This, then, is the precise account of its usage.

The point is that His words, “He can hardly see it,” may mean that he does not even come close to seeing it because of the intense darkness. This is the more apparent interpretation. If he does not even come close to seeing it, how could he see it?

Dhū al-Rummah said:

When distance changes lovers,
The deep-rooted love for Mayyah comes nowhere near departing.

That is, it does not come close to departing—that is, disappearing. How, then, could it disappear?

First, Allah likened their deeds, in yielding no benefit and bringing harm upon them, to a deceptive mirage that beguiles someone who sees it from afar. When he reaches it, he finds the opposite of what he hoped and wished for.

Second, He likened their deeds, in their darkness and blackness—being false and devoid of the light of faith—to layers of darkness in the depths of a sea of surging waves, covered by clouds above.

What a marvellous comparison! How perfectly it fits the condition of those given to religious innovation and misguidance, and of those who worship Allah—glorified and exalted is He—contrary to the message with which He sent His Messenger, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, and which He left in His Book.

This comparison directly and explicitly concerns their false deeds, while also encompassing their corrupt knowledge and beliefs by implication.

Both the mirage and the layers of darkness represent their knowledge and deeds together: a mirage with no substance, and darkness with no light.

This is the opposite of the likeness of the believer’s deeds and the knowledge he has received from the niche of prophethood.

These are like rain, through which lands and people live, and like light, through which people benefit in this world and the Hereafter. Hence, Allah mentions these two likenesses in several places in the Quran concerning His allies and His enemies.