Transliteration:( Wal arda madadnaahaa wa alqainaa feehaa rawaasiya wa ambatnaa feehaa min kulli shai'im mawzoon )
And We have stretched the earth [23] and placed therein firm mountains [24], and caused to grow therein everything in due measure [25].
Stretching the earth is meant to make it spacious and not make it long and wide because the earth is round. Allah's design of the earth is such that it is vast enough to sustain life and hold all of creation.
From this, we learn that the earth does not move; it is stationary. Mountains are used as anchors, similar to how an anchor controls and stops a ship. If there was the slightest movement in the earth, there would be no need to create mountains. Once the ship is brought under control by the anchor, it becomes motionless—similarly, the earth remains stable due to the mountains.
By "proportionately," Allah Almighty causes things to grow in different places at different times according to their need and quantity. For instance, in Bengal, the growth of tea is more, while in Punjab, the quantity of wheat is greater. In some places, there may be famine, while in others, there may be abundant growth. In this, too, there are countless pearls of Divine wisdom. All of these factors are included in this verse.
The tafsir of Surah Hijr verse 19 by Ibn Kathir is unavailable here.
Please refer to Surah Hijr ayat 16 which provides the complete commentary from verse 16 through 20.
(15:19) As for the earth, We have stretched it out and have cast on it firm mountains, and have caused to grow in it everything well-measured.[13]
13. The growth of every kind of plant in a limited extent is another sign of the wisdom and power of Allah. For the generative power of every vegetable plant is so great that if free growth had been allowed to even one kind of plant, it would have covered the whole surface of the earth. But it is by the design of the All-Wise and All-Powerful Creator that every kind of vegetable is produced in a balanced measure. There is another aspect of the vegetable life. Each and every kind of it is allowed to grow only to a fixed size, height, and thickness, which is a proof of the fact that the Creator himself prescribed the structure, the shape, the size, the height, the leaves and branches, and the number of each and every plant, and no plant is allowed to go beyond any of these fixed limits.
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