وَمَا مِن دَآبَّةٍ فِى ٱلۡأَرۡضِ إِلَّا عَلَى ٱللَّهِ رِزۡقُهَا وَيَعۡلَمُ مُسۡتَقَرَّهَا وَمُسۡتَوۡدَعَهَا ۚ كُلٌّ فِى كِتَٰبٍ مُّبِينٍ
And there is no creature on earth but that upon Allah is its provision, and He knows its place of dwelling and place of storage. All is in a clear register.
There is no creature that walks the earth whose provision Allah Himself has not taken upon Himself. The responsibility for providing its sustenance belongs to Allah Himself.
This ayah gives a different kind of warning to those who are arrogant in the face of revelation.
If you think you have time and have not yet faced any punishment, understand this: if Allah were to cut off your provision, your punishment could begin at once.
You do not need to wait for the Day of Judgment; if your food and drink were cut off, or if you could no longer draw air into your lungs, you would be finished.
What creature walks the earth that He does not provide for?
The expression مُسۡتَقَرَّهَا وَمُسۡتَوۡدَعَهَا carries more than one meaning.
مُسۡتَقَرَّ refers to the place where something stays for a long time, while مُسۡتَوۡدَعَ refers to the place where something is kept temporarily before it is taken out.
Allah states that He knows the place where you will remain for a long time (that is, the place where you move about on the earth) and your temporary place of deposit (that is, your grave, from which you will ultimately be brought out).
All of this is recorded in كِتَٰبٍ مُّبِينٍ — a clear register that makes everything plain.
In the Arab imagination, the grave itself carries deep symbolism. Graves are a kind of secret; they conceal what is buried within them.
Over time plants grow over them, and you can no longer tell that there was once a graveyard there; they vanish from sight entirely. This whole image points to something hidden within.
Yet Allah knows how long what is hidden beneath the earth will stay concealed and when it will be brought to light, just as He knows the secrets you carry within you.
Nothing is hidden from Allah; everything is in a clear register, that is, a record in which everything is plainly seen.