرِ‌ فِتْنَةًAnd We test you all through bad and good (situations) with a trial. - 21:35It means that man is tested both by good things and by bad things. شَر (bad) includes unpleasant things such as illness, grief, pain, poverty etc. while خَیر (good) means desirable things, like good health, happiness, comfort and abundance. Man is subjected to these conditions in this world for test and the test is that he should show patience and endurance in the face of adversity and should offer thanks to Allah when his life is peaceful and comfortable. Wise men have said that, it is more difficult to be steadfast and consistent in offering thanks to Allah for His gifts than to persevere and show patience in difficult circumstances. Sayyidna ` Umar ؓ is reported to have said:بُلینا بالضّراء فصبرنا و بلینا بالسّراء فلم نصبر (روح المعانی)"We were tested by discomforts and We bore it with patience, but when we were tested by pleasures, we could not observe patience (i.e. we could not offer gratitude to Allah as was due) ".

(Ruh ul-Ma'ani)

Tafsir Muyassar

Ministry of Islamic Affairs, Saudi Arabia

كل نفس ذائقة الموت لا محالة مهما عُمِّرت في الدنيا. وما وجودها في الحياة إلا ابتلاء بالتكاليف أمرًا ونهيًا، وبتقلب الأحوال خيرًا وشرًا، ثم المآل والمرجع بعد ذلك إلى الله - وحده - للحساب والجزاء.

Tafsir Ibn Kathir

Hafiz Ibn Kathir

( كل نفس ذائقة الموت ) ، وقد روي عن الشافعي ، رحمه الله ، أنه أنشد واستشهد بهذين البيتين :تمنى رجال أن أموت وإن أمت فتلك سبيل لست فيها بأوحد فقل للذي يبغي خلاف الذي مضى: تهيأ لأخرى مثلها فكأن قدوقوله : ( ونبلوكم بالشر والخير فتنة ) أي : نختبركم بالمصائب تارة ، وبالنعم أخرى ، لننظر من يشكر ومن يكفر ، ومن يصبر ومن يقنط ، كما قال علي بن أبي طلحة ، عن ابن عباس : ( ونبلوكم ) ، يقول : نبتليكم بالشر والخير فتنة ، بالشدة والرخاء ، والصحة والسقم ، والغنى والفقر ، والحلال والحرام ، والطاعة والمعصية والهدى والضلال . .وقوله : ( وإلينا ترجعون ) أي : فنجازيكم بأعمالكم .

Tafsir is provided for educational reference. Paragraph breaks are added for readability — the wording of each commentary is unchanged. For religious guidance, consult a qualified scholar.