الإنسان
Al Insan
Verses
31
Revelation
Madani
Period
Madinan
Surah No.
76 / 114
Al-Insan traces the human being from a period of non-existence, through the creation as a compound of fluids, to the test of this life, and then to the rewards of Paradise. It describes the righteous who fulfil their vows, feed the poor and orphan and prisoner for the sake of Allah alone without seeking thanks, and their extraordinary reward in the gardens of Paradise – the pure drink, the silken garments, the thrones, and the companionship of divine favour. The surah closes by affirming that the Quran is a reminder for those who will to remember.
أسباب النزول
The circumstances of revelation are linked by some accounts to Ali ibn Abi Talib and Fatimah who, along with their servant, gave away their iftar meal for three consecutive nights to a poor person, an orphan, and a captive, saying on each occasion: "We feed you for the sake of Allah – we desire from you neither reward nor thanks." The Quran then revealed verses in honour of their selfless act. Other scholars hold the surah is wholly Makkan; the scholarly debate on its classification is notable.
“And they give food in spite of love for it to the needy, the orphan, and the captive, saying: We feed you only for the sake of Allah – we wish not from you reward or gratitude.”
The highest articulation of selfless charity in the Quran – giving not for human recognition, societal reward, or even the recipient's gratitude, but purely for the face of Allah.
“Has there not been upon man a period of time when he was not a thing even mentioned?”
The surah opens by anchoring human existence in its fragile origin – there was a period when the individual human did not exist at all, establishing the gift of existence as the first basis of gratitude.