Tafseer of Jonas · Yunus · 10:24
The example of [this] worldly life is but like rain which We have sent down from the sky that the plants of the earth absorb - [those] from which men and livestock eat - until, when the earth has taken on its adornment and is beautified and its people suppose that they have capability over it, there comes to it Our command by night or by day, and We make it as a harvest, as if it had not flourished yesterday. Thus do We explain in detail the signs for a people who give thought.
Important: The Arabic source text is always authoritative. This translation is a study aid and has not been verified by scholars — do not use it as a basis for religious proof or for deriving rulings (ahkam). When in doubt, always consult the Arabic text and a qualified scholar.
The discourse on the explanation of the word of the Exalted: إِنَّمَا مَثَلُ الْحَيَاةِ الدُّنْيَا كَمَاءٍ أَنْزَلْنَاهُ مِنَ السَّمَاءِ فَاخْتَلَطَ بِهِ نَبَاتُ الأَرْضِ مِمَّا يَأْكُلُ النَّاسُ وَالأَنْعَامُ حَتَّى إِذَا أَخَذَتِ الأَرْضُ زُخْرُفَهَا وَازَّيَّيَّنَتْ وَظَنَّ أَهْلُهَا أَنَّهُمْ قَادِرُونَ عَلَيْهَا أَتَاهَا أَمْرُنَا لَيْلا أَوْ نَهَارًا فَجَعَلْنَاهَا حَصِيدًا كَأَنْ لَمْ تَغْنَ بِالأَمْسِ كَذَلِكَ نُفَصِّلُ الآيَاتِ لِقَوْمٍ يَتَفَكَّرُونَ (24) (The likeness of the worldly life is only as water that We have sent down from the sky, with which the plants of the earth mingled — that which people and cattle eat — until, when the earth has taken on its adornment and has decked itself out, and its inhabitants suppose that they are masters over it, Our command reaches it by night or by day, and We make it a mown-down field, as if it had not flourished the day before. Thus do We expound the signs for a people who reflect.)
Abū Jaʿfar said: The Exalted — blessed be His remembrance — says: The likeness of that by which you exalt yourselves in the world and by which you boast of its adornment and its possessions, while bound up with it are corruption, affliction, and passing away through destruction and death, is as the likeness of water that We have sent down from the sky — that is to say: like rain that We have sent from the sky down to the earth. فَاخْتَلَطَ بِهِ نَبَاتُ الأَرْضِ (And the plants of the earth mingled with it) — that is to say: through that rain there came up all sorts of plants, which intermingled with one another, as follows:
17598 — Al-Qāsim related to us, saying: Al-Ḥusayn related to us, saying: Ḥajjāj related to me, on the authority of Ibn Jurayj, on the authority of ʿAṭāʾ al-Khurāsānī, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās, concerning His word: إِنَّمَا مَثَلُ الْحَيَاةِ الدُّنْيَا كَمَاءٍ أَنْزَلْنَاهُ مِنَ السَّمَاءِ فَاخْتَلَطَ بِهِ نَبَاتُ الأَرْضِ (The likeness of the worldly life is only as water that We have sent down from the sky, with which the plants of the earth mingled) — he said: "They mingled and grew through the water in all sorts of colors of that which people eat, such as wheat, barley, and the rest of the earth's grains, the vegetables and the fruits, and that which the cattle and the beasts of burden eat of grass and pasture."
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His word: حَتَّى إِذَا أَخَذَتِ الأَرْضُ زُخْرُفَهَا (until, when the earth has taken on its adornment) — that is to say: its beauty and its splendor came forth. وَازَّيَّنَتْ — that is to say: and it decked itself out. وَظَنَّ أَهْلُهَا — that is to say: the inhabitants of the earth — أَنَّهُمْ قَادِرُونَ عَلَيْهَا — that is to say: over that which it had brought forth.
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The expression speaks of "the earth," while the meaning pertains to the vegetation, because from the context it is understood what is intended by it.
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His word: أَتَاهَا أَمْرُنَا لَيْلا أَوْ نَهَارًا (Our command reached it by night or by day) — that is to say: Our command reached the earth, namely Our decree concerning the destruction of its vegetation, whether by night or by day. فَجَعَلْنَاهَا — that is to say: We made that which was upon it حَصِيدًا — that is to say: mown and uprooted down to its stalk.
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The word is properly "maḥṣūda" (mown), but it has been converted to "ḥaṣīd."
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كَأَنْ لَمْ تَغْنَ بِالأَمْسِ — that is to say: as if those harvests and crops had not stood and grown the day before upon the surface of the earth.
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The origin of it is: "ghaniya fulān bi-makān kadhā, yaghná bih" — when someone dwells somewhere, as al-Nābigha al-Dhubyānī said:
"She dwelt therein when she was your neighbor, through the turning of a message and affection."
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He says: Likewise will destruction come over that by which you exalt yourselves out of your world and its ornaments, and it will destroy it and bring it to ruin, just as Our command and Our decree brought to ruin the vegetation of this earth after its beauty and splendor, until it was as if it had not flourished the day before, as if previously it had had no vegetation upon its surface.
Allah — exalted be His praise — says: كَذَلِكَ نُفَصِّلُ الآيَاتِ لِقَوْمٍ يَتَفَكَّرُونَ (Thus do We expound the signs for a people who reflect) — that is to say: just as We have expounded to you, O people, the likeness of the world and have made known its judgment and its matter, so do We set forth Our proofs and Our arguments for the one who reflects, considers, and contemplates.
He has specifically linked this to the people of reflection, because they are the ones who distinguish between matters and investigate the truths of that which arises as doubts in the hearts.
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In the same vein as what we have said concerning this, spoke the people of exegesis.
The mention of those who said this:
17599 — Bishr related to us, saying: Yazīd related to us, saying: Saʿīd related to us, on the authority of Qatāda, concerning His word: حَتَّى إِذَا أَخَذَتِ الأَرْضُ زُخْرُفَهَا (until, when the earth has taken on its adornment), the āyah — he said: "Yes, by Allah, whoever clings to the world and bends down over it, the world will soon spit him out and settle accounts with him."
17600 — Muḥammad ibn ʿAbd al-Aʿlā related to us, saying: Muḥammad ibn Thawr related to us, on the authority of Maʿmar, on the authority of Qatāda, concerning وَازَّيَّنَتْ (and it decked itself out) — he said: "It brought forth crops and became beautiful."
17601 — Al-Ḥārith related to me, saying: ʿAbd al-ʿAzīz related to us, saying: Ibn ʿUyayna related to us, on the authority of ʿAmr ibn Dīnār, on the authority of ʿAbd al-Raḥmān ibn Abī Bakr ibn ʿAbd al-Raḥmān ibn al-Ḥārith ibn Hishām, who said: "I heard Marwān on the pulpit read this āyah: حَتَّى إِذَا أَخَذَتِ الأَرْضُ زُخْرُفَهَا وَازَّيَّنَتْ وَظَنَّ أَهْلُهَا أَنَّهُمْ قَادِرُونَ عَلَيْهَا وَمَا كَانَ اللهُ لِيُهْلِكَهَا إِلا بِذُنُوبِ أَهْلِهَا (until, when the earth has taken on its adornment and has decked itself out and its inhabitants suppose that they are masters over it, and Allah would not destroy it except for the sins of its inhabitants). He said: 'I have recited this, but it is not in the muṣḥaf.' Whereupon ʿAbbās ibn ʿAbd Allāh ibn al-ʿAbbās said: 'Thus does Ibn ʿAbbās read it.' They then sent to Ibn ʿAbbās, and he said: 'Thus did Ubayy ibn Kaʿb recite it to me.'"
17602 — Muḥammad ibn ʿAbd al-Aʿlā related to us, saying: Muḥammad ibn Thawr related to us, on the authority of Maʿmar, on the authority of Qatāda, concerning كَأَنْ لَمْ تَغْنَ بِالأَمْسِ (as if it had not flourished the day before) — he said: "As if it had not lived, as if it had not enjoyed."
17603 — Al-Muthanná related to me, saying: Isḥāq related to us, saying: Abū Usāma related to us, on the authority of Ismāʿīl, who said: "I heard Abū Salama ibn ʿAbd al-Raḥmān say: In the reading of Ubayy it stands: كَأَنْ لَمْ تَغْنَ بِالأَمْسِ وَمَا أَهْلَكْنَاهَا إِلا بِذُنُوبِ أَهْلِهَا كَذَلِكَ نُفَصِّلُ الآيَاتِ لِقَوْمٍ يَتَفَكَّرُونَ (as if it had not flourished the day before, and We did not destroy it except for the sins of its inhabitants — thus do We expound the signs for a people who reflect)."
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The reciters differed over the reading of His word: وَازَّيَّنَتْ .
Most of the reciters of the Ḥijāz and Iraq read it as: وَازَّيَّنَتْ with the meaning of: "and it decked itself out" — but they assimilated the tāʾ into the zāy on account of the closeness of their points of articulation, and they added an alif to make its recitation possible, since the tāʾ had become quiescent and one cannot place a quiescent letter at the beginning.
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And it has been transmitted from Abū al-ʿĀliya, Abū Rajāʾ, al-Aʿraj, and a group of others, that they read it as: وَأَزْيَنَتْ on the pattern of "afʿalat."
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Abū Jaʿfar said: The correct reading in this matter is: وَازَّيَّنَتْ , on account of the consensus of the authoritative reciters concerning it.
