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wa-huwa lladhī madda l-ʾarḍa wa-jaʿala fīhā rawāsiya wa-ʾanhāran wa-min kulli th-thamarāti jaʿala fīhā zawjayni thnayni yughshī l-layla n-nahāra ʾinna fī dhālika la-ʾāyātin li-qawmin yatafakkarūna
It is He who has spread out the earth and set in it firm mountains and streams, and of every fruit in it He has made two kinds. He draws the night’s cover over the day. There are indeed signs in that for a people who reflect.
— Ali Quli Qarai
Surah Ar-Ra‘d – Verse 3
3. “And He it is Who spread the earth and placed mountains and streams in it and inserted in it two pairs of the each kind of fruit. He covers the day with the night. Certainly, there are signs in these matters for a people who reflect.”
This verse reveals the Divine signs in the upper universe and calls on man to meditate on the earth, the mountains, the streams the various kinds of fruits, and the dawn and sunset, saying that Allah spread the earth so as to make it ready for man to live in it and to grow plants and breed livestock in it. The verse says:
“And He it is Who spread the earth…”
The Qur’an then goes on dealing with the issue of the emergence of mountains implying that Allah has placed mountains in the earth. It continues saying:
“…and placed mountains and streams in it…”
These are the very same mountains which are referred to as /’aut ad/ meaning the nails of the earth. Probably, it is because mountains are interconnected with each other from underneath and armour-like they have covered the face of the earth so as to counter-balance not only the internal pressure, which is being exerted from within the crust of the earth, but also to counteract the extraordinary gravity power of the moon and its ebb and tide from outside.
Therefore, they are meant to respond to the continuous earth tremors and earth quakes as well as the tensions which are brought about as a result of them, and to pave the way for calm and relaxation on the terrestrial globe for man to live in. In the meantime, the verse, alluding to the rivers and the springs which are flowing on the earth, declares that there are streams placed therein. The irrigation system of the earth supported by mountains and the interdependence of the mountains with the streams are noteworthy, for many of the mountains on the earth deposit water in the form of snow within the cracks of their valleys or on their tops.
This snow eventually and gradually melts and travels from higher altitude regions to the lower altitude regions owing to the natural law of gravitation. Sometimes also, there are lakes formed at the outskirts of the mountains. Then, the Qur’an makes mention of foodstuffs and fruits which grow, as a result of the water and sunshine, from the earth and are best for human nutrition, implying that He has placed two pairs of each type of fruit in the earth. Here is allusion made to the fact that fruits are living beings that contain male and female cells which are fertilized through the process of cross – fertilization.
The verse says:
“…and inserted in it two pairs of the each kind of fruit…”
Although ‘Linet’, the Swedish famous botanist and scientist succeeded himself in the discovery of general and universal fertilization inside the world of plants in the mid eighteenth century, the Glorious Qur’an revealed this truth more than one thousand and four hundred years ago which can by itself be considered as one of its miracles, showing the magnitude of this great celestial Book. As man’s life and that of all other beings, especially that of the plants and fruits, can not go on without an exact and an accurate system of the timing of the day and the night, the Qur’an refers to it in another part of the verse, indicating that He covers day with night and He veils it.
The verse says:
“…He covers the day with the night…”
The reason for this is that once the dark veil of night does not cover the light, continuous sunshine burns away all plants, and no trace of the fruits and, generally speaking, of living beings would be left on the face of the earth. At the end of the verse, the Qur’an points out that, in the foregoing discussions, there are signs for those who meditate. The verse says:
“…Certainly, there are signs in these matters for a people who reflect.”
Honestly speaking, those who contemplate can witness the power of the Omnipotence and unending Omniscience of the Creator very clearly.
Explanations
1. The previous verse dealt with the skies while this verse relates to the earth and earthly blessings.
2. The Arabic term /rawasi/ is the plural form of /rasiyah/ and it signifies ‘firmness’. That is why, mountains are alluded to as /rawasi/. The terms /zauj/ and /zaujan/ both mean male and female.
3. The male and female in plants are often in one tree and sometimes in one blossom and sometimes in two trees or two blossoms.11
4. The Qur’anic phrase /madd al ’ard/ probably refers to the emerging of the earth from under the water which has been mentioned in Islamic quotations as /dahw ul ’ard/. This probability is consonant with and compatible with the views of the contemporary geologists who claim that the earth has been originally covered with water. (Allah knows the best.)
5. The world of creation is based on a ‘pair system’.
The pairing system in plants:
“…and He puts for every kind of beautiful growth (in pairs).” 12
The pairing system in animals, where the Qur’an says:
“…He made mates for you from among yourself and mates of the cattle too…” 13
Pairing in Human Beings:
“He created mates from your own kind for you.” 14
Pairing in everything:
“And of everything We have created pairs…” 15
Footnotes