That is, people who heed Allah’s admonitions and reminders and thereby conclude that He alone is worthy of worship and that none but He should be worshipped, for He is the Bestower who sends down rain and causes every kind of plant to grow. They also conclude that He has power over all things; that He who revived the earth after its death is able to bring the dead to life; and that He who has spread this beneficence possesses boundless mercy and immense generosity.
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(66–67) “Surely in livestock there is a lesson for you: We give you to drink of what is in their bellies, from between waste matter and blood—pure milk, pleasant to those who drink it. And from the fruits of date palms and grapevines you obtain intoxicating drink and wholesome provision. Surely in that is a sign for people who understand.”
That is: “Surely in livestock”—which Allah has subjected for your benefit—“there is a lesson for you” by which you recognize the perfection of Allah’s power and the vastness of His beneficence. He gives you to drink from their bellies, though they contain waste matter and blood, bringing forth from between them milk that is pure and free of impurity, pleasant to those who drink it because it is delicious, thirst-quenching, and nourishing. Is this anything but an act of divine power, rather than a mere natural process?
What is there in nature that can transform the fodder an animal eats and the fresh or salty water it drinks into pure milk, pleasant to those who drink it?
Allah Most High has also made the fruits of date palms and grapevines a source of benefit and well-being for His servants, providing many kinds of wholesome sustenance. They eat them fresh or ripe, immediately or after storing them, as food and as drinks prepared from their pressed juice and fruit infusions. This also included the intoxicating drink that had formerly been lawful. Allah then abrogated the permissibility of intoxicants and replaced them with wholesome non-intoxicating infusions and various delicious, lawful beverages.
“Surely in that is a sign for people who understand”—who recognize the perfection of Allah’s power in His bringing these fruits forth from trees resembling mere firewood, whereupon they become delicious produce and wholesome fruit; the all-encompassing nature of His mercy, since He has made them universally available (1) to His servants and readily accessible to them; and that He alone is worthy of worship, for He alone has done all this.