Surah Yaseen 36:75 — Meaning, Translation & Reflection
سُورَةُ يسٓ · Meccan · Verse 75 of 83
لَا يَسْتَطِيعُونَ نَصْرَهُمْ وَهُمْ لَهُمْ جُندٌۭ مُّحْضَرُونَ
English: though these could not do so even if they called a whole army of them together!
Bengali: অথচ এসব উপাস্য তাদেরকে সাহায্য করতে সক্ষম হবে না এবং এগুলো তাদের বাহিনী রূপে ধৃত হয়ে আসবে।
Meaning & Reflection
'They cannot help them, though they are for them an army brought forward.' Ibn Ashur draws out the bitter irony of the reversal: the false gods cannot defend their worshippers — instead, the *worshippers* become an army defending their gods, expending themselves guarding what was supposed to guard them. The rescuer becomes the rescued's burden. Ask yourself: this is the strange servitude of every false attachment — I end up defending, maintaining, and exhausting myself for the very things I hoped would carry me. The status I chase now demands I protect it; the image I built now enslaves me to its upkeep. What am I pouring my energy into guarding, under the illusion that it is guarding me?
Grounded in classical tafsir: Ibn Ashur, al-Biqa'i, al-Saadi.
Reflect with the Five Lenses
Maani's framework for Tadabbur (heart-centred reflection) on Surah Yaseen 36:75:
- 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?