Transliteration:( Wa ka ayyim min daaabbatil laa tahmilu rizqahaa; al laahu yarzuquhaa wa iyyaakum; wa Huwas Samee'ul Aleem )
"And how many are there that move on the earth, carrying no provisions with them? Allah provides for them and for you [147]. And He is the All-Hearing, the All-Knowing [148]." (Kanzul Imaan Translation)
The Ulama have noted that among living creatures, only three—ants, mice, and humans—collect and store their provisions. Despite this, many animals, including large ones like elephants and rhinoceroses, consume large quantities daily yet make no arrangements for the future.
This highlights a key point: the act of gathering is not a necessity for survival, but Allah’s provision reaches all His creatures, regardless of their efforts.
The verse affirms that sustenance is divinely assigned. Whatever share of provision has been decreed for a person will inevitably reach them, no matter where they are. This assures that humans are not the providers, rather, Allah is the true Sustainer.
Therefore, believers should rely on Allah and never fear for livelihood, especially in matters where faith demands sacrifice, such as migration or facing hardship for religious reasons.
The verse closes with two divine attributes: All-Hearing and All-Knowing. This means that Allah hears every concern and knows every condition of His creation.
The Holy Prophet ﷺ beautifully emphasized this trust by saying:
"If you trust in Allah as He deserves to be trusted, He would provide for you just as He provides for the birds: they leave in the morning hungry and return in the evening full."
This verse nurtures the belief that complete trust (tawakkul) in Allah leads to contentment, peace, and sustenance.
The tafsir of Surah Ankabut verse 60 by Ibn Kathir is unavailable here.
Please refer to Surah Ankabut ayat 56 which provides the complete commentary from verse 56 through 60.
(29:60) How many an animal there is that does not carry about its sustenance. Allah provides sustenance to them and to you. He is All-Hearing, All-Knowing.[99]
99. That is, “While migrating you should not be worried about your means of livelihood as you should not worry about your life’s safety. For none of the birds and the animals of the land and the sea that you find around yourself carries its provision with it. Allah is providing for all of them; wherever they go they get their provision through Allah’s bounty. Therefore, do not be disheartened by the thought that if you left your homes for the sake of your faith, you would have nothing to eat. Allah will provide for you as well from the sources from which He is providing for the countless of His other creatures.”
Precisely the same thing was taught by the Prophet Jesus (peace be upon him) to his disciples when he had said:
“No man can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon. Therefore I say unto you, Take no thought for your life, what ye shall eat, or what ye shall drink; nor yet for your body, what ye shall put on. Is not the life more than treat, and the body than raiment? Behold the fowls of the air: for they sow not, neither do they reap, nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feedeth them. Are ye not much better than they? Which of you by taking thought can add one cubit unto his stature? And why take ye thought for raiment? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow; they toil not, neither do they spin: And yet I say unto you that even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. Wherefore, if God so clothe the grass of the field, which to day is and to morrow is cast into the oven, shall he not much more clothe you, O ye of little faith? Therefore take no thought, saying, What shall we eat? or, What shall we drink? or, Wherewithal shall we be clothed? (For after all these things do the Gentiles seek) for your heavenly Father knoweth that ye have need of all these things. But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you. Take therefore no thought for the morrow: for the morrow shall take thought for the things of itself. Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof.” (Matthew. 6: 2434).
The background of these discourses of the Quran and the Gospel is the same. There always comes a stage in the way of the propagation of the truth when the follower of the truth is left with no alternative but to stake his very life only with trust in Allah, regardless of the support and means of the material world. In these conditions, those who are too calculating about the possibilities of the future and seeking guarantees of the safety of life and assurance of provisions cannot do anything. Indeed, such conditions are changed only by the efforts and power of those who rise fearlessly in face of every danger and are even prepared to risk their very lives. It is all due to their sacrifices that ultimately the Word of Allah is raised high and all other words and creeds stand humbled and subdued before it.
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