giving life and causing death
يُحْىِۦ وَيُمِيتُ
yuḥyī wa-yumītu — He gives life and causes death
The paired verbs yuḥyī and yumītu recur across the verses given as a fixed description of God's action, read side by side the occurrences show the pair functioning as a self-contained claim of exclusive divine power, which in several verses is then contested, restated in the first person, or expanded into a sequence of life, death and renewed life.
In the verses given, the two verbs from the roots ḥ-y-y and m-w-t appear as a fixed pair, both in causative form IV, and in that order: life-giving first, death-causing second. In most occurrences the subject is third person singular: 'He gives life and causes death' (2:258; 3:156; 7:158; 9:116; 10:56; 23:80; 40:68; 44:8; 57:2). Two verses shift to the first person plural, 'We give life and cause death' (15:23; 50:43), and in both the pair is framed by an emphatic pronoun construction, 'it is We — We who...'. In 2:258 the pair is spoken by Abraham and then claimed in the first person singular by his disputant, 'I give life and cause death', the only occurrence in the verses given where the pair is claimed by a speaker of himself, and the dispute turns precisely on who can rightly say it. The pair is regularly attached to other assertions: dominion of the heavens and the earth (7:158; 9:116; 57:2), the return to God (10:56; 50:43), and the command 'Be' (40:68). Three verses expand the pair into a three-step sequence addressed to the second person plural: He gave/gives you life, then causes you to die, then gives you life again (2:28; 22:66), or life, death, then gathering to the Day of Standing (45:26). Reading the occurrences together shows the pair operating as a compact, movable unit that different contexts plug into disputes, warnings and declarations of dominion.
Where it occurs
- 2:28 The pair appears with second-person pronouns inside a four-step sequence: He gave you life, then will cause you to die, then will give you life, then to Him you will be brought back.
- 2:258 Abraham states the pair of his Lord, and his disputant claims the same pair of himself in the first person singular.
- 3:156 The pair is set against the claim that being with a certain group would have prevented death and killing.
- 7:158 The pair follows 'There is no god except Him' and belongs to the One holding dominion of the heavens and the earth.
- 9:116 The pair follows the statement of dominion and precedes 'you have no ally and no helper'.
- 10:56 The pair stands alone with 'He', followed by 'to Him you are returned'.
- 15:23 The pair is in the first person plural with emphatic 'it is We', followed by 'We are the inheritors'.
- 22:66 The pair with second-person pronouns forms a three-step sequence: He enlivened you, then makes you die, then will enliven you, concluding that the human being is a concealer of blessing.
- 23:80 The pair is joined with the succession of night and day and the question 'Will you not then use your reason?'
- 40:68 The pair is followed by the statement that when He settles a matter He only says to it 'Be'.
- 44:8 The pair follows 'There is no god except Him' and precedes 'your Lord and the Lord of your earliest forefathers'.
- 45:26 The pair with second-person pronouns is followed by gathering to the Day of Standing, with most people not knowing.
- 50:43 The pair is in the first person plural with emphatic 'it is We', followed by 'to Us is the return'.
- 57:2 The pair follows the statement of dominion and precedes 'He is powerful over every thing'.
All Qur'anic expressions