Surah Ya Sin (Ya Sin) 36 : 68

Explanatory Note

All this takes place when the promise they used to hasten becomes due. Should they be left to live long on earth, they will end up in a miserable situation, when they will prefer for the promise to be hastened. They attain to old age with all its weaknesses, and they suffer dementia and retardation in feeling and thought.

“If We grant long life to a human being, We also cause him to decline in his powers. Will they not use their reason?” (Verse 68)

Old age is a second childhood, but without a child’s sweet innocence. An aged person moves backward, forgetting what he has learnt, losing physical and mental powers, unable to endure much, until he is no more than a child. However, a child is always met with a smile when it does something silly. An aged person receives no support, unless it comes from a sense of pity and duty. He is also ridiculed whenever he betrays an element of childishness or stupidity.

Both fates await those who persist in rejecting the truth. They are the ones that deprive themselves of the blessings of faith.