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fīhā fākihatun wa-n-nakhlu dhātu l-ʾakmāmi
In it are fruits and date-palms with sheaths,
— Ali Quli Qarai
55Ar-RaḥmānالرحمنVerse 11 of 78
The Beneficent55. Ar-Raḥmānالرحمن
al-Raḥmān
The All-beneficent
MedinanVerse 11 of 78
55Ar-RaḥmānالرحمنVerse 11 of 78
The All-beneficent
In it are fruits and date-palms with sheaths,
— Ali Quli Qarai
Surah al-Rahman - Verse 10-11
10. And He created the earth for mankind.
11. Therein are fruits and magnificent date-palms.
The blessed Verses in question descend from the heaven onto the earth, saying: "God Almighty created the earth for the life of mankind.” The Arabic word anam is interpreted differently by Qur’an exegetes as mankind, jinn and men, and any animate being. It is worthy of note that the contextual meaning indicates that jinn and men are being herein intended. The earth which is mentioned herein as a remarkable Divine Blessing is mentioned in other Qur'anic Verses as "cradle" serves as a secure and serene abode whose significance may not be normally perceived by most of us, but an earthquake disturbs everything and volcanic eruption may bury a city beneath magma, fire, and smoke.
Such phenomena indicate that the serene earth is such a great Blessing, particularly if we reflect upon what scientists say concerning the velocity of the earth's rotation on its axis and its circling around the sun, the significance of such serenity despite the staggering velocity, it is further clarified that it entails different types of motion. The employment of the past verbal forms wadha‘a ("set up") and rafa‘a ("raised") regarding the earth and the heaven both embodies a delicate expression in terms of juxtaposition or contrast and a meaningful allusion to the submission of the earth and its resources against mankind.
As it is reflected in the Holy Qur’an11:
"He it is Who had made the earth obedient to you. Therefore walk in its path and eat of His provision. And to Him shall be the Resurrection."
The blessed Verse 11 treats of the tenth Blessings, namely the provisions, saying that there are fruits and magnificent date palms. The Arabic word fakiha denotes any kind of fruit and some interpret it as any kind of fruit but dates which is unjustifiable. Date palms are mentioned separately, but the repetition may reflect the significance of dates and date palms. The word akmam is the plural form of kum designating the sheath covering fruits. Kumma denotes sleeve covering arm and hand and kum is the night cap covering the head. The fruit of palm trees is initially covered by a sheath. Then, the fruit splits the sheath. The depiction used herein may refer to its astounding beauty or the benefits concealed in the sheath. It contains juice and essence which are both nutritive and medicinal.
Besides, like a womb, the sheath fosters the fruit for a while and preserves it from blights. The sheath will be removed when the fruit may be exposed to sunshine and air. Above all, the peculiar condition of dates is that it is initially in the sheath and then it splits and forms clusters making it facile to be picked. Were tall date palms like other fruit bearing trees like apple, it would be so hard to harvest the produce.
Footnotes