from which Allah sent Muhammad—may Allah bless him and his family and grant them peace.
The scholars said that “Mount Sinai” means the Mount of Blessing, because Allah Most High described it—or the area around it—as the sacred valley.
“We have indeed created man in the best form.” This is the statement sworn to. Allah Most High swears that He created man in the best form. This clause is reinforced by three forms of emphasis: the oath, the emphatic lām, and the particle qad. Allah swears that He created man “in the best form”: in the finest shape and physical constitution, and with the finest innate disposition and intentions. No created being has a finer physical constitution than the children of Adam; every earthly creature is inferior to them in this respect, for Allah Most High says: “We have indeed created man in the best form.”
As for His words, “Then We reduced him to the lowest of the low,” this reduction mentioned by Allah, Mighty and Majestic, means that Allah reduces man to the lowest of the low in physical constitution, as Allah Most High says: “And some of you are reduced to the most decrepit age” [al-Nahl: 70].
The more a person advances in age, the more he deteriorates in physical strength, bodily form, facial vitality, and other respects, until he is reduced to the lowest of the low. If we understand “the best form” to include even the innate disposition upon which Allah created mankind, as well as the worship that results from or is built upon that disposition, then this indicates that some people’s condition may regress—Allah protect us—until they become the lowest of the low, after having occupied the highest summit of faith and knowledge. The verse encompasses both meanings.
Allah Most High then says: “Except those who believe and perform righteous deeds; theirs shall be a reward that is not…” This is an exception to His words, “Then We reduced him to the lowest of the low.” That is, the believers who believe and perform righteous deeds are not reduced to the lowest of the low, because they hold fast to their faith and deeds, remaining steadfast in them until they die. As for His words, “theirs shall be a reward”—that is, a recompense—“that is not…”