Wanafsin wama sawwaha (surah Shams: 7)

Tafseer Tafheem-ul-Quran by Syed Abu-al-A'la Maududi

(91:7) and by the soul and by Him Who perfectly proportioned it, *4

Wa nafsinw wa maa sawwaahaa

*4) "Balanced 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 and reasoning, imagination, memory, discrimination, judgement, 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, balancing also means that man was not created a sinner by birth and a criminal by instinct but on right and sound nature, anti was not characterised 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-Rum, saying: "Be steadfast on the nature whereupon Allah has created mankind." (v. 30), and the same has been explained by the Holy Prophet (upon whom be peace ) 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 after wards; otherwise God does not cause an animal to be born with torn ears from its mother's belly. In another Hadith the Holy Prophet 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 Holy Prophet in similar words).