Tafsir of Al-A'la 87:5

"And He made it"—that is, the vegetation—"stubble" (ghutha). Stubble is that which the torrent casts upon the banks of the valley from grasses and plants. Its origin, according to al-Majma’, refers to mixtures of various kinds. The Arabs call a group of people gathered from various tribes a "mixture" (akhlatan) or "stubble" (ghutha). It is also pronounced ghuthaa' with stress (tashdid), and its plural appears as aghtha', which is unusual in that it is the pluralization of fa'al into af'al. The intended meaning here is dried-out vegetation.

That is, He made it, after that [state of growth], dry.

"Dark" (ahwa): Derived from al-huwwah, which, as it has been said, means blackness. Al-A'lam stated it is a color that leans toward black. In al-Sihah, al-huwwah is defined as swarthiness (brownish-black). Thus, the intent of ahwa is black or swarthy. When vegetation dries, it turns black or swarthy, so it is an epithet emphasizing the nature of the stubble.

Al-huwwah is also interpreted as intense greenness, and upon this is the saying of Dhu al-Rummah: "In her lips is a dark-brownish shade (huwwah), and in her gums and her canine teeth is a brightness." This does not contradict its interpretation as blackness, for intense greenness is often perceived at first glance as black.

It has been permitted that [the word ahwa] be a circumstantial qualifier (hal) for the "pasture" (al-mar'a), meaning: He brought forth the pasture while it was fresh, tender, and intensely green, then He made it stubble. The separation of the circumstantial qualifier from its subject by a conjunction is not a separation by an unrelated element, especially since it is a state that immediately follows the first without delay. The secret behind this positioning is to emphasize how the state of dryness follows the state of freshness and lushness, as if it were said: "As soon as its freshness and lushness are complete, it becomes stubble." Nevertheless, this [interpretation] is contrary to the apparent meaning.

These descriptions, as it is said, each entail a sense of gradualism. In describing them [the stages of growth], there is a realization of the meaning of "nurturing" (tarbiyah), which is bringing a thing to its perfection little by little.