An-Naml (The Ants): (61) Or is He Who Makes...

The author of Al-Kashshaf said: {Or is He Who makes...} and what follows it is an apposition (badal) to {Or is He Who created...} (An-Naml: 6), so its ruling is the same as His ruling.

Know that the Almighty has mentioned four benefits pertaining to the Earth:

This is due to several reasons:

1. Leveling and Spreading: He spread it out and made it level for settling.
2. Intermediate Consistency: He made it intermediate in hardness and softness. It is not as hard as stone, upon which lying down causes pain, nor is it as soft as water, in which one sinks.
3. Density and Dustiness: He made it dense and dusty (ghabrā’) so that light might settle upon it. If it were too subtle, light would not settle, and if light did not settle, the Earth would become so cold that living creatures would perish.
4. Solar Variation: He ordained the Sun's path such that its orbit deviates from the path of the celestial equator. This causes it to sometimes be farther and sometimes nearer to the zenith. Were it not for this, the seasons would not differ, and these benefits would not be achieved.
5. Stillness: He made it stationary. If it were moving, it would either move in a straight line or in a circle, and in either case, the benefit of dwelling upon the Earth would not be realized.
6. Containment: He made it a receptacle for the living and the dead, where all that is repulsive is cast down, and all that is beautiful emerges.

This is stated in: {And He placed within it rivers...} (An-Naml: 61).

Know that the types of water emerging from the Earth are four:

1. Flowing Springs (al-ʿuyūn al-sayyālah): These emerge from vapors rich in material and strong in propulsion, forcefully breaking through the Earth. Then, one part continues to draw the next part along.
2. Stagnant Springs (al-ʿuyūn al-rākidah): These occur from vapors whose force is sufficient to reach the Earth's surface, but not strong enough in force or quantity to push the subsequent vapor ahead of the preceding one.
3. Channels and Rivers (miyāh al-qunā wa al-anhār): These originate from vapors lacking the strength to split the Earth. When the weight of the soil is removed from the surface, these vapors find a passage to escape through with the slightest movement.
4. Well Water (miyāh al-ābyār): This is like river water in its source (spring-fed), but it is not given a course to flow to a destination. The relationship between channels and wells is like that between stagnant springs.

It is clear that if the Earth were not solid, these vapors would not accumulate beneath it, and if they did not accumulate beneath it, these springs would not emerge on its surface.

This is stated in: {And He placed upon it firm mountains (ruwāsī)...} (An-Naml: 61). The mountains are meant here.

We say that most springs, clouds, and minerals are found in or near mountains.

• Regarding Springs: If the Earth were soft, the vapors would dry out and not accumulate in any significant amount. Therefore, these vapors only accumulate in solid earth, and mountains are the most solid parts of the Earth. Thus, they are the strongest in retaining this vapor until enough accumulates to form the source of springs. It seems that the base of the mountain is filled with water, and the mountain acts in retaining the vapors like a solid alembic prepared for distillation, allowing no vapor to dissipate. The earth beneath it is like the flask, the springs like the spouts, and the vapor like the receivers. This is why most springs burst forth from mountains, and the fewest are found in open plains, and even those few only occur when the earth is solid.
• Regarding Clouds: The reason most clouds form over mountains is threefold:
  1. The interior of mountains contains more moisture than the interior of soft lands.
  2. Due to their height, mountains are colder, so they retain more dew and snow on their surface than other lands.
  3. Ascending vapors are trapped by the mountains and do not disperse or dissipate. If this is established, it becomes clear that the causes for the abundance of clouds in mountains are greater because the material (moisture) is more abundant both externally and internally, and the retention is stronger. The dissipating factor (heat) is less. Therefore, clouds are more abundant over mountains.
• Regarding Minerals: Minerals require vapors whose mixture with the earth is more substantial and a long period for maturation. Nothing compares to mountains in this regard.

This is stated in: {And He placed between the two seas a barrier...} (An-Naml: 61).

The purpose of this is:

1. To prevent the fresh water from being spoiled by mixing with the salt water.
2. For the barrier itself to be beneficial.
3. Metaphorically, the believer's heart has two seas: the sea of faith and wisdom, and the sea of tyranny and desire. By God's grace, He placed a barrier between them so that one does not corrupt the other.

Some wise men commented on the verse: {He has set free the two seas meeting together, Between them is a barrier [Barzakh] they do not transgress} (Ar-Rahman: 19-20). They said: When there is no transgression, {From them issue forth pearl and coral} (Ar-Rahman: 22). Similarly, when there is no transgression in the heart, religion and faith emerge through gratitude.

If it is asked: Why did God make the sea salty? We reply: If the sea were not salty, it would become putrid, and the corruption of its putrefaction would spread across the Earth, causing widespread plague.

Know that the sea being confined to one side of the Earth and not another is not obligatory. Rather, the truth is that the sea shifts over periods that cannot be measured by transmitted histories, moving from one century to another. This is because the sea is mostly supplied by rivers, and rivers are mostly supplied by springs. As for rainwater, its occurrence is not confined to a specific season, nor must the conditions of springs or rainwater be identical in the exact same locations continuously. Many springs dry up, and the sky often withholds rain, which necessitates the drying up of valleys and rivers, leading to the drying up of seas. When springs emerge from another side, rivers form there, and seas are established on that side.

When He clarified that He alone possesses the power to create the Earth with these manifest benefits, it necessitates that He alone is qualified for divinity. By saying: {But most of them do not know} (An-Naml: 61), He points to the magnitude of their ignorance in neglecting this contemplation.

{Or is He Who answers the distressed one when he calls upon Him and removes the evil, and makes you successors of the earth? Is there a god besides Allah? Little do you remember!} (An-Naml: 62)