His saying, exalted and majestic is He:

﴿Or like a downpour from the sky in which there are darknesses, thunder, and lightning. They put their fingers in their ears from the thunderclaps, fearing death. And Allah encompasses the disbelievers.﴾ ﴿The lightning almost snatches away their sight. Every time it illuminates for them, they walk in it; and when darkness falls upon them, they stand still. And if Allah had willed, He could have taken away their hearing and their sight. Indeed, Allah is over all things competent.﴾

(p-137) "Or" is for choice, meaning: their example is like this, or like that, not limited to one of the two matters. And His saying: ﴿Or like a downpour﴾ is connected to ﴿Like the example of those﴾ [Al-Baqarah: 17]. And Al-Tabari said: "Or" means "and."

(p-138) Al-Qadi Abu Muhammad, may Allah have mercy on him, said: And this is a foreign word. "The downpour" refers to rain, from صابَ يَصُوبُ (to fall from a height to a low place). And from it is the saying of Alqamah ibn Abadah:

؎ They are as if a cloud has poured down upon them, its thunderbolts are for their birds creeping.

And the saying of another:

؎ I am not for a human, but for an angel ∗∗∗ who descends from the atmosphere of the sky, pouring down.

The root of "downpour" is صَيُوبٌ. The waw and the ya have come together, and one of them was preceded by a sukoon, so the waw was turned into a ya and merged, as was done in سَيِّدٍ and مَيِّتٍ. And some of the Kufans said: The root of "downpour" is صُوَيْبٍ, following the pattern of فَعِيلٍ, and it must not be made defective, just as طَوِيلٌ is not made defective. Thus, this saying is weak. And His saying, exalted is He: "darknesses" in the plural indicates the darkness of the night and the darkness of the storm. And since they overlap and increase, they are gathered. And the fact that the storm is dark is a terror and gloom for the soul, unlike the cloud and rain when its darkness clears, for it is a beautiful sight.

And from it is the saying of Qays ibn Al-Khathim:

؎ So there is no garden among the gardens of the quails ∗∗∗ more beautiful than it, nor is there a cloud ∗∗∗ whose depths have been revealed.

(p-139) The scholars differed regarding "thunder." Ibn Abbas, Mujahid, Shahr ibn Hawshab, and others said: It is a king who drives the clouds with this audible sound. Whenever a cloud goes against him, he shouts at it. And when his anger intensifies, fire flies from his mouth, and that is the thunderbolts. The name of this king is "thunder." It is said that thunder is a king and this sound is his glorification. It is said that thunder is the name of the audible sound. This was said by Ali ibn Abi Talib, may Allah be pleased with him, and this is what is known in the Arabic language. And Labid said in his pre-Islamic poetry:

؎ The thunder and the thunderbolts have caused me grief ∗∗∗ on the day of the dreadful Najd.

And it was narrated from Ibn Abbas that he said: Thunder is a wind that chokes between the clouds, producing that sound. It is said that thunder is the clashing of the bodies of the clouds. Most scholars agree that thunder is an angel, and that sound is his glorification and he drives the clouds.

They differed regarding "lightning." Ali ibn Abi Talib, may Allah be pleased with him, said: It is an iron spear in the hand of the angel with which he drives the clouds. Ibn Abbas said: It is a whip of light in the hand of the angel with which he drives the clouds. It was narrated from Ibn Abbas, may Allah be pleased with him, that lightning is an angel that appears. And some said: Lightning is water, and this is a weak saying.

And the 'saa'iqah': Al-Khalil said: It is the severe occurrence from the sound of thunder. Sometimes, there is a piece of fire with it. It is said that it is from the lightning that is in the hand of the angel. It is also said regarding the piece of fire: It is what comes out from the mouth of the angel when he is angry.

And Al-Khalil narrated from a group of Arabs: The 'saa'iqah' with a 'seen'. And Al-Naqqash said: It is said: 'saa'iqah', 'sa'iqah', and 'saaqi'ah' with one meaning. Al-Hasan ibn Abi Al-Hasan read: 'from the saawa'iq' by advancing the 'qaf'. Abu Amr said: This is the dialect of Tamim. And Al-Dahhak ibn Muzahim read: 'Beware of death' with a kasrah on the 'ha' and with an 'alif'.

The interpreters differed in the intended meaning of this parable, and how the states of the hypocrites correspond to what is in the parable of darkness, thunder, lightning, and the 'saa'iqah'. The majority of the interpreters said: Allah, the Exalted, likened the Quran to the rain for what is in it of ambiguity upon them. And the blindness: it is the darkness and what is in it of warning. And the 'zajr': it is the thunder, and what is in it of light and clear proofs that almost dazzle them is the lightning. And what frightens them and terrifies them and warns them is putting their fingers in their ears, and the exposure of their hypocrisy and the public nature of their disbelief, and the obligations of the Sharia that they dislike, such as jihad and zakat, and similar things, are the 'saa'iqah'.

Qadi Abu Muhammad, may Allah have mercy on him, said: All of this is correct and clear. It has been narrated from Ibn Mas'ud that he said: "Two men from the hypocrites fled from the Prophet, blessings and peace be upon him, to the polytheists, and this rain that Allah mentioned struck them. They were certain of destruction and said: 'If only we could wake up and go to Muhammad, and place our hands in his hand.' So they woke up and came to him, and their Islam was good. Allah struck what befell them as a parable for the hypocrites." Ibn Mas'ud also said: The hypocrites in the assembly of the Messenger of Allah, blessings and peace be upon him, would put their fingers in their ears so that they would not hear the Quran. So Allah struck the parable for them, and this is in agreement with the saying of the majority that we mentioned.

And a group said: The thunder and lightning are like the warning of the Quran and its threats.

And ﴿He is encompassing of the disbelievers﴾ means: with His punishment and seizing. It is said: The sultan has encompassed so-and-so if he has seized him completely from every direction. From this is His saying, the Most High: ﴿And it was encompassed by its fruits﴾ [Al-Kahf: 42]. In the speech, there is an omission of a genitive. And "yakadu" is a verb that negates the meaning while affirming it, and it affirms it with negation. Here, the lightning did not seize the eyes, and "seizing" means taking away quickly. The reading of this word has differed. The majority of people read: "yakhtifu absarahum" with the opening of the yā and ṭā and the sukoon of the khā according to their saying in the past "khaṭafa" with the kasrah of the ṭā, and this is the most eloquent of the Arabic languages, and it is Qurashi. Ali ibn al-Husayn and Yahya ibn Waththab read: "yakhtifu" with the opening of the yā and the sukoon of the khā and the kasrah of the ṭā according to the saying of some Arabs in the past "khaṭafa" with the opening of the ṭā. Al-Mahdawi attributed this reading to al-Hasan and Abu Rajaa, and that is an error. Al-Hasan, Abu Rajaa, Asim al-Jahdari, and Qatadah read: "yakhtifu" with the opening of the yā and the kasrah of the khā and ṭā and the emphasis of the ṭā. Its original form is "yakhtafi"; the tā was assimilated into the ṭā and the khā was opened for the meeting of the two saakins. Ibn Mujahid reported a reading that he did not attribute to anyone: "yakhtifu" with the opening of the yā and khā and the emphasis of the broken ṭā. Abu al-Fath said: Its original form is "yakhtafi"; the vowel of the tā was transferred to the khā, and the tā was assimilated into the ṭā. Abu Amr al-Dani also narrated from al-Hasan that he read: "yakhtifu" with the opening of the yā, khā, and ṭā and its emphasis. It was also narrated from al-Hasan and al-A'mash with the kasrah of all three and the emphasis of the ṭā from it; this is also its original form "yakhtafi". It was assimilated and the khā was broken for the meeting, and the yā was broken in accordance. Abd al-Warith said: I saw it in the Mushaf of Ubayy ibn Ka'b: "yatakhṭafu" with the tā between the yā and khā. Al-Farra' said: Some of the people of Medina read with the opening of the yā and the sukoon of the khā and the emphasis of the broken ṭā. Abu al-Fath said: It is merely a snatching and concealment, so it is gentle with them, and they see it as assimilation, and that is not permissible because it combines two saakins without excuse. Al-Farra' also narrated a reading from some people with the dhammah of the yā and the opening of the khā and the emphasis of the broken ṭā as if it is an emphasis of exaggeration, not an emphasis of transitive. And the meaning of ﴿The lightning almost seizes their eyes﴾: The arguments of the Qur'an and its proofs and its shining signs almost dazzle them. And whoever made the lightning in the example a warning and threat said: That almost strikes them. And "whenever" is an adverb, and its doer is "they walked," and it is also the response to "whenever." And "it illuminated" is a relative clause of "what." Whoever made "it illuminated" transitive, he estimated for it a direct object, and whoever made it like "ḍā'a" sufficed with that. Ibn Abu Abla read: "Aḍā lahum" without hamzah, and it is a dialect. In the Mushaf of Ubayy ibn Ka'b: "They passed through it," and in the reading of Ibn Mas'ud: "They went through it." And al-Dahhak read: "And when it darkened" with the dhammah of the hamzah and the kasrah of the lām. And "they stood" means: they remained; because they were standing, and from this is the saying of the Bedouin:

And indeed, time has established my pride ∗∗∗ after I established its pride.

He means: Time has confirmed.

And the meaning of the verse, as narrated from Ibn Abbas and others, is: Whenever the hypocrites heard the Qur'an, and the proofs became evident to them, they felt at ease and walked along with it. But when there was revealed from the Qur'an that which they were blind to or by which they were led astray, or that which they were burdened with, they stood firm in their hypocrisy. It has been narrated from Ibn Mas'ud that the meaning of the verse is: Whenever their conditions improved in their crops and livestock and blessings continued to come upon them, they said: The religion of Muhammad is a blessed religion. But when a calamity befell them or they were struck by hardship, they became displeased and remained in their hypocrisy.

And some people said: The meaning of the verse is: Whenever their hypocrisy was concealed from you, and their faith appeared to you, they walked in it. But when they were exposed before you, they stood firm. And the hearing was made singular because it is a source that applies to both the singular and the plural. Al-Naqqash reported that some of the scholars read: 'With their ears.' And Ibrahim ibn Abi Abla read: 'And if Allah had willed, He would have taken away their hearing and their sight.' He specified hearing and sight due to their prior mention in the verse. This meaning regarding the hypocrites is that if Allah had willed, He would have inflicted upon them what they fear from rebuke and warning, or for their exposure among the believers, and He would have empowered the believers over them. And regarding each of these interpretations, some people have said. And His saying, the Exalted: 'Indeed, He is capable of all things,' its wording is general, and its meaning among the speakers is: Regarding everything that it is permissible to describe Him with power over it. And 'capable' means powerful, and it carries emphasis. Here, He specified His attribute which is power by mention; because there has preceded the mention of an action implying warning and fear, thus the mention of power is appropriate for that.