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wa-ʾanzalnā mina s-samāʾi māʾan bi-qadarin fa-ʾaskannāhu fī l-ʾarḍi wa-ʾinnā ʿalā dhahābin bihī la-qādirūna
We sent down water from the sky in a measured manner, and We lodged it within the ground, and We are indeed able to take it away.
— Ali Quli Qarai
Surah al-Mu’minun - Verse 18
18. “And We sent down water from the sky in measure, and We lodged it in the earth, and verily We are able to take it away”
Allah is equally able to grant and remove His blessings. Like each item of His creation, every drop of rain has been determined and it is not an aimless natural phenomenon without a plan.
(“...in measure...”).
Rain is counted as one of the Divine blessings bestowed from sky upon the earth and is mentioned in this noble verse as another manifestation of Allah’s power. The verse says:
“And We sent down water from the sky in measure, ..”
The water of rain usually is not so abundant that it would cause floods, nor is it so scanty that it would not be able to adequately satisfy plants and animals. After the heavens from which life giving water descends, the earth is the next source of life upon which all living creatures depend and is one of the most important blessings of Allah. Then, the verse refers to a more important issue in this connection which is the storage of water in the ground.
The verse continues saying:
“...and We lodged it in the earth, and verily We are able to take it away”
We know that the outward crust of the earth consists of two layers: the permeable and the impermeable. If all of the earth’s crust were permeable, water from rains, even from thelong continued rains, would immediately seep into the depths of the earth and everywhere would remain dry. If the entire crust were impermeable like mud or clay, all the water would remain on the surface of the earth and could become contaminated and malodorous, becoming a source of death and sickness instead of being a source of life.
However, the great and beneficent Allah has made the upper layer permeable and the lower layer impermeable, so that the water can go into the earth and be contained by the impermeable layer. Later the water, unpolluted and pure, would become available as springs, wells and subterranean canals. The refreshing and wholesome water we obtain from deep wells and consume is possibly the result of rains that had fallen many years ago and had been saved underground without pollution for today’s use.
However, He Who has created man to live on this earth and has simply made water the most important element for his survival, has also created many important means to collect and safeguard it even before the appearance of man. Some of these reserves of water are on high mountains in the form of snow and ice. They melt every year and flow down as streams and rivers, and sometimes they remain for hundreds or thousands years on mountaintops until the commandment for them to descend is issued thus irrigating the dry lands.
However, the word ‘fi’ (within) in the Qur’anic phrase /fil’ard / (within the ground), points to the possibility that the verse indicates underground sources of water, not sources that are above the ground.