Al-A'raaf (The Heights)

96. “And if the people of the towns had believed and kept from evil, We would have certainly opened up for them blessings from the heaven and the earth, but they belied; so We seized them for what they used to earn.”

The Arabic term /barakāt/ is the plural form of /barakah/. It is applied for the fix and continual favours. On the contrary, there are some fleeting things in the senses of blessing, plurality of good and its multiplication. Blessings include both material and spiritual bounties, like blessings in lifetimes, in knowledge, and in books.

The verse says:

“And if the people of the towns had believed and kept from evil, We would have certainly opened up for them blessings from the heaven and the earth…”

It implies that if the people of the towns, who were destroyed because of denial and disobedience, had testified the Divine prophets and had avoided polytheism and sinning, Allah would have bestowed upon them the increasing blessings from the heaven and the earth by means of rain and abundance of plants and fruits.

Noah also promised his people if they believed, the blessings of heaven would be sent down unto them.

Some commentators say that blessings of the heaven, mentioned in this holy verse, refer to the supplications which are answered, and the blessings of the earth are the fulfilment of the requests.

The verse continues saying:

“…but they belied; so We seized them for what they used to earn.”

That is, they rejected the divine prophets, and Allah punished them for the recompense of their disobediences, oppositions, and belying the prophets by ceasing rain from them, and, consequently, the blessings of the earth were restrained from them.