Life on earth has three tenets; namely, air, water and food.
As for air, its texture, compound and movement is controlled by Allah Alone. Had human owned air, they would have finished each other on the first disagreement.
Yet, man's control over water is relative. This concerns searching for water, storing it and using it. However, its texture, compound, quantity and fall are governed by Allah Alone.
As for food, man has a considerable contribution. Man tills the land, sows the seeds, irrigates the field, tends the plants and harvests the crops. Then, he stores the harvest and makes various types of foods and recipes. Accordingly, man may be tempted to presume that through his efforts, the plants yield fruits, the harvest increases and stores for longer periods and is made into diverse types of recipes for all.
Thus, air is not a transferrable commodity.
As for water, the price is paid for the service of carrying it to homes. The price of mineral water is for the bottle and the efforts exerted to extract its water.
Conversely, the price of food is calculated rightly since it was a seed sown in a plain land till it became an edible food. Thus, in this regard, stress was necessary to preclude the rebels' as well as the nonbelievers' assumption that food is produced by their efforts. This Qur'anic arrangement of both verses is very wise. The verse dealing with water follows that dealing with food, drawing the listeners' attention to the fact that if they have a wider contribution to food, their contribution to water is very limited, that is only to use what Allah has granted. Allah Alone controls the source of water, that rain, its time, place and its quantity.
In that way, the verse awakens the inadvertent, those relying on their knowledge and power. It states clearly that Allah Alone is the Absolute Sovereign. Beyond Allah there is no hideout. All are within His reach. Nothing is obtained without His Will and Permission. Thus, we have to be thankful for one thing and through one thing. We have to thank Allah for giving us water without any effort on our part. We have to do our utmost to store, purify and benefit from it. In that way, the verse dealing with water was concluded with an exhortation to thank Allah, whereas the verse dealing with food ended with a scene of depression and distress due to the wasted efforts.
May Allah guide us all to the right path