وَٱللَّهُ أَنزَلَ مِنَ ٱلسَّمَآءِ مَآءً فَأَحْيَا بِهِ ٱلْأَرْضَ بَعْدَ مَوْتِهَآ إِنَّ فِى ذَٰلِكَ لَـَٔايَةً لِّقَوْمٍ يَسْمَعُونَ
Wa'llāhu anzala mina'l-samāʾi māʾan fa-aḥyā bihi'l-arḍa baʿda mawtihā, inna fī dhālika la-āyatan li-qawmin yasmaʿūn
"God sent down water from the sky and with it revived the earth after its death. In that there is a sign for a people who hear."
And the opening is a repetition of an item from the first enumeration: the tenth verse too said anzala mina'l-samāʾi māʾan.
| Verse 10 | Verse 65 | |
|---|---|---|
| The work of the water | Lakum minhu sharāb — drink, pasture | Fa-aḥyā bihi'l-arḍa baʿda mawtihā — reviving |
| The addressee | Lakum — for you | no lakum |
| The closing | (none — the series goes on) | Li-qawmin yasmaʿūn |
I record this as my own reading; its ground is the difference between the two verses: in the first enumeration the water was named as a benefit; in the second as a proof. The same fact is thus enumerated twice, and in two different tasks.
And the proof from iḥyāʾ baʿda'l-mawt was treated at many places in this commentary: Fāṭir 35/9 (ka-dhālika'l-nushūr), Qāf 50/11 (ka-dhālika'l-khurūj), Fuṣṣilat 41/39, al-Rūm 30/50. I do not repeat it here.
What belongs here must be recorded: in al-Naḥl no link to the resurrection is added to this proof. Fāṭir says ka-dhālika'l-nushūr, Qāf says ka-dhālika'l-khurūj; al-Naḥl says only la-āyatan li-qawmin yasmaʿūn.
I give this as an observation: here the sūra ties the proof not to resurrection but to hearing. And this fits the series of the sūra's closing verbs — the fifth verb enters here.