His saying, exalted and majestic is He:

﴿Allah is He who sends the winds, and they stir up clouds, and He spreads them in the sky as He wills, and He makes them into fragments, so you see the rain coming forth from between them. And when He strikes with it whom He wills of His servants, they rejoice﴾ ﴿And if they were before it to be struck with despair﴾ ﴿So look at the effects of the mercy of Allah, how He gives life to the earth after its death. Indeed, that is the Reviver of the dead, and He is capable of all things﴾

The stirring of the clouds: is their movement from stillness and their driving. And spreading them in the sky is their dissemination in the horizons. And "the fragments": are the pieces. The majority of the reciters read: "fragments" with a فتح on the س, while Ibn 'Amir read: "fragments" with a س that is سكون. This is the reading of Al-Hasan, Abu Ja'far, and Al-A'raj. Both are forms of the plural, as it is said: "a lote tree and lote trees" with a س that is سكون, and "lote trees" with a فتح on the د. And Al-Makki said: Whoever has a س that is سكون, its meaning is: He makes the cloud a single piece. And "the rain": is the water that falls, and from it is the saying of the poet:

There is no cloud that rained and rained it, Nor land that retained its greenness.

And "from between them": is the interval that exists between some of them and others; because it is the dissolving of the parts. The majority read: ﴿ "from between them"﴾ with a كسر on the خ and an ا after the ل, the plural of خَلَل as جَبَل and جِبال. Ali ibn Abi Talib, may Allah be pleased with him, Ibn 'Abbas, Al-Dahhak, and Al-Hasan - with a difference from him - read: "from its gaps", which is a generic noun. The pronoun in "from between them" is likely to return to "the clouds", and it is also possible that it returns to "the fragments" in the reading of those who read with a س that is سكون, and the masculine pronoun is used considering the wording, not for the meaning of the plural, as you say: "this is a good date", and "from the green tree, a fire". And whoever read: "fragments" with a فتح on the س does not return the pronoun except to the clouds only.

And His saying, exalted and majestic is He: ﴿ "before it"﴾ is an affirmation that indicates the quick change of human hearts from despair to joy. This is because His saying: ﴿before it is sent down upon them﴾ allows for a time span, meaning: before that, meaning: before it descends with many like the days and so forth. So His saying: ﴿ "before it"﴾ means that this is connected to the rain, so it is an affirming statement. And Ya'qub, 'Isa, and Abu 'Amr - with a difference from him - read: "sends down" in a light form, while the generality of the reciters read with a heavy form on the ز. And Ibn Mas'ud read: "upon them to be in despair" with the omission of "before it". And "despair": is the state of being in a bad condition with the hopelessness of its removal.

Then He astonished him with an address intended for all people regarding the mercy of Allah, which is the rain. Ibn Kathir, Nafi', and Abu 'Amr read "effect" in the singular, while Ibn 'Amir, Hamzah, and Al-Kisai read "effects" in the plural, and there is a difference reported from 'Asim.

And His saying: ﴿How can He give life﴾ it is possible that the pronoun in the verb refers to the effect, and it is possible that it refers to Allah, glorified and exalted is He, and this is more apparent. A group has read: "How does the earth come to life" with the open 'taa' and in the nominative case. Al-Jahdari, Ibn al-Samif'a, and Abu Haywah read: "It gives life" with a 'taa' that is rounded, on the basis that the attribution of the verb to the pronoun of mercy is in the accusative case. Abu al-Fath said: His saying: "How does it give life" is a sentence that is in the accusative case in terms of its position, carrying it on the meaning, as if he said: "giving life, and this life (p-35) and death is a metaphor for drought and vegetation. Then He, blessed and exalted is He, informed - in the manner of analogy and alerting to it - about resurrection and revival, and His saying, glorified is He: ﴿Over all things﴾ is general.