Tafseer of Taa-Haa · Taa-Haa · 20:54
Eat [therefrom] and pasture your livestock. Indeed, in that are signs for those of intelligence.
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 explanation of the words of Allah the Exalted: الَّذِي جَعَلَ لَكُمُ الأَرْضَ مَهْدًا وَسَلَكَ لَكُمْ فِيهَا سُبُلا وَأَنْزَلَ مِنَ السَّمَاءِ مَاءً فَأَخْرَجْنَا بِهِ أَزْوَاجًا مِنْ نَبَاتٍ شَتَّى (20:53)
(He who has made the earth a cradle for you and has traced out roads for you in it and has sent down water from the heaven, with which We have brought forth pairs of diverse vegetation.)
The exegetes differed concerning the reading of the word (mahdān). Most of the Qurʾān reciters of Medina and Basra read: الَّذِي جَعَلَ لَكُمُ الأَرْضَ مِهَادًا — with a kasra under the mīm and an alif after the hāʾ — and they did so everywhere in the Qurʾān. Some of those who chose this reading claimed that they preferred it because al-mihād is the name of the place, whereas al-mahd is the act; they said: it is comparable to al-firsh (the bedding that is laid down) and al-firāsh (the bed upon which one sleeps). Most of the Qurʾān reciters of Kufa read: (mahdān) — with the meaning: He who has leveled the earth for you, with a leveling (mahdān).
The correct view in this matter is to say: they are two readings widely current in the recitation of the cities and well known; whichever of the two a reciter reads, he hits upon the correct.
His word وَسَلَكَ لَكُمْ فِيهَا سُبُلا (20:53): that is to say: He has laid out roads for you in the earth. The pronoun "hā" in His word "fīhā" refers to the earth.
As Bishr related to us, saying: Yazīd related to us, saying: Saʿīd related to us, on the authority of Qatāda, concerning وَسَلَكَ لَكُمْ فِيهَا سُبُلا : that is to say: roads.
His word وَأَنـزلَ مِنَ السَّمَاءِ مَاءً (20:53): that is to say: He has sent down rain from the heaven. فَأَخْرَجْنَا بِهِ أَزْوَاجًا مِنْ نَبَاتٍ شَتَّى (and We brought forth thereby pairs of diverse vegetation): this is a notification from Allah the Exalted concerning His favor upon His creatures through the rainfall that He causes to descend from His heaven to His earth, after the completion of His account of Moses' answer to Pharaoh regarding the latter's question and his praise of his Lord with what is due to Him. Allah — may His praise be magnified — says: We brought forth, O people, through what We cause to descend from the heaven of water, pairs — that is to say: various kinds of diverse vegetation — that is to say: vegetation that differs in taste, scents, and appearance.
In the same sense as we have explained this, the exegetes spoke.
Those who said this are mentioned below:
ʿAlī related to me, saying: ʿAbd Allāh related to us, saying: Muʿāwiya related to me, on the authority of ʿAlī, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās, concerning His word مِنْ نَبَاتٍ شَتَّى (of diverse vegetation): he said: "various kinds."
