Tafseer of The Pen · Al-Qalam · 68:4
And indeed, you are of a great moral character.
Important: The Arabic source text is always authoritative. This translation is a study aid and has not been verified by scholars — do not use it as a basis for religious proof or for deriving rulings (ahkam). When in doubt, always consult the Arabic text and a qualified scholar.
Explanation of the word of the Exalted: وَإِنَّكَ لَعَلى خُلُقٍ عَظِيمٍ ("And verily, you possess an exalted character") (68:4)
The Exalted — exalted be His mention — says to His Prophet Muḥammad ﷺ: and verily, O Muḥammad, you possess an exalted code of conduct (adab), and that is the code of conduct of the Qurʾān with which Allah has formed him, namely Islam and its legal ordinances.
And in accordance with what we have said about this, the people of interpretation (ahl al-taʾwīl) also spoke.
* Mention of who said that:
ʿAlī related to me, he said: Abū Ṣāliḥ related to us, he said: Muʿāwiya related to me, on the authority of ʿAlī, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās, concerning his word: وَإِنَّكَ لَعَلى خُلُقٍ عَظِيمٍ ("And verily, you possess an exalted character"). He said: that means: an exalted religion (dīn).
Muḥammad ibn Saʿd related to me, he said: my father related to me, he said: my uncle related to me, he said: my father related to me, on the authority of his father, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās, concerning his word: وَإِنَّكَ لَعَلى خُلُقٍ عَظِيمٍ ("And verily, you possess an exalted character"). He said: that means: you are upon an exalted religion, and that is Islam.
Muḥammad ibn ʿAmr related to me, he said: Abū ʿĀṣim related to us, he said: ʿĪsā related to us; and al-Ḥārith related to me, he said: al-Ḥasan related to us, he said: Warqāʾ related to us, both on the authority of Ibn Abī Najīḥ, on the authority of Mujāhid, concerning his word: خُلُقٍ عَظِيمٍ ("an exalted character"). He said: the religion.
Ibn ʿAbd al-Aʿlā related to us, he said: Ibn Thawr related to us, on the authority of Maʿmar, on the authority of Qatāda, he said: I asked ʿĀʾisha about the character (khuluq) of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ, and she said: his character was the Qurʾān — she meant: as it is in the Qurʾān.
Bishr related to us, he said: Yazīd related to us, he said: Saʿīd related to us, on the authority of Qatāda, concerning his word: وَإِنَّكَ لَعَلى خُلُقٍ عَظِيمٍ ("And verily, you possess an exalted character"). It was related to us that Saʿīd ibn Hishām asked ʿĀʾisha about the character of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ, and she said: "Do you not read the Qurʾān?" He said: I said: "Yes indeed." She said: "Verily, the character of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ was the Qurʾān."
ʿUbayd ibn Ādam ibn Abī Iyās related to us, he said: my father related to me, he said: al-Mubārak ibn Faḍāla related to us, on the authority of al-Ḥasan, on the authority of Saʿīd ibn Hishām, he said: I came to ʿĀʾisha, the Mother of the Believers — may Allah be pleased with her — and I said: "Inform me about the character of the Messenger of Allah." She said: "His character was the Qurʾān; do you not read: وَإِنَّكَ لَعَلى خُلُقٍ عَظِيمٍ ('And verily, you possess an exalted character')?"
Yūnus informed us, he said: Ibn Wahb informed us, he said: Muʿāwiya ibn Ṣāliḥ informed me, on the authority of Abū al-Zāhiriyya, on the authority of Jubayr ibn Nufayr, he said: I performed the pilgrimage (ḥajj) and entered upon ʿĀʾisha, and I asked her about the character of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ. She said: the character of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ was the Qurʾān.
ʿUbayd ibn Asbāṭ related to us, he said: my father related to me, on the authority of Fuḍayl ibn Marzūq, on the authority of ʿAṭiyya, concerning his word: وَإِنَّكَ لَعَلى خُلُقٍ عَظِيمٍ ("And verily, you possess an exalted character"). He said: the code of conduct of the Qurʾān.
Yūnus related to me, he said: Ibn Wahb informed us, he said: Ibn Zayd said concerning his word: وَإِنَّكَ لَعَلى خُلُقٍ عَظِيمٍ ("And verily, you possess an exalted character"). He said: upon an exalted religion.
It was related to me on the authority of al-Ḥusayn, he said: I heard Abū Muʿādh say: ʿUbayd related to us, he said: I heard al-Ḍaḥḥāk say concerning his word: لَعَلى خُلُقٍ عَظِيمٍ ("you possess an exalted character"): he means his religion and his affair in which he was engaged, namely that which Allah commanded him and entrusted to him.
