Ya-Sin · Makki · ayah 73 of 83

Ya-Sin 36:73

وَلَهُمْ فِيهَا مَنَـٰفِعُ وَمَشَارِبُ ۖ أَفَلَا يَشْكُرُونَ

“And for them therein are [other] benefits and drinks, so will they not be grateful?”

Saheeh International

Essence

A grateful horse, in Arabic, is one on which a little fodder shows; gratitude is a favour made visible in a life.

A reflection

The horse on which the fodder shows

Ask most people what gratitude is and they describe a feeling, or a phrase. A warm sense of appreciation. Saying thank you. Saying al-ḥamdu lillāh when something goes well. Those are real, but the word used here carries something more physical.

The lexicons give the first hearers' picture. The Arabs called a horse shakūr, grateful, when a little fodder was enough to make it sleek. Its gratitude was that the fodder showed on it. A milk camel was grateful when a patch of pasture filled her udder again after a lean spell. A tree was grateful when its shade grew thick. One lexicon defines the word as picturing a favour and bringing it into view. Another puts it simply: gratitude is showing the good state a favour has left in you.

So the closing question, will they not, then, give thanks?, is not about saying the right words over their milk. It is asking whether the favour showed on them.

The commentators say what that showing looks like. One early commentary puts it in Allah's voice. Will they not thank Me for My favour and My kindness to them? They would do it by obeying Me, by singling Me out in worship, and by leaving the obedience of Satan. The concise commentary: will they not thank Allah, and make their worship His alone?

That is a demanding definition. Gratitude is the visible difference a gift makes to the one who received it. A horse that eats and stays thin has not been grateful, however loudly it whinnies. The question for each reader is what the favours of this week have left showing on them.

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.