يس
Ya-Sin
Ya Sin • makkah • 83 Verses
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يسٓ
Commentary:
In the combined abbreviated letters یاسین the word سین according to Ibn ‘Abbas stands for الانسان meaning, man or perfect man, or for سید i.e. chief or leader. Thus the expression یاسین would mean, "O Perfect Man!" or "O Perfect Leader!" According to the consensus of scholarly opinion, the reference in these combined letters is to the Holy Prophet. The Prophet has been addressed as "Perfect Man" because humanity found its best and most perfect specimen in him. He has also been called "the Perfect Leader," because after his advent great religious Reformers and divine teachers were to rise only from among his followers. The door of revelation has been closed to the followers of all other Prophets. He is therefore "the perfect man" or the "leader par excellence."
In the combined abbreviated letters Ya Sin, the letter Sin according to Ibn-e-‘Abbas stands for al-Insan meaning, man or perfect man; or for Sayyid (chief or leader). Thus the expression Ya Sin would mean, 'O Perfect Man!' or 'O Perfect Leader!' According to consensus of scholarly opinion, the reference is to the Holy Prophet. He was 'the perfect man' because humanity found its best and most perfect specimen in him and he was 'the perfect leader,' because after his advent great religious Reformers and Divine Teachers were to rise only from among his followers, the door of revelation having been closed to the followers of all other Prophets.
وَٱلْقُرْءَانِ ٱلْحَكِيمِ
Commentary:
The Quran has been adduced here as an argument to prove and establish the Holy Prophet’s claim as a Messenger of God. In fact, the most effective and convincing argument to prove the truth of the Holy Prophet’s mission is the Quran. There could be no greater testimony to the Holy Prophet’s truth than the fact that being himself unlettered he gave to the world a Book which is full of wisdom and which far excels all other revealed Scriptures in its multifarious and multitudinous beauties and excellences and is a complete code of laws meant for the moral uplift and spiritual regeneration of humanity for all time. The Quran is indeed a standing miracle and an incontrovertible testimony to the truth of the Holy Prophet.
The most effective and convincing argument to prove the truth of the Holy Prophet’s mission is the Qur’an itself. There could be no greater testimony to his truth than the fact that being himself unlettered he gave to the world a Book which is full of wisdom and which far excels all other revealed Scriptures in its multifarious and multitudinous beauties and excellences and is a complete code of laws, meant for the moral uplift and spiritual regeneration of humanity for all time.
إِنَّكَ لَمِنَ ٱلْمُرْسَلِينَ
عَلَىٰ صِرَٰطٍ مُّسْتَقِيمٍ
Commentary:
The Holy Prophet’s path now is the only right and straight path that leads to God. All other paths that formerly led to Him have now been closed and shall remain closed till the end of time. The fact that after the advent of the Holy Prophet there has not appeared among the followers of any other religion a single claimant to Divine revelation, while there have been living among the followers of Islam in every age, persons to whom God spoke and revealed Himself, is a proof positive of the Holy Prophet’s path being now the only right and straight path, and of the Quran being the only revealed Book which can lead man to God.
The verse makes a fine distinction between a Prophet and a philosopher. A philosopher takes a long time to find out truth and often gets lost in the quest, but a Prophet of God discovers it by the shortest route and in the shortest period of time. Unlike philosophers he is guided to it direct by Divine revelation without wandering in the labyrinth of abstract and abstruse ideas.
The Holy Prophet’s path now is the only right and straight path that leads to God. The verse makes a fine distinction between a Prophet and a philosopher. A philosopher takes long time to find out truth and often gets lost in the quest, but a Prophet of God discovers it by the shortest route and in the shortest time. Unlike philosophers he is guided to it direct by Divine revelation without wandering in the labyrinth of abstract and abstruse ideas.
تَنزِيلَ ٱلْعَزِيزِ ٱلرَّحِيمِ
20:5; 32:3; 40:3; 41:3; 45:3; 46:3.
20:5; 32:3; 40:3; 41:3; 45:3; 46:3.
لِتُنذِرَ قَوْمًا مَّآ أُنذِرَ ءَابَآؤُهُمْ فَهُمْ غَٰفِلُونَ
28:47; 32:4.
Commentary:
The Arabs were the immediate addressees of the Holy Prophet and among them no Divine Messenger had appeared for a long time. But in His infallible wisdom God selected them for preaching to mankind the last Divine Message. The Quran has incontestibly laid claim to being that Message. The following verses of the Quran speak of its finality and universality: "Say, O mankind, truly I am a Messenger to you all from Allah" (7:159); "And We have sent thee not but as a mercy for all peoples" (21:108); "Blessed is He Who has sent down the Discrimin-ation to His servant, that he may be a Warner to all the worlds" (25:2); "And We have not sent thee but as a Bearer of good news and as a Warner to all mankind" (34:29).
28:47; 32:4.
لَقَدْ حَقَّ ٱلْقَوْلُ عَلَىٰٓ أَكْثَرِهِمْ فَهُمْ لَا يُؤْمِنُونَ
إِنَّا جَعَلْنَا فِىٓ أَعْنَٰقِهِمْ أَغْلَٰلًا فَهِىَ إِلَى ٱلْأَذْقَانِ فَهُم مُّقْمَحُونَ
13:6; 76;5.
Important Words:
مقمحون (their heads are forced up) is derived from قمح. They say قمح البعیر i.e. the camel raised his head from the water and refused to drink, his thirst being satisfied or by reason of his dislike of water. أقمح means, he raised his head and contracted his eyes. أقمحه الغل means, the collar caused his (the captive’s) head to be raised by reason of the straitness thereof. أقمح بأنفهmeans, he was proud; behaved proudly; or elevated his nose from pride. إقماح also signifies the elevating of the head by means of pride (Aqrab & Lane).
Commentary:
The reference in the word أغلال (chains) may be to the "shackles" of customs, usages, and prejudices, by which disbelievers are fettered and which prevent them from accepting the truth. The word مقمحون (their heads are forced up) may also refer to disbelievers’ notion of false superiority and pride which leads to the same result. The verse may have reference also to the Battle of Badr or to the Fall of Mecca. After the Battle of Badr the Meccan chiefs were brought in chains, and at the Fall of Mecca they were seized with utter confusion, the word مقمحون (see root meaning of the word under "Important Words" above) giving a graphic description of their bewilderment and consternation when all of a sudden they found the Holy Prophet at the very gates of Mecca, at the head of an army of ten thousand strong. Their eyes remained fixed in a stare and they ran about with heads raised in bewilderment.
13:6; 76:5.
Shackles of customs, usages and prejudices, by which disbelievers are fettered and which prevent them from accepting the truth and smother all efforts at reform.
Even when a person tries to use his intelligence and to get away from the stranglehold of customs, etc. he is under pressure from various quarters, and he can scarcely see aright.
وَجَعَلْنَا مِنۢ بَيْنِ أَيْدِيهِمْ سَدًّا وَمِنْ خَلْفِهِمْ سَدًّا فَأَغْشَيْنَٰهُمْ فَهُمْ لَا يُبْصِرُونَ
Commentary:
The barriers referred to in the verse may be the barriers of usages, prejudices, and pride of disbelievers. They could not look forward to the great and bright future which lay before them if they accepted Islam, and they did not look back to the histories of past peoples who rejected the truth and were seized with Divine punishment. The result of the barriers placed before and behind them was that they themselves became totally devoid of all spiritual light.
On account of the barriers of usages, prejudices and pride the disbelievers could not have looked forward to the great and bright future which lay before them if they accepted Islam, and they did not look back to the histories of past peoples who rejected the truth and were seized with Divine punishment.