Tafseer of The Fig · At-Tin · 95:4
We have certainly created man in the best of stature;
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.
And His word: لَقَدْ خَلَقْنَا الإنْسَانَ فِي أَحْسَنِ تَقْوِيمٍ (Indeed, We created man in the finest stature.) This is the answer to the oath. The Exalted, whose mention is exalted, says: by the fig and the olive, indeed, We have created man in the finest stature.
And in accordance with what we have said about this, the exegetes (ahl al-taʾwīl) have expressed themselves.
* Mention of who said that:
Bishr related to us, saying: Yazīd related to us, saying: Saʿīd related to us, on the authority of Qatāda, who said: here falls the oath: لَقَدْ خَلَقْنَا الإنْسَانَ فِي أَحْسَنِ تَقْوِيمٍ (Indeed, We created man in the finest stature).
The exegetes differed concerning the interpretation of His word: لَقَدْ خَلَقْنَا الإنْسَانَ فِي أَحْسَنِ تَقْوِيمٍ (Indeed, We created man in the finest stature). Some of them said: its meaning is: in the most balanced creation and the finest form.
* Mention of who said that:
Ibn Ḥumayd related to us, saying: Ḥakkām related to us, on the authority of ʿAmr, on the authority of ʿĀṣim, on the authority of Abū Razīn, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās: فِي أَحْسَنِ تَقْوِيمٍ (in the finest stature), he said: in the most balanced creation.
Ibn Bashshār related to us, saying: Muʾammal related to us, saying: Sufyān related to us, on the authority of Ḥammād, on the authority of Ibrāhīm: لَقَدْ خَلَقْنَا الإنْسَانَ فِي أَحْسَنِ تَقْوِيمٍ (Indeed, We created man in the finest stature), he said: in the finest form.
He said: ʿAbd al-Raḥmān related to us, saying: Sufyān related to us, on the authority of Ḥammād, on the authority of Ibrāhīm, the same.
Ibn Ḥumayd related to us, saying: Mihrān related to us, on the authority of Sufyān, on the authority of Ḥammād, on the authority of Ibrāhīm: فِي أَحْسَنِ تَقْوِيمٍ (in the finest stature), he said: creation.
Abū Kurayb related to us, saying: Wakīʿ related to us, on the authority of Sufyān, on the authority of Ḥammād, on the authority of Ibrāhīm: لَقَدْ خَلَقْنَا الإنْسَانَ فِي أَحْسَنِ تَقْوِيمٍ (Indeed, We created man in the finest stature), he said: in the finest form.
Ibn Ḥumayd related to us, saying: Mihrān related to us, on the authority of Abū Jaʿfar, on the authority of al-Rabīʿ, on the authority of Abū al-ʿĀliya: فِي أَحْسَنِ تَقْوِيمٍ (in the finest stature), he says: in the finest form.
Ibn Bashshār related to us, saying: Muʾammal related to us, saying: Sufyān related to us, on the authority of Ibn Abī Najīḥ, on the authority of Mujāhid: فِي أَحْسَنِ تَقْوِيمٍ (in the finest stature): in the finest form.
Abū Kurayb related to us, saying: Wakīʿ related to us, on the authority of Sufyān, on the authority of Ibn Abī Najīḥ, on the authority of Mujāhid: لَقَدْ خَلَقْنَا الإنْسَانَ فِي أَحْسَنِ تَقْوِيمٍ (Indeed, We created man in the finest stature), he said: the finest creation.
Muḥammad ibn ʿAmr related to me, saying: Abū ʿĀṣim related to us, saying: ʿĪsā related to us; and al-Ḥārith related to me, saying: al-Ḥasan related to us, saying: Warqāʾ related to us, both on the authority of Ibn Abī Najīḥ, on the authority of Mujāhid, his word: فِي أَحْسَنِ تَقْوِيمٍ (in the finest stature), he said: in the finest creation.
Bishr related to us, saying: Yazīd related to us, saying: Saʿīd related to us, on the authority of Qatāda: فِي أَحْسَنِ تَقْوِيمٍ (in the finest stature), he says: in the finest form.
Ibn ʿAbd al-Aʿlā related to us, saying: Ibn Thawr related to us, on the authority of Maʿmar, on the authority of Qatāda — he and al-Kalbī: فِي أَحْسَنِ تَقْوِيمٍ (in the finest stature), both of them said: in the finest form.
And others said: rather its meaning is: indeed, We created man and brought him to the full flourishing of his youth, his strength, and his power, at the moment when he is at his finest, most balanced, and most upright.
* Mention of who said that:
Yaʿqūb related to me, saying: al-Muʿtamir related to us, saying: I heard al-Ḥakam relate, on the authority of ʿIkrima, concerning His word: لَقَدْ خَلَقْنَا الإنْسَانَ فِي أَحْسَنِ تَقْوِيمٍ (Indeed, We created man in the finest stature), he said: the strong, powerful young man.
Muḥammad ibn Saʿd related to me, saying: my father related to me, saying: my uncle related to me, saying: my father related to me, on the authority of his father, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās: لَقَدْ خَلَقْنَا الإنْسَانَ فِي أَحْسَنِ تَقْوِيمٍ (Indeed, We created man in the finest stature), he said: his youth, at the first moment that he grew up.
And others said: this was said because there is no animal but that it walks bent forward on its face, except man.
* Mention of who said that:
Muḥammad ibn al-Muthannā related to us, saying: Ibn Abī ʿAdī related to us, on the authority of Dāwūd, on the authority of ʿIkrima, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās: لَقَدْ خَلَقْنَا الإنْسَانَ فِي أَحْسَنِ تَقْوِيمٍ (Indeed, We created man in the finest stature), he said: everything is created bent forward on its face, except man.
The correct view concerning this is that one says: its meaning is: indeed, We created man in the finest and most balanced form; for His word أَحْسَنِ تَقْوِيمٍ (the finest stature) is only a qualification of an omitted word, namely: in a stature that is the finest stature. It is as if it were said: indeed, We created him in a stature that is the finest stature.
