Surah Zukhruf ayat 10 Tafsir Quran 43:10

﴿الَّذِي جَعَلَ لَكُمُ الْأَرْضَ مَهْدًا وَجَعَلَ لَكُمْ فِيهَا سُبُلًا لَّعَلَّكُمْ تَهْتَدُونَ﴾
[ الزخرف: 10]

43:10 [The one] who has made for you the earth a bed and made for you upon it roads that you might be guided

He Who made the earth a cradle for you a flat resting-place like a child’s cradle and placed for you therein ways routes that perhaps you may be guided to your destinations during your travels;

Who has made the earth for you a settled habitation* and carpeted it with vegetal growths and furnished it with your daily needs, and He channeled it with paths, tracks, routes and waterways guiding your direction in your course of travel and in your movement

The Idolators' admission that Allah is the Sole Creator, and Further Evidence of that Allah says: `If you, O Muhammad, were to ask these idolators who associate others with Allah and worship others besides Him,' مَّنْ خَلَقَ السَّمَـوَتِ وَالاٌّرْضَ لَيَقُولُنَّ خَلَقَهُنَّ الْعَزِيزُ الْعَلِيمُ ( "Who has created the heavens and the earth" They will surely say: "The All-Mighty, the All-Knower created them." ) In other words, they will admit that the Creator of all that is Allah Alone, with no partner or associate, yet they still worship others -- idols and false gods -- alongside Him. الَّذِى جَعَلَ لَكُمُ الاٌّرْضَ مَهْداً ( Who has made for you the earth like a bed, ) means, smooth, stable and firm, so that you can travel about in it, and stand on it and sleep and walk about, even though it is created above water, but He has strengthened it with the mountains, lest it should shake. وَجَعَلَ لَكُمْ فِيهَا سُبُلاً ( and has made for you roads therein, ) means, paths between the mountains and the valleys. لَعَلَّكُمْ تَهْتَدُونَ ( in order that you may find your way. ) means, in your journeys from city to city, region to region, land to land. وَالَّذِى نَزَّلَ مِنَ السَّمَآءِ مَآءً بِقَدَرٍ ( And Who sends down water from the sky in due measure, ) means, according to what is sufficient for your crops, fruits and drinking water for yourselves and your cattle. فَأَنشَرْنَا بِهِ بَلْدَةً مَّيْتاً ( then We revive a dead land therewith, ) means, a barren land, for when the water comes to it, it is stirred ( to life ), and it swells and puts forth every lovely kind ( of growth ).
By referring to the revival of the earth, Allah draws attention to how He will bring bodies back to life on the Day of Resurrection, after they have been dead. كَذَلِكَ تُخْرَجُونَ ( and even so you will be brought forth. ) Then Allah says: وَالَّذِى خَلَقَ الأَزْوَجَ كُلَّهَا ( And Who has created all the pairs ) meaning, of everything that grows in the earth, all kinds of plants, crops, fruits, flowers, etc., and all different kinds of animals. وَجَعَلَ لَكُمْ مِّنَ الْفُلْكِ ( and has appointed for you ships ) or vessels, وَالاٌّنْعَـمِ مَا تَرْكَبُونَ ( and cattle on which you ride. ) means, He has subjugated them to you and made it easy for you to eat their meat, drink their milk and ride on their backs.
Allah says: لِتَسْتَوُواْ عَلَى ظُهُورِهِ ( In order that you may mount on their backs, ) meaning, sit comfortably and securely, عَلَى ظُهُورِهِ ( on their backs ) means, on the backs of these kinds of animals. ثُمَّ تَذْكُرُواْ نِعْمَةَ رَبِّكُمْ ( and then may remember the favor of your Lord ) means, whereby these animals are subjugated to you. إِذَا اسْتَوَيْتُمْ عَلَيْهِ وَتَقُولُواْ سُبْحَـنَ الَّذِى سَخَّرَ لَنَا هَـذَا وَمَا كُنَّا لَهُ مُقْرِنِينَ ( when you mount thereon, and say: "Glory to Him Who has subjected this to us, and we could have never had it." ) means, if it were not for the fact that Allah has subjugated these things to us, we could never have done this by our own strength.' Ibn `Abbas, Qatadah, As-Suddi and Ibn Zayd said: "We could not have done this ourselves." وَإِنَّآ إِلَى رَبِّنَا لَمُنقَلِبُونَ ( And verily, to Our Lord we indeed are to return. ) means, `We will return to Him after our death, and our ultimate destination is with Him.' In this Ayah, mention of earthly journeys draws attention to the journey of the Hereafter, just as elsewhere, mention of earthly provision draws attention to the importance of ensuring provision for the Hereafter, as Allah says: وَتَزَوَّدُواْ فَإِنَّ خَيْرَ الزَّادِ التَّقْوَى ( And take a provision (with you ) for the journey, but the best provision is the Taqwa) ( 2:197 ).
And mention of earthly garments is also used to draw attention to the raiment of the Hereafter: وَرِيشًا وَلِبَاسُ التَّقْوَى ذَلِكَ خَيْرٌ ( and as an adornment; and the raiment of the Taqwa, that is better ) ( 7:26 ).

(43:10) He it is Who made this earth for you a cradle *7 and made in it pathways *8 for you that you may find the way to your destination; *9

[The one] who has made for you meaning

*7) At other places the earth has been described as a bed, but here as a cradle.
That is, just as a child lies resting in its cradle, so is this great globe meant to be a place of rest for you, which is suspended in space, which is spinning on its axis at a speed of 1,000 miles an hour, which is revolving around the sun at a speed of 66,000 miles an hour.
Its interior is so intensely hot that it can melt the stones and it manifests its power sometimes in the form of volcano eruptions.
But, in spite of that, the Creator has made it so tranquil that one sleeps on it.
in fill peace and there is no jerk whatever.
One lives on it and does not at all feel that this globe is suspended and one is hanging from it with one's head pointing downward.
One moves about on it with satisfaction and never thinks that one is riding on a vehicle moving faster than a bullet.
You dig it at will and turn it inside out and beat it as you like to obtain your sustenance, whereas a little shaking of it in an earthquake makes you feel what a terrible giant it is, which Allah has subdued for you.
( For further explanation, sec AI-Naml: 61 and E.N.
74 on it ).

*8) The passes in the mountains and the rivers in the hill and plain regions are the natural paths, which Allah has provided on the surface of the earth.
Man has spread on, the earth by means of these.
If the mountainous ranges had been created erect, without a crevice, and there had been no rivers and streams, man would have been confined to the same areas where he was born.
Then, Allah through another grace has not made the whole surface of the earth uniform in nature, but has created different marks of distinction by means of which man recognizes different lands and feels the difference between one land and another.
This is the second important means by which man became able to move about on the earth.
This blessing can be appreciated by the one who has had a chance of going on a vast desert, where for thousands of milts the earth is without any landmarks and one does not know where one has reached and where one has to go.

*9) This sentence gives two meanings simultaneously: ( 1 ) " That by means of these natural paths and land-marks you may fmd your way and reach the place you want to reach: " and ( 2 ) "that you may obtain guidance from the observation of this craftsmanship of Allah Almighty: may reach the underlying reality and understand that this sysum of the earth is not functioning haphazardly, nor has been devised by many gods jointly, but there is one All-Wise Creator, Who has made these paths in the hills and on the plains in view of the needs and requirements of His creatures, and has given each region of the earth a different form in countless different ways by means of which man can distinguish one region from the other.

 

The Idolators' admission that Allah is the Sole Creator, and Further Evidence of that Allah says: `If you, O Muhammad, were to ask these idolators who associate others with Allah and worship others besides Him,' مَّنْ خَلَقَ السَّمَـوَتِ وَالاٌّرْضَ لَيَقُولُنَّ خَلَقَهُنَّ الْعَزِيزُ الْعَلِيمُ ( "Who has created the heavens and the earth" They will surely say: "The All-Mighty, the All-Knower created them." ) In other words, they will admit that the Creator of all that is Allah Alone, with no partner or associate, yet they still worship others -- idols and false gods -- alongside Him. الَّذِى جَعَلَ لَكُمُ الاٌّرْضَ مَهْداً ( Who has made for you the earth like a bed, ) means, smooth, stable and firm, so that you can travel about in it, and stand on it and sleep and walk about, even though it is created above water, but He has strengthened it with the mountains, lest it should shake. وَجَعَلَ لَكُمْ فِيهَا سُبُلاً ( and has made for you roads therein, ) means, paths between the mountains and the valleys. لَعَلَّكُمْ تَهْتَدُونَ ( in order that you may find your way. ) means, in your journeys from city to city, region to region, land to land. وَالَّذِى نَزَّلَ مِنَ السَّمَآءِ مَآءً بِقَدَرٍ ( And Who sends down water from the sky in due measure, ) means, according to what is sufficient for your crops, fruits and drinking water for yourselves and your cattle. فَأَنشَرْنَا بِهِ بَلْدَةً مَّيْتاً ( then We revive a dead land therewith, ) means, a barren land, for when the water comes to it, it is stirred ( to life ), and it swells and puts forth every lovely kind ( of growth ).
By referring to the revival of the earth, Allah draws attention to how He will bring bodies back to life on the Day of Resurrection, after they have been dead. كَذَلِكَ تُخْرَجُونَ ( and even so you will be brought forth. ) Then Allah says: وَالَّذِى خَلَقَ الأَزْوَجَ كُلَّهَا ( And Who has created all the pairs ) meaning, of everything that grows in the earth, all kinds of plants, crops, fruits, flowers, etc., and all different kinds of animals. وَجَعَلَ لَكُمْ مِّنَ الْفُلْكِ ( and has appointed for you ships ) or vessels, وَالاٌّنْعَـمِ مَا تَرْكَبُونَ ( and cattle on which you ride. ) means, He has subjugated them to you and made it easy for you to eat their meat, drink their milk and ride on their backs.
Allah says: لِتَسْتَوُواْ عَلَى ظُهُورِهِ ( In order that you may mount on their backs, ) meaning, sit comfortably and securely, عَلَى ظُهُورِهِ ( on their backs ) means, on the backs of these kinds of animals. ثُمَّ تَذْكُرُواْ نِعْمَةَ رَبِّكُمْ ( and then may remember the favor of your Lord ) means, whereby these animals are subjugated to you. إِذَا اسْتَوَيْتُمْ عَلَيْهِ وَتَقُولُواْ سُبْحَـنَ الَّذِى سَخَّرَ لَنَا هَـذَا وَمَا كُنَّا لَهُ مُقْرِنِينَ ( when you mount thereon, and say: "Glory to Him Who has subjected this to us, and we could have never had it." ) means, if it were not for the fact that Allah has subjugated these things to us, we could never have done this by our own strength.' Ibn `Abbas, Qatadah, As-Suddi and Ibn Zayd said: "We could not have done this ourselves." وَإِنَّآ إِلَى رَبِّنَا لَمُنقَلِبُونَ ( And verily, to Our Lord we indeed are to return. ) means, `We will return to Him after our death, and our ultimate destination is with Him.' In this Ayah, mention of earthly journeys draws attention to the journey of the Hereafter, just as elsewhere, mention of earthly provision draws attention to the importance of ensuring provision for the Hereafter, as Allah says: وَتَزَوَّدُواْ فَإِنَّ خَيْرَ الزَّادِ التَّقْوَى ( And take a provision (with you ) for the journey, but the best provision is the Taqwa) ( 2:197 ).
And mention of earthly garments is also used to draw attention to the raiment of the Hereafter: وَرِيشًا وَلِبَاسُ التَّقْوَى ذَلِكَ خَيْرٌ ( and as an adornment; and the raiment of the Taqwa, that is better ) ( 7:26 ).

Allah says: yes, He created them Him ( Who made the earth a resting place for you, and placed roads for you therein, that haply ye may find your way ) by means of the roads;

Who has made for you the earth like a bed, and has made for you roads therein, in order that you may find your way,

Page 489 English transliteration