SURAH YA SIN
The Thirty-Sixth Collection of Recitals
Eighty-Three Verses
Among those reported to have been revealed to the Prophet Muhammad in the city of Mecca.
1. Ya Sin.
Photo by Yilmaz Alimoglu. The Sunlight, The Clouds and The Snow
2. This is the Recitation, replete with wisdom! 3. You are one of the messengers of God, O Prophet! 4. You are set on a straight path! 5. This is a revelation sent down from the Almighty [Al-Aziz], the Merciful [Ar-Rahiim]! 6. It is sent to you so that you may warn a people whose forebears have not already been warned and who are therefore ignorant of right and wrong. 7. For most of them the Word that condemns them is already deserved. They will not believe. 8. We have bound their necks with shackles of iron that reach up to their chins. Their heads are locked into one position. 9. We have put a barrier before them and a barrier behind them. We have covered them over so that they cannot see. 10. It is the same whether you warn them or not. They will not believe. 11. You can only warn those who respond to this Reminder and who fear the Compassionate [ar-Rahmaan], even though they cannot see Him. To these give the good news of Gods’s forgiveness and a generous reward. 12. It is We who raise the dead to life. It is We who record the deeds of men and note the marks they leave behind after them. We take account of all things in a clear Record.
The Story of the City and the Three Messengers
13. Tell them the story of the people of the city to whom Our messengers made their way. 14. At first We sent them two messengers but the people of the city rejected them both. So We gave support to these two by sending a third and together they announced, “We come to you as messengers of God.” 15. But the people of the city said, “You are only mortals like us. The Merciful [Ar-Rahman] has sent nothing. You are liars!” 16. They replied, “Our Lord [Ar-Rabb] knows that we have been sent as messengers to you. 17. Our only duty is to deliver the clear message entrusted to us.” 18. The people of the city said, “You come as a bad omen to us. Unless you desist we will stone you and inflict you with painful torture.” 19. The messengers said, “Whether the omen is good or bad depends upon your response to our message. Do you say this just because we have called you to take heed? You are a people who transgress!” 20. Then from the far end of the city a man came running, crying, “O my people! Pay heed to the messengers! 21. Pay heed to those who do not ask for any reward and are rightly guided. 22. Why, my people, should I not serve He who created me? To Him you will all return! 23. Should I worship other gods besides Him? If it is the will of the Compassionate [Ar-Rahman] to afflict me, their intercession will be no help to me. They cannot save me. 24. If I worship other gods I will be completely astray!” 25. Then he turned to the messengers and said, “Listen to me! I believe in your Lord!”
26. When the disbelievers killed him We told him, “Enter the blessed Garden!” and he cried, “Oh, how I wish my people knew what I know! 27. How my Lord [Ar-Rabb] has forgiven my sins and placed me among the honoured ones!”
28. After that, We did not need to send down an army from heaven against his people. That is not what We do. 29. All it took was a single blow and they were gone.
30. Alas for My poor servants! Whenever a messenger is sent to them they mock him. 31. Have they not seen how many generations We have destroyed before them and that can never come back? 32. Every one of them will be brought into Our presence!
The Sign of the Revivified Land
33. A sign for mankind is that when the land is dead We revive it and bring forth grain from it for their food. 34. We make treed gardens of date-palms and grapes to grow in the land, and cause springs of water to flow forth. 35. This is so that they may eat the fruits. It was not their hands that made all of this! Will they not give thanks? 36. Glory be to Him Who created by pairs all the things that the earth produces, and humankind, and types of living things of which they know nothing.
The Sign of Night
37. Night is another sign for men. We strip it of daylight and then they are in darkness. 38. The sun travels to its resting place. That is the design of the Mighty [Al-Aziz], the All-Knowing [Al-Aliim]. 39. We have measured mansions for the moon to traverse. She wanes until she returns to the sky like the old withered crescent of a date-stalk. 40. The sun is not permitted to overtake the moon and night is not permitted to overtake the day. Each its confined to its own circuit.
The Sign of the Ark
41. Another sign for men is that We carried their ancestors on the laden ark of Noah. 42. And We have created similar vessels in which they sail. 43. But if We had willed we could have drowned them. There would have been no one to hear their cries and no one to rescue them. 44. They are only saved through Our mercy and because We let them enjoy life for a while longer.
The Single Blast
45. When they are told, “Beware of what is coming and learn from your past so that you may receive mercy” they are heedless. 46. No matter what sign they are given, of all the signs from their Lord [Ar-Rabb], they disregard it. 47. When they are told, “Give in charity from what We have provided to them,” those who disbelieve say to the believers, “Why should we give to those whom Allah could feed, if He willed? You are wrong.” 48. And the disbelievers ask, “When will this promise of resurrection come to pass if you speak the truth?” 49. On the Day of Judgement all they will know is a single sudden blast that will completely overwhelm them while they debate among themselves. 50. They will not even have time to make a will or to return to their families. 51. When the trumpet is blasted, they will be driven out of their graves into the presence of their Lord [Ar-Rabb]. 52. They will cry, “Woe to us! Who has raised us from our place of sleep? This is what the Compassionate [Ar-Rahman] promised. The messengers spoke the truth!” 53. All it will take is a single blast and they will all be brought into Our presence! 54. On that day no soul will be wronged. You shall be rewarded according to your deeds.
The Garden and the Hellfire
55. On that day those who dwell in the Garden will have joy in all that they do. 56. They and their wives will recline on soft, raised couches in the cool shade. 57. They will have every fruit to enjoy and whatever they desire. 58. The Lord [Ar-Rabb], Most Merciful [Ar-Rahiim], will give His salutations to them, saying, “Peace be upon you.” 59. But to the guilty ones He will say, “Stand apart from the righteous! 60. Did I not charge you, O children of Adam, not to worship Satan? He is your enemy! 61. Did I not tell you to worship Me alone and tell you that this is the straight path? 62. Yet Satan led a great many of you astray. Did you not have any understanding? 63. This is the Hellfire that you were promised if you followed him. 64. Today you will burn in it, because of your disbelief.” 65. On that day We will seal their mouths. Instead, their hands and their feet will bear witness to everything they have done. 66. If We had wanted We could have extinguished their eyesight. Then they would have rushed about groping for the path forever. How could they have seen their way? 67. If We had wanted we could have transformed them into beings whose nature is stationary and they would not have been able to advance or retreat. 68. Whoever We allow to live until old age, we reverse them back to the weakness of a child. Will they not understand?
A Clear Recitation
69. This which We have taught to the Prophet is not poetry. He is not a poet. It is a Reminder, a clear Recitation. 70. Its purpose is to warn all the living and to justify the charge that is made against the disbelievers. 71. Do they not see that of the things We have created with Our own hands are the cattle that they possess? 72. We have made the cattle subject to them so that some of them are for transport and some of them they eat. 73. From cattle they receive many benefits and milk to drink. Why are they not grateful? 74. They have taken other gods besides Allah in the hope that such gods might help them! 75. These gods have no power, yet those who worship them are like an army serving their idols. 76. So do not let their speech distress you, O Prophet. We know everything they conceal and everything they disclose.
Who will give life to these bones?
77. Does not man see that we created him from a tiny seed? Yet he is openly defiant. 78. He puts questions to Us but has forgotten the facts of his own creation. He asks, “Who will give life to these bones when they have rotted away?” 79. Say to them O prophet: “He made made them in the first place will bring them back to life again! He is the Knower [Al-Aliim] of all creation.” 80. He is the One who creates fuel for you to kindle from the green trees. 81. Is not the One who created the heavens and the earth able to recreate them? Yes indeed! He is the Supreme Creator [Al-Khaliq], the All-knowing [Al-Aliim]! 82. All He needs to do to when He intends a thing to be is to say to it, “Be,” and it is. 83. So, Glory be to Him in Whose hand is dominion over all things! To Him you will be brought back!
The rendering of the 83rd surah of the Koran by Dr. Rodney Blackhirst. Dr Rodney Blackhirst (born 3 October 1960) is an Australian writer and academic working in the field of Philosophy and Religious Studies. He is currently lecturing at La Trobe University, Australia.
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