Ikrimah said: “Fruit is what people eat, and pasture is what animals eat.” A similar report is related from Qatadah, who said: “Fruit is for you, and pasture is for your livestock.”

Sa‘id ibn Jubayr reported from Ibn Abbas that he said: “It is whatever the earth brings forth that people and livestock eat.” (1)

It is related from Ibrahim al-Taymi that Abu Bakr was asked about His words, “and fruit and pasture,” and he said: “What sky would shade me, and what earth would bear me, if I were to speak about the Book of Allah without knowledge?” (2)

Ibn Shihab related from Anas that he heard Umar ibn al-Khattab recite this verse, then say: “We have understood all of this, but what is pasture?” He then threw down a stick that was in his hand and said: “By Allah, this is needless speculation. What harm is it, O son of Umar’s mother, if you do not know what pasture is?” Then he said: “Follow what has been made clear to you in this Book, and leave aside what has not been made clear.” (3) (4) (5) (6)

“Provision for you and your livestock (32). Then, when the Deafening Blast comes (33)—on the Day when a person will flee from his brother (34), and his mother and father (35), and his wife and children (36).”

“Provision for you”: that is, a benefit for you—meaning the fruit. “And your livestock”: meaning the herbage. He then mentioned the Resurrection, saying: “Then, when the Deafening Blast comes”: that is, the cry of the Resurrection. It was given this name because it strikes the ears—that is, it overwhelms them so intensely that it nearly deafens them. “On the Day when a person will flee from his brother, and his mother and father, and his wife and children”: he will not turn to any one of them, being preoccupied with himself.