And when He indicated His greatness by His actions in creation and annihilation, and concluded with death and life through near causes, He followed it with actions in entities in a similar manner, indicating death and life through distant causes. He began with what is close due to its subtlety among the meanings, and in it is the spreading which He concluded with what preceded it. He said: ﴿And He﴾ meaning alone ﴿is the One who sent the winds﴾. The reading of Ibn Kathir is in the singular to indicate the genus, while the reading of others is in the plural, which is more indicative of the choice, as at times they are easterly and at other times westerly, and sometimes from the north and at other times from the south, and other than that. ﴿As glad tidings﴾ meaning it brings forth its souls the clouds, just as He spread during the day the souls of the shadows ﴿before His mercy﴾ for His servants with rain.

And when the clouds are close to the wind in subtlety, and water is close to both of them (p-401) and is caused by what the wind carries from the clouds, He followed them with it. And when it is evident in its descent of the indication of greatness by its creation there, and its holding and then its descent at the desired time and the chosen place according to the need, which is not hidden, He changed the style, manifesting the greatness, and said: ﴿And We sent down from the heaven﴾ meaning where there is no holder of the water other than Him, glorified is He ﴿water﴾. Then He replaced it with a clarification of the blessing in it, saying: ﴿pure﴾ meaning pure in itself and purifying for others, a name of a tool like the pre-dawn meal and the years for what is eaten at the pre-dawn meal and what is used for shaving. Abu Hayyan transmitted from Sibawayh that it is a source for the intensified form of purification that occurs without its action. As for making it an exaggeration for pure, it does not indicate anything other than that it is highly pure in itself, because its action is limited.