Al-Qur'an Surah Al-Qalam Verse 4

Mufti Taqi Usmani

And you are surely on an excellent standard of character.

Dr. Mustafa Khattab, the Clear Quran

And you are truly ˹a man˺ of outstanding character.

Ruwwad Translation Center

Indeed, you are of a great moral character.

A. J. Arberry

surely thou art upon a mighty morality.

Abdul Haleem

truly you have a strong character––

Abdul Majid Daryabadi

And verily thou art of a high and noble disposition.

Abdullah Yusuf Ali

And thou (standest) on an exalted standard of character.

Abul Ala Maududi

and you are certainly on the most exalted standard of moral excellence.

Ahmed Ali

For you are verily born of sublime nature.

Ahmed Raza Khan

And indeed you possess an exemplary character.

Ali Quli Qarai

and indeed you possess a great character.

Ali Ünal

You are surely of a sublime character and do act by a sublime pattern of conduct.

Amatul Rahman Omar

And you possess outstandingly high standard of moral (excellence).

English Literal

And that you are on (E) great nature/character.

Faridul Haque

And indeed you possess an exemplary character.

Hamid S. Aziz

And most surely you have the most sublime (or exalted) character.

Hilali & Khan

And verily, you (O Muhammad SAW) are on an exalted standard of character.

Maulana Mohammad Ali

Which of you is mad.

Mohammad Habib Shakir

And most surely you conform (yourself) to sublime morality.

Mohammed Marmaduke William Pickthall

And lo! thou art of a tremendous nature.

Muhammad Sarwar

You have attained a high moral standard.

Qaribullah & Darwish

Surely, you (Prophet Muhammad) are of a great morality.

Safi-ur-Rahman al-Mubarakpuri

And verily, you are on an exalted character.

Wahiduddin Khan

For you are truly of a sublime character.

Talal Itani

And you are of a great moral character.

Tafsir jalalayn

And assuredly you possess a magnificent nature, [a magnificent] religion.

Tafseer Ibn Kathir

And verily, you are on an exalted (standard of) character.

Al-`Awfi reported from Ibn `Abbas,

"Verily, you are on a great religion, and it is Islam."

Likewise said Mujahid, Abu Malik, As-Suddi and Ar-Rabi` bin Anas. Ad-Dahhak and Ibn Zayd also said this.

Sa`id bin Abi `Arubah reported from Qatadah that he said concerning Allah's statement,
وَإِنَّكَ لَعَلى خُلُقٍ عَظِيمٍ
(And verily, you are on an exalted (standard of) character).

"It has been mentioned to us that Sa`d bin Hisham asked `A'ishah about the character of the Messenger of Allah, so she replied;

`Have you not read the Qur'an'

Sa`d said;`Of course.'

Then she said;`Verily, the character of the Messenger of Allah was the Qur'an."'

Abdur-Razzaq recorded similar to this and Imam Muslim recorded it in his Sahih on the authority of Qatadah in its full length.

This means that he would act according to the commands and the prohibition in the Qur'an. His nature and character were patterned according to the Qur'an, and he abandoned his natural disposition (i.e., the carnal nature). So whatever the Qur'an commanded, he did it, and whatever it forbade, he avoided it.

Along with this, Allah gave him the exalted character, which included the qualities of modesty, kindness, bravery, pardoning, gentleness and every other good characteristic. This is like that which has been confirmed in the Two Sahihs that Anas said,

"I served the Messenger of Allah for ten years, and he never said a word of displeasure to me (Uff), nor did he ever say to me concerning something I had done;`Why did you do that'

And he never said to me concerning something I had not done;`Why didn't you do this'

He had the best character, and I never touched any silk or anything else that was softer than the palm of the Messenger of Allah. And I never smelled any musk or perfume that had a better fragrance than the sweat of the Messenger of Allah."

Imam Al-Bukhari recorded that Al-Bara' said,

"The Messenger of Allah had the most handsome face of all the people, and he had the best behavior of all of the people. And he was not tall, nor was he short."

The Hadiths concerning this matter are numerous. Abu `Isa At-Tirmidhi has a complete book on this subject called Kitab Ash-Shama'il.

Imam Ahmad recorded that A'ishah said,

- "The Messenger of Allah never struck a servant of his with his hand, nor did he ever hit a woman. He never hit anything with his hand, except for when he was fighting Jihad in the cause of Allah.

- And he was never given the option between two things except that the most beloved of the two to him was the easiest of them, as long as it did not involve sin. If it did involve sin, then he stayed farther away from sin than any of the people.

- He would not avenge himself concerning anything that was done to him, except if the limits of Allah were transgressed. Then, in that case he would avenge for the sake of Allah."

Imam Ahmad also recorded from Abu Hurayrah that the Messenger of Allah said,

إِنَّمَا بُعِثْتُ لاُِتَمِّمَ صَالِحَ الاَْخْلَق

I have only been sent to perfect righteous behavior.

Ahmad was alone in recording this Hadith.

In reference to Allah's statement,

فَسَتُبْصِرُ وَيُبْصِرُونَ