Surah 36. Yasin

O THOU human being!¹

  - Mohammad Asad

Whereas some of the classical commentators incline to the view that the letters y-s (pronounced ya sin) with which this surah opens belong to the category of the mysterious letter-symbols (al-muqatta'at) introducing a number of Qur'anic chapters (see Appendix II), Abd Allah ibn 'Abbas states that they actually represent two distinct words, namely the exclamatory particle ya ("O") and sin, which in the dialect of the tribe of Tayy' is synonymous with insan ("human being" or "man"): hence, similar to the two syllables ta ha in surah {20}, ya sin denotes "O thou human being!" This interpretation has been accepted by 'Ikrimah, Ad-Dahhak, Al-Hasan al-Basri, Sa'id ibn Jubayr, and other early Qur'an-commentators (see Tabari, Baghawi, Zamakhshari, Baydawi, Ibn Kathir, etc.). According to Zamakhshari, it would seem that the syllable sln is an abbreviation of unaysin, the diminutive form of insan used by the Tayy' in exclamations. (It is to be borne in mind that in classical Arabic a diminutive is often expressive of no more than endearment: e.g., ya bunayya, which does not necessarily signify "O my little son" but, rather, "my dear son" irrespective of the son's age.) On the whole, we may safely assume that the words ya sin apostrophize the Prophet Muhammad, who is explicitly addressed in the sequence, and are meant to stress - as the Qur'an so often does - the fact of his and all other apostles' humanness.

Ya Sin.

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

Ya Sin.

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

Consider this Qur'an full of wisdom:

  - Mohammad Asad

I swear by the Qur'an which is full of Wisdom

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

By the wise Qur'an,

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

verily, thou art indeed one of God's message-bearers,²

  - Mohammad Asad

This statement explains the adjurative particle wa (rendered by me as "Consider") at the beginning of the preceding verse - namely: "Let the wisdom apparent in the Qur'an serve as an evidence of the fact that thou art an apostle of God". As regards my rendering of al-qur'an al-haklm as "this Qur'an full of wisdom", see note [2] on 10:1 .

that you are indeed one of the Rasools who are sent

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

Lo! thou art of those sent

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

pursuing a straight way

  - Mohammad Asad

on a Straight Way.

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

On a straight path,

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

by [virtue of] what is being bestowed from on high by the Almighty, the Dispenser of Grace,³

  - Mohammad Asad

rf 14:50 - "if I am on the right path, it is but by virtue of what my Sustainer reveals unto me".

This Qur'an is revealed by the Almighty, the Merciful.

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

A revelation of the Mighty, the Merciful,

  - Marmaduke Pickthall