The slight drizzle hitting the dry ground and dead grass was the highlight of my day. It’s been over three months since the last glimpse of rainfall, the drizzle dropped and filled the cracks and crevices of the tarnished ground. I could see the amazement and feel the excitement of the grass, as it was enveloped in water. But all good things have to come to an end, and the slight drizzle stopped as quickly as it started.

(Camera Clicks) “We’re recording in, 3…2…1… Hello, my name is Joseph and I am a 15-year-old in the year 2060. To many, this year has no significance, but to me, I see it as the 40-year anniversary of the last normal year on Earth. I woke up this morning and looked outside through my glass window to see the barren wasteland that I live in, the sun’s destructive rays continue to deplete the ground of any moisture left. But like a miracle, a cloud covered the sun and it began to rain. The sight was astonishing. I ran out of my motion detecting doors as they quickly swung open to grab my camera and record. But when I came back it was all over. I put the camera down, and here I am talking to you about the rather unpleasant world that I live in.”

“Joseph! I’ve made your breakfast. Come on, or you’ll be late for school.”

“Ugh, Grandpa! I was in the middle of something very important.”

Joseph forgets to turn off the camera and takes it with him to the kitchen, where he sees his food resting on the automatic stove top. The camera catches a glimpse of his Grandpa with his robotic replacement arm. Joseph places the camera on a book, facing towards him, and takes a seat at the table.

“Thanks for the food, but I am not that hungry.”

“What’s wrong, Joe, are you okay? I made your favorite, bacon and eggs. I know it is severely outdated but I tried my best.”

“Gramps… did you know it rained this morning?” Joseph looks up from his plate, and his eyes meet with his Grandpa’s. The old man’s eyes widen.

“Really? That’s the first time this year.” He walks towards the one way, sun protective glass window and looks outside at the slightly damp ground. “You know… back in my day, during this time of year it always rained, and not just a slight drizzle. Some days there were the normal routine rainfalls, and other times there were worries of too much rain and homes would flood…”

Joseph cannot help but interrupt his grandfather out of astonishment. “Floods? Grandpa, that sounds way better than what we are living through right now. What caused everything to change?”  he blurts out.

“… however,” Grandpa continues, “as I grew older and older, nature as I once knew it began to change into what it is today.” Joseph gets up abruptly, and quickly turnes the camera so that it directly faces his Grandpa, and continues recording the conversation. He walks towards his Grandpa.

“Can you tell me more about how life was when you were a kid?”

“Well, as you know, we live in New Jersey. Back then, it was known as the Garden State, which is ironic since there aren’t any plants or grass in a 10-mile radius of the state as of now. But I remember going to parks and playing football in the grass with my friends. Smelling the fresh air in the spring mornings and feeling the cold splashes of rain in the afternoon were some of the best moments of nature during those spring months. But as time progressed and America continued to modernize, changes began to occur in nature, Joseph.”

Joseph’s gaze is so fixated on his Grandpa that he doesn’t notice the notification from his school on his phone stating that school is going to start in 30 minutes. “Keep going Grandpa.”

“Technology began to advance, the government and even some people in the public began to stop caring for the environment. Gasoline and oil began to run out quickly, and thankfully, scientists were able to find more forms of energy, but that didn’t solve the problems that had already begun. The hole in the ozone layer began to increase, which is the reason for these reinforced windows, and the temperature began to gradually increase. It’s almost as if as the need for improved technology and futuristic things got greater, the environment of our world got destroyed more and more.”

Grandpa looks down at his right robotic replacement arm and strokes it. His voice is strained. “I wonder if people would’ve still disregarded the health of nature if they knew that it would lead to the environment that we have today…” Joseph’s Grandpa clears his throat. “Joe, it is getting late. Go get your jacket so that you won’t be late for school. We will talk later kiddo.” His Grandpa walks into the room and the sliding doors close.

Joseph runs to his room and comes back with his jacket, which is visible in the camera frame. The logo stated “UV Ray Protective Suit.” He gazes at the image for a moment, then clicks the red button once more.

“Hello guys, I didn’t realize that I had left the camera on… I learned a lot this morning, the world has changed a lot, and it looks like it’s too late for a change. I can’t believe that there was a time where nature was beautiful.” Joseph takes time to stare out the window, and his slightly happy expression fades into dread. He looks back into the camera.

“Well, I have to head to school. I’ll talk to you guys later. This is Joseph signing out.” 

The major source of freshwater is, of course, rain. Rain is an extraordinary blessing given to humanity. It brings nutrients to our soil, nourishing trees and plants. It provides us with the hydration we need to live. But just as some rain is necessary, too much rain can be destructive. As with most things in life, we need a balance.

Green water

Let’s think of a rainy moment. While some portion of rain water flows over the ground’s surface, some is absorbed into the soil. A certain volume of the absorbed water is stored in the soil, but an excess amount then leaks further into the earth. With the aid of the stored water, the nutritional elements in the soil are dissolved and this solution is taken up by the roots of plants, thus enabling growth and development.

During this stage, while a small ratio of water remains in the plant, much of it passes into the atmosphere via transpiration. Even more water is lost from the soil via surface evaporation. This water goes into the atmosphere, and it then forms into precipitation.The portion of rainfall which is initially passed into the atmosphere through transpiration or soil evaporation is called green water (Figure 1). This concept was first proposed at a seminar of the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) in 1993.

Green water is a significant source of water and has a much larger volume than the water belonging to rivers, lakes, and aquifers, which are constantly refilled and replaced. This water is very important for land ecosystems. Rainfall-dependent crops, lumber, bio-fuels, and cotton all need green water.

Blue water

All floods, streaming waters, and ground springs that are not absorbed by soil make up what we call blue water. Blue water is utilized in irrigation, industry, energy generation, and housing. Aquatic and wetland ecosystems are dependent on this water. Blue water also carries solutions and silt which are used in river deltas, which help protect ecosystems, and can also be utilized – with the aid of dams – in hydroelectric power. As a great deal of water is needed for hydroelectric power, a shortage of blue water can lead to violence, or even war.

Blue water is the only source of hydroelectric power. It is used for other sources, too, but green water is far more abundant than blue. Thus, conservation efforts should be aimed at preserving and protecting green water.

Green water management

After a rainfall, depending on the vegetative cover, the permeability of the ground, and the slope of the water basin, anywhere from 5 to 95% of the water starts to flow. This ratio is called the flow coefficient. A lower flow coefficient means that a greater portion of the rainfall is captured by the soil; therefore, precipitation is efficiently used.

On the contrary, a bigger flow coefficient means that most of the water drains away and the rain is not properly utilized. In addition, excessive soil erosion takes place in places where there is more surface flow; as a result, areas without forest and vegetation develop. Over time, the surface flow increases, until no soil is left to hold water. Once soil is unable to absorb water, evaporation decreases, thus increasing the likelihood of a drought.

In heavily forested regions, the flow coefficient is usually between 5 – 20%. This number is around 5–35% for grass covered pastures, 30-75% in residential areas, and 70-90% for roads.

Water in soil is stored for plants

Even though the everlasting exchange among water, soil, and plants may seem very simple and ordinary, it is actually a wise, calculated, and balanced process. Without air, plant roots die because of hypoxia; without water, plants die from dehydration. In exchange for these blessings, roots support the soil, as if in expression of their gratitude. Without roots, water carries soil away. As a result of the cooperation among these three main elements, plants and clean water are constantly produced.

Unfortunately, this balance is at risk. Present field management practices show that rain water is not conserved and major losses are taking place. These losses happen in two ways:

1. With flash floods and erosion causing high surface flow volumes;
2. or via direct evaporation of water from barren soil.

After carefully considering the situation above, it becomes obvious that rainfall water must be conserved. The following steps can be taken to improve water conservation and crop production.

● Farmers can improve the local water balance. For this to be achieved, surface flow and erosion must be slowed down, soil absorption (or infiltration) should be enhanced, inefficient evaporation must be decreased, and water in the soil must be conserved.

● The water reserves of the lower basin are related to the upper basin through field management. If the water and soil of the upper basin are managed properly, the lower basin water sources become enriched, access to water becomes easier, water investment costs drop, floods decrease, and the cost of future preventive measures are lowered.

● The most important source of freshwater or clean water (blue water) is green water; as such, with better soil and water management, blue water can be regulated proficiently.

● Farmers play the key role in water management and should be supported. To do so, farmers must be educated; cooperative, union-like organizations must be formed; equipment should be provided for; and regulatory laws must be put in place.

Food shortages are perhaps the most severe consequence resulting from climate change. One way to help alleviate this problem is through better agricultural practices, especially in developing countries. Due to many factors, agriculture is a very local undertaking; it can be developed at the community level.

The key to improved agricultural production is better use of water. We must use water carefully, especially in places suffering from water shortages. Despite less rainfall, if already-present green water is well administered and locally suitable agricultural production is practiced, food shortages can be solved, and poverty at least somewhat alleviated. This can be achieved and maintained by educating people, informing them professionally, and supporting them via new technologies and improved infrastructure.

These measures should especially be adopted and implemented in dry or semi-arid regions like Turkey. This will help to preserve the already endangered water basins in these regions.

Looking at the water shortages around the world, it’s clear that we do not fully appreciate what a blessing rainfall is. We are wasting our water sources and destroying our soil. To help fight climate change and poverty, we must start giving this blessing its proper due.

Is this life?
This drastic contrast?
This black and white?
This sunshine and rain?
Is it?

Is it normal
for worlds to collide?
Combine?
Crash?

And these emotions?
To effervesce differently, yet be present,
in the same world,
the same existence.

It is.
And, apparently this is life,
When your mind and heart will be playing a tug of war,
and you sit,
you sit and realize it’s your choice.

See…
It’s your choice to visualize what you want to see. It’s your choice to just stay in the sunshine, ignoring the rain.
It’s your choice to just stare at that white and don’t look back at that black.

So this is what they meant,
when they told us to look at the cup, half full.

Even when you’re grieving the half that is gone, half is still there.

It’s the choice.
It’s the choice to chose how we look at our lives, the good and the bad.
How we smile in our happiness,
and find strength in our sadness.

How we laugh when we hear something funny,
something fun,
and hold those tears
when the sadness stings our hearts.

It’s our choice.
Our choice to be those optimisms
who just look at the glass as half full.

And who know,

deep down,
Even if the glass isn’t half full,
even if it’s only a quarter, or even a tenth, full
it will still, to some degree, be full.

And that it’ll get better.
It will get fuller.
Just know
that it will get better.
It will fill up.

No one’s glass
is constantly full…

instead of a picture, multiplication table adorns my kitchen wall.

I have 8 arms like an octopus reaching in every direction.

Nobody can worry as much as I do.

There is always some stain on my clothes that detergent won’t remove.

I am a mother,

my notebook has dinosaurs drawn on it

the wall of my bedroom a little artist’s exhibition.

Me and my cell phone fall apart too often.

I lose my keys every other day.

I am a mother

and a pediatrician though I never went to medical school.

I play the cook, the nurse, the teacher, the driver, the singer

selfless like the rain, the earth, the sun.

I am a mother,

small things make me cry for joy.

like little notes that say “luv mom”

or sketched portrait with ugly teeth and fuzzy hair,

every line reflecting admiration and care.

I am a mother,

my heart deep and vast like an ocean.

I am a mother,

paradise lies under my feet.

Mirkena Ozer pursues MA in creative writing at the University of Georgia, Atlanta.

In his collection of Lem’alar (The Flashes), he dedicates an important section to the story of the prophet Job (Ayyub), who suffered from severe illnesses. Through this story Nursi speaks of the problem of suffering and how it is perceived from a theological perspective. He refers to the Qur’anic verse: “And (remember) Job, when he called upon his Lord saying: ‘affliction has touched me and You are the most Merciful of the merciful’” (21:83). In this story, Job’s illness cleansed his soul while his body suffered. In this way, Job’s suffering served his spiritual healing. Nursi comments on this, saying that an illness is not only physical, but it can also be spiritual. He says, “If our inner being was to be turned outward and our outer being turned inward, we would appear more wounded and diseased than Job.” Nursi continues, “Every sin that we commit, every doubt that comes to our mind, inflicts wounds on our heart and spirit.” Job’s wounds were threatening his worldly life; our spiritual wounds, often, threaten our eternal lives. Because of this we must say a prayer that is one-thousand greater than that of Job. We, like Job, need this prayer, even if we are healthy in body.

Nursi divides disasters into two types. The true disaster, according to Nursi, is the religious disaster. For example, if a Muslim abandons their faithful performance of their religious obligations this would be a religious disaster, and is graver than any physical disaster. Another example that can be given is the harboring doubts; for example, one may doubt God’s existence. This too is a religious disaster if these doubts do not ultimately strengthen one’s faith. In such a case, a person should pray to God for His mercy and ask for guidance and deliverance from this affliction.

The second type of disaster is physical, not religious. This type of disaster often acts as a divine reminder. According to Nursi, this type of disaster does not suggest a wrathful God, but rather a merciful God. He gives an example of a shepherd who is concerned about his sheep: If a shepherd throws a stone at his sheep when they trespass on another’s pasture, they understand that the stone was intended as a warning to save them from a perilous action; full of gratitude, they turn back. Nursi similarly states that there are many apparent disasters that in fact remind us of God and awaken us. Some disasters, likewise, cleanse us of our sins. Some disasters remove carelessness and remind people of their weaknesses and vulnerabilities; it is through these events that we experience a kind of divine presence. Nursi, with regard to illnesses, refers to the sayings of the Prophet Muhammad stating that sins fall away through the trembling caused by a fever, just as a tree drops ripened fruit when shaken.

Nursi says that there are three reasons that humans have no right to complain about di-sasters and illnesses. The first one is that God has made human beings a reflection of his art, clothing them with the cloth of existence. God has made people a model for the reflection of His Names. Therefore, the name of God “The All-Healing” is made known through human illness, while the name “The All-Provider” is made known through human hunger. Existence itself is a great bounty from God; that is, it is a great bounty in comparison to non-existence. According to Nursi, through calamity and illness people are purified from their sin and they attain a higher spiritual rank while they leave this world which is in fact a testing ground for human beings. A monotonous and indolent life is closer to non-existence, which is the absolute evil; existence is the absolute good. Life led monotonously on the couch of ease and comfort resembles not so much the pure good that is being, as the pure evil that is non-being; it tends in fact in that direction.

Nursi goes on to elaborate on the fact “worldly life is a place of testing and an abode of service. It is not a place of wages or rewards. Illnesses and disasters, as long as they do not affect belief and are patiently endured, are beneficial and relevant to worship, strengthening and making every hour of life the equivalent of one day of worship. Instead of complaining, one must be thankful.” In Nursi’s understanding, worship is divided into two types: positive worship (the common form of worship with which we are familiar) and negative worship (e.g. being patient in unpleasant conditions). He includes disasters and illnesses in the category of negative worship; it is through these that humans can understand their weaknesses and vulnerabilities. They pray to their Merciful Lord to help them in these matters, thinking of Him and sincerely appealing to Him. Nursi suggests that if a person is aware of these things, and if they think of the reward that God has prepared and remains thankful then their limited life will bear the fruit of an unlimited life. If these are done while suffering, then one minute of this worldly life becomes like one day spent at worship.

In another section, Nursi speaks of the creation of evil, especially the creation of Satan, and how this can be compatible with the wisdom of God, Who is the Owner of infinite beauty and mercy. How could such a One have created Satan, who is evil and ugly? Nursi tells us, “In the creation of Satan, there are minor evils set beside major good goals and human progress toward perfection. Yes, in the capacity of human progress, which is found in the essence of humanity, there are more stages than even those found in the growth of a seed into a tree. One can even say that these stages are as great as the difference between the size of an atom and the Sun. The development of such human capacities requires movement and action. The mechanism for such an action of development is struggle. Such a struggle requires the existence of Satan, demons, and evil things, against which humans must struggle. Otherwise, the stages of humanity would be static, like those of the angels.” Thus, Nursi says, abandoning thousands of good things in order to prevent the occurrence of one evil is not an action of wisdom or justice. Responding to the statement of “the creation of evil is evil, and the creation of ugliness is ugly,” Nursi says “the creation of evil is not evil, but committing evil is evil. This is because creation-either by creating something out of nothing, or through transformation-is to be evaluated in terms of its results. For example, rain has a thousand results, all of which are beautiful. Some people may suffer because of rain as a result of their neglect to take precautions. Yet, despite the fact that some people have suffered, no one can say that rain is not a mercy, that rain is not good. No one can say that the creation of rain is evil. On the contrary, those who suffer have made rain evil for them through their own neglect.” Nursi continues in this vein, using the example of fire. He argues that in the creation of fire there are many benefits. All of them are good. Some people, however, may make fire harmful for themselves and may suffer as a result. Such people cannot say the creation of fire is bad, but rather the way that they employed fire was bad. Fire was not created to harm people, but people often use fire to harm others and themselves. A simple example of this is the person who does not use fire to cook their dinner, but rather puts their hand in the fire, making it harmful. At this point we need to mention that in some acts of God, like the recent tsunami in the Asia, there are many more dimensions involved than just human neglect and any human precaution simply cannot resist Divine Decree.

Nursi elaborates on this subject by raising the problem that there are many people, who under the temptation of evil go astray. Is such a result still good? With regard to this, Nursi draws our attention to the importance of quality and not quantity. He gives an example of planting one thousand and ten seeds, saying that if a thousand of these seeds whither away and only ten survive to grow into trees one cannot say that planting these seeds was bad, even though a thousand seeds were lost. The ten seeds that became trees will result in thousands more seeds. In humanity, many people go astray because of the creation of Satan, but many others, with great qualities, have benefited humanity in extraordinary ways.

According to Nursi, everything that is created in this world is beautiful because it is a reflection of God’s name, “the All-Beautiful.” To support this, he refers to Al-Ghazzali’s famous statement: “In the world of possibility, there is no better one than the current one.” Nursi refers to opposites: There are some evils, yet these are relatively beautiful because they bring to the fore the character of their opposites. “Ugliness that brings out many beauties is relatively beautiful: Ugliness becomes beautiful. If ugliness, through its disappearance, causes the disappearance of many beautiful things, it becomes even uglier. Humans can understand the existence of warmth because there is cold and the existence of light because there is darkness.” Therefore, according to Nursi “through minor evil, harm, misfortune, and ugliness, some important good acts, encompassing benefits, great bounties, and important beauties appear.”

What we deduce from Nursi’s explanations is that Divine Wisdom may allow seemingly evil things, such as catastrophes, to happen. Disasters happen through His knowledge and His natural laws. Even within the greatest di-saster, God is there with His mercy and beauty. He bestows His private bounties upon those who suffer through such catastrophes. The believers who die in these catastrophes are considered to be martyrs, and their lost property is considered as having been (donated to) charity. 

References

• Nursi, S., The Flashes, tr. Sukran Vahide, Sozler Publication, Istanbul: 1995, pp. 21-28.
• Nursi, S., Risale-i Nur Kulliyati, Nesil, Istanbul: 1996, Vol. I, p.582-83
• Ibid., p. 618. 

O you who believe! Refrain from cherishing suspicions about others for some of such suspicions are a grave sin, and do not spy. And let some of you not backbite the others. Would anyone among you love to eat of the flesh of his dead brother? (You see that) you abhor it. Fear God. Surely God is the All-Relenting, the All-Compassionate.

Ibrahim Adham, one of the famous Muslim Sufis, left a table of food where a Muslim was backbitten, and said:

– I came here to eat food, but you have begun eating rotten flesh.

Khalid Rabi’, a famous Muslim saint, narrates:

– Some people were backbiting a man at that time in the mosque. I warned them not to do that but later when they began backbiting another one, I also happened to utter a few ill words about him. That night I had a dream in which a tall, dark man offered me a dish of bacon. I refused it saying that bacon was regarded as foul and therefore forbidden by my religion. He responded to me:

– You ate something fouler than this in the day just past.

When I woke up, I felt the smell and taste of that bad flesh in my mouth and stomach. I asked for God’s forgiveness for forty days.

To those who backbit him, Hasan al-Basri, one of the most famous Muslims ascetics who lived in the seventh century, sent a present with a letter in which he wrote:

– I have heard that you talked ill about me. By doing so, you took over my sins and gave me your spiritual merits. I request you to accept this present in return for the good you did me.

Imam Sha’rani, a Muslim scholar and saint who lived in Egypt in the 16th century, writes:

After the people receive in the Hereafter the records in which the deeds they did in this world are registered, some people will say to God Almighty: ‘O God! Where are the prayers and fasts I did and the alms I gave? None of them have been recorded here.’

God replies to them:

– Whatever good you did was recorded there. However, you were not able to keep those good deeds. You gave their merits to those you backbit. Go and look at the records of your brothers whom you backbit! You will see them there!

Again Imam Sha’rani writes:

Together with his people, the Prophet Moses, upon him be peace, prayed to God for rain for three days, but even a drop of rain did not come. When Moses asked God about the reason why rain did not come, God answered:

Your prayer is unacceptable by Me, for there is one among you who always talks ill about his brothers and backbites them.

The Prophet Moses entreated God to inform them who that man was so that they could expel him from among them. However, the Almighty responded:

O Moses! Would you like to cause me to backbite a man?

‘Abdullah ibn Masud, one of the leading Companions of the Prophet Muhammad, upon him be peace and blessings, used to say to those who backbit others:

– Stand up and do wudu’! For what comes out of your mouths is not less foul than what comes out of your bowels.

A person living fifty years ago would have found nothing extraordinary in this verse. Yet it is, read in the light of what we know now of atmospheric physics, extraordinarily rich in meaning and significance.

The materialists of the last century regarded rain as the simple precipitation of water vapour and even expected, in their godless arrogance, to be able to produce rain at will. Moreover, they ridiculed those who would pray for rain. It was not realized at that time that the phenomenon of rainfall, i.e. the conversion of a cloud into rain, is not such a simple event after all. An atheistic science was unable to pose, let alone seek to answer, a number of key questions:

1. How can vapour, which is regarded as gaseous water, remain in the same form in atmospheric strata, such as the Siberian skies, where temperatures can drop to forty degrees below zero? Why does it not fall as ice blocks?

2. How does the size of raindrops come about, and in what measure and form do raindrops descend to earth? What are the preconditions for the formation of raindrops of such a convenient size and shape?

3. How does a cloud vaporize, and how and whence does the salt in clouds come to be there, seeing that salt cannot be vaporized at the boiling point of water?

Over the last twenty years, rational-if still only partial-answers have been found to these puzzling questions. Let us now re-read the sacred verse, and identify its relevant points:

a. God regards rain as a physical event of the same order of significance as the resurrection of the dead. That is the meaning of His saying that we will be brought forth from the earth just as He has sent water from the sky in due measure and brought a dead land to life.

b. The Qur’an describes rain as a carefully measured descent of water, the idea of ‘measure’ being conveyed in the phrase bi-qadarin which indicates an ordered and calculated, willed and deliberate, measuring-the definition of a mathematical program.

c. ‘…and We raise to lift therewith a dead land.’ This sentence, the central portion of the verse, is likewise no ordinary statement. It refers directly and specifically to a dead land being raised to life; it does not say ‘plants emerge from it’. We shall examine the implications of this choice of phrasing below.

Let us now briefly review the scientific aspects of the miracle of rain. The results of the latest research have shed light on many previously unknown points relating water, clouds and rain. In doing so, they provide a wonderful exposition of the verse we are considering. We may summarise these points as follows:

1. A study done in the United States by Vincent J. Schaeffer has revealed that particles of water do not freeze down to -40 C when they are very fine and pure. Water has to be impure and formed of large masses in order to freeze at 0 C. A cloud is a special physical structure that is formed of water vapour which is immediately converted into minute water droplets. It therefore does not share the properties of ordinary water. Atmospheric clouds do not freeze and descend even at -30 C.

2. Clouds are formed by the agglomeration of tiny water droplets around particles of salt or cosmic dust. These tiny nuclei constitute the basis for rain. The origin of cosmic dust is unknown; also, the way in which the dust particles become lodged in the cloud is not yet well understood. However, it is believed that the water at the ocean surface participates in the vaporization process by contributing particles of salt.

3. It is conjectured that there are about one billion water particles per cubic millimeter during cloud formation. There are 50-500 cloud droplets per cubic centimeter in clouds. How these droplets are converted into raindrops is a matter of considerable controversy.

4. Up until 1950, the theory of Bergeron-Findeisen was the most widely accepted explanation of cloud droplets. According to Bergeron-Findeisen, the water droplets first form condensation nuclei, and raindrops then coalesce around them.

However, according to more recent studies, the growth of a cloud droplet over time proceeds concomitantly with various circumstances. A drop of water gradually assumes the nuclear state, overcoming conditions even of forty degrees below zero, and produces rain through a very complex equation:

5. As for the production of rain, minute water particles first coalesce around the condensation nucleus. Then, as they grow, the surface area of these water particles increases as they approach the ground. The increase in surface area in turn allows the velocity of the raindrop to be checked by air friction, with the result that rainfall acquires a gentle descent. This balancing process is a miracle of Divine compassion: by the time the raindrop touches ground, it has slowed down to make a soft landing, almost as if by a parachute. The equation for this descent and balanced speed is:

In the light of current scientific knowledge, the sentence Who sends down rain from the sky in due measure can only mean to us that the descent of rain is a matter of the finest, most subtle calculation. Linking it to the latter part of the verse, it is a miracle of Divine science akin to the raising of the dead.

Present day atmospheric physics also regards rain formation and rainfall as a scientific wonder, and many volumes have been devoted to the subject. Interested readers may usefully consult Robert Byes’ Elements of Cloud Physics and Louis J. Nin’s Cloud Physics and Cloud Seeding.

We now come to the implications of the second sentence in the verse: and we raise to life therewith a dead land.

When soil is dry, it is apparently lifeless. In fact the soil is very much alive, needing rain for its life to he activated. What does science have to say about this?

There are a million times a million bacteria in a gram of soil. These bacteria become wholly inactive, dormant, when it does not rain for a long time. It is as if they change into lifeless genetic codes. All these microbes revive when rain falls, and initiate a large production campaign beginning with nitrogen fixation. Their activity gives life in turn to thousands of small organisms. It is as if a dead underground city has come to life. Fertilizers form, the seeds of innumerable small plants revive, opening channels under the ground with their roots, like the roads of a city. Next, small insects and ants, each with their own nests, burrow under the earth, making it comparable to a large city. This is how a ‘dead land’ is revived.

What is the life-giving secret of rain? This part of the verse directs our attention to the connection of rain, and so of water, with life.

The basic chemical substance of living things is a bridge of hydrogen, lending continuity to the life of an organism, which we call the ‘hydrogen bonds’. The hydrogen is changed frequently, forming new bonds and transferring vitality. Since this hydrogen can be replaced only by the hydrogen produced during the ionization of water, water is indispensable for life.

This rule holds for all living things. A dehydrated organism is like a frozen skeleton even if it preserves its DNA and its genetic code: it can neither move nor reproduce. When water arrives and donates hydrogen from its separating H and OH ions, the code of life jumps into action. This is easily seen, particularly in the case of microbes. In more developed organisms, vitality cannot be restored even when water arrives because the tissue layers have been damaged by dehydration. The ‘revival of the dead land’ alludes to such profound biological laws.

We now turn to the last part of the verse: even so will you be raised [from the dead]. Our resurrection, the verse here declares, is a similar activation by Divine command of our codes remaining in the soil. It declares that just as the rain activates the genetic codes in a dead land and suddenly regenerates life, the codes will be processed and revived with the speed of a computer as soon as the Divine Will gives the order: ‘Come to life, arise.’ And finally, the analogy with rain means that God, Who gives life under the ground by sending a hydrogen ion, can doubtless also restore us to life when He wills.

Approximately ten billion human beings have lived on earth since Adam. The size of each individual’s code is about 1 micron; if you collected them all, they would not fill a glass. If God were to pour the genetic codes of all the humans He created from a glass into the soil, including those whose codes have been lost, and were to say ‘Now, Be!’, all human beings would be recreated in the twinkling of an eye

This is the similitude that God provides through this verse, for those possessed of knowledge with understanding. In effect, He is declaring: ‘Just as I have given life to an entirely lifeless land by means of a raindrop, it is no trouble at all for Me to reactivate the hydrogen in your biological genetic codes.’

Travel here and there seeking the seas they parted from.

They fall with the sound of plucked lute-strings;

And hearing it, the earth begins to breathe.

Drops of rain float down with the grace of butterflies,

As if arranging some meaning in most rhythmic verse.

They resonate in the ear like a sweet melody,

And skies seem to weep for the grass on earth.

Each drop has said farewell to its heavenly life,

And returns to its origin, which is a roaring ocean.

Everything on earth holds still to listen to rain;

Each drop descends to the ground like an angel.

Eyes seeing the rain fall in such thrilling harmony

See worlds beyond this world come into view.

The skies rejoice with smiles observed everywhere;

Everyone is enchanted by the heavenly rhapsody.

Vapour rises in masses as great as mountains,

Then it seeks the green, blue and orange on earth.

Rain always brings down a peculiar contentment;

And carries fragrance of Paradise and exhilaration.

That fragrance pervades everywhere, deep into the soul,

Earth awakens to life and flowers burst open.

The whole of creation finds peace and serenity,

The window open to the realms beyond becomes visible.

***

Many have pondered over God’s description of rain. He said:

He sendeth down from the heavens mountains wherein is hail (al-Nur, 24.43)

Traditional commentators have discussed the meanings of ‘mountains in the sky’. Literally the verse says: ‘are sent from the skies from mountains of (from) cold’. The construction is passive. The word min appears three times. The first indicates the general origin of the rain in from the skies, the second specifies the Origin further in from mountains and the third describes of what the mountains consist, what they contain or are characterised by, namely, cold This led the early generations, among them the Prophet’s cousin, Ibn ‘Abbas, to conclude that ‘there are mountains in the skies just as there are on the earth’. ‘Mountains’ can be used figuratively to mean ‘a great quantity’, as when we say that so- and-so has ‘mountains of gold’, meaning ‘he has a lot of gold’.

The language of the Qur’an is so rich that the verse could also mean that ‘mountains of cold’ descend from the skies. Anyone who has been caught in a heavy winter hailstorm will readily understand the image. Most English translators render baradin as hail. This is no doubt correct but something of the quality of the image is diminished. However, striking and powerful though the language and imagery are, we shall not be concerned with them here. Rather, we shall concentrate our attention on the scientific implications of the words used in the verse.

Hail is ‘frozen rain’ or ‘stones of frozen water’ and can be aptly described as ‘mountains’ descending from heaven or ‘comets of ice’.

Several scientists have researched the hypothesis that the source of all the oceans is storms of icy comets that enter the earth’s atmosphere at a rate of 20 per minute. These comets, which are believed to contain about 100 tons of water each, vaporize on impact with the atmosphere and fall as rain or snow.

The roots of this hypothesis are found in data received by the Dynamics Explorer 1 (DE1), a high-altitude, polar- orbiting satellite. The DE1 had been conducting the first global exploratory imaging mission of the earth. Professor Frank of Iowa University was interested in receiving the first global maps of the earth’s aurora. From a vantage point on the satellite, which orbits as far as 14,500 miles from earth, a photometer designed and operated by his team, measured the ultraviolet emissions from atomic oxygen in the atmosphere.

The bright or visible half of the earth, illuminated by the sun, is known as the ‘dayglow’. The dayglow is caused by sunlight being absorbed and re-radiated by oxygen at 180 miles above the earth’s surface. Scientists use the dayglow to learn about the structure of the atmosphere at high altitude. The dayglow images Frank received contained some unexpected features. He noticed the sky was speckled with dark spots or atmospheric holes. Frank and his partners witnessed about 30,000 such spots or holes during their 2,000 hours of observation. They scrutinized the measurements for faulty instrumentation, possible computer glitches, statistical flaws, telemetry interference, failing sensors and paint flecks on the imager. After eliminating the possibility of spurious effects, the scientists published their results on the atmospheric holes (Frank et al, 1986, pp.307-10). The images revealed that the spots were about 30 miles wide and lasted up to three minutes. So what were they? How did they appear?

Frank concluded they were being caused by water vapour in the outer fringes of the atmosphere. He calculated that it would need a 30-ft ball of loosely packed water and ice breaking up and vaporizing about 1,000 to 2,000 miles away from the earth to produce a cloud of water vapour the size of the dark spots on his satellite images.

He suggested that the holes in the dayglow were formed by small, comet-like objects entering the earth’s atmosphere. Sixty miles from the earth’s surface, the cloud of water vapour continues to plummet until it reaches a height of about 35 miles, where it gets mixed up with the air in the upper atmosphere. Winds circulating into the stratosphere turn the water vapour into ice crystals, which then fall and become part of the lower altitude’s water vapour, eventually turning into precipitation and ending up in the sea. At the observed rate of 20 per minute, this is calculated to result in an increase of the equivalent of one inch of water all over the earth’s surface every 10,000 years.

Erikson (1987. p.20) suggested the barrage of icy comets began around 4.2 billion years ago, and that they were at their most intense during the 300 million years that followed. Dr Clayne Yeates, deputy project scientist at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, said that the comets of ice or snowballs continue to move at 10 km per second relative to the earth. At about 1,000 km above the earth they break up into hail due to tidal waves and then turn to vapour in the atmosphere. Finally, the vapour falls as rain and joins the earth’s water cycle.

Clayne Yeates (Huyghe, 1988, pp.8-11) began a direct telescopic search for these small comets using the 36-inch Spacewatch Telescope at Kitt Peak, Arizona – one of the few telescopes in the world sufficiently sensitive to detect these small comets directly. As these objects are too fast and too dark to be picked up on a photographic plate they needed to use a charged coupled detector (CCD) that counts individual photons of light and is 100 times more sensitive than a photographic plate. The Spacewatch Telescope is just such an instrument. The objects are indeed there. Telltale streaks appeared on the telescope’s images at the rate of more than one a minute, just as Frank had predicted.

Frank certainly did not set out to interpret the Qur’anic verse quoted above, nor does the imagery of the verse need any strengthening to be effective. Yet, may we not say that, with every new observation of God’s universe, we are enabled to see new shades of meanings in His words.

The latest aircraft are still clumsier than birds and, by comparison with birds, have less agility. Moreover, upward flight affects pilots badly, while birds can do this very easily since the air between their feathers their bodies and wings is absorbing and reducing air pressure. Their mobile tail feathers enable them to turn sharply and even do somersaults. They are capable of steep descent or ascent without the risks aeroplanes face in doing the same. Land birds can fly or glide for long periods as well as land without heating their wings, whereas aeroplanes cannot sustain flight with stopped engines.

An important recent achievement in aircraft technology is vertical take off and landing – something many flying animals such as bees have been able to do for millions of years. Wing design, following the models of wing design in birds, has also been improved recently. The wings of birds follow hundreds of different designs, each with its peculiar advantages. They have many facilities. The most significant ability of birds’ wings is that they can be opened or folded up at will, thus giving flexibility in different flight conditions. This inspired engineers to design some aircraft like the F-14, F-18 and MIG-25 with wings that can be adjusted to some degree. The forward-arrow-angled wing is another projected innovation of recent technology in pursuit of what was given to birds in their creation. The airflow possible between the feathers of birds’ wings which significantly reduces air pressure is also being imitated. The producers of one model of the Boeing-747 have designed thousands of small cavities in the wings: the trials have been successful and the technique has been recommended for adaptation for use in all aircraft.

The scientist and engineer, whose final aim is to attain the flying technique of birds, know full well that they are just at the start of their quest. Birds and other flying animals do not have a consciousness like ours. How is it that they have achieved such a perfect compatibility with the air? It is true that producing an aircraft requires elaborate skills and elaborate knowledge, but is it not marvellous that birds demonstrate perfect flight? How is this? How does the possibility, the very idea, of flight arise?