Ar-Rahman · Madani · ayah 10 of 78

Ar-Rahman 55:10

وَٱلْأَرْضَ وَضَعَهَا لِلْأَنَامِ

“And the earth He laid [out] for the creatures.”

Saheeh International

Essence

The earth was laid low to face the sky, and spread for every creature that appears on it, not for us alone.

A reflection

Six generations, and a longer guest list

A landowner walks his visitors along the boundary stones of an estate his family has held for six generations. He names each field after the ancestor who bought it. It is an impressive afternoon. In the light of this ayah, it is also a guest showing other guests round a house he does not own.

And the earth He laid down for the creatures. The commentaries read the verb as smoothing and spreading: He laid it out and levelled it, so that creatures could settle on it. One calls it a cradle for them, on which they move about. Another adds what anchors it. As He raised the sky, He laid down the earth, made it level, and steadied it with high mountains.

Then the word for whom: al-anām. One commentary unpacks it in a single breath. Creatures of differing kinds, shapes, colours and tongues, across every region and corner of the earth. An early reading says simply: everything that has a soul.

Look at what that does to the pride we take in land, nation, race and family name. The floor was laid for every kind, every colour, every tongue. The boundary stones are real, and the law may honour them. But the deed that finally matters names no family. It names a Host, and lists every guest.

A sceptic may ask whether calling the earth His gift is ownership dressed as generosity. But a host who lays the floor and then needs nothing from it is the opposite of a landlord (35:15). He collects no rent. He asks only that the guests know whose house it is, and treat the other guests accordingly.

The full entry has 6 more reflections, questions to sit with, and "Live it today" - with the words, the roots and the tafsir alongside. Free, no account, works offline.