Surah Ya-Sin 36:20
سُورَةُ يسٓ · Meccan · Verse 20 of 83
وَجَآءَ مِنْ أَقْصَا ٱلْمَدِينَةِ رَجُلٌۭ يَسْعَىٰ قَالَ يَٰقَوْمِ ٱتَّبِعُوا۟ ٱلْمُرْسَلِينَ
Translation
Then, from the furthest part of the city, a man came running. He said, ‘My people, follow the messengers.
English translation: M.A.S. Abdel Haleem.
Meaning and reflection
'And there came, from the farthest part of the city, a man running, saying: O my people, follow the messengers.' The commentators (and the well-known account of the believer of the town) note he came from the farthest end, his conviction crossed the whole distance to speak up, running, while the powerful nearby stayed hostile. Ibn Ashur notes the sincerity in that haste. Ask yourself: when the truth is unpopular and everyone near it is against it, am I the one who moves toward it, who crosses distance and risk to stand with it, or the one who stays comfortably silent at the safe end of the crowd? One unknown man's running is honoured forever in the Qur'an. What is my instinct when standing for truth would cost me something?
Grounded in classical tafsir: Ibn Ashur, al-Biqa'i, Ibn Kathir.
Topics that discuss this verse
Surah Ya-Sin 36:20 is discussed in 11 study guides on Maani. Each guide gathers the key verses, Arabic words and lessons of one Quranic topic.
Reflect on this verse
Open Surah Ya-Sin 36:20 in Maani to reflect on it through the Five Lenses: its wording, its context, what it means for you, its connections across the Quran and its lessons, grounded in classical tafsir.