Social Quranevery verse · a conversation
Sign in
سُورَةُ الحِجۡرِ · 15:23
MeccanRevelation order ٥٤Juzʾ ١٤Page ٢٦٣

وَإِنَّا لَنَحْنُ نُحْىِۦ وَنُمِيتُ وَنَحْنُ ٱلْوَٰرِثُونَ

٢٣
Saheeh International · EN

And indeed, it is We who give life and cause death, and We are the Inheritor.

IntroductionRevelationTafsirTransmissionDebate
Bio

Introduction

This is āyah 23 of Sūrat Al-Hijr (The Rocky Tract), the 54th sūrah in the traditional order of revelation. It was revealed in the Meccan period and sits within Juzʾ 14. Meccan verses tend to address faith, the oneness of God, and the hereafter.

This introduction is a starting point — the community and Bilal will enrich it over time.

Bio

Revelation & occasion

Asbāb al-Nuzūl
Period
Meccan
Order revealed
54 of 114
Surah
Al-Hijr (15)
Occasion of revelation · Al-Wahidi

Surely We give life and We make die. We give the hearts of the recognizers life through contemplation, and We make their souls die through struggle. We bring the hearts of the recognizers to life with contemplation, and We make their bodies die through struggle. The soul is the veil of the heart. As long as the veil is before the heart, the heart is deprived of contemplation. When the soul is killed by struggle according to the Shariah, the life of the heart begins. Guidance arrives, contemplation joins. Those who struggle in Us, We will guide them on Our paths [29:69]. It has also been said, “We give the desirers life through remembering Us and We make the heedless die through separation from Us.”

Commentary

Tafsir

4 works

Hafiz Ibn Kathir

And there is not a thing, but the supplies for it are with Us, and We do not send it down but in a known measure (21)And We send the winds fertilizing, then We cause the water to descend from the sky, and We give it to you to drink, and it is not you who are the owners of its supply (22)And certainly We! It is We Who give life, and cause death, and We are the Inheritors (23)And indeed, We know the first generations of you who have passed away, and indeed, We know the present generations of you (mankind), and also those who will come afterwards (24)And verily, your Lord will gather them together. Truly, He is Most Wise, (and) Knowing (25) The Supplies for All Things are with Allah Allah tells us that He is the Owner of all things, and that everything is easy for Him. He has the supplies for all things with Him. وَمَا نُنَزِّلُهُ إِلَّا بِقَدَرٍ مَّعْلُومٍ (and We do not send it down b…
Provenance

Chains of transmission

Oral — isnād

  1. ~610–632 CERevelation & memorisation

    Received by the Prophet ﷺ and preserved by the ḥuffāẓ (memorisers) among the Companions.

  2. 1st century AHMutawātir transmissionawaiting curation

    Carried by mass-transmission through the generations of qurrāʾ.

  3. TodayLiving chainsawaiting curation

    Continuous ijāzah chains link reciters today back to the Prophet ﷺ.

Verified isnād chains for this āyah will be added by curators.

Written — the manuscript record

  1. ~650 CEʿUthmānic codicesawaiting curation

    The standardised muṣḥaf sent to the great cities (e.g. the Topkapı and Samarqand codices).

  2. 8th–10th c.Early Ḥijāzī & Kūfic foliosawaiting curation

    Surviving leaves in Birmingham, Sanaa, Paris (BnF) and beyond.

  3. Modern printModern printawaiting curation

    The 1924 Cairo edition → today: the standard printed muṣḥaf used worldwide.

A curated chain of manuscript images for this exact āyah — roughly one per century — is coming. Help us source and verify them.

The wall

And now — what do you think?

The text, its history and the classical commentary are laid out above. Share your own understanding, ask a question, or reason with others.

Sign in to add your voice to this verse.
No reflections yet — be the first.
Provenance

Community resources

No community resources for this verse yet.