Ya-Sin · Makki · ayah 11 of 83

Ya-Sin 36:11

إِنَّمَا تُنذِرُ مَنِ ٱتَّبَعَ ٱلذِّكْرَ وَخَشِىَ ٱلرَّحْمَـٰنَ بِٱلْغَيْبِ ۖ فَبَشِّرْهُ بِمَغْفِرَةٍ وَأَجْرٍ كَرِيمٍ

“You can only warn one who follows the message and fears the Most Merciful unseen. So give him good tidings of forgiveness and noble reward.”

Saheeh International

Essence

After four ayat of collars and walls, the first light: the one who follows the reminder and fears the Merciful unseen is handed good news.

A reflection

Reminded all day, and swiping it away

A man's watch buzzes on his wrist every hour. Time to stand. Time to breathe. He swipes the message away without looking, all day, every day. The watch is doing its job perfectly. He is the one not following.

Most of us read 'whoever follows the reminder' and quietly enrol ourselves. We are Muslims; we have the Quran; the reminder is ours. The ayah seems to be describing our side of a line drawn against the deniers of the previous verses.

Look at the verb. Not 'whoever has the reminder', or 'whoever hears it', but ittabaʿa, whoever follows it. An early authority explained following as reflecting on the Quran and acting on it. A classical commentator adds a sharper contrast. The one who benefits fears Allah when he is hidden from people's eyes. Not the hypocrite who makes light of the religion when alone and shows faith in public.

The root of dhikr carries a small homely picture. A man would tie a thread round his finger so as not to forget a need. That was asking to be reminded. The thread does nothing on its own. It only helps the man who, seeing it, goes and does the thing.

So the line this ayah draws does not run between Muslims and others. It runs between people who are reminded and do something, and people who are reminded and swipe it away. Both groups can recite Ya-Sin. Both can wear the thread.

That is uncomfortable, and useful. It means the warning of the last four ayat is not safely about someone else. And it means the good news of this ayah is not automatically yours either. It is for the one who follows. Today, that means one reminder you have been swiping away, finally obeyed.

The full entry has 6 more reflections, questions to sit with, and "Live it today" - with the words, the roots and the tafsir alongside. Free, no account, works offline.