Commentary
His saying, exalted and majestic is He: "Did you not see that Allah sent down water from the sky, and the earth becomes green? Indeed, Allah is All-Aware and All-Knowing." "To Him belongs whatever is in the heavens and whatever is in the earth. Indeed, Allah is the Self-Sufficient, the Praiseworthy." "Did you not see that Allah has subjected to you whatever is in the earth, and the ships that sail in the sea by His command? And He restrains the heaven from falling upon the earth except by His permission. Indeed, Allah is Most Kind and Most Merciful to the people."
His saying, exalted and majestic is He: "Did you not see" is a reminder, and after it is a news that Allah sent down water from the sky, and the earth remained green because of it. And His saying: "And it becomes" is like His saying: "And it becomes morning" or "And it becomes"; it is an expression of its hastening after the descent of the water and its continuity in that, as is customary. The phrase "and it becomes" is raised because the verse is news, and the 'fa' (and) is a conjunction and not a response, for its being a response to His saying: "Did you not see" would corrupt the meaning. It has been narrated from Ikrimah that he said: This can only be in Mecca or Tihamah.
Qadi Abu Muhammad - may Allah have mercy on him - said: The meaning of this is that he took His saying: "And it becomes" intended for the morning of the night of rain, and he went to say that this greening in all the lands is delayed.
Qadi Abu Muhammad - may Allah have mercy on him - said: I have witnessed this in the far Susa; the rain fell after a drought, and that sandy land which the winds had blown away became green with weak, delicate plants. And the majority read: "green," and a group read: "green". And "the Subtle" means the one who arranges matters gently, and the 'lam' in "To Him" is the lam of ownership, and "the Self-Sufficient" is the one who has no need for anything; thus He is absolutely.
And His saying, exalted and majestic is He: "He has subjected to you whatever is in the earth" means: from animals, minerals, and other resources. And the majority read: "and the ships" in the accusative, and this has two possible grammatical interpretations: one of them is that it is a conjunction to "whatever" with the understanding of: and He subjected the ships, and the other is that it is a conjunction to the written one, with the understanding of: and the ships. And His saying: "sail" is in the first grammatical interpretation in the position of the state, and in the second grammatical interpretation in the position of the news. And a group read: "and the ships" in the nominative, so "sail" is news according to this reading.
And His saying, exalted and majestic is He: "except by His permission" it is possible that He means the Day of Resurrection, as if the folding of the heaven and the reduction of this form is like its falling, and it is possible that He means by that the warning to them that if He permits the falling of the heaven upon you, it will fall. And it is possible that His saying: "except by His permission" returns to "the restraining"; for the speech implies: without pillars and the like, so it is as if He meant: except by His permission, so by it we restrain it. And the rest of the verse is clear.
Explore Other Scholars on This Verse
Compare different scholarly perspectives on Surah Al-Hajj verse 64