Tafseer of The Winnowing Winds · Adh-Dhaariyat · 51:22
And in the heaven is your provision and whatever you are promised.
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.
His statement وَفِي السَّمَاءِ رِزْقُكُمْ (And in the heaven is your provision) — the Exalted, whose remembrance is exalted, says: and in the heaven is the rain and the snow, by means of which the earth brings forth your provision, your sustenance of foods and fruits and the like.
In accordance with what we have said about this, some of the commentators have spoken.
* Mention of who said that:
Muḥammad ibn ʿAbd Allāh ibn Bazīʿ related to me, saying: al-Naḍr related to us, saying: Juwaybir related to us, on the authority of al-Ḍaḥḥāk, concerning His statement وَفِي السَّمَاءِ رِزْقُكُمْ (And in the heaven is your provision), he said: the rain.
Abū Kurayb related to us, saying: Ibn Yamān related to us, on the authority of Ashʿath, on the authority of Jaʿfar, on the authority of Saʿīd, concerning His statement وَفِي السَّمَاءِ رِزْقُكُمْ وَمَا تُوعَدُونَ (And in the heaven is your provision and what you are promised), he said: the snow, and every spring that melts from the snow does not diminish.
Yūnus ibn ʿAbd al-Aʿlā related to us, saying: Sufyān related to us, on the authority of ʿAbd al-Karīm, on the authority of al-Ḥasan, he said: in the clouds, therein is, by Allah, your provision, but you deny it to yourselves through your sins and your deeds.
He said: Sufyān informed us, on the authority of Ismāʿīl ibn Umayya, he said: I suppose that he or someone else said: "The Messenger of Allah ﷺ heard a man, when rain had fallen upon them, saying: 'We have been given rain by certain constellations of the lion (al-Asad).' Then he said: 'You lie; nay, it is the provision of Allah.'"
Ibn Ḥumayd related to us, saying: Mihrān related to us, on the authority of Sufyān, on the authority of Mujāhid وَفِي السَّمَاءِ رِزْقُكُمْ وَمَا تُوعَدُونَ (And in the heaven is your provision and what you are promised), he said: your provision is the rain.
He said: Mihrān related to us, on the authority of Sufyān وَفِي السَّمَاءِ رِزْقُكُمْ (And in the heaven is your provision), he said: your provision is the rain.
Others said: nay, the meaning of that is: and from Allah, who is in the heaven, comes your provision. Among those who interpreted it thus is Wāṣil al-Aḥdab.
Ibn Ḥumayd related to us, saying: Hārūn ibn al-Mughīra, one of the people of opinion, related to us, on the authority of Sufyān al-Thawrī, he said: Wāṣil al-Aḥdab recited this verse وَفِي السَّمَاءِ رِزْقُكُمْ وَمَا تُوعَدُونَ (And in the heaven is your provision and what you are promised) and said: verily, my provision is in the heaven, yet I seek it on the earth. Then he entered a ruin and remained there three days without finding anything. But when the third day dawned, there was a small basket of fresh dates. He had a brother of better disposition than he, who entered with him, and so they became two baskets. And that remained their custom until death separated them from one another.
The commentators differed concerning the interpretation of His statement وَمَا تُوعَدُونَ (and what you are promised). Some of them said: the meaning of that is: and what you are promised of good or evil.
* Mention of who said that:
Ibn Ḥumayd related to us, saying: Mihrān related to us, on the authority of Sufyān, on the authority of Mujāhid وَمَا تُوعَدُونَ (and what you are promised), he said: and what you are promised of good or evil.
al-Ḥārith related to me, saying: al-Ḥasan related to us, saying: Warqāʾ related to us, on the authority of Ibn Abī Najīḥ, on the authority of Mujāhid وَفِي السَّمَاءِ رِزْقُكُمْ وَمَا تُوعَدُونَ (And in the heaven is your provision and what you are promised), he says: the Garden is in the heaven, and what you are promised of good or evil.
Others said: nay, the meaning of that is: and what you are promised of the Garden and the Fire.
* Mention of who said that:
Muḥammad ibn ʿAbd Allāh ibn Bazīʿ related to me, saying: al-Naḍr related to us, saying: Juwaybir informed us, on the authority of al-Ḍaḥḥāk, concerning His statement وَمَا تُوعَدُونَ (and what you are promised), he said: the Garden and the Fire.
Ibn Ḥumayd related to us, saying: Mihrān related to us, on the authority of Sufyān وَمَا تُوعَدُونَ (and what you are promised), namely of the Garden.
The correct of the two statements concerning this, in my opinion, is the statement that Mujāhid made, because Allah made the report general with His statement وَمَا تُوعَدُونَ (and what you are promised), concerning everything that we are promised of good or evil, and did not thereby single out one part to the exclusion of the other. It therefore remains in its generality, just as Allah, exalted be His praise, made it general.
