'In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful' The Exalted said: "He who made for you the earth a cradle and made for you therein paths so that you may be guided." "And He who sent down from the heaven water in due measure, then We revived thereby a dead city; thus will you be brought out." "And He who created all pairs and made for you of the ships and the animals that which you ride." "So that you may sit firmly upon their backs, then remember the favor of your Lord when you have settled upon them and say, 'Glorified is He who has subjected this to us, and we were not able to do it.'" "And indeed, we will return to our Lord." These are descriptions of actions, and they are blessings from Allah, the Exalted, upon mankind. They establish the proof against every disbeliever and polytheist regarding Allah, the Exalted. His saying: "He who made for you the earth" is not from the words of those who are questioned, but it is the beginning of a statement from Allah, the Exalted. The majority of people read: "mihadan," while Ibn Mas'ud, Talhah, and Al-A'mash read: "mahdan," and the meaning is the same, that it is made smooth and can be traversed therein. The paths are the roads, and "so that you may be guided" means: in your objectives from one city to another and from one region to another. It is also possible that He means: you may be guided by reflection and consideration. And His saying: "sent down from the heaven water" is the rain, by consensus. The interpreters have differed in the meaning of His saying: "in due measure." A group said: its meaning is by decree and determination in the eternal past. Others said: the meaning is in sufficient measure for the benefit, not too much so that it corrupts, nor too little so that it is insufficient, but rather a beneficial downpour. Another group said: its meaning is by specification and determination, meaning: a known measure. Then the speakers of this statement differed; some of them said: it descends every year in the same measure, not exceeding one year over another, but it may be abundant at one time here and another time there. A group said: rather Allah, the Exalted, sends down a measure in one year and sends down another measure in another year according to what has been decreed by Him, there is no deity except Him. And "We revived" means: We brought to life. It is said: he revived the dead, and another revived him. And "a dead city" is a generic term, and it is described as "dead" without a pronoun, as it is in the context of "rain" and the like, since the feminine form in it is not real. The majority read: "maytan" with a silent 'ya.' Abu Ja'far ibn al-Qaqa' read: "maytan" with a broken 'ya' and a doubled letter, which is the reading of Isa ibn Umar. The first reading is preferred due to its similarity in sound to "zawwara" and "'adala," so it is appropriate to describe the feminine with it. The majority of the seven reciters, Al-A'raj, and Abu Ja'far read: "thus will you be brought out" with a damma on the 'ta' and a fatha on the 'ra.' Hamzah, Al-Kisai, Ibn Wathab, Abdullah ibn Jubair, and Isa read: "and thus you will be brought out" with a fatha on the 'ta' and a damma on the 'ra.'

And "the pairs": the types of everything. And "from" in His saying, the Most High: ﴿from the ship and the animals﴾: is for partitive, and that is because he does not ride from the animals except for camels. And mules, horses, and donkeys are included in what is ridden by meaning. And the "lam" in His saying, the Most High: ﴿so that you may be seated upon their backs﴾: is the lam of command, and it is possible that it is the lam of "so that". And "what" in His saying, the Most High: ﴿what you ride﴾ refers to the type that is ridden, and the pronoun in: "their backs" returns to the type that "what" refers to. And another verse clarifies what is said when boarding the ship, which is: ﴿In the name of Allah, its course and its anchorage. Indeed, my Lord is Forgiving and Merciful﴾ [Hud: 41]. And this is specifically for what is ridden from the animals. And it is said upon descending from it: O Allah, we have descended in a blessed place, and You are the best of those who bring down.

And the Sunnah for the rider when he rides is to say: Praise be to Allah for the blessing of Islam, or for the blessing with Muhammad, blessings and peace be upon him, or for the blessing in every situation. This wording has been narrated by Ali ibn Abi Talib, may Allah be pleased with him, "From the Prophet, blessings and peace be upon him, who said: ﴿Glory be to the One who has subjected this to us﴾ the verse." And Abu Mijlaz rode with Lahiq ibn Hamid and said: "Glory be to Allah" the verse, and he did not mention a blessing. And Hasan ibn Ali, may Allah be pleased with both of them, heard him and said: This is not how you were commanded. Abu Mijlaz said: So how should I say? He said: Say: Praise be to Allah who has guided us to Islam, or something like this. Then you say after that: ﴿Glory be to the One who﴾ the verse. And Tawus, when he rode, would say: O Allah, this is from Your grace and favor, then he would say: ﴿Glory be to the One who﴾ the verse.

The judge Abu Muhammad, may Allah have mercy on him, said:

And if we assume that mentioning the blessing in the heart and remembering it begins with the rider: with ﴿Glory be to the One who﴾, while he sees the blessing of Allah in that and in other than it. And "the muqrin": the dominant, controlling, and prevailing over the matter, capable of it. It has been narrated that some Bedouins rode a camel, and it was said to him: Say: ﴿Glory be to the One who has subjected this to us and we were not capable of it﴾. He said: By Allah, I am a proud muqrin, and he struck the camel, causing it to fall and kill it.

And His saying, the Most High: ﴿And indeed, we are returning to our Lord﴾: is a command to acknowledge resurrection and to repeat the saying of it. And this is a call to feel the reflection on it. It has been narrated "from the Prophet, blessings and peace be upon him, that when a person rides and does not say what is in this verse, the devil comes and says: 'Sing it, and if he can sing, he will sing, otherwise he will say to him: 'Wish for it,' and he will wish for falsehoods and waste his time with that."