Quran Universe
30:24

وَمِنۡ ءَايَٰتِهِۦ يُرِيكُمُ ٱلۡبَرۡقَ خَوۡفٗا وَطَمَعٗا وَيُنَزِّلُ مِنَ ٱلسَّمَآءِ مَآءٗ فَيُحۡيِۦ بِهِ ٱلۡأَرۡضَ بَعۡدَ مَوۡتِهَآۚ إِنَّ فِي ذَٰلِكَ لَأٓيَٰتٖ لِّقَوۡمٖ يَعۡقِلُونَ

Wamin ayatihi yureekumu albarqa khawfan watamaAAan wayunazzilu mina alssamai maan fayuhyee bihi alarda baAAda mawtiha inna fee thalika laayatin liqawmin yaAAqiloona

And of His signs is [that] He shows you the lightning [causing] fear and aspiration, and He sends down rain from the sky by which He brings to life the earth after its lifelessness. Indeed in that are signs for a people who use reason.

Word by word
  1. وَمِنۡAnd among
  2. ءَايَٰتِهِۦHis Signs
  3. يُرِيكُمُHe shows you
  4. ٱلۡبَرۡقَthe lightning
  5. خَوۡفٗا(causing) fear
  6. وَطَمَعٗاand hope
  7. وَيُنَزِّلُand He sends down
  8. مِنَfrom
  9. ٱلسَّمَآءِthe sky
  10. مَآءٗwater
  11. فَيُحۡيِۦand gives life
  12. بِهِtherewith
  13. ٱلۡأَرۡضَ(to) the earth
  14. بَعۡدَafter
  15. مَوۡتِهَآۚits death
  16. إِنَّIndeed
  17. فِيin
  18. ذَٰلِكَthat
  19. لَأٓيَٰتٖsurely (are) Signs
  20. لِّقَوۡمٖfor a people
  21. يَعۡقِلُونَwho use intellect
Ar-Rum · 30:24Makkah

Lightning brings fear and hope at once.

One flash, two feelings, and rain that revives

The storm
lightninga flash in the sky
fearof heavy storms
hopefor needed rain
then
dead earth livesa proof of rising
How to stand before Him
only fearor only hope
fear and hopetogether

Ibn Kathir explains: sometimes you fear the heavy rain and thunderbolts, and sometimes a flash gives hope that much-needed rain is coming. Then water revives barren land. In that is proof of the resurrection.

A storm warning pings on your phone. The farmer three villages away is praying for it, while you worry about the commute. One flash holds both fear and hope. Your relationship with Allah needs both, like two wings.

Either I fear Allah, or I trust His mercy.

I can fear Him and hope in Him at the same time. Both keep me steady.

Try this

In your next dua, ask Allah to protect you from one thing and to grant you one thing.

Related22:5
Simplified reflection. Read the tafsir for scholarship.draft
Tafsir Ibn Kathir

And among His signs is that He shows you the lightning, for fear and for hope, and He sends down water from the sky, and therewith revives the earth after its death. Verily, in that are indeed signs for a people who understand (24)And among His signs is that the heaven and the earth stand by His command. Then afterwards when He will call you by a single call, behold, you will come out from the earth.) Allah say (25)

وَمِنْ آيَاتِهِ 

(And among His signs) which speak of His greatness,

يُرِيكُمُ الْبَرْقَ خَوْفًا وَطَمَعًا 

(He shows you the lightning, for fear and for hope,) Sometimes you fear the heavy rain and destructive thunderbolts that follow it, and sometimes you feel hope, when you see a flash of lightning, that much-needed rain will come. Allah says:

وَيُنَزِّلُ مِنَ السَّمَاءِ مَاءً فَيُحْيِي بِهِ الْأَرْضَ بَعْدَ مَوْتِهَا

(and He sends down water from the sky, and therewith revives the earth after its death.) After it was barren, with nothing growing there, then the water comes to it and

اهْتَزَّتْ وَرَبَتْ وَأَنْبَتَتْ مِنْ كُلِّ زَوْجٍ بَهِيجٍ

(it is stirred, and it swells and puts forth every lovely kind (of growth).)(22:5). In this is a clear sign and proof of the resurrection and the coming of the Hour. Allah says:

إِنَّ فِي ذَٰلِكَ لَآيَاتٍ لِقَوْمٍ يَعْقِلُونَ

(Verily, in that are indeed signs for a people who understand.) Then Allah says:

وَمِنْ آيَاتِهِ أَنْ تَقُومَ السَّمَاءُ وَالْأَرْضُ بِأَمْرِهِ ۚ 

(And among His signs is that the heaven and the earth stand by His command.) This is like the Ayat:

وَيُمْسِكُ السَّمَاءَ أَنْ تَقَعَ عَلَى الْأَرْضِ إِلَّا بِإِذْنِهِ

(He withholds the heaven from falling on the earth except by His leave)(22: 65).

إِنَّ اللَّهَ يُمْسِكُ السَّمَاوَاتِ وَالْأَرْضَ أَنْ تَزُولَا ۚ 

(Verily, Allah grasps the heavens and the earth lest they should move away from their places)(35:41). Whenever 'Umar bin Al-Khattab, may Allah be pleased with him, swore an emphatic oath, he would say, "No, by the One by Whose command the heaven and the earth stand," i.e., they stand firm by His command to them and His subjugation of them. Then, when the Day of Resurrection comes, the Day when the earth will be exchanged with another earth and the dead will come forth from their graves, brought back to life by His command and His call to them,

ثُمَّ إِذَا دَعَاكُمْ دَعْوَةً مِنَ الْأَرْضِ إِذَا أَنْتُمْ تَخْرُجُونَ 

(Then afterwards when He will call you by a single call, behold, you will come out from the earth.) This is like the Ayat:

يَوْمَ يَدْعُوكُمْ فَتَسْتَجِيبُونَ بِحَمْدِهِ وَتَظُنُّونَ إِنْ لَبِثْتُمْ إِلَّا قَلِيلًا 

(On the Day when He will call you, and you will answer with His praise and obedience, and you will think that you have stayed but a little while!)(17:52)

فَإِنَّمَا هِيَ زَجْرَةٌ وَاحِدَةٌ - فَإِذَا هُمْ بِالسَّاهِرَةِ

(But it will be only a single Zajrah. When behold, they find themselves on the surface of the earth alive after their death.)(79:13-14), and

إِنْ كَانَتْ إِلَّا صَيْحَةً وَاحِدَةً فَإِذَا هُمْ جَمِيعٌ لَدَيْنَا مُحْضَرُونَ 

(It will be but a single Sayhah, so behold they will all be brought up before Us!)(36:53).