'In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful' Allah, the Exalted, says: "Did We not destroy the former ones? Then We follow them with the latter ones. Thus We do with the criminals. Woe on that Day to the deniers. Did We not create you from a weak water? Then We placed it in a secure lodging. Until an appointed term. So We have decreed, and how excellent are the decreers. Woe on that Day to the deniers. Did We not make the earth a resting place, the living and the dead? And We placed in it towering mountains and provided you with sweet water. Woe on that Day to the deniers." The majority of the readers recited: "Then We follow them" with a pronounced 'ayn as a continuation of the news. Abu Amr, as narrated from him, recited: "Then We follow them" with a silent 'ayn, as a conjunction to "We destroy." This is the reading of Al-A'raj. According to these two readings, the interpretation of "the former ones" comes. Whoever recited the first made "the former ones" the nations that preceded Quraysh entirely. Then Allah informed that He follows "the latter ones" from Quraysh in the way of those if they disbelieved and followed their path. Whoever recited the second made "the former ones" the people of Noah and Ibrahim and those with them, and "the latter ones" the people of Pharaoh and all who came after and were close to the time of Muhammad, blessings and peace be upon him. In the reading of Abdullah: "And We will follow them." Then Allah said: "Thus We do with the criminals," meaning in the future, thus including Quraysh and others among the disbelievers. As for the repetition of Allah's saying in this surah: "Woe on that Day to the deniers," it is said that this is for emphasis only. It is also said that in each verse there is what necessitates belief, so the promise regarding denial confirms that which is in the verse. Then Allah paused at the origin of creation, which necessitates reflection on the possibility of resurrection. "The weak water" means the weak, which is the sperm of the man and woman. "The secure lodging" is the womb and belly of the woman. "The appointed term" refers to the time of birth, and its meaning is known to Allah regarding each individual. However, among humans, it differs, as the measure of a specific person is not known. Ali ibn Abi Talib, may Allah be pleased with him, and Nafi' and Al-Kisai read: "So We have decreed" with a strengthened 'dāl,' while the others read it lightly. Both are of the same meaning, from power and decree, and from determination and stopping. And His saying, the Exalted: "the decreers" supports the reading of the majority. As for Ibn Mas'ud, he narrated from the Prophet, blessings and peace be upon him, that he interpreted "the decreers" as "the determiners." And Ibn Abi Abla interpreted: "So We have decreed" with a strengthened 'dāl,' "and how excellent are the determiners."

'The kifaṭ' is the covering and the container that gathers something, by consensus. You say: 'The man kifaṭ his hair,' when he gathers it with a cloth. The earth kifaṭs the living upon its surface, and it kifaṭs the dead in its belly. 'Living' in this interpretation is in accordance with His saying, glorified and exalted is He: 'kifaṭan,' because it is a source. Some of the interpreters said: 'living and dead,' meaning that the earth contains regions of the living and regions of the dead. It is intended: what grows and what does not grow. Thus, the accusative 'living' is in relation to 'the earth.' The first interpretation is stronger. Banān said: 'We went out with al-Shaʿbī to a funeral, and he looked at the cemetery and said: 'This is the kifaṭ of the dead.' Then he looked at the houses and said: 'This is the kifaṭ of the living.' The Arabs used to call 'Baqīʿ al-Gharqad' a kifaṭ because it is a graveyard that contains the dead. In the hadith: 'Cover your vessels, tie up your water skins, and kifaṭ your children, and close your doors and extinguish your lamps.' Ibn Masʿūd buried a louse in the mosque and then recited: 'Did We not make the earth a kifaṭ?' And since the grave is a kifaṭ like the house, whoever steals from it is cut off. 'The rawāsī' are the mountains, because they have settled, meaning they are firm. 'The shāmikh' is the high one, and from it: 'He shāmikh with his nose,' meaning he rose and elevated himself, likening the meaning to a person. 'Asqā' means He made it a source of water for crops and benefits. 'Saqā' specifically refers to the lip; this is the saying of a group of the people of language. Others said: They have the same meaning. 'Al-Furāt' means the clear one, and salt water is not called furāt. It is a term that encompasses the rainwater and the waters of the rivers. The river famous for this is honored, and it is the river of Kufa. Sayḥān is the river of Balkh, and Jīḥān is the Tigris, and the Nile is the river of Egypt. It was narrated from ʿIkrimah that every water on earth is from this, and there is some distance in this, and Allah, the Exalted, knows best.