Verses 1–8
بِسْمِ اللَّهِ الرَّحْمنِ الرَّحِيمِ
In the name of Allah, the All-Merciful, the Ever-Merciful
This sūrah was revealed in Mecca and consists of 8 verses. It reminds the audience of the resurrection and divine retribution through charting the path of humankind. They are initially created in the ideal form, but then they differ with respect to whether or not they remain faithful to their pristine nature. Some depart from it and degenerate into the lowest of the low. Divine wisdom necessitates distinguishing between the consequence that each group will meet.
This chapter is likely Meccan given the verse: And by this secure land (). However, that is not explicit. Therefore, it could also be Medinan, having been revealed after the Prophet’s migration, at a time when he was back to Mecca.
Commentary
وَالتِّينِ وَالزَّيْتُونِ ١ وَطُورِ سِينِينَ ٢ وَهَٰذَا الْبَلَدِ الْأَمِينِ ٣
(95:1-3): By the fig and by the olive! By Mount Sinai! By this (hādhā) secure (al-amīn) land!
There are several views regarding what the fig and the olive refer to:
- They refer to the two conventional fruits. God swears by them because of their abundant benefits and unique properties.
- They refer to the fig tree and the olive tree, respectively.
- The fig refers to the mountain that Damascus was built upon, and the olive refers to the mountain that Jerusalem was built upon [Mount Zion].
Comment: Perhaps the mountains are referred to by these two trees because they grow there. And perhaps they are being sworn by because they were the provenance of a large number of prophets. There is more to the list.
By Mount Sinai! Mount Sinai is the mountain where God spoke with Prophet Moses, son of Amram (ʿImrān). It is called both Sīnīn [] and Saynāʾ [].
By this (hādhā) secure (al-amīn) land! This refers to the Holy Mecca, for its neighborhood has specifically been ordained as a sanctuary (haram). God says: Have they not seen that We have appointed a safe sanctuary? (). God also narrates Prophet Abraham’s supplications: My Lord, make this a secure land (); My Lord, make this land a sanctuary ().
The demonstrative pronoun “this” (hādhā) implies personification of the land, which is a way of exalting its status. There are two possible interpretations for the adjective secure:
- It means securing. It is a land which is possessed of security.
- It means secured. It is a town where people are secure and safe by other people’s attacks. Hence, using secure as an adjective for the land is figurative.
لَقَدْ خَلَقْنَا الْإِنْسَانَ فِي أَحْسَنِ تَقْوِيمٍ ٤}
(95:4) We have certainly created the human being in (fī) the fairest stature (taqwīm).
This is the complement of the oaths in the previous verses. The preposition “in” (fī) indicates that the best form contains all aspects of human existence. Taqwīm means “giving qiwām” to something, and qiwām means a basis or structure by which something can stand firmly. The human being refers to the human species as a genus. It means that the human archetype is created with an excellent structure.
The next verses—Then We relegated them to the lowest of the low… ()—clarify that having the fairest stature and structure in this verse refers to the human capacity. By the virtue of their creation they can rise to the highest record, win eternal happiness with their Lord, and be saved from damnation. God has equipped them with beneficial knowledge, and has enabled them to act righteously, as He says: By the soul and by What fashioned it, then inspired it with [discernment between] its virtues and its vices (). If humans have faith in what they know and persist in righteous deeds, God will uplift them, as He says: To Him ascends the good word, and He elevates righteous conduct (); Rather it is your Godwariness that reaches Him (); Allah will raise those of you who believe and those who have been given knowledge in rank (); for such shall be the highest ranks (). There are other similar verses which show how humans can be elevated through faith and righteous actions, as a perpetual gift from God. God calls this gift a reward: they shall have an unfailing reward ().
ثُمَّ رَدَدْنَاهُ أَسْفَلَ سَافِلِينَ ٥}
(95:5) Then We relegated them (radadnāhu, from radd) to the lowest (asfala) of the low.
Apparently radd is used in its usual meaning (rejecting, reducing, returning). The lowest of the low refers to the most degenerate condition: the worst of those who have lost out and plunged into wretchedness. It means: “We then lower the human being to the lowest position among the people enduring divine punishment.”
Two other possibilities are: (1) Radd is equivalent to jaʿl (making, turning, placing). The meaning would be: “We make them the lowest of the low.” (2) Radd is equivalent to taghyīr (changing, transforming). The meaning would be: “We change the human being to a state of having the lowest position.” In either case, the meaning of “lowliness” would be misery and punishment.
Here are some other suggested views on the verse:
- Being created in the fairest stature () refers to one’s youth, when one is strong, healthy and handsome. Then relegating them to the lowest of the low refers to becoming old and decrepit, where one loses both inner and outer strength. Thus one’s creation degenerates, as God says: And whomever We give a long life, We cause him to regress in creation ().
- The human being () only refers to the unfaithful, and being relegated to the lowest of the low speaks of that person’s descent into hellfire.
- Being relegated to the lowest of the low signifies the deterioration of one’s health through aging, and the exception in the next verse is an unconnected one.
Comment: Apparently the exception in the next verse—except for those who believe and do righteous deeds ()—is connected to the content of the current verse. For all people grow old, whether they are believers or disbelievers, virtuous or vicious. Saying that the believers—or the righteous believers—are exempted from that is an unwarranted claim.
إِلَّا الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا وَعَمِلُوا الصَّالِحَاتِ فَلَهُمْ أَجْرٌ غَيْرُ مَمْنُونٍ ٦}
(95:6) Except those who believe and do righteous deeds—then they shall have an unfailing (ghayr mamnūn) reward.
Ghayr mamnūn is synonymous with ghayr maqtūʿ (uninterrupted, unceasing, not cut off). This is a connected exception that is applied to the human being () as a genus.
… then they shall have (fa-lahum) an unfailing reward: This is a consequence of their belief and righteous deeds, indicated by the letter fāʾ (so, then, therefore). This confirms, through contrast, the view that the lowest of the low () means misery and divine punishment.
فَمَا يُكَذِّبُكَ بَعْدُ بِالدِّينِ ٧}
(95:7) So what (fa-mā) would make you deny retribution (bil-dīn)?
This verse speaks to the human species as a genus. Some exegetes say that it is addressed to the Prophet, but intended for others. The particle mā (what) introduces a rhetorical question that indicates rebuke. Retribution is the object which one is led to deny, and it means God’s recompense in the hereafter. The meaning offered by the exegetes is: “Given that We have put human beings into two groups—one which degenerates into abasement, and one which shall enjoy eternal reward—what would make you deny God’s retribution on the Day of Resurrection?”
أَلَيْسَ اللَّهُ بِأَحْكَمِ الْحَاكِمِينَ ٨}
(95:8) Is not Allah the most decisive of judges (aḥkam al-ḥākimīn, from ḥukm)?
This is a rhetorical question for the sake of affirmation. By referring to God as the most decisive of judges, it affirms that God is above all other judges in having the most accurate, solid and irrevocable verdict, which is unimpeded by uncertainty, weakness or annulment. Both in His initial creation of the people and the subsequent management their affairs, He rules over them in the firmest, most excellent and most penetrating way, as required by His infinite wisdom. If God is the most decisive of judges, and human beings are in two different groups with respect to their beliefs and acts, then divine wisdom necessitates that these two groups be distinguished in their eternal life, which will be upon the resurrection.
This should clarify the significance of the letter fāʾ (so, then, therefore) at the beginning of the last verse: So what (fa-mā) would make you deny retribution? (). It shows that the verse is the conclusion of God’s argument, the proof for which is to be found in the verses before it [] and the verse after it []. The premises of the argument are: (1) People are created with the best structure. (2) They then split into two groups, one group departing from their fair stature and crumbling into the lowest of the low, while the other remaining steadfast on their robust structure and pristine nature. (3) God, Who is in charge of directing their affairs, is the wisest of judges. His decisive wisdom decrees that the two groups must differ in their retribution. Given these premises, the conclusion is: Thus, there will be a day on which each group is recompensed for what it did, and there is no justification for denying it.
As one can see, the message of these verses is similar to the following: Shall We treat those who believe and do righteous deeds like those who cause corruption on the earth? Shall We treat the Godwary like the vicious? (); Do those who have perpetrated misdeeds suppose that We shall treat them as those who believe and do righteous deeds, their life and death being equal? Evil is the judgement that they make ().
Some exegetes have held that the last verse—So what would make you… ()—is addressed to the Prophet, where mā (what) means man (who), and ḥukm in the current verse means “judgment, rule, verdict.” Therefore, the meaning would be: “Since people are divided into these two groups, they must be distinguished by their retribution on the Promised Day. Given this, who would accuse you of lying about the judgment? Is not God the best judge? So He shall indeed judge between you and those who charge you with being a liar in your claims about the retribution.” As one can see, this interpretation suffers from unnecessary contrivance.
Examining Narrations
- Regarding By the fig and by the olive! By Mount Sinai! By this secure land () Tafsīr al-Qummī says: The fig is Medina. The olive is Jerusalem. Mount Sinai is Kūfah. This secure land is Mecca.
Author’s comment: This is also found in a narration from the Prophet via Imam al-Kāẓim. However, there is some problem with this interpretation.
- It is narrated that the fig and the olive () are al-Ḥasan and al-Ḥusayn [respectively]; Mount Sinai () is ʿAlī; and the secure land () is the Prophet.
Author’s comment: Such narrations are irrelevant to the apparent and primary meaning of the verse (called tafsīr).
- Once the Prophet was asked about the secure land (). He said: It is Mecca.
Here amīn is an active participial noun (ism al-fāʿil) and can be compared to lābin (milkman) and tāmir (seller of dates). (Auth.) ↩︎
Here the verbal pattern faʿīl is equivalent to mafʿūl (passive participial noun, accusative case). (Auth.)
More specifically, this is mafʿūl fīhi, which is the place where a verb occurs. (Ed.) ↩︎
The word asfala is manṣūb in in terms of inflection due to the omission of a particle that assigns the oblique case (called nazʿ al-khāfiḍ). (Auth.)
In this case, the omitted particle is ilá (to, toward). (Ed.) ↩︎
In these two interpretations, there is no omitted particle. (Ed.) ↩︎
See the first footnote under verse above for unconnected exception. (Ed.) ↩︎
This means that not all humans are relegated to the lowest of the low. Rather, humankind, as a species, are divided into two groups: one group falls to the lowest pits of hell; the other rises to an unfailing reward. (Ed.) ↩︎
The author will offer his own interpretation under the next verse. (Ed.) ↩︎
Aḥkam can mean both “firmest” and “wisest.” Its addition to al-ḥākimīn (judges, rulers) shows that the first meaning is intended. Nevertheless, some of the author’s discussions here are based on the sense of wisdom implied by the term. (Ed.) ↩︎
Al-Durr al-manthūr, on the authority of Ibn Mardawayh, on the authority of Jābir b. ʿAbd-Allāh, on the authority of Khuzaymat b. Thābit, not al-Anṣārī. ↩︎