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wa-ʾidhā qīla lahumu ttaqū mā bayna ʾaydīkum wa-mā khalfakum laʿallakum turḥamūna
And when they are told, ‘Beware of that which is before you and that which is behind you, so that you may receive [His] mercy…’
— Ali Quli Qarai
36Yā-SīnيسVerse 45 of 83
Ya-Sin36. Yā-Sīnيس
Yā Sīn
Ya Sin
MeccanVerse 45 of 83
Surah Ya-Sin - Verses 45-46
45. “And when it is said to them: ‘Be in awe of that which is before you and that which is behind you; haply you will be treated with mercy, (they turn back).”
46. “And there comes not to them any sign from the signs of their Lord but they turn aside from it.”
Piety is the secret of receiving the mercy of Allah. The signs of Allah are many, but the People's acceptance is little. In the former verses the words were about some important discussions concerning the Divine signs in the expanse of the world of existence. In the verses under discussion the reaction of the obstinate pagans against the Divine verses, and also the invitation of the Prophet of Islam (S) and warning to the punishment of Allah have been stated.
By the first holy verse, it says:
Concerning the Qur’anic phrases:
and their meanings, commentators have delivered different interpretations the most important of which is that the purpose of the Qur’anic phrase /ma bayna ’aydikum/ (that which is before you) is the chastisements of the world that one example of which is mentioned in the previous verses; and the purpose of the phrase /ma xalfakum/ is the chastisements of the Hereafter which they have in behind, and the application of ‘behind’ is for the sake that they have not come yet, as if they are running behind the one’s back and finally they reach him one day and will encompass him.
The purpose of ‘being in awe of them’ is that he may not create their factors and, in other words, he would not do something that he should meet these terrible chastisements. The evidence for this statement is that the application of the Qur’anic term /’ittaqu/ in the verses of the Qur’an is either in concern with Allah, or in concern with Hereafter Day and Divine punishments that, in fact, both return to one meaning, because to be in awe of Allah (s.w.t.) is to be in awe of His punishment.
This itself is a proof upon the fact that to be in awe of Divine punishment mentioned in the verse under discussion is also the chastisement in this world and the next. The second verse emphasizes again on the same meaning, and distinguishes the obstinacy of the blind hearted people in neglecting the verses of Allah and the prophet’s teachings, where it says:
Neither is the statement of introversive verses effective in them, nor is the explanation of the extroversive verses; neither threat nor glad-tiding to the mercy of Allah. They accept neither the logic of intellect nor the command of sympathy and nature. They are like some blind persons who do not see the nearest things around them and do not differ between the light of the sun and the darkness of the night.