Surah Al-A'raf 7:10
ﲟ ﲠ ﲡ ﲢ ﲣ ﲤ ﲥ ﲦ ﲧ ﲨ ﲩ ﲪ
And We have certainly established you upon the earth and made for you therein ways of livelihood. Little are you grateful.
Tafsir of Al-A'raf 7:10
Tafsir
Ruh al-Ma'ani
Verse range: 7:10
(And certainly, We have established you upon the earth) This is an incitement to accept the call of the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, by reminding them of blessings, following the previous incitement.
Al-Tayyibi mentioned that this is another form of warning, as it is a declarative sentence conjoined to His saying, the Almighty, "Follow what has been revealed to you from your Lord," on the assumption of "[Say]: Follow, and say: By Allah, We have certainly established you..." The meaning is: We have made for you a place and a settlement upon the earth.
It is also said: We empowered you to dispose of matters therein, making it a metonymy. Here, the literal meaning is preferred.
(And We made for you therein livelihoods) Meaning: that by which you live and survive, such as foods, drinks, and the like, or that through which you attain these. It is originally a verbal noun from *‘āsha, ya‘īshu, ‘īshatan, ma‘āshan, wa ma‘īshatan*, on the measure of *maf‘ala*. The majority insist on explicitly stating the *ya* (ي) in it. It is narrated from Nafi‘: *ma’ā’ish* (معائش) with a hamza, but the grammarians, including Sibawayh, deemed this an error. This is because, in their view, nothing is changed to a hamza after the plural *alif* except an extra *ya* (as in *sahīfa* becoming *sahā’if*). As for *ma‘āyish*, its *ya* is original; it is the *‘ayn* of the word, as it is derived from *al-‘aysh* (life). Abu ‘Uthman exaggerated by saying that Nafi‘ did not know Arabic. This was countered by the fact that even if this reading is anomalous (*shādh*) and not *mutawātir*, it was taken from eloquent and trustworthy sources. The Arabs sometimes treat an original letter as an extra one because it resembles the form of one. This has been heard from them in the mentioned instance, as well as in *masā’ib* (calamities) and *manā’ir* (minarets). Sibawayh’s statement that it is an "error" may mean that it deviates from the standard path and analogy; "error" is often used in his book with this intended meaning.
"Making" here means bringing into existence and initiating. Each of the two prepositional phrases ("for you" and "therein") is connected to the verb, or to a deleted state (hal) acting upon its indefinite direct object; had they been placed after, they would have functioned as an adjective. Their advancement before the direct object—despite them both rightfully following it, as some investigators have stated—is for the sake of showing concern for the advanced element and building anticipation for what is delayed. When what rightfully belongs earlier is delayed, especially when the advanced element foretells a benefit for the listener, the soul remains expectant for the arrival of the delayed part, thereby securing it in the mind with greater firmness upon its arrival. As for placing the lam (the 'li' in lakum) forward, it is because it is the indicator of the aforementioned benefit, and showing concern for it is more complete, and hastening its mention is more important.
It is also said: The verb "made" is transitive to two objects, the second of which is one of the prepositional phrases, assuming it is a settled predicate placed before the first. The prepositional phrase is either laghw (non-functional) connected to the verb, or to the deleted state as mentioned previously. It has been objected that there is no significant benefit in informing them that livelihoods are made for them or made upon the earth.