بِسْمِ اللّٰهِ الرَّحْمٰنِ الرَّحِيْمِ
وَ التِّیۡنِ وَ الزَّیۡتُوۡنِ ۙ﴿۱﴾ وَ طُوۡرِ سِیۡنِیۡنَ ۙ﴿۲﴾ وَ ہٰذَا الۡبَلَدِ الۡاَمِیۡنِ ۙ﴿۳﴾ لَقَدۡ خَلَقۡنَا الۡاِنۡسَانَ فِیۡۤ اَحۡسَنِ تَقۡوِیۡمٍ ۫﴿۴﴾ ثُمَّ رَدَدۡنٰہُ اَسۡفَلَ سٰفِلِیۡنَ ۙ﴿۵﴾ اِلَّا الَّذِیۡنَ اٰمَنُوۡا وَ عَمِلُوا الصّٰلِحٰتِ فَلَہُمۡ اَجۡرٌ غَیۡرُ مَمۡنُوۡنٍ ؕ﴿۶﴾ فَمَا یُکَذِّبُکَ بَعۡدُ بِالدِّیۡنِ ؕ﴿۷﴾ اَلَیۡسَ اللّٰہُ بِاَحۡکَمِ الۡحٰکِمِیۡنَ ٪﴿۸﴾
اللہ کے نام سے جو رحمان و رحیم ہے۔
قسم ہے انجیر اور زیتون کی1 اور طورِ سینا2 اور اِس پُر امن شہر ﴿مکّہ﴾ کی، ہم نے انسان کو بہترین ساخت پر پیدا کیا3، پھر اُسے اُلٹا پھیر کر ہم نے سب نِیچوں سے نیچ کر دیا4، سوائے اُن لوگوں کے جو ایمان لائے اور نیک عمل کرتے رہے کہ ان کے لیے کبھی ختم نہ ہونے والا اجر ہے5۔ پس ﴿اے نبی ؐ ﴾ اِس کے بعد کون جزا و سزا کے معاملہ میں تم کو جھُٹلا سکتا ہے6؟ کیا اللہ سب حاکموں سے بڑا حاکم نہیں ہے7؟ ؏١
TRANSLATION
Surah At-Tin (Chapter 95) — English Translation
In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful.
1. By the fig and the olive,
2. And by Mount Sinai,
3. And by this secure city (Makkah),
4. We have certainly created man in the best of stature,
5. Then We return him to the lowest of the low,
6. Except for those who believe and do righteous deeds, for they will have a reward uninterrupted.
7. So what yet causes you to deny the Recompense?
8. Is not Allah the most just of judges?
This is Surah At-Tin, the 95th chapter of the Quran. It consists of 8 verses and takes its name from the fig (teen) mentioned in the opening verse.
Explanations of foot notes
Surah At-Tin — Footnote No. 1
There has been considerable disagreement among commentators regarding its interpretation. Hasan al-Basri, Ikrimah, Ata ibn Abi Rabah, Jabir ibn Zayd, Mujahid, and Ibrahim al-Nakha’i (may Allah have mercy on them) hold that “fig” refers to the actual fig that people eat, and “olive” refers to the actual olive from which oil is extracted. Ibn Abi Hatim and al-Hakim have also transmitted a statement from Abdullah ibn Abbas (may Allah be pleased with him) in support of this view. Those commentators who accepted this interpretation described the properties and benefits of figs and olives, expressing the opinion that Allah took an oath by these two fruits on account of these very qualities. There is no doubt that an ordinary Arabic speaker, upon hearing the words teen and zaytoon, would take them in their well-known Arabic meanings. However, there are two reasons that prevent this interpretation.
First, the oath that follows is by Mount Sinai and the city of Makkah, and there appears to be no fitting connection between swearing by two fruits alongside two locations. Second, while Mount Sinai and the city of Makkah clearly point to the subject matter stated after the four oaths, these two fruits do not point to it. Wherever Allah has taken an oath by something in the Quran, it is not on account of its greatness or its benefits, but rather every oath points to the subject matter that is stated after it. Therefore, the properties of these two fruits cannot be considered the reason for the oath.
Some other commentators have taken teen and zaytoon to refer to certain places. Ka’b al-Ahbar, Qatadah, and Ibn Zayd say that teen refers to Damascus and zaytoon refers to Jerusalem. Ibn Jarir, Ibn Abi Hatim, and Ibn Mardawayh have transmitted a statement from Ibn Abbas (may Allah be pleased with him) that teen refers to the mosque that Prophet Noah built on Mount Judi, and zaytoon refers to Jerusalem. However, upon hearing the words wat-teeni waz-zaytoon, an ordinary Arab could not have arrived at these meanings, nor was it commonly known among the Arabs — who were the primary audience of the Quran — that teen and zaytoon were names of those places.
However, there was a practice common among the Arabs that a region where a particular fruit was abundantly produced would sometimes be named after that fruit. In light of this usage, the words teen and zaytoon could mean “the land where figs and olives grow,” i.e., the region of Syria and Palestine, because in the Arabia of that era, this region was well known for the production of figs and olives. Ibn Taymiyyah, Ibn al-Qayyim, al-Zamakhshari, and al-Alusi (may Allah have mercy on them) adopted this very interpretation. Ibn Jarir, though he preferred the first view, acknowledged alongside it that teen and zaytoon could refer to the region that produces these fruits. Hafiz Ibn Kathir also regarded this interpretation as worthy of consideration.
Surah At-Tin — Footnote No. 2
The original Arabic uses the words “Turi Sineen.” Sineen is another name for the Sinai Peninsula. It is also called Sina or Sinai, and likewise Sineen. In the Quran itself, the words “Tur Sina” are used in one place. Since the region in which Mount Tur is located is famously known by the name Sinai, we have used this well-known name in the translation.
Surah At-Tin — Footnote No. 3
This is the very point for which the oath was taken by the region of figs and olives — that is, Syria and Palestine — and by Mount Tur and the peaceful city of Makkah.
The meaning of man being created in the best of stature is that he was granted a body of the highest order, one not given to any other living creature, and he was blessed with outstanding capacities of thought, understanding, knowledge, and reason that have not been granted to any other creation. Furthermore, since the most elevated example of this excellence and perfection of the human species is found in the Prophets (peace be upon them) — and no creation can attain a rank higher than being chosen by Allah to be granted prophethood — the oath is therefore sworn by those places that are associated with the Prophets of God, as testimony to man’s creation upon the finest form.
The region of Syria and Palestine is the region where, from Prophet Ibrahim (Abraham) to Prophet Isa (Jesus), peace be upon them, a great number of Prophets were sent. Mount Tur is the place where Prophet Musa (Moses), peace be upon him, was granted prophethood. As for the noble city of Makkah, its very foundation was laid by the hands of Prophet Ibrahim and Prophet Ismail (Ishmael), peace be upon them, and it was through them that it became the most sacred central city of Arabia. It was Prophet Ibrahim himself who supplicated: “Rabbi ij’al hadha baladan aminan” — “O my Lord, make this a city of peace” (Al-Baqarah: 126). It was the blessing of this very prayer that, amid the widespread disorder and insecurity prevailing throughout Arabia, this one city alone had been a cradle of peace for two and a half thousand years.
The purpose of the passage, therefore, is this: We created the human species in such a finest form that from within it arose human beings of as lofty a station as prophethood.
Surah At-Tin — Footnote No. 4
Commentators have generally offered two meanings for this verse. The first is that We returned him to the most decrepit age — that is, a state of extreme old age in which he is no longer capable of thinking, understanding, or functioning. The second is that We cast him down to the lowest level of Hell. However, neither of these two meanings can serve as evidence for the purpose for which this Surah was revealed. The purpose of the Surah is to argue for the truth of reward and punishment. Neither the fact that some people are reduced to a state of extreme weakness in old age, nor the fact that a group of people will be cast into Hell, serves as evidence for this. The first cannot be a proof of reward and punishment because old age overtakes both good and bad people alike, and reaching that condition is not a punishment given to anyone for their deeds. As for the second, it is a matter that will occur in the Hereafter — how can it be presented as an argument to those who are being persuaded of the very reality of reward and punishment in the Hereafter?
Therefore, in our view, the correct meaning of the verse is this: after being created in the finest form, when a person uses the powers of his body and mind in the path of evil, Allah enables him further toward evil, and by degrees brings him down to such an extreme of degradation that no other creature reaches that level of lowness. This is a reality that is abundantly observable within human society. Those who sink into greed, covetousness, selfishness, lust, addiction, baseness, rage and fury, and similar vices, do indeed become, in a moral sense, the lowest of the low.
Take just one example: when one nation becomes blind in its enmity toward another, how it surpasses all beasts in savagery. A wild beast hunts another animal only for its food — it does not carry out mass slaughter. But this human being, created in the finest form, uses his intellect to invent cannons, guns, tanks, aircraft, atomic bombs, hydrogen bombs, and countless other weapons, so that he may destroy entire settlements in an instant. A beast only wounds or kills. But man devises such agonizing methods of tormenting his fellow human beings that no beast could ever conceive of them. Then, to quench the fire of his enmity and vengeance, he descends to such extremes of baseness — parading women naked, groups of ten or twenty men violating a single woman, despoiling the honor of household women before the eyes of their fathers, brothers, and husbands, killing children before their parents, forcing mothers to drink the blood of their own children, burning people alive and burying them alive. There is no species of animal, however wild, that can compare in any degree to this savagery of man.
The same holds true for other evil traits — whichever one man turns toward, he proves himself the most degraded of all creatures. Even religion, which is the most sacred thing for man, he degrades to such an extent that in worshipping trees, animals, and stones, he reaches the depths of depravity — even worshipping the sexual organs of men and women — and keeps temple prostitutes in places of worship for the pleasure of deities, with fornication committed with them being considered an act of religious merit. The mythologies surrounding those beings elevated to the rank of gods and deities contain such filthy stories attributed to them that would be a source of shame even for the most degraded of human beings.
Surah At-Tin — Footnote No. 5
Those commentators who take asfala safileen to mean that state of old age in which a person loses his faculties explain this verse as follows: “But those who believed and performed righteous deeds in their youth and in their state of health — for them, even in that condition of old age, those same good deeds will continue to be recorded, and they will receive their reward accordingly. No reduction will be made in their reward on the grounds that during that period of life those good deeds were no longer being performed by them.”
Those commentators who take the casting down to asfala safileen to mean being thrown into the lowest level of Hell hold that the meaning of this verse is: “Those who believe and perform righteous deeds are exempted from this — they have no connection with that lowest level.”
In our view, the correct meaning of the verse is this: just as it is a matter of common observation in human society that those who sink in moral degradation fall lower than the lowest, so likewise it has been the common observation of every age that those who believed in God, the Hereafter, and prophethood, and who molded their lives according to the pattern of righteous deeds, were saved from falling into that degradation and remained upon that very finest form upon which Allah had created man. They are therefore deserving of ajrun ghayru mamnoon — that is, a reward that will neither be given less than what they deserve, nor will its continuance ever be cut off.
Surah At-Tin — Footnote No. 6
Another translation of this verse is also possible: “So (O man), what is it after this that inclines you to deny reward and punishment?” In both renderings, the purpose remains the same.
That is to say: when it is plainly visible in human society that one group from the human species — created in the finest form — sinks in moral degradation until it becomes the lowest of the low, while another group, by adopting faith and righteous deeds, remains saved from that fall and continues upon that very condition which was intended by man’s creation in the finest form — then after this, how can reward and punishment be denied? Does reason say that the end of both kinds of people should be the same? Does justice demand that neither should those who sink to the lowest of the low be given any punishment, nor should those who avoid that and adopt a pure life receive any reward?
This same point is made elsewhere in the Quran in these words:
“Shall We treat those who submit as We treat the criminals? What is the matter with you — how do you judge?” (Al-Qalam: 35–36)
“Or do those who commit evil deeds suppose that We will treat them like those who believed and did righteous deeds — that their life and death will be equal? How ill they judge!” (Al-Jathiyah: 21)
Surah At-Tin — Footnote No. 7
That is to say: when you expect even the minor rulers of this world to do justice — to punish wrongdoers and reward those who do good — then what do you think about God? Is He not the greatest of all rulers? If you acknowledge Him as the greatest ruler, do you then suppose that He will dispense no justice at all? Do you expect of Him that He will treat the wicked and the righteous alike? Will those who committed the worst deeds in His world and those who performed the best deeds both simply die and turn to dust, with no one receiving punishment for evil deeds nor reward for good ones?
Imam Ahmad, Tirmidhi, Abu Dawud, Ibn al-Mundhir, Bayhaqi, Hakim, and Ibn Mardawayh have transmitted a narration from Abu Hurayrah (may Allah be pleased with him) that the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) said: “When any of you recites Surah Wat-Teeni waz-Zaytoon and reaches ‘Alaysa Allahu bi-ahkamil hakimeen’, let him say: ’Bala, wa ana ‘ala dhalika mina ash-shahideen’ — Yes, and I am among those who bear witness to this.”
In some narrations it is reported that when the Prophet (peace be upon him) recited this verse, he would say: “Subhanaka fa-bala” — Glory be to You, and yes indeed.
SUMMARY OF THE ABOVE
Surah At-Tin (Chapter 95) — Summary of Commentary
Overview
Surah At-Tin is the 95th chapter of the Quran, consisting of 8 verses. The Surah presents a powerful argument for the truth of divine reward and punishment, using the nature of man and observable human society as its evidence.
The Oaths and Their Significance
Allah opens the Surah by swearing four oaths — by the region of figs and olives (Syria and Palestine), Mount Sinai, and the peaceful city of Makkah. These are not merely geographical references but are places intimately connected with prophethood. Syria and Palestine witnessed countless Prophets from Ibrahim to Isa (peace be upon them). Mount Sinai is where Musa (peace be upon him) received prophethood. Makkah, founded by Ibrahim and Ismail (peace be upon them), became Arabia’s most sacred city through Ibrahim’s prayer for it to be a city of peace — a status it maintained for over two and a half thousand years.
Man’s Creation in the Finest Form
The central declaration of the Surah is that Allah created man in the ahsan taqweem — the finest and most excellent form. This refers not only to man’s superior physical body, but more importantly to his unique endowment of reason, intellect, knowledge, and moral capacity. The highest expression of this excellence is found in the Prophets, whom Allah selected for the noble office of prophethood — the greatest rank any created being can attain.
Man’s Potential for Degradation
Despite this noble origin, man can sink to the asfala safileen — the lowest of the low. The commentary rejects the two common interpretations of this phrase (extreme old age or the lowest level of Hell) as insufficient for the Surah’s argumentative purpose. Instead, the correct meaning is that when man uses his God-given faculties in the path of evil, Allah gradually enables him further in that direction until he descends to a level of moral degradation that no other creature can match. This is plainly observable in human society — through greed, lust, rage, addiction, and wickedness, man proves himself more savage than any beast. Even in warfare and religion, man can descend to depths of depravity that no animal is capable of.
The Exception — Believers and the Righteous
Those who believe in Allah, the Hereafter, and prophethood, and who mold their lives according to righteous deeds, are saved from this moral collapse. They remain upon the finest form for which man was created, and for this they are deserving of ajrun ghayru mamnoon — an uninterrupted and complete reward that is never diminished and never cut off.
The Argument for Divine Justice
The Surah then presents its logical conclusion: since it is plainly visible that one group of humanity sinks to the lowest depths while another rises by faith and righteous conduct, how can reward and punishment be denied? Common sense and justice both demand that the two cannot be treated equally. Even minor worldly rulers are expected to reward the good and punish the wicked — how then could Allah, the greatest of all rulers and judges, fail to dispense perfect justice? This point is reinforced by parallel Quranic verses from Surah Al-Qalam and Surah Al-Jathiyah.
Prophetic Guidance on Recitation
The Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) instructed that upon reaching the final verse — “Is not Allah the most just of judges?” — the reader should respond: “Bala, wa ana ’ala dhalika mina ash-shahideen” — “Yes, and I am among those who bear witness to this.” In some narrations, the Prophet himself would respond with “Subhanaka fa-bala” — “Glory be to You, and yes indeed.“
Messages from Quran 