أَلَمْ تَرَ أَنَّ ٱللَّهَ أَنزَلَ مِنَ ٱلسَّمَآءِ مَآءًۭ فَتُصْبِحُ ٱلْأَرْضُ مُخْضَرَّةً ۗ إِنَّ ٱللَّهَ لَطِيفٌ خَبِيرٌۭ
Do you not see that Allah has sent down rain from the sky and the earth becomes green? Indeed, Allah is Subtle and Acquainted.
Introduction
This is āyah 63 of Sūrat Al-Hajj (The Pilgrimage), the 103rd sūrah in the traditional order of revelation. It was revealed in the Medinan period and sits within Juzʾ 17. Medinan verses often address community life, law, and the building of society.
This introduction is a starting point — the community and Bilal will enrich it over time.
Revelation & occasion
- Period
- Medinan
- Order revealed
- 103 of 114
- Surah
- Al-Hajj (22)
Hast thou not seen that God sends down water from heaven, and then the earth becomes green? The purport of this verse and the verses that follow is to remind of the blessings and to manifest the wisdom of creating benefits for creation. Whatever He created, He created as is worthy of Himself and as it should be created. Whatever He put, He put in its own place. Whatever He gave, He gave to its own folk. He is the powerful who does whatever He wants. And He is the wise who does not do whatever He can. In this world, He created even the foot of an ant and the wing of a gnat in keeping with the requirement of power, the requisite of wisdom, and according to His will. He gave wisdom and power each other's hands so that the work of the Divinity would go forth well- ordered. If wisdom had not been with power, the universe would have been disrupted. God has attributes that are the antagonists of the existence and acts of the creatures. These are the attributes of exaltedness, tremendousness, compulsion, magnificence, and endless unneedi- ness. He also has attributes that are the interceders for the existence and acts of the creatures, like wisdom, mercy, gentleness, clemency, munificence, and generosity. The attributes of mercy and wisdom hold back the reins of the attributes of exaltedness and unneediness so that this handful of hapless creatures may live out their lives in the shadow of gentleness and mercy in accordance with wisdom. Were it not for these interceders, everything-from the Throne and the Footstool down to the ant's foot and the gnat's wing-would become nothing and nonexistent. One word of the beginningless unneediness and independence showed itself to this world, and the day of deprivation came forth for the unbelievers and the estranged. Like strangers, they set their heads to their own thoughts and did not recognize God's measure or gain access to what is worthy of Him. They set up a helpless, inanimate idol without attributes as His partner, worshiping it and taking it as a friend, such that the Exalted Lord said of them,
Tafsir
Hafiz Ibn Kathir
Chains of transmission
Oral — isnād
- ~610–632 CERevelation & memorisation
Received by the Prophet ﷺ and preserved by the ḥuffāẓ (memorisers) among the Companions.
- 1st century AHMutawātir transmissionawaiting curation
Carried by mass-transmission through the generations of qurrāʾ.
- TodayLiving chainsawaiting curation
Continuous ijāzah chains link reciters today back to the Prophet ﷺ.
Verified isnād chains for this āyah will be added by curators.
Written — the manuscript record
- ~650 CEʿUthmānic codicesawaiting curation
The standardised muṣḥaf sent to the great cities (e.g. the Topkapı and Samarqand codices).
- 8th–10th c.Early Ḥijāzī & Kūfic foliosawaiting curation
Surviving leaves in Birmingham, Sanaa, Paris (BnF) and beyond.
- Modern printModern printawaiting curation
The 1924 Cairo edition → today: the standard printed muṣḥaf used worldwide.
A curated chain of manuscript images for this exact āyah — roughly one per century — is coming. Help us source and verify them.
And now — what do you think?
The text, its history and the classical commentary are laid out above. Share your own understanding, ask a question, or reason with others.
Community resources
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