The Holy Quran with Five Volume Commentary (Vol 4) — Page 738
CH. 36 YA SİN PT. 22 وَجَعَلْنَا مِنْ بَيْنِ أَيْدِيهِمُ سَنَّا وَمِنْ And We have set a barrier. 10 before them and a barrier خَلْفِهِمْ سَدَّافَأَغْشَيْنَهُمْ فَهُمْ لَا يُبْصِرُونَ behind them, and have covered them over, so that they cannot see. 3218 وَسَوَاءٌ عَلَيْهِمْ وَاَنْذَر And it is alike to them. 11 تُنْذِرْهُمْ لَا يُؤْمِنُوْنَ whether thou warn them or warn them not: they will not believe. 3219 "2:7. derived from 3. They sayi. e. confusion, the word the camel raised his head from the water and refused to drink, his thirst being satisfied or by reason of his dislike of water. means, he raised his head and contracted his eyes. means, the collar caused his (the captive's) head to be raised by reason of the straitness thereof. means, he was proud; behaved proudly; or elevated his nose from pride. also signifies the elevating of the head by means of pride (Aqrab & Lane). Commentary: The reference in the word (chains) may be to the "shackles" of customs, usages, and prejudices, by which disbelievers are fettered and which prevent them from accepting the truth. The word (their heads are forced up) may also refer to disbelievers' notion of false superiority and pride which leads to the same result. The verse may have reference also to the Battle of Badr or to the Fall of Mecca. After the Battle of Badr the Meccan chiefs were brought in chains, and at the Fall of Mecca they were seized with utter (see root meaning of the word under "Important Words" above) giving a graphic description of their bewilderment and consternation when all of a sudden they found the Holy Prophet at the very gates of Mecca, at the head of an army of ten thousand strong. Their eyes remained fixed in a stare and they ran about with heads raised in bewilderment. 3218. Commentary: The barriers referred to in the verse may be the barriers of usages, prejudices, and pride of disbelievers. They could not look forward to the great and bright future which lay before them if they accepted Islam, and they did not look back to the histories of past peoples who rejected the truth and were seized with Divine punishment. The result of the barriers placed before and behind them was that they themselves became totally devoid of all spiritual light. 2652 3219. Commentary: The verse means to say that the inevitable result of disbelievers' deliberately shutting their eyes and