Ṣād – Verse 54

إِنَّ هٰذا لَرِزقُنا ما لَهُ مِن نَفادٍ

This is indeed Our provision, which will never be exhausted.

EXEGESIS

Nafād (exhausted) means to be spent, to come to an end, run out, or be cut off.[1] Say: ‘If the sea were ink for the words of my Lord, the sea would be spent before the words of my Lord are spent (tanfada), though We brought another like it for replenishment’ (18:109).

EXPOSITION

This is again referring to the blessings mentioned in the previous verses. Like verse 50 that began the description of heaven, this verse that brings that description to a close is also strongly juxtaposed to the stories and descriptions of the prophets and the God-wary that preceded. Those stories related how the blessings of this world are elusive, temporal, and prone to loss. This, while the provision of paradise will never diminish or be lost.

It is reported from Ibn Abbas and Suddī that none of the blessings and provisions of paradise ever run out. When one fruit or bird is eaten another comes in its place.[2]

[1] Raghib, p. 817; Tibyan, 8/574.
[2] Tabrisi, 8/571; Tabari, 23/113.