Quran Universe
77:25

أَلَمۡ نَجۡعَلِ ٱلۡأَرۡضَ كِفَاتًا

Alam najAAali alarda kifatan

Have We not made the earth a container

Word by word
  1. أَلَمۡHave not
  2. نَجۡعَلِWe made
  3. ٱلۡأَرۡضَthe earth
  4. كِفَاتًاa receptacle
Al-Mursalat · 77:25Makkah

Have We not made the earth a container?

The earth that holds everything

The earth
a containera place of shelter
What the ground is
just dirt
a sheltermade to hold you

Ibn Abbas said kifat means a place of shelter. Mujahid said it holds the dead so nothing of them is seen. The earth was made to hold people, in life and after.

You walk on concrete all day and never think about the ground. It holds your house, your food, your city. One day it will hold you.

The ground under me is nothing special.

The earth is a shelter Allah made to hold me, now and later.

Try this

Go barefoot on grass or soil for a moment today and remember this verse.

Simplified reflection. Read the tafsir for scholarship.draft
Tafsir Ibn Kathir (shared passage from 77:16)

Did We not destroy the ancients (16)So shall We make later generations to follow them (17)Thus do We deal with the criminals (18)Woe that Day to the deniers (19)Did We not create you from a despised water (20)Then We placed it in a place of safety (21)For a known period (22)So We did measure; and We are the best to measure (23)Woe that Day to the deniers (24)Have We not made the earth Kifat (a receptacle (25)For the living and the dead (26)And have placed therein fixed towers, and have given you Furat water (27)Woe that Day to the deniers (28)

The Call to contemplate the various Manifestations of Allah's Power

Allah says,

أَلَمْ نُهْلِكِ الْأَوَّلِينَ

(Did We not destroy the ancients?) meaning, those who rejected the Messengers and opposed what they came to them with.

ثُمَّ نُتْبِعُهُمُ الْآخِرِينَ 

(So shall We make later generations to follow them.) meaning, from those who are similar to them. Thus, Allah says,

كَذَٰلِكَ نَفْعَلُ بِالْمُجْرِمِينَ - وَيْلٌ يَوْمَئِذٍ لِلْمُكَذِّبِينَ

(Thus do We deal with the criminals. Woe that Day to the deniers!) Ibn Jarir said this. Then Allah reminding His creatures of His favor, and using the beginning of creation to support the idea of repeating it, He says:

أَلَمْ نَخْلُقْكُمْ مِنْ مَاءٍ مَهِينٍ

(Did We not create you from a despised water?) meaning, weak and despised in comparison to the power of the Creator. This is similar to what has been reported in the Hadith of Busr bin Jahhash (that Allah says),

ابْنَ آدَمَ أَنّٰى تُعْجِزُنِي وَقَدْ خَلَقْتُكَ مِنْ مِثْلِ هَذِهِ؟

("(O) Son of Adam ! How can you think that I am unable, and yet I created you from something like this (i.e., semen)?")

فَجَعَلْنَاهُ فِي قَرَارٍ مَكِينٍ 

(Then We placed it in a place of safety,) meaning, 'We gathered him in the womb, where the fluid of the man and the woman settles. The womb has been prepared for this, as a protector of the fluid deposited in it. Allah said:

إِلَىٰ قَدَرٍ مَعْلُومٍ

(For a known period?) meaning, for a fixed period of time, which is from six months to nine months. Thus, Allah says,

فَقَدَرْنَا فَنِعْمَ الْقَادِرُونَ - وَيْلٌ يَوْمَئِذٍ لِلْمُكَذِّبِينَ

(So We did measure; and We are the best to measure. Woe that Day to the deniers!) Then Allah says,

أَلَمْ نَجْعَلِ الْأَرْضَ كِفَاتًا - أَحْيَاءً وَأَمْوَاتًا

(Have We not made the earth Kifat for the living and the dead?) Ibn 'Abbas said, "Kifat means a place of shelter." Mujahid said, "It holds the dead so that nothing is seen of it." Ash-Sha'bi said, "Its interior is for your dead and its surface is for your living." Mujahid and Qatadah also said this.

وَجَعَلْنَا فِيهَا رَوَاسِيَ شَامِخَاتٍ

(And have placed therein fixed towers,) meaning, the mountains. The earth is held in place with them so that it does not shake and sway.

 وَأَسْقَيْنَاكُمْ مَاءً فُرَاتًا

(and have given you Furat water?) meaning, cold and delicious water from the clouds or from what He causes to gush forth from the springs of the earth.

وَيْلٌ يَوْمَئِذٍ لِلْمُكَذِّبِينَ

(Woe that Day to the deniers!) meaning, woe to whoever reflects upon these created things which demonstrate the greatness of their Creator, then after that continues to reject Him and disbelieve in Him.