Nuh 71:17
Two sentences, three verbs: anbatakum (caused you to grow) → yuʿīdukum (returns you) → yukhrijukum (brings you forth).
وَٱللَّهُ أَنۢبَتَكُم مِّنَ ٱلْأَرْضِ نَبَاتًا
And God germinated you from the earth like plants
Nuh 71:17 · Translation: talal-itani
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"Anbata" in Arabic is the verb used for plant growth — to make humans grow **like a plant**. The verse establishes human-earth identity in the clearest possible way: the human did not come upon the earth but **out of** the earth. "Ikhrājan" (an outbringing) — the intensifier of the final verb; the outbringing happens twice: at first birth, at final resurrection.
Observation
In ecosystem ecology, all living mass begins from the carbon fixation that plants perform through photosynthesis (primary production). All heterotrophs, including humans, are nourished indirectly by this green-based life. When the body dies, it returns its carbon, water, and minerals to the soil and the atmosphere. The verse's description "anbatakum min al-arḍi nabātan" (He caused you to grow from the earth as a plant grows) names this ecological reality in a concise way; it presents the biological link not by force but on the plane of shared reality.
Exegesis
Al-Rāzī (Mafātīḥ al-Ghayb) asks why the word "nabātan" is repeated; his answer: to reinforce that creation is **plant-based**. Al-Qurṭubī (al-Jāmiʿ li-Aḥkām al-Qurʾān) reads this verse with 20:55; both trace the cycle earth → human → earth → resurrection.
Sources
Tafsīr: al-Rāzī · Mafātīḥ al-Ghayb; al-Qurṭubī · al-Jāmiʿ li-Aḥkām al-Qurʾān; Science: ecosystem ecology (primary production, heterotrophy).