36. Surah Ya Sin (O Thou Human Being) Mecca 41

The Quranic Text & Ali’s Version:

لَقَدْ حَقَّ الْقَوْلُ عَلَى أَكْثَرِهِمْ فَهُمْ لَا يُؤْمِنُونَ ﴿٧﴾

36: 7.     The Word is proved true against the greater part of them; for they do not believe.

C3947. Cf. 7:30, and n. 1012; also 17:16, and n. 2193.

If people deliberately and obstinately refuse "to believe", i.e., to receive guidance and admonition, the result must be that Allah's grace and mercy are withdrawn from them. Their own perversity inevitably blocks up all channels for their correction.

إِنَّا جَعَلْنَا فِي أَعْنَاقِهِمْ أَغْلاَلاً...   

36: 8.     We have put yokes round their necks right up to their chins,

C3948. Man's misdeeds inevitably call forth the operation of Allah's Law. The result of man's willful disobedience is now described in a series of metaphors.

1.     Refusal of Allah's Light means less and less freedom of action for man: the yoke of sin is fastened round man's neck, and it gets more and more tightened, right up to the chin.

2.     The head is forced up and kept in a stiff position, so that the mind becomes befogged. Moral obliquity taints the intellect.

According to the Sanskrit proverb,

"When destruction comes near, understanding is turned upside down."

According to the Latin proverb,

"Whom God wishes to destroy, He first makes demented."

In other words, iniquity not only is folly, but leads deeper and deeper into folly, narrowness of vision, and blindness to the finer things of life.

3.     Ibis state of deprivation of Grace leads to such a decline in spiritual vitality that the victim can neither progress nor turn back, as explained in the next verse.

... فَهِيَ إِلَى الأَذْقَانِ فَهُم مُّقْمَحُونَ ﴿٨﴾

so that their heads are forced up (and they cannot see).

وَجَعَلْنَا مِن بَيْنِ أَيْدِيهِمْ سَدًّا وَمِنْ خَلْفِهِمْ سَدًّا...   

36: 9.     And We have put a bar in front of them and a bar behind them,

C3949. Their retreat is cut off and their progress is impossible. Further the Light that should come from above is cut off, so that they become totally devoid of any hope, and the last gleam of any spiritual understanding is extinguished in them.

... فَأَغْشَيْنَاهُمْ فَهُمْ لاَ يُبْصِرُونَ ﴿٩﴾

and further, We have covered them up; so that they cannot see.

وَسَوَاء عَلَيْهِمْ أَأَنذَرْتَهُمْ أَمْ لَمْ تُنذِرْهُمْ لاَ يُؤْمِنُونَ ﴿١٠﴾

36: 10.  The same is it to them whether thou admonish them or thou do not admonish them: they will not believe.

C3950. When the stage just described is reached, revelation or spiritual teaching ceases to have any value for them.

Why then preach?

The answer is given in the verses following.

إِنَّمَا تُنذِرُ مَنِ اتَّبَعَ الذِّكْرَ وَخَشِيَ الرَّحْمَن ...

36: 11.  Thou canst but admonish: such a one as follows the Message and fears the (Lord) Most Gracious,

C3951. Cf. 35:18.

As far as those are concerned, who have obstinately delivered themselves to evil, the preaching of Allah's Message has no appeal, because their own will shuts them out.

But there are others who are anxious to hear Allah's Message and receive Allah's grace. They love Allah and fear to offend against His holy Law, and their fear is not merely superficial but deep-seated: for while they do not yet see Allah, nor do other people see them, they have the same sense of Allah's presence as if they saw Him, and their religion is not a mere pose, "to be seen of men".

... بِالْغَيْبِ...  

unseen:

C3952. See n. 3902 to 35:18.

Unseen is here adverbial: their reverence for Allah is unaffected by the fact that they do not see Him, or that other people do not observe them, because their attitude arises out of a genuine love for Allah.

... فَبَشِّرْهُ بِمَغْفِرَةٍ وَأَجْرٍ كَرِيمٍ ﴿١١﴾

give such a one, therefore, good tidings, of Forgiveness and a Reward most generous.

C3953. To such persons the Message of Allah comes as a gospel or good news: because it shows them the way of forgiveness for anything wrong in their past, and it gives them the promise of a full reward in the future,-generous beyond any deserts of their own, but arising out of Allah's unbounded Bounty.

Asad’s Version:

36:7 Indeed, the word [of God's condemnation] is bound to come true 5 against most of them: for they will not believe.

(36:8) Behold, around their necks We have put shackles, 6 reaching up to their chins, so that their heads are forced up; 7

(36:9) and We have set a barrier before them and a barrier behind them, 8 and We have enshrouded them in veils so that they cannot see:

(36: 10) thus, it is all one to them whether thou warnest them or dost not warn them: they will not believe.

36:11 Thou canst [truly] warn only him who is willing to take the reminder to heart,' and who stands in awe of the Most Gracious although He is beyond the reach of human perception: unto such, then, give the glad tiding of [God's] forgiveness and of a most excellent reward.