Surah Ya-Sin according to Ibn 'Ajiba (1): the fetters of the soul
Contents
A translation of an extract from the work of the great eighteenth-century Moroccan Sufi master Ahmad Ibn ’Ajiba, and of his commentary al-Bahr al-Madid (“The Vast Ocean”).
His unique approach blends rigorous exegesis and deep contemplation, offering us isharat (allusions, subtle signs) concerning the spiritual realities veiled behind the words of the surah.
Ibn ’Ajiba reveals here some of the inner meanings of verses 8, 9 and 10 of surah Ya-Sin, the “heart of the Qur’an”:
“We shall put fetters round their necks, up to their chins; their heads will be held stiff and unmoving” (verse 8).
“We shall place a barrier before them and a barrier behind them. We shall wrap them on every side, so that they see nothing” (verse 9).
“It is the same for them whether you warn them or do not warn them: they will never believe” (verse 10).
Ibn ’Ajiba, a master in the art of isharat (spiritual allusions), interprets these verses describing waywardness and the cosmic signs as profound metaphors for the states of the soul on the way to God (suluk).
1. The fetters of the soul: the anatomy of the spiritual veil
“We put fetters round their necks, reaching to their chins, so that their heads are held erect.”
When the Qur’an describes the unbelievers with fetters and barriers, Ibn ’Ajiba discerns in it a precise description of the inner obstacles that hold us back far from God.
This is not merely an image of physical captivity. Spiritually, this fetter represents the pride and rigidity of the ego. It prevents us from accomplishing the fundamental gesture of submission: lowering the head, bowing our will before God’s. Ibn ’Ajiba specifies that it prevents one from lowering one’s head “before the saints of his time”, signifying the refusal to recognise spiritual authority, to seek guidance, to be humble enough to learn. It is the ego that rears up, chin high, refusing to bend.
2. The barriers before and behind
“And We shall place a barrier before them and a barrier behind them; We shall cover them with a veil, so that they can see nothing.”
These invisible walls imprison us in a temporal and psychological cage. The barrier in front represents our excessive preoccupation with the future: our incessant planning based on our desires and our fears, our attachments to material possessions and worldly ambitions. These projections prevent us from living in the presence of God, here and now, and veil His guidance for the future from us. The barrier behind symbolises our attachment to the past: regrets, resentments, but also ingrained bad habits, conditioning, repeated sins that constantly pull us backwards, preventing us from moving forward on the spiritual path. We are thus blocked, incapable of going towards God (ahead) or of freeing ourselves from what holds us back (behind).
3. The veil and the blindness
“It is the same for them whether you warn them or do not warn them: they will never believe.”
This is the direct consequence of those fetters. It is not physical blindness, but the blindness of the heart, of the inner eye (basira). The soul thus fettered becomes incapable of perceiving spiritual realities, of recognising God’s subtle signs in creation and in events, of hearing the inner call to return to Him. It is shut up in the world of the senses, a prisoner of illusion (ghafla, heedlessness). For some, as al-Wartajibi suggests, this veil may even be the reflection of an eternal decree, a predestination to waywardness, underlining the unfathomable depth of the divine Mystery.
Continued: the night, the day, the sun and the moon (verses 37 to 40). See also the introduction to the study of the Qur’an.
