Table of Contents

The Virtue of Surah Ya-Sin
Section 1: The Qur’an, The Apostle and the Manifest Guide
Surah Ya-Sin - Verses 1-4

83 verses in 5 Sections

بِسْمِ اللَّهِ الرَّحْمَنِ الرَّحِيمِ

In The Name of Allah, The Beneficent, The Merciful

This Surah has been revealed in Mecca. It contains eighty three verses and has been entitled by the name of its first verse, which is from the abbreviated letters, Ya-Sin.

The subjective points of this Surah are based on axis of beliefs. Teaching it to the children and gifting the reward of its recitation to the dead have been recommended.

This holy Surah begins with Allah’s testifying upon the prophethood of the Prophet of Islam (S) and it continues with the statement of the prophethood of three Divine prophets.

In a part of this Surah, some verses of the greatness of Allah in the world of existence as the sign of Unity have been pointed out. In another part of it, the matters concerning to Resurrection, questions and answers in the Court of Hereafter, and some specialties of Paradise and Hell are mentioned. In some Islamic narrations, this Surah has been introduced as ‘The heart of Qur’an’.

The Virtue of Surah Ya-Sin

According to numerous Islamic traditions which have been vastly received on this concern, Surah Ya-Sin is one of the most important Suras of the Qur’an, in a manner that it has been introduced in some traditions as ‘The Heart of the Qur’an’.

A tradition narrated from the Prophet of Islam (S) indicates he said:

“Everything has heart (centre) and Ya-Sin is the heart of the Qur’an.”1

This very meaning has been narrated in a tradition from Imam Sadiq (as) who, at its end, adds:

“Whoever recites Surah Ya-Sin on a day before sun sets, during the whole day he will be protected and sustained (affluently); and whoever recites it at night before sleeping, one thousand angels will be for him to protect him from any accursed Satan and any impediment.”

And after it, he (as) mentions some other important virtues for it, too.¹

There are so many other Islamic traditions on this regard mentioned in the Sunnites and Shi‘ites books that if we want to reiterate them, it will be a long explanation. Thus, it must be confessed that there are few suras of the Qur’an which have so many virtues in them.

As we have said, these virtues are not for those who only recite the words of it and forget its meanings, but this greatness is for the sake of the magnificent content of this Surah.

The content of the Surah is awakening, faith-giving, giver of responsibility, and increaser of piety in man, in a manner that when a person contemplates in it and this contemplation reflects in his deeds, it brings the goodness of this world and the next for him.

Section 1: The Qur’an, The Apostle and the Manifest Guide

Surah Ya-Sin - Verses 1-4

بِسْمِ اللَّهِ الرَّحْمنِ الرَّحِيمِ‌ يس (1) وَ الْقُرْآنِ الْحَكِيمِ (2) إِنَّكَ لَمِنَ الْمُرْسَلِينَ (3) عَلی‌ صِراطٍ مُسْتَقِيمٍ (4)

In The Name of Allah, The Beneficent, The Merciful

1. “Ya Sin (Y.S)”

2. “By the Qur’an, full of Wisdom,”

3. “Verily you are of the messengers,”

4. “On a straight path.”

In spite of the kinds of accusations which were said to the Prophet (S), like: poet, soothsayer, sorcerer, and insane, Allah, the Wise, swears by the Qur’an full of wisdom and emphasizes on the messengership of the Prophet (S).

It says:

“Ya Sin” “By the Qur’an, full of Wisdom,”

It swears by the Qur’an which has been sent down from His side. This explains its greatness and sacredness.

Similar to twenty eight other Suras of the Qur’an, this Surah begins with abbreviated letters:

(Ya Sin).

About the commentary of the abbreviated letters of the Holy Qur’an, there have been explained some discussions in details at the beginning of Suras: Al-Baqarah, ’Al-i-‘Imran, and Al-’A‘raf.

But there are some other interpretations about the abbreviated letters of Ya Sin, too, including the following:

This term contains: ‘Ya’ (a vocative particle) and ‘Sin’ viz., the Prophet of Islam (S), and thus, the holy Prophet (S) is addressed for the statement of the later matters.

Some Islamic traditions also indicate that this term is one of the names of the holy Prophet of Islam (S).

Imam Sadiq (as) in a tradition said:

“Ya-Sin is the name of The Messenger of Allah (S) and its evidence is the word of Allah, The Exalted, Who said:

‘Verily you are of the messengers’

‘On straight path’.”3

Next to these abbreviated letter, like many other Suras of the Qur’an which have began with abbreviated letters, the words are about the Holy Qur’an, but here Allah swears by them and says:

“By the Qur’an, full of wisdom.”

It is interesting that Qur’an is qualified by the word /hakim/ while this word is usually the quality of an alive and wise person. As if it introduces the Qur’an as a wise, living, and leading leader that can open the doors of wisdom to human beings, and lead them to the straight way that will be pointed out in later verses.

Of course, Allah does not need to take any oath, but the oaths of the Qur’an have always two important usages. The first is an emphasis on the concerning matter, and the second is the statement of the greatness of the thing by which is sworn, for nobody takes an oath to the worthless things.

Therefore, in the next holy verse, the Qur’an reiterates the thing for which the oath in the previous verse has been taken.