Their parable is that of people who kindle a fire: but as soon as it has illumined all around them, Allah takes away their light and leaves them in utter darkness, wherein they cannot see: ❋ Deaf, dumb, blind – and they cannot turn back. ❋ 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. (Mathaluhum ka‑mathal alladhī istawqada nāran fa-lamma aḍā’at mā ḥawlahu dhahaba Allāh bi-nūrihim wa tarakahum fī ẓulumātin lā yubṣirūn • Ṣummun bukmun ‘umyun fa-hum lā yarji‘ūn. • Aw ka-ṣayyibin min al-samā’ fī-hi ẓulumātun wa ra‘dun wa barqun yaj‘alūna aṣābi‘ahum fī ādhānihim min al-ṣawā‘iq ḥadhara al-mawt, wa Allāhu muḥīṭun li’l-kāfirīn. • Yakādu al-barqu yakhṭafu abṣārahum kullamā aḍā’a la-hum mashaw fī-hi wa idhā aẓlama ‘alayhim qāmū wa-law shā’a Allāhu la-dhahaba bi-sam‘ihim wa abṣārihim, innā Allāhu ‘alā kulli shay’in qadīr.)
Consider this: The noteworthy points in the verse we were discussing, Their parable is that of people who kindle… (Mathaluhum ka‑mathal alladhī istawqada…) (to the end of the verse), are as follows: Firstly: Its positioning in regard to what precedes it. Secondly: The positioning of [and relationships between] its phrases. Thirdly: The positioning of [and relationships between] the constituents of its phrases.
Bearing in mind the above [discussion on eloquence], know that having given a clear description of the dissemblers’ circumstances and their crimes, the Qur’an cites the following comparison (tamthīl) for three reasons: The First of These: To make [the new or unfamiliar] appear familiar to the imagination (al‑khayāl), which accepts the products of imagination more readily than rational ideas; and to make the surmising faculty (al‑wahm), which is given to doubts and questioning and opposing the reason, submit by showing the strange in a familiar form, and by depicting the hidden as visible.
The Second: To arouse the conscience and excite disgust in it, so by representing what is mental (abstract) as tangible to unite the mind and emotions.
The Third: To bind together scattered meanings by means of the comparison, and point out the true bonds between them.
Also, to plant [the desired facts] before the eye of the imagination so that it may garner the subtle points that the tongue fails [to express].
Consider this: The meaning of this verse’s phrases corresponds both to the meaning of the whole story of the dissemblers, and to all the verses that [relate] it. Don’t you see that they believed outwardly for worldly advantages then inwardly they disbelieved. They were then confused and disconcerted. They then did not search out the truth so were unable to return [to it] that they might recognize it.
How this resembles the situation of people who light a fire or a lamp but cannot keep it alight and it goes out. They are plunged in darkness. They can see nothing and it seems to them that everything has ceased to exist. Due to the silence of the night it is as though they are deaf; and because the night seems blind and their lights have been extinguished, it is as though they are blind; and because there is no one they can turn to for help and they receive no assistance, it is as though they are dumb; and because they cannot return, it is as though they are lifeless spectres, devoid of spirits. The main points in the comparison look to the main particulars of their subject [that is, the dissemblers].
For instance, the darkness looks to [their] disbelief, and the bewildered confusion to [their] vacillation, and the fire to dissension. You can make further analogies in the same way.
If You Were to Ask: Light [is mentioned] in the comparison, but how can the dissembler have light, that the comparison be applied to him?
You Would Be Told: If a person has no light, it may be found in his surroundings, from where he may seek it. If there is none there, it may be found among his people, from whom he may take it. If there is no light among his people, there may be some among the human race from which he may benefit. And if not, there may be [a spark that] emanates from his own inborn nature, from which he may receive effulgence, as has been discussed. If you’re not convinced by this, there may, in the view of others, be [light] on his tongue, or according to himself, in order to obtain worldly benefits. If you’re still not persuaded, [the dissemblers may have had a light] because some of them believed at first, then apostatized. If this doesn’t convince you, it may be that the light here alludes to what they benefited from, while the fire indicates the dissension [they caused]. And if you’re not satisfied with this either, the fact that guidance was possible through the revelation [of the Qur’an] [meant] it was existent, as is indicated by the [preceding] verse, purchased error [at the price of] guidance. (ishtaraw al‑ḍalālata bi’l-hudā.) For this is the close neighbour of the comparison.
Now for the Positioning of [and Relationships Between] the Phrases of the Verse
Consider this: The positioning of the phrase Their parable is that of people who kindle a fire (mathaluhum ka‑mathal alladhī istawqada nāran) is absolutely fitting.
For the lighting of fire in this way was entirely consistent with the situation of the first people the Qur’an was addressing. They were the inhabitants of the Arabian Peninsula and without exception had experienced such a situation, or had heard about it, and had suffered its upsetting effects. They had taken refuge in the night from the sun’s tyranny, travelling in darkness. Very often the skies would press down on them and they would feel the weariness of travel, and sometimes their road would lead them to the abyss. They would also roam in the gloom of caves filled with noxious creatures. Then they would lose their way and need to kindle a fire or light a lamp to see their companions or feel close to them even, and to see their possessions and protect them, and make out the path they should take, and so that ferocious beasts and other perils would be visible to them and they could avoid them. Then, when they were well lit up with the light it would be suddenly extinguished at a blow from the heavens. Filled with hope and about to accomplish their goals, they would be cast into the deepest despair. [The Qur’an] states this clearly with the words: but as soon as it has illumined all around them, Allah takes away their light (fa‑lamma aḍā’at mā ḥawlahu dhahaba Allāhu bi-nūrihim).
The but (fa‑) at the beginning of the phrase indicates that they kindled the fire for light and it lit up [all round them] and they felt confident at this. But they were immediately overcome by frustration and disappointment. How powerfully effective is this being thwarted at the very moment of success!
The light being taken away in the [consequence – that is, second half – of the] conditional sentence is apparently necessitated by the illumination [but the necessity of this is not obvious]. The necessity being hidden indicates the existence of implied [sentences], as follows:
When all was lit up around them they busied themselves with the light yet did not preserve it. They did not give it due importance and were not aware of its value. They did not keep [the fire] alight and it went out. For being preoccupied with the result, they neglected the means. As inferred by the verse But man doth transgress all bounds, ❋ In that he looks upon himself as self‑sufficient (Inna’l‑insāna la-yaṭghā; An rāhu’staghnā), [their preoccupation with the light] was the cause of its ceasing and being extinguished, as though the very illumination caused the light to vanish.
As for the phrase and leaves them in utter darkness (wa tarakahum fī ẓulumātin), having pointed out how they lost the bounty of the light, [the Qur’an] describes their disappointment at the calamity of being plunged into darkness.
The phrase [wherein] they cannot see (lā yubṣirūn): Know that when darkness falls and a person loses his way, he may stop and be consoled by the sight of his companions and possessions. But if he does not see them, stopping may be as bad for him as moving on, or even worse.
The phrase Deaf, dumb, blind – and they cannot turn back. (Ṣummun bukmun ‘umyun fa‑hum lā yarji‘ūn):
When a person is overcome by such a calamity, he finds solace by hoping for salvation and seeking it from four successive directions:
Firstly he hopes to hear the cries of nearby villagers or other travellers and [anticipates] that if he calls for help they will save him. But since the night is soundless and silent, he is no different to a deaf man, so [the Qur’an] calls him deaf, and that hope is lost.
Secondly he hopes that if he shouts or calls out for help there is the possibility that someone will hear and come to his aid. But when the night is deaf and dumb, there is no difference between the speaker and someone dumb, so [the Qur’an] calls [him] dumb, silencing him and destroying that hope too.
Thirdly he hopes to be saved by espying some sign or a fire or light that will show him the way to his destination. But when the night is overwhelmingly ashen‑black, frowning and blind, the seeing and the blind are the same, so [the Qur’an] calls [him] blind, extinguishing that hope too.
Fourthly: Nothing now remains to him but to try to return. But the dark‑ ness has descended on him and he is like someone who has got stuck in a quagmire of his own accord and can find no way out. Indeed, how many matters there are that you get involved in willingly then against your will you cannot turn back; you desist from them but they do not let you go.
So the Most High says: and they cannot turn back to shut this door on them too, severing this last cord that they were clinging on to. So they fall into the darkness of despair, desolation, wretchedness, and fear.
Now for the Third Aspect, I Mean the Positioning of [and Relationships Between] the Constituents of the Phrases
Consider Their parable is that of people who kindle a fire (Mathaluhum ka‑mathal alladhī istawqada nāran), and see how the sparks of fine points fly off in all directions from its words.
The word parable indicates the strangeness of the dissemblers’ situation and that their story is remarkable. For a parable is something that is on every tongue and people recount it to each other because it is odd and unusual; its most salient characteristic is its curiousness. It is because fundamental principles are included in parables and proverbs that they are called “common wisdom” and “popular philosophy.” What is intended here by the parable is [to describe] this characteristic strangeness and their curious story and abhorrent state. In other words, the figurative (majāz) use of the term parable to describe their situation indicates their being unusual and odd. And this indication implies that characteristically, this attribute of theirs is met with disgust and condemnation by everyone, as with a proverb.
As for the ka‑ of ka‑mathali – is that [the parable] of: If You Were to Ask: If this had been omitted (ḥadhf) it would have been an elegant simile. Wouldn’t that have been more eloquent?
You Would Be Told: It is of greater eloquence in this context (maqām) to mention it, for its explicitness alerts the mind, causing it to look on the parable in second place and to transfer from the main points [the parable is making] to what it is alluding to. For if [the reader’s mind] were to become intentionally absorbed in [the parable itself], its subtleties that should be applied [to what it is alluding to] would elude it.
The second [instance of the word] parable indicates that with its strangeness and existence in the common mind, the situation of the one kindling the fire is as though proverbial.
Now for who (alladhī): If You Were to Ask: Why is this [relative pronoun] singular when [the dissemblers] are plural?
You Would Be Told: If the part and the whole, and the individual and the collectivity are equal and membership [of the collectivity] neither increases nor diminishes the individual’s attributes, it is permissible [to use it for both the singular and plural] in two respects, as in “[their similitude (mathal) is] that (mathal) of a donkey.” The use of the singular indicates that each individual independently represents the consternation and abhorrence of all of them. Or it may be that alladhī is an abbreviated form of alladhīna [the plural form].
The sīn of istawqada – kindle [that is, the verb being in the Xth form] alludes to [their] seeking and taking trouble, while its being in the singular although the subsequent their light (nūrihim) has the plural pronominal suffix is a subtle sign that the person kindles it for the group. It is indeed subtle that the singular is used for the kindling and the plural is used for the being illumined.
The use of a fire (nāran) instead of ‘the lamp’ or something else alludes to the hardship [involved] in the light of God’s commands [and trials], and indicates that they were kindling the fire of dissension under the guise of a light.
A fire being indefinite indicates that their need for fire was so intense they did not mind what form it took.
Now cast an eye over the phrase but as soon as it has illumined all around them, Allah takes away their light (fa‑lammā aḍā’at mā ḥawlahu dhahaba Allāh bi-nūrihim), and see how its words light up the darkness of their bewilderment, which is their main aim.
You heard [read] in the Fourth Matter above that the power of speech lies in the mutual response of its parts. The but fa‑ in fa‑lamma hints at the immediate onset of absolute despair after being full of hope.
As soon as (lammā) comprises a proportionate conditional syllogism which, by demonstrating the certainty of the first [proposition], infers the certainty and realization of the subsequent one; [that is, their being overwhelmed by darkness] and losing their source of consolation.
It has illumined (aḍā’at) indicates that they kindled the fire for light, not for warmth. And this hints at their terrible dismay, for its illumination only served to see the perils [besetting them] and to learn of their existence. Had it not been for [the light], they could have deceived themselves and felt reassured.
While all around them (mā ḥawlahu) indicates that they were encompassed by terror on all four sides, and that they had to preserve themselves with the light from the harms beleaguering them from all six directions.
As for takes away (dhahaba), it is the consequence of the condition and therefore necessitated by [the first part of the conditional sentence] it has illumined (aḍā’at), but as discussed above, this necessity is [not clear, it is] hidden and implies [these sentences]: they did not attend to and maintain the fire and did not know its value as a bounty, and the light made them get above themselves and their glee and cockiness made them forget to tend it, so Allah took it from them.
The ascription of takes away (dhahaba) to Allah indicates the frustration of two hopes: hope of rectifying [their situation] and hope of divine mercy. For it infers that the heavenly visitation does not allow their situation to be put to rights and suggests that it is the punishment for human faults. This is the reason Allah the Most High chastises them. Thus, what they were cleaving to was torn away from them when the causes were suspended, and this was the hope of mercy. For help cannot be sought from the truth in order to nullify it.
The [preposition] bi‑ of bi‑nūrihim (their light) signifies [their] despairing of [the light] returning, for what Allah has taken cannot be sought. For there is a clear difference between dhahaba bih, which means “he laid claim to it and took it,” and adhhabahu [IVth form], which means “he removed it or took it away”, while dhahaba [Ist form] means “he went on his way.” In the latter two there is the possibility of return, but in the former there is none.
In light (nūr) is a slight hint about [the dissemblers’] situation on the Bridge of Sirat.
The possessive pronominal suffix their (‑him), which denotes particularity, infers their terrible grief. For a person suffers greater sorrow if his fire goes out while other people’s fires are burning brightly.
Now consider carefully and leaves them in utter darkness, wherein they cannot see (wa tarakahum fī ẓulumātin lā yubṣirūn): The [conjunction] and (wa) indicates that they combine two losses: they are stripped of the light and clothed in darkness.
The use of left, abandoned (taraka) instead of ‘he made stay’ (abqa) or something similar suggests that they have become like lifeless corpses and kernelless shells. It is fitting therefore that they should be abandoned as worthless and discarded.
The in (fī) infers that in their view everything has ceased to exist and that nothing remains but the darkness, which seems to be non‑existence and encases them like the grave.
The plural of darkness(es) (ẓulumātin) indicates that the blackness of the night and tenebrous clouds have given rise to the darkness of despair and fear in their spirits, and that where they are found is filled with the darkness of desolation and despondency. For them time too is filled with the darkness of silence and motionlessness. It suggests that they are entirely swathed in multifarious darknesses.
The use of the indefinite signifies that the darkness is unknown to them, their never before having experienced it, and this increases its impact on them.
As for they cannot see (lā yubṣirūn), it states clearly the worst calamities. For the person who cannot see suffers more tribulations, and because he lacks sight he experiences [to a greater degree] the slightest misfortunes.
The imperfect tense is used to depict their condition [vividly] in the eye of the imagination so the listener [actually] sees their consternation and his conscience is affected.
The verb is without object to generalize [the meaning]; they cannot see anything that would be of use to them and might protect them, and they cannot see the dangers that they might avoid them; and they cannot see their companions to avail themselves of their intimacy. It is as though each is on his own and alone.
Next consider the phrases Deaf, dumb, blind – and they cannot turn back (Ṣummun bukmun ‘umyun fa‑hum lā yarji‘ūn) and listen to how they confide in one another, for these four [phrases] are a definition shared (ḥadd mushtarak) by both the parable or comparison (mumaththal) and the thing portrayed (mumaththal bihi). They are intermediate between them and are turned to both. They tell of both sides’ conditions and are a mirror to both showing you their characters. They result from both and tell you their stories.
The aspect looking to the comparison:
Know that a person who is struck by such a calamity clings onto the hope of being saved by listening closely for the voice of someone who might save him, but the night is so silent and soundless it deafens him.
Still he hopes to make someone hear, but the deafness of the night makes him dumb.
Then he hopes to be guided by the sight of a fire or light, but the unseeing night makes him blind.
Then [he hopes] to return to the start [of his journey] but the door is blocked up against him like someone who falls into a bog and the more he struggles the more he sinks into it.
The aspect looking to those depicted in the comparison:
Know that when they get caught up in the darkness of disbelief and dissembling they could be saved from it in four successive ways:
Firstly: They could raise their heads to listen to the truth and heed the Qur’an’s guidance, but when the rush of desire prevents the sound of the Qur’an entering their ears, and their frenzy takes them by the ears and holds them back from this path, the Qur’an reproaches them with the epithet deaf! This indicates that this door is blocked up and suggests that their ears have been cut off.
Secondly: They should lower their heads and consult their consciences, and ask about the truth and the path. But when obstinacy seizes their tongues and hatred tugs them back into the hollow of their mouths, the Qur’an deals a blow at them with the word: dumb! This indicates that that door too is shut in their faces and alludes to their failing to endorse the truth.
Thirdly: They should make the effort to extract lessons from the evidences in the world around them, but heedlessness places its hand over their eyes and feigned blindness draws down their eyelids, so the Qur’an calls them blind!, a sign that they have strayed from this path too. The omission of the particle ‘ka’ indicates that their eyes – the lights of the head – have as though been plucked out.
Fourthly: They should recognize the ignominy of their situation and feel disgusted and regret it and repent and return, but because, due to the corruption of their natures caused by their insisting on their way and the dominance of lust and Satan, their souls make these abominations seem appealing to them, so the Qur’an says: and they cannot turn back. This is a sign that the final paths have been closed up for them and indicates that although they have got into this situation voluntarily they do not have the will to extricate themselves and are floundering like a man caught in quicksands.
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, inna 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.
That aspect of the composition [that looks to the positioning] of these verses and those that preceded it:
The Qur’an repeats the parables (tamthīl) thus extending its descriptions and indicating the need to describe [at length] the dissemblers in their alarm and confusion, which are of two sorts, [as is shown in the following summaries]:
A Summary of the First Parable: The dissembler sees himself in the desert of existence apart from his fellows, ostracized from the assembly of beings and outside the jurisdiction of the true sun. In his view everything is non‑existent, all creatures are alien; silent and motionless they are forlorn and [doomed to] extinction. Can this compare with the believer, who through the light of belief looks on beings as friendly and is familiar with the whole universe?
A Summary of the Second Parable: The dissembler supposes that in its entirety the world is announcing his death with its calamities, and menacing him with its disasters, and screaming at him with its events, and raining down blows on him from all sides, as though all its beings have united in enmity to him and everything beneficial has become harmful. The only reason for this however, is his having no support and no source of help, as has been discussed.
Can this compare with the believer, who by virtue of his belief hears the glorifications of all beings and their joyous utterances?
Moreover, the fact there is a second parable indicates that the dissemblers are divided into a common low class, conformable with the first parable, and an arrogant, overweening class, corresponding to the second.
The Relationship of This Latter Parable with the Context (Maqām), in Respect of the Listener:
The first people the Qur’an was addressing were the desert‑dwellers whose bed was the floor of the desert and roof the tent of the heavens. They had all experienced these things or heard about them from their fellows, and were therefore familiar with them and found them as effective as proverbs.
The relationship of this second parable with the first one is abundantly clear, for it completes and perfects it and in many instances even makes the same points.
The relationship between the parable and those depicted by it [the dissemblers] has five aspects:
The First: They are both totally overcome by bewilderment when all ways of escape are blocked up and all means of deliverance [are suspended].
The Second: They are both overwhelmed by terrible fear and they all imagine that beings are united in hostility to them and that they cannot live in safety even for a minute.
The Third: They are both struck by alarm so fearsome they become insane and lose their minds. It is like someone who sees a flashing sword and tries to defend himself by closing his eyes, or hears the roar of guns and tries to avoid being hit by stopping up his ears, or like someone who does not want the sun to set and impedes the workings of his watch so that the wheel of fate will cease to turn. How crazy they are! For the thunderbolts will not turn back when they stop up their ears, nor will the fiery lightning pity them when they close their eyes. From this it is understood that they have nothing left to cling on to.
The Fourth: The sun and rain, and light and water are apparently the source of the life of flowers and plants and for the raising of them, but they also cause dead things to putrefy and filthy things to rot. Similarly, if mercy and bounty do not encounter places that are ready and prepared for them and know their value, they are transformed into trouble and revenge.
The Fifth: Just as, if one disregards the words, there is a correspondence between the meanings [of the second parable and of the story of the dissemblers it portrays], which form the basis of the parabolic metaphor (al‑isti‘āra al-tamthīliyya); so too there are relationships between the parts [of both of these]. For a cloudburst is the life of plants, as Islam is the life of spirits. The thunder and lightning indicate promise and threat, while the darknesses show you the doubts of disbelief and scepticism of dissembling.
The Positioning of [and Relationships Between] the Verses’ Phrases
With the phrase Or [the parable] of a violent cloudburst in the sky (Aw ka‑ṣayyibin min al-samā’), the Qur’an infers that [the dissemblers] resemble people forced to travel through a wild desert on a dark night in a violent rainstorm, the calamitous rain pelting down on them like bullets from the brimming sky. In this way it is alerting the listener’s mind, for he is waiting for an explanation of why the rain clouds, which are essentially much desired mercy, are such a ghastly calamity.
So to illustrate their awesomeness, it says: with utter darkness(es) (fīhi ẓulumāt), suggesting that the rain contains the clouds’ darkness and denseness. Similarly, because of its abundance and being so widespread and general, it is as though with its black droplets [the rain] contains the fragmenting night.
As soon as the listener hears with utter darkness he expects an explanation, as though the speaker hears the sound of thunder in his brain so says: and thunder (wa ra‘d).
This suggests its menacing threats, for the skies, the commander of beings, are intent on wiping out [the dissemblers] and they rumble and roar at them with their thunder. In the face of this, the terrified calamity‑stricken [dissemblers] imagine that the universe, whose beings co-operate and assist each other, is bent on harming them despite its tranquillity, and despite its silence is howling at them horribly. When they hear the thunder they imagine it is uttering threats at them, for out of fear they think it is roaring at them.
Then as soon as the listener hears the thunder, its constant companion strikes his mind, and for this reason [the Qur’an] says: and lightning (wa barq), which indicates through the use of the indefinite that it is strange and wondrous. Yes, it is indeed wondrous. For when it is born, a world of darkness dies and is wrapped up and cast into nothingness. But on its death another world of darkness is resurrected and raised to life. It is as though it is fire that when extinguished leaves as its legacy a world full of smoke. The person struck by it therefore should examine it attentively and not glance at it superficially due to familiarity, for in this way he may discover the subtle art of divine power.
Having heard these descriptions the listener is moved to ask: “What did they do? Did they attempt anything?” So the Qur’an says: they put their fingers into their ears to keep out the peals of thunder, in terror of death (yaj‘alūna aṣābi‘ahum fī ādhānihim min al‑ṣawā‘iq ḥadhara al-mawt), indicating that [the dissemblers] have no refuge and no place of recourse, and are like drowning men who clutch at what cannot be clutched at. In their terror, they use their fingers instead of just the fingertips, as though their alarm is beating them on the hands so they stuff their hands in their ears out of pain, and in their stupidity they block up their ears so the thunderbolts do not strike them.
Following this, the listener’s mind [continues to] investigate and he asks: “Is this calamity general, or is it particular, that [escape is still] hoped for?” And [the Qur’an] replies: but Allah encompasses [with His might] all who deny the truth (wa Allāhu muḥīṭun li’l‑kāfirīn), inferring that the disaster is a penalty for their ingratitude for bounties. Allah the Most High punishes them through it for their remaining exceptions to the divine laws deposited in general run of beings (al‑jumhūr).
When [the listener] hears the violent peals of thunder, he asks himself: “Won’t the lightning be useful for them by lighting up their way?” So [the Qur’an] says: The lightning well‑nigh takes away their sight (Yakādu al‑barqu yakhṭafu abṣārahum), indicating that just as the thunder is inimical to them and they are unable to hear, so the lightning is hostile towards them with its light, blinding their eyes.
Then hearing that the universe is united in its hostility towards them, the listener’s mind calls out: “What will happen to them? What can they do? What are they trying to do?” So [the Qur’an] says: whenever it gives them light, they advance therein, and whenever darkness falls around them, they stand still (kullamā aḍā’a la‑hum mashaw fīhi wa idhā aẓlama ‘alayhim qāmū), indicating that they are confused, hesitant, and bewildered, watching for the slightest opportunity and the smallest glimpse of the road. Whenever it appears to them they move forward, but with their anguished spirits, jerkily like decapitated hens, and then become frozen to the spot.
So by way of enquiry the listener’s mind asks: “Why don’t they die, or become completely blind and deaf, and be saved from their anguish?” And [the Qur’an] says: And if Allah so willed, He could indeed take away their hearing and sight (wa‑law shā’a Allāh la-dhahaba bi-sam‘ihim wa abṣārihim); that is, they do not deserve to be delivered from their plight. For this reason, [divine] will does not cause them to die. If it were to act, it would take away their hearing and sight. It is more fitting for those who are recalcitrant and deviate from the laws of the Most High that they retain their ears to hear their punishment and their sight to see it.
Containing all these points, from beneath its exterior the story hints at divine sublimity and power, and the disposals of the Most High in the universe, especially the marvels of the thunder, lightning, and clouds. On recalling this, with his conscience aroused the listener declares: “Glory be to Him! How great the power of the One whose awesomeness the universe manifests, and whose wrath these calamities display!” So [the Qur’an] said: Verily Allah is powerful over all things (inna Allāha ‘alā kulli shay’in qadīr.)
Now for the Relationships Between the Constituents of the Phrases
Know that the or of or [the parable] of a violent rainstorm (the aw of aw ka‑ṣayyibin,) indicates that [the dissemblers] represented in the comparison are divided into two sorts, and is a sign that there is a true correspondence both between the two parables, and between them and [the condition of] the dissemblers, and that there is an indisputable similarity between them. Moreover, the or comprises the [intensifying conjunction] bal al‑tarqiyya [meaning, but rather, no on the contrary, but, indeed], for the second parable is more terrifying.
The lack of correspondence between [the parable] of a violent rainstorm (ka‑ṣayyibin) and the dissemblers [that is, the dissimilarity between them, because the dissemblers are being likened to the rainstorm] necessitates that the thing [the rain] does resemble is implied (muqaddar). This implied thing is not stated for conciseness and the words are made concise [that is, the purpose of the ellipsis is] to make the meaning prolix, and the prolix meaning is referred to the listener’s imagination so he may seek further meanings from the context. Thus by reason of this lack of correspondence [the Qur’an] is as though saying: or they resemble people who journey through the empty desert and dark night and are struck by many calamities resulting from a violent rainstorm.
The replacement of the familiar friendly word rain (maṭar) with rain cloud; downpour (al‑ṣayyib) infers that the droplets of the rain are each calamities (maṣā’ib) pelting down on them like bullets finding their mark (tuṣībahum), and that [the dissemblers] have nowhere to shelter.
The explicit mention of (lit. from) in the sky (min as‑samā’) [stating] specifically that the rain comes from the sky alone, is to express generality. That is, the sky is specified to make it absolute (iṭlāq), as in the verse There is not an animal [that lives] on the earth, nor a being that flies on its wings; that is, the rain has taken possession of the whole face of the sky.
Some Qur’anic commentators concluded from from the sky here and from the verse And He sends down from the sky mountain masses [of clouds] wherein is hail, that the rain falls from the body (jirm) of the sky, and some of them even imagined the existence of an ocean beneath the sky, but [the science of] rhetoric (al‑balāgha) does not endorse this. No, the meaning is from the direction of the sky, and the sky is specified for the above‑mentioned reason.
Moreover, [since] the word sky is used [generally] for everything above you, the clouds and atmosphere [may also be said to be] the sky. Verification of the Subject (taḥqīq al‑maqām):
If you consider [divine] power, [you will see that] all sides are equal [before it]; that is, the rain may fall from any direction. And if you consider divine wisdom, [you will see that it] establishes the optimum order in things, necessitating the preservation of the general balance, and that it chooses the most direct means. As for the rain, it is [formed] through the condensation of the water vapour dispersed through the globe of the atmosphere, one of the ten constituents of which is this vapour in its depths.
An Elucidation of This:
When divine will commands the [water] molecules, they comply and steal away from all around. They join forces and become rain‑laden clouds. Then on the orders of their commander they condense and become raindrops. The angels, who are the representatives of the laws [in force in the universe] and reflect its order, take them by the hand so they do not crowd together [in masses] and strike each other, and they take them down to the ground. In order to preserve the balance of the atmosphere, the seas and earth vaporize to replace what has been lost through distillation.
The reason some people imagined the existence of a heavenly ocean was their conceiving of figures of speech as facts. For to portray the green of the atmosphere as the colour of the sea, and the atmosphere as containing more water than the Pacific Ocean, is a simile (tashbīh) not distant from the reality.
Consider the verse: And He sends down from the sky mountain masses [of clouds] wherein is hail and understand that to dwell on its apparent meaning although it has kindled a light with its metaphor (isti‘āra) is to be coldly insensible and literalist.
For just as the verse Crystal‑clear, made of silver contains a fine metaphor, so does mountain masses [of clouds] wherein is hail consist of one that is singularly strange and beautiful. The food dishes of paradise are made neither of crystal nor of silver, but have the transparency of crystal and the shining whiteness of silver. This is indicated by the fact that crystal is not made of silver and that they are different materials, and also by the use of [the partitive] of (min).
Similarly, mountain masses [of clouds] wherein is hail contains two metaphors which in the listener’s view are founded on poetical imagining. This imagining is based on observing an analogy and likeness between the representation of the higher world and formation of the lower one. And this observation is based on the idea of a beauty contest between the earth and the sky and a competition in the garments clothed on them by the hand of power.
It is as though when the earth appears with its mountains clothed in the white garments of snow and ice in the winter, and is turbaned with them in the spring; and when in the summer it is adorned with its colourful gardens, presenting to the view of wisdom through its transformations the miracles of divine power; the atmosphere responds by imitating it and competing with it in displaying the miracles of divine sublimity. It appears veiled, attired in the broken clouds like towering mountains, hills, and valleys. Tinted with various colours, it depicts the earth’s gardens, intimating with the most shining of evidences divine splendour and majesty.
In consequence of this vision and mutual resemblance and imaginary vista, the simile of the clouds was greeted favourably in Arabic styles of speech, especially the summer clouds being likened to mountains, ships, gardens, valleys, and caravans of camels, as may be heard in the oratory of the Arabs.
If you have understood all you have heard about these relationships, [you will have understood that] And He sends down from the sky means from the direction of the sky, and mountain masses [of clouds] means clouds like mountains, and wherein is hail means in respect of their colour, moisture, and frigidity.
So since there is an interpretation acceptable to the science of rhetoric, what makes you believe that the rain [which] falls in two minutes [comes] from a distance of five hundred years in opposition to Allah’s wisdom, who makes everything with the finest art and precision?
The relationships and positioning of the phrase: with utter darkness (lit. in which are darknesses) (fīhi ẓulumāt): The aim of this is to intimidate. The precedence of in which (fīhi) is a sign that with their imaginations, both the terrified calamity‑struck [dissemblers] and the listener fancy that the darkness of many dark nights has been emptied entirely into this night.
Then its being said that the darknesses are within the rain the cloudburst although it is vice‑versa,
suggests that the frightened men suppose space to be a pool filled with rain, and the night to be contained within it, interspersed between its molecules.
Darknesses being plural alludes to their variety: the darkness of the black clouds and their denseness and covering the whole sky, the heaviness of the rain and the largeness of its drops, and the compounded darkness of the night.
And the word darknesses is indefinite because [the darknesses] are unknown and particularly because those addressed are ignorant of them. And [its being indefinite] is also corroborative [for not knowing is a sort of darkness].
As for the phrases and thunder and lightning (wa ra‘d wa barq), their aim is to portray the bewilderment and alarm [of the dissemblers], and [to indicate that] disaster‑struck and baffled, they focus all their attention on the least significant event. For scrutiny leads a person to understand the wondrously strange revolutions and changes in the thunder and lightning. But when [the dissemblers] see the darkness invading the universe and swallowing up beings – like nothingness – their bewilderment is turned into orphanlike grief and they fall silent as the dead. For they see the clearest evidences of existence, the utterance of those lofty beings [the thunder], then their appearance when the veil is lifted [on the flashing of the lightning], and they are filled with consternation, bewilderment and fear. For when they see the boundless darkness in infinite space, which they can in no way overcome, they look in despair. But then, when those darknesses are suddenly emptied out of space and vanish and everywhere is filled with light, their absolute despair is transformed into hope. Know that thunder and lightning are two clear signs from the World of the Unseen. They are in the hands of the angels appointed to the world of the clouds to oversee the ordering of its laws.
Divine wisdom ties causes and their effects, and when clouds are formed from water vapour dispersed in the atmosphere, some of them are charged with negative electrons and others with positive electrons. When two come close to each other, they collide suddenly and lightning is produced. Then on one cloud staging an assault and being suddenly uprooted, and its place being filled by another so there should be no vacuum, the layers oscillate and undulate which produces the sound of thunder. However, these atmospheric conditions occur within the order and laws represented by the angel of thunder and lightning.
The rain (cloudburst) being shown to contain [the thunder and lightning] although [in reality] it is the clouds that contain them is because the terrified [dissemblers], and the listener who is alarmed at their terror, look on the pelting rain as encompassing everything since it is encompassing them.
The use of the singular for the thunder and lightning although darknesses is plural indicates that
the source of the calamity‑stricken dissemblers’ fright is their imagining the sky to be speaking and menacing them with its thunder, and the flashing lighting revealing [their dreadful situation]. These are the verbal meanings [ma‘nā maṣdarī – and such meanings are singular] and [resemble] “the shining hand”. Also, each is a different sort of being (naw‘), although there are numerous instances of each, [and what is intended is the sort, not the individual instances of them].
“Thunder” and “lightning” are indefinite
since they are not qualified by adjectives; that is, [the ‘nunation’ signifies implied adjectives such as] crashing thunder and dazzling lightning. It indicates too that [the dissemblers] are unfamiliar [with their reality] because all their attention is focussed on the curious aspects of them. It also hints that they do not recognize the thunder and lightning because they have stopped up their ears and shut fast their eyes. The parts of the phrases:
They put their fingers into their ears to keep out the peals of thunder, in terror of death (yaj‘alūna aṣābi‘ahum fī ādhānihim min al‑ṣawā‘iq ḥadhara al-mawt):
This sentence is the reply to an implied question and a fine commencement [isti’nāf – that is, it is not tied to what precedes it].
For when the listener addresses himself to this emotional, parabolic story (al‑qiṣṣa al-ḥissiyya al-tamthīliyya), he feels an intense desire to discover the circumstances of the calamity. Once this is depicted perfectly, his curiosity is satisfied and he then desires to learn the condition of the calamity‑struck men. He as though asks: “What state are they in now? What are they doing to save themselves?” And the Qur’an replies saying: They put their fingers into their ears to keep out the peals of thunder, in terror of death. That is, there is no escape for them; they are like drowning men clutching at straws, for they try to protect themselves from the heavenly projectiles by blocking up their ears. But that is impossible and they cannot be saved.
The word they put (yaj‘alūna) is used instead of they put into (yadkhulūna) as a sign that
they searched for some means [of escape] but the only thing they could think of was sticking [their fingers in their ears].
The use of the imperfect tense, which evokes present situations, indicates that
[on hearing about] such bewildering circumstances the listener conjures up in his imagination the actual time and place. The imperfect also indicates [the] continuance and perpetual renewal [of the calamity], and in this continuance is a sign that the clouds are attacking them incessantly.
The use of fingers (aṣābi‘ahum) instead of ‘fingertips’ indicates their complete confusion.
And into their ears (fī ādhānihim) alludes to their awful fright at the sound of the thunder, making them imagine that the thunder is going to enter their ears and their spirits will fly out of the doors of their mouths. In this is a subtle sign that
they did not open their ears to the call of truth and good advice so are being punished in this way by the crash of thunder; that is, as they blocked them up [voluntarily] in the first instance, so they are [forcibly] blocked up in the second.
Like someone who says something disgraceful is hit in the mouth, and he puts his penitent right hand over his mouth and covers his eyes with his ashamed left hand.
[To keep out] the peals of thunder (min al‑ṣawā‘iq) indicates that the thunder and lightning united to harm them, for the thunder(bolt) comprised both a terrible noise and scorching fire, felling whomever it encountered.
As for in terror of death (ḥadhara al‑mawt), it hints that the calamity has reached its final point and the knife has hit the bone. Everything is finished except life, and now they are concerned with nothing except fear of death and the wish to save their lives.
The parts of the phrase: but Allah encompasses [with His might] all who deny the truth (wa Allāhu muḥīṭun bi’l‑kāfirīn): Consider this:
The conjunction but (lit. and) (wa) necessitates a relationship between two clauses, and here it is between the implied outcome of the previous [phrase] and this one. It is as though the conjunction is denouncing them, saying: “These are people who fled from town life and loathe civilization. They rebelled against the law that makes the night the time of rest, and did not comply with the advice they were given. Now they suppose they can be saved by escaping from the desert, but they are frustrated in this and are encompassed by Allah’s tribulations.”
The word Allāh signifies the dashing of their final hope. For the only recourse and solace for those smitten by disaster is Allah’s mercy, and when they come to earn His wrath that hope is extinguished.
The word encompasses (muḥīṭun) infers that those all‑encompassing calamities are the works of the Most High’s wrath. Just as the sky, clouds, thunder, and night are assaulting them from all six directions, so the Most High’s wrath and His tribulations surround them. Moreover, the Most High’s knowledge and power encompass all beings, and His command embraces all particles. So it is as though encompasses is declaiming at them:
They cannot pass beyond the regions of the heavens and earth, and whithersoever you turn, there is the countenance of Allah.
All those who deny the truth (bi’l‑kāfirīn): The [preposition] bi‑ prefixing this suggests that [the dissemblers] have happened upon the very thing they were fleeing from and have become the target for its arrows.
This latter phrase indicates that the image of those represented, that is, the dissemblers, is portrayed in the mirror of the parable. This is so that the listener’s mind should not be diverted by the parable and he does not forget the aim.
It also indicates that the parable and those portrayed in it are so similar they are virtually the same; the difference between them has almost faded away so they seem identical and reality and imagination have merged.
The phrase also signifies the gloominess of their hearts, for their consciences torment them too with their faults and crimes. Those who receive requital for their crimes are not easy in their consciences.
Now the parts of the phrase: The lightning well‑nigh takes away their sight (Yakādu al‑barq yakhṭafu abṣārahum):" This is apparently unconnected [to the previous phrase and therefore] implies that the listener is asking:
“Why don’t they take advantage of the lightning to reduce the calamity of the darkness for themselves?”
And he is told: “They are scared of its harm more than [wanting] its advantages.”
By reason of its well‑known property well‑nigh (yakādu) points to the loss of their sight, but for some reason they did not lose it completely.
Snatches away (yakhṭafu): Since this word is usually used with ghouls and eagles it denotes here a subtle instance of eloquence that
flashes in the brain and indicates that the lightning races with the eye’s beam to see which can reach things first to capture their images. It overtakes it and cuts it short, and strikes it on the eyelid, extinguishing its light. It is as though when the eye’s light speedily quits its home to capture the images of things, the lightning, which is the beam of the sky’s eye, races against it and seizes the image from it before it can get it home. That is, the lightning swipes the image from the eye.
And by virtue of the eyes being the mirror of the heart, their sight (abṣārahum) alludes to the dissemblers’ eyes being blind to the decisive proofs of the Qur’an.
Now for the parts of the phrases: whenever it gives them light, they advance therein, and when darkness falls around them, they stand still (kullamā aḍā’a la‑hum mashaw fīhi wa idhā aẓlama ‘alayhim qāmū):
The fact that this is a fresh start [and not apparently related to what precedes it] (isti’nāf) indicates that it is the answer to the questions the listener asks
when he sees all these different calamities and asks about [the dissemblers’] circumstances in both situations.
The fact that whenever (kullamā) precedes it gives them light (aḍā’a la‑hum) and the when (idhā) precedes darkness falls (aẓlama) indicates [the dissemblers’] intense desire for light, seizing on the least light they can.
[For the former means ‘whenever’ denoting numerous occasions, and the latter means ‘when and if.’] “Whenever” also comprises an analogous conditional syllogism.
The [preposition] to (la‑) in it gives (to) them light (aḍā’a la‑hum), signifies causation (al‑ajliyya) and benefit, and is a sign that the terrified calamity‑stricken [dissemblers] are plunged in [concern for] their own needs so that they suppose the light that the hand of power is spreading through the world for thousands of general instances of wisdom is meant for them alone, and that the hand of power is sending it for their sake.
Although [the dissemblers] should seize the opportunity [of the light] to travel on quickly, [the word] they advance (lit. walk) (mashaw) [is used], indicating that the calamity has held them back and they can only move forward slowly at walking pace.
The [pronominal suffix ‑hi] in therein (fīhi), [referring to the light] indicates that the distance they move forward is [that permitted by the brief instant of] the light, which is the colour of time.
Thus it as though limits them as to space.
The [conjunction] and (wa) in and when (wa idhā) indicates that the calamity is continuous, which increases its severity.
And since contrarily to whenever (kullamā), when (idhā) expresses particularity and neglect [since the generalizing suffix ‑mā has not been added], it points to their extreme revulsion [at the darkness] and their blindness, and that it seizes them when they are lost in the instant of [light], [which affords them] an opportunity.
The ascription of darkness falls (aẓlama) to the lightning alludes to darkness after light being more intense, and indicates that when in their imaginations the calamity‑struck [dissemblers] see the lightning [first] banishing the darkness but then filling where they are found with it, they fancy that [the light] has been extinguished, leaving only smoke behind.
Around (lit. on, against) them (‘alayhim) infers harm and indicates that the darkness is not imposed by chance but is a punishment for their actions. It indicates too that the terrified [dissembler] imagines the darkness to be filling the sky and is directed at him among all beings, despite his insignificance and contemptibility, and that its assaults and harm are aimed at him in particular.
The use of they stand [up] still (qāmū) instead of ‘they become still, stop’ (sakanū) is a sign that due to the calamity and their strenuous efforts [to combat it] they had become bent at the waist as though bowing in prayer, which is characteristic of a person who works earnestly at something, [and had straightened up when the darkness struck them].
And if Allah so willed, He could indeed take away their hearing and sight (wa‑law shā’a Allāhu la-dhahaba bi-sam‘ihim wa abṣārihim):
Now for the Parts of the Phrase
Being a conjunction, the And (wa) hints that the hand of power acts under the veil of causes and that wisdom superintends from above all causes.
If (law) comprises a non‑analogous conditional syllogism (qiyās istithnā’ī); that is, its not having been willed is the reason (‘illa) for their [hearing and sight] not being lost; similarly, their not being lost is evidence that divine will has not caused them to be lost. It is also a sign that the conditions for their being lost have been virtually fulfilled.
Wills (shā’a) indicates that the only thing binding cause and effect is divine will and wish, and it is divine power that executes [the act]. Causes are merely a veil to divine dignity and grandeur so that the hand of power is not seen by the mind’s eye[, which sees only the apparent,] to be in contact with lowly things.
The explicit use of the name Allāh is an indication [warning] people against their addiction to causes and restraining them from becoming immersed in them. It also invites minds to see the hand of power behind all causes.
The omission of the object of the verb wills (shā’a), although such an object is necessary according to the usual rules, is permissible here due to the associated meanings (qarīna) of other words. The omission infers that divine wish and will are not affected by the events of the universe, and that things have no effect on the divine attributes, whereas human will is affected by things and their beauty and ugliness, and greatness and smallness.
He could indeed take away (la‑dhahaba) indicates that causes do not have control and supremacy over effects so that if they were to be raised, the effects would remain in a vacuum, the playthings of coincidence and tossed around by chance; rather, the hand of power is present behind causes. When it plucks things out [of non‑existence] the hand of divine wisdom takes them through the law of balance and order, and sends them to other places; it does not neglect them. [For example,] when heat breaks down the structure of water, through the order [laws] included in the air the steam follows a determined course and its Maker sends it to a specified place.
Similarly, in dhahaba is a sign that [man’s] five external senses are not produced by nature and that there is nothing to necessitate the cavities of the eyes and ears; they are the gifts and bounties of the Most High. Cavities and causes are merely the usual conditions [for their existence].
The verb dhahaba is made transitive by the following [preposition] bi‑, in He could indeed take away their hearing (la‑dhahaba bi-sam‘ihim), instead of with ‘hamza’; [that is, the IVth form of the verb]. This is a sign that the hand of power does not take things by the reins of causes, nor are they free to wander with their halters hanging from their necks; rather their halters are [firmly] in the hands of [the laws and] order.
Since “hearing” is in the singular and “sight” is in the plural, their hearing and sight (bi‑sam‘ihim wa abṣārihim) indicates that one thing is audible, while numerous things may be seen, for a thousand men may hear the same thing at the same time, but what they see will be different.
for verily Allah is powerful over all things (inna Allāha ‘alā kulli shay’in qadīr): Consider this:
The Parts of the Phrase
This phrase is a summary of the study of horrors in the parable and [the people] portrayed in it. It indicates that just as the details of the calamity‑stricken [travellers’] circumstances, which represent faithfully the dissemblers’ circumstances, are not neglected [by divine power]; so the disposals of divine power are to be seen in every minute particle.
Together with indicating that this statement is an unshakeable truth, the particle inna (verily) alludes to the vast breadth and delicateness of the matter, and to human impotence, weakness, and faultiness concerning it, arising from [man’s] delusions, which are the consequence of his doubts concerning matters of certainty. [That is, with its certainty, inna dispels the doubts.]
The explicit use of the name Allāh alludes to proof of the statement [of His omnipotence], for total, all‑embracing power is the necessary inherent quality of the Godhead.
As for over (‘alā), it indicates that divine power, which brings things out of non‑existence, will not let them go for nothing, futile and vain; rather, divine wisdom will oversee them and supervise their being raised and reared.
All (kull) suggests that the works of causes, as well as the results (al‑ḥāṣil bi’l-maṣdar) of [man’s] voluntary actions, are [brought about] through the power of the Most High. Thing (shay’), having the meaning of “thing willed by Allah (mashiy’)”, indicates that after coming into existence, beings cannot be independent of their Maker; indeed, they are in need of His efficacy for their continuance – which is the repetition of existence.
As for the use of the word powerful (qadīr) rather than qādir [the active participle], is a sign that divine power cannot be measured like determined things, for it is an unchanging necessary inherent quality that accepts no increase or decrease. It is impossible for its opposite, impotence, to encroach on it, or for any [degrees of] intensity or weakness [to intervene in it]. It is a sign too that power is like the basic verbal pattern in [Arabic] grammar, that is, fa‘ala, for all the attributes of action (al‑awṣāf al-fi‘līyya), such as Provider (al‑Razzāq), Forgiving (al‑Ghaffār), Giver of Life (al‑Muḥyī), Dealer of Death (al‑Mumīt), and so on. [That is, power is their basis.]