Ya-Sin · Makki · ayah 71 of 83

Ya-Sin 36:71

أَوَلَمْ يَرَوْا۟ أَنَّا خَلَقْنَا لَهُم مِّمَّا عَمِلَتْ أَيْدِينَآ أَنْعَـٰمًا فَهُمْ لَهَا مَـٰلِكُونَ

“Do they not see that We have created for them from what Our hands[1281] have made, grazing livestock, and [then] they are their owners?”

Saheeh International

Essence

A small boy can lead a hundred camels; the ayah asks who made that possible, and whose ownership you are really exercising.

A reflection

A child leading a hundred camels

Picture the scene the commentators describe. A grown camel, many times a man's weight, strong enough to kill with one kick. A small boy walks up to it, and it kneels. He tells it to rise, and it rises. He leads it, and it follows. One commentator adds that a caravan of a hundred camels or more would walk at the pace of that one small child.

This ayah asks its hearers to look at that and see it. Have they not seen that We created for them, from what Our hands made, livestock, and they are their owners?

For them: the animals were made with human beings in view. They are their owners: an early authority glosses this as able to manage them, in control. One commentator calls it the completion of the favour. Had Allah created the animals and not placed them in human hands, people would have had no use of them.

That is the majesty in this ayah, and it lands on a particular kind of pride: the pride of ownership. People speak of my herd, my land, my fleet of lorries, my house, as if the possessive were their own achievement. Some build their whole sense of worth on it.

The ayah does not deny that people own things. It says how the owning came about. We created, for them, and they are owners. The grammar puts the creating first and the owning second. Ownership is a grant, not a conquest.

Watch the child lead the caravan and the arrogance of possession has nowhere to stand. The boy is not stronger than the camel. Someone made the camel willing.

The full entry has 6 more reflections, questions to sit with, and "Live it today" - with the words, the roots and the tafsir alongside. Free, no account, works offline.