(45) “Allah created every living creature from water. Some of them crawl on their bellies, some walk on two legs, and some walk on four. Allah creates whatever He wills. Indeed, Allah has power over all things.”

Allah calls His servants’ attention to what they witness: He created all the living creatures on the face of the earth “from water.” That is, water is the substance from which they all originate, as Allah Most High says, “We made every living thing from water.”

The creatures that reproduce originate from seminal fluid when the male fertilizes the female. As for creatures that arise from the earth, they arise only from aqueous moisture. Insects, for example, are never found to arise without water. Thus, their substance is one, yet their forms of creation differ in many ways: “Some of them crawl on their bellies,” such as snakes and the like; “some walk on two legs,” such as human beings and many birds; “and some walk on four,” such as grazing livestock and similar animals.

Their diversity, despite their single origin, demonstrates that Allah’s will is unfettered and His power all-encompassing. He therefore says, “Allah creates whatever He wills”—that is, whatever creatures He wills, with whatever attributes He wills. “Indeed, Allah has power over all things.” In the same way, He sends rain down upon the earth: the fertilizing agent is one, and the mother is one—the earth—yet the offspring vary in kind and attribute. “On the earth are neighboring tracts, gardens of grapevines, crops, and palm trees—some growing in clusters and others not—all watered with the same water, yet We make some better than others in fruit. Surely in this are signs for people who understand.”