أَلَمْ تَرَ أَنَّ اللَّهَ يُزْجِي سَحَابًا ثُمَّ يُؤَلِّفُ بَيْنَهُ ثُمَّ يَجْعَلُهُ رُكَامًا فَتَرَى الْوَدْقَ يَخْرُجُ مِنْ خِلَالِهِ وَيُنَزِّلُ مِنَ السَّمَاء مِن جِبَالٍ فِيهَا مِن بَرَدٍ فَيُصِيبُ بِهِ مَن يَشَاء وَيَصْرِفُهُ عَن مَّن يَشَاء يَكَادُ سَنَا بَرْقِهِ يَذْهَبُ بِالْأَبْصَارِ

Have you not regarded that Allah drives the clouds, then He composes them, then He piles them up, whereat you see the rain issuing from its midst? And He sends down hail from the sky, out of the mountains that are in it, and He strikes with it whomever He wishes, and turns it away from whomever He wishes. The brilliance of its lightning almost takes away the sight.

EXEGESIS

Yuzjī (drives) means to drive something to the destination that you desire and intend, like in the verse, Your Lord is He who drives for you the ships in the sea, that you may seek His grace (17:66).[1] This driving things along is done gradually and slowly,[2] or gently and without forcefulness.[3]

Yuʾallifu (composes) is from ilf, meaning to collect while giving order and uniformity,[4] like in the verse, then He brought your hearts together (allafa), so you became brothers with His blessing (3:103). Here it means to collect the various separate clouds into one.[5]

Rukām (piles) from rakmah, refers to something that is gathered up, like clay.[6] It is to put one thing on top of another, as in, So that Allah may separate the bad ones from the good, and place the bad on one another, and pile them up (yarkumahu) together (8:37).[7]

Sanā (brilliance) means light.[8] If accompanied with a hamzah (sanāʾ) it has the meaning of elevation. For this reason, it is said that the root meaning implies spreading something out from an elevated position.[9] Its usage for lightning is therefore quite apt.

Barq (lightning): is the shining that is produced under pressure and severe circumstances, like the lightning produced in the dark pressures of a cloud, or the flash of a sword drawn out of its scabbard in battle.

EXPOSITION

In this and the following two verses we are told to look at creation and examine it, and through that gain insight about God’s decree and plan for everything. We are told to examine three phenomena: the clouds, the cycle of night and day, and the origin of all diverse forms of life. The commentary on these three verses includes reference to current scientific understanding of these phenomena, however it should be kept in mind that human scientific understanding of these is always developing and what has been said is based on current knowledge and should not necessarily be taken as unquestionable fact. It is simply an exercise in what God has instructed us to do, to examine and attempt to gain insight.

Have you not regarded: the verse begins with the same rhetorical device as verse 41. However, here it is asking the reader if they have not looked carefully at this natural phenomenon, and by pondering it drawn the necessary lessons from it. In fact, sight is mentioned again when witnessing the result of the clouds being gathered up (you see). Also, both this and the next verse end with the mention of abṣār; this one referring to it as sight, and the next as insight.

That Allah drives the clouds, then He composes them, then He piles them up: we are first instructed to look at the clouds. By observing them, we can notice how the seemingly chaotic storm cloud is in actuality formed by a delicate system put in place by the Creator. Clouds are the bringers of both life-giving waters and destructive hail. God is in complete control of His kingdom and manages all its affairs. He will send mercy to whom He wishes and visit punishment on whom He wishes, as per His decree and design.

As the light of the sun shines on the earth it heats up the earth. This causes the surface to heat the air above it, which rises up. As the hot air rises higher in the atmosphere, it carries with it water vapour, which then cools down and collects around the nuclei of tiny particles floating in the air to form either water droplets or ice crystals. This collection of water droplets leads to the formation of clouds.[10] Without winds to carry up these particles there would be no condensation nuclei for the water vapour to condense around and hence no clouds or rain.

This verse describes the stages of the process of the creation of rain and storm clouds from cumulus clouds.[11] In its earlier stage, the comparatively smaller cumulus cloud, which resembles tufts of cotton, does not usually cause rain and is considered a sign of fair weather,[12] like in the verse, Were they to see a fragment falling from the sky, they would say: ‘A cumulus (markūm) cloud’ (52:44). These smaller cumulus clouds can be driven by winds to convergence points, Allah drives the clouds, where they join together to form larger clouds, then He composes them. As the cloud continues to grow and stretch higher in the sky it can develop into a larger cloud called a cumulus congestus, which can cause rainfall showers. The increased size of these combined cumulus congestus clouds can cause updrafts within the cloud which cause it to grow vertically in a process known as stacking, then He piles them up.

If it continues to grow further in such a manner it will develop into what is known as a cumulonimbus cloud, which resembles a giant towering mountain in the sky and can reach up to twenty kilometres in height. Cumulonimbus clouds are the only clouds that can result in hail, thunder, and lightning, And He sends down hail from the sky, out of the mountains that are in it. The rest of the verse describes the hail and thunder that is caused by a cumulonimbus cloud.

Most commentators believe that the attribution of these phenomena to the agency of God is to highlight how He is in control of His creation and manages its affairs. However, if we consider that God is ever-present in His creation, the duality between Him and the chains of causes and effects would fade away. In other words, God is not sitting somewhere at the top of this chain controlling and managing it, rather He is present in every cause and in every effect. He is not the prime mover, but the only mover. This explains why all natural phenomena are directly attributed to God in the Quran. How His transcendence could be combined with such immanence is one of the deep secrets of God and the creation, and He is with you wherever you may be, and Allah sees best what you do (57:4).

Whereat you see the rain issuing from its midst: similar processes which lead to the formation of other types of clouds are mentioned in several other verses of the Quran, such as, It is Allah who sends the winds. Then they raise a cloud, then He spreads it as He wishes in the sky, and forms it into fragments, whereat you see the rain (wadq) issuing from its midst (30:48). The various stages that the clouds and their moving and gathering, all leading up to them producing either beneficial rain or harmful hail, serve to portray how God has designed all the various intricate systems that guide creation as He wishes.

And He sends down hail from the sky: hail is of course water in its solid state. The subtheme of water which was explored already in verses 39-40 is once again mentioned here, how the same lifegiving water which is rain can also be a force for destruction.

Out of the mountains that are in it: the imposing clouds are likened to mountains in the sky because of their colossal size and how they are piled up high,[13] rising above other clouds. While the average cumulus cloud can hold several hundred tonnes of water, the colossal cumulonimbus clouds can have orders of magnitude above that, and He produces the heavy clouds (13:12).

And He strikes with it: strikes here refers to inflicting them with destruction, ruining crops and property.[14] Larger chunks of hail can be massively destructive.

Whomever He wishes, and turns it away from whomever He wishes: the wish of God is determined by His wisdom and decree, and is not wanton or random.

The brilliance of its lightning almost takes away the sight: similar to the parable of the hypocrites in, The lightning almost snatches away their sight (2:20).

Finally, it could be noted that the verse mentions lightning after mentioning hail. Modern studies have discovered that hail and ice and semi-frozen water droplets are essential for the production of lightning, as the process of the hail moving through the cloud causes it to become electrified. This may be the reason for the order in which these are mentioned in this verse.

REVIEW OF TAFSĪR LITERATURE

Many of the classical exegetes have proposed that And He sends down hail from the sky, out of the mountains that are in it literally means that ‘God has created mountains of ice in the sky, as He has created mountains of rock on the earth’.[15] While we today know such understandings to be false, the accuracy of the Quranic description of how rain and storm clouds are formed and how the towering cumulonimbus clouds are the cause of hail and thunderstorms is a good example of how the Quranic explanation of these natural phenomena was often far ahead of commonly held beliefs amongst many people, even highly educated ones living centuries later.

Ālūsī mentions the opinion of some mystics who have interpreted The brilliance of its lightening almost takes away the sight to mean someone who is given divine insight and begins to see things with the light of God no longer sees things with his own sight and eyes, because divine sight is above and beyond normal perception.

INSIGHTS FROM OTHER TRADITIONS

1. He makes clouds rise from the ends of the earth; he sends lightning with the rain and brings out the wind from his storehouses.[16]
2. When he thunders, the waters in the heavens roar; he makes clouds rise from the ends of the earth. He sends lightning with the rain and brings out the wind from his storehouses.[17]
3. He covers the sky with clouds; he supplies the earth with rain and makes grass grow on the hills.[18]

[1] Raghib, p. 378; Tibyan, 7/446.
[2] Razi, 24/404; Muhit, 8/56.
[3] Alusi, 9/381; Nemuneh, 14/502.
[4] Raghib, p. 81; Tahqiq, 1/118, ʾ-l-f.
[5] Thalabi, 7/112.
[6] Tabrisi, 7/232.
[7] Raghib, p. 365.
[8] Tibyan, 7/447.
[9] Tahqiq, 5/293-294, s-n-ā.
[10] This initial process of cloud creation has been said by some to be described in, And We send the fertilising winds and send down water from the sky (15:22). The small particles carried by the air currents are likened to fertilising pollen.
[11] Cumulus is from Latin, meaning piled up or accumulated.
[12] For this reason they also used to be called cumulus humilis.
[13] Mizan, 15/137. See also Zamakhshari, 3/246; Baghawi, 3/422.
[14] Tabrisi, 7/233; Tabari, 18/118.
[15] Abū Ḥayyān gives seeming preference to this view and attributes it to ‘Mujāhid and Kalbī and the majority of the exegetes’ (Muhit, 8/57). Ibn Kathīr mentions this opinion first, although admits to the possibility that it could be a figurative expression (Ibn Kathir, 6/67). Baghawī attributes this opinion to Ibn Abbas, but does not give it explicit preference (Baghawi, 3/422). It is also related – sometimes rather dismissively – in sources such as Tibyan, 7/447; Tabari, 18/118; Thalabi, 7/112; Andulusi, 4/190; Tantawi, 10/139.
[16] Psalms 135:7.
[17] Jeremiah 51:16.
[18] Psalms 147:8.