| Ya-Sin: (13) And present to them a parable...

And in this [verse] there are two interpretations, and the arrangement is clear in both interpretations.

The First Interpretation: The meaning is: "And present a parable for them."

The Second Interpretation: The meaning is: "And present a parable for yourself concerning the people of the town," meaning, present their situation as a parable to yourself.

Regarding the First Interpretation: When Allah said, {Indeed, you are one of the messengers} and {to warn}, He then commanded [the Prophet] to say to them: {I am not an innovator among the messengers}. Rather, shortly before me, the people of the town had messengers sent to them. They warned them with what you have warned them, mentioned the oneness of God (Tawhid), warned of the Resurrection, and gave good tidings of the bliss of the eternal abode.

Regarding the Second Interpretation: When Allah Almighty said that warning is of no benefit to one whom Allah has led astray and decreed that he will not believe, He said to the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him): "So do not grieve, and present a parable for yourself and your people." That is, present a parable to yourself of their situation, where three messengers came to them, yet they did not believe, and the messengers endured being killed and harmed. You have come to them alone, and your people are more numerous than the people of the three messengers, for they came to a town, whereas you were sent to the entire world.

In the Exegesis (Tafsir), there are several issues:

What is the meaning of the statement {And present a parable} when the word ḍarb (ضرب) in the language means either forcefully touching one body with another, or traveling (when coupled with a preposition, as in {when you go forth upon the earth})?

We say that the phrase ḍarba mathalan (ضرب مثلا) means "present a parable." This is because ḍarb is a noun for a category or type. It is said: "These things are of one ḍarb" (i.e., of one kind). Meaning, make this and that belong to the same category.

The meaning is: "And present to them a parable, the parable of the people of the town." The object (the parable itself) is omitted, and the Aṣḥāb (the people) are substituted in the grammatical case, similar to the verse: {And ask the town} (meaning, ask the people of the town). This is the view of Al-Zamakhshari in Al-Kashshāf.

Another possibility is that there is no need for an implied word; rather, the meaning is: "Make the people of the town a parable for them," or "Present the people of the town as a parable to them."

The word idh (إذ - when) is in the accusative case because it is a substitute for Aṣḥāb al-Qaryah (the people of the town). It is as if Allah Almighty said: "And present a parable for them at the time of the coming of the messengers," and He likened that time to the time of your coming [O Muhammad]. This is also the view of Al-Zamakhshari.

According to our view that this parable is presented to console the Prophet Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him), it is possible to say that idh is an adverb of time, accusative because of the command {And present}, as if the presentation of the parable should occur when they came and during that event.

The town was Antioch, and the messengers were from the community of Jesus (peace be upon him), and they were the closest messengers sent to a people before the time of Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him). There were three of them, as Allah Almighty clarified.

The phrase {When We sent} (Idh Arsalnā) has two possible interpretations:

1. That Idh Arsalnā is a substitute for Idh Jā’ahā (When they came to it). It is as if He said: "Present a parable to them when We sent two [messengers] to the people of the town."
2. This second interpretation is the soundest and clearest: Idh is an adverb of time, and the action occurring within that time is Jā’ahā (they came to it). Meaning, their coming was not by their own initiative, but they came to them because they were commanded to do so.

There is a subtle point here: In the narrative, the messengers were sent by Jesus (peace be upon him) to Antioch. Allah Almighty says: "The sending of Jesus (peace be upon him) is Our sending." A messenger of a messenger of Allah, by the permission of the Messenger of Allah, is also a messenger of Allah. Therefore, it should not occur to you, O Muhammad, that those messengers were messengers of a messenger while you are the Messenger of Allah. Their rejection is like your rejection, thus completing the consolation through the statement: {When We sent}.

This supports a jurisprudential issue: The agent of an agent, with the permission of the principal, is an agent of the principal, not just an agent of the agent. Thus, he is not dismissed if the agent dismisses him, but he is dismissed if the original principal dismisses him. This confirms that according to our view, the presentation of the parable {And present to them a parable} is clearly for the sake of Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him).

! 7 < {When We sent to them two, but they denied them both. So We strengthened [them] with a third, and they said, "Indeed, we have been sent to you."} 7

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