Surah At-Tin: Meaning, Translation and Transliteration

Surah At-Tin, "The Fig", is eight short verses. It swears by the fig and the olive, by Mount Sinai and by the secure city of Makkah, and then makes a claim about every human being: we were made in the best of forms, and we can fall to the lowest of the low. The only people who don't fall are those who believe and do good. It ends with a question meant to be answered out loud: "Is not Allah the most just of judges?"

This article gives the full surah in Arabic, a transliteration and the English translation, then goes through its meaning section by section.

The full surah

وَٱلتِّينِ وَٱلزَّيۡتُونِ وَطُورِ سِينِينَ وَهَٰذَا ٱلۡبَلَدِ ٱلۡأَمِينِ لَقَدۡ خَلَقۡنَا ٱلۡإِنسَٰنَ فِيٓ أَحۡسَنِ تَقۡوِيمٖ ثُمَّ رَدَدۡنَٰهُ أَسۡفَلَ سَٰفِلِينَ إِلَّا ٱلَّذِينَ ءَامَنُواْ وَعَمِلُواْ ٱلصَّٰلِحَٰتِ فَلَهُمۡ أَجۡرٌ غَيۡرُ مَمۡنُونٖ فَمَا يُكَذِّبُكَ بَعۡدُ بِٱلدِّينِ أَلَيۡسَ ٱللَّهُ بِأَحۡكَمِ ٱلۡحَٰكِمِينَ

Transliteration

1. Wat-tīni waz-zaytūn
2. Wa ṭūri sīnīn
3. Wa hādhal-baladil-amīn
4. Laqad khalaqnal-insāna fī aḥsani taqwīm
5. Thumma radadnāhu asfala sāfilīn
6. Illal-ladhīna āmanū wa ʿamiluṣ-ṣāliḥāti fa-lahum ajrun ghayru mamnūn
7. Fa-mā yukadhdhibuka baʿdu bid-dīn
8. A-laysallāhu bi-aḥkamil-ḥākimīn

English translation (Saheeh International)

By the fig and the olive and [by] Mount Sinai and [by] this secure city [i.e., Makkah], We have certainly created man in the best of stature; then We return him to the lowest of the low, except for those who believe and do righteous deeds, for they will have a reward uninterrupted. So what yet causes you to deny the Recompense? Is not Allāh the most just of judges? (95:1-8)

If you learned to read the Quran in the IndoPak script, here is the same surah as it appears in a South Asian mushaf:

وَالتِّيۡنِ وَالزَّيۡتُوۡنِۙ وَطُوۡرِ سِيۡنِيۡنَۙ وَهٰذَا الۡبَلَدِ الۡاَمِيۡنِۙ لَقَدۡ خَلَقۡنَا الۡاِنۡسَانَ فِىۡۤ اَحۡسَنِ تَقۡوِيۡمٍ ثُمَّ رَدَدۡنٰهُ اَسۡفَلَ سَافِلِيۡنَۙ اِلَّا الَّذِيۡنَ اٰمَنُوۡا وَعَمِلُوا الصّٰلِحٰتِ فَلَهُمۡ اَجۡرٌ غَيۡرُ مَمۡنُوۡنٍؕ فَمَا يُكَذِّبُكَ بَعۡدُ بِالدِّيۡنِ اَلَيۡسَ اللّٰهُ بِاَحۡكَمِ الۡحٰكِمِيۡنَ

You can read and listen to Surah At-Tin with its translation, or read it with the Urdu translation.

About the surah

At-Tin is the 95th surah of the Quran, with 8 verses, in the 30th juz. Most scholars count it as Meccan. Its name comes from the first word, at-tīn, the fig, and you'll also see it written as Surah Tin or Surah Wat-Tin.

Because it is short, it is often recited in prayer, and the Prophet ﷺ recited it too. Al-Baraʾ ibn ʿAzib said the Prophet ﷺ recited wat-tīni waz-zaytūn in the ʿIsha prayer while on a journey, and "I have never heard anyone with a more beautiful voice or recitation than him" (Sahih al-Bukhari 769; Sahih Muslim 464).

It comes five surahs after Surah Al-Balad, and the two echo each other. Both swear by "this city". Both then say laqad khalaqnal-insāna, "We have certainly created man". Al-Balad says man was created "into hardship"; At-Tin says "in the best of stature". Read together, they give both sides of a human life: made well, and made to struggle.

Verses 1–3: Three oaths

وَٱلتِّينِ وَٱلزَّيۡتُونِ وَطُورِ سِينِينَ وَهَٰذَا ٱلۡبَلَدِ ٱلۡأَمِينِ

By the fig and the olive and [by] Mount Sinai and [by] this secure city [i.e., Makkah]. (95:1-3)

The surah opens with three oaths. The commentators read the first one in two main ways.

• The fruits themselves. Mujahid, al-Hasan and others said these are the fig and the olive we eat. Both are blessed, nourishing trees. Allah calls the olive "a blessed tree" in Surah An-Nur.
• The lands where they grow. Others said the fig and the olive stand for the places known for them, especially the land around Jerusalem, where many prophets lived and where ʿIsa (Jesus) was sent.

Mount Sinai, ṭūr sīnīn, is the mountain where Allah spoke to Musa (Moses) and gave him the Torah. "This secure city" is Makkah, which Allah made a sanctuary, and where Muhammad ﷺ was born and first received revelation.

Ibn Kathir notes that on the second reading the three oaths name three places of revelation, one for each of three great messengers: ʿIsa, Musa and Muhammad ﷺ. That gives the opening a direction. The surah is about to talk about human nature and judgement, and it first calls to witness the places where Allah's guidance came down to people.

Verses 4–6: The best of forms and the lowest of the low

لَقَدۡ خَلَقۡنَا ٱلۡإِنسَٰنَ فِيٓ أَحۡسَنِ تَقۡوِيمٖ ثُمَّ رَدَدۡنَٰهُ أَسۡفَلَ سَٰفِلِينَ إِلَّا ٱلَّذِينَ ءَامَنُواْ وَعَمِلُواْ ٱلصَّٰلِحَٰتِ فَلَهُمۡ أَجۡرٌ غَيۡرُ مَمۡنُونٖ

We have certainly created man in the best of stature; then We return him to the lowest of the low, except for those who believe and do righteous deeds, for they will have a reward uninterrupted. (95:4-6)

This is what the oaths are for. Aḥsan taqwīm means the best shape or the best proportion. Human beings stand upright, eat with their hands, and have minds that can reason and know right from wrong. Allah made people this way on purpose and says so with emphasis: laqad, "certainly".

"Then We return him to the lowest of the low" has two well-known explanations:

• Old age. Ikrimah and others said this means extreme old age, when the body and mind that were so strong become weak, as in 16:70: "And among you is he who is reversed to the most decrepit [old] age so that he will not know, after [having had] knowledge, a thing."
• The Fire. Mujahid, al-Hasan and others said it means the lowest place in Hell, for those who waste the form they were given by disbelieving. This fits the exception in verse 6 closely, since believers will not go there.

Both readings make sense of verse 6. On the first, the believer's reward doesn't stop when old age stops their deeds. The Prophet ﷺ said that when a servant falls ill or travels, he is credited with the good he used to do when he was well and at home (Sahih al-Bukhari 2996). On the second, faith and good deeds are what keep a person from falling at all.

Ajrun ghayru mamnūn means a reward that is never cut off. It can also mean a reward that is never held over you as a favour. Both are true of Allah's reward.

The exception, illal-ladhīna āmanū wa ʿamiluṣ-ṣāliḥāt, uses the same words as Surah Al-Asr: "Indeed, mankind is in loss, except for those who have believed and done righteous deeds". In both surahs, humanity as a whole is at risk, and faith with action is the way out.

Verses 7–8: The most just of judges

فَمَا يُكَذِّبُكَ بَعۡدُ بِٱلدِّينِ أَلَيۡسَ ٱللَّهُ بِأَحۡكَمِ ٱلۡحَٰكِمِينَ

So what yet causes you to deny the Recompense? Is not Allāh the most just of judges? (95:7-8)

Ad-dīn here means the Recompense, the Day of Judgement. The question is usually read as addressed to man: you know you were made in the best form and that you can fall. What still makes you deny that there will be a reckoning? Some commentators read it as addressed to the Prophet ﷺ: after these proofs, who can still call you a liar about the Judgement?

Then the last verse: a-laysallāhu bi-aḥkamil-ḥākimīn. Aḥkam means both the wisest and the most just. A just judge doesn't treat the one who did good and the one who did evil the same, and Allah is the most just of all judges. So the Recompense has to come. The Quran makes the same argument in Surah Al-Qalam: "Then will We treat the Muslims like the criminals? What is [the matter] with you? How do you judge?"

Answering the question

There is a report that the Prophet ﷺ said that whoever recites this surah and reaches its end should say balā, wa anā ʿalā dhālika minash-shāhidīn: "Yes, and I am of those who bear witness to that" (Sunan Abi Dawud 887; Jamiʿ al-Tirmidhi 3347). Its chain has an unnamed narrator, so scholars grade it weak, but many still say these words when they recite or hear the verse, since they only affirm what the verse says.

Word by word

Arabic	Transliteration	Meaning
وَٱلتِّينِ	wat-tīn	by the fig
وَٱلزَّيۡتُونِ	waz-zaytūn	and the olive
وَطُورِ سِينِينَ	wa ṭūri sīnīn	and Mount Sinai
ٱلۡبَلَدِ ٱلۡأَمِينِ	al-baladil-amīn	the secure city
أَحۡسَنِ تَقۡوِيمٖ	aḥsani taqwīm	the best of stature
رَدَدۡنَٰهُ	radadnāhu	We return him
أَسۡفَلَ سَٰفِلِينَ	asfala sāfilīn	the lowest of the low
وَعَمِلُواْ ٱلصَّٰلِحَٰتِ	wa ʿamiluṣ-ṣāliḥāt	and do righteous deeds
أَجۡرٌ غَيۡرُ مَمۡنُونٖ	ajrun ghayru mamnūn	a reward uninterrupted
يُكَذِّبُكَ	yukadhdhibuka	causes you to deny
بِٱلدِّينِ	bid-dīn	the Recompense
بِأَحۡكَمِ ٱلۡحَٰكِمِينَ	bi-aḥkamil-ḥākimīn	the most just of judges

Living by Surah At-Tin

• Respect the way you were made. "The best of stature" includes your body, your mind and your sense of right and wrong. Look after them and use them well.
• Know that the fall is real. The same person made in the best form can sink to the lowest of the low. Being human isn't enough; the surah names what keeps you up.
• Pair faith with action. "Those who believe and do righteous deeds" appears here and in Al-Asr. Belief that never shows in deeds isn't what's being described.
• Build habits that outlast your strength. A believer's reward continues when illness or old age stops them, so make good habits now.
• Answer the last verse. When you read or hear "Is not Allah the most just of judges?", answer it: balā, yes.
• Recite it in prayer. It is short, easy to memorise, and the Prophet ﷺ recited it in ʿIsha.

Open Surah At-Tin to read and listen to it with its translation.