This is a parable that Allah struck for the truth and its people, and for falsehood and its party. Just as He struck the blind and the sighted, and the darkness and the light as a parable for them. So, the truth and its people are like the water that He sends down from the sky, which causes the valleys of people to flow, and they live by it and benefit from various benefits. And like the metal from which they benefit, in the making of jewelry and the crafting of various utensils and tools. Even if it were only iron, which has great strength, it would be enough. And that remains on the earth, lasting and evident, establishing the water in its benefits. Its effects remain in the springs, wells, and fields, and in the fruits that grow from it, which are stored and hoarded. Likewise, the jewels remain for long periods. And He likened falsehood to its rapid decay, the imminent removal of it, and its separation from benefit, to the foam of the flood that is cast away, and to the scum of the metal that floats above it when it is melted. If you say: Why did He use the plural 'valleys'? I say: Because rain does not come except in a manner of alternation between the lands, so some valleys of the earth flow while others do not. If you say: What is the meaning of His saying 'in proportion to it'? I say: In its measure, which Allah knows to be beneficial for those upon whom it is sent, and not harmful. Do you not see His saying 'And as for what benefits people'? For He struck rain as a parable for the truth, thus it must be pure rain for benefit, free from harm, and not like some rains and floods that are destructive. If you say: What is the benefit of His saying 'seeking adornment or goods'? I say: The benefit in it is like the benefit in His saying 'in proportion to it', for He combined water and metal in benefit in His saying 'And as for what benefits people', because the meaning is: And as for what benefits them from water and metal, He mentioned the means of benefit from which adornment and goods are made. And His saying 'And from what they kindle in the fire seeking adornment or goods' is a comprehensive expression for types of metal, while showing grandeur in mentioning it in a manner of belittling it, as is the habit of kings, similar to what was mentioned regarding bricks: 'So kindle for me, O Haman, on the clay.' And 'from' indicates the beginning of the limit, meaning: And from it arises foam like the foam of water. Or it is for partitive meaning, meaning: And some of it is a rising, inflated foam on the surface of the flood, meaning it is cast away. And the pot boiled over with its foam, and the flood surged and rushed. And in the reading of Ru'bah ibn al-Ajaj: 'Jafalan'. And from Abu Hatim: It is not read in the reading of Ru'bah, because he used to eat the mouse. And it was read: 'They kindle', with the pronoun 'they', meaning the people kindle.