Last week we discussed how God has made the universe subservient to man, how the Lord Creator spread out the earth and placed therein high mountains and flowing rivers – all rendering great serviceto human welfare. God knocks at our conscience and draws our intention towards this divine creation by presenting image after image just for the sake of our comprehension. The images that follow are those of ‘adjoining tracts of land; and vineyards, and fields of grains and date palms’. What does the Lord Creator want to convey to us with these images? The Qur’ān (13:4) says: “And there are on earth adjoining tracts of land; and vineyards, and fields of grains and date palms, growing in clusters or non-clustered.”
The ‘adjoining tracts of land’ means the tracts of land that adjoin high mountains and flowing rivers. And on these tracts of land there are vineyards, fields of grains and date palms. We can see how the growth of these plants and trees depends on fertilizer and irrigation that are provided by the adjoining mountains and rivers. These tracts of land are with different characteristics. They are next to each other yet not all the same. Some are well-irrigated and cultivated while some others are arid and barren; some are fertile while some others are barren; some grow in clusters and some others stand alone. Thus these tracts of land present rich variety and colour and above all enough food for the survival of humanity.
Here the Lord Creator draws our attention towards one significant point. That all the plants and trees that grow on these tracts of land are irrigated by the same water but their leaves, bark, wood and fruit carry different tastes and properties, and thus different purposes. The Qur’ān says: “(All) are irrigated by the same water; yet some of them are favoured above others with regard to the food (they provide).”
Thanks to the lopsided growth of science and technology as well as the penetration of materialism in our psyche, we simply pass by these natural scenes without looking at them carefully and seeing through them the Divine Design at work. While we should spare some time to reflect on this Divine Design. We should ask questions like: How the plants irrigated by the same water give us fruits of different taste? How some tracts of land are easy for us to cultivate and how we leave other lands abandoned? And after all, who other than the Lord Creator, Who is the Most Wise and Most Magnificent, can do all this? The Qur’ān says: “In all this there are signs for people who use their reason.”