Sura-6 [Al Anam]

The Quranic Text & Ali’s Translation:

وَهُوَ الَّذِي أَنشَأَ جَنَّاتٍ مَّعْرُوشَاتٍ وَغَيْرَ مَعْرُوشَاتٍ...

6:141. It is He who produceth gardens, with trellises and without,

C964. Ansha'a: see 6:98, n. 923.

...وَالنَّخْلَ وَالزَّرْعَ مُخْتَلِفًا أُكُلُهُ وَالزَّيْتُونَ وَالرُّمَّانَ مُتَشَابِهًا وَغَيْرَ مُتَشَابِهٍ...

and dates, and tilth with produce of all kinds,

and olives and pomegranates, similar (in kind) and different (in variety):

... كُلُواْ مِن ثَمَرِهِ إِذَا أَثْمَرَ وَآتُواْ حَقَّهُ يَوْمَ حَصَادِهِ ...

eat of their fruit in their season, but render the dues that are proper on the day that the harvest is gathered.

... وَلاَ تُسْرِفُواْ...

But waste not by excess:

...إِنَّهُ لاَ يُحِبُّ الْمُسْرِفِينَ ﴿١٤١﴾

for Allah loveth not the wasters.

Asad’s translation:

6:141

For it is He who has brought into being gardens - [both] the cultivated ones and those growing wild 127 - and the date-palm, and fields bearing multiform produce, and the olive tree, and the pomegranate: [all] resembling one another and yet so different! 128 Eat of their fruit when it comes to fruition, and give [unto the poor] their due on harvest day. And do not waste [God's bounties]: verily, He does not love the wasteful!

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Ali’s comments:

C965. A beautiful passage, with music to match the meaning.

Cf. 6:99 and notes.

C966. "Waste not, want not," says the English proverb.

Here the same wisdom is preached from a higher motive. See what magnificent means Allah provides in nature for the sustenance of all His creatures, because He loves them all. Enjoy them in moderation and be grateful.

But commit no excess, and commit no waste: the two things are the same from different angles of vision. If you do, you take away something from other creatures and Allah would not like your selfishness.

Asad’s comments:

1 27 This is the generally-accepted explanation of the term ma'rushat and ghavr ma'rushat (lit., "those which are and those which are not provided with trellises"). The mention of "gardens" serves here to illustrate the doctrine that everything living and growing - like everything else in the universe - owes its existence to God alone, and that it is, therefore, blasphemous to connect it causally or devotionally with any other power, be it real or imaginary.

128 See note 85 on verse 99 of this surah.