Quran Universe
36:45

وَإِذَا قِيلَ لَهُمُ ٱتَّقُواْ مَا بَيۡنَ أَيۡدِيكُمۡ وَمَا خَلۡفَكُمۡ لَعَلَّكُمۡ تُرۡحَمُونَ

Waitha qeela lahumu ittaqoo ma bayna aydeekum wama khalfakum laAAallakum turhamoona

But when it is said to them, "Beware of what is before you and what is behind you; perhaps you will receive mercy... "

Word by word
  1. وَإِذَاAnd when
  2. قِيلَit is said
  3. لَهُمُto them
  4. ٱتَّقُواْFear
  5. مَاwhat
  6. بَيۡنَ(is) before you
  7. أَيۡدِيكُمۡ(is) before you
  8. وَمَاand what
  9. خَلۡفَكُمۡ(is) behind you
  10. لَعَلَّكُمۡso that you may
  11. تُرۡحَمُونَreceive mercy
Ya-Sin · 36:45Makkah

Beware what is before you and behind you.

A call to mercy that went unanswered

The call
what is behindpast sins
what is aheadthe Day to come
fear them, so
mercysaved from punishment
The direction I look
only todayno past, no future
both waysfix the past, prepare ahead

Ibn Kathir says the idolaters ignored the sins they had committed and what was to come on the Day. Mujahid said it refers to sins. If they had heeded it, Allah would have had mercy on them. The wording implies they turned away.

You live in the moment, as the posters say. Old wrongs you never fixed. A future you never prepare for. The verse asks you to glance back and look ahead, then you reach mercy.

Looking back or worrying ahead is pointless. Just live now.

Repairing my past and preparing for my future is the path to mercy.

Try this

Seek forgiveness for one past sin and do one deed for your future today.

Simplified reflection. Read the tafsir for scholarship.draft
Tafsir Ibn Kathir

And when it is said to them: "Beware of that which is before you, and that which is behind you, in order that you may receive mercy. (45)And never came an Ayah from among the Ayat of their Lord to them, but they did turn away from it (46)And when it is said to them: "Spend of that with which Allah has provided you," those who disbelieve say to those who believe: "Shall we feed those whom, if Allah willed, He would have fed? You are only in a plain error. (47)

The Misguidance of the Idolators

Allah tells us how the idolators persisted in their misguidance and in not paying attention to the sins that they had committed in the past or what was to happen to them in the future, on the Day of Resurrection.

وَإِذَا قِيلَ لَهُمُ اتَّقُوا مَا بَيْنَ أَيْدِيكُمْ وَمَا خَلْفَكُمْ

(And when it is said to them: "Fear of that which is before you, and that which is behind you...") Mujahid said, "This refers to sins." Others said it is the opposite.

لَعَلَّكُمْ تُرْحَمُونَ

(in order that you may receive mercy.) means, 'so that, if you fear such things Allah will have mercy on you and will save you from His punishment.' The wording implies that they would not respond. Rather that they would turn away and ignore that, as Allah says:

وَمَا تَأْتِيهِمْ مِنْ آيَةٍ مِنْ آيَاتِ رَبِّهِمْ

(And never came an Ayah from among the Ayat of their Lord to them,) meaning, signs of Tawhid and the truth of the Messengers,

إِلَّا كَانُوا عَنْهَا مُعْرِضِينَ

(but they did turn away from it,) means, they did not accept it or benefit from it.

وَإِذَا قِيلَ لَهُمْ أَنْفِقُوا مِمَّا رَزَقَكُمُ اللَّهُ

(And when it is said to them: "Spend of that with which Allah has provided you,") means, when they are told to spend of that which Allah has provided to them on the poor and needy among the Muslims,

قَالَ الَّذِينَ كَفَرُوا لِلَّذِينَ آمَنُوا 

(those who disbelieve say to those who believe) means, about the believers who are poor, i.e., they say to those believers who tell them to spend on the needy,

 أَنُطْعِمُ مَنْ لَوْ يَشَاءُ اللَّهُ أَطْعَمَهُ 

(Shall we feed those whom, if Allah willed, He (Himself) would have fed?) meaning, 'those whom you are telling us to spend on, if Allah had wanted to, He would have made them independent and fed them from His provision, so we are in accordance with the will of Allah with regard to them.'

إِنْ أَنْتُمْ إِلَّا فِي ضَلَالٍ مُبِينٍ 

(You are only in a plain error.) means, 'by telling us to do that.'