Surah 36. Ya-Sin

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Verses [Section]: 1-12[1], 13-32 [2], 33-50 [3], 51-67 [4], 68-83 [5]

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Quran Text of Verse 1-1236. Ya-Sinبِسْمِ اللّٰهِ الرَّحْمٰنِ الرَّحِیْمِیٰسٓۚYa Sin وَ الْقُرْاٰنِBy the Quranالْحَكِیْمِۙthe Wise اِنَّكَIndeed youلَمِنَ(are) amongالْمُرْسَلِیْنَۙthe Messengers عَلٰیOnصِرَاطٍa Pathمُّسْتَقِیْمٍؕstraight تَنْزِیْلَA revelationالْعَزِیْزِ(of) the All-Mightyالرَّحِیْمِۙthe Most Merciful لِتُنْذِرَThat you may warnقَوْمًاa peopleمَّاۤnotاُنْذِرَwere warnedاٰبَآؤُهُمْtheir forefathersفَهُمْso theyغٰفِلُوْنَ (are) heedless لَقَدْCertainlyحَقَّ(has) proved trueالْقَوْلُthe wordعَلٰۤیuponاَكْثَرِهِمْmost of themفَهُمْso theyلَا(do) notیُؤْمِنُوْنَ believe اِنَّاIndeedجَعَلْنَا[We] have placedفِیْۤonاَعْنَاقِهِمْtheir necksاَغْلٰلًاiron collarsفَهِیَand theyاِلَی(are up) toالْاَذْقَانِthe chinsفَهُمْso theyمُّقْمَحُوْنَ (are with) heads aloft وَ جَعَلْنَاAnd We have madeمِنْۢbefore themبَیْنِbefore themاَیْدِیْهِمْbefore themسَدًّاa barrierوَّ مِنْand behind themخَلْفِهِمْand behind themسَدًّاa barrierفَاَغْشَیْنٰهُمْand We covered themفَهُمْso theyلَا(do) notیُبْصِرُوْنَ see وَ سَوَآءٌAnd it (is) sameعَلَیْهِمْto themءَاَنْذَرْتَهُمْwhether you warn themاَمْorلَمْ(do) notتُنْذِرْهُمْwarn themلَاnotیُؤْمِنُوْنَ they will believe اِنَّمَاOnlyتُنْذِرُyou (can) warnمَنِ(him) whoاتَّبَعَfollowsالذِّكْرَthe Reminderوَ خَشِیَand fearsالرَّحْمٰنَthe Most Graciousبِالْغَیْبِ ۚin the unseenفَبَشِّرْهُSo give him glad tidingsبِمَغْفِرَةٍof forgivenessوَّ اَجْرٍand a rewardكَرِیْمٍ noble اِنَّاIndeedنَحْنُWeنُحْیِgive lifeالْمَوْتٰی(to) the deadوَ نَكْتُبُand We recordمَاwhatقَدَّمُوْاthey have sent beforeوَ اٰثَارَهُمْ ؔؕand their footprintsوَ كُلَّand everyشَیْءٍthingاَحْصَیْنٰهُWe have enumerated itفِیْۤinاِمَامٍa Registerمُّبِیْنٍ۠clear

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Translation of Verse 1-12 In the name of Allah, Most Gracious, Most Merciful.

1. Ya seen.¹

2. By the Quran full of wisdom.

3. Verily, you are of those sent (as messengers).²

4. On a straight path,³

5. A dispatch from the above (revelation) of the Mighty, the Merciful. ⁴

6. So that you may warn a people whose forefathers were not warned, and therefore, they are heedless. ⁵

7. Already Our word has proved true in the case of most of them,⁶ that is why they do not believe.

8. Verily, We have put round their necks shackles reaching to their chins, so that their heads are forced up.⁷

9. And We have set a barrier before them and a barrier behind them, and (thus) have covered them, so that they do not see.⁸

10. It is alike for them whether you warn them or do not warn them, for they will not believe.⁹

11. You can warn only him who follows the Reminder and fears the Merciful, though he cannot see Him.¹⁰ To him give the news of forgiveness and a rich reward.

12. It is We who will bring back the dead to life,¹¹ and We record what they send before them and the marks that they leave behind. And all things We have noted in a clear book.¹²

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Commentary

1. Some commentators have stated the meaning of Yaseen to be ‘O Man! ‘and according to some it stands for the Prophet, Sallal Lahu Alaihi Wa Sallam. But these are neither proved by the dictionary nor by the hadith.

Separate alphabetical letters, as we have stated, refer to some important topics of the surahs (See Surah Baqarah Note No.1 and Surah Yunus Note No.1 ). In this Surah, Ya hints at the words ‘Ya hasratan alal ibadah’ (Alas, for the slaves! Ayah No.30). And Seen points to the words ‘Salamun Qaulam mir Rabbi Raheem’ (In the Paradise for them there would be the greeting of their Merciful Lord, Peace! -ayah No.58). In other words in this surah there is an expression of sorrow on the condition of those slaves who do not believe in the truth of the Prophet, but ridicule him, and on the other hand there is glad tidings for the believers that their Merciful Lord will greet them with Salaam.

2. In Arabic on such occasions oath signifies witness or testimony, that is the thing which is used as the medium of oath, it is presented as an argument and proof. Here also Quran which is full of wisdom is being presented as a proof of the prophethood of Muhammad, Sallal Lahu Alaihi Wa Sallam.

Whosoever studies Quran with an open mind will definitely feel that :-

Firstly the level of knowledge in Quran is very high. It makes great addition to the knowledge of man, and solves for him the mysteries of the universe and unveils the realities about the human life.

Secondly it takes man to unimagined heights and grants it sublimity.

Thirdly it stimulates the capabilities of thinking and contemplation and sharpens the intellect.

Fourthly its teaching are very exalted and quiet in harmony with the human nature.

Fifthly it establishes the balance of justice and teaches to be just even with the enemies.

Sixthly it presents the lost pages of history in which there is a great moral for humanity and it informs about what is going to happen in the future.

Seventhly it grants purity to man’s outward appearance and his innerself and breathes such a spirit in him that he tastes the reality of life.

Suchwise words which totally change a man’s life and take him to the pinnacle of progress must necessarily be the divine revelation. And when it is a divine revelation, then naturally its presenter must be a messenger from Allah. In short, Quran’s being a Book of wisdom to the extent of being a miracle is an open proof of the fact that the unlettered person who presented it was a messenger from Allah. And it is such a proof which will last till the last day of the world, so that people of every age may accept him as the true messenger of Allah.

3. Straight path means that path which straightway takes to Allah and that is the path of Tawheed,(monotheism), which is Islam.

In the Surah Fatiha slaves’ prayer sought for the straight path of guidance, it is this very straight path on which the Prophet, Sallal Lahu Alaihi Wa Sallam, walked.

4. That is: The Being who revealed this Quran is Mighty and also Merciful. To refer to these two attributes is to clarify that Quran is the decree of that Being whose power covers everything, therefore, rejecting it or not caring for it is not an ordinary thing, but it will be a very great disobedience, which would call for His severe punishment; and if you accept His decree then you can deserve to receive His mercy.

5. Means Arabs that is Bani Ismail, among whom after Ismail there was no prophet and no warner. The time of Prophets Ibrahim and Ismail is about two thousand years before the Christian Era. Prophet Muhammad (S.A.W.) declared his prophethood in 610 Christian Era, i.e. there was a prophet among the Arabs after about two and a half thousand years. No prophet was sent in Arabia for a very long time because Prophets Ibrahim and Ismail had left very deep marks in Makkah by building the House of Ka’ba and by introducing the system of salat and the Hajj pilgrimage, and what was necessary for a small and uncultured society, commands of Shariah, which were there in the form of the Sunnah of Ibrahim. And the arrangements for reminder and reorientation could be made through Prophet, Shuaib (Peace be upon him) who lived in the north Arabia and especially through Prophets Moosa and Eesa (Peace be upon them.) That is, their followers settled in the nearby townships, and the teachings of religion was reaching them all right. Therefore, it will not be correct to think that for such a very long time they were in darkness and no arrangement was made for them for getting guidance. Here actually what is proposed to convey to the Arabs is that when after such a long time a prophet is coming to them, they should appreciate and pay due respects to him that Allah has bestowed His great favours on them, arranged for them awakening from their sleep of negligence, and the light of guidance which had become dim, He had arranged to brighten. But they are not appreciating the Prophet, as if they do not need a messenger from Allah nor do they need any guidance.

6. Means Allah’s words, when He had addressed Iblees and had said:

“With you and with those who will follow you, I will fill in, with all these, the Hell” -(Surah Saad -85)

It means that many of these people had chosen to follow Satan and thus made themselves liable to go to Hell. Here particularly are meant those polytheists of Makkah to whom the message of Allah had been convincingly conveyed. Inspite of these many of them did not accept faith and died in the state of disbelief or were destroyed in battle. In Makkah there were very few people who embraced Islam sooner or later.

7. By shackles are meant the blind following of the customs of their forefathers. When they chose to wear these shackles round their necks, then Allah’s law of misguidance allowed them to do so. These shackles reached their chins, so their heads were forced up, i.e. in their ignorance and misguidance they were so proud that they did not want to bow down before Allah. Thus it has become clear that in the matter of belief and religion, blind following of the customs of forefathers creates pride and vanity in men and it makes them transgressors. It is the duty of every individual that he should seek truth and should use his intelligence in a proper way.

8. This is the picture of those misguided people to whom the signs that would lead to truth spread over all around them are not visible, and it is not visible because between them and the truth there is the wall of prejudice. Similarly they do not learn any lesson from the terrible end of the past nations, because there is also a wall between them. The curtains of prejudice are lying so heavily on their eyes that they are unable to see the truth.

They replied: “But you are only men like us. The Merciful has revealed nothing. You are surely lying.” They said: “Our Lord knows that we have been sent to you as messengers,” “And our duty is to convey the message plainly.”(AL-Quran)

9. Such obstinate people will not at all take any heed of the warnings of the Prophet.

10. Only such people will be ready to take heed of the warnings of the Prophet who would like to listen to the admonition and advice of the Prophet and would be afraid of the greatness of the Merciful Lord. For the explanation of fearing Allah without seeing Him, see Surah Anbiya, Note No. 68

11. On the Day of Resurrection all the dead people will be revived so that they may account for what they did in this world and may get their reward or punishment according to their nature of deeds.

12. That is: We are not only recording what they did, but We are also recording what impressions they have left behind. Allah has made arrangements to prepare such a record of every individual as to what he did in this world and what impressions and influences he has left behind, so that on the Day of Judgment he should see what was his account, good or bad, whether he had left good impressions or bad, and whether he had reaped good harvest or bad.

In those days this statement of Quran appeared to be strange that how such a record could be prepared, but today when video and audio cassette recorders, and computers and CD and DVD storage devices for recording and storing data and voice, and movies have been invented, it is not difficult to believe in this statement, and Allah has power over everything and knows everything.

“Ma qaddamu” whatever they have sent ahead, means whatever they did in the world will come before them, for explanation See Surah Infitar Note No.5