Quran Universe
7:25

قَالَ فِيهَا تَحۡيَوۡنَ وَفِيهَا تَمُوتُونَ وَمِنۡهَا تُخۡرَجُونَ

Qala feeha tahyawna wafeeha tamootoona waminha tukhrajoona

He said, "Therein you will live, and therein you will die, and from it you will be brought forth."

Word by word
  1. قَالَHe said
  2. فِيهَاIn it
  3. تَحۡيَوۡنَyou will live
  4. وَفِيهَاand in it
  5. تَمُوتُونَyou will die
  6. وَمِنۡهَاand from it
  7. تُخۡرَجُونَyou will be brought forth
Al-A'raf · 7:25Makkah

Live here, die here, rise from here.

The whole story of the ground beneath you

Three stages, one ground
liveon it
then
dieinto it
then
brought outfrom it, on the Day
What the ground is
just a surfacewhere I walk
my whole journeycradle, grave, gate

The tafsir connects this to another verse: from it We created you, into it We return you, from it We bring you out again. On that Day, Allah gathers the first and the last and rewards each by their deeds.

You walk past the cemetery on the way to work every morning and never look. The same ground under your shoes is where you will rest and where you will rise.

The ground is just where I walk.

This same earth holds my life, my grave and my rising.

Try this

Next time you put your forehead on the ground in sujud, remember where you came from.

Related20:55
Simplified reflection. Read the tafsir for scholarship.draft
Tafsir Ibn Kathir (shared passage from 7:24)

(Allah) said: "Get down, one of you an enemy to the other. On earth will be a dwelling place for you and an enjoyment for a time. (24)He said: "Therein you shall live, and therein you shall die, and from it you shall be brought out (resurrected). (25)

Sending Them All Down to Earth

It was said that,

اهْبِطُوا 

(Get down), was addressed to Adam, Hawwa', Iblis and the snake. Some scholars did not mention the snake, and Allah knows best. The enmity is primarily between Adam and Iblis, and Hawwa' follows Adam in this regard. Allah said in Surah Ta Ha,

اهْبِطَا مِنْهَا جَمِيعًا

("Get you down (from the Paradise to the earth), both of you, together...")[20:123].

If the story about the snake is true, then it is a follower of Iblis. Some scholars mentioned the location on earth they were sent down, but these accounts are taken from the Israelite tales, and only Allah knows if they are true. If having known these areas was useful for the people in matters of religion or life, Allah would have mentioned them in His Book, and His Messenger ﷺ would have mentioned them too. Allah's statement,

وَلَكُمْ فِي الْأَرْضِ مُسْتَقَرٌّ وَمَتَاعٌ إِلَىٰ حِينٍ

(On earth will be a dwelling place for you and an enjoyment for a time.) means, on earth you will have dwellings and known, designated, appointed terms that have been recorded by the Pen, counted by Predestination and written in the First Record.

قَالَ فِيهَا تَحْيَوْنَ وَفِيهَا تَمُوتُونَ وَمِنْهَا تُخْرَجُونَ

(He (Allah) said: "Therein you shall live, and therein you shall die, and from it you shall be brought out (resurrected).")

This Ayah is similar to Allah's other statement,

مِنْهَا خَلَقْنَاكُمْ وَفِيهَا نُعِيدُكُمْ وَمِنْهَا نُخْرِجُكُمْ تَارَةً أُخْرَىٰ

(Thereof (the earth) We created you, and into it We shall return you, and from it We shall bring you out once again.)[20:55].

Allah states that He has made the earth a dwelling place for the Children of Adam, for the remainder of this earthly life. On it, they will live, die and be buried in their graves; and from it, they will be resurrected for the Day of Resurrection. On that Day, Allah will gather the first and last of creatures and reward or punish each according to his or her deeds.