Tafseer of The Pilgrimage · Al-Hajj · 22:63
Do you not see that Allah has sent down rain from the sky and the earth becomes green? Indeed, Allah is Subtle and Acquainted.
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.
Allah, exalted be His mention, says: أَلَمْ تَرَ ("Have you not seen") — O Muḥammad — أَنَّ اللَّهَ أَنزلَ مِنَ السَّمَاءِ مَاءً ("that Allah has sent down water from the sky") — what is meant is rain — فَتُصْبِحُ الأرْضُ مُخْضَرَّةً ("whereupon the earth becomes green") through the plants that sprout in it. إِنَّ اللَّهَ لَطِيفٌ ("Indeed, Allah is Subtle") — in causing crops to sprout from the earth by means of that water, and by all else that He brings into existence as He wills. (خَبِيرٌ — "All-Aware") — fully knowing of what that crop brings forth in grain.
And he said: فَتُصْبِحُ الأرْضُ stands in the indicative (al-rafʿ — with the nominative ending), while before it stands: أَلَمْ تَرَ ("Have you not seen"). It is said thus because the meaning of the words is a piece of news; it is as though it were said: Know, O Muḥammad, that Allah sends water down from the sky and the earth then becomes green. A parallel to this is the poet's saying:
أَلَمْ تَسْأَلِ الرَّبْعَ الْقَدِيمَ فَيَنْطِقُ وَهَلْ تُخْبِرَنْكَ الْيَوْمَ بَيْدَاءُ سَمْلَقُ
For its meaning is: you asked it and it spoke.
