Page 315
alladhī jaʿala lakumu l-ʾarḍa mahdan wa-salaka lakum fīhā subulan wa-ʾanzala mina s-samāʾi māʾan fa-ʾakhrajnā bihī ʾazwājan min nabātin shattā
He, who made the earth for you a cradle, and in it threaded for you ways, and sent down water from the sky, and with it We brought forth various kinds of vegetation.
— Ali Quli Qarai
Surah Ta Ha – Verses 53
53. “‘He Who made the earth for you a cradle, and made for you therein paths, and sent down water from the sky’. Then, thereby, We brought forth kinds of diverse pairs of plants.”
The Qur’anic phrase which says: /salaka lakum/ can be rendered into two forms: 1) Those roads and ways that Allah has arranged on the ground for men along which they may pass. 2) The ways of gaining incomes. In introducing Allah (s.w.t.) to Pharaoh, Moses (as) said that his Lord is He Who gave every thing its creation, and then guided it aright. Now, through these verses, he points to some species of the Divine guidance in the nature. The abovementioned holy verse says:
However, the statement of Moses (as) was around the subject of Monotheism and knowing Allah. Therefore, in this verse, the revelation has pointed to four parts of the great bounties of Allah which form the precedence of man’s life. Before anything else, the place of residence and having peace is necessary. Then, next to it, communication paths come forth. After that water and different agricultural products are important. So, the creation of the earth and its conditions are not aimless; they are for human kind.
By the way, mentioning the law of conjugality in plants is one of the scientific miracles of the Qur’an, which has been remarked in this verse.