وَسَوَآءٌ عَلَيْهِمْ ءَأَنذَرْتَهُمْ أَمْ لَمْ تُنذِرْهُمْ لَا يُؤْمِنُونَ · إِنَّمَا تُنذِرُ مَنِ ٱتَّبَعَ ٱلذِّكْرَ وَخَشِىَ ٱلرَّحْمَٰنَ بِٱلْغَيْبِ فَبَشِّرْهُ بِمَغْفِرَةٍ وَأَجْرٍ كَرِيمٍ
Wa sawāʾun ʿalayhim a-andhartahum am lam tundhirhum lā yuʾminūn · Innamā tundhiru mani'ttabaʿa'dh-dhikra wa khashiya'r-Raḥmāna bi'l-ghayb, fa-bashshirhu bi-maghfiratin wa ajrin karīm
"It is the same for them whether you warn them or do not warn them; they will not believe. You can warn only the one who follows the reminder and fears the Merciful unseen. Give him, then, the good news of forgiveness and a generous reward."
The sentence of the tenth verse is almost word for word the same as al-Baqara 2/6:
| Place | Text |
|---|---|
| al-Baqara 2/6 | inna'lladhīna kafarū sawāʾun ʿalayhim a-andhartahum am lam tundhirhum lā yuʾminūn |
| Yāsīn 36/10 | sawāʾun ʿalayhim a-andhartahum am lam tundhirhum lā yuʾminūn |
The difference lies in one thing alone: in al-Baqara the subject of the sentence is named at the outset (inna'lladhīna kafarū), in Yāsīn it is not named — because the subject had already been given in the preceding verse (aktharihim).
This is a verifiable commonality and can be used for the exegesis of the Qurʾān by the Qurʾān: this sentence was dwelt upon in the discussion of al-Baqara; I rely on that treatment. What belongs here is this: in Yāsīn the sentence comes after a description (8-9), in al-Baqara inside a classification.
سَوَآء — root س-و-ي: equality, equivalence. Istiwāʾ is from the same root. The word here does not mean "it makes no difference" but "the two possibilities carry equal weight".
Word order: a-andhartahum am lam tundhirhum — am here is the muʿādila, the am of equivalence: a link between two equal alternatives. It is close to the English "whether … or …".
What this sentence says is different from what it appears to say at first glance, and it must be read carefully. The sentence does not say "you can warn only these" — in the sixth verse of the sūra the Prophet was charged with warning a people, and in the seventieth verse the warning will still be going on.
What the sentence says is where the warning works. In Arabic a verb can be named by its outcome: tundhiru here means "you bring about the outcome of warning". The lexicographers and the exegetes record this distinction.
| Condition | Word | What it announces |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Ittabaʿa'dh-dhikr | Following the reminder — outward, an act |
| 2 | Khashiya'r-Raḥmāna bi'l-ghayb | Fearing without seeing — inward, a state |
A point of word order: the first condition is an act (he followed), the second an inward state (he feared). And the order runs from outside inward. I record this as my own reading: the verse ties the measure neither to behaviour alone nor to feeling alone; it joins the two with a wāw and sets them side by side.
This construction occurs word for word in the same form at Qāf 50/33: man khashiya'r-Raḥmāna bi'l-ghaybi wa jāʾa bi-qalbin munīb.
In both places the same three elements are present: the verb khashiya, the name al-Raḥmān, the qualification bi'l-ghayb. This is a verifiable commonality.
خ-ش-ي — the root: a fear that rests on knowledge. The lexicographers distinguish khashya from khawf (fear): khawf is the fear felt in the face of danger, whereas khashya is the awe that arises from knowing the greatness of what is feared. The root has occurred in several places in the index; I do not repeat it here.
بِٱلْغَيْب — "without seeing". The bāʾ here announces a circumstantial state: the condition of the person. The awe, that is, is not towards something he sees.
And the choice of name is worth recording: al-Raḥmān. The one feared is named by the name of mercy. This was dwelt upon in the discussion of Qāf; I rely on that treatment.
A note within the sūra: al-Raḥmān occurs four times in Yāsīn, and the four are in four different mouths:
| Verse | Who / in what context |
|---|---|
| 11 | The narrator — the description of the one who fears |
| 15 | Those who deny — "the Merciful has sent down nothing" |
| 23 | The man who came running — "if the Merciful wills harm for me" |
| 52 | Those raised — "this is what the Merciful promised" |
All four occurrences can be verified. My own reading: the same name occurs throughout the sūra in the mouth of the denier, of the believer and of the one raised alike. And those who deny use it inside the sentence of denial (15) — that is, they know the name; what they reject is the sending down.
Word order: fa-bashshirhu — the pronoun is singular. In the preceding clause man (whoever) had occurred; man is singular in form. The warning is directed to a body, the good news to one person. It is a difference of word order that can be recorded.
أَجْرٍ كَرِيم — root ك-ر-م. The lexicographers give the core of the root as "being the good of its kind, generosity". The adjective is used here of the reward: that what is given in return is of worth.
And it comes indefinite — maghfiratin, ajrin. The lexicographers explain this use of the indefinite as magnification (taʿẓīm): a quantity not stated, a limit not given.