Tafsir of Al-A'raf 7:58

(And the good land), meaning the soil that is noble, neither saline (salty/barren) nor rocky. The usage of al-balad (land) to mean a village is a later convention; among such examples is its application to Makkah the Honored.

(Its vegetation comes forth by the permission of its Lord), i.e., by His will and His facilitation. This is in the position of a circumstantial qualifier (hal), and the intended meaning is that it is good, sufficient, and abundantly beneficial. This is set in contrast to His saying: (And that which is wicked) among the lands, such as saline or rocky ground, (does not bring forth except sparingly), i.e., little, in which there is no benefit. An example of this is the saying: "You do not fulfill the promise if you promise, and if you give, you give something trivial and scarce (nakadan)." Its accusative case is due to it being a circumstantial qualifier, or because it is a description of an omitted source (masdar). The original phrasing was "its vegetation does not come forth," then the genitive construct (mudaf ilayh) was omitted and the governed noun (mudaf) took its place, causing the verb to become raised (in the active voice) while the pronoun became hidden. It is also permissible that the original was "the vegetation of that which is wicked." The expression "good" first, and then "that which is wicked" instead of "the evil [land]," is to signal that the origin of the earth is to be good and productive, and the opposite is something accidental and transient.

It has been recited: yukhraju nabatuhu (is brought forth), with the verb in the passive voice, making nabat (vegetation) the subject in the place of the agent (na'ib al-fa'il). It is also recited yukhriju nabatuhu, with the verb in the active voice of the form ikhraj, making nabatuhu the direct object, with the agent being a pronoun referring to the land; it is also said the pronoun refers to Allah the Exalted, or to the rain. Similarly, it is recited in the negative: la yukhriju, and in that case, nakadan is in the accusative as the object. Abu Ja’far recited nakadan with two fathas (nukadan), according to the paradigm of the masdar, and it is in the accusative as a state or as an adverbial source, meaning "possessing scarcity" or "coming forth with scarcity." It is also recited as nakdan with a quiescent middle for simplification, like nazh in the saying: "He spoke to me with the speech of one who possesses opinion, ability, experience, and intellect, purified from doubt."

(Thus), similar to that wondrous transformation, (We diversify the signs), i.e., We repeat the signs that point to the overwhelming power and iterate them. The root of tasrif (diversification) is the changing of one state to another, from which comes the "shifting of the winds" (tasrif al-riyah). (For a people who are grateful) for the blessings of Allah the Exalted—among which is the diversification of these signs—and the gratitude for that is reflecting upon them and taking heed from them. The grateful were specified because they are the ones who benefit from that.

Al-Tibi said: The mention of "(a people who are grateful)" after "(that you might remember)" is a form of progression (taraqqi), because whoever remembers the blessings of Allah the Exalted recognizes the right of the blessing and thus is grateful. This is as more than one has said, serving as a likeness for those among the morally responsible who are affected by admonition and reminders, and for those in whom nothing of that has any effect.

Ibn al-Mundhir and others recorded from Ibn Abbas that His saying, the Exalted and Almighty: (And the good land), etc., is a likeness struck by Allah the Exalted for the believers: he is good and his action is good. (And that which is wicked), etc., is a likeness for the disbeliever: he is wicked and his action is wicked.

Ibn Jarir recorded from Mujahid that this is a likeness struck by Allah the Exalted for Adam, peace be upon him, and his entire progeny; they were all created from a single soul, so among them are those who believed in Allah the Exalted and His Book, and thus became good, and among them are those who disbelieved in Allah the Exalted and His Book, and thus became wicked.

Ahmad, the two Sheikhs (Bukhari and Muslim), and al-Nasa'i recorded from Abu Musa, who said: The Messenger of Allah (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) said: "The likeness of the guidance and knowledge with which Allah the Exalted has sent me is like abundant rain that struck a land. Part of it was good; it accepted the water and produced pasture and abundant grass. Another part was hard; it held the water, and Allah the Exalted benefited the people through it, so they drank from it, gave it to their flocks, and irrigated. Another part struck by it was only barren plains (qi'an) that neither held water nor produced pasture. That is the likeness of the one who gains understanding in the religion of Allah, and benefits from that with which Allah the Exalted sent me, so he learns and teaches; and the likeness of one who does not raise his head for that, and does not accept the guidance of Allah with which I was sent."

The preference for specifically using the representation of the good and wicked land is an istitrad (digression/transition) following the mention of rain and its descent upon the land, and it is a balancing between the two mercies, as stated in al-Kashshaf. Because of its proximity to an interruption, the waw (and) was introduced in His saying, the Exalted and Almighty: (And the good land). In it is an indication of the meaning of what was narrated in Sahih Muslim from Iyad al-Mujashi'i (may Allah be pleased with him) that the Messenger of Allah (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) said in his sermon regarding Allah, the Mighty and Majestic: "I created My servants all as monotheists (hunafa'), then the devils came to them and diverted them from their religion."

In Sahih al-Bukhari from Abu Hurairah (may Allah be pleased with him) he said: The Messenger of Allah (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) said: "There is no newborn but that he is born upon the fitra (natural disposition), then his parents make him a Jew or a Christian." The direction of the indication has already been mentioned.