Quran 15:20 · Al-Hijr

When initially deep seas and oceans were created on the earth, high hills emerged at various places on the earth in order to balance them. After this, vegetation and animals came into existence and flourished in profusion, each one of them having a great capacity to grow. But it is clear that there is a fixed measure for everything. Everything goes on growing but, at a certain limit, it stops; it is not able to go on any further. For instance, plants and trees have such an immense capacity for reproducing themselves that if one plant were allowed to grow in accordance with its internal capacity and without any restriction, within a few years that same plant would be seen covering the whole surface of the earth and there would be no room for anything else. But it is clear that there is a powerful Organizer, Who has control over everything. The same is true of animals. They too, have an unlimited capacity for procreation, but the number of offspring produced by each stops after reaching a certain limit. Similarly, the animals have the capacity to grow in size, but only to a certain degree. If a tiny fly were allowed to grow without restriction, it would be equal in size to an elephant. But natural control restricts its size to a certain limit. If the growth of these things was not restricted to certain limits, the life of man on this earth would be impossible. Human beings require innumerable things for their sustenance and for civilization to develop. All these things have been made available on earth in exact accord with human needs. The provision for all these things and the assurance of their continued existence is of God’s devising. If we were required to provide sustenance for ourselves, we would find it well-nigh impossible to do so.