80الَّذي جَعَلَ لَكُم مِنَ الشَّجَرِ الأَخضَرِ نارًا فَإِذا أَنتُم مِنهُ توقِدونَAli UnalHe Who has made for you fire from the green tree, and see, you kindle fire with it.1This verse has a very subtle meaning. It explains how God can give life to a rotten bone, and suggests that God produces unexpected things from their opposites, or from the things from which it seems to us impossible that opposites could be produced. According to the classical commentators, what is meant by the green tree mentioned here – a fresh tree in which there is still water – are the trees of Markh and ‘Afār, which grow in the Arabian desert and from which people kindle fire. The verse, according to some contemporary commentators, also refers to petroleum. As is known, petroleum is formed from rotten plants, which were once green. In the past, people in countries such as Azerbaijan used the petroleum that flowed on the earth without knowing that it was petroleum. It is possible that there may have been a relationship between this and fire-worship. It is also a fact that Saudi Arabia, which was once rich in greenery, is now a country rich in petroleum. In short, God creates as He wills things from their opposites.