The Holy Quran with Five Volume Commentary (Vol 3) — Page 382
CH. 15 AL-HIJR PT. 14 وَجَعَلْنَا لَكُمْ فِيهَا مَعَايِشَ وَمَنْ لَّسْتُمْ لَهُ And We have made for you. 21 therein means of livelihood, and also for all those for whom you do not provide. 1727 a7:11. word viz. "to grow" and "to increase" apply here. God has made all things required for the needs of man to grow in the earth and to increase. The verse means that all the requirements of man have been determined by God in a proper proportion and as the process of consumption is also going on, the things needed by man have been suitably made to grow and increase in the earth. The relation of this verse to the preceding one is that in the latter mention was made of the revelation of the Quran and of the special provision made for its protection and this was illustrated by comparison with certain celestial phenomena. In the present verse, however, another illustration of such protection has been furnished by a terrestrial phenomenon. The verse states that God has made special arrangements for fertilizing the earth and for replenishing and making good its losses. Some of these arrangements are external and some internal e. g. (1) matter falling to the earth from the stellar spaces; (2) the mountains; (3) the inherent powers of the earth. The same is the case with Divine Scriptures. The external arrangement made for their protection is the help which they get from heaven in the form of divine teachers who appear in the fullness of time to برزِقِينَ safeguard the spirit of these Scriptures; and the internal arrangements are their intrinsic beauties and excellences which attract the hearts of all good men. 1727. Commentary: The verse points out that though man claims superiority over other animals, yet he can make no provision for their sustenance. That provision is made by God alone and constitutes a great proof of His existence. In the figurative sense the relation of this verse to the previous ones is that like physical sustenance, man is also in need of spiritual sustenance in every age. The people of one generation cannot provide spiritual sustenance for another generation. This is because not only human knowledge and learning but also man's conditions and circumstances vary from age to age. This change in the conditions and circumstances of man requires a most comprehensive Divine revelation containing teaching for his material, moral and spiritual development in all ages. For, if it were left to man himself to provide for the needs and requirements of future generations, he could never do it. The knowledge of the present generation cannot meet and satisfy the problems and needs of future generations. Ordinarily, even the 1590