Surah Yaseen 36:13 — Meaning, Translation & Reflection
سُورَةُ يسٓ · Meccan · Verse 13 of 83
وَٱضْرِبْ لَهُم مَّثَلًا أَصْحَٰبَ ٱلْقَرْيَةِ إِذْ جَآءَهَا ٱلْمُرْسَلُونَ
English: Give them the example of the people to whose town messengers came.
Bengali: আপনি তাদের কাছে সে জনপদের অধিবাসীদের দৃষ্টান্ত বর্ণনা করুন, যখন সেখানে রসূল আগমন করেছিলেন।
Meaning & Reflection
'Set forth to them a parable: the people of the town, when the messengers came to it.' al-Biqa'i notes a tender purpose beneath the story: it consoles the Prophet — you are not the first to be met with denial; this is an old, repeating pattern. al-Saadi adds that Allah deliberately left the town unnamed, because the lesson, not the location, is the point; chasing the name is a distraction from the meaning. Ask yourself: when I'm rejected for doing the right thing, I take it as a verdict on me. This parable reframes it as a verdict on a *pattern* far older than me. Does knowing that truth has always faced this resistance make it easier to keep standing for it — and to stop taking every rejection so personally?
Grounded in classical tafsir: al-Biqa'i, al-Saadi, Ibn Kathir.
Reflect with the Five Lenses
Maani's framework for Tadabbur (heart-centred reflection) on Surah Yaseen 36:13:
- Wording. Look closely at the specific words and structure. Which word stands out, and why might Allah have chosen it here?
- Quranic Worlds. Place the verse in its context — what is happening around it, and what world does it open up?
- Personal Experience. Ask not just what this means, but what it means TO me and FOR me, right now in my life.
- Connections. How does this verse connect to other verses, to the Sunnah, or to themes across the Quran?
- General Lessons. What timeless lesson or action point can I carry away and live by?