another. “Then you see the rain”—that is, the rainfall—“emerge from within it,” meaning from its midst. Khilāl is the plural of khalal, just as jibāl is the plural of jabal.

“And He sends down from the sky, from mountains within it, hail.” That is, He sends down hail, and min (“from”) is supplementary. It was also said that its meaning is: He sends down from the sky an abundance of hail comparable in quantity to mountains; min in the phrase “from mountains” is supplementary—that is, He sends down from the sky mountains of hail. It was also said to mean: He sends down from mountains in the sky; those mountains consist of hail.

Ibn ‘Abbās, may Allah be pleased with them both, said: Allah has informed us that there are mountains of hail in the sky. The object of “sends down” is omitted, its implied meaning being: He sends down hail from the sky, from mountains within it. The object was not explicitly mentioned because the context indicates it.

The grammarians said: Allah, exalted is He, mentions min (“from”) three times in this verse. The phrase “from the sky” indicates the point of origin, since the descent begins from the sky. His phrase “from mountains” is partitive, because what Allah sends down is some of those mountains that are in the sky. His phrase “from hail” specifies the genus, because those mountains are of the nature of hail.

“Then He strikes with it”—that is, with the hail—“whomever He wills,” thereby destroying his crops and property; “and He averts it from whomever He wills,” so that it does not harm him. “The flash of its lightning”—that is, the light of the lightning in the clouds—“almost takes away the sight,” because of the intensity of its light and brilliance. Abu Ja‘far recited it as yudhhibu, with the initial yā’ vowelled with ḍammah and the hā’ vowelled with kasrah.