Page 201 - For Men of Understanding

RAINS THAT GIVE LIFE TO A DEAD LAND
In the Qur’an, many verses call our attention the rain’s function of "bring-
ing a dead land to life". "…And We send down from heaven pure water so
that by it We can bring a dead land to life and give drink to many of the
animals and people We created." (Surat al – Furqan: 48-49)
In addition to furnishing the earth with water, which is an inevitable need
of living beings, rain also has a fertilising effect.
Raindrops that reach the clouds after being evaporated from the seas con-
tain certain substances "that will give life" to a dead land. These "life-giving"
drops are called "surface tension drops". Surface tension drops form on the top
level of the sea’s surface, which is called the micro layer by biologists. In this
layer, which is thinner than one tenth of a millimetre, there are many organic
leftovers from the pollution caused by microscopic algae and zooplankton.
Some of these leftovers select and collect within themselves some elements
which are very rare in sea water, such as phosphorus, magnesium, potassium
and some heavy metals like copper, zinc, cobalt and lead. These "fertiliser"-
laden drops are lifted up into the sky by the winds and after a while they drop
on the ground inside the raindrops. Seeds and plants on
the earth find numerous metallic salts and elements
essential for their growth here in these raindrops. This It is He Who made the
event is revealed in another verse: earth a cradle for you
"And We sent down blessed water from the sky and threaded pathways
and made gardens grow by it and grain for har- for you through it and
vesting." (Surah Qaf: 9) sent down water from
The salts that fall in rain are small examples of cer- the sky by which We
tain conventional fertilisers (calcium, magnesium, potas- have brought forth
sium, etc.) used for increasing fertility. The heavy metals various different
found in these types of aerosols, on the other hand, are types of plants.
other elements that increase fertility in the development (Surah Ta Ha: 53)
and production of plants.
Briefly, rain is an important fertiliser. A barren land
can be furnished with all the essential elements for
plants, over a hundred-year period, just by these fertilisers dropped with rain.
Forests also develop and are fed with the help of these sea-based aerosols.
In this way, 150 million tons of fertiliser falls on the total land surface every
year. If there were no natural fertilisation like this, there would be very little
vegetation on the earth, and the ecological balance would be impaired.

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