Transliteration:( Wa nafsinw wa maa sawwaahaa )
7. By 'soul' is either meant the soul of Hazrat Adam (On whom be peace) or the soul of the entire mankind. Man is the noblest in creation; therefore an oath is taken on him. In Arabic, the word 'soul' is used for person, soul, heart, life, blood, breath, etc. Here, either heart is denoted, or life or personality. Because the human form is better than all the other forms, hence an oath is taken on it. Or, the human soul which initially is bereft of excellence, but which is worthy of countless virtues. Or, the human heart, which is like a blank page, whatever type of writer finds it; he makes an impression on it. Or, it can be the baser self of man, or the conscious self or the contented self. - Thus, an oath is taken on these things. It should be remembered that whatever meanings can be given to the soul, the same will be given to the word "perfected it".
The tafsir of Surah Ash-Shams verse 7 by Ibn Kathir is unavailable here.
Please refer to Surah Ash-Shams ayat 1 which provides the complete commentary from verse 1 through 10.
(91:7) and by the soul and by Him Who perfectly proportioned it,[4]
4. Proportioned it: Gave man such a body which by virtue of its erect stature, its hands and feet, and its brain was most appropriate for him to live as man in the world. He blessed him with the senses of sight, hearing, touch, taste and smell which on account of their combination and their characteristics could become the best means of obtaining knowledge for him. He endowed him with the faculties of thinking, reasoning, imagination, memory, discrimination, judgment, will-power and such other mental powers by virtue of which he is able to perform the functions fit for man in the world. In addition, proportioning also means that man was not created a sinner by birth and a criminal by instinct but on right and sound nature, and was not characterized with any inborn crookedness because of which he may be unable to adopt the right path even if he wanted to do so. This same thing has been expressed in Surah Ar-Room, saying: Be steadfast on the nature whereupon Allah has created mankind, (Surah Ar-Room, ayat 30), and the same has been explained by the Prophet (peace be upon him) in a Hadith, saying: Every new-born child is born on true human nature; it is his parents who make him a Jew or a Christian or a Magian afterwards. Its example is of an animal giving birth to complete and sound young one. Do you find any one with a torn or slit ear? (Bukhari, Muslim). That is, it is the polytheistic people who on account of their superstitions of ignorance tear and slit the ears of animals afterwards; otherwise God does not cause an animal to be born with torn ears from its mother’s belly. In another Hadith the Prophet (peace be upon him) said: My Lord says: I had created all My servants on true faith (i.e. on sound nature); then the satans came and led them astray from their faith (i.e.. the true natural faith) and made unlawful what I had made lawful for them, and commanded them to associate with Me those for whom I had sent down no authority. (Musnad Ahmad; Muslim also has related a saying from the Prophet (peace be upon him) in similar words).
[1932]- i.e., balanced and refined it, creating in it sound tendencies and consciousness.
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