“As for the good land, its vegetation emerges by permission of its Lord; but that which is barren produces only scantily. Thus do We set forth the signs in various ways for a people who give thanks.” (58)

His saying, Exalted is He: “He is the One who sends the winds as bearers of glad tidings”: Asim recited it as bushran, with a dammah on the letter ba and a silent shin, ⦗131a⦘ here, in Surat al-Furqan, and in Surat al-Naml. This means that they bring glad tidings of rain, as indicated by His saying, Exalted is He: “And among His signs is that He sends the winds bearing good news.” [al-Rum 46]

(1) Hamzah and al-Kisa’i recited it as nashran, with the letter nun bearing a fathah; this refers to the pleasant, gentle wind. Allah, Exalted is He, says: “By those that spread far and wide.” [al-Mursalat 3] Ibn Amir recited it with a dammah on the nun and a silent shin. The others recited it with a dammah on both the nun and the shin: the plural of nashur, just as sabr is the plural of sabur and rusul is the plural of rasul. That is, scattered about—the winds that blow from every direction—“before His mercy,” meaning before the rain.