And the good land - its vegetation emerges by permission of its Lord; but that which is bad - nothing emerges except sparsely, with difficulty. Thus do We diversify the signs for a people who are grateful.
Among Allah's Signs, He sends down the Rain and brings forth the Produce
After Allah stated that He created the heavens and earth and that He is the Owner and Possessor of the affairs Who makes things subservient (for mankind), He ordained that He be invoked in Du`a', for He is able to do all things. Allah also stated that He is the Sustainer and He resurrects the dead on the Day of Resurrection. Here, Allah said that He sends the wind that spreads the clouds that are laden with rain. Allah said in another Ayah,
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.
Tazkirul Quran
Maulana Wahiduddin KhanOn ayahs 58–63
God has made the world in such a way that its material occurrences symbolize its spiritual aspects. When rain falls anywhere, the water reaches every part of that place. But in respect of its use, conditions in different lands vary. When one region gets water, lush green fields emerge from it. There may be another region which, even after getting rain, remains unaffected, and nothing but wild bushes will grow there. The same is the position of that spiritual rainfall which comes down on behalf of God in the shape of His guidance. The message of this guidance reaches the ears of every man but its benefits accrue to everybody according to his receptivity. One who is receptive to accepting the Truth, derives full advantage from it; he gets a new lease of life from it; his nature is suddenly activated. His contact with his Almighty Lord is established. His parched soul blooms with divine inspiration. Just the opposite is the condition of the person who has lost his natural receptivity. The rainfall of guidance, in spite of its immense possibilities, does not benefit him at all; he remains as dry as he was earlier. If at all there is any crop, it is only a scanty growth of wild bushes. The rainfall of guidance breeds in him jealousy, haughtiness, a tendency to employ meaningless sophistry, and opposition to the truth. Thus he fails to accept the truth and support it. In order to absorb the rainwater, the land must necessarily be dry. If the land is not dry, the rain water will simply pass over it, and will not be absorbed in it. In the same way, the guidance of God becomes rooted only in that man who is desirous of it; one who has emptied his soul of the dross of this world. Unlike him, one who is careless of God’s guidance and whose heart is engrossed in other interests and other glories may encounter God’s guidance, but it will not permeate him. It will not become the nutrition of his soul; it will not water the land of his soul and help to grow the garden of God in it.
Uthmani text of the Madinah mushaf (King Fahd Complex). Translation: Saheeh International. Tafsir via Quran.com.
