“He said, ‘Knowledge of them rests with my Lord in a Book. My Lord neither errs nor forgets—He who made the earth a resting place for you, made pathways for you through it, and sent down water from the sky. With it We brought forth diverse kinds of plants. Eat, and pasture your livestock. Surely in that are signs for people of understanding. From it We created you, to it We shall return you, and from it We shall bring you forth once again.’”
“Knowledge of them rests with my Lord in a Book. My Lord neither errs nor forgets.” That is, He has enumerated all their deeds, both good and evil, and recorded them in a Book—the Preserved Tablet. His knowledge and awareness encompass them all: nothing of them escapes Him, nor does He forget anything He knows concerning them.
The implication is that they have gone on to meet what they sent ahead, have encountered their deeds, and will be recompensed for them. There is therefore no point, O Pharaoh, in your questioning about them. That was a nation that has passed away; it will have what it earned, and you will have what you earned. If the truth and certainty of the proof presented to you and the signs shown to you have been established—and indeed they have—then submit to the truth and abandon disbelief, wrongdoing, and incessant argument with falsehood. If, however, you doubt them or consider the evidence unsound, the way remains open and the door of inquiry is not closed: refute proof with proof and demonstration with demonstration. Yet you will never find a way to do so for as long as night and day endure.
How could it be otherwise, when Allah has informed us that Pharaoh denied the signs even while certain of them? As the Most High said, “They denied them, though inwardly convinced of them, out of wrongdoing and arrogance.” Moses also said, “You certainly know that only the Lord of the heavens and the earth has sent these down as clear proofs.” It was thus evident that Pharaoh was unjust in his disputation and sought supremacy in the land.
He then proceeded to elaborate this decisive proof by mentioning many of His blessings and indispensable favors. He said, “He who made the earth a resting place for you.” That is, He made it a furnishing upon which you are able to dwell and settle, build and plant, and till it for cultivation and other purposes. He made it amenable to all of this and did not render it unsuitable for any of your needs.
“And made pathways for you through it.” That is, He opened connecting routes for you from one land to another and from one region to another, until human beings became able to reach every part of the earth with the greatest ease and to derive more benefit from their journeys than from remaining at home.
“And sent down water from the sky. With it We brought forth diverse kinds of plants.” That is, He sent down rain and “thereby revived the earth after its death.” Through it, He caused every variety of vegetation to grow, despite their differing kinds, diverse forms, and varying conditions. He conveyed, apportioned, and made it readily available as provision for us and our livestock. Were it not for this, every human and animal upon the earth would perish. He therefore said, “Eat, and pasture your livestock.” These words occur in the context of reminding them of His favor, indicating that the default ruling for all plants is permissibility. Nothing among them is prohibited except what is harmful, such as poisons and the like.
“Surely in that are signs for people of understanding.” That is, for those possessed of sober intellects and upright thoughts. These signs attest to Allah’s bounty, beneficence, mercy, abundant generosity, and perfect care. They also attest that He is the Lord who alone is to be worshipped and the Sovereign worthy of all praise; no one but the Bestower of these blessings deserves worship, praise, commendation, or extolling. They further attest that He has power over all things. Just as He revived the earth after its death, the One who did so will surely revive the dead.
Allah singled out people of understanding because they are the ones who benefit from these signs and contemplate them to draw lessons. As for others, they are like roaming beasts and grazing livestock: they do not regard the signs in order to draw lessons, nor does their insight penetrate to their intended meaning. Their lot is merely that of beasts: they eat and drink while their hearts are heedless and their bodies turn away. “How many a sign in the heavens and the earth do they pass by while turning away from it!”
After mentioning the earth’s bounty and the excellence of ⦗508⦘ its grateful response to the rain Allah sends down upon it—and that, by its Lord’s permission, it brings forth plants of diverse kinds—He stated that He created us from it, will return us to it when we die and are buried therein, and will bring us forth from it once again. Just as He brought us into being from it out of nothing—and we know this and have ascertained it—He will raise us from it after our death to recompense us for the deeds we performed upon it.
These are two clear rational proofs of resurrection: the emergence of vegetation from the earth after its death, and the bringing forth of morally accountable human beings from it when they were first created.