Al-Furqan · Makki · ayah 49 of 77

Al-Furqan 25:49

لِّنُحْـِۧىَ بِهِۦ بَلْدَةً مَّيْتًا وَنُسْقِيَهُۥ مِمَّا خَلَقْنَآ أَنْعَـٰمًا وَأَنَاسِىَّ كَثِيرًا

“That We may bring to life thereby a dead land and give it as drink to those We created of numerous livestock and men.”

Saheeh International

Essence

Allah sends the rain to bring dead land back to life and to give drink to His creatures, herds first and then many people.

A reflection

Third in the sentence

Read the ayah as if you were a character in it. First comes the land: 'that We may bring dead land to life'. Then come the herds. Only then come the people. In a sentence about who the rain is for, human beings arrive third.

The commentators noticed the order and explained it. Human life depends on the life of the land and the life of the herds. So Allah mentions the cause of their living before the people who live by it. One adds that if people find water for their fields and flocks, they will not lack water for themselves. The order is not an insult. It is an accurate map of dependence.

And all of it is mimmā khalaqnā, 'of what We created'. The herds and the people are named together as His creatures. The ego likes to place humans above the chain, receiving everything. The ayah places us inside it, at the end, waiting on soil and cattle.

A city lawyer takes his children for a week on a hill farm. On the first hot morning he asks the farmer for water. She smiles and says, 'Cattle first. They can't fetch it themselves; you can.' He laughs, a little stung. Later he reads that a classical commentator explained why herds are named here and not birds or wild animals. Wild creatures travel far for water and seldom lack it. Herds are kept, and their keepers' lives depend on them.

Why would Allah describe His gifts at such length? Is He seeking applause? He is free of need, and we are poor towards Him (35:15). The ayah does not lift Him; it places us. Knowing that you come third in the sentence of the rain is a good cure for thinking you are first in everything else.

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.