Surah Ya-Sin 36:71: Cattle made by Him, and you call yourself their owner.

36:71

أَوَلَمۡ يَرَوۡاْ أَنَّا خَلَقۡنَا لَهُم مِّمَّا عَمِلَتۡ أَيۡدِينَآ أَنۡعَٰمٗا فَهُمۡ لَهَا مَٰلِكُونَ

Awalam yaraw anna khalaqna lahum mimma AAamilat aydeena anAAaman fahum laha malikoona

Do they not see that We have created for them from what Our hands have made, grazing livestock, and [then] they are their owners?

Word by word

أَوَلَمۡDo not
يَرَوۡاْthey see
أَنَّاthat We
خَلَقۡنَا[We] created
لَهُمfor them
مِّمَّاfrom what
عَمِلَتۡhave made
أَيۡدِينَآOur hands
أَنۡعَٰمٗاcattle
فَهُمۡthen they
لَهَا[for them]
مَٰلِكُونَ(are the) owners

Ya-Sin · 36:71Makkah

Cattle made by Him, and you call yourself their owner.

Ownership that is really a gift

Who made what

Allahcreated the livestock

for

peoplenow their owners

What owning means

I own itI paid for it

I was given itHe made it, then handed it over

Ibn Kathir calls this a sign and a blessing. Qatadah said they are their masters. For desert Arabs, camels were wealth, transport and food. The verse asks them to see who made what they owned.

Your car, your flat, the phone in your hand. You saved for it, so it feels like yours. Every material it is made of, He made first. Your name is on the receipt, not on the creation.

I worked for it, so it is simply mine.

What I own was made by Allah and placed in my hands.

Try this

Pick one thing you own and use often. Say alhamdulillah for it before you use it today.

Simplified reflection. Read the tafsir for scholarship.draft

Tafsir Ibn Kathir

Do they not see that We have created for them of what Our Hands have fashioned, the cattle, so that they are their owners (71)And We have subdued them unto them so that some of them they have for riding and some they eat (72)And they have (other) benefits from them, and (they get to) drink. Will they not then be grateful (73)

There is a Sign and a Blessing in Cattle

Allah mentions the blessing that He has bestowed upon His creation by subjugating these cattle for their use.

فَهُمْ لَهَا مَالِكُونَ

(so that they are their owners.) Qatadah said, "They are their masters." Meaning, He has made them subdue them. So they are submissive towards them and do not resist them; even if a young child comes to a camel he can make it kneel down, and if he wants to, he can make it stand up and can drive it, and it will meekly be led by him. Even if the train consists of a hundred or more camels, they could all be led by a young child.

فَمِنْهَا رَكُوبُهُمْ وَمِنْهَا يَأْكُلُونَ

(some of them they have for riding and some they eat.) means, some of them they ride on their journeys, and use them to carry their burdens to all regions.

وَمِنْهَا يَأْكُلُونَ

(and some they eat.) means, if they want to, and they slaughter and sacrifice them.

وَلَهُمْ فِيهَا مَنَافِعُ

(And they have (other) benefits from them,) means, from their wool, fur, and hair, furnishings and articles of convenience, comfort for a time.

وَمَشَارِبُ ۖ

(and (they get to) drink.) means, their milk, and their urine for those who need it as medicine, and so on.

أَفَلَا يَشْكُرُونَ

(Will they not then be grateful?) means, 'will they not worship the Creator and Subduer of that, without showing gratitude to others?'