Ar-Room 30:54 · The Romans · Arabic, translation, recitation

Other English translations

Abdel Haleem (Oxford)+

"It is God who creates you weak, then gives you strength, then weakness after strength, together with your grey hair: He creates what He will; He is the All Knowing, the All Powerful."

Pickthall (classic)+

"Allah is He Who shaped you out of weakness, then appointed after weakness strength, then, after strength, appointed weakness and grey hair. He createth what He will. He is the Knower, the Mighty."

Yusuf Ali (classic)+

"It is Allah Who created you in a state of (helpless) weakness, then gave (you) strength after weakness, then, after strength, gave (you weakness and a hoary head: He creates as He wills, and it is He Who has all knowledge and power."

Tafsīr · classical commentary

Ibn Kathir

Abridged English, public domain

The Different Stages of Man

Here Allah points out how man passes through different stages of creation, one phase after another. He is originally created from dust, then from a Nutfah, then from a clot, then from a lump of flesh. Then he becomes bones, then the bones are clothed with flesh, then the soul is breathed into him. Then he emerges from his mother's womb, weak and thin and powerless. Then he grows up little by little, until he becomes a child, then he reaches the stage of puberty, then he becomes a young man, which is strength after weakness. Then he starts to get older, reaching middle age, then old age and senility, weakness after strength, so he loses his resolve, power of movement and ability to fight, his hair turns grey and his characteristics, both inward and outward, begin to change. Allah says:

ثُمَّ جَعَلَ مِن بَعْدِ قُوَّةٍ ضَعْفاً وَشَيْبَةً يَخْلُقُ مَا يَشَآءُ

(then after strength gave (you) weakness and grey hair. He creates what He wills.) He does whatsoever He wills and controls His servants in whatever way He wants.

وَهُوَ الْعَلِيمُ الْقَدِيرُ

(And He is the All-Knowing, the All-Powerful.)

Tafsir Saʿdi

English translation, public domain

Всевышний поведал о Своем совершенном знании, Своей безграничной власти и Своей безупречной мудрости. Он сотворил человека абсолютно немощным, и это относится к первым стадиям его развития. Каждый человек был крошечной каплей, из которой образовался сгусток крови, похожий на пиявку. Затем этот сгусток превратился в небольшой кусочек, похожий на разжеванный кусочек мяса. Наконец, зародыш в утробе матери превратился в живой плод. Затем человек появляется на свет, и первые месяцы своей жизни остается совершенно беспомощным. Он лишен физической силы и многих других способностей, но постепенно Аллах одаряет его силой и наделяет различными способностями. Спустя годы человек становится молодым, сильным и стройным и приобретает недюжинные возможности. Но проходят годы, и он стареет, и тогда его тело становится слабым, а голова покрывается сединой. По Своей мудрости Аллах творит все, что пожелает, и божественная мудрость требует того, чтобы человек убедился в том, что его сила со всех сторон окружена слабостью. Человек имеет множество недостатков, и если бы не поддержка Аллаха, то ему никогда не удалось бы обрести силу и могущество. А если бы его сила с каждым часом только увеличивалась, то это заставило бы его преступать границы дозволенного и творить беззаконие. Рабы Аллаха должны осознавать всемогущество своего Господа, которое остается совершенным на протяжении вечности. Он творит сущее и управляет Своими творениями, но никогда не испытывает усталости или слабости.

Commentary

Greater part of this Surah aims at removing the doubts of the deniers of the Hereafter. For meeting this end, many verses deal with the signs of Allah's omnipotence and His all-encompassing wisdom in order to awake people from their slumber. The first of the above-referred verses deals with the same subject in a different manner. It is pointed out that man is impetuous by nature, in the sense that he gets involved in the present so much that he forgets the past and the future. This habit leads him to many a serious problems. When he is young, his strength is at its peak, and he does not care about anyone in his over-weaning pride. He finds it difficult to remain within limits. In order to warn people, this verse has given a complete picture of the strength and weakness in human life as they come and go by. It is pointed out in the verse that the man starts his life in a state of weakness and ends it with a similar weakness. It is only in the middle of his life that he gains strength for a short period. It is in his own interest that he should keep in mind the impending weakness while he is still strong, and does not forget how he achieved strength gradually from the state of weakness.

The man is reminded of his real self in خَلَقَكُم مِّن ضَعْفٍ (Who created you in a state of weakness - 30:54). It means that his original base is a dirty drop of semen that has neither strength, nor sense or life. So ponder, who has turned this sickening drop into congealed blood, then into flesh and then transfixed bones into the flesh? After that, who has produced delicate machines of the limbs and organs to turn him into a mobile factory, which is supported by innumerous automatic machines. If one is to look more closely into this factory, one would notice that it is a mini-world of its own in which innumerable models of His creation are set in. The creation and bringing up of man is not brought about in a giant factory but in three dark stages in the womb of his mother. After spending nine months in the womb of mother, man ultimately takes birth to come out into this world. The Holy Qur'an says, ثُمَّ السَّبِيلَ يَسَّرَ‌هُ (Then Allah facilitated exit [ from the womb ] for him - 80:20).

When he came into this world, his condition was that وَاللَّـهُ أَخْرَ‌جَكُم مِّن بُطُونِ أُمَّهَاتِكُمْ لَا تَعْلَمُونَ (And Allah has brought you forth from your mothers' wombs when you knew nothing - 16:78). Then Allah made you learn so many things. The first lesson was to teach you crying, so that you could attract the attention of your parents towards you, and they should look for your needs of thirst and hunger. Then you were taught the skill to suck milk by pressing your lips and gums from your mother's breasts for your sustenance. Who else had the power to teach these two skills to an infant having no intelligence, to meet all his needs? Indeed no one else but the Power who is responsible for his creation. The infants are weak at that stage of their life. Minor exposure to cold or heat makes them sick. They can neither ask for their needs, nor can they remove any of their miseries. Right from this stage until they attain their youth, one can see in them a gradual development of life and strength - a process only Allah Ta’ ala can create and control and a clear manifestation of His omnipotence, if people could only contemplate.

ثُمَّ جَعَلَ مِن بَعْدِ ضَعْفٍ (Then He created strength after weakness - 30:54). When man reaches the stage of his strength, he gets involved in showing off his powers and intelligence. He flies to reach the moon and Mars, and tries to overpower the earth and oceans. He forgets all about his past and becomes oblivious of his future, and cries out مَنْ أَشَدُّ مِنَّا قُوَّةً (Who is stronger than us in might? - 41:15); so much so that in this state of intoxication, he even forgets his Creator and His commands. So the Nature has warned to make him realize his folly ثُمَّ جَعَلَ مِن بَعْدِ قُوَّةٍ ضَعْفًا وَشَيْبَةً (Then created weakness and old age - 30:54). 0 remiss! Be mindful of the fact that your present strength is temporary and you have to return to the same old weakness, and it will take you gradually to your grey hair. Then all your limbs and organs will change their shape and form. You need not go through any books and the history of the world, but look into your own concealed self, and you will be left with no other option but to accept and believe that يَخْلُقُ مَا يَشَاءُ وَهُوَ الْعَلِيمُ الْقَدِيرُ‌ (He creates what He wills, and He is the All-Knowing, the All-Powerful - 30:54). All this control and running of affairs are by the One who creates them. He does as He pleases, and in a manner as it pleases Him. He has no parallel in knowledge and power. Knowing all this, is there any room for doubt that He can resurrect the dead whenever He likes?