وَكَأَيِّن مِّن دَآبَّةٍۢ لَّا تَحْمِلُ رِزْقَهَا ٱللَّهُ يَرْزُقُهَا وَإِيَّاكُمْ ۚ وَهُوَ ٱلسَّمِيعُ ٱلْعَلِيمُ
And how many a creature carries not its [own] provision. Allah provides for it and for you. And He is the Hearing, the Knowing.
Introduction
This is āyah 60 of Sūrat Al-Ankaboot (The Spider), the 85th sūrah in the traditional order of revelation. It was revealed in the Meccan period and sits within Juzʾ 21. Meccan verses tend to address faith, the oneness of God, and the hereafter.
This introduction is a starting point — the community and Bilal will enrich it over time.
Revelation & occasion
- Period
- Meccan
- Order revealed
- 85 of 114
- Surah
- Al-Ankaboot (29)
(And how many an animal there is that beareth not its own provision!) [29:60]. Abu Bakr Ahmad ibn Muhammad al-Tamimi informed us> Abu Muhammad ibn Hayyan> Ahmad ibn Ja�far al-Jamal> �Abd al-Wahid ibn Muhammad al-Bajali> Yazid ibn Harun> Hajjaj ibn Minhal> al-Zuhri (who is �Abd al-Rahman ibn �Ata�)> �Ata�> Ibn �Umar who said: �We went out with the Messenger of Allah, Allah bless him and give him peace, and walked with him until he entered one of the fields of the Helpers and started picking dates and eating them. He said: �O Ibn �Umar, why do you not eat?� I said: �I do not feel like it, O Messenger of Allah!� He said: �As for me, I do feel like it; this is the fourth morning in which I did not taste any food. And if I wish, I can pray to my Lord to grant me the like of the kingdoms of Chosroes and the Caesar. What will you do then, O Ibn �Umar, when you live among people who store their provision for a year and when certainty is weakened?� By Allah, we did not leave [our place] until this verse was revealed (And how many an animal there is that beareth not its own provision! Allah provideth for it and for you. He is the Hearer, the Knower)�.
Tafsir
Hafiz Ibn Kathir
Chains of transmission
Oral — isnād
- ~610–632 CERevelation & memorisation
Received by the Prophet ﷺ and preserved by the ḥuffāẓ (memorisers) among the Companions.
- 1st century AHMutawātir transmissionawaiting curation
Carried by mass-transmission through the generations of qurrāʾ.
- TodayLiving chainsawaiting curation
Continuous ijāzah chains link reciters today back to the Prophet ﷺ.
Verified isnād chains for this āyah will be added by curators.
Written — the manuscript record
- ~650 CEʿUthmānic codicesawaiting curation
The standardised muṣḥaf sent to the great cities (e.g. the Topkapı and Samarqand codices).
- 8th–10th c.Early Ḥijāzī & Kūfic foliosawaiting curation
Surviving leaves in Birmingham, Sanaa, Paris (BnF) and beyond.
- Modern printModern printawaiting curation
The 1924 Cairo edition → today: the standard printed muṣḥaf used worldwide.
A curated chain of manuscript images for this exact āyah — roughly one per century — is coming. Help us source and verify them.
And now — what do you think?
The text, its history and the classical commentary are laid out above. Share your own understanding, ask a question, or reason with others.
Community resources
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