Truly, Allah is the Provider, the Possessor of Strength, the Sure. ( Surat adh-Dhariyat, 51:58)
Imagine that you open your eyes in a world without mountains or oceans; with black, very dry and barren land; without animals or food for human beings, except for grass; and with infertile soil and water located hundreds of kilometers away. In order to survive, you would eat only that bitter grass and walk hundreds of kilometers to drink water. And, after a life of hardship, you would die. Interestingly, you would never ask: “Why can't we grow juicy, delicious fruits, vegetables, and various other crops in this land?” because you would not even be aware that the land could yield such crops.
Allah, Who is very compassionate and merciful toward His servants, places people on fertile lands that yield countless blessings. Indeed, even without tilling them, lands yield green crops and clusters of flowers. Yellow, red, green, and orange fruits and vegetables come out of the soil, and the blue oceans abound with tasty fish. These aside, Allah places the meat of most animals and birds at our service, and gives them pure milk and honey. All of these are all blessings from Allah.
As Allah informs us in “Who is there who could provide for you if He withholds His provision? Yet still they obstinately persist in insolence and evasion” ( Surat al-Mulk, 67:21), if He wills, lands do not yield crops, rain does not fall, and soil turns barren. But since Allah is Most Gracious, Most Merciful, it is impossible to number His blessings. He commands in the Qur'an, as follows:
O mankind! Remember Allah's blessing to you. Is there any creator other than Allah providing for you from heaven and earth? There is no deity but Him. So how have you been deluded? (Surah Fatir, 35:3)
These blessings, which are granted in this world, have perfect counterparts in the Hereafter, as the Qur'an tells us:
No self knows the delight that is hidden away for it in recompense for what it used to do. ( Surat as-Sajda, 32:17)
The inhabitants of Hell, on the other hand, will have nothing to eat and drink but the tree of az-Zaqqum , boiling water, and bitter thorny bush for all eternity.
Say: “Who provides for you out of heaven and earth? Who controls hearing and sight? Who brings forth the living from the dead and the dead from the living? Who directs the whole affair?” They will say: “Allah.” Say: “So will you not guard against evil?” (Surah Yunus, 10:31)
So that Allah can reward them for the best of what they did and give them more from His unbounded favor. Allah provides for anyone He wills without reckoning. ( Surat an-Nur, 24:38)
