As-Sajdah 32:27 - Linguistic Miracle

Have they not seen that We drive water to barren land and from it, bring forth crops from which their livestock eat just as they themselves? Then do they not see? This is the verse that ties this whole surah together.

The previous verse mentioned how Allah gave death to the alive. This verse mentions how Allah gives life to the dead. This first part of this verse goes back to verse 9 while the second part goes back to verses 15 and 16.

You can see the dead nations, you pass by their ruins, you see their pride turned to disgrace beneath your own feet. Now the other side of Allah giving life to the dead, if you want to see that with your own eyes, then look at the barren, dry land which produces crops after rain gives it life.

Why earth though? Why not present any other example? Because it stands for the human being. This does not mean that it is not literally true. Allah does give life to the dead earth by means of the rain. This is a phenomenon that is real and is a sign and example of Allah bringing the dead to life. But notice the words “ from which their

livestock eat just as they themselves?”

As mentioned above, the first part of this verse,

Have they not seen that We drive water to barren land goes back to verse 9

ثُمَّ سَوَّىٰهُ وَنَفَخَ فِيهِ مِن رُّوحِهِۦ ۖ وَجَعَلَ لَكُمُ ٱلسَّمْعَ وَٱلْأَبْصَٰرَ وَٱلْأَفْـِٔدَةَ ۚ قَلِيلًۭا مَّا تَشْكُرُونَ

Thumma, He balanced him by breathing into him from His spirit. He made for you, hearing, perception and emotions. How little are you grateful!

The earth stands for human beings because that is what we are created from. Allah created Adam from the earth. Just as Allah gave life to the physical body of the human being by means of His spirit, so does He give life to the dead earth by means of water. Just as this water comes down from the sky, so does the spirit come from the sky - from Allah.

The disbelievers want to visibly see what Allah tells them. We never saw Allah breathing His spirit into us but Allah gives a real-life example that works on the same phenomenon that we can visibly see with our eyes. Just as the earth comes to life and brings forth vegetation by means of rain sent down from the sky, so did the human being come to life by means of the spirit breathed inside him from the sky from Allah. What happens to the earth if it receives no rain? The same happens to you if your bodies receive no spirit. It is the amr of Allah itself, that you deny because it is invisible, that gives you life in the first place. How absurd of you to deny it. You can visibly see the dead earth coming to life and producing edible vegetation. You cannot deny this. Yet, you deny the amr of Allah; you deny the spirit of Allah inside you. Denying it is as preposterous as denying life itself for without the spirit you would be dead like the barren land.

This covers the first of the verse of the dead earth or the human being coming back to life. The next part

and from it, bring forth crops from which their livestock eat just as they themselves. goes back to verses 15 and 16

إِنَّمَا يُؤْمِنُ بِـَٔايَٰتِنَا ٱلَّذِينَ إِذَا ذُكِّرُوا۟ بِهَا خَرُّوا۟ سُجَّدًۭا وَسَبَّحُوا۟ بِحَمْدِ رَبِّهِمْ وَهُمْ لَا يَسْتَكْبِرُونَ The only ones who believe in our signs are those who, when reminded of them, fall down in prostration, and declare His perfection accompanied with His praise. They alone do not seek greatness.

تَتَجَافَىٰ جُنُوبُهُمْ عَنِ ٱلْمَضَاجِعِ يَدْعُونَ رَبَّهُمْ خَوْفًۭا وَطَمَعًۭا وَمِمَّا رَزَقْنَٰهُمْ يُنفِقُونَ

“Their sides pull away from their beds, supplicating their Rabb in fear and aspiration, and from what We have provided them, they spend.”

These verses describe the fruit of the spirit. Just as the earth produces its fruit by means of rain, so does the human being produce his good fruit by means of the spirit. The fruit of the Earth is its vegetation, the plants, the food and crops it produces that

is eaten and which sustains life. Without this, there would be no life. The food chain starts from the earth, takes it out and all life disappears. No life would exist if the earth does not produce any food. Similarly, without the spirit, no life would exist for when the

spirit leaves the body, death occurs.

Now this life given to the earth by means of the water, brings out vegetation that give life and benefit to others. Similarly, these enlightened people, mentioned in verses 15 and 16, give life and benefit to others. Firstly, they themselves are alive and enlightened because they recognize that life goes beyond the part that is visible. But they also preach to others to come to this truth, and to submit to God. They are actually calling people to life, to something that benefits them, that gives them eternal life of the hereafter. This is what the Prophet ﷺ is doing and why he is called a nadhīr. Yet they call him a liar and a fabricator in verse 2.

This also goes back to verse 24 where Allah promised to make leaders from the Muslims. Their hearts, made alive by the amr of Allah, will bring benefit to others just as the earth produces vegetation which benefits men and livestock. Since these people will be a source of benefit to others, they deserve to be appointed to leadership roles.

Just as they themselves -You yourself eat from the produce of the earth. Your own lives

are dependent on it. You would die without it. You cannot deny this, yet you deny the spirit inside you which does the same thing? You would not even be alive had the earth remained dead - you would not even be alive had the spirit not been inside you, yet you - of all people - deny this?

This is why the words ‘with it’ in, “with it, bring forth crops” and the words “from which”

in “from which their livestock eat just as they themselves” are advanced for emphasis. This all happens by means of the water - by means of the spirit.

Do they then not see- Same as what the disbelievers said in verse 12. We have now seen.

Can you not see this? Is this not a sign in front of your own eyes? Life itself is proof. You only believe when you see it with your own eyes, then here is a sign right in front of your eyes. Will you then not accept it?

It is interesting that the Qurʾān uses two words for seeing. رأى and بصر .The word used here - بصر - also means deep understanding. This is a sign right in front of your own eyes. Will you not understand that this is in fact, a sign enough to guide you?

Lastly, Allah promised the Muslims victory and leadership. These Arabs, who are currently living in a desert - a barren land - and whose hearts are similarly barren, will be made the flag bearers of God’s religion and hence, expand and propagate this religion into other regions. Just as people and animals benefit from earth’s vegetation, so will other people benefit from these Arabs. Allah will make the dead hearts of the people of Arabia alive and fertile, and they will preach out the Qurʾān

and benefit others. This is exactly what happened when the early Muslims expanded and conquered the lands God promised to Abraham, fulfilling the centuries old prophecy that the Jews and Christians were incapable of for thousands of years.