Surah Al-Isra 17:70: We have honored the children of Adam.

17:70

۞وَلَقَدۡ كَرَّمۡنَا بَنِيٓ ءَادَمَ وَحَمَلۡنَٰهُمۡ فِي ٱلۡبَرِّ وَٱلۡبَحۡرِ وَرَزَقۡنَٰهُم مِّنَ ٱلطَّيِّبَٰتِ وَفَضَّلۡنَٰهُمۡ عَلَىٰ كَثِيرٖ مِّمَّنۡ خَلَقۡنَا تَفۡضِيلٗا

Walaqad karramna banee adama wahamalnahum fee albarri waalbahri warazaqnahum mina alttayyibati wafaddalnahum AAala katheerin mimman khalaqna tafdeelan

And We have certainly honored the children of Adam and carried them on the land and sea and provided for them of the good things and preferred them over much of what We have created, with [definite] preference.

Word by word

۞وَلَقَدۡAnd certainly
كَرَّمۡنَاWe have honored
بَنِيٓ(the) children of Adam
ءَادَمَ(the) children of Adam
وَحَمَلۡنَٰهُمۡand We carried them
فِيon
ٱلۡبَرِّthe land
وَٱلۡبَحۡرِand the sea
وَرَزَقۡنَٰهُمand We have provided them
مِّنَof
ٱلطَّيِّبَٰتِthe good things
وَفَضَّلۡنَٰهُمۡand We preferred them
عَلَىٰover
كَثِيرٖmany
مِّمَّنۡof those whom
خَلَقۡنَاWe have created
تَفۡضِيلٗا(with) preference

Al-Isra · 17:70Makkah

We have honored the children of Adam.

Your dignity is a gift, not an achievement

The honors

best formupright, hands, a heart

carriedon land and sea

good provisionfood, milk, clothes

preferredover much of creation

Where worth comes from

what I achievelikes, grades, salary

Allah honored meas a child of Adam

Ibn Kathir describes the honor: created in the best form, walking upright, eating with the hand, given hearing, sight and a heart to tell what helps from what harms. Carried on animals and ships, fed with every kind of good food, and dressed in clothes of every color.

A bad day at work. A breakup. A rejection email. You feel worthless. Before any of that, Allah honored you. And every person you pass on the street, the cleaner, the stranger, the one you disagree with, carries that same honor.

My worth goes up and down with how my life is going.

Allah gave me dignity as a child of Adam, and no bad day can take it.

Try this

Treat one person today, a cleaner, a driver, a cashier, with the honor Allah gave them.

Simplified reflection. Read the tafsir for scholarship.draft

Tafsir Ibn Kathir

And indeed We have honored the Children of Adam, and We have carried them on land and sea, and have provided them with At-Tayyibat, and have preferred them above many of those whom We have created with a marked preferment (70)

The Honor and noble Nature of Man

Allah tells us how He has honored the sons of Adam and made them noble by creating them in the best and most perfect of forms, as He says:

لَقَدْ خَلَقْنَا الْإِنسَانَ فِي أَحْسَنِ تَقْوِيمٍ

(Verily, We created man in the best stature (mould).)(95:4) He walks upright on his two feet and eats with his hand, whilet other living creatures walk on four feet and eat with their mouths, and He has given him hearing, sight and a heart with which to understand all of that, to benefit from it, and distinguish between things to know which are good for him and which are harmful, in both worldly and religious terms.

وَحَمَلْنَاهُمْ فِي الْبَرِّ

(and We have carried them on land) means, on animals such as cattle, horses and mules, and also on the sea in ships and boats, great and small.

وَرَزَقْنَاهُم مِّنَ الطَّيِّبَاتِ

(and have provided them with At-Tayyibat,) meaning agricultural produce, fruits, meat, and milk with all kinds of delicious and desirable flavors and colors and beautiful appearance, and fine clothes of all kinds of shapes colors and sizes, which they make for themselves or are brought to them by others from other regions and areas.

وَفَضَّلْنَاهُمْ عَلَىٰ كَثِيرٍ مِّمَّنْ خَلَقْنَا تَفْضِيلًا

(and have preferred them above many of those whom We have created with a marked preferment.) means, over all living beings and other kinds of creation. This Ayah indicates that human are also preferred over the angels.