Verses 19-20
اَوْ كَصَيِّبٍ مِنَ السَّمَاۤءِ فِيهِ ظُلُمَاتٌ وَرَعْدٌ وَبَرْقٌ يَجْعَلُونَ اَصَابِعَهُمْ فِى اٰذَانِهِم مِنَ الصَّوَاعِقِ حَذَرَ الْمَوْتِ وَاللهُ مُحِيطٌ بِالْكَافِرِينَ ❀ يَكَادُ الْبَرْقُ يَخْطَفُ اَبْصَارَهُمْ كُلَّمَا اَضَاۤءَ لَهُم مَّشَوْا فِيهِ وَإِذَا اَظْلَمَ عَلَيْهِمْ قَامُوا وَلَوْ شَاۤءَ اللهُ لَذَهَبَ بِسَمْعِهِمْ وَاَبْصَارِهِمْ إِنَّ اللهَ عَلَى كُلِّ شَيْءٍ قَدِيرٌ
Or [the parable] of a violent cloudburst in the sky, with utter darkness, thunder and lightning: they put their fingers into their ears to keep out the peals of thunder, in terror of death; but Allah encompasses [with His might] all who deny the truth. * The lightning well-nigh takes away their sight; whenever it gives them light, they advance therein, and whenever darkness falls around them, they stand still. And if Allah so willed, He could indeed take away their hearing and sight: for verily Allah is powerful over all things.
(Aw ka-ṣayyibin min al-samā’ fīhi ẓulumātun wa ra‘dun wa barqun yaj‘alūna aṣābi‘ahum fī ādhānihim min al-ṣawā‘iq ḥadhara al-mawt, wa Allāh muḥīṭun bi’l-kāfirīn. * Yakādu al-barqu yakhṭafu abṣārahum kullamā aḍā’a la-hum mashaw fīhi wa idhā aẓlama ‘alayhim qāmū wa-law shā’a Allāh la-dhahaba bi-sam‘ihim wa abṣārihim, innā Allāha ‘alā kulli shay’in qadīr.)
The noteworthy points in these verses may also [be subsumed under] three [headings]: their positioning in regard to the preceding verses; the postioning of the verses’ phrases [and the relationships between them]; and the relationships between the constituents of the phrases. These resemble the relationships between the hour, minute, and second hands of a clock.