25.[al-Furqan, Mecca 42]

The Quranic Text & Ali’s Version:

وَهُوَ الَّذِي جَعَلَ لَكُمُ اللَّيْلَ لِبَاسًا وَالنَّوْمَ سُبَاتًا...

25:47. And He it is Who makes the Night as a Robe for you; and Sleep as Repose,

... وَجَعَلَ النَّهَارَ نُشُورًا ﴿٤٧﴾

and makes the Day (as it were) a Resurrection.

C3103. It is still the contrast between Light and Shade;

- but the shade of Night is as a Robe to cover and screen us and give us Repose from activity;

and the Light of Day is for striving, work, activity.

- Or again, the Night is like Death, our temporary Death before Judgment, the time during which our senses are as sealed in Sleep;

and the Day is like the renewal of Life at the Resurrection.

وَهُوَ الَّذِي أَرْسَلَ الرِّيَاحَ بُشْرًا بَيْنَ يَدَيْ رَحْمَتِهِ...

25: 48. And He it is Who sends the Winds as heralds of glad tidings, going before His Mercy,

C3104. Cf. 7:57.

The Winds are heralds of Joy, ushering in Rain, which is one form of Allah's Mercy.

Again, the symbolism presents a fresh point of view. Heat (which is connected with light) sets up currents in the atmosphere, besides sucking up moisture from the seas, and distributing it by means of Winds over wide surfaces of the earth.

In the physical world we know the beneficent action of heat on life, and by contrast, we also know how intolerable high temperatures may become, and how the cloud-bearing Winds come as welcome heralds of rain. (R).

... وَأَنزَلْنَا مِنَ السَّمَاء مَاء طَهُورًا ﴿٤٨﴾

and We send down purifying water from the sky --

C3105. Rain water (in pure air) is not only pure water distilled in air and sky, but it is the best purifying and sanitating agent on the largest scale known to US.

لِنُحْيِيَ بِهِ بَلْدَةً مَّيْتًا...

25: 49. That with it We may give life to a dead land,

... وَنُسْقِيَهُ مِمَّا خَلَقْنَا أَنْعَامًا وَأَنَاسِيَّ كَثِيرًا ﴿٤٩﴾

and slake the thirst of things We have created, cattle and men in great numbers.

C3106. The whole cycle of water, -sea, clouds, rain or hail or snow, rivers, and sea again,- is a remarkable illustration of the processes of nature making Allah's providence visible to us.

The salts of the sea sanitate and purify all the filth that pours into it. Water action, in the form of rain, frost, glaciers, rivers, lakes, etc., is responsible for the building up and configuration of the crust of the earth, and is the chief agent in physical geography. A parched desert quickly comes to life under the action of water.

All drinking water, whether derived from rivers, canals, lakes, reservoirs, springs, wells, or water-works of any kind, are ultimately traceable to rain.

The connection of life with water is intimate. The physical basis of life itself, protoplasm, is in great part water; see 25:54 below.

وَلَقَدْ صَرَّفْنَاهُ بَيْنَهُمْ لِيَذَّكَّرُوا...

25: 50. And We have distributed the (water) amongst them, in order that they may celebrate (Our) praises,

C3107. The water is distributed all over the world, in order that all life may receive its support according to its needs. In 25:48-50, we have the argument of contrasts stated in another way.

Water is life, and is made available to sustain life all over the world; this is a physical fact which all can see. But water is also the symbol of spiritual life, whose sustaining principle is the Will of Allah as made known to us through Revelation. It sometimes comes to us in our inward or spiritual storms.

Many violent unsettlements of the spirit are but heralds of the refreshing showers of spiritual understanding that come in their wake. They purify our souls, and produce spiritual Life even where there was a parched spiritual desert before. They continue to sustain us in our normal spiritual Life out of the reservoirs of Allah's Revelation, which are open to all, and well distributed in time and space.

The universality of distribution is again referred to in the following verse.

... فَأَبَى أَكْثَرُ النَّاسِ إِلَّا كُفُورًا ﴿٥٠﴾

but most men are averse (to aught) but (rank) ingratitude.

C3108. In contrast to Allah's abounding Mercy is man's base ingratitude; another symbolic contrast between Light and Darkness, or Water and Drought.

Asad’s Version:

25:47

And He it is who makes the night a garment for you, and [your] sleep a rest, and causes ever}' [new] day to be a resurrection.

(25:48) And He it is who sends forth the winds as a glad tiding

of His coming grace; and [thus, too,] We cause pure water to descend from the skies,

(25:49) so that We may bring dead land to life thereby, and give to drink thereof to many [beings] of Our creation, beasts as well as humans.

25:50

And, indeed, many times have We repeated [all] this unto men," so that they might take it to heart: but most men refuse to be aught but ingrate.

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27. Surah An-Naml

The Quranic Text & Ali’s Version:

أَلَمْ يَرَوْا أَنَّا جَعَلْنَا اللَّيْلَ لِيَسْكُنُوا فِيهِ وَالنَّهَارَ مُبْصِرًا...

27: 86. See they not that We have made the Night for them to rest in and the Day to give them light?

C3316. Night, Day, Rest, and Light. both in the literal and the symbolic sense.

- Any one with a scrap of faith or spiritual insight could see that the Night is blessing when used for rest and a curse when used to cover ignorance or sin;

- and that the Day is for work and enlightenment, and its misuse is gross ingratitude to Allah.

Or, understand Truth and practise Righteousness while it is yet Light and the Message of Allah is here to guide you:

for there comes the Night when Endeavour will cease and there will be no room for Repentance.

...إِنَّ فِي ذَلِكَ لَآيَاتٍ لِّقَوْمٍ يُؤْمِنُونَ ﴿٨٦﴾

Verily in this are Signs for any people that believe!