095
Muhammad Asad
AT-TIN (THE FIG)
THE NINETY-FIFTH
SURAH
Total Verses: 8
Introduction
REVEALED after surah 85 ("The Great
Constellations"), the present surah formulates
a fundamental moral verity, stressing the fact that it is common to all true
religious teachings. The "title" - or, rather, the key-word by which
it is known - is derived from the mention of the fig (i.e., fig tree) in the
first verse.
IN THE NAME OF
GOD, THE MOST GRACIOUS, THE DISPENSER OF GRACE:
1) CONSIDER the fig and the olive,
(2) and Mount Sinai,
(3) and this land secure!*
*The "fig" and the
"olive" symbolize, in this context, the lands in which these
trees predominate: i.e., the countries bordering on the eastern part of the
(4) Verily, We create man in the best conformation;*
*I.e., endowed with all the
positive qualities, physical as well as mental, corresponding to the functions
which this particular creature is meant to perform. The concept of "the
best conformation" is related to the Qur’anic
statement that everything which God creates, including the human being or self (nafs), is "formed in accordance with what it is
meant to be" (see 91:7 and the corresponding note 5, as well as in a more
general sense - 87:2 and note 1). This statement does not in any way imply that
all human beings have the same "best conformation" in respect
of their bodily or mental endowments: it implies simply that irrespective of
his natural advantages or disadvantages, each human being is endowed with the
ability to make the, for him, best possible use of his inborn qualities and of
the environment to which he is exposed. (See in this connection 30:30 and the
corresponding notes, especially 27 and 28.)
(5) and thereafter We reduce him to the lowest of low* –
* This "reduction to the
lowest of low" is a consequence of man's betrayal - in another word,
corruption - of his original, positive disposition: that is to say, a
consequence of man's own doings and omissions. Regarding the attribution, by
God, of this "reduction" to His Own doing, see note 7 on 2:7.
(6) excepting only such as attain
to faith and do good works: and theirs shall be a reward unending!
(7) What, then, [O man,] could henceforth cause thee to give the lie to this moral law?*
*I.e., to the validity of the
moral law - which, to my mind, is the meaning of the term din
in this context - outlined in the preceding three verses. (For this
specific significance of the concept of din, see note 3 on 109:6.) The
above rhetorical question has this implication: Since the moral law referred to
here has been stressed in the teachings of all monotheistic religions (cf.
verses 1-3 and note 1 above), its truth ought to be self-evident to any
unprejudiced person; its negation, moreover, amounts to a negation of all
freedom of moral choice on man's part and, hence, of justice on the part of
God, who, as the next verse points out, is - by definition - "the most
just of judges".
(8) Is not God the most just of judges?