Verse 11
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وَجَعَلَ فِيهَا رَوَٰسِىَ مِن فَوْقِهَا وَبَٰرَكَ فِيهَا وَقَدَّرَ فِيهَآ أَقْوَٰتَهَا فِىٓ أَرْبَعَةِ أَيَّامٍ سَوَآءً لِّلسَّآئِلِينَ
13:4; 15:20; 16:16; 77:28.
Important Words:
اقواتھا (its foods) is the plural of قوت (qut) which is derived from قات which means, he fed, nourished or sustained or fed with what would sustain the body. أقات علی الشیء means, he had power or ability to do the thing. أقاته means, he guarded or protected him. قوت means, provision, food, sustenance, etc. (Lane & Aqrab).
Commentary:
The "two days" or stages mentioned in the previous verse through which the earth had to pass before it assumed its present form are included in the number "four days" mentioned in the present verse; the additional "two days" signifying the two stages of the placing on it of mountains, rivers, etc. and the growth on it of vegetable and animal life. See also verse 13 below.
The words, "provided its foods in proper measure," signify that the earth is fully capable of providing food for all the creatures that live on it.
The expression "alike for all seekers" may signify that the foods which God has provided in the earth are equally accessible to all seekers who try to get them according to the laws of nature. It may mean also that all the physical needs and requirements of man have been adequately met in the foods that grow out of earth. So the fear that the earth may not someday be able to grow sufficient food for the fast increasing population of the world is groundless. The world can provide food, fibre and all other agricultural requirements for 28 billion people, ten times the world’s present population (Professor Cohn Clark, Director of the Agriculture Economics Research Institute of Oxford University). Only recently the United Nations Food and Agricultural Organisation pointed out in its report, "The State of Food and Agriculture, 1959," that the world’s food supply grows twice as fast as its population.
13:4; 15:20; 77:28.
The 'two days' or stages mentioned in the previous verse through which the earth had to pass before it assumed its present form are included among the 'four days' mentioned in the present verse, the additional 'two days' signifying the two stages of the placing on it of mountains, rivers, etc. and the growth on it of vegetable and animal life. See also v. 11. The words, 'provided therein its foods in proper measure,' signify that the earth is and will ever remain to be fully capable of providing food for all the creatures that live on it.
The expression, 'alike for all seekers,' may signify that the foods which God has provided in the earth are equally accessible to all seekers who try to get them according to the laws of nature. It may also mean that all the physical needs and requirements of man have been adequately met in the foods that grow out of earth. So the fear that the earth may not some day be able to grow sufficient food for the fast increasing population of the world is groundless. 'The world can provide food, fibre and all other agricultural requirements for 28 billion people, ten times the world’s present population' (Prof. Cohn Clark, Director of the Agricultural Economics Research Institute of Oxford University). Only recently the United Nations Food and Agricultural Organization pointed out in its report, 'The State of Food and Agriculture, 1959,' that the world’s food supply grows twice as fast as its population.