ٱللَّهُ ٱلَّذِى خَلَقَكُمْ ثُمَّ رَزَقَكُمْ ثُمَّ يُمِيتُكُمْ ثُمَّ يُحْيِيكُمْ هَلْ مِن شُرَكَآئِكُم مَّن يَفْعَلُ مِن ذَٰلِكُم مِّن شَىْءٍ سُبْحَٰنَهُۥ وَتَعَٰلَىٰ عَمَّا يُشْرِكُونَ
Allāhu'lladhī khalaqakum thumma razaqakum thumma yumītukum thumma yuḥyīkum, hal min shurakāʾikum man yafʿalu min dhālikum min shayʾ, subḥānahu wa taʿālā ʿammā yushrikūn
"It is God who created you, then provided for you, then causes you to die, then gives you life. Among those you associate with Him is there any who does anything of that? He is far above and exalted beyond what they associate with Him."
| Order | Verb | Tense |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Khalaqakum | Perfect — He created |
| 2 | Razaqakum | Perfect — He provided |
| 3 | Yumītukum | Imperfect — He causes to die |
| 4 | Yuḥyīkum | Imperfect — He gives life |
I record this as an observation about the word order: the break falls exactly in the middle. The first two have happened, the last two are to come — and the hearer stands exactly in between. The sentence marks the point where the listener stands by means of the tenses of the verbs.
The same line had been treated at Fāṭir 35/3: hal min khāliqin ghayru'llāhi yarzuqukum — creating was there asked about together with the act of providing. I rely on that treatment.
The difference is worth recording: Fāṭir enumerates two verbs (creating + provision); al-Rūm enumerates four and adds death and the giving of life. That is, Fāṭir's question looks at an ongoing work, al-Rūm's at a whole arc.
هَلْ مِن شُرَكَآئِكُم مَّن يَفْعَلُ مِن ذَٰلِكُم مِّن شَىْءٍ — three mins one after another. In Arabic, in a context of negation or of question, min reduces the scope to the least: "any one at all", "anything at all". That is, the sentence is asking after even the smallest share.