Ayah
Word by Word
وَإِنَّا
And indeed We
لَنَحۡنُ
surely [We]
نُحۡيِۦ
We give life
وَنُمِيتُ
and We cause death
وَنَحۡنُ
and We
ٱلۡوَٰرِثُونَ
(are) the Inheritors
وَإِنَّا
And indeed We
لَنَحۡنُ
surely [We]
نُحۡيِۦ
We give life
وَنُمِيتُ
and We cause death
وَنَحۡنُ
and We
ٱلۡوَٰرِثُونَ
(are) the Inheritors
Translation
And verily, it is We Who give life, and Who give death: it is We Who remain inheritors (after all else passes away).
Tafsir
Indeed it is We Who give life and bring death, and We are the heirs, Who shall endure, inheriting all creation.
"The Supplies for All Things are with Allah
Allah says:
وَإِن مِّن شَيۡءٍ إِلاَّ عِندَنَا خَزَايِنُهُ
And there is not a thing, but the supplies for it are with Us,
Allah tells us that He is the Owner of all things, and that everything is easy for Him. He has the supplies for all things with Him.
وَمَا نُنَزِّلُهُ إِلاَّ بِقَدَرٍ مَّعۡلُومٍ
and We do not send it down but in a known measure.
meaning, as He wills and as He wants. Doing so out of His great wisdom and mercy towards His servants, in a way that He is under no obligation to do. But He has decreed mercy for Himself.
Yazid bin Abi Ziyad reported from Abu Juhayfah that Abdullah said:
""No year has more rain than another, but Allah divides the rain between them as He wills, it rains here a year and there a year. Then he recited:
وَإِن مِّن شَيۡءٍ إِلاَّ عِندَنَا خَزَايِنُهُ
(And there is not a thing, but the supplies for it are with Us...).
Reported by Ibn Jarir.
Benefits of the Winds
Allah says
وَأَرۡسَلۡنَا الرِّيَاحَ لَوَاقِحَ
And We send the winds fertilizing.
i.e., fertilizing the clouds so that they give rain, and fertilizing the trees so that they open their leaves and blossoms.
These winds are mentioned here in the plural form because they give results, unlike the barren wind (Ar-Rih Al-'Aqim, see Adh-Dhariyat 51:41), which is mentioned in the singular and described as barren since it does not produce anything; because results can only be produced when there are two or more things.
Abdullah bin Mas`ud said,
""The wind is sent bearing water from the sky, then it fertilizes the clouds until rain begins to generously fall, just as the milk of the pregnant camel flows generously.""
This was also the opinion of Ibn Abbas, Ibrahim An-Nakha`i and Qatadah.
Ad-Dahhak said:
""Allah sends it to the clouds and it gets fertilized and becomes full of water.""
Ubayd bin Umayr Al-Laythi said:
""Allah sends the wind which stirs up the earth, then Allah sends the wind which raises clouds, then Allah sends the wind which forms clouds, then Allah sends the fertilizing wind which pollinates the trees.""
Then he recited,
وَأَرۡسَلۡنَا الرِّيَاحَ لَوَاقِحَ
(And We sent the winds fertilizing).
Fresh Water is a Blessing from Allah
Allah says:
فَأَنزَلۡنَا مِنَ السَّمَاء مَاء
then We cause the water to descend from the sky,
فَأَسۡقَيۡنَاكُمُوهُ
and We give it to you to drink,
This means, ""and We send it down to you fresh and sweet, so that you can drink it; if We had wished, We could have made it salty (and undrinkable)"", as Allah points out in another Ayah in Surah Al-Waqi`ah, where He says:
أَفَرَءَيۡتُمُ الۡمَأءَ الَّذِى تَشۡرَبُونَ
أَءَنتُمۡ أَنزَلۡتُمُوهُ مِنَ الۡمُزۡنِ أَمۡ نَحۡنُ الۡمُنزِلُونَ
لَوۡ نَشَأءُ جَعَلۡنَـهُ أُجَاجاً فَلَوۡلَا تَشۡكُرُونَ
Tell Me! The water that you drink, is it you who cause it to come down from the rain clouds, or are We the cause of it coming down! If We willed, We verily could make it salty (and undrinkable), why then do you not give thanks (to Allah)! (56:68-70)
And Allah says:
هُوَ الَّذِى أَنۡزَلَ مِنَ السَّمَاءِ مَأءً لَّكُم مَّنۡهُ شَرَابٌ وَمِنۡهُ شَجَرٌ فِيهِ تُسِيمُونَ
He it is Who sends water down from the sky; from it you drink and from it (grows) the vegetation on which you send your cattle to pasture. (16:10)
وَمَا أَنتُمۡ لَهُ بِخَازِنِينَ
and it is not you who are the owners of its supply.
The meaning is, ""You are not taking care of it; rather We send it down and take care of it for you, making springs and wells flourish on the earth.""
If Allah so willed, He could make it disappear, but by His mercy He sends it down and makes it fresh and sweet, maintaining the springs, wells, rivers and so on, so that they may drink from it all year long, water their livestock and irrigate their crops.
The Power of Allah to initiate and renew Creation
Allah says
وَإنَّا لَنَحۡنُ نُحۡيِي وَنُمِيتُ
And certainly We! We it is Who give life, and cause death,
Here Allah tells us of His power to initiate creation and renew it. He is the One Who brings life to creatures out of nothingness, then He causes them to die, then He will resurrect all of them on the Day when He will gather them together.
وَنَحۡنُ الۡوَارِثُونَ
and We are the Inheritors.
He also tells us that He will inherit the earth and everyone on it, and then it is to Him that they will return.
Then He tells us about His perfect knowledge of them, the first and the last of them.
He says
وَلَقَدۡ عَلِمۡنَا الۡمُسۡتَقۡدِمِينَ مِنكُمۡ
And indeed, We know the first generations of you who had passed away....
Ibn Abbas said,
""The first generations are all those who have passed away since the time of Adam. The present generations and those who will come afterward refer to those who are alive now and who are yet to come, until the Day of Resurrection.""
Something similar was narrated from Ikrimah, Mujahid, Ad-Dahhak, Qatadah, Muhammad bin Ka`b, Ash-Sha`bi and others.
Ibn Jarir reported from Muhammad bin Abi Ma`shar, from his father, that;
he heard Awn bin Abdullah discussing the following Ayah with Muhammad bin Ka`b:
وَلَقَدۡ عَلِمۡنَا الۡمُسۡتَقۡدِمِينَ مِنكُمۡ وَلَقَدۡ عَلِمۡنَا الۡمُسۡتَأۡخِرِينَ
And indeed, We know the first generations of you who had passed away, and indeed, We know the present generations of you (mankind), and also those who will come afterwards,
and it was stated that it refers to the rows for prayer.
Muhammad bin Ka`b said, ""This is not the case.
وَلَقَدۡ عَلِمۡنَا الۡمُسۡتَقۡدِمِينَ مِنكُمۡ
(And indeed, We know the first generations of you who had passed away),
it refers to those who are dead or have been killed,
and;
الۡمُسۡتَأۡخِرِينَ
(and also those who will come afterwards),
meaning those who have yet to be created.
وَإِنَّ رَبَّكَ هُوَ يَحۡشُرُهُمۡ إِنَّهُ حَكِيمٌ عَلِيمٌ
And verily your Lord will gather them together. Truly, He is Most Wise, (and) Knowing).""
Awn bin Abdullah said,
""May Allah help you and reward you with good."""
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