Friday Focus: Subtleties of Rain

…the measured downfall is a mystery of nature

The subtleties of rain, the measured downfall thereof, and bringing alive the dead earth is a mystery of nature that is revealed in a Holy Verse:

‘’ (He) sends down from the sky water in due measure; We revived therein a land that was dead; even so shall you be brought forth’’ (43:11)

It took the modern science fourteen centuries to comprehend the mystery of nature that is the downfall of the rain, enshrined in Holy Quran. Not that Holy Quran needs scientific authentication, as it is the book of ‘Hikmat’ the ultimate wisdom, hence Quran-ul-Hakim. In defining rain, Holy Quran has defined it as carefully measured descent of water. The Quranic idiom for the word ‘measure’ is ‘biqadarin’. This word is the expression of an ordered calculated measure: it is the definition of a mathematical program, amply borne as a scientific fact.

Life exists underground in various forms; there could be million times a million bacteria in a gram of soil. Without rain water, they stay dormant—lifeless genetic codes. As rain falls, they are revived to assume a large production campaign beginning with nitrogen fixation. This gives life to thousands of small organisms. Fertilizers form, seeds of innumerable small plants revive. Small insects and ants as well revive, and with it the dead land gets revived with varied life forms, as if an underground city has come alive.

Basic chemical substance of living things being a bridge of hydrogen called the ‘hydrogen bond’ is changed frequently forming new bonds and transferring vitality. This hydrogen can be replaced only by the hydrogen produced during ionization of water, hence the indispensability of water for life.

Vis-à-vis, ‘’ even so shall you be brought forth’’ is a subtle message that any underground life form could be revived making our resurrection possible, as and when programmed for revival. This holds true for all living things, whatever the form.