weary.﴾ [al-Mulk: 3, 4].
﴿And the earth and Him Who spread it out﴾ means: the earth and Him Who leveled it until it became even. He made it neither excessively soft nor excessively hard and solid; rather, He made it suitable for His creatures according to their needs. It is part of Allah’s blessing upon His servants—Glorified and Exalted is He—that He leveled the earth for them and made it moderate between softness and hardness, except in certain places. Yet what is true of a small part does not determine the judgment regarding the greater part.
﴿And the soul and Him Who proportioned it﴾: Although “soul” is singular here, it is general in scope and means every soul. ﴿And Him Who proportioned it﴾ means that He fashioned it both in its physical constitution and its innate disposition. As for its physical constitution, He created everything in the manner suited to it and its condition. Allah Most High says: ﴿Who gave everything its proper form﴾—meaning the form appropriate to it—﴿then guided it﴾ [Tā Hā: 50], meaning that He guided it to what serves its welfare.
He likewise fashioned it with an innate disposition, especially in the case of human beings, for Allah made their innate disposition one of sincere devotion to Him alone and affirmation of His oneness. Allah Most High says: ﴿So set your face toward the religion, inclining wholly to truth—the natural disposition instilled by Allah upon which He created mankind﴾ [al-Rūm: 30].
﴿Then He inspired it﴾—that is, Allah, Mighty and Majestic is He, inspired these souls with ﴿their wickedness and their righteousness﴾. Wickedness is mentioned before righteousness, even though righteousness is undoubtedly better. The scholars said that this was to preserve the cadence of the verse endings.
﴿Their wickedness and their righteousness﴾: Wickedness is the opposite of righteousness. Righteousness is obedience to Allah, while wickedness is disobedience to Allah; thus every sinner is an evildoer. Although customary usage applies “evildoer” specifically to someone who lacks chastity, in the terminology of the Sacred Law it includes everyone who departs from obedience to Allah. Allah Most High says: ﴿No indeed! The record of the wicked is surely in Sijjīn﴾ [al-Mutaffifīn: 7]. What is meant here is the disbelievers.
Inspiring the soul with righteousness accords with its innate disposition, for wickedness is contrary to that disposition. Yet Allah may inspire some souls with wickedness because of their deviation, as He says: ﴿So when they deviated, Allah caused their hearts to deviate﴾ [al-Saff: 5]. Allah Most High wrongs no one; rather, when He knows of someone that he does not desire the truth, Allah causes his heart to deviate.
﴿Successful indeed is the one who purifies it﴾. ﴿Successful indeed﴾ means that he has attained what he sought—