Overview (Verses 46 - 51)

Aspects of God’s Grace

The sūrah begins a new round showing some of God’s signs and how they reflect His grace as He provides them with sustenance and guidance. They recognize only parts of this, denying others. Nevertheless, they do not give thanks or follow His guidance: And among His signs is that He sends forth the winds bearing good news, so that He might give you a taste of His grace, and that ships might sail at His bidding; so that you might go about in quest of some of His bounty, and that you might have cause to be grateful. We have certainly sent before you messengers to their own peoples, and they brought them clear evidence of the truth. Therefore, We inflicted punishment upon those who deliberately did evil. It is incumbent upon Us to give support to the believers. It is God who sends forth the winds so that they raise clouds, whereupon He spreads them as He wills across the skies, and causes them to break up so that you can see the rain issuing from within it. As soon as He causes it to fall upon whomever He wills of His servants, they rejoice, even though a short while ago, before it was sent down upon them, they had abandoned all hope. Behold, then, the effects of God’s grace: how He gives life to the earth after it had been lifeless! It is indeed He, the One who can bring the dead back to life; for He has power over all things. (Verses 46-50) God’s signs here include the winds as heralds bearing good news, sending messengers with clear signs, giving support to believers, sending rain to give life to dead land and bringing the dead back to life. This combination is very significant. All these are aspects of God’s mercy and grace, and they are all part of the laws God has set in operation. Indeed there are close links between the system of the universe, the messages of divine guidance preached by God’s messengers, and the victory granted to the believers. All these are among God’s signs, and aspects of His grace. They are important to human life, and they are closely related to the universal system.

“And among His signs is that He sends forth the winds bearing good news.” (Verse 46) These winds herald rain. From experience, people know the winds that bring rain which raises their hopes. “So that He might give you a taste of His grace,” with this prospect of rain, fertility and growth. “And that ships might sail at His bidding,” either with the help of rain or by causing rivers to flow and allowing ships to sail on them. Yet the ships are actually run by God’s bidding, according to the laws He operates in the universe, giving everything its qualities and functions. An aspect of this is that ships are easily carried by water and they float and move, pushed by the wind, either with or against the current. With Him everything is made to measure. “So that you might go about in quest of some of His bounty,” on your business travels, in cultivating the land, and in business exchanges. All this is part of God’s bounty, given by the One who has created everything and perfectly proportioned them all so “that you might have cause to be grateful,” for His grace in all this. This comment at the end of the verse serves as an indication of how people should behave when they receive God’s bounty.

Similar to sending the winds bearing good news is the sending of messengers with veritable signs of the truth: “We have certainly sent before you messengers to their own peoples, and they brought them clear evidence of the truth.” (Verse 47) Yet people did not receive this aspect of God’s grace, which is much greater and further reaching than the wind that brings the prospect of rain. Nor did they benefit by them as they did by rain, even though their messages were far more beneficial and longer lasting. Essentially, they took two different attitudes towards God’s messengers. Some of them refused to believe or reflect on God’s messages and continued to inflict harm on the messengers and to turn people away from God’s path. Others, who believed, recognized God’s signs, offered thanks for His grace, and bore with patience the harm inflicted on them by the other group. Furthermore, they were confident that God’s promise would come true. The outcome was in accordance with divine justice and in fulfilment of His certain promise: “Therefore, We inflicted punishment upon those who deliberately did evil. It is incumbent upon Us to give support to the believers.” (Verse 47)

All glory to God Almighty who, by His grace, has committed Himself to support the believers and give them victory, making this their right. He has emphatically confirmed it in clear, unambiguous terms. How could there be any ambiguity when the One making the commitment is God Almighty who has sway over all His creatures? He makes this statement expressing His will that will always be done, and pointing to the working of His law which never fails. He is the All-Knowing, the Wise.

God’s support may appear, in people’s reckoning, to be slow in coming, because they have a measure and a perspective that are different from His. He, in His knowledge and wisdom, fulfils His promise at the time He chooses in accordance with His law. People may or may not be able to appreciate the wisdom of His timing. Yet His will brings the best; it is His timing that is the most appropriate, and it is His promise that will most certainly be fulfilled. Believers who reflect the quality of patience in adversity await its fulfilment with unshakeable confidence.

The sūrah goes on to state that it is God who sends the winds, brings down the rain, gives life to the earth after it was dead, and also brings the dead back to life: it is all one law, one method and different stages in the chain of the overall universal law.

“It is God who sends forth the winds,” in accordance with the law He has set in operation to regulate the universe and its affairs. “So that they raise clouds,” by the vapour they carry from the surface of water bodies on earth. “Whereupon He spreads them as He wills across the skies, and causes them to break up,” allowing its pieces to gather and condense, accumulate in layers, or collide with one another, or send an electrical charge from one layer or piece to another. “So that you can see the rain issuing from within it,” when such clouds are heavy with rain. “As soon as He causes it to fall upon whomever He wills of His servants, they rejoice.” (Verse 48) No one knows the extent of such rejoicing better than the people for whom rain means survival. The Arabs were the first people to realize the importance of this statement, because their lives depended on rain. Their poetry and folk stories mention it with hope and endearment.

“Even though a short while ago, before it was sent down upon them, they had abandoned all hope.” (Verse 49) This describes their condition before rain. In fact, rain changes their condition completely, from despair to hope and rejoicing. “Behold, then, the effects of God’s grace.” You see these effects in people’s faces as they brighten up after being gloomy with despair, in the quickening earth, and in the liveliness affecting all.

“Behold, then, the effects of God’s grace: how He gives life to the earth after it had been lifeless!” (Verse 50) This is a fact that needs no more than that we look and reflect. It is given here as evidence confirming the resurrection when people are brought back to life. This is consistent in the Qur’ānic argument where universal images and facts of life are given as substantial evidence: “It is indeed He, the One who can bring the dead back to life; for He has power over all things.” (Verse 50) We need only to look at the effects of God’s grace on the earth to be certain of the truth of this eventuality and the fulfilment of this promise.

The sūrah then describes the feelings of those very people who are happy at seeing the wind carrying water and who rejoice as they see rain bringing God’s grace. What would they feel, however, if they saw the winds as yellowish in colour carrying dust and sand? Such winds destroy fields and livestock, or cause plants to dry and wither: “If We send a [scorching’ wind and they see it turning yellow, they begin after that to deny the truth.” (Verse 51) Rather than submitting to God’s will and praying to Him earnestly to remove their affliction, they deny the truth out of frustration and despair. This is the status of people who do not believe in God or His will, of people who cannot discern God’s wisdom in what He decides, and cannot appreciate that it is God’s hand that determines everything in the universe, ensuring harmony between all its events and situations.