سُوْرَةُ الْجَاثِيَةِ
Surah Al-Jaathiya (45) — Ayah 24
وَقَالُوا۟ مَا هِىَ إِلَّا حَيَاتُنَا ٱلدُّنْيَا نَمُوتُ وَنَحْيَا وَمَا يُهْلِكُنَآ إِلَّا ٱلدَّهْرُ ۚ وَمَا لَهُم بِذَٰلِكَ مِنْ عِلْمٍ ۖ إِنْ هُمْ إِلَّا يَظُنُّونَ ﴿24﴾
Translation by Dr. Muhammad Muhsin Khan & Dr. Taqi-ud-Din al-Hilali
And they say: "There is nothing but our life of this world, we die and we live and nothing destroys us except Ad-Dahr (time). And they have no knowledge of it: they only conjecture.
Word by Word — Arabic, Transliteration & Meaning
وَقَالُوا۟
waqālū
And they say
مَا
mā
Not
هِىَ
hiya
it
إِلَّا
illā
(is) but
حَيَاتُنَا
ḥayātunā
our life
ٱلدُّنْيَا
l-dun'yā
(of) the world
نَمُوتُ
namūtu
we die
وَنَحْيَا
wanaḥyā
and we live
وَمَا
wamā
and not
يُهْلِكُنَآ
yuh'likunā
destroys us
إِلَّا
illā
except
ٱلدَّهْرُ ۚ
l-dahru
the time
وَمَا
wamā
And not
لَهُم
lahum
for them
بِذَٰلِكَ
bidhālika
of that
مِنْ
min
any
عِلْمٍ ۖ
ʿil'min
knowledge
إِنْ
in
not
هُمْ
hum
they
إِلَّا
illā
(do) but
يَظُنُّونَ
yaẓunnūna
guess
Tafsir Ahsan al-Bayan — Hafiz Salahuddin Yusuf
Tafsir Ahsan al-Bayan is a well-known Quran commentary by Hafiz Salahuddin Yusuf, a renowned Salafi (Ahl al-Hadith) scholar from Pakistan. This tafsir explains the meanings of the Quran in accordance with the methodology of the Salaf (early righteous generations), relying on authentic sources and straightforward language. Due to its reliability and adherence to sound Islamic scholarship, the Saudi government publishes and distributes this tafsir among the Hujjaj (pilgrims) visiting the Haramain. The tafsir is originally written in Urdu, translated to English by tohed.com.
24. 1. This is the statement of the materialists and their like-minded polytheists of Makkah who denied the Hereafter. They used to say that this worldly life is the first and last life; after this, there is no other life, and the cycle of death and life in it is merely the result of the passage of time. Just as a group of philosophers says that after thirty-six thousand years, everything returns to its original state, and this cycle, without any creator or manager, continues as it is and will keep on going; it has neither a beginning nor an end. This group is called Dauriyah (Ibn Kathir). Obviously, this theory is neither accepted by reason nor is it in accordance with transmitted knowledge. There is a Hadith Qudsi in which Allah Almighty says, "The son of Adam hurts Me. He abuses time (i.e., by attributing actions to it and blaming it, even though (time itself is nothing); I am time itself, all authority is in My hand, I am the One Who turns the night and the day." (Al-Bukhari).
