Tafsir of Surat al-Tin, complete.

The Shaykh : Praise be to Allah, Lord of the worlds, and may Allah send prayers and blessings upon our Prophet Muhammad, and upon his family and his Companions, and upon those who follow them with excellence until the Day of Judgment.
As for what follows: This is the eighty-first meeting, which takes place every Thursday of every week. Our meeting today is on Thursday, the thirteenth of the month of Rajab in the year 1415. We begin it, as is our custom, with the tafsir of the words of Allah (Mighty and Majestic). We have finished Surat al-Inshirah, and now, with the help and success of Allah the Exalted, we will begin with Surat al-Tin.
Allah (Mighty and Majestic) says: In the name of Allah, the Most Merciful, the Most Compassionate, to the end of the surah. His saying, the Exalted: is an oath by these four things: Allah the Exalted swore by the fig and the olive, and by Tur Sinin, and by this secure city, meaning Makkah, because the surah is a Makkian surah, so the one being referred to is near, and it is Makkah. The fig is the well-known fruit, and so is the olive. Allah swore by them because they are abundant in Palestine. As for Tur Sinin, Allah swore by it because it is the mountain at which Allah spoke to Musa (peace and blessings be upon him and his family).
And this secure city, by which Allah swore—meaning Makkah—because it is the most beloved of places to Allah and the most noble of places in the sight of Allah (Mighty and Majestic). Some of the scholars of knowledge said: Allah swore by these three because the first, the fig and the olive, is the land of Palestine where the prophets were, and the last of the prophets of the Children of Israel is Isa ibn Maryam (peace be upon him). And by Tur Sinin because it is the mountain around which Allah the Exalted revealed to Musa. As for the secure city, it is Makkah, from which Allah sent Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him and his family). The scholars said that the meaning of His saying: is: the mountain of blessing, because Allah the Exalted described it, or described what surrounds it, as the sacred valley.
This is the thing about which the oath is made. Allah the Exalted swore that He created man in the best of stature. If you reflect on the sentence—meaning the sentence containing the thing about which the oath is made—you will see that it is confirmed by three confirmations: the oath, the lam, and qad. So Allah swore that He created man in the best of stature, in the best of stature in form and creation, and in the best of stature in fitrah and intention, because there is no one among the created beings better than the children of Adam in creation. All earthly creatures are below the children of Adam in creation, because Allah the Exalted said: This return mentioned by Allah (Mighty and Majestic) means that Allah the Exalted returns man to the lowest of the low in creation, as Allah the Exalted said: So as a person increases in age, he changes to the worse, not in physical strength, nor in physical form, nor in the looks of the face, nor in anything else. He is returned to the lowest of the low. And if we say that "the best of stature" includes even the fitrah upon which Allah created the creation, and the worship that is established or built upon this fitrah, then this is an indication that some people, may Allah protect us from that, have their condition return to being the lowest of the low after they were at the highest and the peak of faith and knowledge. The verse includes both meanings.
Then He said, the Exalted: This is an exception from His saying: meaning: except for the believers who believed and did righteous deeds, for they will not be returned to the lowest of the low, because they hold fast to their faith and their deeds, so they remain upon them until they die. And His saying: means: a reward of that is not cut off, nor is it a favor bestowed upon them. So the word "mamnun" is suitable for the meaning of being cut off, and it is suitable for the meaning of a favor. So they have a reward that is not cut off, and they are not favored with it, meaning: that when they receive this reward, they are not favored with it, such that it is said: We gave you, and we did this and that. And even though the favor of Allah (Mighty and Majestic) upon them with faith, righteous deeds, and reward is all a favor from Allah, but they are not favored with it, meaning they are not hurt by the favor, as happens in worldly matters when someone does good to you, he may hurt you with his favor upon you on every occasion, saying: I did this for you, I gave you, and the like.
Then Allah (Blessed and Exalted is He) said: Allah the Exalted moved from speaking in the third person to speaking in the second person, saying: meaning: What denies you, O man, after this clarification of the religion, meaning what Allah commanded of the religion? For this reason, whenever a person looks at himself, his origin, and his creation, and that Allah chose him and perfected his creation and perfected his fitrah, he increases in faith in Allah (Mighty and Majestic) and belief in His Book and in what His messengers reported. Then He said: And this interrogative is for affirmation. Allah (Mighty and Majestic) affirms that He is the most wise of judges. And "ahkam" here is a superlative name, derived from wisdom and judgment. So the greatest, most supreme judgment that nothing opposes is the judgment of Allah (Mighty and Majestic), and the highest, most supreme wisdom is the wisdom of Allah (Mighty and Majestic). So He, Glorified and Exalted is He, is the most wise of judges in decree and in legislation. And to Him belongs the judgment, and to Him is returned the whole matter.
We have striven to make the tafsir in the last parts of the Qur'an, because its recitation is frequent in the prayers. And what every believer should strive for is to know the meanings of the Book of Allah (Mighty and Majestic), because action upon the Qur'an does not become correct except by knowing its meaning. Indeed, Allah the Exalted described those who do not know the meaning as unlettered, saying: meaning: except recitation. And many people today, if not most of them, do not know of the Qur'an except the words only. It is fitting for students of knowledge to strive on every occasion when they gather with the common people to bring a verse from the Book of Allah and explain it, especially what is frequently repeated by the common people, such as al-Fatihah. If you come to a common person, or to many people, and want to ask him about its meaning, he will not know anything of it. We ask Allah the Exalted to grant us and you knowledge of His Book and the Sunnah of His Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him). Indeed, He is capable of all things.
And now to the questions, and we begin with Al-Ayyam.