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ʾinnamā tundhiru mani ttabaʿa dh-dhikra wa-khashiya r-raḥmāna bi-l-ghaybi fa-bashshirhu bi-maghfiratin wa-ʾajrin karīmin
You can only warn someone who follows the Reminder and fears the All-beneficent in secret; so give him the good news of forgiveness and a noble reward.
— Ali Quli Qarai
Surah Ya-Sin - Verses 11
11. “You can only warn him who follows the reminder (Qur’an) and fears the Beneficent (Allah) in secret; so give him the good tidings of forgiveness and a generous wage.”
Qur’an is the cause of remembrance, and following it is the means of reminding that which has been forgotten and recalling the man’s passive nature. It is also necessary that fear and hope come beside each other. In the Qur’anic sentence: /xašiy-ar-rahman/ (fears the Beneficent (Allah)) there are both fear and mercy. In the previous holy verse, the words were about a group of people who had never the readiness of accepting the Divine warnings, and warning them or not is the same for them. But the verse under discussion speaks about another group who are just opposite of them, so that, by comparing them, as it is the style of the Holy Qur’an in discussions, the subject can be made more manifest.
It says:
And whoever is like that, to him you should give the glad tidings of forgiveness and worthy compensation. It continues saying:
These two qualities, in fact, are readiness and its ‘potential’ aspect. That is, warning can be effective only upon those who have a hearing ear and a receptive heart. Warning leaves two effects on them. The first is following the contents of the Holy Qur’an; and the second is to be in awe before Allah and for responsibilities. In other words, these two states potentially exist in them, but, after warning, they become active, in spite of the blind-hearted, obstinate and negligent persons who have neither a hearing ear nor are they ready to fear.
A great deal of the commentators believe that the objective meaning of the word /ŏikr/, in this verse, is the Holly Qur’an, because this word, in this form, has repeatedly been used in this very meaning. But it does not matter that the purpose of the word /ŏikr/ is its lexicographical meaning which is any kind of remembrance that includes the verses of the Holy Qur’an and other warnings of the Prophet (S) and those of the Divine leaders.