Surah An-Nur 24:44

The Power of Allah to create the Clouds and that which comes from Them

Allah tells us that He drives the clouds from the beginning, when they are formed and are still weak. This is the "Gentle driving."

(then joins them together,) means, He brings them together after they have been scattered.

(then makes them into a heap of layers,) means, He piles them up on top of one another.

(and you see the Wadq) meaning the rain,

(come forth from between them;) means, from the gaps between them. This is how it was understood by Ibn `Abbas and Ad-Dahhak. `Ubayd bin `Umayr Al-Laythi said: "Allah sends the scatterer wind, which stirs up that which is on the surface of the earth. Then he sends the generator wind, which forms the clouds. Then He sends the joiner wind which brings them together. Then He sends the fertilizer wind which fertilizes or `seeds' the clouds." This was recorded by Ibn Abi Hatim and Ibn Jarir.

(and He sends down from Min the sky, from Min mountains in it of Min ice,) Some of the grammarians said that the first Min describes the place from which it is coming, the second specifies from which part of the sky it comes, and the third means some kind of mountains. This is based on the view of those scholars of Tafsir who say that,

(from Min mountains in it of Min ice) means that there are mountains of hail in the sky from which Allah sends down ice. As for those who say that "mountains" here is used as a metaphor for clouds, they think that the second Min is also used to describe the place from which the ice is coming, and is thus interchangeable with the first. And Allah knows best.

(and strikes therewith whom He wills, and averts it from whom He wills.) It may be that the phrase

(and strikes therewith) means, with what He sends down from the sky of different kinds of rain and hail. So then the phrase

(and strikes therewith whom He wills) means, by His mercy towards them, and

(and averts it from whom He wills. ) means, He withholds rain from them. Or it may be that

(and strikes therewith) means, with hail, as a punishment towards whomever He wills, striking their fruits and destroying their crops and trees. And He averts it from whomever He wills as a mercy towards them.

(The vivid flash of its lightning nearly blinds the sight.) the brightness of its lightning almost takes away their sight if the eyes follow it and try to look at it.

(Allah causes the night and the day to succeed each other.) He is controlling them, so that He takes something from the length of one and adds it to the other, which is short, until they become equal, then He does the opposite so that the one which was short becomes long and vice versa. Allah is the One Who is controlling that by His command, power, might and knowledge.

(Truly, in this is indeed a lesson for those who have insight.) means, this is an indication of His greatness, may He be exalted. This is like the Ayah:

(Verily, in the creation of the heavens and the earth, and in the alternation of night and day, there are indeed signs for men of understanding.) 3:190 and thereafter.

Di antara hal-hal yang menunjukkan kekuasaan Allah ialah beralihnya siang menjadi malam dan malam menjadi siang. Para ahli falak, hanya dapat menganalisa sebab terjadinya malam di suatu daerah demikian pula siang. Hal ini berpangkal dari perjalanan matahari dan perputaran bumi. Tetapi mereka tidak mampu sama sekali untuk mengubah ketentuan dan ketetapan Allah. Mereka tidak dapat memperpanjang atau memperpendek siang atau malam di suatu daerah karena perputaran malam dan siang itu suatu ketentuan dari yang Mahakuasa. Semua ini seharusnya menjadi perhatian dan pelajaran bagi orang-orang yang berpikir bahwa manusia sebagai makhluk Allah, dengan ilmunya yang sedikit hanya dapat menganalisa kejadian-kejadian dalam alam ini tetapi mereka tidak dapat menguasainya karena kekuasaan yang sebenarnya ada di tangan Allah.

Menurut saintis, penggantian siang ke malam secara optis (penglihatan) adalah pergeseran dari warna dari cahaya yang dilenturkan (diffracted) dari mula-mula cahaya kuning, ke jingga ke merah (menjelang waktu salat Isya) sampai ke infra merah pada waktu salat Isya. Setelah itu semakin larut malam, maka bumi dihujani oleh gelombang yang lebih pendek yang bisa membahayakan manusia.

Efek dari berbagai gelombang dari sinar matahari dengan panjang gelombang yang makin pendek belum diketahui secara mendalam. Tetapi yang jelas bahwa gelombang yang sangat pendek, kearah gelombang X atau gelombang rontgen cukup berbahaya bagi tubuh manusia apalagi jika dayanya tinggi. Oleh karena itu dianjurkan manusia untuk tinggal di rumah dan beristirahat sesuai dengan tuntunan Al-Qur'an.