(11–32) “No indeed! This is a reminder. * So let whoever wills heed it. * It is in honored pages, * exalted and purified, * in the hands of messenger-angels, * noble and righteous. * May man perish! How ungrateful he is! * From what did He create him? * He created him from a sperm-drop and determined his development. * Then He made the path easy for him. * Then He caused him to die and be buried. * Then, whenever He wills, He will raise him again. * No indeed! He has not yet fulfilled what He commanded him. * Let man then consider his food: * We pour down water in abundance, * then split the earth open, * causing grain to grow in it, * as well as grapes and fresh fodder, * olives and date palms, * luxuriant orchards, * fruit and pasture— * provision for you and your livestock.”
Allah Most High says: “No indeed! This is a reminder”; that is, this exhortation is truly a reminder from Allah by which He reminds His servants. In His Book, He explains what they need and makes the path of guidance distinct from error. Once this has been made clear, “let whoever wills heed it”; that is, act upon it. This is like the statement of Allah Most High: “Say, ‘The truth is from your Lord. So whoever wills, let him believe; and whoever wills, let him disbelieve.’”
He then mentions where this reminder is preserved, together with its greatness and lofty status, saying: “It is in honored pages, exalted” in rank and standing, “and purified” [from every imperfection and] beyond the reach of the devils, who can neither lay their hands upon them nor steal their contents by eavesdropping. Rather, they are “in the hands of messenger-angels”—the angels who serve as emissaries between Allah and His servants—“noble,” meaning abundant in goodness and blessing, and “righteous” in heart and deed.
All this is part of Allah’s safeguarding of His Book: He appointed the noble, strong, and pious angels as its emissaries to the messengers and gave the devils no access to it. This calls for belief in it and its ready acceptance. Yet despite all this, man refuses anything but disbelief. Allah Most High therefore says: “May man perish! How ungrateful he is” for Allah’s blessing, and how fiercely he resists the truth after it has become clear! Yet what is he, after all? He was created from one of the frailest substances: Allah created him from a despised fluid, then determined his creation, fashioned him as a well-formed human being, and perfected his outward and inward faculties.
“Then He made the path easy for him”; that is, He facilitated for him the means pertaining to religion and worldly life, guided him to the path, [made it clear to him], and tested him through commands and prohibitions. “Then He caused him to die and be buried”; that is, He honored him with burial and did not leave him like other animals whose carcasses remain upon the face of the earth. “Then, whenever He wills, He will raise him again”; that is, resurrect him after his death for recompense.
Allah alone governs man and takes him through all these stages, without any partner sharing in this. Yet even so, man does not carry out what Allah has commanded him, nor does he discharge what He has made obligatory upon him. Rather, he continues to fall short while the obligation remains incumbent upon him.
Allah Most High then directs him to examine and reflect upon his food: how it reaches him only after passing through numerous successive stages, and how Allah makes it readily available to him. He says: “Let man then consider his food: We pour down water in abundance”; that is, We send plentiful rain upon the earth.
“Then We split the earth open” for vegetation, “causing to grow in it” diverse kinds of delicious foods and appetizing staples: “grain,” which includes every variety of cereal; “grapes and fresh fodder”—namely alfalfa; “olives and date palms.” He singled out these four because of their many benefits and uses.
“And luxuriant orchards”; that is, gardens containing many densely intertwined trees. “And fruit and pasture”: fruit is what people eat for enjoyment, such as figs, grapes, peaches, pomegranates, and other fruits, while pasture is what beasts and livestock eat. He therefore says: “Provision for you and your livestock,” which Allah created and subjected to your service.
Whoever reflects upon these blessings will thereby be required to thank his Lord, exert every effort in turning back to Him, devote himself to obeying Him, and affirm the truth of what He has declared.