َ وَالْأَرْضِ وَمَا طَحَاهَا ﴿۶﴾ وَنَفْسٍ وَمَا سَوَّاهَا ﴿۷﴾ فَأَلْهَمَهَا فُجُورَهَا وَتَقْوَاهَا ﴿۸﴾ قَدْ أَفْلَحَ مَنْ زَكَّاهَا ﴿۹﴾ وَقَدْ خَابَ مَنْ دَسَّاهَا ﴿۱۰﴾ كَذَّبَتْ ثَمُودُ بِطَغْوَاهَا ﴿۱۱﴾ إِذِ انْبَعَثَ أَشْقَاهَا ﴿۱۲﴾

﴾6﴿ Wal ardi wa maa tahaahaa
﴾7﴿ Wa nafsinw wa maa sawwaahaa
﴾8﴿ Fa-alhamahaa fujoorahaa wa taqwaahaa
﴾9﴿ Qad aflaha man zakkaahaa
﴾10﴿ Wa qad khaaba man dassaahaa
﴾11﴿ Kazzabat Samoodu bi taghwaahaaa
﴾12﴿ Izim ba'asa ashqaahaa

﴾6﴿ And by the earth and He who spread it
﴾7﴿ And by the soul and He who proportioned it
﴾8﴿ Then He inspired it with the knowledge of wickedness and righteousness
﴾9﴿ Indeed, successful is the one who purifies his soul
﴾10﴿ And indeed, failed is the one who corrupts it
﴾11﴿ The Thamud denied (the truth) due to their transgression
﴾12﴿ When the most wretched of them rose up

[7] This is the tenth oath—by the soul—meaning each individual soul, referring to all human beings. Here too is an indication of the qualities and perfections of complete human beings.
And by the One who proportioned it—this is the eleventh oath, and the meaning of proportioning is the completion of all stages of creation, including the form, stature, and structure of the human being.
[8] What is meant by inspiration (ilhām) is the divine decree of both sinfulness (fujūr) and righteousness (taqwā), as mentioned in the authentic hadiths of Muslim and Ahmad. Another opinion is that ilhām means clarification and explanation. In linguistic usage, ilhām applies to both good and evil, but in technical religious usage, it is used specifically for good.
The righteous predecessors said that this verse is evidence that the Creator of both sinfulness and righteousness, good and evil, is Allah. This serves as a refutation of the Qadariyyah sect.
[9,10] This is the response to the oaths and the main assertion of the surah: that the outcomes of the two types of people are different.
Purified it—refers to the servant who purifies his soul along with the beliefs and deeds mentioned in Surah Al-Balad.
Corrupted it—means the servant ruins his soul through misguidance and involvement in sins. One interpretation is that he tries to associate himself with the righteous and imitates them outwardly, while in belief and action he opposes them.
[11,12] This is a worldly warning using the example of Thamud, and it is connected to “Indeed, he has failed who corrupted it” (qad khāba man dassāhā).