Tafseer of The Romans · Ar-Room · 30:50
So observe the effects of the mercy of Allah - how He gives life to the earth after its lifelessness. Indeed, that [same one] will give life to the dead, and He is over all things competent.
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 saying of the Exalted: فَانْظُرْ إِلَى آثَارِ رَحْمَةِ اللَّهِ كَيْفَ يُحْيِي الأَرْضَ بَعْدَ مَوْتِهَا إِنَّ ذَلِكَ لَمُحْيِي الْمَوْتَى وَهُوَ عَلَى كُلِّ شَيْءٍ قَدِيرٌ (30:50) ("Look, then, at the traces of the mercy of Allah, how He gives life to the earth after its death. Verily, He is the one who gives life to the dead, and He has power over all things" (30:50)).
The Qurʾān reciters differed concerning His saying: فانْظُرْ إلَى آثارِ رَحْمَةِ اللهِ ("Look, then, at the traces of the mercy of Allah"). Most of the reciters of the people of Medina and Basra, and some of the Kufans, read it as (إلَى أَثَرِ رَحْمَةِ اللهِ) ("at the trace [singular] of the mercy of Allah"), in the singular, with the meaning: Look, O Muḥammad ﷺ, at the trace of the rain with which Allah struck whomever He struck among His servants, how that rain gives life to the earth after its death. And most of the reciters of Kufa read it: فَانْظُرْ إلى آثارِ رَحْمَةِ اللهِ ("Look, then, at the traces of the mercy of Allah") in the plural, with the meaning: Look at the traces of the rain with which Allah struck whomever He struck, how He gives life to the earth after its death.
The correct judgment concerning that is that they are two well-known readings in the recitation of the regions, with closely related meanings. This is because when Allah gives life to the earth by rain which He sends down upon it, that rain gives it life by Allah's giving it life thereby; and when the rain gives it life, then Allah is the one who gives it life thereby. So with whichever of the two readings the reciter recites, he is correct. The explanation of the words is then: Look, O Muḥammad ﷺ, at the traces of the rain which Allah sends down from the clouds, how He gives life thereby to the dead earth, so that it brings forth crops and herbage after its death and decay. إنَّ ذَلِكَ لَمُحْيِي المَوْتَى ("Verily, He is the one who gives life to the dead"). The Exalted, whose praise is exalted, says: verily, the one who gives life to this earth after its death by means of this rain is the one who gives life to the dead after their death, and He has, in addition to His power to give life to the dead, power over all things. Nothing that He wills is too mighty for Him, and no deed that He desires is impossible for Him, glorified be He.
