3 – Describing the rain with a range of qualities that seem outwardly divergent is the very essence of eloquence, for Allah is able to combine them all in a single reality. He depicted Moses’ staff as “a manifest serpent,” and elsewhere as “a snake gliding swiftly,” two seemingly different images: with respect to its size and bulk it is a serpent, while in terms of its lightness and rapid motion it is a snake. The same applies to the attributes given to the clouds and the rain.

4 – Rhetorical eloquence is speech that fits the demands of the moment, and at times the moment calls for expansiveness, such as in supplications or in urging forgiveness. Thus Allah says, “But if you pardon, overlook, and forgive…” (Taghabun 64:14), and in this prophetic supplication the descriptive phrases likewise follow one after another in succession.