Makes the clouds move
Gently, then joins them
Together, then makes them
Into a heap? - then wilt thou
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 its lightening
Well-nigh blinds the sight.
S.24 A.43
I remember the first time I read this verse six years ago. I had just returned from my first trip to London to consider a job at a Muslim school there. I was back in Akron for a few months waiting for the red tape to untangle itself to return to start formal negotiations for the job. Between visits, I corresponded with several of the teachers I had met on my first trip. One teacher, a very graceful young woman sent me a beautiful sunset picture of her hometown in the north. It had a lovely, orangish hue, and the clouds swirled together competing to push the sun down into the earth. I stumbled on this verse the same day I received the photo. I loved the lyrical relationship between Allah and the natural law He commands so elegantly. I read this then closed my eyes, feeling His power and majesty, imagining the thousands of storms I had seen, boiling and brewing, rolling and tumbling across the landscape. I thought of the picture, a moment in time when Allah layered and stacked His clouds around a beautiful sunset, a gift to match this lovely woman's soul.
I've long hoped to write about this verse, that picture, my photographer friend, the day the three intersected. I haven't found the words to express such beautiful images, feeling doomed to try. Reading this again tonight resurrected the folly, and having glanced back at my words, knowing I failed miserably.............
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