[1] (In the name of God, Most Gracious, Most Merciful)

The meaning

More explanation

[2] 1. By^a [the event that occurred under] the fig [tree]!^b

And by [the event that occurred under] the olive [tree]!^c

[3] 2. And by the Mount Sinai!^d

[Then God – be glorified – swore by the event which took place in Mecca and He said:]

[4] 3. And by this city^e of security!

[5] 4. Surely, We created man [: Adam] at best circumstances of livelihood^f.

[6] 5. Then We turned him into the lowermost of the lowly.^g

[Then God – be glorified – made an exception: the believers among them, and He said:]

[7] 6. Save those who believe and work righteous [deeds]^h; for they will have a reward, unfailingⁱ.

[8] 7. Therefore, [O ungrateful man] what is that makes you disbelieve in the religion?^j

[9] 8. Is not God the Most Just of all judges?^k

^{1 a} The word (by) is for swearing, and it is a swear by some past events.

The El-Tor (or Hor) is the mountain on which Moses privately prayed his Lord; Sinai is the name of the desert in which that mountain is situated.

God – be glorified – swore by the events which occurred under the fig tree, and the second which occurred under the olive tree on the slope of that mountain, and the third which occurred over that mountain: the El-Tor (or Hor) Mountain in the desert of Sinai.

^{1 b} That, which occurred under the fig tree, was the story of Adam when he disobeyed his Lord, and he together with his wife ate of the blackberry tree, so their clothes were torn up by its spikes, and they started to patch their clothes by the leaves of the garden; so the leaves which God mentioned in the Quran were the leaves of the fig tree.

Afterwards, they were driven out of the garden, which was on one of the earth mountains, and then they went down from the mountain to the plain land.

All the humiliation and difficulties which they suffered were because they disobeyed the command of their Lord.

Therefore, this is a swear which implies threatening and warning for the associaters among the Arab, which means: If you do not believe in My Oneness and do not believe My messenger, I will humiliate and drive you out of My House, as did I drive Adam out of the garden when he disobeyed Me.

^{1 c} While the event of the olive: There was an olive tree on the slope of Mount El-Tor (or the Hor Mountain, or Horeb) in the desert of Sinai.

From that tree, God – be glorified – spoke to Moses and sent him as a messenger to Pharaoh; it is the tree mentioned in the Quran, chapter 23: 20, which means:

(Also, a tree, [of the olive] issuing [and originating from] Mount Sinai, which plants in holes, produces oil, as well as relish for eaters.)

In this event, a group of men out of the Children of Israel accompanied Moses, when he went to bring the Tablets; they said: “We want to hear and see how God speaks to you, and how He gives you the Tablets!”

Moses said to them: “You will not be able to do this, for you may die from extreme fear and horror; therefore, wait for me below the mountain, until I come back with the Tablets.”

At the appointment, they came and sat under the olive tree which was on the slope of the Mountain. Then when Moses came down from the mountain carrying the Tablets by his hands, those, who sat under the olive tree, gave him the lie and said: “Who believes that these Tablets are from God!? “

Immediately, the mountain was split and the ‘split portion’ hovered over them and was about to fall down upon and kill them, had they not feared and cried: “We have believed; we have believed.” So the ‘split portion’ settled in its place and did not fall on them.

This is according to His saying – be glorified – in the Quran 7: 171, which means:

(And [remember] We caused the Mount [Sinai] to tower above them, as if it were a canopy, and they thought it was going to fall upon them.)

Therefore, this is a swear which implies a threatening and warning for the associaters, which means: If you do not believe in My Oneness, and do not believe My messenger, I will deal with you as did I deal with those Israelites when they disbelieved Moses.

^{2 d} While about the event of the El-Tor (or Mount Hor):

In this event, the Children of Israel said to Moses: “Show us God openly with our own eyes.”

So Moses admonished and advised them to refrain from such words and such demand, but they did not agree and insisted on their demand; so he selected seventy men out of them and took them with him to the El-Tor Mountain, then when they were over the mountain, Moses said: “My Lord, show me [Yourself], in order that I may look at You."

God – be glorified – said: "You will not see Me.”

So a thunderbolt came down upon them leading to their death and the fainting of Moses, who when regained his consciousness asked God’s forgiveness and repented from the words which he said, and asked and supplicated God to revive them so He revived them and they got down from the mountain, and went back to their people.

This in fact is a swearing which also implies the threatening and warning to the associaters, which implies: If you do not believe, I will bring down on you a thunderbolt from the sky as did I bring on those seventy men.

^{3 e} That is Mecca, for it is a security for anyone who goes into it, and so he will not fear of his enemy.

The event by which God swears here is the story of the 'Host of the Elephant' [: the Abyssinians under the leadership of Abraha] who attacked Mecca and attempted to destroy the House of God there, so God – be glorified – sent against them the black ravens carrying and throwing them with pebbles, so they were defeated, scattered and perished.

The story in fact is well-known, and no need to explain more about it.

[But if you like to have more information about this event then refer to the interpretation of the Quran, chapters 37, 100 and 105.]

This in fact is a swearing which implies the threatening and warning to the associaters; which means: If you do not believe, I will send against you such birds which will scatter you away, as did I send against the ‘Host of the Elephant.

^{4 f} It means: in a best place on earth: having the essentials of life; it was the garden which was on one of the earth mountains, and which had the trees, fruits, birds, cattle, water and shade of the trees, so that he might live comfortably and would not toil to obtain his provision. He means by the ‘man’ our father Adam.

^{5 g} It means:

In the first stage – We brought him down from the garden, which was on the mountain, to the plain land below the mountain, and from rest to tiredness, and from dignity to lowliness because he disobeyed his Lord’s command.

The second stage – his going down into the grave after his death [This is exclusively for the disbelievers, some of them will accompany his rotten corpse in the grave.]

The third stage – the admission of the disbelievers among his sons [and daughters] into the fire which is inside the earth, out of which volcanoes erupt; which also is the lowermost of places.

So all this happened to Adam because he disobeyed his Lord’s command; and similarly, anyone disobeys his Lord’s command, We will turn him into the lowermost of the lowly.

^{6 h} They will not remain in the graves together with the decayed bodies, but they will return to their families and homes (It means: the spirits); the indication of that is His saying – be glorified – in the Quran 84: 7-9, which means:

(Then as for him who is given his book [of deeds] in his right hand, he shall be punished with a mild punishment, and will return [after the punishment] joyfully to his [new] family [in the Paradise of Refuge.])

And they will not go into the Fire on Doomsday.

^{6 i} i.e. that will not be curtailed.

^{7 j} i.e. in spite of all these means of livelihood that We gave to you, and in spite of all these blessings.

^{8 k} Therefore, He will sentence those who obey Him to Paradise, and those who disobey Him to Fire.

By God's help, the interpretation of the soora 95 of the Quran is completed;

So (praise be to God: Lord of the worlds.)

[2] 1. وَالتِّينِ وَالزَّيْتُونِ

[4] 3. وَهَذَا الْبَلَدِ الْأَمِينِ

[5] 4. لَقَدْ خَلَقْنَا الْإِنسَانَ فِي أَحْسَنِ تَقْوِيمٍ

[6] 5. ثُمَّ رَدَدْنَاهُ أَسْفَلَ سَافِلِينَ

[7] 6. إِلَّا الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا وَعَمِلُوا الصَّالِحَاتِ فَلَهُمْ أَجْرٌ غَيْرُ مَمْنُونٍ

[8] 7. فَمَا يُكَذِّبُكَ بَعْدُ بِالدِّينِ

[9] 8. أَلَيْسَ اللَّهُ بِأَحْكَمِ الْحَاكِمِينَ