8 Preface إِنّا جَعَلنا في أَعناقِهِم أَغلالًا فَهِيَ إِلَى الأَذقانِ فَهُم مُقمَحونَYusuf AliWe have put yokes1 round their necks right up to their chins, so that their heads are forced up (and they cannot see).Man’s misdeeds inevitably call forth the operation of God’s Law, and therefore the result is in Qur-ānic language attributed to God. The result of man’s willful disobedience is now described in a series of metaphors. (1) Refusal of God’s Light means less and less freedom of action for man: the yoke of sin is fastened round man’s neck, and it gets more and more tightened, right up to the chin. (2) The head is forced up and kept in a stiff position, so that the mind becomes befogged. Moral obliquity taints the intellect. According to the Sanskrit proverb, “When destruction comes near, understanding is turned upside down.” According to the Latin proverb, “Whom God wishes to destroy, He first makes demented.” In other words, iniquity not only is folly, but leads deeper and deeper into folly, narrowness of vision, and blindness to the finer things of life. (3) This state of deprivation of Grace leads to such a decline in spiritual vitality that the victim can neither progress nor turn back, as explained in the next verse.