Tafseer of The Rock · Al-Hijr · 15:19
And the earth - We have spread it and cast therein firmly set mountains and caused to grow therein [something] of every well-balanced thing.
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.
Allah — may His praise be exalted — means by His saying وَالأرْضَ مَدَدْنَاهَا (And the earth We have stretched out): the earth We have spread out and laid flat. وَأَلْقَيْنَا فِيهَا رَوَاسِيَ (and We have cast therein firm-set mountains): that is to say: We have laid upon her back rawāsī — which are firm, rocky mountains.
Thus Bishr related to us, saying: Yazīd related to us, saying: Saʿīd related to us, on the authority of Qatāda, concerning: وَالأرْضَ مَدَدْنَاهَا. And in another verse He said: وَالْأَرْضَ بَعْدَ ذَلِكَ دَحَاهَا (And the earth, after that, He spread out). It has been related to us that the mother of cities, Mecca, is the place from which the earth was spread out. Concerning His saying وَأَلْقَيْنَا فِيهَا رَوَاسِيَ: her rawāsī are her mountains. That is to say: We have laid upon her back rawāsī — which are firm, rocky mountains. The meaning of al-rusūww we have explained earlier, with its proofs, in a manner that makes rereading unnecessary.
His saying وَأَنْبَتْنَا فِيهَا مِنْ كُلِّ شَيْءٍ مَوْزُونٍ (and We have caused to grow therein of every thing well-balanced): that is to say: and We have caused to grow in the earth of every thing — that is: of everything that is determined and precisely delimited.
In accordance with what we have said about this, the exegetes spoke.
Mention of those who said this:
Al-Muthanná related to me, saying: ʿAbd Allāh ibn Ṣāliḥ related to us, saying: Muʿāwiya related to me, on the authority of ʿAlī, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās, concerning: وَأَنْبَتْنَا فِيهَا مِنْ كُلِّ شَيْءٍ مَوْزُونٍ: he said: known (maʿlūm).
Muḥammad ibn Saʿd related to me, saying: my father related to us, saying: my uncle related to me, saying: my father related to me, on the authority of his father, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās, concerning: وَأَنْبَتْنَا فِيهَا مِنْ كُلِّ شَيْءٍ مَوْزُونٍ: he said: determined.
Yaʿqūb related to me, saying: Hushaym related to us, saying: Ismāʿīl ibn Abī Khālid informed us, on the authority of Abū Ṣāliḥ or Abū Mālik, concerning: مِنْ كُلِّ شَيْءٍ مَوْزُونٍ: he said: by measure.
Al-Muthanná related to me, saying: ʿAmr ibn ʿAwn related to us, saying: Hushaym informed us, on the authority of Ismāʿīl ibn Abī Khālid, on the authority of Abū Ṣāliḥ or Abū Mālik: likewise.
Al-Muthanná related to me, saying: al-Ḥammānī related to us, saying: Sharīk related to us, on the authority of Khuṣayf, on the authority of ʿIkrima, concerning: مِنْ كُلِّ شَيْءٍ مَوْزُونٍ: he said: by measure.
Al-Ḥasan ibn Muḥammad related to us, saying: ʿAlī — that is, Ibn al-Jaʿd — related to us, saying: Sharīk informed us, on the authority of Khuṣayf, on the authority of ʿIkrima, concerning: مِنْ كُلِّ شَيْءٍ مَوْزُونٍ: he said: by measure.
Aḥmad ibn Isḥāq related to us, saying: Abū Aḥmad related to us, saying: Sufyān related to us, on the authority of Khuṣayf, on the authority of ʿIkrima: he said: by measure.
Aḥmad related to us, saying: Sufyān related to us, on the authority of Ḥuṣayn, on the authority of Saʿīd ibn Jubayr, concerning: مِنْ كُلِّ شَيْءٍ مَوْزُونٍ: he said: determined.
Mujāhid ibn Mūsā related to us, saying: Yazīd related to us, saying: ʿAbd Allāh ibn Yūnus informed us, saying: I heard al-Ḥakam ibn ʿUtayba — and Abū Makhzūm asked him about: مِنْ كُلِّ شَيْءٍ مَوْزُونٍ: he said: of everything that is measured.
Al-Ḥasan ibn Muḥammad related to us, saying: Yazīd ibn Hārūn related to us, saying: ʿAbd Allāh ibn Yūnus informed us, saying: I heard al-Ḥakam, and Abū ʿUrwa asked him about the saying of Allah — may He be exalted: مِنْ كُلِّ شَيْءٍ مَوْزُونٍ: he said: of everything that is measured — thus al-Ḥasan transmitted it, mentioning Abū ʿUrwa as the questioner.
Muḥammad ibn ʿAmr related to me, saying: Abū ʿĀṣim related to us, saying: ʿĪsā related to us; and al-Ḥārith related to me, saying: al-Ḥasan related to us, saying: Warqāʾ related to us; and al-Ḥasan ibn Muḥammad related to us, saying: Shabāba related to us, saying: Warqāʾ related to us; and al-Muthanná related to me: Abū Ḥudhayfa related to us, saying: Shubayl related to us; and al-Muthanná related to me, saying: Isḥāq informed us, saying: ʿAbd Allāh related to us — all on the authority of Ibn Abī Najīḥ, on the authority of Mujāhid, concerning the saying of Allah: مِنْ كُلِّ شَيْءٍ مَوْزُونٍ: he said: determined by measure.
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 Mujāhid, concerning: مِنْ كُلِّ شَيْءٍ مَوْزُونٍ: he said: determined by measure.
Al-Muthanná related to me, saying: ʿAlī ibn al-Haytham related to us, saying: Yaḥyā ibn Zakariyyā related to us, on the authority of Ibn Jurayj, on the authority of Mujāhid, saying: determined by measure.
Al-Muthanná related to me, saying: ʿAlī ibn al-Haytham related to us, saying: Yaḥyā ibn Zakariyyā related to us, on the authority of Ismāʿīl ibn Abī Khālid, on the authority of Abū Ṣāliḥ, concerning: مِنْ كُلِّ شَيْءٍ مَوْزُونٍ: he said: by measure.
Bishr related to us, saying: Yazīd related to us, saying: Saʿīd related to us, on the authority of Qatāda, concerning: وَأَنْبَتْنَا فِيهَا مِنْ كُلِّ شَيْءٍ مَوْزُونٍ: he said: determined.
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: likewise.
It was related to me from al-Ḥusayn, saying: I heard Abū Muʿādh saying: ʿUbayd related to us, saying: I heard al-Ḍaḥḥāk saying, concerning: مِنْ كُلِّ شَيْءٍ مَوْزُونٍ: he said: determined.
A group of them said: the meaning is that We cause to grow in the mountains of everything that is weighed — that is to say: gold, silver, copper, lead, and the like, things that are weighed.
Mention of those who said this:
Yūnus related to me, saying: Ibn Wahb informed us, saying: Ibn Zayd said, concerning: وَأَنْبَتْنَا فِيهَا مِنْ كُلِّ شَيْءٍ مَوْزُونٍ: he said: the things that are weighed.
The correct of the two positions, in our view, is the first position, because of the consensus of the authoritative exegetes upon it.