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Verse of Dignity
Verse's Information
NameVerse of Dignity
SuraSura al-Isra (Qur'an 17)
Verse70
Juz'15
Content Information
Place of
Revelation		Mecca
TopicHuman dignity
AboutSuperiority of human beings over all creatures
Related VersesVerse 29 of Sura al-Baqara, Verse 30 of Sura al-Baqara, Verse 14 of Sura al-Mu'minun, Verse 13 of Sura al-Hujurat


Qur'an 17:70 (Arabic: آیه کرامت), known as the Verse of Dignity, is the seventieth verse of Sura al-Isra, referring to the high station of human beings in creation, their superiority over other creatures, and God's blessings upon them.[1] 'Allama Tabataba'i in the book Al-Mizan considers these privileges to encompass all human beings (disbeliever and otherwise); because otherwise, God should have referred to believers in the verse, not all human beings.[2]

According to exegetes, the meaning of honoring (takrim) the human in the Verse of Dignity is a privilege and feature present in humans and absent in other creatures. That exclusive human feature is the intellect ( 'aql), by means of which they distinguish good from evil, truth from falsehood, and the beneficial from the harmful.[3] This is different from preference (tafdil), which involves comparison; meaning that whatever God has given to other creatures, He has given a greater share of it to humans. This is perceivable by comparing human life with other creatures in food, clothing, marriage, housing, and the order and management in their social life; for humans are constantly striving, progressing, and achieving distant goals in these fields, while animals and plants benefit from simple and primitive utilizations.[4]

There is a disagreement regarding the type of dignity mentioned in the Verse of Dignity. Some exegetes believe in the intrinsic dignity (karamat-i dhati) of the human being, considering him a creature superior to other creations, and they regard the absoluteness of dignity in this verse as evidence for their claim.[5] Others believe in acquired dignity (karamat-i iktisabi), which results from utilizing positive talents and forces within the human being and his effort in the path of growth and perfection.[6] Muhammad Taqi Jafari, a Shia philosopher, considers this type of dignity for humans to be voluntary and calls it "value dignity" (karamat-i arzishi).[7] It is possible for a human to lose this superiority by committing indecent acts.[8] According to Abd Allah Jawadi Amoli, a Quranic exegete, there are three types of dignity in creation: supernatural or celestial (malakuti), natural, and human. Celestial dignity is specific to God's angels, the Divine Throne, and the bearers of the Throne; natural dignity is specific to natural beings like plants; and the high human dignity is obtained from the combination of nature and super-nature, and from a healthy aggregation of celestial dignity and natural dignity.[9]

Part of the Verse of Dignity in the logo of the High Council for Human Rights of the Islamic Republic of Iran[10]

Notes

  1. ↑ Sulṭānī, "Karāmat-i insān az nigāh-i Qurʾān", p. 30; Makārim Shīrāzī, Tafsīr-i nimūna, 1371 Sh, vol. 12, p. 196.
  2. ↑ Ṭabāṭabāʾī, Al-Mīzān, 1393 AH, vol. 13, p. 155.
  3. ↑ Ṭūsī, Al-Tibyān, vol. 6, p. 503; Ibn ʿArabī, Tafsīr Ibn ʿArabī, 1422 AH, vol. 1, p. 383; Ṭabāṭabāʾī, Al-Mīzān, 1393 AH, vol. 13, pp. 155-156; Ālūsī, Rūḥ al-maʿānī, 1415 AH, vol. 15, p. 118; Zuḥaylī, Al-Tafsīr al-munīr, 1418 AH, vol. 15, p. 121; Thaʿālibī, Tafsīr al-Thaʿālibī, 1418 AH, vol. 3, p. 486.
  4. ↑ Ṭabāṭabāʾī, Al-Mīzān, 1393 AH, vol. 13, pp. 155-156.
  5. ↑ Faḍlallāh, Tafsīr min waḥy al-Qurʾān, 1419 AH, vol. 14, pp. 179-180; Ibn ʿĀshūr, Al-Taḥrīr wa l-tanwīr, 1420 AH, vol. 14, pp. 130-131; Ṭabāṭabāʾī, Al-Mīzān, 1393 AH, vol. 13, pp. 155-156.
  6. ↑ Ṭabrisī, Majmaʿ al-bayān, 1415 AH, vol. 6, p. 273; Ṭūsī, Al-Tibyān, vol. 6, p. 503; Zamakhsharī, Al-Kashshāf, 1407 AH, vol. 2, p. 681; Jaʿfarī, Payām-i khirad, 1377 Sh, pp. 107-108.
  7. ↑ Jaʿfarī, Payām-i khirad, 1377 Sh, p. 107.
  8. ↑ Jaʿfarī, Payām-i khirad, 1377 Sh, p. 108; Ṭabrisī, Majmaʿ al-bayān, 1415 AH, vol. 6, pp. 273-274.
  9. ↑ Jawādī Āmulī, Ṣūrat wa sīrat-i insān dar Qurʾān, 1397 Sh, p. 327.
  10. ↑ Ṭarrāḥī-yi jālib-i logū-yi ḥuqūq-i bashar, Website of Asre Hamoon.

References

  • Ālūsī, Maḥmūd al-. Rūḥ al-maʿānī fī tafsīr al-Qurʾān al-ʿaẓīm wa l-sabʿ al-mathānī. Ed. ʿAlī ʿAbd al-Bārī ʿAṭiyya. Beirut, Dār al-Kutub al-ʿIlmiyya, 1415 AH.
  • Faḍlallāh, Sayyid Muḥammad Ḥusayn. Tafsīr min waḥy al-Qurʾān. Beirut, Dār al-Malāk, 1419 AH.
  • Ibn ʿArabī, Muḥammad b. ʿAlī. Tafsīr Ibn ʿArabī. Ed. Samīr Muṣṭafā Rabāb. Beirut, Dār Iḥyāʾ al-Turāth al-ʿArabī, 1422 AH.
  • Ibn ʿĀshūr, Muḥammad Ṭāhir. Al-Taḥrīr wa l-tanwīr. Beirut, Muʾassisat al-Tārīkh al-ʿArabī, 1420 AH.
  • Jaʿfarī, Muḥammad Taqī. Payām-i khirad. Tehran, Muʾassisa-yi Karāmat, 1st ed., 1377 Sh.
  • Jawādī Āmulī, ʿAbd Allāh. Ṣūrat wa sīrat-i insān dar Qurʾān. Qom, Markaz-i Nashr-i Isrāʾ, 1397 Sh.
  • Makārim Shīrāzī, Nāṣir. Tafsīr-i nimūna. Tehran, Dār al-Kutub al-Islāmiyya, 1371 Sh.
  • Sulṭānī, Muḥammad ʿAlī. "Karāmat-i insān az nigāh-i Qurʾān". Āyīna-yi Pizhūhish, no. 102, Bahman & Esfand 1385 Sh.
  • Ṭabāṭabāʾī, Sayyid Muḥammad Ḥusayn. Al-Mīzān fī tafsīr al-Qurʾān. Beirut, Muʾassisat al-Aʿlamī li-l-maṭbūʿāt, 3rd ed., 1393 AH.
  • "Ṭarrāḥī-yi jālib-i logū-yi ḥuqūq-i bashar bā khaṭ-i mīkhī wa āya-yi Qurʾān". Website of Asre Hamoon. Posted: August 6, 2014. Accessed: November 5, 2024.
  • Ṭabrisī, Faḍl b. Ḥasan al-. Majmaʿ al-bayān fī tafsīr al-Qurʾān. Beirut, Muʾassisat al-Aʿlamī li-l-maṭbūʿāt, 1st ed., 1415 AH.
  • Thaʿālibī, ʿAbd al-Raḥmān b. Muḥammad al-. Tafsīr al-Thaʿālibī. Ed. ʿAlī Muḥammad Muʿawwaḍ, ʿĀdil Aḥmad ʿAbd al-Mawjūd & ʿAbd al-Fattāḥ Abū Sinna. Beirut, Dār Iḥyāʾ al-Turāth al-ʿArabī, 1418 AH.
  • Ṭūsī, Muḥammad b. Ḥasan al-. Al-Tibyān fī tafsīr al-Qurʾān. Intro. Muḥammad Muḥsin Āqā Buzurg Tihrānī. Ed. Aḥmad Ḥabīb al-ʿĀmilī. Beirut, Dār Iḥyāʾ al-Turāth al-ʿArabī, n.d.
  • Zamakhsharī, Maḥmūd b. ʿUmar al-. Al-Kashshāf. Ed. Muṣṭafā Ḥusayn Aḥmad. Beirut, Dār al-Kitāb al-ʿArabī, 1407 AH.
  • Zuḥaylī, Wahba al-. Al-Tafsīr al-munīr fī al-ʿaqīda wa l-sharīʿa wa l-manhaj. Beirut, Dār al-Fikr al-Muʿāṣir, 1418 AH.
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