Ar-Ra'd · Madani · ayah 3 of 43

Ar-Ra'd 13:3

وَهُوَ ٱلَّذِى مَدَّ ٱلْأَرْضَ وَجَعَلَ فِيهَا رَوَٰسِىَ وَأَنْهَـٰرًا ۖ وَمِن كُلِّ ٱلثَّمَرَٰتِ جَعَلَ فِيهَا زَوْجَيْنِ ٱثْنَيْنِ ۖ يُغْشِى ٱلَّيْلَ ٱلنَّهَارَ ۚ إِنَّ فِى ذَٰلِكَ لَـَٔايَـٰتٍ لِّقَوْمٍ يَتَفَكَّرُونَ

“And it is He who spread the earth and placed therein firmly set mountains and rivers; and from all of the fruits He made therein two mates; He causes the night to cover the day. Indeed in that are signs for a people who give thought.”

Saheeh International

Essence

Spread earth, anchored mountains, rivers, paired fruit and night drawn over day: every room of your life was furnished before you thought to look.

A reflection

A map of a house you did not build

At a dinner party a man mentions, not for the first time, that he has visited sixty-three countries. In his hallway hangs a scratch map, gold foil rubbed off each one. The table is polite. He has seen a great deal.

Wa-huwa alladhī madda al-arḍ: and He is the One who spread out the earth. One early commentator explained madd as spreading out so far that the eye cannot find the end. Another took the word to point at a fixed measure. The earth was given exactly this size, no larger and no smaller, by a choice that could have been otherwise.

Then the ayah keeps furnishing. Firm mountains. Rivers. Every kind of fruit, in pairs. Night drawn over day. One commentator sums up the movement in a line. He disposes of time just as He disposes of place and of those who live in it. Ground, fixtures, food and hours: everything we spend our lives trying to own.

Here pride meets its proper size. We talk of my land, my water, my harvest, my time. Each is a slice of something spread, anchored, paired and covered by Another. The traveller has scratched gold off a map of a house he did not build. He has walked through only a few of its rooms.

Why, then, does Allah list these things? Does He want our applause? The ayah ends: inna fī dhālika la-āyātin li-qawmin yatafakkarūn, in that are signs for people who think. The benefit is the thinker's. A host who shows a guest where the towels are is not boasting about towels. He wants the guest to feel at home.

The traveller could keep his map. He might add one line beneath it, in small letters: spread out by Him. Then every country becomes a room he was shown into. And the humble thing to do in such a room is to thank the host.

The full entry has 5 more reflections, questions to sit with, and "Live it today" - with the words, the roots and the tafsir alongside. Free, no account, works offline.