107 Preface وَفَدَيناهُ بِذِبحٍ عَظيمٍYusuf AliAnd We ransomed him with a momentous sacrifice:1The adjective qualifying “sacrifice” here, ‘aẓīm, (great, momentous) may be understood both in a literal and a figurative sense. In a literal sense it implies that a fine sheep or ram was substituted symbolically. The figurative sense is even more important. It was indeed a great and momentous occasion, when two men, with concerted will, “ranged themselves in the ranks” of those to whom self-sacrifice in the service of God was the supreme thing in life. This was a type of the service which Imām Ḥusain performed, many ages latter, in 60 A.H. as I have explained in a separate pamphlet. But note that the ransom, i.e., the commutation of sacrifice, was made not by the men, but by God. God wants our will and devotion, not necessarily our lives in a physical sense. He will find means, if we offer ourselves, to use us not for our destruction, but for our further advancement. In this sense, said Jesus, “he that loseth his life for my sake shall find it” (Matt. 10:39).