At-Tin التين
The Fig
At-Tin opens with an oath sworn on the fig and the olive, Mount Sinai, and "this secure city" (understood as Makkah) — four places and things commentators connect to prophets: Sinai to Musa, the secure city to Muhammad ﷺ, and the fig and olive, by tradition, to regions associated with Isa and earlier revelation. The surah's core claim follows: God created man in the best of forms (ahsani taqwim), then reduced him to the lowest of the low — except those who believe and do righteous deeds, who have a reward without end. It closes with a rhetorical question aimed squarely at the reader: after this, what makes you deny the Judgement, when God is the most just of judges? At eight verses, it moves from a sweeping oath about sacred geography to a direct, personal challenge in a small span.
وَٱلتِّينِ وَٱلزَّيْتُونِ
By the fig, by the olive,
وَطُورِ سِينِينَ
by Mount Sinai,
وَهَـٰذَا ٱلْبَلَدِ ٱلْأَمِينِ
by this safe town,
لَقَدْ خَلَقْنَا ٱلْإِنسَـٰنَ فِىٓ أَحْسَنِ تَقْوِيمٍ
We create man in the finest state
ثُمَّ رَدَدْنَـٰهُ أَسْفَلَ سَـٰفِلِينَ
then reduce him to the lowest of the low,
إِلَّا ٱلَّذِينَ ءَامَنُوا۟ وَعَمِلُوا۟ ٱلصَّـٰلِحَـٰتِ فَلَهُمْ أَجْرٌ غَيْرُ مَمْنُونٍ
except those who believe and do good deeds–– they will have an unfailing reward.
فَمَا يُكَذِّبُكَ بَعْدُ بِٱلدِّينِ
After this, what makes you [man] deny the Judgement?
أَلَيْسَ ٱللَّهُ بِأَحْكَمِ ٱلْحَـٰكِمِينَ
Is God not the most decisive of judges?
Arabic text and translation (M.A.S. Abdel Haleem) via the Quran.Foundation API.
Frequently asked
Eight verses.
Meccan, revealed in Makkah.
"The fig" — from the oath sworn in its opening verse on the fig and the olive.
That God created man in the best of forms, then reduced him to the lowest of the low, except those who believe and do righteous deeds, who receive an unending reward.