It is the palm blossom before it splits open. (1)

“And grain with husk, and fragrant plants. So which of your Lord’s favors will you both deny?” (12–13)

“Grain with husk”: by grain, He means all the grain crops cultivated in the earth. Mujahid said: It is the leaves of the crop. Ibn Kaysan said: “The husk is the leaf of everything from which grain emerges. At first it appears as leaves—and this is the husk—then it becomes stalks. Then Allah produces sheaths upon it, and then produces the grain within those sheaths.”

Ibn Abbas said, in the narration of al-Walibi: It is straw. This was also the view of al-Dahhak and Qatadah. Atiyyah narrated from him: It is the green leaves of the crop once its heads have been cut and it has dried, similar to His saying, “like eaten straw” (al-Fil 5).

“And fragrant plants”: according to the majority, this means provision. Ibn Abbas said: Every occurrence of fragrant plants in the Quran means provision. Al-Hasan and Ibn Zayd said: It means the fragrant plants that you smell. Al-Dahhak said: The husk is straw, while the fragrant plant is its produce.

The majority recite “grain with husk and fragrant plants” with all its words in the nominative, coordinated with “fruit.” Ibn Amir recited “grain” and “fragrant plants” in the accusative, and used the accusative form of “possessor,” giving the sense: He created man and created these things. Hamzah and al-Kisai recited “fragrant plants” in the genitive, coordinated with “husk,” thus mentioning the sustenance of people and livestock.

147/b

He then addressed the jinn and mankind, saying:

“So which of your Lord’s favors will you both deny?”

That is, O jinn and mankind: which of these things mentioned will you deny? This verse is repeated throughout this surah to affirm the blessing and reinforce the reminder of it, in accordance with the Arabs’ manner of forceful and exhaustive expression. He enumerates His favors to His creatures, separating every two blessings with words that call their attention to them. This is like a man saying to someone whom he has treated kindly and bestowed favor after favor upon, while that person denies and rejects them: “Were you not poor, and I enriched you—will you deny this? Were you not unclothed, and I clothed you—will you deny this? Were you not obscure, and I raised your standing—will you deny this?” Such repetition is common and effective in Arabic speech, serving to establish the point.

It was also said that He addressed them in the dual form in accordance with the Arab practice of addressing a single person in the dual form, as in His saying: “Cast, you two, into Hell” (Qaf 24).

It is narrated from Muhammad ibn al-Munkadir, from Jabir ibn Abdullah, that the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, recited Surah al-Rahman to us until he completed it. Then he said: “Why do I see you silent? The jinn [were] better in response than you. Whenever I recited this to them, this