Al-Qur'an Surah An-Nur Verse 43

Mufti Taqi Usmani

Do you not realize that Allah drives the clouds, then joins them together, then turns them into a heap? Then you see the rain coming out from their midst. He sends down from the sky mountains (of clouds) having hail in them, then He afflicts with it whomsoever He wills and turns it away from whomsoever He wills. The flash of its lightning seems to snatch away the eyes.

Dr. Mustafa Khattab, the Clear Quran

Do you not see that Allah gently drives the clouds, then joins them together, piling them up into masses, from which you see raindrops come forth? And He sends down from the sky mountains ˹of clouds˺ loaded with hail, pouring it on whoever He wills and averting it from whoever He wills. The flash of the clouds’ lightning nearly takes away eyesight.

Ruwwad Translation Center

Do you not see that Allah drives the clouds, then gathers them together, then turns them into a heap, then you see raindrops coming out from their midst? He sends down hail from mountains [of clouds] in the sky, raining it down upon whoever He wills and turning it away from whoever He wills. The flash of its lightning almost takes away eyesight.

A. J. Arberry

'hast thou not seen how God drives the clouds, then composes them, then converts them into a mass, then thou seest the rain issuing out of the midst of them? And He sends down out of heaven mountains, wherein is hail, so that He smites whom He will with it, and turns it aside from whom He will; wellnigh the gleam of His lightning snatches away the sight.

Abdul Haleem

Do you not see that God drives the clouds, then gathers them together and piles them up until you see rain pour from their midst? He sends hail down from [such] mountains in the sky, pouring it on whoever He wishes and diverting it from whoever He wishes- the flash of its lightning almost snatches sight away.

Abdul Majid Daryabadi

Beholdest thou not that Allah driveth a cloud along, then combineth it, then maketh it a heap, and then thou beholdest the fine rain come forth from the interstices thereof? And He sendeth down from the heaven mountains wherein is hail, then afflicteth therewith whomsoever He will, and averteth it from whomsoever He will: wellnigh the flash of His lightening taketh away the sights.

Abdullah Yusuf Ali

Seest thou not that Allah makes the clouds move gently, then joins them together, then makes them into a heap? - then wilt thou see rain issue forth from their midst. And He sends down from the sky mountain masses (of clouds) wherein is hail; He strikes therewith whom He pleases and He turns it away from whom He pleases, the vivid flash of His lightning well-nigh blinds the sight.

Abul Ala Maududi

Do you not observe that Allah makes the cloud move gently then joins its pieces together: then gathers it into a mass of thick cloud: then you see that rain-drops fall down from its midst: and He sends down hail out of the high up mountains in the heaven: then He smites with it whom He wills and turns it away from whom He pleases: then a flash of lightning from it dazzles the eyes.

Ahmed Ali

Have you not seen that God drives the clouds, then joins them together and puts them fold on fold. Then you see the rain fall through them; and He sends down hail from the sky where there are mountains of it, and strikes those with it whom He will, and wards it off from whomsoever He please. His lightning could snatch away their eyes.

Ahmed Raza Khan

Have you not seen that Allah slowly transports the clouds, then gathers them together, then heaps them together, so you see the rain coming forth from between them? And from the sky He sends down hail from the mountains of ice, then sends them upon whomever He wills, and averts them from whomever He wills; it is close that the flash of its lightning take away the eyesight.

Ali Quli Qarai

Have you not regarded that Allah drives the clouds, then He composes them, then He piles them up, whereat you see the rain issuing from its midst? And He sends down hail from the sky, out of the mountains that are in it, and He strikes with it whomever He wishes, and turns it away from whomever He wishes. The brilliance of its lightening almost takes away the sight.

Ali Ünal

Do you not see that God gently drives the clouds, then joins them together, (completing the formation of a circuit between them,) and then turns them into a thick mass, and consequently you see rain-drops issue out of their midst. He sends down hail out of snow-laden mountains (of clouds) from the sky, and smites with it whom He wills and averts it from whom He wills. The flash of the lightning almost takes away the sight.

Amatul Rahman Omar

Have you not seen that Allâh drives the clouds steadily then He draws them together and then He makes them piled up so that you can see the rain pouring forth from their midst? And He sends down clouds (looking) like mountain, wherein is hail and He smites with them whom He pleases and averts them from whom He pleases. The (brilliant) flash of its lightening almost snatches away the sight (rendering the eyes sometimes blind).

English Literal

Do you not see/understand that God drives/eases gently clouds, then He unites/joins between it, then He makes it piled/accumulated , so you see the rain emerges from in between and around it, and He descends from the sky from mountains in it from hail , so He strikes with it whom He wills/wants , and He diverts it from whom He wills/wants, its lightning`s shine/flash almost eliminates with the eye sights/knowledge.

Faridul Haque

Have you not seen that Allah slowly transports the clouds, then gathers them together, then heaps them together, so you see the rain coming forth from between them? And from the sky He sends down hail from the mountains of ice, then sends them upon whomever He wills, and averts them from whomever He wills; it is close that the flash of its lightning take away the eyesight.

Hamid S. Aziz

And unto Allah belongs the sovereignty of the heavens and the earth, and unto Allah is the journeying.

Hilali & Khan

See you not that Allah drives the clouds gently, then joins them together, then makes them into a heap of layers, and you see the rain comes forth from between them. And He sends down from the sky hail (like) mountains, (or there are in the heaven mountains of hail from where He sends down hail), and strike therewith whom He will, and averts it from whom He wills. The vivid flash of its (clouds) lightning nearly blinds the sight. [Tafsir At-Tabari].

Maulana Mohammad Ali

And Allah’s is the kingdom of the heavens and the earth, and to Allah is the eventual coming.

Mohammad Habib Shakir

Do you not see that Allah drives along the clouds, then gathers them together, then piles them up, so that you see the rain coming forth from their midst? And He sends down of the clouds that are (like) mountains wherein is hail, afflicting therewith whom He pleases and turning it away from whom He pleases; the flash of His lightning almost takes away the sight.

Mohammed Marmaduke William Pickthall

Hast thou not seen how Allah wafteth the clouds, then gathereth them, then maketh them layers, and thou seest the rain come forth from between them; He sendeth down from the heaven mountains wherein is hail, and smiteth therewith whom He will, and averteth it from whom He will. The flashing of His lightning all but snatcheth away the sight.

Muhammad Sarwar

Do you not see that God moves the clouds gently, brings them together, piles them up, and then you can see the rain coming from them. He sends down hailstones from the mountains in the sky. With them He strikes or protects from them whomever He wants. The lightening can almost take away the sight.

Qaribullah & Darwish

Have you not seen how Allah drives the clouds, then gathers them and converts them into a mass, then you see rain coming from the midst of them? And He sends down out of heaven mountains in which there is hail, pelting with it whom He will, and turning it away from whom He will. The flash of its lightning almost snatches away the sight.

Safi-ur-Rahman al-Mubarakpuri

See you not that Allah drives the clouds gently, then joins them together, then makes them into a heap of layers, and you see the rain come forth from between them; and He sends down from the sky, from mountains in it of ice, and strikes therewith whom He wills, and averts it from whom He wills. The vivid flash of its (clouds) lightning nearly blinds the sight.

Wahiduddin Khan

Do you not see how God drives the clouds, then joins them together, then piles them into layers and then you see the rain pour from their midst? He sends down from the skies mountainous masses [of clouds] charged with hail, and He makes it fall on whom He will, and turns it away from whom He pleases. The flash of His lightning may well-nigh take away the sight.

Talal Itani

Have you not seen how God propels the clouds, then brings them together, then piles them into a heap, and you see rain drops emerging from its midst? How He brings down loads of hail from the sky, striking with it whomever He wills, and diverting it from whomever He wills? The flash of its lightening almost snatches the sight away.

Tafsir jalalayn

Have you not seen how God drives the clouds, moves them along gently, then composes them, joining some with others and making scattered pieces as one, then piles them up, some on top of others, whereat you see the rain issuing from the midst of them, [from specific] outlets in them? And He sends down from the heaven out of the mountains (min jiblin; min is extra) that are therein, in the heaven (fh substitutes [for mina'l-sam'i, `from the heaven'] with the repetition of a genitive preposition) hail, that is, [He sends down] some [hail], and smites with it whom He will and turns it away from whom He will. The brilliance of its lightning, its flashing, would almost take away the eyes, that look at it, in other words, [it would almost] snatching them away.

Tafseer Ibn Kathir

The Power of Allah to create the Clouds and that which comes from Them

Allah tells;

أَلَمْ تَرَ أَنَّ اللَّهَ يُزْجِي سَحَابًا

See you not that Allah drives the clouds gently,

Allah tells us that He drives the clouds from the beginning, when they are formed and are still weak. This is the "Gentle driving."

ثُمَّ يُوَلِّفُ بَيْنَهُ

then joins them together,

means, He brings them together after they have been scattered.

ثُمَّ يَجْعَلُهُ رُكَامًا

then makes them into a heap of layers,

means, He piles them up on top of one another.

فَتَرَى الْوَدْقَ

and you see the Wadq,

meaning the rain,

يَخْرُجُ مِنْ خِلَلِهِ

come forth from between them;

means, from the gaps between them.

This is how it was understood by Ibn Abbas and Ad-Dahhak.

Ubayd bin Umayr Al-Laythi said;

"Allah sends the scatterer (wind), which stirs up that which is on the surface of the earth.

Then he sends the generator (wind), which forms the clouds.

Then He sends the joiner (wind) which brings them together.

Then He sends the fertilizer (wind) which fertilizes or `seeds' the clouds."
This was recorded by Ibn Abi Hatim and Ibn Jarir.

وَيُنَزِّلُ مِنَ السَّمَاء مِن جِبَالٍ فِيهَا مِن بَرَدٍ

and He sends down from (Min) the sky, from (Min) mountains in it of (Min) ice,

Some of the grammarians said that the first Min describes the place from which it is coming, the second specifies from which part of the sky it comes, and the third means some kind of mountains.
This is based on the view of those scholars of Tafsir who say that,
مِن جِبَالٍ فِيهَا مِن بَرَدٍ
from (Min) mountains in it of (Min) ice,

means that there are mountains of hail in the sky from which Allah sends down ice.

As for those who say that "mountains" here is used as a metaphor for clouds, they think that the second Min is also used to describe the place from which the ice is coming, and is thus interchangeable with the first.

And Allah knows best.

فَيُصِيبُ بِهِ مَن يَشَاء وَيَصْرِفُهُ عَن مَّن يَشَاء

and strikes therewith whom He wills, and averts it from whom He wills.

It may be that the phrase
فَيُصِيبُ بِهِ
(and strikes therewith),

means, with what He sends down from the sky of different kinds of rain and hail.

So then the phrase
فَيُصِيبُ بِهِ مَن يَشَاء
(and strikes therewith whom He wills) means, by His mercy towards them,

and
وَيَصْرِفُهُ عَن مَّن يَشَاء
(and averts it from whom He wills) means, He withholds rain from them.

Or it may be that
فَيُصِيبُ بِهِ
(and strikes therewith),

means, with hail, as a punishment towards whomever He wills, striking their fruits and destroying their crops and trees. And He averts it from whomever He wills as a mercy towards them.

يَكَادُ سَنَا بَرْقِهِ يَذْهَبُ بِالاَْبْصَارِ



The vivid flash of its lightning nearly blinds the sight.

the brightness of its lightning almost takes away their sight if the eyes follow it and try to look at it