The Thunder
IN THE NAME OF GOD, THE MOST GRACIOUS, THE DISPENSER OF GRACE[13:4]
And there are on earth [many] tracts of land close by one another [and yet widely differing from one another]; and [there are on it] vineyards, and fields of grain, and date-palms growing in clusters from one root or standing alone, [all] watered with the same water: and yet, some of them have We favoured above others by way of the food [which they provide for man and beast].
Verily, in all this there are messages indeed for people who use their reason!

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* v.4 : I.e., regarding the nature of the soil, fertility, and kind of vegetation. The necessity of this interpolation – which, in the consensus of all commentators, conveys the meaning of the above phrase – becomes apparent from the subsequent clauses.
* Lit., “non-clustered” (ghayr sinwān) – i.e., each tree having separate roots. * Cf. 6:99 and 141qa141_1, where a similar stress is laid on the multiformity of plants – and their varying beneficence to man and animal – as some of the signs of God’s purposeful, creative activity.