Surah Al-A'raaf: Verse 58 - والبلد الطيب يخرج نباته بإذن... - English

From the land that is clean and good, by the will of its Cherisher, springs up produce, (rich) after its kind: but from the land that is bad, springs up nothing but that which is niggardly: thus do we explain the signs by various (symbols) to those who are grateful. (58)

Stated in the second verse (58) is: وَالْبَلَدُ الطَّيِّبُ يَخْرُ‌جُ نَبَاتُهُ بِإِذْنِ رَ‌بِّهِ ۖ وَالَّذِي خَبُثَ لَا يَخْرُ‌جُ إِلَّا نَكِدًا (As for the good land, its vegetation comes out with the permission of its Lord. And that which is bad does not grow except what is bad). The word: نَكِد (nakid) refers to something useless and scanty both. The sense of the verse is that the mercy of rain, when it comes, is common to every town and land, but lands are of two kinds in terms of their yield and outcome. First, there is good land which helps growth. From it come flowers and fruits and many other benefits. Then, there is the hard, barren or saline land which lacks the ability to grow plants. First of all, not much grows on such a land, and if something does grow there, its quantity remains insignificant, and even this quantity is useless and bad.

At the end of the verse, it was said: كَذَٰلِكَ نُخْرِ‌جُ الْمَوْتَىٰ لَعَلَّكُمْ تَذَكَّرُ‌ونَ (Thus We alternate the verses for a people who pay gratitude).

The hint given here is: Though the open blessing of Allah's guidance and His clear 'Ayat is open and common to all human beings very much like the general mercy of rain, but every land does not derive benefit from the rain and, similarly, every human being does not de-rive benefit from Divine guidance. Rather, the benefit is derived by only those who are grateful for what they receive and recognize its real worth and value.

(58)