(43–44) “Have you not seen that Allah drives the clouds, then joins them together, then forms them into a mass? You then see the rain emerge from within them. And He sends down from the sky mountains containing hail, striking with it whomever He wills and averting it from whomever He wills. The flash of their lightning nearly takes away sight.”

⦗571⦘

That is: Have you not witnessed with your own eyes the greatness of Allah’s power and how He “drives the clouds”—scattered fragments—“then joins” those fragments together, forming them into a mass of clouds like mountains?

“You then see the rain”—that is, the downpour—emerge from within the clouds as separate droplets, so that benefit may be derived from it without harm. The ponds thereby fill, the channels overflow, the valleys run with water, and the earth brings forth every noble kind of growth. At other times, Allah sends down hail from those clouds, destroying whatever it strikes.

“Striking with it whomever He wills and averting it from whomever He wills,” in accordance with what His decree entails and with His wisdom, for which He is praised. “The flash of their lightning”—that is, the light of the clouds’ lightning—“nearly takes away sight” because of its intensity. Is not the One who formed these clouds, drove them to His servants in need, and sent down their rain in a manner that secures benefit and averts harm perfect in power, irresistible in will, and vast in mercy?