وَمَن نُعَمِّرهُ نُنَكِّسهُ فِي الخَلقِ ۖ أَفَلا يَعقِلونَ

And whomever We give a long life, We cause him to regress in creation. Then will they not apply reason?

EXEGESIS

Nuʿammir (we give long life) is from ʿammara, which means prolonging and extending one’s life. Muʿammar is someone who has lived a long life, taʿmīr is longevity; it is also construction which makes the earth suitable for living.

Nunakkis-hu (cause him to regress) is from tankīs, which means revolving or turning something upside down, and to transform strength to weakness and increment to decrement. Usually, such happens to an ageing human who is elderly, where the knowledge changes to ignorance and memory starts to fade away,^{‎[1]Mizan, 17/108.} rendering the human to return to the weakness of childhood after reaching an age of strength and power.^{‎[2]Amthal, 14/176-177.} It also means reverting to disbelief after faith and falsehood after the right course.

EXPOSITION

This verse confirms that if God can cause weakness to humans by ageing and can turn the creation of a human upside down after extending his life, He can indeed eradicate their eyes and paralyse them by deforming them in their places, as mentioned in previous verses.

A human begins his life in this world with weakness and returns to weakness after reaching the peak of his strength and power. He begins growth in a closed chamber when he is a foetus in the womb and decays in a closed chamber when he is a dead corpse in the grave. Between these two chambers, the human body and soul go through the stages of development and decline. In some instances, when the body declines, the soul and the intellect may further continue to develop; and in other cases, the soul and the intellect decline through acts of evil; O people! If you are in doubt about the resurrection, [consider that] We indeed created you from dust, then from a drop of [seminal] fluid, then from a clinging mass, then from a fleshy tissue, partly formed and partly unformed, so that We may manifest [Our power] to you. We establish in the wombs whatever We wish for a specified term, then We bring you forth as infants, then [We rear you] so that you may come of age. [Then] there are some of you who are taken away, and there are some of you who are relegated to the nethermost age, so that he knows nothing after [having possessed] some knowledge (22:5).

The rhetorical question Then will they not apply reason? implies that the process of development and decline of a human is a simple concept that can be comprehended by essential intellectual thinking. One should take advantage of the age of strength and get the best out of it, utilising it to strengthen his hereafter before losing such abilities due to the weakness of old age.^{‎[3]Amthal, 14/228.}

Another great wisdom that this verse teaches us is to limit our ambitions to a reasonable lifespan. After a particular age, life has limited value and we should shift our long ambitions to the life which is yet to come. The blessings of this life are bound by time. The real blessings which are not bound by time will come later. The parable of the life of this world is that of water which We send down from the sky. It mingles with the earth’s vegetation from which humans and cattle eat. When the earth puts on its lustre and is adorned, and its inhabitants think they have power over it, Our edict comes to it, by night or day, whereat We turn it into a mown field, as if it did not flourish the day before. Worldly life may be compared to water We send down from the sky. It mingles with the plants of the earth on which mankind and livestock feed until when the earth takes on its trimmings and looks attractive, and its people think that they will be able to use them as they like, Our command comes along to it by night or daytime, and We mow it down ahead of time just as though it had not been so lush the day before. Thus, do We elaborate the signs for a people who reflect. Allah invites to the abode of peace, and He guides whomever He wishes to a straight path (10:24-25).

INSIGHTS FROM HADITH

1. The Messenger of God gave advice to Abū Dharr: ‘O Abū Dharr, take advantage of five things before five things: your youth before your elderliness, your health before your sickness, your wealth before your poverty, your leisure time before your preoccupancy, and your life before your death … O Abū Dharr, how frequent is it that someone enters a day but cannot see its completion and someone who waits for tomorrow but cannot reach it? … O Abū Dharr, if you had looked into the period of life and its fate, you would have hated hope and its deception … O Abū Dharr, be in this world as though you are a stranger or a wayfarer, and consider yourself among the inhabitants of the graves …^{‎[4]Bihar, 74/75.} O Abū Dharr, you are in a passage of night and day, with a decreasing lifetime and preserved deeds, until death comes suddenly. So, whoever sows good is about to reap good, and whoever sows evil is about to reap regret, and every planter will get the like of what he plants.’^{‎[5]Bihar, 74/75.}

REVIEW OF TAFSĪR LITERATURE

After giving warnings and setting the proofs, which leaves no excuses in this world for the deniers, this verse reminds them to seek the opportunity in the time of their strength before weakness encounters them, so that they would not complain that they were not given enough time in the world; They shall cry therein for help: ‘Our Lord! Bring us out so that we may act righteously – different from what we used to do!’ ‘Did We not give you a life long enough that one who is heedful might take admonition? And [moreover] the warner had [also] come to you. Now taste [the consequence of your deeds], for the wrongdoers have no helper (35:37). Therefore, if they did not take the opportunity of becoming better people by abandoning evil activities and performing their responsibilities when they were able to, could they after?^{‎[6]Razi, 26/103-104.}

INSIGHTS FROM OTHER TRADITIONS

1. Remember your Creator in the days of your youth, before the days of trouble come and the years approach when you will say, “I find no pleasure in them” – before the sun and the light, and the moon and the stars grow dark, and the clouds return after the rain. My mouth is filled with your praise, declaring your splendour all day long. Do not cast me away when I am old; do not forsake me when my strength is gone.^{‎[7]Psalms 71:8-9.}

[1] Mizan, 17/108.
[2] Amthal, 14/176-177.
[3] Amthal, 14/228.
[4] Bihar, 74/75.
[5] Bihar, 74/75.
[6] Razi, 26/103-104.
[7] Psalms 71:8-9.