وَالتِّينِ وَالزَّيْتُونِ
CONSIDER the fig and the olive, (1)
وَطُورِ سِينِينَ
and Mount Sinai, (2)
وَهَٰذَا الْبَلَدِ الْأَمِينِ
and this land secure! (3)
لَقَدْ خَلَقْنَا الْإِنْسَانَ فِي أَحْسَنِ تَقْوِيمٍ
Verily, We create man in the best conformation, (4)
ثُمَّ رَدَدْنَاهُ أَسْفَلَ سَافِلِينَ
and thereafter We reduce him to the lowest of low ?– (5)
إِلَّا الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا وَعَمِلُوا الصَّالِحَاتِ فَلَهُمْ أَجْرٌ غَيْرُ مَمْنُونٍ
excepting only such as attain to faith and do good works: and theirs shall be a reward unending! (6)
فَمَا يُكَذِّبُكَ بَعْدُ بِالدِّينِ
What, then, [O man,] could henceforth cause thee to give the lie to this moral law? (7)
أَلَيْسَ اللَّهُ بِأَحْكَمِ الْحَاكِمِينَ
Is not God the most just of judges? (8)
- Verily, We create man in the best conformation;2
- 2 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.)
- We have indeed created man in the best of moulds,6199
- 6199 Taqwim: mould, symmetry, form, nature, constitution. There is no fault in Allah's creation. To man Allah gave the purest and best nature, and man's duty is to preserve the pattern on which Allah has made him: 30:30. But by making him His vicegerent, Allah exalted him in posse even higher than the angels, for the angels had to make obeisance to him (2:30-34, and n. 48). But man's position as vicegerent also gives him will and discretion, and if he uses them wrongly he falls even lower than the beasts. See next note.
-
We have indeed created man in the best of moulds,
— Abdullah Yusuf Ali -
Surely We created man of the best stature
— Marmaduke Pickthall -
Certainly We created man in the best make.
— M. Habib Shakir -
Verily, We created man of the best stature (mould),
— Taqiuddin Hilali and M. Mohsin Khan -
Assuredly We have created man in goodliest mould,
— Abdul-Majid Daryabadi -
Indeed, We created the human with the fairest stature
— Hasan Qaribullah and Ahmed Darwish -
We created Man in the fairest make;
— Ayub Khan -
Surely, We have created man in the best make;
— Sher Ali -
Verily, We create man in the best conformation,
— Muhammad Asad -
We indeed created Man in the fairest stature
— Arthur Arberry -
surely We created man in the best mould;{{3}}
— Abu'l Ala Maududi