22 Preface وَأَرسَلنَا الرِّياحَ لَواقِحَ فَأَنزَلنا مِنَ السَّماءِ ماءً فَأَسقَيناكُموهُ وَما أَنتُم لَهُ بِخازِنينَYusuf AliAnd We send the fecundating1 winds, then cause the rain to descend from the sky, therewith providing you with water (in abundance), though ye are not the guardians2 of its stores.3Lawaqih, plural of laqih, from laqaha, to impregnate or fecundate the female date palm by putting the pollen of the male tree on to the ovaries of the female tree. The date palm is unisexual. The wind performs this office for many flowers. Here, by a bold metaphor, its fecundating quality is transferred to the clouds, which by means of rain produce all kinds of fruit, grain, and vegetation. The clouds as vapour are manipulated by the winds, which set up atmospheric currents resulting in condensation and the descent of rain. Note the appropriateness of the little particle “then”, showing the connection of winds with rain.Cf. the previous verse, and n. 1958. Man may store water in cisterns, tanks, lakes, and headwaters of canals. But he has no control over its original sources, which are the clouds, which by the help of the winds, act as grand distributors of water over wide spaces of the world’s surface.This verse must be understood as furnishing an example of illustration of what is said in the last verse.