Verse 6
The Fig • makkah
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Commentary:
If "man" is taken to mean the whole mankind the verse signifies that good precedes evil. This is Islam’s main difference with the protagonists of the theory of man’s moral evolution, according to whom evil precedes good. If man is taken as an individual the verse means that God has bestowed upon man great natural faculties and powers and has revealed guidance in order that by making right use of them and following Divinely-revealed guidance he might reach the high destiny intended for him.
Man is born with a pure and unsullied nature, with a natural tendency to do good, but he has also been given a large measure of freedom of will and action to mould himself as he chooses. He has been endowed with great natural powers and creative qualities to make unlimited moral progress and to rise spiritually so high as to become the mirror in which Divine attributes are reflected. But if he misuses God-given powers and attributes, he sinks lower than even beasts and brutes and becomes Devil incarnate as the next verse shows. Briefly, he is blessed with great potentialities for doing good and evil.