Surah Ya seen 36:12
ﲭ ﲮ ﲯ ﲰ ﲱ ﲲ ﲳ ﲴ ﲵ ﲶ ﲷ ﲸ ﲹ ﲺ ﲻ
Indeed, it is We who bring the dead to life and record what they have put forth and what they left behind, and all things We have enumerated in a clear register.
Tafsir of Ya seen 36:12
Tafsir
Al-Kashshaf
Verse range: 36:12
{إنا نحن} We shall resurrect them after their death. Al-Hasan said: Their "revivification" is His bringing them out from polytheism into faith.
{ونكتب ما} We record what they have sent forth of deeds, both righteous and otherwise, and what they have left behind of traces (effects): * **Good traces:** Such as knowledge they taught, a book they authored, an endowment they dedicated, or a structure they built—like a mosque, a hospice, a bridge, or the like. * **Evil traces:** Such as an unjust tax imposed by some tyrants upon the Muslims, a path established that causes them loss, or anything introduced that diverts from the remembrance of God, such as melodies and instruments of diversion. * **General rule:** This applies to every good or evil tradition (sunnah) that is initiated and followed.
This is similar to the Almighty’s saying: “On that Day, man will be informed of what he sent forth and what he left behind” (Al-Qiyamah: 13)—meaning what he sent forth of his own deeds, and what he left behind of his effects.
It is also said: These are the footsteps of those walking to the mosques. Jabir narrated: We wanted to move closer to the mosque, as the areas around it were vacant. This reached the Messenger of God (ﷺ), so he came to our dwellings and said: "O Banu Salama, it has reached me that you wish to move to the mosque." We said: "Yes, the mosque is far from us, and the areas around it are vacant." He said: "Stay in your dwellings, for your footsteps are recorded." Jabir said: We no longer desired to be near the mosque after what the Messenger of God (ﷺ) said.
Umar ibn Abd al-Aziz said: "If God were to overlook anything, He would have overlooked these footsteps that the winds erase."
{والإمام} The "Manifest Record" (al-imam) is the Preserved Tablet (al-lawh).
It has been recited: “Wa-yuktabu ma qaddamu wa-atharuhum” (And what they sent forth and their traces are recorded) in the passive voice, with “wa-kullu shay’in” (and everything) in the nominative case.