24:43 An-Noor (The Light)

أي: ألم تشاهد ببصرك، عظيم قدرة الله، وكيف { يُزْجِي } أي: يسوق { سَحَابًا } قطعا متفرقة { ثُمَّ يُؤَلِّفُ } بين تلك القطع، فيجعله سحابا متراكما، مثل الجبال. { فَتَرَى الْوَدْقَ } أي: الوابل والمطر، يخرج من خلال السحاب، نقطا متفرقة، ليحصل بها الانتفاع من دون ضرر، فتمتلئ بذلك الغدران، وتتدفق الخلجان، وتسيل الأودية، وتنبت الأرض من كل زوج كريم، وتارة ينزل الله من ذلك السحاب بردا يتلف ما يصيبه. { فَيُصِيبُ بِهِ مَنْ يَشَاءُ وَيَصْرِفُهُ عَنْ مَنْ يَشَاءُ } بحسب ما اقتضاه حكمه القدري، وحكمته التي يحمد عليها، { يَكَادُ سَنَا بَرْقِهِ } أي: يكاد ضوء برق ذلك السحاب، من شدته { يَذْهَبُ بِالْأَبْصَارِ } أليس الذي أنشأها وساقها لعباده المفتقرين، وأنزلها على وجه يحصل به النفع وينتفي به الضرر، كامل القدرة، نافذ المشيئة، واسع الرحمة؟.

يذكر تعالى أنه يسوق السحاب بقدرته أول ما ينشئها وهي ضعيفة وهو الإزجاء "ثم يؤلف بينه" أي يجمعه بعد تفرقه "ثم يجعله ركاما" أي متراكما أي يركب بعضه بعضا "فترى الودق" أي المطر "يخرج من خلاله" أي من خلله وكذا قرأها ابن عباس والضحاك قال عبيد بن عمير الليثي يبعث الله المثيرة فتقم الأرض قما ثم يبعث الله الناشئة فتنشئ السحاب ثم يبعث الله المؤلفة فتؤلف بينه ثم يبعث الله اللواقح فتلقح السحاب رواه ابن أبي حاتم وابن جرير رحمهما الله وقوله "وينزل من السماء من جبال فيما من برد" قال بعض النحاة "من" الأولى لابتداء الغاية والثانية للتبعيض والثالثة لبيان الجنس وهذا إنما يجيء على قول من ذهب من المفسرين إلى أن قوله "من جبال فيها من برد" معناه أن في السماء جبال برد ينزل الله منها البرد وأما من جعل الجبال ههنا كناية عن السحاب فإن من الثانية عند هذا لابتداء الغاية أيضا لكنها بدل من الأولى والله أعلم وقوله تعالى "فيصيب به من يشاء ويصرفه عمن يشاء" يحتمل أن يكون المراد بقوله "فيصيب به" أي بما ينزل من السماء من نوعي المطر والرد فيكون قوله "فيصيب به من يشاء" رحمة لهم "ويصرفه عمن يشاء" أي يؤخر عنهم الغيث ويحتمل أن يكون المراد بقوله "فيصيب به" أي بالبرد نقمة على من يشاء لما فيه من نثر ثمارهم وإتلاف زروعهم وأشجارهم ويصرفه عمن يشاء رحمة بهم وقوله "يكاد سنا برقه يذهب بالأبصار" أي يكاد ضوء برقه من شدته يخطف الأبصار إذا أتبعته وتراءته.

The Power of Allah to create the Clouds and that which comes from Them

Allah tells us that He drives the clouds from the beginning, when they are formed and are still weak. This is the "Gentle driving."

ثُمَّ يُؤَلِّفُ بَيْنَهُ

(then joins them together,) means, He brings them together after they have been scattered.

ثُمَّ يَجْعَلُهُ رُكَاماً

(then makes them into a heap of layers,) means, He piles them up on top of one another.

فَتَرَى الْوَدْقَ

(and you see the Wadq) meaning the rain,

يَخْرُجُ مِنْ خِلاَلِهِ

(come forth from between them;) means, from the gaps between them. This is how it was understood by Ibn `Abbas and Ad-Dahhak. `Ubayd bin `Umayr Al-Laythi said: "Allah sends the scatterer wind, which stirs up that which is on the surface of the earth. Then he sends the generator wind, which forms the clouds. Then He sends the joiner wind which brings them together. Then He sends the fertilizer wind which fertilizes or `seeds' the clouds." This was recorded by Ibn Abi Hatim and Ibn Jarir.

وَيُنَزِّلُ مِنَ السَّمَآءِ مِن جِبَالٍ فِيهَا مِن بَرَدٍ

(and He sends down from Min the sky, from Min mountains in it of Min ice,) Some of the grammarians said that the first Min describes the place from which it is coming, the second specifies from which part of the sky it comes, and the third means some kind of mountains. This is based on the view of those scholars of Tafsir who say that,

مِن جِبَالٍ فِيهَا مِن بَرَدٍ

(from Min mountains in it of Min ice) means that there are mountains of hail in the sky from which Allah sends down ice. As for those who say that "mountains" here is used as a metaphor for clouds, they think that the second Min is also used to describe the place from which the ice is coming, and is thus interchangeable with the first. And Allah knows best.

فَيُصِيبُ بِهِ مَن يَشَآءُ وَيَصْرِفُهُ عَن مَّن يَشَآءُ

(and strikes therewith whom He wills, and averts it from whom He wills.) It may be that the phrase

فَيُصِيبُ بِهِ

(and strikes therewith) means, with what He sends down from the sky of different kinds of rain and hail. So then the phrase

فَيُصِيبُ بِهِ مَن يَشَآءُ

(and strikes therewith whom He wills) means, by His mercy towards them, and

وَيَصْرِفُهُ عَن مَّن يَشَآءُ

(and averts it from whom He wills. ) means, He withholds rain from them. Or it may be that

فَيُصِيبُ بِهِ

(and strikes therewith) means, with hail, as a punishment towards whomever He wills, striking their fruits and destroying their crops and trees. And He averts it from whomever He wills as a mercy towards them.

يَكَادُ سَنَا بَرْقِهِ يَذْهَبُ بِالاٌّبْصَـرِ

(The vivid flash of its lightning nearly blinds the sight.) the brightness of its lightning almost takes away their sight if the eyes follow it and try to look at it.

يُقَلِّبُ اللَّهُ الَّيْلَ وَالنَّهَارَ

(Allah causes the night and the day to succeed each other.) He is controlling them, so that He takes something from the length of one and adds it to the other, which is short, until they become equal, then He does the opposite so that the one which was short becomes long and vice versa. Allah is the One Who is controlling that by His command, power, might and knowledge.

إِنَّ فِى ذَلِكَ لَعِبْرَةً لاوْلِى الاٌّبْصَـرِ

(Truly, in this is indeed a lesson for those who have insight.) means, this is an indication of His greatness, may He be exalted. This is like the Ayah:

إِنَّ فِى خَلْقِ السَّمَـوَتِ وَالاٌّرْضِ وَاخْتِلَـفِ الَّيْلِ وَالنَّهَارِ لاّيَـتٍ لاٌّوْلِى الاٌّلْبَـبِ

(Verily, in the creation of the heavens and the earth, and in the alternation of night and day, there are indeed signs for men of understanding.) 3:190 and thereafter.

Have you not seen how God drives the clouds moves them along gently then composes them joining some with others and making scattered pieces as one then piles them up some on top of others whereat you see the rain issuing from the midst of them from specific outlets in them? And He sends down from the heaven out of the mountains min jibālin min is extra that are therein in the heaven fīhā substitutes for mina’l-samā’i ‘from the heaven’ with the repetition of a genitive preposition hail that is He sends down some hail and smites with it whom He will and turns it away from whom He will. The brilliance of its lightning its flashing would almost take away the eyes that look at it in other words it would almost snatching them away.

مِنَ السَّمَاءِ مِن جِبَالٍ فِيهَا

From the sky mountains (of clouds) having hail in them - 43.

Here the word سَمَاء is purported for clouds, and Jibal جِبَالٍ (mountains) for big masses of clouds, while hails are called Barad.

Dost thou not see how God drives the clouds, then combines them, then makes them a heap? Then thou seest the rain coming out from their midst. He drives the clouds of His compassion, then pours down the rain of His munificence on His friends with His gentleness. He rolls up the carpet of decorum from the courtyards of His nearness, He strikes the domes of awe with the loci of witnessing His unveiling, and He spreads over them the flowers of His intimacy. Then He discloses Himself to them in the realities of His holiness and pours for them with His own hand the wine of His love. Afterwards He effaces their descriptions from them and awakens them not to themselves but to Him. In the tasting of the chevaliers of the Tariqah the clouds are the clouds of compassion, the rain the rain of compassion that His gentleness rains down on the secret cores of His friends. From the soil of loyalty the fragrant herb of limpidness grows up. The sun of beginningless gentleness shines upon it and in the garden of holiness the rose of intimacy blooms. The wind of happiness blows from the horizon of self-disclosure, snatching the servant away from water and dust. Delay and lingering leave the feet of gentleness, and the breeze of beginninglessness blows from the side of proximity. The Pir of the Tariqah said, “It is You who shone the light of self-disclosure on the hearts of the friends, set the springs of affection flowing in their secret cores, and made those hearts Your own mirror and a locus of limpidness. You appeared therein, and with Your appearance You made the two worlds disappear. O light of the eyes of the familiar, celebration of the hearts of the friends, joy of the spirits of the near! All was You and all is You. You are not far that they should seek, nor absent that they should ask. They will not find You other than through You.” “By God, if not for God, we would not have been guided.” How could a bit of water and dust have the gall to talk about eternity if not for eternal solicitude and desire? Had He not in His generosity and bounty invited this handful of dust to the threshold of eter- nity and spread the carpet of expansiveness in the house of guidance, how could this woebegone of existence and this mote of impure dust have the gall to take a step on the edge of the carpet of kings? What is suited for dust is to say with the attribute of brokenness and the tongue of incapac- ity and poverty, “We've come to shame at our own existence, we've encountered stone because of the decree. On the surface of the rug of misfortune, our black days have come in place of color.”