36:6 Yaseen (Yaseen)

أنزلناه عليك -أيها الرسول- لتحذر به قومًا لم يُنْذَرْ آباؤهم من قبلك، وهم العرب، فهؤلاء القوم ساهون عن الإيمان والاستقامة على العمل الصالح. وكل أمة ينقطع عنها الإنذار تقع في الغفلة، وفي هذا دليل على وجوب الدعوة والتذكير على العلماء بالله وشرعه؛ لإيقاظ المسلمين من غفلتهم.

فلما أقسم تعالى على رسالته وأقام الأدلة عليها، ذكر شدة الحاجة إليها واقتضاء الضرورة لها فقال: { لِتُنْذِرَ قَوْمًا مَا أُنْذِرَ آبَاؤُهُمْ فَهُمْ غَافِلُونَ } وهم العرب الأميون، الذين لم يزالوا خالين من الكتب، عادمين الرسل، قد عمتهم الجهالة، وغمرتهم الضلالة، وأضحكوا عليهم وعلى سفههم عقول العالمين، فأرسل اللّه إليهم رسولا من أنفسهم، يزكيهم ويعلمهم الكتاب والحكمة، وإن كانوا من قبل لفي ضلال مبين، فينذر العرب الأميين، ومن لحق بهم من كل أمي، ويذكر أهل الكتب بما عندهم من الكتب، فنعمة اللّه به على العرب خصوصا، وعلى غيرهم عموما. ولكن هؤلاء الذين بعثت فيهم لإنذارهم بعدما أنذرتهم، انقسموا قسمين: قسم رد لما جئت به، ولم يقبل النذارة، وهم الذين قال اللّه فيهم { لَقَدْ حَقَّ الْقَوْلُ عَلَى أَكْثَرِهِمْ فَهُمْ لَا يُؤْمِنُونَ }

وقوله تعالى "لتنذر قوما ما أنذر آباؤهم فهم غافلون" يعني بهم العرب فإنه ما أتاهم من نذير من قبله وذكرهم وحدهم لا ينفي من عداهم كما أن ذكر بعض الأفراد لا ينفي العموم وقد تقدم ذكر الآيات والأحاديث المتواترة في عموم بعثته صلى الله عليه وسلم.

that you may warn therewith a people qawman connected to tanzīla ‘a revelation’ whose fathers were not warned in the period of the interval al-fatra so they this people are oblivious to faith and right guidance.

The word: آباء (fathers) in verse 6: لِتُنذِرَ‌ قَوْمًا مَّا أُنذِرَ‌ آبَاؤُهُمْ (so that you may warn a people whose fathers were not warned) means the Arabs. The sense is that no warner, that is, a prophet, has come to their ancestors since a long time, the reference being to the ones nearer among them.

Since the coming of their patriarch, Sayyidna Ibrahim علیہ السلام and with him, Sayyidna Isma'il (علیہ السلام) no prophet had appeared among the Arabs for several centuries, even though, the work of calling people to the true faith with warnings and glad tidings kept going on as mentioned in the verse of the Qur'an:' وَإِن مِّنْ أُمَّةٍ إِلَّا خَلَا فِيهَا نَذِيرٌ‌ (and there was no community without a warner having passed among them - 35:24) also confirms the same truth - that Divine mercy has never kept any nation or community deprived of the essential call and warning at any time and in any region. But, it is obvious that teachings of prophets when communicated by their deputies do not bring about the same effect as it is witnessed when the prophets do it in person. Therefore, in the present verse, it was said about the Arabs that no warner came to them. As fall out of this situation, there was no regular system of education in Arabia where people could learn and teach which was why they came to be called: أُمِّيِّينَ (ummiyyun: the unlettered ones).

That thou mayest warn a people whose fathers were not warned, so they are heedless. The heedless are two. First are those who are heedless of the work of the religion and unaware of seeking for their own wholesomeness. They have applied their heads to this world and become drunk with appetite. They have shut the eyes of reflective thought and heedfulness. The result for them is as the Exalted Lord says: “Those who are heedless of Our signs, it is they whose refuge will be the Fire for what they were earning” [10:7-8]. A report has come: “I wonder at him who is heedless though he is not unheeded.” Second are the admirable heedless. They are heedless of this world's work and of arranging their livelihood. The ruling power of the Haqiqah has gained mastery over their inwardness. They are so consumed by the unveiling of the majesty of Unity that they are absent from themselves. They have no news of this world, nor of the afterworld. With the tongue of their state they say, This world is in the hand of intellect, that world in the hand of the spirit- put the foot of your aspiration on the neck of both headmen. [DS 719]