(1–12) “In the name of Allah, the Most Merciful, the Bestower of Mercy. Yā-Sīn. * By the wise Quran! * You are indeed one of the messengers, * upon a straight path, * a revelation from the Almighty, the Most Merciful, * so that you may warn a people whose forefathers were not warned, and who are therefore heedless. * The Word has certainly come due against most of them, so they will not believe. * We have placed shackles around their necks, reaching up to their chins, so their heads are forced up. * We have placed a barrier before them and a barrier behind them, and We have covered them, so they cannot see. * It is all the same to them whether you warn them or do not warn them: they will not believe. * You can only warn those who follow the Reminder and fear the Most Merciful without seeing Him. So give them glad tidings of forgiveness and a generous reward. * Indeed, it is We who bring the dead to life, and We record what they have sent forth and the traces they have left behind. We have enumerated everything in a clear Record.”
This is an oath sworn by Allah Most High by the wise Quran, which He has described as possessing wisdom. Wisdom means placing everything in its proper place: placing commands and prohibitions in the place (1) suited to them, and assigning recompense for good and evil to their respective proper places. Thus, all its legislative and recompensatory rulings embody the utmost wisdom.
Part of the wisdom of this Quran is that it combines mention of a ruling with the wisdom underlying it, thereby drawing the mind’s attention to the relevant connections and attributes that warrant the ruling.
“You are indeed one of the messengers.” This is the truth affirmed by the oath: the messengership of Muhammad (may Allah bless him and grant him peace). You are one of the messengers and are not unprecedented among them. Moreover, you have brought the same fundamentals of religion that the messengers brought. Furthermore, whoever reflects upon the circumstances (2) and attributes of the messengers, and recognizes the distinction between them and others, will know that you are among the finest messengers because of your perfect qualities and noble character.
The close connection between that by which the oath is sworn—the wise Quran—and that which it affirms—[namely] the messengership of the Messenger Muhammad (may Allah bless him and grant him peace)—is evident. Even if this wise Quran were the only proof and testimony of his messengership, it would suffice as proof and testimony of the messengership of Muhammad (may Allah bless him and grant him peace). Indeed, the magnificent Quran is the strongest continuous and enduring proof of the Messenger’s mission, for all the Quran’s proofs are also proofs of Muhammad’s messengership.
Allah then informs us of the greatest attribute of the Messenger (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) that demonstrates his messengership: he is “upon a straight path”—a balanced path leading to Allah and to His abode of honor. This straight path comprises righteous deeds that set right the heart and body, this world and the Hereafter, as well as noble character that purifies the soul, cleanses the heart, and increases one’s reward. This, then, is the straight path that describes both the Messenger (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) and the religion he brought.
Reflect upon the majesty of this noble Quran: it combines an oath by the noblest object with the most sublime truth affirmed by an oath. Allah’s statement alone is sufficient, yet here He has also established clear evidence and radiant proofs confirming what He swore to—the messengership of His Messenger—as we have explained, and we have subtly indicated the path by which this may be pursued.
This straight path is “a revelation from the Almighty, the Most Merciful.” He is the One who revealed His Book containing this path and sent it down as a path for His servants, leading them to Him. Through His might, He protected it from alteration and substitution, and through it He showed His servants a mercy that reached them and ultimately brought them to the abode of His mercy. For this reason, He concluded the verse with these two noble names: the Almighty, the Most Merciful.
After Allah Most High swore to the truth of the Messenger’s mission and established the proofs for it, He mentioned the pressing need for that mission and how indispensable it was. He said: “So that you may warn a people whose forefathers were not warned, and who are therefore heedless.” They were the unlettered Arabs, who had long remained devoid ⦗693⦘ of scriptures and without messengers. Ignorance had become widespread among them, misguidance had engulfed them, and they had made themselves and their foolishness a laughingstock to all intelligent people.
Allah therefore sent them a messenger from among themselves to purify them and teach them the Book and wisdom, although they had previously been in manifest error. He was to warn the unlettered Arabs and every unlettered person included with them, and to remind the people of earlier scriptures of what their scriptures contained. Through him, Allah’s blessing was bestowed particularly upon the Arabs and generally upon all others.
However, after you had warned those among whom you were sent, they divided into two groups. One group rejected what you brought and did not accept the warning. They are those of whom Allah said: “The Word has certainly come due against most of them, so they will not believe.” That is, the divine decree and will had taken effect concerning them, such that they would persist in their disbelief and polytheism. Yet the Word only came due against them after the truth had been presented to them and they had rejected it. They were then punished by having their hearts sealed.
Allah mentioned the barriers preventing faith from reaching their hearts, saying: “We have placed shackles around their necks.” The word “shackles” is the plural of “shackle,” which is something used to bind the neck; a shackle is to the neck what a fetter is to the leg. These shackles around their necks (3) are so immense that they reach their chins and force their heads upward: “so their heads are forced up.” That is, their heads are raised because of the tight shackles around their necks, and they cannot lower them.
“We have placed a barrier before them and a barrier behind them”—that is, an obstacle preventing them from believing—“so they cannot see.” Ignorance and wretchedness have engulfed them from every direction, and thus the warning does not benefit them. “It is all the same to them whether you warn them or do not warn them: they will not believe.” How could someone believe when his heart has been sealed and he sees truth as falsehood and falsehood as truth?
The second group consists of those who accepted the warning. Allah mentions them in His words: “You can only warn”—that is, your warning benefits and your counsel admonishes only—“those who follow the Reminder,” [that is,] those whose aim is to follow the truth and heed the reminder given to them, “and fear the Most Merciful without seeing Him.” In other words, they possess these two qualities: sincere intent in seeking the truth and fear of Allah Most High. They are the ones who benefit from your message and are purified through your teaching. Whoever is granted success in attaining these two qualities, “give them glad tidings of forgiveness” for their sins “and a generous reward” for their righteous deeds and sincere intention.
“Indeed, it is We who bring the dead to life”—that is, We resurrect them after death to recompense them for their deeds—“and We record what they have sent forth” of good and evil, namely the deeds they personally performed during their lives, “and the traces they have left behind.” These are the consequences of good and evil that they caused to exist, both during their lives and after their deaths—the deeds that arose from their words, actions, and conduct.
Thus, every good deed performed by anyone because of a servant’s knowledge, teaching, counsel, enjoining what is right, forbidding what is wrong, or knowledge imparted to students or placed in books from which benefit is derived during his life and after his death, is among the traces recorded for him. The same applies if he performs a good deed—such as prayer, obligatory almsgiving, voluntary charity, or kindness—and others follow his example, or if he builds a mosque or establishes any facility from which people benefit, and other similar deeds. All these are among the traces recorded for him. The same applies to evil deeds.
Hence: “Whoever establishes a good practice will receive its reward and the reward of everyone who follows it until the Day of Resurrection; and whoever establishes an evil practice will bear its burden and the burden of everyone who follows it until the Day of Resurrection.” This passage demonstrates the exalted rank of calling people to Allah and guiding them to His path through every means and method that leads to it. It also demonstrates the lowly rank of one who calls to evil and serves as a leader in it: he is the lowest of creation, the most criminal, and the gravest in sin.
“We have enumerated everything”—including deeds, intentions, and all else—“in a clear Record.” That is, in a Book that is the mother of all records and to which the records in the hands of the angels refer: the Preserved Tablet.
(1) Manuscript B reads: “in the location.”
(2) This is the reading of manuscript B; manuscript A reads: “the fundamentals.”
(3) This is the reading of manuscript B; manuscript A reads: “the chins.”