In the Name of God, the Lord of Grace, the Ever Merciful
(The messengers) replied: ‘The evil you forebode is within yourselves. (Why do you take this as an evil omen) when you are only being reminded of the truth? Truly, you are going too far.’
Then a man came from the farthest end of the city at speed. He said: ‘My people! Follow these messengers. Follow those who ask you for no reward, and are themselves rightly guided. Why should I not worship the One who has brought me into being? It is to Him that you will all return. Should I worship other deities besides Him? If the Lord of Grace should will that harm befall me, their intercession will avail me nothing, nor will they save me. Indeed, I should clearly be in error. I do believe in the Lord of you all; so listen to me.’
(Ya Sin: 36: 19-25)
The first verse in this passage concludes the scene between God’s messengers sent to a particular city and its unbelieving population. The task assigned to God’s messengers requires them to proceed along their way: “(The messengers) replied: The evil you forebode is within yourselves.” Forebodings of evil as a result of a message being delivered or a face being encountered is nothing but ignorant superstition. The messengers tell them so, and make clear to them that their share of good or evil comes from within themselves. In other words it relates to their actions and intentions. It is up to them to increase their share of goodness or evil. What God wills for people comes from within themselves and from their own choices and actions. This is the truth based on firm foundation. To associate bad omens with faces, places or words is superstitious nonsense.
The messengers also said to them: “(Why do you take this as an evil omen) when you are only being reminded of the truth?” Would you stone us and torture us only because we remind you of the truth? Is this how you reward reminders? “Truly, you are going too far.” You certainly exceed the limits of judgment if you reward a mere reminder with threats and punishment, and requite advocacy of the truth with stoning and torture.
Such was the response of hearts that would not open to God’s message. It is such people that were mentioned at the outset of the surah. The other type, who follow the reminder and fear God despite their inability to see Him, also have here a behavioral example to emulate: “Then a man came from the farthest end of the city at speed. He said: ‘My people! Follow these messengers. Follow those who ask you for no reward, and are themselves rightly guided. Why should I not worship the One who has brought me into being? It is to Him that you will all return. Should I worship other deities besides Him? If the Lord of Grace should will that harm befall me, their intercession will avail me nothing, nor will they save me. Indeed, I should clearly be in error. I do believe in the Lord of you all; so listen to me.’”
This is the response of sound human nature to the straightforward message of the truth: It reflects sincerity, simplicity, warmth and correct understanding. It shows us a man giving a positive response to the message, once he has recognized the elements of truth and sound logic in it.
He points out these elements to his people as he addresses them. When he felt the truth of faith in his heart, he could not stay quiet or sit at home caring nothing while the truth was being rebuffed and falsehood upheld all around him. Instead he actively advocated the truth among his people, among those who were threatening the messengers with severe punishment. He traveled from the furthest end of the city to fulfill his duty, to call on his people to espouse the truth and to stop their opposition to it and aggression against God’s messengers.
It is apparent that the man did not command a position of honor, power or influence among his people. He was an ordinary person motivated by faith to travel from one end of the city to the other to make his stand clear. “He said: ‘My people! Follow these messengers. Follow those who ask you for no reward, and are themselves rightly guided.” Anyone who advocates such a message, seeking no gain or reward, must be honest and sincere. What else could motivate him to undertake such trouble, enduring such opposition, unless he was required to do so by God? Why would he bear such a burden, confronting people with a faith that is unfamiliar to them, exposing himself in the process to threats, ridicule and persecution when he stood to make no gain nor earn any benefit?
“Follow those who ask you for no reward, and are themselves rightly guided.” That they are guided aright is obvious: They advocate belief in the One God, following a clear system, and a faith that is free of ambiguity and superstition. Their way is clearly straight.
The man then speaks about himself, outlining the reasons that motivated him to believe, and appealing to sound human nature: “Why should I not worship the One who has brought me into being? It is to Him that you will all return. Should I worship other deities besides Him? If the Lord of Grace should will that harm befall me, their intercession will avail me nothing, nor will they save me. Indeed, I should clearly be in error.” The question is posed by sound human nature which feels the presence of its Creator and the source of its existence: “Why should I not worship the One who has brought me into being?” Why would I deviate from this natural way which is the first to present itself to human nature? Needless to say, man is by nature attracted to his Creator and only deviates from Him under the pressure of some outside element. To turn to the Creator is the right and appropriate course, requiring no alien element or a pull from outside. The man here strongly feels this and states it clearly and simply.
