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Chapter 95

The Figal-Tīn ( التين )

8 verses • revealed at Meccan

»The surah that opens with the oath of the Divine One swearing by The Fig and the olive, and other signs, representing the Holy Land in which God revealed the Evangel, the Torah, and the Quran, and thereby guided all mankind. It is named after “the fig” (al-tīn) mentioned in verse 1. The surah questions how man can deny the Judgement, and emphasizing the importance of faith and good deeds.«

The surah is also known as The Figtree

بِسمِ اللَّهِ الرَّحمٰنِ الرَّحيمِ

Mir Ahmed Ali: In the name of God,, the Beneficent,, the Merciful

1
وَالتّينِ وَالزَّيتونِ

Mir Ahmed Ali

By1 the Fig and the Olive!I
  • The names of the things and the events which have been used in the solemn statements in the Holy Qur’an, are mostly symbols of some latent objects, the knowledge of which God has willed to keep it away from the common minds.
    ’Teen’, i.e., Fig, but commentators have given many alternate interpretations which are only conjectures. Ibne-Abbas says ‘Teen’, i.e., the Fig stands for the Mosque of Noah, and ‘Zaitoon’, i.e., the Olive, for Jerusalem. ‘Baladul-Ameen’, i.e., the City of Security, City of the Trusted One the Holy Prophet i.e., Mecca.
    Fig is known to be the finest, the most wholesome and also the most nutritious fruit used not only as food but a remedy for several bodily complaints. It is taken as a symbol for man’s destiny. In its origin, i.e., in its existence as a seed, it is full of worms and maggots and insipid in taste, but in its full and healthy growth, it is the best fruit as said above. Similarly, man when he deteriorates, becomes the lowest of the low and when he develops or rises, he excels even the angels in excellence.
    Jesus coming from Bethany, feeling hungry, went to a fig tree and finding it standing without any fruits dropping only dry leaves, cursed it and it immediately withered to its roots. See Math. 21:19. Prophet Jeremiah has also used figs as symbols in comparing the good ones of the Jews to good figs and the bad ones among them to vile ones of the fruit. Jer. 24:1-10. See also Math. 24:32-35 for the parable of the fig tree.
    For the symbol of the Olive—see 24:35 refer the lamp lit by God—It might refer to Jerusalem. See 52:2 and Math. 24:3-4.
    Verses 2 and 3 refer to Holy Places wherefrom the Word of God, Torah and Qur’an, were given to the two prominent Law-giver Prophets—So the fig and the Olive in the first verse must appropriately refer to the places where the Word of God was revealed. It is said that ‘Teen’ is the name of a mountain in Damascus and ‘Zaitoon’, another mountain in Palestine. They were named after the fruits that grew on them, and these were the places were Jesus and Moses and the other Israelite Prophets used to retire for communion with God. (A.P.)