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

(36:1) Ya'. Sin.¹

(36:2) By the Wise Qur'an,

(36:3) you are truly among the Messengers,²

(36:4) on a Straight Way,

(36:5) (and this Qur'an) is a revelation from the Most Mighty, the Most Compassionate³

(36:6) so that you may warn a people whose ancestors were not warned before wherefore they are heedless.⁴

(36:7) Surely most of them merit the decree of chastisement; so they do not believe.⁵

(36:8) We have put fetters around their necks which reach up to their chins so that they are standing with their heads upright,⁶

(36:9) and We have put a barrier before them and a barrier behind them, and have covered them up, so they are unable to see.⁷

(36:10) It is all the same for them whether you warn them or do not warn them for they shall not believe.⁸

(36:11) You can warn only him who follows the Admonition and fears the Merciful Lord without seeing Him. Give such a one good tidings of forgiveness and a generous reward.

(36:12) We shall surely raise the dead to life and We record what they did and the traces of their deeds that they have left behind.⁹ We have encompassed that in a Clear Book.

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Commentary

1. Yā' Sin, according to 'Abd Allāh ibn 'Abbās, 'Ikrimah, Dahāk, Hasan al-Başrī and Sufyān ibn 'Uyaynah means "O man". (Ibn Kathīr, Tafsīr, comments on verse 1.) Some Qur'ān-commentators consider Yā' Sĩn to be the abbreviation of Yā Sayyid. Taken in this sense, this constitutes an address to the Prophet (peace be on him).

2. This vigorous affirmation of Muhammad's Messenger ship does not in any way imply that the Prophet (peace be on him) had any doubt about his Prophet hood and that was thus reassured by God through this verse of the veracity of his claim to be His Messenger. At the time when this surah was revealed the Makkan unbelievers were engaged in fierce opposition to Muhammad's claim. Hence, the surah opens by directly declaring, without any preliminary remarks, that Muhammad (peace be on him) is "truly among the Messengers". The implication of this declaration is that those who deny his Prophet hood are in serious error. This point is made by an oath in the name of the Qur'an itself, the Book characterized by wisdom. In other words, a clear proof of Muhammad's Prophet hood is the Qur'ān, which overflows with wisdom. That Muhammad (peace be on him) was presenting a discourse as steeped in wisdom as the Qur'ān, is itself a proof of his being God's Messenger, for no human being could produce anything like it. Those familiar with the Prophet Muhammad (peace be on him) could never fall prey to the misgiving that he would have made up this discourse himself, or would have acquired it from some other and then ascribed it to God. (For a detailed explanation of person this point sees Towards Understanding the Qur'ān, Yūnus 10: nn. 21, 45 and 46, Vol. IV, pp. 19-21 and 36-37; Banī Isrā'il 17: nn. 106-108, Vol. V, pp. 73-75; al-Shu'arā' 26: n. 1, Vol. VII, p. 52; al-Naml 27: n. 93, Vol. VII, pp. 183–184; al-Qaşaş 28: nn. 62-64 and 109, Vol. VII, pp. 224-226, 250, and al-'Ankabūt 29: nn. 88-91, Vol. VIII, pp. 50-54.)

3. Here we are apprised of the following two attributes of Him Who sent down the Qur'ān. First, that He is the Mightiest and Supreme, and secondly, that He is the Most Compassionate. The first attribute underscores the point that the Qur'ān is not the counsel of a powerless well-wisher which people may disregard feeling that He is devoid of the necessary power to punish them. It is, instead, the command of the Sovereign of the Universe Whose Will is supreme, One Whose command's enforcement none can prevent, one from Whose powerful grip no one can escape. The second attribute - that He is Most Compassionate - stresses a different point. It is out of His Overflowing Compassion that God raised His Messenger to provide guidance to people. Likewise, He revealed this great Book, the Qur'ān, that they might eschew error and tread along the Straight Way which will bring to them success, both in this world and in the Next.

4. In addition to the translation given above, this verse can also be translated thus: "… so that you may warn a people against what their ancestors had been warned for they are heedless".

If one accepts the translation as rendered in the text above, the ancestors would refer to the Arabs' immediate forefathers. This because in the distant past the people of the Arabian Peninsula had witnessed several Prophets who had warned them. However, if one adopts the latter translation suggested in this note, it would mean that the Prophet (peace be on him) should revive the message that had been communicated to their ancestors in the past. Such a revival of that original message was necessary because the people had relegated that message to oblivion. In this respect, there is no basic conflict between the two translations; rather, each of the two is substantially sound.

What is said in this verse might possibly give rise to doubt in some people's minds. The ancestors of these people, according to this verse, had passed through a period in their history when no Messenger came to warn them. The question that arises is the following: why should " those who had not been warned be held accountable for the errors they might have succumbed to? The answer to the question is that when God sends a Prophet, his instruction and guidance have a far-reaching impact, one that endures for generations. As long as the traces of the Prophet's teachings remain and there continue to be followers who keep radiating the light of the message, such periods cannot be considered. to be eras devoid of True Guidance. However, when a Prophet’s teachings are totally lost in oblivion or are distorted beyond recognition, the advent of a new Prophet becomes inevitable. Before the advent of the Prophet Muhammad (peace be on him), the impact of the message preached earlier by Prophets such as Abraham, Ishmael, Shu’ayb and Moses (peace be on them) was clearly observable throughout Arabia. We also find that from time to time noble souls would rise from within the Arabs’ own ranks or would come to them from elsewhere and would renew the impact of the Prophetic message. When, however, this impact almost dissipated and the true teachings of the Prophets were radically distorted, God raised the Prophet Muhammad (peace be on him) and made iron-cast arrangements so that the Guidance handed down through him would suffer neither obliteration nor distortion, (see Towards Understanding the Qur'an, al-Sajdah 32: n. 5, Vol. VILL pp. 159-160).

5. The reference here is to those who rejected the Prophet's call out of adamancy and obstinacy and had firmly made up their minds not to pay any heed to his teachings. Regarding such people, it was remarked: “Surely most of them merit the decree of chastisement, they do not believe”. This refers to those who refuse to listen to sound counsel, clinging to their rejection of and fierce opposition to the Truth, even after the Prophets had clearly explained it to them, and thus completed God’s argument before them. Such people who continue their hostility to the Truth are left to face the ill consequences of their deeds where after they lose the ability to believe. This idea has found explicit expression in verses 10-11 that occur a little after the present verse: “It is all the same for them whether you warn them or do not warn them for they shall not believe. You can warn only him who follows the Admonition and fears the Merciful Lord without seeing Him”.

6. The word "fetters" in the verse alludes to the unbelievers' obduracy that prevented them from accepting the Truth. Likewise, there is a mention of fetters around the unbelievers' necks "which reach up to their chins" so that "they are standing with their heads upright". This is a reference to the stiffness of the neck that is caused by pride and arrogance. As a result, they have reached a stage where not even the most luminous signs would prompt them to pay any heed.

7. The purpose behind saying that "We have put a barrier before them and a barrier behind them" is to emphasize the unbelievers' obduracy and arrogance. It is thanks to this that they neither derive any lesson from the past nor give any serious thought to the future implications of their attitude. They are encompassed by thick blinkers of misunderstanding. As a result, they have been rendered unable to see those self-evident truths that are observed by everyone who is sensible and unprejudiced.

8. "It is all the same for them whether you warn them or do not warn them for they shall not believe." This does not mean that when that stage is reached there is no point in communicating Islam's message. What is meant is that the message reaches all kinds of people. Among them are some whose characteristics are mentioned above and some who are mentioned in verse 11 below. When one encounters the people of the first group, and realizes that they are deeply entrenched in bigoted opposition and hostility, one should leave them alone. At the same time, however, one should not lose heart and abandon one’s efforts to spread the word of God out of a feeling of despair. This especially, for one has no means of knowing who among the teeming mass of people are disposed to follow “the Admonition” and to choose the Right Way as a result of their being God-fearing. The Prophet (peace be on him) is told that the real object of his preaching should be this second group of people; it is they whom he should winnow out from the rest. He should leave aside those who are immersed in obdurate hostility to the Truth and focus his efforts instead on accumulating a valuable treasure of decent human beings around him.

9. One learns from this that the record of one’s deeds consists of the following three types of entries: (i) All that man does, good or bad, is recorded. (ii) All the impressions that a man leaves on the objects around him or on the organs of his own body are recorded. All these will, at a given time, stand out with utter conspicuousness. As a result, it will be possible to hear the words he spoke in the past in his own voice. It will also be possible to observe a person’s ideas, intentions and motives in their fullness for all this will appear as though inscribed on his mind’s tablet.

Thus it will be possible to have a full picture of all a person’s good and bad deeds, and of all his movements. (iii) The full impact of a person on others, both good and evil: the impact on his own future generations, on his society and on mankind at large, will also be entered in this record.

As long as a person's impact lasts, it will be credited to his account. A complete record of his impact after his demise on subsequent generations, on his own society and on humanity at large, with all its ramifications, will be entered into his record. The good or bad upbringing of his children, the contributions he made to spreading good or evil in his society and among mankind will also be maintained and will be kept extant as long as his deeds continue to affect human behavior in the world.