Ar-Rum · Makki · ayah 50 of 60

Ar-Rum 30:50

فَٱنظُرْ إِلَىٰٓ ءَاثَـٰرِ رَحْمَتِ ٱللَّهِ كَيْفَ يُحْىِ ٱلْأَرْضَ بَعْدَ مَوْتِهَآ ۚ إِنَّ ذَٰلِكَ لَمُحْىِ ٱلْمَوْتَىٰ ۖ وَهُوَ عَلَىٰ كُلِّ شَىْءٍ قَدِيرٌ

“So observe the effects of the mercy of Allāh - how He gives life to the earth after its lifelessness. Indeed, that [same one] will give life to the dead, and He is over all things competent.”

Saheeh International

Essence

Look at what mercy leaves on dead ground: the One who does that is already the Giver of life to the dead.

A reflection

Already the Giver of life

A lawn-care van is parked on a suburban street. Painted along its side is the slogan: 'We bring dead lawns back to life.' The firm does good work. It aerates, feeds and waters. But not one of its staff has ever made a single blade of grass.

This ayah answers that kind of claim without arguing with anyone. Inna dhālika la-muḥyī al-mawtā: truly, that One is the Giver of life to the dead. One classical commentator noticed the form. The Quran did not say 'He will revive the dead'. It used a noun of the doer, with an emphatic la-. A king who 'will give you' something is less certain than a king who is 'your giver'. The second describes who he already is.

Another commentator dwelt on dhālika, 'that One'. Using the far pointing word, he said, marks the greatness of the One it points to. And the ayah closes by widening the claim: He has power over every thing.

The ego hears this and loses some of its swagger. We talk about 'growing' vegetables and 'bringing back' a garden. We speak of 'saving' a patient or 'reviving' a business. All of this is honest work with real means. None of it makes life from nothing.

Allah puts the challenge plainly in a narration in al-Bukhari. Who does greater wrong than one who sets out to create as I create? 'Let them create a grain, or a seed of barley.'

Does a God who says 'I give life' need us to admire Him? No. He has no need of us at all. The reminder is mercy to us. It moves our trust from the van to the One who sends the rain the van depends on.

Do the work. Feed the soil. Then give the life to its Giver.

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.