سورة الرعد

Imam Baqir (peace be upon him): أَنزَلَ مِنَ السَّمَاءِ مَاءً فَسَالَتْ أَوْدِیَةٌ بِقَدَرِهَا [He sends down water from the sky, then watercourses flow according to their measure]; Allah the Exalted says: the great rivers according to the measure of their greatness and the small rivers according to the measure of their smallness... Where Allah the Exalted says: أَنزَلَ مِنَ السَّمَاءِ مَاءً [He sends down water from the sky], He said: "Allah sends down the truth from the sky, and hearts, according to their inner desires, contain it within themselves. Those with conviction receive the truth according to the measure of their conviction, and hearts that have doubt receive it according to the measure of their doubt. Desire embraces a great deal of falsehood and refuse. So what is meant by water in this verse is the truth itself, and the valleys are the hearts. The torrent is desire, and the zabad (foam) is falsehood, and the ornament and goods are the truth itself. Allah has said: کَذَلِکَ یَضْرِبُ اللهُ الحَقَّ وَ الْبَاطِلَ فَأَمَّا الزَّبَدُ فَیَذْهَبُ جُفَاءً وَ أَمَّا مَا یَنفَعُ النَّاسَ فَیَمْکُثُ فِی الأَرْضِ [Thus does Allah compare truth and falsehood; then as for the foam, it passes away as a worthless thing, and as for that which profits people, it tarries in the earth]; so the foam and the dross of iron are falsehood, and the goods and adornment are truth. Whoever's share in this world is the foam and the dross of iron gains no benefit and reaps no reward. Likewise, the one who brings falsehood gains no benefit on the Day of Resurrection. But the goods and the adornment — that is the truth, and the one who possesses these two enjoys benefit in this world, and the one who is with the truth will also profit on the Day of Resurrection. کَذَلِکَ یَضْرِبُ اللهُ الأَمْثَالَ [Thus does Allah set forth parables]. زَبَدًا رَّابِیًا [swelling foam]; that is, high and elevated. وَ مِمَّا یُوقِدُونَ عَلَیْهِ فِی النَّارِ ابْتِغَاءَ حِلْیَةٍ أَوْ مَتَاعٍ زَبَدٌ مِّثْلُهُ [And from what they melt in the fire seeking ornament or goods, arises a scum like it]; what is meant is the jewels that you bring out of the water, and this is a parable — that is, the truth becomes established in the hearts of people of faith, and in the hearts of the disbelievers it does not become firm and established. فَأَمَّا الزَّبَدُ فَیَذْهَبُ جُفَاءً [As for the foam, it passes away as worthless]; that is, it becomes void, وَ أَمَّا مَا یَنفَعُ النَّاسَ فَیَمْکُثُ فِی الأَرْضِ [and as for that which profits people, it tarries in the earth], and this is a parable for the believers and the polytheists. Allah the Exalted has said: کَذَلِکَ یَضْرِبُ اللهُ الأَمْثَالَ [Thus does Allah set forth parables]."

Imam Ali (peace be upon him): Allah the Exalted, in describing the story of those who altered [the revelation], said: ... یُرِیدُونَ لِیُطْفِؤُا نُورَ اللهِ بِأَفْواهِهِمْ وَ یَأْبَی اللهُ إِلَّا أَنْ یُتِمَّ نُورَهُ [They wish to extinguish the light of Allah with their mouths, but Allah refuses [anything] except that His light be completed.] (Tawbah/32); that is, in order to obscure the matter for the people, they recorded in the Book of Allah things which were not the speech of Allah. So Allah also blinded their hearts, so that they left in His Book that which indicates the innovations they introduced into it and the distortions they made in it, and He exposed their lying, deceit and concealment of what they themselves knew of it. For this reason He said to them: لِمَ تَلْبِسُونَ الْحَقَّ بِالْباطِلِ [Why do you [mix and] confuse truth with falsehood [so that others do not understand and are led astray]?] (Al Imran/71). And He struck a parable concerning them, saying: فَامّا الزَّبَدُ فَیَذْهَبُ جُفَاءً وَامّا مَا یَنفَعُ النَّاسَ فَیَمْکُثُ فِی الأَرْضِ [As for the foam, it passes away as scum; but as for that which benefits the people, it remains in the earth.] The foam here is precisely the speech that the heretics recorded in the Quran, and this speech, when it is examined, is annihilated, nullified and dispersed. But that which benefits the people is the true revelation, which no falsehood approaches, neither from before it nor from behind it (Fussilat/42), and hearts accept it, and the earth here is the place and abode of knowledge. So, in view of the pervasive requirement of taqiyya (dissimulation), disclosing the names of the alterers is not permissible, just as adding to the verses concerning what they themselves recorded in the Book of Allah is also not permissible; because this would strengthen the arguments of the people of denial, the disbelievers, and the nations deviant from our qiblah, and would lead to the nullification of this manifest knowledge — knowledge to which both those who agree and those who disagree have submitted; because it proves beneficial to them and secures their satisfaction, and for that reason they accept it.

Ali ibn Ibrahim (may Allah have mercy on him): أَنْزَلَ مِنَ السَّماءِ ماءً فَسالَتْ أَوْدِیَةٌ بِقَدَرِها فَاحْتَمَلَ السَّیْلُ زَبَداً رابِیاً [He sends down water from the sky, and valleys flow according to their measure, and the torrent bears a rising foam]; that is, high and elevated. وَ مِمَّا یُوقِدُونَ عَلَیْهِ فِی النَّارِ ابْتِغاءَ حِلْیَةٍ [And from what they smelt in the fire, seeking ornament]; that is, the jewels which are obtained from water, and this is a parable; meaning that the truth remains firm in the hearts of the believers, but does not remain firm in the hearts of the disbelievers. فَأَمَّا الزَّبَدُ فَیَذْهَبُ جُفاءً [As for the foam, it passes away]; that is, the foam is nullified. وَ أَمَّا ما یَنْفَعُ النَّاسَ فَیَمْکُثُ فِی الْأَرْضِ [But as for that which benefits the people, it remains in the earth]. This is a parable for the believers and the polytheists.