Surah 15. Al-Hijr, Ayah 5

I.e., every community - and, in the widest sense of this term, every civilization - has a God-willed, organic span of life resembling in this respect all other living organisms, destined to grow, to reach maturity and ultimately to decay. For the ethical implications of this law of nature and its bearing on the passage that follows, see 7:34 and the corresponding note [25].

Cf. vii. 34. Also see the last note.