Question: Shaikh Obaid, the Quran is full of eloquent
language, beauty of which cannot be surpassed.. Can you give some examples to
demonstrate this further please?
Answer:
Brother Tanweer,
We continue our discussion on البلاغة في القرآن. Today, we will take a look at an interesting topic of difference between the usage of words الرِّيٰحَ (winds) and الرِّيحَ (wind).
Whenever plural form الرِّيٰحَ (winds) is used the Quran, it comes in a positive context in the Ayat. As a rule such Ayaat always mention Allah's mercy, blessing, favour or bringing of goodness.
In the Quran الرِّيٰحَ (winds) of various types and purposes are mentioned, we look at a few below,
In Ayat 2:164, Allah (SWT) mentions directing the winds ( تَصْرِيفِ الرِّيٰحِ ) towards parched earth.
إِنَّ فِى خَلْقِ السَّمٰوٰتِ وَالْأَرْضِ وَاخْتِلٰفِ الَّيْلِ
وَالنَّهَارِ وَالْفُلْكِ الَّتِى تَجْرِى فِى الْبَحْرِ بِمَا يَنْفَعُ النَّاسَ
وَمَآ أَنْزَلَ اللَّهُ مِنَ السَّمَآءِ مِنْ مَّآءٍ فَأَحْيَا بِهِ الْأَرْضَ
بَعْدَ مَوْتِهَا وَبَثَّ فِيهَا مِنْ كُلِّ دَآبَّةٍ وَتَصْرِيفِ الرِّيٰحِ
وَالسَّحَابِ الْمُسَخَّرِ بَيْنَ السَّمَآءِ وَالْأَرْضِ لَءَايٰتٍ لِّقَوْمٍ
يَعْقِلُونَ
"Indeed, in the creation of the heavens and earth, and
the alternation of the night and the day, and the [great] ships which sail
through the sea with that which benefits people, and what Allah has sent down
from the heavens of rain, giving life thereby to the earth after its
lifelessness and dispersing therein every [kind of] moving creature, and [His]
directing of the winds and the clouds controlled between the heaven and the
earth are signs for a people who use reason."
(QS. Al-Baqarah 2: Verse 164)
In Ayat 7:57, Allah (SWT) mentions sending the winds ( يُرْسِلُ الرِّيٰح) carrying the heavy rainclouds as good tidings towards dead land.
وَهُوَ الَّذِى يُرْسِلُ الرِّيٰحَ بُشْرًۢا بَيْنَ يَدَىْ
رَحْمَتِهِۦ ۖ حَتّٰىٓ إِذَآ أَقَلَّتْ سَحَابًا ثِقَالًا
سُقْنٰهُ لِبَلَدٍ مَّيِّتٍ فَأَنْزَلْنَا بِهِ الْمَآءَ فَأَخْرَجْنَا بِهِۦ
مِنْ كُلِّ الثَّمَرٰتِ ۚ كَذٰلِكَ نُخْرِجُ الْمَوْتٰى لَعَلَّكُمْ
تَذَكَّرُونَ
"And it is He who sends the winds as good tidings
before His mercy until, when they have carried heavy rainclouds, We drive them
to a dead land and We send down rain therein and bring forth thereby [some] of
all the fruits. Thus will We bring forth the dead; perhaps you may be
reminded."
(QS. Al-A'raf 7: Verse 57)
In Ayat 15:22, Allah (SWT) talks about الرِّيٰحَ لَوٰقِحَ(fertilising
winds) which promote growth of crops and vegetation.
وَأَرْسَلْنَا الرِّيٰحَ لَوٰقِحَ فَأَنْزَلْنَا مِنَ
السَّمَآءِ مَآءً فَأَسْقَيْنٰكُمُوهُ وَمَآ أَنْتُمْ لَهُ ۥ بِخٰزِنِينَ
"And We have sent the fertilizing winds and sent down
water from the sky and given you drink from it. And you are not its
retainers."
(QS. Al-Hijr 15: Verse 22)
وَهُوَ الَّذِىٓ أَرْسَلَ الرِّيٰحَ بُشْرًۢا بَيْنَ يَدَىْ
رَحْمَتِهِۦ ۚ وَأَنْزَلْنَا مِنَ السَّمَآءِ مَآءً
طَهُورًا
"And it is He who sends the winds as good tidings
before His mercy, and We send down from the sky pure water"
(QS. Al-Furqan 25: Verse 48)
أَمَّنْ يَهْدِيكُمْ فِى ظُلُمٰتِ الْبَرِّ وَالْبَحْرِ وَمَنْ
يُرْسِلُ الرِّيٰحَ بُشْرًۢا بَيْنَ يَدَىْ رَحْمَتِهِۦٓ ۗ
أَءِلٰهٌ مَّعَ اللَّهِ ۚ تَعٰلَى اللَّهُ عَمَّا يُشْرِكُونَ
"Is He [not best] who guides you through the darknesses
of the land and sea and who sends the winds as good tidings before His mercy?
Is there a deity with Allah? High is Allah above whatever they associate with
Him."
(QS. An-Naml 27: Verse 63)
In Ayat
30:46, Allah (SWT) refers to winds which make ships sail by His command.
وَمِنْ ءَايٰتِهِۦٓ أَنْ يُرْسِلَ الرِّيَاحَ مُبَشِّرٰتٍ
وَلِيُذِيقَكُمْ مِّنْ رَّحْمَتِهِۦ وَلِتَجْرِىَ الْفُلْكُ بِأَمْرِهِۦ
وَلِتَبْتَغُوا مِنْ فَضْلِهِۦ وَلَعَلَّكُمْ تَشْكُرُونَ
"And of His signs is that He sends the winds as
bringers of good tidings and to let you taste His mercy and so the ships may
sail at His command and so you may seek of His bounty, and perhaps you will be
grateful."
(QS. Ar-Rum 30: Verse 46)
In Ayat
30:45, Allah (SWT) refers to sending the winds that stir the clouds and spread
them in the sky.
اللَّهُ الَّذِى يُرْسِلُ الرِّيٰحَ فَتُثِيرُ سَحَابًا
فَيَبْسُطُهُ ۥ فِى السَّمَآءِ كَيْفَ
يَشَآءُ وَيَجْعَلُهُ ۥ كِسَفًا فَتَرَى
الْوَدْقَ يَخْرُجُ مِنْ خِلٰلِهِۦ ۖ فَإِذَآ أَصَابَ بِهِۦ مَنْ يَشَآءُ مِنْ
عِبَادِهِۦٓ إِذَا هُمْ يَسْتَبْشِرُونَ
"It is Allah who sends the winds, and they stir the
clouds and spread them in the sky however He wills, and He makes them fragments
so you see the rain emerge from within them. And when He causes it to fall upon
whom He wills of His servants, immediately they rejoice"
(QS. Ar-Rum 30: Verse 48)
In
Ayat 35:9, Allah (SWT) refers to sending
the winds that stir the clouds so that the rain coming from them brings life to
lifeless land.
وَاللَّهُ الَّذِىٓ أَرْسَلَ الرِّيٰحَ فَتُثِيرُ سَحَابًا
فَسُقْنٰهُ إِلٰى بَلَدٍ مَّيِّتٍ فَأَحْيَيْنَا بِهِ الْأَرْضَ بَعْدَ
مَوْتِهَا ۚ كَذٰلِكَ النُّشُورُ
"And it is Allah who sends the winds, and they stir the
clouds, and We drive them to a dead land and give life thereby to the earth
after its lifelessness. Thus is the resurrection."
(QS. Fatir 35: Verse 9)
وَاخْتِلٰفِ الَّيْلِ وَالنَّهَارِ وَمَآ أَنْزَلَ اللَّهُ
مِنَ السَّمَآءِ مِنْ رِّزْقٍ فَأَحْيَا بِهِ الْأَرْضَ بَعْدَ مَوْتِهَا
وَتَصْرِيفِ الرِّيٰحِ ءَايٰتٌ لِّقَوْمٍ يَعْقِلُونَ
"And [in] the alternation of night and day and [in]
what Allah sends down from the sky of provision and gives life thereby to the
earth after its lifelessness and [in His] directing of the winds are signs for
a people who reason."
(QS. Al-Jathiyah 45: Verse 5)
As opposed to above, when the Quran uses الرِّيحَ (wind), it is used in the negative scenario to
express wrath and punishment of Allah (SWT).
In the
examples below, we see this theme repeating.
In Ayat 17:69, Allah (SWT) is warning mankind (intended to be directed at the Quraish) about sending
towards them قَاصِفًا مِّنَ الرِّيحِ
(hurricane of wind).
أَمْ أَمِنْتُمْ أَنْ يُعِيدَكُمْ فِيهِ تَارَةً أُخْرٰى
فَيُرْسِلَ عَلَيْكُمْ قَاصِفًا مِّنَ الرِّيحِ فَيُغْرِقَكُمْ بِمَا
كَفَرْتُمْ ۙ ثُمَّ لَا تَجِدُوا لَكُمْ عَلَيْنَا بِهِۦ
تَبِيعًا
"Or do you feel secure that He will not send you back
into the sea another time and send upon you a hurricane of wind and drown you
for what you denied? Then you would not find for yourselves against Us an
avenger."
(QS. Al-Isra' 17: Verse 69)
In Ayat 41:16, Allah (SWT) mentions sending of رِيحًا صَرْصَرًا (screaming wind) as a
punishment towards people of 'Aad due to their utter arrogance upon the earth.
فَأَرْسَلْنَا عَلَيْهِمْ رِيحًا صَرْصَرًا فِىٓ أَيَّامٍ
نَّحِسَاتٍ لِّنُذِيقَهُمْ عَذَابَ الْخِزْىِ فِى الْحَيٰوةِ الدُّنْيَا ۖ
وَلَعَذَابُ الْأَاخِرَةِ أَخْزٰى
ۖ وَهُمْ لَا يُنْصَرُونَ
"So We sent upon them a screaming wind during days of
misfortune to make them taste the punishment of disgrace in the worldly life;
but the punishment of the Hereafter is more disgracing, and they will not be
helped."
(QS. Fussilat 41: Verse 16)
In Ayat
46:24, again the people of 'Aad are referred,
they saw a cloud approaching their region of al-Ahqaf , they mistook it
to be harbinger of rain. But in fact in that wind was a painful punishment for
them.
فَلَمَّا رَأَوْهُ عَارِضًا مُّسْتَقْبِلَ أَوْدِيَتِهِمْ
قَالُوا هٰذَا عَارِضٌ مُّمْطِرُنَا
ۚ بَلْ هُوَ مَا اسْتَعْجَلْتُمْ
بِهِۦ ۖ
رِيحٌ فِيهَا عَذَابٌ أَلِيمٌ
"And when they saw it as a cloud approaching their
valleys, they said, This is a cloud bringing us rain! Rather, it is that for
which you were impatient: a wind, within it a painful punishment,"
(QS. Al-Ahqaf 46: Verse 24)
In Ayat 51:41-42, the punishment for the people of 'Aad is mentioned
again - in 51:41 refers to الرِّيحَ الْعَقِيم (barren wind) - which left nothing afterwards except disintegrated
ruins.
وَفِى عَادٍ إِذْ أَرْسَلْنَا عَلَيْهِمُ الرِّيحَ الْعَقِيمَ
"And in 'Aad [was a sign], when We sent against them
the barren wind."
(QS. Adh-Dhariyat 51: Verse 41)
مَا تَذَرُ مِنْ شَىْءٍ أَتَتْ عَلَيْهِ إِلَّا جَعَلَتْهُ
كَالرَّمِيمِ
"It left nothing of what it came upon but that it made
it like disintegrated ruins."
(QS. Adh-Dhariyat 51: Verse 42)
In Ayat 10:22, Allah (SWT) refers to the people who are deluded that
their ships sail by بِرِيحٍ طَيِّبَةٍ (good wind), until there comes upon them رِيحٌ عَاصِفٌ(storm
wind). It is a pun on their wishful assumptions.
هُوَ الَّذِى يُسَيِّرُكُمْ فِى الْبَرِّ وَالْبَحْرِ ۖ
حَتّٰىٓ إِذَا كُنْتُمْ فِى الْفُلْكِ وَجَرَيْنَ بِهِمْ بِرِيحٍ طَيِّبَةٍ
وَفَرِحُوا بِهَا جَآءَتْهَا رِيحٌ عَاصِفٌ وَجَآءَهُمُ الْمَوْجُ مِنْ كُلِّ
مَكَانٍ وَظَنُّوٓا أَنَّهُمْ أُحِيطَ بِهِمْ
ۙ دَعَوُا اللَّهَ مُخْلِصِينَ
لَهُ الدِّينَ لَئِنْ أَنْجَيْتَنَا مِنْ هٰذِهِۦ لَنَكُونَنَّ مِنَ الشّٰكِرِينَ
"It is He who enables you to travel on land and sea
until, when you are in ships and they sail with them by a good wind and they
rejoice therein, there comes a storm wind and the waves come upon them from
everywhere and they assume that they are surrounded, supplicating Allah,
sincere to Him in religion, If You should save us from this, we will surely be
among the thankful."
(QS. Yunus 10: Verse 22)
Now, we will look at the special cases where the wind الرِّيحَ can
harm and benefit at the same time. There are places in the Quran where Allah
(SWT) mentions aboutالرِّيحَ that He subjugated by his command as a favour
or miracle for the believers to bring them some good. Let us look at some
examples,
In Ayat 33:9 refers Allah's (SWT) favour to the Muslims in the
battle of the Trench. Allah (SWT) sent strong wind which weakened the siege of
the enemy parties (الْأَحْزَابَ), after which they retreated in humiliation. So,
although Allah (SWT) referred to wind as الرِّيحَ that was sent towards the enemy parties (الْأَحْزَابَ), , it was in
fact at the same time benefitting to the Muslims - a favour from Allah (SWT).
يٰٓأَيُّهَا الَّذِينَ ءَامَنُوا اذْكُرُوا نِعْمَةَ اللَّهِ
عَلَيْكُمْ إِذْ جَآءَتْكُمْ جُنُودٌ فَأَرْسَلْنَا عَلَيْهِمْ رِيحًا وَجُنُودًا
لَّمْ تَرَوْهَا ۚ وَكَانَ اللَّهُ بِمَا تَعْمَلُونَ بَصِيرًا
"O you who have believed, remember the favor of Allah
upon you when armies came to [attack] you and We sent upon them a wind and
armies [of angels] you did not see. And ever is Allah, of what you do,
Seeing."
(QS. Al-Ahzab 33: Verse 9)
In Ayaat 21:81, 38:36 and 34;12 refer to the miracle that Allah
(SWT) gave to Sulaiman (AS) by subjecting الرِّيحَ عَاصِفَةً (forceful wind) to Sulaiman's (AS) command. Although in spirit of
the usage of الرِّيحَ , it is not a
beneficial thing - yet as a special favour to Sulaiman (AS) , Allah (SWT) let
him subject الرِّيحَ to blow gently, and wherever he directed them
- a miracle given by Allah (SWT).
وَلِسُلَيْمٰنَ الرِّيحَ عَاصِفَةً تَجْرِى بِأَمْرِهِۦٓ إِلَى
الْأَرْضِ الَّتِى بٰرَكْنَا فِيهَا
ۚ وَكُنَّا بِكُلِّ شَىْءٍ
عٰلِمِينَ
"And to Solomon [We subjected] the wind, blowing
forcefully, proceeding by his command toward the land which We had blessed. And
We are ever, of all things, Knowing."
(QS. Al-Anbiya 21: Verse 81)
فَسَخَّرْنَا لَهُ الرِّيحَ تَجْرِى بِأَمْرِهِۦ رُخَآءً
حَيْثُ أَصَابَ
"So We subjected to him the wind blowing by his
command, gently, wherever he directed,"
(QS. Sad 38: Verse 36)
وَلِسُلَيْمٰنَ الرِّيحَ غُدُوُّهَا شَهْرٌ وَرَوَاحُهَا
شَهْرٌ ۖ
وَأَسَلْنَا لَهُ ۥ عَيْنَ
الْقِطْرِ ۖ وَمِنَ الْجِنِّ مَنْ يَعْمَلُ بَيْنَ يَدَيْهِ
بِإِذْنِ رَبِّهِۦ ۖ وَمَنْ يَزِغْ مِنْهُمْ عَنْ أَمْرِنَا
نُذِقْهُ مِنْ عَذَابِ السَّعِيرِ
"And to Solomon [We subjected] the wind - its morning
[journey was that of] a month - and its afternoon [journey was that of] a
month, and We made flow for him a spring of [liquid] copper. And among the jinn
were those who worked for him by the permission of his Lord. And whoever
deviated among them from Our command - We will make him taste of the punishment
of the Blaze."
(QS. Saba' 34: Verse 12)
