Tafseer of The Thunder · Ar-Ra'd · 13:3
And it is He who spread the earth and placed therein firmly set mountains and rivers; and from all of the fruits He made therein two mates; He causes the night to cover the day. Indeed in that are 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.
Abū Jaʿfar said: The Exalted says: And Allah is the One who spread out the earth and extended it in length and breadth.
And His word: وَجَعَلَ فِيهَا رَوَاسِيَ (and He placed firm mountains therein) — the Exalted says: and He placed in the earth firmly-set mountains.
"Al-rawāsī" is the plural of "rāsiya," that is: the firm and steadfast. One says: "arsaytu al-watad fī al-arḍ" — when one drives it firmly into the ground. As the poet said — it is al-Aḥwaṣ:
"Therein the imperishable rocks remain standing, immovable, and the lowered axle, And the unkempt tent-peg, which the slave-girl has fastened tight with the stone."
That is: she fixed it and made it firm.
And His word: وَأَنْهَارًا (and rivers) — He says: and He made in the earth rivers of water.
And His word: وَمِنْ كُلِّ الثَّمَرَاتِ جَعَلَ فِيهَا زَوْجَيْنِ اثْنَيْنِ (and of all fruits He made therein two pairs) — the word "min" in His word "wamin kulli al-thamarāt jaʿala fīhā zawjayni ithnayn" is connected to the second "jaʿala," not to the first.
The meaning of the words is: and He made therein two pairs of all fruits. By "two pairs" He means: of every male two, and of every female two, so that these are four — of the males two, and of the females two, according to the opinion of some.
We have previously explained that the Arabs call two specimens "zawjayn," and the single male specimen a "zawj" for its female, and likewise the single female specimen a "zawj" or "zawja" for its male, with an explanation that need not be repeated in this place.
That becomes still clearer through the word of Allah, the Almighty: وَأَنَّهُ خَلَقَ الزَّوْجَيْنِ الذَّكَرَ وَالأُنْثَى [Surah Al-Najm 53:45] — He called the two, the male and the female, "zawjayn."
What is meant by His word "zawjayni ithnayn" is two kinds and two types.
And His word: يُغْشِي اللَّيْلَ النَّهَارَ (He covers the night with the day) — He says: the night overwhelms the day and clothes it with its darkness, and the day the night with its light. As:
20066 — Bishr related to us, saying: Yazīd related to us, saying: Saʿīd related to us, on the authority of Qatāda, concerning His word: يُغْشِي اللَّيْلَ النَّهَارَ — that is: He clothes the night with the day.
And His word: إِنَّ فِي ذَلِكَ لآيَاتٍ لِقَوْمٍ يَتَفَكَّرُونَ (Indeed, in that are signs for a people who reflect) — the Exalted says: in what I have described and mentioned of the wonders of the creation of Allah and the greatness of His power by which He created these things, there are surely signs and proofs and admonitions for a people who reflect upon them, by which they draw evidence and take a lesson, so that they know that worship is fitting and permissible only for the One who created and governed all this — and not for other gods and idols that can do neither harm nor good, nor for anything else — but only for the One who brought forth all this and called it into existence out of nothing, the Blessed and Exalted, and that the Power by which He created all this is the same Power that does not fall short of resurrecting those who have died among His creation, and of bringing back what has perished, and of creating whatever He wills thereby.
