Tafsir of Ya seen 36:41

Tafsir of Surah Ya-Sin (36): Verse 41

وَآيَةٌ لَّهُمْ أَنَّا حَمَلْنَا ذُرِّيَّتَهُمْ فِي الْفُلْكِ الْمَشْحُونِ (And a sign for them is that We carried their offspring in the laden ark.)

This verse has relevance to what preceded it in two ways:

1. Completing the Blessings of Sustenance and Travel: Since Allah mentioned reviving the earth (the place of animals), He then showed that His favor was not limited to that. He established a means for humans to derive benefit from the sea and travel upon it, just as they travel on land. This aligns with the verse: “And We carried them on the land and the sea” (Al-Isra: 70). This is further supported by the next verse (42), if interpreted as referring to camels—the ships of the desert.
2. Parallelism between Celestial and Terrestrial Motion: Allah mentioned the swimming (orbiting) of the celestial bodies in the heavens, and then mentioned a parallel: the swimming of the ships (ark/vessels) in the seas.

There is a third aspect to the connection:

Allah mentioned blessings that are necessary (for existence) and those that are ornamental (for adornment).

• Necessary Blessings: Creating the earth and reviving it are necessary, as without them, humans would not exist or live. The night and day mentioned previously (“And a sign for them is the night” [37]) are also necessary for human existence. The sun and moon and their movements are also necessary for life.
• Ornamental Blessings: After mentioning two necessary signs, Allah mentions two ornamental signs:
  1. The Ships (Al-Fulk): They sail in the sea, from which humans extract things for adornment, as stated: “And from them you eat fresh meat, and from them you extract jewelry which you wear, and you see the ships cleaving through it so that you may seek of His bounty...” (Fatir: 12).
  2. The Beasts of Burden (on land): These are like the ships at sea, as mentioned in the next verse: “And We created for them of the like of it what they ride.” (36:42). Beasts of burden are an adornment, as Allah says: “And [He created] horses and mules and donkeys for you to ride and as an adornment.” (An-Nahl: 8).

Thus, the argument proceeds by citing necessary blessings followed by beneficial/ornamental ones.

One might object: Aren't the gardens mentioned earlier (“Gardens of palm trees and grapes” [34]) also for adornment? We reply: Those arose contingently upon the necessary creation. Since Allah created the earth to sustain life and sent down water, palm trees and grapes necessarily emerged by His power. However, the ships are an intended blessing, not a contingent one.

Once this context is understood, we proceed to linguistic and conceptual discussions regarding the verse.

Regarding Al-Dhurriyyah (Offspring):

Some commentators suggest Al-Dhurriyyah here refers to the forefathers (i.e., "We carried your fathers in the ark"). The definite article Al- (the) refers to the specific ark of Noah, which is mentioned in the Quran (“And construct the ship under Our observation and Our command” [Hud: 37]) and was known to the Arabs. This is one opinion.

The majority hold that Al-Dhurriyyah only applies to descendants (children). Under this view, we must clarify the meaning of Al-Fulk (the ark):

1. The Specific Ark of Noah: If it means Noah's ark, there are interpretations:
   • Meaning 1 (Al-Zamakhshari's view): We carried your descendants until the Day of Judgment in that ark. If not, the lineage of Adam would have ceased. In this case, saying “We carried their offspring” instead of “We carried them” emphasizes the perfection of the favor—it wasn't just for you, but extended to your descendants until Qiyamah.
   • My Interpretation (Al-Razi): The mention of offspring specifically might be because the people present at that time were disbelievers, making their existence pointless. Thus, “We carried their offspring” means the carrying was not for them, but for the believers who were in their loins, just as one carrying a worthless box might say they are carrying the jewels inside it, not the box itself.
2. The Genus (Type) of Ark: Al-Fulk refers to the general category of vessels, similar to how Allah says: “And He made for you of the ships and the grazing animals that which you ride” (Az-Zukhruf: 12), and “And you see the ships cleaving through it” (Fatir: 12). The definite article Al- is used here to denote the genus, as seen in other verses.
   • If the genus is intended, then “We carried their offspring” means We carried their kinds (i.e., the human species). The offspring of an animal belongs to its species, and Dhurriyyah can be used for the genus. The Prophet (PBUH) forbade killing the Dhurari (children/offspring), meaning women too, because although women are a different sex, they belong to the same human genus. Thus, “We carried their offspring” means We carried their likenesses, and their fathers are included in this likeness.
3. Pronoun Reference: The pronoun in “And a sign for them” refers back to the ‘Ibad (servants) mentioned earlier (“Woe to the servants” [30]). Since the earth is a sign for them (“And a sign for them is the earth” [33]), and the night is a sign for them (“And a sign for them is the night” [37]), then “And a sign for them is that We carried their offspring” means a sign for the servants. The pronoun does not necessarily refer to specific individuals, just as “Do not kill yourselves” (An-Nisa: 29) means some killing others among them. If a group fights and all die, it is said they killed themselves. Similarly, “And a sign for them” means a sign for every part of them: We carried the offspring of some of them, or the offspring of some of them.

If we take the genus of the ark as the meaning, it is clearer, because Noah's specific ark was not present, and they did not know who was carried in it. The genus of the ark, however, is evident to everyone. Allah made Noah's ark a sign for the worlds (“And We made it a sign for all people” [Al-Ankabut: 15]) through the existence of its kind and similar vessels. This is supported by: “Have you not seen that the ships sail through the sea by the grace of Allah, that He may show you of His signs? Indeed in that are signs for everyone who is patient and grateful” (Luqman: 31).

Therefore, “We carried their offspring” means the offspring of the servants. Allah did not say “We carried them” because the earth being dead and then revived (“And a sign for them is the dead earth...” [33]) is a universal blessing enjoyed by everyone living on it (eating from it). However, carrying in the ark is not universal; some people never ride in a ship in their lives. But the offspring of servants must necessarily include those who need such transport.

Allah sometimes uses Al-Fulk as a plural (“And you see the ships cleaving through it” [Fatir: 12], where Fulk is the plural of Mākhirah), and sometimes as a singular (“in the laden ark”).

This involves a subtle linguistic point: A word might have the same visual form as another word but differ in meaning due to different vowel movements (diacritics). Example: Sajad (he prostrated) vs. Sujūd (the act of prostration, the maṣdar). Sujūd as a maṣdar has inherent vocalization derived from the verb. Sujūd as a plural of Sājid (prostrator) has a changed vocalization because plurals derived from singulars often undergo modification in sound or letter. Thus, Sujūd (the maṣdar) and Sujūd (the plural) are not homonyms with identical vocalization assigned to two meanings.

Applying this to Al-Fulk:

• When singular, it is like qufl (lock) or bard (cold).
• When plural, it is like khushub (woods) or murd (stones).

If you ask what the singular form is when Al-Fulk is used as a plural, we say its singular might be Fulkah or something else not commonly used, similar to how the singular of Nisā’ (women) is not commonly used.

This same principle applies to Imām Mubīn (clear leader) [36:12] and bi-imāmim (with their leader) [17:71]. In the first case, Imām is like zimām (reins) or kitāb (book). In the second case, Imām is like sihām (arrows) or kirām (generous ones). This is a fine point of morphology.

Issue 1: Why “We carried their offspring” here, but “We carried you” in the Flood narrative?

Allah says here: “We carried their offspring,” implying a favor done to the descendants. But regarding the Flood, He says: “Indeed, when the water overflowed, We carried you in the running vessel [ark]” (Al-Haqqah: 11), implying a favor done to themselves.

The Distinction: When a benefit is related to someone else, that person benefits from the benefit conferred upon the other. However, when harm is averted from someone else, the person averting the harm has not truly averted the harm from himself; he has only benefited the other.

• Example: If someone does good to a person's child, the father rejoices in that joy. But if someone removes pain from a person's child, the father is pleased, but the pain has not truly been removed from the father himself.

In the Flood narrative, the danger was imminent to them. So Allah said, "I averted the harm from you." If He had said, "I averted the harm from your children," the explanation of harm aversion would not have been fully conveyed to them.

Here (in Surah Ya-Sin), the intent is to mention benefits. Since the benefit is realized through the offspring, Allah mentions them: “We carried their offspring.”

Evidence for this is that here Allah says “in the laden ark” (Al-Mashhūn). The loading of the ark signifies the abundance of benefit (provisions). Averting harm, however, is not indicated by loading; in fact, a heavier ark would be slower to escape danger. Thus, in the Flood narrative, Allah chose what indicates salvation from harm (the running/floating), while here, He chose what indicates the perfection of benefit (the loading).

Addressing a Counter-Argument: Why did Allah say “And We carried them on the land and the sea” (Al-Isra: 70) without saying "We carried their offspring," even though that verse also mentions blessing, not just averting punishment? Reply: When Allah said “on the land and the sea,” He generalized the creation, as everyone is carried on land or sea. Since carrying on the sea is not universally known or experienced, Allah clarified: "If We did not carry you personally, We certainly carried those you care about—your children, relatives, brothers, and friends."

Issue 2: The Significance of Al-Mashhūn (Laden)

Al-Mashhūn carries an additional meaning: Humans naturally sink in water. Their carrying in the ark was entirely by His power. Some natural philosophers claim that light things do not sink because they seek the upper realm. Allah says “the laden ark”—it was heavier than the sinking heavy objects. Yet, Allah carried the human being within it despite its weight. Even if they argue that the ark was necessary to prevent a vacuum (which we have refuted in rational books), preserving the heavy object above the water is only possible by the Will of Allah.

Issue 3: Why the structure “And a sign for them is the Earth” but “And a sign for them is that We carried...”?

Allah said: “And a sign for them is the Earth” (33) and “And a sign for them is the Night” (37), but here He says: “And a sign for them is that We carried their offspring in the laden ark.”

The difference is that the carrying in the ark is the wonder. The ark itself is not a wonder; it is like a constructed wooden house. However, the Earth itself is a wonder, and the Night itself is a wonder, neither of which is within the power of anyone except Allah.

وَخَلَقْنَا لَهُم مِّن مِّثْلِهِ مَا يَرْكَبُونَ (And We created for them of the like of it what they ride.)