وَاضرِب لَهُم مَثَلَ الحَياةِ الدُّنيا كَماءٍ أَنزَلناهُ مِنَ السَّماءِ فَاختَلَطَ بِهِ نَباتُ الأَرضِ فَأَصبَحَ هَشيمًا تَذروهُ الرِّياحُ ۗ وَكانَ اللَّهُ عَلىٰ كُلِّ شَيءٍ مُقتَدِرًا

Draw for them the parable of the life of this world: [it is] like the water We send down from the sky. Then the earth’s vegetation mingles with it. Then it becomes chaff, scattered by the winds. And Allah is omnipotent over all things.

EXEGESIS

Waḍrib lahum mathalan (draw for them the parable): mathal here means example or likeness. Ḍarb al-mathal means literally to ‘strike an example’ or to tell, speak, or to set forth something as an example. This mathal can be of real things and events, or simply hypothetical ones.

Hashīm (chaff) comes from hashm, which is the act of breaking something that has dried up.^{‎[1]Qurtubi, 10/413-414. He also mentions how Hāshim ibn ʿAbd al-Manāf (who was actually named ʿAmr) came to be called Hāshim. In a year of food shortages he brought bread on camelback from the Levant and then broke the bread to pieces and distributed it amongst the people of Mecca.} Hashīm refers to dried vegetation that breaks into pieces.^{‎[2]Tabrisi, 6/730.}

Tadhrū (scattered) originally comes from dharw, which means different things, but at its core is to scatter and spread things.^{‎[3]Tahqiq, dh-r-w.} Dharw is used to describe the wind moving about small things.^{‎[4]Tibyan, 7/51.} Hence the winds spoken of in the verse should mean a breeze, like in the verse, By the scattering [winds] (dhāriyāt) that scatter [the clouds] (dharwan) (51:1).

Muqtadir (omnipotent) means the same as qādir but is stronger in its purport.^{‎[5]Tibyan, 7/51; Tabrisi, 6/731; Thalabi, 6/173; Baghawi, 3/194; Lisan, 5/76.} Qādir is the one who has qudrah or power. And Allah is muqtadir over all things means He is the one who has complete qudrah, hence the translation of omnipotent.

EXPOSITION

The surah now shifts from a real and specific example – the two men and the two gardens – to a general example, with many allegorical layers. The address is once again to the Prophet, who is tasked with putting forward this example, first and foremost for those in possession of wealth who are overly delighted by their belongings. The example is meant to facilitate understanding of the temporality of worldly life and to encourage the reader to seek the hereafter instead.^{‎[6]See also Tibyan, 7/51.} The verse is very similar to what was in 10:24, and the reader may refer to the commentary of that as well.

The verse calls on the reader to consider the worldly life; all the possessions, relationships, and aspirations that one claims for oneself, and life itself. It calls us to consider the source of these things. It is all descended from God, as the rain descends from the sky and gives life to all things.

As in the earlier verses, water is symbolic of life; that life is a creation of God which has descended^{‎[7]Descending here does not mean physical descent, but the sending down of blessings from a higher realm to a lower one.} from Him to the worldly realm; that the rain from the sky falls down and mingles with the seeds and roots hidden in the depths of the earth. This results in life and the greenery on which animals feed. It results in the human beings which rely on those animals to live, as well as the possessions, relationships, and aspirations which we then form.

Yet all those plants must one day dry up, wither, wilt, and die. Too weak to stand on their own, a slight gust of wind scattering them all around. So too man will grow weak and die, even though he may not like to admit it or consider it. Any possessions he had will not be kept, any relationships not based on the permanence of God will be cut off, any vain aspirations unfulfilled.

This is all naturally a reference to the surah’s main theme, where God gives the ‘true account’ of what worldly life actually is, through an easy-to-understand example: Draw for them the parable of the life of this world: [it is] like the water We send down from the sky. The apparent meaning of this is that the adornments of this life are all something placed on this earth by God (see the commentary on verse 7). It all exists by the leave and power of God, all emanating from the divine source, here represented by the rain filled skies, so full of life-giving potential. The verse only mentions water coming from the sky without mentioning other sources of water like rivers or groundwater. This serves to clarify that the sky is here meant to be a metaphor for the divine source.

Then the earth’s vegetation mingles with it: the water mixes with the earth, causing plants and vegetation to grow and bloom, creating beautiful gardens and sceneries. These may be pleasing to look at, and yield beneficial and tasty fruits.

Then it becomes chaff, scattered by the winds: the beautiful gardens and plants do not last though, and after some brief seasons wilt away and turn to chaff, blown away by the slightest breeze. This is a simile of the temporality of this life, which lasts only for brief moments before turning to dust once again.

It also brings to mind the wealthy man from the previous verses, who claimed of his gardens and their plants, I do not think that this will ever perish (verse 35). This example generalises it as a warning to mankind that all such empires, small or large, will fall.^{‎[8]See also Tabari, 15/165.}

And Allah is omnipotent over all things: He gives life and He takes it. He gives wealth and He withholds it.^{‎[9]See also verses 3:26-27.} This expression uses the past tense kāna, which does not lend itself to English translation very well, but could be translated as: and God was the one with power over all things. Even though the past tense is used it means the future as well, meaning He has always been and always will be capable of doing all things.

REVIEW OF TAFSĪR LITERATURE

Rāzī proposes that a possible meaning of the preposition bi in the statement Then the earth’s vegetation mingles with it (bi-hi) is one of sababiyyah (causation), meaning: because of the water the earth’s vegetation mingles, that is mingles with other vegetation. He says this mixing of plants in various formations is what gives the landscape its beauty.^{‎[10]Razi, 21/467. This is because if we wished to say that the water mixes with the vegetation the expression should be fakhtalaṭa bi-nabāt al-arḍ. This same argument is found in Zamakhshari, 2/725. Ālūsī explains that the expression bi-hi is used because there is more water than vegetation, yet it means that they all mix together (Alusi, 8/271).}

INSIGHTS FROM OTHER TRADITIONS

1. But the rich in that he is made low, because as the flower of the grass he will pass away. For the sun rises with a burning heat and it withers the grass, and its flowers fall, and its beauty perishes. So will the rich man wither away in his ways.^{‎[11]James 1:10-11.}
2. For “All flesh is as grass, and all the glory of man as the flower of grass. The grass withers, and its flower falls away, but the word of the Lord endures forever.” This is the word that was preached to you.^{‎[12]1 Peter 1:24-25.}
3. You carry them away as with a flood; they are as a dream, like renewed grass in the morning: In the morning it flourishes and grows up; in the evening it fades and withers.^{‎[13]Psalms 90:5-6.}
4. As for man, his days are as grass; as a flower of the field he flourishes. For the hot wind passes over it, and it is gone; the place where it was is not known.^{‎[14]Psalms 103:15-16.}

[1] Qurtubi, 10/413-414. He also mentions how Hāshim ibn ʿAbd al-Manāf (who was actually named ʿAmr) came to be called Hāshim. In a year of food shortages he brought bread on camelback from the Levant and then broke the bread to pieces and distributed it amongst the people of Mecca.
[2] Tabrisi, 6/730.
[3] Tahqiq, dh-r-w.
[4] Tibyan, 7/51.
[5] Tibyan, 7/51; Tabrisi, 6/731; Thalabi, 6/173; Baghawi, 3/194; Lisan, 5/76.
[6] See also Tibyan, 7/51.
[7] Descending here does not mean physical descent, but the sending down of blessings from a higher realm to a lower one.
[8] See also Tabari, 15/165.
[9] See also verses 3:26-27.
[10] Razi, 21/467. This is because if we wished to say that the water mixes with the vegetation the expression should be fakhtalaṭa bi-nabāt al-arḍ. This same argument is found in Zamakhshari, 2/725. Ālūsī explains that the expression bi-hi is used because there is more water than vegetation, yet it means that they all mix together (Alusi, 8/271).
[11] James 1:10-11.
[12] 1 Peter 1:24-25.
[13] Psalms 90:5-6.
[14] Psalms 103:15-16.