Written and collected by Zia H Shah MD

Close Reading of Qur’an 71:13–21 in Context

Surah Nūḥ (Chapter 71) recounts Prophet Noah’s admonition to his disbelieving people. Verses 13–21 form part of Noah’s speech, where he urges his audience to recognize God’s majesty by reflecting on creation. He asks rhetorically: “What is the matter with you that you do not appreciate God’s greatness, although He created you in stages?” thequran.love. The phrase “created you stage by stage” (Arabic: khalaqakum aṭwārā) in verse 14 immediately frames human creation as a progressive, stepwise development, inviting readers to ponder the phases through which God brought humankind into beingthequran.love. Noah then directs attention to the cosmic order: “Do you not see how God created seven heavens one above the other, and placed the moon therein as a light and the sun as a lamp?”thequran.love. In verses 15–16, the Qur’an highlights a structured universe – “seven heavens in layers” – and distinguishes between the moon’s reflected light and the sun’s radiance, a subtle accuracy consistent with modern astronomyclearquran.com.

Moving from heavens to earth, verse 17 uses a striking botanical metaphor for human origins: “And God germinated you from the earth like a plant.” clearquran.com Noah’s choice of words likens the emergence of human life to a plant sprouting from soil, suggesting an organic, gradual origin from earthly matter. This is coupled with a reminder of human destiny: “Then He will return you into it (the earth), and bring you out again” (71:18) clearquran.com. In context, this refers to death and resurrection – humans are nourished by the earth, return to it at death, and will be raised up again by God. Verse 19 continues, “And God made the earth a spread for you”, and verse 20, “so that you may travel its broad paths.” clearquran.com. These lines portray the earth as a habitable expanse laid out for human exploration and livelihood. Thus, in Noah’s preaching, the natural world and cosmic order are presented as “signs” (āyāt) of God’s creative power and wisdom, intended to elicit humility and faith in the listener.

Finally, verse 21 transitions to Noah’s complaint about his people’s obstinacy: “Noah said, ‘My Lord, they have defied me, and followed those whose wealth and children only increase them in loss.’” Here Noah laments that despite the compelling signs in creation he has pointed out, his people persisted in blind allegiance to corrupt leaders. This contextualizes the earlier verses: the vivid imagery of creation in stages, heaven in layers, and life growing from earth was meant to awaken his people’s conscience, yet they arrogantly turned away. In sum, verses 13–21 interweave theological exhortation with reflections on creation, using the language of gradual creation and natural marvels to support Noah’s call to acknowledge God. Noah’s discourse underscores that proper reverence (waqār) for God arises from recognizing His creative mastery unfolding throughout the cosmos and life on earth thequran.love.

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