[By the fig and the olive,
And by Mount Sinai,
And by the secure city] Tīn:1-3
Reflect on what the first three āyat of sūrah at-Tīn talk about.
Scholars have commented that the oath by the fig and the olive stands for the land of Quds (Palestine) – where Prophet ‘Īsa son of Maryam (peace be upon him) was from.
Mount Sinai is where Prophet Mūsa Son of ‘Imrān (peace be upon him) received his revelation.
And the secure city – Mekkah – was where our beloved and the greatest of the greatest, Prophet Moḥammed son of ‘Abdullah was from (Peace and blessings be upon our noble Prophet).
When Allah takes an oath by something it indicates its greatness and its importance and the greater the thing that Allah swears by the greater the subject of the oath.
The subject of the oath is:
[Indeed, We have created man in the best of stature] Tīn:4
Allah sent these great Prophets to teach us how to attain the highest stature that we were created at. (As we know with the revelation of the Qur`ān upon Moḥammed ﷺ all previous religions were nullified and only Islam was the chosen religion – chosen by Allah.) And if we turn away from the teachings of Allah’s Book and His Prophet, we will become the lowest of the low.
[Then We return him to the lowest of the low] Tīn:5
Mufassirūn describe this lowest of the low as the lowest pits of Hellfire, and that will become the destiny of those who turns away from this Book. Some others have described lowest of the low as becoming decrepit with age after enjoying a lifetime of youthfulness and health.
So glory be to Him who has created mankind in the perfect form and blessed us with the Book to help us achieve just that.
An interesting detail from Ibn Kathīr’s tafsīr of the first three āyat:
“They have said that these three places are mentioned at the end of the Tawrāh.
The verse (in tawrāh) says, “Allah has come from Mount Sinai” – i.e. the one upon which Allah spoke to Mūsa bin ‘Imrān.
“and shined from Sā’īr” – i.e. the mountain of Jerusalem from which Allah sent ‘Īsa.
“and appeared from the mountains of Farān” – i.e. the mountains of Mekkah from which Allah sent Moḥammed .
Thus, He mentioned them to inform us about them based upon their order of existence in time. This is why He swore by a noble place, then by a nobler place, and then by a place that is the nobler than both of them.”
How cool is that? =)
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