Tafseer of The Cow · Al-Baqara · 2:19
Or [it is] like a rainstorm from the sky within which is darkness, thunder and lightning. They put their fingers in their ears against the thunderclaps in dread of death. But Allah is encompassing of the disbelievers.
Important: The Arabic source text is always authoritative. This translation is a study aid and has not been verified by scholars — do not use it as a basis for religious proof or for deriving rulings (ahkam). When in doubt, always consult the Arabic text and a qualified scholar.
أو كصيب من السماء
(Or like a rainstorm from the sky)
Exposition of the explanation of His words, the Exalted: أو كصيب من السماء (Or like a rainstorm from the sky).
Abū Jaʿfar said: The word *al-ṣayyib* is of the form *al-faʿīl*, derived from your expression: "the rain *ṣāba*, *yaṣūbu*, *ṣawban*" — when it comes down and descends, as the poet said:
"You do not belong to a human being, but to an angel, who descends from the expanse of the sky, plunging down (*yaṣūb*)."
And as ʿAlqama ibn ʿAbada said:
"It is as if over them a cloud rained down (*ṣāba*), whose lightning-flashes have for their birds a creeping motion.
So do not equate me with a fool; the water-streams of the cloud are made to drink when it plunges down (*taṣūb*)."
He means: when it descends. In its origin the word is *ṣayyūb*, but when the *wāw* was preceded by a quiescent (sukūn-bearing) *yāʾ*, the two together became a single doubled *yāʾ*, as one says *sayyid* from *sāda yasūdu*, and *jayyid* from *jāda yajūdu*. Thus the Arabs do with the *wāw* when it is mobile and a quiescent *yāʾ* precedes it: they make the two together into a single doubled *yāʾ*. And in accordance with what we have said about this, the exegetes (ahl al-taʾwīl) have spoken.
342 — Muḥammad ibn Ismāʿīl al-Aḥmasī related to me, saying: Muḥammad ibn ʿUbayd related to us, saying: Hārūn ibn ʿAntara related to us, on the authority of his father, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās, concerning His words: أو كصيب من السماء (Or like a rainstorm from the sky), he said: The rain.
343 — And ʿAbbās ibn Muḥammad related to me, saying: Ḥajjāj related to us, saying: Ibn Jurayj said: ʿAṭāʾ said to me: *Al-ṣayyib* is the rain.
344 — And al-Muthannā related to me, saying: Abū Ṣāliḥ related to us, saying: Muʿāwiya ibn Ṣāliḥ related to me, on the authority of ʿAlī, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās, he said: *Al-ṣayyib* is the rain.
345 — And Mūsā related to me, saying: ʿAmr related to us, saying: Asbāṭ related to us, on the authority of al-Suddī, in a report he traced back on the authority of Abū Mālik and of Abū Ṣāliḥ, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās, and of Murra, on the authority of Ibn Masʿūd, and of some people among the Companions of the Prophet ﷺ: *Al-ṣayyib* is the rain.
* And Muḥammad ibn Saʿd related to me, saying: My father Saʿd related to me, saying: My uncle al-Ḥusayn related to me, on the authority of his father, on the authority of his grandfather, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās, the like of that.
346 — And Bishr ibn Muʿādh related to us, saying: Yazīd related to us, on the authority of Saʿīd, on the authority of Qatāda: أو كصيب (Or like a rainstorm), he said: The rain.
* And al-Ḥasan ibn Yaḥyā related to us, saying: ʿAbd al-Razzāq informed us, saying: Maʿmar informed us, on the authority of Qatāda, the like of that.
347 — And Muḥammad ibn ʿAmr al-Bāhilī and ʿAmr ibn ʿAlī related to me, both of them saying: Abū ʿĀṣim related to us, saying: ʿĪsā ibn Maymūn related to us, on the authority of Ibn Abī Najīḥ, on the authority of Mujāhid: *Al-ṣayyib* is the rain.
* And al-Muthannā related to me, saying: Abū Ḥudhayfa related to us, saying: Shibl related to us, on the authority of Ibn Abī Najīḥ, on the authority of Mujāhid: *Al-ṣayyib* is the rain.
348 — Al-Muthannā related to me, saying: Isḥāq related to us, on the authority of Ibn Abī Jaʿfar, on the authority of his father, on the authority of al-Rabīʿ ibn Anas: *Al-ṣayyib* is the rain.
* And it was related to me on the authority of al-Minjāb, saying: Bishr ibn ʿUmāra related to us, on the authority of Abū Rawq, on the authority of al-Ḍaḥḥāk, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās, he said: *Al-ṣayyib* is the rain.
349 — And Yūnus related to me, saying: Ibn Wahb informed us, saying: ʿAbd al-Raḥmān ibn Zayd said: أو كصيب من السماء (Or like a rainstorm from the sky), he said: Or like a downpour of rain from the sky.
350 — And Sawwār ibn ʿAbd Allāh al-ʿAnbarī related to us, saying: Sufyān said: *Al-ṣayyib* is that in which the rain is.
* ʿAmr ibn ʿAlī related to us, saying: Muʿāwiya related to us, saying: Ibn Jurayj related to us, on the authority of ʿAṭāʾ, concerning His words: أو كصيب من السماء (Or like a rainstorm from the sky), he said: The rain.
Abū Jaʿfar said: The explanation of it is: just as the hypocrites' seeking of light by the light of their profession of Islam, while they keep their unbelief (kufr) concealed, is like the giving of light by the kindled fire with the light of its flame — according to what He, exalted be His praise, has described of its quality — or like the likeness of dark rain, whose downpour descends from the sky, carried by a dark cloud on a dark night. And these are the darknesses about which Allah, exalted be His praise, has informed us that they are in them.
If someone were to say to us: "Inform us about these two similitudes — are they both similitudes for the hypocrites, or only one of the two? If they are both similitudes for the hypocrites, how is it that أو كصيب (or like a rainstorm) was said, when 'aw' ('or') in the language indicates the meaning of doubt, and it was not said 'wa-kaṣayyib' (and like a rainstorm), with the *wāw* that joins the second similitude to the first? Or is only one of the two the similitude for the people — then what is the reason for mentioning the other with 'aw', when you know that 'aw', when it occurs in an utterance, is used therein only in the manner of doubt on the part of the one giving the report concerning that about which he reports, as when someone says: 'Your brother or your father met me,' while in reality only one of the two met him, but he did not know which of the two precisely met him, although he knew that one of the two had certainly met him? And it is not permissible with respect to Allah, exalted be His praise, that doubt about anything be attributed to Him, or the absence of knowledge about anything, in that about which He reports or about which He withholds report."
He is answered: The matter in this is other than what you have supposed. Although 'aw' in some utterances has the meaning of doubt, it also occurs in the same meaning as that which the *wāw* indicates, either by what precedes it in the utterance, or by what comes after it, as in the saying of Tawba ibn al-Ḥumayyir:
"Layla supposed that I am a profligate; for herself is her godliness (taqwā), or against herself her profligacy."
It is known that this from Tawba is not in the manner of doubt about what he said, but because 'aw' in this place indicated the same as what the *wāw* would have indicated had it stood in its place, so he placed it in the place of it. Likewise the saying of Jarīr:
"He came to the caliphate — or it was for him as ordained destiny — as Mūsā came to his Lord according to ordained destiny."
And as another said:
"If weeping could bring anything back, I would weep for Jubayr or ʿInāq —
for both men, now that they both have passed away — for their fate, with sorrow and longing."
For by his words "for both men, now that they both have passed away" he has shown that by the weeping he wished to weep he did not intend to mean the one rather than the other, but that he wished to weep for both of them together. So it is also in the word of Allah, exalted be His praise: أو كصيب من السماء (Or like a rainstorm from the sky). Since it is known that 'aw' therein indicates the same as what the *wāw* would have indicated had it stood in its place, it makes no difference whether one pronounces 'aw' therein or the *wāw*.
So too is the explanation for the omission of the word *mathal* (similitude) from His words أو كصيب (or like a rainstorm): since His words كمثل الذي استوقد نارا (like one who kindled a fire) indicate that the meaning is: like a rainstorm, the word *mathal* was omitted and one was content with the indication proceeding from what precedes in the utterance, in His words كمثل الذي استوقد نارا (like one who kindled a fire), that the meaning is: or like a rainstorm — whereby the repetition of mentioning the word *mathal* was avoided out of striving for conciseness and brevity.
فيه ظلمات ورعد وبرق يجعلون أصابعهم في آذانهم من الصواعق حذر الموت
(Within it are darknesses, thunder and lightning; they put their fingers in their ears because of the thunderclaps, in fear of death)
Exposition of the explanation of His words, the Exalted: فيه ظلمات ورعد وبرق يجعلون أصابعهم في آذانهم من الصواعق حذر الموت (Within it are darknesses, thunder and lightning; they put their fingers in their ears because of the thunderclaps, in fear of death).
Abū Jaʿfar said: As for *al-ẓulumāt* (the darknesses), it is a plural, whose singular is *ẓulma* (darkness). And as for *al-raʿd* (the thunder), the scholars have differed about it. Some of them said: It is an angel that drives the clouds. Mention of who said that:
351 — Muḥammad ibn al-Muthannā related to us, saying: Muḥammad ibn Jaʿfar related to us, saying: Shuʿba related to us, on the authority of al-Ḥakam, on the authority of Mujāhid, he said: The thunder is an angel that drives the clouds with its voice.
* And Muḥammad ibn al-Muthannā related to us, saying: Ibn Abī ʿAdī related to us, on the authority of Shuʿba, on the authority of al-Ḥakam, on the authority of Mujāhid, the like of that.
* And Yaḥyā ibn Ṭalḥa al-Yarbūʿī related to me, saying: Fuḍayl ibn ʿIyāḍ related to us, on the authority of Layth, on the authority of Mujāhid, the like of that.
352 — And Yaʿqūb ibn Ibrāhīm related to me, saying: Hushaym related to us, saying: Ismāʿīl ibn Sālim informed us, on the authority of Abū Ṣāliḥ, both of them saying: The thunder is an angel from among the angels who glorifies God (yusabbiḥ).
353 — And Naṣr ibn ʿAbd al-Raḥmān al-Awdī related to me, saying: Muḥammad ibn Yaʿlā related to us, on the authority of Abū al-Khaṭṭāb al-Baṣrī, on the authority of Shahr ibn Ḥawshab, he said: The thunder is an angel charged with the clouds; he drives them on as the camel-driver drives on the camels. He glorifies God; whenever a cloud strays from another cloud, he shouts at it, and when his anger becomes intense, the fire flies out of his mouth — and those are the thunderbolts (al-ṣawāʿiq) that you have seen.
354 — And it was related to me on the authority of al-Minjāb ibn al-Ḥārith, saying: Bishr ibn ʿUmāra related to us, on the authority of Abū Rawq, on the authority of al-Ḍaḥḥāk, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās, he said: The thunder is an angel from among the angels, whose name is al-Raʿd (the Thunder), and it is he whose voice you hear.
355 — Aḥmad ibn Isḥāq al-Ahwāzī related to us, saying: Abū Aḥmad related to us, saying: ʿAbd al-Malik ibn Ḥusayn related to us, on the authority of al-Suddī, on the authority of Abū Mālik, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās, he said: The thunder is an angel that drives the clouds with the glorification (tasbīḥ) and the magnification of God (takbīr).
356 — And al-Ḥasan ibn Muḥammad related to us, saying: ʿAlī ibn ʿĀṣim related to us, on the authority of Ibn Jurayj, on the authority of Mujāhid, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās, he said: The thunder is the name of an angel, and this voice of his is his glorification; and when his driving of the clouds becomes intense, the clouds are stirred and collide with one another, and from that the thunderbolts arise.
357 — Al-Ḥasan related to us, saying: ʿAffān related to us, saying: Abū ʿAwāna related to us, on the authority of Mūsā al-Bazzār, on the authority of Shahr ibn Ḥawshab, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās, he said: The thunder is an angel that drives the clouds forward with the glorification, as the camel-driver drives the camels forward with his driving-song.
* Al-Ḥasan ibn Muḥammad related to us, saying: Yaḥyā ibn ʿAbbād and Shabāba related to us, both of them saying: Shuʿba related to us, on the authority of al-Ḥakam, on the authority of Mujāhid, he said: The thunder is an angel that drives the clouds.
358 — Aḥmad ibn Isḥāq related to us, saying: Abū Aḥmad al-Zubayrī related to us, saying: ʿAttāb ibn Ziyād related to us, on the authority of ʿIkrima, he said: The thunder is an angel in the clouds that gathers the clouds together as the shepherd gathers the camels together.
359 — And Bishr related to us, saying: Yazīd related to us, saying: Saʿīd related to us, on the authority of Qatāda, he said: The thunder is a creature from among the creatures of Allah, Mighty and Exalted is He, that hears and obeys Allah, Mighty and Exalted is He.
360 — Al-Qāsim ibn al-Ḥasan related to us, saying: al-Ḥusayn ibn Dāwūd related to us, saying: Ḥajjāj related to me, on the authority of Ibn Jurayj, on the authority of ʿIkrima, he said: The thunder is an angel commanded to drive the clouds forward and he brings them together; and that voice is his glorification.
361 — And al-Qāsim related to us, saying: al-Ḥusayn related to us, saying: Ḥajjāj related to me, on the authority of Ibn Jurayj, on the authority of Mujāhid, he said: The thunder is an angel.
362 — And al-Muthannā related to me, saying: al-Ḥajjāj ibn al-Minhāl related to us, saying: Ḥammād ibn Salama related to us, on the authority of al-Mughīra ibn Sālim, on the authority of his father or another, that ʿAlī ibn Abī Ṭālib said: The thunder is an angel.
363 — Al-Muthannā related to us, saying: Ḥajjāj related to us, saying: Ḥammād related to us, saying: Mūsā ibn Sālim Abū Jahḍam, the freedman of Ibn ʿAbbās, informed us, saying: Ibn ʿAbbās wrote to Abū al-Jald asking him about the thunder, and he said: The thunder is an angel.
364 — Al-Muthannā related to us, saying: Muslim ibn Ibrāhīm related to us, saying: ʿUmar ibn al-Walīd al-Sanī related to us, on the authority of ʿIkrima, he said: The thunder is an angel that drives the clouds forward as the shepherd drives the camels forward.
365 — Saʿd ibn ʿAbd Allāh ibn ʿAbd al-Ḥakam related to me, saying: Ḥafṣ ibn ʿUmar related to us, saying: al-Ḥakam ibn Abān related to us, on the authority of ʿIkrima, he said: When Ibn ʿAbbās heard the thunder, he said: "Glory be to Him whom you have glorified." And he used to say: The thunder is an angel that calls to the rain as the shepherd calls to his sheep.
And others said: The thunder is a wind that becomes stifled beneath the clouds and then rises up, and from that arises that voice. Mention of who said that:
366 — Aḥmad ibn Isḥāq related to us, saying: Abū Aḥmad al-Zubayrī related to us, saying: Bishr ibn Ismāʿīl related to us, on the authority of Abū Kathīr, he said: I was with Abū al-Jald when the messenger of Ibn ʿAbbās came to him with a letter, and he wrote back to him: You have written to me and asked me about the thunder; well, the thunder is the wind.
367 — Ibrāhīm ibn ʿAbd Allāh related to me, saying: ʿImrān ibn Maysara related to us, saying: Ibn Idrīs related to us, on the authority of al-Ḥasan ibn al-Furāt, on the authority of his father, he said: Ibn ʿAbbās wrote to Abū al-Jald asking him about the thunder, and he said: The thunder is a wind.
Abū Jaʿfar said: If the thunder is what Ibn ʿAbbās and Mujāhid have mentioned, then the meaning of the verse is: or like a rainstorm from the sky, within which are darknesses and the voice of the thunder. For if the thunder is an angel that drives the clouds forward, then it is not in the rainstorm, because the rainstorm is only that which descends from the plunging-down of the clouds; the thunder, on the other hand, is in the expanse of the sky and drives the clouds forward. Moreover, even if it were moving within it, it would have no audible voice, and there would be no terror therein by which anyone is terrified. For it has been said: with every raindrop there is an angel. So the angel named al-Raʿd, if it were with the rainstorm and its voice not audible, would be nothing but one of those angels who descend to the earth with the raindrops, without there being any terror for anyone through its presence therein.
It is thus known, since the matter is as we have described according to the word of Ibn ʿAbbās, that the meaning of the verse is: or like the likeness of a downpour of rain that descends from the sky, within which are darknesses and the voice of the thunder — if the thunder is what Ibn ʿAbbās has said. And one was content with the indication proceeding from the mention of the thunder by its name upon what is intended in the utterance, instead of the mention of its voice. And if the thunder is what Abū al-Jald has said, then nothing is lacking in His words "within it are darknesses and thunder," for the meaning of the utterance is then: within it are darknesses and the thunder, which is what we have described according to its quality.
And as for *al-barq* (the lightning), the scholars have differed about it. Some of them said what follows:
368 — Maṭar ibn Muḥammad al-Ḍabbī related to us, saying: Abū ʿĀṣim related to us. (h) And Muḥammad ibn Bashshār related to me, saying: ʿAbd al-Raḥmān ibn Mahdī related to me. (h) And Aḥmad ibn Isḥāq al-Ahwāzī related to us, saying: Abū Aḥmad al-Zubayrī related to us. All of them said: Sufyān al-Thawrī related to us, on the authority of Salama ibn Kuhayl, on the authority of Saʿīd ibn Ashwaʿ, on the authority of Rabīʿa ibn al-Abyaḍ, on the authority of ʿAlī, he said: The lightning is the whips of the angels (*makhārīq al-malāʾika*).
369 — Aḥmad ibn Isḥāq related to us, saying: Abū Aḥmad al-Zubayrī related to us, saying: ʿAbd al-Malik ibn al-Ḥusayn related to us, on the authority of al-Suddī, on the authority of Abū Mālik, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās: The lightning is whips in the hands of the angels, with which they drive the clouds.
* Al-Muthannā related to me, saying: al-Ḥajjāj related to us, saying: Ḥammād related to us, on the authority of ʿUmayra ibn Sālim, on the authority of his father or another, that ʿAlī ibn Abī Ṭālib said: The thunder is the angel, and the lightning is his striking of the clouds with a whip of iron.
And others said: It is a whip of light with which the angel drives the clouds.
370 — It was related to me on the authority of al-Minjāb ibn al-Ḥārith, saying: Bishr ibn ʿUmāra related to us, on the authority of Abū Rawq, on the authority of al-Ḍaḥḥāk, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās, that.
And others said: It is water. Mention of who said that:
371 — Aḥmad ibn Isḥāq al-Ahwāzī related to us, saying: Abū Aḥmad al-Zubayrī related to us, saying: Bishr ibn Ismāʿīl related to us, on the authority of Abū Kathīr, he said: I was with Abū al-Jald when the messenger of Ibn ʿAbbās came to him with a letter, and he wrote back to him: You ask me about the lightning; well, the lightning is the water.
372 — Ibrāhīm ibn ʿAbd Allāh related to us, saying: ʿImrān ibn Maysara related to us, saying: Ibn Idrīs related to us, on the authority of al-Ḥasan ibn al-Furāt, on the authority of his father, he said: Ibn ʿAbbās wrote to Abū al-Jald asking him about the lightning, and he said: The lightning is water.
* Ibn Ḥumayd related to us, saying: Jarīr related to us, on the authority of ʿAṭāʾ, on the authority of a man from Basra, one of their Qurʾān-reciters, he said: Ibn ʿAbbās wrote to Abū al-Jald, a man from Hajar, asking him about the lightning, and he wrote back to him: You have written to me and asked me about the lightning; well, it is from the water.
And others said: It is the beating of the wings of an angel (*muṣaʿ malak*).
373 — Muḥammad ibn Bashshār related to us, saying: ʿAbd al-Raḥmān ibn Mahdī related to us, saying: Sufyān related to us, on the authority of ʿUthmān ibn al-Aswad, on the authority of Mujāhid, he said: The lightning is the beating of the wings of an angel.
374 — Al-Muthannā related to me, saying: Isḥāq related to us, saying: Hishām related to us, on the authority of Muḥammad ibn Muslim al-Ṭāʾifī, he said: It has reached me that the lightning is an angel with four faces: a human face, an ox face, an eagle face and a lion face; and when he beats with his wings, then that is the lightning.
375 — Al-Qāsim related to us, saying: al-Ḥusayn related to us, saying: Ḥajjāj related to me, on the authority of Ibn Jurayj, on the authority of Wahb ibn Sulaymān, on the authority of Shuʿayb al-Jubbāʾī, he said: In the Book of Allah are the angels who bear the Throne; each angel among them has a human face, an ox face and a lion face, and when they move with their wings, then that is the lightning. And Umayya ibn Abī al-Ṣalt said:
"A man and an ox beneath his right leg, and the eagle for the other, and a lion lying in wait."
376 — Al-Ḥusayn ibn Muḥammad related to us, saying: ʿAlī ibn ʿĀṣim related to us, on the authority of Ibn Jurayj, on the authority of Mujāhid, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās: The lightning is an angel.
377 — And al-Qāsim related to us, saying: al-Ḥusayn related to us, saying: Ḥajjāj related to me, on the authority of Ibn Jurayj, he said: The thunderbolts are an angel that strikes the clouds with the whips and strikes therewith whom he wills.
Abū Jaʿfar said: It may be that what ʿAlī ibn Abī Ṭālib, Ibn ʿAbbās and Mujāhid have said is one and the same meaning. That is, namely, that the whips (*al-makhārīq*) which ʿAlī, may Allah be pleased with him, mentioned to be the lightning, are the same as the whips of light with which the angel drives the clouds, as Ibn ʿAbbās said. And the angel's driving of the clouds is then his striking of them therewith. That is so because *al-miṣāʿ* among the Arabs originally means combat with swords, and thereafter it was used for everything with which one combats, in war or not in war, as Aʿshā Banī Thaʿlaba said, describing girls who play with their ornaments and combat therewith:
"When they combat their like, and the combat takes place with what is hidden in the folds of the garments."
One says of that: *māṣaʿahu miṣāʿan* (he combatted with him). And it seems that Mujāhid said only "the beating of the wings of an angel," because the clouds do not combat the angel, but rather the thunder is the one that combats him; so he made it a verbal noun of *maṣaʿahu yamṣaʿuhu maṣʿan*. And we have already mentioned previously what concerns the meaning of *al-ṣāʿiqa* (the thunderbolt), in what Shahr ibn Ḥawshab has said.
And as for the explanation of the verse, the exegetes have differed about it. From Ibn ʿAbbās several statements are related about it. The first of them is what follows:
378 — Muḥammad ibn Ḥumayd related to us, saying: Salama related to us, saying: Muḥammad ibn Isḥāq related to us, on the authority of Muḥammad ibn Abī Muḥammad, the freedman of Zayd ibn Thābit, on the authority of ʿIkrima, or on the authority of Saʿīd ibn Jubayr, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās: أو كصيب من السماء فيه ظلمات ورعد وبرق يجعلون أصابعهم في آذانهم من الصواعق حذر الموت (Or like a rainstorm from the sky, within which are darknesses, thunder and lightning; they put their fingers in their ears because of the thunderclaps, in fear of death) — that is to say: they are in the darknesses of the unbelief in which they find themselves, and in the fear of death — because of the opposition in which they are, and the fear of you — after the likeness of what is described concerning one who finds himself in the darkness of the rainstorm, who puts his fingers in his ears because of the thunderclaps, in fear of death. يكاد البرق يخطف أبصارهم (The lightning almost snatches away their sight) — that is to say: because of the intensity of the light of the truth. كلما أضاء لهم مشوا فيه وإذا أظلم عليهم قاموا (Whenever it gives them light, they walk in it, and when it grows dark over them, they stand still) — that is to say: they know the truth and speak of it, and they are, as regards their speaking of it, in sincerity; but when they sink back from it into unbelief, they stand bewildered.
And the second is what follows:
379 — Mūsā ibn Hārūn related to me, saying: ʿAmr related to us, saying: Asbāṭ related to us, on the authority of al-Suddī, in a report he traced back on the authority of Abū Mālik, and of Abū Ṣāliḥ on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās, and of Murra, on the authority of Ibn Masʿūd, and of some people among the Companions of the Prophet ﷺ: أو كصيب من السماء فيه ظلمات ورعد وبرق (Or like a rainstorm from the sky, within which are darknesses, thunder and lightning) up to إن الله على كل شيء قدير (Indeed, Allah has power over all things) — as for the rainstorm and the rain: there were two men among the hypocrites (munāfiqīn) of the people of Medina who fled from the Messenger of Allah ﷺ to the polytheists (mushrikīn). And this rain, in which Allah mentioned intense thunder, thunderbolts and lightning, struck them. Whenever the thunderbolts gave light for them, they put their fingers in their ears, in fear that the thunderbolts would enter their ear-canals and kill them. And when the lightning flashed, they walked in its light, and when it did not flash, they could not see and stood still in their place without walking. And they began to say: "Would that it were morning, so that we could go to Muḥammad and place our hands in his hand!" Then it became morning and they went to him, accepted Islam, placed their hands in his hand, and their Islam became good. Thus Allah has made the condition of these two apostatized hypocrites a similitude for the hypocrites who were in Medina. And the hypocrites, when they were present at the sitting of the Prophet ﷺ, put their fingers in their ears, in fear of the words of the Prophet ﷺ, that something about them would be revealed, or that they would be named with something and so be killed — just as those two apostatized hypocrites put their fingers in their ears. And when it gave light for them, they walked in it: when their possessions became plentiful, and their boys were born, and they attained spoils of war (ghanīma) or a victory, they walked in it and said: "Indeed, the religion of Muḥammad ﷺ is a true religion," and they remained steadfast in it — just as those two hypocrites walked when the lightning gave light for them, then they walked in it, and when it grew dark over them, they stood still. For when their possessions perished, and their girls were born, and adversity struck them, they said: "This is because of the religion of Muḥammad," and they apostatized as unbelievers — just as those two hypocrites stood still when the lightning grew dark over them.
And the third is what follows:
380 — Muḥammad ibn Saʿd related to me, saying: My father related to me, saying: My uncle related to me, on the authority of his father, on the authority of his grandfather, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās: أو كصيب من السماء (Or like a rainstorm from the sky) — like a rain — فيه ظلمات ورعد وبرق (within which are darknesses, thunder and lightning) up to the end of the verse: this is the similitude of the hypocrite in the light of what he speaks with what he has with him of the Book of Allah and of deeds, for show to the people; but when he is alone, he acts otherwise. He is thus in darkness as long as he persists therein. And as for the darknesses, that is the misguidance; and as for the lightning, that is the faith (īmān) — and they are the People of the Book. And when it grows dark over them, then he is like a man who grasps the end of the truth, but cannot pass beyond it.
And the fourth is what follows:
381 — Al-Muthannā related to me, saying: ʿAbd Allāh ibn Ṣāliḥ related to us, saying: Muʿāwiya ibn Ṣāliḥ related to me, on the authority of ʿAlī ibn Abī Ṭalḥa, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās: أو كصيب من السماء (Or like a rainstorm from the sky) — and that is the rain, of which He has made a similitude in the Qurʾān. He says: "within it are darknesses" — He means: a trial. "and thunder" — He says: within it is terrifying, and lightning. يكاد البرق يخطف أبصارهم (The lightning almost snatches away their sight) — He says: the clear verses (muḥkam) of the Qurʾān almost point out the shameful parts of the hypocrites. كلما أضاء لهم مشوا فيه (Whenever it gives them light, they walk in it) — He says: whenever the hypocrites gain honour (ʿizz) from Islam, they are reassured; and if they suffer a setback from Islam, they say: "Return to unbelief." He says: وإذا أظلم عليهم قاموا (And when it grows dark over them, they stand still), like His words: ومن الناس من يعبد الله على حرف فإن أصابه خير اطمأن به وإن أصابته فتنة (And among the people is he who worships Allah upon the edge; if good befalls him, he is reassured by it, but if a trial befalls him...) (22:11) up to the end of the verse.
Then the rest of the exegetes after that differed in a manner that corresponds to the difference related from Ibn ʿAbbās.
382 — Muḥammad ibn ʿAmr al-Bāhilī related to me, saying: Abū ʿĀṣim related to us, on the authority of ʿĪsā ibn Maymūn, on the authority of Ibn Abī Najīḥ, on the authority of Mujāhid, he said: The giving of light by the lightning and its growing dark are after the likeness of that similitude.
* And al-Muthannā related to me, saying: Abū Ḥudhayfa related to us, saying: Shibl related to us, on the authority of Ibn Abī Najīḥ, on the authority of Mujāhid, the like of that.
* ʿAmr ibn ʿAlī related to us, saying: Abū ʿĀṣim related to us, saying: ʿĪsā related to us, on the authority of Ibn Abī Najīḥ, on the authority of Mujāhid, the like of that.
383 — And Bishr ibn Muʿādh related to us, saying: Yazīd ibn Zurayʿ related to us, on the authority of Saʿīd, on the authority of Qatāda, concerning the word of Allah: فيه ظلمات ورعد وبرق (within it are darknesses, thunder and lightning) up to His words: وإذا أظلم عليهم قاموا (and when it grows dark over them, they stand still): the hypocrite, when he sees prosperity or reassurance or a pleasant livelihood in Islam, says: "I am with you and I belong to you." But when adversity strikes him, then — by Allah! — he turns away from it completely and is cut off by it; he does not endure its trial with patience, he does not count on its reward, and he does not hope for its good outcome.
384 — And al-Ḥasan ibn Yaḥyā related to us, saying: ʿAbd al-Razzāq informed us, saying: Maʿmar informed us, on the authority of Qatāda: فيه ظلمات ورعد وبرق (within it are darknesses, thunder and lightning) — He says: He has informed about a people who hear nothing but they suppose that they will perish thereby, in fear of death; and Allah encompasses the unbelievers (kāfirīn). Then He made for them another similitude and said: يكاد البرق يخطف أبصارهم كلما أضاء لهم مشوا فيه (The lightning almost snatches away their sight; whenever it gives them light, they walk in it) — He says: this is the hypocrite; when his property becomes plentiful and his livestock become plentiful and well-being strikes him, he says: "Nothing has struck me since I entered this religion of mine but good." وإذا أظلم عليهم قاموا (And when it grows dark over them, they stand still) — He says: when their possessions disappear and their livestock perish and adversity strikes them, they stand bewildered.
385 — And al-Muthannā related to me, saying: Isḥāq ibn al-Ḥajjāj related to us, on the authority of ʿAbd Allāh ibn Abī Jaʿfar, on the authority of his father, on the authority of al-Rabīʿ ibn Anas: فيه ظلمات ورعد وبرق (within it are darknesses, thunder and lightning), he said: Their likeness is as the likeness of a people who travelled on a dark night with rain, thunder and lightning, on a beaten path. When it lightened, they saw the path and proceeded over it; but when the lightning vanished, they became bewildered. So too is the hypocrite: whenever he speaks the word of sincerity (ikhlāṣ), it gives light for him, but when he doubts, he becomes bewildered and falls into the darkness. So too is His word: كلما أضاء لهم مشوا فيه وإذا أظلم عليهم قاموا (Whenever it gives them light, they walk in it, and when it grows dark over them, they stand still). Then He said — concerning their hearing and their sight with which they lived among the people: ولو شاء الله لذهب بسمعهم وأبصارهم (And had Allah willed, He would have taken away their hearing and their sight).
Abū Jaʿfar said:
386 — And al-Qāsim related to us, saying: al-Ḥusayn related to us, saying: Abū Tumayla related to us, on the authority of ʿUbayd ibn Sulaymān al-Bāhilī, on the authority of al-Ḍaḥḥāk ibn Muzāḥim: فيه ظلمات (within it are darknesses), he said: As for the darknesses, that is the misguidance, and the lightning is the faith (īmān).
387 — And Yūnus related to me, saying: Ibn Wahb informed us, saying: ʿAbd al-Raḥmān ibn Zayd related to me concerning His words: فيه ظلمات ورعد وبرق (within it are darknesses, thunder and lightning), and he recited on until he came to: إن الله على كل شيء قدير (Indeed, Allah has power over all things). He said: This too is a similitude that Allah has made for the hypocrites; they had given themselves light by Islam as this one gave himself light by the light of this lightning.
388 — And al-Qāsim related to us, saying: al-Ḥusayn related to us, saying: Ḥajjāj related to me, saying: Ibn Jurayj said: There is nothing on earth that the hypocrite hears but he supposes that it is directed against him and that it is death, out of aversion thereto; for the hypocrite is, of Allah's creatures, the most averse to death, just as they, when they found themselves in the open plain in the rain, fled from the thunderbolts.
389 — ʿAmr ibn ʿAlī related to us, saying: Abū Muʿāwiya related to us, saying: Ibn Jurayj related to us, on the authority of ʿAṭāʾ, concerning His words: أو كصيب من السماء فيه ظلمات ورعد وبرق (Or like a rainstorm from the sky, within which are darknesses, thunder and lightning), he said: A similitude that is made for the unbelievers (kuffār).
And these statements which we have mentioned on the authority of those from whom we have related them — although the wordings of their speakers differ, they are close to one another in meaning, because they all indicate that Allah has made the rainstorm a similitude for the outward faith of the hypocrite; and the likeness of what is therein of darknesses, for his misguidance; and what is therein of the light of the lightning, for the light of his faith; and his sheltering against the thunderbolts by putting his fingers in his ears, for the weakness of his temperament and the wasting away of his heart through the descent of Allah's punishment in his vicinity; and his walking in the light of the lightning, for his steadfastness upon the light of his faith; and his standing still in the darkness, for his bewilderment in his misguidance and his sinking back into his blindness.
The explanation of the verse is thus, when the matter is as we have described: or like the likeness of that by which the hypocrites gave themselves light with their saying to the Messenger of Allah ﷺ and to the believers with their tongues: "We believe in Allah and in the Last Day and in Muḥammad and in what he has brought," until the rulings (aḥkām) of the believers applied to them thereby in this world — while they, despite that they openly utter with their tongues what they utter, are deniers of Allah and of His Messenger ﷺ and of what he has brought from Allah and of the Last Day, and in their hearts believe the opposite of what they openly utter with their tongues — in blindness on their part and ignorance of the misguidance in which they are. They do not know which of the two matters in which guidance is prescribed [for them is the right one]: the unbelief in which they were before Allah sent Muḥammad ﷺ with that with which He sent him to them, or that which Muḥammad ﷺ has brought them from their Lord? They are thus in fear of Allah's threat to them by the mouth of Muḥammad ﷺ; and they, despite their fear thereof, doubt in their hearts about its truth — in their hearts is a disease, and Allah has increased their disease.
It is like a downpour of rain that draws on by night in a dark cloud and a dark night, driven on by thunder, while in its edges a lightning darts that flashes intensely and has many flashes; the glow of its lightning almost snatches away the sight and robs it through the intensity of its light and the brilliance of its radiance; and from it descend in bursts thunderbolts that almost make the souls perish through the intensity of their terrors.
The rainstorm is thus a similitude for the outward that the hypocrites show with their tongues of profession and affirmation; and the darknesses that are therein, for the darknesses of what they keep concealed of doubt, denial and disease of the hearts. And as for the thunder and the thunderbolts, these stand for the fear in which they are of Allah's threat to them by the mouth of His Messenger ﷺ in the verses of His Book — whether in the near or in the far — that will strike them, while they doubt about it: will it come to pass or not, and does it have reality or is it a lie and a false similitude? They shelter themselves, then, out of fear that it will be true, by professing with their tongues what Muḥammad ﷺ has brought, out of fear for themselves of ruin and the descent of the retributions. And that is the explanation of His words, exalted be His praise: يجعلون أصابعهم في آذانهم من الصواعق حذر الموت (they put their fingers in their ears because of the thunderclaps, in fear of death). He means thereby: they shelter themselves against Allah's threat that He has sent down in His Book by the mouth of His Messenger ﷺ, with the outward profession that they show with their tongues — just as the fearful one shelters himself against the sounds of the thunderbolts by covering his ears and putting his fingers therein, in fear for himself thereof.
And we have already mentioned the report related from Ibn Masʿūd and Ibn ʿAbbās, that both of them said: The hypocrites, when they were present at the sitting of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ, put their fingers in their ears, in fear of the words of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ, that something about them would be revealed, or that they would be named with something and so be killed. If that is literally so — and I do not know whether it is sound (ṣaḥīḥ), since I have doubt about its chain of transmission (isnād) — then the statement related from both of them is the correct statement. But even if it is not correct, then for the explanation of the verse the most fitting is what we have said. For Allah has, at the very beginning of His account about them, related to us only that they seek to deceive Allah and His Messenger and the believers with their saying "We believe in Allah and in the Last Day," while their hearts doubt and their temperaments are diseased concerning the reality of that which they claimed to believe in of what the Messenger of Allah ﷺ has brought them from their Lord. And thus He has described them in all the verses of the Qurʾān in which He has mentioned their quality. So it is also in this verse.
Allah has made the putting of their fingers in their ears only a similitude for their sheltering against the Messenger of Allah ﷺ and the believers with that with which they shelter themselves against them, as we have mentioned — just as one who hears the sound of the thunderbolt shelters himself by putting his fingers in his ears. And that is, in the similitude, comparable to Allah's, exalted be His praise, comparison of the threat that He has sent down concerning them in the verses of His Book with the sounds of the thunderbolts. So too His words: حذر الموت (in fear of death) — He, exalted be His praise, has made this a similitude for their fear and anxiety over the descent of the near, destroying punishment with which He has threatened their vicinity — just as one who hears the sounds of the thunderbolts puts his fingers in his ears in fear of ruin and death for himself, that his soul might perish through the intensity thereof.
He has placed His words حذر الموت (in fear of death) in the accusative in the same manner as *al-takrima* (the honouring) is placed in the accusative in your expression: "I visited you *takrimatan laka* (as an honouring to you)," by which you mean: because of the honour to you; and as He, exalted be His praise, said: ويدعوننا رغبا ورهبا (and they called upon Us out of longing and out of fear) (21:90), as an explanation (tafsīr) for the action.
And it is related from Qatāda that he explained His words حذر الموت as: out of fear of death (ḥadharan mina l-mawt).
390 — That al-Ḥasan ibn Yaḥyā related to us, saying: ʿAbd al-Razzāq related to us, saying: Maʿmar informed us on his authority.
But that is a weak manner of explanation, because the people did not put their fingers in their ears out of fear of death, such that the meaning would be what he said is meant by it, namely "out of fear of death"; rather they put their fingers in their ears for the sake of dread of death.
And Qatāda and Ibn Jurayj explained His words يجعلون أصابعهم في آذانهم من الصواعق حذر الموت (they put their fingers in their ears because of the thunderclaps, in fear of death) in such a way that this is a description by Allah, exalted be His praise, of the hypocrites with timorousness (halaʿ), weakness of the hearts and aversion to death; and they explained therein His words: يحسبون كل صيحة عليهم (They suppose that every cry is against them) (63:4). But the matter therein, in my view, is not as both of them have said. That is because there were among them those whose bravery cannot be denied and whose courage cannot be refuted, such as Quzmān, in whose place none of the believers could hold firm at Uḥud or earlier. Rather, their aversion was only to attending the battles together with the Messenger of Allah ﷺ and their abstaining from aiding him against his enemies, because they had no insight into their religion and did not hold the Messenger of Allah ﷺ to be truthful. They were thus averse to attending his battles with him, except to discourage him. But that is a description by Allah, exalted be His praise, of them with anxiety over the descent of Allah's punishment upon them because of their hypocrisy (nifāq), whether near or far.
والله محيط بالكافرين
(And Allah encompasses the unbelievers)
Then He informed, exalted be His praise, that the hypocrites, whom He has described with the description that He has mentioned and for whom He has made the similitudes that He has described — even though they shelter themselves against His punishment and are anxious over His torment, like the anxiety of one who puts his fingers in his ears in fear of the descent of the threat with which He has threatened them in the verses of His Book — that this will not save them from its descent in their dwelling-place and its alighting in their vicinity, whether near in this world, or far in the Hereafter, because of the disease that is in their hearts and the doubt in their conviction. He said, then: والله محيط بالكافرين (And Allah encompasses the unbelievers), in the meaning of: He gathers them together and then makes His punishment descend upon them.
And Mujāhid explained that thus, as follows:
391 — Muḥammad ibn ʿAmr al-Bāhilī related to me, saying: Abū ʿĀṣim related to us, on the authority of ʿĪsā ibn Maymūn, on the authority of ʿAbd Allāh ibn Abī Najīḥ, on the authority of Mujāhid, concerning the word of Allah: والله محيط بالكافرين (And Allah encompasses the unbelievers), he said: He gathers them together in Hell (jahannam).
And as for Ibn ʿAbbās, from him is related about it what follows:
392 — Ibn Ḥumayd related that to me, saying: Salama related to us, on the authority of Ibn Isḥāq, on the authority of Muḥammad ibn Abī Muḥammad, the freedman of Zayd ibn Thābit, on the authority of ʿIkrima, or on the authority of Saʿīd ibn Jubayr, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās: والله محيط بالكافرين (And Allah encompasses the unbelievers) — He says: Allah makes the retribution of that descend upon them.
* Al-Qāsim related to us, saying: al-Ḥusayn related to us, saying: Ḥajjāj related to us, on the authority of Ibn Jurayj, on the authority of Mujāhid, concerning His words: والله محيط بالكافرين (And Allah encompasses the unbelievers), he said: He gathers them together.
