The Quran

Preface

وَهُوَ الَّذي أَنزَلَ مِنَ السَّماءِ ماءً فَأَخرَجنا بِهِ نَباتَ كُلِّ شَيءٍ فَأَخرَجنا مِنهُ خَضِرًا نُخرِجُ مِنهُ حَبًّا مُتَراكِبًا وَمِنَ النَّخلِ مِن طَلعِها قِنوانٌ دانِيَةٌ وَجَنّاتٍ مِن أَعنابٍ وَالزَّيتونَ وَالرُّمّانَ مُشتَبِهًا وَغَيرَ مُتَشابِهٍ ۗ انظُروا إِلىٰ ثَمَرِهِ إِذا أَثمَرَ وَيَنعِهِ ۚ إِنَّ في ذٰلِكُم لَآياتٍ لِقَومٍ يُؤمِنونَ

Yusuf Ali

It is He Who sendeth down rain from the skies:¹ with it We produce vegetation of all kinds: from some We produce green (crops), out of which We produce grain, heaped up (at harvest); out of the date-palm and its sheaths (or spathes) (come) clusters of dates hanging low and near: and (then there are) gardens of grapes, and olives, and pomegranates, each similar (in kind) yet different (in variety):² when they begin to bear fruit, feast your eyes with the fruit and the ripeness thereof.³ Behold! in these things there are signs for people who believe.⁴

Our allegory now brings us to maturity, the fruit, the harvest, the vintage. Through the seed we came up from nothingness of life; we lived our daily life of rest and work and passed the milestones of time; we had the spiritual experience of traversing through vast spaces in the spiritual world, guiding our course through the star of Faith; we grew; and now for the harvest or the vintage! So will man if he has produced the fruits of Faith!
Each fruit-whether it is grapes, or olives, or pomegranates-looks alike in its species, and yet each variety may be different in flavour, consistency, shape, size, colour, juice or oil contents, proportion of seed to fruit, etc. In each variety individuals may be different. Apply the allegory to man, whose varied spiritual fruit may be equally different and yet equally valuable! (Cf. 6:141).
And so we finish this wonderful allegory. Search through the world’s literature, and see if you can find another such song or hymn?so fruity in its literary flavour, so profound in its spiritual meaning!
There is a refrain in this song, which is subtly varied. In verse 97 it is: “We detail our Signs for people who know.” So far we were speaking of the things we see around us everyday. Knowledge is the appropriate instrument for these things. In verse 98 we read: “We detail Our Signs for people who understand.”
Understanding is a higher faculty than knowledge, and is necessary for seeing the mystery and meaning of this life. At the end of verse 99 we have: “In these things there are Signs for people who believe.” Here we are speaking of the real fruits of spiritual life. For them Faith is necessary, as bringing us nearer to God.