Surah al-Hajj (The Pilgrimage ) 22 : 63

Explanatory Note

Further natural phenomena are shown as permanent indicators of God’s power. We see this happening all the time: rain pours down from the skies and the earth becomes green within a very short period, but again long familiarity makes us oblivious to this. However, to people with open minds the scene arouses a host of feelings. At times, you look at a green shoot poking out through the black earth and you feel its freshness. It reminds you of young children smiling happily to the world around them, and who almost fly with delight when they see the spreading light.

If we have such feelings, we can properly understand the comment at the end of the verse: “God is unfathomable in His wisdom, All Aware.” It is as profound a comment as our feelings when we look at this delightful scene and contemplate its nature. It is part of God’s unfathomable wisdom to initiate such subtle movements within the depths of the earth, bringing forth a green shoot, fresh but weak and slim. With God’s power, it stretches out into the air, moving against the law of gravity. It is God’s knowledge that determines the amount of rain that falls from the sky and its timing, so that water mixes with the earth and allows vegetation to grow.