25:48 Al-Furqaan (The Criterion)

تفسير الآيتين 48 و49 أي: هو وحده الذي رحم عباده وأدر عليهم رزقه بأن أرسل الرياح مبشرات بين يدي رحمته وهو المطر فثار بها السحاب وتألف وصار كسفا وألقحته وأدرته بإذن آمرها والمتصرف فيها ليقع استبشار العباد بالمطر قبل نزوله وليستعدوا له قبل أن يفاجئهم دفعة واحدة. { وَأَنْزَلْنَا مِنَ السَّمَاءِ مَاءً طَهُورًا } يطهر من الحدث والخبث ويطهر من الغش والأدناس، وفيه بركة من بركته أنه أنزله ليحيي به بلدة ميتا فتختلف أصناف النوابت والأشجار فيها مما يأ كل الناس والأنعام. { وَنُسْقِيَهُ مِمَّا خَلَقْنَا أَنْعَامًا وَأَنَاسِيَّ كَثِيرًا } أي: نسقيكموه أنتم وأنعامكم، أليس الذي أرسل الرياح المبشرات وجعلها في عملها متنوعات، وأنزل من السماء ماء طهورا مباركا فيه رزق العباد ورزق بهائمهم، هو الذي يستحق أن يعبد وحده ولا يشرك معه غيره؟

وهذا أيضا من قدرته التامة وسلطانه العظيم وهو أنه تعالى يرسل الرياح مبشرات أي بمجيء السحاب بعدها والرياح أنواع في صفات كثيرة من التسخير فمنها ما يثير السحاب ومنها ما يحمله ومنها ما يسوقه ومنها ما يكون بين يدي السحاب مبشرا ومنها ما يكون قبل ذلك تقم الأرض ومنها ما يلقح السحاب ليمطر ولهذا قال تعالى: "وأنزلنا من السماء ماء طهورا" أي آلة يتطهر بها كالسحور والوجور وما جرى مجراهما فهذا أصح ما يقال في ذلك وأما من قال إنه فعول بمعنى فاعل أو أنه مبني للمبالغة والتعدي فعلى كل منهما إشكالات من حيث اللغة والحكم ليس هذا موضع بسطها والله أعلم وقال ابن أبي حاتم حدثنا أبي بإسناده إلى حميد الطويل عن ثابت البناني قال دخلت مع أبي العالية في يوم مطير وطرق البصرة قذرة فصلى فقلت له فقال: "وأنزلنا من السماء ماء طهورا" قال طهره ماء السماء وقال أيضا حدثنا أبي حدثنا أبو سلمة حدثنا وهيب عن داود عن سعيد بن المسيب في هذه الآية قال: أنزله الله طهورا لا ينجسه شيء وعن أبي سعيد قال: قيل يا رسول الله أنتوضأ من بئر بضاعة وهي بئر يلقى فيها النتن ولحوم الكلاب ؟ فقال: "إن الماء طهور لا ينجسه شيء" رواه الشافعي وأحمد وصححه أبو داود والترمذي وحسنه والنسائي وروى ابن أبي حاتم بإسناده حدثنا أبي حدثنا أبو الأشعث حدثنا معتمر سمعت أبي يحدث عن سيار عن خالد بن يزيد قال: كنا عند عبدالملك بن مروان فذكروا الماء فقال خالد بن يزيد: منه ماء من السماء ومنه ماء يسقيه الغيم من البحر فيذبه الرعد والبرق فأما ما كان من البحر فلا يكون منه نبات فأما النبات فمما كان من السماء وروي عن عكرمة قال: ما أنزل الله من السماء قطرة إلا أنبت بها في الأرض عشبة أو في البحر لؤلؤة وقال غيره: في البرِّ بَرٌّ وفي البحر در.

This is also part of His complete power and supreme authority:

Allah sends the winds as heralds of glad tidings, i.e., they bring the clouds behind them. The winds are of many different types, depending on the purpose for which they are sent. Some of them form the clouds, others carry the clouds or drive them, and others come ahead of the clouds as heralds announcing their coming. Some of them come before that to stir up the earth, and some of them fertilize or "seed" the clouds to make it rain. Allah says:

وَأَنزَلْنَا مِنَ السَّمَآءِ مَآءً طَهُوراً

(and We send down pure water from the sky), meaning, as a means of purifying it. Abu Sa`id said, "It was said: "O Messenger of Allah, can we perform Wudu' with the water of the well of Buda`ah For it is a well in which rubbish and the flesh of dogs are thrown. He said:

«إِنَّ الْمَاءَ طَهُورٌ لَا يُنَجِّسُهُ شَيْء»

(Water is pure and nothing makes it impure.) This was recorded by Ash-Shafi`i and Ahmad, who graded it Sahih, and also by Abu Dawud and At-Tirmidhi, who graded it Hasan, and by An-Nasa'i. His saying:

لِّنُحْيِىَ بِهِ بَلْدَةً مَّيْتاً

(That We may give life thereby to a dead land,) means, a land that waited a long time for rain. It is devoid of vegetation or anything at all. When the rain comes to it, it becomes alive and its hills are covered with all kinds of colorful flowers, as Allah says:

فَإِذَآ أَنزَلْنَا عَلَيْهَا الْمَآءَ اهْتَزَّتْ وَرَبَتْ

(but when We send down water to it, it is stirred to life and growth...) (41:39). His saying:

وَنُسْقِيَهِ مِمَّا خَلَقْنَآ أَنْعَـماً وَأَنَاسِىَّ كَثِيراً

(and We give to drink thereof many of the cattle and men that We had created. ) means, so that animals such as cattle can drink from it, and people who are in desperate need of water can drink from it and water their crops and fruits. This is like the Ayah:

وَهُوَ الَّذِى يُنَزِّلُ الْغَيْثَ مِن بَعْدِ مَا قَنَطُواْ

(And He it is Who sends down the rain after they have despaired,) (42:28)

فَانظُرْ إِلَى ءَاثَـرِ رَحْمَةِ اللَّهِ كَيْفَ يُحْىِ الاٌّرْضَ بَعْدَ مَوْتِهَآ

(Look then at the effects of Allah's mercy, how He revives the earth after its death.) (30:50) His saying:

وَلَقَدْ صَرَّفْنَـهُ بَيْنَهُمْ لِيَذَّكَّرُواْ

(And indeed We have distributed it among them in order that they may remember) means, `We cause rain to fall on this land and not on that, and We cause the clouds to pass over one land and go to another, where We cause sufficient rain to fall so that its people have plenty, but not one drop falls on the first land.' There is a reason and great wisdom behind this. Ibn `Abbas and Ibn Mas`ud, may Allah be pleased with them said: "One year does not have more rain than another, but Allah distributes the rain as He wills. Then he recited this Ayah:

وَلَقَدْ صَرَّفْنَـهُ بَيْنَهُمْ لِيَذَّكَّرُواْ فَأَبَى أَكْثَرُ النَّاسِ إِلاَّ كُفُوراً

(And indeed We have distributed it (rain or water) amongst them in order that they may remember the grace of Allah, but most men refuse (out of) ingratitude. )" meaning, so that they may be reminded, when Allah brings the dead earth back to life, that He is able to bring the dead and dry bones back to life, or that those from whom rain is withheld are suffering this because of some sin they have committed, so that they may give it up.

فَأَبَى أَكْثَرُ النَّاسِ إِلاَّ كُفُورًا

(but most men refuse (out of) ingratitude.) `Ikrimah said, "This refers to those who say that rain comes because of such and such a star." This view of `Ikrimah is similar to the authentic Hadith recorded in Sahih Muslim; one day after a night's rain, the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said to his Companions:

«أَتَدْرُونَ مَاذَا قَالَ رَبُّكُمْ؟»

(Do you know what your Lord says) They said: "Allah and His Messenger know best." He said:

«قَالَ: أَصْبَحَ مِنْ عِبَادِي مُؤْمِنٌ بِي وَكَافِرٌ، فَأَمَّا مَنْ قَالَ: مُطِرْنَا بِفَضْلِ اللهِ وَرَحْمَتِهِ فَذَاكَ مُؤْمِنٌ بِي، كَافِرٌ بِالْكَوْكَبِ، وَأَمَّا مَنْ قَالَ: مُطِرْنَا بِنَوْءِ كَذَا وَكَذَا، فَذَاكَ كَافِرٌ بِي، مُؤْمِنٌ بِالْكَوْكَب»

(He says: "This morning some of My servants became believers in Me, and some became disbelievers. As for the one who said, `We have been given rain by the mercy and grace of Allah,' he is a believer in Me and a disbeliever in the stars. As for the one who said, `We have been given rain by such and such a star,' he is a disbeliever in Me and a believer in the stars.")

And He it is Who sends forth the winds al-riyāha; a variant has al-rīha ‘the wind’ dispersing before His mercy nushuran ‘dispersing’ scattered before the coming of the rain a variant reading has nushran the singular of which is nashūr similar in pattern to rasūl ‘messenger’ plural rusul; another reading has nashran as a verbal noun; and a third variant has bushran in other words the winds function as mubashshirāt ‘bearers of good tidings’ the singular of which is bashīr; and We send down from the heaven purifying water

وَأَنزَلْنَا مِنَ السَّمَاءِ مَاءً طَهُورً‌ا (And We have sent down purifying water from the heavens - 25:48). In Arabic طَهُور (Tahur) means something which is pure by itself and which also purifies other things. Allah Ta’ ala has given this quality to water that it is clean by itself and possesses the property to cleanse other things also. The water we use comes down from the clouds in the form of rain, hail or snow. Then some of it flows on the surface of the earth and the rest seeps down into the ground. Under the ground there is a natural drainage system which takes the underground water to every nook of the earth and then it reappears on the surface in the form of springs, fountains etc. Sometimes the underground water is drawn out by digging wells to reach it. All these waters i.e. that which falls in the form of rain, or that which flows on the surface of earth in the form of rivers, streams or canals, or that which is preserved underground are pure in Shari` ah and have inherent property of cleaning other things. There is consensus of opinion in ummah on this matter and it is the express purport of the Holy Qur'an and Sunnah.

When the water is in large quantity as in the case of a pond, pool or a canal, it remains pure even if something filthy has fallen in it. On this point also there is a general consensus, unless the effect of filth is perceptible and the colour, taste and smell of water changes. However, if the quantity of water is small and some filth drops in it, then there is a difference of opinion among the jurists (مُجتھدین) on the nature and quantity of filth as well as the quantity of water in which the filth falls. Details on this issue are described by Mazhari and Qurtubi in their commentaries and are also available in the books on Fiqh.

And He it is who has sent the winds, bearing good news before His mercy. And We sent down from heaven pure water. This is an allusion to the wind of kind favor from the direction of solicitude, which blows over the hearts of the faithful to sweep away completely the rubbish of opposition and the varieties of opacity. Then the hearts will be worthy of receiving the generous arrivals from the Real. When the scent of the repose of those winds reaches the breast of the servants, they seek for increase in those influxes and search out the fragrance of those arrivals and that solicitude. In loving kindness and gentleness, the Exalted Lord opens four doors for them: The door of beautiful doing, the door of blessings, the door of obedience, and the door of love. By virtue of mortal nature the servant enters the road of his own ingratitude, for Surely man is ungrateful to his Lord [100:6], so he closes the door of beautiful doing to himself. The Real sends the messenger of generosity with the key of disregard and pardon: “I will curtain your ugly-doing with My mercy, for I am the kind Master and you are the weak servant.” That is His words, “He it is who accepts repentance from His servants and pardons the ugly deeds” [42:25]. In the same way, the Exalted Lord opens the door of blessings for the servant. The servant comes forward with ingratitude, for Surely man is a clear ingrate [43:15], so he closes that door to himself with shortcoming in giving thanks. The Real sends the messenger of bounty with the key of favor and says, “Though you have fallen short in giving thanks, I do not fall short in My kind-ness.” That is His words, “In the bounty of God, and His mercy [in that let them rejoice]” [10:58]. The third door that God opens for the servant is the door of obedience. The servant closes that door to himself with disobedience. The Real sends the messenger of forgiveness with the key of repentance: “When you commit a sin, I will forgive you, and I do not care.” That is His words, “Surely God forgives the sins altogether” [39:53]. The fourth is the door of love, which God opens for the servant with His own bounty.