Quran Universe
36:59

وَٱمۡتَٰزُواْ ٱلۡيَوۡمَ أَيُّهَا ٱلۡمُجۡرِمُونَ

Waimtazoo alyawma ayyuha almujrimoona

[Then He will say], "But stand apart today, you criminals.

Word by word
  1. وَٱمۡتَٰزُواْBut stand apart
  2. ٱلۡيَوۡمَtoday
  3. أَيُّهَاO criminals
  4. ٱلۡمُجۡرِمُونَO criminals
Ya-Sin · 36:59Makkah

Stand apart today, you who chose wrong.

The day the crowd is divided

The separation
one crowdmixed together in life
is told
"Stand apart"the wrongdoers
the believerskept separate
Hiding in the crowd
blend ineveryone does it
sorted by deedsno crowd to hide in

Ibn Kathir says the disbelievers will be commanded to stand apart from the believers. He links it to verses saying people will be divided into two groups on that Day. In Makkah, deniers and believers lived side by side, often in the same family.

In the office everyone pads their hours a bit, so it feels fine. In the group chat everyone laughs at the cruel joke, so you do too. That Day, nobody stands behind everybody.

If everyone around me does it, it cannot be that bad.

I will stand on my own deeds, not on what the crowd did.

Try this

Notice one thing you do only because others do it. Skip it once today.

Related10:2830:1437:22
Simplified reflection. Read the tafsir for scholarship.draft
Tafsir Ibn Kathir

(It will be said): "And O you the criminals! Get you apart this Day. (59)"Did I not command you, O Children of Adam, that you should not worship Shaytan? Verily, he is a plain enemy to you. (60)"And that you should worship Me. That is the straight path. (61)"And indeed he did lead astray a great multitude of you. Did you not then understand? (62)

The Isolation of the Disbelievers and Their Rebuke on the Day of Resurrection

Allah tells us what the end of the disbelievers will be on the Day of Resurrection, when He commands them to get apart from the believers, i.e., to stand apart from the believers. This is like the Ayat:

وَيَوْمَ نَحْشُرُهُمْ جَمِيعًا ثُمَّ نَقُولُ لِلَّذِينَ أَشْرَكُوا مَكَانَكُمْ أَنْتُمْ وَشُرَكَاؤُكُمْ ۚ فَزَيَّلْنَا بَيْنَهُمْ ۖ 

(And the Day whereon We shall gather them all together, then We shall say to those who did set partners in worship with Us: "Stop at your place! You and your partners." Then We shall separate them)(10:28).

وَيَوْمَ تَقُومُ السَّاعَةُ يَوْمَئِذٍ يَتَفَرَّقُونَ

(And on the Day when the Hour will be established – that Day shall they be separated.)(30:14)

يَوْمَئِذٍ يَصَّدَّعُونَ

(On that Day they shall be divided)(30:43) which means, they will be divided into two separate groups.

احْشُرُوا الَّذِينَ ظَلَمُوا وَأَزْوَاجَهُمْ وَمَا كَانُوا يَعْبُدُونَ - مِنْ دُونِ اللَّهِ فَاهْدُوهُمْ إِلَىٰ صِرَاطِ الْجَحِيمِ

((It will be said to the angels): "Assemble those who did wrong, together with their companions and what they used to worship, instead of Allah, and lead them on to the way of flaming Fire (Hell).")(37:22-23).

أَلَمْ أَعْهَدْ إِلَيْكُمْ يَا بَنِي آدَمَ أَنْ لَا تَعْبُدُوا الشَّيْطَانَ ۖ إِنَّهُ لَكُمْ عَدُوٌّ مُبِينٌ

(Did I not command you, O Children of Adam, that you should not worship Shaytan? Verily, he is a plain enemy to you.) This is a rebuke from Allah to the disbelievers among the sons of Adam, those who obey the Shaytan even though he was a plain enemy to them, and they disobeyed Ar-Rahman Who created them and granted them provision. Allah says:

وَأَنِ اعْبُدُونِي ۚ هَٰذَا صِرَاطٌ مُسْتَقِيمٌ

(And that you should worship Me. That is the straight path.) meaning, 'I commanded you in the world to disobey the Shaytan, and I commanded you to worship Me, and this is the straight path, but you followed a different path and you followed the commands of the Shaytan.' Allah says:

وَلَقَدْ أَضَلَّ مِنْكُمْ جِبِلًّا كَثِيرًا ۖ 

(And indeed he did lead astray a great multitude of you.) meaning, a large number of people. This was the view of Mujahid, Qatadah, As-Suddi and Sufyan bin 'Uyaynah.

أَفَلَمْ تَكُونُوا تَعْقِلُونَ 

(Did you not then understand?) means, 'did you not have any understanding, when you went against the command of your Lord to worship Him alone, with no partner or associate, and you preferred to follow the Shaytan?'