including the ripening of fruits and many other benefits derived from this lamp that Allah, Glorified and Exalted, has provided for His servants.
After mentioning the blazing lamp, which produces heat and dryness, He mentioned its counterpart, saying:
“And We sent down from the rainclouds pouring water.”
Water possesses moisture and coolness. It also causes the earth to produce vegetation and gives it life. When rainwater combines with the sun’s heat, fruits ripen and grow in the most perfect manner.
“And We sent down from the rainclouds”—meaning the clouds. Allah described them as rainclouds as though they were being squeezed to pour forth the rain, just as a garment is wrung out. The water permeates the clouds and emerges from them just as water emerges from a garment being wrung out.
His words, “pouring water,” mean abundant water. “Pouring” denotes its heavy and forceful flow, which is so plentiful that it saturates the earth.
“So that We may bring forth thereby”—that is, by this water sent down from the sky to the earth—“grain and vegetation.” The earth thus produces vegetation, and through this water Allah brings forth every variety and kind of grain, including wheat, barley, maize, and others, as well as fruit-bearing plants such as figs, grapes, and the like.
“And gardens densely intertwined”—that is, gardens whose trees intertwine with one another because of their abundance, beauty, and splendour. They are so dense and intertwined that they conceal anyone within them. These are trees that have trunks. From this pouring water emerge crops, date palms, grapevines, and other plants, whether they grow from it directly or through water drawn from beneath the earth. This is because underground water comes from rain, as Allah Most High says:
“We sent down water from the sky and gave it to you to drink, and you are not its keepers” [al-Hijr: 22].
In another verse, Allah Most High says:
“Then He channels it as springs throughout the earth” [al-Zumar: 21].
After mentioning the blessings He has bestowed upon His servants, Allah Most High described the state of the Last Day and explained that it is an appointed time when He will gather the earlier and later generations. He Most High said: