“And He who sends down water from the sky in due measure, whereby We revive a dead land—thus you will be brought forth.” (11) “And He who created all pairs and made for you ships and livestock upon which you ride,” (12) “so that you may settle yourselves upon their backs, then remember the favor of your Lord when you have settled upon them and say, ‘Glory be to Him who has subjected this to us; we could not have subdued it ourselves. And surely to our Lord we shall return.’” (13) “And indeed, to our Lord we shall return.” (14)

He then proceeded to point to Himself through His creation, saying: “He who made the earth a cradle for you and made pathways upon it for you, so that you may be guided”—that is, to your destinations on your journeys.

“And He who sends down water from the sky in due measure”: that is, in an amount proportionate to your need of it, unlike what He sent down upon the people of Noah without measure, until it destroyed them. “Whereby We revive a dead land—thus”: that is, just as We bring this [dead] land (1) to life through rain, so too “you will be brought forth” alive from your graves.

“And He who created all pairs”: that is, all kinds; “and made for you ships and livestock upon which you ride,” on land and at sea.

“So that you may settle yourselves upon their backs”: He used the singular pronoun because it refers back to “that which.” “Then remember the favor of your Lord when you have settled upon them,” through His subjecting the means of transport on land and at sea; “and say, ‘Glory be to Him who has subjected this to us’”: that is, who has made this subservient to us; “and we could not have subdued it ourselves”: that is, we would not have been capable of it. It is also said: we would not have been able to control it.

“And indeed, to our Lord we shall return”: we shall return to Him in the Hereafter.

Ahmad ibn Abd Allah al-Salihi informed us; Abu al-Husayn Ali ibn Muhammad ibn Abd Allah ibn Bishran informed us; Isma‘il ibn Muhammad al-Saffar informed us; Ahmad ibn Mansur al-Ramadi related to us; Abd al-Razzaq related to us; Ma‘mar informed us, from Abu Ishaq, who said: Ali ibn Rabi‘ah told me that he witnessed Ali, may Allah be pleased with him, when he mounted. When he placed his foot in the stirrup, he said, “In the name of Allah.” When he had seated himself, he said, “Praise be to Allah.” Then he said, “Glory be to Him who has subjected this to us, and we were not”