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qīla dkhuli l-jannata qāla yā-layta qawmī yaʿlamūna
He was told, ‘Enter paradise!’ He said, ‘Alas! Had my people only known
— Ali Quli Qarai
36Yā-SīnيسVerse 26 of 83
Ya-Sin36. Yā-Sīnيس
Yā Sīn
Ya Sin
MeccanVerse 26 of 83
36Yā-SīnيسVerse 26 of 83
Ya Sin
He was told, ‘Enter paradise!’ He said, ‘Alas! Had my people only known
— Ali Quli Qarai
Surah Ya-Sin - Verses 25-27
25. “Verily I have believed in your lord, therefore hear me!”
26. “(Finally he became martyr.) It was said (unto him): ‘Enter Paradise.’ He said: ‘O’ would that my people had known,”
27. “That my Lord has forgiven me and made me of the honoured ones.”
The best way of invitation is a practical invitation. To become martyr in the path of supporting the Divine leader and enjoining the right, has a very long background in the history of man. This verse indicates that this believing champion, the struggler, after expressing these argumentations and effective propaganda, in the presence of a crowd, with a loud voice, said:
And do know that I am faithful to the invitation of these messengers. Then utilize my statement, too, because it is in your benefit. The question is: who is the addressee of this sentence, and also of the sentence which says:
The apparent of the previous verses shows that the addressees are the same polytheists and idolaters who were in that land. This meaning has been used in many verses of the Qur’an concerning pagans and at the time of stating the Monotheistic arguments.3 And also the Qur’anic sentence /fasma‘un/ (therefore hear me!) does not contrast to what was said, because he has mentioned this sentence to invite them to follow his own statement. It is similar to what has been mentioned in the story of the believer of ’Al-i-Fir‘aun, where, addressing the Pharaohs, he says:
This makes it clear the fact that some of the commentators have said the addressees in this sentence are the same messengers who had come from the side of Allah for the invitation of this group, and they have taken the word ‘rabbikum’ and the sentence ‘therefore hear me’ as a ‘frame of reference’ for it, for which there is no kind of evidence available. But, what did this obstinate group do in respect to this pure believer? The Qur’an says nothing about it, but it is understood from the tone of the later verses that they rebelled against him and killed him.
Yes, the enthusiastic and exiting words of this man which were accompanied with some strong arguments and some interesting points not only did not affect positively on those black hearts and on those mind full of deceit and pride, but also it lit such a fire of enmity and grudge in their hearts that they sprang and, with utmost callousness and cruelty, attacked this brave man to kill him. According to a narration, they stoned him and his body was so harshly thrown by stones that he fell down and died, while he constantly was saying:
“O’ would that my people had known.” 5
According to another narration they trampled him under their feet so violently that his soul flew to the heaven.6 But the Qur’an has stated this fact in an interesting and secret sentence:
This is the meaning which has been used in other verses of the Qur’an about the martyrs in the path of Allah:
It is interesting that this meaning shows that as soon as the martyrdom of this faithful man happened he entered Paradise. The length of the time between these two events was so short that the Qur’an, in its smooth meaning, instead of mentioning his martyrdom, had mentioned his arrival into Paradise; and how nigh is the way of Paradise and the eternal happiness to martyrs! It is clear that the purpose of Paradise here is the Purgatory Paradise, because it is understood from both the verses of the Qur’an and Islamic narrations that such a Paradise will be of the believers, and in the same manner there will be the Purgatory Hell for the wrong doers, too.
Thus, there will be another kind of Paradise and Hell in the purgatory world which are the samples of Paradise and Hell in Resurrection. There is a tradition about grave narrated from Amir-ul-Mu’mineen Ali (as) who said:
“The grave is either a garden from the gardens of Paradise, or it is a cavity out of the cavities of Hell.” 8
However, the pure soul of this man went up to the heavens and hastened toward the nearness of the Divine Mercy, in the bliss of Paradise, where whose only wish was that which the verse continues saying:
He wished that they had had an eye which was not covered with the thick heavy worldly material curtains and they could see whatever is behind this curtain; that is they might see these plenty of bounties, generosity and honour from the side of Allah and that they might know that, instead of their scorns, what the great favour Allah had done to him. He wishes they could see and believe. But alas! A tradition indicates that the Prophet (S) said:
“Verily this faithful man not only in his life wanted good for his people, but also after his death wished their guidance.” 9
It is noteworthy that at first he emphasized on the forgiveness of Allah and then upon His generosity, because, at first, the man’s soul should be purified from the pollution of sins with the spiritual water of forgiveness, and when it became purified, he might approach the rank of nearness and generosity of Allah. However, this was the end of this man, the true faithful champion, who did not have any shortcoming in fulfilling his duty and supporting the Divine prophets and, at last, he became martyr and succeeded to be admitted to the nearness of Allah’s Mercy.
Now, what was the end of that disobedient cruet nation? The Qur’an does not say anything about the end of those three prophets who were sent to that nation, but a group of commentators have written that, besides killing that faithful man, that nation killed their own prophets, too.
Footnotes