11. Muhammad ibn al-Qasim al-Astarabadi said: Yusuf ibn Muhammad ibn Ziyad and `ali ibn Muhammad ibn Sayyar both said, on the authority of their father, on the authority of al-Hasan ibn `Ali, on the authority of his father `Ali ibn Muhammad, on the authority of his father Muhammad ibn `Ali, on the authority of his father, `Ali ibn Musa al-Rida, on the authority of his father Musa ibn Ja`far, on the authority of his father Ja`far ibn Muhammad, on the authority of his father Muhammad ibn `Ali that His father, `Ali ibn al-Husayn , was asked to interpret the Word of Allah, the Mighty and High: Who made the Earth a resting place for you. He said

He made it suitable for your nature and in harmony with your bodies. He did not make it severely hot and warm so it may burn you, nor severely cold so it may freeze you. Neither did He make it severely perfumed to give you headaches, nor did He make it terribly foul-smelling so it may sicken you. He neither made it severely soft like water so it may drown you, nor did He make it severely hard so it may obstruct you from making houses, buildings, and graves for your deceased. However, Allah, the Mighty and High, made it with firmness so that you could benefit form it, enabling your bodies to walk upon it and your houses to hold together. He placed in it soft soil so that you could build your homes upon it, dig graves, and so that you could find other benefits. This is why He made the earth a resting place for you. Then the Mighty and high said: Heaven a canopy, i.e. a protecting roof over you, where its sun, moon and stars rotate for your benefit. The Mighty and High then said: And (Who sends down water from heaven, i.e. the rain which He sends down form a height so that I may reach the highest points of the mountains, the hills, the elevations, and the low-lying land. Then He separated the rain into drizzle, shower, heavy downpour, and sprinkles so that he earth could better absorb it. He did not sent the rain down in one shot, as that would have destroyed our lands, trees, field and fruits. Then the Mighty and High said: Then brings forth with it subsistence for you of the fruits; therefore, do not set up rivals to Allah, i.e. Images or idols, which cannot think, hear, see, and do not have power over anything. While you know, that they do not have power over the magnificent bounties which your Lord, the Blessed and Exalted, ha blessed you with.