30:24 Ar-Room (The Romans)

أي: ومن آياته أن ينزل عليكم المطر الذي تحيا به البلاد والعباد ويريكم قبل نزوله مقدماته من الرعد والبرق الذي يُخَاف ويُطْمَع فيه.{ إِنَّ فِي ذَلِكَ لَآيَاتٍ } [دالة] على عموم إحسانه وسعة علمه وكمال إتقانه، وعظيم حكمته وأنه يحيي الموتى كما أحيا الأرض بعد موتها.{ لِقَوْمٍ يَعْقِلُونَ } أي: لهم عقول تعقل بها ما تسمعه وتراه وتحفظه، وتستدل به عل ما جعل دليلا عليه.

قال تعالى "ومن آياته أن تقوم السماء والأرض بأمره" كقوله تعالى "ويمسك السماء أن تقع على الأرض إلا بإذنه" وقوله "إن الله يمسك السماوات والأرض أن تزولا" وكان عمر بن الخطاب رضي الله عنه إذا اجتهد في اليمين قال: والذي تقوم السماء والأرض بأمره أي هي قائمة ثابتة بأمره لها وتسخيره إياها ثم إذا كان يوم القيامة بدلت الأرض غير الأرض والسماوات وخرجت الأموات من قبورها أحياء بأمره تعالى ودعائه إياهم ولهذا قال تعالى "ثم إذا دعاكم دعوة من الأرض إذا أنتم تخرجون" أي من الأرض كما قال تعالى "يوم يدعوكم فتستجيبون بحمده وتظنون إن لبثتم إلا قليلا" وقال تعالى "فإنما هي زجرة واحدة فإذا هم بالساهرة" وقال تعالى "إن كانت إلا صيحة واحدة فإذا هم جميع لدينا محضرون".

وَمِنْ ءَايَـتِهِ

(And among His signs) which speak of His greatness,

يُرِيكُمُ الْبَرْقَ خَوْفاً وَطَمَعاً

(He shows you the lightning, for fear and for hope,) Sometimes you fear the heavy rain and destructive thunderbolts that follow it, and sometimes you feel hope, when you see a flash of lightning, that much-needed rain will come. Allah says:

وَيُنَزِّلُ مِنَ السَّمَآءِ مَآءً فَيُحْىِ بِهِ الاٌّرْضَ بَعْدَ مَوْتِهَا

(and He sends down water from the sky, and therewith revives the earth after its death.) After it was barren, with nothing growing there, then the water comes to it and

اهْتَزَّتْ وَرَبَتْ وَأَنبَتَتْ مِن كُلِّ زَوْجٍ بَهِيجٍ

(it is stirred, and it swells and puts forth every lovely kind (of growth).) (22:5). In this is a clear sign and proof of the resurrection and the coming of the Hour. Allah says:

إِنَّ فِى ذلِكَ لآيَـتٍ لِّقَوْمٍ يَعْقِلُونَ

(Verily, in that are indeed signs for a people who understand.) Then Allah says:

وَمِنْ ءَايَـتِهِ أَن تَقُومَ السَّمَآءُ وَالاٌّرْضُ بِأَمْرِهِ

(And among His signs is that the heaven and the earth stand by His command.) This is like the Ayat:

وَيُمْسِكُ السَّمَآءَ أَن تَقَعَ عَلَى الاٌّرْضِ إِلاَّ بِإِذْنِهِ

(He withholds the heaven from falling on the earth except by His leave) (22: 65).

إِنَّ اللَّهَ يُمْسِكُ السَّمَـوَتِ وَالاٌّرْضَ أَن تَزُولاَ

(Verily, Allah grasps the heavens and the earth lest they should move away from their places) (35:41). Whenever `Umar bin Al-Khattab, may Allah be pleased with him, swore an emphatic oath, he would say, "No, by the One by Whose command the heaven and the earth stand," i.e., they stand firm by His command to them and His subjugation of them. Then, when the Day of Resurrection comes, the Day when the earth will be exchanged with another earth and the dead will come forth from their graves, brought back to life by His command and His call to them,

ثُمَّ إِذَا دَعَاكُمْ دَعْوَةً مِّنَ الاٌّرْضِ إِذَآ أَنتُمْ تَخْرُجُونَ

(Then afterwards when He will call you by a single call, behold, you will come out from the earth.) This is like the Ayat:

يَوْمَ يَدْعُوكُمْ فَتَسْتَجِيبُونَ بِحَمْدِهِ وَتَظُنُّونَ إِن لَّبِثْتُمْ إِلاَّ قَلِيلاً

(On the Day when He will call you, and you will answer with His praise and obedience, and you will think that you have stayed but a little while!) (17:52)

فَإِنَّمَا هِىَ زَجْرَةٌ وَحِدَةٌ - فَإِذَا هُم بِالسَّاهِرَةِ

(But it will be only a single Zajrah. When behold, they find themselves on the surface of the earth alive after their death. ) (79:13-14), and

إِن كَانَتْ إِلاَّ صَيْحَةً وَحِدَةً فَإِذَا هُمْ جَمِيعٌ لَّدَيْنَا مُحْضَرُونَ

(It will be but a single Sayhah, so behold they will all be brought up before Us!) (36:53).

And of His signs is His showing you lightning to arouse fear in the traveller of storms and hope in the one not travelling of the coming of the rain; and He sends down water from the heaven and with it He revives the earth after it has died that is after it has dried out so that it produces vegetation once again. Surely in that mentioned there are signs for people who understand a people who reflect.

Fifth sign of divine omnipotence

Allah Ta’ ala shows the flash of lightning to people in which there is risk of its striking, thus destruction. At the same time, there is a hope for rain following the lightning. The rain does follow with His will and gives rise to numerous types of vegetation. At the end of the verse, it is said فِي ذَٰلِكَ لَآيَاتٍ لِّقَوْمٍ يَعْقِلُونَ (Surely in this there are signs for a people who understand - 30:24), because the mysteries of lightning and rain, and the resultant growth of vegetation can be understood by those with intellect.