Al-Furqan · Makki · ayah 50 of 77

Al-Furqan 25:50

وَلَقَدْ صَرَّفْنَـٰهُ بَيْنَهُمْ لِيَذَّكَّرُوا۟ فَأَبَىٰٓ أَكْثَرُ ٱلنَّاسِ إِلَّا كُفُورًا

“And We have certainly distributed it among them that they might be reminded,[1032] but most of the people refuse except disbelief.”

Saheeh International

Essence

Allah turns the rain among people, here this year and there the next, so that they remember; yet most refuse everything but ingratitude.

A reflection

Who chose which field got the storm?

Two villages sit four miles apart. On a Saturday in July, one cricket match is rained off by a single heavy cloud. In the next village the sun shines all afternoon. The winning captain there tells the local paper his decision to bat first made the difference. Nobody asks him who moved the cloud.

The ayah begins with a heavy emphasis: wa laqad, 'and indeed, truly'. Then comes the verb ṣarrafnāhu: We have turned it about among them. Most commentators say 'it' is the rain. Allah sends it to one land and not another, in one year and not the next.

Two great Companions are reported to have said something striking about this. No year, they said, has more rain than another, but Allah turns it about as He wills. Then they recited this ayah. Their point was not a measurement. It was a statement about whose hand decides where the rain falls.

That is uncomfortable for the ego. We like to explain our good fortune by our own skill. The well-watered region praises its farming methods. The fortunate family credits its planning. The ayah does not deny skill. It reminds us that the first condition of every harvest was decided elsewhere, by Someone who owed us nothing.

Is this a God who insists on credit for every shower? He describes Himself elsewhere as free of all need, while people are poor towards Him (35:15). Our thanks do not enlarge Him. But a person who knows who sent the rain stays humble when it falls on him. He stays compassionate when it falls elsewhere. Both are good for the soul.

The full entry has 6 more reflections, questions to sit with, and "Live it today" - with the words, the roots and the tafsir alongside. Free, no account, works offline.