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Surah Al-Baqarah — 2:60

وَإِذِ اسْتَسْقَىٰ مُوسَىٰ لِقَوْمِهِ فَقُلْنَا اضْرِب بِّعَصَاكَ الْحَجَرَ ۖ فَانفَجَرَتْ مِنْهُ اثْنَتَا عَشْرَةَ عَيْنًا ۖ قَدْ عَلِمَ كُلُّ أُنَاسٍ مَّشْرَبَهُمْ ۖ كُلُوا وَاشْرَبُوا مِن رِّزْقِ اللَّهِ وَلَا تَعْثَوْا فِي الْأَرْضِ مُفْسِدِينَ

Wa izis tasqaa Moosaa li qawmihee faqulnad rib bi'asaakal hajara fanfajarat minhusnataaa 'ashrata 'aynan qad 'alima kullu unaasin mashrabahum kuloo washraboo mir rizqil laahi wa laa ta'saw fil ardi mufsideen

And when Musa prayed for water for his people, we said, "Strike the rock with your staff." Twelve springs gushed forth from it, and each tribe knew its drinking place. "Eat and drink from God's provision, and do not roam the earth spreading corruption."

Reflection

Infajarat describes water bursting out under pressure rather than seeping, and the number of springs matches the number of tribes exactly. The detail that every tribe could identify where it was to drink is the point of the scene: the provision arrives already distributed, so no one has to contend for it. The instruction that closes the verse forbids the one thing that abundance makes easy.

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