Al-A'raf: (57-58) And He it is Who sends...

Structure of the Passage

There are two ways to understand the coherence (nadḥm) of the verses:

1. First View: After mentioning the signs of divinity, perfect knowledge, and power from the upper world (heavens, sun, moon, stars), the Almighty follows up by mentioning signs from some conditions of the lower world. The conditions of this world are limited to four things: celestial effects, minerals, plants, and animals. Winds, clouds, and rain are among the celestial effects, and the state of plants follows the descent of rain, which is what is mentioned in this verse.
2. Second View: After establishing the proof in the first verse for the existence of the Capable, Knowing, Wise, and Merciful God, this verse establishes the proof for the validity of believing in resurrection, revival, and the Day of Judgment. Thus, through knowing these two verses, everything necessary for knowing the Originator (Mabda’) and the Return (Ma'ād) is achieved.

In this verse, there are several issues:

Issue 1: Readings of "Winds" and "Scattering"

Regarding the word for winds:

• Ibn Kathir, Hamzah, and Al-Kisā’ī read it as the singular form: {الريح} (the wind).
• The rest read it as the plural form: {الرياح} (the winds).

If read as the plural {الرياح}, describing it with the plural {بُشْرًا} (as tidings) is appropriate (plural describing plural). If read as the singular {الريح}, describing it with the plural {بُشْرًا} is done because the singular form is intended to mean abundance, similar to saying "many dirhams and dinars" or "many sheep and camels," or as in the verse: "Indeed, mankind is in loss" (Al-'Asr: 2), followed by "Except for those who have believed" (Al-'Asr: 3). Since the singular Rīh implies plurality, it is described with the plural adjective.

Regarding the word {نُشُرًا} (scattering/spreading): There are several readings:

1. The Majority Reading: {نُشُرًا} (with damma on nūn and shīn). This is the plural of nashūr, like rusul (messengers) is the plural of rasūl (messenger). Nashūr means "that which is spread out," similar to rukūb meaning "that which is ridden." Thus, it means winds that are spread out, dispersed from every direction. Nashr means dispersion, like spreading out a garment or sawing wood with a saw. Al-Farrā’ said that nashr for winds refers to the gentle, pleasant winds that spread the clouds; its singular is nashūr, derived from nashr (good scent), as in the poetry of Imru' al-Qays regarding the scent of perfume.
2. Ibn 'Amir's Reading: {نَشْرًا} (with damma on nūn and sukūn on shīn). This is a shortened form, like kutub (books) instead of kutubun.
3. Hamzah's Reading: {نَشْرًا} (with fatḥa on nūn and sukūn on shīn). Nashr here is the verbal noun (masdar) of nashartu ath-thawb (I spread the garment), meaning the opposite of folding. Here, the verbal noun is intended to mean the passive participle (the thing done). The winds are as if they were folded up, and God sent them out spread after being folded. Thus, {نُشُرًا} is a masdar acting as a ḥāl (circumstantial adverb) for the winds, meaning "sent out spreading." Alternatively, nashr here can mean revival, from the saying, "God revived the dead, so he became revived (nashara)," as Al-A'sha said:

   "How strange for the dead one who revives!" If interpreted this way (which is sound), the masdar implies the active agent, just as you say atānī rakḍan (he came to me running), meaning rākiḍan (a runner). It is also possible that arsala (sends) and nashara (spreads) are close in meaning, as if it were said: "And He is the One Who spreads the winds, spreading them out."

4. The Fourth Reading (Narrated by the author of Al-Kashshāf from Masrūq): {نُشُرًا} meaning "spread out things" (manshūrāt), where the masdar takes the meaning of the passive participle (maf'ūl), like naqḍ and ḥasb. Hence the saying: ḍamma nashrahu (he gathered his scattered things).
5. 'Āṣim's Reading: {بُشْرًا} (with a bā’ dotted once from below, plural of bashīr from bashīr). This means "sending good tidings," i.e., winds bringing news of rain and mercy. The author of Al-Kashshāf narrated {بُشْرًا} with damma on shīn and lightened, and {بُشْرًا} with fatḥa on bā’ and sukūn on shīn, as a masdar from bashshara (to give good tidings), meaning "bringing good tidings" or "good tidings."

Issue 2: The Mover of the Winds

The statement {وهو الذي يرسل الرياح} (And He it is Who sends the winds) is connected to the previous verse: {إن ربكم الله الذي خلق السماوات والأرض} (Indeed, your Lord is Allah, who created the heavens and the earth).

Wind is defined as moving air. This motion is not inherent to the air itself, nor is it a necessary consequence of its nature, otherwise, the motion would last as long as the air itself. Therefore, the mover must be the Chosen Agent, Allah (Glorified and Exalted is He).

The Philosophers' View (and its Refutation): The philosophers suggest another cause: subtle earthy particles rise from the ground, intensely heated. Due to this intense heat, they ascend. When they reach near the celestial sphere, the air adhering to the concave surface of the sphere, moving with the circular motion of that layer of air, prevents these vapors from ascending further or diverts them from their straight path. Consequently, these vapors turn back and disperse sideways, causing the winds. The stronger the vapors and the stronger their ascent, the more intense their return, resulting in stronger winds.

This view is false for several reasons:

1. First Argument: The ascent of earthy particles is due to intense heating. Since the earth is naturally cold and dry, these ascending particles, being highly heated, are susceptible to change. Upon reaching the cold layer of air, the heat must cease, and they become very cold. When cold, they cannot reach the air layer moving with the sphere's motion, thus invalidating their premise.
2. Second Argument: Even if these smoky particles reached the air layer moving with the sphere, when they return, they must descend in a straight line because earth is a heavy body, and heavy bodies move straight. Winds, however, move sideways (right and left).
3. Third Argument: The downward motion of these descending earthy particles is not overwhelming. If the wind brings up much dust, and that dust then settles on surfaces, no one feels its descent. Yet, these winds uproot trees, demolish mountains, and agitate seas.
4. Fourth Argument: If their claim were true, stronger winds would necessitate more earthy, dusty particles. This is not the case, as winds can be extremely violent over the sea, yet observation shows that the moving, stormy air there is free from dust and murkiness. This refutes their stated cause for wind motion.

The Astrologers' View (and its Refutation): The astrologers claim that the powers of the planets move these winds. This is also remote:

• If the nature of the planets causes the wind, the wind must be perpetual as long as that nature exists.
• If the cause is the nature of the planet contingent upon its presence in a specific constellation and degree, then the air of the entire world should move, which is not the case.
• Furthermore, we have already established that bodies are similar in their relation to specific planets and constellations. Therefore, the nature that necessitates a specific effect must be due to the specification of the Chosen Agent.

Thus, by the proof established, the mover of the winds is Allah (Exalted is He). This confirms the truth of the statement: {الذي يرسل الرياح} (He Who sends the winds) through rational proof.

Issue 3: The Meaning of {بُشْرًا بَيْنَ يَدَيْ رَحْمَتِهِ} (As Tidings Before the Mercy)

This phrase contains two benefits:

1. First Benefit (Regarding {نُشُرًا}): Since {نُشُرًا} means dispersed—one part of the wind goes right, another goes left, and so on for all parts—and since the nature of air is one, and the relation of the spheres, stars, and natures to every indivisible part of that wind is the same, the specialization of some parts to go right and others left must be due to the specification of the Chosen Agent.
2. Second Benefit (Regarding {بَيْنَ يَدَيْ رَحْمَتِهِ}): His mercy ({رَحْمَتِهِ}) here means the rain. The metaphor is beautiful because Arabs use the term "hands" (yadayn) metaphorically to mean preceding something. They say, "Tribulations occur before the Hour," meaning just prior to it. The reason for this metaphor is that a person's hands precede him; thus, anything that precedes something else is metaphorically called "hands" due to this similarity. Since the winds precede the rain, this term is used.
   • Objection: We sometimes find rain without preceding winds.
   • Response: The verse does not state that this precedence occurs in all circumstances, so the question is invalid. Furthermore, it is possible that these winds precede the rain even if we do not perceive them.

The Carrying of Heavy Clouds

{حَتَّى إِذَا أَقَلَّتْ سَحَابًا ثِقَالًا} (Until, when it has carried heavy clouds).

• Aqalla means "carried" (as in aqlat al-shay’). The author of Al-Kashshāf suggests the derivation is from qillah (lightness), because whoever lifts something perceives it as light.
• {سَحَابًا ثِقَالًا} means clouds heavy with water (plural of saḥābah). The meaning is: Until these winds carried clouds heavy with the water they contained. Dense, widespread clouds carrying great amounts of water remain suspended in the air because God, by His wisdom, ordained that the winds move them intensely. Due to these intense motions in the winds, several benefits arise:

1. The parts of the cloud join together, accumulate, and form dense, rain-bearing clouds.
2. Due to these intense motions (right and left), the watery parts are prevented from descending, so they remain suspended in the air.
3. Due to the winds' motion, the clouds are driven from one place to another—the place where God knew they needed the rain and its benefits.
4. The winds' motions sometimes gather the cloud parts, causing them to coalesce into thick clouds, and sometimes disperse them, nullifying them.
5. These winds sometimes strengthen crops and trees, completing their growth and development (these are the fertilizing winds), and sometimes destroy them, as happens in autumn.
6. These winds are sometimes pleasant, delightful, and agreeable to the body, and sometimes destructive, either due to intense heat (like scorching winds) or intense cold (like very destructive cold winds).
7. These winds are sometimes easterly, westerly, northerly, or southerly. (Some people limit them this way, but winds blow from every direction of the world without restriction or specialization to one side).
8. These winds sometimes rise from the bottom of the earth (those at sea witness intense boiling due to winds generated at the bottom rising above the sea, causing strong winds over the water), and sometimes the wind descends from above. The variation in winds due to these factors is also wondrous.

It is narrated from Ibn 'Umar (may Allah be pleased with him) that the winds are eight: four are punishment (the shattering wind, the violent wind, the piercing wind, and the sterile wind), and four are mercy (the spreading winds, the tidings-bearing winds, the sent winds, and the scattering winds). The Prophet (peace be upon him) said: "I was aided by the East wind (Ṣabā), and 'Ād was destroyed by the West wind (Dabūr)." The southerly wind is from the winds of Paradise. Ka'b said: If God withheld the wind from His servants for three days, most of the earth would become foul. Al-Suddi said that God sends the winds, which bring the clouds. Then He spreads them in the sky as He wills, opens the doors of the sky, water flows onto the clouds, and then the clouds rain. His mercy is the rain.

Once this is known, the variation in the winds' characteristics, despite the air's nature being one, and the influence of the spheres, stars, and natures being uniform, indicates that these conditions occurred only through the planning of the Chosen Agent (Glorified and Exalted is He).

Driving the Cloud to a Dead Land

{سُقْنَاهُ لِبَلَدٍ مَّيِّتٍ} (We drove it to a dead land). This means We drive that cloud to a dead land where no rain has fallen and no greenery has sprouted.

• Objection: If saḥāb (cloud) is masculine, the verse should say saḥāban thaqīlan (masculine singular). If it is feminine (as a plural), it should say sāqnāhā (We drove it [fem.]). How is this reconciled?
• Response: Saḥāb is grammatically masculine, being the plural of saḥābah (feminine singular). Therefore, referring back to it using the masculine pronoun is permissible based on the word form, and using the feminine pronoun is also permissible based on its plural meaning.

Regarding the Lām in {لِبَلَدٍ} (to a land):

1. Some say this Lām means "to" (i.e., ilā), as in "I guided him to the religion" (hadaytuhu lid-dīn), meaning ilā ad-dīn.
2. Others say this Lām means "for the sake of" (li-ajli), meaning "We drove it for the sake of a dead land that has no living thing to water it."

The term balad (land) refers to any inhabited or uninhabited place on earth. A part of it is a baldah, and the whole is bilād. The desert is also called baldah, as Al-A'sha said:

"And a land like the back of a shield, desolate, Where the Jinn make noise at its edges at night."

Bringing Forth Water and Fruits

{فَأَنزَلْنَا بِهِ الْمَاءَ} (Then We sent down by it the water). There is disagreement on what the pronoun {بِهِ} (by it) refers to:

• Al-Zajjāj and Ibn Al-Anbārī say it can refer to the land (We sent down water upon the land), or it can refer to the cloud (We sent down water by means of the cloud), since the cloud is the instrument for sending down water.

{فَأَخْرَجْنَا بِهِ مِن كُلِّ الثَّمَرَاتِ} (And We brought forth by it every kind of fruit). The pronoun here refers to the water, as the fruits were brought forth by the water. Al-Zajjāj suggests it could also mean: "And We brought forth in the land every kind of fruit," since balad here is not restricted to one specific land. If the first interpretation is taken, God creates fruits through the mediation of water.

The Majority of Theologians' View: Fruits are not generated from water. Rather, God has established His custom of creating plants immediately after the mixing of water and soil.

The Majority of Philosophers' View: It is not impossible that God deposited a natural power in the water, and this natural power necessitates the occurrence of specific conditions upon the mixture of water and soil, leading to the creation of specific natures.

The Theologians' Counter-Argument: They argue against this by pointing out that the nature of water and soil is uniform. Yet, we see that a single fruit, like a grape, has different qualities: its skin is cold and dry, its pulp and juice are hot and moist, and its seed is cold and dry. The generation of bodies possessing such differing attributes from water and soil indicates that they were created by the action of the Chosen Agent, not by inherent nature.

The Analogy of Resurrection

{كَذَلِكَ نُخْرِجُ الْمَوْتَى} (Thus shall We bring forth the dead). There are two views on this analogy:

1. First View: God revives the dead just as He creates plants through the descent of rain. It is narrated that God sends down rain upon the bodies of the dead between the two blowings of the trumpet—a rain like semen—for forty days, and they sprout and become alive. Mujāhid said: When God intends to resurrect them, He rains upon the sky until the earth splits open for them, just as a tree splits open to reveal blossoms and fruit. Then He sends the spirits, and each spirit returns to its body.
2. Second View: The comparison is made to the initial act of bringing something to life after it was dead. Meaning: Just as God revived this land after its ruin, causing trees to grow and fruits to appear, so too will He revive the dead after they were dead. He who is capable of creating the body and instilling moisture and taste in it is also capable of instilling life into a dead body. The purpose is to establish the truth of resurrection and the Hereafter.

Critique of the First View: Those who believe that bodies can only be resurrected by rain falling upon the decaying bodies like semen have gone too far.

• If God is capable of imparting the qualities to the rainwater that make it semen, why is He not capable of creating life and the body directly?
• Furthermore, even if that rain falls, the parts of the dead are not mixed; some parts might be in the East, and others in the West. How can the descent of that rain benefit the generation of those bodies?
• If they argue that God, by His power and wisdom, gathers those scattered parts, why don't they say that He, by His power and wisdom, creates life in those parts directly, without the mediation of that rain?
• If they believe God is capable of reviving the dead directly but chooses to do so via this method (just as He is capable of creating people directly but has established the custom of creation only through parents), then this is permissible.

The Purpose of Remembrance

{لَعَلَّكُمْ تَذَكَّرُونَ} (That you may remember). This means: When you witness this land adorned with flowers and fruits in spring and summer, then becoming dead and stripped of adornment in winter, and then God revives it again, the One capable of reviving it after its death must also be capable of reviving bodies after their death. Thus, {لَعَلَّكُمْ تَذَكَّرُونَ} means you remember that since this phenomenon is not impossible in one case (the land), it must not be impossible in the other case (the bodies).

The Good and Bad Land Analogy

{وَالْبَلَدُ الطَّيِّبُ يَخْرُجُ نَبَاتُهُ بِإِذْنِ رَبِّهِ وَالَّذِي خَبُثَ لَا يَخْرُجُ إِلَّا نَكِدًا} (And the good land—its vegetation comes forth by the permission of its Lord, but that which is bad—little comes forth except sparsely).

There are two issues here:

1. First View (The Famous One): This is a parable struck by God for the believer and the disbeliever, comparing the good land to the believer and the saline/barren land (sabkhah) to the disbeliever. The descent of the Qur'an is likened to the descent of rain. The good land, upon which rain falls, yields abundant flowers and fruits. As for the barren land, even if rain falls upon it, only a meager amount of vegetation emerges. Similarly, the pure soul, free from the impurities of ignorance and blameworthy traits, when illuminated by the light of the Qur'an, yields various acts of obedience, knowledge, and praiseworthy morals. The wicked, murky soul, even when touched by the light of the Qur'an, yields only a little knowledge and praiseworthy morals.
2. Second View: The verse is not intended to represent the believer and the disbeliever. Rather, it means that even though the barren land yields little benefit, its owner does not neglect it but tires himself out to improve it, hoping to gain the benefit appropriate for it. If one seeks this meager benefit through great hardship, then seeking the great reward promised in the Hereafter through the necessary hardship of performing acts of obedience is even more fitting.

This verse indicates that the fortunate person does not become wretched, and vice versa. This is because the verse shows that souls are of two types:

• Some are inherently pure, ready to recognize truth for its own sake and act upon good.
• Others are inherently coarse, murky, and slow to accept true knowledge and virtuous morals, just as some lands are barren and corrupt. Just as those barren lands cannot produce the flowers and fruits that good lands produce, so too can the dull, murky, coarse soul not produce the certain knowledge and praiseworthy morals that the pure, clear soul produces.

What strengthens this view is that we observe souls differing in these qualities. Some are naturally inclined toward purity and divine matters, turning away from bodily pleasures (as in: "And when they hear what has been revealed to the Messenger, you see their eyes overflowing with tears because of the truth they have recognized" [Al-Mā’idah: 83]). Others are hard-hearted and averse to accepting these meanings (as in: "Then they are like stones, or even more severe in hardness" [Al-Baqarah: 74]). Some are intensely inclined toward fulfilling desires and distant from anger, while others are intensely inclined toward executing anger and distant from desires. Some souls have a great desire for wealth over prestige, and among those desiring wealth, some prefer real estate over currency, while others prefer currency over property and real estate. Reflecting on this confirms that the states of souls differ fundamentally and intrinsically, such that they cannot be removed or changed. If this is established, it becomes impossible for the coarse, ignorant soul, naturally inclined toward acts of wickedness, to become a soul illuminated by divine knowledge and praiseworthy morals. Therefore, the obligation placed upon this soul to attain that certain knowledge and praiseworthy morals is equivalent to imposing an unbearable burden.

This proves that the fortunate one is fortunate from his mother's womb, and the wretched one is wretched from his mother's womb. The pure soul yields its vegetation of certain knowledge and praiseworthy morals by its Lord's permission, while the wicked soul yields its vegetation only sparsely, with little benefit and much excess and evil.

The phrase {بِإِذْنِ رَبِّهِ} (by the permission of its Lord) in this verse indicates that every good deed or obedience performed by the believer occurs only through God's success (tawfīq).

The reading {يَخْرُجُ نَبَاتُهُ} (its vegetation comes forth) implies that the land brings forth and nurtures the vegetation.

Regarding {وَالَّذِي خَبُثَ} (and that which is bad): Al-Farrā’ said: It is said khabutha al-shay’u yakbuthu khubthan wa khabāthatan. {نَكِدًا} (sparsely/unfruitfully): Nakad means difficulty, being unwilling to give good out of stinginess. Al-Layth said nakad means misfortune, baseness, and scarcity of giving. A man is described as ankad or nakid.

"And give what you give willingly, There is no good in the unfortunate and the stingy."

Since you know this, we say: {وَالَّذِي خَبُثَ} is an adjective for the land, meaning "the wicked land yields its vegetation only sparsely." The noun nabāt (vegetation) is omitted, and the possessed noun (al-mudāf ilayhi), which is the vegetation attached to that land, takes its place. However, since it was in the genitive case (majrūr), it becomes raised (marfū') to occupy the position of the subject (fā'il), or one can assume the implied phrase is wa nabātu alladhī khabuth. It is also read {نَكَدًا} with fatḥa on the kāf, meaning "characterized by nakad (stinginess/difficulty)."

Conclusion: Signs for the Thankful

{كَذَلِكَ نَصْرِفُ الْآيَاتِ لِقَوْمٍ يَشْكُرُونَ} (Thus do We detail the signs for a people who give thanks). It is read {نُصَرَّفُ} (We detail/explain them), meaning God details them.

This verse is concluded with {لِقَوْمٍ يَشْكُرُونَ} (for a people who give thanks) because what preceded was that God sends gentle, beneficial winds, making them a cause for the descent of rain (mercy), and making these winds and rains a cause for the emergence of beneficial, gentle, and delicious types of vegetation.

In one sense, this mentions the proof of the Creator's existence, knowledge, power, and wisdom. In another sense, it serves as a reminder of the delivery of this great blessing to the servants. Therefore, since these are signs of the Creator's existence and attributes, they demand gratitude. Hence, He said: {نَصْرِفُ الْآيَاتِ لِقَوْمٍ يَشْكُرُونَ}. They are specified for the thankful people because they are the ones who benefit from them, similar to the verse: {هُدًى لِّلْمُتَّقِينَ} (a guidance for the pious).

Al-A'raf: (59-62)

{لَقَدْ أَرْسَلْنَا نُوحًا إِلَى قَوْمِهِ فَقَالَ يَا قَوْمِ اعْبُدُوا اللَّهَ مَا لَكُم مِّنْ إِلَٰهٍ غَيْرُهُ إِنِّي أَخَافُ عَلَيْكُمْ عَذَابَ يَوْمٍ عَظِيمٍ * قَالَ الْمَلَأُ مِن قَوْمِهِ إِنَّا لَنَرَاكَ فِي ضَلَالٍ مُّبِينٍ * قَالَ يَا قَوْمِ لَيْسَ بِي ضَلَالَةٌ وَلَٰكِنِّي رَسُولٌ مِّن رَّبِّ الْعَالَمِينَ * أُبَلِّغُكُمْ رِسَالَاتِ رَبِّي وَأَنصَحُ لَكُمْ وَأَعْلَمُ مِنَ اللَّهِ مَا لَا تَعْلَمُونَ}

(We certainly sent Noah to his people, and he said, "O my people, worship Allah; you have no deity other than Him. Indeed, I fear for you the punishment of a great day." The eminent ones among his people said, "Indeed, we see you in clear error." He said, "O my people, there is no error in me, but I am a messenger from the Lord of the worlds. I deliver to you the messages of my Lord and advise you, and I know from Allah that which you do not know.")