An-Nazi'at · Makki · ayah 33 of 46

An-Nazi'at 79:33

مَتَـٰعًا لَّكُمْ وَلِأَنْعَـٰمِكُمْ

“As enjoyment [i.e., provision] for you and your grazing livestock.”

Saheeh International

Essence

Sky, night, morning, earth, water, pasture and mountains all end in two words: for you, and for your animals, for a while.

A reflection

'Is that all?'

On his eighth birthday a boy tears through a pile of presents in ten minutes. When the last one is open, he looks around and asks, 'Is that all?' His parents exchange a look. They saved for months. They wrapped everything at midnight. He has not noticed any of it.

This ayah is the last line of a long list. The sky raised and levelled, the night darkened, the morning brought out, the earth spread, its water and pasture drawn out, the mountains anchored. Then two words tell us what it was all for: matāʿan lakum, provision for you. The sources say He did all this for His creation, and for the livestock they need, for as long as they need it here.

The Lord of the sky and the mountains prepared all of it with us in mind. That is majesty of a surprising kind: not only greatness, but generosity on a scale we rarely take in. Every sunrise, every glass of water, every loaf of bread sits at the end of this list.

And the ego's usual response is the boy's. We do not see the preparation. We see what is missing. The job we did not get, the house that is too small, the weather that spoiled the weekend. Entitlement is simply a failure to notice the list.

A doubt might come to a reader. Does Allah remind us of His gifts because He wants thanks, as the boy's parents might? The Quran answers that He needs nothing at all: 'If you are ungrateful, Allah is free of need of you' (39:7). The reminder is for our sake, because ingratitude makes people miserable and gratitude makes them rich.

The boy grew up. At thirty, with children of his own, he rang his mother after a birthday. He told her he finally understood what she had done.

Tonight, before sleep, go through this passage's list in order: sky, night, morning, earth, water, food, mountains. For each one, say al-ḥamdu li-llāh.

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.