Then which of the favours of your Lord will ye deny

Sitting by the banks of the river Indrayani last fortnight, watching the first drops of rain of the season and soaking in the smell of water touching the parched earth – possibly one of the best fragrances known to man!

Within a fortnight, this river, which had turned completely dry, is full of fish, frogs are singing their songs of love all through the night, crabs overrunning the place, making my daughter go berserk with excitement...

Isn’t it marvellous? I mean, can you imagine how many miracles I am witnessing? The rain, the life emerging from barren land, the dew that spread a sheet of shimmering silver over the land this morning...

This riverbed was so dry that my children played badminton on it. Where did these fish come from? And the rain...

All this keeps confirming the other miracle that came into existence more than 1,400 years ago, and continues to this date – The Qur’an.

Consider these verses:

Wamin ayatihi yureekumu albarqa khawfan watamaAAan wayunazzilu mina alssama-i maan fayuhyee bihi al-arda baAAda mawtiha inna fee thalika laayatin liqawmin yaAAqiloona

And among His Signs, He shows you the lightning, by way both of fear and of hope, and He sends down rain from the sky and with it gives life to the earth after it is dead: verily in that are Signs for those who are wise. (Qur’an 30:24; Translation by Yusuf Ali)

Waarsalna alrriyaha lawaqiha faanzalna mina alssama-i maan faasqaynakumoohu wama antum lahu bikhazineena

And We send the fecundating winds, then cause the rain to descend from the sky, therewith providing you with water (in abundance), though ye are not the guardians of its stores. (Qur’an 15:22; Translation by Yusuf Ali)

The Arabic word used here is lawâqih, which is the plural of laqih, which means to impregnate or fecundate. In this context, impregnate means that the wind pushes the clouds together increasing the condensation that causes lightning and thus rain. (Ref: Dr. Zakir Naik)

Now that’s a fact not known to humans 1,425 years ago!

In fact, this is completely at variance with the prevailing notion in those times.

“In the seventh century BC, Thales of Miletus held the theory whereby the waters of the oceans, under the effects of winds were thrust towards the interiors of the continents; so the water fell upon the earth and penetrated into the soil. Plato shared these views and thought that the return of the waters to the oceans was via a great abyss, the ‘Tartarus’. This theory had many supporters until the Eighteenth century, one of whom was Descartes. Aristotle imagined that the water vapour from the soil condensed in cool mountain caverns and formed underground lakes that fed springs. He was followed by Seneca (1st Century AD) and many others... (The Bible, The Qur’an and Science-Dr. Maurice Bucaille)

A similar description is found in another verse:

Allahu allathee yursilu alrriyaha fatutheeru sahaban fayabsutuhu fee alssama-i kayfa yashao wayajAAaluhu kisafan fatara alwadqa yakhruju min khilalihi fa-itha asaba bihi man yashao min AAibadihi itha hum yastabshiroona

It is Allah Who sends the Winds, and they raise the Clouds: then does He spread them in the sky as He wills, and break them into fragments, until thou seest rain-drops issue from the midst thereof: then when He has made them reach such of his servants as He wills behold, they do rejoice! (Qur’an 30:48; Translation by Yusuf Ali)

A complete description of the water cycle, which confirms to latest research on hydrology.

And another one which refers to the entire description of the water cycle, and refers to the electric charge of lightning in a simple way.

Alam tara anna Allaha yuzjee sahaban thumma yu-allifu baynahu thumma yajAAaluhu rukaman fatara alwadqa yakhruju min khilalihi wayunazzilu mina alssama-i min jibalin feeha min baradin fayuseebu bihi man yashao wayasrifuhu AAan man yashao yakadu sana barqihi yathhabu bial-absari

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. (Qur’an 24:43; Translation by Yusuf Ali)

There are many more such references which confirm to the miracle that is the Qur’an being the word of my Lord. One can go on and on – about the water cycle, about geology, about astronomy, about the animal kingdom, and - most interestingly - about human embryology...

Aah, human embryology! Now that’s something that was discovered only in our lifetime! And now we’re talking about things that are invisible to the naked eye - and there were no microscopes in the 6th century AD.

So, let me end this post with one of my favourite verses:

Fabi-ayyi ala-i rabbikuma tukaththiban

Then which of the favours of your Lord will ye deny? Sura Rehman (Qur’an 55:13; Translation by Yusuf Ali)

(References and Acknowledgements: Al Qur’an; The Qur’aan and Modern Science-Compatible or Incompatible by Dr. Zakir Naik; The Qur’an-Knowledge and Science by A. Abdallah; The Bible, The Qur’an and Science by Dr. Maurice Bucaille)