Fatir · Makki · ayah 27 of 45

Fatir 35:27

أَلَمْ تَرَ أَنَّ ٱللَّهَ أَنزَلَ مِنَ ٱلسَّمَآءِ مَآءً فَأَخْرَجْنَا بِهِۦ ثَمَرَٰتٍ مُّخْتَلِفًا أَلْوَٰنُهَا ۚ وَمِنَ ٱلْجِبَالِ جُدَدٌۢ بِيضٌ وَحُمْرٌ مُّخْتَلِفٌ أَلْوَٰنُهَا وَغَرَابِيبُ سُودٌ

“Do you not see that Allāh sends down rain from the sky, and We produce thereby fruits of varying colors? And in the mountains are tracts, white and red of varying shades and [some] extremely black.”

Saheeh International

Essence

One rain falls, and from it come fruits of every shade and mountains streaked white, red and raven-black: endless variety from a single source.

A reflection

He says 'We' at the moment the fruit appears

The ayah opens in the third person. Allah sent down water from the sky. Then, halfway through the sentence, the voice changes: 'and We brought forth by it fruits of varying colours'. The Speaker steps forward at the very moment the fruit appears.

One classical commentator offered a reason. Someone might claim that rain falls by nature, simply because water is heavy. Nobody can claim that a pomegranate climbs out of the soil by weight. So the act that plainly needs a will is spoken as 'We'. He gave a second reason too. Bringing forth is the fuller gift, since the rain falls for the sake of the fruit.

Now look at the fruit itself. One water reaches the roots of a lemon tree and a fig tree. The lemon turns yellow, the fig darkens to purple, and the pomegranate splits open red. Another commentary calls this the perfection of His power: endless kinds drawn from one thing.

Set that beside a modern habit. Picture a company that registers a single shade of purple as its trademark. It sends lawyers after anyone whose wrapper comes too close. A person can own a colour only on paper, and only after Someone else made it.

This is where the ego is meant to shrink. Every shade a designer picks was first handed out by rain. The proudest palette in any studio is borrowed. The 'We' in this ayah is not a boast. It is a correction, gently made: when the fruit appears, remember who is speaking.

Does Allah need us to admire His colours? Not at all. The fig is no darker for our praise. But the one who admires rightly is changed. He stops treating the world as raw material he happens to control. He starts treating it as a gift he was trusted with, and pride has less to stand on.

The full entry has 5 more reflections, questions to sit with, and "Live it today" - with the words, the roots and the tafsir alongside. Free, no account, works offline.